One more pound down but still feeling the stress of trying to loose weight.
I have found that the motivation just to loose weight is starting to wear off. While reading my Bible the other morning I found a new motivator so I am hoping this will reenergize my resolve.
The boys have already gotten up and had breakfast and are now down for their nap. Zoe Scout is still asleep and I am going to enjoy my Sunday morning coffee in quiet with my Bible. Thank you Lord!
This week Colin worked a 48 hour shift instead of the usual 24 hour shift. It is always hard when he is not home but especially when we go two whole days without seeing him! We did however manage and Zoe Scout was so sweet and helpful the whole time. I am always thankful for her sweet disposition and her patience when her brothers have to come first.
Here are the boys at breakfast. They have decided that they love oatmeal now. We have also made it through most of the veggies and meats so they have started having fruit in the morning also.
They especially love prunes and bananas. Prunes were also Zoe Scout's favorite as a baby and if you don't watch her carefully she will still down half a container lighting fast!
While we are on food, I made Mac-n-Cheese the other night, delicious!
The boys have become very interested in the car seats. Whenever you load one up the other crawls over to inspect how it works. If they are empty, Jude likes to crawl into them and rock back and forth!
Jude has started pulling up on everything which confounds me because he can stand but neither boy seems to be the least bit interested in trying to sit up. I think Jude's drive to be mobile trumps the natural order of development.
If you are familiar with theThe Far Side comic strip, I dub this photo "Trouble Brewing".
Absolutely nothing lost this week. This week has been kinda stressful for me. I am not quite sure why which stresses me out more.
I was not good about working out and definitely consumed more Dr. Peppers then I should have (stress).
The discouragement of not loosing weight as quickly as I would like is starting to get to me. I guess I need to buckle down and get my mind back on track. I am not the type of person who just gives up and so I know I can do it, I just hate talking myself into some days.
All I can do is put this week behind me and push forward toward next week. I am going to try a week with no Dr. Pepper. We will see how it goes!
Now that both boys are quite mobile giving them bottles is kinda tricky. Neither want to be cuddled while drinking anymore and so I had started just handing them bottles while they layed on a blanket on the living room floor. This worked ok until I discovered that the amount they were actually consuming was about 1/2 of what they should be. I quickly realized that it was because they would get distracted by a toy or Zoe and crawl off to play, abandoning the bottle and most of its contents. My solution became that they always drink their bottles in the crib now. This works like a charm! They get it all down and there is very little stealing of their brother's bottle.
Look how big they are! They stretch the entire width of the crib now. One would think that it would be time to move them to separate cribs but I don't believe it can be done yet. A couple of days ago I put them down for a nap and Jude kept crawling over and climbing on top of Cort. He would not stay off his brother no matter how many times I put them in separate corners so I eventually just pulled Cort out of the crib in the nursery and deposited him in the crib in our room. This resulted in 45 minutes of screaming from both boys. Apparently they want to be together even if they are a little cramped.
While cleaning out a box the other day I ran across a toy that Zoe Scout used to play with when she was little.
Her great grandparents (Nana and Grandaddy) gave it to her for her 1st birthday. She loved it and while I am not a fan of musical toys it did provide many hours of fun for her!
Here is Colin showing her how to use it at her 1st birthday party.
Check out that hair!
I discovered that you could pull the legs off and it became instant fun for Cort and Jude. Zoe Scout even decided to play.
The boys were thrilled every time they discovered a new sound.
Once again it is providing many hours of fun for little Parrs. Thanks Nana and Grandaddy!
One of the things that thrills me about Cort & Jude is that they are so drawn to music. While they seem to love music in any form they are especially fond of being sung to.........by me! ZS was never too responsive to my singing so I was delighted to find that the twins enjoy pretty much anything I put a tune to.
They get the biggest grins on their faces and seem to really mellow out when I sing! Yay!
Here are a few of their favorites.
Dites Moi This is from the movie South Pacific. If you haven't seen it, shame on you. Stop reading this right now and pull up your Netflix queue and put it in your #1 spot. Now that we have handled that......
Dites Moi is the song that Emile De Becque sings with his children. When I was a baby my parents actually sang this to me and I discovered that the boys like it because my mom had Jude one day and when she was singing it to him he "sang" along. The clip is at 6:20.
French Words: Dites-moi Pourquoi La vie est belle, Dites-moi Pourquoi La vie est gai, Dites-moi Pourquoi, Chere Mad'moiselle, Est-ce que Parce que Vous m'aimez?
English words: Tell me why life is beautiful Tell me why life is happy Tell me why dear madmoiselle Is it because you love me?
Little Black Rain Cloud I believe this is from the first featurette released starring Winnie The Pooh. It is such a sweet song and Cort especially likes this one.
Edelweiss This song is from The Sound Of Music. It is the story of the Von Trapp family and if you have not seen it, add this one to your Netflix queue also! This song pulls at my heartstrings because just like Dites Moi, it is a parent singing to their children. Edelweiss is a white flower that grows in the Alps.
There are several other songs that they love including Puff, The Magic Dragon but these three are clearly their favorites. Who knows maybe we have a couple of musicians on our hands.....I am sure Colin would be delighted to form is own band!
Yum! Avocado egg rolls would have made such a delicious breakfast this morning. These are the ones from the Cheesecake Factory. My suggestion....skip the cheesecake and just sandwich your dinner with two orders of these!
I am finding that my hardest days on the weight loss journey are when Colin is at the firehouse. I usually stay up late so that I am exhausted when I get into bed because I have a hard time going to sleep alone. Staying up late of course can lead to food temptations. I have to admit that last night I sat on the couch with the Ben and Jerry's tub instead of scooping some into a bowl. It was really yummy but guilt inducing.
At least today is a new day. I just need to try to be food conscience today and not get hung up on yesterday.
One more pound down and feeling good about that. I feel like I am still struggling with the motivation to exercise but I always feel better after I do it.
Now that Jude can army crawl around the house at lightening speed he often follows me around and likes to participate in any housework I am doing. This day I was doing laundry and he decided that the best way to help would be to push the baskets all over the kitchen floor. He was so cute and very proud that he had, in his mind, figured out the meaning of the white baskets which was apparently to lick them.
Yesterday was my first wedding back at The Country Abbey. I am the wedding coordinator there and I spend some of my most rewarding moments at that chapel. Everyone on staff is so kind and my boss is a dream (she has been so patient while I was out and even brought us lunch and groceries a couple of times after the boys were born).
There are many reasons that I decided to go back and for those of you who are thinking, "Why would she add one more thing to her plate", I have compiled a list.
1. Adult Conversation - People at the Abbey are actually interested in me.....not what drink I can produce from the fridge or whether or not I am playing hide and seek correctly.
2. I am appreciated - This is not a slight against Colin, this is more about the kids. No one says to me, "Thanks for changing my diaper" or "Mom, I am so glad you do several loads of dishes and laundry every day" or "I am so sorry I was super whiny this afternoon, will you forgive me for finger painting with poop on my closet wall" (yes, ZS did this). Every time I do something to help out a bride and her party I get a heartfelt thank you and usually a hug. Granted, they all think I am just bossy on rehearsal night but by the time 24 hours has passed and it is wedding day I am the most loved person in the building. It feels great not only to be appreciated but also to be told that everything you are doing is a "life saver" and that you are "the only reason the day went smoothly".
3. When I say "jump" people say "how high?" - This one actually came slowly. I had to learn that nice clothes, lots of makeup, big jewelry, heels, and plenty of red lipstick adds the "don't mess with me" element to your words without having to change my tone. It works so well that people actually come to you and ask what they can do to help you (unlike a 4 year old who tries to figure out what will actually make your job harder and then does that). When I ask (or tell) people to do something they just do it, no questions asked.......the power is quite addicting.
4. Joy - Getting to witness marriages every time I go to work is so fun. It is the best part of my job. No matter how crazy the last 48 hours have been there is nothing better then standing in the hall with a bride and her father right before she goes down the aisle. She always looks so beautiful and her smile is priceless. I then get to open the doors and witness the huge grin and look of love that sweeps over the groom's face. After doing almost 50 weddings that moment still makes me giddy and sometimes I even cry. At the end of the day all the worries about wedding details melt away and you get to see love.
So there it is, my top 4 reasons for rejoining the wedding community. It is really great to get out of the house a couple of times a month but the best thing is getting to come home to my wonderful husband and kids!
If only this really was what mattered.....the weight of the actual food you ate. I could consume a lot more movie theatre popcorn! Yum!
Back to the old way - 1 pound lost this week. I would really like for the scale to say 2 pounds one of these weeks. I guess if I am patient enough it will happen eventually.
I am finding that the discipline of watching what I eat is bleeding over into other areas of my life which feels good. I think I am on my way to being a more disciplined person all around.
As for the popcorn, the new Winnie The Pooh movie comes out next week, (which I will be taking Zoe Scout to see) and I have resolved that we will share a medium bag of popcorn, not the large as usual. I think that is progress!
I am really enjoying being able to post videos on my blog (it only took me 4 years to learn how to do it). I hope it gives y'all a better feeling of how the kids are growing and they're just so cute it is fun to watch them in action.
This is Zoe Scout doing pull-ups on Colin's workout bar. She thinks it is so fun and sometimes she even holds onto Colin's legs as he does his pull-ups.
This is of Cort and Jude playing in the kitchen. It was about bed time and I had just finished putting Zoe Scout down and came back into the living room to find them under the high chair. The best thing about this video is that you can hear Jude growl at his brother. It is his new favorite form of talking. He learned it from my friend Haley one day at Chick-Fil-A and it cracks me up!
This last video was a couple of mornings ago when Colin was working. Zoe Scout has become a big help with the boys when Colin is gone and this particular morning I sent her in to entertain them while I got their breakfast ready. When I heard her over the monitor I grabbed the camera and rushed in. Note: Please excuse the mess in the nursery....I had pulled a bunch of stuff out of the closet the day before to get to my scrapbook supplies.
Flashback Friday You thought I forgot didn't you? Well, I didn't! So I searched through all the pictures and I could only find pics for the month of July in 2010....enjoy anyway!
This was the summer that we discovered the Fort Worth Children's Museum and most notably the Dino Dig.
Daddy almost always splurged for a Sonic chocolate shake after the museum.
There was also much fun to be had at the Fort Worth Zoo because we had season passes which meant we could get our friends, Julie, Sully, and Helen Hickman to come along for a discount!
I will leave you with this video of Scout last July. Warning: You might get a little dizzy!
They especially love prunes and bananas. Prunes were also Zoe Scout's favorite as a baby and if you don't watch her carefully she will still down half a container lighting fast!
cuddled while drinking anymore and so I had started just handing them bottles while they layed on a blanket on the living room floor. This worked ok until I discovered that the amount they were actually consuming was about 1/2 of what they should be. I quickly realized that it was because they would get distracted by a toy or Zoe and crawl off to play, abandoning the bottle and most of its contents. My solution became that they always drink their bottles in the crib now. This works like a charm! They get it all down and there is very little stealing of their brother's bottle. 
While cleaning out a box the other day I ran across a toy that Zoe Scout used to play with when she was little.
thrilled every time they discovered a new sound.
This song is from The Sound Of Music. It is the story of the Von Trapp family and if you have not seen it, add this one to your Netflix queue also! This song pulls at my heartstrings because just like Dites Moi, it is a parent singing to their children. Edelweiss is a white flower that grows in the Alps.
Now that Jude can army crawl around the house at lightening speed he often follows me around and likes to participate in any housework I am doing. This day I was doing laundry and he decided that the best way to help would be to push the baskets all over the kitchen floor. He was so cute and very proud that he had, in his mind, figured out the meaning of the white baskets which was apparently to lick them.
I have had 7 months of maternity leave.
2. I am appreciated - This is not a slight against Colin, this is more about the kids. No one says to me, "Thanks for changing my diaper" or "Mom, I am so glad you do several loads of dishes and laundry every day" or "I am so sorry I was super whiny this afternoon, will you forgive me for finger painting with poop on my closet wall" (yes, ZS did this). Every time I do something to help out a bride and her party I get a heartfelt thank you and usually a hug. Granted, they all think I am just bossy on rehearsal night but by the time 24 hours has passed and it is wedding day I am the most loved person in the building. It feels great not only to be appreciated but also to be told that everything you are doing is a "life saver" and that you are "the only reason the day went smoothly".
4. Joy - Getting to witness marriages every time I go to work is so fun. It is the best part of my job. No matter how crazy the last 48 hours have been there is nothing better then standing in the hall with a bride and her father right before she goes down the aisle. She always looks so beautiful and her smile is priceless. I then get to open the doors and witness the huge grin and look of love that sweeps over the groom's face. After doing almost 50 weddings that moment still makes me giddy and sometimes I even cry. At the end of the day all the worries about wedding details melt away and you get to see love.
