Day 6, Phase 1 and a Quick update

Day 4 is always hard. Always. And I always want to give it up. I'm so hungry at that point and I want a heavy meal. Something yummy with bread and ends with chocolate. But this time I read a friend's health blog and she talked about cleansing and that's when I remembered that's what the first phase is, a cleansing.

"Oh yeah," I thought, "I can do this... I can do this with God's help."

He got me through eating sweets and He can get me through a cleansing.

And in the end, this change of eating habits does work. I've already lost a few lbs, so it is worth it.

A had her 2 year check-up on Thursday. She did pretty good. I mentioned my slight concern for her tininess but the doc said she was healthy and tall so there was nothing to worry about. Sounds good to me. But will I need to bring out her 18 month winter clothes? Or suck it up and buy those pricey jeans with the adjustable waist?

We're home this weekend. We were suppose to head to my family's for a friends wedding but we wouldn't get to see my grandparents. That would mean that it would be 3 months before we'd get to see them again for Thanksgiving. I can't not see them. And only having the funds to get down there once this month sealed the deal.

So, I'm gonna go enjoy my Saturday with my little family. Have a great weekend!

Here we go again...

Things have been a little crazy around here. My baby girl turned two, my hubby left for a Men's Retreat on friday and returned on Sunday, my awesome friend celebrated her birthday, I'm working on things for the improvement of the nursery and starting a new thing for the youth group, as well as returning to my love/hate Maker's Diet.

So to update quickly and briefly on the subjects... A'sbirthdaywasacompletehitAllthekidsenjoyedthemselvesaswellastheadultsWehadbonfirecakeandicecreampresentopeningandagoodoletimeBryanhadagreattimeattheretreatandAandIsurvivedwithouthimBarelyWeareveryhappythatheishomeIdon'tknowwhatwe'lldowhenheleavesforhisbusinesstripsoIthinkwe'llgovisitfamilyEmandIcelebratedwithsomeHuHotItwasjusttoogoodnottohaveforeverybirthdayfromhereonoutThenurseryisselfexplanitoryandthenewthingfortheyouthgroupisn'treadytoberevealedyetAndI'mbackontheMaker'sDiet.

Whew!

Hello, Maker's Diet. How I've not missed you. But it seems to be the only way to lose weight. The hardest part is to get through the first 4 weeks. After that, it becomes much much easier to survive. I just always feel so hungry all the time. I need to stock up on strawberries :) And the bad thing is that the one place that I can find goat milk placed a sign that read the company will no longer be making milk products. So I am now dairy-less for four weeks. So, now what?

I don't know.

I'm also going back off sweets. I can't seem to handle it. I have a hard time saying no because I just like it so darn much. I did so much better and it was easier for me to be off of it consistently for those 6 months. So here I go again. September 20th marks day one of no sweets as well as Day 1 Phase 1 for the Maker's Diet.

Pray for me that I don't eat my foot.

To my baby on her 2nd birthday

My sweet, sweet girl, you are two today. Two. I can't believe you are already two. It has been a remarkable two years. You are so amazing in how much you've grown, have learned, have mastered, can now understand. You are awesome.

Just the other day I heard you say "love you" for the first time. My heart skipped for joy to hear those two little words.

You still speak a lot of gibberish but you are using more and more words in context. It's so much fun to hear you say what you are learning! Guess I better not use the word "crap" around you anymore.

Yesterday afternoon I really felt like a mom when I called you to the dinner table. Then you even responded with a "Kay!".

You are a rascal when it comes to changing your diaper or brushing your teeth. But it's gotta be done. No one likes a saggy bottoms-monster breath baby- No, big girl.

You still love to watch a few television shows here and there but you really love to read. And you really love to play with your baby dolls.

You have a beautiful heart that is full of compassion. You show it with a concerned "she sad" whenever a baby (or doll) cries, the dinosaurs in your book show tears, or someone in a book has been splashed. At least you care :)

You still love instruments and play like a rockstar on the guitar. You have no idea what to do with your left hand but you strum like a pro with your right.

You are infatuated with shoes! You wear momma's shoes all the time, dancing around in my fancy gold shoes with all the bead work. I fear for their lives! But you've got great moves and have improved your "slide".

You know how to shake your groove thang and have become an excellent hopper.

You are very good when it comes to praying before meals, although you tend to sneak a bite or two, and you listen when momma prays with you before bedtime.

You have become a "daddy's girl" and he finds it hard to work from home when you're too cute not to play baby doll's with.

You still have your beautiful curls and they manage to disguise how long your hair really is.

You officially do not like baths.

But you love to swim.

As long as you don't get splashed.

You're not dramatic at all...

You have a beautiful singing voice and awesome dance moves, especially in the car. I love hearing a "momma!" only to turn around to see you showing me how your groove to the song.

I love when you read out loud to yourself. And even to momma or dadda when we were trying to read to you in the first place.

You're very good at sharing... when you want to.

You're a good "momma" to your "babies".

You always seem to request one more book at night even though we've just read four. And I always seem to be suckered in.

You love to squeal and run away. Especially when we're trying to get you ready for the day.

You have a funny thing of running back and forth between the tv, landing on the couch.

You love your new bean bag chair. You even dragged it from your room to the living room.

You're a good listener. Especially when I start counting to three.

You had a naughty streak of saying "two" if I said "one" in my countdown.

You're loving, kind, and compassionate. A wonderful little girl and I hope to have 10 more just like you.

I love you so much, my sweet baby girl. You'll always be my baby, no matter how old you are.

Momma

Day six as a 26 year old.

Yes, I am officially 26 years old. Turned another year older yesterday. Now my question is:

When do you start to feel like an adult?

More to come....

(I apologize in advance for all the exclamation points)

Good morning!!

I am up and at 'em this morning and I like it! I hate to say that I am not a morning person and I often wish I were. I seem to be tired all the time with a thyroid condition and it's easier to stay awake than to wake up. But this morning is different and it's a nice change!

I haven't blogged in a while because it feels like nothing exciting has happened since then. I have been busy with things but nothing blog worthy... until now!

First, the last two Wednesdays we have been preparing to start up Youth Group. I'm excited!! We have a lot of sponsors, which is good because that means lots of ideas. I'm so ready to get to know these kids and help them to grow in Christ. I pray I can bring things to the group, lift them up, and encourage and not hinder in any way. I've wanted to be a part of this for a long while now but I had to wait for God to call me into it. I think I'm ready. I hope I'm ready.

Secondly, we had a Youth water park trip as an end-of-summer celebration/let's-get-this-school-year-started-off-right celebration. It was so much fun. The place was big enough for grown ups to play and have fun.

Most of the time when you go to things with your kids, the place is too small and adults have to squeeze through to be able to play with their children. Kind of a like an unspoken Adults Not Welcome So Go Chit Chat With Other Adults sign. So, we squeeze through tunnels and passageways with our little ones who are too little and timid to go by themselves until we're too tired of maneuvering our way around and tag our spouses to take over.

But not this time! This time there was all sorts of running around (and by running I mean walking really fast because the ground is wet and we don't want to get a whistle blown at us from a nearby lifeguard cause, geesh, that'd be embarrassing with your youth kids there), going down slides multiple times, standing under the giant bucket waiting for it to sound the alarm that it was about to dump on you. Ahh, it was a good time.

But. But, my poor hubby. He wasn't feeling very well and our daughter only wanted Daddy that day. She wasn't able to take a nap anywhere and was so hungry that she didn't know what she wanted. I kept asking her if she was hungry and she just kept saying, "Nooo," and start whimpering. So Bryan held her for hours. I told him that after we eat I'd take her so he could have an hour of so of doing whatever he wanted.

She was much better after we ate and perked right up. She didn't mind hanging with me on the lazy river for a while but it was right next to the water basketball area and that's where daddy was. She wouldn't let me do anything else but stay close to daddy.

He finally held her as he played some b-ball and eventually he went to the lazy river. They floated around in a double raft where she finally found contentment. Then we had to leave. She wasn't very happy. Poor baby.

When we got out to the car, she settled right in and played a little with our friends kid, M, who was also in our car. But 1oish minutes into the car ride and our kiddo was out. At 7:30. You'd think that'd be a problem for the rest of the night but it wasn't at all.

Home at 8:30 and stopped to let M out to go with her parents, not a peep from our kiddo. We even stopped at DQ and got an ice cream. She didn't wake until we stopped at home and I took her out of her car seat. Even then she just rested her head on my shoulder, then curled up in her crib when I put her down. Didn't even ask for milk so I know she was beat. Slept through til morning at around 8. I even had to drag myself out of bed but it was well worth it. Such a fun day.

And finally, us girls had our annual birthday celebration for one of us again. It starts in September and goes right on through. Except we have more girls now, so more birthdays. Fun!! Ate too much food, had good laughs, and a funny movie to boot. Next is my birthday!

Youth groups starts on Wednesday, we get to see family this weekend, and what a long weekend it will be, and my birthday on Sunday! Yay!

Enjoy your day!