Sunday Slimdown: Shedding Weight Instead of Losing It

I'm a member of the writing team for One Roll At a Time.  I'm excited about this blessing at this time because I want encouragement in this part of my journey... shedding excess weight.  I'm tired of feeling alone in my efforts.  It's good to have company with whom to struggle along, don't you think so?

First things first... What is it with the phrase most folks use to talk about getting rid of fat.  They say, "Losing weight."  I'm not losing weight, my friends.  I'm working hard to get it out of my system and I am happy to get rid of it and pray I will be able to refrain from packing it back on.  When it finally does evacuate from my body/temple/system, I'm glad.  I don't feel upset or frustrated at all.  When I lose things I am unhappy.  So, when I refer to working toward a slender figure, I work hard to say, "Shedding excess weight."  Have you seen a snake or other skin-shedding beastie at their work of leaving behind their old outward parts?  It's rather difficult work to my understanding.  So, it seems super appropriate to use that particular phrase for my process.  Maybe, if enough of us use that phrase, we can bring about a shift in word use and thereby a slight change in the way the whole process is viewed and maybe even dealt with.  Yes, I know... highly unlikely to come about via my puny lil' blog.  However... YOU can talk about it and spread the word.  YOU can bring about this shift and change.  I'd love it if you tossed me a bone by referencing me here on We Keep Choosing Us, but you don't have to, for sure!

So, this past week was better than many recently!  I was actually able to get out and walk four mornings.  YEAY!  It would've been more, but my husband's schedule and activities cut in to my walking time.  ahwell.  I'm worried that I may be getting sick again... so we'll see about next week.  I'm okay with it either way.  I am, for the most part, making better food consumption choices, which is also going to enable me to shed the excess weight.

If you search #OneRollChallenge, you can see me as I am.  I'm going to do a side-by-side before and after for the month... I've posted my before.  MAN!  That was so difficult!  I didn't realize how truly horrible I look when comparing my figure to what is considered healthy and fit and slender and attractive.  I will admit that I still feel a bit sick about it... sick being a mixture of frustration with myself and disgust and... oh, so much STUFF!  Anyway... I encourage you to search that hashtag and join in on this month's series of challenges.  They are, really, quite simple.  I hope you will!

See you there!  :)  Oh... and tell me what you think about "shedding weight"!  :)

A Walker

No... I'm totally not old enough to need one of them YET. :) And if you know us, you know our babies don't go IN them... So, that's leaves: Tea to take her first steps.

AND she DID!!! It was exciting for all of us. She did it rather matter-of-factly... even sitting down and standing right back up. Of course, it was a total of about 4 steps (the walking part), but STILL! The whole squatting, standing, sitting, standing thing (she did that more than the number of steps!) seems to indicate to me that she's completely ready (I've been saying as much), but wanted to take her own sweet time. :)

Oh, guess WHO she walked to... Any guesses? I hope you'll share who you think she walked for in my comments. The person to whom she walked was cheering her on... Okay, ready for some release from this tremendously tingly temptation? ... Well, I'll let you know tomorrow! Hopefully. It's a busy day, after-all. ;)

^_^ heeheehee

A Rather Full Day

Off to a... Start
Today started, for me, with a big bang! I awakened to a calf cramp, which is frequent enough to be unsurprising. The problem arose when I couldn't stretch it out and it kept hurting and hurting like the dickens! It hurt SO badly that I called Jess to help me. I figured if he could rub it, it might help. And it did, until he held near my achilles tendon and then it started the whole thing over again and worse. For whatever reason, though, this time I was able to put my foot flat (the normal solution) and it calmed the horrible cramping. So TOTALLY NOT a nice way to wake up! And it was at least 1/2 an hour earier than I'd planned to get up, so I was pooped to boot. BLAH!

Thankfully the rest of the day, while full, was easy. Until the end, that is.

Jess Forgot to Mention
that he had to leave for work early today. He remembered it about 20 minutes before he was supposed to be there. (ahwell) The girls got to watch a movie after his departure because he did reading class with Ria. I spent that time lying down. Normally I'd work on ChaCha during such "free" time, but today I felt REALLY run down since waking up. Not just tired: my head felt ever so slightly stuffy, I was more tired than normal, and I sneezed WAY too often. So, I made myself lie down even though I didn't sleep, in hopes that the rest would enable my body to hunker down with some healin! :) I did feel a little better when the movie was over. What a relief!

Ready to Go?
When the movie was over it was time to get ready to go. Departures, without Jess, take me quite a while lately! :-P One of the less attractive and enjoyable aspects of late pregnancy. But we were on our way in plenty of time thanks to almost complete cooperation from my girls. My right leg has been super weird today (the one with the calf cramp/Charlie Horse this morning). I can't hold my leg up on my toes (when seated) because my leg goes all jittery and shakes like crazy as if it's not strong enough to support itself. That is TOTALLY normal when I have a fever or I'm in labor, but MAN... it's weird when I'm apparently well in every other way. :( So, I took it REALLY slow on my walk to Mary Kay's house. (And still sweated when I was not walking!) Do you remember who she is?? Yep, Ria's PIANO teacher!!!

Piano Lessons Begin!
Today was the first day of piano lessons!! Ria was so completely excited. And I have to say I was pretty darn excited myself. Of course, Kit Kat fed off of all that excitement and was SUPER excited! Sweet toddler girl! She's just SURE that every class or activity we do is for her. Ria and I might talk about something, and here comes Kat, "ME, ME, ME!" And, of course, she is always involved at least a little. She's so funny.

Mary Kay and I (I think mostly me) had a few mixed signals, so I ended up there before she got home. I really think her hubbie, Tim, is wonderful so it was nice to chat with him since he was home reading outside. She called him while we were there and he conveyed that she would arrive in a bit. As I was thinking about it, I decided to leave so they could say hi without an audience and have a few minutes before their family time was barged in upon by piano lessons. I would prefer a few minutes to be home before guests. So, we left and went for a walk up to the beach.

In Love With the Weather
MAN! I LOVE the fall here! The weather is sooo cooled off and the wind... WOW! It's like the wind is wrapping you up in it's powerful gusts of excitement to welcome the change of season! I LOVE IT! Spring is also pretty windy, but not (it seems to me) as rowdily so. :)

We went to the boardwalk and I sat on the bench closest to the end (also only about 4 blocks from Mary Kay's street). A sweet lady, Marjorie, walked by and my SUPER social Ria was all about greeting her, which drew her in to chatting first with Ria and then with me. Kat was fast asleep or she would have made sure her greetings chorused with Ria's (as they usually do). We ended up talking for about 15-25 minutes. She was very impressed with my trailer/stroller and my eldest daughter - as most people are and was determined to remember the name (of the stroller) for her daughter. It was a very pleasant way to pass the time! By the end of our brief conversation she told me she considered me a SuperMom! Can you imagine? ME!??!?! Well, it certainly felt nice, though I would definitely not consider myself such! ^_^ So nice to hear, though!

By this point my hip had started to ache a little, which is why I was sitting on a bench near the beach instead of walking around for exercise.

We returned to Mary Kay's house for Ria's piano lesson after she called us, which went really well. Ria is SO excited and happy about her class. I was able to pay attention to most of it, which is really important to me so that I can properly guide Ria in practices at home. It was lovely to spend time around Mary Kay as well and talk with her afterward. She has a strong, confident, peaceful, and generally pleasing spirit and feeling about her AND in her home!

Exchanging Services as payment for lessons
Because of my time chatting with Tim, Mary Kay knew about my ability with hair AND she's going to let me teacher her how to cut it!!! I'd been racking my brain for things we (Jess and I, or just I) could do as service exchanges. I'd told her about making meals for her (Jess and/or me), teaching her crochet, but had managed to forget that I do hair. Weirdo, right? Well, I noticed that Tim's hair was getting long just this past Sunday, I think. It really looks quite good on him, but I figured it would be useful for Mary Kay to know how to cut it herself if she didn't already know how. So I asked him... she doesn't already know how, he shared our conversation about it with her, AND she's going to let me teach her! I'm so happy!! Also, she's going to accept recipes as a form of payment... not sure how that will work out exactly, but I'm definitely going to work on that one (and work on getting Jess to share some of his private stash!).

The Hip Flares
We returned home, which walk was very painful for me. My right hip was in full-on throbbing cramps at points. And I still had to make dinner! Ria and Kat are so used to this sort of thing by now, which I'm SUPER grateful for! I can only imagine how scarry it would be if I started crying the way I did tonight out of nowhere! They were quite worried this morning, though... Ria has this sweet funny thing she says to me when I'm having a BIG pain. She says to me, "At least it will be over sometime! Remember, it will end sometime." SO true and it helps a great deal to hear that EVERY time! :)

Thankfully lying down to help Kat fall asleep has calmed the pain a little. Now the pain in my calf is more apparent. Well, I suppose a dull throb is better than extreme cramping throbs! :-/

Thursday
And tomorrow is another one....

Jess at Home

Today and tomorrow Jess has off from The Club. I was up SUPER late doing ChaCha last night, so stayed in bed later than "normal" today. I was up, basically, until 4am and didn't leave my bedroom until just after 1pm! While that may sound like "the life," it REALLY is NOT! I had, prior to starting ChaCha, just started to be able to sleep most of the night... this is a HUGE deal for me because I've had tremendous sleep issues for quite a long while. For the most part I've coped, but it was really REALLY nice to start to feel sort of normal with the whole sleeping at night thing going! That didn't last long, obviously. I have to say, in comparison of sleeping by day/working at night OR sleeping at night/being up during the day, the latter is MUCH preferable!!! The quality of my sleep is downright pitiful. Not only because the girls are up for MANY of the hours I'm trying to sleep, but because SO IS THE SUN!!! It's difficult and frustrating, but I'm coping - as always. When Jess is able to more fully provide for our family, I will definitely cut back on the ChaCha and do it only as possible during the day and for a SHORT time after the girls go to sleep! It's just wearin' me down, man!

On the positive side, Jess is experiencing a LOT more of the frustration that comes with dealing with our daughters for MANY hours. He's still only got them, on his own, for about 4 hours... MAYBE a little more. Usually a bit less, actually. But by the end of the night tonight, he was the way I feel after 12+ hours with them! It was rather comforting to me, in a way... and frustrating in another way. Comforting because I feel like we're definitely in the roles that we should be in (with me staying home to care for our kids), but frustrating because with the way things are going he will be able to take vacation after the baby is born. The point of that is for him to take over EVERYTHING for a week after the new baby arrives so that I can rest and stay in bed with the baby. This is something each of our previous midwives have wanted me to do. With Ria, I sort of did... but at the same time I had to get geared up for returning to work, so I was pumping before the end of the first week to build a stash and did shopping by the end of that week for things I thought were necessary. And then, after Kat was born... we were moving when she was only 3 weeks old, so I had 2 days of "respite" that I allowed myself and then I was packing and cleaning and DOing WAY too much. As a result my body was WAY wrong for WAY too long. I'm NOT going to repeat THAT... and really, I want to have the experience I missed out on after the first two... just being a Mama getting used to a new baby! So, I'm worried that Jess is going to go absolutely BONKERS with having to take care of the house, fix meals, AND deal with our two older kiddos! YIKES! We'll see how that goes, eh? :)

Another depressing amount of time on the my walk today. A sweet friend shared some encouraging words and I'm grateful for them, regarding my walking time yesterday. But I can't help feeling frustrated about it (and today's!) because I've been trying so hard to keep active this pregnancy so that I'll be healthier and have a smoother labor... and then I'm not even able to maintain my time for the walks! The distance had already become pitiful before my experience Sunday, but I accepted that because the belly really does add something - even if it's not weight - that made the 4+ miles I was walking just NOT do-able! I'm still the same weight, but my breathing is greatly impacted lately (and the baby is low, NOT in my lungs at all!), I sweat profusely even when walking at what I KNOW is a leisurely pace for ANYone else... it's just crazy! But then to not even feel able to keep going for 1/2 as long as I was walking! UGH! Today was a little better, at least. I was able to walk for 34 minutes... but I was completely and utterly exhausted when we got home. Jess came with me and we let Ria walk... I'm sure he was completely unimpressed with my speed, but he kept saying he was just glad to get out of the house. He wasn't winded and definitely didn't break a sweat. I actually walked a bit faster with him along (even though I didn't mean to, I felt guilty when I asked him to slow down), so the sweat was literally dripping and pouring off of me! I sweat pretty easily, but NOT like THAT!

Oh, and just as an update... my back is still VERY tender and slightly painful (I think just as a reminder so I don't overexert). My belly hasn't had cramping (YEAY!!!), just BH when walking, and is only tender in the obliques (from the barf fest). My back is painful in the way it was when I thought I was in labor AND as a result of the throwing up (they are two totally different sensations!), but thankfully it's definitely a lot less. Hopefully it'll be completely gone by the end of the week. We'll see.

Not a lot going on here, really. Just blabbering about lots of nuthin'. ;) Thanks for caring and reading me here! I'll be back soon, I'm sure.

Back Pain and a Depressing Time

Thankfully, the only residual effects of the craziness of Sunday (yesterday) is a horrible back pain all day today. I woke up and was relieved to feel that I had NO pain, but after standing and walking enough to get something to eat... the back was REALLY hurting a lot. It continued through most of the day and during my walk. And it's not just some minor lower back stuff... it's throbbing pain along most of my spine. Added to that is the muscle pain along my obliques from the barf fest yesterday. I'm sure the throwing up has effected the back pain in more ways than I can recognize. Plus, there's the whole BREECH BABY that could add strange pressure to the spine (since s/he has only been in this position for 5 days or fewer). Somehow, after sitting for dinner and taking a shower, the pain is less.

It could be, though, that it has MUCH more to do with the Ensign article I read after FHE tonight. It was about a Grama who wanted to take the pain of a burn from the hand of a Grandchild. She learned, through The Holy Ghost, that even THAT kind of pain has been felt for US in the Atonement! I thought... well, why not back pain, then, too!? And it was soon after that that the extremity of the pain diminished. In this case, I rather think that a reminder sort of pain is necessary because otherwise I would just do TOO much and push too hard and make things much worse. Ya know?

I went on a walk tonight. The pace was ridiculously slow because of the constant ROCK HARD tummy I experience on most walks now-a-days (Braxton Hicks, of course). On top of that I forgot to pee right before I left, so I had to stop at the playground potty (only 9 minutes into my walk). On top of THAT I knew I really shouldn't walk for long because of all that I'd experienced yesterday and through the day today... so I walked a whole "HUGE" total of 25 minutes! :( I feel so lame and frustrated. But at least I don't have tummy pains tonight! ah well.

Jess has tomorrow and Wednesday off from The Club. Hopefully we'll be able to manage getting him to Orlando on Wed, but it may have to wait until next week. We'll see.

I can't believe my "little" sister is going to leave the U.S. in less than 3 weeks! I won't get to meet her new baby in person until the little cutie is already 1 or almost there (IF we can get to where they are next summer!). Such is life, I suppose.

ChaCha is going well... relatively. I haven't been able to do as MUCH as I would like, but what I'm doing is at a higher pay, so the $$ are adding up much more quickly. As a matter-of-fact, I'm going over to do that right after I finish up here. :)

Jobs OH, JOBS!

Looking ALL Over

Jess went to Orlando yesterday in search of work. I'm very glad about it. It's amazing how much work I end up doing for these job hunting epeditions. I keenly and clearly remember the time investment I put in when we were still up North and he came down here to check out the market for Chefs.

Jess was gone from around 8 in the morning until around 7:30pm yesterday. Of course, more than 4 hours was driving because of getting from here to there and then from each place to the next, but the rest was spent in interviews and such! He had a request for a second interview with Disney, but it wasn't management. He DID, however, learn how to go about applying for a Sous or Executive Chef position! YEAY!!

Naturally, if you know anything about our lives lately, you KNOW I've had the girls on my own for longer than the time he was gone yesterday, but RARELY after being up until 3:30 in the morning the night before! THAT was rough! why was I up so late? Well, there were a few things that needed to be updated in Jessie's "I LOVE ME BOOK," which I feel is very important for him to have to show prospective employers. There have been many impressed with it and it adds a bit of an edge. In addition to that, I spent a lot of time updating the look of his resume, altering his cover letter a little, updating references, and putting those items together in little packages so he could easily hand them to an interviewer or someone of importance. On top of all that (and, mind you, these things were done ALL day the day before yesterday), I also spent a good deal of time creating directions in Google maps for Jessie to use in traveling to the various locations we'd determined he would go to apply. Can you tell I was busy? Well, I WAS! So, I didn't get much of any ChaCha done that day... Tuesday. Yesterday I was just too darn tired. And then today I find I'm at $.10 a search. I'm pretty bummed about it, but determined to keep going with it for at least SOME additional cash flow. I need to have a way for pay for Ria's dance class and our current income from Jessie's work just won't.

So, today I've done some ChaCha, but I also have looked for writing work. It's SO time consuming! I haven't found anything in the freelance realm of my interests/abilities, BUT I did find something else that's pretty interesting. I'm hopeful about it since I love to write in my blog anyway. It's PayPerPost and it's a way to sort of make a little bit of money by blogging where I already do anyway! I've started the process and looked at a few jobs and it looks like it'll be a more enjoyable work and potentially pay more that ChaCha. Plus, I'll be WRITING! ^_^

Look for some weird and interesting posts for the PayPerPost gig. Hopefully they'll be some things that you're actually amused by or interested in, too! :)

I'm also considering trying for a job with Sylvan... but, without knowing the details, it seems like I'd have to commit to certain hours and such, which is just not terribly workable at this point. We'll see. I know I'm eligle since my teaching certificate was not revoked! :)

ChaCha
So, in case you didn't catch it in the info above, I didn't make the top guides for ChaCha and now I'm making $.10 per answer. :( WHAT a bummer! Still, I've earned around $120 with what I have done up to this point. Not too shabby, all things considered.

The Girls
Both have been sick in the last 2 weeks! :( How annoying! Kat was the worst, but seems to be much better. I'm so glad. I would MUCH rather be ill than have my children ill!

Ria is still reading amazingly well and Kat is using the potty even more consistently. She even lets us know when she needs to pee when wearing a diaper most of the time. Pretty awesome, right!?

Jess
Is well. He was planning to be the food preparer for our Ward picnic on Saturday, but now has to work. Pretty disappointing. He was really excited about it. Ahwell... what can you do??

Me
I'm all right. Worn out, is all. The belly is getting huge and I'm just not sleeping well. This is upsetting because I was around 34-36 weeks when this hit with the girls. Too EARLY now! I'm only 32 weeks! I have a feeling this baby will come earlier than we've been expecting.

I've walked pretty regularly except for one week (was it last week!?!?). I feel SO much better when I walk regularly. Actually, it's about that time now. Must run! :)

Almost 3 Days

I'm surprised, but not, that it's been "sooo" long. I thought it was only a day ago that I was writing about our little bits of life, but I was wrong. I've been really busy, but not... thus not on the computer for the last couple of days! I actually didn't even touch it - except for when Jess asked me to help him print something. It felt kinda good to go computer-less (which also means no movies on the internet) for those days. I may start doing it more frequently. ESPECIALLY since I have SO much work (crochet, specifically) to catch up on!

TUESDAY
The busy-ness on Tuesday consisted, basically, of dozing/sleeping on the couch a LOT! I've been SO super tired. And it's not been because of late nite-nite times as much, either. I've been specifically trying to get to bed earlier (and having some success, I might add), but I still wake up and am not fully awake through most of the day - most days! Ria and I haven't even been consistent with classes this week because I've just been so tired. As a matter of fact, the girls didn't watch ANY television (movies) on Monday or Tuesday. They were REALLY awesome playmates most of that time both days. Kat has been pretending to be either a baby or a cat and Ria has been pretending that Kat is a Mama and Ria tells her to do certain things... it's pretty funny.

Jess had the night off from the Club. He and I reviewed some mail and as a result Jess realized that our financial situation is pretty sticky right now. (MAN, I'm glad we didn't make that trip to VA!! We'd be in some SERIOUS difficulty!!!) He was going to go out and put in some more applications, but he was super stressed out. So the girls and I put him in the laundry room (just kidding ^_^ hahaha) and we spent time together letting him unwind. He did and felt really relaxed about an hour later (too late to go put in applications at restaurants, though). I went on a walk all by myself after Daddy came out. He made dinner and we had a nice evening with the missionaries and a wonderful "Daddy-made" dinner.

After dinner we had a quickie FHE because Mama TOTALLY spaced it on Monday. The topic was The Word of Wisdom. Did I hear a "Why?" in the peanut gallery?? Well, you see, Ria has been obsessed with serving and "drinking" coffee lately. It IS all pretend. But considering that even Daddy doesn't drink coffee anymore AND Mama's belief system involves a belief that coffee is actually BAD for the body, the pretend serving and drinking of coffee felt really troublesome. The brief explanations of "we don't drink that" didn't make a difference. But Ria is very concerned about doing the right thing - WHEN we remind her that we have to do the right thing for Jesus to come to Earth again (second coming). She tells me regularly that she misses Jesus and wants him to come again (see above parenthetical phrase)! So, I knew that framing the concept of not pretending with coffee in the idea that it's something we believe Jesus and Heavenly Father want us to avoid would make a MUCH bigger impact on Ria's actual behavior.

WEDNESDAY
Jess did get out to put in applications! YEAY!!! Mama went on another walk alone. YEAY!!! Ria did NOT pretend about coffee. YEAY!!! And we had a happy, quiet night at home as a family.

THURSDAY
Today has been a really nice day.

The girls and I went to the playground early to play with Philline (mama) and Genevieve (daughter) who are in town until Saturday from GA. They have a home here, so we usually get to see them once a month. They are AWESOME and we wish they lived here! But we love to spend time with them when they are in town. :)

We were at the playground for about an hour and then went to Story Time. Heather (mama) and Ava (daughter) were there again, so we were able to spend some time with them afterward at the playground. We like and enjoy them a great deal as well! Eva (mama) and Miranda (daughter) were there this week (not last), so we got to see and chat a little with them as well. Also very cool. We're so blessed to know some wonderful ladies and little girls!

Lunch time quickly approached and we had to leave the playground to get home to make lunch for Daddy. We had a nice time with him home for half an hour. Ria got to watch Kat's movie and then was supposed to take a nap. Kat often falls asleep during her movie (a short PBS set of Caillou cartoons) and she did today. Ria did not sleep, but she didn't break down in tantrums through the evening either. (YEAY!!)

Mama watched most of a movie on the internet and then we went on a walk on the way to Philline's house for dinner. That was a 21 minute walk. (On the way to and from the library I clocked just under 20 minutes, total.) We had a lovely time spending time with Philline, Genevieve and Mr. Mark (a little, he mostly took the opportunity to have some alone time ^_^). On the way home we took some detours so Mama could clock another 20 minute walk. So, even though it wasn't all together as it usually is, I got about 60 minutes in throughout the day! YEAY!!!

So, all is well - other than feeling constantly bombarded by fatigue! I know I was tired with Ria and Kat (especially Ria because I was working and always stressed out), but this is a whole new experience this time!

BLOOD TEST RESULTS
I don't remember if I even wrote about the flub concerning this issue... but I will now. :) At my last midwife appointment I had blood drawn for the gestational diabetes (my current midwife does require it) and to check my iron levels. I didn't realize it was the GD test time, so I ate a peanut butter and HONEY sandwich for breakfast. I realized, after the blood was taken, that this was the wrong sort of meal to consume prior to this test! I shared the info with Karen and she was glad to know because if it came back positive, we'd trash it and do another after I'd eaten the correct meal (which she gave me the instruction sheet for this time). Well, as it happens, when Karen took my blood she commented that it didn't look likely that I would be anemic because my blood was such a good color, but she definitely seem concerned about the GD test coming back positive.

The results? They actually came in the next day (or two?) and I just forgot to share. :) I do NOT have GD (which I didn't think likely even with the bad meal prior to the test), but I DO have anemia! I basically always have anemia - at least every time my blood has been tested (except for once when I was preggie with Kat). It's at a 10.1, which is totally NOT good, but because I've got plenty of time, I should be able to raise it just fine. So, I'm doing my liquid chlorophyll and vitamin C really regularly and I'm sure I'll be fine when we next check (in a little over a month). This might partially explain the fatigue, but then again NOT. Because I have anemia EVERY time my blood is checked and I do NOT normally feel THIS tired.

Maybe my body is making a boy baby... it's never done THAT.... Who knows!!!

Groceries

On top of everything else Jess has to do, he's now, once again, in charge of grocery shopping. He's so wonderful about it, too, which makes the release of that responsibility easier for me to deal with. I hate to ask him to do yet something more, but there's this problem I have... so it's become rather necessary, as the moolah is much tighter right now, for the better shopper to be in charge. And Jess is definitely THAT!

I think it may be because I do the bills and so I know how much I could actually use... but whenever Jess goes grocery shopping, he comes home with almost exactly what I've put on the list. On the other hand, when I go.... I don't even want to go into what I come home with. I don't want to, but give me a minute and I'll get my guts up to bad mouth myself.

I think it also has to do with the horrible sense of foreboding I feel concerning food storage. I feel certain that something is going to happen and we're going to live off of our food storage again. I don't know what and I don't know exactly when, but it feels like it will be sometime after the baby is born, which causes me even greater anxiety.

So, basically, when I go grocery shopping I do NOT stick to the list. This is a good thing in that it seems the only time I remember certain necessary items is while I'm shopping. For whatever reason those itemS just don't seem to occur to me while I'm making the list. Usually the items are food storage related (at least lately). But the added items add up in the total, of course, and then I'm over budget. ARGH!

Jess took BOTH girls grocery shopping this morning. He doesn't prefer this because it is, admittedly, more difficult than taking one. But because he had them both I had a VERY quiet extra sleep time. MAN, I sure have needed a TON of sleep lately!!! I went to bed around 11:30pm last night and slept TWELVE hours and totally could have easily slept a few more. And this is how I've been feeling for a couple weeks now!!! ahwell... I guess this baby just needs extra energy to bake up properly. :)

WALK
YEAY, I was able to go for another walk today!!! Heavenly Father granted my request in that the rain came and went away prior to my walk time. After just a few minutes out walking I felt like I'd stepped out of a sauna because the air was just THAT wet. Amazing! But it felt really wonderful to get out again. This time it was 64 minutes. Thankfully my belly did NOT hurt nearly as bad or as much today as it did yesterday! I only had a couple big BH pains - as opposed to about 40 minutes worth yesterday.

Ria on the Phone
Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Chris made Ria's evening two nights in a row. Evie's birthday was yesterday and I swear Ria talked to her for a good 15 minutes or more. Chris's birthday was today and he chatted with her for a while. He was so sweet when he was trying to get off the phone with her. He's a very subtle guy, anyway. But Ria doesn't really GET subtle too well. I'm probably to blame. Not necessarily overtly (I hope), but when I was young subtley was TOTALLY lost on me. Perhaps it is genetic!?? I can hope. ;) I do have to say, sort of admiringly, Ria sure can talk on the phone! It's pretty cute, if I do say so myself. Kat was awake today so she also go to hear Uncle Chris. She doesn't speak much coherently - especially over the phone. BUT he did get to hear her say "bubble," which is mighty cute!

Happy Husbands

make happy homes!

I know it is often said that a Mother is the heart of the home and her attitude is sort of the thermometer or barometer of the home. I would agree with this, in general, but in my life and, specifically, my family life currently, the feeling my husband brings home with him infects me tremendously! Jess came home (and often does!) so cheerful today. I was feeling totally poopy because I've had a headache since... well, for over two weeks now. Not only does my head hurt, but I have begun to feel oppressed by pain. So, I wasn't in a terribly good mood. But Jess was happy when he came home and he didn't get poopy just because I was poopy. He stayed up-beat and just felt really positive for his brief lunch time with us.

I found that by the end of lunch together AND after he left I felt so much more able to cope with the constant pain because my mood was lifted by that of my hubbie. And the further I went into my afternoon and evening the more I've felt gratitude for this aspect of my husband because when he's happy I feel happier!! It's times like these that I'm so grateful that Jess has a work schedule that enables him to be home with us during the middle-ish part of the day. :)

Ria was talking to her Aunt Evelyn early this evening because today is her birthday. During the course of their really rather long conversation, Ria told Evelyn that her Daddy needed to get another job. She named only one specific reason for this and then went on to explain that he needed to get a really good job, but that he still had to be able to come home for lunch with us. I thought that was so interesting and wonderful. Especially because I really struggled with an idea for lunch today! I mean, I'm sure Ria would love having her Daddy home even if we didn't eat with him, but the couple of times that situation has actually occured, it really troubled her that we didn't eat a meal with her Daddy. It's just nice to realize, I guess, that I'm doing something that matters to her! Ya know? :)

Walk
I was actually able to go for a walk today! I went quite early because the sky was quite overcast and I was afraid I would get rained in if I waited until my normal time. So, I perspired a great deal more than I normally would have for the pace I walked (because it was QUITE hot even though overcast), but I felt SO much better after the walk than I have since Tuesday (when I was last able to walk). My head still hurt, but the pain was diminished! YEAY!!! I did a 66 minute walk and would have liked to do more, but the girls were bickering a bit too much for me to keep going since we were so close to home at the end.

Sunny Afternoon, Raining Evening

WEATHER and my walks
I'm feeling pretty darn bummed right now. This is my second evening of being unable to take my walk due to weather! It was raining from about 5pm until after 8pm last night and currently it is raining down hard. I planned to leave for my walk at 6:30pm, but I would totally go at 7pm as per my usual - except that it's STILL raining! :(

I've been wanting a treadmill lately because I have a VERY difficult time walking for the 80 minutes I WANT to do all at one go. But I can totally do 40 minutes. Even 60 is pushing it some days already. :p But if I could walk on a treadmill when I wake up and then go for my evening walk outside (weather permitting), I could still walk my goal without having constant Braxton Hicks for the last 30+ minutes (when I've done 80 minutes recently, this has been the result). It's not just mild BH, it's intense pain that makes walking quite difficult. So, I obviously don't want to put myself through that every day. When I have been able to walk (no rain), I've only been doing 40-60 minutes lately - depending on headache level. That's another MAJOR annoyance. My head has been pounding REALLY regularly ever since I was sick with the minor version of what Jess had this last weekend. Constant pain is just so... CONSTANT!

Story Time
I have to say I was super pleased and impressed. Today, for THE first time, Kitty Kat SAT for and listened to ALL of the stories read for story time today!!! I was so happy to see her sitting and then the fact that she STAYED that way until the children were getting up to move to the craft area... Well, needless to say, I think, this is wonderful progress, in my opinion!

At least the weather was nice for the girls after Story Time today. We finally made it after missing for THREE weeks! Ruth, our wonderful, sweet librarian was so happy to see us and gave me a big hug. And then she said the sweetest words, "You've lost weight!!!" Actually, I haven't lost an ounce... but I'm right where I have been since I lost those two pounds. My midwife is super impressed and pleased for me! But to be told by someone who hasn't seen me in a bit that I look like I've lost weight was really pleasant! ^_^

Ria was able to make friends with a new little girl named Ava. Her Mama is a teacher, so they'll be coming to story time for the summer. Her Mama, Heather, and I talked a lot and she's quite cool. So, hopefully we'll become friends. She's newly divorced, so potentially has a lot more time to hang out. Perhaps. She knows a lot about subjects I've read on that I don't have others to discuss them with. So, I'm hopeful. :) We'll see.

Progress!?!!
"The house looks really nice today, Tori. Thank you for working on the dishes and clearing the counter." Sweet words like drops of gas in my love tank! The night after I wrote about Jess not communicating to me in the way I need (Words of Affirmation love tank girl, here) I talked to him about the issue... again... and then told him about the blog post. I don't know which had the greater effect, but I rather think he actually heard some of what I said that night BECAUSE he made specific compliments on my efforts!!! The thing about that - specific compliments - for this WOA (Words of Affirmation) girl - is that general compliments get totally lost in my psyche (most of the time). It's like as soon as someone pays me a compliment (especially someone from whom I crave them!), my brain is like, "This is why they didn't really mean it. And this is what they would say if they really knew how much effort you put in. And if they really knew what to compliment this is how it would happen...." It's horrible and I am usually successful at curbing/silencing the horrible negativity of my inner mind. But when it comes to compliments about my work at home it is so much more difficult because there really IS so much I'm doing (especially when I'm on the ball, like now - as of late) that general compliments don't FEEL sincere no matter how much I might KNOW they are. And even though I KNOW how difficult it is for Jess to communicate to me the way I NEED... I guess it just comes down to how my feelings work and specific words of affirmation speak love to my heart like high octane gas in a vehicle as apposed to watered down stuff in the same vehicle. So, the fact that Jess made mention of the dishes that I'd just been working on AND the counter, which is a huge issue to him, helped me feel TRULY appreciated, which is a rare feeling in this ol' heart of mine! I think it goes without saying, but I'm going to say it anyway, "I'm so happy and feeling really hopeful!" It's wonderful to feel hope!!! Isn't it!??

Another Day

Today was pretty quiet. We didn't do anything out of the ordinary. But I do want to share that the girls wanted their hair done before Daddy got home. This time they both asked for it! :) Actually, first Kat asked me to do her hair up (pony tail was fine) until Ria asked for her hair to be done. Ria wanted a braid and about half way through putting the braid in place, Kat pulled her pony tail out and wanted a braid too. So, they both had braided hair! Because Kat's isn't quite long enough I had to do a French Braid and she actually did quite well at the whole NOT moving for hairstyling bit. I was pretty impressed! They were both very pleased with their hair and pranced around for Daddy's compliments once he arrived home. You really would think I made a big to do about the way I appear for lunch with Jess, but I honestly do NOT. My big effort is to have a meal on the table and us sitting down to share it together for the majority of the 30 minutes he's home! So funny... my girls!

I did walk today, though only for 45 minutes. I was going to go for 60, but it was lightly sprinkling about half way in (20 min.) and I was worried it was going to storm like it did yesterday. So, I played it safe. It totally did NOT storm, though it did come down hard enough to have soaked me had I been out for the 80 minutes I want to do! My biggest accomplishment today is completing a few rows on the newest baby's special blanket made by Mama. Although it is basically the same pattern as Ria's and Kat's, I'm making the little popcorn parts orange, which takes quite a bit more time than keeping them white. I figured it was appropriate since this baby's stuffed animal (which I have not yet made) will be Tigger. :) So, his or her blanket, hat, and jacket will be white and orange. ^_^ I think it will be quite cool... and VERY cute! I'll definitely have to get pictures of the babe all dressed up and propped next to Tigger.

Oh, I caught Ria, in a picture, doing something wonderful! Unfortunately, Kat saw me as I was taking it, so it's not compeltely candid. I wanted to have it as part of this post, but my uploading program is having a hissy fit, so I'll have to edit for that... It's a picture of Ria and Kat sitting in the chair in which we usually sit for reading time together and Ria is reading The Book of Mormon to Kat!!!! Isn't that awesome and wonderful!!? It would be cool enough if it was The Book of Mormon Stories, but it's the full on BoM!!! She has access to it, but hasn't really done this sort of thing before. It's her very own copy and she sometimes takes it down to look at it and read it quietly to herself. I just feel and felt so very happy over this moment in time that I was able to catch in a picture!!!! ^_^

Story Time, Playground, and Preparations

Luckily, Ria was able to find the two library books she got from the library last week. The whole "missing books issue" has been a pretty big problem lately because she doesn't keep them where they are supposed to be and there are two that have been missing for more than a month. So, we didn't check out any books this week. Hopefully we'll be able to find the MIA books so we can get some next week. She WAS able to get a couple movies of her choice, which she'll get to watch after reading classes. MAN she is reading SO well. I'm so impressed and pleased with her progress!

The girls made Corduroy (the bear) today after listening to two stories about him. It was cute, of course. Ria sits in rapt attention for the stories while Kat wanders from sitting to try to pay attention to moving through the room to see what mischief she can get into. Kat loves to read with me or Jess at home and she'll even sit quietly for Ria to read to her. But, for whatever reason, she doesn't seem to get much at all out of the stories read during story time. ahwell I'm sure her desire to focus will improve as she gets older.

The girls had a good time playing at the playground after story time. A friend from GA is in town, so Ria had a chance to play with her daughter, which Ria always loves! I wish they didn't live so far away. But we certainly enjoy the time we are able to spend together.

This friend who is in town right now will leave Saturday morning, so I'm trying to think of a way to hang out with her even though my Dad will be coming into town tomorrow morning! Probably she and I will walk together tomorrow night... we'll see how that works out.

My Dad arrives in Orlando tomorrow to attend Ria's dance recital on Saturday night. Ria is very excited to have her Papa come for HER!!! ^_^ I'm glad he'll be able to see her very first stage performance!

So, my day has already been busy with efforts to make the house a bit more presentable. I don't know if I've mentioned specifically that I've not been as strict with myself about the appearance of our home. It's not totally out of control, but if I'm tired, I rest instead of push myself to clean yet again (or more). I've felt better about my life, in general, since I haven't been super-anal-head-mama about the house! So, I will just have to make my appologies to my Dad for it not being in tip-top shape for his visit. He probably won't mind too much... he'll only have to be IN it for a few days and nights.

The Things They Say

Responding to a Question
I learned/heard about the three month food supply in FL from the friend who said he would do a year anyway. Since talking about the Articles of Faith "issue" he has been concerned about the whole issue. I learned yesterday that there are many states that have laws about how much food a family can store. For instance, in Hawaii there is a law (difficult to find) that states that if a household has more than 1 week of food stored it can be seized and disposed of as the gov't sees fit. Strange, but with the documentation that went along with the information, it seems true! The thing about these laws is that they are NOT easy to find. I've looked for, literally, HOURS thus far and not been able to find the law referred to for FL. I have asked around and an older man I spoke with told me that he lived here (in FL) when the law came about. Initially the powers that be were trying to pass the law to be for one month supply of food, but there was an uproar about that. So, they compromised at 3 months. I wish it wasn't so terribly difficult to determine the validity or situations under which this would be the case. Some of these laws are set up in such a way that the action becomes illegal only during times of duress... which is why you would store! So, if you store and it's in the law that it's illegal during the time for which you need it... you're wrong! ARGH! So frustrating.

More Pleasant Thoughts
Ria has been saying this phrase lately that just tickles me to no end! As with most children, Ria LOVES to help. It seems she most loves to help when it is difficult or impossible to find a way for her to help, but still... it's nice that she wants to! :) I needed to move a 20 lb. bag of rice from the kitchen counter (about the height of Ria's head) to the closet in which I store most of our food stuff at this point. I was feeling super weak and my tummy was very upset after going through some boxes looking for chili for Jess. So, I was just sitting there waiting until Jess was done washing his hands so I could ask him to bring the rice to me. Jess asked what I was doing and I told him. Ria said, "Can I help! I have lots of help!!" That is the phrase that she has been using pretty regularly lately. I just am so tickled by it! :)

Seed Saving
I've been collecting the seeds from the Easter Lilies that are growing in our front yard. So far I'm about 1/4 way through filling an old couscous container. I'm so excited! I want to get it half full so I can send some seeds to my Mom and still have lots to start the flowers going next year. I love having my yard full of those blooms!

Our landlords have mowers who come regularly (though not as regularly as I think they are supposed to). I am happy they don't come often when the flowers are in bloom. The last time they came I wasn't available to ask them to leave some of my flowers. I wanted to ask them to do that so they would go to seed and I could collect the seeds. When I saw the yard I was deeply touched because they'd left about 1 foot by 8 feet patch of the flowers! So, I've been actively collecting the seeds from those flowers for the past week or so. How thoughtful, right!??

Last year, when the flowers were such a comfort during some really stressful times I asked them a couple of different times to leave a big area of the flowers for me to enjoy and they did. They didn't care about NOT cutting some grass. But then, the fact that they REMEBERED! I just think that it's one of the nicest things that someone who doesn't really know me has ever done for me! ^_^

Food Storage
Just because it is occupying my mind I wanted to share that as part of my food storage I'm going to be purchasing some heirloom seeds to can at the Bishop's Storehouse. I'll probably buy from Burpee, but there are some other companies I want to check out. Just in case you don't know why I would go that route: heirloom seeds are REAL seeds. They don't just grow up to be what the picture shows, but you can get seeds FROM those things you've grown and reliably get the same crop from those seeds you claim from your growth. Lots of seeds sold in grocery stores and WalMart are hybridized. That means that the only way you can get what you see on the package, consistently, is to use the seeds from the package. No seed saving! That's not really a problem if you have money to buy seeds every year. It's also NOT a problem as long as things stay as they are... but since we know they will change (just don't know when), it's much safer to go the heirloom route so that you can have what you want when you grow and seed save!

Happy Memorial Day
Jess has had the morning off from the Cafe today. He worked on the car and determined that he would not be able to remedy the problem(s), so he's going to try to sell it for a bit to reclaim some of the money we've just put into it. He says the engine is worth $1200 by itself. So... we'll see what happens with that.

Currently, he is grilling hot dogs and hamburgers because we HAVE to have hot dogs on Memorial Day (according to Jess). I'm not feeling too stable in the belly, so I'm having a hamburger and some chips.

It Happened
Saturday Jess spent most of the day working on the car again. That's problem enough in that it means the girls aren't getting Daddy time and we are not having family time. Selfishly it's REALLY horrible because it meant that I felt like I had to take the girls on my long walk because he had to make dinner while I was gone. Jess doesn't cook too well with the girls underfoot unless I'm around the clear the floor around his feet.

I was preparing to go on my walk and Jess said, "Would it be so bad to skip one day?" No, one day wouldn't be so bad, but since I'd already skipped Thursday because he was home (unexpectedly) my response was, "Yes, it really would be so bad!" I was upset about the whole thing so I didn't talk to him about the subject until I got home. YES it really would be SO bad! I've come to LOVE my walks! It's an hour during which I do NOT feel guilty for ignoring my daughters every whine and whimper. It's an hour during which I'm not going to be touched unexpectedly at any given moment. It's an hour, the ONLY hour of the day, during which I'm doing something good for myself. It's an hour after which I see myself differently when I look in the mirror (LITERALLY!). It's an hour, after which I feel better, happier, calmer, than I do in the evenings on the days I do NOT walk. So, YES, it really would be SO bad to miss walking an extra day. I still want to try to get that 6th day because I know it would be another evening I would feel better in general and like how I look more! But I'm trying not to be upset with my good accomplishment of 5 walks a week, especially with the increased minutes.

Breakdancing
Jessie's new obsession! Go figure, right? :) I will try to talk about this more in the future. Lunch is ready and Jess is antsy.

Story Time and an Unexpected Night Off

We had a lovely morning of going to the library and playing at the playground today. It was so completely wonderful, in fact, that I completely forgot to watch the time and we arrived inside at 1:50pm. That was alarming for me because I usually start our big family meal at 1pm. So my mind was jumping trying to think of something I could make in under 20 minutes! I settled on scrambled egg sandwiches. Thankfully we haven't really had those much in the last few months, so it was a nice "new" meal. :)

I was having such a good time and lost track of time because there were two really wonderful ladies at the library with their children today. Sue, especially, is just such a magnet to me... she has this aura of peace and joy about her. I felt as if I couldn't NOT spend time with her. And when I did talk with her she was just wonderful... she was really interested and interesting. She also WANTS to have another child, which is really attractive to me because so many of the women with whom I have (and do) associate are either ambivalent or completely uninterested in welcoming more children to their families. Those feelings make ME feel really uncomfortable because of how I feel about children and the Lord's Will. I am still friends with the ladies like that, but I feel a sort of yawning gap in my ability to relate to them. All of the women of whom I'm speaking have either 1, 2, or 3 children. The women I know who have 4+ and feel the way I'm referrring to, I can sort of understand. But less than 4 and feeling that way?? Ahwell...

The other lady, Jessica, would also like to have another child/more children and she lives right here in my town!!! Actually, she lives two blocks south of me. So, that is wonderful to me because she's also very motivated about dropping pounds (has already lost over 40 on her own) and she walks 4 miles daily (on a treadmill). So, potential for a walking buddy!? She told me today that she almost stopped at my house one day because she thought it was where I lived, but didn't because she wasn't sure. So, I'm excited and hopeful to have another friend right here in town! ^_^

If you're interested in more on my beliefs and feelings about welcoming children into our family (or any family), just leave me a comment and I'll make a whole post about it! ^_^

Jess just came home. Thus, the unexpected night off!! I'm hoping the drizzle/rain will stop and give me an hour to walk in a few hours because I would really love to walk alone. It would be my first walk alone in two weeks. So, tonight has the potential to be a bit of a night off for both of us!

He's talking about fishing at the beach, so we may do that as a family (if the water from the sky ceases). Jess actually wants to go right now, even with the rain. But Mama has to be the guardian of everyone (health in particular). We'll see.

Oh, I'm 20 weeks and 1 day preggie now. And get this, I has SUCH an upset tummy last night (for hours!) that I asked Jess to stop on his way home and pick up some Ginger Ale and Coke. I had the Ginger Ale right when he got home and felt much better.

I don't normally and haven't had ANY caffeine to drink in months and months, but I've heard SO much about how Coke stops the BLAHs in their tracks. I wanted to have some on hand if I feel like I did last night. At one point I thought I would have to run to the bathroom it was so bad! (That all happened well after the walk. You know, when I felt like I was ill and it went away when I stopped walking toward the bridge.) Anyway, it could all be tied into hormone surges or something. And I'm cool with that, but I will use what I can to soothe it, too. Ya know? ^_^ Of course, if it was something more powerful than Coca Cola I probably would just buck up and deal with it, but I would like to have relief from the YUCKIES if they come on again like they did last night. It was just crazy!

Story Time?

Nope, not today. Today IS the day we usually go the our library and participate in Story Time, check out books, and choose some movies. But today we didn't go because Mama has put her foot down. I'm not accepting the poor treatment (particularly the disobeydience) Ria has been dishin' out. I'm determined to be a good Mama, so I've been staying really calm. This, unfortunately, is not my regular MO, but I'm REALLY striving to change.

Have you ever heard that when we try to make a change for the better the whole universe revolts? I have experienced the truth of this and never more than when I'm trying to remain a calm Mama... Ria is, as humans are, used to how I have been - even if that is not good. I'm glad I understand this because it makes dealing with her screaming fits and monkey-acting at least a little bit easier to endure.

Ria spent quite a long time in her room because she was throwing temper-tantrum after temper-tantrum about any subject possible. Thankfully Heavenly Father was supporting me in my efforts and I felt cool as a refrigerated cucumber! I had some time cuddle time with just Kat. That happens REALLY rarely, so it was pleasant. :) When Ria was able to come out she was so much nicer to be around.

We did reading class, as usual, and she got to watch her choice of movie. She chose Cinderella. She LOVES Cinderella. A couple weeks ago, she watched that one at least 3 days in a row. (That's the most Ria's ever done with any movie.) She also loved Pocahontas.

I think I have neglected to mention a funny thing about Ria and her movies. Well, in particular Pocahontas, but she's also done a few other things. "What?!" you say. She pretends to be Pocahontas. No biggie, I suppose, because most kids pretend to be what they see. But this particular pretending is really funny because the only part she copies is when Pocahantas is sort of sneaking around. Ria has, during this sort of pretending, hurt the side of her ankle pretty severely at least 3 times! She stopped pretending to be Pocahontas while her ankle healed after the last time, but resumed as soon as it was pretty much healed over.

Today was my first day to do some interval walking (30 minutes of my hour). I was really amazed at the distance the inteval walking helped me cover. I was down to 28th stree in 31 minutes! Usually I don't walk past 25th at the furthest, to get my 30 minutes one way, so I'll end up home in about an hour. I also worked up a very nice sheen of persperation all over. Usually I don't have much on my face, as of late. So this is an interesting development. I plan to do the bridge tomorrow, but may decide on intervals instead since I hope to walk all by myself. Jess will only have tomorrow night off for the week and I REALLY want to enjoy my one hour that I'm completely alone and not responsible for anyone but me!

A Walk in the Rain and a Sunny Morning at the Park

So I've been walking for a couple of weeks. This week will make three. I have a great desire to have an easier/better labor with this baby than the last. I definitely think I was beyond out of shape when I had Kat. Given that I realize that AND that I started this year serious about getting fit... I've decided to stay on course - except that I'm NOT following my plan to train for a 5k anymore. That's really just foolishness at this point, especially since I have breathing stuff happening ALREADY! (It's totally normal to get out of breath when preggie because the baby displaces the guts which sort of squish the lungs a little. Plus the lungs have to get bigger to provide for the additional oxygen requirements of the Mom AND babe.) Even knowing all that doesn't make the discomfort any more comfotable, but at least it's not as scary as it was the first time!

Anyway, my goal is to walk 5 days a week, at least, and walk for 1 hour each day. The first week I did 4 days. But last week I accomplished my minimum goal! YIPPEE!!! I'm on track this week even though it totally looked like it was going to rain when my walk time approached. But I decided I really couldn't give myself that excuse and got the girls and snacks and water ready anyway. We left and it was overcast, slightly windy, but nice weather otherwise. It did sprinkle and even sprinkled sort of hard at one point, but I kept walking and finished the hour! I wasn't soaked, which is good. And the buggy/trailer I have is AWESOME! I would recommend it to EVERYONE who wants to be active! It's a hybrid, which means that it converts from a trailer you can use behind your bike to a jogging-style stroller. It is as manueverable as a jogger, which can get frustrating sometimes, but isn't enough of a detractor to take away from all the advantages. What ARE the advantages? Well, the one I have is a two seater, BUT has a seatbelt configuration that will safe and comfortably ride just one child as well! The belts go across the lap AND over the shoulders and basically connect at one point in front of the child. But they are NOT easy to manipulate. Ria can, finally, put her own on, but cannot completely unbuckle. So, it's safe! :) Another advantage is that it will safely carry up to 100 pounds of kids! Awesome, right!?? That's two large toddlers!!! There's TONS of room in the buggy/trailer, too, as in leg room! Another advantage is that it not only has a bug net built in, but it ALSO has a wind/rain shield built in!!! This was the advantage that made it totally possible for me to walk in the rain and not worry about my girls!! What a BLESSING!!! Another HUGE and MARVELOUS advantage is that this buggy/trailer converts with ABSOLUTELY NO TOOLS!!!! If you think I'm not serious, you really should not doubt me. I would totally NOT lie about something like this! The front wheel is securely in place when in use, but disasembles by the push of some buttons and extraction of the handbrake. It took a bit of figuring with the little handbook, but it makes SO much sense, mechanically!!! OH, and the front wheel stores in the back of the buggy itself so you can carry it WITH you, which means that even if you go for a bike ride, you can walk your children after you arrive at your destination!!! And the back wheels release SUPER easy for packing in a vehicle. AND it folds up with a tug on two sturdy pull handles; one on either side of the buggy!! When you check out the site and see that it advertises for SIMPLE, EFFORTLESS, QUICK on the front page where you see a lady packing a single stroller... well, I'm SURE that's totally true for the single stroller, but for the double it does require a bit of effort for me and average to strong chick, but it IS SIMPLE and QUICK!!!! Do you wonder where I found this amazing miracle of a buggy? Well, I'll give you the address: http://www.babyjogger.com/ And mine is, of course, the Switchback/Hybrid. I wonder who would ever buy the Tailwind because you'd still need a regular buggy/stroller... but I guess if you HAVE tons of money.... We don't. We invested in this buggy with our tax return in 2007.

You might be shocked by the tag, but the cost is TOTALLY worth it if you're like I was - single car family - planning to do EVERYthing walking. I don't do grocery shopping walking, but will as soon as the new WalMart is up!!! It's going to be under 2 miles away. TOTALLY do-able, even for cold stuff, as long as I plan it well during the hot months. :)

Just as a note about babyjogger... if you have one, or one on the way, but plan to have more, I would HIGHLY recommend the initially higher/greater investment in the double bike trailer hybrid because it TRULY is worth it. And the singleton will ride in it safely as soon as s/he can sit up reliably! There are other options.

I've already got a plan for a third child. I'll use my sling for walks at first, but for long walks that won't last more than a few months. So, there's another THREE seater jogger I've found that is reasonably priced. So, we'll buy that will next year's tax return. I usually walk all over town during the week so it's a valuable investment for my family. Also, for bike rides, I'll purchase a bike seat that will be right in FRONT of me on the bike! So, we'll still have the mobility that I'm so happy to have with my current buggy/stroller... except the rain might hold us up a little because the new stroller doesn't have the built-in amenities and the bike seat isn't rain proof. :) Now, if I happen to have twins growin in there, I'm not really sure how we'll do the bike thing... but I hope to figure it out. I'm SURE I will figure the walks out... probably Ria will start biking a LOT! :) She would love that right now... but not the whole way. I'll just have to build up her endurance.

Moving right along...

Today we did Joy School with Sage and her daughters. It was the PERFECT weather! Seriously! The sun was out, but mostly hiding and the wind was only gusting gently. We played at one of the NUMEROUS playgrounds in the area... Flagler County really is good to parents!! The playground we enjoyed today has two swing sets; one for big kids and toddlers and one for babies. There are also two play/climb areas with slides. One meant for the smaller kiddos and one for the "older" who are 12 and under. It was lovely to spend time with my friend. She's the awesome chica who will help me with my girls for the birth of the baby currently "in the oven".

And currently I'm waiting for the eggs to boil to make salmon salad (like tuna salad for sandwhiches). It's yummy already, so I'm pleased. The eggs will just finish it. You know, of course, that kids AND preggie mamas are supposed to have very limited amounts of tuna and if they have it it's supposed to be a certain kind. I can't even remember the specifics because I decided it would be better to steer clear of tuna once I learned the bits and details of why to avoid it. Basically, it's all big fish because of mercury, I think. My brain is really muddled right now about the research I did on that subject. Anyway... we actually do Salmon (Alaskan, preferrably) for our food storage, which is what we're eating for lunch. Working on keeping it cycling, ya know. :)

Oh, my brother Josh shared with me that it looked like the extra money from the gov't to stimulate the economy is going to be a lot more than I was told it would likely be. So, I'm sort of hoping for the same. If it is, I think we're going to be able to "officially" have our food storage completed!!! In Florida we can only have 3 months supply - law of the land and all. And given my experiences with the Lord's will and His examples to me of why I should live faithfully, I feel very strongly that we should not exceed the limits places on us by the gov't. Now, I'm not going to be such a stickler that I'm going to count my pantry items and such as part of the food storage amount because I REALLY feel/believe they are different for different purposes. Like, to me, food storage is in case of imminent or pending disaster of any kind (loss of income is our most frequent experience with disaster to effect our abity to provide for our families nourishment). While pantry is the stuff you use all the time and have to worry about keeping stocked and worry about running out of on a weekly basis. Anyway... I TOTALLY know from experience that pantry supply is extremely valuable when life necessitates use of food storage exclusively. Pantry almost becomes gourmet extras! But anyway... I'm so excited to discuss this more with Jess and hope we will be ABLE to use much of the money (if not all of it) for this purpose! I've been feeling anxious about food storage, which I KNOW is a blessing from past experience and I need to heed the anxiety!

More later. Must finish lunch.