As I sit here with my pumpkin coffee, I can't help but count my blessings. As I was going through my day yesterday, I realized that while my life may sometimes feel like a train wreck, though it may sometimes be painful, I have so much to be thankful for. I have a beautiful home even though it's almost always a mess. I have a vehicle to take me wherever I want to go. I have 3 amazing children who I couldn't possibly love more. I have the most wonderful husband I could ever ask for. But most of all, I have a Lord who has blessed me beyond words and sometimes, I forget that. I admit it. There are times when I forget just how awesome and amazing God is!
I want to talk about my husband for a minute. We've shared our laughter, tears, joys, sorrows, and love for the past 6 1/2 years, 2 1/2 of those being married. I know it sounds cliche but I fall more in love with him everyday. He provides for our family so I can stay home and raise our children. He comes home after a long, tiring, and stressful day at work and helps me with dinner and the kids. He takes out the trash for me. He lets me have a kid-free evening to sit at Panera and knit with friends. He watches our children so I can volunteer with the PTA. There's a million other things that he does for us that I don't even know about because he chooses to do them without recognition. I am amazed everyday at the unconditional love he has shown, is showing, and will continue showing me until death do us part. I don't always remember to tell him how much I appreciate everything he does for our family and I don't always remember to be kind.
As I was sitting at Panera last night, we had a discussion on how we as wives aren't always kind to our husbands. Even though we may be joking at times, the words we say and how we say them can come across as biting or even downright mean. I have found myself being more knit-picky and annoyed with little things since Harrison has been born. After that conversation, I decided I'm going to find only positive things to say to my husband. I'm honestly curious how much better this will make our relationship and help our communication.
Now that all the sappy stuff is out of the way, here's the low-down at the Kramers over the past few months. At the beginning of June, Harrison was born. The transition of going from 2 to 3 kids was much harder than I anticipated. We had a lot of feeding issues in the first month and a half and it's was pretty crazy and stressful in our house (hence why you're only now getting an update). Since then, my Little Love has started 3rd grade (3rd grade!!) and is enjoying every minute of it! Things are starting to settle down and become more routine like now and I'm thankful for that. For awhile there, I thought I might pull all my hair out! It's been a roller coaster of emotions but I'm enjoying every minute of it; and yes, even those pull-out-my-hair and sobbing times!
On that note, I'm off to get my Little Love up for school. Next time, I'll update with some pictures. Until then, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
Showing posts with label pta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pta. Show all posts
Friday, September 6, 2013
Thursday, December 29, 2011
December and Christmas
December's been a pretty happening month here at the Kramer household. At the beginning of the month, I went for my normal check up and blood work. The one-hour glucose test came back a little high so I went for the 3 hour test a few weeks later. Unfortunately, those numbers also came back higher than normal so I've been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I have to test my blood sugar 4 times a day and methodically watch the amount of carbohydrates I eat. I was concerned with the diagnosis because throughout my pregnancy I've been eating healthy with some not-so-healthy stuff but only in moderation. The doctor assured me that it happens sometimes in pregnancies because the body is more resistant to insulin. It's going pretty well so far. I've been able to keep my blood sugars in check with just simple diet changes. I have to say that it's a little weird counting carbs, fats, and calories all the time but so far it hasn't been overly hard. :-) Because of the GD, my doctor wants me to deliver between 39 and 40 weeks (unless I deliver naturally beforehand) so we've decided the best time to have Trinity is February 8th. I'm so stoked that it's only 6 weeks away and then we get to meet our beautiful bundle of joy! Anyway...
I got to do a bunch of volunteer stuff with the PTA and holidays at Kristi's school. I'm the chair of the community service committee and as our first drive of the year, we did a toiletry drive for Once More Ministries. Each grade had a specific item to bring in like toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, etc. The classrooms collected 2 huge boxes! As an incentive to bring in items, the classroom with the most items gets a holiday cookie party in January. The next drive I'm planning is to help re-stock one of the local food pantry's. Since the holidays pretty much wipes them clean, I thought this would be perfect. Moving on...
We had a family weekend where we did movies, made meals, and made gingerbread houses. I think more of the candy went in Kristi's belly than actually on here house but here's the finished products:
I think when we do them next year, I'll use different icing. I thought royal icing would be best because it dries hard but man, trying to get it to stick to anything was sooooooo hard! Lesson learned...
Next up was Kristi's Christmas party at school. We started in the cafeteria/gym with the entire school carol sing-a-long. Then we went back to the classroom for her party. She had so much fun playing games and making crafts. She got to decorate a cupcake, make an ornament, unscramble words, and play a game. The next day, the three 1st grade classes got together and had different stations of activities for the kids. I ran the Pictionary station and it was so much fun watching the kids try to draw and guess the pictures. There are some really great artists there!
Christmas was great again this year, although I did miss having my baby girl here. We had Kristi open a few of our presents to her as well as family gifts that were sent before she left on Friday. I think the gift she freaked out the most about was the Victorious t-shirt we got her. She's been begging for it all year!
We spent Christmas Eve finishing the shopping we didn't get done the prior day and wrapping presents for the next day. We went to the Christmas Eve service which was awesome. The choir didn't do a cantata this year so the service was a little different. The children acted out the nativity scene while one of the older children narrated the story. It was really, really adorable! We ended the service with a candle light ceremony which is always my favorite! We spent Christmas day and the day after with Andy's family at his parents. We got to their house pretty early in the morning and had Carol open one of her gifts so she could use it later that day (if she wanted):
After the family arrived, we had breakfast and opened gifts. Here's a few of the highlights:
Since then, Andy and I have been hanging out, cleaning the house, and rearranging things. We've been having a really great time having some "just us" time. Well, that's about all I have for now so until next time... Much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
I got to do a bunch of volunteer stuff with the PTA and holidays at Kristi's school. I'm the chair of the community service committee and as our first drive of the year, we did a toiletry drive for Once More Ministries. Each grade had a specific item to bring in like toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, etc. The classrooms collected 2 huge boxes! As an incentive to bring in items, the classroom with the most items gets a holiday cookie party in January. The next drive I'm planning is to help re-stock one of the local food pantry's. Since the holidays pretty much wipes them clean, I thought this would be perfect. Moving on...
We had a family weekend where we did movies, made meals, and made gingerbread houses. I think more of the candy went in Kristi's belly than actually on here house but here's the finished products:
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| Mine |
 |
| Andy's (love his wreath!) |
 |
| Kristi's |
Next up was Kristi's Christmas party at school. We started in the cafeteria/gym with the entire school carol sing-a-long. Then we went back to the classroom for her party. She had so much fun playing games and making crafts. She got to decorate a cupcake, make an ornament, unscramble words, and play a game. The next day, the three 1st grade classes got together and had different stations of activities for the kids. I ran the Pictionary station and it was so much fun watching the kids try to draw and guess the pictures. There are some really great artists there!
Christmas was great again this year, although I did miss having my baby girl here. We had Kristi open a few of our presents to her as well as family gifts that were sent before she left on Friday. I think the gift she freaked out the most about was the Victorious t-shirt we got her. She's been begging for it all year!
We spent Christmas Eve finishing the shopping we didn't get done the prior day and wrapping presents for the next day. We went to the Christmas Eve service which was awesome. The choir didn't do a cantata this year so the service was a little different. The children acted out the nativity scene while one of the older children narrated the story. It was really, really adorable! We ended the service with a candle light ceremony which is always my favorite! We spent Christmas day and the day after with Andy's family at his parents. We got to their house pretty early in the morning and had Carol open one of her gifts so she could use it later that day (if she wanted):
After the family arrived, we had breakfast and opened gifts. Here's a few of the highlights:
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| Sophie loved her gift from us |
 |
| Such goofs! |
 |
| I think she liked it? |
 |
| Loved her reaction to our gift! |
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| My totally awesome new boots |
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| He's a coffee fiend :-) |
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| Trinity's sock monkey |
♥Courtney♥
Friday, October 21, 2011
What Not to Crave
So two weeks ago I got a hankering for chocolate. Since most chocolate hurts my teeth (I have extremely sensitive teeth), I thought I'd try eating a Twix bar instead. Big. Mistake. OMGosh all I have wanted and craved in the past 2 weeks is Twix! I never realized just how much I LOVE them! I've been doing really well with eating healthy my whole pregnancy so I thought I'd treat myself and by a small bag of the fun-sized bars. Again I say... Big. Mistake. I have come to realize that I absolutely CANNOT control myself with these babies. That bag was seriously in my house less than 24 hours. So, being the health coach that I am, I now recognize that under no circumstances can Twix bars be in our house. I'm not really sure how I'm going to handle Halloween yet, but I have another week to figure that out!
My second and only other pregnancy craving so far has been muenster cheese. This was my absolute favorite cheese when I was a kid. I haven't had it since moving in with my husband 3 years ago. Although, now that I really think about it, I don't think I've had any since I was a tween. Oh wait, that's a lie. Anytime I've eaten at Isaac's, I've had it. I forgot it's on the Boardwalk Gull. LoL! Anyway... I was at the grocery store the other day and picked some up. Cheese has never tasted so good to me. :-) If you haven't tried muenster cheese before, I highly recommend it. Cheese is definitely one of those funny foods you have to be careful with. I mean, in the health sense. There are many positive attributes to cheese like calcium, protein, etc., but if you're not careful, it's very easy to eat more than the recommended amount; therefore, eating excess calories and fat. I've been doing great on that front so far. Speaking of...
On Monday, we had a baby appointment. I got to see my favorite doctor and ask lots of questions. One of the things I wanted to discuss with her was my weight. I guess as my stomach continues to grow, I'm noticing that that isn't the only thing growing. I wanted to make sure I am on a positive weight track with this pregnancy. One of my biggest regrets with Kristi's pregnancy was not eating healthy. And because of that, I am making a conscience effort to eat healthy with Trinity. Granted, I slip-up (um.. read above) but I can say that overall, I'm eating very well in comparison (thank you TSFL!). She said that I am actually under for my weight gain but that it's okay since I was a little overweight to start. As of that appointement, I have only gained 15 pounds and can gain up to 23 pounds by this point so that made me feel really good. She also discussed us getting a level two ultrasound. Since my last one was at 18 weeks, the technician was unable get very clear anatomy pictures. That's scheduled for Nov. 7th so we'll get to see Trinity again (yay!!) and verify that she's definitely a girl. LoL! Andy still thinks we're going to find different anatomy or he just likes teasing me about it. :-) Moving on...
TSFL is going well. I haven't actually signed up any new clients as of yet, but this week I made the decision that this is it. It's either now or never--I'm either going to do this or not. I've been dabbling with this since April of last year and haven't been focusing on my business; although, I still haven't quite figured out why. But this past week, I made the decision that it will be my primary focus. So I've started looking at the training videos, renewed my license, ordered the new file system, set goals, and am continuing to master my craft. I've made it a priority to do something everyday, whether it's 10 minutes reading the Habits of Health or an hour of phone calls--just something. I have found that when I constantly surround myself with it, my momentum stays up. I don't want to just be a health coach--I want to be a GREAT health coach; someone my clients can depend on. I want to work from the comfort of my own home and be in my pj's. I want to watch my children grow up and not miss a single step or milestone in their lives. Most of all, I want my family and I to be happy and healthy and stress-free (yes, I understand we'll never be completely stress-free). I want to be able to participate in functions at school and be an active member of South Hamilton's PTA, more than just going to a meeting every month. I want to volunteer more of my time at church and be a part of all the wonderful opportunities that are there like choir and Upwards Basketball. Being in business for myself will allow me to have all these things and then some. I'm just not sure why it's taken me so long to realize that.
Tomorrow is my sister's bridal shower. I'm so excited for her and can't wait to spend time with her, my mom, and bestie. We're going to have a lot of fun. I'm really looking forwad to her wedding in a couple of weeks as well. It's going to be beautiful as will she. Kris and I had our first fitting for our dresses tonight. I'm really surprised that she only has to shorten Kristi's straps. I thought she was going to have to take the sides in some. On mine, she has to take in the bust, add some extra boning in the back, and hem the bottom. All in all, not too much and she does amazing work!
On that note, I'm going to work on Carol's birthday present so until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
My second and only other pregnancy craving so far has been muenster cheese. This was my absolute favorite cheese when I was a kid. I haven't had it since moving in with my husband 3 years ago. Although, now that I really think about it, I don't think I've had any since I was a tween. Oh wait, that's a lie. Anytime I've eaten at Isaac's, I've had it. I forgot it's on the Boardwalk Gull. LoL! Anyway... I was at the grocery store the other day and picked some up. Cheese has never tasted so good to me. :-) If you haven't tried muenster cheese before, I highly recommend it. Cheese is definitely one of those funny foods you have to be careful with. I mean, in the health sense. There are many positive attributes to cheese like calcium, protein, etc., but if you're not careful, it's very easy to eat more than the recommended amount; therefore, eating excess calories and fat. I've been doing great on that front so far. Speaking of...
On Monday, we had a baby appointment. I got to see my favorite doctor and ask lots of questions. One of the things I wanted to discuss with her was my weight. I guess as my stomach continues to grow, I'm noticing that that isn't the only thing growing. I wanted to make sure I am on a positive weight track with this pregnancy. One of my biggest regrets with Kristi's pregnancy was not eating healthy. And because of that, I am making a conscience effort to eat healthy with Trinity. Granted, I slip-up (um.. read above) but I can say that overall, I'm eating very well in comparison (thank you TSFL!). She said that I am actually under for my weight gain but that it's okay since I was a little overweight to start. As of that appointement, I have only gained 15 pounds and can gain up to 23 pounds by this point so that made me feel really good. She also discussed us getting a level two ultrasound. Since my last one was at 18 weeks, the technician was unable get very clear anatomy pictures. That's scheduled for Nov. 7th so we'll get to see Trinity again (yay!!) and verify that she's definitely a girl. LoL! Andy still thinks we're going to find different anatomy or he just likes teasing me about it. :-) Moving on...
TSFL is going well. I haven't actually signed up any new clients as of yet, but this week I made the decision that this is it. It's either now or never--I'm either going to do this or not. I've been dabbling with this since April of last year and haven't been focusing on my business; although, I still haven't quite figured out why. But this past week, I made the decision that it will be my primary focus. So I've started looking at the training videos, renewed my license, ordered the new file system, set goals, and am continuing to master my craft. I've made it a priority to do something everyday, whether it's 10 minutes reading the Habits of Health or an hour of phone calls--just something. I have found that when I constantly surround myself with it, my momentum stays up. I don't want to just be a health coach--I want to be a GREAT health coach; someone my clients can depend on. I want to work from the comfort of my own home and be in my pj's. I want to watch my children grow up and not miss a single step or milestone in their lives. Most of all, I want my family and I to be happy and healthy and stress-free (yes, I understand we'll never be completely stress-free). I want to be able to participate in functions at school and be an active member of South Hamilton's PTA, more than just going to a meeting every month. I want to volunteer more of my time at church and be a part of all the wonderful opportunities that are there like choir and Upwards Basketball. Being in business for myself will allow me to have all these things and then some. I'm just not sure why it's taken me so long to realize that.
Tomorrow is my sister's bridal shower. I'm so excited for her and can't wait to spend time with her, my mom, and bestie. We're going to have a lot of fun. I'm really looking forwad to her wedding in a couple of weeks as well. It's going to be beautiful as will she. Kris and I had our first fitting for our dresses tonight. I'm really surprised that she only has to shorten Kristi's straps. I thought she was going to have to take the sides in some. On mine, she has to take in the bust, add some extra boning in the back, and hem the bottom. All in all, not too much and she does amazing work!
On that note, I'm going to work on Carol's birthday present so until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Being excited makes time go slow...
Did you ever notice when you were a kid how time seemed to go soooo slow when you were excited for something? I have a double whammy this week and I seriously can't believe it's only Tuesday! On Thursday, we're finding out Peanut's sex (so oober excited) and then we leave for the beach on Sunday. Those two things combined are driving me crazy for time to just go faster! Okay, that little rant is over so now on to life...
Kristi is doing great in school. She's now completed 3 full weeks and is absolutely loving it. She was really worried about not having Mrs. Reed this year, but once she met Mrs. Byers at the open house, was really happy. She has since said she loves having Mrs. Byers as her teacher (yay!). I have to say that I was a little concerned as well because of how advanced Kristi is (and no, I'm not one of those parents who thinks their kid is a genius, but she is smarter than the average bear). Her class has almost 30 children this year and I was very concerned about the curriculum not challenging her. I know that public schools cannot cater to every students needs, but I was pleased to say that Kristi's teacher honestly makes an effort to individualize as many things as possible because they do realize that some children are more advanced than others. They have a letter reading system in which Kristi is starting at level L. This includes level 2 books as well as Little Golden Books. Another area of concern for me was spelling. At the end of last year, Kristi got a list of words to work on over the summer for the first grade. She already knew every single word on the list. I found out during open house that most of the kids are on different levels so the spelling lists are tailored as well as is math. I am so happy that we had the chance to experience open house this year because it really put my mind at ease! Kris started homework this week. She has a list of words that needs to be sight-read each night, each list harder than the last. So far, she's only struggled with one word. They're also doing a word list each week of more "grown-up" words and we're encouraged to use them in everyday language. This week's list includes defiantly (oh how we've used that one for awhile now!), harmony, etc. I was very surprised that she could tell me what they all meant in her words! Anyway...
I went to the PTA kick-off earlier this month. I had joined the PTA last year and due to many different circumstances, was unable to attend most of the meetings until like April. I was really hesitant about joining again this year because of my experience with that meeting last year, but wanted to at least go to the first meeting to get a better sense of things. Since Kristi started at SH late, I didn't really get all the information that goes out at the beginning of the year about the PTA. So when I finally got to that meeting in April, they were looking for a chairperson for the talent show. I asked for more information about it like what all was involved and required of the chairperson. (I was really worried about time commitment because of potentially starting a new job and a babysitter.) I don't know if our wires got crossed, but that request for information somehow translated into me volunteering for the venture. I was definitely put off so that was my main reason for hesitating this year. Anyway, I went, got really excited about the upcoming school year and events, and am even contemplating being the committee chair for the fall fundraiser. How much I volunteer is going to solely depend on my next topic.
As far as Take Shape For Life goes, not very much has happened there. I'm not really sure what goes on in my head when it comes to just doing it. I get so excited and ready to move on and then my motivation seems to fizzle. I just don't get it. Is that my heart telling me something or is it me just being lazy? I don't know... I do know that I don't particularly want to work for corporate America (and that truly has nothing to do with my current job because I do enjoy working for RSR) for the rest of my life. I want to be able to enjoy spending time with my family whenever I want and having an income that is sensitive to my lifestyle, not the other way around. That would seem like motivation enough if you ask me, but that's somehow not translating into action. Hm... I do believe much of that comes from fear. I know I stated that in a previous post. Again, I'm just not sure how to get past it. Any suggestions??
Well, that's about all I have time for tonight so until next time... Much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
Kristi is doing great in school. She's now completed 3 full weeks and is absolutely loving it. She was really worried about not having Mrs. Reed this year, but once she met Mrs. Byers at the open house, was really happy. She has since said she loves having Mrs. Byers as her teacher (yay!). I have to say that I was a little concerned as well because of how advanced Kristi is (and no, I'm not one of those parents who thinks their kid is a genius, but she is smarter than the average bear). Her class has almost 30 children this year and I was very concerned about the curriculum not challenging her. I know that public schools cannot cater to every students needs, but I was pleased to say that Kristi's teacher honestly makes an effort to individualize as many things as possible because they do realize that some children are more advanced than others. They have a letter reading system in which Kristi is starting at level L. This includes level 2 books as well as Little Golden Books. Another area of concern for me was spelling. At the end of last year, Kristi got a list of words to work on over the summer for the first grade. She already knew every single word on the list. I found out during open house that most of the kids are on different levels so the spelling lists are tailored as well as is math. I am so happy that we had the chance to experience open house this year because it really put my mind at ease! Kris started homework this week. She has a list of words that needs to be sight-read each night, each list harder than the last. So far, she's only struggled with one word. They're also doing a word list each week of more "grown-up" words and we're encouraged to use them in everyday language. This week's list includes defiantly (oh how we've used that one for awhile now!), harmony, etc. I was very surprised that she could tell me what they all meant in her words! Anyway...
I went to the PTA kick-off earlier this month. I had joined the PTA last year and due to many different circumstances, was unable to attend most of the meetings until like April. I was really hesitant about joining again this year because of my experience with that meeting last year, but wanted to at least go to the first meeting to get a better sense of things. Since Kristi started at SH late, I didn't really get all the information that goes out at the beginning of the year about the PTA. So when I finally got to that meeting in April, they were looking for a chairperson for the talent show. I asked for more information about it like what all was involved and required of the chairperson. (I was really worried about time commitment because of potentially starting a new job and a babysitter.) I don't know if our wires got crossed, but that request for information somehow translated into me volunteering for the venture. I was definitely put off so that was my main reason for hesitating this year. Anyway, I went, got really excited about the upcoming school year and events, and am even contemplating being the committee chair for the fall fundraiser. How much I volunteer is going to solely depend on my next topic.
As far as Take Shape For Life goes, not very much has happened there. I'm not really sure what goes on in my head when it comes to just doing it. I get so excited and ready to move on and then my motivation seems to fizzle. I just don't get it. Is that my heart telling me something or is it me just being lazy? I don't know... I do know that I don't particularly want to work for corporate America (and that truly has nothing to do with my current job because I do enjoy working for RSR) for the rest of my life. I want to be able to enjoy spending time with my family whenever I want and having an income that is sensitive to my lifestyle, not the other way around. That would seem like motivation enough if you ask me, but that's somehow not translating into action. Hm... I do believe much of that comes from fear. I know I stated that in a previous post. Again, I'm just not sure how to get past it. Any suggestions??
Well, that's about all I have time for tonight so until next time... Much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
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