As I woke up this morning, I had very bittersweet thoughts. Tomorrow our lives will forever be changed. We will go from a family of 5 to a family of 6, 3 of those members under the age of 3. This is the last full day I will ever feel a baby kick, roll, or move inside me. It's the last full day I will ever struggle to get down on the floor to play with Love Bug or Bug-A-Boo because we all know that getting back up is next to impossible when this pregnant. It's the last full day I will feel the weight of baby Willow pressing against my stomach oh so painfully. And while I am completely excited and grateful for what tomorrow holds, I'm also completely sad that this is an experience I will never have again. My pregnancies aren't easy by any stretch of the imagination and I'll admit that I complain--a lot--when I'm pregnant. But God gave women such an amazing blessing in the way we were made and today, I'm just realizing how much I've taken that for granted (pain, suffering, and all).
Moving on to the family and general updates... Yesterday I was sitting on the couch watching Bug-A-Boo play with a truck and was just in awe of the difference between him and Love Bug. Not just a difference in their personalities and physical growth but differences in their likes and dislikes at this age. Bug-A-Boo is all boy. I don't really know how else to explain it other than he just loves playing with blocks and building towers, playing with cars, and throwing himself around or climbing all over everything. Love Bug at this age was more interested in playing with dolls, kitchen food, and her rock table. Physically, Bug-A-Boo walked before Love Bug and also has a mouth full of teeth, whereas Love Bug waited until 14 months to walk and still only had her 4 front teeth. She started talking much sooner than he, even though he tries so hard to form words and has since about a year.
Bug-A-Boo started walking and hasn't stopped since (or so it seems)! He's still in that wobbly stage where he looks like a Weeble Wobble (but actually does fall down). He trips over his own feet constantly which makes me laugh, especially when he tries "run". He scares me half to death when he face plants on the couch, barely missing face planting on the floor by only an inch. He likes to knock things over (like our lamp) to see what happens and put toys inside other toys and objects to see if they fit.
Little Love is starting 4th grade, 4th grade, on Monday! I can't even believe it. Where did all the time go? I know I feel this way at the beginning of each year but this year I think it's hitting me a little harder knowing it's the first time I won't physically be here to see her off to school. It makes me incredibly grateful that the iPhone has FaceTime capabilities and that our hospital has WiFi access for their guests! She got to meet her teachers earlier this week and now that she has, she's excited to start school. Her teachers are nice and I think we're going to have a great year.
That's about all I have for today so until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
Showing posts with label peanut. Show all posts
Showing posts with label peanut. Show all posts
Friday, August 22, 2014
Monday, June 9, 2014
Mastered Pregnancy Yet? Nope..
I have so many thoughts running through my mind today. From my pregnancy to how much my kids crack me up to holy cow I forgot to switch the diapers into the dryer! Speaking of pregnancy, you would think with this being my 6th pregnancy I would have it down pat by now. I do, for the most part. But there are still times when things catch me off guard. This pregnancy hasn't been too bad sans the sickness and earlier progression of gestational diabetes. Willow is moving and kicking all the time now and you can feel it much more from the outside in recent weeks. She's growing perfectly and one of our kids FINALLY cooperated for the 4-D ultrasound! I'm amazed at how much she looks like Trinity. It makes my heart melt every time I look at that picture. I'm so excited to meet her! We go back tomorrow for another ultrasound (one of the few positives of having GD) and I'm hoping we'll get another 4-D picture!
As far as getting ready for her, I'm all over the place with decisions. Since we don't really have a separate sleep area yet for Willow, preparations haven't been quite as extensive for her arrival as with my other two. I'm still trying to figure out a suitable arrangement for her clothes and am debating if we can use the dressers we already have or if we'll need another dresser. That brings a whole other host of problems though like where on earth I'm putting another dresser! So for now, I'm mostly just working on getting her NB diaper stash together. I'm sewing at least half, if not more, of her diapers and ordered the rest. After a lot of thought and talks with Andy, we've decided to go the AIO route for her diapers since Trinity isn't showing ANY interest in potty training yet. :/ Side note: AIO = All-in-One which is basically as close to a disposable as you get. I've made 5 so far and am in love with them! (You can check them out and my other crafting endeavers at On My Needles.)
♥Courtney♥
As far as getting ready for her, I'm all over the place with decisions. Since we don't really have a separate sleep area yet for Willow, preparations haven't been quite as extensive for her arrival as with my other two. I'm still trying to figure out a suitable arrangement for her clothes and am debating if we can use the dressers we already have or if we'll need another dresser. That brings a whole other host of problems though like where on earth I'm putting another dresser! So for now, I'm mostly just working on getting her NB diaper stash together. I'm sewing at least half, if not more, of her diapers and ordered the rest. After a lot of thought and talks with Andy, we've decided to go the AIO route for her diapers since Trinity isn't showing ANY interest in potty training yet. :/ Side note: AIO = All-in-One which is basically as close to a disposable as you get. I've made 5 so far and am in love with them! (You can check them out and my other crafting endeavers at On My Needles.)
I started this post weeks ago and never got around to finishing it but am going to do so today because it's a very special day. My one and only son is a full year old today! I just can't believe it! It's amazing and astounding that an entire year has gone by since meeting my little man. I absolutely love that his personality has really started coming alive the past few weeks. He laughs all the time when he's amused (he didn't used to) and is trying so hard to talk. When you ask him something, he actually responds like he's answering your question. He has the most expressive face and eyes. He loves to snuggle (most times) and wants to do everything that everyone else does. <3 access="" all="" at="" but="" can="" drive="" external="" hard="" here="" his="" i="" is="" moment.="" most="" my="" nbsp="" of="" on="" one="" p="" photos="" put="" re="" recent="" s="" shots:="" t="" that="" the="" they="" this="" unfortunately="" usually="" where="" year="">
Moving on to my other kiddos... Little Love is just about finished school. Her official last day is Friday and she's totally excited (as am I). We have about a week break before she leaves for Girl Scout camp, comes home, has her birthday party, and then leaves to visit her dad for the remainder of the summer. While I'm totally going to miss her while she's gone, I know she needs some time with her dad and future step-mom and -sister. She's totally excited to explore more of Seattle and I'm really excited for her. She's participating in character day on Monday and chose to be Hermoine from the Half-Blood Prince. I'm amazed at how she's taken to reading the Harry Potter series. She started reading them in September and read this last book in only a few weeks! I'm incredibly proud of her!
I'm getting ready to start some lesson planning for Love Bug and am doing research on homeschooling in PA. Oh my is it overwhelming! I'd like to start some sort of "school" time with her this summer to get her (and Harrison) used to a scheduled, structured time for learning. She's already counting to 10 orally so I'm thinking we'll start there and work our way to recognition. She's also doing great with shapes (thank you Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!) so we'll continue building on those as well as introduce more reading time. This is definitely going to be a journey and one I'm nervous about since I have no formal instruction on teaching. PA has a TON of regulations when it comes to homeschooling and thankfully I don't have to start documentation until she turns 8. With that said though, I'm currently looking into creating a Homeschool Planner because I really think it will help keep me organized and things less chaotic. There's so many resources out there and trying to sift through them all has been challenging but I'm very excited God has blessed me with being able to dive into this adventure with my kids.
Well that's all I have for today so until next time, much love and many blessings!
Moving on to my other kiddos... Little Love is just about finished school. Her official last day is Friday and she's totally excited (as am I). We have about a week break before she leaves for Girl Scout camp, comes home, has her birthday party, and then leaves to visit her dad for the remainder of the summer. While I'm totally going to miss her while she's gone, I know she needs some time with her dad and future step-mom and -sister. She's totally excited to explore more of Seattle and I'm really excited for her. She's participating in character day on Monday and chose to be Hermoine from the Half-Blood Prince. I'm amazed at how she's taken to reading the Harry Potter series. She started reading them in September and read this last book in only a few weeks! I'm incredibly proud of her!
I'm getting ready to start some lesson planning for Love Bug and am doing research on homeschooling in PA. Oh my is it overwhelming! I'd like to start some sort of "school" time with her this summer to get her (and Harrison) used to a scheduled, structured time for learning. She's already counting to 10 orally so I'm thinking we'll start there and work our way to recognition. She's also doing great with shapes (thank you Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!) so we'll continue building on those as well as introduce more reading time. This is definitely going to be a journey and one I'm nervous about since I have no formal instruction on teaching. PA has a TON of regulations when it comes to homeschooling and thankfully I don't have to start documentation until she turns 8. With that said though, I'm currently looking into creating a Homeschool Planner because I really think it will help keep me organized and things less chaotic. There's so many resources out there and trying to sift through them all has been challenging but I'm very excited God has blessed me with being able to dive into this adventure with my kids.
Well that's all I have for today so until next time, much love and many blessings!
Friday, May 24, 2013
News & Updates
I can hardly believe that today I'm 37 weeks and considered full-term! This pregnancy has definitely been more difficult than with Love Bug. At 33 weeks I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes again (I had it with Love Bug). This time around it's been different in that my sugars aren't being controlled as well with just my diet, especially my fasting sugars. Because of that, I started taking Glyburide (the lowest dose) and that seems to be helping. The side effects suck but it's either that or I have to inject insulin and that's not even an option! Squish has been perfectly on target size wise so my doctors aren't overly concerned that my sugars haven't been perfect. I did find out that part of the reason for the higher numbers is my use of antacids (my heartburn is RIDICULOUS this time around) and my use of cough medicine for the cold I've had for the past 2 weeks. I started taking Zantac a few days ago so I'm hoping that will help with the heartburn so I can use less antacids.
It's been pretty busy around here the past month trying to get ready for Squish's arrival. We still have so much to do (at least it feels that way) but everything is starting to come together. We're hoping to have the nursery finished the first weekend in June. We purchased all the paint for it last weekend so hopefully we can hire our friend to paint it by then. I'm not too worried about it since he won't be sleeping in his own room for at least a week or two anyway. I've gotten all his clothes we currently have washed and put away. I know I'll have more to do this weekend since our baby shower is tomorrow which I'm totally okay with. I'm hoping we get some larger sized clothes since we already have a bunch of NB stuff. Since he'll be born in the summer, he'll mostly be wearing onsies anyway. Speaking of the baby shower; I'm going to go off topic here for a minute. I'm really excited to get together with everyone. I feel like time just flies and gets lost a lot lately and I don't get to spend much time with friends or even my family. It's going to be so nice seeing everyone. :-) So back to prepping... In a previous post, I talked about flipping the girls rooms so that Love Bug and Squish would share a room and Kristi would have her own room. After doing that, I really struggled with the configuration of all the furniture needing to fit in the littles' room and am still struggling with the idea of having them in there together. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I'm thinking it's not such a great idea. Love Bug is pretty much on a set schedule and does so well with sleep. I honestly don't know if she would do well with a screaming infant in the middle of the night, multiple times a night. Andy and I talked a lot about it earlier this week and we're thinking that having the girls share a room for now is going to be the best option, at least until Squish gets on some semblance of a sleep schedule that is similar to Love Bug's. Side note: we probably should have had this in our minds when building our house. Anyway... this weekend is going to be so busy getting the rooms moved around...AGAIN. Little Love is really excited about the move though so that makes it better.
The last part of prepping involves finishing Squishes diapers. I've got 9 of 12 finished and the more I do them, the faster and easier it is. Depending how long it takes me to get these last few finished, I may bump up and do 18. Thankfully, Andy's mom lent me her sewing machine since mine's acting out and I don't have the time or patience to get it looked at right now. Her sewing machine is sooooooo nice (and I'm totally jealous because I seriously WANT one!). Enough on that though... You can read more about those adventures on my crafting blog.
On other fronts, last weekend we celebrated Andy's birthday, our anniversary, and our friends' birthday with our really good friends, the Wilts. The boys really wanted to see Star Trek (as did I) so we saw that in the early afternoon and then went to Aki for dinner. It was an amazingly awesome time and we had so much fun! We were supposed to go see Iron Man 3 after that but I couldn't get a sitter for Love Bug so we decided to stay in as a group and hang. I actually went to bed at like 8:30 because I was so exhausted while everyone else watched movies downstairs. It was so nice to spend time together, especially since I know that soon we won't have these opportunities very often.
Well, that's about all I have for today. I've got lots to do so I better get to it! Until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
It's been pretty busy around here the past month trying to get ready for Squish's arrival. We still have so much to do (at least it feels that way) but everything is starting to come together. We're hoping to have the nursery finished the first weekend in June. We purchased all the paint for it last weekend so hopefully we can hire our friend to paint it by then. I'm not too worried about it since he won't be sleeping in his own room for at least a week or two anyway. I've gotten all his clothes we currently have washed and put away. I know I'll have more to do this weekend since our baby shower is tomorrow which I'm totally okay with. I'm hoping we get some larger sized clothes since we already have a bunch of NB stuff. Since he'll be born in the summer, he'll mostly be wearing onsies anyway. Speaking of the baby shower; I'm going to go off topic here for a minute. I'm really excited to get together with everyone. I feel like time just flies and gets lost a lot lately and I don't get to spend much time with friends or even my family. It's going to be so nice seeing everyone. :-) So back to prepping... In a previous post, I talked about flipping the girls rooms so that Love Bug and Squish would share a room and Kristi would have her own room. After doing that, I really struggled with the configuration of all the furniture needing to fit in the littles' room and am still struggling with the idea of having them in there together. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I'm thinking it's not such a great idea. Love Bug is pretty much on a set schedule and does so well with sleep. I honestly don't know if she would do well with a screaming infant in the middle of the night, multiple times a night. Andy and I talked a lot about it earlier this week and we're thinking that having the girls share a room for now is going to be the best option, at least until Squish gets on some semblance of a sleep schedule that is similar to Love Bug's. Side note: we probably should have had this in our minds when building our house. Anyway... this weekend is going to be so busy getting the rooms moved around...AGAIN. Little Love is really excited about the move though so that makes it better.
The last part of prepping involves finishing Squishes diapers. I've got 9 of 12 finished and the more I do them, the faster and easier it is. Depending how long it takes me to get these last few finished, I may bump up and do 18. Thankfully, Andy's mom lent me her sewing machine since mine's acting out and I don't have the time or patience to get it looked at right now. Her sewing machine is sooooooo nice (and I'm totally jealous because I seriously WANT one!). Enough on that though... You can read more about those adventures on my crafting blog.
On other fronts, last weekend we celebrated Andy's birthday, our anniversary, and our friends' birthday with our really good friends, the Wilts. The boys really wanted to see Star Trek (as did I) so we saw that in the early afternoon and then went to Aki for dinner. It was an amazingly awesome time and we had so much fun! We were supposed to go see Iron Man 3 after that but I couldn't get a sitter for Love Bug so we decided to stay in as a group and hang. I actually went to bed at like 8:30 because I was so exhausted while everyone else watched movies downstairs. It was so nice to spend time together, especially since I know that soon we won't have these opportunities very often.
Well, that's about all I have for today. I've got lots to do so I better get to it! Until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Expansion
Our little family is really starting to expand, in every sense of the word. We started with just Little Love and I, then added Andy, then Love Bug, and now little Harrison is on the way. I'm scared... This pregnancy caught us so off-guard and it's been a whirlwind of overwhelming since. I'm not necessarily saying that's a bad thing; it's just...different. I know nothing about little boys. I think that's what's the most disconcerting.
Expansion is usually positive in the sense that things are growing, whether it be family, business, etc. Just in the past week, we've purchased a new vehicle, Little Love started Girl Scouts, and I added a new member to my Thirty-One team! After finding out we were pregnant with Harrison, we knew we needed a larger vehicle. A Hyundai Elentra and PT Cruiser just can't handle 3 children in car seats. We were originally thinking of purchasing a smaller SUV because I've always been stone cold set on NOT having a mini-van! Well, after looking at prices and sizes, we got a mini-van. Although there's really nothing mini about it. It's an 07' Dodge Grand Caravan. I've always owned small vehicles so driving this monster has been interesting to say the least. So far, I'm really happy with our purchase and our growing family has plenty of space now so hopefully we won't feel like sardine's when we head to the beach this year!
Little Love had her first Girl Scouts meeting this past Thursday. I'm not sure she knows exactly how she feels about it yet. She did say that she was disappointed because she thought that they'd be going camping and having s'mores and doing that kind of stuff. I tried to tell her that this is her first time and those things will be coming up, just not today. LoL! I'm a little nostalgic heading into the weekend because I'll be visiting the 4-H store where I used to shop for my patches and Girl Scout items to get Little Love's vest and patches. I can't wait to see her in her "uniform"!
Thirty-One has been pretty steady so far this year. My goal for this year is to grow my team. I would realistically like to have 4 girls under my lead by the end of August. I'm not sure how feasible that is since Harrison will be born in June, so June, July, and most of August will be consumed with adjusting to life with a new baby plus a toddler and not-so-little kid! I'm definitely going to try though. I've pretty much mapped out my game plan for the coming month's of what I'd like to have happen so we'll see how it all falls in to place. My first recruit signed up yesterday and I'm totally stoked about that! She's going to be a fantastic consultant! Now comes the learning process for me of being a mentor. :-)
Well, that's about all I have for now. I'm going to get ready for the day before Love Bug makes her appearance. Until next time, much love and many blessings!!
♥Courtney♥
Expansion is usually positive in the sense that things are growing, whether it be family, business, etc. Just in the past week, we've purchased a new vehicle, Little Love started Girl Scouts, and I added a new member to my Thirty-One team! After finding out we were pregnant with Harrison, we knew we needed a larger vehicle. A Hyundai Elentra and PT Cruiser just can't handle 3 children in car seats. We were originally thinking of purchasing a smaller SUV because I've always been stone cold set on NOT having a mini-van! Well, after looking at prices and sizes, we got a mini-van. Although there's really nothing mini about it. It's an 07' Dodge Grand Caravan. I've always owned small vehicles so driving this monster has been interesting to say the least. So far, I'm really happy with our purchase and our growing family has plenty of space now so hopefully we won't feel like sardine's when we head to the beach this year!
Little Love had her first Girl Scouts meeting this past Thursday. I'm not sure she knows exactly how she feels about it yet. She did say that she was disappointed because she thought that they'd be going camping and having s'mores and doing that kind of stuff. I tried to tell her that this is her first time and those things will be coming up, just not today. LoL! I'm a little nostalgic heading into the weekend because I'll be visiting the 4-H store where I used to shop for my patches and Girl Scout items to get Little Love's vest and patches. I can't wait to see her in her "uniform"!
Thirty-One has been pretty steady so far this year. My goal for this year is to grow my team. I would realistically like to have 4 girls under my lead by the end of August. I'm not sure how feasible that is since Harrison will be born in June, so June, July, and most of August will be consumed with adjusting to life with a new baby plus a toddler and not-so-little kid! I'm definitely going to try though. I've pretty much mapped out my game plan for the coming month's of what I'd like to have happen so we'll see how it all falls in to place. My first recruit signed up yesterday and I'm totally stoked about that! She's going to be a fantastic consultant! Now comes the learning process for me of being a mentor. :-)
Well, that's about all I have for now. I'm going to get ready for the day before Love Bug makes her appearance. Until next time, much love and many blessings!!
♥Courtney♥
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Goals: Why are they so hard to accomplish?
We are officially one month into the new year so I figured it was time for a goal update. Every time I make goals, especially those related to my business, I find myself trying to be realistic yet no matter how realistic they are, I just can't seem to achieve them. I had a major problem with this last year when it came to my TSFL business. I'm half-way through my first goals time-frame and have 1 client. I know if I want to hit my $2,000 goal by February 29, I'm really going to have to rev up. I'm thinking of different ways I can do that while having a new baby. I'll fill you in on that one once I figure it out.
Knitting: If you follow my crafting blog, On My Needles, you'll know that I'm actually doing pretty well with my 2012 knitting goals. I won't go into detail here since this is my more life/business-oriented blog so if you want to know, check it out!
Blogging at least 2 times a week: I'm doing okay on this one. I posted a total of 6 times in January which is the same as last year. While I didn't hit this goal entirely for January, I still did a decent amount of updating and will continue to strive toward reaching this goal (here's post #1 for this week).
Quiet time: Epic. Failure. It's the first of the month and I am making a commitment to achieve this goal this month!
Relational: I've definitely been doing better with this. I'm not exactly where I want to be, but I'm getting better and for now, that's all I can ask for.
I know I'm not perfect and I know that on any given day or any given month I probably won't hit all these goals. I'm okay with that as long as I'm continually working towards them.
The last few days have been pretty uneventful here. I'm just really trying to work on getting the house in order for when Trinity comes. I know that if it's not at least somewhat organized and taken care of prior to her birth, it'll be a train wreck afterwards. I've mostly gotten her room finished, there's just some things I need to get packed and taken to the garage. I, unfortunately, need my husband's help with that and he's not been so helpful as of late (not really his fault though). My main goal for today is to get the kitchen completely cleaned, floors, counters, fridge, etc. Once that's complete, I want to rearrange some things so I can find a place to put away the rest of the Christmas gifts that are still sitting under our tree. All the decorations are off the tree, it's just a matter of the hubby getting it back down in the garage. He was really silly in that when he brought the tree up, he filled in the space with other stuff so now he has to move all that stuff somewhere else to get the tree back in--hence why it's still sitting in our living room. I'm really hoping he'll take care of that this weekend.
My next big project I want to do is get into our garage and start sorting through the yard sale boxes. We have so many of them because we were planning to have a yard sale last year, but our location just isn't ideal for it. So I decided that anything we were going to sell, we're going to send to a local consignment shop and see what happens. The nice thing is, if it doesn't sell, I don't have to worry about it. I'm hoping that once those things are out of there we'll have a lot more room. We'd ultimately like to have our exercise room out there. I know this probably isn't going to happen until at least the end of March or beginning of April. I have a few boxes already packed and upstairs so I'm hoping to get those sent over before Trinity gets here next week.
For now, I'm just going to focus on the next few days. So until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
Knitting: If you follow my crafting blog, On My Needles, you'll know that I'm actually doing pretty well with my 2012 knitting goals. I won't go into detail here since this is my more life/business-oriented blog so if you want to know, check it out!
Blogging at least 2 times a week: I'm doing okay on this one. I posted a total of 6 times in January which is the same as last year. While I didn't hit this goal entirely for January, I still did a decent amount of updating and will continue to strive toward reaching this goal (here's post #1 for this week).
Quiet time: Epic. Failure. It's the first of the month and I am making a commitment to achieve this goal this month!
Relational: I've definitely been doing better with this. I'm not exactly where I want to be, but I'm getting better and for now, that's all I can ask for.
I know I'm not perfect and I know that on any given day or any given month I probably won't hit all these goals. I'm okay with that as long as I'm continually working towards them.
The last few days have been pretty uneventful here. I'm just really trying to work on getting the house in order for when Trinity comes. I know that if it's not at least somewhat organized and taken care of prior to her birth, it'll be a train wreck afterwards. I've mostly gotten her room finished, there's just some things I need to get packed and taken to the garage. I, unfortunately, need my husband's help with that and he's not been so helpful as of late (not really his fault though). My main goal for today is to get the kitchen completely cleaned, floors, counters, fridge, etc. Once that's complete, I want to rearrange some things so I can find a place to put away the rest of the Christmas gifts that are still sitting under our tree. All the decorations are off the tree, it's just a matter of the hubby getting it back down in the garage. He was really silly in that when he brought the tree up, he filled in the space with other stuff so now he has to move all that stuff somewhere else to get the tree back in--hence why it's still sitting in our living room. I'm really hoping he'll take care of that this weekend.
My next big project I want to do is get into our garage and start sorting through the yard sale boxes. We have so many of them because we were planning to have a yard sale last year, but our location just isn't ideal for it. So I decided that anything we were going to sell, we're going to send to a local consignment shop and see what happens. The nice thing is, if it doesn't sell, I don't have to worry about it. I'm hoping that once those things are out of there we'll have a lot more room. We'd ultimately like to have our exercise room out there. I know this probably isn't going to happen until at least the end of March or beginning of April. I have a few boxes already packed and upstairs so I'm hoping to get those sent over before Trinity gets here next week.
For now, I'm just going to focus on the next few days. So until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
Sunday, January 22, 2012
9 Months and Counting
The last week or so has been one emotional roller coaster after another. It's not because of anything anyone did or didn't do. It's just my hormones raging. I feel like this time around my hormones have decided to wait until the very end of the pregnancy to show up and hit all at once. I remember with Kristi being emotional pretty much through the whole pregnancy. I mean, I'd have a crying breakdown every few days it seemed. This time, not even close, not even one of those until 2 weeks ago. With that said, I've now had those meltdown-type cryings like every other day the past 2 weeks--and it doesn't seem to be subsiding. I know one of the things that seems to spark these fests is the realization that we're not the most organized family in the world so every time I look around the house I want to pull my hair out and insanely, madly clean. I usually don't care that we have clutter because let's face it--we live in our house. We have a 6 year old who likes to do crafts and then jump into the next activity without cleaning up the previous activity (I have to admit she totally learned that from me). So I've tried coming up with something to help reduce clutter. For example, to reduce the amount of clutter with magazines (I subscribe to at least 10), as I read a magazine I dog-ear the pages I want to keep for future reference like articles or recipes. Once I'm finished reading, I rip those pages out and put them in a binder or my recipe box, then I toss the magazine. Well, I've been more than a little backed up on my reading so I have 2 stacks of magazines that still need to be read dating back to the summer. (I'm thinking one of those will go with me to the hospital since I'll have ample time to read them.) I'm also making a concerted effort to do something similar with all the catalogs I get. (The ones I mostly care about are the knitting/crafting ones.) Back at the beginning of December, I found the Amazon Wishlist toolbar for my browser so I can now create as many wishlists as I'd like and put anything from any website on them. Score! So I also utilize the dog-ear method for things I want and then go to the website and add them to my Purchase Later or Christmas/Birthday list, then toss the catalog. Since implementing this 2 weeks ago, I've already thrown away 4 magazines and as many if not more catalogs. I'm thinking I'll keep this method. Well, at least until I run out of room for binders that is!
Okay that was ranting a little so back to the original topic of my hormones... I've been nesting. Crazily, hungrily, nesting, especially when it comes to Trinity's room/stuff. I'm mostly finished with her room. I just have to finish filing some paperwork, change the files out since it's the new year, and clean the top shelf of her closet so I can fit my Cricut and Rubbermaid container with said Cricut stuff in it. I have a few other things to remove but other than that, the rooms good. I have to finish making the organizer for the side of the changing table (I've created my own knitting pattern since I couldn't find one anywhere online which will also count toward my goal--yippee!), sew the bumpers for her crib, and finish knitting her crib blanket. The bumper project is the one I'm most worried about. I haven't sewn since middle school. My sister lent me her sewing machine but I'm most worried about trying to read the pattern and get them to turn out right. I picked up the fabric, batting, and ribbon last week on sale at Jo-Ann's so I'm hoping to get to this project this week. I'm about half-way finished knitting the organizer and 40% finished with the blanket, both of which are fairly fast knits. Now, if she decides to come early, I'm totally screwed!
Changing topics completely... I was so excited to wake up to snow on the ground this weekend! I feel like I've been dying this winter because of cold/snow withdrawal. This is one of the craziest winter's I've seen in a very long time. I love winter and snow so it hasn't been my favorite winter thus far. A side note to Mother Nature--if you'd like to score more points, you still have time to send me a blizzard. The only thing I ask is that you don't send one when I have to go to the hospital for Trinity's delivery. That just wouldn't be nice.
I'm pretty sure I've talked your ear off enough for tonight so until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
Okay that was ranting a little so back to the original topic of my hormones... I've been nesting. Crazily, hungrily, nesting, especially when it comes to Trinity's room/stuff. I'm mostly finished with her room. I just have to finish filing some paperwork, change the files out since it's the new year, and clean the top shelf of her closet so I can fit my Cricut and Rubbermaid container with said Cricut stuff in it. I have a few other things to remove but other than that, the rooms good. I have to finish making the organizer for the side of the changing table (I've created my own knitting pattern since I couldn't find one anywhere online which will also count toward my goal--yippee!), sew the bumpers for her crib, and finish knitting her crib blanket. The bumper project is the one I'm most worried about. I haven't sewn since middle school. My sister lent me her sewing machine but I'm most worried about trying to read the pattern and get them to turn out right. I picked up the fabric, batting, and ribbon last week on sale at Jo-Ann's so I'm hoping to get to this project this week. I'm about half-way finished knitting the organizer and 40% finished with the blanket, both of which are fairly fast knits. Now, if she decides to come early, I'm totally screwed!
Changing topics completely... I was so excited to wake up to snow on the ground this weekend! I feel like I've been dying this winter because of cold/snow withdrawal. This is one of the craziest winter's I've seen in a very long time. I love winter and snow so it hasn't been my favorite winter thus far. A side note to Mother Nature--if you'd like to score more points, you still have time to send me a blizzard. The only thing I ask is that you don't send one when I have to go to the hospital for Trinity's delivery. That just wouldn't be nice.
I'm pretty sure I've talked your ear off enough for tonight so until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Time Management
My nemesis for today: time management. It's something in
which I severely lack skills. I have tried utilizing different methods to help but
they never seem to stick (maybe because I haven't tried them long enough??). I
don't know. What I do know is that I
have to figure this out. It's going to be even more imperative once Trinity is
here. I think one of my major issues is that I don't prioritize. I'm really
good at making lists but prioritizing--not so much. I also think I don't
realize how long tasks take so I end up only completing like one or two things.
And then I feel discouraged. So, it's definitely something I need to work on. Today
was a perfect example. My plan was to put the changing table together, finish
the load of cloth diapers, and finish cleaning up/decluttering Trinity’s room
all before Kristi got home. I started all this around 1 since that is when Andy
was finished moving the furniture around. I got the changing table together,
the closet reorganized, and the book shelf decluttered. I didn’t even have a
chance to start on the computer desk before she got home. In my mind, that
should have all been completed prior to her getting home but in reality, there
just wasn’t enough time. The next things on my to-do list were to get Kris her
snack, visit John in the hospital, hit Wal-mart for yogurt, and pick up dinner.
All in all, I was thinking as long as we left the house by 4:30, we’d be home
and finished eating by 6:30 at the latest. Well, 6:30 turned into almost 7 so
that wasn’t as bad. Ugh! Sometimes trying to figure out my day can be so
frustrating. Maybe I shouldn’t be so worried about always finishing everything
on the list? Or maybe I should make the list with less items? I don’t know. I
guess this is a learning process that everyone goes through and I just have to
learn!
I did get a bunch of stuff done today which was great and
made me feel good, even if it wasn’t everything
on my list. I was really excited to go through all the baby clothes that we’ve
gotten so far. There are soooo many adorable outfits that I can’t wait to put
on Trinity! Now, it’s just the daunting task of washing everything. I was
undecided if I wanted to just use the detergent we have or to buy the special,
dye-free/fragrance-free stuff. I started out using that with Kristi and then
changed over to using our regular detergent and she never had any problems. I
have mixed feelings about it. I honestly think Trinity will be just fine using
our regular detergent. I mean, she’ll be snuggling with all of us so she’ll be
exposed to it anyway. Okay… I’m rambling now so on that note, I’m off for the
evening. Until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
Monday, January 9, 2012
Overwhelmed
That completely describes my mood today. I don't mean just a little, but completely, totally, 100% overwhelmed--by everything. I don't even know what brought on this feeling; well, yes I do. After I got up this morning, the realization that I'm 35 weeks pregnant and in 3 weeks I'm going to have a squirming little bundle of joy crying every few hours really hit me (and I don't remember having this feeling with Kris). I started thinking about absolutely everything I still have to do and get and organize and just freaked! Her nursery is no where close to even being started. Thankfully, we're picking up the crib and changing table this weekend so at least that will be taken care of. I still have to go through bags of clothes that were given to us and figure out a place to put them. My plan was to make her crib set (the bumpers, skirt, sheet, valance, etc.) although now that's not looking like an option due to financial constraints. We haven't purchased the diapers yet and I'm not sure how or when we'll be able to do that. Then I started freaking because I need to find someone who can stay with Kris for the few days I'll be in the hospital so that she can still go to school--and that's not even half of what was racing through my mind today! I'm not going to bore you with my emotional, hormone-driven freak-out so let's move on to goals...
Business:
Tomorrow, I'm sitting down and mapping out the individual action plan(s) for each months goals. I know that having individual steps and breaking down the larger goals will help me be successful in achieving what I want. Once those are mapped out, it's on to putting them in motion.
Spiritual:
The goal that I set for myself was to spend a minimum of 15 minutes each day to read, ponder, and pray about scripture. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened. I have done some reading, especially each night with Kristi, but not the amount I wanted. I definitely need to step it up on this one.
Relational:
I've been in contact with more of my family and friends in the past week and have made some plans for get-together's--so far, so good!
So on that note, I don't really have anything else to talk about so I'm calling it an early night. Until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
Business:
Tomorrow, I'm sitting down and mapping out the individual action plan(s) for each months goals. I know that having individual steps and breaking down the larger goals will help me be successful in achieving what I want. Once those are mapped out, it's on to putting them in motion.
Spiritual:
The goal that I set for myself was to spend a minimum of 15 minutes each day to read, ponder, and pray about scripture. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened. I have done some reading, especially each night with Kristi, but not the amount I wanted. I definitely need to step it up on this one.
Relational:
I've been in contact with more of my family and friends in the past week and have made some plans for get-together's--so far, so good!
So on that note, I don't really have anything else to talk about so I'm calling it an early night. Until next time, much love and many blessings!
♥Courtney♥
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:
 |
| 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:
 |
| Sophie loved her gift from us |
 |
| Such goofs! |
 |
| I think she liked it? |
 |
| Loved her reaction to our gift! |
 |
| My totally awesome new boots |
 |
| He's a coffee fiend :-) |
 |
| 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♥
Monday, September 19, 2011
Getting Ready
The past few days have been a flurry of activity with doing loads and loads of laundry, packing for the beach, and finding out Peanut’s sex. Thursday morning we had the hour long ultrasound that determined Peanut’s sex and anatomy. Peanut’s anatomy is great from what we could see and they determined that it’s a girl!
Andy and I have talked many times about names since we started dating 4 years ago. If Peanut was a boy, we were going to name him Josiah and a girl, Trinity Lynnan. We’ve recently been contemplating other possibilities although not really wavering from the first name. Andy’s grandmothers name was Eleanor and I actually like that name a lot. Andy, not so much. He came up with Lenore but I don’t really like how it just abruptly ends so we compromised with Lenora. I don’t know if we’ll actually keep that, but it’s what we’ve decided so far.
Andy and I have talked many times about names since we started dating 4 years ago. If Peanut was a boy, we were going to name him Josiah and a girl, Trinity Lynnan. We’ve recently been contemplating other possibilities although not really wavering from the first name. Andy’s grandmothers name was Eleanor and I actually like that name a lot. Andy, not so much. He came up with Lenore but I don’t really like how it just abruptly ends so we compromised with Lenora. I don’t know if we’ll actually keep that, but it’s what we’ve decided so far.
Friday night and most of Saturday was spent grocery shopping for the beach, doing laundry, and packing for our very, very late/early departure. I think I did a total of 7 loads of laundry on Saturday (a new record for me!). Craziness…. Everything got packed pretty quickly once everything was folded and together. I made a list for Kristi for her stuff which definitely helped me. Sometimes I forget how big she is getting and I don’t necessarily need to pack 2 outfits for everyday that we’ll be there like I did when she was two (especially since there’s a washer and dryer in the condo).
Yesterday we went to the Salty Dog (the Steeler's bar/restaurant) for the game and to grab lunch. We got there an hour and half early and there still wasn’t any place to sit! So we scrappd that idea (although Andy didn’t) and went back to the condo for lunch and relaxtion until Andy got back.
I’m an avid reader which those of you who know me, know this. I follow Parents and American Baby’s on Twitter. I especially love many of the articles that Parents shares and often times share them myself. One of the most recent I read was on making your own baby food. I am honestly surprised at the ease of doing it and how long the food stays (even without preservatives!). Since starting TSFL, I have been much more cautious about the foods that my family eats, especially with Trinity on the way. I mean, I’m not going to lie and say we don’t eat anything with preservatives or is unhealthy but we definitely eat a lot less of those foods. One of my major concerns right now is the amount of high fructose corn syrup and preservatives are in everyday basic foods. This is definitely one of the reasons why the Parents article caught my attention. If I can learn to do these types of things on my own, it’ll not only be more healthy for my baby/family, but it’ll also save us a vast amount of money. If you’re a parent (or thinking of becoming one) and are on Twitter, I would highly recommend following Parents. You won’t be sorry!
Well, I’ve talked your ear off enough for today 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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