Calories

I am totally obsessed with calorie counting lately. It is the only way I have EVER managed to make good choices about what I am putting in my body. The moment I start calorie counting, I am almost the perfect eater. (notice I put "almost"?)

I am convinced that I would never again eat fast food if they changed their menus so that you couldn't order items by name, but rather were forced to order by their calorie content.

"Yes, I'd like the 750 calorie with a side of 375 calories. Oh, and could you go ahead and add an extra 250 calories just for kicks (aka: super size it)?"


Most of the time, I live in calorie ignorance. Which is not good. But at the moment? I am back to counting and calculating all of those nasty little things.

So this morning, I go to get a granola bar. Of course, I flip the box to the side to check out all the particulars. These granola bars come two to a pack. Now you can eat both bars as your serving which is nice. But notice what happens when you eat both bars at one sitting compared to just eating one bar:

You get an extra 10 calories for your efforts! Seriously? What is that about? They must be expecting you to eat the wrapper with the bars. I mean obviously if you only ate one bar, you'd need to reserve the wrapper so you could contain the remaining bar until you chose to eat it at a later time. That must be it. It's a 10-calorie wrapper. Who knew?

Sometimes . . . .

. . . . you've just gotta SPLASH!

A Glimpse Into The Future

From time to time I'll see a picture of Claire or Sarah and think, wow they look so much older! It makes me excited for the future while sad at the same time. I know I only have them at this age for a short moment in time.

Yes, this is a hectic time of runny noses, whiny cries and repeated discipline and instruction. But it is also the time of funny comments, sloppy kisses and cuddles on the couch. I treasure these days because I know I'll mourn for them when my babies are grown up and too busy to stop and cuddle.

Why all of this retrospect? I ran across one of those pictures of Claire. I am sure to most, she just looks like herself, but to me? She looks SO GROWN UP!It's a glimpse into the future that is definitely bitter-sweet. Thank you, Lord for these precious girls and for this time You've allowed me to have with them at home. May I not waste a moment of it!

I'm So Good, I Even Cook For My Dog

Okay, not really.

Today has been a tad crazy for me. Both my girls are sick. Sarah started running a fever after she woke up from her afternoon nap on Sunday and it is still going strong today. Claire seems fine, but won't eat ANYTHING--very rare for her. And? Claire had her first ever episode of diarrhea. Thank heavens she is potty trained!

So both girls are incredibly clingy and in need of cuddle time. This is hard to accomplish with two at the same time. I am grateful though. I have many-a-friend right now who have very sick children who are shooting all sorts of nastiness out of the north and south ends of their person. I am sure they'd trade places with me any day so I am counting my blessings that I just have two who need to cuddle and am not running around cleaning up messes all the live long day.

Michael is working late this evening (can you blame him?) so I was faced with the task of getting two clingy girls fed, bathed and into bed. After Michael's last stint in Alaska, I came up with a system that works pretty good for me so it isn't really all that bad. I put on a TV show for Claire (mommy of the year, I know) while I bathed Sarah and got her jammied up and all tucked in. Poor pumpkin. She is really pathetic right now.

I go to check on Claire once Sarah is in snooze-ville and find that she is sitting at the table with a very expectant look on her face. Hungry perhaps? She makes a request of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I oblige, hoping that she will finally get something in her tummy.

I place said sandwich before my child and she promptly pushes it away. Not in a rude way. She actually gave it a contemplative look before pushing it away. Truthfully, I think she was as hopeful as I was that this would be the meal that would do the trick. Fail.

So we go cuddle on the couch for a bit. About 30 minutes later, she looks at me and makes another request. Scrambled eggs. Wow. Good choice baby. Nice and bland. The doctor would be proud. Again, I oblige.

One dirty skillet later, I have a table that is set with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and two scrambled eggs. Both completely rejected by my poor sick baby.

So it is off to bath time. And while we were in the tub, the dog saw her window of opportunity. That's right. She knows that I will not leave the bathroom while a child is in the tub and that is all she needed to haul her spindly little dog legs up ONTO MY TABLE and scarf down the entire PBJ and two scrambled eggs. GRRRRRR. She better hold that stuff down because I am NOT in the mood to clean up doggie excrement tonight. (not that I am EVER in the mood for that.)

And with that lovely mental image for you, I will sign-off. My pizza just arrived at the door. Yes, that is right. My pizza. I know I just wrote an entry about weight loss, but this is no night for cooking!

Ta ta!

Happy Birthday!

Our sweet Sarah Belle turned 1 today. What a blessing she has been to our family! Our sweet, quiet, patient one. Thank you, Lord for such a sweet addition to our family. We couldn't love her more!!

Here are some fun pictures of the main event for today: The Cake Smash. Such a fun tradition!!

Dear Normal, I Miss You. Love, Aims.

Hello Blog. Long time no visit.

To say that life around here has been crazy lately would be quite the understatement. But I know it is the same story for everyone. I am no different. But honestly? I am SO ready for some "normal". Whatever that is.

We had a wonderful Christmas. We got to go see all our relatives and spent 9 days away from home accomplishing it all. I have found that Claire is quite content at home. She loves to visit all her friends and family, but wants to end each day in her "purple bed". (she has purple sheets) She is a good traveler and handles all the change quite well, but there were many times in our days away that she cried for home. Once we actually got home, she was almost euphoric as she was put to bed in her own room again. It was really cute.

Here it is January 10th and I think we finally have the promise of a regularly scheduled week ahead of us. I am almost scared to type that because I THOUGHT that was the case last week too. No dice.

I have seriously, SERIOUSLY got to get back to my work outs. I gained 6 POUNDS over the holidays. Good grief! I am squeezing into every pair of pants I own (all three of them) and each pair is screaming at me. It is quite sad, really. I have gift cards galore waiting in the wings for me to lose enough weight to justify the purchase of my much-delayed, post-pregnancy wardrobe. I was almost there before the holidays. But now? Sigh.

We have started a crazy-intense work out program. It is supposed to get you in shape in 90 days. Granted, that assumes that you stay consistent with the program for the entire 90 days. Wish me luck. Consistency in work out routines has never been my strong suit. But I am currently (counting the afore mentioned holiday weight) 13 pounds heavier than I was before I had Claire and I am DETERMINED to get that weight off. When I do, I am celebrating with some serious clothes shopping. If you know me at all, you know how badly I must need new clothes because I have never gotten excited about shopping. That is a girl gene that I missed somehow.

Now that I am back and the laundry is caught up (mostly) I should be able to return to my 3-posts-a-week promise on yea old blog. Here's hoping! (fingers crossed)