The Biggest Loser Challenge-Week 3

This week was a disappointing week. I lost 0 lbs. A big, fat 0!!! It was the week of Christmas, so I guess I should be happy I didn't gain. But, I'm NOT happy. I've been working my butt off (literally it seems sometimes) and I want to see the results. Alas, today I have figured out there might be some light at the end of the tunnel. More to come on that later in the blog. First I will talk about my week.

Last Wednesday, me and the family went to Logan's Roadhouse to eat. I looked up what I wanted on their website before we went so I would be prepared. I ordered Teriyaki Chicken, a Caesar Salad, and Sauteed Mushrooms. I even had a small roll (so yummy) and all of that was only 600 calories. I was amazed. I felt very satisfied afterwards and was very proud of myself. The next night, we went out with Mom, Merritt, and Holly for Holly's birthday to Outback Steakhouse. Again, I planned out ahead of time what I would be eating. This has been my saving grace I think. Being prepared makes me feel in control and I'm not worrying if I'm underestimating the calories in something I eat(which we all do most of the time). I passed on the Alice Springs Chicken which I usually get because it had a whopping 1328 calories!!! I decided on an 8 oz. Teriyaki Sirloin Steak with sauteed mushrooms and a Caesar Salad again. This time I had a little more bread and had a few cheese fries, but much smaller portion than usual. I took some of the Steak home and the meal I ate AT the restaurant turned up to be about 800 calories. Still not bad at all for eating out at one of my favorite places and I still got to eat my favorite things.

The next day was Christmas Eve, an annual party at my mom's house with tons of yummy fixin's. I had already decided to allow myself a Coca-Cola to drink that day and it was GOOD!!! I didn't want to limit myself too much that day, but still practice restraint in the portion department. I did go over my calorie allotment, but I was ok with that. I did find out that the Coke made me crave more sugar, which I noticed immediately. I switched back to water immediately and have noticed a difference. I still LOVE Coke and will still drink it from time to time, but I have really figured out I love water too!

I believe I have a stress fracture in my foot from working out on my hard floor. David went and got me a mat to work out on, but has had to modify it a bit to keep it from being slippery, so I haven't been able to use it yet. My foot is mostly painful when I first get up in the morning, I have to limp at first to get going and then it pretty much gets ok. It doesn't cause me excruciating pain, so I just keep working out as usual. Holly told me to wrap it while I work out and then ice it afterwards. I don't want to injure it more, but I don't want to stop working out either.

Ok....back to the light at the end of the tunnel. I think the Biggest Loser Challenge game might have become uncalibrated correctly when it weighs me. This is not an excuse on my part. I noticed it last week before my weigh in. I would weigh myself sometimes through the week with my scale in my bedroom and it was always two or 3 pounds lower than the game. One day I was on the game, it figured my weight almost 5 lbs. less than the day before. What the Crap!! Then, when I did my weigh in the next day (Monday), I weighed in at my current weight. (Which is 3 1/2 lbs. more than the day before. That's the day it showed I had lost 0 pounds since the week before. Today (Wednesday) I weighed at the beginning of my workout and was one pound more than Monday's weigh-in. What the Crap again!!! I know my weight fluctuates, but not that bad!! So, I did an experiment.....today after I worked out I weighed on the scale in my bedroom and then I weighed using the Wii Fit Plus game. They were the exact same thing!!!! And they were closer to what I thought they should be after the hard work I've put in. They were 3 lbs. lower than my official game weigh in on Monday. So.....next week on Sunday, I'm gonna check to see what the Biggest Loser Challenge game says I weigh and compare it to the other two weigh-ins. If the BLC game is way different, then I will decide to use one of the two other weigh in methods. The BLC game lets you manually change your weight. So, the light at the end of the tunnel is that I believe I have lost 7lbs. since I have started, but OFFICIALLY, I have only lost 4 lbs. When I weigh in on January 3rd, I will have an official OFFICIAL weight loss number. I hope that all makes sense.

Total Weight Loss Since December 7th: 4 lbs.
Weight Loss Goal: 55 lbs.
Pounds to Goal: 51 lbs.

The Biggest Loser Challenge-Week 2

So, I knew when I got up this morning to do my weigh-in that it wasn't going to be the best weigh-in. I was bloated. Very bloated. Aunt Flo is supposed to come visit Wednesday so this was to be expected....I just hoped it would stay away until after my weigh-in. Alas, my weigh-in showed a 1 lb. weight loss for the week! Not horrible....I did lose, but I wanted to lose more. And I worked really hard this week. I worked out every day except for one and I followed my alloted calories to the tee. I still have not had a Coke since Sunday, December 5th. That's amazing for me! I've actually been craving more water than tea. I'm making a conscious effort to drink more water than tea even though tea is calorie free, because tea depletes my iron and I am a regular blood donor. I've even rubbed off on the girls. There has been no pop in the house for over two weeks and so they have been drinking water, tea, or milk. Madelyn even told me this morning that she really likes water. I was happy about that.

This week went well for my diet. Wednesday, my boss took our office out to eat at Ted's and I made different choices than I normally did. I still enjoyed myself, but instead of eating without reservation, I laid some boundaries. Instead of eating flour tortillas, I munched on ONE corn tortilla and mainly ate chips with salsa instead of chips with cheese sauce. Then I ordered my regular meal of Cheese Enchiladas, but I took off most of the chili sauce. It was still very filling and extremely enjoyable. It was a good lesson in how making a lifestyle change is not all about depriving yourself of all the good things....just taking the good things in moderation. I was completely satisfied.

Thursday, I had my first dealing with hunger. I had been eating normally, but I was extremely hungry that day which could have been my downfall. But I took Candy's advice and increased my water intake to make me feel full. It did the trick! I didn't give in to my hunger pangs and reach for something unhealthy.

Sunday, we went to my Grandma's for lunch and she had made a poblano pepper casserole, carrots, hot rolls, broccoli and cauliflower, and chips. I assume the casserole was fairly healthy as it contained lots of vegetables and chicken, but it had its fair amount of cheese. I made a point to eat around the cheese somewhat and filled my plate with vegetables to fill up. I did allow myself a whoe-wheat roll, but only one. I am a huge bread eater and would have loved to have a second roll, but chose not to.

This week will be a test as it contains Christmas, but I know I can succeed. I have already decided that I will allow myself a Coca-Cola at my mom's house on Christmas Eve. I'm so excited!! I will eat desserts.....I will just not gorge myself on them. I will also probably exercise a little more. I can do it!!

Total Weight Loss since December 7th: 4 lbs.
Weight Loss Goal: 55 lbs.
Pounds to Goal: 51 lbs.

The Biggest Loser Challenge-Week 1

December 7th was a changing day in my life. That's the day I decided it was going to be different. I have committed to a journey of weight loss and lifestyle change that I pray will benefit me in many ways.

I downloaded my calorie tracking application on December 9th. Everytime I eat, I stop and log my calories into my phone. It keeps me on the right track because I can see exactly what I'm eating. I haven't gone over my allotted daily calories once since I initiated it. I believe it will definitely be a factor in my journey.

I chose a Super Weight Loss program on the game. It's a 12 week program led by Jillian. My ultimate goal weight cannot be safely attained in 12 weeks, so I will start another one after I finish the first. I should be able to meet my goal after the second 12 week challenge. I set it up to work out 4 days a week for 40 minutes at a time to begin with. I think in a week or two, I will bump it up to 50 minutes. I plan to work out at least one more day on my own, just wanted to set small goals to start. The first week, I worked out 5 days. The workouts actually last about 49 minutes when you include the cooldown and the drink breaks. Every 5 minutes or so, the program stops for about 30 seconds for you to get a drink. I think this is very helpful and I take advantage of it every time. It helps me to drink a good amount of water throughout the day. There are several types of exercises the programs has you do. There is circuit training, boxing, yoga that I have encountered so far. I like the way it is mixed up. It doesn't get monotonous that way. Jillian is very much like herself on T.V. Because the Wii is so sensitive, she can tell if you are slowing down or not doing the exercise. She will call you on it and tell you to get back in gear. She's also very encouraging when you are working really hard! It's amazing how quickly you can see results! I'm not just talking about my body, but my strength. Tonight when I worked out, I could do two exercises from start to finish that I could not finish two days ago. That tells me I'm getting stronger!! What a motivator!

The first week went VERY well! I didn't feel deprived at all and I really can't remember a time that I even felt hungry during the day....maybe a little bit in the morning when I first get up. I have not had Coca-Cola since December 5th. That's amazing for me! I even engaged in the drinking of a beer, a couple of pieces of birthday cake, ice cream, all my favorites.....just in smaller portions! So, for the first weigh-in on December 13th:

I lost 3 pounds!!! Yippee!! I was very excited! I do know that 3 lbs. will probably NOT be the norm week after week. I'm prepared for that, but I'm going to push myself and try to lose 2 lbs./week. It will take hard work, but I'm up for it!

Total Weight Lost since December 7th: 3 lbs.
Weight Loss Goal: 55 lbs.
Pounds to Goal: 52 lbs.

Lifestyle Change

No I'm not going to the other side and trading my husband in for a wife....I mean a lifestyle change involving good food choices and exercise. My reasons for doing this are two. One is to obviously get in shape and two is to combat this new disease I have. More to come on that disease next week when I see the doctor. Anyway, David and I dropped our gym membership back in August so that we could bowl. I understand that one night of bowling is not equivalent in calorie burning to 3-5 nights at the gym. We wanted to bowl because we haven't in six years and we had really missed it. I also have always felt like if I was serious about losing weight and getting in shape, then I could make do with what I have. We have a treadmill that I do use occasionally....I just get very bored with it easily. I wish I had an elliptical. I fell in love with the elliptical when we were going to the gym on a regular basis. I want a really nice one that will last a very long time and they're NOT cheap!! So, a couple of weeks ago, I had seen the commercials for The Biggest Loser Challenge game on the Wii. It looked really fun. So I went and got it the next day. I turned it on that first night and was immediately impressed. There were tons of different things....health and lifestyle tips, activities you can just do on your own, 8-10 different programs consisting of 6, 8, or 12 week intervals. You can pick your trainer, Bob or Jillian and set it up for how many days a week you want to work out and for how long. There's a calendar for you to see what you are scheduled to do for the next week. There's a place to log your calories for the day. Many more things, but too numerous to mention. The first night I just played around on it and set up a profile. I didn't get serious about it until December the 7th! That's the day I caught the bug. I know people who have tried to lose weight over and over and over have said, "This time is different." But to me, THIS time is different. My main motivating factor is my health. I briefly mentioned this new friend I have recently been diagnosed with. It brings me extreme fatigue and joint pain as its main complications. I decided that I could combat these complications with regular exercise and changing my diet. I know that exercise releases endorphins which give you energy and makes you feel good. The fatigue sometimes brings with it mild depression which I believe will definitely be helped by the exercise and endorphins. And I'm sure the joint pain will be alleviated somewhat with the decrease in weight upon them. I have downloaded a free application for my phone which tracks my calories. Before I put anything in my mouth, I log it into my phone. Not once have I gone over my allotted calories. I believe it will be a definite asset.

I'm ready for the challenge!! I'm going to try and update my blog weekly with my progress, good or bad, on the days I weigh in, which are Mondays. I would appreciate the encouragement in my endeavor. Here we Go!!

Rhoda Family Pictures

This year, we wanted to do family Christmas pictures again, so a couple of weeks ago after church, we came home and changed out of our church clothes into our jammies. We found matching jammies for the girls and David and I both got Christmas-y looking sleeping pants. We chose two pictures that we sent out, but here are some others from the day. Merry Christmas!!

Madelyn's birthday at the Fair

It's a yearly tradition to go to the fair on Madelyn's birthday. Madelyn went to school and got out at 11:15. David picked her up and they went to lunch together. Then Meredith and I left work early and came home and got David and Madelyn to head to the fair. We met my dad (Grandpa Dino) out there as he is a fair junkie. We ate some junky, yummy food and the girls rode some rides. I think David and I decided that this year will be the last year that we do the fair tradition. It's so expensive and just plain nasty. Every table we came to to eat was disgusting. I couldn't even fathom sitting there. Every ride the girls got on, I was just gagging at the thought of the germs that were just sitting on those rides ready to hop on my clean girls. Gross!! All in all, it was a good day. Here are some pictures!

Madelyn's 6th Birthday party

I've been terrible at updating this blog lately. I have lots to say sometimes, it's just faster and easier to post to Facebook, but I am going to try to be better at it. I have actually posted since Madelyn's birthday in September, but I'm going to go back and include it since I'm somewhat using this blog as a chronological keepsake.

This year, we decided to do a Salon/Spa party for Madelyn. I have to say it was the least stressful and funnest party we have had so far. We had it at my house and I set up stations in the living room/kitchen area. We had a station for nails, one for makeup, and one for hair. My mom, sister, stepmom, and friend Melissa helped me out by working at the stations. I let Madelyn invite one friend for each year of her age. It was a good number, not too many. My stepmom and Melissa handled nails, Mom and Holly did the makeup, and I did hair. Hair was actually really fun. All the girls wanted me to curl their hair, so I put most of their hair up in a high ponytail and curled it. They looked gorgeous. You could tell they had a good time! When they were made-over, they would prance around the house like they were princesses. And of course, they were. The time went really fast and pretty soon the party was over and parents were coming to get their kids. The girls were so happy to show their parent their new look. In their little goodie bags, they received a hairbrush with a mirror, hair ties and headbands, nail polish, and makeup. It was actually pretty inexpensive and I honestly can't wait to do it for Meredith in a few years. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Why I Chose my University Degree

Another installment from my "What to Blog about" list. I guess I'll have to do a two-parter since I officially have a degree and 1/2 or to be completely accurate, I have a degree and 63/100 of another. That's the accountant coming out in me and I guess the teacher too explaining all aspects of the subject. Anyway, on to the subject.


I have a degree in Elementary Education. I received it in May 2002 from Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Oklahoma. When I first went to college after high school, my heart wasn't in it. I put my major as nursing, although I didn't feel too strongly about it. After only lasting a semester, I dropped out. My grades were crap and I just didn't care. I was a college dropout for three and a half years. I worked during that time and knew all along I would return to college....I just didn't know when or what for. In the Fall of 1998, I got called by the local elementary school to come and substitute. From the very first time I did it, I was hooked on teaching. I decided it was time to return to college and that I was going to be a teacher. I began the process of reapplying to school. It was quite a task to undertake because I had been placed on academic probation from my grades before. I had to write a letter to the dean to tell him how much I really wanted to return to school and my mind was right this time. I had to do the same thing in order to be eligible for financial aid. My letters were well received and I was accepted for the Spring 1999 semester at SWOSU. My brother-in-law at the time was a student there at the same time and he was going to be a special education teacher, so we were enrolled in many of the same classes. We set up our schedules together and rode to and from school together everyday. I made excellent grades this time and really enjoyed my time as a student. I wanted to be a teacher because I believe God gave me some gifts that make me really good as a teacher. I am very encouraging and loving. I had always been a good student myself (except for that one terrible semester in my first college outing) and enjoyed learning and figured I could pass that on to my students. I chose to be a teacher because I liked the fact that I would have good working hours and would have my summers free. I was always patient with school kids and liked to see them learning. When I graduated in 2002, I applied at about 20 metro districts. I got called by only two of them and had only one actual interview. The school's budgets were down at that time and many districts weren't hiring and some were even firing. By the middle of August, I didn't have a teaching job and knew I had to find something else. I would look again next year for a teaching job. I got a job at a payroll place that I absolutely hated. I worked there for six months before moving to a job I really liked. I worked one other job before I got the job I have currently. I currently work as an auditor for schools and non-profit organizations. I've always liked accounting and had some background since I had helped my sister out at her accounting job several tax seasons. In August of 2006, I decided to return to school to ultimately get my CPA license. I didn't obtain a degreen in accounting basically because I didn't need one to become a CPA. Because I already had a Bachelor's Degree, I only needed 150 hours total and 45 hours in accounting. That's what I have achieved. I currently have 173 college hours, with 45 of those in accounting. I have satisfied the requirements to sit for the CPA exam. I am currently studying to take the first part of the exam(there are four). I am not too motivated at this point as my brain needed a break from the studying and I really need someone to study with to hold me accountable. It's hard to carve out time when you work full time and have two kids. I'll get it done though....I always do what I say I'm going to do. Just a little slower sometimes.

I feel I am well-suited in both Elementary Education and Accounting. Heck, maybe I'll teach Accounting someday. Then I can combine the two. For now I'm a CPA candidate and I hope to achieve that license soon.

The Story of my Most Serious Injury

Several months ago, I posted a list of blog ideas and I haven't written about one until now. I thought I would start at the top of the list and just go down it.

I've not had too many serious injuries in my life. I'm not what you would call an adventurous person, so I tend to stay away from dangerous situations. The "most serious" injury I can think of at this moment was when I had a grade 3 sprain in my ankle. It was January 12, 1997. I was living in Carnegie and we had just had a pretty sizable snowstorm, which didn't happen very often. Me and Daniel's siblings, (Randy-16, Christy-14, and Michelle-6) were very excited to play in it. Daniel's dad brought out the sled, dusted it off, and tied it to the back of the tractor. After sitting on our bottoms and sliding around for a while, we got much braver and decided we were going to surf on the sled. All was going well for my first experience as a surfer when mid-surf, Randy decided to jump on with me and basically jumped ON me. I immediately heard my ankle crack and I yelled out in pain. I just knew it was broken after I heard that crack. Daniel and his mom helped me into the house and as I writhed in pain, they were able to slowly get my shoe off. I was wearing my Justin high top tennis shoes. I personally believe they were the only thing that saved my ankle from breaking by providing support all around the ankle. As we got the shoe off, the foot and ankle were already noticably swollen. We decided the best thing to do was go the ER. The ER did x-rays and decided it was not broken, but that I did sprain and tear almost all the ligaments holding my ankle together. They gave me a brace to wear and told me to ice it and keep it elevated. That would be no problem, I thought, since there was no way I could walk on it. The next day as Daniel went to work, I was slithering around on the floor on my butt to get around. He came home at lunch, saw how pitiful I was, and went back to the hospital to get me some crutches. That helped tremendously! By the second day, you couldn't even tell that I had an ankle bone from all the swelling and the bruising extended to the tips of all my toes. It looked like my foot had been crushed. I was working at the bowling alley in Yukon on weekends at the time and I got very special treatment while I worked the desk. I got a chair to sit in and I drew sympathy from everyone. It took a little over six weeks for it to completely heal. I remember on my wedding day, April 12th, three months after the accident, it was hard for me to walk in heels on that ankle. To this day, when it gets rainy outside, I will get an ache in that ankle.

Like I said, I've never had any major injuries. Praise God! The only stiches I've had are from surgeries (C-sections, Varicose vein removal, ingrown toenail removal) and I've never broken a real bone. Except for a toe, which is such a sissy bone that it doesn't really deserve the title, "bone."

Bedtime

We have not had the best of luck at bedtime at the Rhoda house. I take full responsibility for that. I've never been as strict as I should be about going to bed at a certain time. When Madelyn was a baby, she would go to bed around 8:30 or 9:00 and it was good. When she was about 2 1/2, she got very sick and I brought her into bed with me for a few nights to soothe her and it was very hard to get her back in her bed. Shortly after that she started having seizures and I brought her back into bed with me again. It was mainly because I was scared to leave her alone thinking she would have a big one and I wouldn't hear her and she'd choke or fall out of bed or something else terrible. So I let her back into bed with me. And I'll admit it....I enjoy her sleeping with me! I can't sleep with David because he snores, so it's nice to have a bed buddy. And she's getting older every second and I love the fact that I can turn over anytime in the night and snuggle her or just plant a kiss on her sweet cheek. She won't be little for much longer. Granted it does put a damper on some things....like adult activities : ). It also makes it hard to watch a scary movie or any other thing a 5 year old shouldn't watch. Madelyn has become a night owl with me and so it's hard to get a free moment to myself. We've never had the traditional daycare situation and work situation where Mommy has to be at work at 8:00 and kids have to be dropped off at daycare at 7:30, so the girls have never had to be up really early on a regular basis. They've either gone to grandmas' houses around 9:30, or to Children's Day Out at 9:30 or with a babysitter at the house. So I've never made a big deal about getting them to bed really early. But now that Kindergarten is starting next week for Madelyn, I feel like it's time to get on a real schedule. Meredith was always a great sleeper until we got her out of her crib. She had all this new found freedom and wanted to party every night. So, bedtime has been a struggle with her since about December. Then it got really bad when me and the girls went to Florida in June. We all got off our routine and sleep schedules were more like whenever you fell asleep and wherever. When we got back, I tried to get them back on a schedule and then Michelle came to live with us about 3 weeks after Florida and that has screwed things up again. Michelle is sleeping in the girls' room and Meredith is in my room in the pack and play and Madelyn is in bed with me. Michelle is going to have to start sleeping on a blow up mattress in the living room this weekend because I HAVE to get those girls in a routine.

Things have worked really well the last two nights. We are starting a routine where we brush their teeth at 8 and then pick out some books and read till around 8:30 or 8:45. Last night I read to Meredith and then laid her down in my bed while I sang to her and rubbed her back. She tried to get out several times, but I wouldn't let her. I know I have to be consistent. She finally gave up the fight about 9:10 and was asleep about 5 minutes after. I made Madelyn come lay down too with every intention of letting her get back up for a little bit after Meredith went to sleep, but she fell asleep too! So, I'm hoping tonight is more of the same, maybe even a little easier. We have one week before school starts and life gets crazy again! Wish me Luck!

Funny Girls!

My babies have cracked me up today several times and I wanted to write them all down so I can remember them. The girls each have their own personalities and are funny in their own ways. Madelyn is more serious, but is more silly when she's being funny. She thinks it's funny to talk about poop (Sometimes I think she might be a boy with all the poop and pee talk). She comes up with really witty, funny things that she doesn't even know is funny sometimes. Meredith is just plain goofy with a touch of orneriness mixed in. Her orneriness puts me in tears sometimes with the goofy things she does and says. Today was a red-letter day in the Rhoda house when it comes to comedians. Here's a little snippet of our day:

Madelyn---I was talking to Aunt Holly via text today telling her how proud we were of her for passing her boards. Madelyn goes and gets out her doctor's mask and comes into my room. She comes up to me as my doctor and says, "Ma'am, you're going to have to have surgery on your ribs." I ask her, "Why?" She says, "Because they are hurting you." She then says, "You will be awake the whole time, but it won't hurt much. I will hold your hand." I ask her why I can't have pain medication for the surgery and she tells me that I just don't get any. WTH!!

Later in the play with her as my doctor, I am a different patient. She comes into my room with her mask up over her eyes this time. She touches my hand and in a very sympathetic voice says, "Today is Surgery without Seeing Day!" She assures me she does it all the time and I will be okay. My face was mortified as she started doing surgery on me blindly. She worked very quickly as she repaired my "swollen goiter" (where she heard that, I don't know). Although my goiter was not in its usual place of the throat, but in my abdomen!

Meredith----The first time she made me really laugh today and beam with happiness was when she told me, "I love you SO much and You're the best guhl (girl) EVER!" Then, not 15 minutes later, she comes into my room with a bowl full of popcorn and says, "Do you want some popcorn, Mama?" I said, "No, thank you." She says, "Yes you do, Mama," as she pops a piece in her mouth. So I say, "Ok, Meredith, I'll take a piece." She proceeds to take the piece she just put in her mouth out of her mouth and sticks it in my mouth. Before I could protest, she says, "Chew real good, Mama!" I guess it wasn't a big deal to her that we were sharing spit with that piece of popcorn.

I have prayed lately for God to slow me down and help me to savor my babies' every moment. I feel like today he gave me an extra special gift with their silliness and precious laughter. What a blessing my babies are to me! Thank you God for every special day and moment.

Fun with the Webcam

The girls wanted me to add something to my "dot-com", so I told them we'd take some pictures with our webcam and put them on our blog. So, here's what you get.....

Girls' Spring Program

The girls had their annual spring program at their Children's Day Out program last night. It was Meredith's first year to participate and she did awesome.

Meredith's was the first class to perform and the youngest. They all came out and sat on the stage with drumsticks in their hands. The music started (Wipe Out) and the cutie little 2 year olds started playing their drums. It was absolutely precious. Meredith was quite the performer! She had a good time.

Madelyn's class was the last class to perform and the oldest. They sang "You've Got A Friend In Me" while pictures of her classmates showed on the monitors. Then they sang "J is for Jesus" with two other classes. Madelyn was one of several kids in her class that was moving on to Kindergarten. They gave them caps to wear and had them walk across the stage to receive a certificate and a Bible! She loved it!

I'm sad that Madelyn is leaving that school because it has been such a blessing, but she's on to bigger and better things. Meredith will be back there next year. Enjoy my little cuties!

-Mom-...the little blond girl to the left of Meredith is Wes Wolf's little girl, Izzy.

Easter 2010

I didn't take very many pictures this year on Easter....I was diagnosed with a double inner ear infection the day before and didn't feel all that great. My sister took some pictures and without her permission, I stole some of hers from her Facebook. I know she won't mind. : )

Meredith's Easter dress was Madelyn's when she was 2 1/2. It's an absolutely gorgeous satiny white dress with pearls on it. Mom found one for Madelyn to wear with her that matched perfectly. They were almost exactly the same. They looked like they were going to a wedding. I wish Meredith had more hair so I could've done more with it. When Madelyn wore the dress for Easter 3 years ago, she had thick hair down to almost the middle of her back and it was all curled up. She truly looked like a princess. This year, Madelyn's hair was short, but I still curled it and we put a beautiful purple flower pin in it. Meredith is not about any kind of hairwear, so I tortured her by curling her hair under. It gave it some body and looked really pretty for about an hour and then the curl just fell out. It's amazing to me how different each girl's hair is.

After a wonderful church service, we went over to Mom's for lunch where she fed us yummy, yummy food. The weather was gorgeous with lots of sun and light winds. We took advantage and took the girls outside for an Easter egg hunt. Aunt Kim made up lots of eggs for the girls that contained candy and money! They had a great time. Take a look!

I have a blogging deficiency

When I started this blog almost 2 years ago, I had planned on keeping it much more up to date. I have plenty to write about, including lots of funny stories with two children 5 and under, but it's hard to just take the time to sit down and put those stories into words. I need to concentrate when I'm writing and around here, concentration is a luxury! I feel like my brain is mush most of the time. I can't remember the last time I watched a show in complete silence without a question every 3.2 seconds or a cry from the little one saying, "Mommy, I need to poop!" The joys of potty-training. My babies will do this even when their very capable daddy is mere feet away not doing anything that takes concentration or quiet. There's just something about Mommy that makes it imperative that Mommy do the answering or be poop chaperone.

Alas, my babies are what give substance to this blog. I vow, as I am finishing school (Yippee!) in two weeks, to give this blog more attention and to let you in on our funny lives. At least once a day, I laugh so hard at one of my children that my heart feels like it's going to explode.

So.....on to blogging.

Puke-Fest 2010

Well, Puke-Fest 2010 is finally coming to a close. We've had full capacity with all Rhoda family members participating.

It all started on Saturday, January 16th. We had gotten up early that morning, had breakfast and made it to the gym by 9:00 a.m. We got home from the gym about 10:25 and took baths and showers. We decided to feed the girls lunch a little earlier than normal because we wanted Meredith to take an early nap since we had a birthday party to go to about 1:45 and she would have missed part of her nap. By 12:00, the girls were fed and Meredith was down for her nap. I was resting in my bed watching T.V. and was dozing in and out. I started to faintly hear Meredith crying. I knew she hadn't been in bed that long and I figured David would go in and settle her back down. I actually layed there about 2 or 3 minutes while she cried and then decided to go in and check on her because I couldn't figure out why David wasn't going to her. When I got up, I realized he was in the shower, so he didn't hear her. I go into her room and was greeted with the unfavorable stench of vomit. As I got closer, I realized to my horror that she was covered in it. At first, I was undecided as to whether the crying made her throw up or if she threw up and then started crying. I grabbed her sweetness out of bed and we made our way to the bathroom where David was taking a shower. I stripped her of her clothes and handed her to him to bathe. As David finished bathing her, I rinsed all of her clothes off to put them in the washer. Up to this point, I was all excited that I had gotten a head start on my laundry the day before and only had one load left to go. Little did I know that I would literally burn the motor up on the dryer by the end of the weekend with all the laundry that the Puke-Fest created. Before we got Meredith dressed (thankfully), she threw up again and we realized she was indeed sick. We agreed that I would stay home with her while David took Madelyn to the party. David cleaned up Meredith's bed while I started the first of many loads of laundry. Before we even got the first load started, Meredith had soiled two more sets of clothes with vomit and I was on my third shirt. We decided it would behoove us to just keep her in a diaper. We pulled a large sheet out of the linen closet and layed it in the living room floor. Since she barely slept during her nap, she was very sleepy, but Bless her Heart, she couldn't sleep because she was puking every 5 minutes. Everytime she would throw up on the sheet, I would wipe it up with a paper towel and move her to a dry spot. I figured out very early that I was going to have to conserve materials or I would run out of things to sop up vomit with. I gave her water to drink, but she threw up every bit she consumed. She threw up so much, I eventually had to double up the sheet until there weren't any dry places left. She basically did this all night long, ran a low-grade fever through the night and hardly slept. David and I were up most of the night with her and doing laundry. On Sunday morning, Meredith had thrown up one last time at 5:30. By 9:00, we felt confident that the throwing up might be over. She was happy to just lay on one of us and sleep. David and I traded off giving each other naps. I went to sleep on Sunday afternoon about 1:00 and slept until 3:30 until I was abruptly woken up by the sudden urge to rush to the bathroom where I was greeted by a staggering case of diarrhea! From that moment on, I knew I had CAUGHT IT! Poor David was now charged with taking care of Meredith and me. We brought Meredith into bed with me and she and I just layed there in our misery. As time went on, the awful stomach cramps came on with a vengeance! I had never been in so much pain in my life. During this time, David was in the laundry room doing the 400 loads of laundry we had accumulated and was actually making a dent in it. Madelyn was in the extra bedroom watching a movie. Around 6:00, I heard the familiar sound of vomiting coming from the room Madelyn was in. Sure enough, she puked a load! It was all over the extra bed. More laundry--Aagghhhh!!! I really couldn't do much because I was so weak and was in the bathroom about every 5 minutes anyway. David had to give Madelyn a bath and then take the sheets off that bed to start some MORE laundry. He had such a good attitude about it!! At this point, we brought Madelyn into my room with me and Meredith since were were ALL sick at this point. We put Meredith to bed around 7:00 that night and Madelyn and I were both miserable in my bed. I felt terrible! She felt terrible! She would throw up every once in while, but thankfully made it into the bucket! I actually called my mom about 8:15 crying because I was hurting so badly! I just wanted her to come and take the pain away. I barely slept that night because I was getting up to go to the bathroom so often. Madelyn actually threw up a tiny bit in the bed one time, but at this point, I didn't rip the sheets off because I was sure this wasn't the worst of it. I was right! After I finally was able to get to sleep about 12:00 a.m., I was shaken awake by the horrible sound of projective vomit right next to me at 1:00 a.m.! Madleyn got nowhere near the bucket on this one. She couldn't help it....the only provocation she had was a burp and there it was. I hated to wake up David because he was SO tired after taking care of all of us, so Madelyn and I worked together to get the sheets off the bed and start yet another load of laundry. We remade the bed and were back in it by 1:45. I stayed awake until the first load of blankets was laundered and dried because I wanted my silky blanket back. So, I didn't go back to sleep until about 3:30 a.m. Thankfully, that was Madelyn's last time to throw up. Miraculously, by the next morning, she was pretty much her normal self. No upset tummy, no diarrhea, just a little tired. I guess her immunue system kicked into overdrive. By Monday morning, Meredith had thrown up a couple more times in the night and was still just very lethargic with a fever. I didn't feel nauseous anymore, but my stomach was cramping constantly. Me and the bathroom have become best friends! If I haven't been in the bathroom this weekend, I've been in the utility room doing laundry. Monday morning brought out the true virulence of this bug when David was overcome with it....diarrhea, fatigue, stomach cramping. Also, Monday morning as I was drying the last bit of laundry, I smelled a burning smell coming from the dryer. I felt it was safest to just turn it off and have David look at it when he felt better. David spend the majority of the day Monday sleeping. Meredith was very sleepy and was content sleeping in someone's arms. She didn't eat, but drank lots of water which made me feel better because I knew she wasn't getting dehydrated. Madelyn was her normal self....like she hadn't even been sick. I was still the same....just horrendous cramps and diarrhea after another sleepless night. My dad was off for Martin Luther King Day, so I called him and asked him to come over and be with the girls while David and I took a much needed nap. He did (Thank you so much Daddy!) and we were both able to get some rest. I decided late in the evening that we would be home again on Tuesday since Meredith and I were still running a fever, so she couldn't go to school anyway. David ended up having to stay home again too because he and the toilet had become best friends too! Thankfully, Meredith woke up her normal, jovial self. She was much better today and ate some food. I woke up with the extra special gift of Aunt Flo coming to visit which just added to my cramping and diarrhea. We just tried to rest today and get over the rest of this crap. We had to call out the repairman to come look at the dryer. We basically burned up the motor with all the 426 loads of laundry we did this weekend. He fixed it and it cost us a pretty penny. Pretty expensive illness, huh? This afternoon, David and I finally were able to clean up the house a little bit from Puke-Fest 2010. I went through the whole house with a can of Lysol spraying everything in sight! One good thing came out of this whole mess....it has certainly aided in our weight loss! : ) We are all going back to work and school tomorrow and pray for continued healing! Thank God we are at the finish line!

It's hard to be a Mommy....

I've decided it's just plain hard to be a mommy. These past two weeks have really been my hardest yet, I believe. I had the week of Christmas off work and then worked from home the next week. The girls were out of school the same two weeks. While it was a blessing to get to spend some good time with them, it was also very exhausting.

I tend to hit a wall about every 4 or 5 months with everything that I do.....school, work, mom, wife, etc. Here's what happens....I'll just get very stressed and overwhelmed with every little thing all of a sudden. Usually, I just need a day or two of "me" time to refresh and restore and I'm okay. The problem this time was I hit that wall around December 14th after I had just finished finals and completed a big project for work and was heading into a slow time at work. I was looking forward to my break from school and work. But I never quite got the opportunity to refresh because the girls were on break too. Now, we all start back to work and school tomorrow and the vicious cycle starts all over again. I just can't seem to get over the hump!

Don't get me wrong, I love my girls more than anything in the whole world, but they are difficult sometimes. I'm basically the only one responsible for getting all three of us out the door every morning and 4 out of 5 days, I'm responsible for picking the girls up and getting them home. I'm really not complaining.....I chose this life and appreciate it very much because it allows us to save money and allows me to be an involved mommy. I'm just saying that it's hard sometimes.

I feel like a bad mommy when I say anything about how I'm overwhelmed. I know I'm short with the girls when I'm at the wall and I'm not as encouraging. I'm grouchy to my husband and other people. I feel like I should be able to handle every little thing that comes at me without a single complaint or sour attitude. BUT, sometimes, it's HARD!! Sometimes, I want to scream and yell and literally run away! I want to lock myself in a sound-proof room with chocolate ice cream and a T.V. I'm just saying it's hard sometimes.

I'm very aware of the situation God has blessed me with. I'm very aware of the wonderful angels God has blessed me with that help me out with the girls when I need it. I'm very aware I'm not the only Mom who gets stressed out sometimes.............I'm also VERY aware of how blessed I am to have been chosen by GOD to be Madelyn and Meredith's mommy! I thank him every day! It's just hard to be a Mommy sometimes, but I wouldn't change it for anything!