Sick kids and lost inches

It's been a while, but I'm back.  We've had some minor drama in the family and I finally have time to sit down and blog.

The little guy has some kind of cold virus and ear infection and is being treated for that.  He has become a super picky eater during this time so I don't know if he still has ear and throat pain or if he's just being silly.  I've also been back and forth with our insurance, the speech rehab facility and the school district on Ty's speech therapy.  Right now we are approved by the insurance for eight rehab sessions.  I just found out that the school could possibly help him, but they need to do an assessment sometime in August.  Today I will be contacting insurance and rehab facility to see if we can wait on those eight sessions until after the school's assessment.  Why?  Well the school's speech therapy would be free.  Speech therapy at the rehab facility will be pretty much 100% out of pocket expense.  Not a financial hit we want to take.  We will do it if we have to, but we want to check out all our options first.  It will be a busy day of making phone calls today.

My big guy had a pretty bad bike accident.  Took a good chunk of skin off his elbow, and also banged up his mouth.  Stitches in his lip and two broken teeth.  Of course he broke his two front permanent teeth. We visited the dentist earlier this week, but his lips were so swollen and tender, the dentist couldn't do anything.  We are going back in a few days to get at least a temporary fix on the teeth so Larson can eat normally and feel more confident.  It's been a long week.

Weigh in time!  Down another 2 pounds which makes 15 pounds in 6 weeks.  I only have 3 more pounds to go to make my original goal.  Once I get there I have to re-assess because I might want to go a few more.  This week I lost 5.75 inches (total of 42.5 inches)!  Which is huge because in the past few weeks I had only lost between 3 and 4 inches.  I was surprised to find I lost 1/2 inch around each arm because I've never lost in my arms before.  Also surprising was 2 inches around my waist!  In trying to evaluate what I did differently this week, the only thing I can think of was Body Pump class and an extra effort to work on an ab challenge I found on Facebook (below).

Tonight both kids have sleep overs.  We are doing a "child swap" with another family.  Our households will have the same number of kids, but different personalities.  It will be fun for everyone!  I know the kids are super excited!

Onward to fight the good battle of raising kids and trying to be the best mommy I can be.

Even less of me!

Just finished another 48 hour cleanse.  I'm down another 2 pounds and 3.5 inches!

I tried Bosu class this morning.  Pretty much kicked my butt.  That instructor is fantastic!  I like switching up my routine and try not to do the same exercise more than twice a week.  I feel like I have to do weight lifting though.  It might be easier if I sign up for a personal trainer, but I don't really want to spend the money on it.  I'll have to think more about that.

Kids are doing good.  Ty still isn't potty trained, but the speech thing kind of messed us up.  I don't want to throw too much at him.  We saw Despicable Me II yesterday with our neighbors and we had a GREAT time!  It was a cute movie.  The big kids laughed and laughed, and it kept Ty pretty entertained until he fell asleep.  Unfortunately we had to go close to his nap time, but it all worked out in the end.

The noises from the basement lead me to believe that a neighbor girls are over and the big kids are having all sorts of noisy fun.  Ty is content watching his pre-nap Mickey Mouse show.  Looks like our day is on track!

Happy Thursday everyone!

SO TIRED

Got home from ladies' night last night and everything in the house seemed normal.  Ty was up, but I assumed he was waiting for me.  He's a momma's boy right now.

I put him to bed when I went to bed.  About 30 minutes later he's whimpering at our door and I put him back into bed and sit with him for a while.  Something seemed off.  I assume it's a bad dream and go back to bed.  Not 10 minutes later he was back at our door.  Jeff brought him back to bed and shortly after, it hit.  The sound of a little one puking.  UGH!  I jump out of bed and help Jeff clean up and get the little guy back to bed.  I grab a pillow and blanket and hit the floor next to Ty's bed so I can be closer for the next round.  He's restless.  We snuggle in the oversized chair in his room.  Just as I think he's sleeping, it hits again.  Puke down my arm and on the blanket.  Poor guy!  Jeff runs in and helps me clean up.  Ty can't seem to get comfortable in the chair so back into bed.  I find myself thinking of Grandma Harriet and try to channel comfort from her.  I ask for some help/strength from both God and whatever other maternal spirit would help me, and what happens.....more puke!  This time contained and easy to clean up myself.  Ty pretty much slept through the whole thing and fell sound asleep for the rest of the night.

Lightening strikes and the thunder rolls across the sky.

For the love of Pete!  Now the big kids will be up neither mom nor dad have slept yet.  Fortunately only Larson wakes up and he's big enough to make a bed on the couch and fall back to sleep.  Still a restless night.

We slept in somewhat (if you call lying there awake with your eyes closed sleeping) and Ty wakes up at 9:00!  Yay!  He got some sleep.  Now for the unfortunate part, there's no way he's napping since he woke up late and that means no rest for mom nor dad.  

Mom and dad have to take turns hitting the Y today because we can't bring Ty to Kid Stuff.  Mom takes the big kids first and gives dad some quiet time with Ty.  I didn't think a work out was going to work for me today, and if I hadn't skipped yesterday, I would have skipped today.  I grab an Isagenix shake for breakfast because I know, if anything, this will get me through it.  I also bring an energy drink just in case I need it mid-workout.  I climb up on the stair master and rev it up to my average speed for 30 minutes.  Plug in the ear buds and set the TV at the trusty DIY channel.  They are making over bathrooms today.  About 10 minutes into it I feel great!  I'm thinking I'll be able to crank it up no problem....who needs sleep?  So I take a peek at my heart rate to make sure my vitals are in check, and it's about the highest I've seen it so early in a work out.  Who needs sleep?  ME!  Talked myself off the ledge.  It's OK to work at a slower rate today.  Thank goodness I did!  By the end of the 30 minutes I was wiped!  I was one of those crazy people whispering to myself, "come on! you got this!"  Of course I felt much better when I notice the guy next to me having an even harder time and he's at a lesser pace.  HE needed a shake and an energy drink! Downed the energy drink...feeling better.....off to the weights.  You'll never guess what I did.  Yep, increased my weights by 5-10 pounds.  Woohoo!  Should have had the drink earlier!  Live and learn.

You know, I pretty much skipped out of there because after recovering from my little heart attack at the end of the stair work out I felt great!  Momma needs to keep herself healthy and strong if she's going to take care of other people too. 

Older and Never Felt Better!

Happy Birthday to me!

Started the day with a weigh in and measure.  Down almost 4 inches.  Stayed the same in weight.  I'm not surprised with the July 4 weekend, etc.  Like I said before, sometime you're only one potato chip away from maintaining vs loosing weight.  I'm very excited that I didn't gain weight, as the case would be if I hadn't had Isagenix on hand to hold me at bay.  The 4 inches confirms that things are still moving in the right direction.

This morning also included a Bosu class and some swimming with the kids.  Followed by a very welcomed lunch!  We were super hungry.  Rest time this afternoon, quick grocery shopping, and going out with the family for dinner.

Today starts my 38th year (or 39 depending on how your counting) and I have never felt so good!  Bosu class was manageable...still super challenging, but I never felt the urge to bolt from the class this time.  I can actually see my face has become thinner.  I am stronger and have more endurance.  Shoot, I couldn't run a mile in high school and now I'm thinking of trying 4-5 on my next run.  The hair is starting to grey, but I'm totally blaming the kids on that one.  A little highlights and no one knows the difference.

Bottom line:  I FEEL REALLY GOOD!

I am soon starting my 2nd month on Isagenix, and I'm very excited!  Hopefully I'll be down to my goal weight in the next 30 days.  Time will tell.

Happy day everyone.  I'm leaving you with a picture of the nice birthday flowers my family gave me this morning.

I Hate Shopping for Swim Suits!

This may be a little TMI for some readers, so if you don't care to know about the issue I have with my body, feel free to skip this one.

My swim suit was become a bit stretched out and it was time to bit the bullet and get a new one.  I HATE shopping for clothes, let alone swim suits.  Here's why.  It's not because I don't like looking at myself in a swim suit.  Designers do not make tops for large chested women.  Certainly not "average" sized ladies with a naturally large chest who've had a few kids. Mostly a good bra will take care of this problem, but swim suits have no component of support what so ever.

So I can find the suits to fit but the tops need 1/2 to 1 more inch of material.  Seriously!  I'm buying a large or xlarge top......one would think they'd put some room in there for boobs!  It's an XL for goodness sakes!  Totally huge everywhere, but entirely too small on the top.

This becomes really funny when you're in the dressing room with your 7 yr old daughter.  She thought it was completely hilarious how I couldn't "just smoosh it in." We completely got the giggles after the third try.  I almost gave up and bought one that I could take in to a seamstress and have altered.  At the third store I actually found one that will work.  Whew!  A little more skin than I'd like, but not was much as my last suit, and I don't need to have it altered.  It's actually cute!

Every summer I swear I'm going to start a clothing design company for top heavy women.  LCL, Inc. (Large Chested Ladies).  There has to be a way to make clothes with just a little more room on top without making the whole garment as big as a tent.

Rant over.  Thanks for letting me vent.  Every year it's a frustrating experience I seem to have to endure, but thanks to my little lady for coming with and providing some comical relief.

Week 3 Update

I have a few short minutes to update you on my progress.

We're taking a last minute vacation, so I decided to weigh myself a day early.  Didn't want to bring the scale with me.  I am, however, bringing the Isagenix shakes, snacks, and blender so I can continue eating healthy!  I'm down another 2 pounds and 5 inches!  I've always been consistent at loosing 2 pounds a week when I do everything right, so I shouldn't expect anything else.  One to two pounds is about right for healthy weight loss.  

I've stopped loosing inches in certain areas like my neck and arms, but those weren't my problem areas anyway.  I'm probably going slow up on the inches around my chest because I'm at the same size as I was at my smallest.  Which is OK too.  The inches came off the most around my waist, hips, butt, and thighs, which is really where it needs to come off.  Woohoo!  Looking forward to next week's weigh in....a.k.a. my birthday!

Happy 4th everyone!!

Speech Therapy for Ty

So Ty's still not talking much.  At his 3 year old appointment, the doctor referred him to a speech therapist to  do an assessment.  We are not sure if he's just stubborn or if he is really having problems.

Our therapist was really good.  She wasn't able to get him to cooperate enough to manipulate his mouth, but she was able to do lots of assessments.  Basically he can hear, understand, and follow directions.  But we already knew that.  He tested up to a 4 yr old level in his comprehension.

She was impressed with his ability to communicate a three step thought through his little hand gestures.  To me it's just another day, but I'm home with him all the time.  I know what he needs just by looking at him.  

She could see his frustration with his lack of ability to communicate more.  From that first one hour visit, her first two thoughts are he might have tongue tie and/or apraxia.  (She could see his tongue a little when he was throwing one of his loud 3-yr-old-tantrums.  But needs to try manipulating more next time.)  

From what I've read on-line, it's pretty hard to diagnose 2-3 yr olds with apraxia, but sometimes speech therapists will give a diagnosis of "potential apraxia."  I guess in children in this situation it's better to diagnose and be incorrect than to miss it.  Either way, if it's tongue tie, apraxia, or just speech delay, he'll get some extra attention to get him back on track.  

Even the first session was a huge help for me.  She gave me four signs to teach him so he can be less frustrated.  Also, we need to stop "eh eh" to get what he needs.  She taught me how to listen to his babbling to find the words and reinforce when he says something right.  In the last 1-1/2 days I have found more words he has been using -- or trying to use.  

Now we have to wait on insurance to start more therapy sessions.  We happened to get new insurance the day he had his assessment, so now the clinic needs to get approval before we can schedule the next appointments.  Hopefully we'll hear something next week.

I'm excited to get this little guy some help.  I can't imagine how frustrated he must feel sometimes.