What am I thankful for? Day 1

A friend from high school mentioned that she will be posting what she is thankful for every day now until Thanksgiving.  I think this is a wonderful idea and will be doing this as well.

I am thankful for being able to find a pair of pants that fit.  I have discovered that I only had one pair of pants that I could wear, and even then they didn't really fit.  They were too big and getting tattered.  I went shopping with my mom and found a pair that fit my new body at this stage in my weight loss.  I am glad and thankful that I no longer have a saggy looking butt, not having to constantly pull my pants up, or worry about the hole that was forming in a place where you don't want a hole.  I know that this is a  trivial thing to be thankful for but not having pants can be kind of a problem.

Our Halloween church party was very fun!  We had games, food, pumpkin carving, and a costume contest.  Claire was a bee, I was a witch, and Trav and Ben were twins.  Good times were had by all.  It took me 30 minutes to wash the green out of my hair.

Woo hoo!

It's finally done!  I finished about noon and am so happy with it!  My dad made the tree which I painted and then screwed onto the wall.  The leafs are real but preserved.  The birds are mushroom birds and the butterflies are actually on wires from the wall so they look like they are flying.  I have others around the room as well along with a dragonfly.  I put moss in places and created a birds nest inside the hole in the tree.  Claire loves it and it came out better than I had planned.  Woo hoo!

Getting a little more done on Claire's room.

Travis, the sweet husband that he is, let me paint this morning while he had the kids downstairs. I finished the flowers and the rabbit. It has only been 2 months since I began the project. Not lame! OK maybe a little lame. Now I have to work on the tree which I hope I can today. At least get a coat of paint on it and make a small repair to it. Then it will be onto putting moss and leafs on it. After that just a couple of small touches of birds and butterflies. Onward and upward! 

Photo shoot pictures!

Here are a couple of the pictures from our family photo shoot. I love what we got but I do not like any of me. I have lost almost 80 lbs and I still have a double chin and I have one in all the photos. I am super disappointed about that but I really do love all the photos of Travis and the kids. I guess I just need to insist that the photographer needs not to take any pictures of me from an up angle. I wish I would have spoken up. Next time.

I just caught sight at my own reflection and I'm scared.

You know you are a mom of more than one child when you realize that it has been 3 days since you last showered.  I was nursing Ben when I came to this realization.  Gross.  I have been so consumed with potty training, teething, and trying to get this house in order that I forgot myself.  Wow that was a little too easy.  Note to self: Showering is a must.

 

Something we are trying over the last week and the next couple is not buying any groceries except for milk, juice, and eggs.  We are forcing ourselves to save money and use what we have.  This has been a good lesson thus far, but a difficult one as well.  I have not had the time to try and prepare food but have had to make it work.  Cooking from scratch takes a lot of time and effort and with two little kids there were days that I wanted to lead them into the oven, a hot and mystical cave.  Oh look!  A beautiful oven unicorn!  Go get it!

 

Tomorrow I am, come hell or high water, going to finish the upstairs if it kills me!  I am so tired of looking at things all out of order and having all these unfinished projects everywhere.  Maybe I can get Travis to take the kids on Saturday so I can finish painting Claire’s room.  That would make me feel great!  There is work to be done.

A busy few weeks.

These last few weeks have been so busy that I haven't even turned on the computer more than 3 times. This is highly unusual for me. This last month has flown by. We have all enjoyed the changing of the trees and the crisp air. Claire is excited for Halloween as she loves to wear her bee costume. I made her some antenna which I had to hide so they would stay intact by the time Halloween is here. Ben is going to be Travis for Halloween. We bought him a cheap pair of readers and then I popped out the lenses. He looks so cute! I also have some chin hair for him to wear to complete the look.

We took the kids and my mom to the pumpkin patch last weekend. It was fun but the farm we went to was not as organized as we thought it would be so it was frustrating for the adults. Claire picked out her pumpkin and Ben lost a shoe which we spent 30 minutes looking for before we left. It was overall a better time for the kids. However probably a typical family outing with one kid screaming and the loss of a shoe for the other.

We also have been taking walks every night after dinner when it is not pouring for the last few weeks and we all love it. I love tiring out Claire before bed and wearing the extra 20lbs of Ben for an added workout. He loves to wear his hat and to be in the backpack.  

Ben is going to be 6 months old on Oct. 30. This is unreal for me. I just can't believe that 6 months have almost past us by since we welcomed him in to our family. He is sitting up, almost army crawling, and on the 17th he cut his first 2 teeth at the same time. Both on the bottom.

Claire has gone a whole week almost completely dry! She has been doing so well with potty training. We finally got her to love to go and get jelly beans and stickers every time she goes. She is not as good at telling us when she has to pee so we have a timer set to remind her to go. I am really hoping she will be fully trained by Christmas. I think we can do it. After Halloween I will post again of everyone in their costumes.