Like night and....dawn?

Aidan had his first dentist appointment yesterday. I'm sure you remember the torture we went through with Jenna. The screaming, the crying, the refusing to open her mouth. Ugh, I shudder to think about it.

But Aidan!!! Wow! Completely different! He even sat perfectly to have two x-rays done! And totally charmed ALL of the girls in there!! A sample if I will (Which obviouly I will!)

Sarah: So Aidan, what's your favourite show on TV?
Aidan: My favourite is DIEGO!!
Sarah: Oh! That's a good one. Do you watch Treehouse?
Aidan: *Looking at Sarah like she has lost her damn mind* "Well, Actually, Treehouse is a channel. It's not a show."

And Then:

Aidan: Hey! How did you remember my name?!

Sarah: well, uh, you told it to me.

Aidan: No I didn't. And neither did Mommy....There's a A in my name you know. Two A's. Then proceeds to 'spell' his name..."ADAN"

Sarah: Turns away to laugh histerically.

That's right. And he's only 3!

So anyway, we finally get him to stop talking (A feat in itself let me tell you!) and we get through the appointment. He has 2 cavities in his front teeth :( Dr. M says it looks like my kids must have soft, cavity prone teeth. BUT! All Aidan's other teeth look terrific. YAY! Hopefully they stay that way.

And seriously, are anyone else's kids getting up at the crack of Dawn!? I've only slept past 6:00AM ONCE this week! And that was just because I sent Jenna downstairs to watch TV alone. Ugh. I don't know what's causing it. And it's driving me nutty!! Oh well, I' sure things will improve soon.

Hope you're all doing well!!

Lisa

Look what my Grandpa made!

Well, he had help, but my Grandpa, Uncle and a couple cousins rebuilt this 1927 Buick!! I forgot to get some pictures of the inside, but trust me, it's just as gorgeous as the outside. I wish I was getting married now so that I could use it for my wedding! I just love it! And of course just had to show it off :)


~Lisa~

Doing pretty good...most days :)

So, I am pretty sure that the plan is working. My pants seem a little looser this morning, and I'm just feeling lighter in general :) It's amazing to me to see how little food I really need to get through the day. I have however noticed an increase in headaches that I am not too sure how to explain? maybe just weather related? I don't know. I had an AWFUL one yesterday, pretty much bordered on Migrane, but I took a handful of drugs(Just kidding) and it went away after awhile. Any thoughts?

I've only had two days where I went over points. One was Al's birthday, where my points total was 58 (YIKES!! BAD LISA!!) We went out for Wings for his birthday. And then on Sunday whaen we went to my Mom's for dinner. I did not too bad with the dinner, kept my portions small, and my salad big. But then she brought out the cheesecake and I was toast. Total for that day was 36.5. But, every other day has been pretty great. I figure, once I learn how to diversify my menu a little more, and get used to what to eat when, I'll be able to stop counting points, and just focus on being a healthier me.

Poor Jenna, she fell at school during lunch today and scraped up her knee something awful. The school called me and asked if I would go see her. So, I packed up the boys and down we went. I'm so glad we live so close to the school. It was a pretty bad scrape, but her teacher and I convinced her to stay for the rest of the day. hopefully she's not making Mrs. K miserable with her whining. I'm pretty sure that Mrs.K can handle it though :)

Mason has a lovely scrape on his nose. He decided to eat a little driveway when I picked him up from the babysitters on Friday :( Went down the stairs just fine, and then just seemed to tip over. It didn't seem like a bad fall, but once I got him up it looked terrible. Poor kid :( He's scraped from chin to forehead. I have a nasty feeling that he's going to be the one I sit in the ER with waiting for stitches and casts :) On the food front though, he's made some progress! He'll eat some things with a fork, his favourite food is peanut butter and jam sandwiches, AND! When we were at my Mom's he ate 1/4 of my cheesecake(Including a whole cherry!! BIG improvement!) and a date square! So, maybe not the healthiest foods, but still, there's fruit in them at least :) He also ate a good chunk of the cake I made for Al's birthday (Note to self, post pictures and link to awesome recipe!) It was a pumpkin cake...so yummy, and I don't even like pumpkin!!

Speaking of cake! JulieQ!! Al heard on the radio that we've had snow in April 65 out of the past 67 years! So it looks pretty good in favour of my getting some Chocolate cake pretty soon!

So that's pretty much the news from these parts. Hugs to all!

~Lisa~

Day One

Went pretty well I'd say! I only went one point over(I'm trying the Weight Watchers Flex Plan), but since I am allowed extra points over the week, I figure that's pretty darn good!

I drank SO much water :) I'm gonna have to take out shares in Cottonelle pretty soon! But. I know that will ease off as my body gets used to the new increase in water consumption!

I could use some dinner ideas if anyone has any. We're usually pretty healthy eaters, what I really need is ideas for side dishes.

Gotta run for now! have a wonderful day!

Lisa

P.s. Tomorrow Al turns 30!!! I can't believe it!

I'm gonna kick that pig so hard...

It won't know what hit him, or where it came from :)

I went back to work today. Jenny has a scale. A very lovely accurate one. I weighed myself. I nearly cried. 166.5. Pounds. Ouch. I was 20 pounds lighter last June. TWENTY POUNDS! How the hell did that happen!? Well, I know how it happened. Too much junk. Unhealthy snacks all the time, unhealthy meals, over-eating.

According to a random website I found through Google, for my body type and height, I should weigh about 134 pounds. Sounds right to me. Sounds positively blissful. But I Honestly would be happy at 140-145.

I knew I was gaining. I could feel it. And certainly could see it in my clothes. Especially my shirts, and jammies. I have a pair of Tinkerbell jammies that ,my MIL bought me for Christmas. they are size small. I laughed when I opened them, thinking, there's NO way. But I kept them. And I make it my goal to be able to COMFORTABLY wear those jammes on May 20th. maybe I should squeeze into them for a before picture? LOL...NAHHHH!!! (Trust me)

So, after I weighed myself, and whined to Jenny about it, we made a deal. Whichever one of us can lose 10% of her body weight first, gets a night of babysitting. Dude! I can totally use a night of babysitting! and 16 pounds...wow...hmmm...it didn't seem like much before, but now I am not so sure. That's almost all of the weight I have gained back. But! I can do it! I WILL do it!! Because I want it!! And because we have two weddings to go to in June, one for good friends, and the other for family, and dammit! I wanna look HOT! :)

I've already gone to the grocery store to stock up on fresh veggies, and SmartPop! Popcorn. I forgot to buy a case of water though, I guess I'll go green on the water, and dig out my handy dandy super-sized water bottle :)

I am going to do this.

Lisa

Ups and Downs

First the Ups.

1. Mason slept through the night last night!! He's doing SO much better since Al started the new routine. I'm very grateful. He even seems better with the clingyness during the day. I'm even More grateful than that!

2. We made it through the March Break!! WOOHOO. I am going to miss the kids, but I'm really looking towards getting back to work, back to routine, and back to a paycheck!

3. Jenna ade it through having 2 small cavities filled with NO trouble at all!! Granted, she was given Nitrous Oxide to make her feel floaty, but still, last time she needed cavities filled and they gave her the gas, she was still freaking out something awful. So this appointment was a real breath of fresh air!! Aidan goes for his first appointment on the 29th. He's Very excited!

And now the Downs.

1. My Mom has had her identity stolen. It doesn't seem to have affected too much yet, but this is probably going to plague her life for years and years to come. I just can't believe this!! My Mom is a very giving, caring person. She feels SO violated. I just can't believe it.

2. Henry has been in Florida for two weeks on a vacation I found out about less than a week before they were due to leave. And I am not getting paid any kind of compensation for it. Which, for our family, is very painful! Expecially when you throw in new glasses and an expensive dental appointment.

So, that's about all that's going on around here. I read Plum Lovin' in a day and really liked it. Nice light read. I also just finished a book called Birthright by Nora Roberts. The romance part of it was pretty predictable, but the main plot of the story had my attention the whole way through. Very good book!! I also attempted to watch The Illusionist. Not so much. I just never got into it. The illusions were very cool, but the rest of the movie was slowwwww.

~Lisa~

New pictures :)

Here's my new glasses! I like them, but they are taking some getting used to. They're smaller, and stronger than my old ones. But I do like them. And! Good news for all my friends, everything looks smaller when I look out of them, so when I say you look thinner, Love me :)

Aidan being handsome :)

This is how we see Jenna most often. Bent over paper, either colouring or drawing. Mostly drawing though :) Mostly her family, and princesses :)

Just an updated one of Mason. I really like this one for some reason.

This is Mason's new funny face. Usually his teeth are sticking out a bit farther, but I couldn't quite catch it with the camera last night.

Much Better :)

Last night I had on SuperNanny while reading my book. I caught a few moments of it here and there, but not much. Then Karen came over, and I was chatting with her in the kitchen, while Al was watching the show. Karen left, and I went back in just in time to see the parents and SuperNanny attempt to get the couple's 14 month old to go to sleep, on her own, in her crib. Hallelujah!! So, of course, they did the cry for 5 minutes, go in and soothe, and then cry for 10 minutes, then 15 etc. Exactly what I have been tell Al we should do!

So, true to himself, Mason woke up at about 2AM. And, to my surprise AL got up!! BUT! He waited, and let Mason cry for a couple minutes before going in. He laid him down, told him that it was time to go to sleep, and that he loved him, and then left the room. Mason cried and cried and cried. But we held firm, and stayed out until the 5 minutes were up, and Al went in again. Said the same things to him, and left again. And Mason cried. BUT! It was only for about 5 minutes (Felt like 20 though :)) And now, at 8:00, he is STILL sleeping IN HIS CRIB!!!! YAY! Can I get a woot woot!? LOL

I guess it took a professional to tell Al what needed to be done. even though I've told him a million times :) Like my Mom has said for years, even if it's the best idea you've ever had in your whole life, in order to get your husband to agree to it, you have to make him think it was HIS idea :) Crazy? Maybe. True? Oh Yes!!

~Lisa~

A few of my New Favourite pictures :)

Aidan and Mason clowning on the stairs :) I had to make this one B&W because Mason is wearing Jenna's PINK housecoat!

Mommy and Mason Sleeping. I swear, he would sleep there for hours and hours. Actually, I would too, given the chance :)

This is Aidan's first attempt at a family portrait :) On the bottom it goes Daddy, then Mommy, The sideways is Aidan "Laying on the couch beside Mommy" The long lines are Aidan's fingers. Up top is Mason (Who is inexplicably upside down??) and then Jenna "With her long hair". it makes me happy to see that we're all smiling ;)

~Lisa~

Ordered my new eyes.

Took a little wander over to the Wal-Mart last night to take another look at their glasses. Tried on about a million pairs. I was just about to give up when I tried on one more pair and Love them! And the good news is, No Plastic! so their breakability factor is way low :) They weren't my first choice, but Al thought the ones I liked were just too dark (They were black :)). So I'll get the new ones in about a week. Yay!

Although, I've been wearing contacts for about a week now. And I like them a lot! I had contacts about 7-8 years ago. I don't know if they just didn't fit right, or were the wrong kind for me, but I hated them! They itched, they kept ripping, and were a total PITA to get in and out. So I made the switch back to glasses as soon as I could, and stuck with them until now.

Whatever brand my new good buddy Hakim gave me are SO much better! Despite not being the right strength (as I found out on Monday when I had my eye exam done....man, I am BLIND!! -6.25 in the left, and -6.50 in the right!). I love them. Mason can't knock them off my face. They don't get finger prints, and really, they aren't that much of a bother in the morning to get in. They biggest downside I find with them, is that they can only be worn for 14 hours a day, and with the ungodly hour that my kids get me up in the morning, that doesn't give me much time to read at night be fore I go to bed :( Oh well.

I might get a pair or two in a couple months when we get the dollars back from my prescription.

I'll be sure to take some pictures of my new eyes :)

~Lisa~

On to something? Or just On Something?

So, here we are. At yet another, "oh woe is me and my child, Mason won't sleep" post. I know, it's been awhile, and I promise to try not to turn it into yet another "oh woe is me and my child won't eat" post at the same time. Maybe, if you're lucky, I will save that gem for...dun dun dun DUN...Tomorrow! Yay!

So seriously. Mason is 18 months old. Mason is NOT sleeping through the night! I am going nuts. We took away his soother a few months ago. And since then, he has stopped sleeping through the night. Every night, sometime between 12 and 3, he's up, screaming his face off for Mommmeeee!!!! I get up, bring him into bed with me, and get the crap kicked and jabbed out of me for hours. It's just not working anymore!

I'm pretty sure that what he needs are two things, One, I will probably have to get tough with him again. I'll have to go through a few more nights of him crying it out (GAH! Heartbreak!! Agony!). And Two, he needs a security item.

Jenna had a receiving blanket, first a ratty bunny one, and then a plain blue one. Which we (honest to god) forget in Timmins last summer. She cried herself to sleep a few nights, until she latched onto a teaddy bear that Aidan got as a gift from my best friend when he was born. She still sleeps with it, and cuddles it when she's tired or sad. I am totally fine with that.

Aidan hasn't formed as deep of an attachment as Jenna, but he still must have his small Winnie the Pooh pillow on top of his Spiderman pillow, and his red fleece star blanket that my SIL gave ME two Christmases ago. However, he won't have a complete meltdown like Jenna if either of those are in the wash.

Mason doesn't have anything like that. When I was breastfeeding, he had me. After that it was his soother. After that there was nothing my Mom and Dad to give him the comfort he craves. I can't help but wonder, if I find something that brings him comfort, will he sleep better? Will he be more willing to let me work in the kitchen without him constantly pulling on my clothes and pushing against me to get my attention? Will my husband hesitate to try to calm him with a cookie or treat, in favour of his new favourite thing?? I wish I knew the answers. It really saddens me that I don't.

I tried a blankie for a couple days, and while he would cuddle into it if I put it over my shoulder, he rejected it in his crib, and when he was upset with me for not picking him up for the eleventy billionth time that day. He has shown a fondness for Jenna's teddy bear lately, so I dug through the stuffies, and found a similar bear. He did cuddle up with it, and seemed genuinely happy to be holding it...so maybe I am onto something there. I just put him for his nap, and I made sure the bear was with him. We'll see what happens when he wakes up. Pray for me that he's holding that bear!!!!

~Lisa~ (Taking your advice donations daily!)

Why not politics?

Thanks JMadison for your comment...but I didn't notice an email address to reply, so here's my response!

I took a politics course in college. Admittedly, it was a mandatory course, and I did find it a bit dry. But, there were some topics that interested me. So, your comment intrigued me. Here are a few of my reasons for not going into politics...

1. It's never been overly interesting to me. There was never a big focus on Politics in my family while growing up, and while my parents would always go to vote, there was never much discussion about the event in my younger years. So I guess the groundwork for politics was never really laid for me.

2. I am more focused on my family. Politics seems to me to be more than a full time job, and I am not prepared, at the moment, to take myself away from my family any more than I already do.

3. I said at the moment...and you questioned in your comment about whether I would ever get involved at any level. I gave that some thought. I think local politics might be interesting, when my children are grown. I also think that once my three children are all in school I will become more involved on the school council. Perhaps that will pave the way towards local poilitics. I would prefer to make decisions and lend opinions about topics and issues that are closer to home for me.

4. I am quite honestly not a very good decision maker. I look to my husband quite frequently for help in making a decision. Not only because I value his opinion in everything we do, but also because I second guess my decisions all the time. So I'm not sure how valuable I would be to Politics.

I hope those are some reasons that make sense, and help out in your course. Thanks for inviting me, and for commenting. I really am a comment whore, so please, comment any time :)

~Lisa~

5 Reasons Why I Blog...

1. Because all the cool kids are doing it. No actually, it's a way for me to keep up with some friends.

2. As a reminder to me of the past. I love to go back and read the old posts and see what was going on when...

3. Because I'm a comment whore. I love comments. All 2 that I usually get :) I really need to work on commenting more on other people's blogs :)

4. Because I can whine and complain about the people in my life that don't know I blog. And I can whine and complain about my husband, who DOES know I blog, he can read it and change his damn ways LOL :)

5. Because I am not so good at figuring things out in my head or out loud, so blogging is quite the release for me when I have a problem. Sometimes I'll start a blog, figure out my dilemma, and not post because I realize how ridiculous it all was :)

Tag! you're it!

~Lisa~

Yahtzee!!!

Yesterday was such a good day! My Mom and George came over to celebrate George's birthday which was on Thursday. I made my famous meatballs, rice and veggies for dinner. Mmmm...meatballs :) Actually, they are my sister-in-law's famous meatballs, but she gave me the recipe one day so now I can claim them as my own...especially since I put a couple shakes of worchestershire sauce in them, which she doesn't...so you see? I really HAVE made them my own :) Anyway, George Loves them :) I made a cute cake too, I wish I had had more time to work on the hammpock though...it came out a little lopsided and looking like a giant smiley face :) Oh well, It tasted good! That's what really counts right? Unfortunately though, I now have half a cake sitting in my kitchen, taunting me. ugh. Must. Resist. Cake. Must!

So, after my parents left, and we got the kids bathed and tucked into bed, Al suggested playing Yahtzee. Something he really only suggests when he wants Nookie. For some reason I guess he thinks playing games puts me in the mood :) But I played anyway, because I LOVE games, and Al doesn't really, so I always jump at the chance when he asks! The first game was okay, Al won, which was good for him, since lately I seem to be on a winning streak, which I am pretty sure is annoying. So then we start on the second game. Al couldn't roll anything decent to save his soul! I on the other hand...WOW! Awesome rolls! including TWO Yahtzee's! So we get to the end, and are adding up our points, when I realize that I never took my chance, and lost out on those points...so Al let me roll for them...and I got ANOTHER yahtzee!!!! I couldn't believe it! And I though Al was going to cry, which was hilarious :) My total points for that game were 497! Can you believe that?! Poor Al got 188 :) He didn't mind so much. The Nookie probably made up for it ;)

~Lisa~

Thanks to my new good buddy Hakim!

I can see again!!

Mason broke my glasses last night. Did a nice little Karate chop on my nose, and snapped my glasses in half! I couldn't believe it! Well, I could I guess, I've had to had those frames replaced twice now, but always because they cracked on the frame where the arm is, never in the middle like that!

So, off we went to Wal-Mart where I bought them. Only to find out that the Optician was away last night. And the girl working there couldn't do anything! Not even try my lenses in another pair of frames. Why they were open still baffles and annoys me.

So, across the street to Precision Optical. They've helped me out before, so I had higher hopes for them. Unreasonable hopes I guess. The guy there told me that I had a very odd shaped lense, and that he didn't have anything that would work. When I asked about contacts, he said I would have to be re-fitted for them, and made it seem like that would be a big deal. But, he did suggest another place close by that we could try.

Which we did. Al and I were out of the car and had our hands on the back doors to release the kids, when the doors to the store were locked. No luck there. At least we hadn't unloaded all the kids before they locked the doors in out faces!

I was feeling pretty hopeless by this point. Figured I would have to wear my prescription sunglasses for work today. Not being able to see clearly at night, while driving, is Awful! Every light was fuzzy, and floating it seemed. And making me feel just terrible! I think I got a taste of vertigo, or something like it! I closed my eyes eventually and tried to get my headache to go away.

When I opened my eyes again, we were in front of the new Hakim Optical. Which was blessedly Open! However I was scared to go in. Last time we were in a Hakim was a few years ago and they wanted $600 for a pair of glasses! HA! I paid less than that for my Wedding Dress! So, Al went in, and returned a few minutes later. He said the girl inside was really nice, and had found a frame that nearly matched my lenses!! And that she might be able to help out with some contacts too! Hmm...could it be?! So, in I went, and the girl was SO nice!!! She fitted me for contacts, which took about TWO minutes. And then gave me a pair to try on, that were one higher strength from my prescription, since it was 4 years old, and I am a blind old bat :) Then we spent a little while looking for frames that would work with my lenses. We didn't find any, but the fact that she was at least willing to help was Such a nice change! And then, to top it all off, she gave me the contacts for FREE!!!!! I am totally going to be her new best friend :)

So that's the big story of How Lisa Got Her Eyesight Back.

The End.

~Lisa~