Tipping The Scales

I have to think about something other than my bathroom disaster right now, so let’s talk about my weight. Doesn’t that sound like a fun, interesting, exciting, relaxing topic to be discussing in public on my blog? I thought so, too!

Obviously, I gained a couple of pounds when I had a baby. I still blame him for the weight, but I really don’t want to be that mother that is dropping off my kid at kindergarten and still whining that I just had a baby, so please forgive my muffin top jeans. It’s been 18 months since I’ve had my body all to myself, so it’s about time to lose the baby weight.

I found some awesome motivation at the My Virtual Model website. It allows me to see what I looked like before, what I look like now, and what I’d like to look like when I reach my weight goals.

This is what I looked like after David was born (there isn’t an option to add stretch marks, so just imagine that you see them all over my stomach.)
This is what I look like today after losing 28 pounds.
This is what I’d love to look like by the time we go on our prize vacation to Punta Cana in November. My goal is to lose ten pounds by November 1. I know I need to lose more than that to be at my ideal weight, but I also realize that I need to set a goal that is realistic. To motivate me to hide my Godiva chocolate and put on my running shoes, I’m using the free Fit Day website to track my progress. I’m also telling you about my plans so you can shame me into losing weight.

I’ll keep you posted!!

Wordless Wednesday: How to Remodel an Ugly Tub

Just add a dash of adorable baby and houseguests will fail to notice the ugly pink bathtub.

For more Wordless Wednesday, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Benefit of Siblings

The University of Florida published the results of a study they conducted on the benefits of siblings on the development of social and interpersonal skills. They have concluded that “through cooperative play, helping and teaching younger siblings, and negotiating and resolving conflicts, siblings have opportunities to refine their communication skills.”

I didn’t need a scientific research study to tell me that. I knew David was learning something from his sisters when his first effort at combining words into phrases resulted in a toddler screaming, “Go away! Go away! Go away!”

Where do you think he heard that?

Impatience

Our bathroom is still not done and I'm getting really impatient! I'm posting this pic to remind myself that the results will be worth the wait. Anything is better than this!

Outrage

You certainly know that I’m a baby addicted Mama, but I don’t brag about my stepmonster status very often. I don’t talk about it here very often because it is a role that fills me with frustration. It’s not even my teenage bonus daughters that vex me. It’s society in general.

Since school is starting next week, Hubby called their schools to provide his contact information and request their class schedules, open house schedules and information regarding parent teacher conferences.

Can someone explain to me why such a simple request is always met with hostility from school administrators? Why must they always be suspicious and defensive? Is there a good reason for the rudeness and dismissive attitudes we always encounter? Not only would you expect a father to be involved with his kids’ education, but he actually has a court order that allows him to be involved.

I believe that God gives children both a mother and a father because his divine plan was for a child to feel the love and support of both of those parents. If that’s true, why does our society dismiss the role of fathers as unnecessary and an inconvenient interruption to the status quo? Why is it that schools, daycare centers, and health care providers make it so difficult for divorced dads to remain involved with their kids? Shouldn’t the guitar teachers and soccer coaches be delighted to see all the parents at classes and practices? Shouldn’t dads feel welcome at ballet recitals and football games? Why do all these folks discourage participation from Dad’s and then society frowns on the deadbeat dads that aren’t involved with their kids?

Am I the only person on the planet that sees the paradox in these attitudes?

My vent is over, but the frustration is never-ending.

My Big Boy Chair

I’m so excited about my new big boy chair that I wanted to tell you all about it right away. I’m sure my Mama has told you that I’m almost 18 months old, so you realize that I am a big boy now. I just started going to the toddler class at school and I noticed that all the big kids sit in little people chairs. We don’t have any highchairs in my new classroom and I really like the freedom I have in the little people chairs.

I thought it might be a good idea to act like a big boy at home, too, since it’s so much fun at school, so I won’t sit in my highchair anymore. I tried sitting on the big people chairs in our kitchen, but I’m not big enough. I like to sit with my back against the chair, but I also want my feet to dangle off the front. I’m too short to do both at the same time and that makes me so mad!

Mama and Daddy understood my dilemma, so they bought me a little big boy chair of my very own. My new chair buckles to the big people chair and I love buckles. The chair is just the perfect height to slide under the table, so I can eat there with my family. My booster seat also has a tray with a removable plate. The removable plate is really cool because it’s easy to clean when I eat something messy, like pancakes with dipping syrup. I love to dip but I make a big mess.

Mama and Daddy complain about the tray a lot because it’s really hard to get on and get off. It’s bad because they make a mess trying to get me out of my chair, but it’s good because I can’t take the tray off all by myself like I did when I sat in my highchair.

Now that I’m a big boy that sits at the table, I have a new big boy chore. After dinner, I collect all of the placemats and I put them away in the drawer. I ball them up really small because they fit inside the drawer better and Mama loves all the little wrinkles it makes. She is really proud of me for being a big helper!

I just wanted to tell you that I really love my big boy chair. It’s not perfect, but I’m really glad I have it!

Home Temporary Home

Nothing brings out the love in a family like sharing one room for too long. Since our bathroom is torn apart, we are spending a couple of days in a hotel. That means Mommy, Daddy, Skywalker and Little King David spent hours upon hours in a tiny hotel room last night.

Granted, the room is not actually tiny, it is only tiny when filled with four people and all their junk. I was relieved to find that the hotel was clean and tidy upon our arrival. Luckily, this Motel 6 was formerly a Fairfield Inn by Marriott and just changed management recently. The bedding looks fairly new and the room was remodeled at some point in the not too distant past, so we were definitely comfortable. That was a very good start to our extended stay.

The kids settled in nicely with a pillow fight and an invigorating jump on the beds, then David helped Mommy find the ice machine. We made the mistake of passing the pool, which made David crazy because he wanted to go swimming NOW, NOW, NOW, but we had lots to do getting settled in.

After we unpacked, David took a bath in the tub and he was allowed to splash as much as he wanted. He got his pajamas on and read his bedtime story. After his book, he grabbed his blankie and said “night, night” to everyone. Then he began to gather all of our shoes and said, “Go. Go.” as he pointed to the door. He didn’t react very enthusiastically when I told him that we weren’t going home.

As David had his meltdown, Daddy and Skywalker began their hour long fight over the remote control. Daddy wanted to watch Discovery Channel and Skywalker wanted to watch a cheerleader-teenager-romance-chick flick. I found both choices to be incredibly annoying, so I decided I had my hands full enough with screaming toddler that I didn’t need to vote on the television debate.

David finally fell asleep in his Pack-N-Play and I was able to take a shower all by myself, which was the goal of staying in the hotel in the first place. I even shaved my legs! The little pleasures in life!

We all slept well and I woke up at 5:30am without a struggle. Unfortunately, it’s absolutely impossible to get dressed in our hotel room without waking the baby. David’s eyes popped open shortly after I got up and they stayed open. It wasn’t too much of an inconvenience since I had showered the night before and I forgot my makeup at home, so it didn’t take me long to get ready this morning.

Despite only having a few minor inconveniences, I have to admit that I am incredibly crabby about this entire situation. I really cherish my routine and I didn’t realize how important it is to me until this week!

Luckily, my jury duty assignment has been postponed until next month, so I at least have the comfort of my normal routine at work.

Only two more days to go until the bathroom is done!