Merry Christmas!!

Well, I have officially taken two weeks off from IP and my diet and I can honestly say that going off the diet felt just as crappy as starting it!? For the first few days every time I would take just one bite of sugar I would get an instant headache and if I ate too many carbs my tummy would rumble like crazy. However, now that I have been 'cheating' for two weeks I can eat carbs and sugar again with no after effects (accept maybe weight gain)! I have gained +4.8lbs over the holidays which is exactly what I thought I would gain. And even though I kinda stayed on track with what I was allowing myself to gain I feel like I have gained almost 15lbs! I just feel fat, I can still fit in my clothes and haven't had to resort to putting on my "fat pants" but I feel bigger? I plan on going back on IP tomorrow but I may put it off till next week so I can have one last celebration on New Years Eve. I don't see the point in starting again just to cheat on the weekend!? I have to be committed to IP if I'm going to start again and I need to be committed to loose these last 15ish pounds!! I'm so close and yet I feel so far away!? I feel like my skin hasn't had a chance to tighten up, maybe I need to start working out? Even though I am in pants one size away from my goal I still feel fat and giggly!? Maybe I should drag my Wii out again!?

So .... Christmas was good! We had everyone over at our house and hubby deep fried the turkey. It was our first time deep frying a turkey and I must say, it turned out great!! I made make ahead mashed potatoes and I made the salad the night before (broccoli/ cauliflower) and since hubby did the turkey all I had to do was make the stuffing and put things in the oven at certain times!!! We had one issue of not having enough oil so hubby had to run out and get some last minute but everything seemed to be ready on time and tasted delish!! After supper we cleaned up a bit and the boys took the kids for a walk. MIL and myself grabbed all the gifts that were hidden in the basement and stuck them under the tree. Jacob seemed a little surprised when he walked in the door and immediately wanted to unwrap ALL the gifts! It was a little awkward having so many people there watching Jacob open so many gifts and I did feel a little like we were spoiling him too much. I think next year we might not invite as many or do things a bit different?

Christmas Day we went to the inlaws for supper and didn't do much else. Then Boxing Day we were back at the inlaws for their open house, which is always a good day! By the end of the holidays and hussel and bussel I did have a few tears thinking about all the people that passed this year. It was tough to celebrate without them, I had to keep busy - it was when I slowed down and was by myself that I started thinking too much. Hopefully next year will be a little easier but I never want to forget.

Week 11 ~ weigh in

Week 11 ~ Weigh in

-1.8lbs

Well, not the best loss but I suppose if you consider that I was off plan for the week then I did pretty good? We had pizza for supper on Thursday and it was amazing!!! Then I went to my Grandmas for lunch on Sat and didn't have my salad. I think I might have snuck a Christmas cookie in there somewhere too (and got a immediate headache from it). It's so cold out that I have been drinking coffee like it's going out of style but I have also been trying to up my water intake to make up for it so needless to say .... I'm peeing A LOT!! hehe

I have one more week to be on plan and hopefully loose another 2.4lbs to put me under 180!! But after my weigh in next week I plan on going completely off plan, I am not going to go crazy stuffing my face but I will enjoy some of the simple things that I may have been missed if I stuck to plan. Like stuffing and cabbage rolls!! YUM!! Maybe even a slice of pie!! ;)

We are hosting Christmas at our hose this year, we did it last year too but this year there will be more people then I have ever had! I'm a little nervous about it, which is nothing new - I always worry that the turkey won't turn out and all my guests will starve or we will run out of food. This year we are going to try and deep fry the turkey, I know it sound so unhealthy considering I'm suppose to be watching what I eat but we have tried it before and it really isn't that greasy. I just don't have a big enough oven, I also plan on doing a ham, cabbage rolls, mashed potatoes and stuffing (these all need to be in the oven). I am also planning on setting up the basement for dinner and then moving everyone upstairs for when Santa comes. This way we don't have to worry about cleaning up too much of the mess or moving a table, etc. I just need to try and plan the best seating arrangement and maybe move a few things out of our living room to make room for chairs (like the TV and my hope chest). I'm worried that we are going to be bombarded with gifts, not that I'm complaining, just trying to plan where to put everyone and everything!! We are thinking that we will have to pile presents in the front doorway!?!? LOL It should make for some good pictures!! :)

I still have some wrapping to do and I need to pick up a few small things for our extra guests. I just feel bad that they are going to sit there and watch us open piles of gifts so I wanted to get them each something small. I know it probably doesn't matter and that they are probably just happy to be with family on Christmas but I feel it is necessary.

Above is a pic of Jacob, we went to the Festival of Trees where he decorated a gingerbread cookie, got a Santa hat, trimmed a mini tree, went "fishing" and colored a tree ornament. It was fun but I'm not sure I would go again next year. I ended up doing most of the crafts for him and he seemed more interested in the Polish dancers on stage then doing the actual craft? I will post more pics of what we did next time.

Week 10 ~ weigh in

Week 10 ~ Weigh in

-2.2lbs

It's hard to believe it's been 10 weeks already and that I am so close to goal, although I will probably be set back a bit from Christmas. I am please with IP and my results, it definitely isn't as hard as I thought it would be. I wouldn't say that the diet was "easy" because there are a lot of restrictions but the reward is worth it. NS was definitely a easier diet with way less cravings but it also took about twice the amount of time to get to where I am now, with exercising everyday. I haven't done any real form of exercise since starting, I am just now thinking that maybe I should start to go back to the gym in the new year, just to tighten up the skin a bit and tone up. I am currently 183.2lbs and would really like to be in the 170's before taking my break from this diet and enjoying all the Christmas festivities. That gives me two weeks to loose another 4lbs - totally do able!! My plan is to slowly go off the diet, as if I am already at goal - I don't want to shock my system too much. So starting the week of the 20th I think I will gradually add more healthy carbs, I will make a egg bake that should last all week for breakfast since I don't have much time in the morning to make breakfast, then I can warm it up at work and eat it at my desk. I will add my own protein to my lunch - maybe make a chefs salad instead of just greens or bring some tuna. Supper will remain the same and so will my snack. I don't think this will halter my weight loss too much but it's the treats I plan on having during Christmas and Boxing day that might set me back. My inlaws have a open house on Boxing Day and there is ALWAYS a good spread of different things, healthy stuff and yummy treats!

Above is a pic of the advent calendar I made Jacob, he loves it - unless he gets socks or something other then chocolate! hehe We celebrated St.Nicholas day on Dec 6th, except on the 6th he wasn't a very good boy and wasn't listening at all so we made him wait till he was good, which happened to be the next day. I can tell already that he is going to really be into this Santa thing this year. He really enjoyed the kids Christmas party we had at work, the Moms group Christmas party and his St.Nick gift. I'm excited to see him open all his gifts this year and see the look on his face when Santa comes.

Week 8 ~ weigh in

Things are ticking along quite well, if you ask me! For week 8 I am down another -3lbs, which is almost 30lbs in just two months!!! I have less then 20lbs left to be at goal and I'm hoping they go by just as fast as the first eight weeks have! I figure another 6-8 weeks and I should be right where I want to be! I plan on taking Christmas off and enjoying the festivities but I might have to slowly introduce sugar and carbs cause I think last time I dove right in it made me sick?

I have been doing some Christmas baking this week and have been successful at NOT sampling the cookies! However if there are any left by Christmas time I might sample a few, just to see if they are worth baking again!? It worries me a bit to do baking or cooking but not sample the food, what if people are just trying to be nice by saying they are good? Maybe I watch too much Hells Kitchen and hear Ramsey yelling at the chefs to always taste their food! LOL

Jacob had his Christmas photos last week and we finally got the proofs sent to us to look over so we can place an order. I'm not 100% happy with them but my hubby says it's cause I'm too picky. Above is one of the poses we did that I liked. I am still waiting for them to do some editing to a couple pics to make my decision on which pose I want to order. Hopefully they send them soon cause I really need to send out my Christmas cards!! The weeks seem to be going by very fast and I'm worried that before I know it Christmas will be here!!! :o

I also need to go through "Santa's workshop" and see what "Santa" has bought for everyone. I'm a little worried that Santa went a little over board this year. It just seemed like there were so many good deals on things that I am certain Jacob would like! Santa's elf needs to get those gifts wrapped and hidden.

Week 6 weigh in!

I'm pretty excited today, I weighed in twice just to make sure it was right! This week I lost another -4lbs!! I didn't think I was doing that well on IP, I mean ... I don't feel like I have restricted myself so much that I am missing out on things. I haven't "cheated" at all with sugar, I passed up on all the little Halloween chocolate bars and I changed from using milk in my coffee to using half and half - which is way lower in sugar but a little higher in fat, but it gives the coffee a creamy taste that I have been missing. I was wondering if it would have an effect on my weight loss but I don't think it has so I will keep using half and half. I have "cheated" a couple times with higher fat foods, I made mashed potatoes but with cauliflower but felt like it was missing something so I added butter to my helping. And having a slice of cheese here and there but I have been pretty good at staying away from sugar (with the help of Splenda) and staying away from bread. I do crave bread still and thought by now that would pass, every morning I crave breakfast - a nice egg sandwich or breakfast burrito, I can't wait to have breaky!! :)

So thing are going pretty good I think ... I am at my half way point, I have finally passed the 10% mark and can't believe that I am almost out of the 190's !! :D I would like to be at 179 by Christmas, which is another 14.2lbs in 6 weeks - which works out to 2.4lbs a week, I think this is very reasonable!! I plan on going off plan during the Christmas holidays just like I did at the retreat. Not too crazy but I will probably enjoy a few high carby things. Then January 1st or so get back on the program to loose my last 10lbs!! :)

The weeks seem to be flying by, I can't believe that Christmas is only about 6 weeks away. I think I am almost done my shopping but I still have to wrap them and set up my tree. We are in the process right now to move the office downstairs and adding a craft table for me. Then we are making the office Jacobs playroom. We have to do it fairly quick though cause we are on a deadline (if we don't so something with his toys we won't have room to host Christmas or put up a tree) so we won't be painting either room for now. There seems like so much to do just to move one room downstairs!? I plan on working on that tonight and Thursday cause I have the 11th off!! Above I posted my graph chart... I like to see how close I am to my goal line and how it is dropping, kinda puts a smile on my face!! Pretty soon I will have to buy new jeans again but this time they will be a much smaller size!!

almost a New Year ...

After all said and done ... it turned out to be a pretty good Christmas. There were a few people missing from the festivities and every so often I would catch myself reflecting on the bad things that have happened in 2009 and some things that may be in the near future.

We celebrated Christmas on the 24th at our house and I decided to have everyone over to my house for dinner (which was a first for me) and I think I can honestly say that it turned out good, my turkey wasn't pink, the stuffing was much better then last time and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. My Dad even came, which I honestly thought he was going to cancel saying he didn't feel good. Of course he ate way too much and didn't feel too good after but that is what happens when your body isn't used too having food and you have a meal! He really needs to start eating more but how do you force a grown man to eat? Santa came on the 24th as well, after supper my FIL and hubby took Jacob for a walk to "look for Santa" and while they were gone guess who showed up!? he he The look on his face when he walked in and saw all the gifts was priceless but of course my camera died just before they walked in the door and I didn't get any pics of Jacob opening his presents!! We took video though and hopefully my Uncle will send me a few pics? We were all spoiled - Jacob had so many presents .. I think we really over did it this year, the stores just seemed to have such good deals that I bought way more then I should.

On the 25th we went to visit my Mom and ended up having dinner there, it was nice to spend time with family. The 26th my in laws have an open house that we went too, Jacob was such a good boy throughout the entire holiday, his schedule was way off but it didn't seem to affect him too much. Everyone thought he was cute and he made everyone laugh when he tried flirting with one of my hubbies cousins friends (a very pretty Asian girl), he was chasing her all around the pool table trying to pull her dress off.... it sounds odd but really it was sooo funny!

I'm back at work today.... and it is so slow!! My girlfriend had a baby last night and I'm so anxious to go see the new addition!! I'm hoping that maybe if we aren't very busy that I could sneak out early and go see the baby!!?

So now that the holidays are over I'm determined to loose this weight!! I'm so tired of being FAT! My jeans are so tight that pretty soon I will have to lie on my bed to do them up! I like being comfortable in my pants and right now - I am not!! I might join a gym, I'm still debating it though... I hate to spend money on something like that knowing that I have a treadmill in my basement but with a gym they have daycare services so I can take Jacob after supper, he can play and I get an hour or so work out. But at home I have to wait till he is in bed (which sometimes isn't until 9pm and then go on the treadmill!? By then I really don't' feel like it, that is my time to relax and catch up on a few shows. I also have the Wii at home but it's so hard to play when Jacob is up, he wants us to play with him so I would have to wait till he is in bed. I'm so determined to do it this time!! I have to get the weight off and I have to be patient, you can put 5lbs on in one night but it takes 2 weeks to get it off! That is what I hate, I end up getting frustrated and throw in the towel before I give it a chance. So for 2010 I will have the same resolution as millions of others out there ... to get healthy and be fit! By Jacobs 2nd birthday I want to be in the 100s again!!

Xmas re-takes

Well, we got our re-takes done and there are 2 that I like, he still isn't smiling in any of them but I suppose that is just the way he is? He has never been a "ham" when it comes to taking photos, the one with the green background is about as big of a smile that he gave the photographer. So now I have make it to the mall to place my order and get my Christmas cards out!! But tonight I have another interview with a day home so I wont be able to make it there till tomorrow~!? I think I'll be lucky if I get the photos by Thursday and get my cards mailed by Friday!! :( Next year I will be more organized, it just seems like Christmas snuck up on us this year!

I had a very busy weekend, it was packed full of Christmas fun! Saturday morning all the Moms came over for a Christmas party for the kiddies. It was fun to see all the kids playing, and socializing. It's neat to see how different each one is even though they are about the same age!? We had a gift exchange ... Jacob got a doctor set! ;) He seems to really like it, it came with a pair of glasses that he tries to put on all the stuffed animals. We also showed him how to put the pretend bandage on one of his toys and we gave it medicine so last night he grabbed the band aid and put it on the bear all by himself - it was cute!

On Sunday my work had a Christmas party for the kids, it was held at one of the hotels in the city that has a water park. This was our first year attending, it was fun except the water in the pool was sooooo cold! Needless to say we didn't swim for very long! Then we went to one of the banquet rooms to wait for Santa and have a late lunch (hot dogs and french fries). We kept asking Jacob if he was going to sit on Santa's lap and he kept shaking his head, it was cute! Jacob got a toy from Santa that already needs to be fixed but I think he had a good time playing with all the other kids.

On Saturday we also had a interview with a new day home, since I'm not too sure I like the one he is at right now. This new one seemed very good but of course costs more!? I have 2 more interviews before deciding which one I like. I feel bad for the day home lady that he is with right now .... I feel like maybe we aren't giving her enough of a chance, he has only been there for 6 days (2 weeks - 3 days each week) but he just seems like such a different kid from his last day home!? I plan on telling her tomorrow that we are looking for a new day home. Friends of ours also came over Saturday night which was nice, Jacob likes playing with his friends and it gives me something to do!

15 days till Christams!! :o

I installed a scrap booking program on my work computer and have been working on small projects when we are not busy. I love it, and I think I'm fortunate enough that my boss is a really nice guy and as long as I work when work needs to be done it doesn't seem to be a problem! Have I mentioned lately how much I love my job and the company I work for!! ;)

I have so much to do, this month has been crazy busy! This weekend our Moms group is having a xmas party for the kids and I volunteered my place! There will only be six of us but my house isn't that big so I'm worried about not having enough space!? I guess we will just make the best of it but I am have two days to clean the house, make some more nut n' bolt (munchie) mix, bake some cookies and dye my hair! O - and wrap the present for the gift exchange!

Our living room is being engulfed with toys and I'm worried it's just going to get worse with Christmas only 15 days away!! Jacob has soooo many toys and he is only one and a half, I can't even imagine what our house will look like in a few years! I'm hoping to teach Jacob that he needs to give some gifts that he no longer plays with away to people that need it, once a year he can pick out any toys he wants to give away (hopefully a box full).

I am also hosting Christmas dinner this year for my family, which is a first! It will be the second time I have ever cooked a turkey and hopefully it turns out as good as my first. I just need to practice my stuffing, last time I think I used too much thyme and it tasted funny. We are celebrating on Christmas Eve - presents and all! It is my hubbies family tradition that we would like to carry on with Jacob. Santa comes to our house Christmas Eve night, after supper, which makes it a little tricky to get all the presents under the tree without the kids seeing! But it is so worth it to see the miracle light up in their eyes! We are hoping to carry on the belief of Santa for a few years and hoping that our family will participate in the lie. My brother isn't really on board, he wants to be the "cool Uncle" that gives the cool gift that Jacob will remember. But we want EVERYTHING to be from Santa, so hubby says if my brother puts a tag on the gift saying "from Uncle J" then hubby will take it off and replace it with one that just says Jacob or from Santa. I'm kinda on the fence about the whole thing, I like the idea of having Jacob believe in Santa but I also think he needs to know that people you love give you gifts as well and you give gifts to people that love you. So I think for the first few years in his life we will be all about Santa but then when he starts school and finds out there is no Santa then we introduce the gift giving to family?

Speaking of Santa ... I took Jacob to see him last night and ... he freaked out!! I had to sit with Jacob and Santa to settle him down. So I had to decide .... do I take the picture of Jacob crying on Santa's knee or the one of both of us with Santa ?? I took the one where he is freaked out! It was funny, and cute in a mean mom kind of way. I thought it would make for a good story years from now when Jacob understands but I also took the picture number of the good pic just in case I change my mind and want a "good" pic of Santa. I have 2 days to decide if I want to spend another $20 on Santa pictures?! :)

New Day home = good night sleep!! :D

Here are a few Christmas pics of Jacob, I'm not happy with any of them though. He was so tired - you can actually see the bags under his eyes in the blue and silver pic! It's totally my fault, I booked the appointment for noon!?!? WTF was I thinking!? He usually naps from noonish till 2ish? Needless to say I re booked his appointment for next Friday at 10am, which should be a good time for him and hopefully we can get him to smile at least once!? My girlfriend has also suggested using her for our pics, she has just started a photography business and takes excellent pictures but lives kinda far (although she said she would come to our house) and she could come over quicker then us waiting for the next appointment. I'm worried that if I wait to take him back next week and by the time we get the proofs and pick the photos we want I will have no time to mail my xmas cards. So I'm thinking of using my girlfriend, it might cost a bit more but she guarantees a smile and I could have the photos quicker so I can get my cards out! I totally should have done this last month!! Next year I will definitely do photos in November!

Jacob started at his new day home yesterday and he slept through the night !?!? Now I'm not sure if the two are related but that is the only thing that we changed so my guess is that he must have tuckered himself out playing with his new friends and therefore slept really good!? I guess we will see if it happens again tonight? The day home lady (Sandra) said he was really good, when I got to their house to pick him up he had a death grip on his puppy teddy bear and blankie (which seem to be his new thing) and when he saw me he kept saying "maa-ma" over and over. I love hearing him call me, it makes me feel so loved!

I think I'm all ready for Christmas, I still need to wrap everything and check my list to make sure I didn't forget anyone. I know I bought a few too many gifts for Jacob so I think I will just wrap them and save them in case a friend stops by and I need a gift. I'm pretty excited this year for Christmas, I think Jacob will also be excited ... at least for the first 20 minutes!

New dayhome!

Above is an old pic of Jacob and some of his friends playing with a kitchen, it was a big hit - Jacob really enjoyed playing with it!

So we found a new day home for Jacob and his first day is today!! It is $100 more a month then what we were paying before but we don't have to supply any food - just diapers and wipes, and we are getting 2 more days a month. She called me this morning and let me know that things were going good, which was kinda nice that she called even though at first I thought something was wrong! Hopefully it works out, hubby really needs to finish some projects and get caught up on paperwork!

I took Jacob for his xmas pictures last weekend and finally got to see the proofs, I'm not happy with any of them! He didn't smile once and they didn't do anything special to the photos like they normally do (like black and white or color enhancing). I think I'm going to make another appointment for pics even though it is getting quite close to xmas and I wanted to put a pic in xmas cards which need to be sent out ASAP! I should have got his pics done in November!

I can't believe that Christmas is only 23 days away!! :o I think Jacob will actually show some excitement this year and I'm looking forward to seeing that! I also volunteered our house for the Moms group xmas party, which should be interesting cause our house isn't that big so hopefully it's not too crowed!? I really need to put some of Jacobs toys away to make room for all the new toys at Christmas time and I asked my hubby to put the glider chair that I used when Jacob was a baby in the basement so that I can put more toys in his room.

On the search again ...

We are once again on the hunt for a day home!! I'm so mad, Jacob was doing so well at this day home - they were teaching him some sign, he was using the potty there and seemed to really enjoy them. She told me on Wednesday that her husband got transferred to Calgary so they are moving at the end of December. So I technically have 4 weeks to find a new day home but I think it would be best to start at a new day home at the beginning of the month so that gives me 2 weeks! :( It sucks looking for child care, trying to find one that isn't going to make you go broke and find one that both you and your child like. It's hard to put your trust in a total stranger and hope that they are treating your child as their own. So far I think I have one interview booked for Monday, just waiting for her confirmation email with her address and I'm waiting for a few other day homes to get back to me.

Tonight we are going for supper for my niece's birthday, Saturday is our final day at the zoo and I am going out with the girls for a "card making workshop". Sunday is our final swim class and I might go visit my Dad. I feel like my house is being neglected lately because I am always so busy on weekends and want to go visit family (especially since the roads are still good and winter isn't quite here yet). I really want to put my Christmas tree up this weekend and put away all my Halloween stuff never mind actually clean the house (vacuum, bathrooms and dusting). Jacob LOVES Christmas lights and has to point them out whenever he sees them! I can't wait for Santa to come this year, I think it will be fun! :)

Bored

Not too much is new, Jacob is finally getting back to his normal self - which is nice. He is becoming quite the chatter bug and I think that soon he will be talking up a storm!! The day home is going well, everyone is happy and I can tell Jacob likes it there. Winter is coming and I worry that we are going to be stuck in the house, I hate sitting at home on my days off with Jacob - I feel like we should do something. I'm not sure what we will do once the Teddy bear Gang and swimming are over.

Yesterday I went to my Dads house to clean - I was there for 5 hours and only got the master bedroom and bathroom done!! I was also able too do a quick vacuum and swiffer the floors, I put plastic wrap on the windows for him and took his laundry downstairs but for most of it I was working on the bedroom! I'm so tired and sore today!! :( But at least now it is done and just a matter of keeping it up. I was also able to visit some girlfriends last night which was nice but I was so tired from cleaning that I was home by 10pm!

I am so bored at work - I know there is probably lots of stuff I could do ... like line counts and inventory stuff but I just don't feel like it! It's part of the circle ... I'm fat because I'm lazy ... I'm lazy cause I'm fat!? boooo !! I wish I was off work an hour earlier and could stop at the gym on my way home but still get paid for being here a whole day!?

I have also been debating on if we should get Christmas pics of Jacob or not?! He just had his 1yr photos done in June ... but that was 6 months ago and he has changed quite a bit since then!? And it would make good Christmas gifts ... not that we really need to buy any more gifts (I think I'm done shopping?) But it would be nice? It might also be a waste of money? hmmm ... what to do?

1st Christmas and 1st trip to ER

Well I guess I will start with Christmas, Jacobs 1st Christmas was good - of course he wasn't totally into it and didn't have a clue as to what was going on but he got spoiled. We did receive a lot of gift cards and money this year which I think is great cause Jacob doesn't really "need" anything right now but when he does in a few months we will just go and get it. It was a super busy holiday for us starting on Christmas Eve, O - but first I should mention that two days before Xmas I had some kind of stomach bug and felt terrible, fortunately Jacob didn't really get whatever it was. So anyway, Christmas Eve we went over to the in laws where Jacob opened lots of presents and even a stocking then after lunch we headed to Grandmas for supper and Santa was to make a big appearance (of course Jacob got more presents). The boys went in the hot tub after dinner and soon after that we left. Christmas morning my family came over to our house for brunch and after they left I started putting some of the toys away, washed some of our new outfits and relaxed at home. Boxing Day my in laws have a big open house so we headed over there early to help out and stayed till about 10:30pm.

The biggest news is probably that Jacob got a tooth over the holidays so we are dealing with a little bit of a cranky baby. And that on Boxing Day I noticed what looked like a bug bite on Jacobs leg, well the next night after bath time I noticed a few more bug bite type bumps on him, then the next morning there was more so off we headed to the Emergency (first of many trips there I think). We got admitted right away and I thought that was great, I assumed that meant we had priority and would be seen ASAP but no ... instead we got sent to this room in the back for "minor treatment" and sat there for THREE hours by our self! Jacob was actually pretty good and only fussed a bit when he got bored and hungry. The nurse took his temp and it was normal (36.9F), the doctor mentioned something about "hand foot and mouth disease" which totally freaked me out but after checking his mouth and ears he said it was just some viral infection and should clear up soon?! So today it seems to be going away and I probably wasted three hours that I never had to but at least I know now.

So with all the running around I was worried it would mess up Jacobs sleeping but he is still on track, in fact last night he was so tired I put him to sleep at 6pm and he never woke till 6:30am this morning!!! :O But that probably means that naps will be short today but that's OK, I'd rather him sleep good at night with small naps then have good naps but wake during the night!

I better get going .... gotta pay some bills now and Jacob is napping so I need to make the most of it! Hope you all had a great holiday and soon I am hoping to catch up on reading your blogs!

Almost Christmas

I know... it's been a while and really for no particular reason, I'm not super busy and I haven't really been doing that much - guess I'm just lazy?!

So a few things are new ... I don't feel so good today (either I ate something bad or I have a stomach bug), so far Jacob looks OK he is just sleeping more which could be from his teething (none have popped out yet) and today is Mom group day but I think we will stay home. I don't want to spread my germs if I do have any and it is suppose to be really cold out.

We started feeding Jacob real food and I must say I haven't really been sticking to the rules of rice cereal first then veggies and only one new thing every three days. I just kinda give him tastes of whatever he wants, I have given him lots of different fruits already in that teething mesh sucker thing. He seems to like the cereal and I made my own mixed veggies and carrots but I don't think my blender pureed them very well and he made funny faces from the carrots. He is not as interested in his bottle as before and wants to try everything that we are eating. Christmas should be interesting with all the taste testing he will want to do! Below is a pic of the carrots.

Mom group is great, I think it is the best thing I joined - it gets me out of the house and if I run into any problems I can ask any of them. It's nice to see how different all babies are. We had a Christmas gift exchange last week that was fun, I think all the Moms showed up (which doesn't always happen) so the house was full. I posted a pic of all of Jacobs first friends, maybe it's just cause he is my kid or maybe it's cause he is the only one in green but I think he sticks out and is the first thing I see. Or maybe it's cause he is the biggest!? LOL There are only three boys in our group and the rest are all girls!

So Jacob had his 6 month check up last week and everything was good, I mentioned to the doctor about how the nurses that give him his shots said that his soft spots were starting to get pretty small and I guess that can be a big deal if they close before they are a year old so my doctor recommended that I make a 9 month appointment to check his head. Well when I went to make the appointment the nurses told me that my doctor is pregnant and due in 3 months!! I didn't even notice!! So they aren't sure what is going to happen, I imagine they would have to get another doctor in to tend to her patients but I was thinking that maybe now would be a good time to get a referral for a pediatrician then I could get a few second opinions about some thing I worry about.

I am so tired of gaining weight and I'm so ready to get back on a diet, it seems so odd to say I'm excited to diet but I just feel like crap! My body aches from having to carry around the extra weight, my chest is starting to hurt like before, I get winded going up stairs! I remember how I felt before and I miss that youthful energetic self, now I am so lazy which doesn't help me loose weight - it's such a crappy circle - I'm lazy cause I'm fat and I'm fat cause I'm lazy! I am so stuck on weather I want to go back on NS, I know it would help me get serious and keep on track but I also know that they raised their prices and it would cost me over $300 a month! I could use the "bill me later" option but it would really be no different then using a VISA to pay for it and make smaller payments making us go into debt. And do I really want to make us go into debt over loosing weight? But I would be so much happier ... I hate having a slow metabolism! If only I was thinner, I would have more energy and could be more active! And to think I'm still about 40lbs lighter then I was - I can't even remember what that felt like and I pray that I never will!

Santa pics

Last week a few of my girlfriends decided to make a date and go see Santa together, maybe do a little shopping at "the mall" (West Edmonton Mall) and have lunch. It was a really nice day and everything was great, except the Santa .. he was kinda creepy looking? I posted a pic below of the "creepy Santa", he was just too skinny and didn't really seem right. But it was OK cause the mall by our house was offering a deal that if you had a kid that was born this year you could get a FREE picture with Santa so I checked out that Santa and he was more my style! So this year Jacob got two pictures with Santa, he was good for both of them and neither cried or smiled. Whenever he meets new people he always acts so serious and it seems to take him a long time to smile at them!? He hasn't "played shy" yet with too many people but he definitely gives them "the look" before opening up ~ I wonder if that means he will always come across as a serious kid or is this just a phase? Well the two pics of Santa are below and you can probably figure out which one is the "creepy Santa"!? he he

6 month shots

Jacob had his 6 month shots on Friday! I can't believe he is already (almost) 6 months old!! That means I am half way through my mat leave and will soon be going back to work! It has flown by and I wish I could slow the clock down a bit cause it seems to be going by so fast that I won't remember all the little things.

Some new things .... Jacob is sitting pretty good by himself, he will sometimes fall backwards still so I have to watch or put pillows around him but he is doing pretty good! He rolled over for the first time last week (from tummy to back) but hasn't done it since so I think he is still working on that one! We are going to have to start him on cereal soon, even though he seems to be thriving off milk he needs to know that there is more to life then milk! We got him weighed when he had his shots and he was just over 21lbs and he is now 26 and a half inches long!! He has consistently been gaining 2lbs every month and he grew a lot in length this month! Still no teeth but he is drooling like crazy so we go through about 3-4 bibs a day! Not too much else is new - we have been pretty busy lately with my different mom groups (going for coffee and having people over), we signed up for swimming that starts in the new year and I will also probably be signing up for Strollersize in the new year. Christmas is almost here and you would think that I would be pretty excited about it but I'm actually feeling a little sad about the whole event. I feel like we are broke or at least on a tight budget, we probably won't be buying gifts for each other or for anyone else. We have only bought gifts for the kids this year so when everyone gives us gifts and we have nothing in return I feel like a bum. I wish we would just stop giving gifts to the adults in the family and only concentrate on the kids - not only are we getting too old for a commercialized holiday but it's really hard to buy things for someone that has everything or no hobbies. I usually say the same thing every year and every year turns out great but I guess I just wish that Christmas was more about celebrating with family and being thankful for what you have then being with family and celebrating what you want!?

O- and the pic above is a pic of the three of us around the same age, hubby is on the far left, Jacob in the middle and I'm on the right. The more I look at the pic the more I think Jacob looks like me but has hubbies round face? What do you think ?