a pictureless post

we've had a crazy week. we were approved for the 55+ community, so we signed the lease. the packing process is in full-swing. each night we've hurried home, whipped out the boxes and thrown stuff in. it is such a huge job. we've had many offers from incredible friends for help and assistance, but we're trying to take this opportunity to organize and throw some things at the same time. plus, i have an issue with accepting help as my friend, michelle so kindly pointed out. she's right. i do. anyway, we are moving along and making progress. needless to say, exercise hasn't happened. it was supposed to be our easy week, but not this easy. we will get back on the wagon when things slow down a bit more. claire and mya both came down with the flu yesterday--both vomitting and having 'other' issues. to top it off, we cleaned our house like never before because our home inspection was scheduled for that night. talk about timing. so, we had to maintain our clean house while dealing with 2 sick kiddos. while our house was inspected, we had to take them out and about for 3 hours. it was interesting. we were nervous about the inspection to say the least. not that we were suspecting anything to be wrong, but just uncertain as our house is 80 years old--almost entirely redone, but still 80 years old. the inspection went well. very well. nothing was found, so we are sitting pretty. the process can continue. yahoo! we're feeling good--great, i mean. we hope to move into the new place mid-february and close on our house on or before april 1st. so exciting.

week 4 weightloss update

alright, we've fallen off the wagon a bit. our life has been a bit chaotic with our house sale nearing finality, packing and both kiddos battling colds. needless to say, we've had difficulty sticking to the eating plan, enjoying take out and tasting sugary goodness on occasion. that being said, i actually gained .6 pounds, but lost 1.5 inches for a grand total of 12 inches lost. chris did not lose any inches and maintained his weight. it was a tough week even though we did do the workouts to a certain degree. did we "bring it?" not so much, but today is the beginning of a new week.

My Utopia

So, the sale of our house is moving forward. The home inspection should be done this week, we are in the process of packing and hopefully, looking forward to a close at the end of February. With all of this activity, we've also had to seriously seek out some housing arrangements for the next year while Chris is in Korea. It has been a bit of a challenge with our dog, combined with my higher standards of living. I mean really, is it too much to ask not to have crap smeared on the walls, closet doors on the closets, or no urine stains on the carpet? Yucko. We had a difficult time envisioning Mya crawling around on floors like that. And that, folks is what we were up against. That being said, we did find one place that was decent--granted a prison was just down the road, it would have added 15 minutes to my commute, and we would have been in the middle of the woods, but it would have been okay as far as living arrangements were concerned. However, through this whole process, my biggest concern has been keeping our kids in the same daycare and staying close to my friends. So, the search continued. I found a couple of condos that we attempted to locate, but instead fell upon an apartment complex known from here on out as "my utopia. " Chris called, gathered a few details and scheduled an appointment. We arrived, only to be greeted with the sign--"Welcome to ******  *****, Leominster's newest 55+ community." No shit. We could have died. I wanted to leave, knowing full well that we didn't qualify, but Chris couldn't figure out why the lady didn't tell him this information on the phone. He insisted we go in and talk to them. We did. (Sound the harp as the skies opened with beams of sunshine.) It was glorious. New carpet, clean walls, lovely furniture with cute little snowmen in the hallways. Ahhh, I was sold and began thinking how I could convince my parents to move here so I could qualify to live in my utopia. The lady quickly explained that in a 55 and older community, only 80% of their population must meet those age guidelines, which opens the remaining 20% for others. That, my friends, would be us. yahoo!! I can live here!! I mean really, who wouldn't want this....

or this...

or this...

It's a perfect little community...bocce ball courts, tennis courts, pool, gym, putting greens, community flower and vegetable gardens, walking trails, baseball field, an ampitheater. They don't actually have a baseball team, but are bringing in teams to play so the community has some entertainment. I can picture us now, Mya, Claire and I sitting in the stands, between our new friends Elmer and Earl taking in the big game or maybe it will be us sitting at the ampitheater watching Bessy and Rose dancing. Sounds like fun, huh? Chris is jealous that he won't be there to experience the good life. So, we've applied to become residents and we wait. I hope, I hope, I hope this will become my utopia for real!

So long, farewell...

Hopefully I am not jinxing anything, but Claire has officially stopped stuttering. It truly was an overnight change. Tuesday night it was gone and hasn't been back. Just for documentation purposes and because it is my profession, I need to describe her disfluencies. You can stop reading if you'd like as it will most likely bore you to death...
-part word, whole word repetitions with sound prolongations in later weeks
-mostly occuring on words with "w" or "m"--bilabial sounds
-got significantly worse before better--sometimes repeating a sound 15 times
-began to modify her own speech by exaggerating it..accompanied by moving her jaw up and looking upwards too.
-no secondaries
-more severe when tired
-never seemed aware of her disfluencies
-lasted for about 6 weeks
Glad it is gone!!

our little beauties...

i struck gold this weekend, finding several great clothing bargains for our kiddos. in fact, i got these two outfits for only $5.00 each. love them--matching, funky and oh so cute. $5.00 was the price of the weekend--2 pairs of pants at old navy for claire; one oshkosh sweatshirt for claire; one carter's fleece outfit for claire; one carter's outfit for mya. all for just 5 bucks each. you can't beat that. i love a good bargain.

funworld n.h.

being cooped up over the winter months is definitely one downside to new england life. snow is fun, but not so much for a two year old or 8 month old little kid. last weekend i found a great place online--funworld n.h. we drove up to nashua and had a great day. claire really enjoyed the beautifully painted, huge, 2 story carousel and riding on some of the kiddie rides.they had a huge ball pit complete with multilevel play tunnels. claire wasn't so willing to explore on her own, so with my encouragement, chris took her inside. mya was entertained simply hanging out in her stroller or riding the motorcycle. she has a need for speed--okay, maybe we just posed her on the bike. maybe. god knows i wouldn't let my kid ride a motorcycle let alone without a helmet--EVER!! i hate motorcycles. anyway, funworld was a world of fun and it didn't even cost alot. the highlight to claire's trip was the stamp she received on her hand. we brought her to the playground at the mall this weekend and on the way there, she asked to go to the "big playground" and proceeded to tell me which hand she would have them stamp. she was sadly disappointed when we arrived at the dinky mall playground--at least for a minute. thank goodness she is pretty laid back.

week 3 weightloss update...

well, it has been quite a week on the healthy eating/exercising front. we sort of fell off the wagon and ate out a couple of times. our food choices were basically within the parameters of the diet plan, but i am sure they were far from acceptably prepared. the interesting thing is the amount of food we were NOT able to finish. typically, we'd eat some of an appetizer and our entire meal, but this time, i was full before i even got the meal and chris ate a few bites of his steak and he was full. it was kind of amazing and sickening at the same time. it is hard to believe how much food/calories we must have been eating/consuming. that being said, we DID stick to our exercising even when we really didn't have the desire or motivation to do so. we did the dvd's each night and both chris and i managed to make to the gym for an extra round of cardio 3 times last week. we are quite happy with the results.

chris (after 3 weeks):
chest -2 inches
waist -2.5 inches
hips -2.5 inches
right leg -1 inch
right arm -.5 inches

8.5 total inches lost
6.5 total pounds lost

kara (after 3 weeks):
chest -2.5 inches
waist -1.5 inches
hips -.5 inches
right leg -3.5 inches
left leg -3.5 inches

11.5 total inches lost
6.5 total pounds lost

playdough cookies

We have been working on teaching Claire her colors. I found a great little cookie recipe that I thought would be the perfect hands-on lesson--Playdough Cookies (sitsgirlsrecipes.blogspot.com). They were definitely a hit. We talked about the colors, rolled them out with our hands and molded them into cookie-like lollipops. She was so excited to bring them to daycare to share with her friends. They were equally as excited. Here is the recipe:
Playdough Cookies
3/4 c. butter
3 oz. cream cheese
1 c sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla extract
2 3/4 c flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
assorted food coloring

1. In a bowl cream butter, cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Beat until smooth.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Stir until soft dough forms.
3. Divide into fourths. Tint each "fourth" with a different food color. Wrap in plastic or put in a ziploc bag and refridgerate for 2 hours (we put ours in the freezer for 15 minutes).
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape colors into 3/4 inch balls. For each cookie place one ball of each color in a group. Push them together and roll them into a rope. Coil the dough to make the cookie.
5. Place the cookies on the cookie sheet with enough space in between to allow for spreading. Bake 10 minutes (ours was longer as I made larger cookies) or until lightly browned. I also added a stick approximately halfway through the baking process to give them the traditional lollipop effect. Very cute and tasty.

Claire--2 yrs. 6 mo.

Dearest Claire,
Two years and six months ago, my life changed far beyond what I thought possible. You were born and we were blessed. So blessed. You have made our lives so rich, filled with love, laughter and immense happiness each and everyday. At two years and six months, you are such a little thang. You are miss independent, wanting to do everything yourself and for yourself. While this is independence is supported, it doesn't mean Daddy and I don't get frustrated--like when we are running out the door, but you need to put your shoes on for yourself, or washing your own body/hair, or when you are already late for bed, but you need to brush your teeth for yourself, or when we trying to get dinner on the table, but you need to fill your cup for yourself. Ahhh. We have to take lots of deep breaths and remember to pick our battles. That being said, our frustrations easily subside when we see all that you can do. You recently began putting your jacket on in a new way. You lay it out on the floor, bend down, put your hands in the arm holes upside down and slip it on over your head. It is clever and it works. I am not sure where you learned this, I am assuming from your friends at daycare, but our lack of help makes you so grown up. I laugh at the way you say you don't like "sahsah," but proceed to dive your chip into the bowl to get a giant scoop. Ms. Maureen can't believe how you like spicy things. Little does she know that you've been eating salsa since utero and it was a staple then. You love to count things, sing all sorts of songs--we love to hear about the scarecrow (I'm a Little Scarecrow Stuffed with Hay. Here I stand in the Field all Day. When the Crow Comes Calling, Hear me Shout. Hey, You Old Crow, You better Get Out!), and you are beginning to learn about letters and the sounds they make. Sometimes you'll surprise me and say, "Z like Zebwa." You ask all sorts of questions. I laugh when I hear you using the justification you've been given at another time--for example, if you ask for a cookie and we say "only 1", you'll say, "onwy one cookie because I'm a witto giw and I need to be heawfy." I am glad to know you take those little lessons to heart. You keep us entertained with your cooking, monkeying around, and fascination with puzzles (big kid puzzles--24 pieces with very little guidance). You are drawing circles and claiming to draw many other things, not yet understood by us adults. You are talking up a storm. In fact, you talk ALL THE TIME. I love it. You're language skills are quite advanced. I am impressed, but with this advanced level also comes stuttering. This has been going on for a month or so now. I can't say listening to this has been easy for me. I find myself cringing everytime I hear your repetitions, BUT I know it is developmental and completely normal. Thank goodness this is my job. I would be freaking out if it weren't. I also had to flash back to when your cousin Luke did the same thing. He was such a smartie pants too that his little body couldn't keep up with all that he wanted to say, so he stuttered. Thankfully, the stuttering came and went. Yours will as well. Until then, I have to remind myself and your Daddy to listen, not interrupt, and not draw attention to it. This too shall pass. Claire you are my baby girl. I love you more each and everyday. You make my darkest days bright and my lonliest of days full. You are the sweetest, most caring little thing. You have the most beautiful heart and personality. It is with such love that I look forward to holding your hand through life. You may be getting bigger and more independent, but you'll always be my little bubby or as you say "I not a giwa (girl), I Cwaiah." or "I not Cwaiah Abewwa (Isabella), I Cwaiah beah (Clairebear)." And to think each day has wonderful moments like that! How lucky we are!
Love you,
Momma

week 2 check-in

we've finished week 2. it has been a challenge as chris was away and i was doing my single parenting thing. all in all we did pretty well. we decided to break out the measuring tape to give ourselves an extra boost of motivation. this is what we discovered.
kara--lost 3 inches in EACH leg; 1/2 inch around my chest; 1 inch around my waist= 7.5 inches lost!
chris--lost 1.5 inches around his hips; 1 inch around his chest; 1.5 inches around his waist; 1 inch around his legs=5 inches lost!

kara -5 pounds total
Chris -6 pounds total

we're thrilled with these great results. we are adding a bit more cardio this week, so hopefully the progress will keep coming.

snow fun

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Laughing & Crawling

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

mya just turned 8 months and to comemmorate the occasion, she decided to crawl. she has been scooting around for the past couple of weeks, but hadn't really been able to do anything more than a good old army crawl; however, she has worked beyond and is beginning to do a leap frog type action with a few true crawls thrown in. it is quite fun to see her mobile, although it has made life a bit more challenging too. we have to pay a bit more attention to what is on the floor. otherwise, she continues to be a delight each and every day. she still has just two teeth, eats nearly everything and anything, but wants nothing more than to have or do what her big sister is having or doing. claire is the only one who can make her laugh for 5 minutes straight. no lie. she is totally smitten. i am trying to savor each and every moment, but find myself looking ahead to the great times that they will have together. mya has officially transitioned into her own bed and is doing pretty well. we made that move when we returned from our christmas trip. she hardly cries when we lay her down and she wakes once or twice for feedings. we are introducing the sippy cup, but she is still in the mode where she thinks it works like a bottle. we've been battling a diaper rash for nearly a month now, which is so odd as claire hardly had any. i finally have a concoction that i am hoping will work as we could have purchased stock in diaper rash ointment, we have so many. sad to say that NONE have worked.

my new best friend....

is a food scale. such a scary idea, but the food scale is a great little tool. i have "dieted" in the past, but followed the rules of thumb, such as 3 oz of meat being approximately the size of the palm of your hand. this method was far from exact, which is probably why my results on those diets were a bit slower to see. anyway, part of the diet portion of our plan specifies exact portion sizes. needless to say, we've been becoming slaves of the scale--food scale that is. it has been slightly eye-opening just how few cashews you get in 1 oz. or just how much 1/2 cup of rice actually is.

we've been doing really well. weighing our food is pretty impressive in my opinion, but i am even more amazed at our willpower. we've held strong to our diet and workouts (although I'd rather not talk about the yoga--i think i only made it 20 minutes.) i don't think we've actually gone without eating take out food for two weeks since we've been married and i am pretty sure i haven't gone two weeks without having a single piece of candy. i am pleased. i am even more pleased that i've stared temptation in the face and shot it down. bam!

chris has been in alabama this week for work, but he's managed to stick to the diet. this has been a huge battle for him as living in a hotel and eating healthy without doing takeout is tough.

the workouts are tough, but there is a great variety to keep me engaged. we did kenpo on saturday, which i was dreading, only to discover that it is one of my favorites. i guess it is my hidden desire to become a fighting machine! i enjoy the mix of weightlifting with cardio, but could really do without the yoga. i guess i am just not an inner peace discovering person. oh well. not loving one out of six isn't bad.

all in all, things are going well. i feel focused and ready to push on. my goal is to add some other cardio next week when i am finished with this single parenting gig.

Goal Update..week 1

Well, we've survived week one. It has been a tough week at least from a time management perspective. Dividing our time between quality time with our children, prepping our food for the next day and our 1.5 hours (yes, 1.5 hours!!) of exercise per night has made for some jam packed evenings. I have hardly watched any tv, which I guess is good, but I love my TV! I am focusing on the long-term here, consequently, making a major lifestyle shift. Things are going well. I am sore, but feel great. I have energy and feel stronger. I can't say that I have noticed a difference in the way my clothes are fitting, but I suppose that will come. The big highlight to my week was the weigh-in this morning---4 lbs. less than last week! Awesome motivation! Today is my day off from exercising. Chris just took off for another week long trip, so the kiddos and I are going to hang out and play all day. Should be a great way to spend a Sunday.

Goal: -40 pounds
Progress: -4 pounds

36 pounds to go

what a great surprise!

Mya modeling her Christmas outfit and her hand. check out the shoes. too cute. the girls were dressed identically...my favorite!

claire modeling her christmas outfit. i loved these outfits and was very sad when our christmas eve delay prevented us from going to church. we didn't even dress our girls up after all.

I am a huge fan of online shopping. There is nothing better to me than the thrill of ordering something and having it arrive on my doorstep days letter. Each time a package arrives, I get a high similar to a child on Christmas. It is awesome. I do a lot of my shopping online. I recently discovered ebates.com. Love it. Their site connects you with the stores you want to shop, and you actually get a percentage of your purchase returned each quarter. Although .90 may not seem like much, it actually accumulates to be a pretty decent size amount. Can't wait until February when we get our first check. I also am a HUGE fan of etsy.com. I've been shopping on etsy for a little over a year. I love it. I mostly order baby gifts, decorative items, or things for our kids, but each item is hand made. I love creative people and love to support them. I have never purchased an item that actually looks hand made, which I love even more. It is high quality stuff. Anyway, I recently bought a couple of headbands and clips for my girls through Banner Boutique. They are so cute, but the rhinestones fell off upon arrival. Although it was nothing some glue couldn't fix, I was slightly disappointed (etsy is great, but it isn't a cheap place). Anyway, I left neutral feedback, saying I loved the clips, but disappointed that I had to repair them immediately given the price I paid. I was contact IMMEDIATELY by the owner who vowed to make me satisfied. That she did. A cute little package arrived yesterday and much to my delight, inside I found 2 more clips and 1 headband. What a sweetheart. They are great. Being in New England where sales associates aren't always the kindest people, I appreciate wonderful and prompt customer service. This is exactly what I received from Banner Boutique--not to mention some super cute hair things for our girls. Love them. Thankfully, my friend Erin had a baby before the holidays, so I will be returning to Banner Boutique to buy little Ruby some of their cuteness too. This will be my go-to place for baby gifts--girls only!

We are four days into our new exercise/eating plan and this is what we feel like:

We are TIRED! I have never done so many different types of push-ups or squats in my life. I am being thrown back to the hell of my preseason basketball days. Definitely a pain I've never wanted to relive. My muscles are screaming. Despite our physical pain, the eating part is rather easy. We've eaten fish, chicken, turkey, egg whites galore, low fat cheeses and lots of fruits and vegetables. Things are looking good. I've even made Claire ice cream with chocolate (MY FAV!!) and opened a lunchable for her only to find a delectable Hershey's Peanut Butter cup inside (mmm...mouth watering at the thought :) without having a bit!!. That is monumental. I am holding strong! Yahoo! Can't say I've noticed a difference on the scale yet, but realistically, I probably won't. I think I'll have to focus more on how my clothes are fitting as I will be turning this fat into muscle. I will be a lean, mean, fighting machine!

Any guesses as to what activity we'll be doing tonight?

I will leave you with a couple of clues...

Who am I kidding..I am lucky if I can touch my toes, there will be no splits for me. HOWEVER, BRING ON THE YOGA!!

2010 & a promise to ME

So I've been wavering back and forth about how much information I am going to share with ye old blogworld. I've expressed my thoughts and received much encouragement (;) Alison), so I guess it was the push I needed. 2009 was a mixed year. it marked the most wonderful blessing on the birth of our daughter, Mya, but it has been tough. raising a child completely different in personality and demeanor from our first has been a huge challenge. we've finally gotten her figured out, but now we're facing different challenges--sleeping in her own crib. in 2009 we said goodbye to a truly awesome lady--my grandma dorothy. that was tough and even tougher this first christmas without her presence at our table. chris was gone for 4 months in 2009 and traveled frequently more recently. single parenthood is tough. anyway, through all that, i've managed to fall into the never ending hole of self-neglect. therefore, i am making the ever popular new year's resolution to use 2010 to attend to ME. i am going to lose weight--4 months for that goal or i will demote myself to personal attendent (and that's a promise to YOU Jessica!!), join a mommy book club to rediscover my love of reading, healthy eating, exercise, and focus on my friendships. I also want to step up my role as a mommy and wife. i have to sort out the details/steps of those endeavors. So, each week, i will update my progress--giving the nitty gritty details on my healthy eating, books i am loving/hating, and my re-dedication  to exercise (i was actually once a pretty athletic person; i am certain that same person is still here somewhere). tomorrow is day 1 on this 365 day challenge to ME.

Our Christmas

We decided to do Christmas early....and so it continues. Santa informed us that he wanted some peanut butter cookies left for him, so Claire and I got busy. We whipped up a batch of peanut butter blossoms and left a few out for the big guy on Friday night. Saturday morning the presents were left and Claire was overwhelmed. She wanted to play with each and every thing as soon as she opened them and didn't quite like the promptings to continue opening more. Mya, on the other hand, was perfectly content nawing on the packages or pieces of paper strewn around the floor. By the end of the morning, we had a princess (Sleeping Beauty) complete with coordinating high heels (or slippers as Claire calls them) and a pink backpack. That Santa knew that Claire has a few a long airplane rides in her future and set her up with a backpack, books, Hello Kitty lip stuff and paintless paints. He did a great job. Mya got this great little musical activity table, some books and a ball toy. Those gifts are a combination of Santa, Mom and Dad and Grammy and Papa. Chris' Mom made the girls some jammies. They were a bit big, so we had to mix and match. Claire is such a petite little thing that she could clearly wear Mya's jammies for awhile if her head weren't so big. The jammies were a hit. Claire put hers on immediately, but took them off after doucing them with water and pranced around naked for the rest of the night.That's our girl.All in all, our first of two Christmas' was wonderful and I am even happier to say that our Christmas is all packed up and put away for another year. Yahoo. It will be great to return home and not have to clean that up.

captain my captain

today was a big day for our family. after what has been a long, sometimes difficult journey, chris has become a captain. i am so proud of all he has accomplished. it is strange to think that we have been on this journey together since he was a lowly airman.  he was honored in a ceremony on the base where claire, his dad and i placed his new rank on his uniform. i have had the pleasure of placing three different ranks on that uniform throughout his career as an officer, but this is the first for his dad. it was special. his dad is obviously very proud of his son. his pride gleamed through as he looked at chris' ribbons on his uniform, as he spoke of chris' military accomplishments and his childhood. again, this was a special day. claire showed her love and admiration for her daddy. she  couldn't understand why he wouldn't sit beside her or pick her up during the ceremony, but as she cried when i pulled her away, that love and respect for her daddy was witnessed by all. it really was such a classic military family picture. the daddy's duty rises above. kind of sad, but this was definitely a great day. chris made a great speech tying his wit with a message about his appreciation for us and the ever present dark cloud that seems to hang above as we progress through life. everyone laughed. it was good. he presented each of his family members with a special gift. he gave claire and mya "daddy bears," which claire is especially fond of. they are bears dressed in an air force uniform. pretty cute. i think flowers are a waste most (not all) of the time, so he gave me a card instead. chris used to write me such sweet, loving cards, but i haven't gotten one in awhile. he finally stepped it up and showed me that he still has the touch. it really was a special day. congrats captain (and NO i will not salute you).

First Dentist Visit

All done. Claire holding her princess toothbrush.

Claire and Luke. Claire just saw Dr. Bryce approaching and his definitely sending him a message.

Claire getting her teeth brushed by the hygienist.

Claire had her first experience with the dentist. It went great. We'd been practicing for a couple of days, trying to give her an idea of what to expect. Her cousin Luke came with us. He also gave her the low-down on prizes, balloons and toothbrushes. She was excited. Claire chose a princess toothbrush, opened well for the hygenist, allowed her to brush her teeth, but was not so sure about Dr. Bryce. Poor guy. He tried so hard and was soooo nice. He sang to her and tried to win her over, but he only got a partially opened mouth in response. Claire did a bit better at the end, but hopefully next time she's great from the start. She has no cavities and he said she is doing a great job brushing. He was pleased that she was off the bottle at 1 and stopped with the paci at 2. Because both of those were stopped early, there are no effects on the alignment of her teeth.