Nostalgic thinking. I'm a leaper!

Just for more tailored writings I have started up another blog since I have found that I mostly talk about weight and working out in this blog and it is making me feel scattered.

I wanted to delve into the past here for a minute and really get to where I am today. In school, all the way from elementary school through my senior year, I was the kid who wished I was always someone else. When I was super young my mom never let me cut my hair and always had it up and braided, usually with bangs! GAG ME. People would touch it, redo it during rug-reading time, etc. I was usually caught around picture time giving myself the best updated version of what I wanted using a pair of scissors I found laying around.....NOT GOOD for me or my hair.

After hitting that phase in life where your front teeth have grown in WAY bigger than all the other teeth and your ears seem to stick out just a bit further than they should, I always felt awkward. My mom never had enough money to put me in extracurricular sports or summer programs that focused on learning to love the outdoors. The most I got was a trip to 4-H camp sometime in middle school after we moved to TN from VA. And let me tell you, 4-H camp was better than nothing.

In high school I was the person who remembered everyone's name but didn't really know many people. I was the person who did well in all my classes (except Chem II) and who offered to help people during class because I needed someone to talk to. I was the person who was never allowed to drive in any one's car or have my own, never allowed to go anywhere in town or out with anyone other than my mother and never got to experience the perks of being allowed to go on Spring Breaks or dates!!! Crappy I know. Am I better for all of it? Who knows.

Because of all the things I wasn't allowed to do, and being lucky enough to have a brother who is 5 years older than me, I got to "get away with" some things that were probably detrimental to my health! I snuck out on dates, drove with friends anyway, threw a few parties, lied to my parents, and ultimately tried to make the most of what little bit of school life I had.

Now if I hadn't done those secret things (that my mother now knows about) I wouldn't have met John. Ironic how things work I suppose.

I have always had a problem with having serious talks with people and being able to get all my thoughts organized quickly enough that I don't come off sounding stupid, mixed-up, irritated, etc. My mom had found out about John when we were newly dating. My brother and I had snuck him into the house a few times and snuck him out when we were surprised by my mom coming home sooner than she said she would be (that happened most of the time when we were doing things we weren't suppose to be doing). I had said that I had "met" someone who was in the Navy and when she asked how I met him and I responded with, "he was recruiting at my school" she thought that some older mid-30 year old man was trying to take advantage of a 16 year old girl. I had to get myself straight and let her know the facts as they were and force her to meet him before deciding anything. I think this is one of the times that she actually labeled as "being able to see how much I'd grown up.".

Obviously she was alright with us finally going as far as to say we were dating and things went on from there. I became more comfortable with saying what I felt needed to be said with my mother, which I think was a huge deal, and having things turn out the way I thought they should be.

Now John and I have struggled with things because I think that for a long time we both felt we might have made a mistake in getting married both to each other and so young. For those of you who don't know how this happened, I met John when I was 16. Graduated high school when I was 17. Turned 18 two months after graduating and the next month moved from TN to San Diego and got married. John is 2 years, 11 months and 1 day older than me. We got married the day after he turned 21. Back to our struggles now. We have made the choice to get married super young and face the daunting statistics about young couples. We knew that we didn't really know each other or give ourselves the time needed to really love each other and develop a sense of unity on things before having kids.
I know that all this sounds negative but understand that I took this man for better or worse and we did our worse. Isn't love suppose to be like a roller coaster? Well if so, than we are on a high right now!!! As bad as this is about to sound, I haven't loved John like I do right this minute in years.

We have been married for 5 years this August and we have finally leveled out. We spent the first year of our marriage apart because of the Navy. Me left in a new city, far away from anyone I knew or cared about and John stuck on deployment. Then as soon as he got back we got pregnant, (9 mo. later) had a baby, (6 mo. later) had to move and got stationed back by family (thankfully). And then while under the stress of all that was going on in life, John made some choices that tested our relationship and devotion to each other. However, we got pregnant again and that was our saviour baby. Garrett kept us together during our hardest time and, I feel, has made us not only better parents but better spouses.

Some of you may have thought while reading this, "seriously, how could she say all this?" and I understand that not everyone thinks the same way. My mom once said to me how proud she was of me for growing into the person I've become. She also said to me that when I told everyone I was getting married she was mad at me, partially because I am the type of person who leaps way ahead of thinking and thankfully that hasn't gotten me into trouble. She then went on to say that she didn't want me to get married and didn't understand why the universe was letting me do this thing she considered to be "wrong". She said finally that she thinks I got married so young because that was the only way I would see it through. I'm not a quitter and part of me wants to believe she was right. I knew that I wasn't ready to get married but for whatever reason I did what I thought would be best and here I am falling back in love with the love of my life and being thankful more and more for the fact that I'm a leaper! I give in to what I feel to be right no matter what the world might tell me (or my mother for that matter!) and in the end it all comes out right because I have no other option but to make it better than it was meant to be! **That's a good thing incase you were wondering!**

New Sneaks and smacks!

ALRIGHT, so yesterday once the snow started John was more excited than a kid watching a cow give birth! He had already made plans for taking Chelsea sledding and couldn't wait to dig out the sled. I guess I am the plan spoiler and when he asked me if he could go right before dark and I said no that they could go in the morning. *Sometimes I laugh at John asking me like I'm his mother! Then while putting the kids to bed it started sleeting/ice raining and when we woke up the snow that was once nice and fluffy had turned to sleet!!!! John was so mad at me he spoiled the whole time outside by being a grouchy gus!

Then he ate breakfast and went to nap off his tainted side! I went up to pester him, much like a little sister would, and we finally started laughing and the mood was lifting. John's mom and I made cinnamon rolls, She and Chelsea made a smoothy and played tea party with all the tea set, Garrett napped so I could get all my work caught up and Ellie and I finally got a workout in!

Speaking of the workout, I have taken 4 days off and honestly haven't really thought much about working out or how sad it is that I can't do it. I have spent my time instead working, playing with the kids, watching my DVR'd shows, etc. However, I woke up today and felt like I needed to get back into things or else I would have to start over again! So around the middle of the day (when I would normally do it anyway) I made John's mom workout with me. Right after jumping jacks, like always, I got the shin pain again. I finally thought it was my shoes so I broke down and went to get some new fitted sneakers. There is this store in Knoxville called FLEET FEET. They specifically fit women with sports bras and sneakers! Mostly a runners store. I went there with John's sister Sarah once for an event called Diva's night. It was informative and fun and obviously made an impact on me or I wouldn't have even remembered where their store was! The guy at the store, I thought, was super nice and helpful and I think he found me the best shoes to help fix my problem! I will have to let you all know later how well they work. The store does offer a statisfaction gaurantee so no matter how worn they will take back the shoes if they aren't working like I feel they should! GREAT!!!!!!

So after that John and I went to Dick's Sporting Goods and got his game target and then got his new arrows put in for getting cut to size. That should me the end of hunting things for right now, HOPEFULLY! Yeah, right.

Other than all that I had a finally happy day, got to spend some quality time with my love. I love when we are both in a good mood and get to spend time together without the kids! Doesn't happen often but it's nice when it does. Also the kids were nice today. I learned after we got home that Garrett got sent to the timeout chair because he smacked Chelsea in the face, pulled her hair and then smacked her again. Funny to hear because I know he has that mean streak in him and imagining it was funny but not funny that he really treated her that way. I told John once that one day he was going to snap because of all the mean Chelsea bestowed upon him! LOVE IT, in a bad way. Off to give these kids a bath and get them in bed early.

PS- I have a head cold. No wonder I have had headaches for the last week! Just a lot of sinus pressure. SAD but relieved to know the truth.

The sun always shines brightest in the morning!

I'm sitting here at 7:30pm feeling like I've finished my day and I'm suppose to be relaxing. I can hear the news and my in-laws fighting about sour cream being used in food. Garrett is taking fake flowers out of a bowl off the floor and I can't hear Chelsea which makes me think she is into something she shouldn't be, most likely picking her nose!

I find myself really hoping for snow tomorrow and then all of a sudden John walks in the house! Garrett is running yelling "DADA". My mind has been wandering today and it seems to be giving me a headache.

I'm amazed at how Ray and Ellie are still putting a list together of food needed from the store when I hear everyday from Ray that all the freezers and fridges are packed full of food! Really all that's left is food that noone wants to eat because it's too freezer burnt, stinky or unknown as to what it could be! I could complain for a whole day or more about all the fault I find in living with my in-laws. Randomly, 1. Ray says to tell Chelsea not to flush the toilet when she goes to the bathroom, 2. I have to remind Ellie everyday to use an "inside voice" so that Chelsea might be a little quieter. And 3. I have to watch Fox News all day everyday that anyone is in the house other than me and the kids! I could go on but I will save all the littles to be scattered over the blog.

On the workout note, I am deep into my Abs Diet book and I find it really interesting. Not so much for the info that I already know a little about but for the equations I can do to figure out my own stats. I use to find it hard to believe that a man who works as the Editor-in-Cheif of MEN'S HEALTH magazine would know anything about womens health. And the information is all pretty standard and mostly things I have already heard. I really hope that it actually have a meal plan or something recipe related in the book because it has about 200 pages of workout to do and I think it would be a little ridiculous to have workouts but not recipes.
I still haven't been able to workout. And I actually opted today to take a nice warm, long bath while reading my book instead of working out because I just couldn't help but relish the silence as the kids were sleeping! It was wonderful. I hope to get back into something tomorrow even if it is Debbie's Slim in 6 instead of the 30 Day Shred. I just want to get a good workout in that I know is working and helping me reach the goals I have set out for myself. I really haven't set out any goals so maybe I better think about that and post them in writing so I can be held accountable.

Well that seems to be all for today. I love watching my husband playing with my son. There is a lot of hitting and making noises and I can just imagine all the love that is flowing between the both of them. I always tell John, at least we have one kid who runs to him when he gets home and offers to love and play with him instead of just run away from his hugs!

SuperNanny 911!

Last night I had a dream that the Supernanny herself came to my house and it wasn't for the kids!!! I was so irritated at John just coming home and plopping down on the couch with no regard as to how much I do during the day and the fact that I NEED a break. So supernanny came in my dreams to make him do all the things I do in a day for a whole week! Kind of like a wife swap but with no new wife! And she also made the kids a little friendlier while she was at it!

Now I feel like a Debbie Downer because I am focusing on negatives rather than ANYTHING else. I woke up this morning with both kids in my bed, Chelsea because she peed through her pull-ups and Garrett because that's all he ever does. I realized how unorganized and unscheduled I really am with both of them. That was one of my New Year's resolutions: To become more scheduled for my kids! I think it was like #3 or something. Before Garrett was even found out about we had things working pretty smoothly. Chelsea was sleeping in her own bed every night, getting up at the same times everyday, napping, playing, etc. All on a great schedule. She only got up once a night and I wasn't tired. Then we found out about Garrett - SURPRISE - and we still kept our schedule. Dr.'s say that you should make your new baby adhere to the schedule you already have set in place. It doesn't disrupt your other childrens behaviors and schedule and it allows your new baby to become part of the family giving them a set job to do. That is what I hear anyway. Well we still haven't broken Garrett of sleeping in our bed, another one of my resolutions, and now with both of them being so crazy young I just find myself longing for the day when Chelsea starts school and we can have a schedule that way.

Why I can't figure out what to do for my kids is beyond me. I have been good about implimenting nap time again for Chelsea although it doesn't seem to be making her any more calm like we thought it would. She still sleeps in her own bed but only for half the night because I can't keep both kids in her room while I put her back to sleep and can't count on John making sure Garrett doesn't roll off the bed.
~right now I heard Chelsea yell in frustration at Garrett "Sush". But screaming it at him. A sign that I'm doing something not right or to be a bad influence!?

On top of all the disappointment I feel today I also have that stupid shin splint again. I did two days of working out and BAM! it's back. What a load of bologna. I plan on doing something less strenuious to get stronger and then knock it out with the Shred after I get that done. That just means an extended time of working out at a slower pace and slowly but surely taking that stupid belly off! *UPNOTE #1: I am keeping steady at 158 which is about 6 pounds less than I started at!* I made part of my grocery list last night using some recipes I found in my new Biggest Loser Family Cookbook and also some from the new Feb. edition of Better Homes and Gardens! They all look super tasty and I'm looking forward to trying out some of the new food on the family and see if they really are as tasty and filling as they are said to be.

*UPNOTE #2: We are looking at a severe winter advisory for our area that is calling for up to 8 inches of snow over 4 days! Here at the lake things stick a bunch on the road and stay for weeks after because not all the curves are sunned. I'm looking forward to having some time with my husband home where he isn't able to get out and make us do something or go out and practice his bow shooting.

Well enough for the day. I have some housework to do and some spending better time with my babies trying to have a happy day!

Getting over the sick and on with the healthy!

Watching the weather this morning and there is suppose to be a 70% chance of rain. It's cool and comfortable and tell me does this look like rain? Great weather. Almost warm enough for Spring but still cool enough to enjoy the last little bit of winter!

We have all been so sick lately. John brought it home from Who-knows-where. Then Ellie got a little half bug and everyone seemed better. Out of nowhere I got it and of course the kids got it after that. Yesterday was the first day that everyone has been feeling better since all this got shipped to our house! Now today John is feeling sick again just not as bad as before. I really hope that the rest of us don't get it again. That would be aweful and I fear that it would just become a vicious circle of sick =C

Yesterday was family day for John, myself and the kids. Usually you would think that means everyday is family day but there are some days that John and I want to do something or John wants to go spend time doing John things. Yesterday we went to Bass Pro Shops because John got a call that his arrow shafts were in and were only being held for 24 hours. Then we had to drop him off at work because he had a shipper heading to bootcamp in the morning and finally we went to the book store. Of course driving from Ten Mile to Sevierville and then back to Oak Ridge was a lot of driving. The kids were restless from sitting for so long and then went crazy in the bookstore. I did however find two books that I think will be great to read and put into effect. They were both on Clearance at the Books-A-Million in Oak Ridge. The cookbook has tons of great recipes especially made for families most with serving sizes of 4 or more. And the other book as 12 pages of general calorie counts for common foods. I haven't read the rest of the Abs Book but I will get to it soon enough.

I think that my shin splint is gone so I will be working out later today. The only problem is going to be finding the time (and the splint coming back again to haunt me) because Garrett is on antibiotics and isn't sleeping the same as before we all got sick. And with Chelsea getting up 9 every morning now I doubt I will get them both in bed at the same time! Hope I can do it. It is great being so inspired by other's stories. I know that people say you have to be doing a life change for yourself or else it wont be a permanent change but I am more inspired by someone telling me I need to fix something or by hearing other people's success stories rather than just doing it for myself!

Sorry this is such a short and scattered blog. I just feel like we are all trying to get back to some sort of normal and that maybe we aren't even close yet! Lunch time and hopefully personal time!

The attemped Date Night.

So things usually go pretty smoothly for John and I on date night. Well my mom stayed with us from Wednesday through Friday because I was so sick Tuesday night and she came to help with the kids. Then on Friday as everyone seemed to be feeling better we decided to go out into town. We had to pick up her old car from the dealership, take Garrett to his follow up appointment and then we were going to go get a pedicure! They were having a special at the walmart nail salon in Turkey creek for 20% off all offers. Anyway, we were in the Dr.'s office John asked me if we could do a date night and my mom could stay a little longer. We figured out all the details and it seemed to be fine (except I really didn't want to do a date night).

My mom took the kids back to her house and John and I went to Bass Pro Shops to look at bow stuff and then to the mall for a cinnabon and a movie. We went to go watch Legion, which was graphic but super good. And right in the middle of our movie we get a text that now Chelsea is throwing up. I MEAN SERIOUSLY. We can't catch a break.

Also I haven't been able to do a real workout since Tuesday. Which might not seem like a big deal except that it is! I tried to workout on Wednesday afternoon but what I thought was my shin splint being gone was really it just playing tricks on me and it came back with a vengence! So now I have taken a permanent leave from working out until it is really better. How will I tell that it is really better? I have no idea. But I'm sure I will think of something when that time comes. I think I will try again on Monday and see if that isn't better.

The crazies are running around here despite being sick so I have to go get the calm going on and maybe start the bath! Wish me luck that there isn't anymore vomit. I doubt the washing machine could handle much more or that I could handle much more talk about how much water is being used!!! THAT'S FOR ANOTHER BLOG I GUESS ;)

The world turned around and pulled it's pants down at me!

So I had written to this other blogger, Ashlee, about working out and after getting her email reply and talking to Rachel, I thought I would take a day off of working out to my DVD and just go to the gym instead and ride the bike or something lower impact than what I was doing. As I'm leaving the house I feel so super hungry that I am starting to get sick and I grab an apple and water to go and eat on the road. Once I am at the gym and riding the bike I feel extra hot and I go to the treadmill instead. Then I have to make a mad dash to the bathroom and do a little expulsion. I left after that.

Then I have to pull over ever 15 minutes and throw up all the way home. I called John to tell him all this and he said he would take the kids when he got home, which wasn't until after 8 by the way! I spend the next million years throwing up and crapping my pants and it seems to me at that very moment that the world just turned around, pulled down it's pants and decided to just give me the mean nasty moon! -ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!! Thankfully I feel a lot better today but am still taking the day off of working out to make sure that I am not going to vomit on myself while in the middle of the row! I mean seriously. Why is it that when I start to do something really life changing and good for me I get knocked off my stool (no pun intended!)?

On another note, I got my new comforter in today. It was shipped to my mom's house and she brought it over with her when we thought I was on my death bed (as it felt) and she as my recovery with the kids. I can't wait to put it on and will post pictures after I get it all set up. It should go nicely with our bedroom furniture.

Also today as I was getting up and John was itching to make his break from the house, Chelsea said the funniest thing:
John (in a towel) to Kate: Give me Garrett, I'm going upstairs to get dressed
Kate: It's fine just go get ready for work.
Chelsea: Daddy don't go upstairs in my room and look at my tea party with your pee out!
HILARIOUS! It was so random and almost uncalled for that it just made me laugh. Too bad John didn't hear it when she said it because repeating it to him wasn't half as funny as her saying it outright!

Alright. I'm off to get the laundry out of the dryer and put the other loads in. A mother's work is never done. Then I might have to take Garrett in to the dr.'s office because he has a rectal temp of 102.8 and threw up all over my mom's pants (hence all the laundry getting done!).

Change for Thought.

This very minute, as I sit here trying to think of what to title this blog, Garrett walks over to me with a frog keyring light all soaking wet and half hanging out of his mouth! It felt like the perfect way to start of this blog!

I feel like I have to catch a lot of people up to speed with what has been going on in my life. We moved into my in-laws house in early Sept. We thought that moving in here would allow us to pay off any remaining debt we have and to save money. This was the thinking when we thought we would be going to Japan (which could still be happening). We aren't doing as well as we thought and it turns out that we could be doing all that we are doing now if we'd had stayed in our old house. So that makes staying here just a hassle for everyone.
You can tell that Ellie and Ray don't want us here. They aren't appreciative of the things we do around the house, they hate having to watch our kids or even have them around at night when they get off work, and they make snide comments to us or while we are in hearing-distance.

I think that I have pretty wonderful kids and quite frankly I really wish that we were ready to move so I can get back to having my family normal again. John is having a hard time at work and then to come home it's just as bad for him. The kids don't get to see their friends often enough and I am stuck in the country not getting to see all the people I love to see.

On a different note, I have been keeping up with my resolutions. I made a list of about 8-10 +/- and I have been doing what I can on most of them. I figure if I get a few taken care of and maintained than I can finish the rest a little later. My first and main resolution was to start taking better care of myself. That could mean anything from getting haircuts every 6 weeks to doing an at home facial once a month! So I have started off with getting myself back to the shape I want to be instead of focusing on how gross it is.
I heard that Rachel was getting this DVD called 30 day Shred and I figured that we would get in shape together even if we couldn't be close enough to workout together! So I got the DVD too. She is about 4 days ahead of me since she bought her movie in the store and I had to order mine off line.

Well you'll never guess what happened to me......after doing this workout, to what I thought was a more modified pace, I get a shin splint. For those of you who don't really know what a shin splint is comprised of, it's an inflammation of the muscle in your shin that causes a pain while working out, walking, climbing stairs, etc. I have a hard decision now because I have to pick between finishing up the last 3 days of my first circut and then rest or rest now and possibly blow all the hard work I have accomplished thus far. I don't want to risk having to start over but I also don't want to further "inflame" my already sore little leg.

** Pause for sidenote - Garrett was so whiney while I was writing that now I am sitting back like a gangster in my caddy with him sleeping on me!**

Anyway. That is my biggest dilemma for today. That's sad when that is really all I have to worry about. Although I am sure some moms would say that I'm lucky that is the only thing I have to worry about today! I guess it takes those special rose-colored glasses....

Starting off!

Hello all! This is my first attempt at blogging and thought I should start off with an introduction about myself.



My name is Kate and as you can tell I am a regular stay at home mom (SAHM). I have two small kids both under 3 (as of today), Chelsea who will be 3 in April and Garrett who will be 1 in April. You read that last sentence and I can see that you are thinking to yourself, " APRIL, APRIL?" Yes both my babies are evenly spaced one on April 2nd and the other on April 13th. It has been a great month for John and I.

John, is my husband. We have been married now for 5 years and they have been a great start to the rest of our lives.

My goals for this blog are to just recap the little things in life that happen to me. Things I feel and think about certain things and just really a place to vent. I hope you enjoy all that you read. Thanks for stopping by!