They're Here!!

Well, they've been here about 2 weeks now, actually. That's just the awesome blogger that I am. It takes me a little while.

On Wednesday, April 6th around bedtime, as I was reading Jake "Dinosaur Roar" like we do every night, Tim hollered from the garage for me to come out there. I didn't know what he wanted and I still had songs to sing and Sydney to tuck in, so I didn't exactly hurry. When I got out there, he said he thought Molly was in labor and had her in the crate we had built for the pups. We hadn't thought she was due until the following Monday. It was a surprise, for sure.

It didn't take long before she birthed the first one, a black male. He was breach and didn't make it. It was so sad. We tried and tried to rub him and revive him, but it wasn't meant to be. She had another one about 30 minutes later, and it was o.k. And so cute! I hadn't ever seen newborn puppies and wasn't prepared for just how little they are. Just darling!

She kept going off and on all night. Tim wanted to be there for EVERYTHING, so we stayed out in the garage with her until 4am. By that point she had birthed 5 puppies, but both black males were stillborn (the breach one and one that was--we think--just too big and took too long in the birth canal). So we had 3 live puppies, and it had been almost 4 hours since the last one had been born. We were so sad that that was all we were going to get, but what could we do? We were exhausted and Tim had to leave for work in about 3 hours--yikes--so we went to bed a little sad and disappointed, but proud of Molly for how she had done.

At 7am, I went to check on her, and found that 2 more puppies had been born in those 3 hours. Then she had another one while I was taking the kids to school. I thought surely she was done. I kept checking on her every 30-40 minutes. When I checked at 11:30, there was another one! I was shocked! When I called Tim to tell him, he didn't even believe me at first. But that was it. She was finally done. Poor thing pushed out babies for 15 hours!

In the end, we had 7 healthy puppies--5 yellow (3 male, 2 female), 1 black (female), and 1 chocolate (male). She has been an awesome little mother and despite her recently diagnosed case of mastitis, seems like her old self again.

The kids have just been beside themselves with puppy love. Even little Jake, who doesn't like Molly at all, just loves them. And when he has one and I try to pet "his" puppy, he says, "No touch. My puppy." Oh, how that kid makes me smile. And don't get me started on Sydney. She goes straight for the puppies after school each day. She's in heaven.

So far, we have presold 2 puppies, so only 5 more to go. If any one's been looking for a great dog, let me know and I'll hook you up. :)









Yesterday they began opening their eyes and they got even cuter!

Scar-face

Sydney had her first major bike "incident" almost 2 weeks ago. She was on her way home from a friend's house and I wasn't even home--I was picking up Brandon from track practice. When I got home, Tim was holding her in his arms with a wet paper towel over her whole face. I looked in his eyes, and without uttering a word, he said, "It's pretty bad." All I could think was, "Not my girl--why did it have to be my beautiful girl??" Not that I wish injuries on my boys...I just didn't want her to be scarred for life--literally.

Once she calmed down a little, she let me pull the towel off a little and I got to see something I really didn't want to. It was awful! Scraped all across her cheek and starting to swell up and turn purple. Great.





There really wasn't anything we could do to bandage it. After all, it was her face. And right under her eye. So we just kept ice and a towel on it for a while, then just had to let it scar. I figured it would be that way for quite some time. Thankfully I was wrong.



Within just about a week, the whole scab had come off and she was bascially back to normal, just a little pinker skin on that cheek. So glad it didn't last long and so jealous my scars don't heal that quickly. I'm thinking this won't be the last of her injuries with how much of a tough girl she is...

So apparently they know what they're doing at WW

Today marks my one-month anniversary with Weight Watchers. It's not technically my weigh-in day, but I wanted to have an accurate measure of where I've come in the first month, so I weighed in anyway. I've lost 8 pounds! And when I add in the 4 pounds I lost on my own earlier this year, that's 12 for the year, and about halfway to my goal of 25. Feeling pretty freaking amazing right about now!!!

The best part is that it hasn't been too painful. There are no special workouts I have to do, no special protein shakes or special food I have to buy/choke down--just being smarter in my food choices and very deliberate in and accountable for what I am putting in my mouth. I so wish I would have tried this years ago, like right after I had Jake, but better late than never.

Just putting it out there, that if you're wondering about Weight Watchers or if it really works, I'll add my endorsement to the masses. For me, it has been just what I need and has fit into my busy family life--I still eat normal dinners with my family--I just usually load up on the veggies more than usual and keep my portions reasonable.

Anyway, that's a lot of rambling, and I feel like WW should pay me something for all the good things I just said, but I want to keep a record of my journey, and this blog is where I'm choosing to do that. Can't wait to see where I am one month from now!!!

One resolution down, many more to go...

One of my resolutions this year was to organize my bathroom cupboard. As you can see, it was SO bad. I don't know why I didn't have a shelf added to these cupboards when we built the house to help with organization. Probably because it cost a few dollars more, and I had already done that too many times. :) I ended up throwing away so much stuff that had expired or I decided I just didn't need any more. With about an hour and $15 worth of baskets and a shelf, here's the result:

Quite the improvement, if I do say so myself. I think it's weird that something as simple as a few organizational baskets can make me so happy. And I actually checked this off my to-do list like a month ago, I've just been to busy to mention it. And it's so boring to post about my bathroom cupboard, but that's what life has been like lately.

I have also painted the entry, family room, dining, and kitchen as well. That only took 5 gallons of paint and about 3 weeks. Such a project, but so nice. I still haven't taken any pics of the after--I'm trying to decide how to decorate and where to hang things still.

In other super-exciting news, I've repainted the baseboards in the same rooms, and washed the blinds and windows. It's amazing how much newer my house feels with fresh paint, pristine baseboards, and sparkling windows! It's been a lot of work, but totally worth the results. Sadly, my to-do list is still way too long...

On another side-note realating to resolutions, I started Weight Watchers a week and a half ago. Something I've thought about before, but never jumped into. I know several people who have had success, and I want a piece of it. :) I lost 3.2 pounds last week, so, so far, so good. I love how flexible it is and that I can "cheat" some each week.

Our new addition

So I am on a major roll. Already 3 blog posts in one week. I really have missed doing it. It's good to be back!

This little beauty is the newest member of our family. Our lease on the Pilot was coming to an end in February, and we needed to decide if we were going to keep her, turn her in, or trade for something else. I told Tim when we first started talking about it in October or so that I would really love to have a minivan since our kids are larger than they were 3 years ago and the Pilot was getting tight. But I didn't think he would really entertain the idea. When will I ever learn? That boy basically gives me whatever I want. For reals. So we test-drove several minivans and went back and forth on what we really needed and what is just extra crap that we didn't really want to pay for. In the end (about a month ago), we got a BRAND NEW 2011 black Honda Odyssey and I love it! It is so much roomier than the Pilot was! We took out the middle -middle seat completely so that no one is sitting directly next to anyone else--hallelujah! We went with a pretty basic model--no leather, sunroof or DVD system--and I'm so glad we did. I would have had serious buyer's remorse.

I think she will be around for many years to come...hopefully til we have the 2 oldest boys out of the house! (Not that I'm trying to get rid of them--I just want to have this car for like 10 years, at least!) I love it and love that even Tim is coming around and said, "It's not that bad," which is a big turnaround for him!

A little reminder...

Yesterday I was reminded just how amazing my man is. He called in the early afternoon and our conversation went something like this:

T: Hey, you didn't get me anything for Valentine's Day, did you?
C: Don't worry, I didn't get you a gift, so that you don't have to get me anything either, o.k.?
T: Just making sure. Are you o.k.?
C: I'm fine...

Of course, I can't put my tone of voice into this post, but I was a little annoyed after I hung up, thinking, "This is why I don't get him things, so that I won't be disappointed when he shows up w/ nothing and I was thoughtful." I was kind of on my high horse and felt so justified that I hadn't gotten him anything and wouldn't have to have that awkward "Look what I got you...oh, you didn't get me anything...???" awkward moment later in the day.

I did, however, plan an amazing menu of rib eye steaks, baked potatoes, homemade brown bread, salad, and for dessert--homemade chocolate lava cakes w/ ice cream, Magic Shell, and whipped cream. Basically, calorie overload, but whatever...

So as I'm setting the table and getting things ready for our special dinner w/ the kids, he walks in the door from work w/ flowers AND Andes mints--my fav! Be still my heart! I was genuinely surprised! AND he also gave me a card, which he wrote in--which he knows is my favorite thing--AND had put 2 "coupons" inside. (That's 3 "AND"s...)

The first one said "GOOD FOR ONE TEMPLE TRIP WITH YOUR HUSBAND" and had an expiration date of Feb. 12, 2011. Haha--we had gone on Saturday night and then to Olive Garden for our pre-Valentine's Day date.

The second one said "2 tickets to Wicked valid for May 4, 2011 @ 7:30pm." That's right--we're going to see it in May! Uber-excited!!!

So we did have that awkward moment after all, only completely reversed! Talk about feeling like crap! But feeling so fantastic all at the same time! He definitely got me!

So what's the moral of this Love-Day story? That Tim is amazing and the best thing that has ever happened to me. That he can still surprise me after 16 years, and that he just keeps getting better. He really is the perfect person for me. I don't know how I ever tricked him into falling for me, but I don't care. Point is, he's mine. And that couldn't make me happier. And I love that he knows to be afraid of the phrase "I'm fine."

And next year, I will definitely be getting him something amazing. :)

Yellow Belts

First off, a disclaimer as to why there have been no blog posts from me in a month: I repainted the entryway, family room, kitchen, and dining area over the last several weeks. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time now, but just never took the time or jumped in. Well, as part of my New Year's resolutions, I jumped in! It looks awesome and I'll post about it soon, but for now, I need to play catch up on what we've been up to over the last few months.

Ryan and Sydney had their first karate belt advancement tests in December. Pretty much nothing cuter than those 2 in their uniforms...especially Sydney with the bow in her hair... They are both doing an awesome job in their after-school class and love it. In fact last week, I asked Sydney if she still thought karate was better than dance, and she just rolled her eyes like she does and said, "DUH, of course!!!" (No offense, Ashley, if you're reading this...that's just Syd!) So I guess the lessons will continue. This is the 2 of them when we first got to the gym. Here is Ryan doing a kick. So focused.

Sydney preparing to knock this guy's socks off.

I love this shot of her side kick!

Another kick from Ryan.

We found out once we were there that each child was going to be able to try and break boards that night. That made Syd pretty nervous since they had never tried that before. It just made Ryan super-anxious! Here he is getting instructions on just how to do it. I remember something about it being very important to have your thumb on the outside of your fist...

Here's his practice, just to make sure he has the form down.

He did it!

Now my girlie gets a little instruction...

And of course, has to bow.

I love her expression in this one!

I didn't get a good shot of the break, but she did it! None of the other kids as little as her were able to break their boards with their fists. I wish I could say I was surprised, but she is just one tough cookie! She's so satisfied with herself in this photo!

Now to try and break one with a kick...she was successful in that too, as was Ryan. They both pretty much rocked!

Not the best angle, but this is Sydney being presented with her new yellow belt. Gotta love the guys covered in tats. And here's Ryan getting his new belt. He can't wait to advance again and break more boards!