Man My Timing ROCKS!

Man my timing ROCKS! Like seriously Rocks. I've decided that I need to really step it up with the efforts to lose the weight I hate and I really have bought into this whole, primal, clean eating way of it... so I'm doing my own version of the 21 Day Primal Blueprint/ Whole 30.

I've seen many people, people that I ACTUALLY KNOW (not just some face on a website) have a lot of success with eating clean. Not just have they been able to lose weight (come on the reason we really are going to do this) but they sleep better, have more energy, had health issues solved, etc. AND they have amazing poop babies, come on you all know that's a BIG plus!

Still reading after that doozy?

So I'm going to walk you through the ins and outs of my detox from refined sugars and carbs! I have a MAJOR addiction to it all so this should get good! And like with any good diet/life style change I have impeccable timing!  But really, is there ever a good time? Just because Halloween is this week and we have friends coming over for a BBQ on Saturday... that means NOTHING! (OMG I already miss all the candy and beer I'm not going to get to have!) But I will be able to enjoy Thanksgiving because it'll be done by then! Sliding in for a win, VICTORY!

Here's my thought process on this day 1. Prepping and being "ready" for this is HARD. I'm so used to convenience and being able to just grab something, or drive through and get something, but on the detox portion of this I can't even have steel cut oats! So you really have to prepare yourself. I already have enough on my plate so lets add this in. I'm not looking forward to salads EVERY DAY, so I'm going to try to cook bigger dinners so i can reheat. I'm not pumped AT ALL to workout, like AT ALL. But I'm going to try to get something in! Maybe. Oh God now I'm already giving up.

Yesterday I made a Frittata that I then separated into slices so I could bring them to work this week easily for breakfast! And it's not a cold breakfast and it's pretty filling! Lunch is a salad, I have an apple and banana for snacks, dinner... no clue.

So right now I'm okay. But it's also first thing in the morning on day one. gulp.

Parker Thomas

Parker is my wild man, a non-stop eater, a fixer, a drummer, and a lover.

Parker is now 20months old and he throws us for a loop every single day! He is nothing like Kinsley, we were so unprepared for him! Where she was quite, he screams. Where she would sit and play, he climbs. Where she would watch Mickey Mouse, he drums on the walls.

Did i mention he eats? A lot. Like might put some teenage boys to shame! Last night alone he ate 2 packages of muffins, a large banana, and his dinner, that's pretty normal for him! 

 He is also perpetual motion. The only time I see him sit and "rest" is when he's pretend reading a book, and OH does he do it with FEELING! Really I should record it. While we've been worried about him here and there with his speech, I've never worried about his intelligence. He's SHARP! He wants to know HOW everything works and he's an extremely good and determined problem solver. Even 15months he was figuring out how to get a stool, move it, and climb up to grab the doctor's computer. Even though it took him a few tries to get the placement, he did it! The doctor just laughed in amazement.

Parker was plagued with ear problems from a VERY early age and had about an ear ache a month until he got tubes at 16 months. Because of these ear issues, and because he's the baby and we let him get away with grunts, at his 18 month appointment he was behind on his speech. We made appointments and met with specialist. By the time he tested at the age of 19 months we what we found out was astonishing, but very Parker. In all of  his developmental areas (besides speech) he is functioning at a 25-26 month old. They were floored too by his attention span and were able to do far more with him than a typical 19 month old. But his speech? Not behind for his age, just his development level! They said he was just barely at the 19 month old level for speech but they would like to see it on the same level of his other areas. And they were impressed that he was so incredible at getting what he wanted because he found other ways to communicate his wants to us! I mean I knew he was smart! ;)

 One of Parker's favorite pass times is dumming. Anything ON anything. To the point where I'm terrified that he's going join a band, get discovered, go on tour, and then do a stent in rehab before he even gets out of diapers! His favorite "stick"? A plastic golf club... yet Thanks Aunt Jessie and Uncles Dan! ;)

Did I mention he likes to eat?

 Parker is a silly, fun little boy. Where Kinsley was blatantly obstinate, Parker is just curious. He is constantly making us all laugh! He's been a grunter since the day he was born and we love to hear him confirm what you're saying with his little Tim the Tool Man grunt!

Kinsley Grace

I've realized that it's been awhile since i've updated you on the ins and outs of my kiddos so I thought I would take a moment to bring you up to speed, one child at a time!

Kinsley Grace, she is now a little over a month shy of her 4th birthday! Where did the time go? She will start Kindergarten in two years. Part of me is sad for her since many of her friends will start next year, but alas she has a December birthday. Secretly I'm happy because I want to keep her little for just a smig longer!

Kinsley is a very complex little girl. She's extremely intelligent; she knows all her letters and numbers and can write almost all of the perfectly. She remembers everything and anything; not one of those children that you tell "later" to, because she will remember later. Kinsley speaks beautifully and still uses her power of persuasion and reason to get her way. She still says a few things that are cute:

McDonalds: Old McDonald

Earrings: Engring

the past is always Yesterday, the future is always Tomorrow

But my list of cute toddler phrases is getting shorter and shorter. 

She is still in dance and loves every minute of it!

 

She loves her brother like a little Mommy. She knows what's best for him! But, now that he's very independent himself she is a full scale tattler. According to her, I must be made aware of everything at all times, good or bad. 

Kinsley still has epic meltdowns, but normally they can be stopped with the possiblity of losing all of her marbles (which she earns and loses for behavior). Her favorite put-down is "X can't come to my birthday party"... it doesn't matter if her party is 8 months away, it has been used. 

 She has noise issues, any loud noise bothers her and upsets her. But she will push through if she thinks the reward is worth it!
Kinsley also LOVES church. She has only been to Sunday School and nursery but she LOVES it! She in fact insists on praying over all of our meals and will even thank God when she's gotten on purple at school (for good behavior).

 I often forget how young Kinsley really is because she has such a maturity about her. I can bring her to my work and no one will ever know because she's so good and quite. I can talk to her and she listens. She also takes in everything, as I learned the hard way when Chris and I were fighting one day.
She loves new friends, being outside, and swimming. Her favorite shows are Doc McStuffins, Sofia, Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, and Mickey Mouse Club House (although that is slowly fading). She loves all the princesses, but Ariel is her favorite. She love long hair, not short like Daddy's. Her favorite color is Orange (no lie, only my girl) and her favorite food is spaghetti.

Kinsley is my first baby and definitely had us fooled about how good and easy kids are!

Furloughing right along

Well on September 29th we went to a pumpkin patch and there ended our "fun". Notice there's no Parker in this picture? It's because he was feeling sick and cranky. Then the bottom fell out... furloughed. Yup pretties, I'm a government employee so that means I have to stay home. We aren't allowed to get other jobs to get us thought because "we have a job". This past weekend the kids spent the night at Grandma's but K woke up on Sunday not feeling her best... now it's Thursday and she's still sick! YUCK. We went to the doctor on Monday where she was tested for strep and was sent home with a virus determination, but if the fever is still around on Thursday to bring her in... well it's Thursday...

But I know all of y'all are like "um we don't care about sick kids, we have those, what ARE you DOING on your forced vaca?
Well I painted a buffet in my dinning room blue

I might be in love!~ It was just this redish-brown before so it's AMAZING now!
I have also:
Cleaned my house
Done laundry non-stop
Stained the deck (OMG NEVER AGAIN!)
Switched the TV from Verizon to dish to save $40 a month!
cleaned the carpet
ran 23,409,220,394 errands
made homemade dinners again
taken care of a sick girl
organized trouble areas
Sanded the Cabinets
Decorated for Fall/Halloween

Still to do?
Paint a wall chevron (just added this today!!)
Find a new bank
clean out the filing cabinet
change the kids rooms? (was going to wait until later closer to December, but if this furlough keeps on through next week I think it might get bumped up!)
Clean out the fridge
Clean all the bathrooms
re-paint the cabinets
clean the walls
change out/add photos

And the list keeps growing. I'm keeping busy since I can't even check my work email without losing my jobs. And it is nice to get a chance to do all this, especially since September (being the end of our Fiscal Year) was so crazy... but the unknown is still very stressful!

Happy Furlough!

Do you ever have moments of clarity? Moments where you just go "Ah HA I WILL CHANGE because that won't even happen again"?!?! Yeah i have those a lot too. But then nothing changes and I keep making the same stupid mistakes that I made before... it's awesome (not at all).

Call me human, call me lazy, call me whatever you want, it's all most likely true on some level! Lately I've been having a lot of those moments and I'm trying to let them marinate so that maybe they take root before I go all balls out and fail, again. I'm having these inklings about weight loss, spending issues, parenting let downs, and couple time that I know needs to all change so I can be the best me I can be... I'm just letting it sink in as I develop a plan of action.

The weight-loss involves a gym that the hubs and I joined together and a diet we're doing together. Spending issues involves not spending, because I'm at a loss for how to stop that crack craving (not real crack people, the shopping crack). As for the parenting and couple connection i've got a few bible studies to do. One of which Chris and I will do together!

Like I said, I've got all these plans, but i know how i roll with plans so I'm letting them marinate for bit.

Picture Vomit!

So i'm nothing if not on time right? Here's some beachy goodness. My Kids LOVED it.  Kinsley was a beach babe ALL the way, while Parker loved the sand and the foot bath on the deck. He would NOT go near the water, while Kinsley was always wanting to go in it with us! 

Here she's checking out the jelly fish that were EVERYWHERE. They didn't sting but still I didn't like them. Kinsley also has a slight obsession with tattoos and band-aids. So it looks like we abuse our biker child... oh well

 

 Now these are going to be awesomely out of order but deal with it. We went to the Aquarium! Parker loved it once we let him out of the stroller... he can't say fish but he was excited about "UH!!!"

 My ever talented and extremely smart 3 year old was writing her name in the sand

 And since we know she's a child prodigy she might as well save the turtles too.

 "UH!"

 He likes to build though like his Daddy! Look at the baby belly! NOM NOM NOM

 First ever Putt-Putt. It went...

 SHARKS!!! And it was shark week on discovery while we were there... didn't get to watch it much since K has nite-mare issues.

 Here's our attempt at a family picture. Ha, epic fail

Then at the end of August I flew with the kids and my family to Texas for the weekend to visit my Granny for her 90th birthday. She was a little surprised!

 Four Generations!

 Parker met my cousin's daughter Ollie. He loved her

 I mean check the girl out, she's stunning!

 This is his "um Mom she's getting naked again" face. Such the gentleman, trying not to look.

 Being in Texas he also got his fill of guacamole!

 Ollie love!

 A little swimming!

 When did this boy get so big???

 He likes to drink thing like a dog... even out of dog bowls. It's really awesome.

Whelp this weekend we started back up to the normal grinding schedule. Little priss was excited to be back at dance! 

 Later that night we took the kids to a rodeo. It was pretty awesome. They got to do some fun stuff and we got to watch bull riding and barrel racing!

 Dang that kid and his cuteness!

So that's it. You're caught up. My kids have been driving me crazy, it's the end of the Fiscal Year here at the government so shoot me now... and wow. I'm a month away from my first ever 1/2 marathon... yea we'll see how that goes.