Michelle's Place- A bit wiser this time around...

A few more pics:)

lol So the first three pics sort of remind me of weight loss pics. Forward, side and rear views. It was very popular at the party and was pretty structurally stable except the head popped off. I didn't glue it on well enough. Easily fixable though:)
 
That turned out great! He must have loved it!! You may have gone overboard... but not in my opinion!! *twitch.... twitch* Did you use any rubber cement?? ;) :D

My oldest would think that was the coolest thing ever!!

Hope all is going well for you and yours! :)
 
lol twitch twitch is right! Between the spray paint and the Gorilla Super Glue my head was buzzing lol. I had to back away periodically :D
It's nice having the time to go overboard though. I love doing things like this:) He wants to use it next year too so I won't have to do a new one anytime soon.... if it makes it through the year lol.
 
Do NOT get him a B-B gun then!! ;) :D In many talks, with many guy friends of mine... we all had a common story about taking toys outside and pellting them with B-B's!! GI Joe... Star Wars... Legos... sister's dolls... it's all fair game! :D
 
lol luckily he hasn't asked for anything like that. We live in an apartment complex and I can just imagine windows being shot out! :p
He is going to be 7 this Friday though. Big birthday plans in the works. Can't believe how fast it goes!!
 
Weekends go so fast!

Hi JZ!! Thank you:) It was a wonderful weekend. Full Birthday mode most of the weekend lol. Armando had a blast. He is now the proud owner of a Build-a-Bear Zebra named Stripey. It's very cute:)
My diet wasn't so good this weekend. lol Cake and ice cream and stress abounded and those aren't good mixtures! lol. I somehow balanced it apparently because my weight is staying the same. sigh. Still high. Still frustrating.
Woke up this morning at 4:30 and just couldn't go back to sleep. Lots of thoughts going through my head. One of them being my son. He wants to be there for the birth and I want him to be there. There are some issues involved with that. Birth is a very unknown thing. Just can't be sure what could happen. Because we don't have family close if something were to happen and I needed to go into surgery or something Paul would want to go with me and we need a backup for Armando. My brainstorm last night was to look into Doula services. Doulas are normally used to support the mother through birth. Because I don't need a lot of supporting it would be nice to have someone knowledgeable to be with Armando during the delivery. I would be less uncomfortable having someone like that there than say a person I don't know to well here plus they would have the experience and could tell Armando what's going on. It seems like a great idea and would take a huge weight off my chest but I am not sure if Doulas would be interested in that job. It is sort of a glorified baby sitter but it would really be ideal! I could have one of the mom's of a boy in his class on standby to take Armando to their house if needed. It would relieve so much stress.
I love the idea of having him there. It is a family thing and he is very excited to see his baby brother born. He doesn't want to see blood which I totally understand so he can stay by my head. Just having someone whisper in his ear and to know that he is being taken care of so I can focus on the task at hand would be great. I am going to call around today and see what I can find out.
Lots of laundry to do today. Going to try to eat more veggies today to get some nutritious food to the baby. lol. Poor little thing didn't get great food this weekend. I really need to up my veggie intake!
That comes around to the 2nd thing that was on my mind at 4:30 this morning. My health. With my mom having cancer and having to deal with that and my risk for that particular cancer is up by 3X it is making me think of my diet. Thinking and acting are 2 different things for sure but there is a lot of thought for me now on wanting to get this weight under control and more than that be healthy about it. I had fully intended to go on a 1200 calorie diet post baby which worked very well before for me dropping weight. Dropping weight was my main goal. However, I know from previous experience that it was hard to maintain that long term and more than fast weight loss I want to make sure I am building muscle and being healthy. So this calls for some revamping and a different tact. I have talked about this before but I am reiterating... practice makes perfect right?? lol
So I use sparkpeople.com for food tracking and I like their ease in approach to modifying diet. I can't remember exactly what to do but I think it was something like 6 healthy habits practiced one at a time until they became routine. I am thinking I am going to start along those lines.
Another thing I am working on is how to make exercise a part of every day and a lasting part. Not something banged out for 3 months and then stopped. Something I can stick with. Running seems obvious. I love to run. I just have never gotten to the point of being able to do it for long periods of time at a semi-decent pace. I can work my way up to that. That leaves strength training. I am not sure what to do there. I am thinking when I am ready for that I want to join a gym and do classes. I enjoy classes and the way things are mixed up every week. The only issue is daycare for the baby of course. There is a small gym in our apartments and I could take the baby there and work out while he chills in the bouncer or whatnot. Not ideal but I could keep an eye on him and if he is a calm baby maybe I could get some time in to work out?? lol who knows. Walking is definitely something I can do though. So many thoughts and plans going through my head. My diet is more in my control than exercise right now and is something I can start working on now and right after the birth. Exercise will have to come a bit later.
I really would like to be a personal trainer. It sounds crazy to me when I say it but I am totally a people person, I have so been through this so many times and I know where people are coming from, I have gained a lot by reading and there is much more to learn but it would fun to learn!!, and also the schedule is flexible. Since we don't need the income I can work very part time. It's just an interesting thing to think about. I think I could be good and helping people with a job that would keep me in shape as well would be great! So who know:) I will have to look into what it might take:)
So today I am working at cleaning the birthday tornado that went through here. I am behind on laundry and dishes and need to catch both of those up. I need to work in my son's room to get all his toys actually in his room and out of the hallway. He still needs places for his Christmas presents lol. Lots to keep me busy. Going to eat well today and try to get more water and more veggies into me. Drinking more water would be my 1st healthy habit and eating veggies with every dish would be my 2nd. Both of those have been hard for me but I know both of those work really well to keep a person satisfied. We'll see how it goes!!
Hope you all have a good week!!!:seeya:
 
Non Catholic Lent...

Hello!
Things are still so busy! Lots to do and not enough energy to do it:nopity: blah blah blah. Only 48 days left according to the ol' ticker. I am so excited!
This year I decided to give up sugar for lent. I am not Catholic but I like the idea of giving up vices for 40 days. I have done it in past years but last year I didn't. So this year I am doing sugar again. I did it pretty successfully a few years ago. Back then I had a daily Starbucks habit of Caramel Frappichinos. It was soooo hard to not go anymore but I did well.
There are some modifications because as I found out last time there is sugar in EVERYTHING!! So I can have natural sugar which includes fruit and honey. I can have something with sugar in it as long as it's the 4th or more ingredient.
Today I went to the store and stocked up on reduced sugar ketchup and sugar free peanut butter and lots of veggies and good things. It's only 40 days... I can do it and it will be good for me and the pregnancy as I won't be eating lots of ice cream and cereal like I have been recently.
It is hard though.... darn them for putting sugar into everything!! lol
Hope you all are doing well. Trying to get house cleaned for guests tomorrow. Going to make lasagna with lots of veggies:D.
 
Hey Mishi! Glad the boy had a great B-Day!!! I hear you on the toys!!! LOL!! Pretty soon, it will be everything... x2!!! :)

Hope you have a great weekend!! Oh, and happy Monday!! *twitch, twitch*
 
Stress

Stress is bound to hit. How I deal with it varies. Normally I would just plow into some sort of yummy ice creamy sundae thing but since I have given up sugar for lent (I am not Catholic but giving up vices sounds like a good thing to me) I am more stretched to find something to satisfy that craving.
My mom is going into surgery a week from Wednesday. I am going down to ABQ for my baby shower on Saturday and then staying until the 16th to take care of her and the animals. I am very limited in what I can do for her at this point and I feel bad for it but if I can take any amount of stress off her plate I am glad for that. My stress cannot even compare to what she is going through!
It is hard though. I am almost 9 months pregnant and I will be away from my husband and my son for a whole week. I am not used to being without them.
The what if's are in my head and I worry about what might happen to her. Of course there is the positive side where the surgery will go well and she will be home getting better and then the chemo will zap the rest and all things will be good again but on the other side of that is what can go wrong. Those what if's are killing me but there has to be some planning just in case so it's silly to not think of them.
My main defense has been a sort of repression. I don't often think about it in depth because when I do I start to cry or stress even more and that doesn't do anybody any good. I like the status quo I have set up for myself. I feel very balanced with my stress and the positive thinking. The only thing that could send me over is the BIG what if.... I have planned for it but the reality of it would tear me apart and with the baby and my son I will have to hold it together. Just have to hope for the best.
There is going to be lots of radio silence here for awhile. So much to deal with and of course typing this makes me start thinking and that is never good. So I hope to be back here strong as ever after the baby. I can't wait to get my weight back under control and work to being healthy. After this I will need to be able to focus on myself! For now the focus in on my mom and fingers, toes and whatever else are crossed.
 
Hey Mishi. You are going to be there for your mom. That is a great thing for her. I hope and pray and cross all available digits, that all will go well! :)

Positive thought is very good, for you and for your mom.

Such a swing of emotions you must be having... dealing with cancer issues for your mom, then being excited about the new baby to be arriving soon. Take care of yourself too!!! Can't wait to hear back all the news when you "break radio silence". GOOD LUCK and BEST WISHES!!! :) :) :) :)
 
OMG. SOOOO HANDSOME!!! In the last one he is TOTALLY smiling and posing for the picture! lol. I'm so happy for you Michelle! That is SOOOO cute.
 
Maybe I should update... lol

Hello all. Still here lurking around. Been very busy. The time I spent with my mom for the surgery was longer than anticipated and I came home completely drained to the "Single Dad House" my boys had left. My husband did a great job without me and it really helped me realize how valuable I am at home!! Just in case I was having any doubts about staying at home with kiddos they have all been taken care of at this point.
My mom's surgery went well. Well the surgery itself did. They found out when they went in to get the cancer out that it wasn't the type of cancer they thought it was and apparently as of now they don't know what type of cancer it is. Good and bad in a way. A known cancer seems better because they know how to treat it. If they had realized it wasn't ovarian the surgery may not have even been necessary because some cancers don't respond to surgery like ovarian does. I guess it could be good because maybe it wouldn't be as bad of a cancer as ovarian but since they haven't figured out what it is or how to treat it my mom is certainly not out of the woods yet. She is having another procedure next Thursday where they stick a camera down her throat to see if there is any cancer in her tummy. My poor mom. I can see sometimes why people would just choose to die without having all these things done to them. It has taken a toll on her for sure and she is getting tired of being prodded. However, she hasn't given up yet which is good!
It's scary for sure and I get stressed when I think about it but I try not to think about things in depth. Still in my repression phase. I actually broke right before the surgery and the stress started to show through but I was able to mash it back down. Not healthy for sure but there are other things I need to worry about now like my mom and the baby and my family. Just too much going on to cry things out.
Baby is doing well. I am so ready for him to come. My tummy is huge!! and tight and he has run out of room to move so when he does I get sort of ill. I have been ill the last 3 days and I am hoping it has something to do with impending labor but I have no idea. Labor is so unpredictable. I read Bikinibound's journal and she is over a week late. I would go crazy! She seems to be holding up well. I still have 17 more days until my due date and I am so ready to be done!! The sick to my tummy feelings don't help. I need to go walking or something but everything seems so complicated. Where ever I walk there needs to be a bathroom close by and I can't walk for very long without my back hurting. I am certainly waddling now and usually need help getting off the couch! lol Our couch is the kind that just sucks you in so it's hard normally. It's amazing to see him move though. You can see it from the outside and both my son and hubby have felt him very strongly. It's fun. I just can't wait for him to be here! Everytime we play together as a family I think about how much more fun it would be with another boy. Of course he will be a baby for awhile but there is just too much to share out here and darn it he needs to come out and participate!! lol
Weight is up and up. sigh I really wanted to stay below the weight of my last pregnancy but alas I have not. I am at 256lbs as of today. Very stressful. I know 20-30 lbs will come off after baby and after swelling goes down but still. It's been hard because when I am sick during pregnancy I tend to eat to make it feel better. Not sure why that works but it does... well at least until the last 3 days. Now everything makes me sick whether I eat or not. Very frusturating. I will definitely have to get on it when I am recovered. They say about 6 weeks but I am sure I can start walking before then. My goal is to start walking around 2 or 3 weeks post partum. Then when I get the ok I want to start jogging again. I have never done this in the sleep deprive state but it's important and the quicker I get to it the quicker I will feel better and hopefully it will help with recovery!
Hope you all are doing well and I will update as I can. Just lots of stuff going on and of course I am very tired these days. I will be back again eventually!
 
I've never actually seen anyone's 3D ultrasound pictures before, so it's really quite amazing to see! And he's a cutie!

I hope everything is going well for you. Take care of yourself, it won't be long now.
 
*brushes dust off*

Wow. I can't believe my diary is so dusty! lol. I haven't left diaries here for very long though. As this journey always continues so will my posts.
Thank you LowFatMilk:) They are amazing! It was so cool to get them and I highly recommend them now lol.
Well it's 40 weeks +1 day and no baby. He's moving around in there and is very low and very uncomfortable but doesn't seem anxious to leave any time soon. Luckily my dr. won't let me go past next Wednesday without being induced so no matter what in 7 days I will have my baby boy out. I am just terribly impatient at this point. There are no feelings of things I should get done before baby is here. Everything is done. Everything is ready. Everything is in place! lol. So every day there is only one thought: baby?? Sure there are other things going on in my life: my mom just had a small surgery to put in a stint (I think that's what it's called) so that when she starts chemo in a few weeks there is an easier option for delivery, my son had a field trip yesterday that I went on with them, school of course for him is still going, my husband is still working hard and having a hard time dividing his time with work as he wants to be with me a lot and I want him here all the time. Taxes of course were due yesterday- both my hubby and I are usually on things like taxes and get them done way early but this year we were distracted and though we got Federal filed last night online we still have the states to mail in. sigh. We owe a lot this year too because I pulled out my retirement when I quit my job. That was a pain. Laundry still needs to be done. There are some dishes that need to be finished up. Dogs need to be walked (I am still walking my neighbors boxer for the rest of the week. They are moving next Monday which makes me very sad:() which of course is getting harder and harder. I get soooooooo tired these days. I don't sleep well. I am already on baby schedule and am usually awake every 2 hours. Mostly bathroom related lol. There's just no room for anything in there!
So it's a bit of a miserable existence waiting for this little guy to come out. There is nothing you can count on when it comes to labor. Sure I am achy and there are other things going on but none of them mean labor is coming soon. The waiting game kills me!! lol
I have gained so much weight and after baby I am going to be back at my "before" weight. Not before pregnancy but my heaviest weight that I was 6 years ago. I have a plan to start right away. I can take short walks that I will build up until the doc gives me the ok to start actual exercise where I will work in weights and jogging. Of course the best laid plans and all. I do worry that I will get so caught up in baby and recovering I will let it slide. I am desperate to see this fluffyness in my face go away and to get down to where I can wear the box of clothes in my garage. They are only from a year ago and I can't stand the thought of throwing them away or buying bigger sizes. I may be in maternity stuff for a bit anyway.
I did try very hard this pregnancy to eat well and exercise and for the first 6 months I thought I did very well. However, once the exercise stopped the eating got more out of control and now it's just whatever I want when ever. It's soooo hard to put a cap on it and I have for sure let myself slide back into bad habits of comfort eating. Sure I have an excuse according to a lot of people but it's not an excuse to me. Pregnancy doesn't make you do anything. I choose to do the things knowing their consequences and yet it feels good so I do it.... or eat it lol.
So things are going to have to straighten up. I am excited to take the baby out and walk and let him feel the air and hear the things going on and eventually see things and explore. I miss my long walks and can't wait to be able to do them again! So any day now. I will certainly update but for now most posts would be very whiney lol. So hopefully you'll hear from me soon!! lol
 
My neighbor is moving out at the end of the month too. She's my best friend so it's just very depressing for me.

I will be anticipating the arrival for your little guy. I can understand why you'd be impatient, you can't look down without thinking about it. Good luck with everything!
 
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