Belated Father's Day Love

Our Father's Day celebration was a little disjointed this year since we went to Tulsa and Ben's gifts were hard to bring. I hope Ben had a good day and felt appreciated. Jackson signed Ben's card himself (and then I translated next to his signature). We got him a new holster for his gun, so he can whip it out quickly the next time a mama pig charges him after he shoots one of her babies...(that happened on our last Woody Woods trip!) He also got him an outdoor chair with a canopy. This will come in handy when we go to Tulsa to the River Park for Ben's favorite holiday of the year (except Christmas): The 4th of July!

Although we have been getting on each other's last nerve lately with Jackson being cranky (and thus, Mama, too) due to an ear infection and Ben being stressed because he is SO ready to be done with school for the year, I need to pay tribute to the man I love so much. I truly am grateful to have him in my life. A parent of one of the kids who used to be in my 3rd grade class did a top ten list of reasons why she loves her daughter on her blog, and it touched and inspired me to do my own top ten list of little reasons why Ben is a great dad and husband. After all, the little things add up, so here goes...

1. He builds super-awesome lego block castles for Jackson and then helps Jackson knock them down.
2. He changes poopy diapers without even having to be asked!
3. He is very attentive to our home pest control needs, which Jack and I both really appreciate!
4. He goofy dances and makes silly faces just to make Jackson and sometimes me laugh.
5. He rubs my back whenever I ask him to, even when his own neck hurts from studying.
6. He notices the "right things" about me, like when I have lost a lb, when a color looks great on me, or when my sigh means more than a sigh.
7. Even though he is really busy and is pretty much always behind with studying, he always makes time for us AND his manly house duties.
8. He lets me sleep sometimes and gets up to get Jackson himself when Jackson wakes up early from a nap.
9. He ALWAYS says "Thank you" and "Dinner was good".
10. He will turn off an NBA basketball playoff game to listen to my problems, even when I am just venting because I am PMSing, and tries to help me figure them out.

We love you, Ben! Happy Father's Day and thanks for everything you do for us!

Love, Colleen and Jackson

Jackson the Wonder Kid

Last weekend we went to Tulsa to throw my sister a baby shower and to be at the name and blessing of my new niece, Katherine, on Ben's side of the family. Babies, babies, babies! I just love that so many of my friends and family are having tons of babies. This is my favorite stage of life so far by a landslide! Man, I am so glad to be out of that broke college years phase...wait, I am still in that phase by association, I think, shoot! Well, at least we got through the broke years of living in a tiny apartment and we got a house and I FINALLY got to have a baby! Anyway, we had a really great time in Tulsa visiting our family, but I have some Jack stories to share...

On Thursday before we left Jackson had to have some immunizations. I hate it when he gets shots because I have to hold him down and he just cries as if to say, "Mom? How could you?" After the first shot, I was so done with the whole ordeal (as was he, I'm sure), but he still had to get 2 more shots in the other leg! THEN, as if that weren't enough pain for the day, when we got home later he was trying to cruise from the couch to the glass coffee table and busted his gums on the table. He was fine after we got him cleaned up and calmed down though. This was his first self-inflicted bleeding injury (that sounds like he has had other blood injuries that we inflicted, lol, not true). He was NOT a happy guy on Thursday for the majority of the day.

Another funny story...Ben has been calling me a liar for months now about Jack waving bye-bye because Jack has only ever waved bye-bye for me. I can never get him to show off for anyone, even Ben. Today at Wal-mart when we had checked out and paid for our groceries, the cashier said, "Bye-bye" to us and WITHOUT any prompting from me or even a response from me at all, Jack lifted up his arm and waved bye-bye. She even said, "Wow, he is already waving bye-bye!" I was in shock! And of course, did Ben see it? NO! Did he believe me? NO! EVEN after Jack did it again less than 30 minutes later when I was telling him the story, Ben refused to believe me, saying that Jackson had something stuck to the inside of his hand and was trying to get it off. MEN!!! AAAAHHH! Jack has been waving bye-bye to ME for months now!!

Jackson is Traumatized

Funny story: This morning after Jackson woke up and had breakfast, I set him down in the playroom, pulled a few toys out of his Sterilite bucket and sat down on the couch. (I am trying to get him to be more independent. He goes through cycles where he will one day play by himself for an hour or so, and then the very next day he will throw a fit to be held all day! He is going through a little separation anxiety phase.)

All of a sudden, I heard this startled cry and looked over to see his feet kicking over the top of the plastic toy box. I raced over there and, poor guy, he had been reaching for some toys and had fallen in the box face first. He was in there lying on his face, kicking around trying to get himself right side up, but to no avail. Mommy to the rescue! It was quite possibly the funniest thing (and sad - for him) I have ever seen. We had to go wake Daddy up and tell him all about it. Jackson was not hurt, just a little emotionally scarred.

Lot's Wife

Living my life
surrounded by sin
raised to know better
But won't let morals win
Heart like a city
Damned to be destroyed
Where once laughter lived
In place resides a void

Beginning to understand
the dilemma of Lot's wife
Heading for a city
But she'll never arrive
Maybe she looked back
Cause she left herself there
Now she can't move on
Doesn't seem fair

Started this poem, but it doesn't feel finished. Here are the thoughts I'm contemplating while deciding on a second verse. (The second stanza here is going to be somewhat repetitive I think, like a chorus to a song.)

What does everyone else do when Lot's wife is turned into salt? Just keep going? What about Lot? Is he not disturbed that his wife is now salt?

Why salt? If God could choose any fate for her, why did he turn her into salt?? Why not stone or a lighting strike that just incinerates her instantly? Salt will blow away, won't it? Why doesn't he turn her into something that will stand as a reminder to others not to look back? Why don't we get to know what her name is? Why does she have no identity of her own?

Disgusting Display of Happiness

I am so happy!! Do you ever just have those days where you just stop and think, I am so happy? I didn't used to. Maybe because I wasn't happy then, and maybe I'm feeling this way now because I just came from the gym and I am on an adrenaline rush. (If you didn't catch it from my last blog ~ I love going to the gym, it is a legal and healthy high!)

The baby is sleeping, I got out in the sunshine and watered my flower bed, someone called today about the Pre-K (calls are starting to come in more and more). I have lots to do, but I'm in no rush to do those things. (That's a major switch from before when I was working.) I just love that I get to stay home, I love that I have time to do things like throw my sister a baby shower, I love that I can read when I want to, and take a bath when I feel like relaxing! I have this awesome husband who last night uttered the phrase, "Let's do foot rubs." (Hello? Did I tell him to say that? No!!) My baby is so good and funny and learning new things everyday. I just want a million kids just like him! I have great friends who love me and are overjoyed to see me happy. I have a million blessings, and I am so grateful to God for helping me change my life and be worthy to receive them. I love my life! Just felt like making that public! Thanks for humoring me! ;)

Weight Loss Tips from a Real Person

This is a pic of me leaving the hospital after having Jackson. It is my before picture. If I get a good full body shot of me now, I'll post it, but I don't really have any right now.

Okay, let me preface this blog by saying I am not intending to brag here, someone actually asked me to tell how I lost my baby weight, so I thought I would post it to the blog in case anyone else was interested in what I have learned about dieting/working out and weight loss in general. If it helps you, then that is my good deed for the day. If not, and you just want me to stop talking about my weight, then stop now and don't read any further!

The night before I had Jackson, I topped the scales at 190. This was intimidating to me because I had never had this much weight to lose before and I wasn't sure if I could do it. Granted, some of my weight loss was having an 8 lb baby and water weight, but today I am a very muscular 148, and descending. I lost at least 30 lbs on my own since September 2007.

Colleen's Tips for Weight Loss

1. Exercise is a must, but you have to mix it up and find something that you ENJOY doing. I started exercising 2 weeks after Jackson was born by walking a mile around my neighborhood. My doctor absolutely forbid me to do anything but walk for the first 6 weeks, but I broke the rules once I started feeling normal again, and began jogging at about 4 weeks. I figured, I know my body better than my doctor. (Plus, I had developed my delivery/first days at home pics and one was a shot of me from behind while giving Jackson a bath. Needless to say, I get REALLY motivated to work out after that!) After that, I began running up to 3 miles a day 3-4 times a week, then I moved on to going to the gym 3-4 times a week where I started lifting weights, taking Pilates, Cardio-Kickboxing classes, a Weights/Cardio Mix class, running on the elliptical machine, and throwing in circuit training every now and then.

2. I recommend working out in a gym, particularly a women's gym. Most women's gyms have free child care, which I love because I not only get a good workout, but I get a couple hours of me-time several times a week. I think women's gyms are better than others because 1)I always feel self-conscious lifting weights or doing classes when I feel watched by men. 2)At the women's gyms, there is always someone bigger than you and smaller than you. The ones who are bigger make you feel less self-conscious, and the ones who are smaller make you feel motivated to look like them. 3)There is an energy and comraderie at women's gyms that you can't find anywhere else. Everyone is so supportive because the ladies all around you are here for the same reason you are. The instructors at my gym are SO high-energy and encouraging. People go out of their way to tell you they are noticing how hard you are working and how great you are looking. It just feels good! 4)The equipment is specifically geared toward women. You don't have to sort through all the stupidly heavy free weights to find a set of 5's or 10's, and the weight machines are ones that WOMEN need, not men who are trying to bulk up. Also, balls, med balls, jump ropes treadmills, bikes and ellipticals are plentiful so you don't usually have to wait for one to open up to use it.

3. Have a work out buddy. This doesn't have to be some one who works out with you or someone who even has the same weight loss goals or plan that you do, it is just someone who you report to. My workout buddy is my uncle, Dwight. We are really close to my aunt and uncle (They live in Celina, TX) and he is a workout nazi! The man is 50 and when he takes off his shirt, 20 something guys put theirs back on! All he does for me is support me. When I work out particularly hard, I text him what I did and he texts me back something to the effect of "Muscle tone looks great in a swimsuit" or "I'm gonna have to run tomorrow to keep up with you" or something that makes me feel strong and proud of myself. When I see him, he tells me how muscular my arms are looking or asks me how many times I worked out that week. He is just my encouraging, keep going, you're doing good workout buddy. I know this may seem weird since he is my uncle, but you just have to understand how important being fit is to him. He respects people who maintain a healthy body.

4. Don't diet, calorie count. The key to weight loss is much like the key to budgeting money. You have to burn more calories than you eat. For this reason, I have found that fad diets don't work for me. Calorie and fat gram counting works for me. When I try to eat or cook weird foods that I don't normally eat or even like, I get burned out very quickly, and then I'm back to where I started. Keep track of how many calories you burned at the gym and keep track of how many calories you eat. At the end of the day if your intake calories are higher than your output calories, you basically aren't going to lose any weight that day. This brings me to my next point...

5. Keep a food journal. Again, much like money, every little thing adds up. If you aren't paying attention, before you know it you have racked up a ton of debt and you think, "There is no way I spent that much money!" Then you look at your credit card bill and see that all your $25 trips to Wal-mart have accumulated $500 in debt that month!! When you write down what you eat and what you have burned, you are more aware of what you are putting in to your body. It enables you to make smarter choices. After I had been on a weight loss plateau for several months, I got frustrated and started taking Alli to help me get past it. Incidentally, I wasn't all that impressed with Alli, but what I loved was the food guide and journal they give you. The food guide is a handy purse-size booklet that tells you how many calories and fat grams are in popular foods and the journal just helped me remember to write it down. There is also a guide to help you decide on a weight loss goal, and what kinds of things to eat and to avoid to help you reach your goal. For my goal, I can only have 19 fat grams per day, so I paid attention to what I ate and made sure I didn't go over that.

6. Drink lots of water. I drink about 3-4 bottles of water a day, sometimes more if I go to the gym. I read somewhere that a lot of times when people feel hungry, they are really thirsty. If you drink water, you are likely to eat less because you feel more full. That is why they make people drink so much water before meals in the military to help them get in shape in boot camp. If you aren't a fan of water, try Propel flavored water or Sam's choice flavored carbonated water. Sam's choice flavored carbonated water is like flavored Sprite, but like water, has no calories or fat grams. I had to stop drinking it because the carbonation weas hurting my stomach, but Propel is a good option if you have that problem, too. It is just like Kool-aid, but without tons of sugar and with only 25 calories per bottle. I recommend you keep it in the fridge though, because without being cold, it tasts like children's Tylenol to me.

7. Snack smart. Find things you like to eat that are healthy or healthier for you than what you normally snack on. For instance, I love chips, so when I am craving the crunch, I choose Quaker's Mini Rice Cakes. Hey, don't knock it till you've tried it. They are actually pretty good! I prefer the Cinnamon and Apple flavors, and stay away from the fake chocolate types. When I absolutely need chips, I look at the serving size and count out exactly that many chips and put them in a bowl and put the bag away. That way I know exactly what I have eaten and don't sit there with the bag, watching TV or whatever, engaging in what I like to call "unconscious eating." If you want more suggestions on things you can try as substitutes for other things, let me know.

8. Don't eat out!! Even a small McDonald's cheeseburger alone has 310 calories and 12 fat grams. If you're eating out at nice restaurants, they cook with more sauces and gravies, plus you can't really get a calorie count of what you have eaten. You just cannot lose much weight if you are eating out several times a week. When I eat out, I just count that day as a bust because very rarely can I work out enough to cancel out what I have eaten for the day.

9. Don't give up! When you hit a weight loss plateau, don't quit! It happens to everyone. It happened to me several times. Just keep in mind that if you are lifting weights, your weight is going to go up a little or stay the same because you are building muscle and muscle weighs more than fat. Don't quit lifting though, because lifting weights burns a lot of calories. Plus, it makes you look muscular and lean. You'll see a difference in your body quickly if you lift. You have to find something to hel you take it to the next level. Like I said earlier, Alli helped me through one plateau, bumping it up to 2-a days for a week helped me through another. You just have to find what works for you.

Here is a website I refer to a lot: www.calorie-count.com
It has calorie counts for popular foods, nutrition information for fast foods and other restaurants, and it can tell you how many calories you burn doing certain physical activities. It really helps me calorie count.

Anyway, hopefully this helps you if you are trying to lose weight. If not, sorry to bore you with stuff you probably already knew! Yes, it is time-consuming at first, but after you get into the habit, it really isn't so bad. When you start seeing a difference on the scales, it is worth it!

Are there Dr. Pepper rehabs?

As most of you know, I am not a morning person by any means. When I started teaching 3rd grade 4 years ago, I found I needed a little more of a pick-me-up to start my day, but in my religion, coffee drinking is advised against. So I began drinking Dr. Pepper. Before this, I rarely had a soda of any kind, unless I was out to eat, but after a few months I was hooked. I found I needed a Dr. Pepper to start my day, and the sooner I got one, the better I felt. Occassionally, when my class was particularly unruly, I had a "2 Dr. Pepper" day, and the kids knew if I sent one of them down to the vending machine, it meant they were in trouble. They even started buying me cases of Dr. Pepper as Christmas gifts and for Teacher Appreciation Day (which I LOVED!) to make sure I had it. At the end of each year, when my class wrote their letters to the next group of upcoming 3rd graders, they warned them that without one, I could get pretty cranky. Now I am completely and hopelessly addicted. I have been trying to lose weight after having a baby (very successfully, I need to point out. I am lower than my pre-prego weight right now, and I am continuing to descend!!), and so I have been trying to stop drinking Dr. Pepper. I mean, who needs that much sugar every day if you are trying to lose weight?? BUt I can't stop! Even going a few hours without one in the morning, gives me headaches and makes me feel exhausted and not well.

After having a baby, my stomach can no longer tolerate carbonation. Soda of any kind makes me very sick to my stomach. My stomach just can't process the fizz quick enough. Within hours of drinking a Dr. Pepper I will be very violently ill. STILL I CAN'T STOP! I begged Ben to let me stop buying pop of any kind because just the sound of him cracking open a can makes my mouth water like Pavlov's dogs, but he feels that is too extreme! It is absolutely ridiculous that I can't get control of this problem. I consider myself to be a strong person. I lost all the baby weight, right? I have been through a divorce, bankruptcy, and a foreclosure. I have self-discipline. But not when it somes to this. And so, my friends, I turn to you. I need an intervention or something! What can I do?? Any ideas?