I'm sure you haven't noticed

In case you all haven't realized (ok, who am I kidding, I'm sure you have) that I'm a HORRIBLE blogger. I don't know why I start blogs as I just don't have the time and/or discipline to keep up with them. But enough about that.

The past month has been crazy! I've been working out as much as I possibly can (which means if I could blog while I worked out I could TOTALLY keep up) and as a result have lost 23lbs in the last 7 1/2 weeks. I'm so excited about that although I'm just praying I can keep it up. I've also learned a lot about eating healthier and general lifestyle changes. I still struggle with eating right, but it's coming slowly. I've also lost about two clothing sizes. Which means that I have limited clothes available in my wardrobe. I've been to the Goodwill a couple of times so I at least have pants that will stay up, but the rest of my wardrobe is just going to have to suffer until I'm done loosing the weight. My goal right now (not sure if it's my final goal or not) is to loose about 20 more pounds. Then I'll reevaluate. :) If I can do that - I'll be ECSTATIC!

Enough about me. The kids have been great the last month. Cooper has started REALLY potty training. A little friend of his from our homeschool co-op came to class one day using the potty and I think that motivated him to get moving. LOL He poops almost daily on the potty and only has a few accidents throughout the day when we forget to remind him to use the potty. I'm not pushing him at all and there are days when we just put him back in cloth diapers, but he still does pretty well when we go back and forth like that. Naptime and nighttime are still fully in diapers, but at least we're making progress.

Kaelyn is doing so much better with her reading. We've struggled all year with building her confidence when she is trying to read. Basically, she didn't learn anything in Kindergarten and we had to start from scratch when it came to learning to read. We've used a great program called "Explode the Code" which is a phonics based program. She loves it and I've seen her make huge strides in her reading abilities. I still don't think she is at her grade level for reading, but I'm thankful that it's starting to come. Just this week she has started reading street signs and saying "Mom, what does this say? Sh....ooooo....ppp.....". Which means that she asks me the question and then immediately starts to sound it out. Which shows me that the confidence in her reading skills are starting to kick in. For that I'm grateful!

We haven't really "done" a lot recently so I don't have any really interesting pictures to show, but I'll post some anyways. LOL

At the YMCA Easter Egg hunt

Coloring Easter Eggs at home

I think Jeff was teaching Cooper how to do crunches. LOL

Cooper's new hat. It matches his best friend, Paul's hat. :)
We had to take this picture because we thought it was so funny that he fell asleep with a pile of animals while reading Noah's Ark.
Measure twice, cut once.
New big boy underpants!

A Parade kind of day

This morning I participated in the YMCA Kids Run/Walk. Jeff was kind enough to join me in walking the route and we brought Cooper with us in the jogging stroller. The run was part of my Biggest Winner program and although I'm not completely satisfied with my time it's a good starting place. We finished the 5k in 44:58 minutes. Good enough for me at this point! :) Cooper had a good time too (he LOVES to ride in the jogging stroller) and we were all excited to find out that the Daffodil Parade was taking place just after the race was over. Kaelyn was spending the morning with Grandma since she can't walk fast enough to keep up with us and we called her to see if she wanted Grandma to bring her down so she could watch the parade. She opted to stay at Grandma's. So, the three of us found our place on the curb and enjoyed a fun day in the sunshine. It was still freezing out there, but at least it wasn't raining!

This is my new friend and teammate who I've met through the Biggest Winner program. Her family sat next to us through the parade and we had a wonderful time getting to know each other better. What a blessing!
Cooper LOVED the parade. He was enthralled through the ENTIRE thing (well, except for about the last 10 minutes when he was getting really tired). He danced to the bands, flirted with the princesses, said "arg" to the pirates, charmed the lady next to us into buying him a ribbon stick, and actually kind of laughed at the crazy clowns. It was SO fun to watch him. He was absolutely the perfect age for a parade. I'm so happy that we stayed and watch it.

This is the one and only picture of a float that I took. We liked this one because it was built around a big truck instead of around those little "hard to drive" cars. They did a pretty good job with it.

A great day and lots of fun was had by everyone! AND I got a good workout in too!

I'm a horrible blogger

Well, it's official. I'm a horrible blogger. :) I have, however, had a few things come up since March 9th when I blogged last. In the last three weeks I've had several entries run through my mind, most of them occuring while driving in the car or when I've woken up in the middle of the night. None of which I can actually remember right now. So, I'll just highlight a few positive things that have happened lately.

Just over two weeks ago a friend of mine (Charles and I sing on the praise team together, his wife is my best friend and we belong to the same bible study group) and I started a program called "Pierce County's Biggest Winner". We were chosen out of several applicants (at least 100) to participate in the program. We get a free three month membership to the YMCA, a personal trainer that we can contact at any time, a nutritionist and nutrition classes that we meet with/attend once a week and a AMAZING team of people to hold us accountable. You can read more about it and see my lovely "before" picture on the website....http://http//www.piercecountygetsfit.org/cgi-bin/multicare.dll/multicare/sub2.do?channelName=Pierce%20County%20Gets%20Fit/Pierce%20County. You'll also be able to see my lovely progress too - My friend and I are on the Lakewood - blue team. :) The day the program started my awesome mom sent home with Jeff this cool box of goodies you see below. I love my mom. It's full of healthy treats and snack options. It has been a lifesaver and makes me remember my mom every time I see it sitting on the kitchen counter. :)

So, besides the above competition and all the time that is taking up (which is a LOT!) a few other things have been going on around here. Cooper is completely healed from his surgery. And the best part... HE IS SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!!! He has been sleeping in his own bed through the entire night for the last week. I'm so excited about this that I can hardly stand it. I feel so refreshed each morning when I wake up because my sleep hasn't been interrupted! Yay Cooper!

And last, but DEFINATELY not least, Jeff is working again. He's been working now for about a week and a half. We're still catching up on the bills from when he was unemployed, but it's so nice to have him back to work again. He feels good too being back to having something to do every day! And thankfully he is working here in the area so his commute isn't horrendous either. We hope the job he's working on last for a long time! :)

So, while not a great update, it's at least something. Hopefully I'll be able to find a few minutes here and there to update this blog a little better than I have been.

We're getting better!

Thank goodness! Last Friday Cooper started eating again. By Saturday he was back to his old happy personality, eating everything in sight, and talking up a storm. It looks like he is well on his way to being normal again!

We had his post op appointment today and the dr said everything looks good. He still has some scabs in the back of his throat so the dr said that he is just a slower than average healer, but that it's nothing to worry about. We are so thankful that life is somewhat back to normal! Sleeping is getting better every night too! Yay!

Here is my happy boy doing puzzles on Saturday. And take note of the pieces put together - he found all of them and put the together with NO HELP. And this is three different puzzles mixed together. Pretty good, huh?

And in other news around our house - my husband got me a sewing machine. We'll he got financing to buy me a sewing machine. LOL But I was so in need of it. Especially trying to run a business on an old machine was really hard. Not only did he buy me a sewing machine, but he allowed me to bring down the craft table from upstairs into the family room. So now, instead of sewing on the kitchen table and having to take everything down each time we need to eat a meal (which got old really fast) I'm not able to leave all my sewing stuff set up, have everything I need out and ready to use, AND have my snap press all set up where the kids play so I can keep an eye on them. I have the best hubby. :)

The new sewing setup

The new sewing machine :)

Yay!

Cooper ate a WHOLE bowl of Mac 'n' cheese for lunch! Yay! Maybe we are making progress after all!!!!!