Me: "I'll be with you in a minute, Jessi. I'm only one Mommy. I can only do one thing at a time."
Jessi: "But WHY can't you just put on your super stretchy arms so you can just reach over here and help me?"
Yeah...I got nothin'.
I am now an independent consultant for Thirty-One Gifts! I've been thinking about it for several weeks now, and I finally decided to go ahead and do it. Yes, I know how busy I am already, and that is EXACTLY why I am doing this. I NEED A BREAK! I need something that's JUST FOR ME. Something that gives me a reason to get out of the house once in a while BY MYSELF. And, I could use some extra money for Christmas and stuff.
I LOVE bags and purses and totes and luggage and all that fun, cute stuff. When If I go to a store that has these things, I completely lose track of time looking at them. It's just something I enjoy. It's fun for me. So, I know this will be just the right thing for me right now.
Also, I need hostesses to get started! Please let me know if you would be willing to host a party for me! Hostesses get free stuff! If you can't host, you can just order straight from my website, and you don't have to wait for a party. These products are super cute and you can have them monogrammed too! Here is a direct link to my website. Enjoy!
This week has been SO MUCH BETTER. Except for the fact that my hubby is now like one of the kids where food is concerned. "What can I eat for breakfast?", "What can I eat for lunch?", "What's for dinner?". *SIGH* Sometimes I wish I could look at everyone and say, "No further questions", or "I'm not taking any questions at this time". I mean really. It's quite enough that I have to come up with a plan for dinner, but now I have to have a plan for EVERY SINGLE THING HE EATS. He's so pitiful grazing around the kitchen looking at all the whole, basic ingredients that make delicious meals and snacks like he has no idea what to do with them. He doesn't know what to do without having ready-to-eat crap at his fingertips.
I have to admit, it is more difficult to figure out what to eat when you're hungry. Especially when you have to eat something every 2 hours or so to gain weight. I know he'll be able to do it on his own soon though. He really hasn't had a lot of time to get educated on eating right, where I've been studying it for years. I actually tried to make this transition to healthy eating as a lifestyle about 6 years ago and was successful for a while, but you just can't do it on your own, and I was the only one that wanted to, so eventually we went back to eating crap. Not as bad as before, because there were just some things I refused to settle on, like Vegenaise (instead of nasty mayo), Organic milk, whole wheat, etc, but bad enough to make this diet such a feat.
When you decide to make a lifestyle change instead of going on a temporary diet, it's just easier. Those things that are harmful to your body are just not an option to you anymore. You learn what things are good for your body and those are just the things you choose. You want to know more and more about food and nutrition because you realize that the more you know, the better off you really are and the better you feel for it. You feel better physically and emotionally. I also think that when you choose to eat the things that God designed for your body to eat and be healthy, you are surrendering that part of your life to Him. Who better to surrender your body to than its own Creator?
I'm doing this with him because I'm with him no matter what. And like I said before, this isn't something you can do on your own, and he needs this, so I'm going to be right there beside him.
And by the way, I've lost 11 pounds. The sad thing about that is, I don't think anyone can tell. That's pretty bad, but oh well, 19 more to go!
I have to give thanks to my dear friend, Nicole, for being a blog design pro! I don't know how you find the links you do girl, but I am loving the look of my blog! AND I don't feel so rejected anymore since I now have my little "followers" section on display so people can actually FOLLOW ME. And I just thought no one was interested. (even though about 600 of my 621 blog hits are probably just me, checking to see if my blog is still there)
Hey this is 3 shout outs in a row...maybe you should blog about blogs or something.
Love you girl!
Read more...
We went back to Dr. C yesterday to discuss the plan. His test results showed that this is most likely an immune system issue that is causing his thyroid to overproduce. The plan is basically to remain on the diet, along with the right supplements, which may need to be adjusted as we go along. When he last saw the endocrinologist, he wanted to remove Jason's thyroid via radioactive iodine, which for us, is the last possible option. He wanted to do this within the month, which is not enough time to see a change through his diet. The reason for this is because he just needs to come off the medication he is currently on, and there is no other medication for hyperthyroidism. Dr. C wants him to do his plan for 4-6 months. After 4 months he will (under the endocrinologist's care) come off the medication to see how his thyroid reacts. We will go from there. 4-6 months is a lot better than 2-3 weeks for me!
There is a 20 to 30 percent chance of remission from this. We are believing that he is in that 20 to 30 percent. We believe that he is healed and we are going to do everything we know to do. We know that God is our healer!
This has been one of the most stressful weeks we have had in a long time. Jason did not take the diet thing very well at first. He has never had to think about anything he eats in his entire life. He was pretty bummed. I was very excited about the diet because it was something we could do. So many people are sick and they don't really have any options in the natural. I was stoked that we could do something and that it would change our eating habits for the good. But when Jason is bummed, I am too, so that was stressing me, along with completely restocking our food supply and planning all new totally different meals and snacks like crazy. It has just been a lot. But it is getting easier, and Jason is totally fine with it now. I think he just needed a few days to process and realize that I COULD in fact make him good food that would FILL HIM UP and help him gain weight.
I won't bore you with all the reasons why he can't have certain foods, but they are legit. Just in case anyone is curious, this is what we were given last week (1st appointment):
FOOD GROUPS | ALLOW | AVOID |
Meat/Fish/Poultry When possible Organic and free range Baked, broiled or poached | Chicken, turkey, wild game, and cold water-caught in the wild fish: salmon, halibut, mahi-mahi etc | Beef, pork, lamb Shell fish: shrimp, lobster. Meats with sodium nitrate: lunchmeats, bacon, cured, smoke or dried meat |
Dairy | Plain yogurt, plain kefir, butter, eggs | All other dairy products: Milk, cheese, cottage cheese, flavored yogurt, flavored Kefir, ice cream |
Vegetables Fresh or frozen Raw or steamed | Vegetables, dried beans, lentils, legumes Limit sweet corn, soy products | Can vegetables, creamed vegetables, casseroles Do not eat these raw: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, kale, turnips, mustard greens. |
Fruit or fruit juice | All fruits 100% juice without sugar | Juice with sugar |
Breads *Gluten free... | Buckwheat, brown rice, quinoa. Limit: millet, millet-flax seed | Whole wheat and white flour products: bread, tortillas, pasta, crackers, etc |
Nuts/Seeds | Raw (not roasted in oil): pecans, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds Limit: almonds, pine-nuts, peanuts, walnuts | Processed/dry roasted nuts |
Fats/Oils | cold pressed olive oil, grape seed oil, flaxseed oil, organic butter | Margarine, shortening, processed and hydrogenated oils, mayonnaise, spreads |
Sugar | Stevia, raw honey, 100% maple syrup, 100% blackstrap molasses, agave | All forms of sugar, artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup, rice syrup, date sugar, evaporated cane juice |
Spices/condiments/others | All spices, hummus, small amount of sea salt or veggie salt | Salty foods, junk food, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, Processed foods |
Drinks | 64oz distilled or reversed osmosis water, caffeine free herbal tea | City water or bottled water containing chlorine or fluoride, coffee, tea, soda, fruit juice with sugar added |
Read more...
So, this week has been WAY different than I planned. This week has been the most bizarre mix of awesome and awful, all at once.
Last Friday:
*My husband got a bad report from the doctor about his thyroid. We wanted to know what his other options were, so we made an appointment with a wellness doctor for Monday.
*I got a sweet surprise on my front doorstep. A MacBook Pro!
*It was Wei Xu's Macbook Pro.
*Had to put it back in the box.
Saturday:
*We held an auction fundraiser for our youth, and 5 of them showed up to help. FIVE.
*We raised a good amount of money for them!
*Alabama lost. Not only did they lose, they were awful the WHOLE ENTIRE GAME.
*Had my favorite pizza during the game! I thought they were closed but I called just in time!
*Got out of the house for a bit for ice cream! Well, it actually turned into fries & milkshakes. I had a pregnant chick with me.
Sunday:
*Got another job that I'll be doing from home! I'll get an actual paycheck for this one!
*Had to pick up food for our small group, which was not my plan. I wanted to cook something, but I didn't expect the job thing to happen on Sunday afternoon, so I seriously ran out of time.
*Found a great deal on rotisserie chicken at Publix! Family deal that came with EVERYTHING! It was delish.
*First small group meeting. We had a great time with a great group!
Monday:
*Went to the wellness doctor with my hubby. We won't know everything that's involved until he gets his bloodwork from the "bad report doctor". But he went ahead and started him on a special diet for a healthy thyroid. It's very extreme and comes with lots of supplements.
*I'm doing the diet with him
*Realized I would need to get rid of almost all of my freezer meals and half my pantry.
*I'm very excited about this new way of eating, but the hubs, not so much yet. When he's bummed, I am too.
Tuesday:
*Food research continues. I'm studying more than I did in school. It's exhausting.
*Was able to give my freezer meals to a dear friend!
*Hungry. Haven't been to the store yet, so I'm sending all the food that we CAN eat with Jason to work.
*Also, Lena went from really fast to TURBO speed and is trying to destroy our home while I'm studying recipes, planning meals & snacks, making lists, etc.
*Eli is asking me for cheese EVERY FIVE MINUTES. You know, to make sure I don't actually get to have a complete thought.
Wednesday:
*More studying
*MY brand new MacBook Pro finally arrives! With accident insurance! For those of you who don't know, I dropped my last MacBook after only having it for 4 months and totaled it, and there was nothing they could do because Apple doesn't cover accidents. Of any kind. Awesome, right?
*Hubby calls & says he's on his way to pick us up for church just as I turn it on. GAH!
*The detoxing from this diet HIT ME HARD during church. I felt like crap.
*Got home & had to do laundry, so I decided to set up my Blackberry Desktop Manager & finally update my Blackberry software. I've been waiting to do it on my computer b/c the last time I did it over the wireless network, it jacked up all my stuff.
*Software update took FOREVER. Then failed. Twice. I was too tired to stay up and try it again so I started it up and went to bed.
Thursday:
*Got about 4 hours of sleep.
*Checked on my Blackberry. Failed again. Took out the battery. Failed again. Then an error message popped up and my phone was completely frozen. I went to Verizon right when they opened because I don't have a landline. Girl had my phone for about 5 seconds when she said, "So do you want your new phone sent to...?" Um, ok. So I have an old phone at home which she had listed so she activated it for me until my new one comes. I get home & can't find the charger ANYWHERE. So I have a phone, but it's dead.
*Coincidentally, the phone company was supposed to be coming to put in a landline today for my new job because I have to have a fax machine. They never showed.
*My only way of communicating is Twitter & Facebook.
*Another great meeting with Next! Next is the new young adult group that we're leading at church. We're very excited about this! Honestly, this really brightened my not so great day.
Friday! (Today)
*I'm finally blogging again!
*Lena is tearing all the tissues she pulled out of the box into tiny pieces on the living room floor & I don't even care.
*It's taking forever to write this blog because Lena keeps trying to put everything in the trash & Eli is already asking for cheese.
*Just stopped again to take a band-aid out of Lena's mouth.
*Hopefully I'll get my new Blackberry and the phone people will come today.
*We have NO FOOD in this house! Get ready Publix!
Also, we have several dear friends with a lot going on, so our hearts have been heavy for them this week. It's just been a crazy week. I'm so glad I decided to take this week off from school because I probably would have been a zombie by now.
Life is good folks! We face challenges sometimes, but we always get up and move forward!
So I open up my "brand new" MacBook Pro, and there are fingerprints on the screen. I thought that was weird. I press the power button and instead of startup assistant starting, I get the box requesting my password. My password? NO. Wei Xu's password. Apparently, I have Wei Xu's MacBook Pro.
Read more...
THIS just arrived on my front doorstep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Read more...
Concerning Lena:
Lena has kind of been along for the ride of homeschooling. Meaning, I had no idea what her schedule was until about a week ago when I decided to relax a little. Poor baby. She was not very happy a lot of the time and INTO EVERYTHING. She wasn't napping well AT ALL, and it seemed her naps were getting shorter and nighttime sleep was getting shorter too. Something just wasn't right. Then it dawned on me. She has no schedule. How did that happen? Doesn't matter. Needed fixing. ASAP.
Concerning our schedule:
Ok. Just because I've relaxed a little doesn't mean I completely threw our schedule out the window. We still have a tentative one that we may or may not stick to, but it really does help me to have some kind of time line to go by. Plus, it helps me keep Lena on track, which is really the most important thing for all of us at this point. When she's rested and happy, life is just better for everyone. So, just in case anyone's curious, here is our routine. I say routine, because everything pretty much happens in this order, but the times may change a little...on a normal day.
7:00-quiet time for Mommy (Yesss)
8:00-breakfast
8:30-morning devotion
9:00-playtime/exercise, shower
10:00-Daily chores (for the kids) Mwahahaha...
Just kidding:) I do help some
10:30-nap/school
12:30-lunch
1:00-finish up school/free time
2:30-nap/outside play
4:30-snack/ask a million questions about dinner until Daddy gets home
6:00-dinner
7:00-bath/showers
7:30-family prayer
8:00-bed
Concerning The Firm:
I rocked that Wave today!
All across the living room floor.
I think my balance is off a smidge. My butt and legs still hurt pretty bad, but I'm sure that's a good thing. Also, I definitely wore the wrong undergarments for lunging and squatting mixed with cardio. Yep, I think that pretty much covers it.
Concerning Eli Iron Man:
I'm pretty sure Eli is in there somewhere, but there's a small version of Iron Man living here at the moment. Eli has been wanting a transformer suit for the longest time and has been faithfully saving up his hard earned money for it. I decided this might be a good time to get it since there's a larger selection in the stores this month. Instead, we found Iron Man. He has muscles. And a mask. And he's totally awesome. He's so awesome that he joined us for breakfast. He only took a break for a birthday party we went to and as soon as we walked in the door, in goes Eli, out comes Iron Man. I think his bright redness might be pink by the end of the month.
Concerning fingernails:
I'm actually putting "fingernail and toenail clipping" on my calendar for next month. I don't know what it is about this task, but I JUST CAN'T REMEMBER to do it! I always end up catching it when we're on our way somewhere or after they're all asleep. I don't mean their fingernails and toenails are a little long. I mean they're CLAWS. With DIRT UNDER THEM. It's bad. I'm just waiting for someone to notice and call DHR on me.
That is all for today. I'm going to go cut some fingernails. And toenails.
So in my post yesterday I mentioned how I was back to exercising finally. Yesterday I went for a walk with my friend Tara. We meet every Monday morning for a LONG walk, a little over 3 miles. I look forward to it every week! We haven't been in a few weeks and I could tell it. But today, I started my Firm Wave workout again, and OH. MY. GAH. My butt hurts already. Those "Firm" ladies are serious. I don't even want to think about what getting up in the morning is going to feel like. Onward still!
How many times have you said or done something you regret? Something you needed forgiveness for? Something you needed compassion for? Something you needed mercy for? I've heard many people say that they have no regrets.
Well, I do.
There are so many times I've said the wrong thing, or done the wrong thing, and immediately or eventually regretted it. I've needed forgiveness, compassion, and mercy more times than I can count. Not just from God, but from people. I want and NEED these things almost everyday, so why would I even think about not giving them? The Word says clearly that God is not mocked, and whatever a man sows, that is what he'll reap.
I love the Word! I'm so thankful that God already has a plan for us to be free from the guilt of regret. If we can find it in the Word, we can certainly have it!
This was a scripture in my devotion this morning: And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you.
I want to be useful, helpful, kind, tenderhearted, compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted, forgiving READILY AND FREELY. Do people who have hurt me deserve that? No. Do I deserve that? NO. Thank God we don't get what we deserve. We get what we believe for. I believe the Word! I believe that if Ephesians 4:32 says for me to "become" all those things, then that's what I choose to become. THAT is God's plan for my life. Seeing something in His Word, and then believing it.
First of all, I am finally getting to watch some tv again! I love watching tv and movies, but the past month has been so crazy for me. I've found myself MANY days just noticing at 1 or 2 o'clock that I haven't eaten or sat down since I got out of bed. Thankfully, this phase is over!
School is going really well, and we're all finally in a groove. It isn't nearly as stressful or time consuming as it was the first few weeks. It took me awhile to just relax a little and enjoy the benefits of being at home. Like NOT getting up at the crack of dawn. If I were carting them to school every morning, I know I would be wishing for more time to get up and moving, so why in the world would I get up at 6am everyday? Yep, I was doing that. Not anymore! We are going to start school when we start school. One of the best things about homeschooling is not being bound by time, so if we want to go outside and play first, or go to the park in the morning, that's what we'll do. This has been one of the hardest things for me to surrender to, but it has been so much better on all of us.
Exercising is back! All of the above was giving me no time for exercise. I love exercise. I crave it. I don't do it nearly enough, and I'm always wanting to. So now, I'll be able to exercise everyday. No more excuses, and I'm very excited about that!
Also, I'm very excited about October! We're taking a break from school all of next week, and I've already got lots of fun stuff on the calendar for us! It's going to be a very fun month!
I've started a bit of freezer cooking. I have to say, the first time I read about someone freezer cooking, I thought it was INSANE. I was just fine to plan about a week or two ahead, but that was as far as I was going. I'm not sure what happened, but the more I read about it, the more interested I was. Curiosity just got the best of me, so I tried it. I'm starting out slow. I'm sure at some point I will join the crazies that cook 60 meals in 2 days, but I'm not there yet. I do have about 15 meals in the freezer and about 4-6 more will be added to that this week, so I feel like a rockstar. It feels great knowing there's a month's worth of NOT COOKING in my freezer, and it was super easy!
That's almost everything bouncing around in my head at the moment.
Happy Fall!
If there is an infant living in your home, don't eat the last banana.
If there is an infant living in your home, don't drink the last cup of milk.
If you get the infant out of the high chair, for heaven's sake PLEASE clean it up. It's nice to approach a clean highchair with a screaming hungry baby, instead of teasing her into thinking she's going in, only to be angered further when she has to be put down for the highchair to be scrubbed for 10 minutes because now the food is all stuck and junk. A quick wipedown before, or immediately after removing her from the highchair will do the trick. 10 seconds. No crying. Really.
Rant over :)
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