Friday, February 17, 2012

LIFE!!!!

Lately, there have been lots of ups and downs in our family's life.  Some of the ups include oh so much better sleep.  Pretty much every night between 6:30-6:45 we start our bedtime routine.  At one point, the routine was way too complicated.  I've basically pared it down to either bath time or washing up/brushing teeth, diaper changes/toilet time, 2 books, and maybe a song.  We are usually complete with lights out before 7:15.  Usually, the kids are asleep before 7:30, at least the twins are.  Michael, on the other hand, needs his own wind down time by himself one the twins are asleep.  He is usually asleep by 8:00 sometimes a little later.  This has made life so much easier.  I love bedtime so much more now.

The twins have turned 3 and are no longer eligible for early intervention due to age, but Eva Rose is getting speech once a week for articulation issues.  She amazes me though, and even the speech therapist mentioned it today.  She can say alligator pretty clearly, but she can't pronounce the ending of simple one syllable words like cat or cup.  Thomas is not receiving any services.  He is going to be watched, but he really doesn't need anything.  Michael continues to go to a preschool program for 5 hours.  His behavior seems to be testing limit setting at home and at school.  I think I am going to talk to his doctor about my concerns at his 4 year visit to see if there is anything that we should have him tested for, if not just to ease my own mind.

In the down department, we have had some big issues with a family member who has been living with us.  Life has been really stressful and we finally told him it was time to leave.  There are way to many things to write about why it was so stressful, but I am so looking forward to getting our house and life back in order!  I am not looking forward to the potential backlash from the family, but we needed to do what was right for our family not what was right for this family member.  I am hoping that my kids will be better off and I know that I will be better off!

It has been an extremely mild winter here north of Boston, but I still can't wait for spring.  I can't what to take the kids out and play.  I can't what to go hiking and walk the zoos and farms and ll those types of things.  I can't wait to start our garden again.  This year, I want to start planting our early spring plants on time and not wait til it is too late.

Amy

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

My Latest Projects (and a couple of pics of the twins)

I am trying to spend some time being creative and also using up some of the huge crafting stash that I have accumulated.  When I was looking at some of the things I thought about getting rid of, I realized that they were actually completed projects (if I was just a little creative in how I saw them), they just needed the finishing touches.  I weaved in some ends, and Voila!!!!, a baby Belle granny square afghan and a granny square afghan for Eva Rose.  Now on to using up some yarn stash to make the boys an afghan.

Eva Rose with her new afghan

Eva Rose's Baby Belle's afghan

The twins!

Amy

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Healthier Me

I've been joining in with another twin mom to challenge myself to get healthier. The first two weeks were rough, but I think I'm on my way way, at least with the exercising. The first week. My daughter was sick and then I got sick the second week. Finally, the third week, I am feeling more myself and was able to do 90 minutes of running/walking. I am down about 5 pounds and weigh less than I did when I got married and pregnant with Michael. Now I need to start doing some strength training and getting my food intake under control. Some days, I think that I want to run/walk more than every other day. I've been doing great drinking my green smoothies. I'd love to do a couple of days of detox smoothies just to see how I feel. I really need to cut out sugar, carbs, and fat, and even coffee.

Given the fact that I have decided not to pursue surgery for my BRCA2 gene positive status, it's really important to me to change my lifestyle. I need to continue to exercise, eat better, and deal with stress better. I realize that just because I have the gene, it does not mean that I will get cancer, but given that my great grandmother, my grandmother (who died of breast cancer), and my mom have all had cancer and my mom is also positive for BRCA2 gene,my chances of not getting cancer seem slim. I really need to do all I can to be healthy so that even if I do get cancer, my body is strong.

I really need to stop drinking coffee. I have switched to decaf, but I really want off coffee all together. I just bought some new tea. I have been trying to go from coffee to tea. Part of the issue is that I really like going for a ride with the kids and getting a cup of coffee. I think that I just need to let go of buying the coffee and bring my tea.

The other thing I am doing to get healthy is to get a little more organized and be better at cleaning my house. It will be an ongoing project, but one that I really need to keep working on. Some days, I think that I have some form of ADD, but hen other times I think I just need to be better organized and everything will be fine. I feel like if I get better organized, my stress levels will be better. Overall, if my stress levels are better, I will be better.

It slow going, but I feel like I am my way to doing what I need to do. I'm really glad I joined in with this challenge!

Amy