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

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

Trying To Raise Healthy Kids

I have another blog (http://thehandmadeandnaturallife.blogspot.com) where I write about the lifestyle that I wish to lead vs this blog where I wrote about the kids.  While writing on my other blog, I got an idea to write on this one.I have been struggling to get myself to a good place health wise.  The last few years have been pretty crazy.  Spring of 2006 I applied for grad school and was accepted.  A couple of days after my acceptance, my grandmother who I had been living with died.  A couple of months later I started grad school full time and planned to be done in 1 year.  Christmas that year, I got engaged and we planned a wedding for June 2007, with my graduation being May 2007.  I was pregnant 1 month after we got married, and we were thrilled and my MIL ded just after I found out I was pregnant.  3 months after I delivered my son, I found out I was pregnant again.  This was not a surprise as we had hoped to have our children close in age.  Oh, and with my first pregnancy I got pre-eclampsia, was on bed rest for 6 weeks, and continued on blood pressure meds through my next pregnancy.  11 weeks into my 2nd pregnancy, I had a little scare and we found out I was pregnant with twins.  I then went on bed rest at 23 weeks with the twins, til I delivered them via c-section after my blood pressure went up to 188/111, yes on meds.  Then the twins got RSV at 2 1/2 weeks and 3 1/2 weeks (Son and daughter respectively).  Then I had to get used to 3 kids.  Now, life is just crazy, but in an absolutely fabulous way!

Why am I writing all that?  Life has been crazy for the last 4 years, but now it has settled and I need to get myself back on track.  I need to lose weight, start exercising on a regular basis, and start eating healthier.  There have been lots of things that have spurred me on to this.
Some of them are:
1.) I have 3 children and want to ensure that I am healthy for them
2.) I am married to a fabulous man that I want to share my life with for a very long time.
3.) I am getting closer to 40 and my mother's brother died at 42 from a heart attack (given my past BP issues I feel like I need to really get on track with my health, never mind that I have big time heart disease and cancer in my family)
4.) I have been watching Losing It with Jillian and it is totally motivating me to make big changes in my life.
5.) I just want to feel good about myself, how I look and how I feel!

I'm sure there are many more reasons, but these are the biggest ones right now.  My biggest goal is to not buy food items that will get me into trouble.  I may need to look to others for help with finding tasty foods to create so that I can keep on track with out wanting all those foods that are bad for me.  I am going to the MD for my annual physical in a couple of weeks.  I want to be able to tell her that I am moving in the right direction even though I may not be exactly where I want to be.  So if any of you reading this blog want to share any good healthy recipes or cookbooks or any other resources, send them on!  I know that a few of my followers are really good healthy eaters and I know that they will be a great resource for me!

Thanks for taking the time to read this and send forward any resources!
Amy