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

Meal Planning And An Organized Life

Some of my twin mom friends are really great at being organized, or at least they are better at being organized than I am.  It's probbaly always going to be a struggle for me and always going to be a work in progress, but I get motivated by these moms to keep working at it.

I am in the process of working on my menu for March.  I have never done even a weekly menu plan before, but am now truly motivated after spending the day with my mom after her lymph node biopsy only to come home and not have anything ready for dinner for me to take to work or for my family to have.  Thankfully my husband is able to cook a couple of hot dogs and broccoli for the kids.  If I had a meal plan in place, I could have been better prepared.  With my mom now mostly likely having chemo and radiation, I'm sure that we will be spending more time with her to help out since I am home during the day and everyone else works.  Since I go to work at night, it will be even more important for me to have a plan in place for meals.

Right now I am trying to get a bunch of recipes together to put on my monthly plan.  I plan to have breakfast lunch and dinner mapped out, but can be a lot more flexible with these meals.  I will have a few crockpot recipes as well as some easy/quick recipes that I can easily make before I leave for work, or that my husband can make after I leave.  After I get my meals planned, I will make a shopping list and make sure that I follow it and go shopping after I have satisfied my hunger.  This weekend, I went shopping just before supper, and what a mistake that was.  I bought a whole bunch of foods that I shouldn't be eating and now it will either go to waste or I will need to eat things that I don't want/need to eat.

I am hoping that I can plan meals that are healthy and that the kids will like.  After I get my meals organized, I am going to move on to more areas that I need to get organized, like cleaning the house, laundry, etc.  That way I won't feel like I am doing it all at once and I won't get so overwhelmed that I just put it off over and over and over.  Hopefully this will mean that I have more time to do fun things with the kids like salad spinner spin art, rubber stamping using the new stamps that I got for the bargin price of $.97  and $1.97, coloring, painting, and many other fun play things.

Amy

2011 Family/Me Goals

In the spirit of the new year, I am going to set some goals for myself that I hope will make life a little more sane for me and my family.  I have come to realilze that without a schedule, albeit a flexible schedule, I tend to feel a little out of control.  If mom's feeling a little out of control, imagine how the kiddos feel? 

My Goals to Help Me Be A Better Mom

• Make sure that there is something scheduled for the kids to do every day (story time, library, park on nice days, indoor play areas if possible)
• Have a plan in place for the day
• Make sure that nap/quiet time happens
• Make time to clean and organize the house
• Make a weekly, if not monthly dinner plan
• Schedule some creative time for me
• Try to schedule playdates for the kids (and for me too)

These are just a few of my goals that I hope will help me be less crazy and more fun.  The last 5 years have been a whirlwind: grandmother'sdeath, grad school, engagement, moving, grad school graduation, wedding, husabnd miserable due to his job, selling a house, pregnancy and mother in law's death in the same month, bed rest for 6 weeks, twins pregnancy 3 months after giving birth to my older son, husband finally gets a new job and is so much happier, bed rest 3 months, 5 weeks premature twins, both twins in NICU with RSV, leaving my job after 10 years, buying a house, going back to work part time, and life as a family of 5.

I have very slowly realized that I need to have a plan in place for me to feel comfortable and not overwhelmed.  After looking over all that has happened in the last 5 years, I am amazed that I am actually as sane as I am (not that it's saying much).  I like order.  I don't like to be completely rigid, but I do like to feel someehat organized, and when I'm not, I get totally overwhelmed and I can't get back there easily.  So, my goal is to slowly start getting things back in order so that there is a plan to my day.  I figure if I do things slowly, I won't get overwhelmed and give up like I usually do.  My goal is to make changes that will last, not changes that happen for a short time and end up getting forgotten about because it is just all too much.

Amy

Early Intervention

Our EI evals start tomorrow.  We will have 2 people at the house tomorrow to start the process.  I am not really sure what to expect and am assuming that all 3 kids will qualify for speech.  I would have to say that Michael has some useful communication skills, but not a ton.  He hasn't put words together yet and is almost 2 1/2.  He is starting to say more and say things like bye appropriately, but noting really more than that.  I am a little concerned that there is more to this than just a speech delay, but it is probably my obsessive nature that is rearing it's ugly head.  The twins are not really talking either, but they are only 18 months and I thin they are doing more than Michael did at this age, but are still behind where they should be. I am hoping that EI will give me and my husband pointers on what we should be doing differently.  I will feel so guilty is there have been things that I should have been doing but haven't that may have contributed to this delay.  the good thing is that if they get accepted by EI, then they will get teh help that they need and I have heard so many positive stories about how EI has benefitted other's kids.

Along with the EI evals, I plan to start planning my meals better.  This will help in so many ways.  This is one of the major stressors in my life.  I am just not good at being organized and having things planned.  Along with that I will be doing better at getting myself organized with regards to daily cleaning.  I need to stop trying to do things all at once and start doing things in small doses so that I don't get overwhelmed by the many tasks that go along with having a house, taking care of small kids, having a husband, and now a part time job.  I need to get better at planning and scheduling so that life goes a little smoother.

Thanks for reading,
Amy

Progress?

Lately, we have been trying many new things in our household.  I have started back to work, started to exercise, started to get back to cooking more, and trying to be better organzined in general, but also around cleaning.  I have gotten some good suggestions on the cleaning front.  I know what to do, I just need to be better at doing it.  I need to continue to get out and exercise so that I am healthy for my husband and my children.  I need to plan my meals better so that our family eats healthier.  These are all things that I need to do so that we have a better life as a family.

I can't wait for the weather to cool off.  I know I'm probably one of the few that feels that way, but I hate the heat and my kids don't do well in it either.  Once the fall comes and things cool off a bit, I will definitely be getting the kids back to the park.  Maybe there will be more playgroups once summer vacations die down.  I know that the kids love the park, but it is just too hot out there now.  My kids are all so physical!  They all need to run and climb on things that are appropriate, not things like the kitchen table, or hanging on the curtains.  I think they will sleep mcuh better once the weather cools off too.

Since I have gotten some great suggestions from my other posts, any good ideas on organizing your time, especially now that I am back to work, even if it is only part time?  Any good ideas on getting dinners planned for my husband?  Hopefully, I can get some organization so that I can work on getting back to being creative.  I have plenty of projects to work on and plenty more that I want to start.

Even though life is getting crazier every day, I love the life I have.  I have 3 beautiful children, my older son who is 10 1/2 month older than my twins.  The three of them are extremely physical and always on the move.  I am able to be home with them for most of the day and when I do have to go to work, they are home with daddy.  Even though life as a wife and mom of 3 small kids so close in age, I love being a wife and a mom.  I love my family and hope that some day my life will get organized so that life will be a little easier.  Right now though, I am enjoying my time with my family!

Amy