Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Summer is BACK!

Somehow when the time changes and the weather warms up down here, life just seems good! All of a sudden I WANT to work out, I WANT to clean, I'm more organized, my house is cleaner, there's food on the table, even my kids are cuter.

We bought a new car, FINALLY! It's an almost new 2005 Toyota Sienna minivan, so Troy is driving the '98 Dodge minivan as his truck (took all the seats out). It's nice having something to haul things in, but still have passenger capacity when needed. I love the freedom of having my own car, but I hate paying for gas. Between that and helping out with the car payment, it's really taken a chunk out of my monthly income from teaching. I'l be throwing all my money at this thing until it's paid off, hopefully in about 2 years.

I was really sick last Thursday, some stomach virus. It didn't last very long, but I lost about 5 lbs in two days, and I'm just now back where I was a week ago. Putting on baby weight is mentally difficult: I'm at a 17lb gain, was hoping to keep it to 20 total, but with nearly 3mos to go I don't think I'll make that!
Still working out at the church classes, and going to my community rec center to lift weights twice a week, running on Friday mornings, and going to karate twice a week. It's depressing how much work it takes to not be overweight, much less in good shape. My eating has improved, but it's so difficult to keep the calories under control. I love bread and pasta, and even whole grain is just sky high in calories. But I'm determined to keep my weight under control because it was so difficult to lose it all after Olivia was born. I really let myself go during and after that pregnancy.

Baby is doing well. I'm at the point where I need to start seeing my two midwives more often, and I just hate prenatal checkups. I'd be happy to have about 4 the whole pregnancy! I need to write up my "ideal birth story" for her. My last visit she asked if my kids would be there, and I said, "No, I don't even want you two there!" She laughed and said they'd try to stay as inconspicuous as possible, and wondered if an unattended birth was something that interested me. It's not something I ever want to do, but the if nothing goes wrong I don't see any need to have them in my way: the unattended atmosphere is what I'm trying to mimic as best I can with the obvious observers who need to be there.
Troy's mom is coming up after the delivery to help out for a few days, that'll be nice. Hopefully she'll just play with the kids, cook, and pick up, because I hope to have all my meals put up in the freezer and the house spotless with laundry done the way it was when I left for Vegas. It was so nice to have the break, and Troy is so good about keeping the house up. All I had to do when I got back was laundry and wipe the counters and bathrooms. They even mopped while I was gone! That's what I'm looking forward to when the baby is born. I already have all the clothing washed, spring cleaned all the kids' clothes, and we're ready to go!

Work is looking up: I'm far more motivated to write my new classes, and working with a teaching partner has been really great. She helps me stay on top of things, set goals and deadlines, and stay enthusiastic. I have my computer time more under control, and have even managed to scrap a few of my own pages lately.

I sewed too! I made a new nursing dress that's loose to be more like a lounging dress, so it fits me now too. I already wear it too much! I'm looking forward to finishing writing my classes so I have more time sew. I don't want to write any more after these are done: I'm maxed out on how many I can teach. After the baby is born it'll nice to just focus on running the classes so I can spend more time being mommy, doing the simple things like housework and sewing. I don't need more on my plate, I want to enjoy my kids while they're little!

My goals are all progressing well, and I'm really pleased with how things have been going. Aside from being so irritable, and Troy's in school and irritable as well! We've both noticed how hard the other is trying to keep things "cool" and in control, and life has been so much more enjoyable!