The Earnhardt Gazette: January 2009

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Where To Begin...

What a day... I knew I'd be blogging today, but I thought it'd just be over two things, Jenna's 9-month appointment and my weightloss update. Little did I know...

The day began with me working out bright and early, did the elliptical, sat on the floor to do my abs workout, Mouse walks up behind me, and while standing pees all over my back... (I still have not done my abs workout today) I took a shower, made a vet appointment for her, and tried to not hate her. She has always been our problem cat. Pees on things, poops on things, pukes on things, very tempermental, won't let anyone go near her (except me...if no one is around, or if it's dark and quiet). Needless to say, I'm frustrated with her.

Got the kids ready, put Jacob on the bus, then it was off to Jenna's 9-month well child check. Was thinking it would be an easy one (like the 9-month one normally is), but she had to have a shot they didn't have in stock at her 6-month appt, also her first flu shot, and of course once she's finally not screaming and is somewhat happy again, we had to venture downstairs to the lab to get her blood drawn for an iron test, more screaming, and she bled on me. So far I've been peed on by a cat and bled on by Jenna. Good day! ;-D

As for her appointment though, it went fairly well, she didn't scream until the doctor actually took her out of my hands...then Jenna stated her opinion! ;-) She's off the charts for both her height and weight - shocker, huh??? I don't have the papers in front of me so I can't say her length, but she weighed 23 lbs 4 oz. She's been doing well the rest of the day. Spit up all down my back, that was nice (like A LOT) (and I didn't know about it until Juliana told me).

Took Mouse in for her vet appointment. The vet was noticing how she crouches down and the way she moves and sits. She's thinking Mouse is getting to the point where she has arthritis in her back legs, can't move around like she used to be able to, so she can't squat to pee, instead needs to do it standing up. Anywho, they kept her overnight and are going to call me in the morning to see if she has a urinary tract infection, or if it's just age/arthritis, or behavioral, etc. The kids were NOT happy that we left her there. "We're leaving her here??? But I might miss her!" (on the way out to the car)-"I miss Mouse...can we go back and get her?" "Oh come on, you guys never even see her!!!!!" I had just already had a day, they weren't helping :-)

Then Jacob...but we'll save that for last. Then it was off to Weight Watchers to get the verdict on how much I lost over the last week. And the grand total is...(drum roll please)...6.4 lbs! For a total of 12.2 lbs over the last 3 weeks! YEEHAW! That sure brightened up my day!!! I have been working SO hard at it, I have been working out EVERY DAY, and watching every little thing I eat. The week before was only a 0.6-lb drop, which had annoyed me because I knew it wasn't accurate, it was just because I had gone out with the girls late the night before and that threw it all off. So really it was probably more like two 3-lb drops two weeks in a row. Yaddi yaddi yadda, just wanted to explain the big drop :-) So I was very happy about that, hit a mini-goal (12 lb mark) (my next mini-goal is 24 lbs). Went out to dinner with my mom afterwards, one of my FAVORITE things to do now! It's become our weekly date and it's so nice!!! I get to eat, like immediately! No taking care of three kids first, taking kids to the bathroom, getting a bottle made, any of that stuff, just get out my own food and EAT! And have full conversations with another adult (more importantly, MY MOM!). No interruptions, no "don't do that, no screaming, that's not good restaurant behavior, do you need to lose your privilege?, let me get napkins to clean that up..." It's wonderful! I can't even express!

Then off to worship practice (my other favorite thing of the week!). During prayer time at the end, I could feel myself winding down. I had a chance to process what had happened throughout the course of the crazy busy day and the most important thing - Jacob. And I cried... And then I cried again... And the whole way home... (I'm sure exhaustion has something to do with it!)

We've been noticing his eye going in just when he's looking at things really close up, like when he's holding something right in front of his face. But it's been like that for a while now and that has been the only time it goes in. Matt noticed yesterday that it seemed like maybe more than that. Then today after the vet appointment, I saw it...again...and again...and again...and not just when he's looking at something close up... He kept looking at things with his head cocked to the side too. I asked him if he was having a hard time seeing, he paused and said no. I asked if things were blurry, he again paused and said no. About 30 seconds later, he said "...yeah...things are blurry..." Oh how my heart breaks for him!!! I have to admit, I am so sad and so frustrated for him and even angry. Not at the doctor, we knew this very well could happen, it's very common. It was just going so well, and we were hoping, hoping, hoping that he'd be one of the lucky ones that didn't have to have the surgery redone. I don't want to look at that pasty white face at Children's again as he's coming out of his anesthetic, I don't want to see him have another reaction that causes his eyes to swell up out of his eyelid and turn orange again, I don't want to catch him in the bathroom staring at himself in shock at how he looks, and then crying because of it... Oh how my heart breaks for him... We called his eye doctor to see if we should be doing something until his appointment (which is a month away), and they want to see him sooner, so he has an appointment on Thursday. Please be praying, for God's will, for peace, for this very sad mommy not wanting to watch her son go through that again, but of course willing if it means he'll finally have this over and done with! I don't know if he'll have to do the whole process of glasses & patching it until it's stable again before they can perform the surgery. We'll see... I'm very anxious for Thursday.

Anywho, so there ya have it, Tuesday at the Earnhardts :-)

Saturday, January 17, 2009

This Day In History

I decided to journey back once again and look at each of our kids on the day they turned 9 months old. Journey with me...

Jacob at the activity table (Jenna was just doing this today too!)

Jacob again. OK, does anyone else see the resemblance between Jacob and Jenna?!?!?
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This is one of my all-time favorite pictures! Juliana in all her glory :-)

Obviously I had my photo equipment up thru her babyhood :-)

Jenna holding her feet...makes it difficult to change diapers!

A girl version of Jacob, I tell ya!

This-N-That!

It's been quite a while since I've posted a blog! I think I got a little blogged-out over the holidays, needed a break from it :-)

Jenna's 9 Months!

Jenna turned 9 months old day, YAY! She has her 9-month appointment on Tuesday, I'm sure I'll be blogging again after that with all her stats and stuff ;-) She's been pretty fussy last week, had an icky cold (which most people heard about on Facebook, she was center of attention at the school bus stop the other day). We think she's also getting ready to cut a couple teeth up top, so she's looking to be fussy for a while! Let's see...9 months old...she has rolled over one time, doesn't crawl, has two lonesome teeth...but she's cute as a button and is just taking her own sweet time on all those milestones! (as all our kids have)

Resolutions

I'm not big on making resolutions, I have more the mindset of "if you want to make a change, do it NOW, don't wait until a specific date!" That said, I do have two resolutions for this year :o)

#1 - To finally finish reading thru my bible! I technically have read the whole thing by now, but I'm trying to read it from cover to cover Life App wise. I started about 2 years ago, I read every verse and every life app note that corresponds, every bio, etc. Needless to say that takes a long time. HOWEVER I have also been slacking in that area ever since Jenna was born. SO I want this to be my year to finally finish! I am currently in the end of Mark. I'll get there!!!

#2 - To finally lose my insulation!!! Yes, it's very obvious that I need to lose weight. I've gone up and down, up and down, up and down, but never gone ALL the way down to where I'd like to be. Although I know that I most likely will not lose ALL 80+ lbs in this calendar year, this is my year to be serious about it and get as far as I possibly can! Even better yet, my mom & I are doing it together!!! She has been such a great support system and accountability partner for me! We've been working hard since Tuesday, December 30th. To date I've lost 9 lbs. I feel great about that and am SO motivated this time!!! Since then I've worked out all but two days, have been eating well, and already can feel a difference. I am SO excited about that!!!

There are so many reasons why I want to lose weight... My relationship with my husband, Matt. My kids, both to be a good example AND so I'll be here when they get married and have kids of their own! For myself, so I can feel good and comfortable in my own skin. So I can finally wear something other that workout pants and a t-shirt! For my confidence level, up on stage when I'm up with the worship team, when I'm just walking around in front of people, when I'm at my old work (which happens to be Matt's current work!), all the time! I'm tired of being the fat daughter, the fat sister, the fat friend, the fat mom, the fat worship team member, etc. I know that sounds harsh, but that is completely the way I view myself, and am SO ready to NOT be that person anymore!!! So as much as I hate to admit it to everyone else (because then I will be "watched" more closely), I have to shout it to the world that I want to work hard on this and finally SUCCEED, and by you all knowing, I'll be held all the more accountible and be all the more supported. So there ya have it!

Alrighty, that's about it! Oh yeah, and Matt & I kicked butt today at getting stuff done around our house! We went through so many boxes of baby clothes and various other items, dropped stuff off at Goodwill, listed a few things on Craigslist, put all our holiday boxes up in the rafters, SO many things we've been wanting to do! WAHOO!!! :-D I am sooooo excited about it!

OK, that's all :-) I hope you are all having a wonderful 2009!!!