Weigh-In Tuesday

This week marked my second week back on Weight Watchers. We always go every Tuesday night and weigh in, hoping the scale shows some results. I was not good this week. I realized that Chick-fil-A's ice cream mix that I love is back, so I can't tell you exactly how many ice creams I ate this week [their ice cream is about the only kind I even like!], and where am I supposed to find time to exercise? Before DS and DD, every morning before work, I would get up and hit the gym at 5:30am for 1 1/2 hours! Now, my only exercise is chasing my DS around the house and doing squats when I lean down to pick up my DD...don't think I am kidding!!! Well, I was prepared to have to answer for my bad week of eating, but, the Lord is good. Despite all of the bad that is in me, I was still blessed to be able to drop 1.4 lbs. This has greatly motivated me! My goals for this upcoming week are:

• Track the foods I eat and their points value
• Find the time and place to work in some more exercise [any advice here would be great!]
• Simply eat better

I will let you know next Tuesday how things go. BTW, my gorgeous husband lost 1.0 too! Our main goal, above all else, is to lose SOMETHING each week, no matter how big or small. This goal was achieved!

Out and About...almost by myself

Wednesday night my DH was off of work. I told him the next day I was going to go off by myself for a little while and just get away. He was very cooperative and encouraging. So, Thursday, I go off, almost by myself, gotta take DD because she is attached at the...well, you know...and I was almost bored out of my mind! I didn't have a wired, almost two year old, yelling, screaming or running around like a chicken with his head cut off, and I didn't have my DH with me, so I was totally out of my element! So, where did I go? I went to the children's consignment store and bought a couple of needed items for boths of the kids wardrobe's, then went next door to Michael's just to look around for a few things, then to Walmart. How lame is all of that? Well, I think it is pretty lame if I do say so myself. You would think that I could come up with some more interesting things to do on one of my first trips out by myself since my DD was born. Well, my whole point of telling you all of this is to tell you how off kilter I really was this day. Boy, was I in another planet or what??? I have a good example for you...

After leaving Michael's, the wind was blowing so hard and it had become VERY cold. I rushed out to the wagon, got the baby in the car, broke down the stroller, lifted it into the back of the wagon and went and jumped in the car. I leaned over, put my keys in the ignition...might as well warm the car up, right? So, I get the heat going and I was flipping the radio stations back and forth trying to see if there was something good on. I pulled down my mirror a couple of times to check my make up and hair. I think to myself, "Good grief! What is taking my DH so long!" I sit there for a few more minutes, and wonder again..."Where is he?" About that time, I realize my stupidity...and I then got out of the passenger side of the car, got back into the driver's seat and went on my way! Boy, did I feel like a dork! Well, this just goes to show you how little I leave the house by myself! Maybe it's because I really need the supervision...

My DH Rocks!!!

Sunday afternoon/evening was rough. Josiah totally ransacked the living room and dining room while Bethany wanted to nurse all evening [a growth spurt, I guess!]. By the time bedtime was near, I didn't even make Josiah clean up his toys for the evening like we habitually do, I just told him to go upstairs, it was time for bed. Well, I didn't get around the picking up the toys either, or clearing the dinner table, or doing the dishes. Do you ever just have one of those days? Well, I left it all and told myself I would clean it up in the morning. Well, the morning sun arose and I came downstairs and saw the kitchen, dining room and living room had been cleaned and straightened up. I later told my husband thank you for cleaning up and told him I was sorry for us just leaving it that way. He said that he came home and all he wanted to do was sit on the computer for a couple of hours and then come to bed. He then said that he thought about how I must feel at the end of the day and how I still do things around the house even when I didn't want to, and the thought inspired him to take a few minutes and straighten up for me. It made a major difference in my day! My DH totally rocks!!! [BTW, he does this kind of stuff for me all of the time...I think he really loves me!]

January 6, 2008

Tuesdays are WW [Weight Watchers] meeting days. We packed ourselves up with our two kiddos and booked it on up to the meeting site and sat wondered how going anywhere with our kids will ever seem normal again. There we were, Josiah was spitting up [yes, he is almost two and still does that!!!] and in my haste to make it somewhere on time, I forgot the baby wipes, so Danny took Josiah, ran next door, bought some wipes and came back. Josiah is learning more and more to be more vocal at the most inappropriate times, so we spent a lot of our time telling him he needed to use his inside voice and whisper...didn't work, though! Sigh! Well, the good news is, even though we couldn't hear most of what was going on during the meeting, at least I can report that we BOTH lost some weight! YAY!!! I won't report Danny's figures because I haven't checked with him yet, but as for me, I am below a certain number that I am really excited about, and I lost 2.6 lbs this past week. I think that is a good start back, if I do say so myself!

So, enough about that...I have been lacking energy as far as normal cleaning/straightening up around the house goes, so when I get in this kind of rut, what do I do? I go to the bookstore and read organizing books. Boy are they motivating! Have you ever tried it? So, I did that tonight and came home with all sorts of ideas, got out my family notebook when I got home and made plans and came up with a game plan to try from now on as far as keeping my house in order. I am excited to say I will start tomorrow and try to make my new plans a habit. If you have been having trouble with things around the house, try researching organization and cleaning tips and motivate yourself!

I must get an early start in the morning so ta-ta for now!

Happy New Year!!!

So, I really did nothing exciting to bring in the New Year last night. We went to a funeral home to be with friends who were mourning the death of their mother, we almost creamed a couple of deer, Danny headed off to work at 11:30 and I was feeding Bethany as the clock struck midnight. I did spend a lot of time yesterday contemplating 2008, it's ups and downs, and what I would like to be different in 2009. I came up with a lot of things...I will spare you and only share a few of my "resolutions".

• Be diligent in my Bible reading
• Memorize the book of James
• Open my home to others more
• Lose weight [there's good news here...Danny and I joined Weight Watchers again this past Tuesday night! I have lost 70 lbs with Weight Watchers before and I am ready to do it again!!!]
• Be more active
• Follow my weekly menu plan [I am a real good planner, but I never seem to follow through!]
• Have nightly devotions as a family
• Eat out WAY less than last year
• Dinner at home with the family
• Get down in the floor and play with Josiah a lot more often
• Go to more church meetings/singings/gatherings

Okay, so these are just a few things and maybe as the year goes on I will elaborate more, but for now, these are priority issues for me and my family. So, how did you spend your New Year and did you make any resolutions you want to share???

May the Lord graciously see you through this year as He has for 2008!

Pictures

I am sorry I haven't been posting too much lately...I think everyone understands though, right? Just a little not of update, we at the Hodges home are doing well, just trying to find normal...I just don't know where I lost it! Bethany is a true answer to prayers. I honestly prayed for a baby who was laid back, content and happy, or the grace the handle one who was not, and the Lord has sent me a quiet, happy, content little girl who really only cries when her diaper is changed. She hasn't even cried when Josiah threw some toys in her bed and they landed on her head. Josiah on the other hand is a confused little fella and I feel so bad for him! He does not handle well any attention that is not on him. He has never been like this before, but he can't stand for me to put my attention on anything else, whether it be a phone call, the computer, cooking or anything. If my attention to him is missing, he acts out like there is no tomorrow. He has started to cry like the baby does because he thinks I will react to him faster. He also has become really good at just throwing himself into the floor and hashing out a real good fit. There have probably been many times during the day that he needed discipline, but all I could see fit to do was to hold him in my arms and tell him how much I love him. Last week, for an entire week, my parents were here to visit and to help me out with our new addition. I had a great time with them here and was so sad to see them go, but I think that Josiah was affected by their leaving much worse than I was. He still goes to the bottom of the stairs and says, "Da-daddy and Mamaw! Come play!". He also has informed me several times that "Da-daddy on the potty", and "Mamaw sleeping". He has cried for them a couple of times and repeatedly asks for them so much it is sweet. Anyway, that is the update on us for now. Please pray that I will know better how to react to Josiah and handle him through this rough time. I am going to add some pictures as I promised before. Hope you enjoy!

Time for an update!!!

Well, for those of you who don't know...little Bethany Arlene Hodges was born on 12/5/2008, a few minutes before 2pm. She weighed in at 8 lbs, 7 ozs and 20 1/2 inches long. She has a head full of dark brown/black hair, and by far, the hairiest ears I have seen on a baby...ever. It's like she is growing a garden on the back of her ears! She is adorable!!!

Let me take a walk down memory lane and share a little with you all...

As I said before, Josiah's birth was not the best and left me with an experience much to be desired. The biggest things were that I wanted to remember the first time I held little Bethany, and I didn't want to wait over 12 hours to try to feed her and I wanted her with me in the recovery room. I came away from the experience ELATED! Everyone thought mostly I was just on a drug induced high, but I was feeling great and was happy about how everything turned out. Less than 24 hours after my surgery, I was able to have my catheter and IV removed and was walking around like it was nobody's business.

After the birth, Bethany was great. She nursed great from the beginning and has not skipped a beat since. The afternoon after her birth, my nurse asked to check Bethany out and while she was checking her over, she got a weird look on her face and looked at me and said that she was going to take her to the nursery for just a minute and would be right back. She did come back a few minutes later, without Bethany, and she was talking really fast and acting really nervous and told me that she was checking Bethany out and noticed that she was rapidly breathing and not calming down. The called the doctor down to check her out and he said he heard a really bad heart murmur. From there, they ordered chest xrays and an echochardiogram. They returned Bethany to me several hours later and said that they checked her out and she appeared to have three small holes in her heart. These are the types of holes that are supposed to close when the baby is born, but these have not. They checked her again the next day and she had no sign of the bad heart murmur they heard before. We are going to see a cardiologist in about a month, but the doctor thinks that there is no reason the holes will not close between now and then, and also that if they don't, they are so small no surgery should be required. I will keep everyone updated. Well, in the middle of all of this, Bethany did have a good bit of jaundice and was kept under bili lights for about 2 1/2 days. One day she was kept under the entire time and no one was able to hold her but me, and I was only able to hold her for about 30 minutes at a time to nurse her.

I was discharged from the hospital the day before Bethany was, but the hospital staff was able to let me board in a room that was not being used...with the understanding if they became busy or booked, I would have to go home. Well, that did not happen, and I was able to stay the night, and Bethany was able to stay with me in the room. The next morning Bethany was released and we all went home! We had a great morning at home and a great day in general, with all of us getting much needed naps. Josiah had come home and we were all excited to be a family together again!

Around 8pm, I sat down to feed Bethany and became really cold. I thought I was cold because I was walking around in a sleeveless shirt and pants, so I got a little more dressed. After I fed Bethany, I was shivering, so I put on a coat and got a blanket out. Eventually, I knew something was wrong when my teeth were chattering and I was shivering uncontrollably and I had three coat and two blankets on. Danny called the doctor and the doctor pretty much said wait until the morning or go to the emergency room. Through the night, I had chills on and off and blankets on and off. I was so much sicker the next morning. We headed into the OB's office and he checked me out and determined I had a severe uterine infection...to which he said I must head back to the hospital immediately for 3 or 4 days and that I needed to be on some extensive IV antibiotics. So, off to the hospital I went! My sweet sister in law, Amber came and picked up Josiah and took him back to our house so he could take a nap, my sweet mother in law came by our house to pick him up later and take him back to her house. My DH kept Bethany with him the entire time. My main concern was whether or not I could still nurse Bethany while I was in the hospital, and all of my fears were relieved, she was able to still nurse and stay with me in the hospital as long as someone stayed with me. So, the way it worked was Danny took Bethany home at night with him and gave her formula through the night. Danny then came early in the morning with Bethany and stayed with me until our cousin Miracle or Amber arrived. Miracle, Amber and Danny worked shifts on and off to keep Bethany with me all day and home at night. This was so very special to me that they would do this as they knew how much it meant to me for Bethany to feed well.

My second time around in the hospital was not as rose-y and peach-y as it sounds, though! For two days, the stat blood work that was ordered by my doctor was never done. When it was done, it wasn't done thoroughly and had to be done two more times. One of the times, a phlebotomy student came in to draw some blood. The phlebotomist teaching him stood aloof against an opposite wall as the student asked me where I would like to be poked. It was then that I looked over at the "teacher" and told him what a bad stick I was and I preferred that he do the poking [it was the student's first week!!!!]. About this time, my nurse also walked in, so I had three people hovering over me trying to find the best place to draw blood. The "teacher" poked and missed, laid the used needle on my bed sheet, and then let the nurse have a try. Well, the nurse missed too. About that time, the student picked up the used needle and poked himself pretty badly on my used needle [Oh, yeah, didn't tell you that a few minutes before they all came in, I had gotten the news that I was diagnosed with a staph infection called MRSA - it was "colonized within my nose" and not serious, but I guess it was contracted by the student now!], dripped blood on my covers and washed and dried his hands, but left his bloody paper towels in the trash can and on the floor on top of my shoes. I didn't realize there was blood everywhere for about an hour. I asked the nurse to come back in and handle the dirty sheets and trash and paper towels. The next day I had two of my three IV's "blow" because of some minor negligence on behalf of a nursing student's part. Finally, last Sunday morning, I was able to come home from the DR and I have been feeling really good since!

Danny was supposed to go back to work Monday night the 15th, but since we had not really had much time together at home since Bethany was born, he was able to get a couple of more days off, and he did not go back for the first time until last night. This gave us a few days home with Josiah and Bethany together trying to get used to our new little addition.

Josiah pretty much ignores Bethany for the most part. He has done a few funny things, for example:

• the morning after we got home, we were all waking up for the morning and Bethany was crying...all of a sudden, from Josiah's room, I almost heard his wheels turning...then I heard him trying to cry like Bethany, little baby whimpers. I think he thought we would come and get him out of bed quicker if he cried like her.
• He has told her no-no about many things, including sitting in her swing - he still thinks it is his!
• If he sees Bethany's pacifier lying around, he will bring it to her saying "I help!" then shoves it in her face...somewhat gently...
• the only thing I don't know quite how to handle so far are the fits Josiah will throw out of the blue. One minute he will be standing in the living room, the next minute he throws himself on the floor in a fit, over nothing! I guess he is trying to make sure he hasn't lost any attention. This is going to be a balancing act!!!

So, I know this is a long update, but it is over due. Danny told me tonight over dinner...you need to update the family blog, don't you? You know you are behind when your husband tells you you need to catch up on something!!!

Well, I am going to close this for now and maybe in a couple of days add some pictures. My parents are coming into town for a week, so maybe I will post again after they visit. We look forward to having them!

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts, prayers, phone calls, visits, dinners and gifts. Your kindness is more than we could repay! We love you all!

The Hodges Family

Danny, Melanie, Josiah and Bethany