Sweet Friends

Thank you to all my sweet friends who have called, sent messages, and even brought us dinner.  You all are such a blessing to me and my family!  Love You!

Pneumonia

I almost cancelled my appointment for this morning thinking my cough and right sided pain was getting better on it's own.  I'm glad I didn't because I found out that I have pneumonia along with a pulled muscle under my ribs from coughing.  Apparently, I've been walking around with this for weeks - I even ran on the treadmill yesterday although I was frustrated that I felt sluggish and couldn't maintain my pace.  Well, at least now I know why.

I'm a little down about this because the last comment my provider (who I love and really respect) made before I left was, "You really need to slow down".  That almost brought me to tears because while I would love to, how am I supposed to slow down???  The cooking, dishes, & laundry still need to be done, my children and husband still need me, there are 90 third year pharmacy students starting back the semester next week expecting their instructor to be ready to go, and we are supposed to go skiing this weekend so we can spend time with friends and so my sweet girl can put on skis for the first time and my older boy can improve from last year - they are both really looking forward to it - how can I slow down?  

Sigh...this too shall pass and hopefully in a week or so once the antibiotic has done it's job I won't need to slow down - that's the hope anyway. :)

Missing My Baby Boy

My husband has been gone this past weekend surprising his mom for her birthday.  He was a real trooper and took our 16 month old with him.  It sounds like they have had a wonderful time!  Below are a couple of pictures my dad sent me.  One is my son with his great grandfather (love this one!) and the other is him with my mother.  The big kids and I also had a great time here.  We played games, ran errands, cooked, and snuggled and watched movies.  It was such a special time for me to spend with my two older kids and I'm thankful for it. 

 However, I am ready to have my baby boy and his daddy home- I miss them!  Although I enjoyed the diaper-free days, I miss my sweet baby!  I'm ready to hug him, have him look at me with his big bassett hound brown eyes and ask for more food (which he does all the time), and to hear his mischevious cackle as he runs through the house chasing his siblings.  Can't wait to hold him!  And as for my husband, I've missed my my best friend.  Love him and can't wait to have him home!   

Real Food for Healthy Kids - Thumbs up!

As I mentioned a few posts ago I have been exploring books on child nutrition and how to encourage kids to be healthy eaters for life.  While I still have several to finish, the first book that I have really enjoyed and found helpful is Real Food for Healthy Kids.

I found this book informative, congruent with the the medical guidelines, and best of all, applicable!  The recommendations and recipes are things I can do without breaking the bank and by only going to the grocery store once a week.  Just as an FYI, this book is different from the Real Food series by Nina Planck.

My favorite sections of this book are the first few chapters on basic nutrition for children and table tips, the lunch & dinner recipe section, vegetable sides section, and snack section.  At our house the meals I struggle with the most are dinners, lunches at home (the school my kids attend has a chef who specializes in healthy, nutritious, low sugar meals - as much as I hate to say it, my kids eat healthier at school than when they are home with me!), and snacks.  Snacks are the hardest since the easiest and most requested items are usually Nilla wafers or pudding...not exactly the healthiest choices.  The Real Food for Healthy Kids also has a website.   http://realfoodforhealthykids.com/  which I perused briefly but not in depth.

The next book on my list is Deceptively Delicious, by Jessica Seinfeld (yup - Jerry's wife).  I'm excited to read it!

However, from the Real Food for Health Kids book, the first recipe I want to try is for Crispy Jamaican Pork with pan fried bananas - it sounds pretty good!

Sick - Noticing a Pattern

Last night's party went great!  My husband had a great time!  I'll post some pictures over the weekend.  Right now I am sick.  The small cold I caught around Thanksgiving has settled in my lungs in a terrible way.  I have been coughing for about 4 weeks now and it has been getting progressively worse over the last 10 days.  Earlier this week, I got an awful pain in my right ribs when coughing and have been in pain ever since.  I can barely pick up the kids right now, can't lay on my right side, and can't run or exercise very aggressively.  Like most health care professionals, I'm a terrible patient and should have gone in to get this looked at weeks ago instead of thinking it would go away eventually.  Unfortunately, the earliest I can be seen is Tuesday so I'm taking lots of NSAID's right now to try to control the pain.

Upon hearing me hack and moan in my office today my good friend and co-worker commented, "Boy, I hope this cough isn't like the one you had last year.  That one lasted for months!".  It was then that I realized - SHE'S RIGHT!  I have gotten this every single winter for the past 3 years!  Each year it gets a little worse.  I'm so glad she said that because the pattern became obvious!  Now when I go in Tues, I'll not only talk about getting well this time, but what I can do next winter to prevent it!

On another note I realized today that summer and warmer weather is only a few months away!  Hooray!  For me this spring it will mean getting back into bikini shape.  I wore my 2 piece last year and felt comfortable in it, but definitely noticed that what once was firm was quite the opposite.  I'd like to get back that "firmness" before our trip to Hawaii this summer.  Not sure if that's possible after 3 babies, but I'm gonna give it a try! :)  This is similar to the one I want....although I'm almost 100% sure that this model has never had a baby!  

SSShhhh - It's a Surprise!!!

Now that my husband is a work, I can post that we're having a surprise birthday party for him tonight!!!  He's turns 35 today!  This is the first birthday in a LONG time that he has been with us because he is usually at a professional conference the first week of January.  am so happy and excited to be able to plan this for him! I haven't told the kids yet (although my oldest overheard me planning it on the phone and started asking questions) but will when I pick them up from school today.  They're not the best at keeping secrets right now. :)  I'm hoping and praying it goes well!!!  I'm a little nervous!  I'll post pictures soon!

Off to a Great Start!

Well, day 1 of the post holiday bustle is off to a good start.  The big kids were up, dressed, and fed by 6:30.  My husband and I both hit the machines at 5:30AM so we've gotten in our workouts (having equipment in our house is the best time saver ever - we use our treadmill, elliptical, and bikes, on a trainer, regularly and we can work out together since we have several options - worth every penny we've spent and saves us a bunch in gym costs and time driving to and from)!  I've planned my workouts so that I take Wed & Sunday off each week (run 3 times, elliptical once or twice, bike once or twice) so tomorrow I'll get to sleep until 6 instead of 5 - yippee!  Dinner will be able to be on the table within 20 minutes of me walking in the door this evening.  Now if only we can keep it up for the rest of the year.  :)  Below are happy (mostly - we did have one tantrum), dressed kids, ready to go to school!