Well, I’ve been around. You know doing stuff and things.

I’ve lost 33 pounds so I’ve been doing a lot of exercising and thinking about food. I still have about 27 more to loose, but I’m pretty happy with my progress so far. I’ve been mostly maintaining since the beginning of September.

September brings with it our annual trek to the beach and then my birthday so it’s a tough time to be trying to loose weight.

My husband with me up there, he’s met his goal and he looks great! My sister keeps telling me he needs a doughnut or a sandwich or something. I’ve been thinking about trying to just maintain through the holidays and then hit it hard to drop that 27 after the new year but I’m thinking that might be a slippery slope. We’ll see.

So, since I last posted, we went to the beach.

my sister and her family went this year, it was FUN

there was much cheating at mini golf by the short person

and some serious daddy inspired silliness

Boog had a blast. Continues to be fearless in and out of the water. That of course stresses me out to no end.

I also had a birthday. I turned 31 at the end of September and made it another whole year without the desire to put any additional holes in my face. I suppose that sort of behavior is reserved for the 10s. Hmmm, shall I start planning for 40?

Boog has two more months left of being 2 and he’s either giving the whole “terrible twos” a run for their money or he’s getting an early start on the threes, which I hear is even worse than the twos. I simply never know which child I’m going to get on any given day. The pleasant, lovely, well-minded one or the devil spawn. Most days it seems to be the devil spawn lately.

He has all of the sudden forgotten how to control his emotions. Everything seems to be so raw and right on the surface. The slightest injustice seems to turn him to a puddle of goo before my eyes. I have to admit I’ve become somewhat immune to his histrionics.

One night this week he was carrying on about something after he was already in bed. This is how it went:

Boog: “WWWHHHHHAHHAHAHHAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!”

IM: “Boog, are you laughing or crying?”

Boog: stops his fit immediately and says plain as day “I’m crying”

Boog: resumes fit

:| Yeah, that kid is totally faking and let me tell you I’m over it. One night this week at dinner he started in with one of these fits because I took away his peas. He said he didn’t want them and generally our rule is “fine, don’t eat them but they stay on your plate.” Well he decided he’d rather squish them and make a mess than leave them alone so I took them away. Oh the dramatics over the lost peas. Sigh.

He pushed his plate away while I continued to eat. Eventually he dried up the crocodile tears and went back to his meal. Oh my little Jekyll and Hyde, how I love thee. Rotten I tell you, rotten.

Potty training is going well. We had some set backs when he was moved up to the three year old classroom at school but other than that, he’s reasonably reliable. He still has accidents but I’m finding myself not bringing a change of clothes with me everywhere we go. This, of course, will most likely bite me in the ass at some point but I take it as a sign that he’s getting more reliable since I seem to be less reliable on remembering the clothes.

We’re still on the fence about another child. There are days when I know I want one and days when I think we’re fine with just Boog. I don’t think we’re ready now however. I suspect we can table that for at least a year, maybe a year and a half. Let’s see how we weather three. :)

We went to visit my family last weekend and that picture up there just about sums it up these days. :) Who knew my brother could make such awesome cosmos and appletinis.

We had a great time. My brother’s kids are 13 and 17 so they just had a good time laughing at all the sauced adults. My little sister has a 9.5 month old so once her baby and my 2.5 year old were in bed in was let the good times roll. At least for me anyway. :)

I don’t drink much anymore. What with the whole loosing weight thing and the whole zero tolerance thing. I had two drinks both Friday and Saturday nights and lets just say I slept really, really well both of those nights. Plus it was loads of fun to hang out with my sister, sister-in-law, and my brother. My husband and brother-in-law ran off somewhere to discuss music or something, I don’t know, they disappeared.

Boog had an awesome time with all his extended family and basked in all the attention. He did have some jealous moments when anyone paid any attention to my nephew, other than his parents of course. If I, my husband or my brother had anything to do with my nephew Boog was right up in your face all of the sudden. And yet he asks for a sibling. I don’t think he quite understands what having a sibling means. :)

There was a lot of swimming. First at my grandparents house and then at my mom’s boyfriend’s house. Boog does not want to wear any sort of flotation device but cannot swim yet. It’s tiring all around. Luckily there were many hands to hold on to him and pass him on.

It was a weekend of decadence for us all. Boog partook of his first yoohoo, definitely a hit. And I ate and ate like there was no tomorrow AND I only worked out once. Sometimes you just gotta do that. I was in a serious plateau in my weight loss and I think falling off the wagon might have snapped me out of it cause I lost 1.9 pounds this week.

Now I’m dreaming of our annual beach vacation to Hilton Head in less than a month. I’ve been furloughed at work the Friday before Labor Day. I’d already asked for that day off and now I have it off automatically. I just don’t get paid for it now. Instead I’ve moved my vacation day to the Thursday before and I think my family is gonna head down a day early. My sister’s family and my mom will be down the next day. It should be fun and that will officially end our summer.

Before I know it, it’ll be time for my birthday, then my husband’s, then Boogs and the year will be over. Time sure does fly, especially when my baby is turning into a little boy right before my eyes.

Also I have officially lost 25 lbs as of last week. Woo Hoo! It’s a pretty big accomplishment for me and I’m trying not to dwell on the remaining weight I have to loose and just be happy with my progress thus far. My next goal is another 21 pounds. That will put me just barely in the Normal range for BMI. I weigh in tomorrow morning so we’ll see how I did this week then.

I’ve certainly been loosing pretty consistently, no more 2 and 3 lb weeks but I’ve been pretty consistent at around a 1-1.5 lbs a week which is respectable.  I have the occasional set back but overall it hasn’t been too bad.

There’s also this…

That’s right, big boy undies. I wouldn’t exactly call him potty trained but he’s well on his way. We sort of just decided to toss him into the deep end of the potty training experience by removing the crutch of diapers. He still wears a cloth diaper for nap and a disposable at night but other than that he’s in big boy undies all the time.

He still doesn’t quite get the concept of you have to tell us when you have to pee but you know he’ll get there. We pretty much have to make him go sit on the potty and regular intervals and he won’t have an accident. It’s a work in progress.

And then, tonight this happened…

This would be the second fat lip in the last few months. Maybe this will be his thing. That’s what happens when you run screaming through the house while wrapped in your towel. If you trip you have nothing but your face to break your fall. Poor Boog! He’s got a big ‘ole gash on the inside of his lip. It started swelling immediately. I thought he might have bit right through it. It is not going to feel good in the morning AT ALL.

That’s what’s been going on around these parts. Redesigning barely used blogs, loosing weight, underpants and fat lips. That’s all I got right now. :)

When nothing else seems to work for the worst offenses a brief spanking seems to do the trick for Boog. It is not something myself or my husband enjoys doing by any means but there seem to be some situations that just call for it. That being said, he’s had all of two spankings total. One from me and one from my husband.

However, we have started a new discipline approach just this week and it seems to be going quite well so far. Upon the suggestion of some friends of mine with a three-year-old (dad happens to also be a school psychologist) we’ve implemented a more positive reinforcement method.

Behold the rings of reward…

Now to you and me this may look like your ordinary construction paper chain hanging from our living room ceiling. But for Boog this represents the possibility of a BIG SURPRISE. The whole idea is that he earns rings for good behavior and when the chain hits the floor he gets a big surprise. We’ve decided that this is only a positive thing. He doesn’t loose rings for bad behavior, he just doesn’t earn more rings.

He’s done pretty well so far, we started it late Sunday and he’s already earned 9 rings. We are giving him plenty of opportunities right now though. I figure to really work well he’s got to see some pay off pretty soon.

So far he gets rings for going to sleep quietly without pitching a fit, getting through school drop off without crying, picking up his cars all by himself without whining and crying and also behaving at the dinner table. He’s only missed one chance when he was offered a ring this week.

Really we’ve been using it as a tool in any situation where we think there is a potential for bad behavior. He’s been really into it and gets really excited about adding to the chain. We hadn’t really discussed what his first prize would be but then a friend sent me a link to this today.

And the prize has been found. I bought the Lightning McQueen one. We have a SERIOUS Cars obsession going on around here and this will be right up his alley. Plus, he already has a big ‘ole Lightning McQueen fuzzy blanket so why not a pillow to go with it.

I’m hoping we can continue the trend and maybe have less screaming “NO!” and blatant defiance. I’ll take any new tools I can get to put a stop to that nonsense. Good grief and he’s only TWO!! Sheesh.

I did loose another 3.1 pounds for a total of 14.7 pounds gone since the end of February. That’s something. I still have a ways to go but I feel good knowing I’ve lost almost 15 pounds. My pants are falling off of me. Of course the next size down is still too snug so that kinda sucks. I’m stuck just cinching them up with a belt.

We’re planning a trip for Memorial Day week now. We get a free week of vacation from daycare and my husband is already off that week so we decided to do some traveling. We’ll be going to see my mom for part of the week and then maybe to see some friends near the beach. It will be nice to get away although I do not look forward to all the time in the car with a two year old.

I’ve been finding it harder and harder to get up at 6:00 am every single morning. It is amazing how much I miss my single telecommute day each week. I looked at my sick time for April and I had 21 hours of sick leave this month. And that was just for me, not Boog. It’s amazing what taking away 4 days of working in my pjs has done to my energy level. Hopefully our telecommuting will be reinstated this month. That’s what I hear anyway.

I did something I never thought I would do last week. Feeling all optimistic and sunny on the heels of another good sized weight loss I told one of my dearest friends that I might revise my previous stance on being a bridesmaid just for her wedding. She’s not quite engaged yet but they’re headed that way and their wedding would be far enough off that I could be at my goal easy.

It is true that I despise getting dressed up but I found myself a little sad at the idea that I wouldn’t be a part of her big day. I think that part of the reason I hate being in wedding so much is that I really don’t like how my body looks. I don’t like getting dressed up because I never really feel all that good about the way I look. I’m trying to change that and if I succeed then I’d be happy to be in my friend’s wedding if she wants me to be. Of course this in no way obligates her to ask me, I just wanted her to know that she could despite a previous promise not to ask me. (are you listening, friend? :P)

I know a certain little fella she’s said she wants in the wedding so even if I’m not in it there will be my cute little boy walking down the aisle and stealing the show. :)

I’m wondering if my previous stance said more about WHO it was for rather than being in the wedding itself. I’m not sure this is the venue to get into such things but it is telling that I seemed to change my mind when it’s someone else’s wedding.  That is another post for another day definitely.

Then my phone rang at about 4:15 and it was Boog’s daycare. That is NEVER a good sign. It seems he had gotten sunscreen in his eyes THAT MORNING and they were calling to let me know that although they had washed out his eyes several times they were still watering and he couldn’t open them and he was crying that they were burning. Why on earth they waited all freakin day before calling me I have no idea.

I called his doctor before I went to get him looking for some advice as to whether or not I should bring him in. The receptionist was beyond unhelpful. When I got to him at daycare I decided that he did in fact need some medical attention so I called my doc’s office back and let them know I was bringing him in. The receptionist informed me that all their triage nurses had already left for the day and the the doctor was just returning phone calls right now, it was 4:45. I explained that because it was his eyes that I felt it was a fairly serious situation and she told me that she could have the doctor call me. :|

I hung up with her, said a few choice words and turned around to head to our local urgent care clinic. That place was thankfully deserted so we got in pretty quickly. The nurse was great but the doctor was clearly NOT a pediatrician. He had zero bedside manner for a small child. They numbed his eyes with drops and then flushed them with eye wash for what seemed like forever while he screamed and screamed in my arms. It was awful.

During the flushing the doctor explained that his eyes were numbed almost like he couldn’t understand why he was screaming. I wanted to be like, “Um, he’s screaming because a couple of strangers are holding him down, holding open his eyes and dripping cold saline in them. Oh and he’s TWO!” I didn’t though, I just held my baby until it was over.

After the flushing his eyes immediately looked better. They weren’t watering and the redness was already going away and he was no longer complaining that they were burning. Clearly medical attention was the right way to go. The doc then put some dye in his eyes and looked at them in the dark to see if they were scratched. And of course they were because he’d been rubbing his eyes all freakin day.

They aren’t badly scratched but it does require antibiotic eye drops every two hours. That is just a barrel of fun seeing as he’s totally traumatized now from the whole eye washing thing. Ugh, just three more days and we’ll be done.

Anyway, not only did I miss spinning on Wednesday I didn’t do any exercise at all. By the time I got home, had dinner, got the boy bathed and in bed I was exhausted. I guess I’ll be making that up this weekend with back to back spinning on Saturday and Sunday. Yay?!

Now I need to write a letter to my doctor to explain what happened and how we were totally unsatisfied with how it was handled. It’s difficult because I know that he will have absolutetly no idea what I’m talking about without explaining it. My doctor is wonderful and his mistake here is simply hiring crappy staff. Yes I should have asked to speak to a nurse the first time I called but the receptionist should have also put me on hold and gotten a nurse to the damn phone instead of telling me the doctor would call me back. (He didn’t, btw, and I’m sure he never got the message in the first place.)

I’m pretty sure what was going through that woman’s head both times I was talking to her was, “Oh geez, it’s 4:30, I so don’t want to be dealing with this woman and her screaming kid so close to time to go.” Well guess what, you don’t want to talk to slightly hysterical parents and crying children then don’t work in a freakin pediatricians office.

I went round and round in my head about how I was going to make this whole ordeal known to my actual doc because I feel it needs to be addressed and we won’t have another appointment (fingers crossed) for a very long time. I didn’t want to call and leave a message because I’d have to talk to that same receptionist and what am I gonna say “yeah, I need to talk to the doc because you gave me terrible customer service two days ago.” I decided on a letter.

I figure I can explain the situation calmly, state what I think should be done so that this doesn’t happen again, and then he can call me if he has any additional questions. Here’s hoping he opens his own mail.

Easter Weekend

Less than a week later

This past weekend

I’m pretty sure we’re scaring the mama bird half to death every time we check on them. She almost flew into the side of my head one time. She flies away though and we’re careful not to touch them or disturb them too much. The mama always comes back. Boog is loving it and I have to admit, I think it’s pretty neat too.

I’ve just been you know, obsessing about weight loss. :) This week was not so good. I believe I had one too many jelly beans on Easter so I’m up 0.6 pounds. Oh well, it’s a new week. I also have a seriously hurt back but exercise seems to make it feel better so that’s a good thing.

What makes it feel worse? Um, a 30 pound wet noodle. I’ve started turning Boog away when he asks me to pick him up. “No way little man, you’ve got legs.” He’s not a fan I don’t think.

I’m not sure why I haven’t been back here to post lately. I guess we’ve just had a lot going on but you know not the kind of a lot that I feel like anyone else cares about. I did finish Sleep Is For the Weak this morning. Yeah that book I bought back in September and had Mir sign for me. It took me 7 months to finish.

In my defense, i really only read snippets here and there while I eat breakfast and not every day but still that’s kind of pathetic. I’ve become more of a magazine reader I suppose. A friend of mine just got me a subscription to Brain Child magazine for my birthday. That magazine rocks. I’ve already read most of it and I actually spent an entire evening READING rather than watchin my stories as my husband would say.

I think when I’m done I’m gonna mail it to my friend that got me the subscription. It seems like the kind of thing she would like too. I gave her a couple of subscriptions for her birthday as well, different magazines, actually I don’t really remember which ones anymore. Geez, that’s sad, that was only like two weeks ago.

Boog is going through a decidedly pleasant phase. I must say I do prefer that to the exorcist phases. You know the ones that make me want to get my tubes tied post hast. He has been having some trouble falling asleep lately and I’m not sure what that’s about. It generally requires me to go back in address whatever problem he’s drummed up and then tell him to lay down and close his eyes. After a minute or so I can tell him nite nite and leave and he’ll go to sleep. I don’t know why he can’t do that the FIRST time I put him down but he just can’t apparently.

We’re making some progress on potty training. I bought a book with several different methods in it and read a couple and then decided I didn’t think he was really all that ready. But lately he’s showing more interest. I don’t think he’s quite ready for full on potty training but I figure we’ll take that lloooonnnnnggggg approach and maybe he’ll be potty trained my 6th grade. :)

He is totally psyched about wearing that Cars underwear I bought him so I suppose I should make some effort before he’s no longer obsessed with that movie. Oh and those little tiny briefs…OMG so cute I just can’t even stand it.

Over all the diet and exercise is going well. It would be going better had I not gained this week but hey I’m still down over 11lbs. I’m trying out some new workouts because I’m getting kind bored with just the 30 day shred and spinning. I have to find something that really makes me sweat though and only takes 20-30 minutes cause that’s all I have time for.

So far I’ve been trying out The Bigger Loser videos and they’ve been pretty good. I haven’t found one that I’m in love with just yet though. I am still waiting for a couple of them. If anyone has any suggestions let me know.

And finally I’ll leave you with this. Boog declared this his FAVORITE plant at Lowes last week so of course I bought him one so he could have his FAVORITE plant at home. It was just too cute for me to pass up.

He has apparently inherited his father’s green thumb cause lord knows he didn’t get it from me. I have the black thumb of death when it comes to gardening. Maybe between the two of them I can have a pretty yard to look at without much work on my part. :)

Trying on his Aunt’s hat

No idea what’s going on with this river birch

Still loves the stop signs

We have had two Australian Shepherds. One we’ve had since he was a puppy. The other we adopted a few months after we got the puppy but she was about 4-6 years old at the time. We got her from the pound and the main reason was because she looked just like our dog that had died recently.

We grew to love her and tolerate her antics but the less and less time we have for her the worse her neurosis became and we finally just had to face the fact that we just aren’t giving her the life she deserves. And in turn she’s making us miserable.

She needs ALOT of exercise and when she doesn’t get it she turns into a big ball of nervous energy. She chews, she fights, she doesn’t listen, she barks, she licks, she’s just generally irritating. And when all these things happen we get frustrated and we yell because any other volume gets no reaction from her. Oh and you have to yell three sometimes four times before she’ll listen to you.

I’m coming to really believe that she was never a good fit for us. She is an incredibly dominant dog and thus requires a very dominant master to keep her in line. Neither myself or my husband are that type of master. This has led to her taking the dominant role in our “pack” and it leads to all sorts of aggressive and undesirable behavior. The most frequent would be the disobedience. The worst and most dangerous would be her inherent need to “protect” us if we ever take her anywhere. Because of that we have basically stopped taking her anywhere and we’ve resorted to locking her up when we have people over. (She’s nipped and tried to herd several of our friends.)

She’s never been anything but complete sweet to Boog and I assume that is because she sees him as part of her pack. However I would never trust her around any other children. All of these things coupled with the fact that our poor son now thinks that an appropriate way to interact with your pet is to scream at them has led us to give her up in hopes that the qualified professionals can find a better match for her.

Of course there is a whole other dimension to this drama as well, that qualified professional is a friend of mine and she’s pretty upset with us. She just does not understand how we could ever even consider giving up a dog we’ve had for 4.5 years. I’m hoping that over time she may be able to see our point of view but to her we are giving up one of our children. I also hope that it doesn’t completely ruin what little bit of friendship we have left.

I did think about that before approaching her with the news that we’d decided to give the dog up and I made the decision that if that were to happen it would be unfortunate but it was not a reason to keep the dog. I have to do what I feel is best for myself and my family. Believe it or not that includes the dog. I truly believe she will be happier with someone else. My friend doesn’t see it that way though and she’ll have to try and see it from another perspective or hold it against us forever. There’s really not much I can do about that either way.

So we’re a single dog household again. Our other dog is the polar opposite of the one we gave up. He’s a total beta dog and much less high energy. He’ll be heartbroken for a while I’m sure. His canine buddy is all he’s ever known. But we’ll be able to include him more with the family so I think he’ll be ok eventually. It was a sad day today but I hope that in the end we’ll all be a little happier.