Happy Birthday Keith!!

I love you honey and I am so thankful to have you as my husband. Happy Birthday Baby!

Weigh In Results (Week 2)

Well, the results from today's weigh in were not what I expected, but I did have a loss!! I lost .6 pounds. Not even a pound......but it's a loss. I have to look at it positively or I will get discouraged. I had a couple of minor set backs this week. I got sick to my stomach Wednesday night and couldn't finish my foods for the day and I ended up vomiting that night.......so.......I didn't feel like eating anything but starches the next day. The good thing about the starches is that I did eat starches according to my plan. The only thing that I ate that wasn't permitted was Chicken Noodle Soup and that isn't bad for me at all except the sodium content. The key to being successful on this plan is to eat the right foods at the right times. It's about a balanced diet. Certain foods counteract other foods which causes your metabolism to start burning fat. If you start eating too much of one type of food, then your body starts storing everything as fat instead of burning. So my weightloss counselor said that eating a bunch of starches could have thrown my body into "fat storing" mode that day.

Another obstacle that I encountered was that we ate at Keith's Mom's house for his birthday yesterday (Keith's Birthday is actually today). She cooked him a fabulous home cooked dinner which included, greens, pinto beans, candied yams, and barbeque riblets. I only ate a spoonful of each thing and only 1/2 of a riblet. I know I said I was not going to eat that kind of food until I finshed my weightloss, but I talked myself into eating just a little bit. LOL! It's so easy to talk youself into things you shouldn't do.

THEN.......we had a couples dinner and a movie at my church that same evening. They served spaghetti and garlic bread for the dinner. They put a huge portion on our plate and one small piece of garlic bread. I only ate 1/4 of the spaghetti and 1/2 of the bread. I did really good controlling my portions at both dinners but my weightloss counselor said that I was probably retaining alot of water from all the sodium I had yesterday. Why did this all have to hit hours before weigh in??? Oh well. I am not letting the small weightloss this week get me down. I lost a total of .6 this week which puts me at a grand total weightloss of 5.2 pounds. That's better than gaining 5.2 pounds, which is very easy for me to do.

I have another hurdle tonight. My dad is taking the whole family out for Keith's birthday tonight. I am going to have to stay focused and make the best choices possible.....but anytime you eat out, you are gambling with weightloss because there are so many hidden fats that you don't account for. I am being challenged so much. It's sad that we are challenged so strongly with food. I wish that eating healthy was just a way of life for me and not such a challenge. Maybe one day I will get to that point. Until then........I am still on my journey. I hope to give you better news next Saturday after weigh in!!!!

Silly Boys!

My boys being silly. They are so much fun!

God's Been Good To Me

I have loved the song that is playing right now for many years. It's called "God's Been Good To Me". It is just so true for me. God has truly been so good to me and my family. I wanted to share the words of this song with all of you. I pray that God would bless each one of you and your families just as He has ours.


God's been good to me....oh God's always been good

God's been good to me....oh God's always been good

I don't always say the right things, but I try

I don't always live my life the right way

But God is faithful to forgive me when I fail or fall

I am unworthy of your.........

Still He keeps on givin'

Chorus

My God has given me more than I ever dreamed

A precious family and friends who care for me

Why should He love me so?

Oh that I'll never know

I am unworthy of your.....

Still He keeps on givin' to me

Chorus

It would take hours and days at a time

For me to sit down and write down all the things He's done

Let me say this that it's nothing I've done but it's the grace He gives freely to everyone

Weigh In Results (Week 1)

I have good news!! I weighed in today and I have lost 3.2 pounds since Monday!! This makes for a total weightloss of 4.6 pounds! Now I have only 20.4 more pounds to go! Yippee!! I worked hard this week and it paid off. Now I am geared up for another good week! Can't wait to let you know how I do next weigh in!

My Big Helpers

After breakfast this morning, I started to clean up the house. My darling children decided that the family room needed "weedeating" .......so........Jacob got the stick horse and Benjamin got the broom and they went to it (see first picture). They weedeated everything! I wish you could have heard the weedeater sounds they were making. It was adorable. I couldn't resist running to get my camera. They were so serious about the work they were doing too. After Benjamin finished weedeating, he decided he wanted to vacuum. I gave him the vacuum and Jacob followed behind him still weedeating. After Benjamin saw me with the camera, it was over for him and he wanted to take pictures. I let him take a few of the ceiling and floor. He did manage to get my torso in one of the pictures. These are precious times that I will cherish forever.

My Babies

Here are my babies this morning watching Tom & Jerry. They were being so good. Mi-mi bought them two new Tom & Jerry DVD's and they love them! Thank you Mi-mi!!! Of course Benji has a book too. He can do two things at once! LOL! And yes, those are snow boots that Benji has on. He wears them ALL the time.

Weigh In Results (Week 1)

Well....the news isn't good today. I gained 1 pound. My mother-in-law had a Sunday dinner yesterday with chicken and dressing, pinto beans, cooked cabbage, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, cornbread and tea. I KNOW!!!!! It was yummy, but not worth the weight gain.....so....I am banning Sunday dinners for a while. At least until I meet my goal and then I will incorporate it back in moderation. I am back on track today and have a very positive attitude! I can't wait to give you all good news next time! Until then...............

We Have Turned The Corner!

I just wanted to give everyone an update on the boys. First of all, Benjamin has turned the corner in his recovery! For the past two days, he has been pain medicine free and has felt great. His only problem is when he wakes up from a nap. He cries for about 15 minutes and then he gets over it and is okay. I think he sleeps with his mouth open and it dries his throat out. Overall, we have this thing under our hat. Praise the Lord!
Jacob also feels better. He played in his basketball game yesterday (Sat.) and scored 10 points! He did so good! He was so proud of himself too. It was so cute to see him running down the court after scoring a basket and all the while trying not to smile.
I am looking forward to getting back to normalcy this week. I have alot of discipline work to do on Benjamin. He has gotten away with murder while recovering from his surgery and we have petted and pampered and spoiled him rotten. It's gonna be hard breaking him from all the damage we have done. I just have to stick to my guns or my life will be chaos with him. LOL!
Hope everyone has a great week and may God Bless you all!

Trying to Lose Weight.....Again!

Well, I am officially back on the weight loss wagon. I fell off the wagon after losing 40 pounds in 2006 with LA Weightloss. For the past two years I have fallen back into my old habits of eating lots of fast foods, drinking lots of cokes, not drinking water, and not exercising. I gained 25 pounds back of the 40 I lost. I gained the 25 pounds fairly quickly after coming off weightloss and I have just maintained that gain for about 1 and 1/2 years now. I figured it's time to get it off! I feel tired and sluggish all the time and my clothes don't fit and I don't have any energy to play with my boys and the list goes on and on. I started back with LA Weightloss this past Tuesday. I want to lose a total of 25 pounds which will take me 13 weeks with their program. As of yesterday at 5:00 p.m., I have lost 2.4 pounds! Yippee!! This means I have 22.6 more to go. The reason I went back to the LA Weightloss center is because they don't offer any magic pill that doesn't really work and they don't sell their own nasty pre-packaged foods. Their plan is based on a balanced diet......getting the right foods in at the right times. That's all! You buy your own food at the grocery store and cook at home. This is actually a plan I can live the rest of my life by.......if I just will. It's not a fad. Another good thing I like about them is you get to talk with a weightloss counselor every time you go in to weigh. They give you encouragement and if you aren't doing so well, they will show you where you are going wrong with the plan. They are all so nice and supportive. I also have a wonderful support system at home too. My husband and kids support me 100%. My mom and sister are also awesome support. I can turn to my sister anytime and she always helps. She says the most encouraging things to me. She also tells me to get over my pity parties too.....which I need to hear sometimes.

The reason I am sharing this personal information with all of you is because I guess I need some accountability. I plan to update you every time I go and weigh in with my counselor. I go weigh in and talk with them twice a week. I am looking forward to giving you good news each time. Putting this out here on my blog is going to keep me aware that you guys are following my success and I don't want to disappoint. If I keep it to myself, then I have more excuses to slip up. Wish me luck! Here we go!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Update On The Boys

Well, where do I start? Benjamin has been on again off again with his recovery.....which is expected. I was really hoping he wouldn't be the typical patient and that he would beat all the odds and that he would recover in one day......... but......... he is normal and typical and that's not going to happen. For 4 days now he has been fine one minute and then crying terribly the next minute. He does have some in between moments too where he isn't happy, but isn't crying. I would call that just feeling blah. He has that alot. I think he will get well soon though. Today has been an improvement from the last 4 days. He only cried really bad when he first woke up, but after he got to eating and drinking a little bit, I think his throat loosened up and the pain subsided a bit. Bless his little heart. I hate it when my kids don't feel good. The tough thing with Benjamin is....he doesn't express himself very well verbally. He sure can pitch a big ole' fit to let me know how he is feeling though. LOL! I know this will all be over soon and he will be cured of his sleep apnea which is our goal here.
To update you on Jacob. I took him to the doctor yesterday because he has been running a fever for 3 days, coughing, sneezing, throat hurting and just feeling very rotten. The doctor said that he just has a cold and he should be feeling better in a couple of days. Jacob woke up this morning feeling terrible and running a 102.6 fever and his eyes are red and burning. I called the nurse at his pediatrician's office this morning and told them that his fever is higher and his eyes are red. She said that they have been seeing the high fever with the cold going around alot. She said they have even had reports from other parents of kids having a temperature as high as 104. She told me just to treat his symptoms and fever with Tylenol and Motrin. I was glad to know this because Jacob has never had a fever with a cold, so that's why I was so concerned. She said to watch his eyes for drainage though. If that happens, they want to see him to see if he has pink eye. I KNOW!!!! What else can we deal with???!!!??? This too shall pass.
As for Keith and I, we are taking all of this one day ...........I mean one minute at a time................ Keith has been a tremendous help to me. He seems to be able to comfort Benji better than I can. I think Benji senses tension and stress in me when he is upset and hurting. Keith has a calmness about him that Benji responds to very well. Thank God for Daddy!
Keep us in your prayers and I will update you later!

Benjamin.......and Jacob

Benjamin has not been doing as well as when we first came home from the hospital. He did surprisingly well on Friday and Saturday, but yesterday was not so good. He was very very weak and whiny. He wouldn't talk at all and ate much less and didn't drink anything. Also, he did not want to walk on his own two feet at all. I had to carry him everywhere and hold him all day. This morning so far, he is very irritable and whiny and won't eat and wants to be carried and held. I have a call into the nurse at the Ear Nose and Throat doctor to see what she says about how he is acting. I am thinking that this is normal but I just want to know for sure. I have heard that it gets worse a few days into it, so maybe it's no big deal. As for Jacob......he started getting sick with a cold yesterday. He is running a 101 degrees fever and I am keeping Tylenol in him. He wants Mommy to hold him and love on him too and I am very sad that I can't give both of them the attention they need. It's double trouble for me. If I love on Jacob, then Benjamin gets mad and starts whining and smacking Jacob and if I love on Benjamin, Jacob starts whining and asking to sit in my lap because he says he is very very sick. I am so torn between my two boys. The Lord has really tested me the past 5 weeks with family sickness. I sometimes feel like I can't do it anymore, but I have to remind myself that the Lord will never put more on us than we can bear. I keep saying to myself, "What doesn't kill me will make me stronger".
Keep praying for Benjamin's recovery, and that Jacob would get better quick and that Benjamin will not catch Jacob's cold, and that the Lord would give me strength to take care of two sick kids. This is a hard job!!
Hope everyone is doing well. Take care and I will try and update you with better news soon! Thank you!

Benjamin Is Doing Really Good!

Benjamin is recovering very well! Thank you for all your prayers. It really means alot to us. Benjamin has his times where he is irritable and cranky, but for the most part, he seems to be doing just great. He is actually happy more than he is irritable. He is eating alot better than he is drinking. I don't understand that either, but you just gotta know Benji. He does everything different! LOL! Don't worry...we are making sure he is drinking enough to stay hydrated.

Since he has been home from the hospital he has eaten pancakes, grits, noodles, mashed potatoes, green beans, popsicles, ice cream, jello, pudding, etc....... I am sure there are some things that I am forgetting to mention. We are just amazed at all he is eating! But that is a good thing!

I have put a few pictures on here from Benji's hospital stay. I wanted to capture this memory so I could tell him about it when he gets older. We had clowns that came and visited Benji right after he got back from surgery, but he was still out of it from the anesthesia and missed his clown party. As you can see, our whole family enjoyed the clowns.....I guess it's because they are all clowns themselves! LOL! Jacob got to enjoy the clowns too. They were alot of fun and put a bright spot in a stressful day.

Benjamin also had Granny Eskridge and Mi-mi with him on surgery day and they held him and loved on him. I know that helped him get better too! Papaw Johnson and Aunt Lissy were there too. We have such a wonderful family and their support means the world to all of us.

Please continue to pray for Benjamin's complete recovery. We are doing really well and we thank you all for checking on us and caring. May God Bless you all. We love you!

We Are Home!!

Benjamin is home now....thank goodness!! His surgery went very well. The doctor said his tonsils and adenoids were very enlarged and they definitely needed to come out. He said his recovery would take about a week or two and he should be on the road to more restful nights. After surgery, Benjamin was wheeled back to his room in his little hospital crib and he was sitting straight up in the crib crying. His face and neck were swollen and he just looked pitiful. He slept all day long. He only woke up for minutes at a time and would NOT drink anything. He didn't start drinking any fluids until around 10:00 last night. The nurses were telling us that if he didn't start drinking soon that he would not get to come home today. Couldn't imagine that one! Benjamin started feeling quite a bit better around midnight and wanted to go to the playroom down the hall. I wasn't sure how he would do in the playroom since he was still very weak and had not even stood on his own two feet since before surgery that morning. When we got to the playroom he saw a little red wagon and wanted to pull it around. So, Mom held one of his hands while he pulled the wagon with the other. We went around and around the 4th floor what seemed like a million times. He finally wanted to go back to the room and get a popsicle. By this time he had already eaten a few popsicles and wanted another one! The nurse said that she thought he was hungry and the popsicles were just not doing the trick......so....she went and got him some chicken noodle soup and he ate it and did really well with it. She was right! After the chicken noodle soup, we all laid down to get some sleep. We slept about 1 and 1/2 hours and Benjamin's IV came loose at one of the ports and backed up and blood got on his pillow and sheets, so we had to wake up and get the nurse and deal with that. Benjamin never went back to sleep after the IV incident. He has STILL not went back to sleep! He is watching a show on TV right now. Since we got in the van to come home, he has not cried any and he has eaten a pancake. I told him it was naptime after his show. Hopefully he will get some much needed rest today. I know the next few days will be challenging and rough for him, but the Lord will see us through. He has so far. Thank you all for your prayers. Please continue to pray. I will try and keep you all updated on his progress. Take care!

P.S. The picture above was before surgery. Isn't his little gown so cute? He hated it!! He took it off before it was time to go back to surgery. He was reaching for the camera in this pic. He loves to take pictures. :)

Reminder

I just wanted to remind everyone that Benjamin has surgery tomorrow morning (the 5th) to have his tonsils and adenoids removed. We have to have him there at 8:15 a.m. Those of you who will, please pray for little Benji, that everything would go well with surgery and his recovery. He will be staying overnight at Children's Hospital and we will be home sometime on Friday. I will try and update everyone when we get home. Thank you all for your prayers. We appreciate all of you.

Happy Birthday Melissa!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR MELISSA.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!! WE LOVE YOU!!! HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY TODAY!!!