The Nelson Narrative

Here are my New Year's Resolutions for 2010: Lose 22 pounds.  I am already on day 4 of the 30 Day Shred and it's still 2009.  I'm going to shoot to do it 5 days a week for 6 consecutive weeks, just like I did this time last year. Read more.  Let's see...I think I read about 5 1/2 books last year, mostly in the summer, so I'll shoot for 7 this year. Get organized.  I still have to figure out what specifically I need to do but I just know I need to be more organized in all areas. Spend more time with friends. Now, here are some specific tasks that I want to accomplish in 2010: Paint the living room. Paint the hall. Hang curtains in the living room and our bedroom Put up shelves in the powder room (to put knick-knacks, candles, etc. on) Put up a shelf or shelves in the office/spare bedroom Organize the linen closet Sell some of my model horse collection on Ebay Take the girls to the Children's Museum

Well, I can say that one of my New Year's resolutions is to get more and better pictures!  As I rifled through all the photos of the girls I realized that we have hardly any of the two of them in the same shot, and the ones we do have they aren't looking at the camera, let alone smiling!  They're horrible!  How do other people manage to get good pictures of one-year-old twins?  This is the best I've got... January February March (Kayley) March (Olivia) April May June July (Kayley) July (Olivia) August Not a single picture for September! October November December

What a great Christmas we had this year!  It started way back at Thanksgiving when the girls got their gifts from my side of the family since we weren't going to see them for Christmas.  Then a few weeks ago my mom came down and brought them her gifts.  Then a few days before Christmas they got a package from my Dad and stepmom who are snowbirding in Arizona.  On Christmas Eve Paul had to work until 11:00 and when he got home we did our gift exchange with just us and the girls, and then we left to go to his parents'.  Their friend and her daughter came over (as they do every Christmas Eve) and we did a gift exchange with them, and finally, the main event on Christmas Day!  The girls have been opening gifts for a month straight, and they are pros!  Even after they were done opening their own they wanted to help everyone else open theirs!  They were really cute.  I wasn't expecting them to be very good at opening yet but I was su...

Last weekend we made our annual trek to the tree farm for the Nelson Family Christmas Tree.  The girls had fun traipsing through the trees, and they got to see and pet a horse.  They kept wandering around the field saying "neigh" even though the horse was way at the other end.  It was really cute.  Anyway, we got our tree and have attempted to decorate it, but the girls keep taking off all the ornaments despite our numerous attempts to tell them "no".  So the bottom half of our tree is pretty much bare, other than the lights.  No telling what they're going to do with all the gifts once we get them wrapped and put under it. Wandering around the tree field Getting a picture of both girls in the same shot is downright impossible... Olivia watching daddy cut down our tree

I have recently discovered that other stay-at-home moms have adopted something they call a "cleaning schedule".  As in, Monday = laundry, Tuesday = floors, Wednesday = errands, etc.  My initial reaction was "whoa, a bit anal, are we?" but then I was actually very impressed with, and a little jealous of, their organizational skills.  When it comes to housework, I'm a do what I can, when I can kind of gal.  Then I realized that I hadn't mopped my kitchen floor in, oh I don't know, 3 or 4 MONTHS (hey, I sweep it several times a week) so I thought I'd give it a shot. So a few Mondays ago I tackled laundry.  Sheets, matress pads, bathroom rugs, you name it.  Never mind that it didn't all get put away until roughly the next Monday.  Anyway, Tuesday I started on floors.  Except the "plan" is to actually get down and dirty and mop them, on your hands and knees if necessary, not just vacuum and sweep, which aparently you should be doi...

Olivia loves to play with clothes.  Whenever I'm folding laundry she's grabbing underwear and putting them on her head (never mind that when I was little (but way older than her--like 8ish) I used to put my underwear on my head and pretend it was a chef's hat and I would be the Swedish Chef from the Muppet Show) or grabbing some pants and trying to pull them on over the pants she's already wearing.  I totally need to get her a tutu and some cute dress-up clothes.  Yesterday she was upstairs playing while I was downstairs doing something with Kayley.  I had just done some laundry and there was a heap of unfolded clothes on the floor upstairs.  So while I was downstairs with Kayley, down she came wearing Paul's shirt but with her head sticking out one of the arm holes:

Fed up with Kayley's antics, we decided that's it!  We're putting both girls in their cribs at bedtime and Kayley can cry her little eyes out until she finally goes to sleep and Olivia, poor thing, will just have to put up with it.  So Sunday night that's exactly what we did.  She cried for 20 minutes and finally fell silent.  Last night it only took 10 minutes!  Maybe if we keep this up she'll be back to normal, where we can just put her in her crib at bedtime and she'll just go straight to sleep (or at least not scream and cry).  Here's hoping.  But man, it's nice to have a little of our evenings back.

What a fun day.  This morning I took the girls to an indoor gym at the Mount Si Community Center in North Bend which I never would have known about if not for my awesome neighbor Dana who is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to Things To Do With Toddlers.  They basically set up all kinds of fun climbing stuff, ride-on toys and what-not in a gym and people bring their kids to play for a $1.00 donation.  Perfect for rainy days!  I only wish we would have got there sooner because we only had about a half and hour to play before it ended.  But the girls loved it and we will definitely go again very soon and get there earlier next time. Later, seeing as how Kayley wasn't going to take a nap (although she did sleep in the car on the way home, a whole 10 minutes or less), I decided to put her to work helping me bake cookies! Mmm... Olivia finally got her cookie when she got up from her nap Huh...interesting

We're still really struggling with getting Kayley to go to sleep at night.  If she takes a nap at all, I wake her up after an hour and a half (she used to sleep 2 1/2 to 3 hours) but she'll still be up until 10:00 or a little later.  If she doesn't take a nap, she falls asleep in her highchair at dinner time.  If that happens, we put her in her crib and sometime she'll stay there and sleep and other times she'll wake up and not what to go to sleep.  If she stays asleep, again she'll be up until 10:00 or later and if she doesn't she's a crabby mess, and still will be up until at least 9:00.  Yesterday I didn't put her down for a nap thinking that she would go to bed at 9:00ish or even 8:30, as opposed to 10:00 or 11:00.  But we went for a walk at 4:00 and by the time we got back around 4:30 she was asleep.  I put her down in her crib and got her up a half hour later.  But she was cranky and wouldn't stop crying so I laid down on the couch with...

First of all, what 19/20-month old drops her nap???  Isn't that supposed to happen sometime after 2, if not 3 or 4?  Seriously, Kayley.  OK, so maybe she hasn't dropped it completely , but more often than not she doesn't take a nap.  Including yesterday.  No biggie, I'm getting pretty used to it and it's kind of nice to have a little one-on-one time with her.  BUT, then she proceeds to get up at 3:00 AM and not go back to sleep for a hour or so.  Sort of.  Here's what happened: Kayley woke up around 3:00 AM.  I go in there and try my usual lay-her-back-down-and-rub-her-back-until-she-falls-asleep-and-then-quietly-sneak-out routine.  Not working.  So after 3 or 4 attempts (she would seem asleep, but when I'd try to leave she'd pop right back up and start fussing) I just got her up and let her play/wander in the loft while I laid down on the couch, the idea being that she would eventually fall asleep on the floor at ...

This was the girls' 2nd Halloween but their first time dressing up and trick-or-treating.  We went to our friends' house where the guys took the kids trick-or-treating and the women stayed to hand out candy and enjoy some wine and girl time.  It was great!  Our girls are obviously a bit young for trick-or-treating but since we were with friends with older kids we just took them anyway and they did great and had a really fun time.  It's SO hard to get a decent picture with both of them in the same shot but here's the best I could do: Blurry pic of Kayley as a Ladybug Kayley, friends' daughter Lindsay (3) as a Monkey and Olivia as a Zebra Olivia Olivia and Kayley

Here is a list of things that I wish I could do with the girls on rainy days, or any day really just for variety and to get out of the house: Go to the mall's play area Go to the Childrens Museum Go to a Kindermusic class (or similar.  I'd love to do Gymboree but we've already been to a free trial and we can't afford a membership, plus it really is for just one child per adult) Go to any store/business I want without worrying whether the double stroller can be accomodated But alas, none of these can be done with just me.  In the first two examples they would be off in two different directions and even though the mall's play area is very contained, it's also quite large and I would worry that while I was chasing down one of the girls the other would be somewhere at the opposite end and maybe push another child or something and I wouldn't be there to prevent it and/or correct her. So as far as weekday outings go we're pretty much limited to storyt...

I knew this time would come eventually, but oh, did I not want or expect it this early.  The days of the 3+ hour naps are (sniff) over.  Miss Kayley started having issues with staying up WAY too late at night, so I've resorted to waking her up after two hours of nap.  And about every 3 or 4 days she refuses to take a nap at all .  Olivia started not going down as easy at night either, but she seems to be over it now and back to normal.  I miss my nice long 3+ hour break, but most days I still get 2 or a little more so it could be worse.  Obviously the day will come when they won't nap at all and then I'll be really sad, although in a way it will be good because we can do more fun things during the day.  But for now I'm going to soak up every minute of blissful quite that I can!

Last Sunday we took the girls to Jubilee Farms. It was so much fun! We took a hayride to the pumkpin fields where we searched high and low for two (that was all we could carry) perfect pumpkins. Kayley especially loved tromping through the fields examining every squash in her path saying "apple, apple" over and over. I'd correct, "no, Honey, that's a pumpkin" to which she'd reply "apple". Sigh. Everything round is either a ball or an apple, depending on whether it has a stem or looks food-like or not (pears, squash, etc are all "apples"). Olivia, on the other hand, was a little more focused on all the dirt and mud and therefore not as thrilled with the whole pumpkin hunt as Kayley. She let us know it was time to get back to dry/clean ground when I attempted to get a picture of the two of them together with our prized picks. Oh well, back on the hay wagon we went. After Paul hauled both our pumpkins to the car while I chased the ...

It's been a rough couple of nights. It seems to have started last week when poop kept interrupting Kayley's naps. After several days of shortened or non-existent naps she slept long and late on Friday, until about 4:40. That night I put her down at her normal time (9:00) and at first she went to sleep (or least was quiet). But a half hour or so later she woke up and would not go back to sleep until 11:30 or so! She still got up at her normal time Saturday morning and I figured she'd take a great nap that afternoon but, no, not happening. I think she went to bed at her normal time or a little earlier that night, but Sunday she had a short nap again and was still up until 11:40 that night. Monday she had a normal nap, Olivia had a short one and they were both up until 10:30. NO idea why Olivia was up that late having had a shorter than usual nap and otherwise being a perfect sleeper. Totally weird. But as for Kayley, I'm beginning to wonder if she's getting...

I wish it wasn't so difficult to just grab a latte whenever the mood strikes. Today we went to storytime, and then to pick up a few groceries. The store and the library are right next to each other so we were able to walk in-between. Going to storytime is hard enough, because (and this is the case whenever we go anywhere that doesn't have shopping cart returns throughout the parking lot) I have to get one of the girls out, go around to the other side, put her on the floor of the car while I get the other one out, and then juggle them both plus my purse plus the keys so I can lock the car, all the while trying not to let either one run out into the parking lot or street or wherever, then carry Olivia while I let Kayley walk (because Olivia HATES to hold my hand)...it's such a pain in the butt. Anyway, after storytime we walked to the store and I put them in a shopping cart and we did our shopping. Then I went next door to Starbucks to get a latte. Turns out it's much eas...

I wish I was a better blogger. I read (or occasionally glance at) several blogs, some baby-related, some not, and they have fancy layouts with all kinds of gadgets and 238 followers and the writing is magazine worthy and there's pictures with witty captions, etc., etc. Me on the other hand...well, I'm just so low-tech in the first place (I could barely figure out how to get this far), and in the second place it's hard to find the time. I'm always thinking of topics to blog about and come up with great wording in my head but then when I actually go to blog I forget or I start but then I decide I don't really have the time and then end up just writing a quick update or whatever. I also don't think anyone cares that the girls are doing this or that or wearing this size or saying these words. I don't care about those things when I read other baby blogs (which is probably why I do so infrequently). I think I really want to focus on the challenges of having...

A few days ago I was looking back through the girls' baby books to see what their daily routine was like the same time last year. It's weird to think that they were still taking 3 naps a day and not even eating solids yet. Then I realized that since the "daily routine" section of their baby books ends at 12 months, I haven't been recording it for the last 5 months and thought I should for future reference (to look back on a year from now or whenever). So here it is: Wake up between 7:00 and 7:30 usually . Sometimes as early as 6:00 and as late as 8:00 . Play for an hour or so, have some water and/or milk . 8:00 or 8:30 - breakfast After breakfast I clean up while they play, then I get them dressed. Most days, I will do my 30 Day Shred workout and then take them for a walk after. Then we play until lunchtime. Otherwise we use this time to run errands. 12:00 or 12:30 - lunch 1:00-4:00ish - nap (I know! Lucky me!) 4:00 -5:30 - snack, play, start dinner 5:30 or 6:00 -...

I started another blog dedicated just to weight loss, so I haven't been posting here about it lately. But in case anyone has been following my journey I'm happy to report that I have in fact got back on track and have not only got back down to my (previous) post-baby low but even a bit beyond! Whoo-hoo! I'm 2 1/2 weeks into doing the Shred 5 days a week for 6 weeks again and hoping to be back to my wedding weight by the end of it (which is approx. 4.5 pounds from where I'm at right now).

I guess it's about time I actually post about the girls. They are 15 months now and discovering new things all the time. They officially know how to go down stairs, as well as up, so the other day we removed the baby gate for awhile and they were having a blast going up and down. It was quite liberating for us too, not having to step over it all the time (it's the pressure mounted kind, not the kind with a swinging walk-through gate). We still use it when we want to contain them to one floor or the other, but we no longer have to have it up 24/7. Their other new thing is wanting to climb into and sit in the toy box or kitchen towel drawer. Sometimes they need help getting in or out, though, and it gets frustrating for us because many times as soon as they're in they want back out and vice versa. Make up your minds! And while they used to love bathtime and would play in the tub forever, now I can barely get them washed before they're trying to climb out. They ju...

Well, so far anyway but it's usually late afternoon when I succumb to whatever evil temptations are lurking in the cupboards. Anyway, I went for a half hour walk this morning. Still too hot to do the Shred. Had Special K with Red Berries and coffee for breakfast (plus the last bite of the girls' banana) and a turkey sandwich for lunch. Dinner will be salmon burgers (and sides TBD). I still have 2 weeks plus today before we go to Crescent Bar so at this point I'm just hoping to lose about 3-4 pounds. Hopefully I can get back on track.

Ugh. I just can't get it together. Monday started out good, but then in the afternoon heat I decided to go ahead and have a Squirt and orange juice (combined). Normally I would have a Diet Squirt and orange juice but we didn't have any. I also had a few too many mini Heath bars that Paul bought over the weekend. Then ice cream (albeit the low(er) fat kind which is all I ever have unless out somewhere) for dessert. Tuesday was even worse with the mini Heath and more ice cream. I didn't do my workout either because we took the girls for their 15-month check up in the morning. We did go for an evening walk, however, but that's not enough. Then today has been the same. Not really too bad except for those stupid Heath bars. I tried to go for a walk this morning but it was so hot already. Forget about the Shred--way too hot for that. I'm going to try and do it in the morning before it gets too hot but that wasn't an option today because I tried to take th...

I was doing so good the week before Memorial Day and then last week I fell apart. I still got at least 30 minutes of walking everyday and even some shredding, but I guess I ate a little too much because on Friday I was up 1.2 pounds. Darn s'mores. Sigh. I'm hoping to get back on track starting today. I did the Shred and walked for 30 minutes, had oatmeal and coffee for breakfast and a ham sandwich and chips (a 140-calorie serving) for lunch. Hopefully I can do better this week and still get back to my lowest post-baby weight by the 19th, at least. But so much for 2 pounds under.

I weighed today and was surprised to see that I was 2 pounds less than I thought I would be! I'm 3 pounds over my lowest post-baby weight. I was thinking I'd be 5 and was hoping to lose it in the next 4 weeks, right before we go to Crescent Bar. But now if I lose 5 I'll be 2 pounds under my lowest post-baby weight and only 3 pounds over my wedding weight. Cool. So here are my goals for the next 4 weeks: Eat no more than 1500 calories a day with the exception of ONE cheat meal per week. Do a minimum of five 30-minute cardio sessions per week. Do a minimum of 40 minutes of strength per week (2-3 days a week) I'm hoping this blog will keep me motivated and accountable. As for today, I took a long walk with the girls (in their stroller) to the store and back, about 50 or 55 minutes total, and I've done about 10 minutes of strength. I had Special K cereal for breakfast, 100 calories of chocolate and some fruit for a snack, and a turkey sandwich with reduced-fat c...

But of course it's only day 3. Did the 30-Day Shred this morning, followed by a 30-minute walk. I had 2 blueberry waffles w/light syrup and coffee for breakfast, a few strawberries here and there, and Lean Cuisine chicken enchiladas for lunch. I'm really not planning on eating Lean Cuisine every day, as I know it has tons of sodium plus I'm not big on processed foods, but I had them and I wanted to get rid of them. Dinner tonight will be spinach and cheese manicotti and salad.

I think I managed to stay on track in spite of eating out last night. I did have a flight of wine, which was probably the equivalent of a glass and a half, and then Jerri and I shared 3 small plates but didn't finish them all. One was a lot of pita bread with different spreads so that was probably more than I should have had but overall it wasn't too bad of a day. I should do better the rest of this week. Today I had Special K and coffee for breakfast, a banana for a mid-morning snack and a Lean Cuisine Pesto Chicken Flatbread for lunch. I started to do the 30-Day Shred but was kind of sore from yesterday so just went for a 30 minute walk instead, plus I did bits and pieces of various On Demand workouts, just trying some out to see if there's anything I may want to do in the future. I'll have an afternoon snack around 2:30 or 3:00 and then dinner is chicken caccitore and veggies. I also hope to go for another walk either this afternoon or after dinner but it's...

I've decided to try and just concentrate on one small goal for now rather than thinking ahead several months and trying to figure out how much I can lose by then, etc. So, starting today I'm going to try to lose 6 pounds by June 19th. We are leaving then for Crescent Bar for Father's Day weekend. I'll still be one pound over my lowest post-baby weight but I figure 7 is just a bit too much for only 4 1/2 weeks. It can be done, and I hope I do, but if not 6 or even 5 will be good. So that's it. I'm just going to worry about those 6 or 7 pounds in the next 4 1/2 weeks and not worry about what I can do by the end of summer or whatever. So far today I had oatmeal for breakfast (plus my usual coffee with creamer) and a Lean Cuisine Deluxe Pizza with a few strawberries for lunch. I did the 30-Day Shred minus the 3rd circuit's cardio plus a 50-minute hilly walk with the girls. For dinner I'm going out with a friend to a wine bar, I think, so that's g...

The girls turned 14 months on the 28th. Here's what they're up to: Olivia has been walking good for about a month now. She can climb up on their slide, sit down, push off and slide down all by herself. She can climb onto the couch or a chair by herself and can get back down without assistance. Everything is "da-da". It's kind of her word for "doggie", but she calls birds, cats, people, whatever "da-da". Daddy is "da-da" too, but there is a subtle difference in her pronounciation. She also just started saying "up", for when she wants me to pick her up. At just under 20 lbs, she can STILL wear most 6-9 clothes, although most 12 month stuff fits her fine, too. Jeans or pants are usually huge but tops and stretchy-type pants fit ok. Kayley has been walking since 11 months and now flat out runs a lot. Her new word is "ba", for "ball". She also can climb up on the couch or a chair and get back down by herself. ...

Ha, that was the title of a book Charlotte was embarrassed to buy on an episode of Sex and the City. Anyway, today is a new start for me on the diet front. I finally weighed this morning (I was still too scared last Friday). I am up 6 pounds from my lowest post-baby weight. At least I'm still under (one whole pound!) my pre-pregnancy weight. I did the 30 Day Shred today and hope to take the girls for a walk this afternoon. I'm also writing down everything I've eaten. I'm going to try and lose 5 pounds by our anniversary. Today is also the girls' 14-month birthday. I'm hoping to do a separate blog entry about that.

The girls are almost 14 months and I haven't documented our daily routine in awhile. They get up way too early but at least they take a nice long nap! 6:00 or 6:30 - Wake (usually just Olivia and Kayley closer to 7:00, but sometimes both and sometimes it's Kayley who wakes first. They're always shaking things up). Play until 7:30 or 8:00 (depending on when they got up). 7:30 or 8:00 - Breakfast 8:30ish until 11:00 - Clean up from breakfast, get dressed, play, and then I either do an indoor workout while they play or I take them for a morning walk outside. 11:00 - Lunch 11:30 or 12:00 - Nap 2:00 or 2:30 to 5:30ish - Play, snack, errands or walk, start dinner 5:30 or 6:00 - Dinner 6:30 to 8:30 (sometimes 9:00) - Play and bedtime routine (bath (every 3 days or so), jammies, books, brush teeth, etc). 8:30 or 9:00 - Bed

So, I've totally fallen off the wagon as far as diet and exercise. Well, not so much the exercise. I still do the Shred a few days a week and walk most afternoons, but eating has been another story. I couldn't stop eating Easter candy! But now that Easter has come and gone, I'm ready to recommit and get back on track. I'm not going to weigh until Friday, because I'm too scared, but then my mini goal will be to lose 5 pounds by our anniversary on May 13th, and my big goal is to lose 20 by the end of September. That gives me 5 months to lose 20 pounds which is totatlly doable.

Last Friday I took the girls to a free Gymboree class. They loved it and had a blast! It was very challenging for me, however, to get them to and from and manage them during. Normally I would use a stroller but I didn't want to put them in the stroller to walk the short distance from the car to the building, plus it was only a single wide door so it wouldn't have fit through. See, going to Target or Fred Meyer is easy--I park right next to a cart return so I can grab a cart/return the cart without having to take more than just a few steps from the car (I literally can still touch the car as I'm returning the cart). I put them in, go into the store, do our shopping, go back to the car, put them in the car, return the cart. But other places are a little more challenging. For the Gymboree class, I parked, got one baby out, carried her around to the other side of the car and put her down to get the other baby out, trying all the while to hold her in place with my legs to keep h...

After a week of cold, rainy and snowy weather we finally have had a few days of warm sunshine! Yesterday I decided that instead of doing my 30 Day Shred workout after breakfast I would move up our usual afternoon walk and then use the afternoon to just play outside instead. Around 9:30 I put the girls in their cribs so I could make the bed and get dressed and when I went to get them Olivia was asleep! Weird, as they have been down to one nap from 11:30ish until 2:00ish for quite some time now. So, instead of going for a walk Kayley and I just had some good one-on-one time and when she went down for her nap at the normal time, Olivia woke up. I thought I was doomed to a no nap-overlap, no-break-for-mommy kind of day, but for some reason Kayley only slept for a half hour, meaning they would both need another nap later in the afternoon. We ended up finally going for our walk around 12:30 and then playing in the yard for awhile after that. Today they are back on their normal nap sche...

Seeing as how we rarely go out anymore, most Friday and/or Saturday nights we try to watch a movie after the girls go to sleep. And seeing as how they don't usually go to sleep before 9:00, we're already pretty tired (god, we're old). It never fails--one or both of us will fall asleep 20 minutes in. So we turn it off, go to bed, and plan to resume watching during the week. But since the girls don't go to sleep until 8:30 or 9:00 and Paul has to get up so early for work, we only have like a half hour to watch until he has to go to bed. And on Tuesdays and Wednesdays we watch American Idol so we can't watch a movie at all. Therefore it pretty much takes an entire week watching a movie in 20-30 minute increments to finish one. Sad.

Before I had kids I always just assumed that when I did, I would frequently, or at least occasionally, be using the diaper changing stations in restaurant and mall restrooms. As it turns out, not so much. As I was packing the diaper bag yesterday before heading out to run some errands, it occured to me that I almost never need to do that. I think I did once or twice in the early days, and I remember changing them in the back of the SUV in a Target parking lot after church one Sunday, but for the most part we are never gone long enough to necessitate a public diaper change. Breakfast is usually around 8:00 and lunch is at 11:00 (in order to squeeze it in before nap time) so if we go anywhere in the morning, which is rare because I usually like to work out and shower during this time, we can't leave until 9:00 or 9:30 and we have to be back by 11:00. Sure we could have our lunch while we're out, but then they'd fall asleep in the car right after and usually when that happens ...

Luckily the girls have been sleeping a little better lately. Today Kayley slept until 7:30 and Olivia, who had been waking between 6:00 and 6:30, slept until 8:00! Yay! Kayley still wakes up just about every night sometime between 10:30 and 1:00 but goes right back to sleep when I rock her. Yesterday and the day before they slept until 7:00 so I'm thinking we're back on track. I wonder if they'll even start sleeping until 7:30 or 8:00 consistently which will push back lunch and nap an hour or so. As it is, we can't leave the house until at least 3:00, if not 3:30 or 4:00, unless we do errands in the morning after breakfast but: a) I haven't showered yet (I usually shower during naptime or sometimes after breakfast with them in a pack and play) and b) by the time we're done with breakfast and ready to go we only have like a 1.5 hour window before we have to be home to squeeze lunch in before naptime. I think that on days I have errands to do I'll have to get ...

So I guess I got a little cocky. I've been bragging every chance I get about how both my girls, sweet angles that they are, have slept through the night (STTN) since they were 3 months old (2 1/2 for Olivia). Yeah, they were horrible nappers but hey, they've STTN forever! They would go to bed between 8:00 and 8:30 and wake up between 7:00 and 7:30. I would hear them on the monitor talking and I could take my time and brush my teeth, make coffee, make their bottle, etc. and it was no big hurry to get in there to get them. Then they turned one and started drinking whole milk instead of formula and less of it. And Olivia started waking at 5:00 or 6:00, hungry, and of course she usually woke Kayley as well, although not always. Kayley, however, has consistenly woken up at least once during the night for some unknown reason. She goes right back to sleep when I pick her up and rock her, but still. Lately, Olivia has managed to start sleeping until 6:30, but that's about her limit...

Since I last blogged about my weight loss, I managed to lose a few more pounds, for a total of 12 pounds since I started. Then the girls turned one, we had a birthday party, and Costco cake took over the fridge/freezer and my stomach. We finally ate it all and I started to get back on track, only to enter the Easter season with my annual tribute to the heavenly confection known as the Cadbury Easter Creme Egg. I love those things! I eat tons of 'em every spring and the last few weeks has been no exception. At 150 calories, they really are an ok indulgence now and then. But when you eat the whole box (4) in a day, not so much. Sigh. Anyway, today I have turned over a new leaf and hope to get back on track. I only have 5 pounds to go to get to my wedding weight, which I was hoping to accomplish by our anniversary on May 13th but could realistically do much sooner. That is assuming I still only have 5 to go which is unlikely. I'm sure I've gained a couple pounds si...

Saturday was the girls' first birthday! I can't believe a whole year has passed. I was relieved with how well the party went. I thought the girls might be really overwhelmed with all the people and activity and get fussy, but they did great! They even ate their cake pretty good and didn't make too much of a mess! I had to wash some out of Kayley's hair that night but I've seen much worse at other kids' parties. It's just amazing to see how much they've grown and changed. When I think back to a year ago, I know they slept a ton but if that's true, and I know it is, how is it that we never slept?!? I guess just by the time we'd feed them both and change them and I would pump and all that, I never got more than an hour and a half, if that, before starting all over again. Ugh. I sure don't miss those days. Now to see them walking (Kayley walks, Olivia is taking a few steps here and there) and eating real food and playing at the park-...

The flu attacked our household last week. Olivia was the first to succum, throwing up before bed on Monday night (the 16th). She was sick all day Tuesday and then Kayley came down with it. She was up off and on all night throwing up and then around 1:30 am I joined her. Ugh. When Paul got up for work Wednesday morning, he, too, wasn't feeling so great so he stayed home (he would have had to anyway to help with the babies because I was in horrible shape). He and I were both just miserable and throwing up, not able to keep down even water. I felt so bad for the babies because we were both just laying around hardly able to move, let alone interact much with them. We managed to keep them fed (if you count pedialyte as being "fed") and changed but it was torture. Luckily, we felt way better the next day but the girls continued to have trouble keeping food down and then the diarrhea started. Now there's a good time--TWO babies with bad diarrhea! Whoo-hoo. Anyway...

Well, thanks to a bout with the flu last week I have hit the 10-pound mark! I am 5 pounds under my pre-pregnancy weight and have just 7 to go to get back to my wedding weight (hopefully by our anniversary in May). I dug out a bunch of my pre-pregnancy clothes and tried them on and they fit! I now have dressy black pants again that aren't maternity. I can wear something besides jeans or khakis to church! Whoo-hoo! I'm looking forward to wearing my favorite capris this spring/summer and all the shorts that haven't fit since '06.

Friday was day 30 of the 30 Day Shred! I have completed 6 consecutive weeks of 5 days a week. Unfortunately, I've only lost about 5 pounds--not exactly "shredded". I had lost 7.2 as of a few weeks ago but I kind of fell off the healthy eating wagon Superbowl weekend and have gained a few back. I'm going to try and get back on track and hope to lose 3 pounds by the girls' birthday on the 28th. Speaking of the girls' birthday, I can't believe it's almost here! They're almost one! Kayley started walking on my birthday (just before they turned 11 months) and Olivia is taking a step ot two here and there. I think she'll be walking by their birthday. I'm a little sad that they won't be babies anymore (sniff) but I'm also looking forward to all the fun things we'll get to do when they're a little older.

Well, I did it! I finally lost all the baby weight as of my birthday last Saturday! Plus an extra 0.2 pounds. And since then I've lost another 2 pounds, for a total loss of 7.2 pounds! Whoo-hoo! So now I'm working on getting down to my wedding weight by our anniversary on May 13th. I have 9.2 pounds to lose to make that goal. That's 3 1/2 months away so it should be doable. I'm still doing the 30 Day Shred workout 5 days a week. Today was day 18. So I have tomorrow and Friday plus two more weeks to go. After that, my plan is to do 30-45 minutes of cardio 5 times a week and 20 minutes of strength 3 times a week. However, it may be very difficult to find the time. I guess I'm thinking that I could take the girls for a daily afternoon walk for the cardio (weather permitting!) and do the strength in the late afternoon after Paul gets home from work. On days where the weather is crappy I can do a DVD. It might be challenging but I think it'll work. Today is the girl...

One of the (many) difficult things about twins is trying to keep them from waking each other up should one wake during the night, which luckily, is rare except for this last week. Usually when one wakes during the night (usually Kayley), I can rush in and quiet her down before the other wakes up. Then I'll rock her and she'll usually go right back to sleep. But the challenging thing is putting her back in her crib without re-waking her. If I put her on her back, she'll immediately try to roll over and get caught up in her sleep sack, wake up and cry, but if I try to put her on her belly the jostling that is required to do that will wake her up (crying) too! I'm doomed every time! None the less, it usually works eventually, either the first time or after several tries. But several nights last week one would be woken up by the other and while they would fall right back asleep in my arms I could not get them back in their cribs without re-waking them. We would often end up...

As of yesterday I have lost 4 pounds. Just one more pound of baby weight to go! Not that that's all that exciting considering I still have another 22 to 27 or so to go after that. Sigh. But seeing as how I lost 43 the first two weeks after giving birth and it's taken 10 months to lose another 8, I'm a little excited to only have one more to go. Yesterday I tried on a bunch of my pre-pregnancy clothes and most of them actually fit! I hope to update on actual baby stuff soon. It's been hard to find time this week.

Friday is my official weight-in day. I'm down 1.2 pounds since Tuesday (when I re-weighed on Wednesday I had actually lost 0.8 pounds, not a full pound and now I've lost 0.4 more). So I still have about 4 pounds to go, 3.8 to be exact. I have finished the first of six weeks of doing the 30 Day Shred 5 days a week. I hope I can keep it up. The rain has finally stopped, too, so I'm hoping to go for a long walk with the girls this afternoon after a trip to Target.

I know you're not supposed to weigh yourself every day but I just had to see if that extra pound was gone and yay! It is. So now I'm back to where I started, with 4 pounds of baby weight to lose. Yesterday was another good day--1360 calories and another shred workout done. I managed to sneak it in before my friend got here. Today I did the 30-Day Shred again. I really like it. I love that it's only 20 minutes because with the twins it's really hard to find time to work out. When I can I like to add extra cardio, like today I did an extra 5 minutes (not that 5 minutes is very much!) by turning on the DMX Dance channel and doing aerobics. When the weather permits I'll take the girls for a walk in the afternoon but lately that hasn't been an option. But even by itself it's a pretty good workout.

Damn! Turns out I actually have 5 more pounds of baby weight to lose, not 4. I was scared to weigh myself yesterday after a weekend of not-so-good eating so I waited until today and discovered that additional pound. Crap. Oh well. I did great yesterday. My calorie intake was 1500 on the dot and I got my workout in. A good friend of mine is coming all the way from Mt. Vernon to visit today so I'm hoping I'll still manage to get today's workout in. She already offered to watch the girls while I shower so maybe I'll just have her watch them while I work out and then shower. Otherwise I can just do it sometime after she leaves. I'll get it in there somewhere--I'm determined!

So today it begins--my quest to finally lose the last 4 pounds of baby weight. I have a lot more to lose after that but one thing at a time! I gained 52 pounds during my pregnancy, which for twins is not too bad. 43 of them fell off the first two weeks after giving birth, but then the last 9 wouldn't budge! I even gained 3 back. Toward the end of summer I finally got my act together and started losing again, losing the 3 I had gained back plus another 5 or so by Thanksgiving. Then I started baking (and eating) lots of Christmas cookies, but miraculously I only gained maybe a pound or so which I have since lost. So I have 4 pounds to go and I'm hoping to lose them by the twins' 11-month birthday on the 28th. I will be doing the 30-Day Shred DVD 5 days a week for 6 weeks and then decide what to do after that, probably a combination of that and another, more cardio-based DVD. In addition to the DVD workouts, I will keep a food journal (not here) and try to stay within ...