This is long overdue...

I am on Day 3 of my complete lifestyle change regarding food, exercise and my weight. I weigh 20 lbs more than I weighed when I got pregnant with Kane or Meghan and a nauseating 70, YES SEVENTY, lbs more than I weighed when I got pregnant with Selena. Now, in my defense I was 17 years old and super thin when I got pregnant with Selena, but still....holy fatness batman!

I have simply started counting calories and using portion control. I am allowing myself 3 meals per day and 1 snack in the afternoon. No snacking after dinner or at night while I am at work until 3 am.

I am happy to report that as of today (day 3) I am already down 2 lbs! I know it's not much, but it's a start.

Next step is to get moving and do some type of cardio and weight training AT LEAST 4 days per week. I am not sure if that will be at home with some equipment we are thinking about purchasing, or at the local YMCA. Either way, it will be done and it will be done child free. I have the support and cooperation of my darling husband that I will have MOMMY TIME to work out on a regular basis. He has always had DADDY TIME to work out and understands that I deserve the same.

So, here we go! I am hoping to go down about 2 pant sizes and about 30 lbs. **Fingers Crossed**

Where did my baby go?

Meghan has been standing up in her highchair lately which tells me it's time for a booster seat. She wants to hang with the big kids!

Only one problem...our current dining room set has only 4 chairs. 4 chairs + 5 people makes for a fun game of musical chairs, but not a fun dinner time with The Dodd's.

So my solution to this issue was to lower the height of her highchair (reattach and re size the harness) and pull her up to the table...brilliant! This also required Kane's seat being moved to the other side of the table to avoid food wars between the little people.

So here is the photo of the big event. She looks so big! She is definitely a toddler, not my little baby anymore :(

Way to ring in the New Year!

UGH! It has been a rough start for 2010 after a rough ending to 2009!

Let's start with 2009 drama shall we?
We rent our current house. We are trying to decide if we want to stay in the area, or move out of state, all dependant on Jason finding an Associate level college teaching position. So we call the landlord, Richard, because we are having plumbing problems. Richard is supposed to call a plumber at that time per the conversation with Jason. He didn't. A few days later on December 22, Jason and I had just put the kids to bed and were cleaning up the house, doing laundry...towels to be specific...remember that! Anyhoo, we hear a noise from the kitchen sink and both look and see water coming up the drain...perfect. It is coming too fast and way too much! The sink overflows with water all over our kitchen floor, counter tops, in the drawers...etc. It is a freaking nightmare because it is not water from the washer draining....it's SEWER WATER! And where are all the towels???? IN THE WASHER!

So I call the landlord who comes right over, calls a plumber and helps us bleach the crap, no pun intended, out of our kitchen. Plumber comes, can't fix it, will be back tomorrow.

Day #2 of the plumbing fiasco I wake up and it's 55 degrees in my house. Why you ask? Because the water leaked through the floor onto the furnace in the crawl space and tripped it! Now the furnace man and plumber are coming. Plumbers again can not fix the problem, they'll be back tomorrow. Meanwhile they have flooded my attached garage with SEWER WATER and ruined multiple items being stored there.

Day#3 CHRISTMAS EVE! Plumbers are back, they have to dig a huge hole in our yard to fix a crack in a pipe. They fix it, turn on the water to check for drainage and the SEWER WATER backs up again in my laundry room!! They finally thank God get things straight and leave at 2:00 on Christmas Eve.

(We found out after the fact that they unplugged my huge storage freezer in the garage when they flooded it and never told us or plugged it back in. I lost everything that was in there!!! I am calling to speak to a manager tomorrow...no one messes with my freezer meals!)

Then we have the 4 days of Christmas starting at Jason's Aunt & Uncle's house on Christmas Eve. Then our house Christmas Day with me going to work from 3pm-11pm. Then Father in Law's house on the 26th. Then my parents on the 27th. Is this Hanukkah or Christmas people???

We rang in the New Year with Jason, Kane and Meghan all sick. I have been coughed at, snotted on and drooled on more in the last week than I ever have working as a Respiratory Therapist! Thankfully everyone is feeling better now.

I think maybe we are on our way to a brighter 2010!

An intervention?

So my husband thinks I have a problem. He thinks this problem is out of control, crazy-nutso. What is this huge problem you ask?

I am obsessed with a teenage vampire.

Yep, that's right, Edward Cullen is my fictional boyfriend. I can't get enough of the Twilight movies, books....all of it. I have re-read the books 3-4 times each! I told my husband that I needed an IPod touch because you can download movies and then I could watch Twilight wherever I was. He told me "I will not feed into your insanity."

Is he possibly jealous of the attention my Edward gets?

I mean really, what is the big problem with a 31 year old married mother of 3 drooling over a 17 year old vampire? Really, I don't see the issue here.

Christmas Past

A review of Christmas with The Dodd's 2004 to 2009

Shopping done....almost

With the exception of my little brother's gift, that I will shop for on Friday, I am DONE Christmas shopping!! I went to Target today on a mission. Gifts for our 2 nephews, ages 3.5 yrs and 3 mos, and stocking stuffers for our kids. I did very well under pressure. I had a list and a plan. I was nearly derailed by an irritated phone call from my husband telling me he was hungry and I needed to hurry up. I started to scramble because a cranky husband is just not something I need right now. I collected myself and finished the mission. Oh wait, as I type this I realize I need ornaments for all 3 of my kids as well! Damn it, I am not as good as I thought! Oh well, I am more done than I was yesterday!

Poor Santa

I think Santa Claus might need a prescription for Xanax after our visit today! Kane has been telling us for weeks how he is going to see Santa, sit on his lap and ask for presents. Actually it was more like "Santa yap, prepents a Kane?" So we arrive at the mall today with all 3 children for the big meeting with Santa. Kane is still talking a good game at this point. As we edge closer to the front of the line you can feel the tension radiating from my son. He is wavering big time. So we get up to the velvet rope and Kane makes a run for it! Jason tried picking him up and putting him on Santa's lap for the big moment (and picture!). This is the result:Complete and total melt down!

So now it's Meghan's turn. She watched her big brother without batting an eye. She is definitely our toughest child. So Daddy takes her from me and sets her down for her turn on Santa's lap. She sat, but as soon as she looked at Santa:So, I'm pretty sure next year Santa will probably just call elf security and have us escorted away!