Aug

19

Weighty Issue

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I have never been on a “diet” in my life.  Sure I went through the typical high school phases of barely eating to look good in a bikini… but never a diet persay.  I haven’t really had to.  I love working out and hate that being “full” feeling so my weight has rarely been a problem. (Let’s just forget about the 22 pounds I gained for a few months my freshman year of college okay?).  At any rate, I think I’m finally needing to pay more attention.

With my first 2 children weight in time just melted off.  I still had to work out to get toned, but baby weight just disappeared.  This time its different.  I weigh more than I ever have with out a baby in belly.  I know to some people it still wouldn’t be considered a “weight problem”, but to me its shocking.  I have about 4-5 outfits I can rotate between, but I see a closet full of clothes I really want to wear!  For me it is wondering if this is just the “new me”.  That my metabolism has changed and I just need to deal with not having a “young” body anymore?  Or can I get it back?  Should I get it back?

I guess the best I can do is pay better attention to what I’m eating, make better choices, and get back in the gym, (as soon as Avery is old enough for the child-care).  I suppose taking care of myself will put me at the weight I should be at.

See part of the confusion is I have been told I was “too skinny” before.  My mother in law was worried about me.  But I didn’t feel too skinny, I felt great.  I felt fit and healthy.

So anyway, I don’t think I have EVER in years of my blog talked about weight, but today I am.  Thanks for letting me vent.  I’ll keep you updated.

Aug

14

Discouraged

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I have been contemplating strange things lately.  I feel like every day I find out about a new friend that has had an affair or gotten a divorce.  Nashville is full of these things as I’m sure many other parts of the country are.  This week as my aunt and I were discussing the forced vaccination against the HPV virus she said something that has me in a sad state (when I think about it).  Someone I know has HPV.  She says most her friends have it.  I still don’t think the vaccine should be forced, but please let’s not make this debate in the comments…. you can put HPV in the search engine of my blog and find other posts that are for that.  My point is that she said, no matter what you do as a parent, kids still make decisions to sleep around.  When I said that, “yeah, that’s possible”… she said, “no, probable”.  I am haunted by these words.

Though there is truth in what she said and knowing her family I see where she is coming from… it has really hit me like a ton of bricks.  I’m one of those crazy people that stayed a virgin till I was married.  I don’t think this makes me better than anyone else.  I committed to it at 15 and by the grace of God kept it.  More and more though, those around me have purity that is dropping like flies.  People that always believed in purity and faithfulness leaving their spouses to live different lifestyles.

I guess I just feel a sense of defeat and need some encouragement.  I want a marriage that stands out in this world.  I want kids that aren’t afraid to stay pure.  Am I crazy to expect that though?  Am I just a total prude?  The concept of Holiness is confusing me.  It’s so hard to find, but I want it, badly.

Again I hope this post doesn’t come of judgemental… i’m just being real.  I’m tired of what I see going on around me.  I want a break from it.  I want to see more people I can look up to.

Aug

13

To Dos

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Why does the house greet me with a massive things to do list when I walk in from a trip?  With all the construction around us one week without vacuuming and you would think we lived on the moon.  Our trip back home was great though.  It almost felt like we never left since I haven’t completely woken up to the reality of living in Nashville yet.  It felt like one big vacation (Nashville).  But we are back home and school and soccer will be starting soon.  I’m sure it will all set in.

Avery is getting so big so fast.  She is sleeping through the night already!  What did I do to contribute to that?  Nothing.  So don’t look to me for pointers.  All I can think is that I swaddle her really tightly.  Other than that no advise.

The boys have been super temperamental in the last two days.  Fighting for dumb reasons, crying, whining.  Those days don’t stress me out as much as they used to.  Must be having three… I really think it has made me more laid back (which this Type-A really needed!)

I thought we were done having kids… but now I’m not so sure…..

Aug

12

Does Mommy Love It? Cookie Magazine Contest!

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If you want an opportunity to win a year subscription (or renewal) of Cookie Magazine check out our contest on doesmommyloveit.com.

Jul

31

Owen is In A Phase

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What is it with my kids these days?  Especially my four-year-old (Owen)… who is just testing the limits at every turn lately.  I briefly mentioned the digging up of the back yard.  Then locking me out of the house.

Yesterday I fell asleep with Avery during the boys “rest time”.  The boys seemed to think it was the perfect opportunity to sneak out of the house and walk to my neighbors to see if he could play!  Luckily JJ was home and caught them sneaking back in (the neighbor was taking a nap).  We are now going to make both sides of the door require a key to lock it.  We live across from a pond and it just isn’t worth the risk of them sneaking out and ending up in it!

Today, less of a big deal, but strange none-the-less, I went up to check on them knowing they were out of their bunk instead of resting.  In the middle of their play was a puddle on their carpet.  My 2-year-old (Lukas) wears a diaper so I knew he was not guilty.  Owen NEVER has accidents.  He never wets his bed or anything.  The bathroom is literally 5 feet from the spot.  So what is he up too?  I would think it was a cry for attention because of Avery’s arrival, but he adores her and gets more than enough attention.

Anyway, everyday there is something new.  I just hope I can parent him right through whatever phase this is.  And I pray God’s protection on the dangerous things he is doing that I DON’T see!

Jul

30

So many little things

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I could once again bemoan my infrequency of posting and how that has cause my technorati to fall 100 points or my feed burner to go down about the same (blog-nerd information).

I could tell you a story about how my boys locked me out of the house the other day, or how Lukas ate dirt today while digging in our backyard with Owen on a search for treasure.

I could complain about the house being hard to keep up on with 3 children, 2 of which want to play outside all the time and need to be watched.

I could talk about Avery’s sleep patterns, and bore you to death with that.  She’s a newborn, what do you expect?

But instead, today I’m just going to tell you that Does Mommy Love It (dot) Com is coming back to a priority.  After much break and a pile of products sent freely to me ready to be reviewed… I’m getting back on the ball.   Caroline is too.  What are the chances we, who both do the site, had to move and had babies!  We’re back now though.  So please make a visit.  We have new sponsors to introduce in the next week or so, more contests coming up, and fun, sometimes quite unique, products to review.

Jul

8

Avery Elise Jackson

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How lame am I that I had a baby on the 21st of June and am just now writing about it!

Avery was born in quite the hurry.  After weeks of contractions I went from 0 to 60 on Saturday the 21st.  We were eating at one of our favorite Thai places, (Me, Jeff, boys, and my mother-in-law,) and the contractions started intensifying.  They were only 6 minutes apart though and I was told to not worry about going to the hospital until they were 2-3 apart consistantly.  They were getting pretty unbearable though so keeping a straight face through my meal was seriously difficult!  Afterward, we had promised the boys a trip to the pet store next door.  Jeff went on ahead and when Mimi and I went to catch up, I almost keeled over.  Still 6 minutes apart though I was convinced I could not go to the hospital.  The last thing I wanted was to be sent home (again, it happened earlier that week).

We decided after that contraction that I needed to at least wait in the hospital parking lot, but I insisted we take Mimi and the boys home first.  My poor family…. The ride home it was all I could do to contain the pain.  I was kicking the car and hanging on for dear life to the handle above the door.  When we got to the house I remembered I needed my toothbrush but by the time I was getting out to the car I swore I could feel the baby’s head!

Jeff flew to the hospital and I gave up on waiting for the 2-3 minute distance.  If that wasn’t labor nothing was!  It felt like we were in emergency forever.  By then it finally went to 3 minutes apart and I had 3 contractions while waiting.  They finally got me upstairs and the nurses flew into action.  I was rolled into the room and they asked if I felt up to getting the robe on… No bathroom for me… I threw my clothing off and put the robe on and crawled into bed.  They checked me and I was 7 cm and almost completely effaced.  WIthin a couple minutes I was completely dialated and “all they could feel was head”.

Keep in mind- this whole time I’m begging for an epidural.  Asking where my epidural is…. when was it going to get there. etc.  What I didn’t see was all the faces the nurses apparently made to each other acknowledging it was far too late for an epidural.  WHAT?  When the nurse practitioner was finally frank with me I would like to tell you I was a Champ, I rose to the occasion.  But Nope,  I freaked.  Totally freaked.  I explained how I wasn’t one of those women that could give birth naturally.  I wasn’t one of those that was strong enough.  I hate pain.  I love comfort, high-thread count sheets, pillow top mattresses!!!!  I CAN’T GO NATURALLY!

They kept assuring me I could do it.  By this time I can not explain the amount of pain I was in.  Jeff was crying, I was crying… It was bad.  I was surrounded by about 8 nurses and It did not even occur to me the dr. wasn’t there yet, but it was time to push.  3 PAINFUL pushes and VOILA!  Avery was born.  (i’m avoiding some sordid details.)  She was 8 lbs. 4 oz.

She has been great these past 2 weeks.  The easiest so far of any babies I have had.  I’ll share some pics even though she already looks so different!

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Jun

13

Things Are…

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going better. I’m getting more and more adjusted here though I still miss people and wish we were 100% settled (unrealistic). Little baby girl seems to be on her way any minute (say the doctors)… Maybe even this weekend! I was greatly encouraged to come in at any sign because the baby is riding so low right now.

The pool here is unbelievable which serves a 2-fold purpose for me. 1. Keeping the kids easily entertained, and 2. remaining as weightless as possible to ease pain and discomfort. Between the splash park, 0 depth, lazy river (not always working) and baby pool, there is just so much for the boys to do. They are becoming little fish.

I haven’t posted pictures up of much because we simply aren’t there yet :) But I’m sure some will come soon… at least of the baby WHO we are getting closer to a name on, but that is not for blog world just yet.

It has been fun getting re-acquainted with old friends and having good hang time. I have also made a lot of new friends in the neighborhood as everyone is so friendly and outgoing here. My neighbor Pam is just sweet as can be. It’s nice to be in a neighborhood where people actually talk to each other and look out for one another. Every week there are children’s activities every day too. This week they had a massive bubble day on the lawn, a fathers day craft, Friday coffee on the patio, a movie and more… next week my kids will be going to the zoo day where they bring in animals and talk about them, and the song day.

Church-wise, we have visited one two times. We really like it but are going to try out another this weekend as well (so long as I’m not in the hospital). Hopefully we will know where we belong pretty soon. I don’t want to visit 100 churches in the Bible Belt :) But there are a few that we definitely want to try before we decide where to land.

The boys are doing so great in a room together. They play up there a lot too. Owen talks about our old home a lot and really misses his buddies. But he is slowly making some friends here. I did decide to put him in preschool this year even though I really wanted to Home School it. I realized that now more than ever he needs to be in something where he can meet kids his age. He misses his school friends back home a lot. So for Pre-K he will be going to school.

That’s it for now. I’m going to try and be more regular. Funny things happen everyday that my husband wishes I would blog about, I just haven’t been getting around to it!

May

29

The Fog

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Thanks to a ton of help from family and some friends we are here in Nashville (greater) and actually surprisingly settled. Don’t get me wrong I have boxes to go through, organizing to do, pictures to get on the walls… but for not even being a week, its going pretty well!

I on the other hand feel quite pregnant and exhausted. It’s a big deal to get one thing accomplished in the day. I haven’t even reached out to many friends because I have no energy to do anything! The boys pretty much take what I have.

I find myself in a weird fog. Not quite believing I am here yet, but knowing I’m no longer where I was. I feel lonely but feel no “gumption” to do anything about it. I’m sure I’ll get it all figured out. I know if I wasn’t so late in pregnancy this would be a whole nother post. But that is where I am at for now.

May

8

Moving Right Along.

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I suppose this blog is in dire need of an update.  In a minute you will understand why it has tip-toed its way to the back burner of my priorities.

First off.  We’ve had a couple cases of strep and split open heads.  Then our house sold after one showing (miracle in this market)!  At the time I was on a last minute trip to MO visitin Jeff’s sister.  Immediately we had some pretty big decisions to make.

Our plan putting the house on the market was to downsize locally.  But in the course of a couple of weeks we realized for business reasons it was important to prayerfully consider Nashville where we used to live.  It became clear in a matter of days that our move was to be much greater than a few miles.

We decided to meet up in Nashville at the end of my stay in MO and check out the housing market, pray that God would shut or open doors, etc.  Door after door was opened and we found a house.

My last couple weeks (and next couple) have consisted of organizing, packing, planning, etc.  WHICH is not easy with a 2 year old, an almost 4 year old, and baby at 32 weeks gestation.  Sigh.

Owen turns four this weekend in the midst of everything else.  I can not believe how big he is getting and how time is flying.  FOUR!  no longer a baby.

Anyway, this was very much a little summary of all that has been going on.  Prayers would be appreciated.  It is so obvious that God’s hand is in this all that I feel I can not complain about all the work.  I know we’ll get there.  I thankfully already have a doctor in TN (where I had Owen) and can jump right in with her.  Things are and will continue to be taken care of!  Amen :)

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