HCG DIET

I am on day 5 of the HCG diet. It is going better than I thought it would. The last couple days I have been on a 500 cal diet. I thought I would be more hungry. I have felt fine. What's more, I have lost 8 lbs so far! That doesn't include the 5 pound I gained during the 'binge' . So, technically I have lost 13 lbs in 2 1/2 days! Crazy!

Nativity at Grandma's

"Baby Jesus" was letting us know that she needed a diaper change!

Bianca is very distracted. The other kids were so patient while Grandma read from the Bible.

The kids really enjoyed getting dressed up.

Holiday 2009 pictures

Leisl's Birthday cake.
Kembrie was finally persuaded to pose with Santa for a picture. She feels like she is too old to be seen sitting on Santa's lap.

Amelie had no qualms whatsoever.

Aidan has to 'cheese' it.

Gaby is really happy!

Ian was excited but he looks a little worried here.
Bianca didn't like sitting for a picture very much.

A few things.

I am glad to finally say that......I picked up the Girl Scout cookies! We have been busy sorting them today. I will try to get them delivered as soon as possible. Of course I had to eat half a package of thin mints. Old habits die hard. The rest of ours are going in the freezer for awhile, only to emerge on special occasions. Speaking of occasions....
Aidan's birthday party is coming up on March 14, 2009. He is turning 5 years old! Crazy! He will be going to Kindergarten this fall! My little boy is getting so big! As I mentioned before he is having Thomas the Train party. I have been trying to get ideas and so far I think I know what we will be doing. My SIL Sandra directed me to a couple of sites that had some great ideas! Thanks Sandra! Speaking of Thomas the Train.....
My SIL Amy and my brother Marc are having a baby boy! I am making a quilt that will be backed with a Thomas the Train pattern. I hope it turns out ok. It will be made up of 'yo-yo's' on the front. I will have to post some pictures of my progress once I get more done. It is exciting to be getting new babies in the family!

Diet challenges.

I started an actual diet for the first time in my life. I am trying to do the Atkin's diet. I am on Phase 1. For those of you who have done this diet before, you understand what I went through for the first couple days. For those of you who haven't, let's just say I had a continuous headache for 2 days. Just carb withdrawls. I am now used to having less carbs, but I still have been craving them. I only have a few days left of Phase 1. I am really excited because I have lost about 8-9 lbs. so far. Yesterday, I decided to have a pear. Pears are not on the list of approved foods. As they have like 35 carbohydrates. In Phase 1 you aim to only eat 20 carbs a day. So, I essentially shot my diet completely with one pear! Up until then I have been doing very well. Today is a new day however. I plan to be good about how many carbs I consume for the rest of Phase 1. I still have about 10 more pounds to go before I meet my goal that I set in December. I wanted to be down 20 lbs. by my wedding anniversary in June. It looks like I will meet that goal early. I have been exercising for at least 30 min. everyday for the last week and a half. I have noticed a big difference in my energy levels.
At the hospital where I work they have just started a new weight loss challenge. We have 90 days to lose as much weight as we can. The person who has the greatest percentage of weight loss wins a Wii game console and a Wii Fit. My mother already has one that the kids play with, so I am it the competition mostly for the challenge of it. It is also nice to be doing this when most of the people that I work with are trying to do the same thing.
Next time you see me I will be one svelte, fit mama.

Party for Aidan.

I am doing birthday parties for my kids this year. Aidan's birthday just happens to be first. We will be doing a Thomas the Train theme per his request. I have been trying to come up with some fun things to do for his party. I have found some cute invitations. I am just going to need to get everything else! If there are any ideas out there let me know. I have about a week and a half to get it all together. We are planning on having his party on Saturday March 14. It should be a lot of fun!

Girl Scout cookie delivery postponed. :-(

I know this is going to disappoint some of you. Especially since I told you that they were coming February 28, but the day the cookies will be delivered has been changed to March 7th. One week later. I will make arrangements to get your cookies to you after that time. That is a Saturday. I will try to get the cookies to each of you with in the week after that.

Girl Scout Cookies

My girls are selling Girl Scout Cookies! Kembrie is so excited. We just started selling them today. They will be taking orders for 2 weeks. Here are some picture of some of the cookies they are selling.

Trefoils
Sugarfree Chocolate Chip
Do-Si-Does.
Thin Mints.
Samoas.

Aidan

I hadn't written how Aidan's surgery went. It was a success. Afterwards he had a lot of pain. It took a little while to get it under control, but since that time he hasn't really had that much pain. He went around with one eye closed because it was so sensitive to light. But after a couple of days he was opening both his eyes. His eye is still a little bit red, but his eye is seeing much straighter. The first week or so his eye was very red and he looked cross eyed. With the buzz cut I gave him before his surgery he really looked scary. I am happy to report that he is getting back to his cute self. I will be glad when his hair is a little bit longer.

Christmas Day photos

Here are some pictures from Christmas. Leisl will not be happy that I posted a picture of her, but Bianca is so cute that I couldn't pass it up.

Blogging

I have spent too much time today updating the layout of my blog. I have actually enjoyed it. Now I just need to actually write something. I will see if I can get more pictures posted as well. Stay tuned for more updates!

Aidan

Aidan is having surgery tomorrow. I am getting a little bit anxious about it. He will be my first child to have surgery. I really hope everything goes well. He is the last kid on the schedule tomorrow, so he has to go without eating for a long time. I hope I can keep him distracted for that long. I will be taking our Nintendo DS and I know they have books and games there at the hospital. Maybe that will keep him busy and not thinking too much about being hungry.
Aidan is having surgery on the eye muscles in his left eye. He has had a lazy eye off and on for a few years. He is only 4 years old, so since he was a baby. It has continued to get worse. I hope that this surgery helps him. He had been getting so frustrated with his eye. I know that he will do better if he can see better.

Aidan's new hat

Look at the last post and you will see why Aidan needs this hat!

Aidan's Scalping

Oh!!!! I was trying to cut Aidan's hair. He was starting to look like a lion again. It was going well, then the comb fell off of the clippers! Oh! It was so sad! Aidan cried until he threw up. He kept saying that he didn't want a bald spot. I was trying to blend it in, but it just didn't work. So, off came all the hair! He actually looks balder in the picture than he really is. I will be knitting him a hat so I will post that once I am done.

The Henrys

Get your own Family Sticker Maker & MySpace Layouts.

Snow, snow, and more snow.

We have been getting a lot of snow lately. I like the snow as long as I can stay inside a look at it. The other morning I was driving to work. Just north of Ephriam it was starting to snow harder. I slowed just in time to see that 3 deer were crossing the road. They froze in place and I managed to 'shoot the gap' between the first and second deer. I was so grateful! I thought that I was going to hit all of them! That same day, I was on my way home from work. There was a truck in front of me. All of the sudden a whole herd of deer(at least 10!) ran right in front of the truck. They hit 2 or 3 deer. I managed not to hit any. I don't like any close encounters either.
Aidan is such a helpful boy. He was waiting for the Preschool bus to pick him up. I guess he was bored. He shoveled the whole walk and part of the driveway! What a good kid.

Memories- Christmas's past

Today someone at work asked me about Christmas traditions. I remembered something that my Abuelita always did on Christmas eve. She had a special salad that she only made on Christmas eve. It was made with peanuts, beets and orange juice. I really liked eating the peanuts and drinking the juice. I wasn't very fond of the beets. We always had a nativity scene and Mom would read the Christmas story from the bible. Great memories.

Biggest Loser Finale! and my own lifestyle and weightloss goals.

I only watch one show regularly anymore. Today was the finale. I was crying! How dumb is that! But I was so inspired and amazed by how well some of the contestants have done and how they have improved their lives. I was so excited that Michelle won! She did so well. There was one man who I was sure they were going to end up killing at the beginning of the season. He actually looks his age now and he is the person that I cried about. His life is totally turned around.
Maybe, I like that show because I am a nurse. I don't know. It makes me happy to see people doing things to improve the health and their lives. OK. I guess that is enough. Except that they showed some previews for the next season that is starting in January. I started crying again. The biggest person that they have ever had on biggest loser is going to be on next season. He is only 19 years old! I just felt so sad that a teenager, who is supposed to be having the time of his life, is only expected to live into his early 30's. How sad! I really hope he does well. I think that I also like the 'drama' involved in the show. Even if a lot of it is contrived. Well, enough rambling for now. I have a goal to lose some weight and get healthier. I hope to lose at least 20 pounds by my anniversary on June 20. I think that is a healthy goal. I have 6 months. So, I will be putting some lifestyle changes into place. The first 12 weeks I plan to exercise at least 5 days a week for at least 30 min. I don't think that will be too difficult. That is what I need the most anyway. I always feel so much better when I exercise. I will be documenting my progress through the coming weeks. Feel free to comment or offer suggestions. If you want to join in with a 12 week challenge of your own do it!

Off work for a week!

I am so excited! I am not going back to work for a week! I am glad. I have a lot of things to do the next 7 days. I traded and gave away a shift. I worked today and I don't go back to work until Christmas Eve! I know! Amazing! I have plenty of things I need to wrap. I also need to get a couple more gifts for people. This week we will be making cookies to give and I will be teaching the kids how to cut out snowflakes. Maybe, Just Maybe! I will do a little blogging! So, should be a fun and productive week.

Black Friday

Leisl and I went to the big day after Thanksgiving sale at Wal-mart in Ephriam. It was Crazy! Of course I had never been to one of those before so I don't have anything to compare it to. People were lined up past the Autozone and around it. When the opened the doors people began to run. We had to run or be trampled, so we ran. Once we got near the front there was a bottle neck. It was interesting to see people grabbing things up. I was able to grab some DVDs and an MP3 player right away. It took a little bit to find the coats. I tried to get some sheet sets for my mom but they were gone in the first 5 min. That is interesting. I didn't think they would go that fast. I found all but one of the toys that I wanted to get for the kids so that is good. I will just have to look some more for the thing that I was going to get for Aidan.
Kembrie wants a Cupcake maker, Amelie wants a Giant Barbie and the Diamond Castle doll, Aidan wants a Thomas the Train set, and Santa is going to get Bianca an 'Exersaucer'. (I think that is what it is called.) So, should be a fun Christmas morning. I am just sad that I have to work both Christmas Eve and Christmas day. At least I have Christmas morning off.