Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired!

Lately, I've been very frustrated with parenting. It seems that Braelyn has given up on listening and will do her own thing regardless of my requests. I've tried various sorts of consequences, but nothing seems to work consistently. I spend so much of my time on the negative things that I'm completely DRAINED by the end of the day.

I think (okay...I hope!) that things will get better once school starts, and we're all back on our normal schedules.

In order to keep my sanity, it's time for ME to change the way I do things! I need to focus more on the positive and realize that my kids are still learning how to be a part of this world.

I'd like to try to list one thing each week that I LOVE about my kids.

I love that Braelyn has the most contagious laugh I've ever heard! Once her giggle switch is turned on, she can get a room full of adults laughing and not even know why they're laughing. (I've seen it happen!)

I love that Donny is still at that that baby/innocent stage. Every new thing he learns is wonderful and fun! Things we take for granted on a daily basis are brand new experiments for this little guy.

Over the next week, I'm challenging myself to look for the positive things and focus on those.

Donny is ONE!

Donny's birthday was July 2nd, and since it comes so close to the 4th he gets to celebrate ALL weekend. :o)

I can't believe he's already a year old. This has been the fastest year of my life, and I imagine they'll only go by faster. I am so blessed to have this little boy in our life. He adds so much balance to our family.

Donny's 1 year stats:

Height - 31 inches - 80th percentile

Weight - 24 pounds - 75th percentile

One year...already?

Donny will be one year on Friday, July 2nd. WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE? I'm still trying to decide where I'll take him for his 1 year pictures, but keep checking for some to be posted. :o)

First Trip to the ZOO

Yesterday, we took our first trip to the Dallas Zoo. I know Donny is much too young to ever remember the trip, but I figured Braelyn would really enjoy it! She did have fun at first, but then she got tired of walking and got quite whiney. I should have expected this from my child who needs to get her nap regularly! Never have I wanted a double stroller as much as I did yesterday.

Aside from that, we really did have a good time and can't wait to go back again -- but we may have to wait a while. Until then, I'll have to get Braelyn used to walking longer distances. :o)

Donny WALKS

He has a long way to go before he's walking on a full-time basis, but this is a good start...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhZuLkAw40o

How did this happen? (After taking more than a week off?)

Last week, Donny was sick. Then it was my turn to be sick, and then we headed out of town for a few days. Needless to say, there was no time for the gym. Even though I haven't been able to work out, I have been trying to monitor my portion size. I don't feel like I need to eat and eat and eat to the point of being so full that I can't function.

Today, I made it back to the gym. I even took both kids to the kids' area, and they seemed to have a good time. We'll be going again on Friday.

I did it!

I weighed myself yesterday morning, and the scale said 182.8!!!! I lost 2 pounds last week. In addition to that, last week was the first week I met my goal of going to the gym 4 times during the week. So far this week, I've already been 2 days. Getting those last 2 days SHOULD be a breeze!

Sure wish I had a gym partner. This could be so much more fun!!