Back to Bloggin!

Hello Everyone! It has been like EONS since I posted to my bloggie but I decided its high time that I get back to business. Rox is now 18 months old and Shelby is 4.5 and attending Pages Preschool. Yes, Gary and I still work at the same places so no change there. Our lives are busy busy busy, 2 kids compared to 1 is definitely a change. The kids love each other very much, no lie, they love to hang out and play and rox likes to jump on shelby's back and try to take her down. Its very entertaining to watch! I will post some pics when i can figure out how to do it on my new system!

I'm my own worst enemy

It was a rough weekend to say the least. I stuck to the diet, but it was soooo hard. The picture above is my fam eating without me (and yes, they all have piles of cheese on thier food). Shelby was running around eating donuts, pizza, chocolate, pretzels, fruit snacks, goldfish, cookies, cheese, reeses peanut butter cups...Pretty much anything and everything that I cant eat for 2 days straight. My family had my favorite dinner last night, foil dinners. Ugh. Gary also got mad at me for complaining and was like, "quit looking at me like I am doing something wrong, all I am doing is eating food". So, needless to say, I am having a hard time right now. Thank goodness I am back at work, its much easier to do this 500 calorie thing when Im not home with all the yummy food everywhere. I havent been in the best mood lately, which is not normal. I am usually very upbeat and happy and generally fun to be around but for the past few days I have just wanted to be by myself and have been very introverted. I dont think its because of the diet, I think its because I worry about everything else in the world - bills, money, kids, etc. - and Gary hasnt been working even close to the amount of hours he usually banks in the summer time. So of course I start to think of the worse case scenarios. I have come to the realization that when I could eat a bunch of crap everyday I felt better about things, so my way of dealing with things has hit a HUGE wall. I guess I should try to see the good in the situation... I am now at 178 from 186 last Monday! Which is AWESOME! And my clothes are fitting better and I am feeling much healthier. Its amazing what 8 pounds can do, especially when you just spent 9 months pregnant and fat. I am still trying to figure out what the good thing about Gary not working much is...

Could people PLEASE learn the difference between a cold and a serious illness????

Ok, today I am annoyed. I got a call from one of Roxy's daycare teachers yesterday (Im not going to mention any names...ROBIN) and she informed me that Roxy was extremely ill, hadnt slept all day and wasnt eating. I told her to give him some FREAKIN tylenol and I would call the doctor. SOO I make an appointment for Roxy to see Ryan (Evans) at 5:30pm and run my butt over to daycare and almost die of heat exhaustion to get the kids to Kaysville before 5:30. AND COME TO FIND OUT....Roxy is TOTALLY fine. I'm not just saying that he was "ok", he was FINE with a bit of a runny nose. UGH. 25 bucks down the drain and a shiz load of stress that was totally unwarranted. If theres anything I learned from my 1st kid, its that you dont run to the dang doctor for every little sniffle because 99 percent of the time is a virus. FREAKIN ROBIN. Oh and an update on the weight loss - - - - Lost 7 pounds so far this week. BOOYAH.

2 more!

Well I got on the scale this morning and was down to 182!!! This is getting hard, I have to admit! Gary and Shelby are eating like kings so its hard to be in a house with so much good food that I cant eat. Yesterday I ate pretty much the same thing that I ate Monday but I ate steak for both lunch and dinner, which I loved! I was way hungry last night so I downed 2 bottles of water and I was good to go! I also ate a large salad for dinner and I found some awesome salad spritzers at Albertsons made by wishbone. They have 1 calorie per spray and are rather tasty! Im gonna keep doing this, I feel great seeing the change everyday!

Lost 2 pounds!!

Hello all! It was somewhat of a rough day yesterday, I am not used to having to eat like 6 times a day. My old habits included not eating hardly anything during the day and then having a large dinner, which clearly was not working for my metabolism. Yesterday was technically day 3 of the hCG shots but day 1 of VLCD. Here's a breakdown of what I ate:

8am- apple

10am - melba toast

1:30pm - green beans and 3 oz chicken

5pm - half an apple

7:30pm - 3 oz ribeye steak and green beans

water intake= approx 1 gallon throughout the day

I was super tired at the end of the day and went to bed at 8:30pm, havent been able to do that in forever! Just a few things that I noticed in my first day: I had to pee all day long, and I mean ALL day. After doing some extensive research on hCG I found that people out there had the best results when they drank as much water as they possibly could (ideally 1 gallon). There were times throughout the day that I got those cravings for food, mainly when I saw someone else eating (no thanks to Gary for eating a crap load of lasagna in front of me). In order to curb the hunger I drank more water and it made me feel much better. I was also given a tip by my aunt: make sure you are getting sufficient fiber so that you dont get constipated. I have those little packets of benefiber that dissolve in water. They are tasteless and colorless, you dont even know they are in your water at all! I slept well last night and woke up feeling a bit hungry this morning. I ate an apple and then was good to go. I weighed myself this morning and could not believe my eyes! I am down to 184!!!!!!!!! Although this is going to be hard (especially since I live with people that eat very yummy things) I am going to stick with it, I am ready to feel good again! Thanks for all the support out there!

HCG starts today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For those of you that are not familiar with hCG, I will provide a short explanation: When you get pregnant your body creates a hormone called hCG which allows your fat cells to open up and suck in as much food as possible. This is the storage used to feed the baby for the 9 month period. On the hCG diet you inject the hormone into your body or place drops of the hormone under your tongue for a period of 23-40 days. For the first 3 to 5 weeks you eat a VLCD or very low calorie diet of 500 calories. This diet is very strict and allows for specific portions of food and excludes sugar, carbs and fat. While you are on this VLCD you need to drink TONS of water. What happens is your body lives off of the fat cells tha hCG opens up so you are not hungry and lose weight SUPER fast. You lose an average of 2-3 pounds a day if you stick to the VLCD and take the shots daily!! SOOOOO I started the shots on Saturday and for the first 2 days you eat what you want to get some fat in your body and get ready for the VLCD. Tomorrow I will not be able to eat anything but whats on my list. My current weight is 186, my goal weight is 160. I CAN DO THIS!!!! Stay tuned for a daily update on what I am eating and how much I'm losing...

Rox Tate Larsen
Born March 11, 2009
6 pounds 9 oz
19 inches

Welcome to the world Rox!

Rox was born at 9:39 am on March 11th! He had somewhat of a complicated birth as he aspirated amniotic fluid and his cord was around his neck when they pulled him out with the vacuum extractor. He was not breathing well and was admitted to the NICU where he was intubated and placed on meds for secretions. He didnt like the intubation much and yanked it out on Wednesday night. He was breathing well by that time so the docs decided to leave it out and get him healthy and ready to go home. He spent 3 days in the NICU and came home on Saturday March 14. He is a very well behaved baby, doesnt cry much and when he does its very quiet. He eats every 3 hours and gets up 2 times a night. Shelby isnt such a huge fan of her little brother yet, she is definitly not used to sharing the spotlight. I started back to work on March 23 and am taking little Rox with me until he is old enough to start daycare at Shelby's school. Luckily he is very good at the office, not many people even know he is here and he sleeps for the majority of the day. Shelby is glad to be back at school, she missed her friends and her routine, as did I ;) Things are going well at the Larsen homestead and we are so happy to have Rox with us!

Its Time!!

Well folks, it looks as if the time has come for me to say goodbye to my HUGE belly and hello to my baby boy. I must admit, its kind of sad that I wont be trucking him all over the place with me and he wont be a silent force anymore. This picture is probably the last one that will be taken of a pregnant me in this lifetime so suck it up ;) My family and my life will change forever tomorrow night - which is a great thing but scary in and of itself. I will post pics of new baby Rox when he gets here, wish me luck!

Getting ready for Rox!!!

We are currently in the process of getting the house ready for little Rox, since he is due in under 8 weeks! Shelby has been doing lots of artwork all over the house and so in an effort to curb this habbit, I found tub crayons at Walmart and am trying to train her to only color on the tubby. Shockingly, this is not an overly successful method. We thought that all of the crayons were out of her possession but that little stinker has stashes of hidden writing materials all over the house. She also does her wall art in inconspicuous locations, such as behind door and curtains. We had to put a lock on the midget door between Rox's and her room because she has been decorting his walls also. The smart little bugger somehow jimmied the lock open and got into the room anyway. I havent even figured out how she did it, remains a mystery. We put up the crib, took out all of the toys, put up shelves for the Mr Potato Head collection that Gary has started for Rox and bought a crib mattress with sheets. I am getting more excited as the days pass, but I am a little worried about the baby being born. Its easy when they are inside the tummy. They dont cry, they eat what you eat, no diapers to change, no baths to give and no reason to get mad at the husband for his lack of baby attention (or should i say my perception of his lack of attention). I am trying to get ahead at work so that the time off after the baby is born isnt so stressful, this never works. Maybe I should be focusing on more positive things - like not being freakin fat anymore ;) Yeah right, easier said than done!!!

Exhausted!!

I now have 85 days left until the new baby is here. All I can say is that I am exhausted and so is the rest of my family. Lately I cannot sleep whether its due to being way uncomfortable, having to pee every hour or having insane nightmares/dreams. I think that Christmas and New Years took everything I had left and now there is no more energy. Shelby continues to amaze me every day. She told me that the baby was in Wall-E. The reason that she thinks this is because Wall-E sounds like Belly and we keep telling her the baby is in the belly. Its hillarious to hear her say that the baby is in Wall-E, she truly thinks this is the case and will go get her Wall-E robot and show us. Her newest word is "licious", as in "that choclut is licious". Not everything she eats gets this type of praise, thats for sure. She is also one of the best mess makers known to man. It takes her a matter of minutes to empty every single toy bin in her room, its impressive to say the least. My discipline skills as a mother have drastically gone down hill in the last month. When Shelby is naughty, I really dont care. In all honesty, I dont have the energy to do anything about it, not to mention that if I do get mad I just have to console the child anyway and thats a pain. If she does something really bad I just call Gary upstairs and he takes care of it - terrible parenting, I know, but I just cant do much more right now. I hope everyone had a good Holiday season, my next blog probably wont be until I am ready to pop this kid out and may not be the most positive thing to read ;)

Hello new baby boy!!!

Shelby is super excited about our new addition!! We just had the ultrasound yesterday and found out that it is "definitly a boy" (as the doctor stated). I wasnt sure how to take this news because I am dreading having to buy all new clothing for our last child. Shelby currently has 15 bins of clothes packed into the basement and she isnt even 3 yet. I am also scared of boy parts, havent ever had to deal with them ;) Shelby is calling the baby "my baby" and I think she kind of gets it that I have a baby in my belly. Gary gave his usual response to the news, "I said it was going to be a boy so I am not surprised" - even though he had no idea. Its going to be fun to start buying boy toys, heaven knows he doesnt want to play with all of Shelb's Disney Princess crap. We have decided on a name that could still be changed, Rox Tate Larsen. I think it is awesome, not a normal everyday name for sure and one that represents some very successful people. We were trying to get Shelb to say Rox last night but what came out sounded more like the F word than anything else ;) Yay for babies!!

My toddler

Shelby has recently become extremely posessive of EVERYTHING. Today at school she took over a huge pumpkin and decided that it was her pumpkin. She didnt want anyone to touch the pumpkin, look at the pumpkin, talk about the pumpkin or hug the pumpkin. She started yelling and crying because she was so upset at the other kids. I asked her teacher if this happens a lot. She said, "it happens more than it doesnt". Apparently Shelb has a major problem with sharing, hopefully the fetus will help her with this. I asked the director if Shelb's behavior is normal, she told me that its just a stage. Lately everything is Shelby's. "my mommy, my puppy, my bed, my bread, my nilk, my tv, my baby, my blankie, my bottle, my car, my daddy, my lin, my kylo, my apple, my pumpkin, my nana" and on and on. Why are toddlers so narcissistic? I dont remember acting like Shelb when I was 2 ;)

sad news

Shelby's face last wednesday says it all. We found out that Gary's mom had passed away at 3am that morning. The stroke that she had suffered was too massive and damaging to come back from and her heart and body could just not heal. I have not cried this hard in 11 years, since the death of my dad. DeeAnn was a mother to me above all things and she loved Gary and I no matter what the circumstances. She was so very proud of her granddaughter, Shelby, and begged us to visit more often. Now more than ever, I wish we had. Her death was so unexpected and such a shock to all of us. Although Shelby is only 2 and a half, she knew what happened and she cried all week. Whenever she saw me crying she ran to the bathroom and brought back a roll of toilet paper to wipe my eyes with. She hugged me and kissed me and asked me what was wrong. Gary hasnt spoken much about the passing of his mom but he is hurting very much. The support and love from our ward, friends and family has been very much appreciated. DeeAnn was a mother, friend, wife, sister and grandmother that will be sorely missed.

I don't know what to say

On Sunday night Gary and I recieved a phone call stating that Gary's mom, DeAnn, had been rushed to the hospital after falling in the house shortly after returning from a trip to California. We were told that she was unable to move and unable to speak. We waited for more news and ended up going to the hospital at 1am to see her. The outlook, we were told, was grim as she had suffered a stroke due to an occluded artery in the base of the brain. CT and MRI scans showed that her right hemisphere was mostly dead due to the lack of oxygen. She was also found to be a diabetic and heart tests showed a weakened cardiovascular system. Surgery was not an option as her combination of health problems precluded any intervention at the time. She was responsive to us on Sunday night, however, on Monday afternoon she was much less aware of things. Her eyes are closed and she is on oxygen. She will squeeze your hand if you tell her to, but cannot respond in any other way. The prognosis at this point is poor and it looks like we all just have to wait and see what happens. In the event that she comes out of this, she will be paralyzed on the left side and much less cognizant than she was. She probably wont be able to talk and possibly wont be able to open her eyes. Gary's family, friends, and anyone who has ever had the pleasure of knowing DeAnn is devastated by this unfortunate turn of events. I really don't know what to say at this point in time. It is so hard to see everyone so very upset and heartbroken that we may lose one of the most giving, caring and wonderful people I have ever had the pleasure to know. DeAnn has always been so loving and unconditional to me, it already feels like a huge loss. Losing a parent is the hardest thing I have ever had to go through in my life. The pain and emptyness that you feel in their absence is inexplainable. Please keep DeAnn and her family in your prayers,
Jackie.

The hitting problem

Today when I dropped Shelby off at school her teacher pulled me aside and told me that Shelby has a problem with hitting other kids. Its not just a once a day thing, she apparently does it ALL the time. Over the weekend she smacked gary in the face and tried to claw out his eyeball so I can't say that I am surprised by this. The problem seems to be that she struggles communicating with us due to her language skills which are still developing. She must feel the same frustration at school with the kids that are her age - they are able to talk in sentences. I think that its due to all of her ear infections as a baby into year 1. I asked the teacher what I should do about it and she told me not to laugh when she does it. Ok, anybody that knows me knows that I have a hard time not laughing about everything. I am also supposed to hold her arms down and tell her "no" while making eye contact. I am sorry, but I just dont see this working. The little pill just smiles at me and runs away. I think she knows she is doing something that she isnt supposed to do but she is getting a reaction - whether good or bad - and she likes the attention. Gary and I are going to have to make a concerted effort to stop her hitting because I dont like getting talked to at school by the teacher, it sucks.

Feed that Fetus!!

Well another fiscal year is coming to an end and as we say around this time, "happy new year!". I have been working my b-u-t-t off and am SICK of working to say the least. When I get my bonus next month it will be going into savings so that I can take off a measly 2 months for maternity leave. Sometimes being a working mom sucks, but I like the time to myself and I feel like Shelby is learning so much at school that I would be too lazy to teach her at home. I have been feeling rather crappy this week. I think its the stress from work, they hound us in the end of the fiscal year and all I can think about is my production numbers. We built a deck last weekend and are finishing the back yard in the mext 2 weeks so I have been busy at home also. Hopefully I get a picture of the fetus sometime soon so that I can post it on here. I will update on Shelby later!

I'm your buckaroo, I wanna be like you!!

Little Pony Pictures are here!! Shelby had her picture taken with a pony at school and does every year. Last year she was deathly afraid of the pony and wouldnt get on. This year she was seriously stoked about the pony and didnt want to get off. There are 3 different poses, this is the close up that my phone didnt make look totally blurry. You can see the pony in the other 2 and she has pigtails in one of them and not the hat. I bought the negatives so that I can have copies made. If anyone would like to put in a request, I will do my best to get them to you by Christmas ;) I cant even begin to explain how proud I am of these pictures!! My shelb is so photogenic and gave a nice big smile for all of us. Love you shelby!!

Legacy AWESOME-way!!!!

So on Monday evening after a really really crappy day at work I hit the road at about 5:45 to head home. I got on I-15 from Beck Street and expected traffic to suck as it has for the past 4 years. To my surprise, I flew through Bountiful, Centerville and Farmington with no problem and at a consistent speed of 65-70 mph! This morning it took me longer to get to work

than it took me to get home on Monday! I have not gotten home from SLC in 45 mins for 4 years, since I started working out here. I saw a story on the news last night about all the dead raccoons on the Legacy parkway and I think its worth the dead animals, that may sound bad but I'm not an environmentalist or anything ;) They also said that with less raccoons there will be more birds that can survive in the "wetlands" - so I guess its a catch 22 depending on if you like raccons or birds. I personally dont really care for either of them because one of them steals your food when you are camping and the other one craps on your clean car. I love the legacy!!! It has already improved my relationship with shelby lyn because by the time we get home she isnt tired and mad like usual. Yay!!