Eight Month Doctor Visit

Yesterday we took the little boogers (literally - they both seem to have colds) to the pediatrician for their eight-month checkup. It was confirmed that Indigo just has a cold, no bronchiolitis, so that was a relief. He's sounded so pathetic for the past few days but seems to be improving on his own. Phew.

It was also confirmed that Periwinkle has a nice new tooth and probably a second soon to follow. Her runny nose could be a result of that, or a cold.

Periwinkle tries to eat the paper.

Both are growing right on their curves (doctors plot their stats on a curve each month to make sure the baby doesn't have a sudden abnormal drop or increase in weight or height that would indicate a problem). Indigo is now 18lb 5oz, is 28.5 inches long, and has a head circumference of 45cm (I actually remembered that one for once). He's up 1.5 inches and 1lb 7oz from his six-month visit. Periwinkle is 17lb 3 oz, up two pounds, is 26.25 inches long, up 1.25 inches, and has a 43.5cm head. She also showed off her new love of screaming and tensing up her arms, which is just a riot. Most of the time.

Before their appointment we took them to Applebee's. This was their first visit to a restaurant, something we've wanted to do for a while but just needed to get up the motivation. We knew it wouldn't be the relaxed visit it used to be with just the two of us. Surprisingly, they did great! Periwinkle kept looking around (of course), staring at other customers and throwing her crinkle book to the floor, to Blue's delight. Indigo was quite happy to bang his plastic keys on the table and attempt to grab at the utensils, the plates, the cups, or anything else that came within possible reach. They each sampled some of my potatoes and Blue's chicken, and Periwinkle decided to try the children's menu as an appetizer. They got a little bored toward the end and started fussing a bit, but luckily we'd paid the check and could pack them up and get them to the car (after dashing through rain for the third time that day). They were asleep almost immediately, since it was naptime.

Good times at Applebee's

They ended up with an early bedtime of 6pm, because that nap got interrupted by the doctor's visit. But during the witching hour before bedtime, in an attempt to calm Periwinkle, I took her outside and fed her some blackberries from the garden. Man, did she love those! She looked like she'd eaten an animal or something, she was so covered in red juices. It's such a nice feeling being able to feed them from things I've grown myself (not that I've done much other than plant the thing). Nice, natural fruit. I've been blending the berries into yogurt, which they've been enjoying the past few days. I also froze some of that berry/yogurt mixture into popsicles. Good times all around this summer!

They also got baptized on Sunday, but that's a whole other post!

Weekly Weigh-In

To my supreme shock and amazement, given the number of extra Weight Watchers points I ate this week, I lost 2.4 pounds this week! I will take it, thankyousir.

This week I went on a bit of a motivational rampage, joining My Fitness Pal (which tracks calories, lets you friend people so there's a social aspect, and at the end of every day tells you what you'd weigh in five weeks if you ate like that every day, which is helpful) and a DietBet.

DietBet is pretty cool. Anyone can start a "game" where everyone who joins pays a certain amount of money ($25 in my case), betting that they can lose a certain amount in a certain timeframe (4% in 4 weeks for me). If you "win" you get your money back, plus whatever's left in the pot by all the "losers" who forfeit their money because they did not meet the goal. That's the price you pay. So the pot in the game I'm in, which is run by quad-mom Becca of A Beautiful Ruckus, is nearly $3k. I wouldn't mind a piece of that! And now I'm down 3.4 pounds, so I'm halfway to my goal and it's only been one week!

You might be asking, "But won't people just cheat and lie to get their money back?" Well, DietBet has made this very difficult by requiring you to take a photo of yourself on a scale (in a mirror or taken by another person) and then a close-up of the scale readout. You do this at the beginning and at the end, at the same time of day and wearing similar clothing. The people at DietBet verify the photos and thus your weight. I guess someone COULD swap out who is on the scale for the closeup, but they'd need to find someone close enough to their own weight to be realistic and that just seems like too much work. But I'm sure some people try to scam the system. I, however, am not.

So I'm feeling hopeful that my sheep on my sweater will be free from the tummy rolls before it gets to be summer. Although it feels like summer so far this week, which I'm loving, and I am sad that it's going to cool off this evening. I can't wait for more photos like this one, full of baby fat rolls (which are allowed and encouraged at this point):

He's recently discovered his feet

As has she

Baby legs in the open air! Day 96 of Project 365.

Indigo has discovered his voice and enjoys yelling for fun, as you can see in the above photo. Periwinkle has taken to chatting up a storm around 2am every morning, and sometimes he joins in as well. Hoping it's just a phase because I just can't sleep through it!

Relief in Sight

I think I love my new allergist. She was so nice and understanding and said she will find a way to help me. Then I can frolick through a meadow like this chick:

First up, repair my poor nose. She gave me a sample of a prescription nasal inhaler thingy along with a prescription, if I like it. It's new so I'm hoping my new (crappy) insurance will cover it. She did tell me it's not an instantaneous relief like the Afrin I've been using in recent weeks. She also told me to stop using the Afrin, pronto, because it's not for long-term use. Sad. I'm expecting a few days of misery before my new regimen kicks in.

She also prescribed me a new allergy med, so goodbye Zyrtec-D. Gee, I'm glad I stocked up on that while pregnant so I'd use up my FSA money... I guess I could always cook up some crystal meth (kidding, kidding). The new drug doesn't have decongestant, but, coupled with the inhaler, should give me relief.

In three weeks I go back for allergy testing. I haven't been tested since 2007 and I feel like they've gotten worse. After that, we'll discuss allergy shots. Yay! There is hope for my poor nose and sinuses!

I also need to replace the filter in my HEPA filter thingy more often. And dust my bedroom more than once every six months. That'll probably help a great deal...

Project Sheep Rescue Progress

I managed to lose 2.4 pounds this week! That makes a total loss of 10 pounds since January 1, so only 35 to go! Walking 10,000 steps a day really helps! I'm hoping my weekly Zumba class, which starts tonight, will help too, if I can stay awake long enough to make it there.

I decided I'm going to reward myself. Not sure what my 10 pound reward is yet, but here are the next few:

20 pounds: new Vera Bradley wallet (my clasp broke)
30 pounds: new shoes. Nice ones.

45 pounds (goal): Keurig Elite machine. Blue will appreciate the lack of coffee grounds in the sink.

And at some point I'm going to need some new pants, because mine are thankfully getting baggy on me! Who cares that I just bought them a month ago? I will happily donate them to the Salvation Army!

Project Sheep Rescue Update

Last week I hit up my first Weight Watchers meeting of the year. While I went over my target points each day, I ate way better than I had been (no more extra butter on my popcorn) and worked out five times (my elbows are now cursing Jillian Michaels). I went back today to weigh in. The end result?

Down 5.6 pounds!

I celebrated with Wendy's for lunch. Don't judge me.

Bye Bye Baby Weight (and then some)

I will hopefully be sleeping really well tonight, as I just did my first day of Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred. I currently feel like I am made out of jelly. I even had Blue bring the babies down from their nap because I didn't trust my legs on the stairs.

The last time I really worked out was probably April 2011 when we found out we were having twins and I realized I'd need to keep all my calories for them (perhaps you remember me lamenting having to eat so much to even gain weight?). So you can imagine how pathetic my workout was, and how in need of more workouts I am.

I signed up for Weight Watchers, as well, something else I stopped last April. I want to lose the last 15 pounds of baby weight, plus the 20 or so I was trying to lose when I got pregnant. Because not only do I feel like jelly, I kind of have that St Nick "and [her] stomach shook like a bowlful of jelly" thing going on too. I'm not feeling badly about that, because, hey, I did just have twins 10 weeks ago and have done nothing to try to lose weight since, because who wants to start a diet during the holidays? It's time though.

I'm hoping that by blogging about it, I might actually follow through and be in bathing suit shape by May. I'm doing a challenge with a fellow mom to work out 5 days a week. I can proudly say:

Week 1: 1/5 workouts
Pounds to Go: 35 (if you think I'm putting my weight up here, you are crazy. I'll track pounds to lose instead)

Hmmm... I should have Blue take a "belly shot" weekly to show my progress. Like my baby bump, but in reverse! For now, a picture from Christmas, which is what made me realize it really is time to stop being lazy, and to stop putting extra butter on my popcorn:

Who is that? Into what belly roll is that poor second sheep disappearing? I must rescue him! So, without further ado, let Project Sheep Rescue begin!