But now that we’re really getting past being sick the past two weeks (and boy did that suck), I’m really starting to feel really good.  I had to tighten my bra straps a notch, yesterday I wore a shirt than when given to me was too small, my wedding rings are really loose, and even the Crocs that I wear around the house feel big over the tops of my feet.  I’m off to a running start and I know I can do this.  I’ll start working out again soon, too.

The only thing is, and this sounds really stupid to say, I’m not looking forward to buying new clothes.  LOL.  Well, I am, but only when I get to my goal.  The transition’s gonna be hard because I haven’t kept a lot of “skinny” clothes around.  Most are either too old or too much below my age, or I’ve long since given them away/donated them.    So I’m not looking forward to the added expense of “in between” clothes.  But then again, maybe on the other hand, I’ll actually be able to find something that fits in thrift stores, ha!  It also sounds stupid that I have some “fat clothes” that I will be missing,  hopefully I can find something just as good when I get where I’m going.  :)

So bring on Christmas, I am sticking to this.

Getting nervous about the surgery, it’s less than a week away. Had some nightmares that something went wrong during surgery and we lost her. I’ll probably be a total wreck next week.

Getting a urine sample is never fun, either, but thankfully this went better (for K) than it did last time. For us, it was a pain. The nurses were setting up to do it and K peed all over the table. Back to the drawing board. We had to wait twice and try for a sample twice. I was also (frivolously) disappointed to have to change her clothes, not to mention I looked like a bad Mommy because while I had extra pants and a onesie, I have never thought to carry extra socks (never needed any before)! However, it wasn’t until we got home that I realized Daddy put her clean onesie on backwards. :P

Thank goodness for spare clothes, though! Marie and another friend recently gave me some for K. Good thing, we were getting low! K is finally starting to get past that 12 month size and slowly going towards some 18 months. E needs new clothes, too. I’ve realized that all his jeans are short in the ankles! They grow so fast. I got him 4 pairs of jeans at Goodwill (hey, can’t beat $8) and they look brand new. Two pairs are 6′s and two are 8′s. He needs a belt with the 8′s and they’re only slightly long. The jeans he was wearing that I’ve finally had to take away were size 4! One of those pairs is a light sand-like camo. He was really upset when I took those away this morning.

Stacey and I shot another wedding on Saturday and had a blast! I’ve been through a few of the images but hoping to really get started on them here in a little bit. Had some other sessions to go through first. She has several from her visit to Oklahoma to do, too. This wedding was interesting, though, in that while it was on a gazebo like the last one we did, we couldn’t get close to it. The gazebo was out on the water in a large pond (little lake?) behind a private residence. It’s at least 10 feet from the shore to the front part of the gazebo. So we stayed back on the shore with zoom lenses. From what I’ve seen so far though, we did well.

And again, I started this post hours ago and got distracted, so… :)

I can’t even sew in a straight line, so I’m really impressed by what she did there on the chest/stomach area, though I can’t remember what it’s called! She said it was the hardest thing she’d ever done and she won’t be doing it again, so I guess we have a L Original here. ;-)

I call that photo “I Dream of Kayleigh” because she totally reminds me of Jeannie in that shot!

I still haven’t picked out a camcorder. In fact, I haven’t gotten much of anything done. I keep starting on doing things and then forgetting what I’m doing… My email, work on a website I need to do, work on another website I need to do, ordering the camcorder, various other little things like, oy, paying bills… in my head then right back out…

He does his “I’m naked” dance (read: sigh). He puts on his shirt. He does his “I’m naked” dance, going “see this, see this, see this?”

I’m all, “Elijah. Put on your clothes already.”

He’s getting his underwear on now and suddenly he says, “HEY! I don’t want people watching me when I’m changing!” I’m all, “HEY! I was here first! If you don’t like it you can go in your room and change.”

So, now wearing his t-shirt and underwear he goes into his bedroom and closes the door to put on his shorts and socks.

A little late there, Bud.

Gotta love him tho. :)

Well, anyway. So, K, yeah, she’s wearing clothes now, right? We have a little darling diva I think…

That is all…

So, anyway, because of all this sickness, we missed two gatherings with extended family. We were, however, able to make it to my mom and dad’s on Christmas Eve and to Steve’s parents on Christmas Day. (I did sound real great coughing the whole time, though!)

One thing about this Christmas, though, that really makes me smile, is that I know we’re loved. Not because people got us presents (I can do without those, really) but because those people that bought those presents really took the time to listen to what we wanted or might want and took the time to find those things. For example, my sister-in-law got me some dish and kitchen towels. I know that sounds funny, but I ASKED for those. Seriously. It’s one of the things I listed when she asked what I wanted. I really needed some and always forget to buy them myself! :) She also got me some earrings and a matching necklace and even with that she apparently had listened to me the one time I mentioned that I like blue and brown together.

So things like that really make it all the more special, you know?

I don’t usually like to spell out all the things we got for gifts and I’m still not going to list everything, but I wanted to say that I hit the mother lode with my gift card from my parents LOL. Due to sales I was able to snag two (plain color) maternity shirts, three pairs of awesome undies (heehee), two pairs of earrings, and a suede purse! Well, I went $15 over my gift card but that’s not bad. Also took a stop at Motherhood Maternity and grabbed three shirts on sale there one of which I absolutely absolutely love and it fits me great. The others fit me, too, but you get the idea. I really need maternity clothes, last time around all my friends loaned me stuff and some stuff did a disappearing act to other people (long stories) so I only have two pairs of maternity jeans left and those don’t even fit anymore. I more than I wanted to on those three shirts at Motherhood, though, but I really am in need of clothing. One article I thought the tag read $9.99 (they were all clearance) but it was really $19.99 but by that point I was sold, ha.

We also ended up with 3 gift cards to Walmart and while we hate that place, who’s not going to use a gift card? We got ourselves, for the most part, a blood pressure machine. I know that sounds nutty for people our age, but with my pregnancy with Elijah I had high blood pressure and that ended up to basically bed rest and then him being brought forth 3 and a half weeks early. This time I’m going to keep a much better eye on all of it. Not to mention I think Steve is kinda borderline — he’s ok now but wants to keep an eye on it and keep it where it should be.

Some other instances of people listening to us include my brother who got me A Christmas Story on DVD (which is awesome because Steve hates that movie and that I make him watch it lol), my in-laws got me a chronological Bible and got Steve socks (my mother-in-law laughed but that’s what Steve wanted!), etc. Heehee. We’re easy to please! :)

But Elijah… oh, boy, that kid made out like a bandit! Toys, toys, toys. And only one article of clothing: a coat from my in-laws. That little butt, though, kept saying for weeks that he didn’t want clothes for Christmas and I kept telling him it doesn’t matter what you get, you are happy and you say thank you. Of course he threw a fit when he opened it. I was so embarrassed but I think everyone understands that he’s a kid and in that absolutely selfish and rude stage (that some people never get out of). But he got so many new toys, oy! So hopefully he’ll be plenty of distracted for many months to come (at least until his birthday, haha).

He was also kinda mad today when I bought him four pairs of jeans at K-Mart instead of toys! But can I help it if all his jeans are starting to get holey in the knees and these were mucho on sale??
Oh one gift my in-laws got him isn’t really a toy but it’s totally cool and he loves it. It’s a floor puzzle, 2 feet by 3 feet (big pieces) of the solar system. On the reverse side, it’s a drawing of, I think the same image (maybe slightly different) and he can color it with crayons and then wipe it off and do it again!

Anyway, we all know STUFF doesn’t really mean anything in the long haul and that it’s certainly not the point of Christmas, but boy is it fun. :-)