No Where to Run

WARNING: There may be some whining in this post. BUT please know, I am SO thankful to God for all I have. :)

Sooooo........

I literally have no where to run.

Say I wanted to start running again [which I do], I don't have anywhere to go.

Sure I could drive 40 minuets into town and run in the 100 degree heat on the green way while pushing my boys in the jogger. But I refuse to torture them, or myself by doing that. The whole trip would take about 2.5- 3 hours. Big chunk of time.

Oh for the days I had a neighborhood I could go running as soon as Davey walked in the door!!

Reasons I won't run here on the ranch...
1. The heat.
2. The 10 boys that would be watching me.
3. Snakes.
4. Ticks
5. All bugs in general.
6. Not really an area to run. i.e. Gravel roads, tall grass & woods.

The ranch boys have to run about every day [for punishment. yes. just about every day. teenagers.] They run a big loop around the grass on the edge of the woods which surrounds the main building and dorms. For some reason I just don't feel appealed to doing that with them. Woods are scary, okay. They guys always have a. Poison Ivy. b. bee stings and bug bites.
c. questionable rashes. d. headaches from the heat. and e. a horrible oder [again, teenage boys].
Granted they work outside about 5 hours every day, but still.

Which brings me to the issue of...LIVING in the county. It's really not for wimps. Which I am. So I stay inside my house. Where I am safe. I suppose it takes time to get use to, especially if you are use to living in neighborhood with a Walmart around the corner your whole life.

Run on the road outside the ranch you say? No way. Back woods people are scary. M kay? When looking for my dogs I stopped in front of a lady's house and she came out with a shot gun, ready to shoot. I'm not joking. When I told my "neighbors" they laughed and said most people around here are like that. Oh and do I ever see joggers on the narrow curvy roads around here? No. I see dirty sweaty men chewing tobacco and fishing in the creek. They so slyly {sarcasm} check me out every time I drive by. Do I want to run by them? I think not.

I could/want to get a gym membership. I found a nice gym in town with a free daycare. Score! But no pool :( which would be so perfect for the end of this pregnancy. I could run there but once I start doing distance training treadmills are not so good for the legs. ya know?

Then, last night I had this thought. How will I run with 3 BOYS??? Hmmm?? please tell me. I can't afford a triple jogger, which by the way would be extremely hard to push. I can leave all 3 boys with Davey but with it being such a far drive into town where I could run, and nursing the baby, that wouldn't work. Plus Davey is hardly ever home.

The ONLY solution I can think of is, buying a single jogger and bringing the newborn with me into town. But I would only get to do that 1-2 days a week when Davey would be home.

I miss my running schedule. I miss my neighborhood. I miss my gym, and it being a 5 min drive from my house. I miss California.

Ooops, this post wasn't suppose to turn into a whoa is me post. I am extremely blessed. I pray I will just have an attitude of thankfulness. And, I want to learn what the Lord wants me to while living here and serving in this ministry.
PLEASE understand I love this ministry, these boys, and what God is doing. His will is bigger than my wants. He will provide a place for me to run and a time. I am just a tad bit homesick still, can you tell?

If you have suggestions, or know of places to run with kids in East Tennessee, please let me know!!!

Love, The Curvy Housewife

{PiCtUrEs}

Here are some recent shots. :)
15weeks21wweks

Baby Names

I still have to upload all the photos from our Disney trip. My iphoto isn't working right now :( I'm on it though. I know you all are soooo anxious to see them ;-) wink wink.

So once again we are having a hard time deciding baby names for boys.

I love Kingston & Weston. But the hubs says, No Way.

He loves Jody, but I say it's way too close to Cody. He also really likes Baylor.

We love the beach so we really would love to name him something that has to do with the ocean/beach. Can't find many tough. Also, we have a western theme with our boys....

It's so hard to determine the name your child will have F O R E V E R.

So our top three names right now are:

Reece

Ryder

Cash

and in that order. But I just don't know if any of them are his name. ya know?

P.S According to Babypump.com I should have gained about 13 pounds by now...and I am still -3. whoo! but I am very aware I still have 4 more months. I am getting excited to have this baby in very early December, and jump back into losing weight.

Love, The Curvy Housewife

Tiny Tummy

"You've done been SHRUNK tiny toilet!" bahaha couldn't resist. Despicable Me is the funniest movie ever.

Anyways......

So we had an amazing vacation. I will update a post about it as soon as I upload the pics. The boys had such a blast at Disney World. And almost just as much fun in the awesome pools our hotel had. Water slides for them....yeah they had a blast. I loved having my husbands total undivided attention. It was a refreshing and renewing family time. We all just feel so much more in love and stronger than before. After Disney World we had a great 24 hours in Daytona Beach. I love the beach. I was sad for it to all to end.

So...about the tiny tummy. Mine, yes. Outside of the tummy? No way. never has been tiny. Inside?? T.I.N.Y. What does that mean? My tummy has been shrunk! I could hardly eat 1/3 of any of my meals while on vacation. I would be full after just 3 bites!! No joke. My husband was getting extremely annoyed with me. Haha. I would get this amazing dish, and after 3 bites, I was like, "I can't eat ANYMORE. I am so full!" It was so odd.

I suppose it's just because of the strict diet I was on the first 4 months of being pregnant. It's a blessing, I know, but I also wanted to eat all this amazing food I ordered.

Walking around Disney for 4 days is a lot of exercise. I figured I either maintained or maybe gained a pound. My stomach is really growing and so is the baby. I can feel him moving around a lot, and he feels heavy. My back aches, my feet are swelling a little, ect. I am half way now. whoo hoo!

I got on the scale this morning and I did gain a pound. Still down 3 from when I got pregnant though.

I'll tell you a quick funny story. After our last night at Disney we went to an amazing tropical restaurant near our hotel. They boys were both passed out from the long fun day, so we laid them each on the booth, and Davey and I got a nice quiet romantic date (except for the feet in our laps). Our waiter was from Africa, and I said something "Blond" to him. My husband responded to me, "I wonder if he knows about blonds" (meaning dumb blonds). I say, "I don't know. Do you know about Blogs?" Then proceeded to have a conversation about blogs while him and my husband totally stare at me. After the waiter walked away totally confused, my husband told me what he really said, and we just busted up laughing and couldn't stop. I AM so blond. Love it.

Will update soon with lots of pics :)

Love, The Curvy Housewife

18.5 Weeks

Baby boy is growing good. He didn't look deprived at all!! He actually looked a little chubby :D
I am very happy to announce my mid-wife said we can schedule to be induced at 39 weeks. Horray! Which means, no being 9 days late like I was with Cody, and no 45 minuet painful drive to the hospital. Cody came in 4 hours from first contraction. I was at the hospital only a couple hours before he came. I heard each child comes quicker, so I really don't want to have the baby in the car. Ha! Also my Mom or Mom in law will be able to be here for the birth.
We are brainstorming names. Here is what we like so far, tell me what you think:

Weston
Reece
Greyson
Avery
Beau
Cash
Jody
Ryan
Rayce
Ryder

At my ultrasound the baby weighed 7 oz. :) I am really showing now, I feel like this week my tummy pooped out!!

I have been feeling so much better, and I love to eat food. FOOD. Yes, I am no longer deprived. And I still have not gained any weight. whoo hoo!

Oh and so excited............ WE LEAVE FOR DISNEY WORLD LATE MONDAY NIGHT!!! WHOO HOO! WE WILL BE ON VACATION FOR 5 WHOLE DAYS. Much needed family time. We are going to the beach in Florida after Disney, for one night. I can't wait to see the ocean. Even if it isn't the beautiful Pacific. I LOVE the beach.

We could really use a vaca. Tonight is the 3rd night we have had a ranch boy stay with us in our home. Which means my hubs and I have not slept together for a few nights. He sleeps on the couch to stay "on guard". He is the worst though. I wake up to check on everyone and I can't even wake him. Haha.
We said good bye to a young man today that we love very much. We even offered him to live with us. We will be praying for him and his future and this last few days have been very tear filled. Can't wait to escape for a while and be just us 4 (5) :]


Love, The Curvy Housewife

The Baby Is A..............

BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are so totally shocked!!!!! And very happy and excited!!!!!!!!!!! We always wanted a lot of boys and 1 girl. :) Little stinker. Had us thinking he was a girl.... I am so blessed to be carrying such a strong healthy baby. He looked amazing . Now we need boy names. Hopefully next baby will be a girl, than we can be done. :) We are so thankful!!!!!

Love, The Curvy Housewife

Resuming & Continuing

Although these last few months I have lost about 10 pounds (I fluctuated up and down for the first few weeks of pregnancy), I have not been trying to lose weight. TRYING is what I have been doing for two years now. July marks the two year anniversary to the start of my weight loss. Yes two years is way longer than I anticipated for losing 59 pounds, and I still have more to go. But you know what I am happy about......that I kept resuming, and continuing.
I have said it before, but that is the key to weight loss. Most people do not have perfect weight loss journey's where they lose 100 pounds in a year. Yes I know of some, and no I don't like them. Just kidding. But they are rare.

Life happens. Two years ago this month I had no idea I would get pregnant 9 months into the journey, be pregnant for three months, than lose our baby. I didn't know I would get pregnant again eight months after that and get terribly ill. But that is life!! I am embracing the journey because I am still on it. Even at almost 18 weeks pregnant, I want to be continuing what I have worked on for two years.
The first 16 weeks of the pregnancy I didn't have much control over what I could eat. Which is why I lost weight. But now that I can [sort of] eat the foods I want and crave, will I eat anything and everything unhealthy??

Answer is, at first, I didn't really care about that. I was just so glad to know I wouldn't get sick from eating fat. I felt deprived and that I had to make it up to me and my baby. What I have learned these last two weeks, eating junk food isn't all the fun. It doesn't make me feel good physically. My body still does not want fast food, greasy foods, or sugary candy. So for me, continuing with health during this pregnancy is eating good, non greasy foods. Eggs, cheese, fruits, veggies, lean meat, peanut butter, milk. Much of that I couldn't eat before the surgery. Don't get me wrong, if we go out I will eat what I want, but that is usually something my body needs. We went out for my husbands birthday just him and I. It was wonderful. I had Lobster, Shrimp, and Steak. Yes. I. Did. and a baked potato with sauteed mushrooms. I am still dreaming about it. Can you tell I am craving protein? I am also not saying I won't eat a cookie once in a while. I am pregnant. :-D And I am also not saying I won't gain weight the next half of the pregnancy. What I am saying is, I'm going to try my best to continue, and when the baby comes, resume weight loss.

I am also trying to brace myself for seeing the scale go up. Now that I am not on a non fat diet, I should be gaining weight. It will be hard to see the scale go up. After surgery I was still 185. But my jean skirt I wore the day before surgery, fell off me six days later. Weird. But I do believe I have gained a pound or two. I will be 18 weeks tomorrow and look maybe 12 weeks [for me]. Usually by now people are asking me what the baby is, when I am due, and it is obvious I am expecting. If I don't hold my dress below my tummy [like in my earlier pic] you can't tell very much. Or it's just awkward to ask because someone just isn't sure and doesn't want to insult me.

DON'T FORGET!!! Tomorrow we find out the gender!!! WHOOT! I will update ASAP!!

Love, The Curvy Housewife

BOY? or GIRL???

Wednesday afternoon, we find out what the baby's gender!!!!! What do you think it is???? I personally really think it is a girl and will be totally SHOCKED if it's a boy. But never say never, because I have several friends who say they were positive the baby was a boy/girl just to find out the opposite!!! I am so excited to see what God has blessed us with. I will honestly be so happy either way. You can never have too many boys. But I am SO ready for a girl. I want a pink princess:)

I am still recovering but doing much much better now. I was/am having some of the same pains as a gallbladder attack, but they are not lasting as long. I was freaking out thinking I had surgery for no reason, when I went to my post op appointment and the doctor told me it was totally normal. He said they are "Phantom Pains". So odd. He also said they tested my gallbladder and it was diseased with a name I can't remember... and had eight stones in it. It was totally not functioning and just bad news to have it in my body. I am glad I had the surgery, that I am feeling better [other than the cold that won't go away], and most of all for my baby's health!! I felt him/her move for the first time the other day. I want to just lay down and wait until I feel it kick. Can't wait until I feel movements all the time.

Just a thought I have been thinking about since church on Wednesday.....we had a guest preacher. He had 10 kids, his oldest son died in a car accident so now they have 9. He is from Long Beach Ca, and we love this family having heard them and done church activities with them in Southern Ca. He told us how, one day he was playing basketball with 5 of his boys. Afterwards, he took them to get a 7-11 slurpee. He only had $5 cash so told them they could each have a small one, for $0.89. They moaned and groaned and complained about how it was barley big enough, and they couldn't get all the flavors in the small cup. When one of his boys said, "Dad, it's ok if you don't have enough, I don't have to get one. I'll just drink water at home." So sweet huh!? Well that Dad was so touched, he instinctivly reached for the biggest cup they had, which was enormous, and started filling that cup up with all the six flavors. While his other boys said, "Hey dad what are you doing?? I thought you didn't have enough? That's no fair!!!....." and he said, "Don't worry about it..I'm getting a big ONE!!!" and he pulled out his Debit card, and used it for just the big one, and bought the four small ones with his cash. He gave the huge slurpee to that sweet boy who showed graditude, and contentment. That little boy smiled the whole way home, while the other boys mumbled to themselves with their small slurpees.
Isn't that so true to how God is with us?? He preached from Heb 13, and it spoke of contentment. I struggle with being content. But if we are just thankful to God for what we have, which is A LOT!!!!!! He will in turn say, "Oh, you think that's good...well you haven't seen nothing yet." and pour out blessings to us. Don't you want to give and do for your children if they are being good, and if they are thankful?? But if they wine and complain and are discontent, then we don't want to give them anything. Well God still does want to give us all kinds of blessings, but our [my] bad attitudes hinder us.

Anyways... BOY OR GIRL??? I'll let you know Wednesday!!!!

Love, The Curvy Housewife