Home Safe And Sound

After arriving home at midnight Sunday night and pretty much collapsing into bed, I'm now caught up. I have to say Jeff did a GREAT job and I came home to a clean house. The kids had a blast and didn't even miss me! My prayers were answered above and beyond. He even took them to Mass by himself; how cool is he?

The weather in Florida wasn't much different than here, so where we thought we might die of heat exhaustion, it was really quite comfortable. We had a few showers, but overall it was mostly sunny and beautiful.

Here is a picture of my girls in their new (fake) crocs that dear Aunt Jenny bought them. Sarah has barely taken them off since I gave them to her. It was too funny last night after giving her a bath and putting on her pj's she ran right into the kitchen and put them back on. Earlier, I tried taking them off her for naptime and she let out quite the scream (yeah, that went over well with me)! I finally convinced her that she couldn't sleep with them and I would put them back on her just as soon as she woke up. The pic isn't the greatest since I took it with my cell.

Two Days

In a little over two days I will be loading up the van with my luggage, my children, and my tears. Jeff and the kids will take us (my friend Ashley is going with me) to the airport for our 8:30 pm departure flight. As usual, the closer it gets the more I second guess myself. I know I will miss them so much. Will they be okay without me? What if something happens while I'm gone? Jeff is a great dad, but after so many days with them I worry he will lose patience. Yes, let's remind me that He is in control, not me, so what am I worried about? My prayers will be that everything will be fine and Jeff will find it in himself to be extra patient and just have fun with them. The kids gave him a Wii for Father's Day (yes, they used most of their own money......yes, it took some persuading.), so I'm sure they will enjoy that.

For my part I will have all laundry done, fridge full, and house (somewhat) clean. I have two days to do it, plus pack my suitcase......with what, I'm not sure; nothing fits me now......and Jeff is working pretty much up until I leave. Who needs sleep?

My Father

My dad had another heart attack last night. The first one was in May, 1994. My mother found him sweating on the couch and called for an ambulance. It turns out one of his arteries was 100% blocked. They did the catherization around 2 am this morning and it went well. The doctor told him he was good for another 5-10 years. He jokes that he is ready now, but we keep telling him God doesn't want him yet.

Tomorrow I will go and see him, and we will laugh and joke like always, but through it I will remember how lucky we are to still have him. He will be 77 in October, and I completely dread the day that the phone call will end differently. One day God will want him, but I really hope it's many, many years from now.

Please say a prayer for a quick recovery for my daddy!

Fifty-Five

That is the number of pounds I have lost since having my baby in November '06. It's been a long road, with many bumps (and bruises), but I kept getting back up to continue on. I still have about ten more to go, but I'm much more confident I can do it. My friend and I went clothes shopping tonight since we leave next Wednesday for Florida and I couldn't believe I was fitting size 8. Now the tricky part is getting my mind to see myself that way; it wants to still see me the size 16 I once was.

What; how did I do it? Mostly by eating less and moving more. The treadmill has become my best friend in most recent weeks. The Pilates moves I learned eons ago were brought back into play and my Curves membership was actually used. It is amazing how much more energy I have; which was my biggest motivator. Keeping up with my children is very important to me, and being overweight made it harder on my mind and body. Being able to run around, up and down many stairs, and accomplish so much more without getting winded has been a true blessing.

I'm very happy with my results so far (and Dh is.....um...a little bit, too) and really, really hoping to try out pregnancy at my new weight. I'm a good 20 lbs under any starting weight of previous pregnancies. It will be fun to see the look on my OB's face when he sees my chart. Let's just pray I get to see that look!

Heatwave

I had a long post all about setting up the pool, being incredibly hot outside, etc. and somehow blogger ate it (Hey, look, I found it!! I'll figure this blog thing out one of these days). Blah. I'm too tired to retype everything, and quite annoyed. Suffice it to say, it's hot outside and we are enjoying the pool.

Maybe one day I'll actually find my photo thingy (yes, I'm a professional photographer, can't you tell?) and being able to share some photos of said pool.

Heatwave

After an unusually cold May, we are off to a bang in June. Today's forecast is for a high of 97 degrees. Umm.....excuse me? It's June 7th, people! Tomorrow's is the same and Monday's forecast is 99 degrees. I'm sweating just thinking about it. It is not expected to be back in the 80's until next weekend; where it will feel downright chilly.

Because of said forecast my wonderful hubby spent yesterday setting up our pool. He knew I would need some kind of relief for the children since I have vowed not to turn on the air conditioning until June 15th. Of course, I made that vowed back in the beginning of May when it was still so cold at night I was begging him to make a fire in the fireplace. Now I'm starting to wonder what I was thinking. My usual goal is June 1st, so I'm happy to have made it farther this year. Luckily we live in an old house that tends to stay cool, as long as I don't open any blinds. Right now it is 95 degrees outside, yet only 78 in the house. It actually feels cool coming in from outside.

Tomorrow we go to our niece's Baptism party. This is my niece's second daughter. It was a rough recovery for her and it will be nice to see that she is finally on the road to feeling better. The party will be in the clubhouse at my parents' condo. It is late afternoon, so it shouldn't be to unbareable. I'm sure I will have the pleasure of taking the kids outside to the playground. It will keep me up tonight with excitement thinking about it. My husband will be so jealous that he has to go to work in an air conditioned building and miss out on it. I will make sure to rub it in his face tonight :-P

And The Countdown Begins

Two weeks from today I will be in Florida visiting a friend (we actually get in late Wednesday night), and I am more than ready for some 'girl' time. Normally I do not get all hyped up or excited weeks (or even days) before a vacation. I'm usually a go-with-the-flow type gal, and it seems pointless to me to wish time away, especially when we don't know how much time we are actually going to get here on Earth. But this time, oh boy, this time I'm having a very hard time sticking to my rule.

The reason for my visit is my friend's charity dinner. Every year, for the past three years, she has hosted this event to raise money for a wonderful charity she has started. This charity raises money to pay for the funerals of babies that have died from SIDS. These parents are in complete shock, and often without the funds to pay for a funeral (who plans for that when planning for a baby?), so she has been there to help many of these families over the years. It is something near and dear to her heart. Her youngest boy, Lazarus Addison, died from SIDs on Saturday, September 14, 2002. He was just shy of six months old. My family and I had been planning on flying down Wednesday for her oldest boy's birthday. When I got the call I changed my flight and left on Sunday. I think I was still numb when I boarded the plane.

It will be so great to see my friend and her family, but this trip is always bittersweet. We spend lots of time talking about "Addie", and lots of time missing him. The trip usually includes a trip to his gravesite, where he still doesn't have a headstone. His mother was just telling me yesterday that she plans to do it; before now it just made it too real. I know she will never feel the same as before, but each year she seems to get back to the 'old' Jenny. It something she struggles with, feeling like she is forgetting him by being happy, but I pray daily that she finds great peace.

Lazarus Addison Jacobs
3/19/02-6/14/02
We love and miss you, Addie!

Feeling The Burn

Jeff started a new job recently, which takes him out of the house for many more hours than we're used to. It's been a bit of an adjustment, to say the least. He loves it, though, so I'm very happy about that. The only bad part about it is he works retail hours, so the busiest times are the weekends. If you want to make money in sales it usually works out to be beneficial to work the busiest times ; ) So today he had to work, and we had a graduation party to attend. It was my cousin's high school graduation and they decided to have his party at a bowling alley. I have to tell you it was the greatest time! We're a big extended family so they rented the whole place just for us and the kids had a blast. Remy took home the trophy for his age group; he was so proud and couldn't wait to tell Dad! By the end of the party I was really beginning to feel the effects of parenting mostly by myself the last three weeks. It makes me wonder how moms with husbands that travel do it.

Last night I had the pleasure of babysitting a three month old. I put my info out on sittercity.com to see if I could earn some play money. This couple contacted me about a month ago to see if I would be interested in doing some overnights for them. They have no family in town, so they were hoping to find a reliable sitter. We met at my house last month for an "interview" (I had to laugh when they told me "You having five kids kind of speaks for itself, but...") and they told me they would be in touch. I figured they had moved on to someone who maybe had more flexibility when I hadn't heard from them again, but they called last week to see if I was able to watch their baby this weekend. Hmmmm.....let's see, do I want to snuggle a little itty baby and get paid for it?!? You betcha! She was simply adorable and couldn't have been any easier. I almost (I said almost) felt guilty taking their money! I do have to say I was curious to see how I would react holding a little one again. It goes without saying that I would love another, but some days (the really crazy ones) I stop and think if it stops here I might be okay with it. It certainly is getting easier the older the kids get, and I often think about how throwing a newborn in to the mix would change it up, especially with Jeff working so much more. But, alas, I was totally, completely sucked right back in to that wondeful, delicious babyness and know in my heart I'd really love another. I'm just glad it's up to Him to decide because I know He knows me best of all.