New Year's resolution

Shaun and the kids don't know it yet, but I've dubbed 2012 the year our family gets organized! I'm not sure if any of you readers know this, so I'll let you in on a secret...having 3 kids less than three years apart makes life kinda hectic, lol. I'm not complaining about it; I love it. The only problem is I feel like things are out of control around here. I'm not a good housekeeper *shock* I never have been, and having kids just compounds that fact.

I'm setting a New Year's resolution to get this house running like a well oiled machine. I've attempted this before but now I've got a plan, and a plan that is manageable that I can start in small steps. I'm going to try FlyLady's process again and adapt it to our family needs. I'm now meal planning a month at a time, clipping coupons weekly, and making a healthy dinner nightly. I have set times each week for studying, cleaning, grocery shopping, and laundry - that I will stick to, most importantly.

I might throw out some posts dedicated to organization this next year to help keep myself on track.

Fitness update: month 5?

Month 5, or something like that, lol. I'll keep this one nice and short. I'm still working out. Most weeks 3-5 days per week I'm running, lifting or swimming. Wednesday I ran 6.53 miles and I timed the first 6.2 with the result being 8 mins 30 seconds faster than my 10K race on Thanksgiving! What's even more amazing is that I was only above my training Zone 3 for a bit under 10 mins and I didn't once go above my Zone 4. When I first started working out I hit Zone 5 a lot (that's above 201 bpm for me). That shows a good heart/lung improvement.

I'm still losing the weight too. I'm kind of wishing I had done before and after pictures. There's a fairly big difference. I've now lost more than 50 pounds since the day I had Sophia, and almost 40 pounds since I started actively trying to lose the weight. I'm a little over 2 pounds from my goal weight.

Any runners out there reading this? My second toe on my right foot has been giving me troubles post run. It feels bruised, kind of under the nail area. Is this a shoe issue? A stride issue? A my-foot-is-just-whack issue?

Christmas videos!

Here are a few videos of the kids from Christmas. The first one is from when Santa arrived at the Eineke family Christmas (he visits for a bit every Christmas eve). The next two videos are from the same night, when Santa visits with each kid (except Sophia since she was already sleeping). The last video is from Christmas morning. Shaun and I camped out in the living room early to catch Evie and Lex's reactions to Santa having visited overnight.

Photo summary of the past month

Best buds.

How the dinosaurs actually disappeared.

Soon after two teeth appeared.

Om nom nom!

Evie at her dance recital.

Being a goof.

A *graceful* goof.

Yep, those dance lessons are really paying off.

Opening presents with great grandpa.

First of the celebrations for the season.

Books!

I think I've already read each of these books multiple times.

Trying to get them all to pose together.

*HUGS*

Our little slice of the season at home.

Dance!

Evie's first dance recital was today! Here are a few videos for your viewing pleasure. Sorry for the bad camera work in a few places. I was juggling Sophia while filming and she kept trying to grab the camera.

[Or not for the Mickey video...since the music they dance to comes from Warner, they've blocked it.]

Fitness update (overdue)

Sooooo I said I was going to update this monthly. Ooops, guess I missed last month. No worries, though, I'm still working out and (trying) to eat healthy. As of today I am 6 lbs away from my ultimate weight loss goal. That's 47 lbs lost since Sophia was born and 33 lbs lost since I started working out and trying to lose the weight. I'm feeling great!

I still run. I'm still a slow runner. Honestly, I highly doubt my ability to be anything but a slow runner. I just don't know how to go fast. I'm switching up my training from heart training to speed training these next couple of weeks (or I'm going to switch it up every couple of runs) in hopes of getting faster. I ran my first 10K last week on Thanksgiving. I didn't come in last place, but it was close enough to make me cringe. I keep telling myself that at least I'm getting out there and running. I keep the motto of "I'm lapping everyone on the couch" - but it's hard to keep the motivation up when I run so freaking slow.

I've been lifting 3 days a week too. It's going good. I'm getting better at the two specific lifting circuits I'm doing. The first day I could only get through 4 sets and now I can do all 8 sets without getting out of my heart rate range. Each set used to take me 10 minutes to complete and now I'm down to 5.5-6 mins each. It's an improvement I'm happy with.

Next up: more of the same. I'm going to keep up the running. I'm planning to run the New Year's day Polar dash 10K. I'm hoping some speed training between now and then will show a much improved run time for that race. Depending on how that race goes, I may move up the date of my first half marathon. I didn't realize how many there are in late winter/early spring here. Still going to keep up with the lifting too. If it gets too routine and "easy" I'll be adding weights. I'm not sure when I'll officially be taking a PT test. I'm hoping not until the weather gets warmer. Not because I couldn't pass yet, but because I think I'd be faster running in 50-70 degree weather instead of the 10-20s.

In the spirit of the season

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Sisters and little stars

Here are a couple of videos for your viewing pleasure. The first one is of Sophia and Evelyn. This night Evie was getting huge belly laughs out of Sophia so I grabbed the camera to get their interactions documented. Of course Sophia stops with the laughing when I turn the camera on, again, but it's still a cute video. The second one is of Lex serenading you with his rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Social media and the modern day momma

How did our parents and their parents and their...well you get the idea, how did they parent without the lightning fast connections to other parents we have today? How did they get advice to parent in the moment? How did they know what they were doing was right and not going to cause lasting negative impacts on their children's lives? My guess is there was a lot of winging it. Oh...wait...I'm pretty sure that's what I do every day...

Anyways, I know I've posted before about how some of my online mom groups have been influential in helping me deal with the emotions and challenges of parenting, have been unending pools of resources, and generally just been a great group of gals to hang out with. Besides my moms groups, the internet is filled with resources for parents to turn to. There are medical sites, magazines, blogs, Facebook, Pinterest, chat forums, etc. You can gather information about parenting just from viewing how other parents behave through their blogs, status updates, tweets, pins, so on and so forth. You get this, I'm sure. If you're reading my blog you have an understanding of how social media works. Even if you're not a parent you can see the inherent benefits of being connected so instantly to other "subject matter experts".

Have you ever thought about the negative impacts this instant access could have?

The biggest thing to remember about social media is that these forums are EDITED versions of people's lives. When I think a picture shows just a little too much of the baby weight I'm still carrying it doesn't get posted. When the latest video I shot of my kids shows them having another argument and, whoops, one of them let slip a word any parent would be ashamed to admit their kids may or may not have learned from them, it doesn't get streamed. When I'm having a bad day and I yell at my kids a little louder than what the situation calls for, I don't post about it. When the house doesn't get picked up, I don't blog it.

Get the idea? I can choose what you know about my life. I can post pictures that flatter my figure, I can upload videos that show my kids holding hands and playing nicely, I can blog about super creative projects I do with the kids, and I can tweet all the amazing food I make on the days inspiration hits me. I can make myself look like super mom even when I don't feel I am.

Lately I've been feeling a lot of mommy guilt. I keep comparing myself to moms who spend every moment of every day with their children and act like it's the only thing they need in their lives to be fulfilled. They create age appropriate activities to do with their children everyday and foster learning from one minute to the next from morning until bed time. They cook elaborate breakfasts (from all organic food picked up at their local farmers market), turn their children's lunches into replicas of their favorite cartoon book character (because they never do watch TV), and have a 3-course-minimum dinner waiting on the table when their husbands get home. Their houses are always clean. Oh, and did I mention that they seem to accomplish all of this and put makeup on?

Where the hell did I get this idea of what a super mom should be or that there are moms out there who can do all that? I know there's no way I can come close to that, even though I wish I was that mom. The only conclusions I can come to is I saw it on TV, read it in a book, and experienced it through the edited version of social media. After talking with other moms over the past couple of years I know I'm not alone in my skewed idea of super mom. That fantasy mom I described above rarely, if ever, exists.

Here's the real deal, unedited.

I love my children with all my heart and I do my best to make sure they know it. I send them to daycare for the academic learning, social interaction, and age appropriate creative daily activities. They LIKE it. My kids are not my entire world, though. I need work, school, exercise and independent goals to feel like I have a purpose. As time allows I do crafty projects. Currently I'm in the middle of putting together their yearly picture book and I'm making a queen size quilt out of their outgrown baby clothes (I'll so post pics when I'm done).

I feed my kids. I don't skip any meals. Heck, I even make sure they have snack time. Sometimes I cook creatively from scratch with organic foods. Sometimes I even turn their pancakes into Mickey Mouse. I also cook a lot of things from a box or a can. Guess what? They LIKE it. Mac and cheese is one of their favorite meals. There's not enough time in my day to cook elaborate meals on a daily basis. If we eat out once or less per week I feel like I've accomplished something. On the weeks where we eat out more often...oh, well. At least I fed them.

I clean daily. News flash for you: 3 kids (and a husband) make 9 times the amount of mess you think possible. Just like with cooking, there's not enough time in my day to keep the house clean top to bottom every day. I devote 20 to 60 minutes a day for cleaning. Sometimes I deep clean one room and sometimes I use that time to just do a general pick up. If I can see the floor in each room it's considered a good day. And, yes, some days that is difficult to do.

Other confessions: Sometimes I lose my temper and yell too much. There are days when I'm just plain lazy and the kids have a lot of independent play time. Or TV time. I let my kids cry in their rooms when they're having one of "those days". Occasionally I let them win the tooth brush battle.

When it's all said and done, though, I know I'm still a super mom. On the days I'm perfect I'm even a super duper mom. I love my kids, my kids love me. They're growing, they're learning and they're adorable. I care about and provide for their well being. They enjoy school and church, they're polite and caring, and they're compassionate.

I just wanted to post this for other moms who may be experiencing their own mommy guilt at the moment. Sometimes we each need to see a little of someone else's experience unedited.

Pumpkin carving

Is this a Shaun face or what?

At least the girls are being normal...

Oh, yay, a nice picture!

Love this one of Sophia lounging.

Eating purees, yeah I decided to let her try them.

She's not so sure about them.

I'm a graduate student

So, I'm not sure how many people know this already, but I've been working towards going back to school for nursing. I had about 7 pre-req classes over the past year and a half I had to take before applying and, in total, I applied to 4 schools. I applied to 3 Associate degree programs and one Master's program. I was denied even being considered into the first school because I messed up the paperwork. Major dumb move on my part but it was one of those live and learn moments. The second school I was accepted into but it was a private school and tuition ran into the $500+ per credit range. Ouch! So I actually turned that down. The third program said I met qualifications, but I didn't score high enough on their rubric scale to gain acceptance.

By this point in time I was majorly bummed. Really? If 3 Associate degree programs didn't pan out, what hope did I have for the Master's degree program? So, just this week, I seriously started the hunt for a full time job. I applied to 10. Then today...

I got my acceptance into an Entry Level Master's of Science in Nursing degree program! It's an intense full time course load over 7 semesters (including summers) so I'll graduate in about 2.5 years. After a little less than a year of study I'll qualify for my LPN (it's required before clinicals). The program is 29 undergrad credits and 31 graduate credits. In the end I'll be an RN with a Master's degree.

My mind is racing about a million miles per minute right now and I'm having a hard time grasping the news. They only accept about 30 students per year into this program. I seriously was thinking I had no shot at getting in. I have to turn in my acceptance form by Nov 11th (uh, that thing's going in the mail tomorrow) and then I'll get more information about orientation and registration for the spring semester. I CANNOT WAIT!

Daycare Fall Festival

Here are some pictures from the Fall Festival at the kids' daycare. Consider this your Halloween preview. Next up: post of the pumpkin carving fun!

Sophia as a monkey, her real monkey costume should arrive this weekend.

Evie's top model pose.

Face painting!

It's a spider on Captain America.

Eh, not so sure about the face painting...

But the sucker sure is good!

Hi Soph!

Cheese!

Feel the love

After how much teaching, "redirection" and structure I provide there are times that I feel less than liked by the kids (yeah, yeah irrational, but it's true). So it's nice when every once in a while the kids let me know just how much they care:

- Recently I went out of town for 3 days. After getting home my least cuddly babe, Lex, just wanted to sit on my lap for a good half hour.

- Last week Evie was able to spend the night with her Nana Jane and I was preparing her for the change in her routine. I let her know Jane would pick her up from school and take her to spend the night at her house. Evie thought it was a great idea but told me that she "would be sad too." When I asked her why, her response was "because I will miss my mommy." Awe. I always figured whenever they hung out with any grandma that I was the last thing they thought about because hanging with their grandmas is their favorite thing.

- This past weekend they went to my mom's cabin for the weekend. It was nice to find out that they wanted me to come to the cabin all weekend. Next time kiddos, next time.

- Can't leave out Sophia. She lets us feel the love every time we go to pick her up out of her crib. That big ole smile is enough to melt anyone's heart!

Fall time fun

I love that the kids love to read. For their birthdays this year they each got a Tag reader so they're able to read books to themselves. One weekend day a couple weeks ago this is how I found them in their bedroom.

This year we went to a local hibachi grill place for Shaun's birthday. They bring out a delish banana dessert and sing a birthday song while placing this on the birthday person's head.

Here are a few pics from their recent trip to the cabin with my mom.

Now time for the videos, right? The first couple are of Sophia, trying to capture her giggles on camera. She's very stubborn about this. Just this morning I was getting belly laughs from her and as soon as I pulled out the camera she stopped. Little bugger. I promise to keep working on getting a great video of the belly laughs!

This next one is just a video of the older two playing in the leaves as I'm trying to rake. They've become obsessed with this fall activity and request it every time we pull into the driveway at home.

This last one is Sophia's latest trick. She's starting to mimic us! Check out what she's choosing to mimic.