Catching up

My last post was in March . . .it's time to catch up a little.
Todd was home about 2 months when we were told that we would be moving this summer in stead of next summer like we thought. So with 2 months notice, we got things ready to move. Todd's mom had already decided to stay in Rome, so she moved out in May.
We were told that Todd would be working in Roslyn (sp?) in the DC area, but that eventually he'd be moving to Andrews AFB. Then we found out that, although the main headquarters is in Roslyn and he'd have to go there sometimes, he would actually be working at Bolling AFB. Needless to say, we were a little stumped as to where to look for housing. Todd asked some people from the base and they told us to look in the Waldorf area of Maryland. We looked on militarybyowner.com to check out houses. I found a couple that looked good. When Todd came home, I started showing him the houses. I showed Todd the first place that I had up on the screen still. It looked nice, had at least the 4 bedrooms that we needed, and it was in a good school district. After showing Todd the house, I went to show him the next one and he said no. This was the house he wanted. The house was available exactly when we needed it to be, and with a short notice move, that was a blessing. It turned out that they were an LDS family and some people in their ward had joked with them saying that they could only rent to an LDS family.
Our move was not the smoothest move we've had. We almost didn't get our shipment of stuff, they messed up the leg on my piano, they dropped some of our stuff while loading and unloading, etc. Before we left, we gave Jenny our bookshelves and desk planning on making new ones once we moved. So while we were unpacking, we also had to start making bookshelves. (The bookshelves are not finished, so we still have boxes of books out in the garage, but their almost done.)
Todd took leave for the first two weeks we were here, which was nice. But with his current job, he'll be gone a lot. He is part of an Accident Investigation Board (AIB) so anytime there is an accident, he has to leave to investigate it. He left in the beginning of August and is still gone. He's estimating that he'll be home the beginning of September.
After moving here, we got the kids started up with piano lessons again. Abigail and Andrew were already taking lessons, but we were also able to get Nathaniel into lessons as well. Nathaniel will still be playing the clarinet this year in band, and William will be picking an instrument on Tuesday to start playing. Abigail wants to play the viola since I already have one here, and we're hoping that we can get her into some lessons for that soon. There is a Mormon Orchestra here in the area that I was planning on auditioning for (although I was fairly nervous since it's been 14 years since I've played the viola), but I don't think I'm going to try for that anymore. (I may still do the Stake Orchestra, but I'll have to wait and see.)
The biggest change, besides Todd's schedule, is that I've decided to go back to school this semester. SCARY!! I've been wanting to go back to school for awhile now, but it's never been the right time. Well, a couple of weeks ago, I started looking into it again. The more I looked into it, the more it just felt right to start. I'm kind of surprised that I'm supposed to start now, because with Todd's schedule, I can't rely on him to watch the kids regularly, because he'll be gone for weeks at a time. I know that I'm supposed to do this now, although my head says that being home by myself with 7 children doesn't seem like the right time. But I'm going to make this work. I'm trying to find the best schedule I can. A combination of an evening class (so I can hopefully just find a babysitter for the weeks Todd's gone) and a day class where I can hopefully swap babysitting. My plan is to take 2 courses/semester.
So, our time here in Maryland will be kind of crazy, but hopefully we'll have good things and many blessings come out of our time here.

Todd's home!

Well, OK, he's been home for a couple of weeks now, but this is when I'm writing about it. The first night home, Todd and I were able to stay at the Turning Stone Casino. It was nice to just have some alone time and to be able to have time walking around looking at things. The next day we came home. The kids were very excited to see him, as you can imagine. Originally he was going to come in on a Saturday, but he got in on a Thursday instead, which made it nicer so the following morning wasn't rush-rush to get kids ready for church. The only problem was that school was cancelled on that Thursday and Friday because of the weather, so there was still a bit of rush-rush to find babysitting, but it all worked out.
The following week, we took the kids to an indoor water park for about 4 days. It was nice to have that time as a family to just have fun and not have to worry about kids not doing chores or homework or having to do various activities. It was wonderful! We've visited family before, but we've only done a 'real' vacation maybe once before. I can now see why people try to do vacations every year. :)

One week left!

Only 7 days until I get to see Todd again. It's so close, but still doesn't feel any closer. Our schedule will still be the same up until I leave to pick Todd up. Next Saturday I'll head to choir practice and then leave from there to pick him up. Of course, there are still things I want to do around the house before he comes home, but that's all my regular daily stuff anyway. (ie, laundry, dishes, clean out the cars, more laundry . . .) I don't think it's really hit the kids yet either. They know he's coming back next week, but it's still just life as usual.
Todd had his going away dinner today and was given his various medals and awards that he earned while there. He was able to earn an award that usually only higher up officers earn, so of course I'm as proud as a mama bear, because I know he's brilliant and it's nice to see others recognize it too. :o)
HE'S COMING HOME IN 7 DAYS!!

Lillian's 1st Birthday!

Yesterday Lillian turned one! The kids were all very excited. Especially Sophie. She thinks it's cool that she can now say Lillian is one instead of zero. :o) We started the festivities as soon as all of the kids were home from school so that we would still have time for dinner and to get to Boy Scouts. Unfortunately, Todd missed her first birthday, but I sent him lots of pictures. We did presents with her (she refused to open any, so we pretty much just opened them and gave them to her), sang 'Happy Birthday' (which she absolutely loved!), and had the first-and-only-time-they-get-to-make-as-big-of-a-mess-as-they'd-like-to cake. She loved all of it. Even the bath at the end.

Motivated

Since Todd has been gone, I had a goal to lose all of my baby weight and get down to my ideal weight. Well, my schedule has been crazy, it's been uber cold or snowy, and my treadmill was in my freezing garage. Needless to say, not a lot was accomplished, and I actually put on another 3 lbs. after the holidays and such. That was the middle of January. I decided that I just needed to buckle down and get things done. So, I started really sticking to my diet (which I was doing fine with before for the most part), and decided to ask my home teacher to help me move my treadmill into my front room. There's not a whole lot of room, and I have to move my couch everytime I use it and then move everything back afterwards, but it's been worth it. In the last 3 1/2 weeks, I've lost 7 1/2 lbs. I could have easily reached my ultimate goal before Todd came home, but because of my late start, I've had to set a new goal. It's only about 7 lbs. off, but still. It is a little discouraging to not be where I hoped I would be, but I'm very happy with where I will be when he's home. Then once he's home, I plan to lose the last 7 lbs. before my birthday in May, which is completely doable.
I've been very focused, but it hasn't been easy. There are days that I just want to EAT! Like today. It was Fast Sunday, so I was excited because I should have automatically not used as many calories today. But I came home, and over the course of the last couple of hours, still ate the meals I would have regularly eaten. I've noticed that Sundays are hard for me. They're hard because I'm just home most of the day and I'm home with Jenny. I don't know why that matters, but it does. I'm not the kind of person who is an emotional eater, or a person who eats to deal with problems . . .until her. And I still don't do it for that reason, but when I don't want to be around her, I usually want to get out for a while. Well, what can I do out of the house, that can get me away for awhile . . .usually going out to eat. So now I just find my self hungry anytime she does something that starts bugging me. It reminds me of Pavlov's dogs. I've trained myself to be hungry when she's around. So, even though today should have been a good day for calories, I've wolfed down 3 meals since 2 pm. Now, I'm still being good and not going over, but I should have been way under for today. And I'm still VERY hungry. (It's been a rough day.)
But the weekdays will come, and my schedule will get back to normal. Yet I know, the weekends are still coming, and there's also a holiday where there will be no work, so I still have a couple of bumps along my road before I cross my finish line. But I am still motivated. I have 11 1/2 lbs. to go to reach my ideal. I'd have 21 1/2 to go to reach my pre-any-baby weight, but I don't think that would be a healthy weight for me, so I'm sticking with what the experts say should be my weight.
And, just so you don't think that weight is all I think about, I know that that's not the most important thing. I'm just looking for healthy and fit, but I know from experience where my body is at it's best, and that happens to coincide with a #. I just feel good when I'm eating healthier and exercising regularly. I really miss my runs if something in my schedule makes a run not possible.
**(Disclaimer-- I'm getting on a soapbox here.) I have people that are always telling me that I don't need to lose weight. And I know that it's not a bad thing, and that it's meant as a compliment, and I in no way take it the wrong way, but I just want people to understand my side of things. I may be smaller than other people, but that doesn't mean that I can't be the size that my body is meant to be. If a woman who's a size 10 puts and keeps on 30 lbs. from having children and another is a size 4 and keeps on 30 lbs. from having children, shouldn't the smaller woman have just as much of a right to lose the weight as the first one? It's not the smaller one having an unrealistic view of her body. She just wants her body back.
Anyway, I guess that's my ramble for the day.

Almost there

We are now down to 20 days until Todd comes home!! It almost doesn't seem real. It just seems like my life will continue as it is-- just following our regular routine and talking to Todd. It will seem weird to actually have him here. He should be leaving Kabul in about 2 weeks, and then he'll be in Manas (not sure of the spelling) for a couple days before flying out. He'll retrace his steps, flying from Manas to Turkey to Germany to Baltimore. There he'll spend the night, since he'll be getting in around 10:30 pm. The next morning he'll fly on to Syracuse (not sure if it will be a straight flight or not), where I'll get to pick him up at the airport. We'll have to drive straight back to Rome so he can return his weapon, but then he's all mine. :o) We're going to head to the Casino/Hotel thing that's here in New York for the evening and then I'll bring him home the next morning. The down side is that he's coming home on a Saturday, which means that it will be a Sunday morning when we get back. So he'll get to see the kids for a little bit, but we'll still have to be getting them ready for church. Then they'll get to sit with him for an hour, and then not see him for another 2 hrs. after that. But regardless, it will be nice.
Then he will have to go to Boston for 2 days the following week to turn in gear and such. (I think it would make more sense for them to just fly him into Boston, let him turn all of his stuff in, and then just send him home so he can stay home, but it is what it is.) He's planning on taking Nathaniel and William with him, though, to spend a little time with them, and also since they're old enough to get military IDs now. So that will be nice for the boys.
It's been a long almost 6 months, and these next 3 weeks will probably seem the longest, but the end is in sight. I know that Todd has missed the family, but he's also glad that he went. He's been able to make some real contributions to the war in Afghanistan because of his position over there. He's always tried to look for opportunities to make a difference over there, where a lot of time, people just do only what they have to and that's it. So, even though it's been a sacrifice for us, it's made, or will make, life better for many of the Afghani people. So that's something he can be very proud of and we are proud of him as well.
HE'S COMING HHHHHHOOOOOMMMMMMEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

Invisalign

Today I went to the Orthodontist and got the Invisalign braces on. I've wanted to straighten my teeth for many years, and I finally just decided to do it. It helped that Nathaniel was already going to the Orthodontist for his appointments. So one day after his appointment, I just asked them if they could give me an evaluation. I had the option of doing normal braces or the Invisalign, and I guess I'm just vain enough that I was willing to pay the extra money for the Invisalign. :-)
So right now, my teeth are a little sore, but only when I first take them off (one of the other benefits of getting this kind--I get to take them off to eat and brush my teeth) or put them on.
I tried to take some pictures, but you really can't tell I have anything on in any of the pictures, so I won't post any. Sorry. :-)
But I'm very excited. It's nice to do something just for me that will also make me feel better. I have to do 20 aligners for 3 weeks each. So that's 60 weeks of wearing these and it takes me to the middle of March 2011.