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!!!!!!!!!