tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284756471718952672024-02-06T18:27:12.405-08:00The Magic McCain'sThis family of five is nothing but Magic!!Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-16858102874124343012013-05-11T07:39:00.000-07:002013-05-11T07:39:04.647-07:00This Mother's Day....As the rest of my family drives away to a Saturday full of fun, I'm stuck at home, by myself. Any other day I would rejoice in the peace and quiet but instead I'm trying to hold back my tears. This Mother's Day weekend, I have to work. I also am reflecting on Mother's Day pasts and what could have beens. May 10, 2004 was the due date of our first pregnancy. That pregnancy ended in miscarriage a week after we found out. And, on that same day three years ago, I had my second miscarriage. This weekend holds a special place in my heart. I think about those two babies and wonder what would they have grown up to be had they survived. According to the Chinese calendar for gender, both of those babies would have been boys:). Oh, how our lives would have been different.<br />
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If we hadn't have lost the first one, I wouldn't have my beautiful Lauren and if we had not gotten pregnant with the third one, I wouldn't have known that we would have another child. Brooke was an "oops" baby but she meant to be here no matter what.<br />
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I know that I will see those babies in Heaven one day and get to see their beautiful faces and I will know them immediately. God is so good that way. <br />
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I'm not going to get to celebrate with family this Mother's Day weekend like most. I will sleep it away. The joys of working night shift and also working weekends. Mark and the girls took me out to eat last night and Mark bought me a beautiful potted plant. Absolutely gorgeous. Lauren came and snuggled with me this morning. Mark is going to celebrate with his mom and family tomorrow evening. My family is getting together tomorrow evening as well. We all are going to try and make that too. If not, we will celebrate with my sweet Mama on Monday. The one good thing about the rest of my immediate family being gone, is that when I get home in the morning, I can go straight to sleep and sleep and sleep. <br />
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Happy Mother's Day to all of the sweet mothers I know. Your lives have been an influence on mine and for that I'm thankful. Please remember those mothers who have lost their own mothers, have yet to hold their babies or had their babies taken too soon. This day will be tough for them and they definitely need our prayers.<br />
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Happy Mother's Day!!Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-81233575788843938962013-05-03T06:13:00.001-07:002013-05-03T06:13:32.151-07:00Failure, maybe?This is something I have struggled with many times over my 34 years on this earth, failure. Starting something to only finish halfway or not even attempting before I even get started. In July it will be a year since I started WW. The last time I weighed like I was suppose to was February 22nd. As of that date I had lost almost 39lbs. I weighed this morning and I have gained about 13 pounds back. I'm not surprised.<br />
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We went to New York in December, then it was Christmas, then New Years and then I joined the gym and then life just got in the way. I quit tracking because I thought I could just keep up in my head. I thought well I'm maintaining this weight so I'm okay. Nope, doesn't work that way. I think I got burnt out on eating the same things over and over again. I got tired of tracking everything single thing on my phone. Stresses from life seemed to derail me as well. More often than not, I found myself eating ice cream, cake, chips whatever late at night after everyone else has gone to bed. I guess that was my distressing technique.<br />
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I failed again. I had goals that I wanted to reach. I had hoped to be back to my pre-pregnancy weight (like before Lauren) by this summer. If I had kept on track I would almost be there now. But instead I have got to lose this 13 lbs I have gained before I can keep going.<br />
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I will do this. I have to. I see what lies ahead for me in the future and I need to delay that for as long as possible, meaning diabetes, heart disease, and what ever else that will happen to me because I haven't taken care of this body.<br />
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I'm hoping that I can get back into exercising. I know this summer that is definitely going to be priority. I just know that I have to lose it. I have to get gung ho again and get back on track. I've done it before and I know I can do it again.Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-38305672808785314022013-01-11T12:52:00.000-08:002013-01-11T12:52:38.869-08:00This week....This week has been, in a nutshell, rough. It was the first full week back at school for the older girls. We started our basketball season last week, I worked this past weekend, dance on Tuesday, I worked and had church Wednesday, Lauren had practice last night and Claire has practice tonight. On top of this, we had a snotty and coughing little one. I started trying to be good again with eating. I joined the community gym yesterday. I had my first choir practice as director (that one will have to have a post all its own.) And because we love to do things last minute, we worked on a reading project for Lauren that was due today.<br />
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Needless to say, we are all very tired and cranky, except for maybe Brooke. Lauren and Claire have had meltdowns just about every night. I'm cranky from working the weekend and not being able to catch up on sleep. My house is a wreck as I haven't had time to clean or do laundry and there are about 100 loads to do. Mark is recovering from whatever funk we all have shared and is exhausted. We don't have any downtime this weekend either because Upw@rds games start tomorrow bright and early!! And Sunday, Claire is yoga-ing it with her Aunt Allie in Durham and we have to get up early to get her there and we have church. I plan on the ENTIRE family taking a nappy poo on Sunday afternoon.<br />
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I'm hoping that next week, we'll be back in the groove and can get our act together and we won't have a reading project to work on either.:)<br />
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Weight news, I lost 2 pounds this week so that puts me now to 36.9 pounds total. I think I'm starting to get to the point where exercise is going to be key for me. I just need to get fully back into the program and not just every other day as this week has been. I want to reach my goal by July 20, 2013 by golly I'm going to!!<br />
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<br />Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-38625104922660232792013-01-04T06:06:00.000-08:002013-01-04T06:06:36.778-08:00Where have you Been??????You know, when I started this blog, I thought I would be faithful to it. Typing up a post each week, possibly more than once a week, really getting into it like some of my other friends who are awesome bloggers. Well, as you can see, that I have not done. I think the idea was great in my head but actually doing it, not so much. Oh, well. <div>
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I would like to change that in 2013. Now, with that being "said", I will probably look back at this post in 2 months and think, "I thought I was going to be better about posting!"Anyways, I'm going to try again.</div>
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The last time I posted was in October. We have had a lot go on since then. The girls got their report cards, they were awesome. I lost another 5 lbs (yay me!!). Halloween, the big girls were witches and Brookie was their Hoot Owl. Thanksgiving was good except my mom got the flu and then I got the flu(which by the way is SO NOT COOL). Mark and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary (finally) with a trip to New York City in early December and I had reached my weight goal at the time and then promptly gained that weight back. It's ok, I lost it because I was sick, not a good way to lose weight.</div>
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We saw Santa Claus, had our Christmas contata at church, all three girls have been sick and now we are in the new year! Yay!! </div>
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We did have a loss this past year. My sweet Grandma Sibbett died on December 8, 2012. She was 83 and went very peacefully. She had alzheimer's and had gotten sick. She went to sleep and never woke back up. My mom and sister were with her when she passed and they said she went so peacefully. I'm so thankful for that!! It was hard because she was my only living grandparent. Mark made a good point on the day of her funeral. We lost Grandma about 10 years ago when the dementia/alzheimer's took away her memory and now we have lost her again. The good thing with her though is she was never mean and was always happy!! I know she is in Heaven with my grandpa just talking his ears off!!</div>
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I have a new adventure that I'm starting. I'm the co-choir director now at my church!! Myself and my good friend, Tracy, are going to be rocking the Baptist way in the Quaker church!! I'm pretty excited but terribly nervous. I have never done anything quite like this before and I know that I will do fine because its for the Lord!!</div>
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Lauren and Claire have just started UPWARDS basketball and we are all excited. I think this season is going to be a good one. I'm looking forward to watching develop their skills and hopefully fall in love with the sport. I know their Daddy will be excited if they do!! Brooke will enjoy climbing up and down the bleachers where as Mommy will not!! She is on the go BIG TIME!!</div>
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Speaking of Brookie, she is such a joy. Right now she has a terrible cold/cough and we were up late last night dealing with it. She tries to be just like her big sisters, playing with their toys and trying to keep up with them. She LOVES LOVES LOVES Dora!!! She calls her "Backpack!" We are trying to teach her to say "Dora" but she just says "Backpack." She'll be going to kindergarten speaking Spanish. She watches it constantly and because I'm a bad mama, I just let her. It makes her happy and that makes me happy. She is a good eater and loves juice!! She loves fruit chews too. She still has her paci but I think we could get rid of it if we wanted. She loves her crochet blankets still too. She can say Mommy, daddy, juice, backpack, boots, mine, yummy, bye-bye, hey, my, cat, and can make most of the animal sounds. She loves Scruffie our cat and loves to play in the dog food:(.</div>
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As of today, I've lost around 35 pounds. December was not a good month for me, I didn't watch it. Too much was going on and I just couldn't concentrate on it. I've started counting again and am hoping to join the gym in the next few days. I would like to reach my goal by July, I have about 50 lbs to go. </div>
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This is enough for now....hope everyone has a great weekend!!!</div>
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Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-39286483803829534162012-10-05T06:28:00.000-07:002012-10-05T06:28:51.798-07:00A Quarter Dropped....Good morning Friday!!! I love to say those words to my girls, they get so excited knowing that the next day is Saturday and they don't have to go to school. I'm excited because we don't have to set the alarm clock for the next day. Don't get me wrong, they both love school but they are McCain's and love to sleep so it's just hard getting them up some mornings.<br />
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As the title says, I have lost over 25 pounds!!!! 26.7 pounds in fact!! I'm a little over 2 months in and I'm super ecstatic about my progress. Although, my little tracker fussed at me for losing too fast. Oh well, it'll just have to fuss. I want to be at a certain weight before we go to New York so it'll just have to fuss away!! I'm loving the fact that some of my clothes don't fit anymore, I've given some away. My watch is loose around my wrist, my wedding rings are loose. I can finally fit into my old scrubs again and I'm not wearing the ones I wore at 8 months pregnant. I can fit into some jeans that I wore before I got pregnant with Brooke. Just good things are happening and I'm super stoked. I'm far from my ultimate goal but reaching these milestones in between are little victories in themselves!!<br />
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Everyone is doing well. Both Lauren and Claire had their interim reports sent home this week and they both are doing great!! I'm so excited for both of them. Lauren has finally got the routine of 3rd grade down pat and is focusing and paying attention a lot more. Her grades are awesome as of right now so hopefully they'll just get better for the second part of the first 9 weeks. Claire is doing just fine. No problems whatsoever just like we all knew. She just had one S- and that was because she sometimes writes her name with some capital letters snuck in there instead of the normal first letter is capital, the rest is lowercase. Not that big of a deal, she already has corrected that problem:) <br />
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Brookie is leaving the baby stage and moving into the toddler stage. She can say "mama, dada, juice, uh-oh, box, lala, bye-bye, baby, cat, woof-woof." She said her first sentence last Sunday when I was leaving for work. She said, "Bye-bye, Mama." I was so excited!! She is cutting 4 molars, two have already popped through on top and the two on the bottom are just before erupting. Last week, I had to take her to the doctor because she was just covered in hives/welts from some kind of reaction. We had been dealing with it for over a month and our remedies were just not working. Dr. B seemed to think that she was still have some residual reaction to the virus/infection she had back in August and that it was just her body's way of getting rid of whatever was left. He suggested giving her a long lasting antihistamine and sure enough, it worked!! She is no longer covered in welts!! Although, this week she has run an fever and not felt well but I'm contributing that to her teething. <br />
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I had a teacher conference over the phone yesterday with Lauren's teacher and she told me something that brought me to tears and made my heart swell so big with pride that I thought it might burst!! We were ending our conversation and she told me she had something to share about Lauren. She first started off by saying that Lauren is such a kind hearted child and that she is just so sweet. She told me that Lauren reminded her of her grandma, my mama, by how kind she is and how she treats other kids. In 3rd grade they get what's called "eat with a friend" pass if they have good behavior. Two students from another class received those passes. Lauren's teacher told me that no one ever sat with those kids. She asked Lauren to go and sit with those children and instead of protesting or saying no, Lauren immediately said "Sure!!" and off she went like it wasn't a favor but a blessing to go sit with those kids. She had no qualms about doing that at all. I cried. How wonderful it is to know that your child treats everyone with compassion and kindness and that she doesn't discriminate at all. She doesn't care what you look like, if you are popular or not, if you wear awesome clothes, have dirty hair, what ever. She is friends with everyone. I have always prayed that God would give my girls kind hearts. That they would always treat others the way they wanted to be treated and to never be ugly to others and Lauren does. What a blessing!!! I just cried and cried and thanked my Jesus for my sweet girl and her precious heart. As soon as I got off the phone with her teacher and I found Lauren and told her how proud I was of her sitting with those kids and how proud Jesus was of her for being so kind. She immediately wiped my tears and told me to quit crying. She said, "Thanks, mama. Now can you help me with my math homework?" So humble. I am so blessed. My prayer is that she stays that way!!Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-31483721047853591872012-09-07T05:47:00.001-07:002012-09-07T05:47:37.194-07:00School Days, School Days.....School has begun and we are in full swing. Back to the getting up early, homework and bedtimes. We all have adjusted to the schedule okay but man, I miss my sleeping in. Claire has started kindergarten and she seems to be enjoying it. She has Mrs. Marley, who was Lauren's kindergarten teacher and I couldn't be more happy!! She is such a great teacher and I know Claire is going to do phenomenally in her class!! Lauren is in third grade this year and all I can say is its quite an adjustment. Third grade is a whole different animal and we are all having a little trouble adjusting. This is the first year of actual letter grades and testing and the teachers have a lot to teach the kids so they just throw it at them from the get go. I don't like that at all!! It's like they just throw the kids in the deep end and just expect them to know how to swim. Some of the kids do just fine while others just sink and some even drown!! So far we are treading water. I've had to talk with the teacher a few times. Lauren is young for her grade and needs a couple of weeks to get back into the routine but I think we are slowly getting there. She had a few issues that first week of school but I think things are getting better now. They expect so much from the kids and I think Lauren's teacher does especially. She is a no nonsense kind of person and I don't think she tolerates much. That worries me with Lauren. She is a very smart child but very sociable in the same token. Teachers in the past knew how to deal with her but I'm not sure that this teacher does. Hopefully as they get to know one another, she will learn what works best for Lauren and will help her do her very best. That is all I can pray for and that I know as a parent I have to stay on top of her homework and making sure she does as she should. I have had to let go a little and let Lauren take some responsibility for herself. That is hard for me because I want her to be the best in all that she does, perfect even. That's me trying to make Lauren be what I was in school and that just isn't going to happen:). She has to be her own person and she will do just fine. I can't make her be me. <div>
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Brooke had her 15 month check up yesterday. She is walking everywhere, climbing on everything, getting into EVERYTHING, and just being a plain mess:)!! She weighs 23 lbs and is 31 in long. I don't think she's as big as her sisters were at this age but that's ok. She's wearing 18 month clothes, a very few 12 month and even a couple 24 month. She is eating so well and starting to master the use of utensils. She loves cheese, pancakes, cinnamon applesauce, rice, broccolli, ice cream and fruit snacks. She is so funny when she wants something you are eating. She opens her mouth like a bird and stick out her tongue and makes a "mmmm" sound. She says "mama, dada, woof woof, " really well. She has said a few other things but for the most part she just says Mama ALL THE TIME!!!! Anytime she wants something its always "MAMA!!!" When she climbs up the ladder to get to Claire's bed, which is all the time if the door isn't shut or the ladder put up, she starts calling out mama for me to come and see what she's accomplished. She thinks she is hot stuff when she climbs up there. She also has no regard for the word "no." Maybe its because I say it so much it just goes in one ear and out the other with her:). We have found that she is allergic to scented laundry detergent. She whelps up where the clothes rub her skin and she looks like she has hives but the doctor said not to worry. They eventually go away but look bad in the meantime. She is just sensitive.</div>
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My weight loss is going okay. Last week I gained 0.2 and was most disappointed but I had to consider that school started last week and I was stressed about that. I also exercised A LOT and I think that I gained some muscle. It could have been that we ate tacos the night before and the sodium caused some water weight. I don't know. But this week, I've actually eaten more and exercised less and I lost 3 pounds!!! I'm so excited!! My total weight loss is 18.5 pounds!!! I've been on the program for a little over a month and I couldn't be happier with my results. I can tell a difference in my clothes and jewelry. I just have to keep at it.</div>
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We are heading to family camp this weekend and we are all excited except for Mark. He's not looking forward to the lack of sleep but I think we are going to have a great time. Just getting to hang out as a family and be amongst our church family is going to be a great time for fellowship and fun!! Hope everyone else has a great weekend!! I just hope I can be good while I'm there:)</div>
Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-65463608086819078052012-08-17T09:09:00.000-07:002012-08-17T09:09:50.032-07:00Festivus....and a Virus:(This is festivus week for Lauren. Tomorrow is her 8th birthday!! I can't believe it!! We finally are able to get rid of one booster seat!! Festivus started last Friday with a trip to the restaurant with the grapes with Nana, Aunt Allie, Aunt Heather and Cousin Michael. We all had a good time. Lauren received a gift card to Justice and we promptly went shopping afterwards to get her some cool clothes. Yesterday, I went and picked up Cousins Hannah and Jocelyn for a trip to Chuck E. Cheese and Coldstone Creamery and a sleepover. Good times!! Today we will be heading to Petsmart to pick out a fish because that is the only thing Lauren has asked for this year for her birthday. Tomorrow we are having our family party and the theme is "Brave." We are most excited.<br />
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But, for the virus part, poor Brooke. She woke up early Wednesday morning with a 104 degree temp. Immediately in the bath we went and ibuprofen was given. Later on that morning, I called the nurse line and was told it was a virus and just let it run its course. It definitely is doing that. Her fever goes up and then comes back down, she acts just fine and then is so clingy. Last night was horrible. I worked Wednesday night so I could have Saturday off and only slept for a couple of hours yesterday so I could go and get the cousins. After our festivities, Brooke had started feeling better and didn't want to go to sleep. I was dying. I figured the party girls would keep me up but no, it was the baby. She finally went down about midnight to only wake up screaming around 2:30 with another high temp. I put her in the bed with me and needless to say, no one got a good night's rest. She's acting ok now but I'm sure that that virus will kick start again and the cycle will start all over. I HATE viruses!!!<br />
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Today is weigh in day too. I lost 1.2lbs this week. Not as much as the other weeks but I knew that would slow down. I haven't been able to exercise at all this week and I haven't drank as much water like I know I should've. I'm ok with it. I wore some clothes last night that fit me a lot better and I didn't have rolls hanging out. I made some lowfat foods for me to eat this week but I think I don't need to do that again. I just eat too much of it. I need to do better this coming week and step up the exercise. So far in a month, I've lost 14.4lbs. I'm pretty happy with that!! <br />
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Happy 8th Birthday, Lauren!!! I love you my sweet girl!!Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-43810649664409547682012-08-10T05:51:00.001-07:002012-08-10T05:51:58.611-07:00Weird week but ended on a good note......This has been a weird week. I guess because I worked this past weekend and didn't get much sleep, I feel like I have been playing catch up all week long. Or maybe its because this week hasn't been so nuts. We had VBS last week every night, plus the girls had soccer games and the baby was sick. This was our last week of soccer and the girls' started dance class this week. Whew, I'm glad to just be down to one activity now! <br />
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Diet wise, this week was weird too. I didn't feel as gung ho has I had the past two weeks but it's probably because I'm just tired. I stayed within my points range and did what I was supposed to do although I know I didn't drink enough water or eat enough raw veggies and fruit. I will just have to do better this coming week. So on to the weigh in, drum roll please.......another 3.9 pounds lost to make a total of 13.2 pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have reached a first goal which was to lose 5% of my weight. I'm so excited!! I haven't seen the number that came up on the scale since I was about 5 months pregnant with Brooke!! I have now set another goal, lose 10% of my weight. I think I might be able to reach that one as well. :) Next week, I'm planning on posting my starting picture that I took the first week and I'll take a picture one month out. Maybe we can tell a difference, we'll see. What an awesome way to start the weekend!!!Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-5995352033252329942012-08-03T07:25:00.000-07:002012-08-03T07:25:20.777-07:00Whew, what an Amazing Week...This has been a crazy week. Monday night started our vacation bible school at our church. The theme was "Amazing Wonder Aviation." And may I just say, it has been amazing. I have had the privilege of teaching the preteen class and each night I have had 20+ kids. That is awesome. Most middle schoolers don't even attend VBS. My group rocks!! I have had the best time, albeit I'm exhausted but we are learning about our Amazing and Loving God and these kids are just soaking in all in. My favorite night was Wednesday when we talked about the ABC's of becoming a Christian. My awesome helper and I told the kids about when we asked Jesus into our hearts and it was so awesome getting to tell that to them. I was 12 when I was saved and am so thankful that I serve a loving God!! I hope that these kids get a blessing from this week. We have one more night tonight and then our program is Sunday. I have to go, just have to, even though I'm working this weekend. I can lose a couple hours of sleep to be able to join in worship!!<br />
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Now, today is my second weigh in. This has been a hard week. I've eaten at McDonald's 3x and did well. I've bypassed cake 3x since starting WW, that has been hard:). But I have stuck to my guns and stayed within my points. I bought a digital scale last weekend so now I can know down to the tenth of what I weight so with that being said, I lost another 3.3lbs!!!! So that makes my total 9.3lbs in two weeks!!! I am super stoked!!! I'm so unbelievably excited!!! Almost 10lbs. in two weeks, amazing:).<br />
I haven't been able to exercise like I should this week because of VBS but I will get that back going next week. Hopefully next week I'll make my first goal but I know that the weight loss will slow down some as I go on. I'm not going to get discouraged though. A loss is still a loss even if it's 1/10 of a pound!!!!!! So here's to happy counting!!Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-62073389381331189572012-07-27T08:11:00.000-07:002012-07-27T08:11:10.754-07:00The First Weight In....Last Friday I joined WW online. I downloaded the apps to my phone and set to counting points. This new PointsPlus plan they have now is AWESOME!! Bananas are a free food now, score! It was easy getting back into the swing of things. The one thing that I had to really cut back on was creamer in my coffee...that was traumatic. I love me some creamer but not 10 points worth!! <br />
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I ate out 3 nights this week and was still able to make good choices. We had a birthday party at work for a coworker and there was awesome cake and goodies and I didn't eat a thing!!! I even exercised 3 times this week. That was good as well considering I haven't done that in a good long while. <br />
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Anyways, for the weigh in. I don't have a digital scale but I'm going to get one later on today. I need to know even if I lose 2 tenths of a pound, it's still a loss. So, this week I lost 6 pounds!!!!! I'm so excited!!! I haven't weighed this in over a year, 14 months exactly today:) Happy 14 Month Birthday Brookie!! I'm stoked. This is really going to work for me. Mark has been very encouraging as well as the rest of my family. My coworkers have too and my friends that know I've started have been too. I need as much encouragement as possible!!!<br />
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I'm going to do this. I made it the first week and that was after going to a birthday party with pizza, working night shift, eating out 3 nights, and birthday party at work. I can say no to things I don't need and I can resist temptation. I just have to remember that this weight loss journey is going to take a while, it's not going to come off over night. But, losing 6lbs. this week has helped with my determination. That is a great start and I just need to keep going. I know as the weeks go by I won't lose quite as much each time but even a little bit lost is still a loss!<br />
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Here's to happy counting!!!<br />
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Hope everyone has a great weekend and hopefully next week, success will be great again!!<br />
<br />Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-47880657995725647362012-07-24T07:48:00.001-07:002012-07-24T07:48:57.008-07:00From the Mouths of Babes and then some....This past Thursday after Lauren's soccer game, we went out to eat at our Sir Pizza. While we were eating we got on the topic of diabetes somehow and I was trying to explain to the girls what that was and how someone can develop it, etc. I was trying really hard not to say the word "fat." I don't like to say that word in front of my girls, it is negative in my opinion and I don't want my girls to grow up with self esteem issues like I have. So, in my attempt to explain to them about diabetes, I said that people who are large can develop it and soon as that came out of my mouth, Lauren looks at me and says, "Fat people like you, Mama." <br />
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From the mouths of babes, only the truth. I sat there with my mouth wide open and then replied, "Yes, like me. People like me can get diabetes." At that exact moment, reality hit me right between the eyes and finally saw myself for what I really look like. My daughter, not knowing she was being unkind, brought it home for me. I am obese and I need to do something about it.<br />
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I have struggled with my weight my entire life. As a small child, I was skinny. I remember looking at pictures of myself as a little one and thinking how pretty and cute I used to be. When I began elementary school, that all changed. I began putting on weight. In first grade, I was the heaviest child in the whole class and I remember thinking I was fatter than all of my classmates, even at 6 years old. That was when my need to please and become a perfectionist started, I would make everyone happy so they would like me since I was fat.<br />
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I remember boys picking on my in grade school. My sister's used to pick on me, but I was the annoying little sister:). That continued on into middle school. It was harder then because puberty came really quickly for me and that was something else I had to deal with. In high school, I was always the "friend", never the "girlfriend." I would see all of my girlfriends dating all the older boys and I can remember wishing I were like them and why didn't these boys like me in that way? It was because I was fat. Through my 4 years, I lost about 30 pounds. By the time, I graduated I looked normal but I didn't think I was. I look back now and can't believe I felt that way about myself. I WAS normal.<br />
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Throughout college, I exercised and watched what I ate and tried to live a healthy lifestyle. After Mark and I got married, I was blissfully happy and gained about 15 pounds. I joined Weight Watchers a few months after we were married and lost about 25 pounds. I was the skinniest I had ever been!! I loved it and then we decided to start a family. It's been down hill ever since.<br />
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I have never lost all of my pregnancy weight. I have tried but to no avail. So now, I'm about 80 pounds heavier than what I was before we had kids. Last Thursday night, words spoken from my sweet girl has brought to light the denial that I have been in. I know I'm fat, my clothes prove it. The scales prove it. What I see in the mirror proves it. I just didn't know what to do about it. It was too overwhelming.<br />
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They say that breastfeeding will help you lose weight. I never could. The thought of trying to lose weight and maintain my supply was too daunting and so I chose to keep my milk up instead. So for this past year, I have maintained the same weight. I chose to make milk for my daughter instead of losing weight for myself and I made it a year as seen in my other post. Now, I'm ready to help myself.<br />
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I don't want to look like this anymore. I don't want my girls to have a fat mama. I want them to have a healthy mama. So, this past Friday I joined WW online. It has worked for me in the past and I'm going to make it work for me now. <br />
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As I am typing this, tears are streaming down my face. I am so ready to get this weight off and yet I'm so scared I'm going to fail as I have so many times. I know that with hard work and determination I can do this. Food for me is comfort, I eat when I'm happy, I eat when I'm sad. I have to learn that food is a need and that is it. It's going to be hard to break a habit that I have been doing for thirty three years.<br />
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I'm going to try and post about my progress on here. My first weigh in is this Friday and I'm hoping for a good result. I think if I have a good result it'll give me the motivation to keep going. I also took a couple pictures of myself but I'm not ready to show those just yet. <br />
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I'm ready to focus on me. For right now, we are done having children. I'm ready to get my body back and do something for me. Lauren, Claire, and Brooke need to have a healthy mama and I'm ready to give them that. And, my hubby has also given me another reason to lose weight, we are going to NYC in December, just the two of us!!<br />
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I pray I can do this. I know the Lord helps those who helps themselves and I know that I can do all things through Him that gives me strength. I need to always remember that!!! This is going to be a long process but I know that. I didn't gain it over night and I know that it's not going to come off overnight. I just pray that I don't get discouraged and that I keep my goals in check. <br />
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Here's to getting healthy!!!Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-55130070688585697162012-07-05T11:45:00.000-07:002012-07-05T11:45:09.423-07:00An Ending to a Milk Era....It has come to an end. All of the hard work and determination I had for 12 months has ceased. Brooke drank her last breast milk bottle (her last bottle ever) last night. I thawed out my last bag. It's kind of weird actually. She's had a bottle literally every night for the past 13 months and now we are done. I just hope that we can get her down tonight without a bottle. Thank goodness for the paci and her blankie.:)<br />
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I made it for a whole year. I pumped for an ENTIRE YEAR. Do you know who awesome that makes me feel? To accomplish a goal I set out to do even with some setbacks. I'm so proud of myself. Honestly, I didn't think I would make it. Pumping was a full time job in and of itself but I was determined and doggone it, I did it!!!<br />
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I pumped for the last time on Brooke's actual birthday, May 27, 2012. It was kind of bittersweet knowing that something I had done every day, sometimes multiple times a day was ending. I was happy, don't get me wrong, knowing I didn't have to lug that pump everywhere I went. I think at times I was more attached to the pump then I was Brooke. My "girls" and I had a very intimate relationship and I will have to say I'm glad that that relationship is now over. <br />
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I look back of the last year and think how on this earth did I do it? Juggling all the duties of a new baby, taking care of my 7 year old and her needs, my 4 year old and her needs. Driving here there and everywhere to preschool, elementary school, dance class, church, the grocery store plus doctor visits and just every day trips. All of this while my husband was out of town for the most part, working 18 hour days, leaving in the morning and not coming home until the kids were in bed. I pumped through it all and I'm sure some people think it's not that big of a deal, but it was. This past year was hard for me. For me, going from 2 independent children to 3 kids, one needing everything was hard. I couldn't just pick up and go anytime. My house is constantly cluttered. Laundry is always needing to be done. I don't cook that much because for one, I'm not that good at it and two, I hate cooking. I can't find time to exercise and when I do finally have time, I'm too pooped to even try. I don't have enough hands, I'm completely outnumbered and it is stressful. I admire those mama's who have many kids, who are like Mother Earth and feed their kids wholesome meals and their houses are always spotless and they breast feed and are as skinny as a rail. I wish I were that but I'm not. I have found that I constantly compare myself to those mama's and just set myself up for disappointment so making it a whole year pumping was one of the greatest accomplishments in my whole life.<br />
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So on to an new era, raising an almost 8 year old, a sassy 5 year old and a 1 year old destructo. These girls have my heart in their hands and I love them with every fiber of my being. The hubs won't be out of town too much (crossing my fingers on this one) and hopefully this year I can concentrate on me, getting myself into a much healthier state and losing three pregnancies' worth of weight. <br />
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I feel like its going to be a bumpy ride, I need to make sure to hang on for dear life:)!!<br />
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<br />Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-59164933882582781232012-04-26T13:09:00.000-07:002012-04-26T13:09:07.547-07:00Almost 11 months...Tomorrow, Brooke will be 11 months. This has been the fastest 11 months of my life!! Where has time gone. I guess as I get older, time will continue to fly by way more quickly than I would like it to but I can't stop it. <br />
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I don't know all of her stats but I'm guessing she is weighing about 22 lbs. She is wearing 12 month clothes and size 3 diapers but we as soon as we finish the ones we have now, we'll be moving on to size 4. She is an eating machine!! She loves to eat and loves to feed herself. We are trying to finish up all of the baby food. She will still eat it but I can tell it's not her favorite. We've started whole milk already and she loves it!! I feel like transitioning solely to a sippy cup will be fairly easy. She only takes two bottles a day now. One in the day and one before bed. She's only napping once a day mostly sometimes we can sneak in a second, depends on how busy the day has been. She finally crawling on all fours. She started doing that at 10 months and she has begun cruising around. I feel like she'll be walking by the time she's one. She is still sleeping well. Thank the good Lord above, all of my children have been great sleepers!! Brooke still loves her pink blanket that her Mawmaw crocheted for her and still takes a paci although she's not obsessed with it. She's saying of the consonant sounds and can say the words "clap, Mama, dada, caire(Claire), cat, lala(Lauren)." She likes to point and make a high pitch noise. She is so sweet all the time!! Love, love, love her!!<br />
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That's pretty much it about sweet girl. I'll have to post another time about my 10 year anniversary and our new addition, Charlie!Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-11105090363365045572012-03-29T07:20:00.002-07:002012-03-29T07:38:08.968-07:00Where Have You Been?It's been almost 4 months since I last blogged. That is a long time. Everyday life has seemed to completely take over so I haven't really had the opportunity or yet even the time to blog. <div><br /></div><div>This winter, if we can even call it that, was riddled with sickness here. I felt like I took Brooke to the doctor every week for a month starting the last week in January. We had a stomach bug, viral infections, croup, strep throat, the crud...you name it. I was so tired of my children being sick I just prayed for spring and now it's here!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>Lauren and Claire are doing awesome. Lauren is doing really well in school. She is growing up way too fast and by that I mean, I'm not liking the 13 year old attitude that sometimes springs out of my 7 1/2 year old's mouth. We are currently working on that, please say a prayer for me:). Claire turned 5 in March and had two birthday parties this year, both of which were a smashing success. She was sooo ready to turn 5 and now she is ready to turn 9. For some reason she is just ready to grow up (much to her mother's chagrin.) We had the dreadful 5 year checkup as well, this one I had been dreading as much as she was. It went well, she didn't kick the nurse while she was administering her shots. However, there was a lot of screaming and crying. But, overall, it was good and she got a new outfit for her Hello Kitty and ice cream. </div><div><br /></div><div>Brooke is growing by leaps and bounds. She turned 10 months on Tuesday and that child within the last couple of weeks has begun to pull up, talk and start cruising. Ugh, not ready for any of that!! Although, I will have to say she is not growing up quite as fast as her middle big sister. Claire was walking at 10 months. She is a precious baby always so sweet. She army crawls and is fast!! She is only taking 3 sometimes 2 bottles a day now, she prefers to eat real food. Girl can scarf down 4 chicken nuggets in a heartbeat. We have to buy 3 happy meals now instead of 2:). I'm so excited, only 4 more weeks of pumping and then we get to start whole milk!!! This cow is ready to stop!! I'm so proud of myself for hanging in there but pumping for this long has been a struggle. I'm so ready to not be attached to that pump!!!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>We are busy right now with Easter activities at school and church. I'm working an extra day now and Mark is out of town A LOT. The Magic McCain's are hanging in there!!!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-6751276945067586562012-01-18T16:42:00.001-08:002012-01-18T16:53:32.087-08:00Math...ughThe class I despised the most going through school was math. I disliked it from the get go. For some reason, numbers just don't mesh well in my head. And word problems, oh my lord, I think I would rather get shot in the foot then to try and figure out a word problem. To this day, I still count with my fingers and need a calculator to do long division. Not a math person.<div><br /></div><div>Lauren, I'm afraid, as developed my dislike for math as well. The past two afternoons she has come home with addition and subtraction facts and it is like pulling eye teeth to get this child to finish. Yesterday, there was nothing but tears and drama which ended up with her not being able to watch tv and going to bed early. Today, it was again, tears and drama, with her mouth being washed out with soap for being sassy and smart-mouthed (sorry for those who don't believe in that kind of punishment, I DO NOT TOLERATE sassiness at all!!!!) I am beginning to dread homework and I know its only going to get worse!!</div><div><br /></div><div>I feel like I need to go back to elementary school just so I can learn math all over again and have more patience with her. Lauren is so tenderhearted and takes everything to heart. She just gets overwhelmed and feels like she can't do it and that is exactly how I was. I try so hard to not get frustrated with her but the constant whining and crying and DRAMA is hard to look past. (I know, its only going to get worse and I have 3 daughters!!) </div><div><br /></div><div>Doing this little bit of math with her reaffirms my dislike for the subject, almost a hatred for it and I just wish that I could let someone else do that homework with her but since the hubs doesn't always get home at a timely manner, it falls on my shoulders. Today needs to be the last day I let my frustrations come out and I lose my patience. I need to be more compassionate with my girl and try to teach her. </div><div><br /></div><div>I can't wait until we get into multiplication fact and fractions......;)</div>Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-27482055300129238412011-12-08T08:35:00.000-08:002011-12-08T09:05:11.579-08:00I've been itching to tell.....In my last post, I eluded to some things that were going on here at the Magic McCain's and that I would post about it later, so here it is.<div><br /></div><div>Back in the beginning of October one morning I was getting ready to fix Lauren's hair for school. I looked down at her scalp and saw two tiny bugs. I had to do a double take and then immediately my heart dropped. One of my worst fears had come true. We had been invaded by the LICE!!!!! I immediately stopped, told Mark, called the school and called my mom. Needless to say I panicked, starting checking Claire's hair, drilling Lauren if her head had been itching, had anyone in her class had it, etc. I sent Mark to the wally world and he dropped about $50 in lice treatment and we started our decontamination journey. We all were treated except for Brooke and I spent the whole day picking nits. I felt like a monkey picking out bugs like you see on the National Geographic Channel:). </div><div><br /></div><div>Later that night, I called my best friend to get Lauren's hair cut. We had put so much treatment on her hair that I couldn't comb through her ends. Lauren's hair was almost to her waist. (Now, can you understand my nightmare? Claire's hair was about the same length.) We had about 4 inches cut and while we were cutting, dog if we didn't find another live one. So I immediately got on the phone with our pediatrician's office because obviously the other stuff wasn't working and they suggested using mayonnaise, olive oil and cetaphil as treatment. So that night, Lauren went to bed with a head full of mayo. That is the best treatment by the way.</div><div><br /></div><div>While all this was going on, I sprayed her bed, washed all of her sheets, vacuumed the carpets, etc. The only thing I didn't do was bag up her toys because she didn't really play with them.</div><div><br /></div><div>I felt like we had done everything we could to get rid of the nasty buggers. So the days went by, we checked her head and kept an eye on things. About two weeks later, I was doing a periodic check and noticed she had more nits then she should. I told her we would be treating her hair that night. We had a very busy day that day, so by the time we got home it was about 11pm. We decided to wait to treat her hair. We got them ready for bed and I had gone to the bathroom to get myself ready and was just checking out my hair. Now, let me say, I have dandruff and itchy scalp so I see little white flakes in my hair all the time. I looked and saw something that wasn't normal and tried to pull it off my hair and it didn't come off. I HAD THE LICE!!!!!!!!!!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>I got so mad!!! I rushed and got the leftover hair treatment and put it in my hair, woke Claire up and checked her head and sure enough, there were live ones on her head. So that night, they went to bed with mayo in their hair and I stayed up until 5 the next morning washing and drying all the bed linens.</div><div><br /></div><div>This time we took no chances. We bagged everything, and I mean everything in their rooms and Mark brought home the work trailer and we put everything in there. We deep cleaned both of their rooms, bought new area rugs for their rooms, bought new pillows, deep cleaned our bedroom, you get the drift. My house got a full cleaning it hasn't seen since before I was pregnant with Brooke last year!!</div><div><br /></div><div>This was a perfect opportunity, as well, to put Brooke in her crib and to move Claire into Lauren's room on the top bunk.</div><div><br /></div><div>I will have to say I hate the fact that we had the lice again and this time all 3 of us girls got it but I now know you have to stay diligent with that stuff and not be lazy at all. I can safely say that at this moment we are now lice free and I can tell you I am an expert at lice decontamination!!!! We have tried so many remedies and I know what works and what doesn't. </div><div><br /></div><div>What I hated the most about this experience was how it made me feel. I had lice in middle school and felt so ashamed and dirty. Those feelings came right back. I tried not to let that happen to my girls but I will say during this time of cleaning, I almost lost it. Between constantly cleaning, treating, de-nitting, pumping, feeding a baby, driving back and forth to numerous places, pumping, blowdrying, washing clothes, hormone shifts, pumping, I felt like I was about to lose it. I didn't though, thank the Lord. It was during this time that I realized that I don't need to worry about these things, they happen all the time and that I'm not a bad parent or a dirty parent. I can only do so much and that's all I can do. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm praying, PRAYING, that we don't get this again, however, being a mom of three girls who I know will have long hair for years to come, its inevitable. At least now, I'll be ready to kill the nasty things!!!!!</div>Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-87080660649902177362011-11-09T10:10:00.000-08:002011-11-09T10:48:48.083-08:00Whew....that time flew by fast....<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG8dQDkrLB9Nf-Tm5t1776Iezd8AtBekxlW-W8w7iw08kglGWvusAS4hNp5qZhY9e7eGeE9noHE5RLJ7i-hx9L_lkJlV3SAV_qRsB0C3T66kFmid6M-WKfJMvnwtYsJvpS8AenmeXVwiA/s1600/IMG_0518.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><br /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxojvGX-iFQxhGQLAhpcsTRYgU-oOPJtU0ofvVJCawle9lBLAFGzoH4MwMzml7PYUUnXdPnp2ve6vbhbvqyBd5Y-Zv4hJRFbaBjDuxmiSyX8gRN0fJyJG1JAlinYpB_KMuvte-EJus8OY/s1600/DSC03978.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><br /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikz0DN2vVVbbkis6vtXK-K_OhzvHyfHUxOyPZcbg1vwcH3FEKq8JovHUCDJw3RzOguoW0HzdDM00RGOcQjy6z0RRuVY9rDQH8fTbqg-txeUzGtoTRVtBtKCH_sfGtHXvoFTaWUjyPYA8c/s1600/DSC03946.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><br /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgakM1jh_nGaRYBppYAL2pitnt3vSUTOMbqIw9jpnn6WI0gtABxit-XZmr-YehZtnNFAZqPNTXwHefab2rLMcNjFKYRA4YXQJQ9x6qi3wQ5CvuYPygR80BxRZtw04rqs3pSvkA7IV-EHzc/s1600/IMG_0465.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><br /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Where in the world did October go? I think that was the fastest month ever!! We were a little busy around here at the Magic McCain's. We went to watch some NC State football, rode some rides at the State Fair, visited the local pumpkin patch, celebrated my birthday, and then went trick or treating for Halloween. Busy!! We had some other stuff going on to but I will save that for another post. I've enjoyed seeing the leaves change colors and the beautiful fall sky. Now we are settling in for what seems to be a fast November....so with that said, here are some pictures of our October:).</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbsMkIZsd10cEjUrisdCvlaNpTs7XtbeVYjT-xBwitkPfwtpBELTY19oAg625SxZwJhyphenhyphenJA_X25FvvKjcVKmoAeBVrSds5VZew_ZcnCTscWR5jpFLUG46kKuGZbEnHDDMiF4apewT3bcnY/s1600/IMG_0456.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4QExb4fEakPPU99QUNSNWy0mRgpsUKmu0aw0tfUSzRtFVZCwC9Vx_qPtiDCVm7xizT2OYsV3jGwmFCXyRPs0-SUSDn3T1vlV9jfJeB5orTVMSGPjBrHChwoksUwKvXAub1-3_cew99Kk/s1600/DSC03931.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4QExb4fEakPPU99QUNSNWy0mRgpsUKmu0aw0tfUSzRtFVZCwC9Vx_qPtiDCVm7xizT2OYsV3jGwmFCXyRPs0-SUSDn3T1vlV9jfJeB5orTVMSGPjBrHChwoksUwKvXAub1-3_cew99Kk/s320/DSC03931.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673063548986473730" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXlK6wPB4Xh6NXx9b5tLRZJGL57r8-1CG240BMGO-bG7vnlyMqf0RzXpA5I6m-oVMD1VItw_QdTj5urg5RCbHu0oQv9aP_mRngtWhgUmqvupWsIRe-eqshyJE_0VA6an1bdXKbgsuE5QQ/s1600/DSC03919.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXlK6wPB4Xh6NXx9b5tLRZJGL57r8-1CG240BMGO-bG7vnlyMqf0RzXpA5I6m-oVMD1VItw_QdTj5urg5RCbHu0oQv9aP_mRngtWhgUmqvupWsIRe-eqshyJE_0VA6an1bdXKbgsuE5QQ/s320/DSC03919.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673063528297261602" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT1Fjc8rvsrbbDBoNYO_jhhyphenhyphen_YC5DsOnOUzwF02tVl79vXFxxyVNJ37Xbs8aTOb0iXOdvcamL6r7K6dhusfFHo69n9kDCHojE97dMvaEP1xEwsw_-omzRG-ZiPor316x3SnSqoTUKORiI/s1600/DSC03917.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT1Fjc8rvsrbbDBoNYO_jhhyphenhyphen_YC5DsOnOUzwF02tVl79vXFxxyVNJ37Xbs8aTOb0iXOdvcamL6r7K6dhusfFHo69n9kDCHojE97dMvaEP1xEwsw_-omzRG-ZiPor316x3SnSqoTUKORiI/s320/DSC03917.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673063523454219378" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzvF5tsMpQyZ1ypjgDluLInvaSEpCRAHqu0CqObv07h3UzhgdGCrCPW3Sl8rfyI8ocqVs2uaqtG0dykOHmG5ZrucH3dVrosXCh6mf3qNOpTXbhm-sJ3JkLkSKv8mUanOHRKTa9R8Lg1eo/s1600/DSC03915.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzvF5tsMpQyZ1ypjgDluLInvaSEpCRAHqu0CqObv07h3UzhgdGCrCPW3Sl8rfyI8ocqVs2uaqtG0dykOHmG5ZrucH3dVrosXCh6mf3qNOpTXbhm-sJ3JkLkSKv8mUanOHRKTa9R8Lg1eo/s320/DSC03915.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673063519807196450" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgakM1jh_nGaRYBppYAL2pitnt3vSUTOMbqIw9jpnn6WI0gtABxit-XZmr-YehZtnNFAZqPNTXwHefab2rLMcNjFKYRA4YXQJQ9x6qi3wQ5CvuYPygR80BxRZtw04rqs3pSvkA7IV-EHzc/s320/IMG_0465.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673065884538400754" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 238px; height: 320px; " /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000ee;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000ee;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH9iKflQWNHAW5dUBBq4c2Oltf8bNTr_83Fuj9EwR0HZmEgu1B_WPx2gVrE78R6EiMWJ3kztnhG3UjUYblA50e1C5F0K5MpHatRG-GpYFsaUVQNjE-3lG7W0JNQqQ0Jw8BhLSZ338chXQ/s320/IMG_0470.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673065904193815282" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 238px; height: 320px; " /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiomLg6q5JwRcVWWVPWVjAhsi728I_Ic455RJYZsTUCe1YgotFaJGgWEuLiuXQUYLnCrtm0YNIQjNQIxSrTRWsADNbzP-OM5nYJiicD2l7aF0Dx4GekTkUlVucceyZ0mKGMtL0CsfSP1qU/s320/IMG_0463.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673065881773608114" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 238px; height: 320px; " /></span><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbsMkIZsd10cEjUrisdCvlaNpTs7XtbeVYjT-xBwitkPfwtpBELTY19oAg625SxZwJhyphenhyphenJA_X25FvvKjcVKmoAeBVrSds5VZew_ZcnCTscWR5jpFLUG46kKuGZbEnHDDMiF4apewT3bcnY/s320/IMG_0456.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673063554717779314" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 238px; height: 320px; " /></span><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000ee;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikz0DN2vVVbbkis6vtXK-K_OhzvHyfHUxOyPZcbg1vwcH3FEKq8JovHUCDJw3RzOguoW0HzdDM00RGOcQjy6z0RRuVY9rDQH8fTbqg-txeUzGtoTRVtBtKCH_sfGtHXvoFTaWUjyPYA8c/s320/DSC03946.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673065917417273730" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiODq3d82I_ZeTVr4FbhGqxbSITvZaPigSMSATjJB5fLN8Kf5GI2Ct9U9MJZmKFHvfTxH320AF40aw-sMEbB-zlk_oYva9XZ5O9q_e7L1mRJq-vhFAAIl4y3YuJLRf4DQ6YfnI78UFXZck/s320/DSC03943.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673065911730190706" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /></span></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaPU6As5-xML7fjPe4ml-qwr8mNRL4JD9SCQPmtMCpKgZHZQsEvn8O670ynr1G2vDTqTKYVud7RHq3vPd4geCFq3Rs3P300-4uODDMupctz0JMCvJ26DbAhQoGgZcjx4kWI3t3f4zHCAY/s320/DSC03949.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673068148378786706" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px; " /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG8dQDkrLB9Nf-Tm5t1776Iezd8AtBekxlW-W8w7iw08kglGWvusAS4hNp5qZhY9e7eGeE9noHE5RLJ7i-hx9L_lkJlV3SAV_qRsB0C3T66kFmid6M-WKfJMvnwtYsJvpS8AenmeXVwiA/s320/IMG_0518.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673068183998106690" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 238px; height: 320px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFIAh87EFtyCMXIoLzUsQGejLICL1Du9FAEuOxrFwVEJ5KzRZ7xBuAWSaTjjxbXD3TnQNrd-B99O8z03Y2l1qQSPBUEQ4w_7TF4-xJm4aEp3q1CmjGzedsw9s9vsmUdximQpwW2BEwdw0/s320/DSC03980.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673068172824222994" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWyoJxC6tshEX6983G0DO7e_Hv8mlsGsyMiYPL7GnvCGRvJzZJ7QAfLrRK-T53RVdWF_P8QuCYsAZh35EYeBBf8p7MUvtViv9D-v3LaJK3-hPUXHAdHVqUwgCoJoJmbizUZmjPEA6cPt0/s320/DSC03979.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673068168902885650" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px; " /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxojvGX-iFQxhGQLAhpcsTRYgU-oOPJtU0ofvVJCawle9lBLAFGzoH4MwMzml7PYUUnXdPnp2ve6vbhbvqyBd5Y-Zv4hJRFbaBjDuxmiSyX8gRN0fJyJG1JAlinYpB_KMuvte-EJus8OY/s320/DSC03978.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673068151314728242" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div>P.S. There are no pics of my birthday even though it was mentioned. Didn't really do anything spectacular except spend time with my family....that was enough:)!</div><div><br /></div><br /></div>Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-78581400190331202082011-10-18T12:23:00.000-07:002011-10-18T12:36:47.341-07:00Something unexpected....I had to go to the doctor this morning. I had to have a breast exam. For those that don't know and those that do, just ignore, I exclusively pump to feed Brooke. I pump 4x a day and feel just like a dairy cow. This past Thursday night, I was doing my last pumping and I looked down and saw nothing but pure blood coming into the bottle on my right side. This side has given me issues from day one! I freaked out just a tiny bit. I have had this happen before but never to this extent. It was gross! However, my right breast had been hurting all day on Thursday and when I pumped that last time, it felt so much better and then I look down and see RED.....ugh! <div><br /></div><div>Well, all day Friday and all day Saturday no blood in the milk when I pumped. I had to work this past weekend and I was pumping Saturday night and saw more blood. Pumped again a few hours later and saw more. Not cool... I went and talked with the ER doc and she recommended I go see my doctor, so that is what I did.</div><div><br /></div><div>He did a breast exam and couldn't find anything. He called the breast center and spoke with a radiologist and they seemed to think everything was fine but I could have an ultrasound if it would give me peace of mind. I didn't schedule one. </div><div><br /></div><div>My doctor seems to think that I may have a benign papilloma inside a milk duct that is causing the bleeding. He told me to keep a watch on it and if it should continuously happen to give him a call back and they would schedule me an ultrasound.</div><div><br /></div><div>To be honest, I was a little scared because I know that if you have blood coming out that can be a sign of cancer. My doctor wanted to rule that out and he did!! I'm just going to keep an eye on things. If Brooke was nursing, I wouldn't have even known I was bleeding unless she spit it up. I haven't had anymore bleeding from that breast since 1am Sunday morning but I'm sure that it will happen again. At least now, I have an idea of what is causing it!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-70741723870270641472011-09-21T10:08:00.001-07:002011-09-21T10:39:21.465-07:00Thankful for Nieces and Nephews....My niece, Cambridge, was a year old when Mark and I started dating. She was like my baby sister. She stayed at our neighbors while my sister worked and when I got home from school, I would go and get her and she would stay with us until my sis could get her. I loved it!! She was my little sidekick. Mark and I used to babysit her all the time. When my nephew, Austin, came along we did the exact same thing. After we got married and moved into our house, we immediately baby proofed because of Austin. And now, almost 10 years later the same babyproofing is still up;). <div><br /></div><div>Because Mark and I were so involved with them, I think it helped us with parenting our own children. I don't feel like we were "typical" first time parents because we already had enough practice with our nieces and nephews. We were pretty laid back about many things. And I'm so thankful for that. I'm so thankful that my sisters trusted me enough to let me watch their kids because by them doing that, I was a better mommy to my own children. I don't get too worked up over stuff and we just have a very laid back parenting style. Now, we make our kids mind and we do have some what a schedule but we for the most part just go with the flow and you know, I'm okay with that. </div><div><br /></div><div>So thank you to my sister's for letting me have your kids. And for all those aunts and uncles that don't have your own kids yet, get your nieces and nephews. Take care of them for a while because in the end, that practice is going to help you with your own children. Plus, with nieces and nephews, you can give them back to their parents:)!!!!!</div>Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-88593401795010739772011-09-09T08:26:00.000-07:002011-09-09T08:38:17.700-07:00The Last First Day...Tuesday, Claire had her last first day of preschool. That just doesn't seem possible. I remember taking her the very first day of preschool and remember telling her teachers that we were working on potty training and now she's gearing up for kindergarten!! She was so excited to finally be going to school like Lauren. She was up early and picked out one of her most favorite outfits to wear!! She walked right in to school and just waved good-bye. I was okay this time. I know next year when I walk her on that first day, I will be a big ole fat mess of tears!! Gotta enjoy this last year!!<div><br /></div><div>Lauren is still doing great in school. We normally have a few problems the first couple of weeks getting adjusted to the routine of going back but this year, we haven't had any problems whatsoever!!! I'm ecstatic!! She has had great behavior and really seems to be enjoying her class. Right now, her class is learning all about embryos, incubation and humidity, they have baby chicks growing!! She is also going to sign up for the art club and hopefully will make it in. The art teacher gets to choose the students so we are keeping our fingers crossed. I asked Lauren why did she want to be in the art club and her reply was, "Because I'm good at art." Gotta love the confidence!!</div><div><br /></div><div>Brooke is still good, growing like a weed. She did a real laugh for the first time on Wednesday night. I loved it!! She is getting such a personality and becoming more social. In a couple of weeks we get to start rice cereal. That should be fun!!</div><div><br /></div><div>The big girls are having a sleepover with their Mawmaw tonight. They are both so excited. They haven't done that in a while. Mark and I are going to have a date night with Brooke. Should be fun for all!!</div><div><br /></div><div>Happy Friday everyone!!</div><div><br /></div><div>ps..I'll have pics of Claire on her first day soon!</div>Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-23003948570852124602011-08-31T08:59:00.000-07:002011-08-31T09:15:11.802-07:00Preschool and poop....My most favorite time of year is right around the corner and I am most excited!!! I LOVE FALL!! I can tell the seasons are getting ready to change. The sky to me seems more blue and you can just feel it in the air! I love fall!! Plus, my birthday is in October so that is another reason;).<div>
<br /></div><div>Today we went to meet with Claire's preschool teachers. This is her last year of preschool. Wow, that doesn't seem real. Anyways, I think she is going to have a great year. Two of her best friends will be back and she has another good buddy that is joining the crowd this year!! I think I'm more excited about that than Claire! Brooke just sat in her daddy's lap, taking it all in. In a couple of years, Brooke will be heading off to preschool....I'm not even going to go there.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Speaking of Brooke, let me just tell you about this baby. She is doing great, sleeping completely through the night, starting to get into a routine. But, she doesn't poop. Hardly ever. This past time she went 10 days without pooping. I have talked with our pediatrician about this and he doesn't seem too concerned. She is solely a breast milk baby so I know that she is completely digests all of that. She had been going once a week on Saturdays, and then it moved to Tuesdays and now who knows. I finally called the nurse and she gave us some pointers to try,which included giving diluted apple juice, to try and get things moving. Brooke didn't seem to care for that too much but it did the trick;). But you know, to not have pooped for 10 days, she has been the most content and happy baby ever!! I love her, stopped up and all!!!</div>Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-58376944473963795472011-08-25T06:10:00.001-07:002011-08-25T06:42:04.420-07:00A whole bunch of stuff...<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcvt9XzkmcZ65TCGhD73iktNzR3f05HtyMTALiCwwWE9UTUH5CjaJUZnQfMvgjiNFjwouylkF8RS1L_fc3jpqWJ2fG-kDL9MwHf08t5ZC45tl4o7RmyswqxsnnWs6pJTWJUoWOFvMCTYs/s1600/0006.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkb4i07UZh4e0kwsLwdooeFgpQE7p5UQwF6z9yJqAemSgVAeQwENm3HGU2oXMGiQ6KYnumJntWQY0eupTBPfLzs_kuByd_ImowhvHgHh8SF-6FXYG-tHl9_hcCXb2YfFG-gJg-VabmY4c/s1600/0062.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaPTcGiO4XeaB_Ffsy45OmtyqOMaLQKW1j5_aKW0Zdila7teoaAchbBupjymp8uzZbOXzbBMtjhpO20MW_KTvkamVrE7UAJTTkx2vZ70EDevnD6gOU_dzn-Mm904EC47bIxgpYLrEbiz8/s1600/319164_2281742212661_1522000693_32462975_6030707_n.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaPTcGiO4XeaB_Ffsy45OmtyqOMaLQKW1j5_aKW0Zdila7teoaAchbBupjymp8uzZbOXzbBMtjhpO20MW_KTvkamVrE7UAJTTkx2vZ70EDevnD6gOU_dzn-Mm904EC47bIxgpYLrEbiz8/s320/319164_2281742212661_1522000693_32462975_6030707_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644785610137247794" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Lauren on her first day of 2nd grade</i></div>Today is the first day of school here at the Magic McCain's. Lauren is a big 2nd grader. Gosh, I can't believe it. She went to bed a little teary eyed last night, worrying about failing and getting in trouble with her dad, and school hasn't even started. She is growing up way too fast for me. She is getting out of that little girl stage and I can't stand it. She looked so grown up this morning with her pretty new outfit and ears pierced. <div>
<br /></div><div>I had the girls pictures done this week. Can I just say awesome!!! Lauren and Claire did great and so did Brookie!! She was all slobber and tongue showing for most of the pics because she was "talking" but we got tons of smiles from her too!! She is 3 months old....whew, that flew by!</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkb4i07UZh4e0kwsLwdooeFgpQE7p5UQwF6z9yJqAemSgVAeQwENm3HGU2oXMGiQ6KYnumJntWQY0eupTBPfLzs_kuByd_ImowhvHgHh8SF-6FXYG-tHl9_hcCXb2YfFG-gJg-VabmY4c/s320/0062.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644785774819084946" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 210px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcvt9XzkmcZ65TCGhD73iktNzR3f05HtyMTALiCwwWE9UTUH5CjaJUZnQfMvgjiNFjwouylkF8RS1L_fc3jpqWJ2fG-kDL9MwHf08t5ZC45tl4o7RmyswqxsnnWs6pJTWJUoWOFvMCTYs/s320/0006.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644786398853473346" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">
<br /></span></span></div><div>I posted this on fb but I'm going to elaborate on here a little more. It was Tuesday when I had the girls pics done. I worked this past weekend for the first time since Brooke was born. Now for those of you who know me, Tuesdays are usually my recoup days. I'm not good for much of anything on that day cause I'm trying to play catch up. Well, I only got a couple of hours sleep on Monday. I woke up on Tuesday at 11am (and yes, all 3 of my children slept that late!!). Our appointment was at 1:10pm. Needless to say I started in high gear. Had to iron all of their clothes, pump, get everything together, get the girls ready, feed the baby and take a shower. Thank goodness I had my Lauren. She and Claire got their own clothes on while I gave Brooke a bath and then Lauren fed Brooke while I took a shower. I did not fix my hair or put on good makeup. Mama's can get away with that sometimes;). Then we went and picked up my niece, Cambridge, so she could help me out. We made it on time for the pics, praise the Lord!! Well, after the pics were done, we ate at the best ice cream place and we all did a little shopping. While helping Cambridge decide about some clothes, there was a lady in the dressing room with her two daughters, who were about 13 and 15. They were getting school clothes. This lady turns to me and says, "Excuse me, but I think you are so beautiful. You should be a model, you are so pretty." I'm sure my jaw dropped 15 feet! I had to ask her if she was talking about me and she said yes! I touched her on the shoulder and said thank you and that she had made my day. Now, let me tell you I was looking some kind of rough. My hair was crazy frizzy, my clothes looked bad and no makeup. That lady made me feel so good!!! It's been a long time since I had someone other than family tell me that and you know, it really made this tired, fat, losing hair, face breaking out, stressed a little mama feel really special! Maybe I still have it....</div>Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-30104053933300251312011-08-18T19:26:00.000-07:002011-08-18T19:40:30.281-07:00It's about that time....Tomorrow my sweet girl will be 12 weeks old and that means it's time for me to head back to work. My lovely hiatus is over. I go back to work this weekend. I'm sad but at the same time looking forward to it. I'm ready for some adult conversation and some stimulation to my brain! I went in today for a little while just to get reacquainted with our computer system and workflow. I also needed to have my passwords reset so that I could log on to the computer so I could work. I felt like a fish out of water. I think I'll be okay though. It all started coming back to me after a few minutes. I just hope I don't have anything weird happen because then I'll definitely be up the creek. This mommy brain just doesn't work as well as it use too. It was good to see all of my coworkers today. I think they have missed me;).<div>
<br /></div><div>Please keep me in your prayers and Mark as well. He is going to have to tackle all 3 girls on his own this weekend and he hasn't had to do that yet. I know that he'll be fine.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Also, my precious girl turned 7 today. Lauren has had the best birthday this time around, or at least that is what she has been telling me. She got her ears pierced last week, had two parties on Saturday (a friend party and then the family party), went to Wet-n-Wild water park, went swimming with a good friend, then slumbered in the most beautiful place in the world with her sister and Aunt Allie. She definitely has had a good 7th birthday. Happy Birthday, Lauren!!!!!</div>Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-37224189271378021462011-07-27T06:02:00.000-07:002011-07-27T16:44:25.222-07:00It's Been A While....Wow, it's been a while since I've posted. We've been busy here at the Magic McCain's. We just got back from the beach this past Sunday. We went to Kill Devil Hills/Kitty Hawk for a week. We had a great time!! A real vacation. We went to bed late, slept late, stayed in our jammies most of the day, went to the beach late and ate, ate, ate!! It was awesome! I had some extra hands as well to help me with my girls. We brought our niece, Cambridge, this year with us to help with Brooke (and with the big girls.) She was awesome! Anything I asked her to do, she did!! I want her to come live with us!!<div><br /></div><div>Brooke did really well in her new surroundings. We put her in a pack n play for bedtime with her snuggle nest and she slept just like she does at home. At the beginning of the week, she looked so small in the pack n play but by the end of the week we were questioning was she still going to fit in the bassinet. She had a growth spurt while we were gone!</div><div><br /></div><div>Summer is definitely flying by way too fast and in just a few weeks I'll be done with maternity leave. I'll be back to working every other weekend night shift. Hopefully by that time, Brooke will be sleeping through the night. Mark doesn't do well without sleep (neither do I but that's neither here nor there.) </div><div><br /></div><div>Brooke is 2 months old today and I just can't believe it. She is smiling and cooing and trying to make a laughing sound. It sounds more like she is sucking in air. She definitely has a mind of her own, she lets you know when she isn't happy. She has a high pitched squeal that comes out when we don't move fast enough for her, meaning feeding her, picking her up. She is wearing size 3-6 months, still a few 0-3 if they are two pieces. She wears a size 1 huggies diaper but not in the pampers baby dry (those are way too little) so she is in between a size 1 and size 2 diaper. She still has blue eyes but they haven't gotten any lighter and she hasn't lost any of her hair!! We had the baby acne that started at 4 weeks but it only last about two weeks. For the most part she is sleeping through the night. I started putting her on her tummy (I know, I know, bad mama) and she slept through the night both times. She'll nurse on occasion if I'm feeling up to the challenge but she still takes her bottles like a champ. She's up to about 5 ounces each feeding and I still feel like a dairy farm! I need to sell some of my milk, or so my husband says.</div><div><br /></div><div>Claire is doing great, just being Claire. She's been going to a preschool program sponsered by Quaker Lake and having a great time. She's enjoyed being at home this summer and slumbering with her sister (meaning staying the night in Lauren's room. She needs to get used to that, she'll probably be moving in there before too long.) She likes to carry around a pad and pencil so she can write her "lists." She is so precious.</div><div><br /></div><div>Lauren is definitely enjoying her summer. Staying up way late and sleeping way late. She is her mother's daughter. We had great news today! She had her yearly eye doctor's appointment and our optometrist says she is ready for contacts!! What good news! She has been begging for contacts for 6 months. She looks adorable in her glasses but I understand the want to not wear them anymore. So her trial pair will be here in about a week and then she'll go for a fitting and be taught how to put them in. I'm so excited for her!!</div><div><br /></div><div>Our next adventure will be to plan for Lauren's 7th birthday. She wants a friend pool party, a family party, and then a visit to the local water park. I'm gung ho about the first two, not so much about the latter. I worked at said water park while I was in college and I personally am not a fan. But, being that is the only thing she has asked for for her birthday, I'm going to have to bite the bullet and take her. She also is going to be getting her ears pierced this birthday. This 7th birthday is going to be monumental!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's to a busy end of July and crazy busy August!!</div>Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-428475647171895267.post-43270181683319810082011-07-12T09:37:00.000-07:002011-07-12T09:53:55.658-07:00Our Benny<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_NnWRQjxMNwBVK_fGxPmqQtRAfz-ooDo1KCyeRADkw-N9B6Dh2c5TtWVuHGvKfoKnnFAtCdh9J0ZX3pg6N-Y05pK_c6qm1ON3XKleK0BTrWUMSk5uR_ryFedGgxFHNPrN6Yn8LhJCmJw/s1600/DSC03420.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_NnWRQjxMNwBVK_fGxPmqQtRAfz-ooDo1KCyeRADkw-N9B6Dh2c5TtWVuHGvKfoKnnFAtCdh9J0ZX3pg6N-Y05pK_c6qm1ON3XKleK0BTrWUMSk5uR_ryFedGgxFHNPrN6Yn8LhJCmJw/s320/DSC03420.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628509497292364034" /></a>(This was a picture I had taken when we first brought Benny home. He had grown quite a bit before he died.)<div><br />I haven't posted in a while, been a wee bit preoccupied:) We are doing okay here at the Magic McCain's. We lost our sweet puppy this past weekend. We were at a friend's birthday party and he was hit by a car. We found him on our way home. A good Samaritan called and left us a message about sweet Benny. I called him back, it was a young man and he told me he had moved Benny from the road. I cried and told him thanks for caring for our dog. I have really taken this hard. I don't know if its a little postpartum kicking in (I developed PPD when Claire was 6 weeks old, and Brooke will be 7 weeks old on Friday.) I cried all weekend and felt forlorn all day yesterday. The girls took it okay, I'm not sure they realize the finality of his death. Claire really wasn't upset, in fact she just said we could get a new dog (she had a love/hate relationship with Benny, he liked to bite her dress tails). Lauren cried and had a little drama fit but other than that she has seemed okay. She may understand death, she knows about Heaven and maybe she does realize the finality of it all. Sometimes, I think, that I don't realize her comprehension and understanding of events in life. She probably understands just fine and is okay know thing Benny is in Heaven and is okay and one day we'll get to see him again. I, for one, miss looking out my kitchen window and seeing him playing with the torn up bouncy balls or throwing his rope around. I really loved him:( Mark reminds me, "Val, he was just a dog," but he was more than that. I guess this time around, since we picked him out and brought him home to us, I just knew that he would grow up with our girls and become a loving dog. I could look years down the road and see him being the protector of our girls, watching them play, I could see him doing the rounds with Mark. Just being our dog. I will definitely miss him, even him tearing down my clothes off the clothesline:)<div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578194579315353458noreply@blogger.com1