Catching Up is Hard to Do...

Wow, what a crazy life I lead!  It seems to never end here at the house of Surdukowski.  We're enjoying the warmer weather, and looking forward to all the many things we'll get to do this summer.  We have a big vacation planned in June to go to Florida.  I've never been other than to Disney World for a band trip, but Nick has been there numerous times for family functions. 

The Colorado cousins are all coming in June as well, so we'll get to spend a few days with them before they head back home.  It'll be fun to have the Smith cousins to play with for a change!

Tanner is fully registered for Kindergarten.  I took him to his screening a few weeks ago and he managed to do well on the tasks he was given to complete.  He's looking forward to going to "College" as he calls it.  If you ask him if he's going to school, he's quick to tell you no, that he's going to go to college.  That kid!

Spencer has to have his adenoids and tonsils removed due to his snoring and sleep apnea.  He'll get those taken out later in June.  I'm sure he won't mind one bit being able to eat more ice cream than he's usually allowed. 

Bennett is our silly Bennett.  He's a major pacifier-snatcher.  Anytime he can get a-hold of one of Wyatt's pacifiers he's in heaven.  We even find him asleep with Wyatt in his crib just so that he can get one of them.  He's a sneaky one that one!  His legs seem to be slowly straightening out from being so massively bowed.  His right foot is still turned in quite a bit, but the doctors told me that his legs and hips won't fully straighten until he's around 8 years old.  He manages to trip more than the other boys, but he adjusts well.

Wyatt is walking everywhere and trying to climb on everything.  He can climb up on the couch now and he's constantly falling off.  He's had some trouble with allergies this spring.  He's just like his momma in that department.  The doctors figure he has asthma, so we have to do breathing treatments every morning and evening.  He also has to take Claritin to combat the effects of his allergies.  Poor kid!

Nick's hard at work to keep our garden going strong.  He's planted a good variety, but I think next year he will plant more practical items.  Less potatoes and onions, and more tomatoes and beans.  He's doing extremely well at work.  Nick plans to start working on converting part of our detached garage into a fully-functioning apartment.  The second floor of the garage is already set up for one, but we're going to take part of the "garage" section and make it into a bedroom.  He's really looking forward to building and using his hands!

The life of a stay-at-home mom has really been hard for me these last few months.  I've been so incredibly busy that I'm not sure what end is up most days.  I'm hoping that this summer will be a low-key summer, as far as the kids go.  I doubt it, but we'll see.  I'm entering a new realm in my life having Tanner start school in August.  I keep thinking it's still far off, but it really isn't.  We'll get there when we get there and in the mean time, we're going to enjoy the summer!  I turned 30 this month.  Here's what I have to say about that, Bring it on!!!!

Not Again!

Tanner broke his arm back in March.  He broke both the bones in his left arm and had to spend 8 weeks in a full-arm cast.  On April 30, he got to finally have his cast off.  The doctor told me to make sure that he wasn't too active and that he needed to take it easy for a little while.  Yeah right!  You try keeping a 4-year-old still for more than 2 seconds, especially when the weather is nice and all he wants to do is go outside and play!

About 16 days after he got his cast off, Nick took the boys outside to play.  I had just finished cleaning up from dinner when I heard Tanner scream and holler.  I thought to myself, "That sounds like the same cry he made when he broke his arm."  Just as I thought that Nick brought Tanner in the house holding his left arm.  I could see the unnatural bend in his arm immediately.  All I did was put my shoes on, grab the keys, and took off for the emergency room straight away.  As I was walking out the door I asked how it happened and Nick said that he tripped over the garden hose that Nick using to water the garden.   

The x-rays revealed that he managed to break the same arm, in the same place, the exact same position as before.  The orthopaedic surgeon came to the emergency room to set the bones.  That was a little bit comical seeing Tanner in a conscious sedation state.  He was unaware of what was going on, but he was saying so pretty funny things as he was coming out it. 

So we're back to the drawing board.  He's been in a splint and sling for the past two weeks about and I was told that he would get a full-arm cast put on on Friday.  He better, because we leave for our beach vacation soon and he better have a hard cast on it.  We plan to order a special cover for his that will allow him to get in the water without any water getting into his cast.  So at least his vacation, and ours, won't be ruin too terribly!

Look Who's One!

My little man turned one last week.  It's been such a fun year with him.  His personality is much different from his brothers, but at the same time he is just one of the boys too!  He was quick to crawl around 5 months.  He was quick to stand by himself not long after he started crawling.  And he was quickest to start walking just before he was 11 months.  He's a healthy eater!  The best thing about Wyatt is how quick he is to smile.  He's got the most infectious smile ever! 

We had a small party for him at home.  He dug right into his cake and thoroughly enjoyed it!  We had to put a candle on it for each of the boys, so we had four candles on it instead of one.  So for the next two weeks, we have a 4, 3, 2, and 1-year-old in the house!  Chaos is the first word that comes to mind... 

Wyatt is fitting in just nicely with his brothers.  He's rough and tumble with them all, but then gets super mad when Bennett climbs in his crib with him and steals his pacifiers.  He doesn't exactly look like his brothers.  He favors the Surdukowski side more than my family.  He's definitely unique!

I can't imagine our family without him and I'm especially grateful to be his mother!  I love you Wyatt!

Spencer-ism

The other day I was singing with the boys before bedtime and we started singing this song: "Here we are together, together, together.  Here we are together, in our family.  There's Tanner and Spencer and Bennett and Wyatt.  Here we are together in our family."

I went in to tuck Tanner and Spencer in bed and this was Spencer's version of the song: "Here we are together in our family.  There's Tanner and ME and Bennett and Wyatt.  Here we are together in our family."

He says some of the funniest things!!!

It's Never-Ending!

What a crazy year it's been so far!!!  I'm not entirely sure that I'll make it through December, but if I do, I deserve some incredible award or something major!!!

In January I was informed that I may have an aneurysm in my left wrist.  After a few extensive tests, and a trip to the cardiovascular doctor, it was determined that I have the equivalent of an aneurysm in my vein, not my artery.  Good news, it's not life-threatening like it would have been if it were in my artery.  I don't have to have surgery, and if it ever bursts I just have to apply pressure to it and the bleeding will stop.  Because of all the testing I had to do, I had to stop nursing Wyatt unexpectedly.  I always have a lot of indecision about stopping, but it actually turned out to be a good thing for everyone involved. 

The end of February we all go the gastro-intestinal virus that was going around church.  For a week we were all puking and pooping up a storm.  I didn't think we were ever going to recover from that illness.  Thank goodness the boys bounced back rather quickly, but they sure endured a violent illness while it lasted. 

The first part of March Tanner managed to break his arm.  He was trying to pull the chain on the fan above the bed he was supposed to be sleeping in and fell, using his arm to brace himself.  Both the bones in his forearm looked like they buckled.  He ended up having to have the bones set under anesthesia.  The cast comes all the way up to his shoulder.  He broke his left arm, and since he's left handed, he's had a rough go with a cast.  He's a trooper though.  He's managed to do a lot more with it than I expected, but he also milks his injury a lot saying he can't do something because his arm is broken.  He gets a shorter cast put on on Monday that he'll have to wear for at least two weeks.  Then hopefully we'll be back to normal.

Wyatt had tubes put in his ears in March.  He'd had chronic ear infections from the middle of December through the end of February.  In 60 days, he was on antibiotics for 50 of those days.  So I was grateful to have tubes put in so he could get some relief.

The middle of March we all got upper respiratory infections.  All the boys were put on breathing treatments and antibiotics and oral steroids.  Tanner, Bennett, and Spencer all got ear infections.  I had bronchitis really bad.  I'm surprised it didn't turn into pneumonia.  I also had fevers, chills, sweats, and body aches to go along with it.  I haven't been that sick in a long time.  I really felt like I was never going to be well again in my life.  Nick, thank goodness, didn't get it too terribly, but he did get it.

The month of March was a crazy one!  I figured out that in 21 days, I'd taken the boys a total of 18 times to see one doctor or another.  I felt like I lived at the doctor's offices that month.  I've never been that busy before.  I had a few personal meltdowns as I was taking kids to the doctor when I was dying of sickness myself.  On more than one occasion I had to take all 4 kids to the doctor with me because of last minute appointments.  I wasn't sure Spencer was going to live through those appointments.  He really knows how to throw a fit in public!!!

And to top off my month, Nick was called into the newly called Bishopric as the second counselor.  So not only does he now have a lot more responsibility at church, I've now become a church widow.  Sundays will be difficult.  He'll have meetings at church around 7am and have to stay afterward for a while to take care of tithing and such.  I'll be on my own during sacrament meeting since Nick will be sitting on the stand.  Thank goodness I'll have a lot of support since I'll be there with all the kids by myself and have to play the organ. 

I'm not sure what I have to learn from all of this.  I feel completely overwhelmed.  I wonder sometimes why I chose to have four kids in four years.  I'm close to a nervous breakdown most days.  My dad is always saying to me, "This too shall pass," but a lot of the time I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel.  This sure is a hard job.

It's A Revolution!

Back in December I decided that I no longer wanted to weigh over 200 pounds.  I never did work too hard to lose the weight after having Wyatt, so I felt like a big, fat slob!!  My energy levels have been terrible, and all I want to do all day is lay on the couch and watch television.  So I told myself that after the first of the year I would make changes to my eating habits and physical activity.

I looked into doing Weight Watchers online because I knew that if I could retrain myself, with assistance, to eat the right types of meals, and especially the right portions, than I was already ahead of the curve.  So after a small personal struggle, I signed up and paid the fee for the first three months.  In the two weeks I've been doing this I've noticed a big change in my eating habits. 

I am really aware of how much I eat now.  I try really hard to stay within my points limit.  Most days I do okay, but there are days when I blow that to bits.  But I always keep in mind that tomorrow is another day.  I've found a new love of fresh oranges, vinaigrette, LOVE fresh spinach, and smaller portions of meat.  I find that I don't miss eating as much meat.  I've made it a point to eat everything on my plate first before I delve into the meat portion of my plate.  I've been eating a lot more frozen berry smoothies!  Love those!  I still don't eat very many fresh veggies.  I just have a hard time liking those.  I told Nick that if I liked fresh veggies and yogurt, this new way of eating would be a piece of cake.  But alas, I have to find ways around that.  I'm working on it though! 

I ordered a few Weight Watchers cookbooks a month ago and I've been planning my weekly menus around those.  There are some really awesome recipes in them!!  I don't feel like I'm eating more healthfully, so it's not so hard to stick with this way of eating!  My stomach has definitely shrunk enough so that I can tell when I'm getting to my limit much sooner.  And I no longer eat to be full.  I eat to become satisfied.  On those times where I do get too full, I am so nauseous!  What an awful feeling!

With just changing my eating, I have gone from 210 pounds to 204 pounds.  That makes me feel a little better about doing all of this. 

While lounging on the couch during the afternoon, I found a new talk show called The Revolution.  It's about making small choices daily that make a big impact on your life.  Each week they have a "hero" who embarks on a 180-day revolution.  They want to lose weight and change a few things in their life to make it simpler.  This week the lady who is on the show has become my inspiration to do more!  Before she started her reformation, she weighed 210 pounds.  She's a working mom with four kids.  She finds time to fit in 2 hours of exercise a day along with the rest of her busy schedule.  So I figured that if she could do it, I have no excuses not to since I don't work out of the home. 

So yesterday, the first day of February, I decided that I was going to start my own revolution.  Instead of sitting on the couch while the boys napped, I got up and walked on the treadmill for 40 minutes.  Then once I put the boys to bed last night, I walked another 60 minutes on the treadmill.  This morning I did another 60 minutes, and this evening I'll do another 60 minutes.  I find that in just since yesterday, I've felt I have more energy to do what needs to be done during the day.  I've done a lot more housework this morning than I have in the past month! 

I'm working hard to make this change in my life.  I'm at that point in my life where I really want this.  Before I didn't care, but I really do now!  My end goal is to lose 60 pounds before the end of this year.  But I have many little goals in between.  If I can lose 5 pounds a month, I'll be very pleased with myself.  Obviously if I can lose more than that a month, that's a bonus!  I plan to walk everyday for 2 hours when possible.  I have no more excuses!  I really want this!  I'm ready to be healthy, I'm ready to shop in the fun section at the clothing store, and I'm ready to be the example to my kids that they need!  Bring on the revolution!!!

Frosty the Snowman

The boys are obsessed with Frosty the Snowman cartoon.  I heard Tanner singing the song, but with these words:

"Frosty the Snowman, was a happy, Jolly soul.  With a captain's hat and a bunny nose and two eyes made out of coal!"

He cracks me up!