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What are you thankful for?

I’m thankful for my wonderful husband, 3 darling daughters, wonderful parents, and kooky brother and brother-in-law. I’m thankful for a multitude of friends. I’m thankful for a job that I can work hours that fit me and my family.

I’m thankful for Weight Watchers and their Good Health Guidelines and blogging support! I’m thankful for all you.

I’m thankful that I live in America and can worship God how and when I want. I’m thankful for a full pantry, frig, and freezer. And, I’m thankful that they are full of stuff that is completely different this year than I’ve filled them in the past.

I hope you all have LONG lists of what you are thankful for!

Just a quick update to let you know at our doctor’s appoint Monday we discovered that the baby didn’t have a heartbeat. I’ve just got back from the hospital but probably won’t be blogging for a bit as we go through a period of grieving.

Hugs to you all.

I’m off to Target (again) to buy another pair of size 8 maternity pants! The legs are fitting just fine, but I still have a safety pin in the waistband to hold them up! The 10s that I originally bought –because I couldn’t even imagine that I was wearing a size 8– I have to pin up on both sides and they look a little goofy — they are fine to wear around the house, but I’m trying not to go outside in them.

This is an incredibly strange experience to buy clothes that are a single digit!

I’m on my 28th week of WW…and I just noticed: Wow! It is so much easier to stay on track when I have a container of garden veg soup in the frig, and salad greens ready to go, make a sandwich to toss into the car when I’m going to be out all day, etc.

This moment has been brought to you by I-can’t/don’t-make-good-choices-at-Taco-Bell-especially-when-I’m-hungry!

I am always cold! Okay, its probably not that bad and I know part of it is the change of seasons….this time of year always seems cooler at (say) 65 degrees than it’ll feel in another month at 65 when I’ve adjusted to it. But, right now, I’m cold most of the time.

Previous pregnancies, I don’t think I ever wore a long-sleeved shirt. I had a couple of light-weight jackets that I’d pull on, but mostly I was warm.

This time, I had to go buy some long-sleeved shirts and I often wear one of the light-weight jackets on top of it.

Our house is at 74 degrees right now and I’m wearing a long-sleeve shirt and will probably go grab a little jacket to pull on. Is this normal for having lost 25 pounds?  

As California natives, my husband and I discovered brats shortly after we were married and we were traveling around the mid-west. We love them and typically a buy a box of Klements Brats for my husband for Christmas and we break them out Christmas Eve for (what has now become) our traditional Christmas Eve dinner.

So, I mentioned that we still had some in the freezer yesterday and he says, “oh, let’s fix some.” So, today, we had brats. BUT, I didn’t want to spend my points on the bun and I knew I needed some additional fruits and veggies, so I made a Brat Salad (think lettuce topped with a chopped up Brat smothered with mustard). It was delicious.

However, I’m sure it is probably illegal to eat a Brat without a bun in some midwestern states and eating them on top of a salad might cost a fine or two. At least, none of the places I’ve ever eaten brats had any additonal veggies offered (unless you count the peppers and onions (dripping in grease) that you can add onto your brat at Miller Park). 

I was so proud of myself for making a wise choice and turning it into a salad! Much better than last time, when I got too hungry and ate my own brat, then most of my 6 year-old’s (after she decided she didn’t want it after all) and maybe managed a tablespoon of veggies alongside of them.

Whoo Hoo for good choices!

What a let down. It turns out that my WW leader was wrong. They won’t let me keep coming to meetings while I’m pregnant. It turns out it is a liability issue — in case something would happen to the baby the company is concerned that someone would end up suing. Okay, I understand that we live in a crazy sue-happy society, but, come on! I was really counting on the WW meetings to keep me on track during this pregnancy. My leader said that she’d check with her manager again (so I can at least eke out one more week) but that I probably won’t be able to come again after that. Sigh.

On the plus side — you know I went out and bought size 10 maternity jeans. I thought they looked pretty good and I had to safety pin up the sides since my tummy isn’t very big yet. Well, after a day or two of wearing them, I realized how silly it is — they truly are too big. So, for what is virtually the first time in my entire life (at least as far back as I can remember) I’m wearing a size (drum roll please) 8!

[Okay, I did buy one outfit for our honeymoon (almost 13 years ago) that was a size 8, but it was tight and I think I only wore it once or twice and then it was immediately too small.]

But, these — wow! My legs look skinny in them (well, compared to what they used to look like). And, I still have a safety pin in the waist so I should be able to wear them for the next couple of months at least. I can’t wait to see what size I end up at in a year or so!

So, that’s the good and bad news in my life. I hope you all are doing well and staying on track!

Whew! It appears that I’ve successfully managed to get through the first trimester! Today is the first day that I haven’t been nauseous the entire day…in fact, other than a couple of minutes early this morning (before I had gotten up and gotten a cup of tea) and a couple of minutes in the nail spa where someone was getting a perm and the smell of it wafted over to me, I’ve actually felt well all day long! This feels like a major accomplishment. And, I know, my DH will be thrilled….I’m sure he’s getting a bit tired of me whining about not feeling well. (Although I’ve tried to just suck it up and not say too much — because if I complain, then my 6 and 4 year olds both start saying that they feel sick too!)

 So, what’s my new complaint? (Because you know that I have to have at least one!) Clothes. I have an entire closet full of maternity clothes. They have been passed around from friend to friend and back and forth to and from me and they are still in great shape; however, they are almost all large. In fact, I went through the closet and pulled out all the extra-large clothes and have bagged them up to pass along to someone else. Truly, I am wearing a medium now (for the first time that I remember) and the extra-large look ridiculous. Some of the large sizes look ridiculous too, but I don’t want to bag them up because I might actually need them towards the end of the pregnancy.

Yesterday, I gave in and went shopping. I bought a couple of medium tops and a pair of size 10 pants — they are too big right now, but I didn’t want to buy a pair of 8s and only wear them for a month or so….all the tags say to buy your pre-pregnancy size. LOL. The only problem is — what size is that?? I’ve been skating along without buying new clothes since I’ve been losing weight and now I’m completely confused as to what size to buy. My DH says its a good problem to have, but I’m so frugal that it kills me to buy new clothes when I have perfectly good ones in the closet (that I might need in a couple of months).

One more quick comment — I really am frugal, the nail salon was a special pedicure/manicure treat because we have a Gala dinner/fundraiser to attend tomorrow night. I typically spend about 5 minutes thinking about it ahead of time and then (while I’m getting dressed) think, oh darn, I wish I had gotten my nails done, or thought about my hair/makeup/shoes/etc. for a few more minutes. This year, I’ve planned for the evening and gotten my nails done. I’ve also picked out jewelry (thanks to a friend) and gotten my dress and shoes ready. Wow! And, it isn’t even Saturday at 5 p.m. yet. This might be a record. In some ways I wish I was a bit more high-maintenance and that this type of thing was more fun, easier for me to plan for, etc. But, I guess I’m mostly just a jeans and T-shirt girl at heart. 

Okay, so I’m following Danielle’s directions so I can learn how to do the Hyperlinks in my blog. THANKS for the instructions!!

Okay, I know I’ve been MIA for a bit now….but I’ve been sick. And, it turns out, most of the sick has been morning sickness (a completely stupid phrase since in my case it was “all day long and all night long sickness” but I’ll go with the traditional phrase). I’m finally through most of it only to have gotten hit with the flu for the last week or so.

I’m finally feeling like I’ll survive the pregnancy and get over the flu too.

My WW Leader said I need to add 10 points a day now. And, while that sounds great, I find that it is overwhelming. It is too tempting to eat junk with those points and not spend them on something good for me. So, I’m adding a couple of little boxes on my journals to add another dairy (that’s 4 a day — 8 points at a minimum!!!) and a couple more to my fruits and veggies. Plus, trying to make sure that I have at least 3 lean proteins a day.