Just RK

I kept thinking something was different today. I was working around the house, refereeing the girls--since their favorite pasttime is fighting and wrestling and swinging at each other (where are the prim little girls I thought I had??)--just generally getting through a day at home. But I felt strange. It wasn't pain. It wasn't discomfort. It wasn't even bad. But it was unfamiliar. Let's see. I don't feel tired. I don't feel achy. I don't feel run down. Hmmmm... Wait! Is this what healthy feels like? Is this what the body is supposed to do when it's fed proper food? Well, whatta ya know...

I don’t post all of these, though I sometimes feel I should, because it is overwhelming how many children need to be adopted and saved. But Mindy will be transferred on Saturday to an institution where she can no longer be adopted, where most children like her do not survive over a year. She is a HEALTHY little girl in Russia, turning 4, with Down syndrome. She will be sent to a mental institution with very little care or interaction, if any at all. It seems like it’s too late. Today is Thursday.  She has two days left. Please Grab This Button! It seems like I have to give up, yet my God is big enough to do anything.  Maybe He will protect her while she is at the institution. Maybe He will take her home to Heaven where she will be able to enjoy perfect love and no fear.  But MAYBE, just maybe, YOU are meant for her.  Maybe SHE is meant for YOU. Maybe YOU are meant to bring her home and love her like crazy.  Maybe it’s YOU that she’s been waiting for. She...

The first seven days are done.  (Actually, the first 8 since I’m late.)  I made it through with no cheats, no slips, and complete compliance.  Woo!  And my results for the first week?!? 11 pounds gone .  Woo Hoo!  Granted, that won’t happen every week, but it’s a nice jumpstart for sure. In the last 4 or 5 days I’ve not been hungry and I actually get full with the meals and snacks, so I haven’t felt like I’m missing anything.  Sure, I’d love a big greasy burger (Yes, I’ve said that before, but I love burgers.  Could be part of the problem!) BUT I don’t have to have one.  I’m not sitting around wringing my hands and watching the clock til I can eat again.  In fact, I’ve had to remind myself to eat when it’s time.  For breakfast, I’ve had trouble getting it all in.  I haven’t been able to finish my oatmeal for a few days.  This morning, I hadn’t had it yet and it was time for my apple.  So not having enough food i...

Blog traffic has been way down lately. Not like in the last week, but over the last 3 months or so. I've heard that many bloggers have noticed the same. So here's the question, to those of you still around.... When do you blog (either posting or reading)? Weekdays only, evenings, all day, twice a week, weekends? I'm curious. Do share. And all you who lurk ("Lurk" sounds negative, but I consider it flattering that you come here, even if you don't comment) pop out for a minute and share with us. (Remember, you just click on "Comments" or "Post a comment" then on the right side you choose "Name/URL" and enter whatever name you'd like to use, then your comment. No URL needed. Give it a try!) And you other bloggers, what do you think is causing the lighter traffic?? Is it the dreaded Facebook!?!?

After two hard battles to get the girls to sleep last night, they did sleep pretty well, and Mom covered the middle-of-the-night issue with Kinlee, so I got a good (other than the coughing fits) night's sleep. I have come to the decision that we need to give the girls, and myself, time to truly heal, so we're going to be quarantined, sort of. No school, no kid events, and little people interaction for at least another week. I really want Braska to be able to get better and give her body a chance to really be back to fighting things off as much as her "norm" would be before we send her back to the germ factory. Here's to healing and spring coming soon!!

I picked up the Grammyphone this morning, so my mom arrived about 20 minutes ago. M has vanished to his parents' place to try to keep well while Mom attempts to get us some rest. She has a whole bundle of goodies that will increase our immunities and naturally get us better. I'm generally a give-me-a-pill type, but I'm game to try almost anything. Almost. So for now, the Sweetie Peach and the Sugar Plum are happy to see Grammy. And Mommy is going to retire to the bedroom for some rest.

Today has been a totally different day than the ones previous in this BrocChick journey . I’m totally drained.  Is it because of carb-withdrawal that my body is experiencing?  Is it due to whatever is causing me to cough and be completely voice-less?  Who knows.  The combination sure is making we want to be left alone. Completely alone. Just to rest and sip chicken broth. But that’s not to be. M’s feeling some better this evening.  Braska is about the same.  Kinlee seems to be getting a bit of a fever, but her hives are improving.  She napped almost 3 hours, thanks to Benadryl, and she seems to be feeling ok. I had a moment today where I just wanted a big plate of overloaded nachos: thick crispy chips, chicken, guac, tomatoes, beans, salsa, sour cream, lots and lots of cheese…the works.  But I’m ok now.  I think.  We don’t have any of this in the house, and M is gone with the car at present, so I’m safe. In fairness to Melanie and ...

This morning we took KiKi to the pediatrician due to a very icky and inflamed rash that came up. Seeing her twice in two days is just ridiculous. I have barely seen her that much in the last 6 months! It was like this, though I know it’s hard to see, but it was all over her back, front, neck, some on the arms, down into her diaper, but not on her legs. It actually got worse by the time we got to the doctor…nice, since it usually goes away before they can see it.  Hence, taking a picture before we left. Diagnosis: Hives, deep cough, not strep. Treatment: Benadryl and wait. We don't know what caused it. Braska's a little better, but still not good. I've got no voice at all today, as the receptionist at the dr office can attest to, and my throat feels like it's quite swollen. M's home from work today also because he's been dizzy for 5+ days now, vertigo, but we don't know why. And I'm hungry, but oh well. The girls are asleep, so napp...

The good news is that after the 2 cups of water, 2 egg whites (separated post boiling and shelling) and the oatmeal (which I couldn’t quite finish), I couldn’t hardly touch my 1 cup of milk.  So it’s going to have to wait a little bit.  I figure that’s a good sign that I’m filling up on what’s prescribed.  Right?? It’s been a challenging morning, Braska went to bed a little iffy last night and woke up even more iffy.  She quickly melted into a puddle of floppy, fussy, goo, and we just returned from the doctor’s office a bit ago. (More on that on her blog , if you’re interested.)  So of course it was almost 11 am before I even thought about my breakfast.  And it’s a “rule” of the deal to get all the food in; I suppose that’s because it’s not a whole lot to start with. I’ll space it out and get it in somehow.  Maybe I’ll take an apple on the way to get M for lunch, then I can eat the actual lunch after we take him back.  That might work. Pardon ...

I got my Wii Fit in today--a little yoga (warrior, sun salutation, etc) and some strength (lunges, etc), and some step. The step was a bit more challenging than normal because I was holding a very feisty and unhappy-when-not-attached-to-Mommy 11-month-old. It made it just that much more effective, right?!? Another day down with no cheating...I'm not even licking my fingers when giving the girls meals, even tearing up pizza for KiKi. That's something. Because I'm horrible about nibbling while I'm feeding them. But nope, I'm all in. Well, I don't know if you can say that just 2 days in, but still. I'm impressed with myself. I got very hungry today, but I made it. We were very busy with all the aforementioned running around, but tonight I needed something. So--with the docs approval, never fear--I had a cup of hot chicken broth tonight, and it hit the spot. A little something to do with my hands and nice and warm to boot. It would have been nice if it were crun...

For Maggie M--Those cattle ranchers should be so darn proud of you!!! :o) Since I'm following the docs orders at this stage, he said no red meat. None. And he encouraged me to make that just part of the new norm as well. We'll see about that. I love a good steak or vegetable beef soup with nice big chunks. (A certain mother-in-law makes a very nice version.) And a big juicy burger with all the fixin's. Yum! But for now, it'll be no beef. I even gave away all the frozen beef that I had so others could enjoy it. For Mom--No, there will be no deer. Period. Not now, not ever. As for day 1--I made it. I got it all in. Mostly. The chicken and broccoli were good, some of the best chicken I've made, thankfully. With a little assistance, I cleared out the pantry and fridge/freezer of everything that is not something we can eat (I kept a little good stuff for M...he's not really 100%, and he doesn't have to be) and not something Kinlee can eat. Otherwise, it's gon...

To answer a few questions… It’s not just for 7 days, but I’m following it exactly as prescribed for 7 days and then we might alter a veggie or two, add a healthy something here or there. But overall, the goal is to make something very close to this my new norm…for quite a while.  It’s going to be a long road. The important parts according to my doc, who is a fitness/health nut, are to drink the water right before the meal, like all at once.  Then for lunch and dinner to eat the veggies next, then the meat.  The high-fiber broccoli helps me to feel full.  And though I like broccoli, 2 cups is a lot of broccoli! We’re still doing Wii Fit Plus, but I’ve had a few days off.  Lots of evening activities and by the time I get home and put the kids to bed, I’m in no mood for listening to the little voices talk to me on the Wii.  I’d like to be able to do it in the morning, but scheduling is difficult with work and school drop-offs, etc., and tiny hands interf...

2 cups water 1 cup oatmeal, plain 2 egg whites 1 cup milk 1 cup water 1 small apple 2 cups water 2 cups broccoli 4 oz lean meat (chicken/fish) 1 cup water 1 small apple 2 cups water 2 cups broccoli 4 oz lean meat (chicken/fish) If you see me eating anything that is not on this list for the next 7 days, pin me down and make me give it back. My doctor gave me this diet to get headed in the right direction. Julie, M, and Melanie are with me….anyone else wanna have fun too?  Maybe fun is not the right word.

We have a lot of blogs in our family.  Most of you are aware of this.  But the FIRST person to blog, even before the term was well known, was M.  He did a daily picture diary, took a picture every day of something and posted about it.  It was often quite funny, and he grew quite a following among our friends and relatives.  Then Braska came along.  She jumped in the blogging ring and Daddy fell by the wayside.  He is bitter about this, if truth be told, but he’s come to accept that she has more readers.  Then I started this one, and the blog wars continued.  We often banter about who has wittier things to say and who has the better following, etc.  I often think I win, just because I actually post occasionally…yeah, honey, that helps.  BUT today…………. he takes the cake.  His post just cracked me up to the point of actually laughing out loud and shedding tears of that laughter.  Don’t miss this one … it’s a classic....

Alot of driving. Visits with old friends and new friends. Fun times. A few struggles for composure. Amazed at kids growing up. Heartbroken missing the one who will always be young. Sad smiles watching the girls play. Wishing the prettiest girl in the world could have played with them.

Ha, just noticed that SD could stand for “snow day” but it doesn’t.  Funny.  Maybe only to me after the evening I had. It was a good day, even though it was bitterly cold and very windy, making for fun driving as we took M to work at his late start time of 10 am today.  It’s nice that the county lets them start late like that sometimes on these rough days.  The whole county government just comes in 2 hours late.  Nice.  After we dropped him off, since we were out anyway , we headed to “jack-sins-house” where Jack and his siblings were loving the snow day, and Julie and I weren’t sad about it either.  The little kids played and Madelyn, after great prodding, made some yummy bars for us to enjoy.  We spent the whole day, the whole day , there.  I got it in my head that I was going to make fun ringtones for their new phones, since I figured out how to do it, clipping mp3’s and formatting them so the phone would see them as ringtones. ...

I just finished a quick 25 minutes on the Wii Fit while the girls were asleep.  Did a little Basic Step, Advanced Step, Rhythm Boxing, along with a few other little ones.  Hit a few high scores, which always helps.  Burned 156 calories.  I’ll do more tonight when I’ve got assistance with the girls.  I hear Braska doing her post-nap moan, so she’s waking up now. The only trouble I’m running into so far is that the response time on the board is not always right on, and I like the rhythm games. This does not make a good mix.  It’s hard to be rhythmic when in order to score well you have to be just OFF rhythm.  Very frustrating.  And I kind of wish you could turn off the competitive elements sometimes, the scores and all the tips on how to score better.  Just makes me nuts when it won’t cooperate with good response time.  I’m doing it but you’re not seeing me to it!   I can stand still and you still register that I’ve done something!!...

AKA Little Us (That’s the goal) There’s alot I need to blog, but I’ve not found time to get to posting, and that is frustrating to me. I did manage to get a couple of quick backgrounds up for Braska and here, if you want to check those out. (Can’t be leaving Christmas up too long…Jessi, we can update Evan too, if you want.) BUT some of my time has been consumed by our new toy/workout tool. For Christmas, we got a Wii and Wii Fit Plus from family and both M and I have been using it for two days and are enjoying getting to know how it works and what it offers. So though we didn’t make resolutions or anything, we’re doing something fun and a tad bit health-like. It’s a start. I’m off to bed. Yoga and basic step wore me out tonight.