RSV

Hudson tested positive for RSV when I took him to the doctor on Friday. He's doing OK. They don't treat the virus, they only treat the symptoms. On Friday his lungs were still clear. She told me to watch him closely and if it gets worse, take him to the hospital. He vomited several nights in a row, but not last night. He has a hard time at night. He coughs a lot and doesn't sleep very well. Last night was actually the best night in 4 nights. So, we'll see.
Tristan is now sick with a sore throat I suspect is strep. Jack has also acquired a nasty cough, although he doesn't act sick. The doctor said we could all get RSV, but it would only affect us like a cold.

Less of me... Finally

So, I've been working really hard. I work out everyday. I weighed myself today and the scale finally moved! I'm down 2.2 lbs. Woot Woot. I measured myself before I started and measured again yesterday and I've lost 1/2" most places. I didn't want to get too excited about that because I think... "Maybe I just measured wrong before." We'll see. I'm not quitting.
I do a lot of Jillian Michaels workouts. I like the Shred because it's only 25 minutes. I was thinking yesterday that I needed something a little longer so I looked around on the On Demand feature on TV and found Jillian Michael's Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism. It's an hour. OK, by far, including the bootcamp I did and the 30 day Shred... by far, the hardest workout I've ever done. I could not complete the last circuit. My body just said, "no." I'm going to try it again tomorrow. I feel like if I can do that workout... and not pause it (ok, I pause it when I need to catch my breath) and not quit before it's over, THEN I'll be in really good shape.
See for yourself. Go to On Demand- Sports and Fitness- Exercise TV- Jillian Michaels- Boost Metabolism.
I'm also starting to wean Hudson. He was still getting up 4+ times a night to nurse. I hate the cry it out so I decided to give him only bottles at night. The first night he woke up twice and I gave him a bottle both times. Last night he woke up once at 1am and I gave him a bottle. He slept until 6:30. He usually gets up at 6:00, so this was sleeping in. Yay for Hudson!
Also, last Thursday I was working out at a friends house and she has a baby Hudson's age. Hudson played with all said baby's toys and mouthed everything. Yeah... her baby has RSV. He came down with a fever, ear infections, cough and runny nose the next day. So... guess what?? Hudson got a runny nose 2 days ago and he's just getting worse. No fever, but he has a sad little cough. I'm listening for the wheezing, but he seems ok for now.
According to the RSV website, most kids actually get RSV, but it can be really mild and only seem like a cold. Let's hope for that.
On a separate note, Brian and I love the USA show "White Collar". It's one of two shows we tape and watch (Burn Notice is the other). I think you have to see the very first show to really like it, but then you don't need to see every show in a row to have it make sense.

update

At Anne's request I'll give you an update on the GoWear Fit. So... I weighed myself one-week after starting my crazy exercise regime. And...... I gained 1 lb! What the heck? I was disappointed, to say the least, but amazingly it made me want to try harder. I also looked around online a lot about when to expect results from working out. The general consensus is at least 6 weeks. No wonder no one sticks with it. 6 weeks??? sheesh... how do those Biggest Loser contestants lose 10 lbs in a week? No matter, I'm sticking with it. I've met my target calorie burn of 3,000 everyday this week. I have to work out everyday and then stay as active as possible to make it. For example, while my car was getting washed... could I just sit in a chair like a normal person??? NO! I had to pace the waiting room like a crazy person. I do feel better and the armband keeps me really motivated. I have two neighbors that are going to do it with me. We've already started with a personal trainer (a different neighbor) and she worked us out yesterday and gave me a chart to follow.
One of the websites I looked at said not to weigh yourself for 2 months after starting an exercise program. Yeah right. I'll weigh again on Tuesday and let you know.

PS. For those who care, Hudson is eating like a champ! He's eating a jar of baby food at every meal and even eating some solid foods like small pieces of bread or pirate booty.

Antagonizing me

I'm baking Cinnamon Amish Friendship Bread and it smells really good. Jack asked for some and I said it was still in the oven baking he then said, "Mom it's not fair. That bread is antagonizing me!"

School Bus

I like the idea of the school bus; someone else drives my kids the 6 miles to school, I get to add an extra 20 minutes each way to the school day (read: time without kids fighting). However, somewhere along the way the idea goes wrong.
We had problems at the beginning of the year with Tristan being picked on. Brian and I decided to wait and see and try and get him to handle the problem himself. We felt that he needed to learn to defend himself (verbally) against bullies and this was as good as time as any. Those problems have been solved.
The other problems have become noticeable more gradually. Jack has learned several inappropriate songs on the bus. Tristan has asked me about several creative swear words that he's read written on the seats of the bus. These buses are brand new. It irritates me that the kids destroy them so much. My neighbor girl, who's a wise 10 year old, told me that someone has written the "f word" in permanent marker all over the back of the bus. In addition to this, the kids fight, yell, swear and generally act terribly the whole way to and from school. I told Brian I think it's mob mentality. The kids do things they would never do on their own.
I talked it over with Brian (who is my litmus test for rationality) and we decided just to drive the kids to and from school everyday. They don't need the exposure to all of that to and from school. They'll get it soon enough... Jack doesn't need that in kindergarten. Call it over-protective I don't mind. We'll see if it improves their attitudes afterschool.

GoWear Fit

So... I bought a GoWear Fit armband monitor about a week ago. The story behind this is I started walking with my friend this past July. She had a baby the same day I did. She had about as much weight to lose that I did... she had the GoWear fit armband. She is now a size 2... I'm not. The armband tracks how many calories you're burning throughout the day. It's similar to the Bodybugg worn by the contestants on The Biggest Loser. They're made by the same company.

I got the armband and then I logged onto the website and put in all my vital statistics. It then asks you your goal: to lose weight. Do you want to lose .5 lbs a week? 1lb a week? 2 lbs a week? I chose the 2lb option. Then it calculated how many calories I have to burn a day to lose that. answer: 2950. It also lets you track your food intake on the site and it calculates the calorie surplus or deficit you have each day. It also tracks the steps you take, intensity of your movement and the quality of your sleep. It calculates how many calories you're burning per minute. Today it was as high as 12 calories per minute when I was doing jumping jacks and as low as 1.1 cal/min while I was sleeping. It's pretty cool.

Some things I've learned: Doing a workout video burns only about 300 calories. You have to make up the rest moving around. You burn a certain amount by just being alive (your BMR). I've been reading about the NEAT idea. I can't remember what the accronym stands for... google it, but the premise is that people that just plain old move more... weigh less. I've found myself doing this in an attempt to make my calories burned goal each day. I stand while I read my facebook. I parked far away from the store. I dance around while making dinner. I made Jack run up and down the stairs 10 times with me. I have burned over 3000 calories every day so far. I am doing a workout video in the morning, but the rest of the time I'm just trying to move around more. Instead of making a pile of stuff to take upstairs, I've taken up each item as I find it.

We'll see how it all works out, but so far... I'm really happy with it. I think it's the best thing I've ever purchased for myself.

Lunchbreak

Jack is really good with animals. He LOVES the dogs...they're best friends. Just now Cedar had a stick stuck in her mouth. Jack found it and Brian helped him get it out.
Jack was eating a bowl of chili and I said, "Jack, you should be a vet someday. A vet is a doctor for animals."
Jack thinks about this and says, "Hmm.... do they get lunch breaks?" I said, "Umm... yes... vets get lunch breaks." He then says, "Ok, I think I would like that job and when I'm a vet, I'm going to eat chili for most of my lunchbreaks."
Good enough.