30 by 30: 3 down, 3 to go

Several days late, but still counting down and keeping tabs.

Yay! 3 months till my birthday.  I feel like a little kid I'm so excited.  Kinda like how Kirby has been constantly talking about his own birthday since Bennett had his...what presents he wants, what he wants to do, who's invited (about 90% of who live in the States and will certainly not be making that trip).  Since I'm such a loving mother I have reminded him countless time that my Birthday is first. :)  But really this BIG birthday seems so exciting to me.  I love milestones!

Anyway.  The last month wasn't my best.  The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas was less than stellar in my efforts to eat well and exercise.  I did not gain weight at all, just maintained where I was at the end of 2 months.  So considering the time of year and the fact that junk food became almost the only food group I was eating I felt it went ok.

But here we are at the last 90 day push and to do it up right we (Stan has decided to join me the days he isn't traveling) are doing P90X.  First two days went surprisingly smoothly.  I wasn't a hero in that I did it all perfectly but I at least tried each exercise.  And felt energized the rest of the day.  We've both been working hard to drink plenty of water (I'm going above what is recommended in hopes to keep up my milk supply and as an added bonus I get to reconnect with my old friend, the bathroom, at least every hour) and have adjusted our eating.  All junk food, with the exception of the unopened packages of peanut butter cups and butterfinger minis that were sent to us in our Christmas boxes...I'm not so unreasonable as to get rid of treats that we can't buy here, is gone.  The boys have a few things of cookies in their snack bucket but Stan and I have stocked up on dried fruit, yogurt, fresh fruit and veggies to snack on.  And I didn't buy a single can of Coke Zero this week.  I almost couldn't believe my self control.  I figure if I want one bad enough to make a special trip out to get it then I will treat myself.

Unfortunately last night I woke up in the middle of the night with that nagging back pain that I get every six months or so.  NOT what I had on my agenda.  I refuse to let this stop my momentum.  I didn't get up this morning to exercise with Stan, instead I laid in bed with my makeshift heating pad strapped around me--an electric hand warmer stuck down in the support they gave me to wear after my c-section...it works.  I'm already feeling a bit better and plan to get out and walk a bit this afternoon and hopefully do the stretch x afterward.  Tomorrow we are scheduled to do yoga x so I'm hoping to be able to handle that, if not all the way, partially.

So, 15 more lbs to go.  Since I kinda took a month off I'm not as far ahead as I had hoped but I'm still on schedule with the 5 lbs a month so I will do it!  But really I like to think in terms of kilos cause it sounds much easier, so 2.6 kilos a month!

Pray my back is quick to heal so I can get back into this P90X.  I don't want Stan to get too far ahead of me!

And if you care to know what true 'muscle confusion' is (what P90X claims is the key to the program's success) ask my body how confusing it was to go from sitting on the couch enjoying Christmas treats to hard core working out and healthy food.  Maybe the back pain is a form of mutiny!  

Christmas

Christmas has come and gone.  This morning during our Sunday morning time one of our friends talked about how this weekend he was journaling and reflecting back on this Christmas season.  They are new parents and this was their sons first Christmas.  He made the most powerful point that came to him while reflecting.  Many of us spend so much time trying to decide how to handle Santa, or the number of gifts to give our children and so many other things that have become part of Christmas.  Stan and I have done it, I've blogged about it.  But he said what he realized is that if the focus is never taken off of Christ then the other things just get pushed into the background by default.  I'm of course not saying it nearly as eloquently as he did but it was just so powerful.  And then we talked about how if Jesus is the focus of our lives each day then all the issues of movies, music and so many other things are just taken care of by default as well.  I'm not one for making New Year's resolutions but I think if I could have one this year it would be for me to spend each day, focused on Christ and the rest would just fall into place.  It's lofty and may sound unrealistic but I think out of any goal I could make for myself this one would be the most beneficial.

Our Christmas was absolutely wonderful.  My first Christmas dinner was a success (Stan was even impressed with my first attempt at making his mother's dressing) even if we did sit down to eat an hour later than planned.  The boys played and had a blast all day.  Favorites for them were the new spiderman and superman suits and the basketball goal--even though Bennett said the basketball goal was broken cause he couldn't get his ball in it. :)  I will hopefully post some pictures of them enjoying the day/weekend on the Angels' blog tomorrow.

I'm also really excited about this week coming up.  It's a true family week.  We have no plans set in stone, other than a fun get together for New Years.  I have a few ideas of some things I would like to do, including a solo shopping trip to get out and buy nothing in particular, a family outing to Old Town and maybe some cleaning and organizing.  But to be honest if none of that gets done and in place we play one million games of candy land and high ho cherry o, or have family movie night 5 nights in a row with the same move I will be just as pleased with this week.  My big sister will be gone at least the beginning part of the week, if not all, so it will truly be just us.  Oh and tomorrow is the first official day of p90x.  Stan has decided to join me in the challenge the days he is in town.  More on that later.

Best of all, I will still get to enjoy my Christmas tree.

o come, o come Immanuel

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.  When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

23 "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

   and they shall call his name Immanuel"

   

   (which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Matthew 1:18-25

mary did you know?

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!" 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."

34 And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?"

35 And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy— the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God." 38 And Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

Luke 1:26-38

silent night

(taken from our bedroom 'balcony' down to the courtyard)

oh christmas tree, oh christmas tree

Not much to say so I think I will just post some random photos in the next few days of our week of Christmas.  There are a TON of the tree but mostly all the same.  Hopefully there will be more fun shots from this week!

one week till Christmas

I am really so very excited about Christmas this year.  The boys (well mainly Kirby) have been getting so much out of the Jesse Tree so they are learning A LOT and he asks every day if it's the day for Jesus.  I really think he will experience pure joy when it finally is the day for Jesus.  My plan is to let them open one gift before breakfast on Christmas morning.  That gift will be the Baby Jesus from our nativity scene (we are waiting till Christmas Day to symbolize his birth).  I can't wait to tell them about Christ being the greatest gift we were ever given.

It is really important to me to not emphasize the whole gift giving part of Christmas but I have to tell you that I love giving gifts!  Don't get me wrong I find nothing wrong with being on the receiving end and we have worked so hard to not make this our focus but now seeing the boys get excited is so special.  This whole time of year is just magical with the celebration of Christ's birth and showing love through giving gifts.  I finally understand why Papa Great was incapable of waiting on my Aunt Mary Beth and Uncle Frank to get to our celebration location (different each year) to give out and open gifts.  MB and F missed gift time many a year because when Papa Great wants to start opening gifts we do.  This year my only dilemma is what to do about wrapping them and putting them out.  I think I have finally scrounged up some paper to use (seriously hard to find good paper that isn't covered in weird cartoon characters) and I plan to do the wrapping today (not all gifts are bought but I'm about 95% done).

Now to put them out now?  Or wait for Christmas day?

There are several factors to consider.  First little hands find pretty packages irresistible.  Not that I think they will try to open them (well Bennett might) but I'm sure the paper and bows and all will be totally man handled in just one short week.  Also, since we don't have Santa I was thinking that putting the gifts our for Christmas morning would build anticipation.  Give them something to look forward to.  Not sure if that is kinda defeating our purposes or not.  Gonna have to think on that one.  Either way the earliest I will put them out is Monday since we are hosting Sunday morning.

And one last thing.  We currently have several boxes in route to our home.  If you had anything at all to do with them THANK YOU!  If you've ever lived overseas where many 'American' favorites are not available then you know my excitement.  I don't know what is in the boxes but that just makes it even better.  We are so very blessed to have people in our lives who love on us in so many ways.  Our Christmas boxes each year brings us joy for months to come.  Not sure if y'all like to know when I'm making/eating Ranch dressing or enjoying an evening cup of decaf coffee you are on my mind but that's the way it is!

jesse tree...week 2

Here are the next 7 days for the Jesse Tree.  The boys still love it and if the particular chosen scripture isn't long enough they get upset.  For a few of the people we started to read out of their children's Bible after reading the scripture.  It's helped sum it up for them.

Dec. 8 -- Isaac: Genesis 18:10-14, 21:1-8, 22:1-19
Ram

Dec. 9 -- Jacob: Genesis 28:10-22
Ladder

Dec. 10 -- Judah: Genesis 49:8-12
Lion

Dec. 11 -- Tamar: Genesis 38:6-30
Twin sons


Dec. 12 -- Rahab: Joshua 2:1-23
Scarlet cord

Dec. 13 -- Ruth: Ruth 1:14-18, 2
Wheat

Dec. 14 -- Jesse: Isaiah 11:1 and 10
Root

chinglish

I thought it would be fun to give you all (I mean I assume there are enough that read this to say all) your first lesson in Chinglish.  There are many a word that within a week or two of living here that you pick up by default.  The Chinese words automatically become part of your English vocabulary and it can not be helped.  To the point that you will begin to say them when talking to your non-Chinese speaking friends and family.  Believe me when I say if I do it while talking to you it is in no way to impress you or to brag, it is completely unconsciously done.  But some words are just fun to say.  Also there are some words that don't really have a good English translation so saying the Chinese is just way easier.  I'll even give you a close way to pronounce (it won't be exact cause some sounds are too different to explain) so you can throw out some of your own Chinglish words if you would like.

ma fan (mah fahn)--trouble, bothersome: as in... Don't worry about sending me a Christmas card because I don't want to give you ma fan.

li hai (lee high)--clever, astute or fierce, severe; used positively or negatively: as in...She is learning Chinese so quickly, she is so li hai. OR  Don't mess with her stuff, she is really li hai about it.

cha bu duo (chah boo dwuoh)--almost, about: as in... The rug doesn't exactly fit but chabuduo. (Seriously this happened to us.  We bought a piece of carpet and they cut it a little off and they told us 'chabuduo', the Chinese are all about chabuduo and it can make you want to scream!)

dong xi (dong she)--things, goods, personal possessions: this can be used to describe almost anything, as in... I'm going to Walmart to buy dongxi.  Don't leave your dongxi laying around.  She doesn't need anything, she already has so much dongxi.

So there is your first Chinglish lesson.  If you like this I can do more another time. :)

tis the season

To be busy.  But I'm trying so very hard to not get caught up in the 'things' I have to do and really enjoy it all.  I found myself so caught up in cooking and the act of Thanksgiving this year that I realized that I spent only a little time actually being thankful and most of that was after the fact.  I mean, I did reflect on what I was thankful for and I did spend time with my family and our local 'family' but leading up to it was stressful and tiring.  I DON'T want Christmas to be the same.

Now that I'm the woman of the house the cooking and decorating largely falls to me.  For some reason I'm just now realizing that.  No more sitting back and enjoying the fruits or someone else's labor.  Cookie baking, holiday meal planning and preparing and all the other amazing stuff is kinda my duty now.  But I'm making it sound like I'm not enjoying it.  Cause in reality the complete opposite is true!  I love that I'm the one that gets to determine how we celebrate Christmas this year...and from now on.  With Stan's help, of course, I am shaping the Christmas memories that my boys will carry with them into adult hood.  So the greatest thing is that I'm taking all my favorite parts of my childhood Christmas', combining them with Stan's, adding in a little something new to make it our own and there ya go!  Pittman Family Christmas!  It's been great so far and we are still 12 days till Christmas!

This weekend we celebrated Bennett's b-day (which we decided to make the day all about his Birthday and not something totally Christmasy cause I don't want him to feel like he gets gypped each year).  Once the boys were in bed I went to my first Cookie Swap hosted by my friend E.  Seriously she is Martha Stewart's long lost daughter.  She made some amazing appetizers and we all swapped cookies (I took Granny Great's Secret Sugar Cookies) and we had a real ladies night party.  Pretty sure that was my first grown up ladies party since I moved here..it was wonderful.  Tonight we are hosting all our Sunday fellowship friends to come over for more appetizers, cookie decorating and some Christmas P&W.  Really exciting.  The best part about this whole weekend is that I promised myself that I wouldn't get stressed out and so far so good.  I have a little cleaning left to do and my daddy's sausage balls to cook up to serve tonight but I'm determined a little rest time will be thrown in there so I won't have to enjoy tonight running off of caffeine and sugar fumes.

Tis the season to celebrate the birth of Christ, the love we have for family and friends (even if we can't be with them) and to enjoy each an every moment of it all!  

dry cheeks need this

I live in a place that is super windy all year around and when it's cold outside my boys' cheeks suffer.  This summer I had our niece grab some of this to send it to Bangkok with Stan's parents.  I love it!  It seems a little pricey (close to $5) for just half an ounce but since it's in stick form you don't waste any by squeezing or scooping too much.  I think Aveeno has a similar product but I guarantee it doesn't smell half as wonderful as this seeing as how Aveeno is fragrance free (not dissing Aveeno at all, I use their products I just love this particular one in J&J).  This is such a soft pleasant smell that I like to use the body cream for my own dry skin.

You gotta try it!

(J&J company, of you happen to read this I will take some free product in exchange for this product review.  Thanks!)

the hair saga

One of the trivial things I have to deal with while living here is that hair upkeep is a little challenging.  Like I just said I know this is trivial.  I basically can't trust any Chinese hair stylist to cut my hair.  Most are not formally trained and even those that are have very little knowledge of how to cut curly hair.  So I'm resolved to only getting haircuts while we are out of country.  For the first year of living here this was ok.  Even in the States I have been known to go a good 6 months between hair cuts.  So I got a good cut done while in Thailand last February and while we were there this summer.  Only while we were there this summer I decided to not get much cut off.  With both Kirby and Bennett I got my hair chopped soon after they were born.  Going with that 'I need a change' feeling that I get right after delivery.  I guess it's the feeling that comes with not being able to automatically shed the pounds so I feel like a new hair style will be a good substitute.  The problem is that short hair for me is high maintenance.  Which is not what you want with a newborn.  So to avoid that this time around I got just a bit of a trim in July.

Here we are 5 months later and my hair was the longest it had ever been in my entire life.  While I was a little bit fascinated by the fact that it was so long (not in a narcissistic way but in a who knew it could grow so long way) it got to be too much to handle.  Washing it was a chore and it was taking way too much product (which I must either buy in Thailand or have sent from America) to keep tamed.  So with no trip out of this country planned in the foreseeable future I began to weigh my options.  Should I risk going to a local person and just let them do whatever they feel?  Fully knowing that would be the result because I don't have the language to explain it and they have limited skill.  Should I just try to trim it on my own?  Ummm, probably not so much.  Can I convince a friend to just take a little off the length?  Hmmm, maybe.  So I went with the last one.  I asked all my friends if anyone would be willing to try and, PTL, my friend E agreed to give it a shot.

Luckily for her I have had some bad haircuts in my life and have never once gotten upset enough to cry over it.  It's just hair and will eventually grow out.  I just couldn't take it any more.  The longer it got the more I wanted to buzz it off like the rest of my family.  So last Friday we set a time and she came over.  I can now report that I have about 5 inches less hair and love it!  She even did a little layering so I wouldn't end up with pyramid hair.  It was halfway down my back and is now resting right around my shoulders.  I totally wish I had just asked a few month ago (I think Stan does too!).

So thank you to my friend E.  You were brave to try out your skill on my crazy curls.        

first week of the Jesse Tree

I've had a few people ask me exactly what we are doing for our Jesse Tree.  So I thought I would just write out a little at the time of what we are doing.  The boys are loving it so far.  Each day the boys ask us who we are going to read about today.  I LOVE that they are so excited about what they are learning.  We used this website to give us the basics and then chose which specific scripture we wanted to use (some people like Abraham and David have so many parts of their life written that we couldn't read it all and still hold the attention of a 3 and 4 year old).  After we chose the exact story we wanted to use we decided on a symbol to represent the story or person and that we could also make into an ornament (seriously my amazing husband whittled Noah's Ark and a few other things...I've known him for 10 years and he still impresses me!).  So this is what we have done for December 1st through 7th.

Dec. 1 -- Adam: Genesis 1:26-27, 2:7

A human figure made out of red clay.

Dec. 2 -- Seth: Genesis 4:25

A packet of seeds.

Dec. 3 -- Enoch: Genesis 5:21-24

Shoes

Dec. 4 -- Methuselah: Genesis 5:25-27

Clock

Dec. 5 -- Noah: Genesis 6:8 - 9:17

Ark

Dec. 6 -- Shem: Genesis 9:20-27

Blanket

Dec. 7 -- Abraham: Genesis 12:1-4

Map

I get more and more excited for them to learn about each of these people that are a part of Christ's blood line.  Tonight is Isaac...great story!  If you have questions about why we chose certain things to represent these scriptures just ask.  I've been sharing this with everyone cause I love it!

i love my trash can

This is a 100% serious thing.  I never in my life thought that such a simple thing could be so exciting.  I have literally been talking about buying this thing for MONTHS.  I've had a decent sized one but it was not so convenient.  And they just don't sell typical kitchen trash cans in my city.  So when I needed to make a trip to KM to pick up our Christmas turkey (and some other food items) I made going to the store that sells these a priority.  This is my Christmas gift to myself.  I would like to add this to my Thankful list, please.  I am thankful for not having to bend over and lift up the lid to throw things away.  I'm thankful that the boys won't run off and start playing with the lid (can we say YUCK!).  And I'm thankful that the trash bags we can buy (also have to be bought in KM, by the way) now fit.  Ahhh, living here it really is the simple things in life that make me happy.  This is almost as random as being thankful for paper towels...maybe more so.

This is what I had before...

Upgrade!

It took me a year and a half and I had to transport it by bus over 200 miles, but it was worth it.  Merry Christmas to me!

30 by 30: 2 down, 4 to go

I was supposed to do this update on Saturday but I forgot, started this post on Sunday but didn't get finished and then went out of town early Monday morning...ooops!  I got so excited about the holidays and starting things out, that I completely forgot.  By the way, Saturday night went really well.  We made cookies and Stan read the Christmas story.  Afterward Stan asked the boys questions and Kirby was telling it right back to him!  That was really exciting.  I can't wait to see how he learns from the Jesse Tree.

So now that I am two months into this 30 by 30 goal and the holidays are here I'm trying to get more and more focused.  A few days before Thanksgiving I hit my pre-Judah weight, which puts me 15 lbs (and HALF WAY!) to my goal.  I was so encouraged.  Of course after the eat fest of Thanksgiving and the way I fluctuate weight each day anyway I haven't hit that low again but I didn't go crazy--seriously I only ate one plate of food at lunch on Thursday, don't know how I did it--so I think once I get right back into my routine of working out and such I will be back down.

This also marks one month until I will start the P90X challenge.  I've checked the calendar and if I start on December 28th it will take me right up until my birthday.  I have to tell you, I've watched a few of the videos and it looks painful.  I'm scared.  I mean maybe it will be a good thing to start out each day with a good cry, who knows.  I need some words of advice from those who have done it.  Please leave a comment.  I am determined to do it, I just need to know I will survive.  I'm trying to convince Stan to do it the days he's here too.  He doesn't seem to excited about it though.

I'm excited about my progress and hope that healthy eating and exercising will not end after this 6 months.  Really 30 lbs isn't the end of what I want to lose but it will be a beginning!