HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

I love this day. I love it even more now that I have a 3 year old to enjoy it. I kind of wish I would have done something fun for breakfast or lunch on the "Halloween" theme. But I didn't oh well. I did put my kids in Halloween shirts and pjs though. I'm so festive. But we are very excited for our trick-or-treating tonight. Should be funner than last year, since it won't be raining and ice cold. Have a Happy Halloween!

Crazy Week

This coming week is kind of a crazy one for me. I have lots to do. I'm excited for parts of it, like Noelle waking up on her birthday with the family room decorated and eating her Rapunzel cake that I am going to attempt to make. But other parts I'm kind of stressed over. I'll let you know how it goes and hopefully I will put up some new pictures soon.

weekly (almost daily) tradition

My very favorite drink is Dr. Pepper, but as I've been trying to eat healthier lately I've discovered Diet Dr. Pepper. It's taken me a little bit to like it, but now I do and it's kind of a treat for me. I didn't really want to try this drink cause at first it tasted completely different than the original. However when our friends invited us to go on a walk to a gas station around the corner I decided to get some. And now I'm hooked :). Probably not the best thing, but sometimes it's the one thing that keeps me going during the day. We've gone on more walks lately with our friends and it's been a lot of fun. The mom's get their drinks, the little girls get a sucker, and the little boys just lay happily in the stroller (not always happily). We sometimes get a red box or two as well. And we usually go more than once a week. We only have the one car right now and I just get so crazy staying inside all day. So this is something I look forward to every week. And it's fun to talk and hang out with our friends. I'm going to be very sad when it gets too cold outside to walk. I'm sure we'll find some way to get there though. Anyway, one day last week my friend wasn't able to go on our walk. But I still wanted to go. It was a very cold day but I bundled the kids up and we went anyway. I took pictures and thought that I would share. Noelle got to push her own little stroller with her dolly in it as well and she really liked that. I wish I had a picture of it.

My bundled up kids. Such good sports for helping me satisfy my addiction

I finally got one of Michael smiling. I love this picture of the two of them.

Michael holding his binky in. He likes his binky but isn't obsessed with it. It doesn't comfort him when he is really upset. Usually it only works when he is kind of tired. My kids just don't do the binky thing well I guess.

Halloween is coming

I just love Fall and Halloween. It's even getting funner as Noelle is getting older. And I love that Noelle's birthday is four days before Halloween. I hope as she get's older that she will continue to like it. I'm excited for her little party we are having. I put up some Halloween decorations today and Noelle has been running around with a bright smile saying "decorations!" It's so cute. Noelle is going to be Jessie from Toy Story for Halloween. She'll be a cute little cowgirl. I love dressing up. It's probably a good thing that my husband really has no desire to dress up. Or we might match every Halloween. We're going to dress little Michael up in something green. Green makes his red hair pop :)! I'm just excited and I always feel like a little kid around this time of year.

p.s. Today Noelle got her stitches out and was such a brave girl. She was just so happy afterward eating the popsicle that the nurse gave her. She also got a frosty afterward, which she totally attacked.

letter to food

As some of you may know, I'm really trying to eat healthy and lose weight right now. This time in my life it's been really hard. Harder than ever before. Maybe it's because I have two kids instead of none or one. Maybe it's because this time I feel like I really want to get rid of the weight for good. I don't know. But it's been hard but I'm not giving up. Today I wrote a letter to "food" because I thought it would help me to see why I'm trying to eat healthy. I shared it on our Fullmer family blog and on facebook and thought I'd put it here as well. Just to give me yet another reminder.

My Dearest Food,

I'm at a loss of what to say to you today. You've been one of my best friends for so long. You've comforted me when I've been so sad and stressed. You've helped me to not feel so alone. You've made all the fun and special occasions in my life that much more wonderful. But I think we've come to a crossroads. As much as I love you, our relationship needs to change. You can be so good for me at times. And I absolutely need you to survive. That's why it makes it so hard to say this. I need a break. A break from the parts of you that aren't good for me. A break from the sweetest parts of you, that are usually my favorite. A break from all the stuff that is so not good for my physical and mental health. I need something to change or else this body of mine is just not going to last as long as I would like it to. Although I'm not giving you up. And on those special occasions I know you will be right there. I'm just going to try to get to know the parts of you that are good for me.

I have a confession to make. I'm addicted to you. You're like a drug for me. And that's not good. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? I want our relationship to change forever. I know that I will fall sometimes and give in to your tempting ways but I cannot stay in that place or else my physical and mental health will be in jeopardy again. Please do not think I am intentionally using you. I'm just trying to get the good parts from you and not the bad. I love all your sides. I just need some of them in moderation. I have to break this bad habit that is you.

I am doing this not only for me but for my family as well. I want to be able to run around with my kids for a long time and if I continue on the path that I am now I won't be able to do that. As much as I love you, I love my family and my health more. I need you to stay healthy and to have energy. So thank you for that. Thank you for all the fun times we've had. Thank you for comforting me when nothing else would. Thank you for being my constant friend. But now it's time to say goodbye to our old relationship. I'm looking forward to our new one and know there will be some bumps along the way. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. Please don't be sad. I'll miss you a lot.

Love always, your devoted friend,

Lindsey

stitches

Saturday morning we went to our church building to help clean it. We got there and there wasn't much to do because a lot of people were there and so we both got to clean the chalk boards. Well we started our third room and Noelle started running around. There is not much for her to do when we clean except follow us around. She was running back and forth in the room and suddenly I hear her crying. I knew she had fallen but I didn't think much of it. Michael picked her up thinking the same thing that she just tripped, then came the blood. And then we saw the cut between her eyes, on the bridge of her nose. She was crying really hard but wasn't hysterical like I thought she would be. It was sad to see her so upset. So we called around and they told us because she is so young and it's on her nose that we needed to go to Primary Children's Hospital. So we did. They got us in right away and were trying to be really cute with Noelle. She was a little shy but responded well to the nurses and doctors. Then they told us she needed stitches and that she needed to be made unaware of it. This meant getting some drugs either through a nasal spray or through an iv. The doctor recommended the spray so that's what we did. They said 9 out of 10 kids that get it just become "drunk" and forget the whole procedure. They stay relatively calm and just act a little loopy. 1 out of 10 become what they called "an angry drunken pirate." Where they just flip out and scream and become really really angry. Lucky for us Noelle was not that. They did have to wrap her up in sheets and pin her down but it was just because she was a little scared. Michael was touching her leg the whole time so she knew he was there. One of the nurses kept trying to talk to her and distract her. It worked a little bit. She kept saying "we're all done," and "make Noelle's nose all feel better." It was so sweet and sad at the same time. They finished relatively quickly and ended up putting 5 stitches in. A little while later they gave her a cherry popsicle and she loved that. They also gave her a little bear that she has named "Bearsy." She came out really well from the medicine and we got to go home pretty soon afterward. Although we had to make sure that for the rest of the day she didn't walk on her own and take it a little easy. She has to wear a bandaid on her nose as much as possible to keep it moist, until it heals. They don't want it to dry out. And we need to put sunscreen on her nose every day for a year so that it won't get sunburned. If it gets sunburned during the first year it could make the scar look really white and stand out. Not a big deal to a toddler but it would be a big deal when she is a little older. The whole experience was a lot less traumatic than I thought it would be. I wasn't nearly as freaked out either and Noelle has been so good about everything. I'm just glad it wasn't something much worse.

sporting her shrek bandaid

holding her bear "bearsy" that she got at the hospital