Weight Loss over Christmas break?

So I have gained a LOT of weight over the last year and a half or so. With this weight gain came self-loathing and disgust for my lack of willpower. I started taking some meds a while ago to get my acne under control and some weight crept on with that as well (Yaz and Spironolactone).  So Wednesday I went to a local weight-loss clinic and Thursday I took my first phentermine pill. :) Today is Saturday, so this morning's weigh in was 2 days in. I was down 4 lbs!! Thrilled and excited!

I have had a few side effects. I am taking the 37.5 mg dose, and I have noticed the dry mouth side effect, but I am drinking extra water to counteract that (and chewing sugar free gum if necessary). Today I noticed another side effect - a horrible headache. :( I'm wondering if it is because I am not getting enough calories.  I ate about 1000 calories today so that isn't a HORRIBLY low number.

Anyway, I am excited. I am trying to really change my lifestyle, and hope to see some positive changes soon (and hopefully some fitting into my old pants!)

Almost Christmas!

10 days, to be exact.

I am SO excited.

We are traveling to Va. I have a stack of books/magazines/MCAT workbooks for the ride. 17 hours there and 17 back - i can get lots of reading done on the way.

I took my last final last night- Embryology. I have a whole month to clean the house and play with my children and enjoy Christmas and prepare myself mentally for Spring semester.

Hope that my friends and family have an amazing, relaxing, joy-filled Christmas season!

Gratitude

Thanksgiving is tomorrow, so I thought I would write a post about all of the many things I have to be thankful for.

I am thankful for my 3 amazing daughters. All unique and wonderful in their own way.

I am thankful for my amazing, supportive husband. I couldn't do anything without him.

I am thankful to live in a country where I have rights as a woman.

I am thankful for my Mom - HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! The only parent I have left, and a great one!

I am thankful for my health.

I am thankful for medicine, which keeps us all healthy, as well as for the researchers and scientists who develop it and test it for safety.

I am thankful that my needs are met, today and for the future.

I am thankful for my professors and their willingness to teach me the things I need to know.

I am thankful for food to eat and clothes on my back, and a warm home to live in.

I am thankful for trash pick up. If you have ever lived without it, and had to load your trash up and drive it to the dump, you know what I am talking about.

I am thankful for kitten snuggles. I love my cats.

-------That's all I can think of right now. I know that there are many more things that I have to be thankful for, and if you feel you have been left off the list, don't worry, I am thankful for you too! :)

Thanksgiving in Virginia?

We weren't planning on being in Virginia for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, my sweet and wonderful grandmother passed away the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and we had to fly to Virginia to celebrate her wonderful life. We decided to stay with my mom through thanksgiving, we are flying home Saturday.

Today (Monday) we went to DC and went to the National Zoo!

 I love the cheetahs!

Halloween

A little late, sorry! :) Pictures from Halloween with the Willis girls.

bobbing for apples

all of the kiddos

 Thumbelina

 Clawdeen Wolf

Kesha the vampire?

Bad Genes.

I am blind. Hubby has 20/20 vision. Could our kids inherit the GOOD genes, and all see well? Nope. No such luck.

Sara and Julie went to the eye doctor yesterday. Sara's eyes have stayed pretty much the same, which isn't TERRIBLE. Julie now has worse eyesight than Sara, and will be getting new (purple?) glasses in 2 weeks.

Just waiting for Ava to start squinting now so that we can be 3 for 3. Really. WTHeck?

Having a bad week. I need to buckle down. Off to study before Trig.

Homecoming Parade

Sara got to ride on the Oakdale float on the Northwest Ranking High School Homecoming Parade.

I am so proud of that kid (BTW, she is batgirl!)

Sara made straight As on her report card, she got Cougar of the Quarter, her behavior is always really really good, she's just an all-around good kid. Proud proud! :)

For good measure, here's a picture of my middle girl, Julie!! Cuteness.

And of course, my precious baby. Such a cutie. Look at the candy on the ground behind her. We got TONS of candy from the parade.

Midterms and Halloween Costumes.

So its Midterms time. I took one Monday afternoon and one Tuesday night and I have another one tomorrow. I studied so much for the ones Monday and Tuesday that instead of studying right now I am blogging. Ha.

So I feel pretty good about the other 2 tests this week. I feel pretty good (okay, MAYBE) about the one tomorrow. But I am kinda freaking. Maybe this should be an all-nighter? Ugh.

On my way home from organic chem lab I stopped at the hospital to see my friend's brand-new baby (born yesterday!). He was 9 lbs 2 oz of deliciousness. Precious precious.

Report Cards are IN! :)

For the girlies! :)

Ava's doing great. Of course. It's kindergarten. The only thing the teacher mentioned was that she doesn't grip her scissors correctly. We've been working with her on this at home, I think her tiny hands are partly to blame.

Julie got an N in capitalization and punctuation. :( At progress report time she was on reading level N (N being the last reading level in 2nd grade) and this time she was O. :) YAY Julie - way to read!

Sara got straight As. Bless her heart she is just an amazing kid.

I am SO proud of all 3 of them. :) Such bright, hardworking girls.

Hot-Lanta for the Weekend!

Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA

Nana and her girlies.

Another Adventure for the Willis Family!

We are going on yet another adventure - okay maybe not THAT adventurous, but we are traveling this weekend. Friday after school we are leaving for Atlanta. :) We will be going to the aquarium Saturday as well as to Medieval Times for dinner. Sunday the husband and I are going to see the 49ers play the Falcons. :)

Just a short road trip. I will TRY to post pictures. No promises, because my life has become insanely busy.

It's Been Awhile. . .

My life has gotten insanely busy. School takes up so much of my time. I have 2 days off in the next month and I have planned them out fully - I am going to job shadow a Pediatric ENT those days.

October 3 we are going to see the Saints play the Falcons. We will drive back from Atlanta that night and the 4th I have to be at the hospital at 6:45 am to watch this pediatric ENT do his surgeries. Monday is surgery at 7am and clinic at 1 pm and Tuesday it is surgery all day! I am really very very excited about this.

I have a few tests coming up and I am very excited to start getting As in my classes at MC. :) It's definitely going to be tough, but I know I can ace them.

the girls are awesome. Sara and Julie are both at spend the night things so I just have an Ava and a Jimmy. We watched a little Aladdin on the couch but poor Ava was so tired that she ended up going to bed and Jimmy and I watched Jersey Shore.

When I dropped Sara off at the sleepover it was definitely a very uncomfortable feeling for me. I felt like I didn't know any of these mothers, and I miss being a stay-at-home mom sometimes who knows what is going on in my kids' lives. It is such a sacrifice for me to go back to school and so often I wonder if it is worth it. I know that this is what I want, but am i doing it at the expense of my children?

Well off to bed. I have a PTK meeting tomorrow and some studying to do tomorrow.

Another Bentobloggy Giveaway!

This one is for Sushi Poppers! Very interesting product idea, one that i would love to try for free. Check it out www.bentobloggy.blogspot.com

Back To School!

Tonight I have my first class at Mississippi College - Human Embryology! I am looking forward to this class. When I received my books and was looking through them, this class had the most interesting books. The downside? Dropping the kids off at school this morning and realizing I won't see them again until tomorrow evening around dinnertime. Yeah that's a long time. Tomorrow morning I have to leave before they get up because I have early morning classes. And my organic chem lab is from 1:30-5:30! So I should be home around 6:30, right around the time the kiddos are eating. I will miss my babies.

I am choosing to feel excited. I feel that the excitement is the emotion I should focus on because I need that positivity. Yes, I will miss my girls. Yes, it is sad. But this class will be amazing and I honestly believe that, and I am excited and nervous.

Off Day.

I had plans for today. I was supposed to go walking with some friends this morning and then go to lunch with my friends from Pinelake's Mother's Morning Out. That WAS the plan, until Ava woke up in the middle of the night crying and I went in there and she had thrown up in her bed. :( This morning when I went in there to wake her and Julie up for school, she was complaining that her throat really hurt. She got in the bath and I stripped her bed and she was just complaining about feeling bad. So Ava stayed home from school and I am home with her. Once school starts I won't be able to stay home very much and Jimmy will have to take over more of that, so I felt like I had to do it this time.

She hasn't thrown up since the middle of the night and hopefully she will be able to return to school tomorrow. I also have a dr's appointment Friday morning so hoping that she is back at school by Friday for sure.

School School School.

A week ago the girls started school for the year. Sara is in 4th grade, Juliana is in 2nd grade and Ava started KINDERGARTEN! My BABY! :( :( :( so far though, it has been going well and the girls are doing great and everyone loves their teachers.

School for me starts in a week. Most of my friends are starting school today. Mothers Morning Out also starts today. Being at home while all of my friends are starting a new semester is odd feeling. I do feel like I am being left out. I know that I have a ton of things I want to get done this week. I want to clean my house. I have 4 books I want to read (which is probably ambitious!). I want to get my stuff organized for school. I want to get the girls' rooms organized. Its just hard to be stuck at home while everyone else is busy moving on.

One of my best friends is starting nursing school today. I am so excited for her and also a little bit jealous. It is so exciting to start a program like that and really make progress towards a goal. I cannot wait to start school right now. I honestly can say that i don't remember a time when I have been this excited to start something that I know will be crazy hard!

I went to see Eat, Pray, Love Saturday night with a friend of mine. It reminded me of me. The basic premise of the movie is a journey of self-discovery and self-awareness. While Liz Gilbert was trying to figure out her love life (thankfully I seem to have that part of my life under control!) it reminded me of me a few years ago and when I decided I needed to figure out what I was going to do with my life when my kids went to school. It is a journey of self discovery going from being a stay-at-home mom to deciding that it would be amazing to be a doctor and actually start taking steps to do so. It has been an amazing journey and I have learned SO much about myself along the way (might I venture to say I may have learned more than Liz Gilbert did traveling around all of those countries? Well, she definitely learned more Italian, but I have learned that I am smart, in control, that I am capable and don't need to fear new experiences, that I can get along with anyone, from the very young 18 year olds in my classes to the much older people, that I am worth the work and worth the money and worth the effort. All important lessons learned).

So yeah, everyone else is starting school and I still have a week and I feel lost. :) I know in 3 weeks when my classes are getting hard I will wish I had this big blank week in front of me. I know I need to relax and enjoy this chance to get stuff done that i NEED to get done.

Awesome Bento Giveaway

I found a really cool bento giveaway on a blog that i just recently started following:

http://bentobloggy.blogspot.com/

check it out!

A few more pictures with Granny!

Sara didn't want to say goodbye to Granny when it was time to go. Sara and Granny have always had a very special bond and she is really very attached to the only great-grandparent she has left.

A Visit with Granny

walking up Granny's big hill

We visited Grannys pond. Isn't it beautiful?

My Julie, down by Granny's pond.

Granny with her girls! :)

Could a trip to VA be complete without a visit with my granny? She will be 90 Sept 12, and my girls just adore her. We had a great visit, we went to lunch and Granny was brave and put an octopus on her plate but later decided she didn't "think she'd eat that octopus" ;)

More Beach Pictures

Ava having fun in the water
Ava and a friend

Ava and Eli. :)

Melanie and I!

My big girls.

The Willis girls take over Virginia Beach

Sara Grace

Me and my Mom!

Princess Ava

My blue-eyed angel

Last Wednesday I took all of my finals, and then called my husband because I knew I had made 4 As this summer and that was a big goal of mine. He asked if my mom was still at the beach. I told him yes that she would be there until the weekend. He was the one who suggested I drive up to see her. He got my hotel room reservation for me. And away we went!

I left Mississippi at 5:40 pm Wednesday evening and stopped in Atlanta GA at 12:30 or so. We left Atlanta at 7 am and got to VA Beach at 6 pm. It was a lot of driving! But SO worth it. Thursday night we went out to eat with my mom and her friend and neighbor Rachel, and Friday and Saturday we spent all day at the beach~! I LOVE THE BEACH!!

Aunt Kathy is visiting!

No pictures yet, but I am sure we will get some soon. Aunt Kathy flew in yesterday morning and my children have had her playing games pretty much nonstop ever since she got here. She's been a really good sport about it too, thank goodness! :)

She flies home to Florida Monday Evening. And Tuesday I have my first final, Wednesday I have the rest of my finals. We may just have to have an all-nighter Monday night! ;) Oh well - it is so much fun having family here!

It's So Hard.

It's hard balancing the different roles I have in my life right now. I knew that being pre-med and a wife and a mom of 3 would be tough. I didn't go into this thinking it would be a breeze. But Wow the guilt just piles up.

Some days we don't go anywhere because I have to do schoolwork. Some days we stay home all day and then when the husband gets home I immediately leave for a coffeeshop to get work done in peace. Some days I am so stressed out everything the girls do gets on my nerves. My whole life revolves around getting As and being a success.

And yet I have these 3 little people depending on me. 3 little people who are going to wake up in the morning and want breakfast and lunch and hope that I will make it for them. (Sometimes I get them the bread and let them put peanut butter on it themselves. I tell myself it is teaching them independence. . . ) I have 3 little people who will only have 1 summer break from school this year and next summer they are going to day care and this just might be the last summer of me being a stay-at-home mom. And I want to be a success at raising them too. I made a commitment to them when I gave birth to them. They are my pride and joy.

Speaking of being a stay-at-home mom - that has defined me for the last 10 years. Who am I? A mom. . . that's it. It has been who I am for so long that i am struggling with the idea of NOT being a stay-at-home mom. This fall I will be a full-time student and just a regular old Mom. A haphazard Mom. A Mom who lets a huge part of the burden fall on Dad's shoulders. His very very capable shoulders. I cannot even express how thankful I am for the man I married so long ago. He has stepped up to the plate and allowed me to pursue my goals with no qualms. This isn't his dream - being married to a doctor. This is completely mine. He cleans the house, he takes care of the kids, he does it all so that I can do what I need to do. He is amazing.

Anyway, it's a recurring theme, the guilt. The Mom-guilt. It is REALLY hard to be a good Mom and a good student. It's even harder to be an EXCELLENT mom and and excellent student. And unfortunately those are the expectations I have for myself- I want to be excellent at everything, and I feel like I am failing.

FINALLY putting up my pictures from Disney!

Julie and Ava riding in the teacups.
Julie and Ava all dressed up.

My sweet Sara

All 3 at the entrance of the park!

Amazement at the parade!

Midterms are OVER! :)

Very happy that midterms for summer session are complete. I got 2 As and a B on my midterms, which means that as of midterm I have As in all 4 classes. Now I just have to keep them there. Very pleased. I was worried that taking 4 summer classes would be very difficult and stressful for me. Summer classes are condensed, and taking 4 at one time is a LOT. But so far it has been okay. Yes, there has been a lot of work, but it really hasn't been more than I could handle. It makes me feel good about the future, about taking the more difficult classes next semester and getting ready for Med School. Very exciting times ahead for me!

I am having issues with Ava. Her behavior and attitude are getting worse and i am finding it very difficult to discipline her. I think I am going to have to figure something else out. The discipline issues with all 3 girls are the biggest stressors in my life this summer, not my classes. They are all staying up way too late at night (it is 1 am and Sara and Ava are just now going to bed) and then sleeping in really late in the morning. I don't know if maybe she is just tired? And some of the things she is doing is just annoying and wasteful. For some reason in the bath she likes to dump out the liquid body wash. She isn't being BAD but it is wasteful and annoys me. The kid is so tiny it really doesn't take 3/4 of a bottle of body wash to wash her little self!! I heard (from Julie) that she was using it to wash her mermaid's hair! LOL! Part of me finds that funny, so it is hard for me to discipline her for this with a straight face.

I think I need a vacation. :)

A New Book!

I bought a new book Tuesday. It was just released Tuesday and I have been STALKING it. :)

it's called "The Passage" by Justin Cronin. I have only read the first few chapters but it is AMAZING so far. This is the book to read according to EW and Oprah. It was featured in a huge way in an email I got from Amazon. If you don't read this book you will be out of the loop!

When I googled the book to find out the release date I honestly saw the phrase "Is this book the next Twilight?" ACK! :)

So get on the bandwagon while it is fresh and new. :)

Walt Disney World 2010

I cannot believe how fast our Disney trip went! :( We came home today. Pictures soon, I promise. We did not rent a stroller- our Ava walked miles and miles on her little 4 year old legs - we kept them out til midnight just about every night and walked around and around and they were little troupers! So proud of my angels. Now it is back to the old grind. I came home and did load after load of laundry and Monday I start my summer classes.

Memphis Zoo

My oldest child and I at the Memphis Zoo!

Sara's class in front of a gorilla!

Sara and I went to Memphis TN on her field trip today. We rode on a tour bus and had an awesome time just the two of us! I was pretty tired, I stayed up late last night watching the season finale of Grey's Anatomy and then we had to get up at 5 am to get to the bus by 6:15, but luckily it is about 3.5-4 hours to Memphis so I got a little nap on the bus. The kids watched Hannah Montana on the DVD player on the bus and seeing a bunch of little girls in the aisle doing the "Hoedown Throwdown" was pretty amusing.

Once we got to the zoo Sara and I split up and investigated things on our own. We booked it and were able to see everything - every single exhibit. Her favorite animals are the zebras, giraffes and pandas. I love the cheetahs of course.

the pagoda in "China"

After we arrived home from Memphis we rushed to Ava's school to see her graduate from pre-school. Her teacher gave her the award and told her now you are a kindergartener. :( I cried. Ava also recieved the "Most Improved" award. My precious precious baby!

Tomorrow is pack for Disney day. . . . Sunday we are OFF! :) Very exited!!!