Just keep swim-ming, just keep swim-ming...

Those of you with children or keen knowledge in Disney movies, you totally know who says this! I just have to keep swimming somedays to keep my head above water.

Yet, the water just keeps getting deeper.

13YO (who will be 14YO on Sunday....AAAACCK!) is starting softball. I'm sure you remember that last year 7YO and 13YO both played softball. Well, 7YO has absolutely no desire to play it this year, but it turns out that 4YO is old enough now!

I know, right?

She has had ONE practice and seems to love it. She's on a team with girls up to the age of 8, but most of them are 5-7 years of age. She is so funny with how focused and serious she was. Totally blew her coach away! She's been waiting for years to be 'BIG ENOUGH' and her day has finally come to do something that she couldn't do before but her sisters could. For her first practice, I told her she could just wear ANY shirt. She insisted that it wasn't softball unless she wore a 'softball shirt.' 7YO let her wear her uniform tee from last year. Luckily, we still had the matching hair bow so she totally felt 'Official.' As I helped her put on her sister's softball socks as well as the cleats that 7YO wore when she was 4 to play soccer, I got a little choked up. We appear to be fresh out of babies 'round these here parts.

*sniff*

Don't get me wrong, because I love that they are growing. The fact that 4YO can wipe her own bottom and sleep through the night and get herself dressed has made my life SO MUCH EASIER. I wouldn't trade that for anything. It just seems strange to think that she was just a baby, well...like YESTERDAY. Now, she thinks she's a teenager herself. (The music is never loud enough, she has mastered the art of sarcasm, etc.) 4YO has one more full year before she can start kindergarten, but she would go TODAY if I let her. She wants to be big so badly. Isn't that just the way it goes?

I've been sort of MIA when it comes to this blog. What can I say? Life happens! PLUS, I've been spending a lot of time on Sparkpeople.com trying to get my diet under control. I want to lose weight, but I don't want to have to lose it again later. The low carb thing was great to take off a bunch of weight quickly, but it comes back almost as quickly when you try to rejoin the human race and eat like a normal person again! I think I've finally gotten to the point where I want to learn to actually take better care of myself. I thought I ate fairly well, until I joined Sparkpeople. *smacks head* What was I thinking? No wonder the weight wasn't coming off!

Now, I know I am getting enough calories, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, and protein for my body to function properly. And the weight is coming off so slowly, in fact, that it is sure to lose its way and never find me again. I can eat WHATEVER I WANT (within reason, of course!) and make it work for the rest of the day. It's actually a lot of food and it's food that we already have around the house! I just log everything I eat (which is hard at first, but gets so much easier when you get the hang of it!) and I know what I've really eaten. It tracks exercise and water and fruit and veggie intake too. Seeing it in print makes it more real for me. I want my goals to be met and the numbers to be where they should. It doesn't even really feel like a 'diet.' And these are some of the most supportive people you could ever meet!

Okay...I'm done with my plug. It's not as if they are paying me to say this! (But...if you wanted to, Sparkpeople, I would totally love some sort of payoff....maybe in the form of 'The Spark' book or some Sparkpoints!)

*giggle*

If you happen to be on Sparkpeople already OR if you are going to join, my name there is 'LEANNIAM.' (But of course!) I've been posting a blog there, too. Somehow, I end up talking about farting a lot...