More Pics of Ava

Here are a few more pics of Ava:

Our Newest Arrival

So it's been a while since I last updated my blog but now I have a good excuse. Ava Camille Green was born on Wednesday, May 5th at 7:55 AM. She was 6 lbs 14 oz and 18 1/2 inches long. She is doing great and so is mom.

First Hair Cut

Our neighbor offered to give Landon his first haircut which took place in June. He did pretty good despite his wiggles.

Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes!

So its been a while since I last blogged. Spring came and went and so did summer. I really enjoyed my summer. I felt like since my surgery in January that I have really been able to spend some time with my family. In May, I planted our annual garden. This year I decided not to grow pumpkins or squash, or anything in the squash family due to squash bugs we've had in the past two years. Instead, I decided to grow more tomatoes, watermelon, and carrots. I planted six tomato plants with the idea that I would make homemade salsa and can it. My mom helped show me how to do canning this year and Mallory and I have made 11 jars of salsa. I now have so many tomatoes coming on the vine that every few days I'm out in the garden picking tomatoes. The tomatoes are huge too. Lately, I have picked tomatoes the size of large grapefruit. They have been wonderful for hamburgers.

First Day of Spring

I noticed on my drive into work this morning that someone was watering their lawn. They had the full set of sprinklers going and it reminded me of all of the yard work that is going to be coming soon. Despite all the work, I do love Spring. It's probably my most favorite time of the year. Images of blossoms, green leaves, clear skies, and an occasional rain storm remind me of renewal and replenishment after the dead of winter. It's a lot like how my body has felt as I've been recovering from my illness and surgery. My hair is growing back, I'm gaining weight, and I'm feeling more energetic. I can't say I feel like a spring chick but I do feel great!

Gaining Weight in a Weight Loss World

In world that often emphasizes weight loss and with growing numbers of individuals experiencing obesity, its often difficult to get information on gaining weight in a healthy manner. I have been working to gain back weight that I lost over the last few months due to my illness and eventual surgery. I'm down 35 pounds and have gained back 9. I met with a registered dietitian and she gave me some wonderful words of wisdom, which included lots of fruits and vegetables. Here is a site that I found to be rather useful for those that are, like myself, trying to gain weight.

Some of the things that I've been doing include: eating 3 meals a day with 2 mini-meals or snacks in-between, I switched to whole milk, I drink two protein shakes a day, lots of whole grains, and I try to eat lots of nuts such as almonds, walnuts, and my favorite cashews, during snack times. It doesn't hurt to have almonds in chocolate bar too.

I can't believe what extreme weight loss (malnourishment) has done on my body (bones, muscles, energy, etc). I can see what a tremendous impact that anorexia has on those suffering from this as well. I'm glad to be back among the "healthy eaters" and I'm really enjoying all this good food. Yum! Forks up!

Happy New Year!

It's only the last couple of weeks that I feel I've been able to begin my new year. I had surgery in January on my outer lung and I've been home recovering ever since. I've never had surgery before and this was definitely a wake up call for me in reviewing what is most important in my life. Unfortunately, my energy is really zapped. I lost a lot of weight over the last several months and am trying to regain my strength, weight and begin new eating patterns. I've gained 3 lbs and hope to gain about 25 more. Isn't life brutally ironic!

I went into the office a couple of days last week for just a few hours at at time, and hope to work some full-time days this week. I look forward to having my movement, energy, and weight back.

My wife has had a rough adjustment through all this. She was basically single-mothering for the last 3 weeks until I could get on my feet and begin lifting things again. Regaining my independence and even being able to drive again has really lifted my spirits. I hope she has seen some improvement and is feeling better about things.

So for Christmas, to preemptively prepare for the whole DTV switch, my wonderful wife bought me Dish Network Satellite TV. Because we live in a very rural part of the county, we only got one network on TV and a couple of PBS stations. Other stations were very fuzzy. When I got Dish, I couldn't believe how clear the picture was and I didn't realize how much I've missed TV. My favorite feature of course is the fact that I can record things and watch them at my convenience. Mallory and I end up watching our favorite shows at night once the kids have gone to bed. I love it!!!

So Valentine's Day is on Saturday. I wonder how many men will forget or wait until the last minute. I always find the Hallmark isle at this time of year a fascinating social phenomenon.

Looking forward to spring weather. We've had a nice week of mild temps for February and some rain too. Snow is coming this week. Last year at this time, i was stuck in a storm that forced me to stay at my mom's house for the night. Roads were so bad that some people ended up sleeping in their cars. I'm glad the winter has been a bit more mild this year.