Happy Fit-iversary to Me

I can't believe it's already been a year and yet, I can't believe it's only been a year.

One year ago, I was 15 months post-partum. Feeling sluggish and out of shape. None of my clothing fit right and I didn't feel great about myself. I didn't even feel good about myself most days. I heard about this website called Dietbet that allows you to basically pledge $30 (or some other amount of money you set) that you will lose 4% of your body weight in 30 days. I thought that would be a really difficult challenge for me because I (thought) I only had about 6 pounds to lose to get to a more comfortable weight and needed to lose somewhere around 4.5 pounds to "win" the Dietbet. Nevertheless, I started a Dietbet challenge, invited my friends, and began the best year of my life.

The basics have been very basic. I track my food (for free on myfitnesspal.com). I exercise at least 3x a week (usually 5-6 days per week). I track my runs with Runkeeper (free app), And I've done it for a year. A whole entire year without a lapse. Even the week we were at Disneyworld I ran in the mornings with my sister-in-law. Even the coldest and hottest weeks of the year I worked out. Even the week I was resting my sore knee I still got in 3 workouts. Making it a full year is really significant for me--the person who could do it for a few months and then fall off of the wagon. I don't see myself ever stopping while I'm physically able to do it.

Here's what's changed in a year's time...

• My weight has gone down 12-14 pounds. I'm roughly 5-6 pounds below my original "target" weight, lower than I thought was possible as an adult.
• My clothing size has gone down from an 8 to a 4.
• My body has changed. I love my body. It is muscular and tone.
• My wardrobe has changed. I've spent a lot of time at Goodwill searching the "size small" racks. I've purchased my first new bikinis in 10 years. I'm wearing things I never imagined I would wear, like leggings and skinny jeans.
• My running endurance has increased massively. I previously thought running 1 mile was unreachable and running 10 minutes without stopping was amazing. This weekend I ran my first half-marathon, a trail marathon, and finished in 3 hours.
• My confidence in running has increased. I've gone from signing up for 5ks to signing up for half marathons.
• My relationship with food has changed. I did a Whole30 in March (and plan to do another in September), and it has made me focus more on putting good, real foods into my body. I still like sweets and treats, but I also know that I don't need them all of the time.
• I've discovered new healthy foods and added them into my regular diet rotation (coconut oil, sweet potatoes, zucchini, almond butter, hummus, cauliflower rice...). I've ditched a lot of foods I thought I couldn't live without, like bread, pasta, and rice.
• My self-esteem is through the roof. Not only because I think I look awesome, but because I feel strong and fit. I know I can finish a race, do a push-up, keep up with my kids all day, fuel my body well, have willpower.

One year ago, July 2013, pre-Dietbet. 140ish pounds.

Post Dietbet, 133 Pounds

 

February 2014, post ab-challenge, 128 pounds

Today, 1 year in, 125 lbs:

I continue to set new goals and challenges and can't wait to see what the future as a fit and healthy mom looks like. Happy Fit-iversary, here's to many more!

Still Whole30ing. Kinda

I have not been able to be as diligent this time around as I was the last time, but I'm still working at it and trying to follow as best as I can. I haven't been as good with the pictures these last few days either, so all you're getting is some highlights!

Breakfast has largely been eggs with sweet potatoes. I did switch it up one day and make a green smoothie (though smoothies aren't encouraged on Whole30 because they are typically high in fruit and they prefer you to eat your food not drink it, but I had some spinach that needed using up, so smoothie it was).

Lunches were often leftovers. I had a compliant chicken sausage from Trader Joe's one day with an apple and almond butter, but didn't snap a picture. One day I ate in the car and had a random assortment of leftover pulled pork, a boiled egg, some carrots, and some olives.

This weekend we ate at a little cafe and I had a bok choy salad (with a non-compliant soy sauce dressing, but dang it was good) and this blackened catfish (and that was "cumin sauce" so not sure what's in it, but also delicious). The waitress gave me the eye when I said "no rice, no beans" and questioned if I then wanted the sandwich instead that comes with chips and salsa? No thanks.

And Dinners have been varied. Last Friday we had spaghetti squash (for me, the family had pasta) with sausage and marinara. Salads on the side with Tessemae's raspberry vinaigrette.

Spaghetti is not pretty, but it was decent.

 Last night we had roast chicken, roast sweet potatoes, and this awesome Super Greens soup.

And tonight was a yummy compliant Wildtree freezer meal: Mexican shredded beef. It's meant for burritos, but we ate it over cauliflower rice with some guacamole, and had salads with it with Tessemae's Southwest Ranch. This meal had some kick.

I have had three non-compliant meals in the last few days (lunch and dinner last Thursday at a conference and social gathering with my university cohort, and then a burger after our 5K Saturday night). So I know I'm supposed to start over at day 1, but I'm just trying to do my best from this point on. I'm still loving the lack of sweets cravings (haven't indulged in any) and not feeling hungry all day. Plus, with how beautiful these meals are, why would I quit now?

Whole30 Day 6--the energy is coming!

I'm starting to feel steadier energy all day long, which is my absolute favorite part of the Whole30. None of the afternoon blahs or sugar crashes. Maybe it was just because I didn't have 2 minutes to sit down today, but it came about this time last 30 days too.

Today, same old breakfast: sweet potato hash with 2 eggs over easy. I had a banana at our staff appreciation breakfast this morning and swiped a muffin for the family :)

Lunch Day 6: Leftovers. Pork carnitas over cauliflower rice with romaine, jalapenos, and guacamole. Dipped some carrots in the leftover guacamole. I also took olives and a boiled egg, but didn't eat the egg and ate the olives when I got home:

Dinner Day 6: Kung Pao Salmon w/broccoli and sweet potatoes. We had this a few weeks ago and really liked it. Wasn't as good today for some reason, but filled the belly anyway. The kids had PB&J's (insert eye roll)

Another one in the book. 1/5 of the way there.

Whole30 Day 5

I feel like I'm on the upswing now. I know I had just unstoppable energy in week 2 last time, so I'm looking forward to it. Treats day at work today and I didn't even feel too deprived, though those pumpkin bars did look delicious.

Started the morning out with my usual: sweet potato hash and 2 fried eggs, and a small banana at work:

Lunch was leftover buffalo chicken egg cups (with a little extra buffalo chicken), some broccoli/grape salad, and an apple. I had a couple of my meatballs I had taken to work as well. Was so glad I took something that I (and my friend at work who is doing the Whole30 with me) could eat. Rest of the week we won't be so lucky!

Dinner tonight, man I was so excited. Pork carnitas with cilantro lime cauliflower rice bowls. Mine had "rice," pork, romaine, jalapenos, carrots, red pepper, salsa, and guacamole. Yum. It's almost like I planned it for Cinco de Mayo, but it was just a coincidence. 

Snacks today were more almonds and raisins (kind of my new thing, but I figure it could be worse) and I munched some carrots and broccoli w/guacamole while I cooked and Forrest and I shared a fruit bowl after dinner (pears, strawberries, kiwi). Feel really satisfied today.

Whole30 Day 4

Today was not the best day. I ate (mostly) compliant, but a lot of fruit and feeding my sweet dragon way more than I wanted to. Not sure why.

I started the day out with some almonds and raisins before my run. Debated for quite a while what I could eat that I wouldn't regret while I was out running. Came home and had my favorite sweet potato hash with 2 fried eggs. Yum. Oh yeah, I forgot to take a picture until I was almost done. Told ya I was hungry.

I was at my cousin Judy's confirmation party for lunch, and tried my best to eat compliant, but I'm sure the dressing on the salad was not, and I gave in to my Aunt's special striped Jell-o. I bypassed the cake despite bringing 4 pieces home for the family so I think that earns me back some points. And I photographed my lunch while at a family gathering. You're welcome.

Then I came home and threw together two compliant dishes for a work pot-luck tomorrow (Merguez meatballs with homemade BBQ sauce and this awesome Broccoli/Grape Salad). Couldn't stop snacking at that point. Had some celery with almond butter and raisins and a whole bunch of grapes while making the salad. I wasn't even hungry for dinner but made the Buffalo Chicken Egg cups that were on the menu any way. They were pretty good. I swiped a spoonful of the broccoli salad for tomorrow as my side. It was really good.

Brushed my teeth right after supper so I wouldn't have the urge to snack. Almost glad that tomorrow is Monday and back to work.

Whole30 Day 3--weekends are hard

Weekends are a lot harder for me on the Whole30 because we tend to be out and about more. Today was no exception. Forrest was up at the crack of dawn, as usual, so I had a banana before my workout, then my workout, and then finally made up my eggs. I wasn't feeling the fried egg this morning, so I scrambled up three eggs with some salsa and then folded spinach inside. It was pretty good.

The kids and I were heading out to go to some antique/resale shops with MIL, and I knew a) I was going to be hungry and b) there wasn't going to be anything there I could eat. So, I smartly packed a little snack bag of almonds and raisins for myself (man, it totally hit the spot). I made the kids bags with pretzels and Cheerios which kept them quiet on the drive too. It didn't make the donuts look any less delicious when we got to our first stop (a local bakery had set up in the yard, OMG, my kids shared a donut and it was all my willpower not to finish it off when neither one of them wanted to eat their whole piece).

For lunch we went to a local restaurant. There wasn't much there that appealed to me, especially for lunch time when I find it hard to order a "dinner" meal. I ended up going with the Chef's salad, no cheese. I'm sure the Italian dressing I picked was not compliant, but it was the best of my options, so it had to do. Gave my kids all the croutons--they were thrilled.

Dinner was my absolute favorite Whole30 recipe: Cocoa Chili from The Clothes Make the Girl. I made it twice on my Whole30. It's really easy to make and both my kids even ate it (and Heidi had seconds, which is unheard of). I snacked on some raw veggies and guacamole while I waited for the sweet potatoes to bake, then topped my chili with some guacamole and a handful of roasted sweet potatoes.

Overall, it was a pretty good day. Would've been better if I could convince Forrest to go potty in public bathrooms. Maybe next time.

Whole30 Day 2

Day 2 and I had no sweet potatoes ready for breakfast, disappointing. I did have a couple red peppers that I overbought last weekend though, so I sauteed one of those up with my spinach and fried eggs (fried hard since I had nothing to soak up the good stuff). And had a banana on the drive to work because I knew that wasn't going to make it to lunch with just the eggs. 

Lunch was last night's leftovers: ribs, sweet potato, broccoli. I also had some raw veggies with spicy guacamole and an apple (not pictured).

Dinner tonight was a Wildtree Southwest Chicken burger (hello, freezer party meal!) topped with some homemade mayo and guacamole with a big ol' salad on the side (romaine, carrots, red pepper, broccoli, black olives and Tessemae's Southwest Ranch dressing). I also had a couple ants on a log with almond butter after dinner because my mouth was on fire from the guacamole.

Snacks today were some almonds and I had a boiled egg before dinner and some raisins. Tomorrow is the weekend, that's the struggle!

Whole30 Day 1

I started my second Whole 30 on May 1st and decided this time through to document in pictures all of my meals (since a lot of folks have asked me what I eat when I do it...and since I like to overshare with pictures of food).

Day 1 Breakfast: 2 fried eggs served over roasted sweet potatoes with sauteed fresh spinach. I'm trying to make myself like spinach. Love fried eggs and love the sweet potatoes to soak up the yolk.

Day 1 Lunch: Leftover salmon with lemon, salt & pepper, sweet potato hash, a boiled egg with homemade mayo, some raw veggies, and an apple. I ate all this and was still starving by 4pm. I did eat lunch at 10:30-11 though, while driving to a meeting where I was then urged to eat lunch there or "at least a pastry!"

Day 1 Dinner: Beef short ribs in the crockpot (ate with some Tessemae's ketchup, which has an interesting flavor), steamed broccoli, half a sweet potato that I microwaved. Sweet potatoes were discovered in my first Whole30 after previously thinking I didn't like them, and yes, I did have one at each meal today. Ate this one without anything on it, even.

I did have some almonds, green olives, and a banana at various times today too. Takes me a while to get into the no-snacking rhythm. Day 1 in the books.

Disney--the 4th and Final Part!

Our 4th and final day at Disney we debated between Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, but ended up deciding on Hollywood Studios (as it was going to rain much of the day and I remembered the Tower of Terror being my favorite Disney ride as a kid). It was a later bus, so we slept in a bit and finally hopped the shuttle to Hollywood.

We spent much of the day seeing various shows and dodging rain storms. Heidi's favorite show was the Ariel 3D show (which was cool, but Forrest didn't like getting wet). We also saw the Muppets 3D show, the Disney Jr. Live Show, and the Beauty and the Beast Musical.

We didn't end up doing much for rides, other than the Great Movie Ride (which Heidi did NOT like) and the Tower of Terror (which Heidi cried and begged not to ride, so I rode by myself while Josh sat with her in the lobby and waited for me). The Toy Story ride had a Fastpass return after we planned to leave the park and a 75 minute wait, so we had to forego it. We did spend some time playing at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playsite and Heidi really loved the spider web she could climb up and run down. She was lured to leave only by the promise of lunch.

Lunch ended up being the highlight of the day as Colleen has always wanted to eat at The Hollywood Brown Derby, so we did. Heidi and I had kitty cocktails and many of us had the famous cobb salad. We caught the tail end of the parade, dodged some more rain, and indulged on Mickey ice cream sandwiches before heading out to the bus lot.

It was hard to believe our trip was already coming to an end. Monday dawned stormy and we were glad to be heading to the airport for our trip home. After a slight delay due to lightning (Tropical Storm Isaac was just hitting Florida), we were off. We got to experience running through the airport with two children thanks to a short layover made shorter by our delay, but boarded our second flight, shuttled back to the airport, loaded into the van and headed home.

A perfect trip it was, we couldn't have asked for any better. We're already thinking of when we'll go back so we can see Belle's castle that's currently under construction :)

Disney--Part 3

Saturday's day at Magic Kingdom started with breakfast with Winnie the Pooh and friends. Heidi was excited to see the characters across the restaurant as we entered and Papa even got her to join the character parade (she was excited because Eeyore was right behind them)! Breakfast was very good and as soon as we'd had pictures with Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, and Tigger, we set off to start our day. We knew we wanted to ride Splash Mountain again since only the guys and Heidi had ridden the first day, but we didn't want to wait as long, so seeing a short line for Tinkerbell, the girls stayed to meet her and sent the boys (sans Forrest) to fetch Fastpasses for Splash Mountain. The Tinkerbell line ended up taking much longer than anticipated but it was worth it when we saw  how sweet she was. She ended up being my favorite character that we met at the parks.

Heidi became shy by her and had her fingers in her mouth and Tinkerbell put her at ease immediately, "why do you have your fingers in your mouth? Do they taste good? Do they taste like honey or pumpkin muffins? Pumpkin muffins are my favorite, what's your favorite food?" Heidi answered her and they chatted a bit more before smiling for pictures. Tink even came over to say "Hi" to Forrest, and got a smile from him in return. When we left Tinkerbell, surprisingly, the guys were not outside yet. They came hustling over a few minutes later and said the line was short so they rode before they got Fastpasses. It was already almost time for the passes to be active, so we headed over that way and I fed Forrest for a few minutes before we rode. Only the girls ended up riding this time due to a FP mix-up (and since the guys had already ridden twice, we didn't feel bad). Following that ride Josh and his mom went to ride Thunder Mountain and came back saying that Heidi was big enough to ride and would love it, so Josh, Steve, Heidi, and I got in line for the rollercoaster. Heidi giggled as it rounded the corners, the rollercoasters ended up being her favorite rides.

We left Frontierville and decided to see a show, since we'd yet to see one in MK. We went to Mickey's Philharmagic show and loved it. I wasn't sure what Heidi would think of the 3D, but she really liked it. After the show it was shopping time as Heidi had been promised some Minnie Mouse ears. After a couple of meltdowns in the store (because mean-mom wouldn't let her get the Cinderella "glass" (rubber) slippers), she settled on the pink Minnie ears she originally wanted.

We had one "land" we'd yet to explore: Tomorrowland, so we headed off. The crowds were fairly large, but we hopped in line for the Astro-orbiter and got Fastpasses for Buzz Lightyear's ride. These still ended up being our longest waits based on the time of day we were there, but we made it through both, got Heidi and I a hot dog, and headed for one more show: Monsters Inc. Laugh Factory. After the show, the parade was ending and we were all hot and tired and decided to take the bus home and come back later for the parade and fireworks. Heidi, of course, wanted to swim back at the hotel, so they spent most of the afternoon in the pool before Josh and I and the kids took a taxi back to MK.

The parade was very cool with all the lights, but we were all exhausted. After the parade, and some cajoling by Mom and Dad, we convinced Heidi to leave and watch the fireworks as we took the train/walked to the taxi stand. Forrest had slept through the entire parade and Heidi fell asleep on the train, so two tired babies got back to the hotel and straight to bed for one more day of Disneyworld.

To be continued...the final part!

Disney--Part 2

The Friday of our trip we traveled to Epcot center. We got to sleep in a little bit as the shuttle didn't leave the hotel until 9:20. Unfortunately this was also the hottest day! We got into Epcot quickly off of the shuttle and after snapping some pictures of Josh, Steve, and Heidi in front of the giant Epcot ball, we spotted Daisy Duck taking pictures just inside the entrance. The line was short (maybe 2 or 3 kids in front of us), so we excitedly went for another character encounter. Finally, we ventured farther into the park and found a short line for Spaceship Earth so we hopped in line and within a few minutes were tucked into our "cars" and off on a visit through time. It was at this point that I started to think maybe I had never been to Epcot before. I traveled to Disney with my extended family as a teenager, but couldn't remember exactly what we did. As the day progressed I knew this was my first visit to Epcot just as it was the kids; ironically, two of my favorite rides ended up being here.

After Spaceship Earth we attempted to get Fastpasses for the Character Spot, only to find that they don't exist, so I ran to get Fastpasses for Soarin' which already had a long wait. Next we headed to the Nemo and Friends ride/exhibits. The line was nice and short for the Nemo ride and Heidi enjoyed looking at the fish exhibits afterwards (especially the dolphins which were in prime form for tricks). After feeding Forrest (and listening to an entertaining lecture a father was giving his three young children), we headed off into the World Showcase.

This is where it started to really stink that it was so hot. So much of the World Showcase is things that you really want to take your time to look at and enjoy, but we spent much of the afternoon dashing in-and-out of air conditioned places. Luckily the two rides in the World Showcase (Mexico and Norway) were both nice and cool boat rides. After we completed the rides I was able to convince the rest of the party that we needed food! Despite being in the awesome World Showcase, we settled on pizza in Italy for lunch. The ice water was the biggest hit, even with Forrest, who took Josh's glass with a death grip and cried whenever Josh tried to take it away.

After lunch we rode the boat across the pond to go back and use our Soarin' Fastpasses. Forrest couldn't go on this one, so we sent the grandparents first while we waited with the baby. Upon their return, Josh, Heidi, and I went to ride. Such a cool ride, it ended up being my favorite of all. Heidi was totally sucked in and asked where we were when the ride ended, she thought we had really been flying over all the different countryside scenes. Then, wanting to catch the first bus home (rather than wait until park close), it was already time to head out to the parking lot. It was nice to get back to the hotel earlier and Heidi loved being able to go in the pool again.

Day 3, Saturday, was another day at Magic Kingdom. I honestly feel that with a child Heidi's age we could have done all 4 days at MK and been  happy as clams. To be continued...

Disney Trip--Part 1

Long time, no blog. Life with two children is definitely busy and exciting. To add to that, we decided we HAD to get our princess to Disneyworld while it was all so magical for her (and before Little Man became a toddler and wanted to run in all directions). The grandparents were gracious enough to go with us as adoring kid-helpers, and I highly recommend having 2x as many adults as children.

We flew out on a Wednesday, first thing in the morning. Heidi was excited to get to the airport and see the planes out the window (even if Papa did try to pull her leg by telling her our airplane had a flat tire). We loaded on board and of course Heidi insisted on sitting with Grandma and Papa since parents are such old news. Here is the point where I emphasize: my children are awesome travelers. Obviously I was a bit worried about taking a 4.5 month old on a trip like this--not knowing how he'd react on the airplane or in the parks. Forrest did awesome. Heidi Jean did amazing. We were even complimented by random strangers on the plane, they were that good.

We arrived in Florida around 1pm on Wednesday and Heidi was a bit disappointed that the plane didn't drop us off right at Disneyworld. She was appeased by being able to swim in the hotel pool. We stayed at a Staybridge Suites and highly recommend it. We had two full bedrooms, two full baths, a full kitchen, and a livingroom. It was perfect for the six of us. The beds were comfy, the hot breakfast was a great perk (scrambled eggs, sausage, waffles every day=yes, please), the pool was almost always empty, and the staff were super.

Thursday was the BIG day. The first day at Magic Kingdom. The day we had lunch with the princesses. We got to the park right around opening, got Heidi a "First Visit" pin, and headed back through the castle to Fantasyland. The crowds were surprisingly manageable and within the first hour we'd ridden Winnie the Pooh, Tea Cups (girls only as the boys don't like spinny rides), Dumbo, and the Great Goofini (twice). We headed back to the other side of Fantasyland and hopped on It's a Small World (where I thought of my Grams--it's her favorite), we grabbed Fastpasses for Peter Pan (what an ingenious thing, the Fastpass, we got one any time the wait was more than 20 minutes) and headed to the Haunted Mansion at Josh and Steve's request. Heidi was leary about it and after being closed in the dark room didn't want to ride the ride, but we convinced her that the room was scarier than the ride. She survived it but stated emphatically upon exiting that she did NOT want to go on that again. Finally, we headed to Frontierland where the waits were a bit longer, but having an hour or so before we could go on Peter Pan we sent the boys with Heidi to wait for Splash Mountain (the stated 40 minute wait ended up being more like an hour).

Then it was almost time! Heidi had an appointment at 1:10 at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique to get all princess-ified. We had about 20 minutes and debated if that was enough time to use our Fastpasses for Peter Pan--it was, we walked right on and were on and off within 10 minutes. Heidi was so excited to get her Tiana dress on and then her fairy godmother called her back to her chair and let her pick which hair and make-up she wanted and off-to-work they went. It was comical because Heidi just sat there stone-faced, even as the goofy photographer tried to get her to smile. I knew inside she was enjoying it, but she looked like she was sitting in a torture chamber. Probably partially because getting her hair put up is painful. But at the end, she was a princess! We hardly recognized her with her hair all pulled up in a tiny bun, a tiny pink tiara, and make-up! After a Cheetos melt-down and a few minutes in an air-conditioned shop, we were off to lunch with the princesses.

First we got to get our pictures taken with Cinderella. She was beautiful and graceful, what an amazing moment. It was Heidi's first character experience and we didn't know if she'd be shy, but she went right up to her and smiled happily for pictures. We were ushered upstairs for dinner and throughout the meal four more princesses came to our table: Ariel, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Belle. The food was wonderful, the princesses were so sweet, and we all agreed it was worth the money, especially for a princess-loving girl like Heidi.

We rode a few rides in Adventureland (the Jungle Cruise, Aladdin's Magic Carpet, Pirates of the Caribbean, and walked through the Swiss Family Treehouse) and then it was off to catch our bus (or rather, catch the metro-train to the bus parking lot, miss the bus, take another bus to Animal Kingdom, finally catch a bus to our hotel, go back to the hotel and crash hard).

To be continued...

I'm a "Flygirl" now

So, a little over a month ago I had a sort of a nervous breakdown. The stress of being home all day with a newborn and an almost-four-year-old was getting to me. I would be sitting on the couch, nursing little man and wondering how I was ever going to take control of my house. It was a disaster and just looking at it was making me upset. Then someone told me about the Flylady. And so, being the diligent student that I am, I started the Flylady babysteps and learned some amazing things in a month...

1. I learned that I like making my bed and having it be made. I was previously of the opinion that making the bed was a waste of time, since you just "unmake" it to get in (which really isn't true anyway since I always made the bed before climbing in because I can't sleep if it's sloppy). Now I make my bed every morning after my shower and I love walking into my room and seeing how neat it looks with a made bed. Seriously 2 minutes of my life that makes such a big difference.

2. I learned that I much prefer doing laundry one load a day (or every other day) to the all-day-Sunday laundry-athon I used to do. Folding and putting away one load at a time is so much less overwhelming. And we always have clean clothes.

3. I learned that everything is less daunting when you have the mental mindset of "I just need to do this for a few minutes." A lot of the Flylady tasks are 2 minutes of this, 5 minutes of this, 15 minutes of this. Spread out throughout the day and I probably spend more time cleaning than I did before, but it seems like I don't spend any at all.

4. I learned that I was doing some things right, like meal planning.

5. I learned that I don't have to do all the parts or do any of them perfectly for it to make a huge difference.

It's nice to know that someone could stop over anytime and I wouldn't be embarrassed :) Thanks Flylady!

Menu Plan Monday

My menu planning ebbs and flows, but it's a necessity right now with a newborn and a 3-year old (that both demand feeding round-the-clock). I thought I'd share this week's menu...

Monday: Frozen fish filets w/steamed broccoli and something carby (not sure what, grocery shopping day is tomorrow)...maybe baked potatoes.

Tuesday: Baby shower for a coworker, so we'll munch there and just have a sandwich or bowl of cereal if we're hungry later. I'm making Watergate salad to take with, I think.

Wednesday: Crock pot beef tips with mashed potatoes and cooked carrots

Thursday: Chicken Parmesan Quinoa bake with side salads

Friday: Homemade Crunchwrap Supremes (DH loves these and requested them again)

Saturday: Edamame Fried Rice (my best friend is visiting and eats gluten free, so I made sure to save this recipe for Saturday, so excited to try it).

Pinterest with Heidi

Heidi likes to sit next to me as I browse on Pinterest. Her commentary as follows:

Oooo...princess, what a pretty dress.
Poor puppy, he can't get through the fence.
Cake! I wish I had cake.
What is that?
Shoes.
Is that candy?
We just saw those boots!
House. What do you think of that house for us?
She just got married.
mmm...yummy.
What is that?
Hello Kitty!
nail polish.
Is that girl laying down? She thinks that's her chair!
Shirt with words on it.
Look at that cat!
...

Don't push it, mom

Heidi Jean is very affectionate with her words these days. Conversation the other day (out of the blue...)

Heidi: Mom...

Me: What, honey?

Heidi: I love you!

Me: I love you too!

Heidi: I love you to the moon and back!

Me: I love you to the moon and back and then to the moon and back again!

Heidi: I just love you one time to the moon. Not a whole bunch.

Yeah, I was being ridiculous. Agreed.

Her sweet way of talking

I wish I could just record the way she talks because it's so hard to imitate accurately. Her big word lately is "probably." She uses it constantly. Here's an example from today on the way home...

Me: Heidi, what did you have for lunch at De's today?

Heidi: Well, chicken nuggets, and probably some potato. Potato tots, probably.

3.5 Year Stats

Today is my girl's half-birthday! In celebration...she's been weighed and measured. She grew another 2+ inches (I knew her winter pants were getting short) to 41.25" (90th percentile) And she still weighs the same (thanks to boycotting dinner for several months), weighing in at 34.8 pounds (75th percentile).

A mini interview with my girl as follows:

Favorite food: crackers (sooo not true, more likely it's chocolate or macaroni and cheese)

Favorite toy: Ariel doll (or any of her princess dolls)

Favorite TV show: cartoons, Dora

Favorite movie: Letter Factory

Favorite place: Disneyworld

Favorite restaurant: McDonalds

Favorite color: Pink...and purple (she added)

Favorite princess: Ariel

She may have used her teeth

As usual, Heidi decided she wanted a snack as soon as I got downstairs (with my own snack). She wanted Cheerios, so I told her to just go up and bring them down. I heard the cupboard open. I heard her slide a chair (apparently she wanted a bowl). Then I heard, "Mom, how do I get the box open?"

I talked her into bringing them down so I could open the box. I shudder to think of what might have happened. I can only imagine cleaning up 43,000 Cheerios off of every surface of the kitchen.

My new favorite word.

At 3.5 she still says some words that are so sweetly mispronounced that you just don't correct them. My favorite is "Bessert." As in, "Mama, can I have some bessert since I ate all my supper?--Some of that bessert we had last night?"