Weekly Menu

I haven't posted our weekly menu in a long time. Ok, so I haven't posted anything in a long time. I really want to get back to posting more regularly. I don't know if anyone really misses reading my blog, but I sure do miss writing! I hope to start making time to post at least once a week, but I'm not making any promises.

Anyway, to get back into the swing of things I thought I'd post our menu for the week. This is pretty simple since I plan out our menu every week anyway. All I have to do is type it up and share it with you! Maybe this will give you some ideas and inspiration for your menu this week.

Monday - Breakfast: turkey bacon, whole-wheat toast, and eggs
                Dinner: Balsamic Chicken (from Skinny Ms.) over brown rice

Tuesday - Breakfast: Peach Crisp
                Dinner: Black Bean Pasta

Wednesday - Breakfast: Chocolate Baked Oatmeal
                     (adapted from this recipe from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures)
                     Dinner: Homemade Cheeseburger Pockets

Thursday - Breakfast: Cranberry Orange Muffins
                  Dinner: Spaghetti
                  (I'll be out of town, so Theron will be doing his own cooking.)

Friday - Breakfast: Cereal (again, I'm out of town, so Theron's on his own)
             Dinner: Pesto Chicken Pizza

I'll have to post some of these recipes soon, so you can make them for you family.

Saturday and Sunday we're visiting Theron's family in Kansas, so I don't have any meals planned for those days. I can't wait to see them, and I know our meals will be delicious!

Hope you have a great week!
                   

18 Months

Oh.My.Goodness.

I have so much going on in my life that I would love to write and tell you about, but I have not been the most disciplined blogger lately. Maybe that's because I have so many things going on in my life right now! Nevertheless, I am not giving up on blogging, and I have plenty of things to write about for the next year or so (give or take a few months).

The one thing I have taken time to blog about (somewhat) consistently is Will's monthly update. So, here I am again, and my baby is 18 months old. One and a half! Closer to Two than he is to One. Why is time going so fast, and how in the world do I slow it down?

I may still call him my baby, but he is definitely not a baby. He truly is a little boy and does little boy things every day. I took him for his 18-month check up a couple weeks ago, and the pediatrician once again confirmed that he is a happy, healthy little boy. He is growing and developing just the way he is supposed to.

He was 32 3/4 inches long (75%) and 22 lbs. 9 oz. (10%). The doctor promised me that his head would be on the growth charts one day. It has been in the < 3% since he's been born. I told her it was just God's way of answering my prayers because I prayed daily that I would not have to have a c-section. Thank you, God.

He is talking more and more all the time, and his words are becoming clearer each day. He is definitely quite the little parrot, and mommy and daddy have to be very aware of the words we choose to say. Not that we use horrible language on a regular basis, but we have to make sure that nothing slips out that could later embarrass us in public. 

He loves animals and is very good at making his animal sounds. He also has a few DVD's and computer games he likes that have been helpful in teaching him letters and numbers. He can recognize a few different letters, and anytime he sees written words (in books, on signs, wherever), he says, "ABC's?" We go to the library at least every other week, and he picks out 2 books and 2 DVD's to check out and take home. Sometimes, we go to story time, but we don't always make it.

One of the big events for this month was that Theron and I took a 4 day vacation with our Sunday School class and left Will with my parents. It was the longest I had ever been away from him, and the first time he had stayed somewhere else without Mommy or Daddy. He did great! He and my parents both loved every single minute of it. I think he was pretty well-taken care of (spoiled), but I was actually very proud of my parents for keeping him on his normal schedule (for the most part). It was definitely a good experience for everyone involved.

Let me just throw in a side note here. Even though it is SO difficult to leave our children, even for just a few days, I think it is essential to a marriage. It was so nice for Theron and I to have some time away where Will was not constantly the focus of our attention. I know it is hard to even make time for a monthly date night, so really getting away can be a challenge. But if you can do it...DO IT! It will be well worth it for you, your spouse, your marriage, and your child. I think it is especially helpful if you are a stay-at-home mom.

Moving on.

I really can't get enough of my little boy. He makes me laugh so hard. He gives me the sweetest hugs and kisses you've ever seen. He has such an ornery side but such a sweet side, too. He loves babies and treats them so nicely. He disobeys with a huge grin on his face, knowing he's about to get in trouble. He runs away and hides when I ask him to do anything (get a clean diaper, change his clothes, etc.), but I can't help but laugh when I hear that shriek and giggle as I chase after him. I love how I walk in his room in the morning, and he says, "Momma! Bye, bye bed!" And as much as I say it annoys me, I kind of love it when he comes up behind me while I'm cooking, beats on my legs, and says "Hold you," in the sweetest voice ever.

What I'm trying to say is, I love this little boy more than life itself, and even on the days I just want to run away because he's been so ornery, so whiny, or so clingy, I can't imagine my life without him.

Happy 18 Months, Sweet Will! Momma loves you bunches!

17 Months

So, I'm a little behind. What's new? Will's been 17 months old for about a week and a half two weeks now, and I'm finally getting around to writing his monthly update. Oh well.

I would say the theme of this month has been "Go!" Maybe this is actually just the theme of our lives. I feel like we are constantly moving, constantly going, running here and there all the time. Will is no exception to this aspect of our family. If anything, he has just upped our game a little bit. He is a mover!

He loves jumping. He has loved jumping since he was 6 or 7 months old and that love has only evolved. He begs to jump in his bed several times a day. I don't mind this one bit since it keeps him contained, and I can things done while he's having a great time. It's definitely a win-win.

When he's not jumping, he's running, or asking to go to the park or to play outside. He loves taking walks in his "stro-stro," and often beats on the door to the garage saying it over and over again in his whiniest voice.

A new thing this month is his desire to tell everything and everyone bye-bye. He does this ALL.THE.TIME. It's not just when we're leaving the house. Oh no. It's every time he leaves a room - Bye-bye bed, bye-bye fan, bye-bye ball, bye-bye shoes. It's every time he's finished eating - Bye-bye chicken, bye-bye bread, bye-bye banana. It's every time I change his diaper - Bye-bye diaper, bye-bye poop. The kid says bye-bye to EVERYTHING. At first, I thought it was cute. Now, I just get annoyed when it takes us 20 minutes to leave a room.

I'm thinking all of this bye-bye business is a result of his new vocabulary. This month has definitely been an explosion of new words. It seemed like he woke up one day and knew how to label everything he was familiar with...and label he does. He loves practicing his words over and over before he goes to bed. I think he's just trying to make sure he won't forget them in the morning. He loves to point at things and label them and for you to repeat what he says. If you don't repeat it, he'll just keep saying the word until you do. I've gotten to be pretty good at understanding him just so I can repeat what he says as fast as I can.

It really is so much fun to see him learning. It is just amazing to watch a baby become a toddler, and I'm sure it only gets more amazing to watch them grow and develop through the years.

Some other favorite things this month would be the movie "Cars," and TV shows Super Why and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He also loves to play with anything that goes...cars, trucks, trains (choo-choos), tractors, etc. Our backyard looks like a parking lot with all of his vehicles parked out there. He loves drinking smoothies and asks for one almost every day. This is a great way for him to get tons of fruit, and I even throw some protein powder in there every once in awhile. He still doesn't really play "with" his friends, but he's started getting really excited to see them. He just loves Kinlee and Ally, and his face lights up when I tell him we're going to play with them. He loves giving hugs and sloppy wet kisses. He takes great care of his stuffed animals and the baby dolls in the nursery at church. I think he's going to be an amazing daddy one day!

He keeps me busy, and sometimes I wish we could just slow down, but I do my best to soak up every minute and every new activity. Some days I try to remember what my life was like before Will was around, and I just can't do it. I truly cannot imagine my life without him. Trust me, we have our fair share of frustrations and there are times I wonder why parenting has to be so difficult, but I know that I am truly blessed and try to embrace the good and the bad along the way.

Healthy Living

It seems like everyone is concerned with being healthier these days, including me. As I've mentioned in previous posts, I've always been a pretty healthy eater (even though I definitely have a sweet tooth!), and I've always been a pretty active person. However, I've recently made a few changes in my life, and I am loving the way I feel! I have so much more energy, less bloating and less of that nasty "ugh...I ate way too much" feeling, fewer problems with my digestion, and just an overall sense of feeling good about the decisions I am making about my health. 

I mentioned that I've always been pretty healthy. I'm finding that most of the time these days people equate being skinny with being healthy. I am here to tell you that's just not true. I am one of those "lucky" people who are somewhat on the lean side. I got blessed with a fast metabolism and good genes. However, over the years, I've come to realize that being skinny does not = being healthy. My arteries don't care what the scale says. If I'm filling my body with greasy fried foods every day, they will get clogged whether I weight 100 pounds or 200 pounds. Yes, weight is one indicator of health, but it is certainly not the only indicator. 

There was actually a time in my life where I was skinny, and I was not healthy at all. I was never diagnosed with an eating disorder, and I wouldn't necessarily classify it as an eating disorder, but I would classify it as disordered eating. More than that, I had disordered thinking. I obsessed over food. I thought about every little thing I put into my mouth. I wrote down every calorie I ate each day. I obsessed over exercising enough, even though I was often working out 3 or 4 hours a day. Food was constantly on my mind. I would sometimes go walk around the grocery store when I was hungry, just to prove to myself that I had the willpower to resist "temptation." Pure craziness. I am happy that part of my life is in the past and that I've learned from it. 

What I've learned is that it's not important to be skinny. It's important to be healthy, and I am passionate about living a healthy lifestyle and helping others live a healthy lifestyle, as well. I recently came across some startling and somewhat scary statistics. Did you know that the #1 killer of both men and women in America is heart disease? Did you know American adults consume 2-3 lbs. of sugar each week? Did you know the rate of childhood obesity in the United States has more than tripled in the past 30 years? To me, these statistics are scary. They show that something needs to be done. 

So, I've been doing lots of research and reading lots of books. Trying to figure out how to incorporate a healthy lifestyle in our world of convenience and busyness. I love the way Michael Pollan boils everything down so simply in his book In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. His basic philosophy is this: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Plants. How simple is that? He breaks this simple statement down even further into even more simplified "rules" in his book Food Rules: An Eater's Manual. I would highly recommend both books. 

I have tried to incorporate this simple philosophy into my daily life. Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Here's a little more information about each part:

1. Eat Food - Sounds simple, but so much of what we eat shouldn't even be considered food. We eat things that are highly processed and chemically manufactured with artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and colors. Food is the stuff that grows in the ground, on a plant, or on a tree. It is the meat that comes from animals that have not been treated with chemicals and hormones, let alone battered and deep fried. It is real food. In its pure, natural state. The stuff our ancestors ate when heart disease, high cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity were not national epidemics.

2. Not too much. - Portion control. It is so important to just be aware of the amount of food you are consuming. Always pay attention to serving sizes. Everything today is "supersized," and we need to get back to only eating the food our bodies truly need. 

3. Mostly plants. - I am not a vegetarian, and I never will be. I like meat. My husband really likes meat and would never go for a vegetarian household. However, we have been limiting our meat intake by eating 2 meatless meals (for dinner) each week. Meat contains cholesterol and saturated fat that you don't get from plants and plant products. This is such an easy change to make.

I have also been limiting my intake of gluten, dairy, and soy, simply because these are highly allergenic foods that often cause issues with digestion. By completely eliminating these foods for a short time, I allow my body to detoxify, and I can see what a difference it makes in the way I feel. I do not completely eliminate these foods all the time, but I am more aware of how much I eat and how my body feels as a result. 

One of the most difficult things for me has been limiting my sugar intake! I love sugar. It has actually been shown to be addictive. The more sugar your body has, the more sugar it craves, which is why it's so difficult to quit eating it! I have been trying to use more natural sugar replacements such as raw honey, agave, stevia or unrefined sugar. Too much of these sweeteners is still not good for you, but it is a better alternative to the highly processed, refined white sugar that we usually eat. 

Just making a few simple changes in my diet has totally changed the way I feel. Like I mentioned before, I have more energy, and I don't deal with those yucky bloated feelings after I eat. It's not like I'm suffering either. I promise, I eat well! There are so many healthy options out there these days that you don't have to feel deprived or like you're missing out on anything. You simply substitute what you used to eat with something healthier in its place. The key for me is staying away from those highly processed foods. Reaching for an apple, a carrot, or a bell pepper instead of potato chips, cookies, or granola bars (unless they're the yummy homemade kind!). By eating this way most of the time, I don't feel guilty when I have a piece of cake or an ice cream cone. I just enjoy every single bite of what I'm eating! I know that the food I'm putting into my body is doing good things and being helpful rather than harmful. 

There are plenty of "quick fixes" out there and all kinds of fad diets, but are they really healthy? Most of them are not. Most of them will help you lose weight quickly, but they are not doing anything for you long-term. They are not providing the nutrition your body really needs. They are trying to make you skinny. Not healthy. But let me tell you this, if you get healthy, you'll lose the weight you need to lose. You won't just be getting skinny, you'll be doing amazing things for your insides, as well as your outside. 

I am planning to post more healthy living tips on here on a regular basis. I've also considered starting a completely separate blog just for healthy living information, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to devote that much time yet. Maybe in the future. Until then, keep looking here for info on healthy eating (including recipes) and exercise. If you would like to get together to talk about how you can start living a healthy lifestyle, I would love to talk to you! If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment. I am so excited about helping people achieve a healthier life for themselves and their families!

Disclaimer: What you see here on my blog is based off of my own personal knowledge, opinions, and experiences. I am not a doctor nor a health professional, so concerning your diet you should always consult a health professional/doctor first to fit your own personal needs.

16 Months

Will is 16 months old! He is turning into such a big boy. He seems bigger, older, smarter, funnier, crazier, and more lovable every single day.

This month has had a common theme. Ducks. Yes, you heard me. Ducks. Will has what I consider to be an unhealthy obsession with ducks.

We have a couple of ponds in our neighborhood (conveniently located next to 2 playground areas), and Will wants to go every day to see the ducks. I get him out of bed in the morning and hold him in my lap on the couch for a few minutes, until he wakes up enough to jump down and run to the front door, saying: quack, quack, quack, quack, quack...bread? He wants to feed the ducks. At 7:00 a.m. I always tell him the ducks are still sleeping. I'm pretty sure they really are.

But the obsession doesn't stop there. Oh no. That's just the beginning. He only wants to watch DVD's that have ducks on them. In particular, he wants to watch his Sing-Along video that has Old McDonald's Farm on it, and he wants to watch that song over and over and over again. He only wants to read books that have ducks in them. Once you find a duck, he doesn't even want you to turn the page. He just wants to point and quack. He carries around a duck puzzle piece, he plays with his rubber ducks in the bathtub, he's even been sleeping with one of his rubber ducks. I'm telling you....unhealthy obsession.

I try to get him to notice other animals. We even took him to the zoo. All he wanted to look at were the ducks. At the zoo! With tons of other, much cooler animals around. But he couldn't be swayed. The boy loves his ducks.

So every day (usually 2 or 3 times a day), we go feed the ducks. We throw them bread, we quack at them, and we tell them bye-bye. I'm pretty sure those ducks know our names.

Thankfully, he also likes to go play in the park, so we don't have to spend all of our time with the ducks. He's getting so good at climbing up and going down the slide all by himself. He loves to swing and throws his head back and says, Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, when I push him.

He loves playing with any kind of ball. He kicks them, throws them, and puts them through the hoop on his basketball goal. He does take them in the bathtub with him sometimes, too. It's always nice to have a break from the ducks! He got to go to his first Thunder game this month, and he loved it! He kept saying, a ball, a ball! Then he would clap his hands and cheer so hard when everyone else did. It was so sweet! I was really surprised at how well behaved he was, but I think there was so much going on that he was thoroughly entertained.

He loves being outside, and we've been so thankful for the beautiful weather we've been having. We both have great tans to prove it! Whether it's going to the park, playing in the back yard, splashing in the water, or playing in the front yard with the neighbors, he's a happy boy if he's "ow-side."

Like I said, he is becoming such a big boy. Doing more and more big boy things. It is sad to see my little baby disappearing, but it is so much fun to see this toddler emerging. He keeps me entertained and makes me laugh every day. Like when he wants to sleep with random objects (DVD's, shoes, rubber ducks, etc.). Or when he wants to take random objects in the car with him (hangers, all of his bath toys, tupperware containers, etc.) He is definitely his own person, and I hope he stays that way.

Love you so much, sweet Will!

Thankful

I'm not gonna lie. The last few days have been rough. I haven't been feeling well. My allergy and sinus troubles are back again. Let me just say, I do NOT love pollen. I know it's necessary, but pollen and I just don't get along. Unfortunately, the pollen count here has been very high, so I haven't really been feeling my best. On top of that, Will is getting some of his molars, and they are really bothering him. We've been so blessed in the area of teething and really haven't had much trouble...until now. The poor guy is having a hard time eating, drinking, and sleeping, which makes him really cranky. Which makes me really cranky.

All that to say, I haven't been in the best mood for a few days. I've been cranky, irritable, frustrated, discouraged, angry, and just plain tired. I've shed tears of anger and frustration. I've screamed and yelled. I've gone to my bedroom and just buried my face in my pillow because I didn't know what else to do. Last night, before I went to bed, I really thought over the past few days, and I realized something. They were over, and I had to let them be over. The more I carried the previous bad day into the next, the more things piled up, and the worse things got. So, I said a very long prayer, asking God for forgiveness, for a new attitude, for a new perspective, and for a fresh start. I told myself: Tomorrow's a new day. You can choose to be miserable, or you can choose have a better day.

So, that's what I'm doing. I'm choosing a better day. Because the bad days are no fun. Because I have so much to be thankful for. Because my situation could be so much worse. Because I whine and complain about things that other people would be blessed to have in their lives.

I know I'm allowed to have a bad day. Everyone has bad days. I think it's ok to be unhappy and even miserable sometimes. Our feelings and frustrations are real. We shouldn't deny that they exist and pretend that our lives are perfect and that everything is ok. But we shouldn't dwell there, either. We can get stuck in a rut and bad day gets piled on top of bad day. Bad moods become the norm. This doesn't just affect us, it affects everyone around us. I don't know about you, but I don't like to be around people who are constantly in a bad mood, so I certainly don't want to be one of those people!

Today, I am thankful. Thankful for a fresh start. Thankful that despite minor allergy problems, I am very healthy. Thankful that despite some painful teething problems, I have a very happy, healthy little boy. Thankful for a husband who has put up with my bad attitude over the past few days. Thankful for friends who encourage me in the midst of my frustration. Thankful for a mom I can call and talk to and cry to anytime I want. Thankful for a loving, supportive family. Thankful for having more than I need. Thankful for a God who loves, comforts, forgives, and restores.

Today is going to be a good day.

15 Months

Will is 15 months old! Just like every other month, I can't believe it. One of these days I'll start believing that my child ages like all other human beings, but for now, I'm still in denial. Each month, I'm shocked that he's already another month older.

I was looking back over some of my "Will posts," and I feel like they're getting a little boring. They're pretty much the same stuff each month, so I thought I would change it up a little bit. Instead of sharing all of his "stats," I just want to share some of my favorite Will stories from the past month. He is a funny little guy and does things every day that just crack me up (and disgust me all at the same time). I also conveniently forgot to mention his temper tantrums last month. I honestly don't know how they slipped my mind. I think I subconsciously block them out, so I can remember what a sweet little boy he is when he's not screaming at the top of his lungs and throwing himself on the floor in a public place. Thankfully (insert sarcasm here), they didn't go anywhere, so I still have plenty of time to write about them.

- I'll go ahead and give the stats just so I'll remember them. He is 20 lbs. 6 oz. (5%) and 31 1/2 inches long (50%). Needless to say, he's long and lean, and it's quite a challenge to find pants that fit!

- We had 2 very public temper tantrums and several not-so-public ones. I'm not going to go into all the details right now because I have a post solely dedicated to them coming up soon. Let's just say, I've apologized to my parents more than once now for ever throwing a temper tantrum in public. I know this is something a lot of toddlers go through, but it is definitely not a fun part of parenting.

- On a happier note, we went to Kansas to visit Theron's family, and Will got to sit on a real tractor for the very first time. Theron said as soon as he saw it, he said, Tractor! Tractor! He loves to drive his toy tractors around, so I'm sure getting to sit on a real tractor was so awesome for him.

- One day, I heard shrieking coming from our guest bathroom. I walked in to see what was wrong, and all I saw were Will's legs sticking straight up in the air kicking furiously. The top half of his body was in the bathtub, reaching for a toy he had dropped in there. I did go help him out, but I had a really good laugh first.

- That same day, he was walking around with an empty wrapper. He loves Arbonne fit chews (they're like candy to him), and when he finishes them, he likes to lick the wrapper. I can't say I blame him. So, he's walking around licking the wrapper, and I notice it's getting very wet and looking pretty disgusting. I said, "Will, that looks yucky. Will you go put it in the trash?" He walked off, and I followed him to see if he was actually going to put it in the trash can. Nope. He went straight to the bathroom, dropped it in the toilet, got it back out, and stuck it back in his mouth. No wonder it had gotten so wet and nasty looking.

- He always makes me feel so good about my cooking and the food I feed him because when he eats, he always says, "Mmmmmm....mmmmmmm," or "Yummmmm." A few days ago, I was humbled. I heard him in the living room, saying, "mmmmmm....mmmmmm." I knew he had been playing in my purse, so I thought...oh no, he's probably eating my lip gloss or something like that. I walked in there to see what was so delicious, and there he was, sucking on a tampon. Thankfully (I guess), the wrapper was still on. Now, I've never tasted one, but I can't imagine it tasted that good. Apparently, my cooking might not be as good as I thought.

- Almost every day at lunch we watch Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. Will gets so excited for people when they get a question right. He claps his hands and looks so happy and proud. What's really funny, though, is when they get the question wrong. He always says a very dramatic, "Oh, noooo!"

He is so much fun and really does have such a sweet personality. Sometimes, I feel like I talk to other people about his temper tantrums and his orneriness way more than I talk about what a sweet, funny little boy he is. I'm trying to be better about this.

No matter what, I tell him how much I love him and what a good, sweet boy he is every single day. Even when he throws fits, even when tests my patience, even when he chews on paper out of the toilet.  I love him so much, and nothing could ever change that!