Playing catch-up

Time to play catch-up. I've been pretty busy the last week and a half and I have not done my blogging! Shame on me. So lets pick up where we left off last time.

My first Mother's Day has now come and gone. It was a pretty big deal for me, especially since I never expected to be celebrating it so soon. But the day let me realize just how excited and thankful I was to be celebrating the fact that I am Mommy to the best little girl in the world. I started the day off by working in the nursery at church. Ella stayed home because she was too tired to be woken up so early. :) sleepyhead. We made fun arts and crafts for the kids to give to their moms, and it was exciting to know that I have that to look forward to in the future. I came home to KT getting himself and Ella ready to take me out to lunch. He had to work that evening so we had to have our dinner at lunch time. Outback was yummy, although Ella decided she would make sure everyone in the restaurant knew she was there by doing her screaming for no reason antic. It seems to be a permanent habit she has picked up. After lunch KT took me to a plant sale (yes, I really said plant sale) and Books-a-Million. He knows I love books and, much to my surprise, has actually been paying attention to me when I have been talking about how I want to garden. Hmmph. So we did some looking around and then had to come home for him to get to work. Ella and I spent the night playing until she passed out on me and then, with nothing else to do, I passed out too. The next morning I woke up to flowers and a card from KT and Ella. He has this habit of only giving holiday gifts either very late the night of the holiday or the day after. No clue why, but I have accepted it. And that day we went and got me some tomato, cucumber, and oregano plants. So I am now officially a gardener. And judging by the size of my plants, I am a pretty good one at that! Oh crap, I just realized I forgot to water them today...I'm sure one day won't hurt...right?? :)

Okay, so Mother's Day was a success. I got flowers, cards (all of KT's family sent/gave me cards which was super sweet!), phone calls/texts from family and friends, plants, and dinner. And then KT surprised Ella and I by telling us on the Friday after Mother's Day that he was taking us on vacation! We were pretty excited. He picked out Chattanooga and told me to find a hotel I liked and figure out what activities we would do. I took this very seriously and planned us a fantastic trip. Did I mention he decided this on Friday and we were to leave the next morning?? Yep. So by I 'planned us a fantastic trip', I mean the best trip I could in the few hours I had. But the trip deserves its own post full of tales of exciting adventures and pictures! So be sure to check that post out! And if you have Facebook and want to see even more fun pictures, then click here.

We also had Ella's doctors visit this week. Today she weighed in at 16lb 8oz and measured 27 3/4" long! Although last week we were told she was 16lb 15oz (but they didn't strip her so that could be the cause of the difference) and 26" long. Now I am just not sure how the measurement became so different. I am pretty sure my child did not grow almost 2" in a little over a week, so there must have been an error on someone's part. We are going to measure her ourselves and see what we come up with. Either way we have a good sized baby! Our poor baby had to get more shots today and it seems that for the first time she may have had a reaction to them. She had her lunch around 12ish and by 3ish she vomited twice. :( And she ran a low grade temp of 100.9. She hasn't ever had a temp or a reaction to the immunizations before so can't say for sure that that is what caused it. I, being a first time mommy, of course called the doctor and the nurse said it was normal. But she did have to get medicine for the first time today, and she took it like a pro! She seems to be doing fine this evening, so hopefully everything has gone away. I am very happy about the fact that she has never been sick, and I do not plan on having that change now!

Well, now that you know every detail of what has happened to me in the last couple weeks...I am sure you are bored out of your mind. After the Chattanooga post I promise to get back into more meaningful topics. Until then, hold yourself over by reviewing any posts you may have missed! Like learning how to become a guest writer, Ella turning 6 months old, or just seeing how it all began.

By the way, we are getting to stay in our current apartment for a couple more months so fingers
crossed for good luck on our job search!



Ella loves to play with receipts..really. 

Life can get in the way sometimes!

I can't believe that it has been so long since I have gotten to blog. But we have had so much going on. There was Easter, family in town, and hosting a bachelorette party. With all of that, blogging had to be put on a back burner. But I am back now!


First, a quick update on Ella. She is still amazing. :) She is rolling over like crazy, can sit up un-supported for a few minutes at a time, and eats like a pro! She seriously has not met a pureed veggie or fruit that she doesn't like. We had a great Easter and visits from the families. I was really happy that KT's family was able to come up for a bit to get to see her, but I wish they could have stayed longer to really get to spend some time with her and see all of the amazing things she can do! And hopefully, my Nanny will get to see her soon too. It is hard to live away from the family, but it is great to feel like we are really out on our own.

Okay, so on to the topic of today's post. Time management. How do we do it all? The last couple of weeks have really shown me that there just is not enough time in the day to accomplish everything that we need to do. Sometimes I really feel like I wake up, feed Ella, change some diapers, put her down for naps, maybe get something to eat, get a bit of cleaning done, and then suddenly it is 11 p.m.! Where did the time go?? There are so many tasks that I assumed I would be able to get done while I was staying home with Ella, yet hardly any of them have actually been checked off my list. I definitely admire the moms who seem to always be put together, on time, and well-fed! :) Food definitely gets sacrificed for me! But I can't help but wonder, are they really as on top off things as they seem? If so, how do they do it?

I feel so overwhelmed sometimes that when I do have some free time I can't even bring myself to get off of the couch. The fact that I haven't gone back to work yet seems to just be making the issue worse. I have no real reason to get up and brush my hair in the morning or actually change out of my pajamas. At least, that's how I feel. I really do try to talk myself into getting up and making an effort but then I remember that I have nothing to do other than take care of Ella all day. And frankly, she doesn't care if my hair is brushed or not because she is going to yank on it either way. How does a new mommy learn to manage her time and still feel motivated to get out of bed and put some real clothes on?? I definitely need some good advice on this one! So, got any??

P.S. I can't even make this post as long as I want it to be because I have to go get some dinner ready for when KT gets home in about 30mins. But I WILL be back tomorrow. And I will be prepared with some new pictures and videos!

Healthier Lifestyle

I have always been the person talking about changing how I eat, but I never seemed to actually make it happen. I was forever telling KT that we were going to be making some changes to what we were eating...and then I'd go get McDonalds. I know, I know. Poor KT. He would listen to me everytime I went on one of my long spills about how we ate such bad things, he would agree that we needed some modifications, and then he would just shake his head when I went right back to the old ways. Unfortunately, this happened a lot. I never wanted to try to lose weight, but I wanted to improve my health and avoid any future health problems. Well, it's a good thing I had Ella because I am (finally!) making some changes!!

With such problems as child obesity (1 in 3 children are obese!), foods full of preservatives, foods covered in pesticides, fast food joints on every corner, and so many more, I decided that Ella needs and deserves a better future than what she was going to get if we kept eating the way we were. So to Google I went! Research is my best friend, so I was determined to learn as much about healthy eating as I could. First thing, no more fast food! My heart still breaks a little to think about this, but I am staying strong! We also agreed to not eat out for a while. I started creating weekly meal plans, and so far, we have not ate one thing outside of our own kitchen. Granted it has only been about two weeks, but still! That is definitely an accomplishment for me! Weekly meal plans have also helped us save money. I plan out every meal for each day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks), and then we go grocery shopping just for the items we need. According to KT, he can see the money-saving already. We try to have a good breakfast, light lunch, and a filling dinner. I have also been looking for some good recipes to try out. Got any?? And for those of you that don't know me, just the fact that I am asking for recipes to cook is a huge deal! I am not exactly domesticated! But since I have been staying home with Ella, I have been working on my Susie Homemaker skills. I think I am getting better! :)

One thing that we agreed to have every single day is a green smoothie. Before you make that face, give it a shot! If you haven't ever had one, you should really try it out. I promise that with the fruit in it you can't even taste the greens. Seriously! And I am probably the pickiest person I know! Bland is usually my favorite flavor. Well, besides salt, but I am trying to work on that too! The base recipe calls for 1cup spinach and 1cup kale (kale is like a superfood, so good for you!!), 2cups of choice fresh or frozen fruit (sometimes more) (btw, I have read that citrus doesn't usually do well in these), 2 bananas, and about 2 cups of water. We mix ours up a bit by adding in some lowfat vanilla yogurt, soy milk, and a few tablespoons of flax seed (full of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids so really good for your heart) I think the best fruit to have is a bag of frozen mixed berries (they also turn the smoothie purple if the color is what holds you back). We recently tried apples, but it did not go so well. We didn't peel the apple, so that may have had something to do with it. The texture was pretty hard to get down. We also usually only use one banana because KT doesn't like a strong banana flavor, and bananas can be very overpowering. But if you like bananas (like me!), then go for two! Overall, green smoothies are such a great way to get in your servings in greens without even thinking about it. Most of us do not get even half the amount of greens we are supposed to have in a day, so a green smoothie is a great way to get those greens in!

The next challenge we are taking on is to start decreasing the amount of meat we eat. This is really going to be a hard one for us. We are both really big meat people. Honestly, is there anything better than a thick, juicy, rare steak?!?! If there is, I haven't found it (other than deer jerky, but that's a blog post all its own)! I suggested cutting out meat for one day a week. KT looked at me like I was crazy. LOL. He said how about one MEAL at a time. I laughed and agreed. This challenge starts this week, so wish us luck!

Do you have any healthy eating recommendations?? Any changes you have made to improve your health and eating habits? How about some recipes? Please share! I need all the help I can get! :)


XOXO,
Dani