Fit Friday

Andy and I started a clean eating challenge this week.  While we almost always eat healthy, we don't always eat clean.  So I did a little research, recipe planning, and grocery shopping to come up with a 10 day (maybe longer) clean eating challenge with hopes to make a few permanent lifestyle changes.  There are probably going to be some bumps along the way, such as the wedding I'm attending this weekend and our weekly family dinners (I'm not going to request a special meal be prepared for us) but we are just going with the flow and will make the best choices with what's available.  There are so many variations of clean eating, but we are keeping it fairly simple and maybe slightly modified from some.  Our rules:

1.  No bread or pasta
2.  No processed foods
3.  Limit dairy, if not eliminate it.  (we are eating some greek yogurt and cheese, but only the block form) I'm not a milk drinker as it is, but I switched to coconut milk for a snack, cooking, and Andy's coffee creamer
4.  No chips or crackers
5.  No cereal (we are eating whole oatmeal, brown rice or quinoa though)
6.  No sugar except fruits or naturally occurring

Basically, our diet is going to be comprised of lean, unprocessed meats (chicken, fish, grassfed buffalo, and maybe some steak or shrimp here and there) , lots of fruits, brown and wild rice, greek yogurt, oatmeal, coconut milk, kale chips, veggie sticks, spaghetti squash, PB2 (a bit of a cheat, it has some added sugar), grilled or baked veggies, eggs, salads with homemade dressing, and soup from my homemade chicken stock.  It's not too different from our normal diet, but I will admit that we sometimes have tacos, burgers, pastas, etc that have a few processed ingredients.  We always have our lean meats and veggies, but I'm attempting to eliminate the sugar and processed foods from our normal diet as much as possible.  I will try to post pictures and recipes as I go, but I already am a little behind on my blogging as it is, so we will see!


Motivation behind this lifestyle change?

1.  To create healthy habits for my daughter
2.  To increase Andy and I's over all health
3.  Eating healthier just feels good
4.  Prevent diseases in the future.  Since I am adopted, I don't know what my family medical history is.  I'd like to do my part and be as healthy as possible, so I'll have no regrets.
5.  Finally, to feel GOOD about myself in a bikini.  Although I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight, I feel like my body isn't quite as lean as it was before.  I'm attempting to shed a few pounds in hopes to have a leaner, stronger, less jiggly physique.  I'm happy with my body and proud of how far I've come since pregnancy, but I feel like I still have room to improve.

First dinner:

- Baked salmon with lemon, garlic, parsley and pepper for seasoning (the white stuff is the fat that   cooked out when I baked it)
- Steamed broccoli
-  Brown rice pilaf:   brown rice, homemade chicken stock, pepper, frozen peas and shallots, dash of cumin

First dessert:

Greek yogurt and diced nectarine! 

Baby's First Vacation!

Last week, my entire family went to Captiva Island, Florida.  My parents rented this lovely house right on the bay.  Right across the street was the beach, and the house even had its own pool, fishing dock, bicycles, and kayaks.  The weather was beautiful... warm and sunny - my favorite!

As you all know, I was just slightly freaking out about the 2.5 hour plane ride with the little one.  For anyone who knows her, Eva will NOT SIT STILL for one second.  She squirms, arches her back, and cries to get down when she doesn't want to be held.  So being couped up on an airplane for close to 3 hours including boarding and take off, I was prepared for the worst.  Luckily, it was matched up perfectly with her nap time, so we all prayed that she wouldn't be too stimulated by all the new sights and could just fall asleep.

We brought her Halo Swaddle-Sack and favorite movie and plenty of snacks.  None of the toys we brought ended up being interesting enough for her for the ride there.  But lo and behold, the little fart fell asleep for a little over an hour on the way there.  It was a miracle!  The rest of the time was spent entertaining her with food, books, and Baby Einstein.  I was so proud of her, but mentally and emotionally exhausted by the time we got there.  I don't think I fully recovered before it was time to come home.

Her first palm tree!

The week flew by faster than normal.  The whole trip was exhausting and the opposite of relaxing, but we all had a great time.  It was so nice to have a whole week to spend with Andy also, since we've both been constantly on the go the past few months.  There were so many fun activities to do, and we definitely kept busy!  We got to go kayaking, paddle boarding, biking, have ping pong tournaments, play board games, see dolphins and an alligator, and make and eat delicious food.  Best of all, my mom, sister, and I got to have a spa afternoon where we got lunch and facials.  It was amazing!  Unfortunately, Eva did not like being thrown off her routine in a new and scary place, thus her nap schedule was a complete mess.  She was so tired most of the trip, but too stimulated and cranky to sleep.  It made for a stressed out and tired mama.  I tried to make things similar to home, but she wasn't being fooled.  Luckily, I had a lot of help... but even when someone else would relieve me for a bit so I could go for a run or go swimming, I felt guilty leaving her with them in case she were to get super crabby again.

Eva got to go swimming for the very first time as well!  We never took her last year, as we both felt she was a little too young for the chlorinated water.  But this year she was ready... and boy, did she love it! She kicked and splashed and jumped into our arms over and over.  It was seriously the best thing ever to watch her experience the pool for the first time.

The return trip went well also.  We barely made our flight in time, but Eva was content to read books, play with toys, and eat snacks.  I'd call this vacation a success.  A little more work than I would have preferred, but a nice get away in a lovely place.

    

10 Months of Craziness

We've sure been busy around here!  Andy finishes up his Spring semester classes, and we prepare for taking Eva on a much needed vacation.  It will be our first time traveling with Eva, so it is definitely going to be a challenge and an adventure.  If anyone has any tips for plane rides with 10 month old squirmy babies, they'd be much appreciated! I might already be having anxiety dreams about this.

Easter was busy, but a lot of fun this year.  Eva was too little to participate in the festivities, but I took her to see the Easter bunny at the mall to get her picture taken.  I was worried she might cry, but she ended up having a lot of fun.  When I sat her down on the bunny's lap, she turned her head up so she could see who was holding her, and then she turned back and started smiling for the camera!  Then she started clapping... my heart melted a little when she did this.  The most exciting part of Easter for her was probably her 5 outfit changes.  Between her blueberry mess, peeing through an outfit, and getting chocolate on another outfit, she pretty much gave everyone a fashion show.  Somehow, she had grabbed a chocolate kiss from the table and shoved the entire thing, foil and all, in her mouth.  I didn't even realize she had done this until chocolate goo started oozing from her mouth.  Mommy fail award.

Family Easter picture

This past month, we transitioned from 3 naps to 2.  It's seriously so amazing!  I feel like we can actually go run errands and get things accomplished without worrying about her being really fussy and due for a nap while we are out.  The best thing about this transition is the fact that she did it all on her own.  One week after she turned 9 months, she just decided to start napping longer and having longer awake periods.  There were 2 days where we tried to lay her down for her 3rd nap and she just wasn't having it.  Then we were sure she was ready!  She still wakes up around 6:30-7 am, but her first nap doesn't start until around 9:30 now, and she will sleep until 11.  Then she has a long awake period until about 3 where we can get a lot of things done, or just play together for hours :)  Her next nap usually lasts until 4-5, and then she is up until bedtime at 8:30.  We started moving her bedtime slightly earlier, and so far it hasn't affected her wake up time in the morning.  We tried doing this a few months ago, but it just didn't work.  I simply couldn't wake up at 5 am with her and still function like a normal person.

Little nugget still army crawls everywhere!  She did figure out how to crawl on all fours the other day, but she is sticking with belly slithering as her go to.  We actually caught her bear-crawling outside on the concrete one night because she didn't want to scrape her legs!  She stuck her little hiney up and inched forward on her hands and tippy toes. I was so impressed that she figured out how to do that all on her own too.  Ironically, she took her first 3 steps that same day.  She's not walking yet, they were accidental steps.  She didn't realize I wasn't holding her hands, and she just decided to take off!  When she finally realized no one was holding her she plopped down on her little bottom.  Now she clings to my leg when she thinks I am going to let go of her hands and try to make her walk by herself.  Such a little stinker!  We finally put the baby gate up because she learned how to crawl up the one stair on our main floor to get to the landing in our foyer which leads to our upstairs.  I caught her attempting to crawl up the big stairs the other night when I was cooking dinner.  Little stinker made it up 2 stairs!

Snack time is still our favorite time of the day around here.  Followed closely by bath time.  Eva finally found a movie she liked, and unfortunately it's not a Disney or Pixar movie like I was hoping.  She is now briefly entertained by this Baby Einstein movie called "Baby Macdonald: A Day on the Farm."  It was given to me by my cousin and her daughter, and Eva absolutely loves it!  Her favorite books are all the animal noise books and she loves when we make animal sounds at her, so I guess it's fitting.  She still prefers reading books over watching movie clips, but I'm glad of this.  I never want to be the mom that just lets their kids waste away in front of a tv all day, but sometimes it's nice to have her distracted when I'm trying to get us ready to leave the house or cook dinner before Andy gets home.  

 

This is how our Target trips go.  Eva houdinis her way out of the front of the cart... seatbelt and all, and ends up in the front. Captain Eva manning the ship

We also started rubberbanding our cabinets shut this month.  Eva learned how to open them up and get inside!

Pulling up on everything!

Giving kisses to Apollo

Tiny, chubby feet!

Did I mention that 2 teeth started to poke through this month?  May 1st, the first one came through, and then a couple days later the 2nd one!  Still not all the way in, but they are sharp!

Lastly, her monthly chalkboard photo. Time flies when you're having fun!

Little Nugget is 9 months!

If 8 months was great, then 9 months is divine!  I love my little 9 monther... she is seriously the best thing ever.  I wish baby fever wasn't real, because I already want another one.  If only time and money grew on trees... and sleep.

We've gotten in a pretty good routine around here (for now).  Eva wakes up around 6:30, we change her and feed her a bottle.  Come downstairs and she plays with her toys while we make her breakfast.  Usually her breakfast consists of some sort of fruit and oatmeal mixture.  Sometimes she gets a little scrambled egg yolk or cheese.  After breakfast, we play with her toys on the floor and cruise along the furniture.  Naptime is around 9am, and she usually sleeps 1.5-2 hours.  Once she wakes up, she gets another bottle, and then we have our favorite snack time.  I put on a Disney movie (for myself, since she never watches tv), and we sit on the floor on a blanket and eat snacks.  This usually consists of cheese, avocado, yogurt puffs, bananas, blueberries, etc.  My daughter is seriously the BEST eater... my little ham.  After lunch, we do dishes, laundry, read books, and play peekaboo.  She gets bored quickly, and we usually need to run some errands anyway, so we load up and do our shopping.  If no shopping needs to be done, lately we've been going to the park to swing or taking out the jogger to go for a run with Apollo.  Life is good around here when the weather is nice!  After our outings, She gets a bottle and lays down for her second nap of the day around 1:30.  This nap normally lasts between 1.5-2 hours also... but lately she has been sleeping longer.  I think she is transitioning herself to only 2 naps all by herself! *HALLELUJAH CHORUS*  This seriously will be amazing if she does it mainly on her own! During this nap, I usually get dinner started and I just need to finish it up for when Daddy gets home from work!  As soon as she hears the garage door, she gets so excited.  Her face lights up and she looks towards the door.  I think she's figured out the drill because whenever Apollo goes ballistic, that means daddy's home!  Dinner time is the best because it's the only meal all of us get to eat together.  She pretty much eats whatever we eat, with a few additions.  She always gets a fruit and veggie plus some sort of protein.  There isn't much she won't eat!  We finish the evening up with bath time, gum brushing, and story time.  Life is good.  Being a part time stay at home mom is the best situation I could have asked for.  I love staying home with my baby all day long, and get to witness most if not all of her firsts!  However, sometimes a girls gotta have a break, and it's nice to go to work and interact with adults in a baby free zone.  I couldn't be luckier.

Ever since Eva figured out how to clap last month, she's been doing it all the time!  It's so adorable, and I love it so much.  Whenever we sing to her or do "patty-cake," she claps along.  It melts my heart. Her favorite word is still "da-da," but "poop" is a close second.  I am now referred to as "ra-ra" or "ya-ya."  Whatever happened to her saying "ma?"

Eva got sick again this past week.  That's why I haven't updated lately.  What started off as a little cold turned into an eye infection and a double ear infection.  Poor baby couldn't catch a break!  She is finally on the mend, and we are both looking forward to getting out of the house.  Unfortunately, she has spread her little germs to daddy and me, so we are struggling to feel better as well.  I swear, having kids really takes a toll on your immune system!! I don't know if it's the lack of sleep or extra germs they seem to pick up from random places, but I have gotten sick more times since she's been born than I have since high school.  Could be the fact that I work in a hospital too, and am surrounded by sick and diseased people all day.  Who knows! Hoping to stay healthy the rest of this year though *crosses fingers.*

Looking forward to celebrating Easter this weekend.  I really want to take Eva to see the Easter bunny (more for my sentimental benefit of having a picture), but we will see if time allows.  I don't want to take her when she is still sick because I don't want to be "that mom."  It would tick me off if my kid got sick from someone else's sick kid sitting on the Easter bunny's lap, so I will keep her away until she's better.  She's too young to enjoy an egg hunt, but of course she is going to get her very own Easter basket.  At this age, it's mostly going to consist of things she can use like sunglasses, bath toys, socks, and books... I will also add some cute bunny ears and maybe a springy outfit like this one I found online at gymboree.com  - - - 

Yellow and white romper

Lastly, I will share a few of Eva's favorites as well as some pics!

Favorite foods:  string cheese, avocados, blueberries, and yogurt puffs

Favorite books:  Birds (a picture book with all kinds of birds), Little Bat (a finger puppet book), Tails (a touch and feel book)

Favorite songs:  the alphabet song and Itsy Bitsy Spider

Favorite toys:  My laptop, Apollo's bone, water bottles, and my rubber wine stem flower charms

Favorite stuffed animals:  Seahorse and Henrietta the giraffe (she looooves to give them kisses).  In the middle of the night, sometimes I will hear her wake up in her crib.  She will roll until she finds Seahorse (he's a glow worm), press his belly to turn him on and go back to sleep.  It's precious! Thank you Grandma Jackson for this awesome toy!

8-9 month pictures

Hi, Mom! I'm 9 months now!

Learning to stand with the support of a door behind her

Just practicing pulling up and sitting back down

My big girl sitting in her rocking chair all by herself

Just because ... seriously!? Her legs are deliciously adorable

My very own strawberry!

Post dinner face

A day in the park.  Life is grand!

Chillin at Auntie Kate's!

Her best friend, Apollo

Sometimes I just like to hang out, okay mom?  Seriously, she does this like 50 times a day.

I can drink all by myself... except I never ever do this!

Play time!

Sick baby at her 9 month appointment

Spoiled baby and one of her adorable Easter baskets from Grandma!

Breakfast... need I say more?

Happy Spring!

Happy Spring!!! I've been waiting for this day since the last day of fall.  It's no secret that I hate cold weather.  I think I'm living in the wrong state.  Maybe someday we will move to Arizona where it's always warm and there's little rain :)

All the winter decorations are down, and I put up my springy Easter wreath and table cloth.  I think the next time Andy and I have a day off, I will spread some new grass seed and plant some flowers in our front yard.  I'm so ready for the nasty cold weather to be over and done with!  I love running when it's warm and sunny out.  Bring on the humidity!!

Of course, I will leave you with a picture of my sweet Eva.  She was a little distracted today by Apollo.  She was laughing at him because he kept getting in trouble for sticking his tail in the pictures.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2014!! 

In honor of St. Paddy's Day, Andy and I stayed up late last night (11:30pm) and watched an Irish documentary called Knuckle on Netflix.  Somehow, it was oddly entertaining.  This videographer followed these traveling clans for 10 years as they fought amongst themselves.  The various clans would basically send a video to pick a fight with a member of another clan, and then they would go off and fist fight each other with a lot of money at stake.  Those crazy Irish and their tempers!!! I've never seen anything like it... none of the fights were staged or choreographed, so it was funny to watch 2 grown men fight for real.  A lot of biting and dancing was involved.  

On another note, we hit another couple milestones.
Milestone #1:  Eva finally learned to clap!  I've only been trying to teach her since she was 4 months old, but she never wanted to do it herself.  She always liked it when I clapped her hands for her.  But yesterday, she did it by herself... and looked sooo proud.
 Milestone #2:  Eva said her first word.  Of course she says "dada" and the occasional "mama," but she said her first non-baby word.  Apparently, Eva wanted her first word to be POOP.  Seriously?!?! Poop... it's not like it's even that easy to say.  Isn't it supposed to be like "ball" or "baba" for bottle, or "dog?"  Nope... my daughter wants to shout "POOP!" I can see it now, cruising through the grocery store while my daughter yells "poop poop poop" up and down the aisles.  I can't wait... 

I ended up making a pasta tonight with a lot of green veggies.  I thought about dying the sauce green just to be festive, but that didn't happen.  I figured the less artificial, the better.  No green beer for us, since Andy is allergic, but we celebrated in our own gluten free way :)  I hope everyone had a safe and merry St. Patrick's Day!  

Slainte (cheers in Irish Gaelic), from the Ingrassia's!

Not too happy... then I mention bathtime and she cheers right up!