picture update from September to November

It has been ages since I have blogged and I wanted to post about some recent stuff but felt like I had to catch you up on the last few months before I started talking about Thanksgiving.  Some of these pictures deserve a post of their own but I am too lazy to do that so here it is all together.  Life has been busy and fun I just forgot to take pictures or download them.  I've been thinking about blogging for ages and when I realized I love ready friends blogs I though it was time to update.

In September our cousins came to visit and Caleb had a blast at the fair with his 4 year old cousin. 

this was their favorite "ride"

I think he is yelling let me in.  I love his intensity

  

 

Micah did not always love the fair.  I'm smerkering saying really now is when you take a picture. 

The girls are getting so big.  It was fun to have the whole family there.

Our cousins enjoying the slide

Caleb and Daddy

Caleb had so much fun on the trampoline. 

So that was all the picture I have of September now fast forward to the end of October when Caleb turned 3.  This was the first time I decided to do a "big" party for him and invite his friends.  He was so excited about his party.  His only request was a train cake, specifically Henry.  Not Thomas but Henry.  We invited friends to play with us at the park down the street.

So this is the cake I came up with.  He loved it

 

This was the best family picture we got.  We need some work or maybe just more practice

  

 

 

 

They were so cute hangin out by the cake talking about trains.

Whole 30 completed

We finished the Whole 30 challenge.  With no cheats until the last night when we chose the wrong restaurant for dinner, seriously what restaurant does not have vegetables?  I do not count corn succotash as a vegetable.  I am way proud of us and I enjoyed it so much that I'm keeping it up.

Its amazing how when you start eating better foods and you see results it motivates you to do more.  I want to exercise more, just get out and get moving.  I want everyone to eat better.

I haven't changed the boys diet all that much so I still have snacks and grains in the house.  Amazingly this hasn't been tempting.  I do feel bad about feeding them processed snacks but I appreciate the ease of them.  I want to try and make some of these things from scratch so that I don't feel guilty about what I'm feeding the kids.

The biggest difference you can really notice is in my face.  I had no idea I had so much excess in my face but it is gone.  I lost a total of 12 pounds.  That is crazy.  I didn't undertake this challenge to lose weight but instead to change my long ingrained awful habits and my overly emotional relationship with food.  Which it definitely helped. I do realize that I have to keep at it so that I don't immediately restart those habits.

I have enjoyed cooking for us, and it has been a good challenge to have to prepare all of the food we ate for 30 days.  I am super proud during the month of August we made it through multiple food driven events and did not indulge.  These events included pizza at the office, a super adorable 2 year old birthday party, annual church dinner, and home group (we have the best food there).


I love finding recipes and trying something new.  Some weeks I would buy a new vegetable and then search for a recipe or a video showing me how to cut it open.  I have a new obsession with cauliflower and butternut squash.  Spaghetti squash was a bit of a failure but I think it was my cooking method that ruined it. 

Picturepalooza

Sorry guys but I have this awful habit of never downloading my pictures and when I do I want to share them all.  So here they are.

I love when they match

a gift from his great Aunt Debbie.  He woke up and immediately asked to play with his trains

 It was time for a hair cut.  Micah's hair in the back was really long, especially if he was wearing a shirt with a collar.  The worst was when he would get food in his hair it would stick out perpendicular from his head.  He is a messy eater so this happened often.  I wasn't there for Caleb's first haircut so I was determined to photograph this one.  I wanted Caleb's hair to stay long and Chris surprised me by cutting it while I was at a doctors appointment.

see the hair over the ear

This was the best I could get of the back.

He did great the whole time.  Daddy is an expert.

all fresh faced after his hair cut

Caleb's hair was getting long also

Caleb's turn

Every time I go to take a picture of both of them they start sucking their thumb.  Micah can't decide which hand he favors, typically it is the left.

Micah got a new toy, he even got some coffee filters from the pantry and put them in his cart

Last night Chris was installing the new car seat for Caleb and moving his old one around for Micah to use.  It was time we just weren't in much of a hurry. I was in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner so Caleb played with daddy, or so I thought.  Caleb had other ideas for what to do with his evening.

He did this over and over again, he was so proud

  Today Caleb and I went to urgent care.  This morning he was climbing down from the counter in the bathroom (he does this all the time, clearly he is a climber) and he slipped and bit his tongue.  The cut is a bit alarming to look at but the doc said he does not need stitches.  He was so brave and told every person at the urgent care that he hurt his tongue.  He would then tell them the story of how he got it.  The doctor recommended bland foods and lots of cold stuff like popsicles.  Caleb got so excited about a popsicle the doctor offered him one.  And in true Caleb style he asked for a green popsicle.  He can't just ask for something but has to be as specific as possible.  Lately when he wakes up from nap this is how our conversation goes:
C:  are you down there mommy?
M:  why yes I am, did you sleep well
C:  yes, get me lots of milk in the fire engine cup and lots of colored goldfish.  I want lots of green goldfish.... please


He cracks me up.   The pictures aren't that bad, it is worse in person because you can see how deep it is.

Such a big boy eating a banana all by him self

Whole 30

We have completed one week of Whole 30.  I am so proud of us.  What is Whole 30 you ask?

 "Whole9’s original program designed to change your life in 30 days. Think of it as a short-term nutritional reset, designed to help you restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, calm systemic inflammation and put an end to unhealthy cravings, habits, and relationships with food."  ~ from their website

This is a challenge not a diet, but I'm hoping that at the end we will want to make some changes to our diet.  After you finish you can add back in foods and see how your body reacts to them.  To read some more specifics about it click on the image above, you can think of it as a really strict Paleo diet.

Why am I doing it?  I realized I'm an emotional eater.  I crave ice cream and cake and after eating some I instantly want more.  I'm never satisfied.  I will buy a candy bar while checking out of the grocery store to say congratulations to myself for making it through the store with 2 little ones.  Did you notice I can justify almost any indulgence.  But when it occurs multiple times a week it isn't really an indulgence anymore.  I want to break this cycle.  Also I have never viewed food as a source of energy but instead as a source of pleasure. So this month for me is about thinking about what do I need to feed my body to give me energy for the day.   And Chris is doing it with me to be a supportive hubby.

Of course the boys are not participating in the Whole 30.  Most of their diet is grains and dairy (both of which are no no's for us) so I still have these items in the house.  I have surprised myself that this isn't an issue.

Biggest change has been drinking either black coffee or coffee with coconut milk.  I tried to just not drink any but after a day and a half of horrendous headaches I decided to get used to the new normal.  This morning I still had my ahhh moment.  You know that moment when you get your first sip of coffee and everything is perfect you actually have an audible ahhh.  I will not brew my coffee until I can ensure that moment will happen, some days in the chaos of mornings that means I don't have any until 10am (my boys are early risers and usually get up at 6:30)

I love to cook which is super helpful for doing the Whole 30, sense all food needs to be prepared by me (it is the only way to ensure that I am following the guidelines).  This week I have spent about 2/3 of nap time cooking, but I have loved it.  I am experimenting with new foods and making a lot more stuff from scratch.  Some of the stuff I am most proud of have been salsa, mango relish, marinara sauce, grain free oatmeal , cauliflower mash and cauliflower rice.  Next week should be a little bit easier because I can repeat some of the good dishes and I won't have to look at a recipe.  I am hoping to get some spaghetti squash, kale and bacon (surprising how hard it is to find some with no added sugar or preservatives) for next week.

Notice that I didn't tell you guys about this until after I started.  I was a bit worried I would chicken out and didn't want the shame of failing to be so public.  But now I am committed to seeing this thing through.

Micah turns 1

 
Today is Micah's first birthday.  I can't believe he is already one.  Some days I think he is just like his brother and other times I think he is nothing like him.  Micah has no desire to walk but is capable, this is very unlike his brother who wasn't happy until he was walking (at 10 months).  Micah has the silliest crawl, he switches between using his knees, one knee or both feet.  He is super fast and switches depending on the floor texture or if he is crawling over something.

This past week he started screaming. Yep not crying but screaming when he is frustrated.  It is overly dramatic which is not like him but is a step towards communication.

I'll post more about the birthday party and my crazy week later but for now here are some pictures.

our first family photo of all 4, it only took a year to get it

This one is my favorite. The boys are having so much fun.

getting a feel for the cake, he really dug in

taking a taste

Yippee I'm all done.  He played with the cake more than he ate it

getting cleaned off in the sink and having fun playing with the water

May, June and early July

Yep these are a few of my favorite pictures from all three months.  I haven't felt much like blogging, no amazing events to report.  Just normal every day stuff around here. 

I have been a stay at home mom for one year now.  Wow it seems so normal and yet I am still adjusting.  In May a bunch of my kids graduated.  My last year of teaching I taught primarily Juniors, many of whom I taught their freshman year.    So I surprised them by going to prom.

Just two of my wonderful students.  I'm so proud of them, even if one of them is going to Georgia

Playing in the dirt INSIDE the house. 

Father's Day 2012

being silly for Daddy

I do have have pictures without them sucking their thumb but these are just so cute.  And notice that Micah has started switching to his right thumb on a few occasions.

We went to the square to watch the Fourth and watched the parade.  It was fabulous so many fun trucks and cars to watch.  I think all the drivers waved at us.  Caleb had so much fun.  We were probably the only people that stayed to watch the road sweepers at the very end.  Chris was busy finishing up his fence project and had to miss out this year but I know that he will make it next year.

Memaw aka my mom came with us and had the inside scoop on the perfect spot with no traffic in or out

The national cemetery was the perfect backdrop for the parade and of course all of the wonderful cars.

Caleb loves the big pool, this is his favorite activity

The final Father's Day picture.  Chris ended up taking the perfect picture himself.