Our visit to "The Park" at TPCC

A few weeks ago, we visited "The Park" at the church where Stephanie, Ryan, Soup and Andrew attend.  They opened this indoor park a few months ago, and it was our first opportunity to go, it was such a blast, I can see us going more often. 

Here are a few pictures.  We all had fun.  There was something for all of us to get into and get active doing. Katy and Kampbell did a few things together, then Kampbell and Cooper did some things together.  The guys played basketball with Cooper and Soup trailing at their feet.  

Here are some pictures.

Advocare 10 Day Cleanse: Days 5-9

Well, today is day NINE of my 10 day cleanse.  I can really hardly believe it.  Other than missing milk and cheese, I'm not really missing much.  

I am tired of the same old things though, so over my long weekend (I was off on Monday), I ate a lot of homemade Qdoba burrito bowls.  Brown rice, black beans, grilled chicken, fajita veggies, spices, salsa, guacamole and lettuce.  They are absolutely delicious and not too terrible for you either. I also ate breakfast foods and salads.

I am pretty sure I'm going to continue down this path, for a couple of reasons:  1) These things are easy to prepare 2) They still taste good to me.  

The cleanse overall has been a decent experience.  If for no other reason than this, I've learned that I can go for 10 days without bread, pasta, dairy of any kind and chocolate.  And since a couple of days in, it hasn't been difficult.  At all.  Now that is the biggest shock to me ever.  I honestly didn't think I could handle a life without bread or cheese.

The official directions do not say that you have to eliminate dairy or wheat during the cleanse, they just say to limit dairy, and they say to make sure to have whole grains if eating them.  I decided to eliminate both totally. 

I'm interested in what my results will be.  I do not forsee that I have lost tons of inches or that I have lost more than a pound or two.  Honestly, this was about seeing if I could clean up my diet, and to see how I felt while doing this cleanse.  

This weekend was difficult for me, especially Saturday.  We celebrated my stepson's birthday, he turned 22.  The family had apple pie and ice cream to celebrate.  I LOVE me some apple pie, so resisting it was a tad bit difficult, but I DID IT.  I stood strong.  

Look at that delicious apple pie..... YUM.

So, one day left after today, then Thursday I will have the results.  If you've done the cleanse before, what was your most difficult thing to overcome?  Did you find that after a couple of days you were fine with eating?  Like the fiber drink?

Advocare 10 Day Cleanse: Day 4

Today is the first day without the fiber drink.  I think it starts up again on day 8.  I'll have to confirm that by looking at the pamphlet again at home.

Anyway, I am finally tired of the same breakfast/lunch/dinner.  I guess that just happened this morning.  I just wasn't excited about the food options at all today.  More boiled eggs, chicken, salads, and brown rice and steamed veggies just all sounded ick to me.  BUT, I did it again for breakfast - two boiled eggs and 4 strawberries.  Snack was unsweetened applesauce.  Lunch was chicken, steamed veggies and brown rice.

I'm not sure what dinner will be tonight.  I'm pretty much over what I had for lunch today.  I'm debating having a peanut butter and honey sandwich on whole wheat bread with fruit and a boiled egg or two for dinner.  That or scrambled eggs with veggies mixed in.  Both of those ideas sound much better to me.  Since I'm trying to stay away from wheat as long as I can (just to see if leaving wheat behind has any impact in how I'm feeling) I'm leaning toward the eggs.

I may have to go and get some brown rice noodles or something along those lines because I'm getting tired of brown rice being the only "carb" carb that I'm eating.  Or quinoa, maybe I can get some of that into my meal options.  I don't mind a baked potato here and there, or a baked sweet potato, but I like butter.  Since dairy is off limits, I'm having trouble figuring out what to put on my potato that I will enjoy, so I've just skipped it for now.  Maybe I can make some sweet potato fries this weekend.  Those sound yum.

I haven't exercised since starting the cleanse.  It's not because I don't have the energy, it's because I'm just too darn tired after the kids finally go to bed - I have housework to do then, so when that's all done, I'm pooped and I just quit.  This is one area that I really want to step things up and get movin!  Hopefully over the weekend I can get outside for a nice long walk with the kiddos.  We'll see how that goes.

So far, this cleanse has been WAY easier than I expected.  I feel like I'm learning to look at food more as fuel than something for enjoyment, which is a GOOD thing, however, I do still want to be able to enjoy food sometimes without feeling guilt, and hopefully I'll get to that point.

Any suggestions for my baked sweet potato toppings?  Clean eating recipes that you've enjoyed that I should try?

Advocare 10 Day Cleanse: Day 3

So, this morning, I woke up, did my normal routine, but then decided it might be a good idea to weigh myself.  Why did I want to do this?  It's not a normal thing that I do, but for some reason, I thought, time to check to see if this cleanse is already producing results!  The answer.... no.  At least not from a weight perspective.  I've gained 2 lbs since Monday morning.  What???  Now, I'm down 3 from Sunday night - but Monday morning I was down FIVE from Sunday night, so what's going on?

For now, I'm going to continue to eat clean - and see what happens after the 10 days are up.

Breakfast this morning was 2 boiled eggs, a banana and the fiber drink.  I still don't mind that drink at all.  I think the taste is good and I don't mind the clumpy-ness of it a bit.

Lunch is another chicken salad and strawberries.  I brought a couple of boiled eggs for a snack if I need it.

Dinner - well, I'm about out of veggies and chicken and rice, but I think I'm going to go and grab a rotisserie chicken from Sam's club tonight and figure out something to make with that, OR just eat it as is.  I love those things.

Benefits I can see so far.....  I feel good.  I think I'm sleeping better, and I seem to have a bit more energy, even if that is all in my head.  Which it really might be.  Usually, I'm pooped after getting the kids to bed in the evenings, but the last few days, I've been staying up and waking up earlier than the alarm.

So far, I don't think it's been all that difficult to eat this way.  Would I never want any bread long term, NO, absolutely not, but at the same time, I am not craving it at all.  The Easter candy lying around my house is a little bit bothersome, but I'm doing alright avoiding it for now.  I haven't even had a huge desire for my nightly scoop of ice cream.  WHO AM I???

No pictures today, but I did want to update the world and keep notes for me of how things are going at this point in the cleanse.

Hope you have a great day!

Advocare 10 Day Cleanse: Day 2

I want to document this cleanse process because I hope it keeps me on track, so here is a super short wrap up of today....
Breakfast: fiber drink, 2 boiled eggs, 3 strawberries and a small Roma tomato.

Lunch was hard folks... I was in an all day meeting with a short break around 2pm. The group ate PIZZA and BREADSTIX and CUPCAKES at 12:30. I resisted. Big win I tell ya! But I had my chicken salad and it was delicious and filling.
My snack was 3 strawberries and a few pecans.
Dinner was good also. I had grilled chicken with garlic, pepper flakes, salt and pepper, garlic brown rice and steamed veggies with more garlic. No vampires around here tonight, ha.

My after dinner sweet was an apple with a couple of tablespoons of natural peanut butter.
Pretty much the same day of foods as yesterday. Tomorrow's probably going to be similar, but I am hoping to do something different Thursday and Friday, we'll see. This is so easy, it's hard to change it up.
I am not finding the challenge all that difficult yet, but I dread the weekend!
I just took my herbal cleanse tablets, so it's bedtime! Day 3 here I come!
Any food ideas for me?

Advocare 10 Day Cleanse: Day 1

Now that I am finished being pregnant, breast pumping, I can FINALLY do a 10 day cleanse.  And, it's time.  My eating habits were getting awful.  I wasn't exercising, at all, except chasing after the kids.  So, I'm thankful that Lindsay decided to have a 10 day cleanse challenge!

Last night I had my last slice of pizza and my last bit of dairy in that cheese for the next 10 days.

I went grocery shopping and bought this for the first time ever:

and a lot of other fruits and veggies so that I could make it for TEN days without ice cream and milk and cheese!  UGH, no cheese for 10 entire days!!  BUT I can do this!  I just keep telling myself that I can do this!

I meal prepped.  I made a lot of veggies last night.  I used a small amount of olive oil, garlic and some other "approved" spices to cook them gently.  I made about 10 servings of brown rice and prepared what will be dinners / lunches for the week.  I've got lots of chicken to cook up tonight also.  That will be the protein that I have with my salads and dinners.

I did measurements last night and weight this morning too.  I'm not sharing though.  I'll probably share my progress at the end (if there is any).  Even if there isn't, I'm just hoping to clean up my eating.  I desperately need to clean up the eating habits and that's what I'm working on during this cleanse!!

And even though my husband isn't taking the Advocare products during this cleanse, he has said that he will eat clean with me!  I'm really thinking this is doable at this point.  I'm not "hangry" at all right now.  The evenings will be the true test.  I need to find a way to enjoy veggies the way I normally do with ice cream.  

This morning I had the fiber drink and I didn't hate it.  I had the citrus, and I've been just fine all day.  The texture reminded me of very pulpy orange juice.  Good thing I like pulp!  

Breakfast was two boiled eggs. 

Snack was a couple of huge strawberries.

Lunch was a salad with pecans, strawberries, blueberries grilled chicken and raspberry vinaigrette dressing.

Snack was a couple of huge strawberries.

Dinner will be chicken, veggies brown rice, and almond milk.  

Snack will most likely be an apple with a couple of tablespoons of natural peanut butter. YUM.

I.CAN.DO.THIS!!! :)  

Any suggestions for me while on this cleanse?  Have you done a cleanse before?  How did it affect you?

Struggling

I'm struggling lately.  How to keep up with daily tasks at work, home, with kids, and in life in general.

Honestly, work is awesome.  I don't really talk much about my work life, but since changing jobs in January, I'm in a MUCH better place than I was.  I was bored at my old job.  Majorly bored.  Which is why I had time for blogging!  Now, not so much.  I'm swamped.  It's a good thing, but it's busy, and I don't have a lot of time at work to blog.

So that means I need to try to fit it into the evenings or mornings, and well, I'm not one for sacrificing sleep.  I am finding that I'm losing track of all of the events that I want to blog about though, so it's time to figure out a way to fit blogging into the home life.

Home life is crazy busy right now too.  Cooper is playing tball - I WILL post about that soon.  That is two days a week.  Tim is umpiring 5-6 days per week so that makes things a bit hectic around our house.  I'm playing single mommy, and it's just difficult.

Keeping up with the house and trying to do "most" of the normal life stuff is hard.  Making time for friends is difficult if not impossible.  Life is busy busy busy.  I know that most people are in the same boat as I am, and I'm not complaining about it.  Life is GOOD, I am blessed.  I just want to make time for things for ME too.  I need to get my booty on the treadmill, I need to get back into blogging, and I need to do some other things that I want to do.  To start to care about me a bit.

My friend Gina has encouraged me to write out my "goals" for the month/year etc, so that I can keep myself accountable.  I NEED to do this.  This is going to be something that I start to do, and I hope to share on here (if I can find time) so that you too can hold me accountable.

So, I am writing this to share that I'm struggling now, but I plan to work on life, myself and my tasks to get things put back together in this new work world that I'm becoming acclimated to during this crazy time.

I hope my sporadic posts come to an end and I figure out how to make this hobby of mine a priority again!  Wish me luck!

Happy Birthday To My Better Half

Happy Birthday to you Tim, the love of my life, my partner in crime, the best daddy in the universe, and my favorite person in the world.  

I hope you have a fabulous day, I cannot wait to celebrate with you this weekend.  

Five on Friday

I haven't linked up for 5 on Friday in a long time, so I figured, why not today?  It's Friday so I'm happy, but it's raining again today, so things could be a bit better, but still, it's FRIDAY!

Here are my FIVE for today!

1)   I still cannot get over these sweet pictures of my baby girl.  These are a few from her 9 month photo shoot.  She's such a little diva.

2)  This.  My little boy surfing the dishwasher.  I have been looking through old pictures this week and came across this one.  Isn't he the sweetest thing?  I miss him being so little, but am enjoying how he's growing into such an awesome guy!

3)  I'm already planning decorations/photo ideas for Kate's first birthday.  I can see something like this picture happening, I'm already talking to a few folks about getting the shirt and tutu made.   Isn't this picture adorable?

4)  The Bram Fam.  They just took their first family vacation to FL.  They took this picture on the beach and I absolutely love it.  I've really missed them this week, but hope they've had a wonderful time!!

5) Have ya'll heard of this stuff?  Edible cookie dough.  I've not tried it yet, but I'm really hoping my husband will pick some up for me today.  I have been wanting to try it and have several friends who have and said it's delicious.  YUMMO!

That's it for me today.   Cookie Dough lover?  Vacations anytime soon?  Jealous of those at the beach like me?!?

Happy Weekend Friends!!

Katy is TEN months!

Kathryn Elisabeth, you are TEN months old now.  Just two more short months and we’ll be celebrating your first birthday.  It just doesn’t seem possible.  I actually already picked out your first birthday invitations this month and I am starting to think about how we’ll decorate as well as getting your birthday outfit all figured out.  I just cannot believe it.  I need time to JUST.SLOW.DOWN!  You are becoming Miss Independent and while that means you’re growing and thriving and doing exactly what you’re supposed to do, it makes mama just a little sad and wishing for these baby days to stick around longer!

Katy, you’re sleeping so wonderfully still.  I dread teething because we’ve gotten so used to you sleeping through the night.  You still go to bed sometime between 7 and 8 at night, depending on when your last nap was and how tired you are.  Most nights its between 7:30 and 8.  You still haven't had any more of the screaming episodes in the middle of the night, which has been great.

You've been doing a great job with naps also.  You’ve been taking 2-3 naps per day and usually at least an hour and a half each time.  Sometimes up to 3 hours at a time.  You do like your sleep!!  You still sleep best when you have a sleep sack, and don't forget the pacifier, you MUST have it to sleep!

Weight - you weighed 18 lbs 10 ounces at a doctor’s appointment this month.  I’ll talk more about that appointment in a little bit.  You had all of your clothes on during this appointment’s weight check, so I think it’s possible that you hadn’t gained much.

Your daily food intake hasn’t been great this month.  We’ve really been struggling to get you to eat your minimum ounces (16) per day.  We’ve tried several things, but nothing seemed to work.  We finally decided to cut you down to 3 bottles per day, hoping that you’d eat your middle of the day bottle better since you weren’t eating but 2-3 ounces during each of your second and third bottles each day.  We figured combining those two feedings may make you drink more.  It didn’t really help unfortunately.  You are eating more baby food at this point though.  You’re finally eating 3 meals a day.  You have a baby food fruit for breakfast, veggie for lunch and you have 3-4 tablespoons of cereal for dinner with your night time bottle.   We cut the yogurt out because it seemed to fill you up so much that you didn’t want to eat for so long after that we really couldn’t get enough milk in you.   You still love puffs, and you’ve enjoyed yogurt melts and teething biscuits this month also.

Now onto your doctor’s appointment.  Mommy and Daddy were really getting worried about you not eating and drinking your bottles, so I took you to the doctor.  The doc thinks that your reflux is the problem.  She said to start you back on your medicine.  I had just stopped giving it to you during your 8^th month (I think), but the doctor is convinced that the reflux is the reason you aren’t eating.  You don’t seem to mind taking the medicine right now, and we’ll see if this helps over the next month. 

Clothes & Diapers.  You're in a size 3 diaper still, and they aren't getting too small yet, so you'll probably be there for a little while longer at least.   You’re wearing mostly 9 month clothes at this point, we’ve got you in a few 12 month onesies here and there, but not too many yet.

Katy, you’re all over the place.  Crawling, and pulling up and walking around anything you can pull up on and hold onto.  You will also hold both of my hands and walk with me.  You’re a little monkey too, climbing up on anything you can!  Daddy caught you climbing up on Coop’s picnic table, and then the next day Sissy and I caught you doing it too.  You were just hanging out – playing with Cooper’s stickers while standing on the picnic table seat.  If we let you, you’ll climb to the very top.  Such a climber already.  We’re really going to have to watch those stairs!

You’re big beautiful eyes haven’t changed colors completely – and I’m wondering if they will.  They seem to be a greyish color right now, not really hazel and definitely not a true blue either.  I guess time will tell.  You still have no teeth.  We think they’ll come soon, but then again, we’ve thought that each month! 

You are still a mama’s girl, but you don’t cry much when around others.   I think you only cry for me when you’re super tired – when I get you out of your crib in the morning, you really want nothing to do with anyone but me, and the same when you’re super tired in the evenings, but you do like your sissy, Cooper, Daddy and Nana.  For some reason, Papa Gary makes you cry.  I’m pretty sure it’s his beard, but you want nothing to do with him.  I know that will change. 

Katy Lady, we are so in love with you.  You are such a persistent little girl, and you make sure to tell us when you don’t like something.  Just like your mama, haha.  You’re laughing so much lately, and your smile lights up a room.   You love your doll babies and your bears.  Your face just breaks into the biggest smile when we bring them to you.  You love to immediately eat their faces.  It’s so fun to watch.  You’re a HAPPY girl, and that makes us so happy.  We love you Miss Kate, to the moon and back, forever and always.

Happy TEN months!