I have about 100 things on my to-do list so this will be short and sweet. I basically just remembered this thing, so I thought I'd give an update a whirl. :-)
It's Memorial Day. Like most holidays, Eric is at work. It's a reality we've come to live with, even embrace a little. The kids and I do our thing. It's going to be strange to be a real family of 4 again - or maybe really more like for the first time ever. In a good way. Not that he will never work a holiday again or that he's missed everything the last 5 years. But we expect good changes in the long run, and boy, are we ready!
We are moving on Thursday. Eek. We have packing included in the move, so I have done basically nothing. And I am freaking out about it. It seems like I should be doing something, right? I am working on using up all of our food by baking inordinate amounts of brownies for people, and I'm about to clean behind the couch. Maybe.
Levi is 2 now. How did that happen? The last few months have been a blur. Prepping to sell the house, showing and handling contract stuff, dealing with more medication trials for Samuel and some issues with his therapy program, looking for a house in Asheville and NOT FINDING ONE for a long time - let's just add to the stress, right? Finally finding the perfect rental and an air b&b in Winston and finding a new car and waiting for the new car and booking vacation and trying to keep my kids alive because they are FLIPPIN CRAZY (in the cutest way possible).
So Levi. He is still a chunk. At his check up he was 37.5" - that's like past 99%, up in the 3 year old range - and 31 pounds, which is more like 75% but still nothing to sneeze at. He's a big boy. His cheeks are still as big and kissable as ever and I hope they stay that way. He loves to cuddle, loves to read books - we are on a Goodnight Moon kick right now. He still is a little pacifier obsessed, but is letting it go more often. His eating has tapered of a bit, but he still puts away some fruit, spaghetti, salad, beans - good grief, he loves black beans! - chips, and tomatoes.
Levi's speech is finally picking up some. He's started asking questions and shrugging at me while asking. It's soooo stinkin cute! He probably has at least 100 words, it's just not always easy to decipher them. He is all about some bubbles and talks about them non-stop. He LOVES HIS BROTHER. Oh, man. They have such a brother relationship now - always hugging then fighting and taking each other's things. But boy, do they want to be around each other!
Levi is still an expert sleeper and loves his crib. He naps 3 hours in the afternoon and sleep 11-12 hours at night. I'm so not complaining. He loves baths and water and cleaning things ("wipes! Wipes PLEASE!"), does not like having his hands dirty, and prefers to wear shoes outside. He is about the sneakiest little guy ever - SO quiet when he gets into things. I have to watch him, and frankly, I don't always do such a good job. I'm really trying. Most of his sneakiness has to do with food, though bubbles, toys and pens tend to be big thrillers for him too (OMG THE PENS.) He can sit and draw for like 20-30 minutes which is insane to me. He is just so so different from Samuel at that age!
He is getting to be a pretty good climber and is a little more adventurous than he used to be. He still often wants me to get him down after he's climbed up something though. It's hard to say no to him, though. He loves to be carried a lot too - also hard to say no to. "Mommy! Carry! PLEASE!!!" He's also getting opinions and doing the occasional hitting and kicking and running away from me which I'm not so thrilled with. We're working through it though.
Anyway, he is the most delightful little guy and we all just adore him. His long blonde hair and big smile and general easygoing nature have added so much joy to our family. I'm in a state of denial about being sad about anything right now, but at some point I'm going to sit down and cry about how big he's gotten. He'll always be my baby though.
So there's that. Off to chores. Maybe I'll post again before Samuel turns 6?
Family Pic
Monday, May 28, 2018
Monday, January 22, 2018
Whole 30 (sort of)
3 weeks in, and 2018 has been an absolute blur thus far. We're prepping to sell our house and are doing about 15 different projects at once trying to make this place look like a million bucks (or 200 grand. Same difference.) Our house is pretty much a disaster zone, and I'm spending every naptime and post-bedtime painting and spackling and hanging curtain rods and emailing landscapers on top of trying to keep up with normal chores.
We've had school delays for single digit temperatures, 8 inches of snow and 3 more days out of school, the stomach bug making its way through our entire household, doctors appointments and med changes, date night (and the boys got to go to parents night out), two Side by Side kickoffs for the new semester, birthday parties and call nights and meetings and playdates, quick trips to the gym and to babysit. I've been selling everything we don't plan to move on Facebook BST (and made over $200 so far!), and making phone calls to arrange Samuel's birthday and look into getting a storage unit and order checks, trying to keep our budget somewhere near practical, researching housing and schools in Asheville adn planning our trip there in March, spending time with friends, and trying to take time to be still, read, and meditate on the Word.
It's kind of amazing I'm not more exhausted.
On top of all that, we decided January would be a good time to try to eat clean/do a makeshift Whole 30. We didn't actually do Whole 30, nor did we intend to, but we did want to try to "reset" our super junked-out bodies post-holidays, and I think it was a great idea. We spent the better part of the month thus far (until we got the stomach bug) gluten free and sugar free, and I was also dairy-free. We tried to only eat whole foods, eat grains sparingly, and only use natural sweeteners if any (Eric has gotten pretty into hot tea with honey). We've eaten tons of protein and vegetables and fruits and healthy fats. Our tortillas got traded out for sweet potatoes and queso for guac. Coconut milk and sugar have become staples, and I think they will be sticking around. We've slowly been adding back in gluten and dairy and a little more sugar (though I think I'm going to be sticking to dairy free as much as possible fro here on out), but are still trying to be more cognizant of what's in our food, and focusing on eating unprocessed meals as much as possible.
At some point I will post some of my favorite recipes from this little experiment - maybe. Clearly I don't have the best track record of keeping up with my blog. But I did want to write down a few benefits, and, errrr, side effects for future reference, because I feel like we will do another week or two of this at some point when we need to "Reset" again.
1. My skin got SO CLEAR. I usually have acne - often cystic acne - that looms around my chin and neck, sometimes all over my face. Now, this could be coincidence because I did work out less during this time period, and therefore sweat less. It was extremely cold and my skin was drier. And I did start using a new face soap. But I literally did not have a single pimple for 2 weeks! And when I added back in gluten and some sugar - not even a ton! - I had a pimple two days later.
2. I slept so well! I was just telling Eric about some crazy dreams I had last night, but I had a good week to week and a half when I slept all night without waking or really even dreaming.
3. I lost 5 or 6 pounds. Now I was not trying to do this at all, but between eating well and the stomach bug (and starting off super bloated and up 2-3 pounds from normal due to eating poorly all Christmas vacation), I've seen a lower number on the scale than I have in a while. I"m pretty sure eating regular food will probably put me right back to my norm though.
4. I went to the bathroom. A lot. This was both good (see above - pretty sure it contributed to weight loss) and bad, as it was annoying to have to go multiple times a day. I guess that's what a cleanse is supposed to do, though, right?
5. I quit craving sugar. It took a while, but I really did get to the point where I quit craving crummy food and did (and still do) just want roasted veggies and bananas and larabars. Eric said he felt like his sandwiches and pizza didn't taste nearly as good to him after he reintroduced them either. However, that leads me to
6. I dreamed about food. A lot. I dreamed about burgers where I was supposed to eat them bun-less, but sneaked in a little bit of bread. I dreamed about pizza. I dreamed about Christmas mint m&ms. Keep in mind my dreams were few and far between too because of that awesome sleep. So this was literally the only dreaming I did. It was kind of intense, but also hilarious.
7. I had an angry day. Maybe it's just coincidence, but one of the categories on the Whole 30 Timeline is the "Kill all the things" period, and I feel like that was totally true about 5 days in for me. Everything made me so mad! Luckily it only lasted a day or so.
8. I had energy! To do all the aforementioned stuff. Well, except the stomach bug. That didn't require any energy. And working out was definitely harder for the first couple of weeks. Runners need carbs. But overall, I felt like my energy was much more stable throughout the day than when I load up on sugar and crash over and over.
There's probably more, but I need to get to sleep. I'm really glad we did this little experiment, and hope we'll continue eating healthy as we move forward in 2018. I'm really looking forward to pizza this weekend though. :-)
We've had school delays for single digit temperatures, 8 inches of snow and 3 more days out of school, the stomach bug making its way through our entire household, doctors appointments and med changes, date night (and the boys got to go to parents night out), two Side by Side kickoffs for the new semester, birthday parties and call nights and meetings and playdates, quick trips to the gym and to babysit. I've been selling everything we don't plan to move on Facebook BST (and made over $200 so far!), and making phone calls to arrange Samuel's birthday and look into getting a storage unit and order checks, trying to keep our budget somewhere near practical, researching housing and schools in Asheville adn planning our trip there in March, spending time with friends, and trying to take time to be still, read, and meditate on the Word.
It's kind of amazing I'm not more exhausted.
On top of all that, we decided January would be a good time to try to eat clean/do a makeshift Whole 30. We didn't actually do Whole 30, nor did we intend to, but we did want to try to "reset" our super junked-out bodies post-holidays, and I think it was a great idea. We spent the better part of the month thus far (until we got the stomach bug) gluten free and sugar free, and I was also dairy-free. We tried to only eat whole foods, eat grains sparingly, and only use natural sweeteners if any (Eric has gotten pretty into hot tea with honey). We've eaten tons of protein and vegetables and fruits and healthy fats. Our tortillas got traded out for sweet potatoes and queso for guac. Coconut milk and sugar have become staples, and I think they will be sticking around. We've slowly been adding back in gluten and dairy and a little more sugar (though I think I'm going to be sticking to dairy free as much as possible fro here on out), but are still trying to be more cognizant of what's in our food, and focusing on eating unprocessed meals as much as possible.
At some point I will post some of my favorite recipes from this little experiment - maybe. Clearly I don't have the best track record of keeping up with my blog. But I did want to write down a few benefits, and, errrr, side effects for future reference, because I feel like we will do another week or two of this at some point when we need to "Reset" again.
1. My skin got SO CLEAR. I usually have acne - often cystic acne - that looms around my chin and neck, sometimes all over my face. Now, this could be coincidence because I did work out less during this time period, and therefore sweat less. It was extremely cold and my skin was drier. And I did start using a new face soap. But I literally did not have a single pimple for 2 weeks! And when I added back in gluten and some sugar - not even a ton! - I had a pimple two days later.
2. I slept so well! I was just telling Eric about some crazy dreams I had last night, but I had a good week to week and a half when I slept all night without waking or really even dreaming.
3. I lost 5 or 6 pounds. Now I was not trying to do this at all, but between eating well and the stomach bug (and starting off super bloated and up 2-3 pounds from normal due to eating poorly all Christmas vacation), I've seen a lower number on the scale than I have in a while. I"m pretty sure eating regular food will probably put me right back to my norm though.
4. I went to the bathroom. A lot. This was both good (see above - pretty sure it contributed to weight loss) and bad, as it was annoying to have to go multiple times a day. I guess that's what a cleanse is supposed to do, though, right?
5. I quit craving sugar. It took a while, but I really did get to the point where I quit craving crummy food and did (and still do) just want roasted veggies and bananas and larabars. Eric said he felt like his sandwiches and pizza didn't taste nearly as good to him after he reintroduced them either. However, that leads me to
6. I dreamed about food. A lot. I dreamed about burgers where I was supposed to eat them bun-less, but sneaked in a little bit of bread. I dreamed about pizza. I dreamed about Christmas mint m&ms. Keep in mind my dreams were few and far between too because of that awesome sleep. So this was literally the only dreaming I did. It was kind of intense, but also hilarious.
7. I had an angry day. Maybe it's just coincidence, but one of the categories on the Whole 30 Timeline is the "Kill all the things" period, and I feel like that was totally true about 5 days in for me. Everything made me so mad! Luckily it only lasted a day or so.
8. I had energy! To do all the aforementioned stuff. Well, except the stomach bug. That didn't require any energy. And working out was definitely harder for the first couple of weeks. Runners need carbs. But overall, I felt like my energy was much more stable throughout the day than when I load up on sugar and crash over and over.
There's probably more, but I need to get to sleep. I'm really glad we did this little experiment, and hope we'll continue eating healthy as we move forward in 2018. I'm really looking forward to pizza this weekend though. :-)
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