Recent Purchase: The PBK Anywhere Chair!

Kay has a leopard print chair in her room that she has had since she was 2. She loves it and really I don't think she owns anything else that has gotten more use. Every night at bath time- Miss M loves to play in her sisters room (and sometimes while she's at school, but pssssh don't tell her that!) and one of her favorite things in her sisters room is that chair! She just loves to climb in and out of it, and once she's in- she thinks its sooo funny and she giggles and laughs! So when it came time to think about what to get her for Christmas I thought the Pottery Barn Kids Anywhere Chair would be the perfect! She's still too young to really get into toys, so this makes a great gift for her. I mean, we are getting her toys too but this is her BIG gift this year! Plus that little one has a birthday coming up too, so we aren't going to go too crazy here.

So there it is. Cute right?! I ordered the light pink mini dot cover monogrammed in lime green (with her real name of course) : ) I know this is something she is going to have and use for years to come!

Happy Thanksgiving

From our home to yours.

Wishing you a Thanksgiving filled with food, family, and many many blessings!

We Are Under Attack

By the Rotavirus aka the stomach flu. My god it is so terrible to have two sick kids at once. Just terrible. It all started Sunday- Miss M threw up at breakfast, and then again 2 more time that day along with the.worst.diarrhea.known.to.man. Seriously she went probably 10 times that day :( I was able to ward off any diaper rash though, so that's good. Monday, she stopped vomiting but still had the horrible diarrhea. Tuesday the diarrhea was just as bad; She shit out her car seat, high chair, and 4 sets of cloths. This is her first real sickness. She's drinking fluids, but doesn't have much of an appetite but I have managed to get her to eat some.

Last night the situation got a whole lot worse. At 12:30 am Kay crawled into my bed, she didn't say anything just snuggled in. I figured she had a bad dream or something....until 12:46am when she started violently puking all in my bed. So there we were changing sheets in the middle of the night. Poor thing kept saying she was sorry, I felt so bad for her. No one like to be sick like that. It didn't end there because she also threw up at 1:30, 2:02, and 4:00am. It was a rough night to say the least.

So far, today only M has the dirreah still. Kay hasn't thrown up again. Neither are eating much, but I am pumping them with fluids, pedilite freezer pops, and snuggles while praying I don't get it! I don't have time to be sick with hosting Thanksgiving and all....and I just really want my babies to get better.

Rotavirus GO AWAY!

New Year, New Baby?

Okay so the title might be a LOT presumptuous. But  I do have some news to share with you... I called me RE's office on Friday! I've been thinking about this for some time as you know, but finally had the courage to call. I called around 1:30 pm and it went a little something like this

Girl on the other end: "Thank you for calling.....can I place you on hold for a moment"

Me: "Sure"

Click.

Yep, like a school girl calling her crush I panicked and hung up the phone.

3 hours later I called back. This time I didn't hang up. I told them I wanted to set up a consultation with my RE for sometime in January. Now, this does not mean in any way that we are hopping back on the baby wagon just yet. I mean I haven't even told my DH I called yet! I just want to see what our options are, THEN maybe we will decide when, how, and if ever we will pursue # 3. Who knows, he may say that with 2 crappy frozen sperm samples IUI's are out of the question, and that would really put a hault on all this. We simply cant afford to do IVF at this time. Remember we are all out of pocket, and a simple IUI cycle is 770.00 without meds! And there is no way we would put my husband through everything we did to get Miss M here (and who's to say that would even work again). It would be use the frozen sperm or nothing.  I'm also curious if I would have to do all my testing again, so there is lots and lots to talk about.

I do plan on telling my DH that I made the appointment soon- I'm just looking for the right time. WHY oh WHY is this so hard for me? I mean obviously this isn't going to go anywhere until we have some serious talks about it, but I find the whole situation so hard to confront. I mean I hung up on my RE's office for gods sake!! What does that tell you?!

I'll keep you posted on the progress. My appointment is January 3rd!

Good Carbs vs. Bad Carbs

Before I go on with this post...I thought I'd let you know that I still haven't found my necklace. I find myself patting my chest multiple times a day for it and its not there. Even my kids noticed it was gone :(

So moving on.....

After boot camp on Monday, one of the nutritionist at my gym was offering a free seminar on carbs. I pretty much know all there is to know about nutrition and diet but I thought I would check it out anyways. I ended up learning 1 new thing (that dairy is considered a simple carb!), so I'm glad I stuck around for it. Anyways, I thought I would share with you all the difference between good carbs and bad carbs, what counts as a serving, and what are "good" carbs to eat.

First of all, carbs are the best fuel and energy for your body. The amount of carbs you should eat daily really depends on your fitness goals and activity level. Obviously if you are trying to lose weight, you should be at the lower end of the spectrum. But if you are trying to maintain up your endurance, or are training hard, you should be eating more carbs. When carbs are not used (when you eat too much for your activity level) they are stored in the liver or are directly converted into fat. Bad bad bad. So what you want to do it eat the amount of carbs that you need to attain whatever goals you have. The recommended daily allowance is 30g-200g. That is a HUGE variance. Again, that is based on your fitness goals and because we all metabolise carbs differently.

For me, my goal is weight loss. But because I am so active, I really can eat about 60g per day- or 2 servings of "good" carbs a day. Example of "good: carbs are: Oats, Grains, beans/lentils, whole wheat, brown rice or pasta, and sweet potatoes. Here is a list of foods- each one is 30g of carbs, or one serving.

1 cup whole wheat pasta
1/2 cup prepared brown rice
1/2 cup dry oats (Quaker, Coach's Oats)
2 pieces of bread (under 70 cals, above 5 grams of fiber)
1/3 cup of granola (Bare Naked Fit)
1 small potato/sweet potato/yam
1 whole wheat tortilla (above 6 grams of fiber, no sugar)
3/4 cup of beans (not refried)
Whole wheat flat brad (Flat Out)
1/3 cup of dry whole wheat couscous
Multi grain Wasa crakers
Melba toast
1 whole wheat pita
Ezekiel Products (Sprouts or Trader Joe's)
1 serving of cream of wheat
Kashi go lean, Uncle Sam's, Ezekiel cereals
Brown rice cakes
Natures Own products

So for me, because I want to lose weight I can have 1-2 of those things per day. Preferably before 4pm. That's one thing I have changed- no carbs at dinner! And let me tell you, I have noticed a difference already. It's like all the bloat is gone and my stomach is much flatter!

The "bad" carbs are simple carbs- carbohydrates that instantly turn to sugar in your body. You want to try and limit simple carbs in your diet as much a possible. This includes: ANYTHING white, fruit, honey, sugar, candy, ice cream, any dairy, and chocolate. You also need to keep an eye out for the amount of sugar in salad dressings- they need to be 3g or less!! And try and keep your fat content down; use cooking spray instead of oil, no butter, and lean proteins!

So there you have it- your crash course in good vs. bad carbs! Hope you learned something new.

The L.

For the past 4 years I have worn a small pave diamond "L" on a super fine silver chain around my neck. My L necklace. My husband (who at the time was just  my boyfriend) gave it to me at our first Christmas together. I never take it off. It's not too big, or blingy, as people would expect from me, its just a small unpronounced L. I love my L necklace...

I've given up wearing any other necklaces for the past 4 years because I simply don't want to take off my L necklace. It goes with everything, and it's a part of who I am.

So yesterday when I noticed a little knot above the pendant, I very hesitantly took it off and handed it to my husband to fix. He assured me it would be no big deal. Before I know it he whisked off, necklace in hand on a mission to get the knot out. I walked out of Kay's room, and headed to the grocery store to pick up a few things I still needed for dinner....

Fast forward to this morning.

It didn't take long after I woke up to realize that the L wasn't there. I instantly thought to myself...Oh no! Where is it? But I rest assured that my hubby had fixed it and put it in a safe place. I looked in the bathroom thinking he probably put it in there. No L. He was still sleeping so I had to wait till he woke up to find out where he put it.

I headed to boot camp and when I got home I asked him where he put my L necklace. His mouth dropped, eyes widened, and he made a gasp. He immediately patted his pockets. WTF?! This is not good. He said he fixed the knot, but wasn't sure where he put it.

WHAT???!!! You lost my necklace?

to his defense he does have a terrible memory. Needless to say, I've been searching and searching all day asking myself "If I were a small dainty L necklace, where would I be?" Short answer is ON MY NECK, real answer is I don't know :( He's re traced his steps, played it over in his head, and just doesn't know what he did with it. It's so small, and the chain is so fine, that it makes it easy to lose.

All day I couldn't help but think about Carrie Bradshaw and when she lost her beloved Carrie necklace on SATC.....

She was lost without it remember? Well today I am Carrie Bradshaw. Alex (the sexy Russian artist) even gave her a "replacement" Carrie necklace (remember it was 6 crystals on a chain to represent each letter in her name) Yeah nice and all but not the same. It wasn't Carrie necklace. The moment she found it was so profound in so many ways. It was like she found herself again. The story ended great for her....and I'm still hoping. Pray I find it!

SOMEONE has a lot to say...

Meal Planning Monday

• Beef Casserole with Potatoes
• Italian Chicken Pasta Skillet served with an Italian style salad.
• Blue Cheese Stuffed Turkey Burgers
• Honey Lime Chicken - looks delish and I'm always looking for ways to jazz up chicken. I'll serve this with black beans and corn on the cob.
• Macadamia Nut Crusted Halibut- I bought some beautiful halibut filet's on sale this weekend and did a quick google search for a easy macadamia nut crusted halibut and this one popped up. Looks super easy. This is one of my favorite fish dishes when we go out to eat, so I thought I'd give it a try at home! Served with organic jasmine rice and oven roasted asparagus.

Also I got Persimmons in my Bountiful Basket this week...someone help me out here. How do you eat them? Do you quarter them? Slice them? Eat them like an apple? Me no understand.

Buttercups and Babycakes

I'll let you figure out which on is which : )

God, I've turned into such a picture whore these last couple years. Yesterday, I had a friend of mine who is also a photographer come over to take our family portrait and had her take a few shots of the girls too! It's so funny because I never really had professional pictures before last year. I always went to Kiddie Kandids, or Portrait Innovations for Kay's pictures, but I realized I still spent a ton of  money at those places ordering prints! And for the same price (or a little more) I can have a photographer come to my home or meet on location for some much better quality photos. I can print only the ones I want and love! So like I said, I've turned into a total picture whore. Its art, its my family, its my life in those photos! I've decorated my home beautifully in black and whites and color images from all our previous shoots! I've captured beautiful memories and will cherish them forever. It's some of the best money I spend!!

We will be using the family portrait in our Christmas card this year I cant wait to see them! And I promise I'll share when I do!

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!!

xoxo

10 Months

That's double digits people! It has been 10 months (and 10 days) since I gave birth to this beautiful little person. I cant believe that in 2 short months my little M pie will be 1- Craziness! Party planning has begun and lets just say there gonna be lots of glitter and glitz ; )

So in the last month Miss M has changed a ton! She's walking, and finally starting babbling! She says "Gaga" "Dada" and "Mmmmmmm" She is really trying and I swear the other day she said Bye-Bye. I also think she tries to say cup, it comes out "Guh". It's so cute! We are still working on Mama, and Baba, and practice with her all the time. She's a little late in the language department and that okay because she's been so ahead of the game physically. But now that she's at least babbling, I'm not worried so much anymore. One of her favorite things to do now is point....

She looks so gangster doing it too because she holds her arm up near her ear. We play a game every night at dinner where we say "Where's Mama?" and she'll point to me. "Where's sister?" and she'll point to Kay...you get the idea. She's very smart! Its so awesome to see her learn new things and man this month she's really grown. She has 5 teeth now (just cutting her 6th). Two on the bottom and three on the top.

We were laughing until we were crying at that picture of her because she looks sooooo funny! She also started doing this thing where she shakes her head back and forth. I DIE. She loves going to Kindermusik and has really opened up there and she also loves Elmo! I DVR Sesame Street and let her watch it in the mornings as she drinks her morning bottle- although she doesn't really watch it for very long, but she instantly gets sucked in once Elmo is on. Its the only part she will really watch. Facts about Miss M at 10 months are:

- She weighs 19.3 pounds.
- She still eats anything and everything.
- She LOVES water. She drinks probably 8 oz. of water a day- out of her sippy of course. We don't even do juice because she really prefers water. Cold water too.
- She still drink (4) 6 oz. bottles a day.
- She eats 3 meals and 1 snack, all table foods. Her favorites are peas, waffles, blueberries (all fruit really), green beans, soy chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, avocado, and she loves tomatoes. Those are just some of her favorites.
- She still wears a size 3 diaper, we tried to move to 4's but she leaked. They are still a tad too big.
- She wears a size 12 month in cloths.
- She sleeps from 7:00 pm to 6:30 am.
- She still takes 2 naps a day, with her longest in the afternoon.
- We moved her into a convertible car seat, a new Britax Marathon 70  which we love!

She loves: to eat, take baths, Kindermusik, going for walks/runs with mom, swinging in her swing, dancing, playing with sister and daddy, and brushing her teeth.

She hates: getting her nose wiped, anything that requires her to be still, when I put her down (she really likes to be held by me and follows me from room to room), and wearing socks. I cant keep socks on this kid- she pulls the right off!!

The Gap

I know all I did throughout my whole TTTC journey was bitch, complain, and talk about how unfair it was that my children were going to be spaced so far apart and how I never wanted this large of a gap, etc. but there really are some great advantages to it also! I have met many people along the way that have actually planned to space their children out 4+ years on purpose for these very reasons....

• Miss M gets the same attention and one on one time that Kay did because she's at school most of the day. Which also means I don't feel guilty about giving one more attention than the other when they were babies.
• Kay is a great helper in many ways. That extra set of eyes and hands is really helpful sometimes (also my worst enemy at times too...)
• They don't compete for my attention because they have totally different needs.
• Kay understands that sometimes the baby needs me at certain times and she's at an age where she fully understands that and doesn't get upset, or act out, etc.
• Miss M gets the best of both worlds- my undivided attention during the day PLUS a sibling!
• I got a chance to really bond with Kay over the years (alone) and cherish those moments dearly. We made some great great memories, just her and I. Now we have a fabulous family of four.
• Kay is a wonderful teacher to her sister and its teaching her to me a great role model too! 
• I only have to wipe 1 butt besides my own. 
• Kay is very self sufficient, she can feed herself, pour her own drink, wash her own hands, brush her own teeth, and dress herself.
• Kay is very very proud of her little sister- she waited a long time for this too!
• Because I have been through it all before through the years, I am much more relaxed in my role as a mother. I've been puked on, peed on, bit, slapped, and pooped on. I've been through ear infections, roseola, stomach flues, colds, viruses, coughs, fevers, eczema, constipation, night terrors, teething, bullying, preschool, potty training, trips to the ER, AND I've swallowed spit up! Nothing can take me down this time! 
• Miss M is Kay's live baby doll, which is really fun for both of them!

Even though this isn't how I "planned" it, this is how it worked out. That was out of my control and it really took me a long time to accept that. But now that I have, and although I still would prefer to have them a little closer, I do enjoy the gap now. I really do.

Big Girls

Somehow I woke up yesterday and it dawned on me how big my girls are getting. We've had an amazing week here at the P residence. First, huge news.....Kay has her first loose tooth! We were literally screaming together jumping for joy when we discovered it was wobbly! She is the only one in her class that hasn't lost a tooth yet, so this is MAJOR! It's about time, remeber this post? I mean, it could be months before that thing falls out, but still its a start and we are verrry excited. In other tooth news, Miss M got another tooth! It's her 5th! She now has her bottom two, and three on the top. So just like every other time she gets a tooth, she's been boogery and whiney pretty much all week. Happens.every.time.

Also, that little baby is RUNNING! Seriously, she started takings steps and 3 days later she was a full time walker. Now she literally is running...ahhhh...what am I going to do with this one? I tell her all the time that she's a baby and she needs to act like one, but she no listen. I love watching her learn new things, but at the same time it literally breaks my heart. She's turning into a toddler right before my very eyes, and I cant bear the thought :( With all these teeth and the running, she really is starting to look more and more like a toddler, and less and less like a baby.

And now I'll leave you with some pictures...because I simply cant resist showing off these 2 little ladies!

Here's baby M getting into stuff she's not allowed too.....caught red handed...

On her tippy toes, I love it...

And here she is getting mad at me when I tell her to stop...

She forgave me really quickly :)

And THIS ONE is growing up entirely too fast too....Look at her...all grown looking! NOT cool!

So beautiful she is....and that's baby Wyatt!

And even though this picture is from our Halloween party that we had, I just have to share it. We were playing a game of "Guess the witches body parts" and something totally freaked her out. I love this picture...so in the moment! I love her more than words can describe!!

Wordless Wednesday- Halloween Edition

Meal Planning Monday

• Skinny Sloppy Joes. My friends have been raving about this recipe, so I cant wait to try it.
• Slow Cooker Pinapple Chicken. As you can see, I usually make 1 crock pot meal a week. I plan that on purpose for on my busiest days (Monday for me), its hard to prepare a home cooked meal when you get home late after a crazy busy day. So the crock pot is your best friend if this is your life! I'd much rather set it all up in the am and have it done when we get home on those busy days. And now that its cooler out, I'll be using it much more! I will serve this with organic jasmine rice.
• French Onion Soup with Grilled Cheese Sammy's.
• Pasta with Bolognese Sauce. served with balsamic glazed green beans. Easy just steam the green beans until cooked but still crunchy, drain, add a clove of garlic, a drizzle of EVOO, salt and pepper, and a couple splashes of some good balsamic vinegar to the hot pan, add the green beans back toss to coat and Viola! A easy way to dress up regular green beans. They are soooo good too! 
• Heirloom Tomato and Goat Cheese Pizza. Really super easy (only 5 ingredients!!) and you can totally modify this too. You could use regular tomatoes instead of heirloom, and skip the goat cheese if you don't like it  (I personally LOVE it), or you could sub out goat cheese for feta or blue! Also, I wont be grilling this, but rather baking it in the oven on a baking sheet at 350 until cheese is melted and crust is light golden brown. Served with a side salad.