Sunday Night S'mores

We ended our weekend with inviting our friends over for enchilada dinner and they brought along the supplies to make S'mores which made me and my belly oh so happy!! The weather was fabulous and it was the perfect way to end the unfortunately short weekend. We have our awesome friend Josh staying with us this week so that adds a little excitement to our usual routine. I hope everyone has a great Monday and don't forget to Thunder Up tonight!! =) Happy Monday!!

S'mores in the firepit.

J and  P relaxing outside

Fire master Dustin

Kickin' some A...

Starting Monday May 7th I went to a new gym here in KC called Kosama. It is basically P90X but you actually go to a facility and have an instructor. I like this better than P90X because for me I am able to mentally push myself harder and I am not worried about when the babes are going to wake up and cry.  I have been going during the weekday mornings from 6:10-7:10 and it has been so much fun! I actually don't hate waking up at 5:45 to be there on time because of how I am feeling the rest of the day. Today was my first kickboxing class and dang it was so fun and so hard all in one. I enjoyed punching a giant bag with all my might, it's almost therapeutic!

My biggest concern has been making sure I am drinking enough water and eating enough calories to sustain my breastmilk for Pax. So far it seems to be going well & I am using that MyFitnessPal app I mentioned in a previous post to make sure I am taking in somewhere between 2000-2500 calories on workout days. 

I am planning on doing a "weigh in" tomorrow and I am kind of nervous. I want to see some results on the scale even though I know that is not what you are supposed to base your weight loss on. Although it is nice to see the numbers dropping. I am definitely feeling better and am seeing my baby belly shrinking, not quite firming yet, but shrinking none the less. 

Another thing I have noticed is my decrease in desire for sweets. I went the first three days without having an afternoon sweets craving which is a pretty normal thing for me. Part of it is boredom during the kids nap time and I just think of how delicious something chocolate would be. On Mother's Day I decided that I should treat myself to a little ice cream so I went to Target and grabbed some Edy's Limited Edition Samoa. It was really yummy but after I did not feel good at all. Now by no means am I depriving myself of delicious treats. Harper and I just yesterday had an amazing afternoon snacks of animal crackers dipped in Nutella (mmmmm Nutella) or we go and grab a Diet Cherry Limeade from Sonic, but I have noticed I am wanting less junk and enjoying more healthy choices.

I have always been such a food driven person that from the second I wake up I think about what am I going to have for breakfast, then once breakfast is over I am already planning my lunch and so on. It is as if all I think about is food. Now that I am starting my day off with burning some serious calories I have been changing my thought process. I do think about what I am going to eat to ensure I am eating enough but I am also thinking about what other activities I can do to get some fitness in and get my mind off of food. You would think that I was overweight, and by no means am I overweight, but I have noticed that as I am getting just a little bit older (no, not OLD, but older) I have to be more conscious of what I put in my body.

Ever since I have been with J it has changed my eating habits as well. He has always been focused on eating fresh not frozen foods and making sure we have enough protein and the less processed foods the better. That paired with my love of cooking has been a great marriage of trying fun new healthy and fresh dishes. I am trying to remember to take pictures of dishes I cook that turn out great to share on here because I am big with just throwing something together and having it turn out amazing. Like last night, I made the best turkey meatballs I have ever eaten, seriously!!

Anyway, I am excited and loving this new healthy lifestyle, not diet, that I am doing. I feel better, I hopefully am looking better, and I am happy!

Dear Mom,

Dear Mom,

Happy Mother's Day!!! I know it is a day early but both the kids are napping and I truly have the time to write to you what you mean to me.  I am sad that we do not get to spend the day together tomorrow eating lots of food, exchanging fun flowers, and chatting all afternoon but that doesn't change the fact that I love you more than anything! Now being a mommy of two, I feel like I understand you and love you more than I ever did before. We have always been close and talked often but since I had Harper I feel as if our bond grew even stronger. I literally cannot go a day with out talking to you on the phone and I always look forward doing so. You are such a beautiful person inside and out and I hope that my kids and I have a fraction of the amazing relationship that you do with Brent & I. 

Thank you for always accepting me for who I was and allowing me to be who I wanted to be. You always did a great job not judging us and letting us be the free spirits that we wanted to (within reason of course). I mean how cool of a mom were you to splatter paint my entire bedroom from my bedspread to carpets when I was little? Or for always making me feel like I was the most important person in the world on my birthday? I love that we can go to Braum's and get 2 banana splits and eat the entire thing together without feeling any guilt and enjoying every second of it.  I love that we can also spend the entire day doing fun girly stuff like getting our nails done or shop or we can sit at the house and relax and have an equally fabulous day. I just enjoy being around you. You have made me a better person and by far a better mommy that I could have ever been without you.

Thank you for always listening to me when I needed it. Be it a bad day with the kids or just a bad personal day, I love that I can always pick up the phone and know you will remind me of the good. I don't know if you realize it but you always have a positive thing to say to remind me of happiness when I am having a down time. You always make me feel better.

Thank you for being an amazing Mimi to my children. I know it is hard not to see them as often as you would like but I appreciate the fact that you do not make me feel bad for moving 5 hours away. Again, you are always positive to remind us of the next time we will see each other and excitedly count down the days/weeks. You have a huge place in my children's lives and Harper talks about you every single day. She loves the fact that Mimi paints her toes & every day after she wakes up she points to her pretty pink toes and says "Mimi toes!" I know Paxton will be equally chatty about you as he get's older.

Thank you for not only being my mom but now being my best friend. I know both of our husbands agree that we may be a little crazy with our obsession with organization and cleanliness but I love that we have so many similarities like our love for books and cooking and wine. Thank you for always believing me, supporting me, loving me, providing for me, and reminding me of the good. I love you mom, thank you for being you, and thank you for being my mom.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Not Awesome vs. Awesome Thursday

NOT AWESOME...

*Having the pleasure of cleaning up dog poop & pee twice in the kitchen because my dog sucks
*Buying million dollar acid reflux medicine to only have to mop the floors multiple times because Paxton is still continuing to spit up......a lot.
*Driving home with a screaming baby because I maybe pushed the limit on his awake time so Harper could have extra fun at our play date
*My concealer has gone missing..... 
*The humidity outside that is making my hair go craaaaaazy
*Really really really wanting something sweet or chocolate but having absolutely nothing in the house to help my craving


 
AWESOME...

*Getting to lay in bed until 6:20 because Paxton decided to sleep all night (even though I was awake since 5:30 waiting for him to wake up)
*Looking outside of my kitchen window to see all the gorgeous flowers blooming in my bed's
*Meeting up with our friends Leah, Emmy & Wyatt for a play date at Jumping Jax 
*Finding out that Josh picked me up some Fish & Chips from McCoys (my FAVORITE!)
*All new Grey's Anatomy tonight that I will watch during nap time tomorrow!! 
*Hearing my genius daughter count 1-10 all on her own because she is obviously a genius
*Realizing Saturday is Cinco De Mayo....bring on the Mexican food & more importantly the      Dos Equis Amber heavy on the salt & lime please!!  
*Thunder Game #3 vs. Mav's 
*Realizing only one more work day until I get to spend all weekend with Josh! 


I would say that today the awesome is out weighing the not so awesome. Happy Thursday Everyone!!

A healthier lifestyle

I just finished watching the Biggest Loser Finale and it was so inspiring!! As usual I cried throughout the majority of the episode because I am just so happy for these people who worked so hard. I simply want to lose around 10-12 lbs to get the last of the baby weight off and tone back up and I am not even doing a great job with that.

A few weeks back J & I started using this app on our iPhones called MyFitnessPal. It allows you to put in your current weight, goal weight, how much you would like to lose per week, etc. Then you type in your meals and it helps you keep track of your calories to stay on goal. Well I did this for a little over a week and was noticing Paxton was becoming fussier when he ate and then he started waking up multiple times at night to feed. I then chatted with a few friends of mine and realized I was cutting my calories waaaaay to much. I was only taking in 1430/day when it says a breastfeeding mom needs to consume around 2037. By no means do I want to be thinner over being able to continue to breastfeed because that is more important to me. However, since I am finished having kids, at least I think I am finished having kids... =), I am ready to get myself back in tip top shape! So anyway, using that calorie tracking app really put things in to perspective on how many calories I take in a day and what a sweet tooth I have. Until I worked retail I never drank soda, ate candy, or consumed as much junk as I did while working for Target. I am sure the long hours and the access to all the yummy junk foods did not help with my transformation to a sweets eater. However, it has now been 19 months since I have worked there and I am still eating way too many sweets. The other part of this is that I just love to bake. On a Sunday afternoon or a dreary winter day I really enjoy getting in the kitchen and baking up something yummy. I am then left with a mass amount of cookies/cakes/treats for only two people to consume, and if there is a sweet in the house, by all means we will eat it!

A few weeks back I bought J & I a Groupon deal to go to a 2 week session at this place here in KC called KOSAMA. It is similar to P90X, but you actually go to a location, work out with instructors and other people, and get your butt kicked there instead of at home watching a video. I own P90X and it is a great work out but I am so much better going to a class and competing with those around me. The only downside to this is that they have no child care so J and I can not go together (which would be ideal). They are starting a new 8 week total body transformation this upcoming Monday. I am hoping we can get it so both of us can trade off to get out rear's in gear.

I am pretty excited for our new healthier eating lifestyle though. We are trying out lots of new things that we have never had before like kale and lentils which have turned out to be oh so delicious. Along with baking I genuinely enjoy to cook so learning new recipes and trying out new ways to cook things has been really fun. I also have realized that I feel so much better when I consistently eat healthy. We watched the documentary Food Inc a few weeks back and it helps to make people realize you need to think more about what they are putting in your bodies and where it is coming from. I have also heard Forks Over Knives is a great documentary to watch as well, we will have to check that one out next!

If anyone has any great tips or recipes towards a new healthy lifestyle I would love to hear them. Hope everyone is having a great Wednesday. Halfway to the weekend already!!!

A Weekend To Remember....

This past weekend we took the kids to Deanna Rose Farmstead here in Overland Park. It was honestly the most wonderful family outing we have had so far. First off, it is incredibly inexpensive. $8.00 for the four of us to get in. Then we just walked around for the next few hours and watched Harper as she saw all the chickens, cows, goats, fish, horses, turkeys and pigs she could take. She was so brave and got closer to the animals than I expected her to. The place is set up wonderfully where she was able to walk around the whole time (unlike the gigantic zoo) and I have never seen her so happy in her entire life. It really made me step back and realize how lucky I am to have a this little girl that finds happiness in such small things.

 Harper went into the petting area and said "hi" to all the baby goats! We considered buying a bottle so we could feed them but since this was her first attempt at getting this close we didn't want to ruin it by the goats being a little over excited for milk and jumping on her. Harper likes the be the one to make the first move in life.

 After seeing most of the animals we all treated ourselves to ice cream cones. This was Harp's first ice cream cone and she obviously loved it!

 Paxton was a champ the whole time too. He failed to sleep but was so happy to be outside and hanging out with us that it did not even phase him! I am excited that we will get to experience the fun all over again when he is big enough to walk around and check things out for himself!

Now how can I not be the luckiest lady ever to have these 2 handsome fellas in my life?

After we finished there we went home and put two very sleepy babes to bed. It started getting a bit cloudy and so we picked up some food for a late lunch and relaxed around the house. That evening I made a childhood favorite dinner of mine which is hardboiled eggs & gravy on toast. Not a healthy dish but ohhhhh soooo delicious!!!!! We watched the Thunder game that evening and just hung out together. It was perfect.

Sunday morning started of a dreary rainy morning and we unfortunately experienced our first heart stopping moment as parents. Harper and J had just gotten back from grabbing some breakfast and she was running around being her silly self in the living room. She still had her shoes on and was carrying her blanket while running, slipped on it and hit her forehead on the fireplace. I am not sure who cried more, her or I! I was really proud of J and myself for not freaking out too much. I immediately got on the phone and called the nurse line for our pediatrician to see what we needed to do. She hit right between her eyes on her forehead and had a big ol goose egg that was black and blue within seconds. The nurse was so helpful and told me the signs to look out for a concussion. She explained that where she hit was actual the ideal spot to hit with all things considered.  Needless to say Harper was babied all day long getting to watch all the Rugrats and SpongeBob she wanted, she had countless books read to her and cuddled with us on the couch with her favorite blanket & paci. Within no time she was acting as if nothing had happened and was running around again. If I wasn't bad enough about gasping when something happened before, I am a million times worse now!! She has a nice boo boo on her head now. Josh told Harper's little 4 year old friend, Cooper, last night that she got mad at someone at school and head butted them. Haha!! Thankfully she is perfectly fine and not phased at all!

Oh and Paxton turned 4 months old on Sunday!! We are starting him on some rice cereal to hopefully help his acid reflux because so far neither Zantac or Prevacid is doing anything for the amount of spit up he has going on. Fingers crossed it will help him sleep through the night too. He is still waking somewhere between 4:30 & 5:30 for a feeding then I get him back up at 7 to start our day. I am ready for some all night, uninterrupted sleep!!

Best Friends

Hannah, myself and Katie and my baby shower for Harper =).

I have noticed that as I continue to grow up that my relationships with my friends have completely different dynamics in a good & perfect way

Josh and I were in Oklahoma City at the beginning of April and I was so excited to go and meet my best friend of 13 years for lunch. My mom watched Harper and Paxton for me and I met Hannah up at her work and myself, Hannah and her mom all went out to lunch together. Hannah's mom owns the most wonderful dog kennel called Lucky Dog Lodge in OKC. Both Hannah and I worked there throughout high school along with a few of our other friends and would occasionally come back and help out through college. Then after my mom finally got out of the restaurant business she started working there too and has been there I think 5-6 years now. Hannah and I lived together through our entire college experience and were the maid of honor in each other's weddings and we have just always clicked. I do not recall ever really having a fight with her. The thing I always admired about Hannah was her individuality. She never really cared what other people thought, she was ambitious and would not be afraid to go out of the country for a month in the summer (which is something I would be too homesick to do), she was always on her own time schedule and just was very laid back. I loved this about her. I have always been a person who needs someone else around so the independence she had was amazing to me. 

Now after having 2 children, moving away from Oklahoma City to Duncan and now Kansas City, Hannah and I do not talk quite as much as we used to, but when we do it was as if no time has really passed. The thing I really enjoy about meeting up with her is that it takes me back in time. Typically when I get together with her it is not with my kids and we do not talk about baby stuff either. She does not have kids yet so it is almost as if I am back in college just hanging out with my bestie. I know one day that will change when she does become a mommy but right now I just love the fact that she helps remind me that I am more than just a mom. I do not mean that in a bad way because I know that is what my job is now and I absolutely love it but I love that after 13 years I still feel like a 15 year old girl talking about very unimportant things with out a care in the world when I am with her.

On the other hand I have my best friend Katie who I relate to on a million different levels. We had the same major, worked at Target, lived together post college, lived in Duncan together, have 2 kids that are fairly close in age, we have a crazy love for Grey's Anatomy and all of the Real Housewives show and enjoy cooking. Katie has been someone who has been around me for some major changes in my lifetime. If it were not for Katie I wouldn't have had the push to start dating Josh. If it were not for her we would have never lived in Duncan. If it were not for her I would not have even thought about putting my babies on a schedule to create a much easier time for me as a mom. I seriously cannot go a day without texting her literally at least 20 times. She is the person that when something happens to me I want to tell her. I ask her for mommy advice all the time to the point that she probably gets annoyed but there is just something that is so perfect with our friendship. I was lucky enough to live only 1.5 miles away from her in Duncan and we had a great year of having our kids become buddies, working out together, laying out together, picking up Taco Bell burritos for lunch (hence the working out together) and just talking to each other about everything. In a lot of ways she is like a therapist. I knew that I could tell her anything that was going on and I would not be judged. 

Even though I do not live near my 2 best girl friends I love the fact that I still feel as if I do. I am a lucky person to have them in my life. =). I know this is a mushy post but I am very thankful to have these important women in my life because they genuinely make my life bet