Eating Clean: Week 1 Recap

Week 1 was a success! I checked out some of my favorite fitness blogs for recipes and ideas then hit the grocery store. I loaded my cart with Almond Milk, Lightly Salted Brown Rice Cakes, Turkey, Avocado, Eggs, Ezekiel Bread, Almond Butter, Berries, Greek Yogurt, Coconut Water and lots of other good stuff. I also snuck in some Godiva Dark Chocolate Caramels. For less than 50 calories each, they were the perfect dessert for when my sweet tooth kicked in.

I would say that the most important thing I did was make a bunch of food in advance. I spent an hour or two one night making the Turkey Meatloaf Muffins and the Heart-y Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins. These tasted great and were wonderful for a quick meal. Which, let's face it, is the ONLY type of meal you have with a baby! :)

(Photo Credit: bodybuilding.com)

The Turkey Meatloaf Muffin recipe is
from Bodybuilding.com. Here is a link:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/video-jamie-eason-turkey-meatloaf-muffins.htm

Recipe:

• 2 lbs ground turkey (or chicken) I used ground turkey breast
• 3 egg whites
• 1 cup quick cooking oats (I only had regular oats so I ground them up in a coffee grinder)
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme (Whoopsie, I forgot this)
• 2 tsp dry yellow mustard
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp chipotle pepper spice (I used Chipotle Chili Powder)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp garlic powder (2 cloves minced) I used granulate Garlic and only 1 Tbsp
• 1 small onion (finely chopped)
• 2 celery stalks (finely chopped)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Spray muffin pan with canola or olive oil.
3. Mix all your ingredients together in one large bowl.
4. Roll the mixture into balls and place in muffin pan. Muffins should be about the size of a racquetball.
5. Bake for 40 minutes.

Makes 12 muffins.

The Heart-y Blueberry Muffins were great for breakfast and a late night sweet tooth craving!

(photo credit: Heidi Powell)

I think I already posted the link to the page but here it is again just in case: http://heidipowell.net/477/heart-y-blueberry-oatmeal-muffins/

So those two "muffins" were my meals a couple of times of day. In addition to those, I ate these open faced Turkey sandwiches on rice cakes. 

(Photo Credit: Heidi Powell)

I also found this idea on Heidi Powell's blog. http://heidipowell.net/2239/open-faced-lower-carb-turkeywiches/

She has some great stuff on there!

Anyway, the week was great because I didn't starve myself at all. I wasn't going to calorie count or diet while I am breastfeeding. Besides, every time I "diet" I end up thinking about food constantly and I end up binging on candy or something.

The greek yogurt was so yummy but I realized that Avy still can't handle the dairy so I am done with that until I finish breastfeeding. Huge bummer since I love that stuff so much. Oh well. 

Oh yeah! I lost a whole pound! 125.2 as of this morning. This is the lowest I have been since giving birth. I still have 10.2 lbs to go until I am at pre-pregnancy weight though.

I have to say that the biggest surprise and best part of this was how great I have been feeling. It didn't really start until day 3 or 4 but man, I have so much more energy. I also don't have that sluggish feeling that I used to after eating a big lunch. I feel great after I eat. It's amazing how much your body loves you back when you are fueling it properly. 

I will update again in a week! :)

Life Lately

I had to say goodbye to my husband after him only being home for 18 hours. He finished his 3 week shift but had to go back to his vessel because sadly, the other captain died suddenly. It was such a shock. B had just spoken to him the day before during crew change and they had been laughing and cutting up. I know it is very hard on all of them. My only solace is knowing he was a Christian and that he had a heart for God. I am praying for his wife and family.

So, B is back to his vessel for 4 weeks.

He is on the big one in the back.

I am very sad he is
gone. I had been anxiously waiting for him to be home with us for 3 weeks and 1 day. I wanted him to get time with Avy and see all of the big-girl things she does now. We have a family beach trip (with his family) coming up in a week as well. I know he wanted to be here even more than I want him here though so I have to be strong. He did what he had to do to provide for us and I am so proud of him. 

The day he left, he told me how much it meant to him that I am so supportive of his job. I had no idea that my little text messages of "Go get em babe" meant so much. My love language is not words of affirmation but it is definitely his. I am trying to be more vocal with my praise and appreciation. I've also been praying for him daily. I was reading a blog post yesterday about praying for your husband and she wrote "If I am not praying for him than who is?" It's so true! I spend so much time ironing his shirts, cooking, cleaning, taking care of our finances. When I need to be spending much more of that time praying for him. I felt really convicted by this post. http://ephesianswife.blogspot.com/2013/06/10-things-we-should-pray-for-our.html

The day he came home we looked at the house we are trying to buy. I am so glad he got to see it! As soon as we left the house is when we got the news about the other captain. So we submitted our offer and got a power of attorney so that I can proceed with the house while he is gone. 

My camera died while I was taking these pictures so there aren't very many. 

 I love the vaulted ceiling in the kitchen and living room! The bank bought all new stainless steel appliances and granite countertops in the kitchen. They even installed a new sink and faucet.

 The carpet is new as well but I hate carpet so that will probably go.

We love this tree in the backyard. It is a giant Oak tree and will be perfect for hanging a swing. :)

I really feel like this is "the one' so I hope we get it! It's a foreclosure but the bank did some work to make it nice. It def still needs some love and care but B and I are up for it!

So what's new with this little lady?

So much!

She is growing so fast now! I finally understand when mom's say time just needs to S.L.O.W. down! She rolls from back to belly and back again all the time. She actually likes to be on her stomach now as long as it was her idea.

Sleeping has gotten so much better! She now only wakes up at midnight and 4 am. Her wake up for the day is 6:45am and she goes to sleep around 8:30pm. It's getting easier to put her to bed. She only lays in there yelling for 30 mins now instead of 2 hours. Yay!

Driving around with her is so much better now too! She will fall asleep if it's anywhere close to naptime though and wake up as soon as the car stops. Then, she won't go back to sleep once we get inside. I have to be careful about when I leave the house and how long I am gone.

My friend Steph let me borrow her Baby Whisperer books and they have helped so much. I realized that Avelyn needed to transition from her 3 hr schedule to a 4 hr schedule. We've been working on it for the past few days and we are almost there!

We are still making purees but yesterday I thought I might try some Baby Led Weaning. When I feed her the purees she wants to do it by herself. She always grabs the spoon from me and puts it in her mouth herself. Then she doesn't want to give it back. I was eating some raspberries and noticed how they just melted in my mouth. I decided to give her some too!

She loved it. Most of them ended up on the floor or on her shirt but she loved picking them up and eating them by herself. It has made eating so much less of a battle. I hate trying to grab the spoon away from her. So I did a little bit of research on it and we ate breakfast together this morning.

I made these hearty blueberry muffins yesterday after finding the recipe on Heidi Powell's website. (http://heidipowell.net/477/heart-y-blueberry-oatmeal-muffins/)

She tried eating as best she could but after she successfully got it in her mouth she would gag on it. The gagging didn't scare me like I thought it would. She would just move it forward and then either spit it out or try again. I like that she can do it herself and that she is learning to chew. 

I am not fully committed to either the purees or baby led weaning. I want to do both. Later, I will give her some yogurt and we will use a spoon. I might also give her something to eat herself. 

I read a lot of parenting methods and pick and choose what I like from each. I think what works for me is to gather information and then decided based on Avelyn's development and my instincts. So far so good!

Sophia the First Tea Party

A few weeks ago I received an invitation to a Sophia the First Tea Party. I was so excited! All the babies/kids will be dressed up as princesses and eat cute tiny food! I immediately started pinning DIY princess dresses on Pinterest.

After realizing that there is no way I will have time to sew anything or even go to the fabric store, I started looking through Avy's closet and found this dress that Ellie (who is the one hosting the party) made for Avy and gave me at my baby shower. I thought it wouldn't fit for a while, but it did!

Last night, I laid out the dress
with a matching headband and bow. This morning I woke up so excited. I got Avelyn down for her nap a little early (9am) so that she would be done by 10 am and we could leave and get there by 11. Well, it turned out the tea party started at 10! On top of that, Avy napped for almost 90 mins. Once I realized the time was 10 I actually woke Avy up but by then it was 10:30. I was so frazzled I missed the exit and we didn't arrive until 11:10. poo

Once we got there, it was still so much fun! Ellie made these adorable cupcakes and had these tiaras for the littles.

Colette and Avy played together.

Here are our party pics!

 Yum!

She has started chewing on her lower lip when she is concentrating.

Watching the other babies.

She is so silly!

We took a selfie :)

 Concentrating on her toy.

Love this bow!

So we made it after all! Note to self: put the actual time down on your calendar, not just the activity! doh!

Eating Clean Day 1

I've decided to eat clean for 12 weeks. Yikes! That's a long time! I am giving myself one day a week as a cheat day so that I can actually stick with this. I usually am unable to finish a "diet' because something comes up like a birthday or a date night and I feel so guilty about it that I just quit altogether.

I understand that everyone has a different idea of what eating clean is all about. I will be somewhere in the middle with this. My goal is to not eat crap. Plain and simple. I will still use coffee creamer and regular ol' peanut butter but I am going to be making better choices with my meals.

I am going to eat 5 small meals a day and drink 125 oz of water! I know this might be rather difficult with Avelyn's schedule but I will do my best. My hope is that by documenting it on this blog, I might feel more motivation to stick with it and not cheat (except on the cheat day). Wish me luck!

Day 1.

Breakfast: Coffee w/ creamer, 1/2 c of oats with 2 strawberries on top, 2 large organic eggs, 25 oz of water

This was my first time
not adding sweetener to my oats and I thought it would be gross but to my surprise the strawberries were plenty sweet enough! I am NOT an egg-eater. My husband can attest that even the smell in the morning makes me feel sick. However, I know how important it is to eat protein with your first meal and this seemed like the easiest option. I bought Country Hen Organic Eggs this time because they are cage free and all that good stuff but in the future I plan to get them from the Farmer's Market. I just sprinkled some salt and pepper on top. I'm not going to say I enjoyed it but I scarfed it down really quickly. Maybe after 12 weeks of this I will like them?

Snack: Hummus and Pita Chips, 1 slice of Ezekiel bread with Peanut Butter, 25 oz water

Lunch: Spicy Sausage Fisherman's Stew (The Fresh 20), 25 oz water

Yummy! This recipe is from The Fresh 20. It's an online meal plan. They have vegetarian, classic, and lunch meal plans that include your shopping list and nutritional info (only $5/month). I have tried the vegetarian and the classic. I thought the vegetarian would be more interesting than it was...beans. Beans, beans, beans for every dinner. Blah. So I went back to the classic. This stew used Chicken Sausage, Halibut, Onions, Garlic, Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes, Potato, Swiss Chard and Carrots....DEE-LISH!

Afternoon Snack: More hummus with Pita Chips, some nuts, cranberries and chocolate chips, 25 oz water

Dinner: Leftover Chicken Pad Thai (I couldn't let it go to waste!), 25 oz water

Late Night Snack: Nuts with cranberries and chocolate chips, graham crackers with PB on top

OK, so today wasn't the best. Maybe I should call this "The ROAD to eating clean". I am TERRIBLE at sticking to things like this. I am not like this in other areas. In fact, I'm normally such a stickler for if I say I will do it, I will. But for some reason, when it comes to my diet and exercise, I feel out of control. Mostly around 3 pm or late evening when Avy is yelling her head off and I am exhausted. 

I will update again in about a week.  :)

Current Sleep Schedule...or lack thereof

Don't let this adorable face fool
you, she does not sleep. At least, not at night. Since Avy turned 11 weeks old, her sleep has been out of whack. She wakes up no less than 5 times a night (usually 10)! How have I not gone mad you ask? Good question.

Let's start by discussing her naps. These are pretty consistent. Usually she is "up" around 7 am. This puts her first nap at 8:30am. This one is 30 mins to one hour. We go to the library for storytime or if its a cleaning day I sit her on the floor with some toys or the TV (*gasp* TV??? yes). :) The next nap is around 11 and this one is an hour on average.

Her afternoon nap is around 3pm and then she will take one more around 5:30. After her last afternoon nap, I usually take her on a short walk to get the mail. Around 7:30 pm Avy gets her bath and we commence with the bedtime routine of lotion, jammies, *sometimes a story* and nursing. I always put her in her crib before she actually falls asleep.

I dread the next 12 hours.

I put her in her crib at 8 pm but I usually go back in there every 5 mins until 9 pm. She yells a lot and scooches around her crib on her back. She throws her paci and eats her toys/blankets. She never really cries but after she jams herself into a corner and starts yelling for me, of course I have to go rescue her!

Anyway, she is finally asleep between 9 and 10 pm. She sometimes wakes up at 11:30 and if I am still awake (I usually get a sudden onset of insomnia after she finally falls asleep) I will feed her. This "dreamfeed" is my futile attempt at getting her to sleep longer. She wakes up again between 12:30 and 1am...again at 2:30-3...again at 4. Here's where it gets even more fun. She wakes up about 5 times between 4 and 5:30 yelling for her paci.

I have tried letting her yell herself back to sleep but if I don't go in there she just gets more and more worked up. Besides, it also means I am awake longer. I feed her at 5:30 and if she acts wide awake I bring her to bed with me so I can hopefully snooze a bit longer.

I have tried a few things like pulling her paci out for her. This hasn't helped too much because she will normally spit it out herself but will still wake up yelling for it. I tried putting a dirty shirt of mine in her crib. I have ordered a memory foam mattress pad (like our bed has) so maybe she will be more comfortable.

The only thing I haven't tried is the one thing every book and expert tells me to....crying it out. I don't feel comfortable with this. I think most of my parenting style has come from instincts. There are times I know she is just talking to herself or babbling and I leave her alone in there...but, if she is calling me, I am going. If that means I don't sleep through the night for a while, well so be it. It's more important to me for Avy to know that I am her mom and I am going to be there when she needs me than for us to get more sleep.

I had been battling some serious frustration lately. At first, I would think to myself, "Seriously??!! WHAT in tarnation is WRONG with you child?!". That did nothing other than make me feel terrible mom-guilt so I have adopted a new attitude. I've started going to bed at night reminding myself how lucky I am that God has given her to me. I pray for the women that want nothing more than for a little baby to be waking THEM up a few times a night.

After a week of this attitude adjustment, guess what? It worked. Yeah, I still get up 5-10x but I'm not angry about it. I actually feel fine in the morning and I get plenty done during the day.

So that's where we are with the sleeping now... I will probably throw a huge party when we both sleep through the night though!

Starting Solids

I really wanted to wait until Avelyn was at least 6 months old before we started giving her solids. I've read that when given to babies earlier, that child can have an increased risk for obesity and food allergies. Also, I knew it would be time consuming and messy!

As much as I wanted to wait, I knew my girl was ready. She had been grabbing food off of my plate and would get upset when we ate in front of her. She would try grabbing my spoon from me too. So 8 days before her 5 month birthday we started her on real food.

These are the books I am using as guides:

The "Cooking for Baby" book is
a great basic book. It has great pictures and the recipes are organized by age.

The "Super Baby Food" book is very in depth. I like this one but it does have ALOT of information. That's why I mentioned that I use it as a guide. It is great late-night reading material because it will put me to sleep in a second! :) Really though, it is wonderful and I highly recommend it!

I sort of put the cart before the horse and gave Avy her first two foods before reading anything. So the first thing I did was make my own brown rice cereal. Here are some pictures of her first bites:

As you can tell, she took it right away. The eating part was a little tricky for her and most of the cereal ended up on her as opposed to in her! 

We waited 4 days and I gave her some peas.

After reading some of the Super Baby Food book I realized I am not supposed to give her the homemade rice cereal until she is at least 6 months old because her digestive system can't handle that yet. We didn't have any problems, but I don't think she actually swallowed much anyway. I also read that she shouldn't have any food before 6 months other than the boxed organic rice cereal (Earth's Best) which is fortified with Iron and some other nutrients. So that is our plan going forward.

I give her some rice cereal mixed with breastmilk after her first morning nap and sometimes in the afternoon if she is hungry. 

Her Nana came today and fed her.

She gets better and better each time. Most of her cereal actually ended up in her mouth today! :)

Avy's 1st Beach Trip

We spent a week in Surfside with my mom and sister. It was Avy's first trip to the beach and she really loved it! Even though I was a maniac with the sunscreen, I was still constantly worried about her getting a sunburn. She did end up getting a little pink on her arms one day but that could've just been from the heat. She refused to keep a hat on her head so B set up a big canopy on the beach and Avy and I stayed under there.

Here are some pictures of her feeling the sand for the first time:

She absolutely LOVED the ocean! She wasn't timid about it at all. She sat in the water and played. At one point, a massive tiny wave surprised us both and hit her in the face and she still didn't mind. She would've stayed in the water all day if I let her.

We brought her portable crib for sleeping and it worked great! She did wake up crying a couple of times and I think it was just getting used to a new place. This was her first time sleeping anywhere but at home.

She napped pretty consistently but is still waking up ALOT at night. Sometimes to eat, and sometimes just to get the paci back in.

 Aren't they so cute together?

She especially napped well when her daddy brought her into our bed...(she now wakes up a bazillion times a night bc she prefers sleeping in our bed...oopsie)

Her Grandma and Auntie Bekka really loved playing with her. :)

 Bebe and Grandma!

Me and my lil sister Bekka!

We are so spoiled that we get to go BACK to the beach in a few weeks too! :)