11 months

Jada,

ignoring the fact that It has been more than a month since I have blogged, you are 11 months old already and are doing so many new things, I knew I had to find the time to sit down and jot them down.

this month you have taken your fist steps! you started off with one or two and today you walked the entire length of grandmas kitchen! I counted 26 steps, you walk several times through out the day and just pop yourself right up from the sitting position onto your feet and you take off, although crawling is still your number one go to way for getting around I think given a few more weeks that wont be the story.

we gave you juice for the first time the other day it was 50/50 actually a little water and a little apple juice and you Loved it, it was the first time you ever sucked down your entire sippy cup!

daddy and I have been working on words with you a lot this month as we have noticed your favorite way of communicating is through grunting and although this is cute and funny at the same time, we miss hearing daddy and momma :)

your hair is getting longer! its so cute, although your great grandma is still waiting for it to turn curly ( not sure who you would get curly hair from ) we are excited that you were able to wear your first pony the other day.

you are still a napper which I love, you sleep 12 hours a night and then nap 3 times a day each lasting a minimum of an hour and and the longest 2 hours.

we figure this is the last time we will have to order formula because you will be going to Organic Milk after your first birthday!

you are still a book worm, you love to lay on the living room floor with your books spread all around you and you love to sit on mommies lap as I read to you.

I think you are starting to look a little like me, well only some times and its usually from the side view and you have to squint your eyes and stand on one foot, YOU ARE SUCH a daddies girl! you look just like his baby pictures and your face lights up every time he walks through the door from work.

you met your aunt Cari this month for the first time, she flew in from Florida and stayed with us for a few days, you loved her, this video of you learning to walk was taken when she was here, she was so excited to have been able to share in this moment with us all.

you have 6 teeth now and are enjoying lots of new foods that require you to chew

your still  wearing 12 to 18 month clothing

now that you are able to stand on your own you love to dance too! I admit several times through out the day we will turn on some music and dance just the two of us :)

you have been a complete joy to watch grow up and these past eleven months your dad and I have cherished, each night when I tuck you into bed and give you a kiss on your forehead I am thankful for you.  you are my Sunshine little girl and I love you so much.

Love,
Mom

We're Back

Let me start by saying, I was totally downplaying my anxiety about leaving Jada for the first time in that last blog post, it wasn't because I was worried about her with my mom, or that I was really worried about her, it was more me.  I have a very routine oriented personality, so much that I HATE that but can't seem to break it, you know, the type: writes everything down in her agenda, does things with out even noticing that when I do them I do them the same way EVERY time, very anal, total type A personality... so this was about me leaving my "usual routine" gosh see I write that and i know how weird that sounds.


so as I was looking forward to our good time that was a head of us, and appearing cool on the outside, my stomach was in knots, were talking plenty of trips to the bathroom before heading out the door, and then while driving down the road I got quite the headache, which i believe was the tension that was building up on the inside finally being released.  ( again, not ever really realizing that I was freaking out about leaving)  however, once I pulled up to pick up the hubby from work I was feeling much better and was ready for the fun to begin!

we had a BLAST, Our night was to kick off at Sushi on the Rocks but wouldn't you know on a Saturday night downtown at 8:00 there would be an hour and a half wait?!?! no worries though, we went across the street to claddagh and enjoyed a drink and an appetizer, I believe when we finally say down to dinner it was 10, probably the latest I have ever eaten dinner but boy it was amazing, and so picture worthy, the table was filled with the most amazing sushi one has seen, it was Delicious.

After dinner a few from our group headed back home and others went to Tastings, which was totally my kind of place. I mean a wine bar .. hello. it's such a great idea to, I think we totally need one of these here in town. I put $20 bucks on my card and was good to go.  they had taste any where from 2.50 to $10, and as I said before you could purchase a glass or even a bottle too.  however what I didn't know was when the bottle got too low the machine would shut off and one of the employees would come over and replace with a new bottle and would pour the rest of what was left in the bottle into your glass ( um hello, awesome... ) and for some reason this happened to me 3 times... I swear I wasn't on the hunt for this to happen, I mean well. maybe. kinda. sorta. I was.

it was about 1:00 when the taxi dropped us back of at my girlfriends house and we stayed up till 2:30 am having girly conversations and chugging water, I must have had 8 tall glasses, we were going to the gym that morning at 9AM and I sure did not want to have a nasty headache from the enjoyment I took part in the night before. I remember thinking I hadn't been up this late since becoming a mom, and it was just what I needed.

and would you believe I was up bright eyed and ready to go at my usual time 6:45, like clockwork I tell you, no alarm needed. Nick joined me for some breakfast downstairs and about an hour later Lauren walks down pony tail sideways one eye opened ( just like the good ol college days ) and I believe she says something along the lines of " some things never change" :)  I love her.

after a great work out at the gym we were off to shop.. ( separate post to come, lots of great finds! )


we were headed back home by 4:30 when we stopped for one more quick date at Naked Tchopstix, thats right, sushi two days in a row. I was a happy camper,  the ride home Nick and I kept talking about how much fun we had and how excited we were to see the little one.  I am truly grateful to have such great family and friends. We had a fabulous weekend and are sure Jada did too.

A night Away

In just a few hours Nick and I will be heading to Indianapolis to spend the weekend with my college roommate/made of honor, sister friend Lauren.  J will be staying here in town with my mom, this will be our first night away from each-other, I am sure she will be fine, my mom is going to stay here at our house with her that way she is in her bed and her normal surroundings, and I think I will be fine too, a night away with the Hubby will be nice.  

we are kicking things off with Dinner downtown at one of our favorite Sushi restaurants "Sushi on the Rocks"  I haven't eaten here since we last lived in Carmel, so my mouth is already starting to water.  There is also this really cool new place called Tastings, which is a wine tasting place where you  put money on a card ( kinda like a wine debit card :) you walk around and read the descriptions of the wine and if you want to taste you slide your card in and either purchase a taste, a glass or the bottle. 

then tomorrow we will be visiting the Indy North Crossfit gym to get a quick work out and then Lauren and I will be off to shop... asdkfjh!! I can't wait, Trader Joes, World Market, the Home Goods store... bring it on!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

10 months

well J you are ten months today...

your 1st birthday is quickly approaching OMWwhat the heck, how is my baby almost one?!!!??!     being your mom for these last ten months has been so rewarding, being able to be home with you each and every day, watching you learn new things, experience new thing,even when you pick out the dust bunnies on the floor and insert into mouth  I am always there for you, and this is something I hope you grow up knowing. You truly are an amazing child J and I look forward to watching you grow, I know you are only ten months now, but I gotta admit there are several nights when I lay awake thinking about our future mother daughter conversations, the first time I drop you off at school, your fist away at camp experience, your first heart break watch out whoever you may be , this little girl has a pretty tough daddy  your first sleep over, all that stuff... well, it's fun to think about, but this is where we are now, ten months... and believe me I have enjoyed every second of it.


* you have mastered the stairs, a few times.. we really need to get a gate.

* eating solids 3 times a day in addition to 4 (4-5) 5 oz bottles


* I have noticed you only say Momma when you are hungry, or really sleepy, every other time its da, daa daa, daddy...

* you have stood on your own for 3 seconds a handful of times so we think you will be walking by your first birthday.

* you Love your books, if I lay a toy out and a book 90% of the time you will go towards the book

* still sleeping great, 12 hrs a night, sometimes though you wake up and just want to be with mommy, you will fuss and I go into check on you and lay you back down and you cry, but if i pick you up you immediately place your head on my shoulder and are out like a light, so we have slumber parties in mom and dads bed maybe once a week..

* you still only have the 4 teeth top and bottom 2, the top ones are starting to come down more, I see a super cute christmas card coming soon!

* wearing 12 months and some 18 months  (they are pretty big)

thats about it as for what's new, although tomorrow night you will have your fist night away from mommy and daddy ( separate blog post coming soon ) Gigi is coming to stay with you at our house while we go to Indy to visit some of our friends.


you are an adorable baby J and you continue to bring smiles to everyones face who meets you.  Happy 10 moths buggy!

Love- Mom

Random weekend facts

* it Snowed.. and it snowed a lot, I was out running some errands with my grandmother and J and when we walked out of Macys my car was covered.

*got my grandma to realize there was no way she was an A cup that in fact she was a full C cup, and now both her and her bras are much happier, thank you lady at Macys.

* we went on a road trip saturday morning to visit my father in law and nick and I went back to the crossfit crown point gym to get a work out in and visit with the cool peeps at the gym, this gave my father in law just some good grandpa and J time, and all was a success.

* we cleaned out the garage. yippee, we now are ready for the snow as the cars will be protected.

* did 3 really long work outs the past 3 days. looking forward to a rest day on Monday

* I enjoyed an entire bottle of tabor hill wine this weekend. by myself.

* got lots of hubby wifey time, as the hubs was off saturday and today

* enjoyed some quiet time reading our new BC pick, the year of living biblically by A.J Jacobs, can't wait to talk to the rest of the girls to see if they are finding it as humorous as I am.

* crawled in circles around the house, with a naked baby. there is something completely adorable watching your baby chase after you will a full on cheese smile.  

* enjoyed another 1/2 bottle of tabor hill wine .. all... by .. myself

* was amazed by the fact that every time i go to chipotle its always a different price when i order the SAME THING, every time.

* J is learning to kiss, and it is the most adorable thing ever.

* having dinner tonight with the grandparents, which is always good fun

* found the perfect pair of closed toe wedges at Aldo!! they should be arriving in mail wednesday this week



Hope you all had a great weekend, and ps: I realize this was maybe a lame post, but I had to post something to get rid of the bikini pictures I last posted :)

PEACE!

60 Day Challenge

the 60 day challenge is over at the gym, everyone had great results.  there was a tie for first place and also, 2 runner ups. I was one of the runner ups and scored a gift certificate to use at The Mark of Uptown Kitchen ( two of the restaurants I previously blogged about) I am happy with the results I have seen in myself the last 60 days and will continue the challenge on my own, I mentioned I would post my before and after pictures if I won, and although I was not the winner, I think I still owe it to you all to post them, why? I am not exactly sure... ha... but here you go.

I am excited for the results I am seeing with out doing anything crazy, and the fun part is that I am enjoying the hard work its taken to get here. my mind set is totally different than ever before  instead of focusing on weight loss I have been focusing on strength, but to build strength it takes hard work, which doing the hard work then sheds weight...

on another note of personal progress today I was able to do the first RX Work out today ( RX means prescribed)!! it was called "Randy" and it consisted of 75 snatches with 55 #'s.  I completed this in 8:06
to say I was excited is a complete understatement, I might have even fist pumped when I was finished... ha.

so there ya have it, maybe I will have a new set of pictures in another 60 days... who knows.... but then I thought of this...

OMW.... I am going to get like this again one day!!!

but boy are they worth it :)

Trick or Treat...

This was J's first Halloween and she was our sweet little Pig.

while being overwhelmed with options of costumes this year we decided to go with the pig outfit from the Baby Gap because it looked so warm and its a multi functional costume, she now has a cute warm velour outfit and a cute little Pig hat that she can wear separately through out the winter. it was a win win. Not to mention how cute she looked in it.


we had lots of Trick O treaters this year, our neighborhood has lots of kids so I expected this but I was shocked to see this the loads of cars parking on our street, and the amount of kids that would pop out of the cars and run up to the houses, this seemed to be a destination neighborhood and my candy bowl was proof to that. This was the fist year we bought candy to hand out to trick or treaters, we figured we would have quite a few kids so we went to good ol sams club and bought two big mixed bags of goodies... next year we may need a bit more, as I can recall more than a few times putting 1, thats right ONE tootsie roll in the poor little kids bag.

J had a good time waiting by the front door and seeing all the kids dressed up in costume. luckily we didn't see any really scary ones. the kids got a kick out of her costume too...so J's first Halloween was a good one and we hope you and your families was as well :)

oink oink

Book Worm

I have been thinking in order for me to blog anymore, I should set a reminder alarm on my phone... but honestly it's not that I don't ever think of blogging anymore, its just that READING has taken place of my blog time. All you mommies out there know that there are only certain times in the day that we can break away and do "our own thing" which usually in our house happens around nap time, this is when I would blog, but lately I have taken a big interest in reading.

One of my girlfriends recently had the idea to get together a book club, and boy is it fun. there are about 10 or 11 of us, we get together once a month in which we sit around chit chat about the book but somehow wind up talking about or kids over many glasses of wine. this is good times I am telling you. Our first book we read was the help, and this months pick was the Island, I enjoyed both of them although I am not quite finished with the island just yet.

any who, I do miss blogging a bit, so I will try to make more of an effort to get on here and scribble some thoughts down, until then my coffee is getting cold and my book is calling my name.

9 months

well little J you are 9 month old today! we just got back from your wellness check up at you are  20 lbs
(75%) and 29 in ( 97%) long! very healthy baby.

you are getting so big and learning so many new things.  This past weekend you had a daddy daughter day and daddy took you out for a 3 hour run and you loved it, although you slept a lot of the time in your stroller, you guys stopped and watched other little kids play a football game and then made a visit over to great grandma Nora's house. ever since you have been crawling around the house saying da da da da da da da.


you have your top two and bottom two teeth in and more are on there way as you are always looking for something to put in your mouth.

your starting to take to your sippy cup now that mommy bought one with the straw, and you are holding your own bottles... still drinking 5 bottles a day anywhere from 4-6 Oz each time.

Finger foods were new this month to you, for the most part you pick it up and play, I cant understand why you stick toys in your mouth but when it comes to actual food you want to squish it or crumble it.

your into all the cute little girl outfits now that you are wearing 12 mo.  every time I am in Target I find myself picking up something for you, its just so hard to resist.

pictured above is your new favorite face, ( with some added Brussels sprouts on your chin) you are so silly, you have been making this face a lot lately accompanied by fast breathing in and out through your nose. you crack me up, and when I make this face back at you that is exactly what you do... you just giggle giggle giggle.


this past month Gigi took you out and got you some really neat toys, like your musical table that you love to crawl up to and then stand and play, you even push it, thats right... you are kinda sorta walking! you also have another toy called the Zaney Zoo and you love to walk with that, so it wont be long and I bet you will be off the ground.

you found the stairs this month, you love to climb them so we have to keep our eye on you at all times. I am not quite sure yet if I should teach you how to come down or keep telling you not to go up them...


I started taking you to Lap sit this month at the library and you love it, we read, dance and sing, and you also get time to play with the other kids.  you love books, every week after lap sit we check out a new CD for the car and a book for each night of the week to read before bed time.

you LOVE little kids and other babies, you  have been having more and more play dates with your little friends, and its so cute to watch you interact with them, although at times you still go off and do your own thing.

this was your fist trip to the pumpkin patch, it was a very cold day out so we didn't get to take to many pictures but it was so fun and a new fall tradition :)

it's been a blast watching you learn all of these new things, you are such a fun little girl!

Love, Mom

A vegetarian's path to Paleo

Where to begin... I have wanted to sit down for quite some time to just scribble down my thoughts on this stuff... but what would I focus on, what I am doing, how I am doing it, why I am doing it ? did I need to address all of those things before just blabbing on about how I feel... well maybe so here goes...

4 years ago I became a vegetarian, this was brought on by becoming conscious of the way I ate as I was starting to become very passionate about the importance of physical fitness and living a healthy lifestyle. within those 4 years I read a lot of books, did a lot of research, watched a lot of video's... after a while, the physical fitness part of my interest began to die off, I noticed that I was able to maintain my figure pretty well with just my way of eating and began to slack off on the working out part.. you know the whole 70/30 notion... that whole 30 part took a back seat for a while... 

fast forward to now, my interest in living healthy has only advanced as now I am not only taking care of myself but my family. I have continued reading and learning and i must admit my views have changed. after having J I really wanted to get back into shape, get into shape. I was ready I wanted to get serious. I was going to give Crossfit a try. most of my close friends and family who know me well ,know that I am a very driven person when I have a strong interest in something, and the all around health for my family and myself is very high on that list of importance to me, which is why I have continued to read, and research. 

fast forward to now Now... I have been a member at a local crossfit gym for a few month and have seen amazing results, however the results are not the only thing driving me, it has been the most fun I have ever had while working out, never did I ever think I would be front squatting, back squatting, overhead squatting, I mean who the heck knew what a clean an jerk was or a sumo dead-lift high-pull... not this chick. and here I am drenched in sweat, collapsing at the end of a work out and continuing to go back each day. it's an addiction, but a good one.  it is here that my views on nutrition changed. 

with my enthusiasm for crossfit I started looking into the way these athletes ate, this is where I was introduced to the Paleolithic way of eating. not long after I joined the gym the owner had put together a 60 day challenge which I blogged about before, it has been 41 days and we have 2 weeks and 5 days left. the challenge has been going great, however It was ridiculously hard for me to get adequate amounts of protein at each meal with out eating meat  with the added limitation of beans... and what I had always looked at as sources of protein like almonds and nuts... those were now considered the health "fats" I was screwed... and wanted so badly for this to work because the amount of research I had done all supported it. Dr. Loren Cordain, Ph.D and Robb Wolf became my go  to peeps for nutrition.  I picked up a copy of The Paleo Solution, the original human diet and was sold. 

It seems as though this way of eating has been getting a lot of attention lately which is great, I realize I have yet  to really describe what the paleo way of eating is so in a nut shell its meat,fish, nuts, seeds, fruit and veggies. no dairy, no grains ( gluten) no sugar. Although I considered my vegetarian way of eating very healthy,  I soon realized how much I had become depended on things like pastas, breads, and cheeses , and thus added some bulge around the mid section and brought out a very big sweet tooth.

with the change in diet, I truly believe in the results I have seen, not only physical, I went and had my blood work taken. glucose : 82,triglycerides 52, LDL cholesterol 62, HDL cholesterol 52 with a total cholesterol of 124.  as I mentioned we have 2 weeks and 5 days left in the challenge and the winner of the $350 is announced but for me this has become a lifestyle, it would just be super duper awesome to walk away with the $350 bucks in my back pocket. ( and if I win, I may just post my before and after pics... ) 

I have listed some  bitts of info for some who may wonder what you eat if you arent eating dairy and grains, and just a few of my favorite things:

I have been getting our meat from a Local Butcher shop DC Meats ,  as they have antibiotic free, hormone free, and grass fed meats. 

non dairy milks : almond milk, coconut milk and when I want something sweet  DARK CHOCOLATE almond milk... it is heaven.

fats: olive oil, coconut oil, nuts, seeds, and avocados

there are tons of gluten free options at your local groery, but I try to keep a limit on the amt of foods I buy that come with a list of ingrediants, but each week I come home with a bunch of Larabars they are great.

almond or coconut flour instead of traditional flour or whole wheat flour. 

locally there are two great resturants that allow us to stick to this way of eating while enjoying a night out.

and if your a researcher like me I would highly recommend the paleo solution book already referenced in this blog as well as the primal blueprint and the cook book.

a few good web sites

www.robbwolf.com

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/

http://everydaypaleo.com/

now you know my deepest darkest secret, I am a nerd for nutrition. and Robb wolf has become my new Dave Ramsey. 

Two years

When I met you, I had no idea how much my life was about to be changed.. but then, how could i have known? A love like ours happens once in a lifetime.  You were a miracle to me, the one who was everything, I had ever dreamed of, the one I thought existed only in my imagination.  And when you came into my life, I realized that what I had always thought was happiness couldn't compare to the joy loving you brought me.  You are a part of everything I think and do and feel, and with you by my side, I believe that anything is possible.  Thank you for the miracle of you... you are, and always will be, the love of my life.
-Linda Lee Elrod




Happy Anniversary Nick, I love you.

An un expected Goodbye

 This Is our dog Sparticus, my husband and I got him while we were in college he has been a part of our family ever since, he was in our engagement and maternity photo shoot, although I will be the first to admit he took a back seat since J was born.  We called him Sparty and he was nothing short of a wonderful protector and friend, there wasn't a day he wasn't happy to see you, even if you just went out for a minute to take out the trash, the second you walked back in the door he would jump in circles with excitement. Nick and I are holding on to the fun times we had with Sparty like running off leash in the woods, pulling us on our rollerblades, eating doggy ice cream cups, laughing at the way he would always growl at UPS trucks or any truck of that size,  the road trips to florida , how he looked like a person sitting in the front seat of the car,  playing doggy in the middle ( keep away) playing hide and seek, he would always get so scared if you would sneak up on him.... how his lip would get stuck on his tooth and he would look so silly.... only today  we  hold onto these fun times as memories.

it's funny how even a dog can give you a new perspective on life.  Sparty was only 5 years old, not an old dog, he was walking around and playing with Jada last night as usual, and before we went to bed he ate, as usual... and around 1:45 am I heard light whimpering noise coming from downstairs, Nick checked on him, we knew something wasn't right, then I felt his stomach and it was rock hard, I typed in boxer dogs tight stomach into a google search engine and read about "bloat"

we decided I would take Sparty in the the emergency vet hospital to be checked out, while there, we learned that he in fact did have the classic case of air in his stomach and his stomach had twisted meaning the air was stuck and surgery ( a very expensive surgery) was needed asap, only the Dr wasn't so sure surgery would work, as too much of his stomach could have been dead at this point, or because his heart rate was high, he could go into shock during surgery.


sitting alone in a room with your dog, making that dreaded phone call home to your husband to make a decision is the hardest thing I have had to do to date. As much as I have complained of the every day doings of a dog since becoming a mother, the shedding, the mouth noises, the drool, the food on the floor, having to put chairs on the sofa at night so he doesn't sneak up and get the drool, hair and food on it....  these will now be things I miss, I wasn't ready... and its going to be hard...

 he loved you J, he loved to protect you and play with you.

 this is my favorite of all favorites, this photo was taken in college, at my old apartment where dogs weren't allowed. ( shh)

 our original family of 3

 look J, daddy has Earings.... this was a typical study session, Sparty with his Master.

 the good ol' days when it was man and his best friend, college roommates, sharing one bed.

hey always had lots of love to give

 kisses for my Mr man

the last kiss, the hardest kiss, I will miss you buddy, there will never be another dog like you.



SPARTICUS - here is my husbands blog and what he took the time to say today.


we Love you Sparticus.

FGB

this past saturday Nick and I took part in a crossfit fundraiser called fight gone bad, it was to raise money for the fallen soldiers. it was a great time. it was my first time participating in an event with other athletes for crossfit other than our usual days at the gym. I was pretty proud of myself and set a PR (personal record) well it was pretty easy to set seeing as though this was only my second time doing it, but hey, you gotta start somewhere. 

Fight gone bad consists of 5 movements/work outs done a minute at a time as many reps as you can and then at the end of those 5 minutes you rest for a minute and then go again for a total of three rounds. 

the movements are

20'box jumps

push press

sumo deadlift highpull ( 55#'s)

wall balls  (55#'s)

rowing (for calories)

you then add up the number of reps you did for all of these and that makes up your score... I did 200 and was very happy with that, the last time I did 161, nick did 428 ( also a PR) because his last score I believe was 380 something... and I believe the weight he used was the recommended mens weight of 75#'s

we had a great time and it was for a great cause, Nick and I were in the same heat so we got to kind of compete against one another which was fun because as i was doing my box jumps wanting to quit I looked over at him and saw he was still going strong, which inspired me to keep going. I am very grateful that we both enjoy doing things like this together, and little J was watching from the sidelines with my dad, it was a great day. here are a few pictures... 

while you all are sleeping....

last night J was pretty tired and was ready for bed by 6:45 ish...

this is where it all went wrong.

9:30, we hear cried over the monitor, daddy goes re positions her and lays her back down.

Daddy and I go to bed

11:20 cries over the monitor, loud ones, accompanied by runny nose sounds

I suctioned her nose which she does not like at all. and then tried to give her her paci which only lead to further frustration for her because she couldn't really breath when her nose is having whatever problems they may be having, runny/ stuffiness and then you go and plug up the only air hole left...

I hunted in the basement for the humidifier
found it, and set it up in her room,

meanwhile i make bottle and give to her

3 mins after finishing bottle she spits it ALL back up, on myself and her

12:00 AM to the bath tub we go

12:15 fresh jammies and diaper, tuck back into bed

12:30 my head hits the pillow

12:45 J is still talking in her crib, daddy and I decide to bring her into our bed

12:46 foot in dads face
12:47 finger in mommies eye
12:47 I am now wondering how with only an 8 month old and a husband suddenly out king bed feels like a twin as my leg is half off and one tip on my nose is still able to rest on a pillow
12:48 J tried to crawl off bed
12:49 mom repositions her
12:50 she's looking pretty sleepy
daddy was asleep all the way back at 12:45

1:15 she  is out. arm on my arm foot above the covers, making me too nervous to do a quick pull, you know so I could be comfortable with the blanket all tucked up under my neck

3:15 I wake up to some movements in the bed, and am then greeted with a wet kiss on my forehead, I atempt to lay her back down when I notice, her diaper seemed to be half on half off....

3:16 flip on bathroom light
3:16.5 face falls into hands as i notice a giant circle of wetness in the center of out bed
3:17 jammy and diaper change for J
3:20 lay her in her bed
more cries, daddy comes in
3:22 I am back in our bedroom stripping the sheets, sponging up the wetness that was starting to seep into matress...

3:23 realize, what am i doing with no sheets how can i get back to bed, where i so desperately wanted to be...
3:23 decided to take off bottom sheet and just  use cover sheet on the mattress for the rest of the night

daddy gets J to bed

3:25 YES! I look at him like he is the man , and ladies he was the man at this moment.
3:26 head hits pillow feeling so very thankful as I drift off to dream land
3:42 cries on monitor ..........
3:43, I realize I need to toss in the towel and head downstairs....

I am not sure what today brings, but I feel it will involve lots of black coffee and our  PJ's

day 13

today is the 13th day of the challenge and I am doing pretty good, I am down 4.5 lbs and am feeling tighter all around. as part of the challenge we are to keep a food journal which I think really helps, I mean come on who wants to write down that they indulged in two giblets, a glass of red wine, barnabys pizza, and a few slices of potato wedged from Bw 3's... I mean not me... ( agh hem agh hem) but moving right along, I have been doing pretty good with the diet for the most part, I am eating lots of fish and veggies, so much so that I had to cut down on the amt of veggies because I wasn't able to finish them and I was feeling as though I was eating too much food.

what my diet consists of is meat ( which for me is Fish, and soy meats) veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds NO DAIRY and NO GRAINS

and I am measuring the amt of food at every meal that way I am getting 21 grams of protein 18 grams of carbohydrates ( supposed to be 27 but it was too much for me ) and then 4.5 grams of fat, this goes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  the carbohydrates come from the fruit and veggies protein from the meat and my shake I make and the fat usually comes from olive oil, nuts, seeds, or avocado

although I believe I had a clean diet before the challenge I must say my body fells so much better while working out, I recover better, not nearly as sore as I used to be and I have been able to increase the amt. of weight I am able to lift. its amazing what cutting grains and dairy can do for you.

I am really enjoying the challenge and although I have no clue where everyone else is at, I am happy with my progress and hope to continue getting better.

8 MONTHS

here we are baby girl, 8 whole months you have been around, and boy are you EVERYWHERE now a days.

people always told me " oh just wait till she crawls, thats when the fun begins, and she will be into everything" and boy were they right, I find myself cooking and you are down at my feet trying to climb up my leg, or when I am sweeping you chase after the broom, you are fascinated with cords and will crawl under the computer desk if we take our eyes off of you for even the fastest second.  I can only imagine what it will be like when you are walking because soon we wont have any toys to restrain you in, yes honey mommy used the word restrain.

yours great Grandma Nora calls you a little Road Runner baby because we are always on the go, but you truly are an easy baby and you make that all possible.

you are a big girl now and when we go to the grocery store you sit in the front of the cart ( but only because your mommy bought one of those covers that protect you from all those nasty cart germs.) still fm time to time I will wear you in the Moby wrap while we are out and about especially if you are getting sleepy because you still like to take naps on mommy :)

you are starting to pull yourself up on the sofa, and other low things in the house


 your two bottom teeth  are in and you are getting more because you are a drooling everywhere. you have handled the whole process very well though.

I have cut back on increasing the amt of your solid foods because you have stopped drinking a full 6 oz, I now give you 5 bottles a day and they are 5 oz each, I will give you solids twice a day but only two to three ice cubes which I believe are about 1.5 oz a piece.

you are wearing size 12 mo, and I have recently purchased some 18 mo leggings due to your cloth diapers but they are a bit big still and the 12 mo fit you great for now

here is a picture of you and Mommy's good friend and college roomate Lauren, see how big you are getting? when daddy and I have you out we have been asked several times, is she walking yet, how old is she, 12 or 13 months.... you are a very active and strong baby I can tell you that much, how you are pictured in this photo above should give you a pretty good idea of how you were at this age always wanting to stretch out, get down.


this past sunday was your fist time down in the Nursery at church, you bypassed the baby room because you are able to sit up on your own, I was a little worried about dropping you off, only because it would be the first time you have been with other kids, and adults when I wasn't around, and when we got there, there were about 11 babies ALL CRYING ( talk about a way to ease a mommies worries, NOT) so daddy and I kissed you godbye and watched you crawl over to a toy and after about a minute and you were still content we walked up to the service.
 we just sat down and we see "jada Grace" appear on the screen, oh no I thought, but daddy jumped right up and said I will go see, turns out, some other little baby tackled you, talk about a rough first day, daddy held you until you calmed down and then sat and played with you for a few minutes, the ladies working said that it was a very full service and they were pretty short staffed, daddy showed the woman your favorite toy and that if you got fussy to try to give you that, daddy came back up and joined me in the service and 10 minutes later we see "Jada Grace" we decided to take you out and daddy played with you out in the front atrium, we will give it a try next sunday I am sure you will grow to love it :)


while out on a walk last week we were approached by another mommy who informed me that there are lots of us fist time mommies in the neighborhood and they all get together wednesdays in the afternoon, so you and I joined them this past week and we walked for about an hour in the neighborhood, I am so excited to have met such great mothers and their babies, there were 7 babies that day all ranging from 3 to 13 months, so there are lots of kids here in the neighborhood for you to grow up with.


so there you have it baby girl, your 8th month wrap up, and now I must go scoop you up from the living room floor because it looks as though you are getting ready to get yourself stuck under the side table.

Love your Mommy

Fittest in the Region

This past Saturday we packed up the car and headed to Crown Point for a crossfit competition titled " the fittest in the Region" and I WON!

Just kidding, I didn't compete, I  however did  take lots of great pictures. I watched as three crossfitters from the Box I go to competed, one being Nick ( the hubsters), the other our coach (Brandon) and the ever inspiring Amy.  they all did great, and it was so fun to watch.  there were a total of three WOD's, the athletes knew what the first two were but in order to find out the third they needed to do well in the fist 2 and then move on.  and let me just tell you, that 3rd work out, just watching them I wanted to be on the beach with a pina colada in my hand and someone standing over me with a beautiful fan. yep, it was a tough one.
here were the 3 WOD's

first WOD
10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 of
225# deadlift
55# kettlebell swing
chest to bar pull ups

second  WOD
21-15-9
burpees
95# thrusters
24' box jump

Third WOD
Toss a 45 # sand bag over a 60 ft wall and then jump the wall (5x)
push a 165# prowler for 200 m
pull a 165# sled 200 m
15 overhead squats with 95#

for 3 rounds.

Here is the hubsters himself jumping over the wall.. it was great to see all the athletes go hard and give it there all, very motivating to watch and see where it is I want to be.  even though I did enjoy a nice couple of pieces of Barnabys pizza at the end of the night :)

here are a few more pictures

 in process of doing burpee

 Overhead squat

 sadly, this happens from time to time... thankfully though it wasn't any of our three competetors

and last but not least we couldn't leave out a picture of daddy's biggest fan

she was a "hootin and a Hollerin"


overall Nick took first place, Brandon second and Amy took fist in the women's heat. Nick was very excited and is itching to do more competitions in preparation for sectionals in March. it's truly amazing watching him work so hard for something and enjoying every minute of it.  
3 rounds…


toss a 45# sandbag over a 6 foot wall, jump over the wall x 5
push a 165 # prowler 200m
drag a 165 # sled 200m
15 Overhead squats at 95#

Day 1

here we are it's september 1st, this marks day 1 of the 60 day challenge.  the before pictures and measurements have been taken and were off.....I decided to do a mix of the paleo and the zone for now and see how that works, if it gets crazy hard doing the math and measuring  then I will just stick with the paleo but I want to give it a try for at least a couple of days and see if I can intertwine the two.  I will be going to the gym later this evening and hope to get a good run in before it gets to be some crazy 90 degrees outside.

last night I gave away my coffee creamer, block of cheese, yogurt and the ever so loved vino... now that is some serious business when a girl gives that stuff up, but I have to be serious, there are 12 people signed up which = $300 big ones for the winner...


and boy do I want that to be me :)

60 in T - 7 days

Here we go again, remember when I wrote that really motivating post about how I was going to dedicate 90 days of my life to get fit and get in shape, and well I did 30 of them and posted my results, and well I just never got back to "ya'll" with the rest of my transformation, well I am here to tell you that I am sorry, you see, those other 60 days didn't quite happen.  Not because I didn't want to do them  I was just to lazy to do it by myself you see my husband went out of town for work for a week and I was left home as a single parent for a weeks time and I was going to pop in the P90X dvd's while he was out to make up for my work outs that he was having me do, and what happened? first day i popped one in and well I learned I am not a DVD type of girl, I needed someone in my face like good job or keep pushing yourself and what not, and the dvd just wasn't cutting it. 

so here we are... all moved into our new house, settled in and all so what have I been doing as far as working out? well we joined a Crossfit gym ( which are the types of work outs I was doing during my 30 day transformation) and I have been LOVING it, and guess what?!?! the gym is putting on a 60 day challenge 

http://brandon83.wordpress.com/60-days-of-discipline/

its a $25 buy in and the winner takes home the cash, even more motivation right!??! so I have 7 days to get together a game plan, wish me luck and this time I am motivated and promise I will be back with my results. Wish me luck!

7 months

Baby Bug,

You are 7 months old (+2 days) here are some of the fun things that you are now doing

* crawling, you are all over the place, but you would rather walk, or so it seems.  when you crawl you bear crawl more that anything which is where you have your feet plat on the ground and your legs all the way extended and then you take off, you try sometimes to pop your body off the ground, but you have to crawl before you walk.

* pulling yourself up, this is new within the last few days and you haven't quite done it yet, except for in your crib which as soon as mommy saw this we put an end to it when daddy got home from work and we lowered your crib all the way.

* you say momma, but not all the time, so when you do it brings tears to my eyes because its in such sweet moments like the other day you were sitting in daddys lap and he kept saying where is momma, say momma and yor little mouth would go mammamamamma and them finally momma would come out and then I would clap and say "yaaaaay" and you would do it again. so sweet.

* you have your bottom two teeth with the 3rd pushing its way through

* wearing size 12 month clothing

* you are ready for the big kid tub mommy just has to get to the store to get one of those tub suction mats.

* your favorite toy by far is your Sophie the giraffe ( you love to chew on her little legs and nose.

* I still have you eating only 2 solid meals through out the day and you are eating 4 6 oz bottles every 4 hrs.

* naps usually consist of one long one (1 - 2 hrs ) and 2 or 3 other short ones

* your adorably cute little Michelin arms are starting to deflate a bit now that you are so active with the crawling, but don't worry mommy has lots of pictures to show you just how cute they are.





Daddy and I just can't believe how big you are getting, and as each month passes you amaze us with your new developments.  I look forward to the day I can share with you all the  many pictures and videos that we have taken of you, always remember mommy and daddy love you very much!

Itch in the Kitch

the other day while flipping through the TV guide during one of Jada's naps I came across the movie Julie and Julia and read the info section about it and saw cooking and blogging, and I was sold. this movie was Great, and ever since I have been wanting to explore new recipes as I seem to have gotten in a rotating routine between a few good meals.

I must admit I had never heard of Julia Child before, and boy does she use a Crap-ton-O butter in her cooking, the idea seems very entertaining.

today I set out on a mission to the library in hunt of a good cookbook, one that would allow me to stick with our vegetarian ways but also be fun and entertaining.

I came across one called a year in vegetarian Kitchen by Jack Bishop and low and behold, in the same section I found Julia Child and Simone Beck Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I was excited to have found 2 great books and plan on flipping through them this evening after Jada goes down for the night!!

agh the life of being at home again!

weekend wrap up

this weekend was pretty packed for our little family but we all had a good time. Saturday was our family reunion for my mom's side of the family along with my cousins high school graduation party and then Sunday we went to watch my brother compete in battle of the bands, needless to say we all got some sun this weekend.

the family reunion was lots of fun this year with all the babies, last year three of us were pregnant so this time around we had a 6, 7 and 8 month old babies stealing the attention of all the grandmas.  I believe this weekend  was the most I have ever shared my little baby during her whole almost 7 months existence, but we all had a fun time.

and Jada is quite the trooper, yesterday we were out in the parking lot of woodwin and brasswin watching the battle of the bands competition and she was just hanging out in her stroller playing with her Sophie the Giraffe, taking naps, laughing and singing along, she was just perfect, for the entire 5 hours we were there. Nick and I really enjoyed watching my brother play, he has been in this band called Second Season for a while now and Nick and I have yet to see him play because his shows are usually very late at night and in a smoke filled small bar, so when yesterdays show came up we were very excited to get the opportunity to hear him along with the other bands.

you can hear them here  http://www.myspace.com/secondseasonsb

- although this is not the type of music I would just pop in and listen to, they are a FANTASTIC band, and watching them in a show setting was very fun and I really enjoyed watching my brother ( the drummer)  doing something he is not only amazing at but something that he LOVES. so take a look at their band and try to make it to a show if you are in the area!

they placed second out of the competition, and still took home a nice cash prize and some other fun things.

so there you have it, that was our fun filled weekend.

agh hem. hello...

testing, testing
1,  2,  3
is this thing on?

Why hello, yes thats right I am back, so it's been two months, where have I been, what have we been up to? well lets just say A LOT, lots of things I could have blogged about like the purchase of our fist home, and the all of our painting projects we have been up to around the new house, or how about my going back to work, yeah I never did blog about that, however I did try to get on and type out a few words for Jada's monthly milestones... but boy has she been up to a lot ... learning to crawl,sitting up in her crib,singing, being as cute as ever.... so how about this. rather than write about all the things I have left out,

how about we toast to new beginning?



because I QUIT MY J-O-B ( the one I have had for the last 3 yrs)

today is my first day back to doing what iLove.
-mopped floor (check)
-Cleaned (check)
-kiss on baby (check)
-trash out (check)
-kiss on baby (check)
-Laundry (check)
-kiss on baby (check)
-make baby food (check)
-kiss on baby (check)

truth be told, I did learn that I can enjoy working, I did love the extra money that I was making and Jada was at home able to spend the time I was away at work getting to bond with her Gigi Ma, so this past month was a great learning experience and it really opened my eyes.  I love being this little girls momma and I could enjoy having a career too, just not one that involved ridiculous hours..

so with that said...

stay tuned to see what is in store for us, and I promise I will be back to tell you all about it.




 

6 months

well Jada as mommy has been a horrible blogger the past two months, I somehow still find the time to keep up with your milestone posts.  You are six months old today!! I can't believe it... you are 1/2 way to your first birthday. Yesterday we traveled out to Michigan city to take your 6 month pictures and you were fantastic, much better than your newborn session I must throw in there (thank you for that.) I can't wait to see all the pictures, the one above was a Sneak Peek for us, you sure were a little Ham so I am sure it will be hard for mommy to choose.

you really have become your own person, you have an adorable personality, always smiling and laughing, and when in your bouncy seat every now and again you get overwhelmed with excitement and start to flail your little arms and legs around.  Daddy and I are so entertained with you, who needs blackberry's and I phones when we have you!?!?

you are still wearing 6-9 month clothing with an occasional 12 month thrown in there. 

you are eating 6 oz every 3 hrs which ends up being 5 bottles a day because you are a very routine baby, you wake up at 6 AM and go to bed by 6:30 Pm... you get fruit in the morning and a veggie at night before your bath, we still have yet you give you something you don't like...  this last month we have introduced you to butternut squash, spinach, zucchini, apricots, & Avocados... now that you are ready at 6 months, I will be making you some whole wheat breakfast cereal.

new this month you are now sitting up! you can sit up on your own for a good amt. of time too, we took a five minute video of you the other day! you are even doing tricks when sitting up, yesterday mommy was tossing you your stuffed ball and you would pick it up and toss it back( kinda) 

your really beginning to test the waters with crawling, you get up on all 4's and rock back and forth, gigi thinks it will happen during this month. we can't talk our eyes off of you for 2.1 seconds and you will have rolled off the blanket on to the hard wood and scooting yourself all over the place. 

you love when mommy sings to you, and Im not even talking little lullabies... sometimes mommy goes all out and will dance and sing just for fun, and you just smile and giggle, one time daddy even caught me and said I was like a rock star to you, Ha.ha.ha.

you love love love Books, when I read to you, you follow with your eyes, looking at each page, you have one book that is wooden which you love because the pages are thick enough for you to turn.

Mommy went back to work this month, so you have been home on your regular routine and Gigi comes over to take care of you while mommy and daddy are at work,  we are currently looking for a Nanny to start in August which i must admit they have to have a 5 star rating in order for them to be considered.  You are doing well with the change, for the most part its just 4 days a week.

You are just the most precious little baby girl Jada Grace, and Mommy and Daddy are absolutely smitten with you. 

Love forever & Always

-Mom

5 months

well Buggy here we are again, you are yet another month older. At 5 months here are some of the interesting facts about you.

* your just about ready to graduate out of your 6-9 months clothing, have to admit I am not sure what size is after this though... are we really about to enter 12 months??!!?

* you are pretty much off breast milk completely, as mommas milk just decided to leave town, you are on a organic soy base formula and every now and again we switch it up and give you a bottle of goats milk. You eat 5 times a day every 3 hrs starting at 7:30 AM I tried very hard to increase my milk by taking herbs, and even cried a lot about it with some girlfriends, but I am happy to say that you have been doing well and are still just as happy. you also are now eating solid foods, which I have really enjoyed making for you. you have now had bananas, sweet potatoes, and pears. I don't know which is your favorite because we get the same reaction with all of them you nom nom nom them down and make cute little noises and lean forward in anticipation of your next bite.

* People are always commenting on what a "happy Baby" you are. You always have a smile on your face. but I believe you have special ones for when you see mommy or daddy. your eyes just light up when you see us looking over your crib in the morning.

* you reach for any and all things, my hair, my wine glass, your toys.. you hold on to things pretty well too, last week before daddy left town you carried out his banana for him holding it in your hand, just the cutest thing I tell ya.

* when on your tummy you push up on your hands all the way and you get a really long neck like a giraffe

* you have now been in a pool and LOVED it, you are such a water baby

* you are sleeping through the night, with an occasional wake up fuss, but once I give you your paci again you go right back to sleep.

* you are able to pull out your paci, you hate that you can do this because the second you take it out you look at it and study it and then try to place it back in but so far its more on the lucky side if it actually makes its way back into your mouth.

* you are t teething.

* your sleeping in your own room in our new house!!

* you recognize Sparty ( our boxer dog) now and even laugh when he walks past some times.

* you are so content on your own, which I have to admit has made it very helpful with moving into our new house, you love to look at your hands or play with your toys.

you see chick, you are an easy baby who is loved very much! I am excited to see all the new things that will take place this month. a tooth?!!?! maybe..

no. Time.

I am alive
I just have NO TIME
right now to sit and blog....

Just moved into our house..

I will return, please don't leave me

thanks!

BAAA-Aa-aa-hhhHh

Remember my posting about "pump day" well here is a little update, I ended up pumping at every feeding for a week straight wanna know how many OZ I was able to store up in my fridge.. you got it NONE. Yeah I know I was so disappointed, turns out Jada was taking everything I had Plus she was showing signs Of needing more, after many shed tears ( by both of us) I entered into the daunting task of researching Formulas... I came across one from natures one called baby's only Soy, I like that it is Organic, and that they use brown rice instead of corn syrup.... plan was to order this and still breast feed and when she acted like she needed more ( which is not at every feeding) I would supplement with this, SO i went ahead and ordered 1 can to try it out.

well turns out Jada didn't have time to wait for it to come in the mail, and after a really hard day for the both of us I headed to our local health food store to talk to my trusted friend AKA my knight and shining baby saver named Aaron... He has always been so helpful with any ?'s I have had in the past all dealing with babies and or pregnancies, I know but hes a man well ladies he is an awesomely helpful man who happens to be a daddy himself and has done extensive research on everything babies...

So there I am running into the store with mascara running down my cheeks muttering out the words "my milk supply is not enough for my little girl" ( which my the way i look totally silly because a I am crying in a health food store and secondly my daughter has rolls all over her body... how is it possible that she is not getting enough milk)

so he recomends that I try some Fenugreek suplements and he garantees me that my milk will come in within days SOLD! he says this herb is great I now take 2 of these herbal capsules 4 times a day.. I just started today so I am hoping my supply increases ASAP.

in the mean time I am waiting on the formula to come in but Aarom opened by eyes to GOATS MILK, thats right folks goats milk, hence the title of this post if you were feeling a little lost :) I will admit that I had never thought of this before because I figured only breast milk or formula when have you ever heard of goats milk?! well i gave it a listen to what he had to say. because our family is a vegetarian who also does not drink cows milk, I didnt want to start Jada on a cow's milk based formula and then when she turns one introduce her to soy or nut milk.. so my choice of formula is soy base.... which Aaron agreed would be the right way to go for us.

however, they did not have that brand of formula I ordered ( although they sell it) they were out, therefore he said I would try goats milk, he said it is the most like breast-milk and once I looked at the ingredients I was happy, they read : goats milk, vitamin d3, and folic acid. Now like I said this isn't formula but I am not just giving her this, I am still and will continue to nurse as my number once choice therefore she is getting all of the vitamins that my milk naturally makes along with the DHA and the prenatal vitamins I am still taking, so the goats milk is solely a supplement...

it is advertised as a "real milk" alternative for toddlers.. meaning parents who don't want there toddlers drinking cows milk, this is the part that made me a little leery, but after coming home and doing research I was amazed at how many other families recommended this and are using this instead of formula, there are lots of reviews if you are interested on amazon, the brand that we are using is called Meyenberg..

I gave it to Jada and she LOVES it. I was very pleased that I now have something to use as i am waiting on my milk supply to increase, but so far I have been able to nurse her as much as I have been as well as mixed it up with pumping therefore when I make the bottles she is getting both goat and momma....

I am hoping that this fenugreek will kick in my supply so I can carry out my wish of breast-feeding for the fist 12 months... so stay tuned

and in the mean time

BAaahahah

watch out world

On May 15th, Jada decided she would roll over, and as I thought, she decided the perfect time would be while mommy was washing a dish and daddy was out on a run. when I discovered her on her tummy , I placed her on her back again and ran into the office to grab the camera, when I came back hoping to capture her in action I was too late, there she was on her tummy again... so I sat there for the next 45 minutes holding the camera trying to capture something great... and nothing, she wasn't going to show me.

shortly after she went down for a nap and when she woke up we headed over to grandmas for breakfast, and it was there that both Daddy and I witnessed her roll over for the first time, even if to her it was her third.

What you just watched was her rolling two days later, it's her new favorite thing now, it's funny how just one day it's like she just said well I think I am ready to roll over now, we look forward to all the many new things she will be learning!

Four Months

Jada you are four months now and a handful of fun. You are seriously miss happy all day long and I LOVE it, makes a momma feel like she is doing a good job. you are always smiling and you recently enjoy sucking in a bunch of air making a squeal noise while to flail you arms and legs around and your eyes get really big, yeah thats probably one of my favorite things you do.

You are still so close to rolling over it just hasn't quite happened yet, its like you got all the way over to your side and then you are content with your new view there and you just hang out for a while. sometimes you like to be a little sneaker though and when I lay you down on your blankey and play your praise baby DVD and leave the room to go make the bed or something of that nature I come back in and you are in the process of the roll with your head lifted and all, so please stop that, momma wants to see you when you actually decide to go all the way.

We had your 4 month check up yesterday and you are 26 inches long and weighed 15.6 lbs, You still are only being fed BM but I did pick up the Super baby food book yesterday because I am just getting so excited to make you your food! we will still probably hold off on giving you any sort of solid for another month, especially because Daddy is going to be going away for a little while for his job training and he wouldn't want to miss all your cute and silly faces that we are guessing you will make the first time you taste foods.

you are wearing 6-9 month clothing now and are just about ready for some shoes, no not because you are ready to walk silly, but because your feet are starting to actually be a size instead of little itty bitty infant feet.

you still have all your cute little rolls, but it is actually pretty funny, you are a very thin baby..most people wouldn't guess this because they see you with your clothes on, but every night before bath time we give you nakey time for about 15 or 20 minutes and you hang out on your tummy and back and we even let you practice standing and seriously once that big ol cloth diaper is off of you and you are standing up you look like the cutest little string bean.... yes you have rolls, but really they are more like creases ha, either way you are adorable and I just love you so much!

you love to play patty cake on my lap while I bounce you up and down and act silly, that is usually when we get an out loud laugh.

your still in love with the bath tub and you kick and splash every time you are in there, we give you a bath every night and it is usually your special time with daddy and he gets you all dressed in your jammies and puts you to bed.

well your growing up kidO and well,

your just the cutest little buggy

Love Mamma