Felicia's Journey

Hi Everyone!

I'm so glad we are back at it again. I've missed blogging and I have been Pinning as if it's going out of style! 

Though we all took a break, life still goes on. I had a huge lifestyle change over the summer. My husband and I decided to talk with a friend who transformed his life and learn what to do.  We did what he said, got a calorie goal number and started off with 500 calories less than that. Just changing our food we have both lost 30 + pounds. I feel really good, of course as I'm still going to keep at this. We have both gave into cravings, which you must do, the point is to get back to eating healthier. What we learned though is that we felt awful after eating our cheat food. Not guilty but down, our bodies were talking to us, making groans. I'm finding it's pretty easy to choose well. My latest obsession is power bowls. Jamie and I have been making them. They are insanely good. I love food, anyone who knows me knows that I love food. Well I hope that with my future post you too will fall in love with healthy food. 

You may wonder how we came to wanting this lifestyle change. We decided to start after our summer cruise. You've heard it before. I'll start on Monday, after the holidays. Well I've had enough I really wanted to start, my husband has even taken a break but I kept on it and I'm so happy I did. I caught up to him. He was over 30 lbs and I wasn't there yet. I know when he recommits he will loose faster than me. I was really worried about being on the cruise and gaining a bunch. I didn't, that ship was so big I walked a lot and maintained. Good to know right. Walking really does help. That is my next step. I feel pretty good, not as tired as before so now I'm ready to get back to the gym and kick this into high gear.

Our trip this summer was one we will never forget. I'm so blessed to have friends that took us, my son still talks about it. I remember my travels with my family that's what I wanted for him too. I never had a passport as a kid, didn't need one to travel to Canada. He does, that just makes me so happy that when we want to we can plan another trip anywhere. We really can now, not much stops us these days. He is down to one therapy. Which is huge! He is an awesome kid, it's amazing how much he knows. I love how he can carry a conversation and his thought process is so great. He comprehends a lot now. I just was thinking about that the other day. I wish he could pass school work by having a conversation instead of writing it down. We are always working on stuff to improve ourselves. This is just one of them.

I can go on and on! I've missed you all. See you next week with a power bowl recipe! Who knows I might post one later I might not wait!

Oh here is a picture of Hubbard Glacier....

Let's Start With the Best Thing Ever

It took me a while to figure out what my first post should be about...there are just so many things I want to write about!!

However,  I'm pretty sure everyone is most excited to hear about Micah 😊 I mean,  who wouldn't want to hear all about the most adorable baby ever...oh wait, that's probably just me 😂 but he is seriously cute!

I have so many pictures with this expression Lol

Micah is already 6 mo + 3 weeks!!  That seems like it flew by 😓.  He was born at 6:50pm on Saturday, March 26th (the day before Easter), after 21-ish hours of labor.  I'll probably do a post about that separately, mostly because if a new mom-to-be is searching for stories about labor I want her to be able to find it 😉.  I read so many and I still had a completely different labor than any I read about.  So anyways, long labor with lots of support from everyone waiting FOREVER!  Things didn't go as planned,  but it was still a positive experience with an awesome ending.  Micah was 8lbs 2ounces and 20" long, and he had an epic amount of hair!!

The first few weeks were tough with a huge learning curve,  the last few months were a lot of work but a lot of fun too!  Seeing Micah grow and learn every day is so neat, and figuring out what works and what doesn't for our family.  Instead of rambling on forever (because I easily could), I made a list of things to share...

10 Things About Micah at 6 Months:

1) He weighed 17.5 lbs and was 27" at his 6 mo check up - and he has definitely grown since then.

Micah and Zoe (She's almost 5 and on the petite side)

2) He is already wearing some 12mo clothes!  Partially because he wears cloth diapers, but also some of his 6 mo clothes are just too tight already.

These are supposed to be 12mo pajamas 😅

3) He loves books.  He likes to look at them, chew on them, pet them and have them read to him.  He will play with them on his own,  especially ones that have pictures of real things.  His favorite book is Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type and it has been since I started reading to him around 8 weeks.

This was taken when he was 3 1/2mo's 😍

4) He is a mover.  He has needed to be in motion from the first week, but his favorite thing was to rock (I'm pretty sure crawling is now his favorite).  I have put a lot of miles on my rocking chair, thankfully it is pretty comfortable!  He even moves in his sleep - he waves his arm around when he is sleeping.

Just chillin'

5) He is always working towards learning the next thing.  For example, the same day he officially crawled for the first time (hands and knees, not scooting) - he immediately started trying to walk on his hands and feet.  This kid doesn't take a break 😅 I get exhausted just watching him work so hard at everything! Lol

He loves this dump truck,  and recently figured out how to push and pull it. 

6) He officially started crawling on his 1/2 birthday!!! 😂 He hasn't stopped since!  I'm equally proud and terrified...

Good thing I cleaned back there!

7) His favorite foods so far are zucchini and yogurt.  He has tried bananas, applesauce, sweet potatoes, egg yolks, carrots, toast with butter and organic teething cookies - and he likes all of it.  We do a modified version of Baby Led Weaning, which I'll do a post about soon.

Not too bad since he did 95% of the work himself (I just put it on the spoon and gave it to him).

8) He hates using a bottle, especially if we are at home.  The only time he takes one without complaint is in the car, if we have been out and he didn't eat.  The best option I've found is a silicon squeeze bottle (This one), it will do liquids or food, and he seems to like it.

I think he likes that he can drink from it without tipping his head back...and he can chew on it 😆

9) He loves singing.  He likes it when I sing to him, but he also really enjoys watching Mother Goose Club on Youtube.  This is a great distraction when I need to fold laundry or start dinner, or he is just having a hard day and we both need a break.  It also really helped when I was sick!

Books and a song about a train...what else do you need?

10) He loves to talk.  He will spend all day babbling.  The one that makes me laugh the most is his 'I'm learning something' cry - seriously he will whine/cry when he's learning something new.  He did this for hours when he was learning to crawl.

He just learned he could crawl between the wall and his high chair and he whined the whole time Lol

So there you go, ten things about Micah!  He is so much fun to hang out with every day, and I am so lucky that it is possible for me to do just that!  

Have a great day! 

Beth

On The Blog Again...

I hope you read that and sang it in Willie Nelson's voice ( you're welcome 😂).

So it has been a ridiculous amount of time since I have posted anything - pregnancy kicked my butt and then I had a new baby...and so on.  Now that Micah is a little over 6 months old, I feel like I can maybe make this happen again on a regular basis.  

After talking with Felicia and Jamie, we decided we all missed blogging and will be contributing as we each can.  I am excited, and isn't it a little convenient that it is just before the holidays?!!  I have so many ideas and projects planned!!  Plus now I have mommy stuff to talk about...

Today, I am just here to say hi...soo...HI 😀😄😆😊😘🤗 We missed you and we're excited to start sharing again!!

Have a great day!

Beth

PS - just in case you didn't get my reference https://youtu.be/bOamLKAb-g8 

Thankful Cheese Ball

I made a Pin, Jamie sent this to me. I thought how perfect just in time for Thanksgiving! It's wonderful! Everything pairs well, the nuts add a little crunch, the cranberries add sweetness and the Worcestershire sauce adds a savory spice. I hope you try it out.

Ingredients:

1 8oz block softened cream cheese
8oz shredded white cheddar, I used cougar gold
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1-1 1/2 cups dried cranberries (I used 1 cup)

Recipe

In a food process or bowl, pulse of mix cream cheese and shredded cheese mix until combined. Add salt and Worcestershire sauce pulse or mix well. Hand mix in the pecans and then cover with a big piece of plastic wrap, shape into bowl. Place in refrigerator for 30 min, press cranberries onto cheese ball you can serve or put back in to the refrigerator until ready to serve, up to 3 days.

Serve with butter crackers!

Big News!!

We're having a baby boy!!  His due date is April 8th (which is why I bought an Easter onesie lol).

Yay!!  I am so excited to share this with everyone!  We waited until we were past the first trimester before sharing the news with anyone, even our parents!!  It was hard, but it was the right thing to do for us.  After we told our family, we started sharing it with our friends and more family.  It hasn't been a secret, but I wasn't ready to share it with Facebook or on the blog.  I'm not sure if I can really explain why - I just wasn't ready.  So now I am 18 weeks and 4 days along, and man does it seem like time flies!  I am almost halfway there!!  It's scary and exciting and slightly surreal all at the same time!!  This is something we have been wanting, waiting for and planning for a long time...a really long time.  Everyone told me that waiting wasn't worth it because you can never be ready for a baby, and that is partly true - there will always be something else that needs to be done or paid for or earned.  However, the biggest benefit to waiting is being ready mentally and emotionally.  The second is that I get to stay home and that was a HUGE deal for both Eric and I, and probably the biggest reason we waited as long as we did.  We feel it was well worth the wait :) 

So, if you're curious about how the pregnancy is going here's the short answer...I nap/rest a lot and I hate food.  Lol!  The first 3 months I was extremely tired and needed a nap after doing anything, and I was nauseous (a word I never spell right and had to look up lol) 24 hours a day.  Then I started feeling better and got a sinus infection with headaches and a cold with a cough (at the same time!!) for the next 3ish weeks.  I finally feel more like myself, which is a relief.  I have so much to do and nothing was getting done!!  I finally got my house clean and started doing some projects for the nursery that I'll share in future posts.  The only thing I am still struggling with is food - I don't really like food, but hopefully that will change soon.  

You might be wondering why I haven't blogged for awhile.  Well, it's hard to write about anything when all you want to do is sleep, you can't share the few projects you do get done and food is a negative 20 on your 1-10 scale of fun stuff to do.  I don't think anyone wants to hear about my toast and cream cheese obsession...

I will try to get back on track for posting regularly, but I make no guarantees ;)

Have a great day!

Beth 

  

P.S. - I know everyone is going to want to know if we have picked out a name yet.  We are still looking and thinking about it, but we still have 150 days to go...deep breaths lol 

P.S. 2 - I am a little behind on pictures so I still don't have my 16 weeks picture done - when I finally get one taken I'll share it (Hopefully by then I'll actually look pregnant instead of just normal lol) :)