Question of the Day

Please know this is written with love. Kyle was truly joking because for the first time in our 6 years of marriage he came home to a messy kitchen. This is how it started,

"Honey, what have you been doing all day?" Kyle asked. "Are you serious?" I said. "Why are you asking me such a question?" I asked. "Well the kitchen is a total disaster," answers my sarcastic husband. "yes dear, lets see, I got up, I got Allison ready and off to school. I then took Caleb to the Dr because we have been up every 2 hours the last 3 night. I drove home and tried to put our son down for a nap but he wanted me to hold him. I then woke him up from a much needed nap and picked up Allison from school. I then picked up Caleb's prescription for a double ear infection that he has. I got home made Allison and Caleb lunch. I think I had lunch but I could not remember. I then started laundry and put Caleb down for a nap and Allison down for a rest. Do you think I really had time to do the kitchen? Do you want to hear more dear? Oh wait, Caleb did not take a good nap so he has been very fussy and I have had no time to do any thing." I then ended the night with ordering our dinner and picking it up. I went to pick up our dinner but they did not have it ready. I then had to wait while I left you home with the fussy kids. This is what I did today. On top of that, I sat down to pump some milk when I noticed it was 8:15pm and I had a 8:30pm deep tissue massage. My brain was not on at this time. :) "Anymore stupid questions?" I truly love my husband.

Caleb 9 months

He spends most of his time sitting up, rather then on his tummy.


My happy boy is growing so fast. He is now comfortable on his tummy. He is trying to get up on his knees now but he just rolls all over the place. He is such a happy boy. He loves to laugh a lot. He is always so happy unless mommy or daddy leave the room.

Another day without Sugar

Well life seems to be pretty good without sugar. I still crave chocolate. I am doing better with self control and saying no. If you know me I am a big breakfast eater. I love cereal and waffles. Because I am allergic to eggs I have had a hard time finding something good to eat. I have been trying new things for breakfast. First I have tried gluten free oatmeal with some honey on it. I have also tried a new protein drink which I love. It has all natural flavors in it. This morning I decided to try the gluten free meatballs with sun dried tomatoes ( I usually eat them for dinner) and some turkey bacon. They are all from trader Joe's. I also added some fresh fruit. This meal only took me about 5 minutes to put together. It was so Delicious. I think I have found my morning breakfast instead of eggs. The great thing about this meal it is gluten free and it has no artificial flavors or hormones. I just love Trader Joe's. I am working really hard on trying to eat well. I did wake up with a little cough and nasal congestion this morning but I know it is because I ran out of my vitamin C pack and my green tea. Off to the store today.

If you want to check out my friend Michele she gave me a lot of websites on how to give up sugar. One that I looked at is My years without sugar.

The great thing about doing this is Kyle is doing it with me. Allison has only gets special treats for things she does and I will give her candy or a choice between Apples and any fresh fruit we have around the house. She is such a good eater so I don't mind treating her once in awhile to some sweets. I am feeling a lot more energized too. Now If Caleb would get over this bad cough and if his teeth would just poke through, maybe I can get a good nights sleep. :)

Catching UP

Wow, hasn't the Seattle Weather been amazing? I had the chance to get out of town with my sister this weekend and go for a 8 mile bike ride with my husband. I just love having all this energy. It must be because I gave up sugar 6 days ago. I have some funny stories to tell about that.

First, on the 3rd day of no sugar, I gave Allison a sucker for good behavior. The candy is left over from her valentines cards. She hasn't realized that she could have it because it was given to her. We make her earn it now. :) She kept asking me if I wanted a lick. "no Allison mommy gave up sugar." "You can still have a lick mommy. It is really good." "No Allison mommy had to give up sugar for awhile." "But mommy it taste like strawberries." OK, then just give me a kiss, yummy. That was the only way I could get her off my back. IT was so cute though.

Second story is, I had a crazy dream last night. I was dreaming that I had forgotten that I gave up chocolate and I started scarfing, I mean scarfing down one of those big Hershey chocolate kisses. My face was full of chocolate. While I was eating it I remembered that I was not suppose to have sugar. I then cried because I felt I made it so far. I woke up this morning wanting chocolate so bad. Sugar has really done a tole on me. I can not believe I have been dreaming about it too.

On another note, my sister and I headed over to Port Orchard for the day. We lived over their for a few years. Charlotte and I decided to go down memory lane. The weather was amazing and we had so much fun. We got to talk a lot and just catch up. My sister and I were never close growing up but since I moved back from Atlanta we have become closer. Especially this past year. I have so enjoyed her friendship this past year. The best part is my sister started to go to a really good Christian Church. I know how hard it has been for her to go to church in the past. I am thankful she has a teachable heart and just wants to learn more and change her life. It has been such a joy for me to spend some quality time with her lately. I am so thankful I have such a wonderful sister.

This was our house. It was yellow when I lived there. It looked better when we lived there too. I remember the days of playing outside all day. We didn't have xbox and all that yet.

We also stoped by to see my old friend Shelly. She was my YL leader in High school and became a good friend later in life.

On Sunday Kyle and I took out my new bike for another ride. I am loving riding. I can not seem to get enough of it. I look forward to when Caleb can sit in the trailer and we can just ride. I still have a little tweaking to do on the bike and then I hope to be really comfortable on it. I have been running a few times a week and now riding. I am looking forward to the summer so we can do more family exercises.

Last but not least. The kids are doing great. Allison continues to blow us away with her imagination. The past week she has had no school. We have had a couple of play dates and time at Grandmas. Caleb is growing like crazy. I took him to the Dr last week because he can not seem to get rid of this cough. He does not have a fever just a bad cough. He weighs 22lbs now. He is just starting to spend more time on his tummy. He also stood up on his legs while I pulled him up from his hands. This is huge for him. He really has no interest in crawling. He just wants to sit up play or jump in his jumparoo. He is such a happy boy. Allison continues to make him laugh and he has such a great laugh. Kyle is still loving his job at Microsoft. He comes home and takes over as daddy. The only time he gets down time is when he rides the bus. We are all doing well and just taking one day at a time. Life is so good and we are always thanking God for his blessings.

Day 2

This morning I woke up a little hungry. I also woke up with the kids cold. Yesterday was a little hard giving up sugar. I had some with drawls and I really craved chocolate. Today it is sunny outside and I only have Caleb for the day. I hope to make it another day with no sugar. This morning I made a protein shake with strawberries, banana's a little honey, rice milk, peanut butter and some flax seed. It is so good. I just hope it will get me through a few hours until i can snack on my vegan protein bar. I will say this is a hard thing for me to do but I want my body to be in good health. Especially since I plan on doing a tri-athalon this summer. :)

Day 1 No Sugar

Well I decided to cut sugar out of my diet. Well at least dessert and refined sugar. I am trying to replace it with healthy eating. This morning I had gluten free oatmeal with strawberries. I also had some yogi detox tea with a little honey. It was a great start for the day. My sugar low always hits me in the afternoon and right before bed. I usually snack on cookies, chocolate any thing sweet. Before bed I would have a bowl of serial. Not today, today I had almonds and apples with peanut butter, yummy. I look forward to another day of no sugar. I really hope to make it for 40 days. I am also trying to use this time to spend with God. I don't want to just give up sugar for no reason. I will cling to the Lord for my strength.

Build A fort

Caleb loving the fort

Caleb's first fort. Kyle and I have always built forts with Allison since we was about a year old. She loves to fill it with all her baby's and animals. This night I was gone for a few hours so Kyle built a fort. He stuck Caleb in the bumpo and put him inside. He has such a ball. As you can see Allison once again filled it with stuffed animals and babies.

Happy Valentines Day

She is learning to write her letters and her own name now. I'm so proud.

This week Allison and I did some great crafts. I love when I can find stuff around the house to use. Its not only fun to find craft stuff around the house but it saves us money too. Now that Allison is in pre-school we had to get valentine cards for her friends and teacher's. I had left over cards from last year so we used them. We then decided to make the teachers little gifts of thanks. I used a baby food jar and had Allison paint the tops. I found some little wooden craft heart and I had her paint them. I also had her stamp some paper that I glued around the jar. The only thing I had to buy for valentines day was the candy. She also had fun making her grandparents cards and her daddy one too. Oh how I love to save money. Everyone loved there cards and candies.

For Valentines this year Kyle took Friday off so we could go on a date. Grandma Nancy took the kids for a few hours while Kyle and I went out to the Barking Frog for lunch. The food was amazing. I had gluten free chicken pasta which was mouth watering. Kyle had the crab sandwich, it was good but he enjoyed mine more. We shared a wonderful chocolate dessert too. After lunch we went the movies. I had tickets that I won at Elke's 40Th birthday party. We saw the movie "Dear John" written by Nicholas Sparks, one of my favorite Authors. We had such a great time. It was a much needed date together without the kids. Afterwards we picked up Caleb. Allison stayed the night at Grandmas and we headed home. As we were driving home we both did not want to cook so we decided to head over to Dicks Drive In, yummy. Oh how I love Seattle. Yep, once again I cheated and had wheat. I am having a hard time giving it up when we go out to eat. The next morning we woke up with just Caleb. It was a nice and quiet morning. We went for a run, then we ran to Starbucks and home again. Kyle also let me take a long nap. I have such a wonderful husband. Happy Valentines Allison, Caleb and Kyle. I love you all and I am so blessed to call you my family.

Am I doing this right?

The past 2 months I question myself as a mother. Especially with Caleb right now. He used to sleep through the night until about 6 months old it all changed. Every 3 to 4 hours he would wake up. Some times he would give me 6. I know during this time he had a cold, and about 5 teeth come in. I was struggling so I went back and read the baby whisper. I used this book with Allison and it totally worked. We have tried it with Caleb and the first few nights were tough. The first week went great. Kyle would get up and soothe him. I did not get up because I did not want him to think he could be fed. He did not need the food because he was getting enough solid foods and milk during the day. Well this past week we are back to square one. Last night I was up with Caleb for 2 hours. I decided to warm a bottle and he totally took it. I knew he was hungry because his tummy was rumbling. Then he woke up at 6 and I was frustrated. What did he need? He has been feed and I do not want to feed him until 8 so we could stay on our routine. Also Caleb cries in his bed and he cries in our arms. He does not want to be held all the time. I finally calmed him down and he slept another 30 Min's. He looks so tired. He is a happy baby and smiles a lot but he is fussy during the day. I question the books I read because they tell you not to let them get used to eating at night. They always say do this don't do that, but never answer the question, what if this happens? They make it seem so easy. They say not to give him props to fall asleep. How did our parents do it? Did they have all the knowledge (books) that we have now to teach us to teach our kids to sleep? I find it more frustrating with all the books. Everyone has an opinion what way we should do it. How do I let that frustration go and just let my own heart guide me. Yes, I hate getting up at night but I know when he is a teenager I will have more trouble getting him out of bed rather then staying asleep. I just pray the Lord help me because it defiantly isn't any easier with your second child. You sill will question every thing you do.

Sippy Cup

Caleb now can hold his sippy cup. He is still getting used to the water. He is not sure how to suck on it.

Rock through the Decades party

Amy and I opening it up with "Free Fallin" by Tom Petty. For some reason I could not carry the tune.




April, Elke and Myself




April and myself

The birthday girl and her husband Bryce, classic picture of him

The birthday girl and me

Elke and her Mom and sister Amy

I am finally getting to blog. In January Kyle and I got to help celebrate one of my best friends 40Th Birthday. It was such a blast. I even got to help her husband plan the party. He did most of the work but it was a joy to be apart of her big day. At the party they had yummy food ordered from Canyons and Karaoke . I had fun singing with my friends and my husband. Happy birthday old friend. I love you and I hope you enjoyed your birthday.

Finding Time to Blog

Bath time together

Allison and Caleb are enjoying bath time together.

Life seems to go by so fast these days. I can not seem to find time to just read or even blog. I have barley taken any pictures of the kids. The sad thing is I don't feel like we have been doing much either. My days are get up, feed kids, get kids ready, put Caleb down for a nap, take a shower, play with Allison or take her to school, feed kids again, play and then quiet time. Although lately Caleb's nap times have gone down hill. He has been only taking 30 to 45 min naps. This does not give me enough time to even breath in my opinion. After rest we play and then I am once again getting another meal done. Kyle comes home to take the care of the kids while I finish getting dinner ready. After dinner the kids are off to bath time. I then clean up and get the rooms ready for bed. Caleb is down at 730 and Allison at 8. Then all I want to do is veg out in front of the TV or just go to bed. Some nights Kyle and I are just passing each other through the nights. Some nights I have to consciously make more of an effort to make time for Kyle. I feel so blessed to have such an amazing husband. He is so patient with my moods and so understanding of me and my frustrations.. I truly do not know how he puts up with me at times. He reminds me this is just our life and things will get better. I try to see his positive outlook when I am having a bad day. So i dream or wish that my nights would be curling up in his arms and falling asleep for 2 days. Thank you Kyle for a great weekend where you allowed me to just do that except I only got to sleep for 8 hours. :) Some days my life seems so uneventful and boring, but I am grateful for my husband and his job. It allows me to stay home and see our children grow, even if I get board some days or get upset or frustrated. :) Thank you family for loving me during this time of my life. I love you all.