Our Garden and P90X

I have been meaning to post some pictures of the garden that Mike has started.

Here is the first box that he started a while ago. It has lettuce, spinach, strawberries, cilantro
 and peas.



He built the second box today for the stuff that we are going to plant when it warms up a bit, like tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, onions etc..


Happy eating to us! The kids love watching everything grow and I know will enjoy eating everything when it comes up!

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Just a quick update. I finished the first week of p90x and I am still alive. I might just be walking like a cowboy though. Ha! The videos are pretty easy to get through, I have just been really sore everyday. I actually really like it because it has a little of everything in the program which is 3 months long! Some weights, yoga, plyometrics and martial arts.

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I am ready for the "plague" to be done at our house. The kids (a.k.a two headed whiny snoops) need a serious Mickey Mouse and juicebox detox.

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It has rained all weekend. I am ready for some sunshine, but it has allowed us all to slow down and relax because going outside isn't really an option.

Sickies and The "Why" Stage

So we have been hit with the plague. Well, not really, but the kiddos have been sick. It started with Ava on Thursday. When the kids are sick, we spend the days watching TV and eating whatever they want. It is a bad combo, but it makes the days a bit more doable. Thank heavens for On Demand because we have watched ALL the Mickey Mouse episodes like a million times (as Ava would say).

Here is Ava....



My poor little girl. She was sicker than she has been in the past. She might have caught a stomach bug. She ran a low grade fever the first evening. She wouldn't eat or drink anything. We had to force her to take baby sips here and there. She slept in our bed with me for 2 nights and Mike slept in the guest bedroom.
Here is how our sleep was the first night.

This is a picture of my fitbit. It tracks sleep at night. If you look close, all those red lines are movements during the night. It says I was "awakened" 40 times during the night. Pretty much she slept from 6:30-9 ish and was up until a little after 1 and then finally passed out until 4 ish. I wasn't as tired as I thought I was going to be, but it was pretty bad. At one point, I pulled out our travel video player and put a movie on for her to watch hoping that I would sleep, but she kept waking me complaining that her tummy hurt.  The 2nd night was better, she only woke up a couple of times, but I heard Noah cry here and there for about an hour as he is now sick. He ALWAYS gets it a day or two later. I am just crossing my fingers that Mike and I don't get it. I actually went out and bought airborn and have been doubling up on vitamins.

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Noah has officially hit the "why" stage. Everything is "why". Sometimes he follows it up with "cuz". He knows that is what we are going to say. ha!! Kids are so funny that way.

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The kids have yet another big box that they have made into a home.

They decorated it with stickers and colored all over it. Ava really wants to "bedazzle" it with all sorts of crafts, but because Noah still finds things to put in his mouth, I had to deny that for now.

Let's hope we are soon done being sick for a while. We have a busy February ahead.

What's Up

Things around here are about to get busy. I think we have something going on almost every weekend from this coming weekend until the end of February.

This weekend was pretty low key. We were able to get a couple of things done around the house, which is always nice. Mike has been working hard on the garden and he was able to squeeze in a little yard work too! He is in the process of sucking up all the stuff that has fallen and embedded itself into the ground in our front yard. He usually goes out for an hour or so. It is starting to look like a new front yard. And to think, I wanted to have it all removed and new rock brought in. No way! Just a little sucking is doing the job!

Now that we have a new bed, I got a new bedspread, which means I am going to have to paint. I have been looking at paint samples and am going to hopefully find some time to paint and redo our bedroom. I am going with the gray theme and not sure yet, what accent I want to do.

Noah... ahh where to begin. His picky eating is at an all time worst. There are some days that I have to mentally go through what he ate and it usually not much. He really won't sit down for a meal. EVER. He is a snacker and I am not okay with that. I might just have to get on board with him, but man! If he doesn't want it, he will scrunch his face and look down and say "don't want it". I try to shove peanut butter in him when ever I can because at least it is calories and good fat. (We buy natural PB and I have peanuts in the cabinet to make my own). He will sometimes eat dinner if he is sitting on his daddy's lap.


It is going to be a battle. I am not sure who is going to win this one!! I am trying to get creative with smoothies and milk shakes and make some healthy versions of food he likes. I just don't want him eating junk food and carbs all day.

He loves to say "Guess what Mommy?" and follow it up with "Pocket Mouse". Not sure where he got it, but we all laugh.

As you can see from the above picture, Noah FINALLY got a haircut. This picture doesn't do it justice. The first couple of days he looked like Jim Carey from Dumb and Dumber. This was the first haircut that he cried and he didn't want to get it done. We were trying to shove the lollipop in his mouth, but he wasn't having it. The lady just cut his hair too short and because his hair is thick and coarse, it just can't go too short. Oh well, we have all had our share of bad haircuts and this is his.

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I just started P90X today. It wasn't as hard as I thought, but boy did it tap me out of energy. I usually workout first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. I may have to eat a banana. We will see. It is a little slower paced than I am used to, but I guess when you are only working 2 or 3 muscle groups in an hour long workout some rest is needed. I will probably do it without the video after a while, so I can move at my pace and get a little cardio in by not resting as much. We will see. It was only two videos today. I did Chest and Back and then Abs. Tomorrow is plyometrics and I see it has a lot of jumping. Supposedly you burn 600 calories doing it, but I only burned 330 calories today. But long term I know I am burning more calories throughout the day.

I have finally decided that I have a peanut allergy. I have suspected it for a while, so I cut it out for a week. Last night, I took a little lick of it and within 5 minutes I looked like I was 6 months pregnant. I was down for the count for a good 3 hours because it is painful. I am going to test all the nuts, 1 week at a time. I am just not wanting to give up my nut butters. Now I seemed to be fine with Better Than Peanut Butter and not sure if it is because it uses peanut flour. I bought some soy nut butter today and it is pretty good. I have made my own and it is good as well, just chunky. I want something creamy and the store bought one is. I am going to try sunflower seed butter too because it is not in the nut family, but seed family. I did make my own of that and it was awesome.

Anyway... The weather warmed up after the 4-5 days of cold and we have been going for walks every evening. I love it. 2 days ago, we went to the park. Such fun!

I posted on facebook and Instagram (Lovin' me some instagram lately)

There you have it! I am hoping to get some pictures of our garden to post soon.

Jammies and Stuff

Ok. So our Miss Ava could live in her PJ's. I know I have mentioned it before, but I wanted to blog it so that I will remember this time of her life. IF she gets dressed for the day, by about 11am, so is already starting with the " I need to get comfy, mommy" and then never changes for the rest of the day. If it were up to her, should would wear them all day, every day.


Luckily this week at school she has pajama day!

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Noah had his 2 year check up on Friday. He is in the 40th percentile for weight (27 3/4 lbs) and 80th percentile for height (35" long). The doctor wasn't too concerned, but still wants up to try and fatten him up. I am not surprised by the weight, he is the pickest eater and has to keep up with his sister.

The doctor also mentioned that he has a bit of a concave chest aka sunken chest. She wasn't too concerned because it is not bad, but it is something we will want to keep an eye on. I have seen pictures online, and his isn't bad at all, but it really makes him look like he has a pregnant belly all the time. ha!

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It is FREAKIN' cold here in AZ. We have been in the 20's at night. For a couple nights in a row. I am hoping that Mike's garden survives. We have been covering it, but still. It is just COLD. We went for a walk yesterday afternoon and it was only 45 degrees. It is supposed to warm up this weekend! Us Phoenicians aren't used to this cold.

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I love my new food processor. I have made, cashew butter, soynut butter, sunflower seed butter, almond butter and salsa. I am in trouble, especially since I seem to be allergic to a lot of nuts. I just try to pick a day and eat all the Nut Butters and let everyone suffer with me. Hee! hee!

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I just discovered pic monkey. I haven't really had a chance to play around with it, but you can do cool things to your pictures. Here is one of Noah.

Original picture

After using Picmonkey.

Looking forward to using it a bit more. I might even order a picture on a canvas. I just have to find a good picture!!

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2 new words in our house are : Perfectnoose and Wonky. We are not really sure what the first word is, but one day Noah started saying it, now if something is good or funny, we just say perfectnoose (one word). If something is wacky, like Noah's weird toe, we say that is wonky. We all have a good laugh.

Noah's Birthday Party

This weekend we had Noah's birthday party. I was a really nice party. Unfortunately, both Ava and Noah were born during cold and flu season and we had a lot of people cancel at the last minute. Some were from sicknesses and some had other things come up. We had about 10+ cancellations. I think for Ava's party we are going to do things differently because we had a ton of food left over and it wasn't cheap.

Anyway, since it was sorta intimate, we had a nice time and Noah wasn't overwhelmed with presents. The nice part is that he got a nice mix of toys and money for his 529. (Money for the 529 is ALWAYS welcome.  We have cards too for anyone interested that you just fill out and send with the money and it goes right into his and Ava's account)


He really enjoyed everyone singing Happy Birthday to him. I didn't get a good shot, but he was all smiles.


Enjoying his frosting, I mean cupcake.

I put stop lights on his cupcakes since it was a "Cars" party.

The weather was COLD, but at least there wasn't any rain.

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This and That

Yesterday was Noah's birthday and we had a pretty good day. We made cupcakes in the morning. The kids ate frosting out of the container with spoons and licked the batter out of the bowl like it was their last bite!

After dinner, it was time for cupcakes and for Noah to blow out the candle. Ava REALLY, REALLY wanted to blow out his candle, so we put one candle in Noah's cupcake and one in Ava's cupcake. That way they both could blow out a candle. The funny thing was is Mike went to the drawer to get the candles, put them in, lit them and after Ava blew out hers, it lit back up. They were those trick candles. Ha! It was actually kinda funny..

Then was time to open presents. It was meltdown city for Ava. She wanted to open Noah's presents, but Noah didn't want her to. She also wanted her own presents. We didn't want to start something, so we didn't get her anything. She cried and cried and she wanted to play with Noah's toys and Noah didn't want her to, so she cried some more.

We have been enjoying our new bed. It is quite comfy. I haven't slept as bad as I thought. I haven't woken up sore, so that is a plus. I am hoping that it will help me sleep better. According to my fitbit, I am at least getting big chunks of sleep. I have been drinking a lot of water, so I have been waking to go to the bathroom a million times, but other than that and the kids waking up, I would say I am sleeping pretty good.

I have grown to love tea. After the coffee is gone, I love to have tea. I was addicted to Trader Joes' Candy Cane Green Tea. It is seasonal and after I bought about 10 boxes, I am down to my last 2. I am on the hunt for something new. I have a Peppermint Tea from Trader Joe's that is ok. My mom brought me some Good Earth Original Tea and I liked that, so I bought a box today.

I pulled out my food processor yesterday. I made Salsa that was AWESOME and some Soy Nut Butter. The Soy Nut Butter could be a little sweeter, so I am going to play around with it. Soy Nuts have a lot of protein, so I get a big bang for my buck.

Ghiradelli Unsweetened Cocoa Powder is a baking game changer. I will not go back to Hershey's again. I love it. I put it with a a scoop of protein powder and some Almond Milk or water and it makes the best pudding ever. It is not bitter at all. Or at least not to me!!

We have Noah's birthday party this weekend. It is supposed to be super cold, but at least it isn't going to rain. As of yet!!!

Noah Turns Two

Happy Birthday Noah boy!!!

I am always amazed how fast time seems to go. Birthday's are always bittersweet. I am happy he has been here another year, but sad that another year has passed by.

Noah,

You are an amazing little man. You amaze us all with the new things you do and say. You are saying 4-5 word sentences and definitely speak your mind. Some of your favorites sayings as of late are:

"Something else" - This means you want something to eat and you  never like my suggestions.

"Hi dads or Hi Moms" - Always as a plural. So cute.

"Tank you"- You are polite and almost always say thank you.

You like to snuggle, which is the opposite of your sister. You love to be tickled and often say "more" or "again" to have us keep the tickle up!!

You are still not a great sleeper. You nap about an hour maybe a little more and about 10 hours at night. We still leave your door open at nap time until you fall asleep and then I close it to the door jam.

You copy everything your sister does and want everything she does.

You love trains and cars. It is nice to see you play like a boy. You like to tackle your sister often.

You love to read. You like long stories like the ones we read to Ava. You sorta bypassed the board books.

You love to master things. You will keep doing things until you can do it in your sleep.

You have started the same thing that your sister does when you wake up and that is you wake up crying and cranky. Unless, you get a ton of sleep, that is just how you are.

You are a daddy's boy. If daddy is around, you want to be held by him and him only!

You are starting to sit at the kitchen table like a big boy now. You don't wear a bib anymore and rarely sit in your booster seat. The picnic table from nana and papa Ron as come in handy.

You love to be outside and ride your bike or play in the dirt.

You still have your dog, buddy!! Some days you sleep with another animal.

You are the world's pickiest eater. If it were up to you, it would be chocolate and sweets all.day.long!
You don't even have a go to meal or food. It changes hourly.

You love Mickey Mouse Club.

Noah, we love you with all our heart. You add something special to our family. Can't wait to see what this year brings.

This morning! You wanted nothing to do with the camera and the flash.

You were much happier after I gave you a Hershey Kiss for breakfast.

Catch Up: Randoms and The New Year

Wow, I am slacking. This is my first blog of the new year. Tomorrow is Noah's 2nd birthday and I cannot believe it. To be honest, it has been a long 2 years but at times it seems like it has flown.

Mike and I tend to compare our kids and their "stages" and we always say that Ava didn't do that, but I think that we just don't remember!

What have we been up to...

Well, Mike had 2 weeks off in the end of December and then my mom came the day after New Years and was here until Sunday. It was nice to have help around, if even to just to be able to clean up without the kids requiring my help. It was quite nice if I do say so myself.

Mike and I took advantage of the help and went shopping one afternoon and then went to Whole Foods for a drink. They have an awesome happy hour on Sundays. It is $4 glasses of wine and $3 or $5 off of a Growler (The big container to bring beer home in) and Mike's beer was only $4. A good deal if I do say so myself. I think we are going to be going there more often on Saturdays. I mean, we practically live there anyway. That particular day, I went to Whole Foods 4 TIMES!!! I love that store!


My friend Stephanie and her husband, GB and their baby, Iona came to visit in the end of December. It was all to brief, but always nice to catch up.


Mike started his garden in the backyard this past weekend too. We are going to start small and go from there. I am excited because we eat a ton of veggies and I am hoping to be able to just start getting this stuff from the garden once we get the hang of it! I think he planted some lettuces's and peas so far.

We finally bit the bullet and bought a new bed.  We got a Serta I comfort memory foam bed. I know that I will hate it for about 2 weeks to a month, but then I know I will love it. Here's the thing, anything is better than what we had. I have been using my memory foam pillow for about a week now and loving it. When I finally sleep, I am getting a good solid 4-5 hours. Is it the pillow or am I just plain tired!


We put our old California King bed in the guest room and put the twin bed mattresses in bags for Noah when he is ready for his big boy bed. Now if you come and visit us here, you have a nice big bed to sleep in!! The room is a bit cramped as it is still being used as an office and craft room too, but oh well. I really didn't want any of that in our bedroom.

Can't believe I am posting this picture, but it was the only one I have as of right now. It is the new guest bedroom.

The kids were sick again! Every time we go to our friends house the kids get sick two days later. Coincidence? I think not. Ava had 2 nights that she ended up sleeping in our bed and was up most of the night, as was I then. Noah's is just lingering. His nose is running and he is miserable as now we are from the constant whining and crying. He's one tired boy. Last night he was up for about an hour and a half crying on and off and then was up at 5am.

I am finally catching up on blogging because I hurt my back. I had 2 big leg workouts in a row and it threw out my back. I hope it is only temporary and that advil and ice will do the trick. I had to call Mike and have him come home so he could pick up Ava from school. I hate not being able to move. I got a lot to do to get ready for Noah's birthday party this weekend! (And his birthday tomorrow!)

Noah really needs a haircut. Look at this bedhead.


Noah also has a weird toe thing. You can see for yourself, but it is always wishing you luck!!

See how the 2nd toe in goes under his third toe?! 

It is usually worse and it is always like that. His Aunt Jacy says we should tape it. ha!ha!

New Years Eve was uneventful here. We didn't stay up and we didn't do anything. Not unusual for us. Maybe in a couple of years when we can get a sitter we can start doing something. Wait, who am I kidding, I can't stay up until midnight!!

I was really not into making any new years resolutions this year. Not sure why. I just want to try to be a better version of myself. I know it isn't quantifiable and it is pretty much a catch all, but that is what I want to do. Yell less, stress less, enjoy life more, Eat better, workout smart, be more present and love more. Possible?! I hope so.

I am hoping to blog a bit more. It is hard because when I get a free moment, I want it to myself. Here's to blogging more about our everyday life.