Breakfast...what did you think?

Anyone following along? Did you try Rip's Big Bowl? I thought it was good! It was REALLY big! I only ate half of a big bowl and I don't like grapefruit so next time I will leave that off. My goal is to try everything he has planned for us and see if my tastebuds have changed at all. Although, I didn't like grapefruit as a kid and I still don't like it as an adult. We will see how the rest of the challenge goes.

Garrett did about hurl when he took the first bite of his bowl of cereal. He used to eating sugary sweet cereal like Cinnamon Toast Crunch or Reese's Puffs so I'm sure this was a big change for him.

Now, it's time to make the hummus for lunch.

Healthy Homemade Hummus

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2-3 TBSP fresh lemon juice
1 tsp Bragg Liquid Aminos (I have no idea what this is...if you know please tell me!) OR low-sodium Tamari (in with the soy sauce)
3 TBSP water or vegetable broth

You could also add sesame seeds, roasted red pepper (my fave!), jalapeno, Kalamata olives, mint, spinach, or eggplant.

Happy hummus making!

Day 1 Breakfast

I just finished making Rip's Big Bowl for Aaron to take to work with him. I don't know that either one of us could eat that much food so I cut the banana and grapefruit in half for us to share. As he says,"Let your appetite be your guide as to the size of your bowl."

1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup Grape-Nuts
1/4 cup bite-size Shredded Wheat
1/4 cup Uncle Sam cereal
1 TBSP ground flaxseed meal
2 TBSP raisins
1/2 handful walnuts
1 banana, sliced
1 grapefruit
3/4 milk substitute
*Toss all ingredients except grapefruit and milk substitute into a bowl. Cut grapefruit segments and add to top of bowl. Squeeze in the juice of the grapefruit and then add milk substitute.

I haven't made mine yet, but it sure did smell good! I think Garrett and I will share a bowl when he wakes up. =)

28 Day Challenge

Tomorrow our family is embarking on a 28 day challenge. It isn't going to be easy, but we know it will be well worth it. We have read the Engine 2 Diet book, been to the grocery, and are ready to start eating HEALTHY! Tomorrow we will start with Rip's Big Bowl for breakfast, E2 Stuffed Pita with Hummus for lunch, E2 Spinach Starter Salad & Gnocchi with E2 Basics Red Sauce, and Frozen Cherries & Soy Yogurt for dessert. If you are interested in learning more about the Engine 2 Diet or the 28 Day Challenge then visit the website at www.engine2diet.com to watch some short videos. Also, you can visit www.engine2academy.com to get some recipes, weekly grocery and menu lists. All you have to do is create a username and password AND it is completely FREE!
SO, let's get healthy together! Here we come 28 Day Challenge! =)

Bella's tubes!

On Monday, July 19th we were all up at the wee hour of 5:10 to get ready to take Bella to Kosair Childrens Hospital to get her tubes. We all got up and ready and let Bella sleep until the minute we had to walk out the door. What I have noticed since Bella was born is that if we need to be out the door by a certain time I have to tell the family (myself included) that we have to leave 15 minutes earlier than when we really need to leave. So on this particular day I said we had to be out the door by 5:45 (meaning 6:00) and we were in the car and out the driveway by 5:50. Not too bad for getting five people up and moving that early!
We followed the directions from the papers the doctors office sent us because I can never remember how to get to what hospital in that area. I will eventually find it but we were on a schedule! So we missed a turn that the directions said we needed to take and I ended up driving down the wrong side of the street thinking that we were still on a one way street. I have NEVER in my life done that! The family was very thankful that we all survived! Luckily it was still early so there wasn't much traffic, but had there been I would have known it was a two way street and not a one way street.
Then we get to the hospital and I, again, am following the directions from the paper the doctors office sent. I pre-registered and did all the things I was supposed to do so we went to the 8th floor where the outpatient surgery is located. Oops...we were supposed to register Bella when we arrived. What a morning we were having and it was all my fault! So they sent someone up from registration and we got her registered. I apologized to the lady a million times...at least she was nice. =)
Then we finally took her back, got her weight, height, and headed to our room. We met one of the anesthesiologists and talked about what was going to happen with Bella. We changed her into her cute little gown and then went to play until it was time for her to go. They brought some medicine for me to give her to make her "loopy" before the surgery. I was surprised at how well she took it! Although, I'm sure she was hungry so she took it willingly! She never really got loopy and went with the nurses without hesitation when it was time. I was worried about Aaron. He had a somber look on his face, but he really did well. About ten minutes later the doctor came in and said she was all finished and did well. Now we just had to wait for her to wake up so she could come back to the room. Two things I was afraid of in the waking up process...1. Aaron takes FOREVER to wake up from anesthesia so I thought we could be waiting a while! 2. Bella was already tired from getting up so early that this would be nap time for her...this might take a while!
While we were waiting for Bella to wake up we were watching the little girl across the hall who had already had her "loopy" medicine and boy was she loopy! She was SO cute! She was sitting in bed playing on her laptop and she kept almost falling asleep. Then she looked at her parents and asked them why she was being so silly! I thought that was adorable!
Finally they brought Bella back and she was like dead weight. Everyone told us that she would be upset and grumpy so be prepared. Not our daughter...she wouldn't wake up! Anytime she would move you would have to grab her tight because she was going to fall! We finally got her dressed, got her to drink some juice, and they let us go. She slept most of the way home and slept for about two hours after we got home. Which meant that we were ALL taking naps! All five of us slept! The rest of the day was okay. She was not quite herself, which we expected, but it didn't make it any easier. And she CANNOT STAND the ear drops! You would think that we are dropping fire in her ears. Poor thing!
Hoping and praying that tubes do the trick and we don't have to go back for any more surgeries!
Thanks again for all of your love, support, and prayers! They are greatly appreciated!

Blackberry Jam

Last week I bought some blackberries at the local farmers market in Corydon. I decided that I was going to make some blackberry jam. We LOVE blackberry jam and we also thought it would make a great gift as part of a goody basket.

I hadn't made jam in years so I either bought too many blackberries or the jars I bought were too small because I had a bunch of jam left over. After I canned my 12 jelly jars of blackberry jam I sat stumped wondering what to do with my leftover jam. So my thought was to make a cobbler. Now, anyone that knows me knows that I don't like cooked fruit. I don't think you should eat fruit warm. That's just me, but I don't mind making pies and cobblers for others to eat. So, I made a blackberry cobbler. I tried a smidge out of one corner to make sure it tasted okay and OH MY GOODNESS! This is the BEST cobbler I have ever made in my LIFE! It was delicious! I actually wanted to eat it! When Aaron came home I had him try some too. As you can see from the bit missing in the corner he also thought it was quite tasty. So if you are making blackberry jam make too much so you can use the leftovers for cobbler! :-)

Bella is 15 months old!

Friday July 9th I took Bella for her 15 month check-up. WOW has she grown! She weighs 23.9 pounds and is 30 inches long! She is growing very well and actually a little above the 50th percentile (which is great considering she was between the 5th-10th percentile when she was born)! She also had to get three shots. =( It was sad and I was glad her daddy or Uncle Jimmy weren't there because they both would have had meltdowns.
The doctor asked how many words she has and I couldn't count them all which is fantastic because at her age they only expect them to have between 6-10 words. As much as she talks she has way more than that! We did have the discussion about her not giving up her bottle. Our doctor said that it might take her a little more time. With Garrett I took his bottle and gave him a cup and that was that. No transition he just took right to it. Not Bella! It took her forever to drink anything out of a cup and now she thinks that juice comes from a cup and milk comes from a bottle. Oh well, we will get her there, but not until after she gets her tubes. Her bottle is a comfort thing like a pacy which she will definitely need when getting tubes.

Say some prayers for Bella please. She is getting her tubes in on Monday, July 19th. Also, say some prayers for her daddy. I'm a bit worried about him during this whole process.

Thanks everyone!

Nolin Lake

This weekend Garrett went camping with our neighbors down at Nolin Lake. So on Sunday we went down to hang out with the neighbors, go out on their boats, and then bring Garrett home with us. We took Bella with us and were a bit worried about how she would do. She LOVES the water, but she hadn't had a nap. She tends to get a bit crabby when she doesn't get enough sleep (kinda like her mommy). We went out and she didn't like her life jacket, but LOVED riding on the boat. She wanted to be like the big kids and jump in and swim by herself. So we got on the water and she was having a blast splashing and swimming. This is completely opposite of how Garrett was at her age. He was deathly afraid of the water even then! Then we ate some lunch, let her play on the boat, and hoped she would take a nap...no such luck!
I wasn't quite sure what else to do with her so I let her be. Then she saw her daddy get in the water and she was telling him how it was that he went in the water without her! It was really funny! :-) So we put her back in the water and she had a blast!
Then we got her out and headed back to shore so she could nap. I took her to the car, drove around the campground once, and then sat in the car with her for an hour and a half while she napped. I really wish I would have had something to read because I was a bit on the bored side.
After she woke up everyone else headed back to camp. They had all had a great time tubing and skiing and were hungry. Aaron, Skyla, and Garrett were all sore from tubing and riding the banana boat. I wish I could have seen them! We were going to try and go back out on the boats after dinner, but Bella was still cranky so we decided it was best for us to leave. We hated to leave the neighbors (especially since I didn't really get to visit much with them), but it was leave or prepare for many meltdowns from our usually very happy little girl. I realized after I got her in the car that she was mainly hot (she's gonna be hot natured like her daddy) and was quite happy once she was in the cool air conditioned car.
I wish I had some pictures of our trip to post, but my camera died by the time we got to the camp ground. Looks like it's time to invest in a car charger!
Happy 4th of July everyone!