Friday, July 31, 2015

Our first Whole 30

This Monday Justin and I started our first Whole 30 challenge. If you don't know what it is, the program rules and anything you need to do it are all online HERE. You can also get the books It Starts With Food and The Whole 30 basically anywhere. I checked them out from my library because I am cheap. To extremely simplify it, it is a 30 day program that focuses on eating whole, nutritious foods and cutting out foods that could be having a negative impact on your life. Later, you reintroduce foods to see how your body is impacted and figure out what works for you. It is close to Paleo, but a bit more strict. I had been wanting to do it for a while but did not want to have supply issues with breastfeeding and there was just always something going on that it didn't seem like a good time to start (birthdays, holidays, etc). I am nearing the end of primarily breastfeeding Aspen and I saw a good opportunity with no big events coming up so we finally started it. The reasons that I am doing it are to lose the last bit of baby weight but also to gain a healthier relationship with food (i.e. not having ice cream every night, being able to say no to donuts/cookies, eating better on the weekends). Justin and I already ate pretty healthy. We already ate at home during the week but we definitely had a lot of things to clean up. Today is Day 5 and while it is not easy, it is definitely not impossible. So far, I have learned that I need to just stick with what I like sometimes and not over complicate things. For example, I tried to eat hardboiled eggs and I definitely gagged. I will stick with my scrambled eggs because I like that and it is just as good for me. I am also still learning how to fuel correctly for runs. I went out for a 5-miler on Wednesday and it was one of the worst runs I have had in a long time. Definitely need to eat carbs appropriately leading up to a run. I have definitely not felt hungry but I do miss my treats. My supply has decreased but it had already been decreasing as Aspen has been eating more solid foods. I still want to continue nursing but I have a good backup in the freezer so I am not too worried. I have no energy issues (except for that run) but I do workout 5-6 days a week still so I am sure that helps. As far as what we have been eating, it includes a lot of eggs. We already went through like 30 eggs this week so I have to get more for the weekend. We have been eating lots of meat and veggies with some fruit and potatoes. My favorite things so far are bananas and almond butter, all nuts (no peanuts allowed), scrambled eggs, sweet potatoes, avocados, and green beans. We have been making extra dinner so we have leftovers for lunch and that makes things a lot easier, but we used to do that before this challenge. We weighed ourselves before and also my gym owner let me use the Body Fat Calculator so I will compare that to my results at the end. We also took before pictures to compare with after pictures. I have a feeling I will be gaining muscle just due to the increase in protein I have been eating so the Body Fat Calculator will help with that. I will try to do an update halfway through and then again at the end. It won't be easy, but I am fairly competitive and I started it, so I will finish it. Here are a couple things from this week:

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Breakfast: Fruit with almond butter (Costco), veggie/egg scramble, sweet potatoes and a slice of prosciutto (Trader Joes).
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leftovers for lunch: grilled chicken, guacamole cup (Costco), green beans and sweet potatoes
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Prosciutto egg cups (with spinach, tomato, and onion)

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Shutterfly Photo Book

I had a free coupon for a photo book that expires tomorrow so I had to get my act together and finally make a book from our trip to the Grand Canyon earlier this month for my birthday. I ended up using the same template as I recently used for Bearizona but the template was so perfect and Bearizona and the Grand Canyon are pretty close to each other so it makes sense that it works for both. I think it looks different enough anyways. You can see some of my other books here. I have so many and I love them all.

 


Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Foothills Aquatics Center Video

Ever since Everly and I first visited the aquatics center a few weeks ago I had been telling my sister she needed to bring the boys because they would have a blast. We finally all went last weekend and had a lot of fun. I really wish that it opened earlier (Saturdays it opens at noon) but other than that I love it. We brought the go pro and although I am still learning how to use it, I think we got some great shots. Justin even jumped in off of the diving board with it. While we were there the whistles started blowing and everyone had to get out of the pool because a kid fell (he was totally fine) but that is what Everly is talking about at the end of the video. Teddy asked, "what was that sound" about 90 times even though he knew it was a whistle. Toddlers! I am pretty sure everyone napped fantastically after that, myself included.



Monday, July 27, 2015

Video Update

We took our Go Pro with us last weekend at the Phoenix Zoo for the Winter in July event. We have the lowest model of Go Pro so we don't know what we are shooting until we upload it later. The models with more features are crazy expensive. I finally got around to putting together some of the clips from that day. I am still not that great but someday I will have time to really play around with it more. For now, you get the picture and it is a great memory for our girls to look back on someday.


Friday, July 24, 2015

Weekend in Review

We got in a lot of activities last weekend. It all started off bright and early Saturday morning with a trip to the Zoo for the Winter in July event. We had not been to the zoo in a while and to this event in a few years so it was fun. We got there around 6:15. Crazy, I know! The zoo opens to the public at 7:00 but as members we get to skip the crowds and get in early and it is totally worth it. By the time we left they were using the overflow parking which includes a 10-15 minute walk to even get to the zoo. For the winter in July even they put snow out for the kids to play with as well as in several of the animals exhibits. They gave the tiger a "bloodsicle" but it really looked like a "fishsicle." Everly had fun throwing snowballs and at the splashpad. We also got to see a 4-d 15 minute showing of the Polar Express. Aspen jumped a bit during the show but it was pretty cute and who doesn't love Christmas in July?!? After the zoo it was still early in the morning so we picked up donuts and headed over to my sister's to hang out. Later in the afternoon we went to the mall to get my niece's ears pierced. The kids all did really great at the mall and Mae did pretty good with her ears as well. They had a bottle ready for her and I would say it was less painful then we my mom and I got Everly's done! On Sunday I got up and met my sister's and a friend to run 8 miles at 4:45 a.m. I followed that off with a donut. The rest of the day was spent cleaning/grocery shoppping/napping before we met my family up for a birthday dinner. My birthday was the 10th followed by my sister on the 13th and my brother on the 20th so we headed to Grimaldi's. The pizza was delicous. We had none leftover, haha. We even managed to get a decent group photo which is extremely rare. We ended the weekend with some splashing and rainbow chip cake!
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tiger in the background, Aspen sleeping in the Ergo
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Winter in July!
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Splashpad fun!
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Mae using Auntie Kim's chin as a binky and Everly holding Mae. 
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Left the #nsale with some cute goods.
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yes, yes I do.
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Sometimes he likes me. 




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our squad


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twinsies! Justin has a matching suit, too.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Sedona!

Last week I was able to go to a conference in Sedona for work. Justin and the girls came up to enjoy the hotel and surroundings as well. I hate being away from them so it was a win-win. The conference is held at the Hilton Sedona which is a beautiful resort. The rooms are suites which is perfect because Aspen was able to sleep in her own room. That way we didn't wake her up when we got ready to workout or watching T.V. before bed. Our room was right by the pool which Everly loved. She kept asking to go swimming. It was just really nice to be away from the normal office routine for a few days.
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working on my self-timer skills
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cutest little sleeper

Friday, July 17, 2015

10 Month Update

IMG_8674 Yesterday Aspen turned 10 months old. This past month was a big one for her. She is still tiny wearing 9-12 month clothes and in size 3 diapers (although she fits in 6 month onesies still). She has her first tooth and hit so many developments in the past month (pulling herself up to her feet, waving hi, clapping, doing "so big," and recently giving lots more kisses and even dancing). She is crawling fast and gets her knees and feet all dirty. Despite finally getting in her first tooth she hasn't been drooling or losing any sleep. She is an angel like that. She still loves her sister and watches everything she does and loves playing with her sister's toys. She loves taking showers and is warming up to the pool more. She is also doing great with her eating. She is eating all kinds of solid foods now (not purees) like bananas, avocados, green beans, berries, whole milk yogurt and cheese, black beans, and potatoes and we have tried little bits of chicken too. She has still not had one bite of grains and probably won't until her 1st birthday cake! She has actually been shoveling the food in her mouth too and loves those little freeze dried yogurt drops. I hope she goes to town on her birthday cake in a couple of months. She is also still 100% breastfed although I am starting to reduce that a bit in preparation for her turning a year and me doing other things besides nursing, haha. I have had a great experience but I am over the whole pumping thing. Last week I slept in and just nursed her when I woke up and then the whole rest of the day and that was the first day since she was a few days old that I didn't pump at some point in the day. Over 9 months of pumping at least once a day and more often 3 times a day can be exhausting. I am down to pumping once a day at work and my supply has gone down but I have a good amount frozen so it is okay that she drinks more at daycare than I currently pump. I actually think I might nurse her past a year but only once or twice a day if that. We will see how it goes but I am pretty proud of the fact that I have made it this far. Thankfully, Aspen makes it pretty easy. She is such a fun baby and we love her!

Monday, July 13, 2015

Grand Canyon for My 29th Birthday

On Friday I turned 29! I was the only person in my family who had still never been to the Grand Canyon so I told Justin that is what I wanted to do for my birthday. My sister and mom planned to come up as well. I didn't want to take any extra time off of work so we booked a night in Flagstaff for Friday night and drove up after work. Everly drove up early with my mom and sister. They got up to Flagstaff and played at a park and we met them at a brewery when we got up. It was sooooo nice in Flagstaff. After that we checked into our hotels. Nothing fancy but it did the job. We got up nice and early Saturday morning so we could beat the traffic getting into the park. The drive from Flag to the Grand Canyon is about 90 min and we got there at about 8:15 a.m. and it was perfect. The weather was mid-70's and there were lots of puffy clouds. We started at the visitor center and then headed to Mather Point which is the main lookout at the South Rim. From there we walked for a couple of miles along the Rim Trail. We stopped in at the Geology Museum and then ended our walk at the Village. From there we took a shuttle to one more view at Powell Point. After that we took the shuttles all of the way back and grabbed a quick lunch in Tusayan before heading back. We also stopped in Flagstaff on the way back to fill our growler at Wanderlust Brewing Co. Everly slept the entire 4 hour drive back to Phoenix so I think that is a sign she had a good time. We got home Saturday at around 5:15 so we were basically did the whole trip in 24 hours. I am so glad we went. It is a pretty amazing sight and just doesn't look real. Justin and I were talking in the car about how cool it is that Arizona has so many different types of places. People travel from across the world to see the Grand Canyon and we have it right here in our home state. Arizona is not perfect, no state is, but I think we are pretty lucky to call this place home. Justin also got me a GoPro for my birthday. I love documenting for the girls and wanted to take more videos. I still kinda have no idea what I am doing with it, but made a quick little video from our trip and I hope the girls love looking back on it when they grow up.

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Weekend in Review

Summer is basically here and we are already in full on pool season. On Friday I had the day off so I spent some time with Aspen and took he...