Sugar detox

Hey friends! I’ve decided to do a sugar detox.  This is not to diet and lose weight, because I’m completely happy with my weight (although I could use some muscle tone!), I simply wish to rid myself of the processed sugar cravings and feel more energized!  I have a crazy sweet tooth.  I love gummy bears, chocolate, cupcakes, donuts, etc.  We actually eat very healthy here at home.  We don’t keep junk food in the house, we don’t buy sodas.  But I do have candy stashes.  In the back of the pantry, in my purse, and my nightstand!  Snack, snack, snack.  All day long.  Especially after dinner.  It’s so bad I actually plan out what sweet I will snack on after dinner.  If I know we don’t have anything in the house I’ll make sure to swing by a store to pick something up. 

My goal is to defeat the cravings, refresh my system and clear up my brain! I constantly feel like I’m in a fog and cannot focus or remember things clearly.  This will be difficult.  It actually already is! I’m on day 2.  I’ll share with y’all my progress, what worked, what didn’t, my failures and successes! I’m not doing a specific plan, just not eating foods that contain added sugars.  Fruit is fine obviously, it’s natural!  I will allow myself some honey and maple syrup in small amounts to sweeten my coffee, and oatmeal!  But that’s it. 

So day 2, I’ve actually had a little sugar yesterday and today. OOPSIE! But give me a break! I just started.  Yesterday I had a glass of snapple tea with my lunch and didn’t even think about it having sugar. duh!  Next I had a big spoonful of peanut butter.  It was natural peanut butter, but it still had added sugar.  Today, I ordered a lemonade with my lunch at chick-fil-a out of habit! As soon as I took the first sip I realized what I did. But I already paid for it. LOL.  But that’s all I had today so I call that a win compared to what I normally consume in a day!

I’m feeling very run down and tired.  Amplified by the fact that Mikalyn has kept us up the past two nights… I’m beat! I feel like I’m coming down with something too. Dry, scratchy throat, very thirsty, blah.  A good friend that I think to be the master of abstaining from bad foods assures me that after the first few days you start to feel much better so I’m holding onto that hope! I honestly don’t think this is as bad as what a caffeine detox would be…. I seriously doubt I will ever attempt that! But who knows, if I can conquer this one, maybe I can do a caffeine one too!

Jessi

Tipsy Tuesday: Easiest way to dice an onion!

Hey Friends!!  Welcome back to the blog Things have been so totally crazy since we’ve gotten home from Texas with Mikalyn blogging definitely took a backseat.  Things are still crazy, but I feel much more inspired to write and have a little less brain fog now that Mikalyn is a little bit older!  I am completely revamping the blog with a fresh name, fresh start.  Things are still a little under construction, but I can’t wait to reconnect with y’all through this blog again! 

Let’s kick this off with a Tipsy Tuesday! Each Tuesday I plan to share with y’all a great tip I’ve learned that has also proven to actually work! I want to share this awesome tip I’ve learned on how to dice an onion!  Seriously since I came across this tip from a random website many months ago I have used it almost daily and will never dice an onion any differently! I wish I could remember what website it was to give it credit but alas I cannot. 

To start, Slice your onion lengthwise through both ends like this:

Then chop one end like so: I prefer to leave the hairy end because it holds the onion together better while slicing. You will see why when you try it.

Next peel the outside layers back and you’re left with the first half you want to start dicing.

   

Take the half and slice into it towards the end but not completely so the end keeps the onion held together. Slice these as thick or as thin as you want.

  

Then turn it and slice across these cuts to get your perfectly diced little onions!

  

See how the natural layers of the onion allows each little dice to happen so easily?!

Now go chop your onions and prepare dinner even faster than before and spend less time crying over onions If you already knew this sweet tip then rock on with your kitchen skills! If you didn’t, please try it and let me know what you think! Happy Tuesday!

 

Jessi

Real sick, really messy, Real life

Today I had to laugh at myself and my life right now.  If you know me, or read my blog at all, you know how much I love to schedule and plan and organize.  Schedules make me happy.  I am constantly trying to implement new routines and organizational strategies to make our home run more efficiently.  These schedules and routines end up being more of an "idea" of what our days/weeks can look like.  More often then not I feel like super woman if even just one day falls into my ideal outline of chores to be completed, meals to be cooked, workout done, and fun time spent with Caden.  (I only name Caden here because let's face it, Mikalyn's source of entertainment so far is simply watching the family and her hands with amazement) 

With school starting in just two weeks, I thought (two weeks ago) it would be smart to get us all in the routine of getting to bed on time, and waking at a certain time so school wouldn't be such a shock when it starts.  Great idea right?! I thought so too! The first week went well.  I was loving getting up early, starting my morning and being so productive by the time lunch rolled around! Then Mikalyn got sick.  Sick babies are the fastest way to kill a routine! She had a couple of stools with blood in it (don't panic! she's ok) and a slight fever so I took her to the doc and they advised it could be a dairy allergy.  After sending a sample to the lab her results came back normal...meaning no infections to worry about.  So we're sticking with the dairy allergy idea for now....

What do you do for a dairy allergy in a baby?!  Well because I breastfeed I get to participate in the "no dairy diet".   Cutting out dairy in my diet prevents the milk protein from getting to baby's tummy and making her sick.  This. Is. Hard.  It's amazing how much dairy I normally consume a day.  I love milk.  Always have.  I have cheese as a snack, yogurt for breakfast or snack, a glass of milk, cheese on top of everything.  Caden is also in love with cheese.  Thankfully he has a gut like mine and can eat everything with no adverse reactions :) So Caden still gets cheese. And I get to serve it to him...and salivate.  Sadly it's been a week of no dairy for me and have noticed improvement in Mikalyn.  She spits up A LOT less and her stools are normal.  Yes I said sadly.  I was secretly hoping it was just a random weird thing that had nothing to do with anything and life would continue as normal with cheese and yogurt in my belly. 

Next Mikalyn got a terrible ear infection.  I say terrible not because the doctor deemed it as one, but because she was inconsolable until her meds kicked in and gave her some relief.  Or she exhausted herself from crying and fell asleep.  Poor little miss.  This was Thursday.  The next day she wakes up with extremely red eyes that obviously bother her because she's constantly rubbing them with her little fists.  After a call to the doc to see what he thinks, we're on our way to his office for the third time that week.  He prescribed her some eye ointment.... yes ointment, not drops.  Have you ever tried to gently put ointment into a baby's eye before?!  It's the worst.  Trying to hold her little head straight and keep her eyelid open while you attempt to put ointment onto her terrified little eye looking at you.....breaks your heart.  She got better.  (Every time I say something with "got better" I automatically say it in my head like the line from monty python and the holy grail.)   haha. ohh goodness. Really though, she's much better now! Back to herself which includes smiles and sleeping through the night! (mostly)

So this weekend I was ready to start fresh and get back into it.  And I got sick. I now have strep throat and am terrified of getting the kids sick.  Especially Mikalyn.  I have ups and downs of feeling good and feeling like I've been hit by a truck.  I'm on my own meds now that should have me feeling better in a couple days.  In the meantime I get to try and work on TWO papers for my classes this week and take a two part midterm. Yeehaw.

As you can probably imagine my house is currently a mess.  Jeremy has taken to doing the dishes because as one of my most hated chores I let the dishes pile up in the sink.  I run my hand across the furniture in an attempt to get rid of the dust, fold laundry that's been sitting in baskets for days, try not to notice the bathrooms that need cleaning,  and all I keep thinking is how awesome it is that Caden starts pre-school in two weeks!!  I feel bad that I'm not emotional about it.  Maybe because he has gone to a mother's morning out program before?  This is different though because he will be going 5 days a week!  And it's an actual school, not just a MMO.  I'm mostly excited for Caden.  It will be nice for me to have mornings to work on school work, but Caden has been in a season with us where we allow a little too much tv and ipad time.  Some serious mom guilt going on over here.  So I'm thrilled for him to be going to school to learn and be social with his friends! 

My life right now looks nothing like I pictured it not long ago.  I haven't yet figured out how to realistically get workouts in my days.  My garden is about to be torn out because I can't devote the time and energy to taming it and the bugs that are wreaking havoc! I had a desire to home school Caden that changed because of our decision for me to go back to school and work towards my degree.  I'm so thankful I get to do it, and love the challenges it's already bringing me, but, in the words of my dad: "holy buckets!" this is hard!  Make no mistake I do look for the blessings in everything but Jesus has to help me with that because this mama can't do it all by herself!

Just thought I would share what's up around here for REAL.  The not-so-glamorous life of Jessi :)

Moving forward as a family of 4

Hey friends :) Good morning! I'm sitting here at my desk overlooking our street, the sun's rays are shining through the trees, birds are chirping and looking for breakfast, bees busy flying around the flowers, and the promise of a new day just beginning.  I'm filled with joy knowing God's love for me and my family. 

Mikalyn had another check up with the hematologist last week and her labs came back completely normal :) She's a perfectly healthy little girl and no one would ever know what she went through to come into this world.  The same can be said for Caden! Not many people know, or remember that he had 3 transfusions after he was born and stayed in the NICU for 9 days before he came home with us, and even that was with a bilirubin light blanket.  When you start planning for a family you can never imagine how your plans will change, and how God will never let you down. 

We have been through this crazy season of pregnancy, loss, uncertainty and overwhelming joy.  Now we will be moving forward as a family of 4.  I'm so excited for this next season of life!  I've started school online and it has forced me to really be mindful in how I schedule my time.  While I've never been a morning person, I've always wanted to be able to rise early and ease into my mornings.  I'm pretty sure I've blogged about that on several occasions :)  This week I've been able to get up around 6!  I could attribute it to Mikalyn waking up anywhere from 5:30-7 in the mornings.  But hey it's helping me develop a routine!  And I praise JESUS every morning for how well she sleeps.  Seriously this girl is a scary good sleeper!  She routinely goes to bed around 10, and doesn't wake until the next morning like I said, around 5:30-7.  This morning I was able to get up, cook breakfast for myself (oatmeal with peaches), and Jeremy (eggs with veggies).  Make coffee, start a load of diapers, and prepare and pack Jeremy's lunch before little miss even wiggled around.  Not only does she sleep that long at night, but after I feed her in the morning and change her diaper she drifts back off to sleep for another few hours.  I always thought those people that said their little babies were sleeping through the night were ridiculous and crazy.  haha! Oh thank you Jesus. 

You have no idea how good it feels to be able to blog about normal things instead of medical drama! I'm going down for my second cup of coffee.  Caden is eating breakfast and singing along with Super Why, and Mikalyn is making sweet baby sleeping noises in her bassinet. *sigh* :)  I hope yall have a great day!

Hey yall :) Since we've been back home I've been terrible at updating the blog.  But if you're close friends and family you already know that Mikalyn is making her own blood!!  She's doing so amazing and couldn't be more squishy and cute :) God has brought us through so much.  Provided everything for us to get to this point.  The doctors, the ability to be with the best, near family, and the financial peace that came with it.  I've noticed that throughout this process even though God has provided so much, my relationship with Him is not as strong as it was in the beginning. 

Isn't that sad? It takes trial and heartache for me to seek Him out on a daily basis? And while I praise Him everyday and thank Him for our beautiful miracle all day every day I have somehow stopped really talking to Him.  I stopped reading my bible, stopped trying to learn.  And I feel the difference.  Of course that is probably being a mom to a little bitty baby, a four year old and my mind on a million and one things trying to build new routines and getting ready to start school next week!

Today was the first day I was able to attend a women's bible study and wow how amazing did that feel to be surrounded by other moms who all understood each other, and discuss God's plan for us as mothers.  We talked about building our own relationship with Christ and learning and studying the bible in order to lead by example for our children.  I admitted my struggle with making the time and that usually when I read or attempt a devotional I'm doing it to just check the box.  To say yep I did it.  Then I tend to not make the time to read because I know I'm just checking the box and probably not going to get much out of it. 

This week I've been trying to be more intentional with my daily routine.  To rise early and workout, prepare healthy, real meals for our family, spend actual play time with Caden instead of constantly telling him go play with his toys.  In order for me to accomplish the things I want throughout my day I need to get in the habit.  Wake up early each day.  Go to bed at a decent time.  Get the chores done that need to be done.  In order to build habits you need to do them every day right? I think I remember hearing somewhere it takes 21 days to develop a new habit.  I know when I try to get back in the routine of working out I need to some days just do it.  Even if its not the most spectacular workout. So wouldn't it work the same with carving out time for the Lord?  And is it not far more important?! Will I always have a deep spiritual moment? No.  But Ill be reading, and something will stick even if I don't know what at the time.  So my point is that I wont feel badly if some days I really just checked the box.  Because I'll eventually develop the routine.  And once the routine is built, even if I don't feel like it some days, Ill still need to check that box and make the time or else Ill begin to fall out of habit again. 

I want my habits to include the Lord. So I can glorify Him and show my children how important it is to do the same! What's your daily routine? And what helps you stay on top of it?