Baking Buddy

Last week for special time with Zeke, he wanted to make cupcakes. We had a good time doing so! 

I love this little guy so much! Have a great Labor Day weekend! 

Flashback Friday

A year ago Zeke looked like this...

And here's Levi and I...

Reminds me to enjoy the moment I'm in, I'll never get it back! 

Eight Months Old!

Levi, you are 8 months old today! Here's what you've been up to the past month: 

- You weigh about 19 lbs. & I've started dressing you in some 9 month clothes. 

- You are crawling everywhere! And the past couple of days you're getting the coordination of alternating arms and legs -- real crawling! You like to really lead with your hands high in the air and I think it's actually making you faster! You're pulling up on anything that will hold still! You move so fast, Mommy has to be very careful of where I set you down. You often crawl into the kitchen and start picking up food (or other small bits) and eating it. Agh! I can hardly keep up and now I need to clean even more?! I try to vacuum the rug every morning because your pincer grab is quite developed and you apparently have great eye sight because I find you munching on things a lot ;) You found the door stop a few days ago and like the *boing* sound it makes. A couple of days later I noticed you were chewing on something and you had managed to pull off the plastic piece and were chewing it up! What a piece of work :o) 

The start of pulling up in your pack-n-play.

Love the look I was able to capture on your face here! 

Getting your feet wet at Glenwood Springs, CO 

Starting to sit up more and more. You also do pretty good balancing on your knees. 

- You definitely miss me when I leave the room. I try to avoid eye contact as I do, it seems to lessen the blow. You like to pat things on your hand and sometimes I think you know what you're doing when you wave "bye-bye." We've noticed you sticking your arm out and moving it up and down a couple of times!

You like to swing pretty well! 

Playing with big brother makes you happy! 

- You are "talking" more. Adding a lot of "bah bahs" this month.

Trying to bring down your fever. You were sick a couple of times this past month :( 

MOPS cookout near Loveland Lake 

- You now have your two bottom teeth! Your little smile with them is super cute!

At the spray park, you think it's so funny when I wear hats. You try to pull and bite on the visor. 

- You like to eat what I'm eating. Sometimes if I don't think you can eat what's on my plate, I try to give you baby food and you'll scream and cry and fuss until I manage to find something that will appease you. You like eating off my fork and drinking out of an open cup (still) better than your own sippy cup. Although you are starting to use your own cup more. You are feeding yourself and getting about 75% of the food in your mouth!

Playing with a new friend at the park.

- You are transitioning from three naps to two. Some days you squeak in a third, but for the most part you're done by 3 and then are starting to go to bed closer to 7:30 pm... and sleeping for almost 12 hours! Yes, you do wake up a time or two... or three, but still, it's fantastic!

Balancing on a hill, on the motorcycle. 

Levi, Mommy and Daddy love you so very much! We enjoy watching you grow and learn and explore which you are doing quite fervently at this point in life! You smile easy for us as well as perfect strangers. I can't wait to see what this next month holds!

So You Think You Can Paleo?

Last year my sister and her family started buying cookbooks about and eating a Paleo diet. Then earlier this year, I had a friend on Facebook talk about switching to a whole food diet. In June, I had another friend and her husband do the Whole30 challenge. So I began to get interested. What is this Paleo thing all about? What exactly are whole foods? So while I was visiting my sister this summer, I began reading her cookbooks about the whats and whys of paleo. To simplify (very much so) it's eating like a dinosaur -- fruits, vegetables, and meat. Some people do it because they can't have gluten and dairy; others do it to lose weight. But overall it looked like everyone felt better and was healthier because of it.

Before I continue, I want to make a few sweeping declarations. When I refer to "diet" I just mean: what I eat. Not as in, "I'm on a diet"; just, "Her diet consists of fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, and grains." Next, eating healthy doesn't really come natural to me. I have a sweet tooth. And when I say that, I mean, I could eat a cookie (or two) after every meal and think nothing of it. Things that people consider, "too rich" usually don't even phase me. I remember in college, I would occasionally wonder, "When was the last time I had a fruit or vegetable?" Yikes! I do not miss those days! How did I not feel crummy all the time? All that to say, I'm not someone writing about this topic because it comes easy to me, I want to make a change and I'm going to have to work at it. Maybe like you will too.

Overall, our diet has improved greatly over the last few years. We are eating a significant amount of fruits and vegetables each day. When Zeke started eating with us, I particularly wanted to be a good example to him. At 2 1/2 years old, he still chooses fruit over dessert on a regular basis. I found myself thinking, why not change my way of thinking now when I don't have to try to convince my kids too. I'm not really an all or nothing kind of gal, that's too frustrating and overwhelming to me! So I have decided to try eating paleo one day a week, on Tuesdays.

I've done it for the past three Tuesdays. Today will be the fourth. It's not the easiest thing, and I'm still not far from perfect, but my motto since having kids is, "Progress is progress." For example (this is a little embarrassing, but in an effort to be encouraging to others) I drink coffee in the morning with sugar, milk, and *gulp* coffee creamer. Yes, it looks more like milk than coffee when I drink it, but it's the way I've found I like it. So on paleo days, I eliminate one of those things, usually the creamer. Now before you yell at me, "Hey! You can't have sugar and milk on a paleo diet!"... I know, I know. I promise, I know. But like I said, for me, it's making these small changes at a time. So eliminating one of those things to start with, feels like a doable change. And it is. I don't feel defeated by 9 am because I hate the coffee I'm drinking. Then I usually have eggs, meat, and vegetables for breakfast. It tastes better than I expected. And you know what? I actually don't feel {as} hungry by 10:30 am as I do on the days I have cereal or muffins for breakfast. Really that should tell me something right? Protein! I've heard it before and now I'm saying it, it really does help you feel fuller for longer. Then for lunch I have some meat, veggies, and fruit. An iced coffee and some fruit in the afternoon. And I've found I really like taco salad for dinner (which I plan to make for the month of August.) I can put so much on it that I can have and it tastes good and I don't need my usual ranch dressing (like I usually prefer for salads). I use lettuce, chicken or ground beef, corn, pico de galo, black beans, and some salsa. I even took a picture. Doesn't it look good?

It was already half gone when I decided to snap the picture. 

Last Tuesday I calculated how many servings of fruits and veggies I had eaten, and I think it was 10! 10 servings of fruits and veggies! Do you realize how good that is for your body? And the crazy thing is, unlike most days of the week where I'm deciding if I can have 1 or 2 cookies to stay within my allotted calories for the day, I actually texted my sister of more ideas of what to eat because I was under for the day! That pretty much never happens!

I have no idea if this is something I will every completely switch to. I plan to continue doing it one day a week through the end of the year and then deciding in January if I'd like to switch to two. From what I've experienced these past few weeks, I see no drawbacks to trying this. Yes, some days will be (and have been) difficult. Around 2 pm I usually have a pretty good hankering for some chocolate/cookies/grains! But, once again, when I know it's only for the day, I can usually push through. So here we are, Tuesday again, my fridge is full of fruits and vegetables, ready to be eaten and enjoyed!

To life... eating healthier one day at a time!

A Whole New World

"You've never showed me this before, Mom!"

Zeke is 2... and a half!

Ezekiel, you are 2 1/2 years old! Your vocabulary skills are taking off like a rocket! Some cute, funny, impressive things you've been doing since your second birthday are:

2 1/2 years old today! (7/27/14)

-- The other day at supper we gave you a bowl of yogurt and blueberries, and you proclaimed, "I love blueberries!" Now you are starting to say it about other things too... "I love ice cream!" I love pizza!" You are starting to make associations of how you are feeling. Sometimes when I ask you how you are doing you pause and then say, "Just... good." You are doing pretty good with your manners too! You say please when you want something; thank you when it's given to you; and when someone else says thank you to you, you follow up with "You're WELcome!" It's the best! You are starting to use 4-6 word sentences pretty regularly. I can usually understand you; and if not, we can usually figure it out through context or actions. 

You look so grown up in your hoodie 

Enjoying some mexican food at On The Border 

-- We've started to ask you to make a "funny face" for pictures, because we can actually get a semi-smile!

-- You run most everywhere you go these days. And as you do, you let your jaw flop and make a "ahh/ehh" noise with every footstep.

-- Dora's still not too sure of you, but you keep trying to love her! Most of the time you are gentle. You have started to feed her when we ask (way to go!) and you tell her "no" or "move" when you hear us telling her the same things.

-- You do a pretty good job playing with your little brother! You are fairly gentle and let me know if something falls on him. (I'm trying to teach you to take it off of him!) Recently you have started acting like you're excited to play with him! I look forward to this more and more as you'll entertain each other!

Playing before church today

Blurry, brother love

Garden of the Gods (April)

-- You love anything with lines: electrical cords, hoses, and in this picture, scarves. You kept stringing them together from end to end.

April 3, Daddy's birthday

-- You really enjoyed taking Kindermusik classes from January - May. You got your very own harmonica. You learned to play several types of drums (which you totally showed your skills last weekend when we went to New Castle and you joined in while we were singing!!), learned about opposites in music like loud/soft, fast/slow, smooth/bumpy, and more. And it was great interaction with other kids your age.

Last day of Kindermusik

-- You're wearing size 5 diapers; we bought two packages of XS briefs for you. Adorable! We're going to start potty training soon.

You continue to love fruit, especially blueberries! 

Just so cute! 

-- At night you typically sleep from 9:30 pm - 7 am (notice I say typically!) and you take an afternoon nap, usually from about 1:30 pm - 3:30/4 pm. You do great in your twin bed! We usually read you a book or two, you like to have on your stereo (usually listening to "Frozen" or recently Vivaldi), then we sing a song or two, and then you go to sleep.

Snuggling with Curious George. Your current favorite show. (Or "movie" as you call all TV and movie watching.)

You tried so hard to not let me catch you on camera for this picture! 

Jogging in a circle to "The Jog" at Mommy's 5K in May. 

Mother's Day 2014 

Eating donuts for breakfast with Mommy on her birthday

I think you are so handsome in this picture! What a pose! 

Checking out your new rocking chair from Uncle Rob and Aunt Mardella 

Cantaloupe! While Levi looks on...

-- You took swim lessons the beginning of June. Unfortunately we were unable to finish, but you did so great! You learned to blow bubbles and you really started kicking even better the second week. You can touch on the kids' side of the pool and you started jumping in for me too! I was very proud of you and still hope we might be able to make up the last 3 days. You have been enjoying both spray parks in Loveland too!

Blowing Bubbles 

Zeke and Haddie 

-- You weigh a little over 32 lbs. and are approximately 37 inches tall. It's hard to measure someone who doesn't stop moving! 

You love being outside... and playing with this sprinkler toy! 

Zeke on his first pony ride during Berthoud Day (June 7, 2014) 

Visiting Pop-Pop's new house in the Springs. Eating ice cream. Sitting together, of course! 

-- You are wearing size 2T clothes, size 8 shoes. You have started taking off your sandals by yourself, they're velcro. You can't quite put them on yet.

Playing at Pirate Ship Park in Vail, CO (July 21, 2014) 

Chocolate cake? Or black beans? It's usually one or the other! I think this was actually chocolate this time. 

Getting ready to watch a movie with Aubry. You love playing with her! 

-- You did great as we traveled to NE, MO, KS, and IA for 2 1/2 weeks to see family and friends. You enjoyed looking at books, especially with your tag reader, watching movies on the new DVD player (especially while wearing headphones!), looking for tractors, backhoes, and bulldozers, and playing on your new LeapFrog phone on the way there and your backhoe on the way home. You also enjoyed eating snacks and did try to help keep Levi entertained some too. 

On the way home from the Henry Doorly Zoo... minutes from falling asleep! New turtle pillow from Grandma Pam

Greatly enjoying the sandbox at Grandma's house (July) 

Picking potatoes with Aunt Teresa and Uncle Paul 

Ezekiel, you are such a kind, gentle, thoughtful little boy. Can you believe you're halfway to 5 years old (aka Kindergarten)?! Mommy sure can't! You are starting to be funny and make us laugh. You surprise us by how well you remember things we've said or done. You are a super helper to Mommy -- getting the broom to sweep after meals, feeding Dora, watering the garden and flowers, vacuuming, getting diapers for yourself and Levi, taking clothes to the hamper, bringing things I ask of you. I pray you continue to listen to, obey, and help Mommy and Daddy as you get older. I love your hugs, kisses, and snuggles. I look forward to the days ahead with you. I pray you will know the Lord and walk in His ways and truth. You made me a Mommy and I will always, always be thankful for you. You bring joy to my life and are teaching me how to be more gentle and selfless. I could go on and on about more details and qualities, but please know I will always love you. I am proud of you. And I'm grateful to be on this journey of life with you. Love, Mama