For some reason

I've been feeling happier lately- more satisfied with each day. I enjoy just being. I feel more positive in general and have a pleasant feeling inside me. Life feels simple and good. I am proud of keeping my house in order, doing better at staying on top of dishes and other tasks. Not over-scheduling (not that I really did before), but going with the flow of the day. Spending the evenings catching up with projects or to-do's so I can focus more on my kids during the day and still feel accomplished and not behind. Making sure we eat our meal before we get hungry and ornery, and even when my kids do get ornery, or fussy, or clingy, or don't eat all their food, or don't eat any of their food, I am taking it in stride without becoming overly annoyed. I still get short with my kids but shortly find a way to just love them. I think they must just be too easy to love despite it all. They are so precious.

Ultrasound

Get ready for Blue!

We're having a BOY! Brian and I are totally siked. I think I go to bed at night with a smirk on my face as if I myself planned it this way, because I don't think it could be any better. We're so excited we get to have a boy this time. All the while, this knowledge makes me indulge in my two sweetest girls even more and makes me possessive over them as if I may not have any more darling girls. Gosh they're wonderful! I know having a boy will be just as wonderful!

Caramel Apple Green Smoothie

Caramel Apple Green Smoothie (www.healthfulpursuit.com)

Looking for a new green smoothie, I saw this and had to try. Made it today. Unhealthified it only a tiny bit and it is amazing! The texture of mine came out with bits of chewiness (probably from the dates or frozen apple bits) and I loved it, but you could probably blend it extra long to make it smoother (or get a better blender than mine!).

• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 frozen apple
• 2 T sunbutter (I used peanut butter)
• 2 cups spinach
• 2 medjool dates, pitted (I used Deglet dates)
• splash of vanilla
• pinch of cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 2 ice cubes

Instructions: Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.

The apple: I was going to make this recipe last night, but didn't have a frozen apple, so I threw it in the freezer and made this for breakfast instead. I thought I could cut out the seeds and stem after frozen, but that was a joke. Instead I threw it in my blender alone (which worked well) and as it got smaller, I was able to cut it in half and remove seeds and remainder of stem. Funny story: I bought us each an apple at the farmer's market yesterday (yummy, BTW) and as Aspen chomped away at it in the car, I realized she left nothing uneaten... even the seeds and stem. yikes! Maybe she spit out the stem in some inconspicuous place... maybe not!

The sunbutter: this is like peanut butter but made with sunflower seeds and is natural with no added sugar. My Skippy peanut butter had added sugar, of course, and my resulting smoothie was plenty sweet with that and the dates.

The dates: In my research and taste testing, Medjool dates are slightly bigger, more 'caramel-like' on the inside because of the gooey texture and milder date flavor, and a bit more expensive. They are absolutely irresistable. Deglet dates are more common, slightly less expensive, with a bit stronger date flavor that is almost licorice-like. Both are delicious and similar enough to be interchangable. Dates are used often to sweeten 'healthy' foods. I almost added an extra date, but DO NOT; it is plenty sweet!

The cinnamon & salt: I totally forgot to add these- oops! Still good.

The texture: Aspen didn't like my chewy textured smoothie at first but when she drank it from my cup, it was miraculously so much better. Funny girl.

Random thoughts

Sisters Moment
I just put the kids "to bed" together in Avery's bed because they asked for it. (Obviously I knew this wouldn't last long, but sounded like a fun endeavor.) As they played quietly, I shortly heard a large THUD and waiting for a fuss, instead I heard a light chuckle then a harder chuckle from the other and continually until they were both chuckling so hard! I love overhearing these moments! I'm happy that they like to be together and are great sisters.

Pregnancy
Some things that are just awkward in pregnancy: TYING MY SHOES!, kids sitting on my lap, cooking at the stove / doing dishes, picking up stuff that falls on the floor (it's just not worth it), and "squeezing" by people at church. Otherwise, pregnancy isn't so bad, especially in the second trimester.

I'm concerned that I haven't tried as hard to exercise this go-around. I've settled for: "hey, I lug around two kids and push them in a stroller up a gigantic hill to the playground and back... that's something." Yet if I want to feel confident in naturally delivering another baby (should that be the case), I want to be more fit and ready. That's important. I also need to drink more WATER! Oh, it can be difficult. I try, I really do, but need to push it much more. I can tell a big difference in the way I feel when I drink better.

Healthy food
I must be obsessed, but I spend lots of time exploring healthy eating. The research is the most part. I can't stand anymore how much sugar, fat, salt, dairy, and processed-ness is part of everything! It makes me feel so yucky (literally, not just mentally). Yet it's so hard to cut it all out when that's all I know. The transition is hard for me and my family. Some things are pleasantly easy to transition and some much harder. Therefore, when trying to come up with a menu, it takes loads of time to figure out just what kind of recipe will work for our family. A lot of healthy blogs I'm searching are too extreme for my family so I find myself "un-healthifying" a bit and mainstreaming some of the funky ingredients to make it work. So funny.

I'm pleased to say my kids like: homemade oatmeal with frozen strawberries, a little honey, and dates; sugar-free applesauce, homemade yogurt (with little sugar), banana-orange whole wheat muffins, grapefruit (well, all fruits), carrots/broccoli (cooked for Aspen), cucumber, salad for Avery, tomatoes for Aspen, and canned green beans (they love that stuff).  Of course they love a myriad of greasy, cheesy, sugary things too.

Some interested facts about some store bought items.... All the following have more sugar per serving than a glazed donut: Poweraid, Vitamin water, strawberry yogurt, Ragu pasta sauce, Raisin Bran... and that's all I can remember. Did you know the Apple Jacks cereal advertises giving your child a healthy start with their whole grain and fiber-full breakfast? I doubt their whole grain or fiber will do much positive work when SUGAR is the FIRST ingredient!! How can our kids last through the morning without major ups and downs when they're running on sugar? A health expert I listened to recently said that breakfast is so important and you need in it: fat, protein, and fiber.

My greatest interest right now is: removing excessive sugar, steering away from so much dairy (not that dairy is bad for us), pumping my foods full of fiber / protein / whole grains as much as possible, and trying to eat more veggies and nuts. Those are my most basic goals as of now. Starting up some bread making would be nice.

Out on a limb!

On date night, after dinner we were browsing Smiths grocery (which is the common thing to do when you're out past 8 in Los Alamos!) and we got a wild hair...

Brian said while cruising the cosmetic isle "how about you dye your hair!" Random, maybe, but the topic has come up before and I've never ever felt the need or great desire to do so since I'm very content with my hair color. 

Well I guess I was feeling spontaneous and a bit adventurous... time to feel like a college kid again! We got a medium auburn for me and black for Brian. 

In the end, both changes were so subtle, people hardly noticed even when we pointed it out... but it was fun and worth it... good times!

Before:

After: (do I look oh so devilish?)

Can ya see the traces of Auburn at all, can ya? They're there!

Before:

 After: (dye & hair cut)

Baby #3

Yep, we've got another one cookin' in the oven. At last we are spreading the word! I'm 17 weeks now and pretty close to knowing the gender!! Glad to be done with the first trimester in all it's bliss (har, har). This pic was taken at 14 weeks and I look much more pregnant now so I'll have to post another pic later. :)  We're due April 11 (that's Easter time!).

Downstairs DONE!

Yessss, another project finished (tiled 'baseboards' in the hallway, trim around back door, paint back door).... and might I add, this COMPLETES the entire downstairs!!!!!

Original...

Finished...

 (ah, it's the little things that take so much energy!)

Steps along the way...

 Too bad no a pic of me grouting...

Grateful Turkey

For Family Night, we did a turkey craft together and each day we will add slips of paper of things we're thankful for to his pouch. :)

Girls, girls

 Avery giving a back ride

 Aspen getting plenty dirty! She put these on by herself.

 Giving a kiss to Nala (yuck, I know, but super cute)!

 Getting a kiss back....

 No, Nala. Just me.

 Aspen is going picky eater on me!

 Trick-or-treating at the hospital with the fam. I also took Avery around the neighborhood with her friends.

 Aspen was sick for a few days with a fever, probably from candy overload. :( poor gal. The headband is holding on her ice rag.

 We bought a kindle fire hd! Woohoo! The kids, of course, think it's the best.

Avery showing off her coloring.

First Hair Cut

At almost 20 months, Aspen has her first cut to get rid of the wispy rat tail :)

Before...

 darn cutie pants...

Here's Avery's first cut for fun too! Hers also happened to be at 20 months!

North Mesa Stables Trail

Conveniently we can get to this trail by biking from our home. The trail itself is a long, wide dirt/sand path which we could take the bike trailer on. The end of it gets a little rocky though so we did some walking. This path takes you out to the tip of a mesa with a rewarding view! There was also a side single track trail for mountain biking. Brian had been on it before so I got to take this route this time; it was SO fun! Thanks, Brian, for doing the hauling. We did the trip Saturday afternoon in a couple hours in the sharp sun.

We got to reward the kids at the stables playground in the end.

Avery and Aspen loved going down the slide side-by-side and racing back to be the next one down. :)

Preschool Child

Yesserie Bob. Avery is a little preschooler. I decided to join some other mom-friends of mine to do a co-op preschool where we rotate teaching a mother goose curriculum. The kids meet twice a week for 2 hours. I love it; Avery loves it!

Labor Day Weekend

Brian took off early Thursday and we headed to a campground near here (not quite a 2 hour drive) called Tres Piedras. It was lush and green... such a nice getaway! Our campsite was wonderful. On friday we played disc golf at a neighboring ski resort during the day- Brian was in heaven! We had a good family time, but decided to cut our trip short by leaving late Friday night; Aspen had stomach issues and the previous night was long and cold (kids not sleeping well). We should return there again though!

Saturday we spent picking and canning peaches, peaches, and lots more peaches!

Sunday my sister Karen flew in from TN to visit us a couple days! Unfortunately I didn't get my camera out much- wish I had a pic with her in it!! Below is Avery sporting a hat at the store. We got a fabulous cheese danish at a french bakery in downtown Santa Fe together and had a wonderful time with Karen with us!