100 Calories Never Tasted So Sweet

I am on a bathing suit diet before our summer trips begin in July. Being on any diet is not very much fun, even if you are starting to see results after just 2 weeks (6 1/2 pounds and counting - woo hoo).

Jon is being a great support for me and actually going on the diet with me to help me stay honest. And it is much easier to be on a diet when your spouse is doing it with you. We are both pretty strict about it, especially during the week. And we are both a little grouchy and tired from the whole thing.

But since the new diet, I've discovered the world of 100 calorie treats. Don't get me wrong - I have been a big fan of these for a few years now, but it seems like they have so many more now!

I get to indulge in ONE 100 calorie snack a day and it is really hard to pick which one. There are popcorn 100 cal packs (love these because they are filling and a lot of it). There are 100 calorie Wheat Thins (tastes almost like the real thing),



100 calorie Cheetos (these really do taste like the real thing- like the cheese puffs you buy in a can),



100 calorie graham crackers (JD likes these too),



100 calorie Teddy Grahams (ditto for JD on these) and my newly discovered favorite 100 calorie choco animal crackers (SOOO good for the chocolate fix).

You just have to be careful because when you finish eating one package, it never feels like enough!! I always want more!

Remembering the Fun

We had a great Memorial Day weekend as a family!

On Saturday, we went out to the "compound" to visit with Jon's sister and her husband who were in town. JD had tons of fun and just a minor accident. Where is the video camera when you need it? JD tripped over the very dirty large dog (Cookie) and fell flat over the dog's back. The dog was so scared that he jumped up, taking JD with him and flipped JD over on to ground, where he landed on his back. JD was a bit shook up, but no major injuries. But we all decided that if we had been video taping it, we probably would have won on America's Funniest Videos.

On Sunday, we met up with Dara and the girls at their community swimming pool for JD's very first time in a pool! We got him all decked out in sunhats, sun shirts, swim trunks and swim shoes so that he could play in the pool. He really enjoyed it! We went back to Dara and Josh's for a cookout, where we had a smorgasbord of different foods - bratwursts, salmon, pork chops and corn on the cob.

On Monday morning, JD and I went to Baby Boot Camp where got a personal training session with Tricia, our instructor! I guess everyone else needed some R&R on Monday morning. It was a good workout though and helped me to justify all of the yummy food that we had over the weekend.

In the afternoon, we went over to our friends Jordan and Emily's house for another cookout. Jordan cooked over a cast iron pot and grate. We had chicken and lamb. It was all pretty tasty. And JD had a pretty good time visiting! Emma and Ellie came too which is always fun for JD.

Baby Fever!

There must be something in the water around here because there sure are a lot of new babies arriving!

As previously posted, we have a new niece Kenna (now 1 month old) and a new nephew Luke (just 4 days old) . On the way, we have (potentially - not 100% sure yet of the sex) a new nephew Jackson who is scheduled to make his appearance in September.

Now, we found out that my brother and his wife are expecting a new addition to their family - a little brother or sister for their daughter Marin Clare. He or she should be arriving in December!

What a blessing to have so many cousins for our little guy! He should have no shortage of playmates!

Meeting Luke David

We all went up to the hospital yesterday to visit with the newest member of the family - Luke David.

He had his eyes open for most of the visit and seemed to be able to focus really well already! He also has the thickest head of dark hair that I have seen on a baby recently. And I thought Kenna Beth had some hair!

Suzanne and David seemed very happy, although still pretty tired from their long night.

JD enjoyed meeting his newest cousin. I just know JD and Kenna are going to have so much fun with Luke!

JD had a lot of fun in the waiting room, while we were waiting to visit with David and Suzanne.

Welcome to the World Luke David!

Jon's brother David and his wife Suzanne welcomed their little boy into the world this morning, weighing in at 7lbs 1oz.

They had quite the experience with a very long labor for Suzanne. We are so proud of them and happy that little Luke David is here now. Here is his story.

I see a lot of family resemblance in Luke, just like JD. We'll see if he continues to hold onto those family genes.

We are going to try and go meet our new nephew and JD's new cousin this afternoon, so I'll post some more baby pics then.

Does Your Kid Do Anything Weird?

Yesterday, JD came up to me in the kitchen holding a pair of his navy socks in hand. I said thank you and took them. But then I noticed that he was holding his hand out. In the past, we have put his socks on his hand, just being silly, kind of like sock puppets.

So yesterday, I slid them on his hands. For some reason, he really enjoyed them and wore them around for quite awhile. Maybe this is his version of dress-up??

Tell me what your kid does weird, so I feel a little bit better about JD's sock hands.

Cousin Couchtime

We have had some fun with JD's cousins recently since I got to babysit Ellie and Marin last week. The kids all played pretty well together considering Ellie is more than a year older than the other two.


Marin was pretty adventurous and wanted to check out Ellie and JD at close range all morning. JD wasn't too worried about it, but Ellie didn't really want to be "man-handled" by her cousins.




This picture is from the quietest time of the morning - watching The Wiggles! This was definitely a common interest between all three of them.

JD really enjoys playing with his cousins. Good thing we have so many of them!

100

No, the title does not represent the number of times JD has spit up on me or the number of times that I have cleaned up a blowout (although the numbers are frighteningly similar).

This is my 100th post about my life as a new mom! It is amazing how quick the time has gone by. JD is a full-fledged toddler now, walking/running around and saying words and eating big people food (he had his first bean and cheese quesadilla last night, don't even talk to me about how gross that diaper was).

Life is still full of incredible discoveries, both for JD and me. I recently discovered that if you let a child drool, open-mouthed on your knee, eventually he will try to bite it too. JD discovered that if you bite mommy's knee, you might get an loud reaction and a discussion about biting.

This morning, he discovered rain. He ran to the window and pointed up as the raindrops were hitting the window. He looked back at me as if to say, "Mom, somebody's splashing water on the window! Can I help?"

I love to see his big, curious eyes and his little pointer finger, pointing out every new and wondrous thing that he comes across. He absolutely loves the mother's day card that he got for me. It has a picture of him on the cover and when you open it, there is a recording of JD saying "Mama" and then a song plays. He points to this over and over again to get me to open it so he can listen.

It is amazing to see life through your child's eyes. Happy 100th Post!!

A Visit with Aunties and a New Baby Cousin

JD and I went for lunch today with his Aunt Suzanne, Aunt Heather and Cousin Kenna. We had a lot of fun visiting with them.

JD was amazed by a loud car that drove by and kept saying "car, car" over and over again, which had us all in giggles.

I also noticed that JD was pretty impressed with Kenna (or "Baby" as he refers to her). I am going to predict that they will be getting into all sorts of mischief together soon.

He really enjoyed rocking her car seat. I don't think Kenna liked it all that much.

This one is kind of a baby version of American Gothic. All we need is a pitchfork...

Happy Mother's Day!

Ring Around the Rosy

It is fascinating to see what JD will take an interest in next. I love to see him so occupied as he analyzes a toy and tries it out in every possible way.

His current favorite toy is his ring set. He has figured out how they stack and can stack them correctly in order, but he doesn't stop there. He throws them all around the room and then goes to collect them one by one and place them on the stacker. He also places them (sometimes in order) on his arm. He also slides the rings under pieces of furniture so that he can retrieve them and then place them on the stacker. JD will also throw them in "jail," what we call the fireplace seat that blocks him from getting to the fireplace, and then reach in to pull them out and place them on the stacker.

The other night, JD played with his ring stacker for more than an hour! He never got bored with it. I am amazed by how much he has figured out to do with just one little toy!

Here is a cute pic of him after his time with the rings...taking a break in front of his elephant chair and "jail."

Kitchen Questions

Three electric appliances I couldn't give up:
1. Microwave, microwave, microwave - How could I eat my Lean Cuisines without it??
2. Toaster Oven - LOVE this little handy dandy contraption. I don't have to heat up the whole oven to heat up a baguette or crisp up some leftover fries!
3. Panini Maker - Rapidly becoming one of my favorite appliances. A boring turkey sandwich becomes fancy restaurant food after some panini machine time.

Three of my favorite gadgets:
1. Pampered Chef Mini-Spatulas - these are so handy for brownies or small items.
2. Salad Spinner - I can turn a head of romaine into a clean, delicious salad in no time! And now they have mini-salad spinners. This would be great for individual salads - need to get me one of those!
3. Pampered Chef Salad Dressing Mixer - it has its own whisk inside and measurements on the outside, plus dressing recipes right on the side!

Three favorite cookbooks:
1. The old Betty Crocker cookbook with all of the fattening yummy meals from the '60s. You can make REAL meatballs out of this sucker. My mom used to have this one and I found one for my sister a while back, but I still need to get me one!
2. Cooking Light cookbook - there are some really delicious meals in this one. You would never know that it was healthy.
3a. Southern Living annual cookbooks - I get so many good recipes out of these. My first one is from 1999. I have yet to make something out of these books that hasn't turned out pretty great.
3b. Southern Living Easy Weeknight Meals - Again Southern Living hasn't disappointed me with this book. EASY, fast meals (not necessarily healthy) that taste great.

Very Long Time

I guess it is all relative, but it seems like there have been a lot of things that I haven't done since before I was pregnant with JD.

- A really good night sleep without waking up
- A relaxing vacation
- Shopping just for me for no reason
- Laying out by a pool
- Watching a movie without interruption

Now that I look at the list, it looks pretty selfish! But I think it is easy to forget about "me time" when you have a baby.

Jon and I had the opportunity to watch a movie last night at home. JD crashed hard at 7:00 and there were no Stars games on, so we had ourselves a regular date night. We picked up some brie and a baguette and a decent (cheap) bottle of wine and found a movie that we had heard about on pay-per-view.

It was so nice to be able to watch a movie together and just enjoy relaxing for a change. The movie was pretty depressing (Atonement), but at least we enjoyed getting lost in the story for a bit.

AND - the best part is that JD slept in this morning until 7:45!! Icing on the cake!!