Eating cleaner

I don't know when it all started. I have always been interested in cosmetology and as I entered into high school I became more interested in health and wellness. I went to the gym regularly after high school, (because I had a job to pay for the membership) but I didn't eat all that great. We had very staple foods in our house. Always with moderation was our "thing", but eat whatever you want and exercise. I remember, one night after the gym, sitting at my families dining room table eating a pack of oreos and dipping it into whole milk. (delicious!) I was telling my dad that I just want to get leaner and have a defined stomach like my sisters. Skinny was never something I coveted, it was muscle, to be fit. He nodded to the oreos and said "maybe that's enough of those then". Yeah, I know, but they are so good!! I continued to exercise regularly while working without any real direction, just doing what I thought was working. I started to take diet pills to get ready for my wedding because while dating my husband, we ate out a LOT. I wanted to look good in my wedding dress. I diet pills made me jittery and I didn't sleep well. My skin and hair started to suffer as well. I had acne like I was 16 again. I got my weight down and my dress was a size 2!! I looked ok, but felt awful.

 After the wedding, I quit the gym and quit the diet pills. Life got busy and I got pregnant. I was so sick and all I craved was Vons brand beef raviolis. I was shrinking miserably and miscarried the baby. It was the saddest day of my life. After my body recovered I was on a mission to get back the weight I had thrown up for 3 months. A year later I was "healthy" and I got pregnant again. I was in cosmetology school by that time and wasn't nearly as sick as the first time. I craved Taco Bell bean burritos and Coke Slurpees. I threw up anytime I ate pizza. To this day I swear thats why he came out when he did. Ok, so its a long, drawn out, boring story. Five pregnancies, lots of crappy cravings, four babies born.

What happens after our babies are born is interesting though. As a whole, moms start looking at things differently. Things you eat and drink, products you use on your baby or that you put on yourself that touches your baby, even the environment you surround yourself with. At one time or another, even the most oblivious person starts to think about one of these things. I did. With each child I thought about a different thing. My first was food. People with Down Syndrome often times suffer with obesity and diabetes. I was a little crazy for a while trying to make sure he stayed away from anything sugar. As he got older I started to lay off and let him eat what he wanted because he was so picky that if he was willing to eat it then I would give it to him. Such a bad decision. His teeth started to wrot and his weight started to get out of control. With my second I was so focused on meeting developmental milestones. She blew those out of the water. My third made me go back to food. It had such a big impact on his behavior. We started to steer away from sugar, dairy, and then grains. My fourth sealed the deal. He had really bad eczema. I became a crazy person. everything affects eczema. Food, lotions, cleaners and my lanolin nipple balm.

 As I researched these things I found lots of things that scared me, it also made me angry and sad. How can I be feeding my children these poisons? How can I be putting them on their little developing bodies? That was it... I can't. I can't do this to myself or my children. I changed everything. We went on a strict paleo diet, switched all of our cleaners, lotions, shampoos, body washes and diapers to The Honest Company. I was done. Something crazy happened. My babies eczema was gone. My 3 year olds behavior was under control and he was sleeping through the night. My oldest was losing weight. Even more, I was losing weight, sleeping better, had more energy and all my acne was gone! It wasn't over night. We did purge our cupboards because we tried doing it slowly and that would only fail after 2 weeks. Everything else was cold turkey. We had to and we never looked back.

I am grateful for the changes we made. They have helped our family. Who doesn't want to be healthier, happier or sleep better for that matter?! Im not going to tell you that you have to do what I did, but I am going to tell you the number one thing you need to do. Start reading your labels!! If you don't know what it is, google it. If you still don't know, then maybe you shouldn't be using it or eating it. It shouldn't take a PHD to read a food or product label. It doesn't need to be complicated. My family isn't perfect. We have special treat day and go out to eat once a week. We don't worry when we go to parties or family get togethers. Its not easy. I am not a planner. I nailed down some staple foods so that if I am not prepared I still have something to throw together.

Just a tip, stick to the perimeter of your grocery store. There wont be any labels to read because it is all your fruits, veggies, meats, seafoods, bakery and dairy (if you eat those). Usually a safe bet. We could get into all of the organic and non GMO foods, but I will stick with the basics for now.

 Some say they don't need to change the way they eat because they don't have any special dietary allergies or restrictions. All I have to say about that is just because you don't have a diagnosis, doesn't mean you won't benefit from a healthier lifestyle. I would like to then point out each of the ailments they are suffering from that they just don't realize. Very rarely does the average person consume all of the necessary vitamins and minerals on a daily basis. We need to be more conscious of the foods we eat and look at that food as fuel. You need the right fuel in your bodies to keep it functioning properly.

How do I make my blog cute???

I suck at blogger. I avoid posting because I hate the look at my blog. I paid for a blog template, once, that I ended up deleting. I think I may have to do that again just so I like to look at my blog. If I had my own design... I love aqua blue and red. I love ladybugs and flowers. I like lines, but not chevron. Clean looking blogs are perfect. I don't like all the busy, in your face, distractions.... ugh, help me. This coming August, I will be all alone for 9 hours during the week. My number 3 will be entering kindergarten and my number 4 will be heading off to preschool. It is bitter sweet. I have been fantasizing about what I will do with my time. I love the idea of a game plan for my blog. A day to day structure. I am thinking -Monday: Making it with Mike (Vlog) -Tuesday: Total Talker with Zachary -Wednesday: What I wore... to the gym -Thursday: Thankful for crafts with Lily -Friday: Funday!! With Liam I just thought it would be fun to have my kiddos who inspire the blog to be apart of the blog. With the 9 hours I will have during the week, I would like to work on making this blog something special. Besides I would love to be an ambassador for certain companies and there is no way they will want me with a blog that no one looks at... Good luck to me.

Silly bugs

I love when kids get hit with the giggles. That uncontrollable kind, when their faces turn red and their bellies jiggle. We've had that a lot these days mostly due to Zachary. His personality is really showing and he is a bit of a class clown.

This is him trying to escape get thing dressed

And this is him pretending to be a roller coaster,sounds and all.

He's really becoming a little boy and we are all enjoying every minute of it

30!!

This week I will turn 30!! No, I am not asking for birthday wishes nor am I looking for condolences. This week I will reflect in the past 30 years and all I have accomplished. The saying "you are only as old as you feel" really rings true. Some days I can't believe I have a husband, 4 kids and a mortgage, other day I wonder when retirement is and fantasize about the days when I will miss "these days". 

Now to lay it all on the table... When Darren and I got married, I weighed 107 lbs. when I got pregnant with Michael, I weighed 111 lbs. Now, 10 1/2 years and 4 kids later... I weigh 138 lbs. (keep in mind, I am 5'2" and small boned) I realize that many of you will look at these numbers in disgust, for me, I do for an entirely different reason. There will not be another baby in our future, I have finished nursing Zachary and I am anxious to have my body back. Darren and I talk regularly about having a healthier family and what we can do to achieve this. Michael has a mild weight issue that is fueled by "fries chicken". This saddens me since we were so cautious about his food intake as a baby and it now has gone out the window. I feel like someone is always sick and rundown. I know this is because our eating habits (personal hygiene is something I am already very adamant about) Today I vow to change this for my family. 

My personal goal... Next year I will weigh 110 lbs. I am going to take hideous pictures of myself and post them monthly for the blogosphere to see. We will only eat out once a week at a non "fast food" restaurant. We will eat more fruits and veggies and less packaged foods. Juice and soda will be a treat instead of a staple. And we will act as if Hostess never returned. TV and video games will be replaced with family outdoor games. This time next year, my family and myself will be happier and healthier. 

Crazy hair day!!

Our favorite spirit day of the school year!! 

Michael wanted pipe cleaners in his hair too, but lets face it, even with some creativity, there was no way they would stay in his hair. So mike has blue hair. i chased him around the car in the morning to apply it because the second it came out of the can he ran. It was so cold outside and the can was pretty cold too. We could see the steam coming off his head. Our neighbors had fun watching us circle the car laughing. He was the only one in his class with crazy hair aside from his teacher.

Lily got crazy braids in a side pony. Yes it was time consuming and she was a total trooper. We used pipe cleaner to make it twisty and colorful. It was tricky to braid around, but after the first one I got the hang of how my fingers needed to move. Then we twisted the braids around a pencil to make them curly and stick all directions. This picture was taken at the end of the day and most if them had fallen. As we walked up to her class line, all of the moms and kiddos ooo'd and aah'd. One mom said, "uh, Lily wins!" They had a lot of crazy hair, or bed head in her class.

Evening swim

Zachary is crawling everywhere and fast these days. He crawls on tile flooring all day long, so concrete isn't a problem. While the kids were playing in the backyard last night after dinner, Zachary was chasing this giant green ball. When it hopped in the pool, so did he. It had been a nice day and the pool was in the sun long enough that the water was warm. He thoroughly enjoyed himself and we had fun watching him. This also then made the older kids think they might like an evening swim as well. Ahh, summer

What!?

This is awesome! I just found the blogger app! Yes, sad but true I didn't know it existed until now and not for a lack of trying. I thought there had to be an app to be able to post via mobile but each time I searched for "blog" in the App Store it wouldn't come up. Now you are all going to hear too much from me. So get ready cuz this is awesome! 

I started another new blog called "Bitty Bug Crafts" at bittybugcrafts.blogspot.com Yes it is a craft blog. I will put a link to get to it on this site when I am not mobile (squeal!) it may sound dumb, but I love to craft and have been sadly unable to do so for some time. I haven't made it a priority and when I did have the time I didn't have the desire. I don't know what changed, but I am now into over drive. This is all I think about that is all I dream about. I love having this creative side back! It is so therapeutic for me. So I created the blog to showcase all of the things I have and will be doing. Lets face it, if I become a craft blogger and make money doing so, that wouldn't be so bad either. ;) 

For now, just check it out and enjoy. I am going back to bed. ;)