Sitting Up

I just wanted to mark the milestone of Chase sitting up. I haven't started his baby book yet so I need to keep track of his milestones somewhere! He started sitting up a week after he turned 6 months old and now he can sit up pretty well, with minimal wobbliness. I even trust his skills enough to let him sit up in the tub. He likes that, since it lets him play with his bath toys easier.

Our Anniversary Date

On Tuesday Chase and I went down to Orem to meet Jason for lunch. Since it's hard to get out for dinner with a baby, we decided to go out for lunch for our anniversary. We ate at Mimi's Cafe, one of my favorites. That night, Jason surprised me and asked our friends Meghan and Nate to babysit so we could go out to a movie. We went and saw Kung Fu Panda, it was sooo cute and funny. I can't wait to take Chase to movies! When we came home, there were four bouquets of flowers set up around the kitchen from my sweet husband. It was a good day. Thanks Meghan and Nate for babysitting! I really cherish the times Jason and I can get out by ourselves for a few hours, since it rarely happens now! We hope to stay overnight at either the Blue Boar Inn or the Grand America in July sometime so we can have a little getaway this summer!

Hates Eating But Loves Making a Mess

Chase is still being a stubborn eater. He clamps his mouth shut and turns his head away from the spoon. I get maybe 2 spoonfuls of food in at the most during eating time. Maybe someday...

Anyway, he hates his food but he loves getting it on his hands, then spreading it on his high chair tray. I caught some pictures of him playing with his food.

Luckily we had applesauce so it didn't make too big of a mess
Spreading his hand in it...
He will drink fruit juice so I think I'll just give him fruit juice each day for the next few days so he gets used to different flavors, then maybe it will open up the door for food...

I am also going to try some recipes from this great baby food making book I have, real baby food is nasty. I don't blame him for not liking it. The book is called Blender Baby Food, the picture I posted of it is at the beginning of this blog. I don't know why it's so difficult to move pictures on blogger. I'll let you know how he likes them!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Two years ago at this exact time, Jason and I were busy getting married...


Followed by a trip to paradise (St. Thomas)
And ultimately resulted in the creation of our new family:
It has been a wonderful 2 years, filled with fun times and of course, a little turbulence every now and then. I am lucky to be married to someone with the best sense of humor, who is absolutely hilarious, works extremely hard for his family so he can spoil us (not only does he have his normal job, he has 3 other businesses to run and grow), someone who is very artistic (he can draw and paint! and not just good, he can draw and paint incredibly well. I keep bugging him to make us some artwork for the house), is a fantastic cleaner and organizer (when he actually does clean and organize), has fabulous decorating taste, is very handy around the house, takes his role as father very seriously (he already has at least 5 books of projects he and Chase can do together), and best of all, is my best friend, as well as Chase's BFF. Chase is absolutely crazy about his daddy, as soon as dad steps in the door Chase starts laughing and kicking his legs in excitement. I can't wait to watch their relationship grow as Chase gets older and they can do more and more things together.

I love you Jason, I look forward to raising our family and growing old with you!

And the Diet is Over!

I am all finished doing the lemon juice cleanse. I could go longer if I really wanted, but I just miss food. It really sucks not eating! So overall, my thoughts about the diet...

• I lost 7 lbs which isn't so bad, almost a pound a day, though I was hoping to lose at least 10! I think you need to go a lot longer to have a huge weight loss. Also, it probably would have been helpful if I had worked out everyday. Not easy to do with an unpredictable baby. I have no idea how long his naps are ever going to last.
• I never did feel hungry while I was doing it
• I had lots of energy and I hope that doesn't go away as I return to food! I just need to keep drinking lots of water

I am hoping I can eat a real meal by Father's day! If I'm cooking a nice breakfast and dinner for Jason, then I am definitely eating it! You are supposed to slowly return to food. The first day you come off the diet you are only supposed to drink fresh squeezed oj and water all day. The second day you can add some soup broth and vegetables and by the 3rd day you can add a salad.

Today I am also entering back into reality. I haven't really gotten out of the house all week because I was so busy reading the Twilight series (I finished the 3rd book, Eclipse, so now I have free time to actually get stuff done around the house. If you haven't read them do it! And then come see Twilight with me in December, I'm not sure I have Jason convinced yet to see it with me...plus I do not need him making fun of it) and I didn't like going out because wherever I went, it smelled of delicious food. So Chase and I will be very busy today, cleaning the bathroom and running errands to pick up food for Father's day and of course a present for the deserving father, which I have no idea (well I do have a slight idea) what to get him. Any ideas? He told me he wants a bullet proof vest...in case he ever has to protect Chase and me for whatever dangerous times may lie ahead. Yeah, I don't know where to buy a bulletproof vest, how to pick one out, etc...Anyway, I guess I should get to it! How strange it will be to be outside, out of this house! I will miss my vampire world! (Twilight is about a human and a vampire in love...I know, sounds a little silly but I bet my life on it you will love the book!)

The Diet Continues

I am still staying true to the diet. I'm done with day 8, only 2 more days to go. I've been keeping busy, getting into the Twilight series and that takes up most of my free time. I read Twilight in 4 days and New Moon in 2 days. It has definitely kept me from thinking about food. I am enjoying the books and now can't wait for the movie Twilight to come out in December. It seems so far away...and by the time it comes out, Chase will be a year old!

Other than reading, I haven't had time to do much else. I also tried to stay busy over the weekend...the diet was harder to stick to then, with Jason home and eating all the time when I couldn't. We ended up going to the Parade of Homes, which I always enjoy, and to the Pool, Spa and Outdoor living expo, which turned out to be really lame. We were hoping to get the names and pricings of some pool companies, but the expo, which sounded like it would be huge on the radio and commercials on tv, which extremely small. One pool company was there.

That's the news here. Still haven't had the closing, who knows when that will be. All I know is by this weekend, I will be eating! And trying hard not to gain any of the weight back.

Diet Day 3

I am still hanging in there. I started to want food a little today. I just miss having it. I went to a baby shower tonight where there was all kinds of yummy food and couldn't have any. Soon enough though. I've already done 3 days and have lost about 3-4 lbs. I'm not going to quit now!

Diet Day 2

I am almost done with the second day!! I just have to drink the herbal tea still. Day 2 flew by, I cleaned our wood floors, did lots of laundry, and ran some errands to Costco and Bed, Bath and Beyond (where I could easily blow lots of money, they have so many fun things). I had to get a scale so I can keep track of my weight loss and more lemons from Costco (I also picked up books for Chase, whenever I go to Costco I always end up spending at least $30 on new books for him...but hey, there's no harm spoiling him with books, right?).

It seemed like the second day was easier. I was able to drink the salt water in less than 10 minutes, whereas yesterday it took me 30 minutes to get that nasty water down. I even worked out this evening on the treadmill after Chase went to bed, hopefully that will help with the weight loss. One thing I am loving about this diet is how much energy I have! It's fantastic. I haven't even needed to nap during the day (not like I do very often anyway, but I usually nap 3 times a week).

Anyway, anyone who is interested in the diet, you can check out this website that tells more about it: http://www.falconblanco.com/health/cleansing/lemoncleanse.htm

And for my own record, because I will probably do this diet again after having another baby, I am including the recipe for the drink:

10 cups water
Juice of 5 lemons
1 1/4 cups pure grade B maple syrup (from the health food store)

To each cup you drink, add 1/10 teaspoon of cayenne pepper or take the pill version (I have these clear caplets that open up and I just scoop some pepper into the pill and swallow it) Drink between 6-10 cups of this juice a day.

If anyone is interested, I dare you to try it! I guess I can't highly recommend it yet because I'm only on my second day, but so far it's going well!

Lemon Juice Cleanse/Diet Day 1

So I decided to do something a little crazy and try one of these cleansing/fasting diets where I can have no food for 10 days. I have a few other friends doing it at the same time right now and decided to join them for 2 reasons:

1. I have never done a colon cleanse and figure maybe I should for health reasons...that's 25 years of buildup!
2. I still would like to lose 15-20 lbs and a wonderful side effect to this cleanse is weight loss. Much easier than working out for an hour everyday and eating healthy food...now instead of fighting to lose the weight and maintain it, I will just have to maintain it. I can start a new diet with a clean slate and really limit the junk food I eat.

Today was my first day, no food, only drinking lemonade and water all day. The cleanse starts out with drinking 4 cups of luke warm salt water first thing in the morning (which was so hard for me, but I did it!). The salt water cleans out the colon. Then you drink 10 cups of a mixture of water, fresh squeezed lemon juice, unsweetened maple syrup and cayenne pepper throughout the day. The drink isn't so bad except for the cayenne pepper. You can take it in pill form as well so I may switch to pill form rather than mixing the pepper in with my drink. Then at night you take an herbal laxative tea. You do this for a minimum of 10 days and can do it all the way up to 40 days (I would never last! 10 is my limit)

Day 1 wasn't too bad. I stayed home all day catching up on cleaning. Since I keep thinking we are moving any day, I haven't done any real deep cleaning of our house, I've just wiped down surfaces and done quick cleaning. I figure since we aren't moving any time soon, I should probably restart my cleaning schedule. I clean when Chase is sleeping and he keeps me busy enough when he is awake I don't have time to even think about food. Plus, my stomach is always so full of liquid I haven't even felt hungry at all today. We will see how the next few days go, I hear the 2nd and 3rd days are hardest. I will keep blogging about it to make sure I stick to it and keep from cheating!

Our Boy at 6 Months

Today was our 6 month check-up. I hate check-ups because of the shots. It's so sad to see his reaction. First he jumps and looks surprised then his face gets bright red and he doesn't breath for a few seconds then finally he starts screaming. We also found out his latest stats:

Height: 27 1/2 in. (85th percentile)

Weight: 18 lbs 7 oz (75th percentile)-he is super heavy! Soon it will be time to get a new car seat that will hold his weight, his infant one only holds up to 20 lbs.

Head: 44 cm (5oth percentile)

He is very healthy and growing well! I talked to the doctor today about solids, I gave up again because Chase is so stubborn and refuses to open his mouth for the spoon. Usually our feeding sessions end with crying. The doctor said I can start trying fruits and vegetables. Today I tried applesauce. He opened his mouth once for the spoon then I had to sneak the rest in while he was screaming (happy screams) or crying. This time I just have to keep at it. Hopefully soon he will get used to it.

Some things Chase is doing at 6 months:

• He has been rolling over from his back to stomach. It's funny though, when he rolls onto his stomach he always keeps his arm underneath his stomach so he can easily roll onto his back again.
• He has started fake coughing. It's sooo cute. He usually will fake cough when I wipe his face down with a wet washcloth.
• He's getting better at sitting up. We practice every day! He can sit up by himself for about 10 seconds then falls over.
• He loves daddy's watches. I think he is going to be obsessed with watches just like his dad.
• He has been using his feet lately to play with his toys. I have a picture down below.

Our day at the park:

This is how Chase likes to sleep...
Using his feet to play with his toy

What a cute face! He looks just like his daddy