August... I'm coming for you

I kind of accidentally took a summer break from the blog. Oops. But now that I sweat every time someone opens the door, I've sent in L's new school year forms, and I'm getting about 40 "start the school year off right" spam emails a day... It must be August. I also hadn't backed up my iphone since Mother's Day. 956 pictures and videos later, time to get back on track.

Speaking of summer, if you live around Houston or are visiting soon, go to the Museum of Fine Arts and see the Soto Penetrable. It's amazing for all ages and it leaves early in September. That's just one thing I was doing while I was not blogging. 

Sometimes your child asks to take of their shoes in public places and you don't realize until you see pictures that you must have said yes. Entering the penetrable.

  If you're following along on instagram you know that things have not slowed down much. The pace that requires a photo or two per day was right up my alley. Here's a quick catch up:

• I am still only doing refined sugar one day a week. I love it. Best decision I ever made after the month long cut out. The weight has stayed off and I feel SO much better.
  
• I just finished another 30 day green smoothie challenge (one green smoothie a day) and after three months, I am fully converted. Smoothies are just a part of my day now. I don't even have to think about it.
  
• We have a one year old! Officially. After mama and dada, his third word was his sister's name. Landon sounds more like man-men when he says it, but it's a hard name for a baby and I was VERY excited. It's his new favorite word.
   
• The new one year old has spent the entire summer teething. He is the proud owner of 10 teeth. I am the proud owner of large black under eye circles. His top molars are STILL COMING IN. Help me lawd. 

 And... that's about it food and kids wise. 

Now that I'm at a healthy place with my sugar, and my breakfast smoothies are going strong, it's time to work on a few things for August. The first thing is LUNCH. My possible problem meal. When I'm at work I usually have the chance to get away and get something real food & healthy. When I'm home I'll graze on whatever I'm cutting up for the kids (which is good food) but then pull out something with lots of cheese or that I can make quickly and shovel it in while I zone out for a minimum amount of alone time. Turns out I like naps more than my 3 year old. 

MY GOAL: Prepare a lunch for myself that I would be comfortable serving to a guest. Prep it, plate it and (what might be the hardest) sit down at the kitchen table and enjoy it. No phone, no tv, just me and my food. And maybe a magazine... maybe. OH, and a ten minute timer to make sure I am chewing and enjoying. I started this today and it was honestly wonderful. Looking forward to lunch this month.

My second goal for August is kind of simple, but really hard for me to do every day. When I was breast feeding drinking enough water was a no brainer. My anxiety about a drop in supply caused me to constantly be drinking water. Since then I just cannot get enough water a day and I know how much better I will feel if I'm hitting those big water intake numbers. 

MY GOAL: Every day in August I'm aiming for a minimum of 80oz of water a day. There are a few reasons this is going to be tough. One of them is peeking her head around my office door right now. During nap time. The other one is actually sleeping. Not that I'm picking favorites (today). Another reason is bathroom breaks are hard to come by when you are at home with two kids, or having to find a bathroom in public with two kids. More water = more bathroom breaks. My last obstacle is my memory. I always start the day with great water drinking intentions. I try to have a glass of lemon water first thing before my smoothie. And then.... life happens. And at lunch I see a half full glass of lemon water sitting on the counter. 

So here's to August! We've got lots planned. There is a cool front coming!! TO HOUSTON?!?!  In August. I KNOW. We're taking our first family of four flight (more to come on that one) and school is back. Hey there August... I'm coming for you. 

RT

The New Most Popular Meal in My Life

It's fast, it's easy, it's bland, and it has been one of the only things I could/can consistently stomach for the last 2.5 months. Drum roll......

Special K

Skim Milk

See, I did have a legitimate one month long stomach bug. Then followed it up with the first trimester of our new pregnancy. We've got a new baby coming this summer! And I'm so excited that I've made myself sick over it. Or something like that. I'm hoping at 13.5 weeks I am on the other side of this badness. The absolute worst of it was around weeks 7 and 8. But I still had Special K for dinner 3 out of the last 7 nights of the week. And since I sometimes have it for breakfast too, I'm feeling pretty special. 

Today might be a turning point... I was home with L, we had an appt in the morning with her prospective preschool 2s program (seriously? I know. I had no idea.), and hit the grocery store this afternoon. Then I made dinner and semi straightened up the house before S came home. Things like this have not been happening lately. AND I think I might eat the dinner I made and just say no to my special friend. Progress. 

L has no idea what is about to hit her. She is just busy being busy and getting SUPER excited about the littlest and most fantastic things. What she is not excited about is the "I'm a Big Sister" book she got for Christmas. I now have about 30 pictures of her ignoring the book. Here are a few.

"Please take this away while I look at my owl book with no pants on."

This one took about 2 minutes of asking her to come see me and then asking her "where's the baby?" After she pointed to the baby she threw the book on the ground and ran away.

In a last ditch effort I set the book up like this and tried to get one of her walking up behind it. Out of absolutely nowhere, she did a somersault and I captured her mid flip. This was the winner.

So here we go! I'm hoping my cooking is going to pick up while my deathly ill feelings die down. We are really looking forward to meeting the fourth member of our family. Pregnant with a toddler is REAL LIFE. Wow. But I'm in it to win it. 

-RT