Must Have Items For Winter Colds or Flus

We have had what I am now calling the "plague" rip through our family. Slowly, this sickness went from one family member to the next, just taking it's next target down swiftly but lingering on FOREVER! Mason got it first, probably patient 0!, and of course he was first to get better, but poor sweet Collin was hit hard. He had a bad fever last weekend and since he likes to sucks on his fingers and couldn't breath through his nose, he was a very frustrated toddler. Then Elyse and I got it at the same time, and now my hubs is starting to get sick. Winter is hard because sickness just gets passed back and forth from family member to family member. And nothing is worse than seeing your kids suffer when you can't do anything else to help them.

Here are my Items that we use to help you get through the worst of it: 

Humidifier: Last winter it seemed like Collin needed this every day to help him not only feel better when sick but to keep him from getting sick. We love our Vicks Warm Mist Humidifier but it is recommended for a children's room to use a cool mist product. Thankfully Vicks has a cool mist one for kids too! I like the Vicks because you can use the special pad or drops that come with it that have the soothing menthol to help your baby breath easier.

Boogie Wipes: We use and love the Unscented Boogie wipes. They are perfect for kids because they are soaked in natural saline to help clean and dissolve those pesky boogies and is also hypoallergenic and helps to sooth their sore noses too.

Thermometer: You need a good and easy to ready thermometer in the house. For my boys they like to take their temperature and tell me what color they are. They know that red is bad, and green is good! When our current Vicks Digital Thermometer dies we will probably get the forehead reading one but for now this is perfect for our family.

FOR NURSING MOMS: MilkMaid Tea: I have noticed that when I get sick or even on my period my supply tends to dip a little bit. So when I am sick I often will have at least 2 cups of this milkmaid tea a day just to help supplement my supply and make sure it doesn't dip too much. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water too!

Snot Sucker: I am probably going to be investing in this Nose Frida snot sucker, because I have heard so many great things about it. One thing I have to keep telling myself, "there is no way the snot will go into my mouth!"

Lots and Lots of Snuggle Time! The cure all to anything for your kids. It helps them feel better and helps you feel better too! Pop in a good movie, or find a good movie on Amazon or Netflix, snuggle under a blanket and just enjoy this time together.

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21 Day Fix Approved Banana Oat Pancakes

Mason is loving having pancakes on Saturday morning. It is a meal that we can all love. As long as I make a Mickey shapped one he is happy! So I'm tricking the kids into eating healthier pancakes! 

Banana Oat Blender Pancakes

1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or any milk)

1 large ripe banana

2 large eggs

2 cups rolled-oats

1/4 grond flax seed

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

cooking spray

1. Place milk, banana, eggs, oats, flax seed, vanilla, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in blender. Cover and blend until smooth.

2. Heat griddle or large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat (325 degrees for electric griddle).

3. Pour 1/4 cup batter per pancake - cook 2-3 minutes on first side, then flip and cook an additional 90 seconds on the second side until cooked through and browned well.

4. Serve with butter, real maple syrup, fresh fruit or yogurt! Enjoy

Original recipe comes from the cookbook FIXATE. 101 recipes with vegan, vegetarian, gluten free and paleo options too! Perfect companion for the 21 Day Fix program! 

For my 21 Day Fixers 2 pancakes = 1 yellow + 1/2 purple

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Ditch The Scale

How many of you weigh yourself often??? Like every day, even many times a day? Are you scale obsessed? I used to weigh myself every single day and then literally dissect what I ate the day before to see what caused my weight to fluctuate. So many things can make our weight go up or down from the amount of water we did or didn't drink, to even being on your monthly cycle.

It's time to ditch the scale and only weigh yourself on the 1st of every month then hide your scales but if you find you can't do that. I encourage you to weigh yourself only once a week. Same day a week at the same time. So that you can truly see what the changes you are doing in your life are doing for you. For me I aim for the 1st of every month and then I am weighing myself ever week after that. And it has been nice to be pleasantly surprised when the scale has been dropping. But to see that number on the scale go down you have to make changes to your eating or adding in more exercise! 

Remember though in the end that you are so much more than the number on that scale.

Instead of worry about what the number on the scale reads, make other goals you want to accomplish regarding your body. 

-Pant size/how clothing is fitting you

-Fat Percent

-How you are feeling

-Not pulling at your shirt to cover up what you don't want to see

We all have areas we want to improve. And that is ok. But focusing on a number that is so hard to move can get so frustrating. Eat right and exercise is the key. Every month take pictures to compare from the previous month so that you can actually see the changes your body is making because for most women, we lose inches before we lose weight! 

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How To Help Siblings Adjust To New Baby

One of my biggest fears about having a new baby was being outnumbered by my kids. Knowing that I was going to be pulled in 3 different directions and that each sibling was going to outdo each other. I'm a red head, and I don't have the longest fuse and can often feel overwhelmed easily and just the idea of being outnumbered FREAKED ME OUT! So what is a new mom to do with the demands of 3 kids?

Not going to lie, it was a bit rocky in the beginning with the 3 of them. I would hideout in my room with Elyse so I wouldn't get overwhelmed and we had people here to help meet the boys needs. But when it was up to me and I was all on my own, I didn't do too bad. We made it work. We all survived, and the house didn't burn down! It might of been a mess but we still survived. So here are my 5 tips to help with the transition for older siblings.

1) Talk about the new baby with your older children before the baby arrives. Let them know that a new baby is coming and things are going to change and be different. We actually watched the Daniel Tiger Episode about new baby Margaret joining the Tiger family. Those 3 episodes helped teach the changes that happen and even how Daniel had to be patient when wanting to talk to his parents but baby Margaret needed their attention.

2) Try to spend alone time with the kids after baby arrives. Your older child/children will want attention from you too. They might act out against you just to get your attention. That is what #2 did for us. Collin, we nicknamed him Gremlin after Elyse arrive, because he was always causing problems, on purpose! It was so frustrating but all he wanted to my attention again. And when I would snuggle with him, without sister he just loved it.

3) Have the older sibling be a mommy's helper. Give your older kids a job to do to help you around the house. Most siblings feel really awesome when they are a big brother or big sister because THEY ARE THE BIG ONE around the house. Giving them a job or duty to help with makes them feel extra special. And they will more than likely be excited to help out, most of the time at least!

4) Teach them boundaries and limits to the baby. If your kids are like mine, they want to be around the new baby ALL THE TIME! Which might not be the safest. If they are sick or if they don't know how to act gently around the baby they will need to be talked to for sure for the safety of the baby. Mason gets it. To be gentle and soft. He is 5. Collin is only 2, and I have to constantly remind him he has to be gentle and soft. He has almost fallen on her twice though just because he doesn't get it. So be diligent about safety and teaching safety to the older kids. Tell them that it is their big brother/sister duty to make sure that their new baby brother or sister is safe at all times!

5) Always show them love. All of them, no matter what. It is easy to yell and scream and get upset when the older kids don't listen. When they don't clean up their dinosaurs on the ground and you step on the T-Rex for the 5th time that day. Or when thy fight with each other. They are going through a big change too, and if you show them love they will respond so much better and there "should" be more peace in your house. I have to separate the boys sometimes when they are just picking on each other and being brothers. But always try to approach them with love and less screaming and yelling. It is a work in progress for me, but I am trying.

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Elyse's Perfect Newborn Session

A few weeks ago our family went to our favorite local photographer, Aaron Watson Photography, for our yearly family pictures and for Elyse's Newborn Session! It was so amazing. We had the family pictures for the first 30-40 minutes trying to bust out as many pictures with them as possible before they lost it.  With young kids, you only have a short amount of time to get really good pictures. And Collin proved it with that. He reached a point and then he was DONE with getting his picture taken. Over all our family pictures time went great!

The trick with finding a photographer is to really find one you click with. We have used a few in our area and love them all, but we have just loved the photos by Aaron and he has taken a majority of our family pictures and has literally watched our kids grow and will continue to watch our kids grow because he has become part of so many of our families memories! You can visit his FACEBOOK PAGE HERE or his WEBSITE PAGE HERE. Seriously go check out his website and see his magical photos! They are so breathtaking!

Looking for some inspiration? You can search online for some poses you really like and want to use for your newborn session. I found these great newborn photo ideas to help inspire the perfect pose for my birth announcements and pictures. And this photo by In The Little Photography is exactly like the pose our photographer used for our boys!

In The Little Photography

Before the session I was advised to nurse her about an hour before so that she was satisfied during the session would be more cooperative and hopefully fall asleep. We were also told that the studio would be more on the warm side and gentle music would be playing to help create a soothing session. And it was. It was really a special day for us.

Then it was Elyse's time to shine. Because we started with family photos I had to feed her for a bit before we got started with her individual pictures, where she lost her belly button stub because it got caught on my sweater, and then she was out cold for the rest of the session. She was just 6 days old when these pictures were taken. They just turned out amazing! Here are a few of my favorites!

Elyse's tutu was purchased at: Cutie Pie Goodies on Etsy

One of my favorite outfits: Worth the wait by: Mama Bijou on Etsy

Thank you to Aaron Watson Photography for capturing these amazing and sweet moments with my baby girl! Those looking for an amazing photographer in and around central Virginia for family, senior, newborns and weddings, please consider Aaron as he has always delighted us with amazing photos when we just prayed for at least 1 good one! You will not regret the choice to use him, and be sure to let him know that I sent ya over to say hi!

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Elyse Cheyenne: 1 Month

Elyse turned 1 month old this past weekend. What a crazy month it has been. Surprisingly the month didn't go too fast or too slow. It was just right. I had plenty of help for the month which was a huge blessing. My family and Matt's family both came out at different times to help us and I was so glad that things worked out as well as they did so that we had someone here to help for the first 2 weeks. Then Matt had 2 weeks of half days after that.

Elyse has been such a good baby for us. The first couple of nights were rough in the hospital. All she wanted to do was cry, but once my milk came in she fell right into a schedule of eat for an hour, pass out for 3. She is a very regular baby in that regards still. Though she isn't feeding for an hour straight now, more like 30-40 minutes, but then she is good for at least 3 hours. She does give me generally 4-5 hour stints at night.

She sure has grown too! She currently weighs 9 pounds .3 ounces and is 21 inches long. Way to go baby girl!

Recovery has actually been really good. I didn't tear so I didn't hurt as badly as I had after having both boys. The only annoyance I have had has been the postpartum bleeding. It has been surprisingly light compared to the boys but it is just never ending as usual!


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Happy Halloween 2016

I hope everyone had a fabulous Halloween yesterday! Just wanted to send you all some love from my family to yours! We all had fun dressing up this year!

Matt: Captain America (logo hidden by Elyse) Me:Wonder Woman, Mason: The Flash, Collin: Batman and Elyse: Super Girl (outfit by TeacupsandMudpies1 on Etsy)

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Fad Diets Terms That SUCK!

LOW FAT/ NO FAT, SUGAR-FREE, LOW CARB----UGH! These are bad words in my mind. Why? Because they bring on the same thinking that the word SALAD does. It makes me think of DIETING! Which is the last thing I want to be doing, ever again. Diets don't work. Because you have to cut something from what you are eating. Cutting carbs, cutting fat, cutting calories. And those are impossible things to do long term. What does work is making true life changes to how you eat, learning to eat the right amounts of foods and the right kinds of food!

Why do I hate these words, because although the thought behind them might be right...the context that we think about them is incorrect.

LOW FAT/NO FAT- UGH! We need fat in our diet! WE NEED it for our bodies to work right. The key is eating the right kinds of fats that your body actually needs and the correct amount. Honestly, I drink whole milk, and I eat real butter. I can't stand skim or fat free milk. Reason....it has been overly processed to get the fat out of it for skim milk. But again we need the fat. Good sources of fat: Small amount of olive oil, thin slices of avocado, full fat greek yogurt, even a limited number of nuts. The key to fats, what we need is a LOW AMOUNTS OF FATS IN OUR DIET!

SUGAR FREE- If you see something listed as "sugar-free" stay far far away from it. Because yes, there might not be actual cane sugar or sugar in it, but instead there is going to be some kind of a sweetener in it that is man made. A chemical based sweetener or an artificial sweetener that your body won't know how to process as easily as just regular old plain sugar. Think High Fructose Corn Syrup. I'm not saying to go and start eating massive amounts of cane sugar. But if you make oatmeal and add a teaspoon of brown sugar to it, it's not going to ruin anything. The key is to reduce the amount of sugar that you eat. If you ditch sweets and treats and just eating processed foods you actually will cut a lot of sugars from your diet.

LOW CARB- Again, when I hear low carb I think no carbs at all. Because the first thing I used to think about as carbs was bread, pasta, pastries. And for the most part, yes this is true. We need carbs. And compared to the regular American diet, we actually need to LOWER THE AMOUNT OF CARBS EATEN! When our body processes a carbohydrate it turns it into a fast burning energy. It is the body's sugar in a way (protein is the slow burning energy). What you want to cut from your diet is the simple carbohydrates, sugar cereals, white flour breads, regular pasta. EAT THE COMPLEX CARBS! Complex carbs are: Oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice, brown pasta.

In the end, learning the context for these terms, not just the fad diet terms is what is going to help you in the long run. This is why I love the 21 Day Fix program so much because it encourages you to eat all the food groups, including sugar. (chocolate is allowed on 21 Day Fix!) Because we need our bodies to work correctly, and we still need treats, at least I do, otherwise a huge binge of the wrong kinds of food will happen and that is the last thing anyone wants to do while trying to change their eating habits!

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10 Tips For A Healthy Halloween

Halloween was one of my favorite holidays as a kid. Not only did I get free candy but to me it was the start of the Holiday Season. Meaning I get to spends lot of time with extended family and EAT AMAZING FOOD! It was my excuse to eat whatever I wanted because it was the holidays. Don't let yourself get caught up in the craze of holidays that you forget about your health. Start today, on HALLOWEEN with making smarter choices. To not let yourself go crazy over the next 2 months. Make your health and wellness your priority and worth it. Here are 10 tips to help you and your children have a healthier Halloween, because, your kids are going to come away with TONS of candy, and it is not only a temptation for you having in the house but think about how many empty calories your kids are going to be eating over the next week or so or however long it takes to go through their candy. 

If you are ready to work on you have have NO EXCUSES for your health and really want to end the year strong, confident and actually losing weight, I want you to join my No Excuses NO-vember private Facebook group. CLICK HERE for more info and how to sign up! 

10 TIPS AND TRICKS TO A HEALTHY HALLOWEEN: 

1) Talk to your kids first and foremost about how much candy is enough. Kids like the idea of candy but do they really need all that candy? Talk to them first and say, we are only going to this one neighborhood this year. Also tell them that they can not empty their bag and start over. It is one bag only and explain how much they will get.

2) Find a smaller neighborhood and just go there. Or just go trick or treating at a local church. When you get home have them help pass out some candy or only go and see their friends house in the neighborhood.

3) Line their trick or treating bag with batting or decorations. (Trick I do with our pass out candy!) (Pictured at top)

4) Fill the bottom of their bag with fruit, or make arrangements with a neighbor to give them fruit (you provide the fruit) Make that your first stop so that their bag is weighted down and so the fruit (apples and oranges) take up more room.

5) Make a "fill to this line only" line on their bag or bucket. Once the candy reaches that line, they are done.

6) Buy a smaller trick or treating bag. Invest in a customized one that just doesn't hold as much candy as the buckets do.

7) Talk about what you are going to do with all the candy. Make a pre-planned schedule as to when they will get their candy. Reward for doing chores? Or a sticker system?

8) Make a game with the costume characters you see.

9) Hand out non candy items like temporary tattoos, pencils, stickers or Halloween rings

10) Limit the amount of time going trick or treating to get less candy for the kids

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Making Health And Fitness Imporant

I talk with women everyday who want to make changes but they aren't sure how to fit exercise and planning healthy meals into their daily life. The one question I ask them is "how important is it to you to reach your goals?" When you want something bad enough you will do everything in your power to do it. Start by planning your exercise in your calendar, daily, and with an alarm. Think of it as a doctor appointment that you can't miss. Your health really is that important and before you know it, it will become a priority in your life and you won't want to miss how you feel after. The energy you get. The relaxed feeling. The accomplishment you will feel at the end of your workout. It is worth it to put you first! Exercise is the one way I can control my hormone imbalance that I suffer with PCOS! 

To make your health and fitness important you have to make sure you sit down and set some goals. What do you want to accomplish? How much weight do you want to lose? What dress size do you want to be? What body fat % do you want?  Decide what you want to accomplish and think of your goals each and every morning to remind yourself what you are really working towards! You are worth it to fight for what you want! 

Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! Don't forget to follow me on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!