Lazy Sunday

our day was lazy..grocery store, Barbies, lifetime, long recliner nap, then finished the day with a snow cone and Mac n cheese for dinner. :)

Make better choices!

Ok, starting Monday I am going full speed into a healthy summer. I'm going to eat very similarly everyday and cut back to 1000-1200 calories a day. I really need to focus on drinking way more water too. 10lbs to go by the end of July. Week day eating: Special k with soy milk and half a banana or a breakfast smoothie for breakfast Balsamic vinegar spinach salad with either a 1/2 turkey whole wheat sandwich, nuts , or grilled chicken, and a big piece of fruit, for lunch 400 or less calorie dinner... Whatever I want :) Snacks: special k bars, crisps, cracker chips, raw fruits and veggies, dried fruits, Quaker rice snacks, popcorn, pickles, Gonna join a gym when this arm quits hurting too :)

It ain't easy being green :)

From 2006 to the end of 2009, I really considered myself a Greenie. I purchased 90% organic food, 100% plant derived cleaners/detergents, we cut out bottled water all together, and made a conscious effort to eat naturally and balanced. Uhhh what the heck happened in the last two years? Oh yeah, I remember. GRACE. When she was a baby I did really well, she only got organic food, even her formula was organic. Her soaps and lotions for naturally derived and I didn't even buy baby bottled water (we just filtered). So I can't figure out when it all changed... I think it started slow and now we are more than gone. I've got Tide detergent sitting in my laundry room, and send my kid to school in the morning with a YOPLAIT yogurt (omg) and a half of a honey bun. I am officially ashamed of myself. I'm going to try to do better starting this summer. :) I've also got a few lbs to lose.... maybe its all the junk in my house! ha.

Summer Goals

1. INTENSE workout 3 mornings a week, MODERATE workout 2 times a week
- 7 to 10lbs lost, a couple of inches, and tone up!
- jog 2 miles without stopping.. (I HATE TO RUN)
- run with Mike without complaining-- HA

2. Eat whole natural foods 2 meals a day (not fast or packaged)

3. Encourage my daughter to eat more of the RIGHT calories..well just to eat more period.

4. Cook a natural, healthy meal 4 nights a week

I think these are do-able! I'm going to do another cooking marathon when school gets out, and I'm joining a gym next week :)

Ladies and Gentlemen... Introducing the WORLDS PICKIEST CHILD!!

Lord help us I think Grace could be considered in the Guinness Book of World Records for the worlds pickiest eater. I am sure of it. I mean.. who doesn't like mashed potatoes?

I am beyond frustrated lately. Not that this is new... feeding this child has been nothing but a struggle since I stopped nursing. When she was around 5 months old she would go a whole day on 4 oz of formula, refusing to take a bottle from anyone but me. We had to sneak a bottle in her mouth while she slept. THEN at 10 months she refused formula all together and whole milk made her vomit, she ate a handful of items, mostly yogurt, pasta, cereal, and applesauce. At 2 she started eating chicken in small increments and a few raw fruits (apple, strawberries, watermelon). At 2 1/2 I thought "WOW she's been eating really well!!" trying new foods and eating more enthusiastically. We even shot up a few inches and gained a few lb's. THEN all of a sudden... BAM! The appetite is gone... the milk sensitivity is back (which includes a gag reflex and projectile vomit). She isn't eating ANYTHING we pack for lunch, and I'm resorting to calorie rich foods like mac-n-cheese and honey buns just to get her some calories.

OK I have to tell myself I'm doing everything I can. I am trying everything. She will drink V8 splash, and I make sure she gets about 4-6 oz of that every other day. She has a yogurt based fruit smoothie every morning, and she loves those fruit puree pouches that hide good things like  omega-3s, quinoa, chia, yogurt, spinach, and lots of other things. She'll eat dried fruit. She LOVES real cheese (not american) and she likes wheat bread and tortilla's.

We are just tired... so if there are any other moms out there with stubborn eaters, let's share our tricks. Here are a couple of mine. These are weekly staples for little miss Grace Guess.

1. the PIZZA sandwich
- pita bread
- baby food green veggies (green beans, spinach, peas)
- pizza sauce
- fresh mozzarella

Mix greens with pizza sauce, spread inside pita pocket, throw in some cheese, grill in a pan like a grilled cheese, VOala! Pizza sandwich!

2.  Squash-a-roni-and Cheese
- any recipe mac n cheese
- baby food yellow colored veggies (carrots, squash, cauliflower )

easy easy... and she'll eat it.

This has been a rough food week for us. I know it will get better. I just wish she would say "hey mom, can I have some veggies and meat for dinner? ":) A mom can dream right?

Jill is GRADUATED and Mothers Day!

Grace showing us what different emotions looked like.. I think this was her CRAZY face :)

The HENDRY bunch :)

Sweetest face I know!

You'll have to excuse my looks, we partied a little hard last night.. HEY your little sister only graduates ONCE :)

Grace and her Cha-Cha

She loves her DeeDee :)

This is Grace and My Mamaw, Her Great-Grandmother :) 

My beautiful sister!!

 Sweet little beauty, all glittered and bling-ed!

So after graduation Jill and 2 of her friends had a HUGE party for all of their family. There were about 120 people who celebrated with us. We had a blast!

These are from friday night. We were setting up the pavilion and having a GREAT time, and of course Grace looked like a doll :)

Ok sooo we were supposed to be setting up from the party BUT we were distracted by the WOBBLE :)

33 months old :)

Wow... I was driving to school this morning and was thinking about what I want to do for Grace's third birthday. Three. 3. 2 +1. Where did the time go? Three years old is not a baby.  I am so proud of my smart sweet girl she is becoming such a respectful, well spoken young lady.

Things I don't want to forget that are so special right now:
- The way she says "yesterday" yah-tra-day
- The way she says "back yard" ba-card
- The way she thinks the electric toothbrush is hilarious
- The way she laughs at her own drawings
- how much she she loves cheese :)
- how she thinks that every time we have cake, it is cause to sing happy birthday
- how she is convinced, every week, at some point, it is HER birthday
- how she mixes the lyrics of different songs together :)
- She can count to 20 (skipping 12 and 16 ha )

- She can spell her name, write a G C and O, and draw happy faces.
- She weighed 26.5 lbs at a doctors appointment last week, and said "he's gonna see elmo in my ear"
- That she has watched the 1990's kids songs video about 100 times this month and asks for a hat and a cane every time they sing  "you've got personality"

- and most of all how much she enjoys to share her things you if you ask, and how much she doesn't if you don't - HA

I'm finking it might funder...

Just wanted to blog this so I don't forget it. Grace has a hard time with the "th" sound. Right now she replaces it with a "F" sound instead. It really is the cutest thing I've heard. When a sentence has more than one "f" sound you can't help but laugh. I love when she says "I fink..." and we had a storm this week and she told me "wow that was some loud funder" so cute.

Some other favorite "th" words that she says I think you can figure them out :)

"fursday"
"firteen"
"firsty" this is my favorite ... "I fink I'm firsty mom.."

my baby can read!.. well kinda!

I've been working with Grace on letters and site words for it feels like forever... BUT this week we had a little break-though.

She can identify these letters: A a, B, C, D d, G g, O, and S  there are some times where she recognizes "E" and "R" but not always.

I am MOST excited about the site words!! OMG she can READ these words every time! :
mom
dog
ball
No
at
baby

She is doing really well, tonight she was "reading" a book and RAN in and said "MOM look!! AT AT AT... she pointed to the word "cat" on the page. Proud moment for mom. Then later we were reading a book with the word "tall" and she said " that says AT not TALL mom.... see right there!!" and she pointed to the (ta)ll of the word.  A little backward but it's definitely a move in the right direction, and she is REALLY excited about it too. She tells me "I've gotta go get my drawing thing (magna doodle) so you can write me some letters".

So much fun!

Easter Block Party!

We are so lucky to have the best neighbors ever! Our neighbors 2 houses to our left are the Marquez's.. Grace and their little girl Jayleigh are typical bffs! They love each other most of the time :) We are lucky to have met them this year! 3 houses to the right of us, is my bestest ever friend Sara and her husband Brian (Mike's Bff -ha) and their very responsible and self proclaimed baby sitter, Madison :) She is the little girl's hero! We spend the weekends sharing each others from driveways, listening to music, eating, and drinkin', while the kiddo's play. So we decided to have a big Easter party for our families and friends across the 3 houses. We had crawfish, lots of other yummy snacks, and a MASSIVE egg hunt for the kids. My good friend from work, Pam, and her family came over (they live a mile a way), My sister Jill and Dakota came over, and Jill's friend Devin (who's little girl Madi is super cute and another one of the girls friends, but missed out of the egg hunt :( ..) came over also. They had so much fun, and so did the kids.. ha!!

one yard of eggs!

Paige and Grace are hunting!

Grace's first taste of FUNDIP! ha.. This was probably the most candy she has EVER eaten..

My sweet girl!

All the kids from left to right

Paige, Grace, Jayston, Jayleigh, Madison, and Jaxson

This was friday. we took a few shots in the bluebonnets :)

Little Pig, Little Pig!

This weekend we took Grace to the Livestock show at the Expo center :). She loves all kinds of 

"an-i-uhls". We signed her up for the "Pee Wee Pig Showmanship" little event! She had so much fun (with the help of one of my sweet cheerleaders). She was a little nervous at first but REALLY excited. She started crying when she was done when she figured out her "turn" was over. She couldn't understand why it wasn't her turn again. :) She is soo very proud of her little trophy, she couldn't wait to put it next to her piggy bank. She also learned the REAL noise that a pig makes, and would love to tell you. So. Stinking. Cute.

 Getting ready to go in!

Grace and Taylor getting instructions :) 

 Grace and Taylor with her trophy! So proud!

READY! 

"Look at my TROPHY GUYS!" 

 Telling Daddy all about it!

Getting ready to go in!