It's been busy.

Awhile ago we went to the aquarium and I actually let Harry walk. Let me tell you, he thought he was a BIG DEAL. He had a great time.

Sully usually wants to RACE through but this day we spent lots of time looking and playing. It was great.

He loves the sand at the end. That's him and his friend Lili.

H wanted me to take a picture of his new Ninja Turtle.

We've had some nice weather off and on these past couple of weeks. Lots of outside time which really makes the winter so much more bearable. It's funny how quickly you forget about the good weather when there's bad weather.

This is Harry's new spot. He thinks it should be ok for him to sit here all the time. Call  it his "chair."

Harry had his yearly eye check up. Everything is fine of course. With his defect he is at risk for some fluid behind his retina so we have to have yearly checkups. No big deal- except he is NOT a fan.

He's been sick a fair amount. This last time has been tough, and of course, I've been working a ton of it. He always looks so awful with his eczema as it gets worse when he's sick.  I finally took him to the doctor Monday- he has a bilateral ear infection and pus on his tonsil. Well, that's awesome. he's feeling much better now that he has some antibiotics.

I have some lofty financial goals for the start of this year. I've been working at least full time, sometimes more lately.  It will ultimately be worth it, but I think we all may be getting to a breaking point. Sully was screaming and grabbing for me as I left for work tonight :(. I've almost met my goals already so things should slow down after a couple more weeks thank goodness. I want to be able to stay home all week in the spring and summer and not work any extra so I know I will be glad I did it. 

Soy Milk update (cause I know you care)

So, I had decided on Edensoy milk. I was a little annoyed that I would have to buy it online, and it kinda weirds me out that it's not gluten free, so I've just kept looking and looking. I found this:

http://www.cornucopia.org/soysurvey/

EXACTLY what I needed. As I already knew, Edensoy was the highest rated soy milk in the country. But then I saw this organic valley listed right under the formula we had been using. I searched for where I could buy it. Since it's refrigerated it becomes trickier because I can't buy in bulk.  Well, Natural Grocers in Shawnee carries it. But then I realized that Hyvee and Sprouts carry their dairy milks, but no one carries the soy. So I gave it a go. I went to sprouts and asked if he would please please carry it for me. By the time I was ready to check out Sunday morning he came and found me and said it would  be on the truck Monday. WHAT?! So I waited til Tuesday and went back. He told me he didn't think he would have it on the shelf yet so I nervously asked for it. It was there!!!! He came out and asked how much I wanted every week. He said it comes in a case of 6. Well, I have to take one a week to school, and he drinks about 24 oz a day, so one carton will get us 3 days max. So that's 2-3 for at home, one at school, and one at grandma's house. PERFECT. I can't believe this guy at Sprouts. He's going to order me a case every week. Then he asks me how much I want to pay for it!! HA! So he charged me the same as sprouts brand I think. Wow. This place is amazing. This milk tastes great, is free of the nasty additives that bothered me in the silk, and has an amazing rating. I'm in love. With sprouts AND Organic Valley Soy. 

I think I will still order a case or 2 of Eden. It would be good to have if we go out out of town or something where taking refrigerated stuff or finding soy milk may be complicated. But I am SO excited to have a good milk for H right around the corner. Whew.

Not much

Nothing too exciting happening here. We finally got our closet redone and it's SO much more functional! 

It snowed here this week a couple of times and then today and his weekend 50-60. Oh MISSOURI. It's nice though to have some reprieve from winter now and then. Be able to get out and about some. 

Whole30 take 2 in the books!

So after the holidays I decided to jump back into whole30. My body needed it.  I had several people interested in trying it with me, so I decided I had to do it full on in the spirit of doing it as a group. Well, it's day 32. Done. After my first whole30 I fell HARD. It was fall, and then it was holiday time, and man, it was like whole 30 never happened. This time I want to reintroduce foods systematically as recommended and really reap more of the benefits of the program long term.  So far it's been good.

One friend asked me today, "Why do you do this food torture thing again?" But that's just it- it doesn't feel like food torture to me.  Sure, I miss some things. I do get tired of the planning, the chopping, the washing, etc. But there's this amazing benefit. I feel good (digestively speaking) nearly all the time. I eat til I'm FULL. Like really full, at every meal and still I lose weight. I eat too many calories and fat grams for this to be true, but it is.  I eat things that taste delicious, like comfort foods.  Filling big meals and still I become leaner as time goes on.  And for someone who LOVES big huge plates of delicious food, this is good news, and VERY appealing.

I don't plan to do another whole 30 though. It IS really restrictive. I do plan on though to make it into more of a lifestyle thing.  From here I need to find the ideal diet FOR ME and follow it from here on. No more crash diets to maintain my weight then falling off the wagon and dragging behind it for a few months only do do another crash diet.  Whole 30 can be used that way. I've recently read a few articles about this and it really hit home.  I need to learn how to make treats just that. "Treats" In one of the articles I read it talks about being an adult and how if you really want it, you need to admit that your diet needs to be good- like 90% of the time. And yeah, it sucks. Suck it up, buttercup. A treat shouldn't be something you indulge in more than once a month or so. ONCE A MONTH. Not handfuls of m and m's every single time I enter my mother in law's house.  So we'll see how I do. I don't expect it to be easy, and I DO expect to fail. I'll pick myself up and start again.