Busy day

I have barely sat down all day today! For some reason I decided to get tons of stuff done which is a good thing! This morning I made some phone calls, cleaned the kitchen, did some laundry, went to the grocery store, and made lunch. Exciting stuff right?!?!?

Our back yard needed to be mowed, and Josh did not have time with week, so he let me do it! Now folks, this is a BIG deal. This is the first time Josh has let me mow the whole yard. The yard is his baby. Hopefully he will approve of the job I did when he gets home! Gus enjoyed being outside for a while.

We had a nice weekend although it was short because Josh worked Saturday. Gus stayed in the nursery again at church. It was easier for me this time, but I still got knots in my stomach as the moment I would have to leave him inched closer.

We took some pictures after church and a few of them turned out good:





You may have noticed that I haven't said anything about Halloween. I did not grow up celebrating Halloween, and we have decided to do the same with Gus. I know there are lots of people out there who like scary stuff, but I am not one of them. I don't like scary movies or gross costumes, you get the idea.

Favorite Books and Recipe

I wanted to share the books that Gus loves to have read to him. There are only certain books that hold his attention right now.

Gus Loves this book!! He likes to read it over and over again, and I have it memorized now. I saw this book at the grocery store and thought it was sweet.



I also found this Little Golden Book at the grocery store. It talks about all the jobs that daddies have. I love old books and the illustrations are great. It reminds me of a book that I would have grown up reading at my grandma's house.



My mom gave Gus this book last weekend. Josh, Gus and I all really like it. It goes through lots of animals and the sounds they make.



My mom also gave Gus this book. It also talks about several animals and is kinda like a pic-a-boo book.


I also wanted to share a recipe for chicken I made this week for our diet. It tasted really good and was very easy.

Chicken with Mustard and Thyme

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken on foil in a pan. Cover the chicken with Dijon mustard, and then season with thyme, salt, and pepper. Fold the edges of the foil up so the chicken is in a "package". Bake 30 minutes or until done.

This chicken was delicious and is healthy! Also, if you need something quick or don't want to go to the store, you probably have most of the ingredients in your pantry and frig.

We had Mexican food last night and it was amazing!!! Luckily we didn't really gain weight when we weighed this morning! We plan to have protein and vegetables today.

Have a great weekend!!

Get ready world!

Although this happened on Sunday, I had not written about it yet. But, Gus is CRAWLING! His crawl is very funny, he drags one of his legs so that he can sit back up when he gets where he wants to go. He is just crawling around where we set him down. He hasn't tried to go all over the house yet. I am so excited he finally figured it out. I took a little video this afternoon. It isn't the best, but you can see him moving!


And not only is he crawling, he also is taking steps when we hold his hands. I posted a few weeks ago how he was pulling up on his toy. He can pull himself to standing when holding our hands without any help. I was at home by myself, so this video is a little funny. But, you can see him taking steps!

He is growing so fast! He seems to be getting thinner and longer, although you might not think so seeing the rolls in the videos! He has been talking a lot lately. He talks in a really high pitched voice that makes me laugh. I look forward to the day when I have conversations with him :)

Diet update: So, last night was a tough night. I was so tired of all our food options, even the smells were nauseating to me. We decided to move to the add vegetables today instead of tomorrow. When we woke up this morning we both just felt terrible. When we got on the scale, I had lost only 1 more lb and Josh had only lost about 1 too. So frustrating when you feel bad. I tried a pumpkin oat bran muffin recipe for breakfast, and they were disgusting. Josh did have some turkey bacon and it tasted good. (if you knew how much Josh loved bacon you would know how big of a deal that is). I asked him what he wanted for dinner and he said Mexican food. ( which was kinda meant as a joke) But, I could not get the Mexican food out of my mind. I was to the point with the protein only part where I just didn't want to eat at all, so I am still happy about adding vegetables. Josh and I have talked and this is what we have decided to do. Yes, we are having Mexican food for dinner, but we are going to limit our portions. Then we will be back to protein and vegetables tomorrow. I am giving up Dr. Pepper until next weekend when we have some plans. And Josh is giving up going to McDonalds for breakfast. We are going to do the best we can, but if we have to add something small, we will. I don't feel like we have failed. I have lost 7.5 lbs and Josh lost almost 10. We are going to try to slowly change out eating style. And I think that will help most in the long run. For example, Josh put a little half & half in his coffee this morning. It made it taste so much better. He still used Splenda instead of sugar. I think in the long run this is what you should do anyway, change hour eating habits. I went to the store this morning to buy vegetables. And no, I did not buy any chips although that is really all I want right now. Josh and I just love food and eating so much!! I really am impressed we made it this far. We want to be healthy for Gus and each other. I will let you know how it is all going every few days.

In summary, the Dukan diet does work. If you can stick with it, you can lose weight. This diet is expensive. I don't know when we spent this much on food. So, if you are going to do it research your options to find good deals or buy meat when it is on sale and stock up before you start. Here is a website if you want to learn more: Dukan Diet



I am behind on talking about the 31 day challenge! Last week the challenge was to find an area in your house that is cluttered and clean and organize it. I thought about this a lot, and decided I really needed to work on our closet. I have trying to get rid of clothes that I never wear or that I doubt I will be able to wear again. Some of the clothes I think I got in high school ( we won't say when that was ;)). This is not a task that will be really quick, but I plan on working on it today!!

This week's challenge was to make family time. We really already have a ton of family time so I didn't feel like I needed to make an extra effort in this area. Luckily we don't have a lot of activities outside of work, so we spend the rest of our time together. Josh was able to come home for a few hours yesterday afternoon, and he and I talked and played a few games. I love spending time with him. We will always make it a priority!

Winter Wonderland and Link-up

Today I am linking up with Women Living Well for a blog party. First, I want to just tell a little bit about myself.

My name is Catie, and I live in West Texas. I consider myself a stay-at-home mom although I do work a few hours a week as a pharmacist, but when I do my husband stays with our son Gus. I am very blessed with my flexible schedule.

This is me and the love of my life- Josh. We met in pharmacy school and were friends for several years before we started dating. He is my best friend and a true companion. Although we have been married for over a year and a half, I still want to spend all my time with him! He was worth the wait :)

In March of this year we got to welcome our son, Gus, into the world. He has been quite a handful but I love every day that I spend with him. It is amazing watching him grow and learn.


We also have two other babies, our dogs Bear and Samson. They are great companions!


I love to cook, decorate our house, shop, and take care of my family! I started this blog last year to document being pregnant with Gus and how he grows. I am definitely hooked on blogging now and enjoy writing about what is going on in our life.

As for today, we are enjoying a winter wonderland!!! Yes, it snowed, all morning! There was a strong chance of rain, but no one knew if it would snow. We were excited to see the ground covered when we woke up this morning. I enjoyed sitting in front of the fire this morning with Gus and watching the snow fall. It would have been heaven if Josh could have stayed home.

Here is the backyard when we woke up:

I took Gus outside to check out the snow. I just held him for a few minutes. He wasn't sure what to think.


This is us sitting by the fire:


Update on the diet: Josh and I started the Dukan Diet on Monday. It has not been easy, but I am glad to report that I have lost over 6 lbs and Josh 9 lbs. Over the last few days I have had huge cravings for just something crunchy. But, we have made it this far so we are going to stick it out. We will do one more day of all protein tomorrow and then add back vegetables. And we are excited about that!!

I know I haven't written about the 31 Day Challenge in a while, I will write about that hopefully tomorrow!

Is that me???

"Is that really me in that picture?? I have got to do something about that."

That is what I said to myself when I saw some of the pictures of this weekend. You can guess the topic- baby weight.

I never really struggled with my weight in the past. I just controlled what I ate. There were times I was thinner when I was stressed out in pharmacy school, but overall I didn't change that much.

Pregnancy. I knew it was going to change my body forever. It was worth it :) I gained A LOT of weight with Gus. I really was shocked how quickly the weight started coming off. Within two months, I had lost about 70% of what I had gained. But, that last bit of weight does not want to go away. I thought it would drop again when I stopped nursing, nope. So, I guessed I was going to have to move to other measures.

I have never been one to exercise. I have gone to some classes in the past and really enjoyed them. I take Gus on walks occasionally. None of it is ever consistent.

While I was home this weekend, I talked to my parents about the diet they had been on. They had lost a lot of weight and very quickly. Josh and I decided to give it a try. Now, I am going to say here that I could post in a few days that we gave up and it would not be a huge surprise to me. But, I think we are going to stick this one out for a while.

We are doing the Dukan Diet. You eat pretty much only protein for 3-7 days and then slowly add back vegetables. And yes, I am having to give up Dr. Pepper :(

Here is what I ate yesterday:
Breakfast- 1 scrambled egg
Lunch- Chicken breast cooked in a skillet, low-fat cottage cheese
Snack- Nonfat Greek yogurt with Splenda and cinnamon
Dinner- Hamburger patty (lean 93/7) with mustard and a few pickles
Dessert- More yogurt, Diet Coke with Lime

I also had coffee, water, and tea.

I bought a scale yesterday and weighed at lunchtime. When I weighed this morning, I had lost over 3 lbs. I know most of it was water weight, but still! It is nice to see some results.

Today's Menu:
Breakfast- Egg
Lunch- Roast chicken and cottage cheese
Snack- yogurt
Dinner- Shrimp
Dessert- probably yogurt

I have been drinking a lot of tea and water. And there have only been a few times when I was really hungry. We are doing this "Attack" phase for 5 days and then will have some vegetables.

I am not looking to "get skinny" or lose a ton of weight. I just want to lose a few pounds and get close to where I was before Gus.

I will keep you update on how it goes. I know I am behind on my 31 Day Challenge posts, I plan to write about it on Thursday.

The leaves are turning here, I love it!

Did I mention there is a chance of snow here Thursday?!?!?!?! I would be thrilled :)

80 Years

This weekend we traveled to Dallas to celebrate my PawPaw's 80th birthday. We enjoyed lots of time with our family while we were there.

On my PawPaw's actual birthday, we ate BBQ at my sister's. She and her husband have recently purchased some land so we enjoyed spending some time there.

Does this man look 80 to you???

My sister recently got a horse, so Gus enjoyed his first horseback ride.


I rode her horse in my Sperry Top Siders...

Gus enjoyed lots of time with MiMi and Big Daddy

Here are a few other pics from the evening:



The next day we celebrated with a big dinner with all of my Uncle's family too.


Grandchildren and Great-Grandson

The Whole Family!


Sisters:

Grace and Brett


While we were in Dallas, I had to make a visit to NorthPark. Gus enjoyed seeing the ducks.

We got so many fun pictures, but I know I can't share them all. We had such a wonderful time celebrating. My grandfather is one of the sweetest, kindest men I know. Gus is named for my grandfather's father. My great-grandfather immigrated here from Greece. My great-grandmother died shortly after my grandfather was born, so my grandfather was adopted. He has come such a long way in his life and has seen so much. I know that all his hard work has made things so much better for us. I am lucky to have such an amazing heritage. (I just wish I had inherited some of that Greek skin!! ;)) Special weekends like this one remind me how blessed I am . I have such a wonderful family. God is so good.

Life is Good

Do you ever just feel happy and blessed?? Today, I am thankful. I have a wonderful loving husband. I have a healthy little boy. I really have all I could ever need. This really is my favorite time of year. We are busy making plans for the holidays. We will be spending lots of time with our families. Life is just good. And maybe when I am having a rough day, I can look back and read this and realize all I have.

I just had to share a picture of the mums on our front porch. They just bloomed over the last couple of days. They make me smile

Gus has learned how to really get to moving in his bouncer. Isn't he cute!?!


I want to encourage you to think about all your blessings today. Even on our worst days, there is always something to remind us of God's love- even if it is just a smile from our husband or child...

Wordless Wednesday- Perfect Evening

Dust Bowl and Standing

We have all read about the Dust Bowl days. But yesterday, I lived through one! As I have said before, I live in a very small town in West Texas. Two blocks from my house is prairie. I decided to step out my front door to get the mail yesterday and got quite a shock. This is what I saw:

As it moved closer, it became more windy. I decided I better go back inside as there was trash and all kinds of things blowing around.

I then began taking pictures from my front window. First, things were hazy. Then, you couldn't see the building across the street anymore.

This was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. I watched the news last night and saw some amazing videos. It is so dry here, bring on some snow!!!!

All that dirt was a cold front coming through. Today I played dress-up with Gus and put him in some of his new winter clothes. I sat him by our fireplace, but he was very distracted by the decor.. I love his blue eyes in this picture


Gus loves to stand up. He has enjoyed it since he was just a few months old. He is just about able to stand by himself. He has been pulling up on his toys for a couple of weeks.



Samson had to sit in my lap while I was taking pictures and playing with Gus

And here I am... Don't you always feel a little silly taking a self-portrait?!? And the lighting is just bad, my eyes don't have that big of circles under them :)