Resolution Check In

It's a little over 5 weeks into the new year, and I'm not doing too shabby on my resolutions. [patting self on back] Here's how I'm doing so far:

1. Eat better - I have only had fast food maybe twice a week for lunch, and that's on a bad week. That's good! I have also made dinner just about every night of the week. I was off to a little bit of a rocky start, but now I'm going pretty strong. We have only been eating out for dinner about once or twice a week, but I am cooking at least 5 days for sure. Hubby's even been doing great at taking his lunch to work, too!

2. Lose weight - With a big thank you to #1, I am down FOUR POUNDS since the 1st of the year! Hallelujah! I'm not doing anything too crazy as far as diet goes, but limiting soda, not eating fast food, and cooking at home helps A LOT! I'm sure it doesn't hurt that Will is much much much more mobile these days, and is maybe a week away from walking. Chasing around a kid will help keep the pounds off. Plus, I've been trying to get us out of the house and go for at least a 30 minute walk everyday. It's usually closer to 45 -60 minutes. Go me! Hubby has also lost a noticeable amount of weight. I'm not quite sure of an exact number since he didn't do a weigh in at the beginning of the year, but his pants are definitely looser!

3. Spend less - I was $2.37 under budget for the month of January! I think I told everyone I talked to last week about my $2.37 feat. Chalk it up to limiting my Target runs to once a week or less if I can swing it, cooking at home so I'm only making one grocery run a week, and good old fashioned self control. I took my credit cards out of my wallet, so even if I found a crazy awesome deal, if I don't have the cash for it, I don't buy it. Plain and simple! I told Hubby that I am incredibly proud of us for sticking to our guns. Now we just need to stay motivated to keep up the good work. We've set a goal to have all of our debts paid off by Will's 2nd birthday. Then all of next year we'll be saving saving saving! It makes me smile in my heart that we have this plan, since I am the plan woman. :)

4. Pay off debt - Well, since we were on track this month for budget, payments towards debts were on target too. This puts us that much closer to our goal. If we stay on track, we'll be pretty close to paying everything off by the end of the year, but definitely by Will's 2nd birthday. Hip Hip Hooray!

I'm doing a happy dance and spinning around...can you tell?! I'm sure we won't be able to stay on budget every month, especially with Will's 1st birthday around the corner, but the closer the better! I'm trying to soften the blow of 1st birthday party planning by buying things slowly and with my weekly Michael's and/or Joann's coupons. Every little bit helps!

Sesame Street: Celebrity Lullabies

One of the reasons that I have grown to occasionally enjoy Hunter's stories....

Toy Story...

Ok...so everyone knows...and we've said it a couple times on here too....why do we bother with buying our kids toys when they would just rather play with the box? OMG...I have found the toy of all toys...seriously. I get HOURS (total) a day with Hunter playing with this toy...it is the greatest invention ever....

TA DA!!! This in the SIT TO STAND TRAIN by Vtech. This is literally hours of fun and has so many different activities to do. You can put the letter blocks into slots on the side of train and it tells you the letter and the object on it (you know...I is for ice cream....A is for apple....yada yada). It also plays music, does numbers, and colors (and the colors have corresponding songs...which Hunter loves to dance to). Then it has a cool shoot (see the red part in front of the handle?) that you can put the blocks into and it shoots them into the caboose. That's how Hunter cleans up the blocks. BUT WAIT!! THERE'S MORE!!! You can also sit and scoot, OR the caboose detaches so that they can stand and push.

Holy Lord this is the best invention ever!!! Sometimes when you read these mommy blogs, the authors are promoting things that they have gotten for free from companies...which...if the products are truly great then more power to them. But this a genuine, 100% not paid for endorsement of this toy! My parents got this as a Christmas gift and nearly 3 months later it is still the number one on his list!!

I must also say that this is a great toy for learning and dexterity as well. When he first got it...he didn't understand how to get the block into the slots to make it do its thing. He would try to put them in upside down, sideways, and then get frustrated and yell at me to do it. I showed him the pics and the letters and kinda stepped back to force him to do it himself. He is a pro now! He even looks at the block first...turns it the right way....then sticks them in. Also...he repeats what the toy says! When the block says "B is for ball" he will use the sign for ball and say "ba...ba....ba". When the block says "I is for ice cream" it makes a little slurping sound (like someone is licking up ice cream) and he repeats it! I try and get him to do animal sounds and airplane sounds and he doesn't listen worth a poop. But when the train tells him? He repeats right away.

I highly recommend this toy for any tot one and up. It's a fabulous learning tool, and a great tool for mom to get a few minutes to drink her coffee in the morning!!

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Old Navy Baby Sale!

I know what you're thinking... "Thanks, but I don't need any babies!"

Well, they might not sell babies, but they do sell clothes for killer deals! Here are a few for you. 20% off your online purchase of $100 or more on adult clothing with the code ONSAVE20. This would be a great chance to pick up some maternity stuff while you can tack on a nice discount code on your purchase! They are also having a sale on kids and baby clothes until February 10th. They have some pretty cute stuff right now. Granted it's all spring/summer stuff that no one can wear just yet...but it's good to stock up while it's on sale!

FF: Punch 'em out

Yesterday, as Hunter was taking a marathon of a nap, I saw Martha Stewart crafting some Valentines paper projects. I've recently become less and less of a fan of Martha's since her show is basically a reiteration of her magazine and a sales pitch of all her many lines of retail products...but I really enjoyed watching her make these cards. She was pushing her crafting line, and I rolled my eyes at most of it, but they used the Martha Stewart for Michael's border punches and I was intrigued. Since we are supposed to get another down pouring of snow...I thought that Hunter and i would run out to Michael's quickly this morning and check them out. I bought one in honor of valentines day that has X's and O's. I really like these because they are nice and wide, and they have a cool guide where you can easily continue the pattern across the paper and make it look like a continuous punch. I'll be testing it out tomorrow as we are stuck inside the house, but I can tell that I'm going to be investing in more of these!

MMR & Autism Journal Retraction

The MMR (mumps, measles, and rubella) vaccine is the subject of major controversy and stress for many families. I know Lani and I have had several discussions about this vaccine in particular because of the panic involved with the potential to cause autism in our precious little bundles. I got the MMR vaccine, so did Hubby, my sister, Lani, and just about every person I know. We are all perfectly fine. But then you start to doubt yourself because supposedly there is factual evidence that there is a link between the MMR vaccine and autism.... or so we thought.

This story (Medical Journal Retracts Study Linking Autism to Vaccine) flashed across the news this morning while I was out of the room. When I came back in the room, Hubby gave me the cliffs notes of the story. The journal that Dr. Wakefield wrote back in 1998 about his study linking the MMR vaccine to a cause of autism has been retracted. What?! Yep.

Dr. Wakefield's sample of kids was from his son's birthday party. Lovely. How very random of a selection... NOT! So for 12 years, this study has wrecked havoc on pediatricians and parents. I had Hubby ask our pediatrician about this a few months ago because I didn't want to see like the "paranoid mom" if I didn't have to. Our pediatrician was really great about it - which made me glad that we chose him. He recommended a book (that I can't remember the name of at the moment but will ask next time we go in) to read that explained why Dr. Wakefield's study was not very credible.

Now here we are with a retraction of his study for a few reasons, but mostly because it was unethical. I am no doctor, but how Dr. Wakefield got from point A to point B makes no sense to me. It's just very interesting to me. I seriously breathed a huge sigh of relief when I heard that news story this morning, and even more of a relief.

Recipe : $7 Beef Chimichangas

These Beef Chimichangas were SO tasty and super easy! Instead of frying them, I brushed them with some veggie oil and stuck them in the oven for a few minutes. It's less of a frying mess and I guess a little healthier since it's not fried. Here you go!

$7 Beef Chimichangas - actual cost is about $6.69!
398 calories!

3/4 pound beef top round steak
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup beef stock
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup salsa
1/2 (16 oz) can refried beans
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
6 (8 inch) flour tortillas
Vegetable oil

1. Cut beef into 2" cubes and place in a 3-qt crock pot along with onion, garlic, and stock. Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours until beef is very tender. Using slotted spoon, remove beef and vegetables from stock. Shred meat, using 2 forks.

2. In large bowl, combine shredded beef and vegetables with chili powder, salt, and salsa. Open can of refried and mash slightly.

3. Spread refried beans onto each tortilla. Top each with about 1/4 cup of beef mixture, then 1 tablespoon cheese. Fold tortillas around filling, tucking in sides; use toothpicks if necessary to hold together. Freeze any remaining filling.

4. Heat 1" of vegetable oil in heavy deep skillet to 375 defrees. Fry chimichangas, two at a time, for 2-4 minutes on each side, removing from oil when brown and crisp. Drain well on paper towels before serving. If necessary, keep warm in 250 degree oven until all are cooked.

Serving suggestions:

Serve these spicy and crisp chimichangas with sour cream, tomatillo salsa, red tomato salsa, and fresh guacamole for dipping.

Of course mine look retarded, but they tasted delicious! I think this was one of Hubby's favorite dinners I've made. The next day, he took some of the leftover beef, put it on a hamburger bun with sour cream, jalapenos, cheese, and some hot sauce. It was so tasty!

We're Painting the Kitchen .... BLUE

Slate Blue to be exact...

It all began last week when I declared war on my kitchen. The floor was full of crumbs and dirt, so I swept. While bending down to sweep up the smaller crumbs, I saw how disgustingly filthy the baseboards were. While wiping down the baseboards, I saw the splatters on the dishwasher and cabinet doors. While wiping down the cabinet doors, I saw the walls... What was supposed to be a 20-30 minute clean up turned into over an hour. How did my kitchen get this filthy!?!

Maybe the grubby little hands that scale my walls everyday...? If he can reach the wall or table from his high chair, it will be touched and full of ooey gooey food. The kitchen is the one room we haven't painted since we moved in. When we first bought our condo almost 3 years ago, we painted the living room, and two bedrooms before we moved in. We figured the kitchen could wait until we gutted it and put in new everything. Well, here we are...almost 3 years later and plans have obviously changed. There is no kitchen remodel in sight, as much as it would be nice... Our cabinets are holding up, and so are the counter tops. Right now, if it ain't broke, we ain't gonna fix it.

The sellers did a nice job of cleaning the place up with new carpet, tile in the kitchen, paint, baseboards, etc. before we bought it. However, they of course cut corners and used some cheaper materials like flat paint in the KITCHEN! I can scrub the walls all I want, but all that's going to come off is the paint, not the spaghetti sauce Will decided to play finger paints with. It totally grosses me out.

So when Hubby got home after I cleaned the kitchen top to bottom, I told him we needed to paint. Yesterday, Will and I headed to Homey Depot to pick out a color. I personally like warm colors, such as a nice orange, for eating areas like kitchens and dining rooms. But alas, Lani has an orange kitchen. I can't copy her! The runner up is a slate blue. That was Hubby's first choice. The rest of our house has some muted tones on the walls, and the slate blue will be a nice addition. It will definitely flow nicely from one room to the next. It's between Behr's new Primer+Paint's Ozone or Regular Behr's Cloudy Day. I think we're leaning toward Ozone. Cloudy Day is just a little too light... I do really like the new Behr Primer+Paint display because the samples are nice and big! Makes it a lot easier to get a visual.

Here are the colors throughout the rest of our house:
- Living Room : Glidden Brushwood
- Kitchen: Behr Ozone
- Guest Bath: Disney by Behr Whistling Wind
- Will's Room: Behr Grasshopper Wing
- Master Bedroom: Behr Oakwood Brown
- Master Bath: Ralph Lauren Paint English Tan

Now you've seen what it looked like before... I'll post some after pics when we paint the yuckies away! I also have to find some new blinds for the kitchen because the one on the left is broke. It needs to be able to block the sun and heat out otherwise our kitchen is sweltering in the summer... any suggestions?

SO TIRED....

I have been so unable to sleep lately and it's really taking a toll on me. I think it's partly my mattress, partly the midnight pee runs, and mainly because the wee nutty inside me decides to have parties at one am in the womb. I just can't get comfortable, get leg cramps, get neck cramps, and get tangled in the ginormous body pillow that is supposed to HELP me sleep better. And because of it, I have major dark circles under my eyes, my body is totally listless, and I feel like I could collapse before Hunter even goes for his nap. (sigh) I'm getting very ready for this second pregnancy to be over, only because I know that there will be many more sleepless nights ahead....but at least I'll be comfortable for the 2 hours that I will get! I just wish I could sleep like Hunter in this pic (he was about 8 months)...this child can sleep through anything!

Any suggestions for making it easier to sleep when pregnant?