Last week!

It's the last week of the Body after Baby fit by Labor Day challenge that my online, fellow mommy, friend Samantha started. You should go check out her blog at http://www.mamanotes.com/

I didn't do as well as I thought I would, I was wanting to really get into shape. I kind of lost my way a time or two but overall I would say I did pretty good.

Yesterday morning I weighed in at 122.5 lbs. That's a total of 6.5 lbs loss! I don't care about the actual weight. I wanted to lose my baby tummy and I was really discouraged because, looking in the mirror, I couldn't tell much of a difference. I was pretty let down until a few days ago I found a couple skirts I had laid up awhile ago to give away because they were a size 6 and I've been in an 8 since Gavin was born. A 10 for awhile after Gage came along.

I figured what the hey, I'll try them on just to make sure I want to really give them away because I do really like them. I pulled them on, and thought well, they'll never zip up... AND THEY DID!!!! I was so surprised that I can wear a size 6!

A couple weeks ago I pulled out a pair of really cute white pants I hadn't wore since before having kids that were a size small and they fit too. I didn't think much of it though since they're kind of stretchy.

I guess I have done some good I just can't physically see it yet but I can now wear clothes I hadn't been able to squeeze into before starting this challenge! I am so happy I actually stuck with it. I cheated more than I should have but who doesn't? If you never cheated on a diet, you'd go crazy! I eat the same things I always have for dinner. I just eat really well all day and not eat as much at night. I also cut out a lot of the soft drinks. I do drink a lot of sweet tea but you can't ask someone in the south not to drink it. That would be cruel! Otherwise I've stuck to the plan more than I actually expected to.

I can't wait to see how much I can loose this week. I am dreading having to take my after picture on Thursday but I might surprise myself. I can't see much of a difference in the mirror but when I compare the pics side-by-side, hopefully I can see a change.

I hope everyone else hasn't given up. I know it can be hard but just keep thinking that you're bettering yourself for your family and your children. They deserve to have you at your best :)

Good luck on your last week and keep it up. I know I'll make it a good one!

Wordless Wednesday

Baby powder!

My little boy is getting big,

Today I was in desperate need of a shower and usually hubby watches the boys while I take one. Today he is with his Grandmother taking care of funeral arrangements for his aunt. I could've put them both in the shower with me like I sometimes do but they just had a bath last night before bed and I really just didn't want to!

Gage finally took a nap so I figured Gavin's getting old enough to leave him in the living room while I take a quick shower. So I made him some pizza for lunch, put his picnic table in front of the TV and said "now mommy's going to go take a bath. You sit here eat your pizza and watch your cartoons. If you need anything, you come and tell me. Mommy will leave the door open and you can come see me if you want to." He says "OK mom" that's it. Ok mom. Like I've done this a hundred times and he's perfectly cool with it.

And what's with the 'mom'? Not that I mind but I'm usually 'mommy' or 'mama'. Sigh, he's 3 already :( .

Last night he was helping me make a potato salad. He was helping me slice the eggs by putting his hand on the knife and I was putting my hand over top of his. He put the eggs in the pot and the mayo and was stirring it up. (He wouldn't eat it though he's so picky!)

He knows all his letters and most of his numbers. He's even starting to read a couple words! He can count to 5 in spanish. He knows things I didn't think a 3 year old was supposed to know! He says the funniest things too! He tells me "I love you honey!" and "Let me give you a kiss." He loves to tell stories about a boy named Gavin. Usually in the stories, Gavin is either eating popcorn, racing monster trucks, or fighting dragons. I can try to be mad at him and he makes me laugh so I can't stay mad for long. Last week he got into trouble and I was angry with him and he backed away from me, spread his arms wide with that sweet yet sneaky smile on his face and said "Go ahead, laugh. You can laugh at me!" How could I not laugh at that. He knows how to work over 'mom' that's for sure :)

I am saddened by the fact that he's getting older but on the other hand he is getting so much fun! He is such a good helper and a really good big brother. That is when they're not fighting, which is just a brother thing I guess.

It makes me think back to when he was a baby. I had no idea what I was doing but he was my world. I would just hold him and stare at his little face for hours. He was such a good baby. He almost never cried and even then you could barley hear him.

He definitely makes up for that now though! I can't get him to stop talking! It's non-stop he talks from the time his eyes open till the time he passes out at night. He's so hyper!

I love you my sweet little man! No matter how big you get, you'll always be mommy's little boy.

Please Pray...

I want to ask everyone to please pray for my husband and his family. Especially his grandmother. Back in May, his grandpa died. Then today we got a call from his grandma that his aunt died. His Grandma has lost a husband and a daughter in 3 months time. His Grandpa was a preacher but all the daughters wouldn't listen to him and none of them go to church. I pray that all this will come to some good and that God will bless that entire family.

His aunt was only in her forties. I hate to say it but she was my favorite! She had a good sense of humor and she liked to laugh. She's the only one that really talked to me and that I could feel comfortable talking to.

They don't know what happened. The person that was supposed to mow her yard found her today. It's still too soon to know anything else. I just want you guys to pray for them please.

Easy Italian Pasta Salad

I'm starting my new Tasty Tuesday post with a super easy one:

Here is one of my guys' favorite summer recipes. All 3 of them love it! It actually comes from my husbands Grandmother. It's a very simple Italian pasta salad. Even people that can't cook a bit can make this dish! (I had a really yummy picture I took to put on this post but I must have accidentally erased it...sorry!)

What you'll need:
1 box of rotini
zesty Italian dressing
1-2 tomatoes cut up into chunks
sugar

Directions:
Cook the rotini until done. Run it under cold water until chilled, drain. Put the rotini in a bowl. Put a little of the Italian dressing (just the cheap store brand is what I use. I think it works better!) in the noodles so they don't stick. Throw in the tomatoes and put about a 1/4 cup of sugar in. Really just sugar to taste. Pour in more of the italian dressing. It takes more than just covering the noodles because the noodles soak it all up. So put quite a bit in even when it looks like too much. In a couple hours it'll be good. Mine always looks like it's swimming in dressing! Just keep tasting while you're adding the sugar though. My husband likes it a little sweet, if you want it more tangy use less sugar. Chill for at least 30 min. I put a really good lid on mine and shake it up right before I eat it so it gets mixed up really good. That's it! Simple as that. I take it to any dinner I go to that I have to bring a dish. It's so easy, cheap and you can make it the day before. Actually it tastes better when it has been in the fridge a couple days!

A couple ideas:
Try adding in different ingredients! My husband loves it when I add in a jar of sliced mushrooms. You can use fresh if you want. I like to add fresh banana peppers from my moms garden in it. My husbands grandma sometimes puts shredded cheese in. Go ahead play around with it. I think it's impossible to mess this up!

I hope you enjoy it!

Please share your favorite recipes with a Tasty Tuesday post. I'm looking forward to trying out your fabulous dishes!

Cariboo Earth Puretec Organic Infant Blanket Giveaway

Giveaway time!

And it's a really good one!

The great folks at Toads & Tulips are giving one of their lucky Twitter followers a Cariboo Earth Puretec Organic Infant Blanket!

These wonderful 100% wool Earth blankets feature a variety of knits and weaves that result in a naturally soothing look and feel. Cariboo Earth Puretec Blankets feature all natural 100% organic New Zealand wool.

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These blankets are:

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-quick drying

-higher warmth-to-weight quality than other fibers

-formaldehyde free

-naturally fire-retardant

-eco-dyed and environmentally sustainable

The Cariboo Earth Puretec Organic blankets come in 5 colors:

Sage, Blue, Pink Chocolate, and Natural

A little bit about

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Buy it:
You can head on over to Toads and Tulips' website and buy one for yourself. They're on sale now for $89.95. That's $10 dollars off the regular price!

Win it:
All you have to do is follow Toads and Tulips on twitter. Yes it's that easy! All @ToadsandTulips followers as of 09/12 @ 9:00 PM EST will be entered in the drawing. The winner can choose from a chocolate, pink or blue blanket. Good luck!

2 Weeks Left...

Only 2 weeks left in the Body after Baby challenge. This is a boring post- nothing to really report. I did lose a little bit of weight this past week. Friday I weighed 123.5lbs but yesterday my after church my mom cooked lunch, which is always delicious!

She always cooks like 2 or 3 different meals because she's afraid someone won't want whatever it is that she cooked that day. So she made fried fish and fried chicken tenderloins, mashed potatoes, fried potatoes, homemade green beans, coleslaw, hush puppies, rolls, broccoli and cheese... there's probably more but I can't remember it all there was so much! My brother and sister came too with their kids so there was 5 adults and 7 kids there. 1 of the babies was too little to eat any of the food but there were still a lot of mouths to feed.

Anyway getting back to the body after baby thing, there is no turning down my moms cooking so I ate... and I ate...and ate! I know I shouldn't have but it was sooo good! I actually hate fish. All kinds of fish but this time there was something about the way she cooked it that it didn't even taste like fish. It was just yummy. That's all I can say!

I weighed myself this morning and weighed 124.5 lbs. I gained a pound from my mamas awesome food (it was so worth it though).

I'm sure that I can work off that extra pound in 2 weeks though. I can actually tell a small difference in the mirror though so that helps me feel like I'm getting somewhere! I'll continue to eat better and workout.

Hopefully the next post will be a little more exciting for you. I'll hope it's exciting in a good way though not like a'I completely fell off the wagon and gained 15lbs and I fell and caused a huge earthquake that cause death and famine the world is gonna end' kind of exciting. So let's just keep our fingers crossed that I do good this week OK? I'd hate to cause that kind of destruction ;)

My crazy boy...

Why do boys do what they do? Gavin was eating dinner wearing a pocket t-shirt. No more explanation needed.

Yes that's peas in his pockets!

I swear I have the silliest little boys on the planet! They can be really weird sometimes but they're really funny!

Gavins Dr. Visit

Gavin has been complaining that his 'pee pee hurts when he goes potty'. He's been wincing when he pees since last night. I called the Dr. last night which, since it was after-hours, I had to talk to the phone nurse and she just dismissed it saying that it was rare for boys to get UTI's and to wait till morning.

I did and he still said it hurts so I called them back this morning at 9:40am. The morning phone nurse said she needed to see him ASAP and could I be there at 10:15am? I said if I leave now I can. I still had to get Gavin dressed and wake Hubs up to watch Gage. (Which, BTW he was not thrilled to do as he'd only been in for an hour and a half.)

I left the house at 9:50 thinking I can still make it. As soon as I get out of the driveway I hear some cracking,scraping, and popping coming from under my car. I thought 'Oh this is just lovely.' I pull over at a gas station and look under my car fully expecting to see a cat or something hung up underneath my car. Thankfully there wasn't. I said I've gotta get to the doctor on time so I get back on the road and it does it worse. I have to turn around and go back home. I opened the car door to get Gavin out and found that he'd ALREADY peed in his pants (another symptom I was worried about and taking him to the dr. for). I had some more undies and shorts in the car so I changed him right there in the driveway & ran inside to tell my husband that my car is being a turd and to get his car keys. I had to get put a car seat in hubby's car so I had to use Gages (Gavins was soaked with pee). Thankfully Gage is a chunk so the straps are on the same setting.

This is the first time I've driven my hubby's car. I really didn't want to. It's a 90 something Blazer w/ 165,000 miles on it with no rear view mirror. He had the steering wheel adjusted to where it was like driving a school bus. Don't ask me why! I didn't have time to change it so I just suffered through it.

We left this time at 10:05. Yes I was able to do all that in 15 minutes! Including the stop at the gas station checking for small animals under my car!

We booked it to the Dr. (well as fast as the green beast would let me) and still made it there at 10:22! I can now call myself supermom! I was still a little late but the nurse said if I was a few minutes late that would be ok!

We got in there and of course still had to wait 10 min. Which isn't nearly as bad as usual. The boys' doctor is wonderful but unfortunately everyone else thinks so too! They're almost always packed.

Gavin couldn't wait until the nurse called him to do a urine sample. He had to go right then! I had to go ask the receptionist for a cup, which she gladly gave and I figure that probably even saved us a few minutes. He nearly overflowed the cup and peed on my hand. Oh the joys of motherhood! We cleaned up and headed back to the waiting room.

Since it was a last minute appointment we couldn't see the doctor so we had to see the nurse practitioner, who was very nice and wonderful! She did all the weighing and temp. checking and sent us back to the room.

When she came back in, she said that he did have a little bit of blood in his urine but no sign of an infection for me not to worry. She said that him being a little boy, he probably yanked on it a little too hard and possibly busted a blood vessel. That could be the reason it hurts when he pees, she said that it's kind of the same as when you get a scratch and pour alcohol on it and it stings. She told me to tell him not to be so rough on it! That he's just a boy and it's normal for him to play with it. She actually said that to him 'It's just like that car he's playing with, it's a toy for him.' Yes she said that!!! I'm sure I my face was red the entire time!

Anyway the nurse said that she would run culture on it just in case and call me this weekend if it turns up something else. I was really worried about him having a UTI and turns out he's just been playing with it too much!

After we got home and I told hubby what the nurse said, he looked at Gavin and said 'Son be careful with that thing, it's not as tough as you think.' Oh my boys. Sigh.

I hope to God that Gavin never knows about this post. If he only knew the things I tell hundreds of people... he'd hate me forever! ;)

Oh BTW, hubs took Gage for a ride in my car and it popped a couple times then stopped after they backed out of the driveway. He said it was probably just my e-brake was locked up, even though the light wasn't on. I checked. So all is well. We've had a worrisome day for no reason.

We got home and waited for Gage to wake up to go to the grocery store. Only spent $50... WOW! It's usually never under a hundred. We were checking out and Gavin told the man at the register that 'My mommy's gonna have a baby', to which I replied (a little too quickly and loudly) ' Oh no I'm not!' The poor guy couldn't ring up the groceries for laughing so hard. He was still laughing at my children as I was pushing the buggy out of the store. I'll say it again, Oh my boys...

Wordless Wednesday

Well this one can't go completely wordless! Here's Gavin and Gage wearing the same outfit and hat. It's funny how much bigger Gage is. He was half the age as Gavin in his picture but he was such a chunky butt!

Gavin at 14 weeks old

Gage at 7 weeks old

Please be praying for my nephew

My mom just called me to let me know how my nephew did at the hospital.

He had Trachomalicia when he was a baby. He had to take medicine for a awhile and they were planning to do surgery when he turned 2 to fix it. He started feeling better though so they didn't do the surgery. He's 4 now, he turns 5 in December. In the past year, he's been getting worse again. He spits up a lot and he can't drink dark drinks because it just comes right back up his throat. They assumed it was still the Trachimalicia so my sister took him back to the doctor and they decided to go down his throat to see what was going on.

That's where he went this morning. They went to the hospital and put him to sleep to take some biopsies to see what was happening. The doctor came back out and talked to my sister when they were done. He said that it's not the Trachomalicia again. He said that did fix itself but that he has a few inflamed spots on the lining of his stomach that could turn into ulcers. That's all I know so far. My sister just called my mom right after they talked to the doctor. They're not even home from the hospital yet. I'll probably have a few more details this evening. The doc said that he wasn't even going to try to say what it is yet. He wants to wait before the biopsies come back on Monday to tell them what's wrong. They have a long week ahead to wait for answers.

I hope and pray that it's something that is easily treatable and not very serious. Poor little guy. I ask that you all keep him and his family in your prayers.

Body after Baby... 3 weeks to go!

EEK only 3 weeks left in the body after baby challenge! Well no change this week. I'm blaming PMS for it though! I have the implanon birth control implant in my arm and it can make your periods irregular. Some people don't have one at all. Me however, I have one every 2 weeks. Yes, 2 weeks. I hate this thing. I start to PMS every week and a half. Which means the bloating, weight gain, the bottomless pit of a stomach... I've got it all. I can weigh 124 lbs one day and the next weigh 126 lbs with a bloated stomach. 2 days after that I'll weigh 124 again. This sucks! I'm just going to say I weigh what I did before I started my P. I only have like a full week of normalcy before I start this thing all over again.
I actually made an appointment to have the implant removed but something else came up. I'm going to have to make another appointment. I'm sick of it. I've had it in for a year and it lasts 3 years but I don't think I can make it another 2 years of misery!
Anyway this was supposed to be a body after baby post but there's not really anything to say. When I'm not bloated I actually look pretty good so I guess there's a small difference! I'll keep at my diet and exercise. Hopefully I'll be normal when I have to take my after picture!

Ouch...

Me and my sister have started walking every week because I'm doing the body after baby challenge and she just wanted to get in shape too. We usually walk 3 miles down the road at my moms house which is kinda tough because the road we walk on has a lot of hills!

This Tuesday for some crazy reason, we decided to walk in the mountains instead. We started at a logging road right below my moms. We took off at a pretty fast pace and very soon we slowed down, couldn't breath, and looked at each other like 'what were we thinking?' We were walking on a road that 4-wheelers drive on so it wasn't really rugged, it was just steep! We kept having to stop and rest.

We made it to the top though. We decided instead of coming back down the mountain, we'd go around and come down another side of the mountain, making a big circle coming out at the top of the road my mom lives on. Again, we looked at each other like 'Are we really this stupid?' This time however we started out slower. The climb got even steeper than the one before but we eventually made it.

We started back down the mountain at what used to be another logging road but it hadn't been used in a few years. It was just a huge gully that was deeper than we were tall and it was completely covered in briers, trees, and weeds. Me and my dear sis said there was no way we were going to turn back now we'd come too far. So we started down. We had to actually jump into the ditch, dodge briers, poison ivy, and tree branches! (ohhhh we were dumb...) On the bright side, there were some blackberry bushes and I would grab some and eat them while I stumbled down the side of a mountain! It took a long time to make our way through that mess. We finally did... with a few scratches and bruises but we made it! There still was a ways to walk down but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as what we'd already been through.

Also being dumb, we decided last minute to go up the mountain so we didn't tell our mom, who was watching 6 of our kids! Last time we walked down the road, it took us 1 hour and 20 minutes. We got an earful when we got back this time! My mom was thinking it would take as long as it did last time. She said 'What took you so long, you've been gone 3 hours!' She said she was about to load up 6 kids (ages 4, 3, 2 1/2, 20mo, 14mo, and 4mo!) and go looking for us! I thought she'd be proud of us for doing it and my sister said she'd just call us stupid. Guess who was right?! Well at least I'm proud of us :) I told my sis that our husbands wouldn't believe us when we told them what we did. Luckily I have the scars to prove it!

~OUCH~

The boys' pictures

I just went yesterday to Wal-mart to pick up the boys' pictures that we had made a couple weeks ago. It was just a spur of the moment thing. There is a girl that my mom has pretty much raised since she was 2. She's 11 years old now and she still stays with my mom sometimes during summer and winter breaks. I don't have very many pictures of her so I went and got her to have her picture made and to spend the night with us. The boys absolutely LOVE her!

Anyway, I went to pick up the pictures yesterday and I was talking to the girl there. I was telling her that I wanted to come back in the next couple of months and have Gage's picture done in a cloth diaper. I just bought one with little tractors on it and thought it would be cute to have a professional picture done with him wearing it! I just happened to have one in my diaper bag (I usually use a sposie when we're out in public) and I showed it to her. She said 'Ohhh that is so cute, where did you get it?' I started telling her where to find them. Around here there aren't many shops that sell them so we have to do it all online. I was also telling her how much I loved them and that I hadn't had any leaks and stuff like that. She was telling me that her youngest was 18 months old and was already going to the potty some and that going cloth might make it easier on her to potty train! She said she was so glad I told her about them and that she might make the switch to cloth! I told her that I wished I had known about the great cloth diapers out there I would've made the switch a lot earlier! Yay, I helped someone switch to cloth! I'm so happy!

Oh by the way, here's a few of the pics we had made. Both boys were not in the mood to have a camera in their faces that day so we got some pitiful-looking faces but they're still cute! Enjoy...



Just so yall know, I did buy the CD and the copyrights to these photos so I'm free to use or print them all I want! :) I think it's so worth it! I have so many people that want them, it's cheaper to buy the CD and print them off than to order the extra sheets. Plus I can play with them and make collages that's a lot cuter than the ones they make in the studio.

Wordless Wednesday

Re: Help!

Ok guys I just entered Gage in the Real Diaper Association Real Diapers, Real Babies Photo Contest! I ended up picking #4. Sorry to those who liked #2. That one did get more votes but when I looked at them again that one was a little bit fuzzy so I had to pick the other one! Thanks to all of you that gave me your opinion it was really helpful! I checked out the pics that have already been entered and there are some very cute babies with their fluff on there! It'll be tough competition so we'll keep our fingers crossed for my little monkey! Go on over to their website and check out all the beautiful babies at RDA!

HELP...

You've gotta help me. I want to enter Gage in the RDA photo contest. I cannot choose a picture. I think they're all cute. I know they all look pretty much the same. It probably doesn't matter but I still can't pick!

1.

2.

3.


4.

5.

6.

7.

So please help me out and leave me a comment to let me know which one you like most. Thank you so much.

4 Weeks To Go- HOLY COW!

Only a month left in the body after baby challenge. Where did the time go? Wow. I've lost 5 lbs, I weighed in at 124 lbs this morning but I still feel a little disappointed.

I don't care about how much weight I lose. Really I don't! (well... maybe a little!) I just wanted to lose some baby belly. I've lost everything BUT the baby belly. I'm loosing all the weight in places I want to keep it! I have chicken legs and absolutely no butt and those are the things that are getting smaller! I look even more pregnant now! So picture a plump, white marshmallow with toothpicks for arms and legs sticking out and that's what I look like! I mean it's not flabby, there's no fat rolls hanging out, it's just a perfectly round, plump pregnant looking belly! It's really weird! I'll just keep telling everybody what my brother used to always say to me 'I'm not fat, I'm pleasantly plump and pudgy.' I actually liked that saying so much I had a shirt made for Gage with it on it! He won a photo contest with it! Why can't we look this cute when we're chubby?

I'm going to keep at it. I'm going to walk 3 miles with my sister again tomorrow. I've got to get back to drinking lots of water too. Hopefully I can shed some of this gut in the next month!

My little tips and tricks...

In my 7 years of being married and 3 years of being mom (not to mention to being an aunt to 4 nieces and a nephew the oldest being 8 and youngest is 4 months!) I've learned a few little tricks and tips to save money, cook for picky eaters, raise my children, and make life just a little easier so here's some things you might want to try:

1. You can freeze bread. If bread is on sale at the store one week, buy a few extra loaves and stick them in the freezer. My family doesn't eat a lot of bread and it

usually molds before we get it all eaten. So I throw it in the freezer and when I want some, I grab a couple pieces lay em' out on the counter. It only takes a few minutes to thaw and it's just as soft as when you buy it. We also do that with hamburger and hot dog buns too!

2. Here in the south we make our cole slaw with mayo and sugar. Just chop up some cabbage add some mayo and put in some sugar. It has to sit awhile to get the best flavor. To make it really summery and fresh I add in some shredded carrots and chopped cucumber. It is so delicious!

3. It seems like alot of people are afraid to try to make pulled pork BBQ sandwiches but it's so easy. All you gotta do is buy a pork roast, you can find small cheaper ones in the grocery store that'll make a lot of sandwiches. Put it in a crock pot with some water. If it's a small one you can completely cover it with water, if it's a bigger one you'll have to just cover half of it and turn it every now and then. If there's too much water it'll leak out of the top. For a small roast cook it on high for 4-5 hours until it falls apart. For a bigger one about 6-8 hours. Pull out the roast and kind of break it up on a cookie sheet to cool. It will shrink alot and wont look like much but when you shred it, it'll feed quite a few people. When it's cool enough to handle with your fingers, pull out all the fat and shred the rest into a bowl and just add your favorite BBQ sauce. Stick it in the microwave to heat it back up and voila southern style pulled pork! Put it on a hamburger bun and top with the cole slaw in tip #2 and enjoy! It will keep in the fridge about a week or you can freeze it. It gets a little mushy when you freeze it but it still tastes ok.

4. Reuse bowls that you buy with stuff in them. Like I save all my butter, sour cream, whipped cream bowls and reuse them. (I make a lot of mexican food so I buy the big tub of sour cream at Sams Club. Not the tiny ones you get at the supermarket!) I put leftovers in them or when I send food to someone elses house I put it in that. That way you don't have to worry about them bringing it back! When it gets broke or stained just toss it.

5. Easy way to cook chicken! So you know it takes a lot of work to make fried chicken or chicken casseroles right? Well my mom showed me this trick and it makes cooking chicken a hundred times easier. I've never been able to fry chicken. NEVER! I'd always burn the outside and the middle wouldn't be done or I wouldn't get the oit hot enough and all the breading would come off. My mom told me to boil the chicken until it's done first. then all you got to do is dredge it in the breading and fry it until it turns brown. It takes like 2 minutes! When you want to do a chicken casserole just boil it then shred it. Then you just have to add whatever else you want in your casserole (I do cream of chicken and cream of celery with stovetop stuffing on top) and heat it up in the oven. Maybe 10-15 minutes. Easy quick way of cooking chicken and it looks like you've slaved over the stove all day! You can also boil it earlier in the day and keep it in the water until you need it. My mom even does it the day before and puts it in the fridge so when we all come over for dinner Sundays after church there's not as much work for her to do!

Well that's all I got for now. I just jot these things down when I think of them. I'll do another one soon. I hope these little nuggets of wisdom help you out a little. Moms have a hard job and anything to make it a little easier is a huge help. I would love to hear any of your tips about anything from cooking to cleaning, from diapering to feeding, anything that makes your life easier. Please leave a comment and share with us!

Nubunz

Wow, I cannot say enough about these diapers. I stumbled upon these in search of some affordable cloth diapers. I'm am so lucky I found Nubunz! I was thinking how can these diapers be good as inexpensive as they are (they're about half the price of the other brands!)? I couldn't pass up a great deal though so I ordered 2. They didn't have all the colors pictured yet so I took a chance and ordered light orange and dark red for Gage.



They came in the mail only a couple days later. I opened them up and I squealed with delight! They looked and felt like the twenty dollar diapers I had been buying. They were made out of the same exact material as the more expensive brands. I couldn't wait to try them out! I was so sure they'd be great, I went ahead and ordered 4 more! I ordered light coffee, aqua blue, green, and butter yellow just so you know!

I washed them last night and took them with me to my moms today to try em'. I put the red one on my 4 month old niece because they were so cute and I wanted

to get a picture of her in a cloth diaper! Then I put Gage in the orange one. I couldn't have been happier. They actually seem to fit him better than the other brands! He wore it for a couple hours and no sign of a leak! I am absolutely

thrilled with the performance of these wonderful diapers.

Don't get me wrong I love my other diapers too but for the price and quality of these I can't get enough of them!

A little bit about Nubunz:

Nubunz Premium one-size, AIO, pocket style diapers are eco-friendly, wallet friendly, and made right here in the United States! They come in 14 different colors and you can get either velcro or snaps. The colors you can choose from are: light orange, apple green, aqua blue, baby aqua, light coffee, dark red, baby pink, bubble gum, lavender, baby blue, light green, green, butter yellow and soft white.

The inner layer is made of soft polyester micro fleece, they come with 2 micro terry cloth inserts, and they have an anti wick area to help keep baby dry. You should definitely go check these out for yourself- http://nubunz.com/ You'd better hurry though these low introductory prices are for a limited time only!

I need more cloth diapers!

So most of yall know that at the moment I only have 2 AIO cloth diapers. Sad I know but I can only buy a couple a week. I have ordered three more and should have them all by the end of the week. I also only have 10 disposable diapers right now and really don't want to have to buy more until Friday! Yes I'm being lazy!

So how do I solve this problem? I remembered I had some prefold

diapers that I used as burp cloths when Gage was little... well he was never little but you know what I mean! I took the prefolds and folded up some regular white Gerber diapers (also used as burp cloths) and used them as inserts. There, problem solved! It actually worked quite well. I didn't really like having to use the diaper pins because I'm always afraid I'll poke him but thus far we've had no problems. We even had a really really bad teething kind of diarrhea diaper. Extremely disgusting and gross, I actually almost threw up and no leaks whatsoever. I was amazed! And that's when it hit me... If I can change this nasty poopie diaper I've got this whole cloth diapering thing in the bag. I mean that one diaper was probably the worst I'll encounter and while very stinky and gross, I handled it with surprising ease.

Today I have only used 2 disposable diapers. Well only 1 during the day and I just put him to bed in one so I'm really proud of myself! I'm slowly on my way to being a cloth diapering mommy. YAY! I really thought this was going to be harder than it really is. If I would have known it would have been this easy I would have started sooner! I was completely lost before I even started. It's a really daunting task to say you're going to start something like this. I didn't really know where to start. But thankfully I got some really great advice from the mommy bloggers I follow! Thanks you guys, you've helped me more than you know!

Body after Baby challenge week 3

I did better this week on the body after baby, fit by labor day challenge. Last week I gained a pound. This week I lost a 1.5 lbs so I now weigh 125 lbs for a total of 4 pounds. Not so bad I guess. The only problem is I really don't care about the number of pounds I lose... I just want rid of the awful baby belly. And that is still stubbornly hangin' on there! There are times when I look pregnant. I've actually had people in my church ask me if I was pregnant again! Very awkward not to mention embarrassing! For both me and the person that asked! I just smile and say 'nope, it's just fat.' You should see the look on their faces!!! They say 'oh..oh..no..I didn't, I mean...' It's actually quite amusing ;). Anyway I'm eating pretty well, I am cheating occasionally (who doesn't?) But overall not doing too bad.
My problem is finding the time to workout. I have been turning on some music and letting Gavin tell me what to do. We do jumping jacks, running around, lying down and getting back up like 5 times in a row, jump around like a bunny... I could go on forever! It's quite the workout though! I can only go 15-20 minutes and I'm exhausted and he's saying 'get up mommy, lets exercise.' I'm gasping for breath saying 'no honey, mommy'll watch you for a minute.' It' sad I know. I am sooo out of shape!
I have decided to go out to my moms house twice a week and walk with my sister. It's a rural area and if we walk from my moms house to a church down the road and back, it's 3 miles, mostly uphill. And I'll continue to dance/workout with my boys not only because it's an awesome workout, but because it's fun and they like it!
I've only got 5 weeks to get my butt into gear and get this baby gut off me! They've been worth it don't get me wrong but it's been a year already. It's time to get my body back. The one my husband fell in love with (not that he doesn't love this body but the other one was sexier!) So wish me luck and I send luck and love to all the other great moms and dads doing the challenge with me.

My cloth diaper experience

So I've been cloth diapering for 4 days now and I LOVE IT!!! Gage does too. He loves the feel of them. I do have to wash everyday because I still only have 2. I ordered one more when I ordered the other two but it's still not here yet. I am so excited to order more. In fact I just bought two more so I'll have 5 soon. It is so much fun to look at all the different brands and colors! The ones I just bought are light orange and dark red! I have only had 2 leaks. The first one was the day I started and the second was today. Gage is just a heavy pee'er (is that a word?!) so I'm going to have to start doubling the inserts. The first one that leaked is the only one I've gotten that's not one-size and he's at the weight right between medium and large so I got a large. It's a little bit loose in the legs so I always double that one. I can't wait to start cloth diapering full time instead of only getting to do it half a day and then having to go back to disposables. I really thought it was going to be a challenge but I've had no problems so far.

I'll keep posting my experiences as a new cloth diaper user. I'd gladly welcome any advice or pointers about your washing routine, the best brands, types, or whatever else I might need to know. I'm completely clueless here. I'm learning as I go and loving every minute of it!

Please keep praying...

I have an update on me and my husbands friend that was in the motorcycle accident last Saturday. Her husband (another of our friends) died at the scene. My husband came in this morning and told me that she is brain dead and they don't think she'll make a recovery. And that if she lives, she'll never be the same. She has a puntured lung and liver, and a hematoma of the brain. Her and her husband were young and full of life. They were a really fun couple. I ask anyone that reads this to please please please pray for her and her family. Thank you.