Saturday, October 28, 2017

Andrew: 8 Months

Happy 8 Months Andrew!
Your personality really started to blossom this month! You are one LOUD baby! You love to yell at us. Especially when your siblings are all talking or just being loud. You will get in on the action and start yelling along with them. It's one loud house around here! Along with your yelling you have also started saying "HiDadadada".

You love to eat solids. You will eat some baby purees, but you much prefer to eat with your hands. When I put you in your high chair you will often start banging on the tray. Once I put some food down for you, you literally attack it! You are quite an impatient little guy. Some of your new foods this month included beans, salmon, broccoli, tuna, grilled cheese, avocado, eggs, and mango. You didn't love tuna, but you happily ate the salmon.



Cheerios are always a favorite.


In addition to food, you will put anything and everything in your mouth. I'm scrambling to keep the floors clean!

You started crawling this month, although it's kind of a one-legged crawl. You keep one knee on the floor and then move yourself along with your other foot, if that makes sense.

You also started pulling yourself up to stand! I turned around one day and you had randomly stood up in your playpen. We have since lowered your crib down to keep you safe.

You have two top teeth and 3 on the bottom. And of course you have started to bite me!

I think you had a big growth spurt this month. You just look bigger all of a sudden, and other people are noticing it too.

Andrew (Drewski) you are changing so fast all of a sudden! I'm betting you will be walking by 10 months, like your brother Lucas.

Speaking of brothers, here is your big brother Ryan wearing the same shirt at 11 months of age. It was originally your cousin Josh's onesie. And he is now 19 years old!

Thursday, October 26, 2017

A Month Off Facebook

I have spent the last almost 4 weeks on a Facebook break. I have popped in a few times here and there, mostly to check party invites or other real-life events. At first it was really strange being off of Facebook! But within a few days it was kind of nice.

I had a few good reasons to take a break.

Facebook is so addicting! I know you all can relate. It's so easy to get lost scrolling through the newsfeed, that before you know it, you've wasted a bunch of time. In this season of life, I want to be more focused and intentional with my time.

I didn't like my kids seeing me with my phone constantly in my hand, my eyes glued to the screen. They deserve my attention, not Facebook.


I rarely logged off of Facebook feeling any better. Rather, it would often make me feel like less of a Mom, cause me to click off on random ads, or just make me wish I was someone else. One ad would make me feel fat. Another person's post would make me question my parenting choices. A recipe post would make me rethink my week's menu plan. It's like Facebook was making my brain scrambled. Too much input!!

So what have we been doing the last few weeks? Well I am happy to finally say that I've lost all my baby weight! I began the Whole30 3 weeks ago and I have lost 10 pounds so far! I will do a big recap of my Whole30 experience once it is over.

We had baby Andrew dedicated at church.
 

 We played dress-up and got ready for Halloween.
Our good friends from the Bay Area came up to visit.

 And we just enjoyed life!


It was a good month.

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Weighty Wednesday: Whole30 Trader Joe's Haul

Woohoo! Today is the day I have been waiting for. That's right.....I have officially lost each and every last pound of baby weight! 43 pounds this pregnancy to be exact. I am back at my pre-pregnancy weight. It's the weight that my body naturally seems to settle at. All of my clothes fit again, and a few items are even starting to look loose and baggy on me. If I keep losing weight I'll have to buy new clothes! Not sure if that's good or bad. Ha. I still have 10 days left of the Whole30, so I may end up losing a few more pounds. But in terms of my Weighty Wednesday updates, I am done!

So how did I lose the last 3 pounds this week? By sticking with the strict rules of the Whole30 plan. No sugar, no alcohol, no dairy, no grains, and no legumes. That also means no weird preservatives or anything else you can't pronounce on a food label. Just clean, whole, healthy foods. I went grocery shopping at Trader Joe's this week and took pictures of all the Whole30 compliant food I bought. Sure, there are a lot of foods you can't eat on the Whole30....but there are also a lot of delicious foods you CAN eat! Here is what I got.

PRODUCE
Eating a lot of produce is healthy no matter what type of eating plan you are following, am I right? I loaded up on lots of goodies at Trader Joe's, with an emphasis on the veggies. Eating them with every meal means I go through a lot of the green stuff! Some of my faves are broccoli, brussels sprouts, green beans, and lots of raw veggies for salads. I also picked up lemons to flavor my water or squeeze over fish and chicken. Pre-sliced pineapple was a splurge I don't normally buy, but we grilled some last night with dinner and it was delicious!

HEALTHY FATS
Fat does not make you fat! Your body needs plenty of fats....at least the healthy kinds! Foods like avocados, coconut milk, and nuts are encouraged on the Whole30. I've never been much of a nut girl. For the longest time I only liked salty peanuts and sometimes salted cashews. But I've really been trying to expand my nut list lately. On this trip I bought almonds and hazelnuts! The hazelnuts are so unique. Kind of soft and chewy with a faint Nutella flavor. I also love Trader Joe's peanut butter (not allowed on Whole30) so my recent addiction is their crunchy salted almond butter. Also, I picked up a container of ghee, which is just clarified butter. Butter is not allowed on the Whole30, but ghee is fine because the milk fats have been removed from the butter. I've been cooking with ghee for about a year now and sometimes I use it instead of butter when I'm cooking at high temps.

PROTEIN
I generally keep our freezer stocked with protein options such as ground beef, chicken breast, salmon, white fish, ground turkey, and the occasional beef roast. I buy most of these at Costco. So during this Trader Joe's trip I was looking for a few quick and convenient forms of protein for lunches. I picked up hot dogs to share with Ryan, prosciutto, turkey lunchmeat, and these new-to-me snacks called Chomps. I think they are like a healthier form of jerkey but in a stick. Of course I bought eggs because I eat eggs almost every day. I also got some extra ground meats. I don't normally buy ground pork, but I'm making a meatball soup later this week. 

FROZEN
It was so hard to skip over all the yummy frozen convenience foods at Trader Joe's! (I did bring home a few items for Adam and the kids). For me, I headed to the frozen produce section and grabbed 3 bags of cauliflower rice. This is great to use in any recipe that would normally call for rice. Last week I used some to make "Spanish rice". I'm looking forward to making fried rice later this week with one of these bags. I also grabbed the frozen sliced leeks to use in my meatball soup, and underneath are diced bell peppers that I will throw in with my scrambled eggs in the morning. Finally, I bought a box of their Chili Lime Chicken Burgers. These are a very tasty and convenient option for lunch.

FUN EXTRAS
Because I can't have yogurt right now, I picked up a couple items to get some probiotics in my tummy. First up is this Cayennade Kombucha. I've never had this flavor but I'm excited to try it! I also tried their sauerkraut for the first time and I really like it! I love the cucumber slices that are mixed in. The Just Mango Slices are a long time favorite of mine. Dried fruit is allowed in moderation on the Whole30, as long as the only ingredient is the fruit itself. No added sugar! Finally, I picked up 3 bars to try. Again, these should be eaten in moderation and not relied upon for a quick sugar fix. I already ate the Apple Cinnamon RX Bar and it was pretty yummy.

I will do a big recap of my Whole30 experience in 10 days once I am done.

Monday, October 23, 2017

Andrew's Baby Dedication

Yesterday our baby Andrew John Nullmeyer was dedicated to God at our church.
Our church does not do baby baptisms because they believe a child should be old enough to make the decision for themselves. Instead, they do a church-wide baby dedication where each baby is prayed over.
One of the pastors at our church conducted Andrew's dedication. He anointed our heads with oil while he prayed.
The word wisdom was chosen for Andrew. (When Jenna was dedicated, her word was peace.) "May Andrew John Nullmeyer walk with God's wisdom, strength, peace, and joy all the days of his life. May this child bless others as he has been blessed. Amen!"
 (Close your eyes kids!)
 Pastor Parnell Lovelace chose Psalm 121 for Andrew. "The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life...."
 It was so nice having Andrew surrounded by his family for this special event.

 Prior to the ceremony, we attempted to capture a perfect family photo for future Christmas cards.
 All lined up! When the Pastor saw our kids he said they looked like little stair-steps.
Thank you God for our little family!

Saturday, October 21, 2017

7 Year Olds

7 year olds are complicated little people!
Some days, they can have the attitude of a teenager.
Other times they just can't turn off their goofiness.
Then out of the blue they will do something so sweet and cute that reminds you they are still so young.
 They are excellent at posing for pictures!
7 year olds make really great big brothers.
 7 year olds can also be really smart. This 7 year old earned a 104% on his spelling test this week.
I love my 7 yr old!