The End of Sugar-Free March

Well, tomorrow is the big April 1.

Sugar Free March is coming to a close. Can I get an amen!

If you come over to my house at any point tomorrow, you will probably see me doing this, except my smile will be bigger...









Now, you might be wondering how it is possible for the Amy Carruthers to have eaten no sugar for a whole month. I know. I'm surprised too. And I won't lie. I totally cheated the last week or so, but my cheats were when we went out to dinner (didn't want to make a scene) and cheerios. Yeah, I said it: cheerios. Pathetic, I know.

Oh. And coffee punch at Keri's baby shower. But seriously, it was coffee punch. Half-cup, I swear.

So, what have I learned? SOOO much!!

- I learned the importance of eating real food.


Real food does a body good. I've eaten quick freezer or boxed meals for so long because "I don't cook" so it feels good to finally experiment with the real stuff. And really it's not THAT hard. (Did I just say that?)

Of course this is totally real and therefore good for you, right?
Yeah, that's Red Velvet Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. My mouth is watering just looking at it.


- I have learned to say "no".

I think having a month of saying no because I was "going sugar free" gave me the jump-start reason to eat better. Now that I'm learning the benefits of a healthier diet, I feel like I can say no because it just isn't worth it to me.

One cookie won't kill 'ya though! ;-)


- I have learned that there really are healthier options for most foods.

Dave's Killer Bread (thanks Jen) and a banana dipped in peanut butter (ok, not necessarily healthy, but no sugar, and definitely takes care of the sweets craving! thanks Keri) were two of my favorite finds this month.

Sadly, there is no substitute for the glorious Starbucks Caramel Macchiato. I will have to wait until heaven to have one of those without calories!


- Last, I am learning that I set the tone for my family's health, especially with eating. I am the one who does the grocery shopping, I make the meals, I set the example of good things to eat... Especially while the boys are young and learning by example!

Now my mouth is watering.

Darn you google searches of wonderfully delicious things I love!


OH, I almost forgot the best part of this whole month... duh!

Drum roll please...........


I've lost about half the weight I've wanted to!

!!!!!YAY!!!!


Later, I'll post my plan for April. I've been thinking about this for the last week or so, and I think I'm ready to commit.......... I think.

Oh dear

James helped John and Will work on the truck in the garage last night. Boys....

Nate - 5 Months!

Nate the Great turned 5 months on March 25th! Personally, I think he gets a little cuter every day - but I am a little biased!


Nate is still growing and smiling and laughing just like a 5 month old should. He's definitely my cuddly baby and I give in to his cries much more than I did with James (that's not saying a lot though, poor James got no slack!). He knows who Mom and Dad are, and I'm pretty sure he flinches every time James walks by... ha ha!

This picture cracked me up. I think he was trying to relax on the couch like Grandpa:



I think this is a 6-pack just waiting to happen. ;-)

Trader Joe's FAIL

We went to Trader Joe's this morning... and I got my chance in the dreaded mom-spotlight.

I thought it would be so much fun to have James push the little cart around - he loves pushing things around.

Nope. He wanted to hold his crackers and walk away from me. This meant me pushing around 2 carts while trying corral James and use the right store-appropriate discipline to let him know I was serious.

I thought Nate would sleep if I brought him in with his car seat.

Nope. He was awake and fussy the whole time. Not only that, but his seat took up the whole cart so it was a challenge to stick groceries in every nook and cranny!

Then, the boys decided it was time to meltdown (together, of course) so I hit the registers. James was screaming tired. Nate was screaming hungry. All I could do was laugh and apologize.

At one point I turned around to the half a dozen people behind me in line and said I'm so sorry, we'll be outta here in just a minute! Thankfully everyone was super understanding and empathetic!

Gives you even more respect for moms of twins-plus!

Because of Kenley

James loves eating with a big guy fork now too! Gotta keep up with cousin Kenley!

Actually, Keri, could you have Kenley potty trained before this weekend?
Then James might just catch on! ;-)

Fun with James' hair

Poor guy needs a hair cut so bad! I never thought I would say that after the January hair cut fiasco!

Nate - 5 Month Dr. Appt

Nate had his 5 month doctor appointment yesterday.

Weight: 13.4 lbs (5th %)
Height: 25" (22nd %)
HC: 43.6 cm (66th %)

So, Nate has actually lost over a pound in the last 2 months. The doctor was not worried at all and said he looked completely healthy, but we are going to start supplementing with formula to make sure Nate is getting all the food he needs.

..... and NO, I'm not pregnant again! ;-)

Media Fast

In our Sunday adult class, we have been reading Chip Ingram's "Living on the Edge". I highly recommend it. The idea of the book is that Romans 12 is the starting point for the Christian life.

It's description says: "What most Christians sadly misunderstand is that God isn't into religious activities or performance-based Christianity. Instead, Romans 12 reveals to us a relational profile of what it means to be a disciple, as well as a proven pathway to becoming more like Jesus each day."




Anyway, there's my plug. It's been a great book for John and I to read recently.

The chapter we just finished is titled "Could your mental diet be killing your soul?". It really challenged us to look at what, and how much of, other things we are filling our minds with. Specifically entertainment media.

Romans 12:2 says to "be transformed by the renewing of your mind". Obviously there is a lot you can go in-depth on with that phrase alone, but for me, I am learning to re-think what I am putting in front of my face for my mind to think about. Not because it makes me a good Christian to not watch or listen to "worldly" things, but because I want my mind to be renewed and my heart transformed.

The chapter challenged us to do a 24-hour media fast. John and I decided to try it last Sunday and I think it was pretty beneficial. Sunday is usually the day I sit on the couch and watch Law & Order - stop judging me, lol. This Sunday I spent more time with the boys, did some reading, and organized some pictures on the computer.

We may continue to make Sunday our media-free day, we'll see how it goes. I like the idea of it being more of a set-apart day. Again, not because of legalism, but because we want to have our priorities in line!

The 8pm meltdown

Tools

James learned to use his power tools the other day. I realized shortly into play time that we'd need to have a safety course in power tool usage... soon!

In an effort to keep boys' pictures even steven...

Last Night

Don't be fooled by this picture.

A few minutes later, I caught James with his foot on Nate's head. :-)

And this was later, I don't know if James was hungry or just feeling like a monkey... probably both... but it made me laugh!

Melt my heart

We were out walking this afternoon with Hugo when Nate woke up from his nap and started fussing. James reached over and grabbed his hand and he immediately stopped crying. I'm pretty sure they held hands for at least a couple blocks. SO sweet.

I was so glad I was right next to the camera for this one.

I just asked James to sit down for a snack and got this.... ha ha!

This kid has been blowing my mind recently! It seems like in the last month James has gotten smart.

He's repeating words like crazy (I am probably the only one who can interpret, but it counts!). We went down the cracker aisle at the store yesterday and without me saying anything he pointed up and said "cracker!".

He can fully follow my spoken directions to help turn on the light, take his socks off, clean up, turn on the vacuum, put laundry in the dryer, sit down, come, roll over (...kidding).

He also loves books these days. I should clarify. He's generally into turning pages and throwing the books everywhere... but now he's actually interested in looking at them too. Yesterday we were reading books and finding things to point at. I pointed to "fishies" in the ocean and he put the book up to his mouth to try to eat them. I guess when I think about it, the only "fishies" he's known are goldfish!

James really likes to be involved with whatever I'm doing. I haven't told him that dusting isn't that much fun yet...

Nate - 4 Months!

Of course I'm a tad late, but Natester turned 4 Months on Feb.25th!

I adore this age. He's totally interactive, but he still isn't super mobile. He is, however, slightly mobile... gravity helps with that (oops!). He has also moved to a 4-hour routine (which feels like I added an extra 2 hours to the day!) and almost perfectly sleeps his 12 hour nights.

Nate is turning out not to be just as happy and laid back as James - maybe even more. We love watching him smile and laugh all the time. He watches/plays with James and I can just imagine what is going through his mind!

Here are some more Nate faces we see all day:



He knows how to turn on the pout. I felt a little guilty snapping pictures while he was crying, but it's just so darn cute!





Classic Nate face: