From Walks To Weight Loss and Some Family Values Along The Way

Now that the weather is beautiful, my family and I have been taking long walks around our neighborhood.  We even found a giant playground at the elementary school close to our home that my son now loves to play on.  Granted, he's only 1, so there wasn't much for him to play on, but he loved the slide, the swing and a few other great sections of the playground.  As we were walking, I starting thinking about how the exercise we were doing will impact our son.  It's showing him that getting some form of exercise, whether it be a walk around the neighborhood, or a game of touch football when he gets older, will be what he needs to do to stay healthy.  It wasn't until I had my son that the phrase, "do what I say, not what I do", really proved to be completely false.  Kids do what we DO, and hopefully what we say.  If we eat junk food, our kids will eat junk food because they think it's OK.  If we don't exercise and just sit on the couch watching TV, then our kids will do the same because they think it's OK.  Well, it's not OK.  We're in charge of HOW our kids grow up and what they learn as they grow up.  We need to show them right from wrong.  We need to show them that eating right and exercising is how you stay healthy and fit.  

So, as a person, and now a parent, that has had my share of issues with exercising and eating right, it's my responsibility and my husbands responsibility, to show our son the right way to lead a healthy life.  And not only a healthy life, but a fun life.  I have to say, I had the best childhood growing up.  There was definitely no shortage of fun and laughs and things to do.  We always had our cousins over to play with as well as our neighborhood friends, and we were always outside until we were told to come home for dinner.  We had pool parties, sleepovers, and lots of fun trips.  That is something else that we will definitely be passing onto our son.  Have fun, be outside as much as possible, use your imagination often, and always have play dates with your cousins!  We're lucky enough to still have a very close relationship with our cousins and my sister, brother in-law, niece and nephew only about 5 minutes away, so he'll definitely have plenty of play dates ahead of him.  We also have a bunch of close friends with children so our son will have a lot of friends to hang out with too.  I know that my son will have as wonderful as a childhood as I had.  Great food, great family, great friends, and most of all, unconditional love.  My husbands childhood was a little different than mine, so he is making sure that our son doesn't have to go through what he went through growing up.  He's the best father to our son and our son adores him.  

So here's to more walks around the neighborhood, more healthy eating habits, and lots of play dates with friends and family!  Do you remember some great times from your childhood that you'll be passing onto your kids?  Do you have any great recipes that you make for your children to help them eat right?  I'd love to hear from you.

A Better Food Generation

When I was younger, I don't remember there being as much controversy around food as there is now.  Today, there is a different article written, a different story on the news, or a different topic of conversation on the radio, about food.  What foods are good to eat?  Which are the bad ones to stay away from?  Should you eat organic foods, or is it OK to buy everyday produce from the grocery store?  I don't even remember there being an option to buy organic food when I was a kid.  That being said, I have taken a large roll in my families food choices.  My son, who is now 13 months old, eats organic foods where we see fit.  We buy most organic fruits, milk, pastas and other products.  My son loves fruit, but we don't buy organic fruits that have a hard skin that he will not eat.  From the research I've done and the people I've spoken to, the pesticides do not permeate through the skin to the actual fruit.  If anyone has any other information proving otherwise, please share it with us.  Any information you can provide is valuable.

I have found a passion; an ambition; to find the best foods for my family to eat.  I have had my share of battles with many different diets saying to eat one thing or another, or saying that I could eat whatever I wanted and still lose weight.  None of those diets lasted very long.  If given the option to eat ice cream and bread all day, everyday, I would.  I love carbs and I love sweets.  Two traits I hope that I do not pass onto my son.  He does not have dessert after dinner unless it is fruit.  I am currently trying to limit the amount of processed foods that I eat along with the carbs that I eat.  It's a tough road but I know that I'm setting a good example for my son and the rest of my family.  Willpower is something that gets taken for granted if you have it.  Right now, I'm searching high and low for mine for the good of my family.  

I've been on the "no white flour diet" (at least that's what I'm calling it) for almost a week now.  It's been a very long week, but I have had more energy and no afternoon slump at work, which is wonderful.  It's really important to me to raise my son with the knowledge of how to eat well.  What foods are power foods and which should be limited.  If he chooses a strawberry over a piece of cake, then I've done my job.  But if he chooses the piece of cake, I hope he knows that it's a treat and not a necessity.  Something that I'm still trying to come to terms with.  My husband was raised with no dessert after meals.  Me on the other hand, we had dessert after dinner every night.  I don't see a problem with this at all, as long as it's a healthy dessert and not sweets all the time.  I personally am not a fan of many fruits, so it's slightly more difficult for me to find a healthy dessert, but I'm trying.  If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them.

All in all, I think that our food choices are something that we should pay more attention to.  There are foods that can make certain people feel more aches and pains than other people.  There is an actual meal plan geared towards an anti-inflammatory diet for those who have a sensitivity to food.  I think that each person is different and each person's body reacts differently to food.  But we all know that eating the proper amount of fruits and veggies and exercising regularly is the best way to live a healthy life.

I'd love to hear from you.  Do you monitor what your children eat or do you allow them to eat whatever they want?  Do you choose to buy organic or buy whatever is on sale?  Do you watch what you eat as well as what your kids eat or do you just eat whatever is fastest so that you can feed your children the healthy foods?  I'm looking forward to your feedback.

Frugal Food and Fun

Mastering fun and food for a family on a budget can be a little tricky, but it is possible.  Lately, my husband and I have been trying to find ways to save money, but still eat well and have lots of fun with our son and dog.  So, we've been clipping coupons, thinking up new fun free games, and packing our lunches.  There are many wonderful and inexpensive ways to show your child(ren) how to have a great time and still stay within your budget.  Today, for example, we went over to my sister and brother-in-law's house so that my son could have a play date with my niece and nephew.  We had a wonderful brunch of an egg casserole, biscuits, and bacon.  We brought the bacon and milk and they provided the egg casserole which had peppers and onions mixed throughout, and biscuits.  It was delicious and on a budget.  I brought a snack for my son of organic graham crackers that were on sale at Target, and the kids had a blast!  My niece, nephew and son got to play together and my son was able to play with some "new" toys.  It was a win win situation.  

My sister and I also rotate toys with the kids.  Her son is 1 year older than mine and her daughter is 5 months younger than my son.  So when her son is finished with his toys, my son gets them handed down, and then once my son is done with them, we send them back to her house for when her daughter is older enough to play with them.  Another win win situation!  We are also very fortunate to get most of our childrens clothing and toys from family members.  The amount of clothing, shoes and toys that we get on a monthly basis is incredible.  We haven't had to buy much of anything since they have been born!  We are extremely fortunate to have such an amazing family as well as many little cousins who are willing to part with their clothes and favorite toys.

Some great activities that we've come across to do on a budget is going to the park, feeding the ducks at the pond,  and going to the library to pick out their favorite book or video.  Since my son is so young, we're also able to play catch, ride around in his play car and go for walks and he's pretty content.  We play peekaboo, chase the dog (which our dog isn't too fond of), and "cars" (for any parent of a little boy, you know exactly what I'm talking about).  My sister made my nephew flash cards with a container to put them in once he's said the word.  He LOVES playing this game.  It's something as simple as printing off free flashcards online, cutting them into squares and laminating them.  My sister took an old plastic container of dog bones, washed it out and cut a hole in the lid for my nephew to put the cards through.  You can use any container you'd like.  The large animal cracker plastic bear containers work well too!

Be ambitious and think of creative new ideas for games for your children.  They don't always need the super expensive talking games that you see advertised on TV.  A simple flash card game, or even a home made puzzle would do.  If they're old enough, they can even help you make it.  What are some games that you've created with your children?  What are some things that you've learned to do on a budget when it comes to having fun and eating well?  I look forward to hearing all of your ideas. 

Happy Mother's Day

Let me start by saying that Mother's Day is HIGHLY underrated.  Being a new mom, I've come to not only appreciate my own mom more (more than words can say), but ALL moms around the world.  There should be more than one day to celebrate moms.  I know that some people say being a mom is the hardest "job" in the world, but I don't really think of being a mom as a job.  For me it's more like a part of who I am.  I'm a Mom.  But I'm also a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a friend, a godmother, a niece, a cousin, and a wife.  That's part of who I am.  That's not all I am, but it's just part of me.  

I remember who I was before I had my son, but I know that I am a better person since having him.  I have found out more about myself since having Alex than I ever have before giving birth to him.  Becoming a mom has given me a confidence that I cannot describe.  When you create a child inside your body and deliver a wonderful, beautiful child in this world, it makes you feel like a super hero.  I gave birth to a child who weighed almost 10 lbs.  Everything else in life seems like a piece of cake.  But it's not just creating a child that makes you an incredible mom, it's actually raising the child.  All of the moms that have adopted incredible children know that.  Giving birth is just the biology of it all, it's not what makes being a mom so special.  Raising your child(ren) with hope, values, and unconditional love; that's where being a mom becomes more rewarding that anything else you can do in life.  I've gained such a drive, such ambition in my life since becoming a mom because for the first time, I KNOW I can do ANYTHING.  Yes, we all have trials and tribulations, and stresses and hurdles we need to get over.  But, when you have that fire inside of you, that drive to always want to do better, you just know that you can get through anything.  

So Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there.  Happy Mother's Day not only today, but EVERYDAY.  You deserve to be recognized for all that you do everyday.  Always know that you are an amazing and incredible woman who is raising or has raised wonderful children.  Be proud of being a mom and be proud of being so wonderful.  Now go give your kids a big hug and kiss!  They are the reason you get to celebrate Mother's Day after all.

100 Amazing How-To Sites

As I clicked on a link that was in a tweet posted by Tony Robbins, I was brought to a site that was very interesting to me.  A site with the top 100 how-to sites listed (http://www.ratedcolleges.com/blog/2009/100-amazing-how-to-sites-to-teach-yourself-anything/).  I did not go through all of the sites, but I did check out a few.  I first clicked on a site titled www.TrickLife.com.  On that site, they have many how-to videos from making a root beer float to learning how to peel a potato in 2 seconds!  No joke, it's awesome.  Being a busy Mom, any way that I can I can save time is a must.  They also have a very strange but extremely quick way of peeling a hard boiled egg.  I always want to do what I can on my own instead of hiring someone to do it so when I saw some videos on how to change a tire, or how to build a garden, I was so curious to watch the videos.  I like the idea of learning new things and I take pride in the things I'm able to do on my own.  
Another site I found was called www.LearnThat.com.  It offers many tutorials from business to computers to finance and looks to be a very helpful and informative site.  It even offers exercise, health and lifestyle advice.  There are so many websites that offer great tips for ways to save time when making dinner, cleaning the house, creating a better lifestyle for yourself and your family, or just looking to learn something new.  They even lists that offer free e-books and how to learn Japanese.  There is no reason for anyone to say that they CAN'T do something.  Take it upon yourself to go out and do the research.  If you do the research, you'll reap the rewards.
Now, I know that there are sites out there with information that you don't necessarily want your children to see.  On the site I mentioned earlier, TrickLife, there are videos of things that you would not want your child to see, so please use caution when visiting these sites in front of your children. Unfortunately, the helpful videos and the not so helpful videos can be found on the same site, so just use your parental judgement when your child is online.
Can you recommend any sites that have great "how-to" information?  Is there something that you learned how to fix solely from doing research online?  I'm looking forward to hearing from you all.

A Night Out

This weekend my husband and I, along with my family, went to Ocean City, MD for the night to celebrate my cousins wedding.  This was the first time that we ever left our son overnight.  Ambitious isn't even the word for it.  I would say stressful would be a better word!  It was something that I wasn't quite comfortable doing yet, but I figured since it was only 24 hours, I'd do my best to try not to worry about it so much.  Easier said than done, but I was able to enjoy myself at the wedding.  We were lucky enough to have my in-law's watch our son, which meant that it was OK to call a million times throughout the day and evening to check on things.  Needless to say, he didn't sleep well throughout the day, but did sleep for them through the night.  When we got home the next day, he looked so exhausted.  He must have been playing so much and was just fighting sleep.  My in-law's said that he was not going down for a nap no matter what they did.  I scooped him up, went to his room and just rocked with him.  He started fading really fast after a bout of whining so I put him down in his crib and he slept like a little angel.  I guess he knew that my husband and I weren't there.  He sensed it.  It's amazing how even at 1 years old, he had a sense that we weren't there.  Now that we're back home, I'm hoping that he'll get back on schedule.  Lack of sleep is never fun and it's hard for me to function without a good 8 hours of sleep, so I can only imagine how exhausted he is.  I'm glad to be home and I know that we'll eventually get more comfortable leaving him overnight.  But the first time is hard.  My fingers are crossed that the second time turns out to be less stressful than the first!

What are some experiences you've had when you left your child(ren) for the first time overnight?  I'm looking forward to hearing from you.