Oh the Dichotomy of our house!

Do you want to know one of the presents that is found on my family's Christmas list this year?

Yes, we are asking for a household scale. We have never had a scale in our house. We did when we were not married and still living with our parents, but as a couple we have not owned one, or really wanted to/felt it necessary.
Now we have found ourselves in an interesting dichotomy. LJ has always been light. He is below the 3% for his weight, while being in the 40% + for his height. At one of his last visits to the doctor, we were told that we should own a scale and weigh LJ every week. If he does not gain weight or worse loses weight in a week, we would have to call and take him in to the doctor. Coming from the genetics that LJ comes from, I was not too worried, really. My dad was 5' 5" and weighed like 110 pounds, in his mid 30's. I graduated high school at a whopping 92 pounds and was 5' 4". Genetics were against LJ from the start. He is the spitting image of my father. It is a wonderful thing to the point that I can sort of watch my dad grow up and see what he would have looked like if he ever hit 40 (Lord willing I will see LJ reach that point). Fattening up my son has been a focus since he was born.
Now, Hubby and I on the other hand are a different story (hello, dichotomy). I have not grown at all in height since graduation. My weight on the other hand had gone up. My first year in college I gained the freshman 20-25, but we were all thrilled about that as I was now a more normal and healthy weight. When we started trying to have kids, the weight crept on even before a baby bump could. I even had the dreaded question of "When are you due" asked when I wasn't. Yes, it got that bad. Well, now after two kids, I am at my highest non-pregnancy weight. I had not thought of it too much until a doctor's visit following a car accident. In the little write up they give you after each visit, it had my BMI. It was just over 30. I looked that up and found that I was technically obese. OBESE!
As for Hubby, what can I say, we are decent cooks and enjoy food. :) Can sympathy pregnancy be another excuse? I was able to get him to finally switch doctors and go in for a yearly physical. The doc said he should either grow 4 inches or lose some weight.

While neither of us feel that what the "experts" state as our ideal weights is really within reasonable goals for us, we do feel losing weight would probably be good. So, we have set goals for ourselves to lose about 20 pounds each. This leaves our house with two people trying to lose weight and one trying to put on as much as possible. You know, this makes dinner very interesting. It does not help that LJ likes eating what we are eating and he loves his fruits and veggies. The other night we even had quinoa for dinner and LJ loved it. He didn't want to add anything to it either. No chicken, no veggies, just the quinoa. I am thrilled he likes things like that, but man! I am trying to fatten you up kid!
I know this may mean a number of meals will be totally different for LJ and Hubs and I. I also know this means the temptations are always going to be present. Ice cream, cookies, chocolate, candy; they are in our house for LJ, but act as huge temptations for Hubby and I.
All I can say is.... This should be fun....


Until next time... Happy Healthy Living!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I want to send out a big ole "Happy Thanksgiving!" To all of my readers. For any Canadian readers, Happy Thanksgiving a little late. :)
We will be spending the afternoon with family stuffing our faces. I hope you all have a great Turkey day!

Show Season is Upon Us!

November and December brings around the "season" of craft shows and fairs. As a crafter, that means it can get pretty busy around here. Not only am I trying to be the best mom and housewife, I am trying to sew up some new things and build my inventory of older patterns as well.

This year I have my placemats and napkins back for round two.

I also have my glasses cases and bibs back as they are just classics in my book.
New this year are some really great additions. First, I have a cup cozy for your hot beverage cups.

While I do not start to decorate for Christmas or anything like that until after Thanksgiving, I know that there are plenty of people who frequent the craft shows and fairs that are looking for things like that, so I have broken out my Christmas material already this year.
I have also made some baby hats that I think will become a staple of my inventory as well. They are really cute. I made my first one for BG and added some ties so she could not pull it off as easy.

For the hats that can be worn by little boys, I have kept the ribbon off of the hat. I will say that my BG got a ton of comments about her cute little hat that day in the park.
I do have more up my sleeve, but not as much time or pictures. I also have a few ladies due with little ones that I am sewing for as well. Busy Busy Busy!

Until next time... Happy Crafting!

One of those days

Today is just one of those days. Hubby has been out of town since Sunday night. We were hoping that last night was going to be his last night out of town, but they had to extend it for at least one more night. BG had a bad night too. She was up at least four times and I have idea why she didn't sleep well. After her last time waking we were dozing in my bed (as I wasn't sure if she would stay asleep when I moved her) and Hubby called, thus waking BG. This time she decided she was done sleeping. It was 7. Not long after LJ woke up too.
This morning and early afternoon were just one of those days. Both kids just are wound up or totally upset for no reason. One of those days when you lose your temper way too easy and just want to SCREAM!
I lost my temper, I yelled, and I apologized multiple times to LJ for mommy getting upset so easy. I think he knows when we are all just having a bad day.
I can't wait for Hubby to come home. I am also so thankful for living so close to both my parents and my in-laws. Monday I could go over to my parent's house for the evening and earlier I got a blessing call from my mother-in-law inviting us to dinner tonight. I am looking forward to getting some other adults to talk to and to have extra hands for the kids.
Here's hoping one of those days does not happen again for quite some time!

Until next time... Happy Living!

Party Planning Checklists Review

I can't believe I am saying this, but the thought of planning BG's first birthday party has already crossed my mind. She is 8 and a half months old. Yes, that is almost 4 months away from a party, but in that time we will have Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and all that comes with those times. I don't want it to get to be January and I don't have a party planned.
Party planning takes time. One of the biggest things to take up your time when planning is food. Well, that is if you are anything like me. When our big families get together, food tends to be a focus of the gathering. That means that I make sure to have varying types of food and plenty of it. Planning for all of that food and things like venue, guests, theme, and decorations, it can be exhausting and frustrating trying to keep everything straight.
Now there is an eBook to help you with your planning. Party Planning Checklist by Theme Party Queen is a FREE eBook that helps you plan for your parties by keeping track of things like food recipes (by category and prep day), table arrangements, grocery lists, and more.
I like that I can plan for multiple main courses, appetizers, desserts, and more all in one place. I can figure out how I want the tables and where I want to put things like garbage and recycling all in one packet. It helps me find the things I may be forgetting and give details where I need to so others can help me with my prep work and set-up.
You can get your own Party Planning Checklist by liking them on Facebook or signing up for their newsletter (providing our email). This is a really nice resource for any time you need to plan a party and need a little help with your planning.

Until next time... Happy Planning!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.