Not a Fancy Lady

To those who think that buying "used" clothes is dirty, no. You're wrong and that's what washing machines are for. Peace & Love. 

Now that I cleared that up:

I'm not a fancy lady. I've found that I feel the most attractive in over-sized tops and skinny jeans. It's all about comfort for me. 

The total cost of this outfit was 12$ And no, that's not a typo. It really costed 12$. (Not including shoes)

Shirt- 2$ 

Flannel- 4$

Jeans-6$

Brands? Who cares? 12 freaking dollars. But if you just have to know- Banana Republic, Great Outdoors Co. and some other brand I've never heard of(the jeans).

Thrift shops are the best because they're like a hundred different clothing stores smashed together. Every style or brand you could ever imagine is in just one store. It's fantastic. 

I love thrift shopping.

One thing I love about flannels is that they are light-weight enough to wrap around my waste and still look good but warm enough to be useful if it gets chilly. 

  

Plus, there's something about tying a flannel around my waist that makes me feel like a rockstar. 

Rusty: 3 1/2 months

My little booger is getting so big. I'm so thankful that God has blessed my husband and I with such a sweet, loving little boy. He has changed every aspect of our lives in the best way possible. It's amazing how a baby can bring two people together and change their perspective on life. 

Rusty continues to grow like crazy. He is generally a very calm and happy baby, but lately has been a little more fussy. His tummy hasn't been cooperating.  He has started to giggle and loves yelling. I'm amazed at the amount of drool he produces. He has a tendency to give me some angry/annoyed looks which give me a feeling he's going to have a little attitude. I love seeing his personality start to show and develop. What an incredible little guy.

Russell loves:

Slobbering all over everything

Sticking his whole fist in his mouth

Sticking various objects in his mouth

Getting kiss attacks

Spending time with daddy

Sticking out his tongue

Getting tickled 

Russell doesn't love:

His carseat

Baths 

His mom constantly snapping photos of him

Cleansing and Oxotropia

I haven't slept for two nights. Russell has been keeping me up. The poor little guy hunches over and makes the saddest whimpering sound I've ever heard. Last night when I first put him to bed, 20 minutes later he woke up crying. After I settled him down and put him back in his crib, the same thing happened. This went on for a couple hours and when he finally stayed sleeping it only lasted about 4 hours until he woke up again. Then I fed him and put him back to bed and he woke up in 1 hour intervals for the next 3 hours, until it was time for me to start my day.

Needless to say, my mind feels like pudding today.

On top of all of that, he's been crying a lot. Anyone that knows my little boy, knows that he is extremely calm and rarely cries. So this is all very new to me.

Last night as I was pondering what might be causing Russell this discomfort and then it hit me. I realized that my cleanse was affecting him much more than it was affecting me. I knew starting my cleanse that it might be somewhat hard for Russ, but apparently it was much harder for him then I anticipated. I feel so horrible for putting him through misery.

There is a chance that my eating habits aren't what has been hurting Russell's belly, but I don't think it's a coincidence that he suddenly became a difficult child just as I drastically changed what I was putting into my body.

I am sad to say that I have to take a couple steps backwards and make sure that I make changes slowly, so that I don't cause my little Russ anymore pain.

The good news is that I did a solid 3-day cleanse and I'm proud! By the end of day 3, I was going a little bit crazy for sugar and spend a large portion of the day dreaming about Coldstone ice-cream. However, I did love the way that my body felt. I wish I could say I felt great right now, but the lack of sleep is taking a toll on me.

Lets all just take a moment to admire my beautiful child.

Today we finally learned what is going on with Russell's eyes. He hadn't made any eye contact until just a couple weeks ago. When he did finally start making eye contact, he was looking cross-eyed and his eyes would flicker around like they didn't know where to look. As a mom, it was so stressful for me. Of course I imagined all of the worst possible scenarios. What kept me optimistic was that in every other way he was progressing normally. He was also responsive to my smiles, so I did know that he could see.

This afternoon at the eye doctor they told me that he has a lazy eye. It might go away, it might not. We are waiting it out for the next few months. I'm so thankful that it's an issue that is fixable and nothing I need to be worried about.

Cleansing Pains

Sippin' on my Blueberry Beet Smoothie. Nom nom. 

I told Russell I was doing a cleanse and this was his reaction:

"Momma say whaaat?" Yeah. I know Russell, I know. 

Tomorrow will be day 3 of my 10 day cleanse. I made it 2 days! Hurray! Unfortunately, with great self control comes great suffering, or atleast in my situation that's the case. My head is killing me right now. I also kind of feel like I'm going to hurl. 

Must. Have. Chocolate. Cake.

I'm amazed that I'm having this kind of reaction to cleansing. I'm mad at myself for letting my body become addicted to sugar like it has. I am re-evaluating my eating habits and when this cleanse is over, I'm going to keep my body healthy.

I've had a few people ask me what I'm doing to cleanse. I know most people who do cleanses usually pay for expensive smoothie mixes and what-not. I didn't want to do that. I don't like when I don't know the words that are on an ingredient list. Sometimes I think, "Does this company really want to help me live healthier, or are they tricking me into thinking their products are healthy in order to make money?" While losing weight fast is convenient, is it really healthy? But enough about that. 

I'm cleansing by cutting out dairy, processed sugar, gluten and meat. 

I'm going to share my a bit of my meal plan for today. 

8:45am - I was in a time crunch on my way to church so I had a banana for breakfast and a large glass of water. 

12:30 - Blueberry Beet Smoothie: Handful of frozen blueberries, 2 cooked beet roots, handful of kale,  1/4 c coconut milk, 1/2 c apple juice (organic, not from concentrate, no added sugar), 1 tbsp chia seeds, 1 ice cube. Large glass of water. 

2:00pm - Brown rice cake. Fruit-infused water with lemon, strawberries and mint. 

6:00pm - 2 handfuls of spinach, 1/2 sliced yellow squash, 1/2 sliced zucchini squash sautéed in garlic, paprika and olive oil. 1/2 c brown rice seasoned with garlic and cilantro. Handful of almonds. Large glass of water. 

7:30 - I was having serious sugar cravings so I through 1/2 banana, 1 frozen strawberry, 1/2 c coconut milk, 1 icecube and a tsp of cocoa powder in a blender for a little treat. 

Happy Cleansing

The other day I was considering starting some kind of cleanse/detox and as I looked through Pinterest, I stumbled upon an article that mentioned ways to prepare for a cleanse. One part said that a person should spend a couple days prior working themselves up about it. 

I went ahead and gave myself a few days to think about why I wanted to do a cleanse and it absolutely worked. All I've wanted for the past two days was for today to come so I could dig into the goods. Truthfully, I originally told myself that I'd start on Sunday but then I decided that waiting more than 3 days would just be torture and unnecessary. 

I've been obsessively reading into cleansing foods and looking up recipes. I've learned a thing or two.

One of which is that beets are great for cleansing. I'm so excited to give them a try. I've never had them before, but apparently they're some kind of magic. Hopefully they taste better than they look.

Within the last few weeks, somehow my eating habits have gone from consisting of brown rice and eggs, to doughnuts and McDonalds. Everything healthy just sounds... not sugary enough. It's pretty bad. I don't know I got myself into this rut, but I don't like how my body feels. Especially since I am running a half marathon on MAY 9TH! Feeling sluggish does not help me get out the door and train. Hopefully this cleanse will give me more energy so that when May rolls around I'm feeling good and ready to run 13 miles. 

Aside from child birth, this might be the hardest thing I've ever done... until I run my half marathon. Then it'll be the 3rd. Either way, It's sad to say that my level of self-control is somewhere between a 0 and a 1.

I think the last time I tried to do a cleanse it lasted maybe 3 days. Maybe. Admitting that is pretty embarrassing for me. I'll often decide convince myself that It's okay to have just one little treat because I've done so well today, but then one little treat turns into a whole cake and then I just want to throw up. 

And I'm actually being literal. 

Here we go. Wish me luck. Happy Cleansing!