Sugarless but still sweet.

Sugar encounters since I decided not to eat any:
I was pretty sad yesterday when I could not order french toast for brunch. On the other hand my Eggs Florentine rocked my socks.
I spent and extra hour at the grocery store while shopping reading nutrition labels... There are a mess of ingredient in the oddest stuff. Who knew that Balsamic vinegar sometimes has caramel in it? I think I spent the most time on the DRESSING isle. Holy smokes I ended up not making any selections at all there and this week I am going to buy some cute bottles I can store homemade dressing in. Truly, I put condiments on everything so it will be nice to know, I made it myself and my body can break it down. My new best friends are hot sauce an vinegar. I have made my own BBQ sauce before and I am excited to have it on hand now because I am a BBQ sauce addict. I am Kind sad that it will all go bad sooner, but I guess that it won't be in my body as long because of that. (Any tips or preserving things longer?)
One disappointment I found at the store was Crystal light does not use Splenda anymore. They had a campaign for a while of having no Aspartame but I guess they switched back :P
I have found pretty much all store bought bread has some form of sugar in it.
Is honey better then sugar if I have to choose?
I did find out, while sampling the multitude of chips (at the BBQ we had with friends this weekend) that I should read the package before I take a taste. There is nothing worse then thinking, "Oh the is super delicious!" then reading the ingredients and wanting to punch myself in the face for loving the HFCS so much. One great find while tasting was This great Olive spread! ( think it had bit of feta in it too.) My friend who brought it explained how simple it was. Intructions: 1.go to olive bar in whole foods (or any store) 2.Pick out the stuff I like 3.Put in blender or food processor... so simple, soooo yum!
I am sad about Girl scout cookies.. They have sugar... really good tasting sugar. Someone brought Red Vines to the BBQ and I was delighted to find they are on my approved list! Score one for Mimi's sweet tooth.

I am Happy to announce I have lost another pound since my no sugar start! I am now at 153lbs... 13 more to go till my initial post baby weight goal.
I decided that I want to work my upper body so I don't strain my self hauling all of the stuff for the kids plus one car seat around. We have a pull up bar in our house and I don't know why I have never utilized it. I guess it is kind of intimidating for me because I have never been able to do more then 2 pull ups, and that was in high school... I know weak sauce :P Anyway I am not sure what kind of goal to make but If anyone has tips on doing pull ups, stretching for them, or what a reasonable goal is for a white, skinny armed, 26 year old girl, let me know.

love, Mimi

No sugar here I come.

I have been doing the whole learning how to do life with a newborn thing. Needless to say things are working out slowly but surely.
One thing that is rough for me is loosing the baby weight. I gained 50 lbs while prego. So two days before Penelope was born I was 190 lbs. I have lost a lot so far, I am at 154lbs as of this morning. Breast feeding is probably helping but the weight loss is getting stagnate. I know that I don't have to loose the weight right away but I sure do miss fitting in a Medium size.
Exercising is not going as planned. I am on a volleyball team to be active which is cool. When I went running my body did not agree with it. Maybe I should start yoga and stop talking about it. Vigorous exercise seems to mess with my milk production. I am used to dieting to deal with my weight but that doesn't help my milk production either. I decided I am going to cut out sugar and see how that goes. My cousin Jansen Price lost about 20 pounds since he stopped eating sugar on November 18th, 2009. Here are the rules he follows:
"No soda, no fruit juices, no candy, chocolate, cakes, ice cream, etc. Whole fruit is okay (it contains fiber which is the antidote to fructose). I read food labels and if it has HFCS, sugar, molasses, honey, agave nectar, I stay away from it. It is okay to have glucose, dextrose or corn syrup. Of course, sugar slips in because it is in a lot of things. Also, eat more fiber: oatmeal and vegetables."
I figure this is a good place to start loosing weight, having a healthier food intake.
So, goodbye High Fructose Corn Syrup and blessed soda, we had a good run.

Love, Mimi

What is the greatest thing that has ever happened to you?

What is the greatest thing that has ever happened to you?
That is what Kelton (5 years old) asked me on the way home tonight. After a bit of thought I replied, "Getting married to your dad because I was getting married to the love of my life and getting a son I love the same day!" (I know mushy)
Kelton said, "I knew you would say that."
am I that predictable?

"What is the greatest thing that has happened to you Kelton?"
With total clearity he answered, "Christmas presents."

A couple of drawings.

Here are random drawings that i have sketched up at work the past little while.

Phone blog

I am writing this on my iPhone. It is pretty awesome.
Penelope's stomach hurts today, it makes me sad. I am not a great comunicator all the time I decided. It is frustrating. I am getting better at breast feeding, that is cool. It is still annoying to pump at work but it won't kill me.
I am hanging out with my family this week because they will be in town, all of my siblings.

Penelope has a tendancy to hold onto her binki string while she sleeps. Well the dryer just went off and it startled her and she pulled it and the pacifier popped right out. It was super cute :)

well I guess that is it.

Love, Mimi

26th birthday photo

All about Breastfeeding

Sometimes breastfeeding upsets my stomach. It feels like there is a hook and line attached to my pubic bone and it is slowly being pulled out through my esophagus. It makes me sick, sore and swollen. When I thought first of being a mother i didn't dream of sitting in a bathroom with a mechanical mouth pulling food from me. I hear the whir of Industrial white noises as I sit on my feeding throne. The chair has wheels so I can cart it back and forth, to and from my desk and my, well other desk.
One desk has a modest computer and shared phone. It's smothered with pieces of my personality flare from the years I have been employed here. It has a comfy black arm chair hugging under the slightly too short desk. I get business done here.
My other desk is tiled with a sink basin in the center. It holds my breast pumps duffel-like bag. Conveniently, the bag has a mini cooler in it with removable ice packs to store pumped milk. Inconveniently, I forgot to grab the ice packs out of the freezer this morning rendering it useless. I hope people at work don't mind the little bottles of breast milk I put in the break room refrigerator. As I am writing this with my thumb, on my phone, one handed in the bathroom, the batteries in my pump have died. It is a good thing I snagged the gigantic ancient AC adapter to plug it in. Wait, is there absolutely no plug outlets in this bathroom? Figures, guess I will have to improvise at my next appointment with my pump in 3 hours. I feel awfully American assuming there would be accessible electricity in my flush toilet bathroom office.
It seems my life is in 3 hour increments.
Here I am 3 hours later siting in a coworker's office taking advantage of the outlets. It feels like my chest might explode if I didn't start pumping soon. All I can picture is a cow with a sagging full utter. Moo. I am glad the guy evacuated his office with only a couple of jokes. "You need me to grab you a big gulp cup?". I feel like I am in high school again.
I hope I make my milk quota today. I am not sure if I drank enough water, I'll cross my fingers. I feel like I should get a gold star when I produce enough. Maybe I need to make myself a chart and buy some star stickers to track what a good milker I am.
I do like breastfeeding. Though i cried and cried when my milk came in, I really enjoy feeding the baby. I wish I could bring the babe to work with me. I know my milk is good for the little one. My husband told me to commit to it if I choose to breastfeed. It is a love hate relationship. It doesn't work too well if I cry about it everyday.
I am glad I can provide for the little one. And it is a plus at night to not have to get a bottle.
At lunch time I pass on the onions and beans... And caffeine, cheese, hummus, tomatoes and chocolate. Well that is a lie I still eat chocolate, So sue me.
One thing that is interesting about storing liquid in my mammary glands is the produce different amounts of milk. This leads to different size boobs. That's right I said it, I now have one bigger then the other.
Why am I writing all of this? What is the point of this piece of writing? Well it is a confession I guess. I understand why some women choose not to go through this ordeal. I myself am taking it a day at a time. It is challenging to go to work and still stick to feeding the baby with Mother's milk. Not only does it make your hormone levels wacky but it is uncomfortable. This is my women war cry saying "I can do this and I am awesome for it!" I think I am mostly saying, "Hey new moms, I relate. It will be okay. It will all work out." So thumbs up to everyone who sticks to it and "Thanks for your best effort" to those who have tried their hardest because IT ISN'T EASY. Or maybe it is easy for some, It is getting easier for me.
This week I had the CEO of my company ask why i was taking a chair with me into the bathroom... it was kinda funny.

Love, Mimi