Miss Me?

Hey guys, I know, I know, it's been FOREVER! But, you know how it is right? At least, you do if you're a parent.

Does this sound familiar:

"I really meant to sit down and ________, but then ________." (My blanks are usually filled with "write" and "Baby Bear pulled all of the DVDs off the shelf" or "Baby Bear spilled his whole bottle of juice all over himself" or "Baby Bear started shoving things in the refrigerator filter" or "Baby Bear attempted to upend the trash can." True story.)

So, let's play catch up for a few minutes.

1) We went to visit my family in Memphis.






<--- The bald head behind my mom and Baby Bear, yeah, that's Craig Brewer.






2) Baby Bear experiences his first Halloween.






<--- Cutest bat ever? I think so.







3) Baby Bear turned ONE YEAR OLD on November, 23.






<--- Organic carrot cake with no processed sugar, and homemade whipped cream for icing? Win! Smearing it on mommy's face? Bigger Win!





4) We roasted a duck for Thanksgiving.








<--- Crispy skin, moist meat, and 2 cups of rendered duck fat? OMFG, WIN!









5) We adopted a stray puppy for Christmas.






<--- This is Guinness, our new dog. He's huge, and apparently he's only 7 months old. He and Baby Bear are the best of friends.





6) New Year, New Me.

So, I weaned Baby Bear, but didn't wean myself from what I'd been eating and how I'd been eating as I nursed, so I gained a little weight. (coughalotofweightcough) So, this month I'm buckling down and changing my diet. I'm exercising more, doing some yoga, not keeping sweets around the house, eating healthier in general, and trying to keep my metabolism running on high speed.

So far, I don't really see any results, and I don't have a scale to see if any of this is working or not. The first week was horrible. I mean, seriously, I haven't felt so ill since being pregnant with Baby Bear. I was irritable, I was always tired, I had horrid headaches, and I had no energy. Wait...isn't the OPPOSITE supposed to happen? Well, when you're an idiot like me and you cut your calorie intake by like MORE THAN HALF (dumbdumbdumb!) it doesn't matter how many protein packed snacks and shakes you have, you aren't going to feel good.

Now it's a little better. I've decided not to literally count my calories. I've been able to create a sixth sense of calories basically. I'm eyeballing my portions, watching what I snack on, still making sure I eat frequently, and staying away from anything too heavy and fatty.

I'm still cooking regularly for Baby Bear and hubby, but am trying to get hubby to eat healthier. (Yeah, that'll happen. Just as soon as he stops smoking.) -_-

My new inspiration is Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond. She's amazing. I love her. If you don't know who she is, go find out right now. I don't know how she does it though. She uses full fat, whole milk, half and half, and butter in all her recipes but is still relatively thin. So I emailed her and asked. If I get an answer I'll be sure to share, because America needs to know.

That's it for now. Hubby gets home soon from an all day class with no lunch break, so I need to go make him something filling and yummy. Does anyone else wish they lived in a grocery store sometimes? (read: all the time)

Oh, also, on a totally non-food note: I've been reading a lot lately, now that Baby Bear can kind of entertain himself for a while (when he feels like it), and the books I'm reading now are the George R.R. Martin series, A Song of Ice and Fire. SO GOOD! GO READ IT NOW!

Love and kisses and sugars until next time!