Catch up...

Hello, everyone! Wow, summer is already flying by! We've had memorial day weekend, I got braces, my 2 nephews stayed with me for 3 days and 3 nights, went to my cousins wedding in St. George, and Navy's 1st year birthday is coming up!  

 These pics were taken on our trip to Hatch, then to St. George, then back to Hatch, and finally home. Navy did so well for not being used to traveling! My mom and grandma traveled with us so I had help in the car, luckily! My cousin Ashli was married in the St. George temple and can I just say she was the most stunning bride I've EVER seen??! She looked phenomenal. I would totally get married again! Thanks a lot Pinterest!

 These are from Memorial day weekend. JD got the day off so we went to see my grandparents and uncles grave in Jensen. We had a picnic and Navy loved the swings! I'm so glad JD was there to see it in person instead of pictures. Then I GOT BRACES! Yuck! I look like a teen mom, it's funny.

This part is deep...

My cute nephews stayed with us while my sister went to Oregon. (Lucky bitch, right?!) I'm really glad i got to have them for so long. Mason is such a good little helper, and oh so curious and eager to learn! I only had 1 breakdown. It was the 2nd night. After we put everyone in bed, I sat on JD's lap and started crying! I had HUGE doubts about being a fit parent and started wondering if I could, in fact handle having more children. 

Every night, I kinda do a re-cap of my day and think about what I could've done better and how I'll handle situations in the future. I felt like a failure that night, I had wanted to pull my hair out and yelled at least 10 times that day. Not only that, it was 9:15 pm by the time I got to actually TALK and TOUCH my husband. That shook me up because I started wondering if that's what happens to couple who get divorced when their kids are older. Did they lose one another while becoming parents? I have the best husband so he reassured me and made me feel all better. I just pray every night for the strength, guidance, and patience to be the parent my kids need me to be. 

Anyways... Navy's had diarrhea for a while now and has horrible diaper rash. The only thing that has made a difference is DoTerra Lavender oil! (thanks for the suggestion Cara!) I've gone thru at least 1 diaper rash tube and Lavender helped in 3 days! She still has diarrhea, though. I started giving her Imodium too and it's helped a little. Any suggestions?!

Are you brushing your baby's teeth?

I hope every Mother had a great Mother's day! I did! JD surprised me with "It Starts with Food" by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig. So I'll give a review about the book soon! Anyways, Navy has 4 teeth on top and 2 on bottom. Since I worked at a dentist office for about 2 years, I have great oral hygiene and want to implement the same habits to my children. But I didn't know where to start...

WHEN should I start brushing my babies teeth?
     - When they get teeth! Some dentists/doctors suggest wiping out their little mouths with a wet wash cloth before they even get teeth. 

WHAT do I brush their teeth with?
     - My dentist suggests ACT fluoride bubble gum flavored and a small soft toothbrush. I'm going to start trying my Sonicare on her with her own tip. Dip tooth brush in fluoride and flick excess amounts into sink. Brush! Brush! Brush!

HOW OFTEN do I brush?
     - Like adults, twice a day! I try to get 30 seconds in both times. Morning and Night.

Do I need to brush AFTER her bedtime bottle?
     - Yes. My dentist suggests brushing after a bedtime bottle so their teeth don't sit with formula/milk on them. Some hygienist may say it's not quite a big deal at this age (10-11 months) IF you feed them to sleep. I don't feed Navy to sleep so it's not a big deal for me to feed her, then brush, then bedtime. As they grow and switch to sippy cups, they do NOT suggest letting them go to bed with a sippy cup. Their teeth will get cavities. 

Do I need to FLOSS?
     - If they have teeth that are TOUCHING one another, yes!

You don't have to brush all your teeth, just the ones you want to keep!

Value of Accomplishment

Last night as I checked for today WOD, I almost instantly thought "I can't do that!" Here was today's Work-Out-of-the-Day:

50 Cal Row
50 Box Jump Overs 24/18
50 Deadlifts 180/120
50 Ring Dips
50 Wall Balls 20/14
50 Deadlifts 180/120
50 Box Jump Overs 24/18
50 Cal Row

But guess what? I finished it before the 45 minute time cap and did my best! I really thought about the feeling of ACCOMPLISHMENT when I got home. I was sorta on a high and got wondering if there are people who never feel it. The high, the pride of accomplishing a task. It also made me think about the value of WORK. I'm very lucky to have a body that has the ability to run, jump, lift. I hope everyone will set even a small goal to reach so they can have the high.   

Get moving.

Mother's Day & Birthday coming up!

My 1st official Mother's day is coming up! Well, last year I was pregnant JD did give me a little gift. The 13th is also my birthday! Here are some fun items I've been looking at:

Fitness:

Reebok Crossfit Shoes! Everyone who has them, LOVES them for Crossfit.

These  adorable work-out tops from Etsy! I pretty much live in my work out clothes, so I want a lot of these tanks! 

Cooking:

This is such an awesome little gadget! It's called a Veggie Spiralizer! Since I don't eat pasta, I could easily use this to spiral cucumbers, squash, zucchini, you-name-it! 

This my friends is Traeger Smoker/Grill! The difference in your meat is ginormous! It goes from home-cook to gourmet! Traeger is like a name-brand so they are expensive! I noticed one at Lowe's for cheaper so I don't necessarily care which one....I don't want a lot, right?! 

Anyways, I hope everyone has a great Mother's day! 

Navy baby and a Great new Lunch Recipe

So lately, Navy doesn't want me. Like, at all! She's IN LOVE with her aunts, grandmas, and JD. Whenever one of them is around, she has to be held by them. When I take her away, she arches her back and screams! I'm like, " Gee, thanks! I probably seem like a horrible mother when my own child doesn't want me!" I just start wondering if she really loves me...haha! She is a sass. On a lighter note...

She's a great eater. When she wants to be. She's eating all table foods and bottles. I stopped baby foods recently and she loves table foods. I was so scared of starting solids, let alone big girl food! She eats vienna sausages, turkey sausage, hot dogs, green beans, peas, carrots, sometime sweet potatoes, crackers, and don't forget the OREOS! I never buy foods like that but Daddy does! She drinks out of sippy cups, too. She's so big. I can't believe she'll be 1 in June....EEEEEKK!

This is the main reason for today's post. This new lunch was UH-MAZING! It totally hit the spot and gave a new twist to the chicken. All the ingredients compliment each other very well. It's so easy to make: Apple-Celery-Raisin-Chicken Salad! 

The recipe calls for that dressing but I didn't use it, I used a little bit of Olive Oil and still amazing! Please try it. I'm going to start blog-stalking her! ENJOY!

Baby Necessity

I just wanted to tell everyone that is has been one of my favorite baby products! It's the Chicco Portable High Chair. I first put it on my baby registry when we lived in our really old house and I knew there wouldn't be any room for regular high chair. Now we live in a great home and have room for a regular one so I use this for when we take Navy to dinner with us somewhere other than home.

At a restaurant, it's so nice to have because you don't have to use the restaurant's high chair that sometimes make your baby at a weird height. Navy is short so when we'd put her in one from the restaurant, her mouth would be at the table's level. YUCK! I just hate the restaurants high chairs. Period. With this, she sits above the table! I also love to use this at a restaurant because you don't have to get rid of an actual chair and you can use it in a booth, which i love. You don't have to use the chair on the END of the table, if that makes sense.

Recently, we went camping for the first time with Navy and I took the chair with us. The camper had a booth style dining area so it fit fine on the table! It's also brilliant because it's machine washable!

Now, I only have 1 complaint about the product which is good. I feel as though I really LIKE all my baby products/equipment but there is ALWAYS something that I would change to have it more user friendly to my needs. The only down side to this chair is that I can never depress the buttons to move the handles for storage or to take off the seat to wash it. It's nearly impossible sometimes! I usually have to have JD do it for me which can be very annoying because sometimes he's not around when I use it. 

Overall, it's one of my favorite things to have with a baby. I know I'll use it with all my kids. Click HERE to view on Baby's R Us! 

Protein Cookies!

Words can't describe how much I love these cookies. They are so yummy and great to have on hand when you're craving sweets or want a little pre-work out snack. I usually eat 1 everyday with my lunch because I always want something sweet to end with. My taste buds are picky. I also love that this recipe can be changed in every way. I've seriously tried it about 7 different ways. I'll post the original recipe then my favorite way to substitute!

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups (not scoops) whey protein powder ( i use vanilla, never tried another flavor)
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 cups low-fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl and blend with fork.
3. In a separate bowl, combine next 5 ingredients and whisk together with a fork, or use an electric mixer or food processor.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix with a fork. Mix in oats, chocolate chips, and walnuts.
5. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an oiled or parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake 12 minutes until the cookies are slightly brown on top.

Nutrients per serving (2 cookies): Calories 99, Total Fat 3 , Carbs 11 , sugars 5, protein 7.
Found in Oxygen magazine!

Whitney's substitutes:

Wheat substitute:
1 cup Coconut flour
1/2 cup almond flour  (because I think I'm allergic to wheat or gluten intolerant)

Canola oil: 
1/4 cup natural applesauce    or
1/4 cup coconut oil                   or
1/4 cup olive oil                         or
1/4 cup agave
I've tried them all except olive oil (my friend tried it and she said it worked). Using the canola oil definitely makes them yummy and hold together easily. Coconut oil makes them more firm. Agave plus the honey makes them super  moist and mushy but still yummy. I just recently tried using applesauce and I really liked it but the dough is more crumbly. Overall, the taste is still good.

Semisweet chocolate chips:
Dark chocolate chips

I've never put walnuts in them but I'm sure the texture would be fun and taste great! Everything else I do the same. If you do substitute an ingredient, remember that the nutritional value will change. I  make these about every week or every other week. My favorites to use are the canola oil or applesauce. I roll them into little balls to bake.