Cleansing

A while back Chris and I were told about this 10 day herbal cleanse. Someone we know tried it and lost like 20 lbs in 10 days, they said they had more energy and felt great. We decided to give it a try and we both started it last Sunday. Well, Chris started on Saturday because I refused to attend the fair without eating fair food! LOL!

I am getting a lot of the "you don't need to lose weight" comments. Which I hate, I used to be super skinny, never gained a pound, ate anything I wanted. When I had Aiden the weight seemed to come off fairly quickly. After Ava's birth I was surprised that I didn't gain as much as I thought I would have but since then, I have not really lost anymore. So, I weigh the most I have ever weighed and I want to be at the weight I was when I got pregnant with Ava. I think that is fair enough and I feel like I am not only doing this for ME but for my kids. I want to be healthy and feel good about myself for them!

I am currently on day 4 of this 10 day program. It consists of drinking a high fiber drink which is much like drinking applesauce on days 1-3 then 7-10 along with an energy drink. The days you do not drink fiber you take 2 pills with the energy drink in the morning. A half hour after your morning drink you need to drink atleast 16 oz of water and eat a piece of fruit. Then for lunch you can eat one complex carb (wheat bread/brown rice), veggies and a lean protein. Then another piece of fruit or nuts for afternoon snack. Dinner is a lean protein and veggies along with 4 omega 3 capsules and more water...(you need to drink as much water throughout the day as you can, I thought I was going to explode yesterday!) In the evening you can have another piece of fruit and then you take 3 herbal cleansing pills with 8oz of water prior to bed. So basically it's all fruit & veggys and lean protein for meals and NO carbs or dairy and limited sodium. It doesn't make you run to the restroom every 5 minutes as I was afraid it would, well it does make you have to go pee a million times a day because of the water but no other issues come along with that so far. I feel pretty good and I really haven't been all that hungry for my normal fast food or pizza. Dont' get me wrong, they sound really good!!! But, I am not craving them. I am slowly losing the weight it seems and the scale is showing I already lost a few pounds. I am interested to see what the next couple of days are like! Overall I am proud that I made it this far and hoping I can continue and make it the entire 10 days!

15 Months

Ava's appointment yesterday went well! She is 22.2 pounds (50%) and 31 inches long (75%). Since we have been visiting the doctor frequently the past few months she knows him and cries as soon as he enters the room. She only had to get one vaccination yesterday so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. She cried for a minute and then was fine after that.

Aiden seems to be enjoying vacation bible school this week! I am so glad I signed him up and plan on starting him in Sunday school on a regular basis now. I think he is at a good age and that will also give me the motivation to attend church more regularly.

This weekend we are going to try to attend the county fair on Saturday. Sunday is the kids triathalon at the Municipal Park. Hopefully the weather will cooperate so we can enjoy the weekend! I am sure I will have pictures to post next week!

Amazing!

Ava had her tubes successfully placed last Thursday morning! She did great! (This is her picture in her little gown before she got her (loopy) medicine). We had to have her there early at 6:45AM and after we arrived they took her back gave her some oral medication that made her a little calm and then we handed her over. By the time we got into the waiting room and I went to the restroom, they were calling us to talk to the doctor! Done!!! We went back a few minutes later when she was coming out and she was pretty fussy then but drank some juice and we got and changed and were on our way home by 8:30-9:00 AM. She did sleep a lot that afternoon but was back to herself by the evening! She has been sleeping like a champ the past week so hopefully that will continue!

We go for her 15 month appointment tomorrow afternoon and she has to get some vaccinations. :-( I hate that part but it's got to be done! She is starting to talk a little more and you can make out more and more of what she is saying, she is just such a HAPPY little girl! I love just watching her movements and when she acts silly I could just eat her up!!!!!!

Aiden is doing great as well!!! He is enjoying summer camp at his daycare and has got to do a lot of fun stuff! They go on a field trip almost everyday! Today they were going to go hiking! Tomorrow is Chuck E Cheese and Thursday they have a car wash in the morning to raise money for a trip to DQ later that afternoon! I just love that he is enjoying his summer! He also is attending Vacation Bible School this week. Last night was the first night, it's all week long from 6:30-8:30. I was a little scared since we didn't know any of the other kids there but he loved it and seeing him singing and dancing when I picked him up last night made me SMILE :-)

This weekend is the 1st annual kids triathlon! Aiden is participating on Sunday. They run .50 mile, swim .25 mile and bike 1 mile in his age group! I thought that sounded really fun and he loves swimming and riding his bike! We also signed him up for another season of Flag Football which will start at the beginning of August. He is on the same team as last year so he will be one of the older kids on the BEAVERS! I am interested to see how he does this year compared to last year. After football he said he wants to play soccer (which he didn't have any interest in the first time he played?) then he wants to learn how to drive a car! LOL! He is something else!!!!!

Ava Surgery

Ava is having tubes placed in her ears tomorrow morning. Her surgery is scheduled at 7:45 AM but we need to be there an hour early. She isn't allowed any food or drink after midnight but is allowed to drink juice or water until 3 hours prior to surgery. Hopefully, she doesn't get to fussy. I know it's a simple procedure and they do it all the time but you still have that feeling in the pit of your stomach anytime they are doing something to your baby. I am sure we will both just want to rest tomorrow once we get home. The ENT said she should be fine once the anesthesia wears and will not even remember anything happening. I just pray this helps her and she doesn't get any more infections. We were going to have it done on the 29th but they were able to fit her in this week and with Chris being home we just decided to get it done and out of the way now. Please keep Ava in your prayers.

Food, Fun & Fireworks!!!

The day after our vacation was the 4th of July. Aiden and I attended the Hilliard parade with my brother in law Pat and his two children Evan and Taylor. Due to the 4th falling on a Sunday this year they changed the time of the parade from it's normal 10AM to 2PM. It was an extremely hot day!!!!!! The kids had fun and we found a little shade to sit in so it all worked out well! We headed back to our house for a cookout after then, we headed up the street to wait for fireworks! The kids had fun lighting off sparklers as we waited for them to begin. Ava wanted to be in on all the action this year as well! Here are some pictures from our 4th of July celebration!

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VaCaTiOn 2010

I really hate that feeling you get after vacation....the "it's over" feeling. If you are anything like me you look forward to something for such a long time and plan and imagine just what it will be like then all of a sudden that time you have been looking forward to arrives and in the blink of an eye...."it's over" a distant memory...so sad! With that said, we did have a wonderful time on vacation and I took a lot of pictures so we can hold these moments close to use forever! Now I need to start planning a new adventure to look forward to doing in the coming months!

We started our trip on Saturday the 26th, we flew from Columbus to Tampa and I booked an afternoon flight knowing that with two kids and a dog we needed some extra time. I would have been a complete disaster flying out first thing in the morning. Everything went super smooth on the way down and Ava did pretty well in the plane. I was afraid her ears would be hurting her from the pressure but that wasn't an issue at all! We arrived and took a little "detour" getting to my aunts as the GPS we were using from the cell phone was a little delayed...not a good thing. We stayed with my Aunt Karen and my Mom and Dad also flew down earlier that day and they stayed with my Aunt Shirl (they live on the same street) Once we finally made it and we got changed and headed out to dinner with everyone to celebrate my parents 40th wedding anniversary! It was really hot Saturday and started storming later that evening, that seemed to be the norm for each day down there, very humid. We went to my Aunts after dinner for cake and I had a DVD made for my parents with pictures of their 40 years together. (Thanks Amy for taking the time and creating such a beautiful gift!) Here are our photos from Saturday:

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Sunday was a beautiful day, we woke up and headed down to Sarasota and took a boat out into the ocean. We anchored at a sandbar in the middle of the water and swam around and relaxed, it was great! We also docked at a little tiki bar for lunch. Aiden and Ava both did great on the boat! We couldn't have asked for a better day! By that night we were all exhausted. My aunt made a fantastic dinner at her place so we ate there.

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Monday we headed down to Siesta Key Beach...this was Ava's first official beach day! She loved it!!! It was a BEAUTIFUL beach with sand that was like powered sugar. Aiden enjoyed playing in the water but we didn't stay too long as it was hard chasing Ava everywhere and keeping an eye on Aiden as well. It was hot and Aiden wanted to swim in the pool so we headed back to the community pool so he would swim.

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Tuesday was our Disney day!!!! Chris, Aiden and I left early in the morning and headed on the hour long drive to Orlando. Ava stayed with my Mom and Aunts. We couldn't have asked for a better day. This was the first time Chris had ever been to Disney as well so I enjoyed seeing the looks on both their faces as we walked down Main Street towards the castle. It had also been a while since I had been there once before but it had been years so it was nice to see everything again and experience it with Aiden and Chris. It was a hot day but wasn't all that bad since we were in lines most of the day and they kept those areas shaded for the most part some had a/c as well. We were able to go from one ride to another and the most we waited for any ride was about 45 minutes. Aiden LOVED everything!!!! It was just the cutest thing seeing his reaction to everything! I got the cutest clip of him watching the parade at the end of the night!!! Just takes my breath away! I can't wait to go back especially when Ava is old enough and can enjoy all the fun princess stuff!

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Wednesday we headed down to Anna Marie Island for a little more beach time and lunch on the water. I think the fatigue from the first few days hit us this day! We went back to my aunts pretty early and all took much needed afternoon naps! We headed to dinner that night at a nice place but it was raining so we had to sit inside.

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Thursday, Chris and I headed up to Clearwater for the day/night. It was a nice little get away for us and gave us a little time to lay on the beach and relax! The weather was a little overcast but we still got a few hours in at the beach. We rented a jet ski and had a blast riding out in the ocean that afternoon. We also took a little time to hit up the hotel tiki bar and pool which was really nice! That evening we went to dinner at Frenchy's Cafe which was one of our favorite places we went last time we were in Clearwater. They have the best she crab soup EVER! It started to pour down rain so we headed back the hotel and got some much needed rest! Friday morning we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel and went to the spa for hour long massages. We then drove to north Tampa to meet the family and kids at my cousins house and spent the afternoon hanging out there and enjoying her jacuzzi and pool! We had pizza for dinner and headed back to my aunts to pack up for our departure on Saturday morning.

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Saturdays flight back was also good. Ava slept about half way home. We got home in the afternoon and Chris headed to urgent care since he wasn't feeling well and I went to the grocery store to get a few things to cookout for Sunday which was the 4th of July. Luckily we didn't have too much laundry since we were able to get a few loads done throughout the week at my aunts! That was nice! Overall just a fantastic vacation! I couldn't have asked for more! We got to spend quality time with family and the kids and also got a little time to ourselves!