Abigail...4 months

2/23/11

My little girl is 4 months!!

Can you tell she's more active? She crinkled the paper up!

Better late than never to post this! My little girl turned 4 months last Wednesday. Oh my goodness she is growing and changing. She is doing really well with her solid food. She LOVES sweet potatoes. She tried blueberries tonight and liked them at first but then decided all the sudden that she didn't like them. So Kyle gave her some of my leftover vanilla yogurt and she loved that a lot. It's so fun.

Abigail is playing more. She rediscovered her play gym because I didn't put her on it for almost a week but I did yesterday. She played for over an hour by herself on it by hitting the toys, grabbing them, talking, and rolling over. So cute!

Night time is actually really fun now, which was not so at first. After she eats 'dinner', we play in her room and I read her books. I read some scripture and pray for her and she conveniently gets tired at the end. We give kisses and I put her in the crib. Lights off. She doesn't make a sound and goes to sleep :)

Last night we had her babysat by someone other than my parents, Tiree and Jimmy, and it apparently didn't go the greatest. Tiree was so gracious and made it through Abigail's screaming for her mommy. I felt so bad. It was only a couple hours or so but she is a momma's girl! I realized something about myself. I realized that I am more attached to my girl than I knew. All night last night I wanted to cuddle with her cause I missed her but she was sleeping. This morning I had MOPS and told them to get me if she got upset cause I was concerned. I missed her! Can you tell I am with my girl 24/7 and she doesn't get babysat??? haha. Bottom line, I am so blessed and grateful for my girl. I fall in love with her more everyday just like the Father and my husband. I thank God for her and my wonderful husband each day.

A Couple Healthy Snack Ideas

2/13/11

As I was grocery shopping the other day, I stumbled upon a couple things that I had never seen. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. I'm always looking for all natural/organic foods that are not too expensive and can replace things that are unhealthy common foods. Well, here's a JEM...Buddy Fruits. Blended fruit with no added sugar, preservatives, or anything unhealthy for you. The best part is that it is perfect for travel and they're a whopping 88 cents! So if you're always on the go and/or have kids then this is for you. Just unscrew the cap and eat!

The other thing I found is veggie dip. So many people eat veggie dip that almost defeats the purpose of eating the vegetables because the dip is loaded with crap. Well here is a dip made from Greek Yogurt (which is very healthy) and it tastes amazing. I'm not lying. It's not any more expensive than regular veggie dip and I think tastes better.

Both are found at Walmart. There are solutions coming out at grocery stores everywhere. The more healthy foods you buy, the more the stores will supply and put more energy into meeting the demands. So choose to be healthy for you and your family!

Things I like...Organic

2/8/11

Organic is great. Why? Because it's good for my baby girl. It keeps chemicals and crap out of my girl's system that can mess up her body. Organic also helps her absorb more of the right nutrients and minerals her system needs.

So because I like Organic things, this is what I have for her. Organic baby rice cereal. Abigail tried this tonight and ate it all! Apparently she is going through a growth spurt because she had a full feeding from me, full feeding from milk I stored in a bottle, and baby cereal! I also have Organic or chemical-free baby spoons, bowl, tray, and sippy cup. We are in business to get her what she needs in a healthy way.

We also use Melaleuca products which is Organic. Body wash, shampoo, lotion, and cleaning supplies are from there and are safe for our family. It's nice cause I don't have to worry about cleaning supplies harming her if she gets into them. If I could do organic for everything in my life, I would. It's just so worth it to keep chemicals out of one's body. I like Organic because it's going to let my girl have a happier and healthier life!

Sometimes the frustrations...

2/7/11

I love this picture. It is perfect for Abigail's first Valentine's Day....what taste of sugar!!

I love being a mom and being a trained professional in exercise and nutrition. Sometimes both are hard. I have gotten a little frustrated as a Nutritionist lately. I get frustrated because it's so so so hard to influence people sometimes. I know I have the capabilities to help people get free from sickness, love their body, have energy, balance hormones, etc. Instead of listening, people continue to make choices that only hurt their bodies and get defensive about it. I didn't speak directly to this person in particular, but it frustrates me to know that they are closed minded. I feel like sometimes people won't listen unless you work at a doctor's office and have MD after your name. But having specific training in how to lose weight and living a healthy lifestyle, it's frustrating for people to recognize what they are missing out on. They'd rather pay a fortune to diet companies (or just wait to pay till they get on medications and get diagnosed with a disease or cancer), mess up their metabolism, skip meals, be fat, hate their body, have no energy, and eat their processed food; instead of really living life the way God intended.

People make comments about the way I look and can even be critical that I have returned to my pre-pregnancy body (almost..in my eyes) quickly, like it's a bad thing. All I am doing is trying to eat and exercise the way everyone should. I want to share with others is how to be healthy and help them reap the benefits, but people don't want to listen. They want a quick fix instead of surrendering their body to the Lord and making it a priority. Instead of taking the opportunity to cut out something that is harmful, excuses are made as to why they should continue to keep harmful things in their diet. The drive to please the Lord in this area of life is seen in few people (my opinion).

Alright, done with my ranting. Now, it's time to give this to the Lord and rely on Him to help me be affective with others. This is not intended to offend anyone who reads this, just to express some frustration in life. The Lord is in control and will hopefully continue to bring the right people to Fit For Life in order to get their health on track.

Snowy Winter

2/1/11

So this winter I am not minding the snow because I don't have to go out in it! Staying home is so much fun :) We have started supplementing with Vitamin D3 which also helps the gloomy days. Abigail is taking fish oil and other vitamins also. This is great for preventing sickness in her and keeping her vitamin stores up.

My little girl is 3 1/2 months now. Her new phase is wanting to be held by mommy. I like this one because I love cuddling. Before I would have to try everything under the sun to get her to go to sleep, but now all I have to do is hold her and rock back and forth. I love looking down to see that she is peacefully sleeping.

Today she has rolled from her tummy to her back! She has mastered rolling from back to tummy since 2 1/2 months so this is big! She also has found her feet. Another thing she did today was put her right toes in her mouth. I love watching her grow and live life. It will be exciting to see her grow up...but I am happy with letting time not go too fast!

Last night I stumbled onto a new concept for me. Baby led weaning. This involves no baby food. You feed your baby regular food and just make it soft enough and small enough for them to eat. I am all about independence in children and that's why I am following Montessori guidelines. This seems to go right along with what I want for Abigail. There is no spoon feeding at all. You allow the child to discover independence with food. I think I may do this with Abigail. Here's a link to check out if you're interested like I am. Baby led weaning

As I continue to parent, my views and passions are forming on how to raise my child and future children. This is something I may put in Abigail's scrapbook...

"Abigail, I promise to intentionally parent you. I promise to show you the love of Christ and to teach you the truths of the Bible. I promise to not take anything for granted in raising you. I promise to not let time pass too quickly. I promise to let you live life with zest and excitement. To let you develop meaningful relationships with your grandparents. I promise to not stifle you by becoming overbearing. I promise to not hinder your learning by putting you in front of a TV. I promise structure, discipline, and planning. I promise to teach you how to live a healthy lifestyle by making exercise and eating healthy fun. I promise to live my life in view of God's mercy and parent with that understanding.

I hope and pray that my (and your Dad's) intentional parenting will lead you to have a relationship with Christ. That you will love to spend time with family and have special relationships with your grandparents that I did not have with mine. I pray that you would reach the potential Christ has for you. I love you so much, Abigail."

Revisions to come later, probably.