Baby Ultrasound

I had my baby Ultrasound today and I am having A GIRL!!! I don't even know what to do with a girl! It will be fun though to have a boy and a girl. Anyway, here is a cute picture of her little foot.

Biggest Loser: Week 3 Tips

I was at Deseret Book the other day and picked up two books about weight loss. One is called "30 Days to a Healthier Family" by Peggy Hughes. Its filled with tips, advice, activities, and recipes for helping the whole family become healthier. Its an awesome book. The other one I picked up is called "Tip A Day Guide for Healthy Living" by Melanie Douglass. It has 365 tips for improving your health one day at a time. I haven't read all 365 tips yet, but as I've skimmed the book I found several that I really liked, and thought I'd share...

* Find the best workout music... find music with the "BPM" (beats per minute) that matches your activity level. BPM is the number of beats that occur in every 60 seconds of a song. Find the BPM by counting how many beats you hear in 15 seconds of music, then multiplying that by 4. Or, if you use iTunes, you can view the BPM by right clicking on the menu.

- 115 BMP... slow walking, strength training

- 125 BMP... elliptical training, stair climbing, walking 3-4 miles per hour

- 135 BMP... power/fitness walking (4-4.5 mph), moderate cycling (60-70 rotations per minute)

- 145 BMP... jogging (5-6 mph), fast cycling (75-80 rotations per minute)

* Healthy grocery store shopping... the fresher, the better. If you shop for foods from the outer aisles of the grocery store (meaning the frutis, veggies, low-fat dairy, lean meats and 100% whole greain breads) the meals you cook will be much healthier. Venture into the inner aisles to pick up things like healthy, whole grain cereal, brown rice, a few cans of beans, and maybe some whole-wheat pasta (yummy!!). Melanie recommends spending at least 80% of your grocery budget on the "outer" aisle foods. Then make sure you use the fresh foods you buy.

**I tend to do my grocery shopping at Sprouts, the local "farmers market" style grocery store. It has cut down on my grocery budget, since I'm not paying to have my food processed, and we have been eating much healthier.

* Melanie talks about her husband's point of view... "If fruits, vegetables, and whole grains really are so great- and God has told us they are healthiest for us- then why didn't He make them taste better?" (pg. 9). I loove Melanie's response. She says "I have a theory on this. Satan works hard every day to decieve us. Infiltrating our food supply with foods swimming in calories, fat, sodium, and sugar is a subtle yet powerful way to get us down. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains did taste superior to any other food at one time- before our taste buds were introduced to the food of the 21st century." (pg 9).

I thought that was a very interesting take on food and unhealthy vs healthy eating. This week has been a hard one for me. I have NOT made very healthy choices. And I've felt awful for it. I was dreading stepping on the scale this morning, because I was sure I had gained a ton. I also felt weighed down, sick to my stomach after over-indulging in yucky (but oh so yummy!) foods and I haven't had the energy I want. An interesting contrast to the past two weeks when I've done so good, and made so many healthy choices. When I make healthier food choices I have energy to play all day long with Cecelia. I have energy to clean my house. I put more thought into my appearance which makes me feel better about myself. My mind is more aware and alert... all these wonderful things that I'm sure my Heavenly Father wants for me. So, after making this realization, I am once again committed to cutting out the junk in my diet.

What tips have you come across? What words of wisdom do you have to share with us all as we try to live healthier? And how did this week go for you girls?

Biggest Loser: Week 3 Weigh In

June is here and we're at the end of our 3rd week already!! As a group we've lost 14 lbs already!! Great work ladies. So, what's the damage for this week? How much closer is everyone to fitting in their skinny jeans and string bikinis? (Totally kidding on the string bikini thing... at least for myself!)

Bugspray for children

Does anyone know the guidelines for what kind of bugspray to use on children? Are there certain chemicals you should or shouldn't put on their skin? Or do you know of specific brands that are recommended? It's mosquito time in MI, but it's so hard for me to put chemicals on my little one's skin!

Peanut butter Cookies

So maybe I am just out of it and you all have seen this recipe but I hadn't. I had a friend make Peanut butter cookies with some preschool students that I worked with this past semester and the recipe was so weird. It was a cup of sugar, a cup of peanut butter, and one egg. Well apparently the recipe worked so today I was craving peanut butter cookies but I wanted a fast recipe so I typed it in online and found the recipe she used. I made the cookies and they are so good and really fast to make! If you like peanut butter cookies you have to try these! So here is the recipe:

Easiest Peanut Butter Cookies (1-2-3 Cookies)
* 1 cup sugar (you can cut this down to 3/4 cup, if you prefer)
* 1 large egg
* 1 cup peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)

1. Combine sugar and egg in mixing bowl, stirring till smooth. Add peanut butter and mix in thoroughly.
2. Roll into walnut-sized balls.
3. Place the balls on ungreased cookie sheets at least 2" apart.
4. Flatten with the tines of a fork.
5. Turn 90 degrees and use fork again to create cross hatches.
6. Bake 10 minutes at 375F (or till done). Let cool in pan for 1 minute before removing to cooling rack.

Favorite Web Sites June

So, I like the themed months and I was thinking that for June we could all share any websites that we absolutely LOVE. Ones that are good for managing finances, good for finding deals, good for finding information, etc. I know that there are lots of websites I love, so I was wondering if anyone else had some.

Here are my favorites:
craigslist.org - This has been discussed on the site before, but I just can't get over how much I love this site and the deals that I find on it.

yodlee.com - I mentioned this in a money saving May comment. We LOVE this site. It's like the program Quicken...but its online for free. We use it for managing our finances, budgeting, keeping tabs on our credit cards and investments, etc. It's AWESOME!

zillow.com - This site is great if you're planning on buying or selling a home...but also if you want to spy on your friends and see how much they bought their house for. ;) j/k We don't really spy...too much. Anyway, this website is great! It lists just about every home in the US and you can see the house's details, selling history, the amt. of property taxes that the current owners pay, and what the estimate of the house's worth is right now. It also shows whether or not the house is currently on the market or not. It's a GREAT site. We love it!

stepheniemeyer.com - This is MUST for any Twilight fan (btw: have any of you read the 1st chapter of Breaking Dawn? If so, discuss it with me! I'm dying for other people to read it). Seriously, Stephenie has some cool stuff on here like outtakes and extras to her books that are really entertaining to read. :)

That's it for so far. Maybe this is a dumb idea...but I'd love to hear of any other hidden websites that people love that I've never heard of! :)

Happy June Everyone!

Is it just me, or is this year just flying by? I just about had a heart attack when I realized that today is June first. I could've sworn that it was just barely Christmas, and here its the beginning of summer already.

What fun plans do you all have for the summer? Any cool vacations or fun activities planned?