UPDATE

The pest control guy who stopped by last night and called me the nanny has a death wish. He just came by again tonight, at 8 pm, and rang the door bell right after I had finally finally gotten John to sleep!! He is lucky I didn't open that door and give him a piece of my mind. I actually didn't open the door at all. I chose to be a pacifist and hid until he departed. I clearly and concisely said no yesterday so get out of here kid. I have always thought those "no solicitors" signs were a bit unfriendly but I am quickly catching the vision. Nothing gets me more riled up then a doorbell waking a napping baby. And that is that.

Maybe it is time

to step up my at home look. Yesterday a pest control salesmen thought I was the kids' nanny.

Take that Baby Fat

So listen to this- my brother's wedding may be moved back to Mexico. Which is fine except for one thing, the beach. And all women can collectively shiver in horror because, yes, I will have to don a swimsuit seven months after giving birth (not at the ceremony of course). So to help motivate the weight loss I have to email two of my friends every Wednesday with a weight loss number. Tomorrow morning is the day of reckoning. I have been super diligent the past week so I am hoping for solid results. But due to my crazy calorie counting I have come up with some lower calorie recipes for some of my favorite dishes. Now I know you can get lower calories if you eat stuff that tastes like bark but I am not willing to that and I don't want to have to cook two separate meals, one for me and one for Neil and Grace. So here are some things I have come up with.
First off I made a few changes to the Lion House's Tomato Bisque Recipe. I can have one cup of soup for 175 calories. And since I am basically eating three meals throughout the day of 200 calories or less this makes a great snack. Then I have 500-600 calories for dinner.

Revised Tomato Soup
12 Roma Tomatoes
4 cans reduced fat tomato soup
4 cups turkey stock (you can use chicken stock I just had some frozen stock I wanted to use up)
2 T dried basil
1/2 sugar (more or less depending on how sweet your tomatoes are)
2 cups skim milk
Salt and Pepper
Roast tomatoes in an oven at 350 degrees until the tops begin to blacken. In a large pot combine tomato soup and your stock. Place the roasted tomatoes and basil in your blender and puree until smooth. (I like it a little chunkier so I don't blend as long.) Add puree to pot and let simmer. Add sugar until your mixture is slightly sweet, then add milk. Season with salt and pepper.
NOTE: The soup should not taste like marinara sauce, but should have a slightly sweet creamy flavor. And this makes a TON so I usually freeze 1/2 in a large Ziploc bag, it reheats nicely.

Also I made some lasagna roll ups that are 224 calories each.
9 lasagna noodles
8 carrots peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 onion chopped
2/3 cup chopped, cooked broccoli
2 T olive oil
3 cups of low-fat cottage cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
(spaghetti sauce, add these cals. to your total)
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cook your noodles according to the direction on the package and lay them flat to dry. Heat your olive oil in a sauce pan and add your carrots, onion, and garlic. Saute until the carrots are tender and onions are clear. Add your broccoli and mix everything together. In a bowl combine your cottage cheese, p. cheese, and your egg. Now mix your cheese mixture into your veggie mixture. Place a generous 1/2 cup of your veggie cheese mixture on each noodle and roll it up. It helps to leave a few empty inches of noodles at the end. Place the noodles seam side down in your pan and cover with your desired amount of sauce. (you have to add the calories in your sauce to the total calorie count.) And I add shredded mozzarella cheese to the rest of the families roll ups. Cook in the oven for about 45 minutes and enjoy! These also freeze well.

Anybody hungry?

John has started eating baby cereal and he just loves it. He is all smiles and laughs during chow time so I thought it would be a perfect time for a photo shoot. Oh man was I wrong. Apparently John and the flash on my camera are enemies. All of the pictures looked like this even though moments before and seconds after the pictures he was smiling! Little turkey!

humpty dumpty

I guess I forgot to tell Neil that John has been rolling all over the place lately. Neil found out the hard way when John rolled off the toddler bed last night! Don't worry he was more scared then anything and the baby is fine too ;)

Being a Mom

Do you ever have a moment where you think about your life and everything seems so beautiful? The good things and the bad things, the entire experience. Our lives are so fragile, like a spiderweb with drops of dew clinging to it. I have been a mother now for a little over two years. I can honestly say my heart has grown three sizes larger. My sweet children have taught me so much in such a short time and I am so thankful for them. I know I will forever treasure their smiles and cuddles. When I was a little girl people would always ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I would always respond, "a mom." I thought that way because I have a wonderful mother. She worked hard to make us feel loved. She taught us, cleaned for us, and supported us. When I was really small I was afraid of the wheat grinder. It was loud and scary. Whenever my mom ground wheat my sister Jill and I would run and hide in my parents' closet. We would bring in all our toys and set up camp. But we always knew when she was done Mother would bring us a nice warm slice of bread. I have felt that way all my life. No matter what my mom would be there. Happy Mothers Day Mom, I love you.

Four Months- Watch out World!

Cute little John had his four month check up today. He is growing like a weed and now weighs 16 pounds 4 ounces. (Brace yourself, some mommy bragging is about to start.) The nurse commented to me that John was super strong and then later when the doctor came in he too was amazed at the little man's strength. The guy (John, not the doctor) just loves to stand up, with me balancing him of course. The doctor said soon John would be ready to sit in a bumbo. Silly doctor the kid has been chillin' in that thing for two weeks now. And my suspicions were correct, he is indeed teething. His hair has been growing like crazy too. He has had three haircuts to keep his mohawk from reaching six inches high. Neil finally took the clippers to him and, much to my relief, he still looks quite dashing. I need to post some new pictures of the fellow but Grace attacked the camera with a crayon and then stood on it so I'm going to see if I can get it working tomorrow. So far John is not a fan of baby cereal but he is a fan of mommy. I am usually sporting little scratches all over my neck from his tiny little baby claws. He grabs onto me and does not like to let go. John also loves his sister. They like to sit on her bed together and laugh whilst I read them stories. Their favorite right now is Go Dog Go. Grace loves when the girl dog asks if the boy dog likes her hat and John just follows her into crazy giggles. John has been sleeping through the night now for 2 1/2 months- with a two week break from an ear infection. And when I say sleeping through the night I mean 12 solid hours so Mommy's happy disposition has returned. John continues to be super happy. He rarely cries (except during relief society at church, should I be concerned?)and if you look at him he is all smiles. Oh, and he is also super ticklish. Whenever I change his clothes he laughs like a crazy man. And he has the perfect chubby cheeks for kissing. For some reason I just can't control myself with my babies, I am constantly kissing their cute little heads. I need to be careful, we sat next to an old stranger man at church last week and he looked at me like I was deranged. It was either from my smooching the baby's head or my outfit choice. Well if anyone other then my mom made it to the end of this baby update, I hope you enjoyed it. And a Happy Mother's Day to all!!