Turpentine and Crawling Babies

The biggest news from yesterday was that we finally saw Harry begin to try to crawl! I even caught in on camera! Here is our boy in action:

He tried twice before giving up and just sitting again, but hey - anything is great! He has been a lot more content to just hang out than Eden was - she was walking by 10 months, and with Harry being 9 months now and just sitting up on his own...well, let's just say he's a chill kind of baby. :)

Of course, Eden would not be outdone by Harry's antics, so she asked me to take pictures of her crawling too. :)

The next project of the day was not near as exciting: painting the master bedroom. Or at least getting started. I have lots of projects to do, and really I should probably be painting Eden's dresser first...but I just couldn't wait to get the gorgeous color we finally decided on for our room on the walls! Of course, I couldn't get started until I made a serious mess on the floor first, by spilling paint all over it:

Enter: the turpentine. Our room smelled HORRIBLE for the rest of the day and still had a faint odor this morning, and it didn't even help that much. The picture above was taken after about an hour of scrubbing/trying every method I knew to get it out. Oh well, we want new carpet anyway! I am just trying to make that happen sooner rather than later by ruining all the current carpeting (if you think this spot is bad, you should see the one I left downstairs, eek!).

I only managed to get one wall of edging done, but it is a start. I will have to have help moving the furniture from Jason until I get much of anywhere anyway. But at least I can imagine the finished project now! Can't wait to see the room done.

I'm telling you, the excitement we have around here is great! :D

Day 8 - Day 9

Yesterday ended with a bang - the meatloaf was great! Last night's dinner was the best paleo meal we have had so far - I did the meatloaf, roasted some white sweet potatoes again, and tried some roasted brussels sprouts - YUM! It was so good I am eating again for lunch today.

There were a few tweaks I would make next time, one being to mix the meatloaf better. The grass-fed ground beef I used was a little more difficult to mix, so I need to mix in the other ingredients better next time to make sure the other flavors go throughout the whole pan. The other thing I would do different is not over-salt my brussels sprouts! I went to the store to buy sea salt and didn't realize it was sea salt that needed to be ground until after I dumped half of it on the veggies. Oops! They were definitely a *little* salty. :)

I didn't really eat lunch yesterday, just kinda nibbled on nuts and fruit and veggies. I wanted to have lots of room for supper! Today, so far, I have had eggs and grapes for breakfast and a repeat of last night for lunch. Dinner will be a roast in the crockpot, served with carrots and onions. I might add a salad too. Jason gets a potato with his, of course. :)

Overall, still doing pretty good. Tummy is in and out with it's issues. It has been really interesting to me that I haven't struggled more with cravings - don't get me wrong, there have been a few times where it was difficult, but in general it has almost been...well...easy. I think one of the biggest components of that is that I know this is for 30 days - it is short term. I can do anything for 30 days! Not that I plan on going crazy once I am done, in fact I feel sure I will continue to do many of the things from paleo I have learned...but somehow, just knowing that in 30 days I can have pizza if I want it, or something sweet helps to keep me right on track.

One thing I am disappointed in is that I still haven't seen a difference in how I feel. My paleo partner, Michelle, has already seen a difference in her daily headaches. Me? Zilch. I feel the same as I did before starting. I know I am only a little way into it, but still...I guess I thought going from consuming massive amounts of sugar and carbs to NONE would make a huge difference in how I felt. Not so much...at least not yet. But I do still have 20 days to go! :D

Day 7 - Day 8

The last few days have been...interesting. I won't say bad, but not really stellar either. Saturday night (day 7) I was all set to make some paleo pancakes. Much to my dismay, it was a disaster. I could tell as I was mixing the ingredients that something wasn't right...they were super thick and not runny at all like pancake batter. I had to add water to try and thin it out enough to even pour. Don't let this photo fool you - although they look somewhat normal here, they did not look normal in person!

This is what the looked like when I first poured them on the skillet:

That's right, big fat mudpies. And that is exactly what they tasted like too - pancakes made with dirt. I even tried to force myself to eat them, but two bites in I gave up. I was so mad to have wasted all the ingredients! And bummed not to have pancakes too. I'm still not sure what happened, because I was following a recipe - and one that a friend of mine had done too, so I'm going to try again and make some of my own modifications.

The good thing that came out of this disaster is the impromptu dinner I made since the pancakes didn't work. I was so starved that I just started grabbing stuff out of the refrigerator and putting it together. I ended up with tomatoes, onions, avocado, and grilled chicken in a bowl - kinda like guacamole with chicken on top. It was great! Very basic, but it worked. It was so good I had it again Sunday (day 8) for lunch. I forgot to take pictures either time, I think because I was so excited to eat it. :)

Sunday breakfast was just some eggs and a banana since we were trying to get out the door for church. Dinner was...don't judge me, eggs again. What can I say, I like them and they are easy! The problem was I put salsa verde on top (I had only tried it one other day, the same day I felt so sick) to try it again and I ended up having a tummy ache the rest of the night. :( I'm thinking the salsa verde is gonna have to go - it is now associated with feeling sick!

This morning I had a banana and then a salad. Not sure what I'm going to do for lunch, but dinner is another new recipe - meatloaf. Hopefully this one will turn out! I am planning to do mashed butternut squash and maybe another salad to go with it.

I would say that things are still going well, but my tummy has its moments where it really bothers me. I took tums last night in an effort to calm the stormy seas, and was so disappointed to realize they had sucralose in them! Grrr. I am hoping it wasn't so much to make that big of a difference, but it still irritated me.

Be back tomorrow with details on the new meatloaf! :D

Day Six

After an eventful morning/afternoon, my tummy finally decided to calm down. I was rather hungry, so I decided to make some guacamole to go with some banana chips from Trader Joe's. It was delicious!

(sorry for the weird camera angle)

While getting dinner ready, I decided to throw some apple slices in the oven to try a new recipe. Pretty simple: core and slice an apple, sprinkle with cinnamon, and bake. Here is what they looked like going in:

Unfortunately, there is a learning curve with this recipe, so this tiny plate of apple chips was all that could be redeemed from my 5 apples:

I wrote down some things I will do differently next time, like a lower temp, parchment paper, and shorter baking time. The ones that were salvaged had an almost fruit roll-up texture, which I kinda liked. I definitely like them better a little chewy instead of crisp.

Then came dinner - GLORIOUS dinner! Jason and I had been looking forward to steaks all week, and they were worth it. We sauteed up some yellow squash, zucchini, and onions to go with it. Jason also had mashed potatoes from earlier in the week, but obviously I opted out of those. :)

In other news, Eden decided Harry needed a hairbow like she had in her hair, so while my back was turned, our poor little boy was subjected to this:

Poor little guy. Oh well, I guess that is what happens when you have an older sister who just wants you to play with her! :D

Tonight Jason is working so I am excited to do a little more experimenting in the kitchen - pancakes! I will post all the details tomorrow (or maybe Monday, since Sunday is always super busy for us). Happy weekend!

And this is where it gets bad...

The cravings have hit. Not super hard, but they are definitely more persistent than before. And I think I might know why - it might sound crazy, but hear me out first. I have had digestive issues for a long time now (one of the main reasons I am doing the whole30, to clear everything out and see exactly what bothers me). Usually what would happen is as soon as I would up my intake of produce my tummy would rebel and send me running to the bathroom where I would think I would surely die. I was so sure that the first few days of the whole30 would be just like this, because I was going to be eating a LOT of fruits and veggies. Strangely, it didn't really happen that way - I definitely had some adjusting, but nothing anywhere close to what I normally would have. So I was feeling good!

Then today...WHAM! My stomach decides to hit that rebellion again and I have felt super crummy. The bathroom has been my room of choice today. So this is where it ties in to why I think I am craving stuff today - before whole30, anything with carbs (mostly breads or potato items) helped to sooth my stomach when I would have one of these digestive attack things. Not to mention, I almost always wanted a coke, because that is just what I used to drink when my stomach was upset. So today, I am REALLY wanting some kind (ANY kind!) of bread with a diet coke. I feel sure it is because I just feel so bad, but it still is hard.

Today my meals have been less than exciting, since my tummy is upset - so far a banana, couple pieces of deli meat, and some eggs. I really don't feel like eating, so I'm not going to. Been chugging the water though - I have been WAY thirsty.

Last night at our girls night we had a great time playing games and hanging out. The food all looked yummy, but again it wasn't too hard to resist, especially since we had smoothies. One very important part of my whole30 journey that I haven't mentioned yet is my whole30 partner, Michelle. LOVE HER! She is a dear friend, introduced to me by a mutual friend, and we decided to take this adventure together. She has been an awesome encouragement to me and I am SO thankful to have someone going through the same thing I am at the same time. She was here last night and made us the smoothies with fruit and coconut milk (they were delicious!). Very filling and I didn't have too hard of a time turning down the other yummy goodies on the table.

Hoping I feel better by tonight, when Jason and I are planning to have steaks for Shmoopy night. That's right - Shmoopy night. That is when Jason and I get to hang out together - we don't invite people over, we just eat dinner together and maybe watch a movie or some TV - just be home together. My favorite night of the week! <3

Catching Up

I need to catch up on posts! So I am going to take you through the last day and a half of meals. I'm going to work backwards, so try to keep up!

This is the delicious dinner that Jennie (my paleo inspiration) made for me last night: roast with a coffee bean rub, roasted brussels sprouts, and a yummy salad with avocado, tomato, spinach and balsamic vinegar. We had a great chat and she answered more of my paleo questions - love her! She has been a great help to me on this venture.

Before I went to Jennie's I got a little package - BEEF! Yippee! The grass-fed beef we ordered from LaCenseBeef.com was delivered and here is all the loot.

This was my lunch - tomato slices with balsamic vinegar, sauteed zucchini and onions, and pan fried chicken in almond meal. The chicken didn't turn out so great, but it was alright.

The night before that (Day 3) Jason and I had baked salmon with roasted white sweet potatoes. Looks pretty bland, but I thought it was tasty. Jason, not so much. :)

This was my afternoon snack from Day 3, some blueberries and pecans.

And that brings us current! I am eating this HUMONGOUS salad for lunch today. Had eggs for breakfast and am planning on munching for dinner since some of my girlfriends are getting together for a game night. Smoothies, veggies and guacamole, and fruit are all on the menu!

Just as a side note, I am still feeling pretty good. Not having any cravings I can't overcome, and no major withdrawal symptoms. Day 5 is feeling good so far!

The Kiddos

So I thought we needed a little break from the monotony of paleo - and what better way than to look at a bunch of pics of the kids? :D

Here is Harry, just waking up from a nap - he's such a happy boy.

Miss Hollywood herself!

Eden is learning to do chores (don't worry, we aren't enforcing child labor or anything, just a few little things to get her in the habit of helping out at home) - here she is helping Daddy do the dishes!

I am so blessed to be able to stay home everyday with these two - they make life so fun!

I'll be back later today with updates on my paleo food from yesterday!