Thursday, April 23, 2015

Grilling Season Is Right Around The Corner: Char-Broil Grill Post



                      You guys! I'm so excited to move into our new house in a little over a month! There's some awesome perks, like the neighborhood and the huge yard, but what I'm excited about right now, that spring is here, is having a back deck to grill on!



 




                               

This leads me to talking about the new Char-Broil Kettleman Grill. Adam has always had his heart set on a charcoal grill, because he loves that charcoal taste. And this grill makes charcoal grilling easy for both of us. It gives you more control over the temperature, the flare-ups, and cleanup.  


                     
Monday, April 13, 2015

4 Ways I Coax Myself Into Eating Fruits and Veggies



Has anyone ever noticed that they are healthier eaters when they are working versus when they are staying at home? When I was working at my office jobs, I packed mostly healthy snacks and if I brought any sweet treats I would portion them out to a small amount. I only brought enough food to satisfy my hunger and no more. And I don't like buying junk from vending machines or overpriced snacks from food courts, so what I brought was all I would get. [Unless someone brought doughnuts or if there was free chips and salsa in the breakroom...]

Fast forward to now, I have what seems like an unlimited supply of snacks within 10 feet of myself at home. We don't buy anything terrible, but there's always some sort of crackers, nuts, and baked goods. It's like they are always calling my name. With that being said, we buy tons of fruit. Tons. Mainly because we have a toddler that could live off of it. So I have the constant battle between should I go for the banana bread or the apple? The cinnamon-sugar almonds or the watermelon slices? Tortilla chips or celery?

Friday, April 10, 2015

Things I Learned This Week: 5 Things

1. I would rather watch documentaries than regular movies. And books for that matter.



I watch almost a documentary a day. This week: Out of the Clear Blue Sky, Addicted to Plastic, Restrepo, The Square, Wal-Mart: The Cost of Low Price, The Act of Killing (watching it as I type this). I recommend them all; these are all on Netflix.


2. Police officers in Minneapolis are keeping healthy boxes of food in their cars to hand out to less fortunate.




Hennepin county sheriffs are collaborating with Matter, a nonprofit group designed to fill gaps in the food system, to hand out healthy boxes of food. In the boxes are things like granola bars, raisins, and oatmeal. This project doubles as a way to address obesity and to help those who are food insecure, or don't know when or where the next meal is going to come from. What a great cause!


3. A mom blogger was sentenced to 20 years in prison yesterday for poisoning her son to death.




You see it happen in Lifetime movies. And don't realize that it's a real thing. I never knew there was an actual illness called Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, but it is defined as "a caregiver, typically a mother, either makes up fake symptoms or causes real symptoms to make it look like the child is sick". Of all the mental illnesses out there, this one is definitely the hardest one to swallow. I still am trying to convince myself that this is real. She slowly poisoned her son and added salt to his IV while he was in the hospital, which led to his death.

4. Easter is just kind of a "meh" holiday for us. 







Adam came home on Saturday and said "I feel kinda bad, we didn't get Mira anything special for Easter". I didn't know what he meant, I never thought of Easter like Christmas, I always got mostly clothes and one small toy. And I had bought her clothes and a couple toys. He then went on to say "well we didn't get grass for her Easter basket or any Easter candy". Ohhhh, okaaaay. [he's so cute] So I ran to Target that night, picked up some grass for the basket and some jelly beans. Sunday morning came, she threw all the clothes and the fake grass on the floor. Loved the plastic eggs filled with jelly beans though. We also colored eggs, which she immediately cracked. All of them. It's okay, Adam was hungry anyway! We just hung out and went to the park and didn't cook dinner. We literally ate meat, cheese, and crackers. When families are far away, it feels like just another day.


5. A dad of a blind toddler invented an affordable version of "beeping Easter eggs" so she could participate in Easter egg hunts.

This is so sweet. He originally made 40 of them, and 9 years later they are hosting dozens of these hunts nation-wide.
Thursday, April 2, 2015

Must Reads: 5 Gut-wrenching Stories from Mom Blogs That Will Leave You In Tears


NEWBORN LOSS



Delighted To Be:
Baby Amelia's Story/Anencephaly
Alie knew throughout her entire pregnancy with Amelia that the baby would have a 0% survival rate due to Anencephaly. Yet she chose to not terminate the pregnancy for religious reasons. She wrote about her pregnancy from the day she found out about the anencephaly up until the day Amelia died.  Alie's story shows how much courage and strength she has. She amazed me, truly. 


CHILD LOSS



Baby Boy Bakery:
Land Mines
Jacqui and her husband Dan had an adorable red curly haired son named Ryan. He was 3 years old. One week he was having the time of his life at Disney Land and the next week he was gone. He was tragically hit by a truck while playing out in the yard at his cousins house. This hit home since I have a child who is a year and a half younger. After about a year of Ryan gone, Jacqui and Dan still do a beautiful job of keeping Ryan's spirit alive and constantly doing things in remembrance of him. 


MISCARRIAGE



Casey Wiegand
Casey has had 3 miscarriages. And her other 3 children were all in NICU after they were born. She's been through more than she can handle, but she is a wonderful mom. And such an inspiration.


DISABILITY



Enjoying The Small Things: Kelle Hampton
Nella Cordelia Birth Story
Kelle had the perfect life and expected nothing but more perfection during her second pregnancy with Nella. Little did Kelle know, her idea of perfection was going to be challenged. Her whole world turned upside down the day Nella was born with Down's Syndrome. She soon realized that it wasn't the end of the world, it meant her world was expanding. She writes in the most authentic and uplifting way, her whole blog is a must read!




The One In A Million Baby
Not the post I wanted to write
This New Zealand mama decided if her child were found to have Down's Syndrome in her ultrasound, she would terminate the pregnancy because her and the father didn't think they could handle raising a child with that. Ironically, the baby wasn't found to have Down's Syndrome, but was born with much more rare and debilitating birth defects. The more you read about her story, the more your heart will break, yet she has so much courage it will make your lack of courage more apparent. If you navigate around her site you will find that not only did her and the father split up while staying in the hospital, but the baby, Eva, has recently passed away at almost one year old.

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