Max & Kaylee

I have decided to do a 21 day sugar fast.

Call me crazy, but it's time to take some action.  I am a hardcore sugar addict.  I find myself mindlessly eating, craving all sorts of sugary goodness, and overeating constantly.  Lately, this desire has become too much - the want for sugar has reached idol-like proportions.  I have zero discipline and know that it is not something that is glorifying God at the moment.

So I decided to take some drastic measures.  I'll be cutting all sugar out of my diet for the next 21 days.  This means no desserts; no cookies, cakes, chocolate goo, muffins, etc.  This means no sugar in my coffee. Boo.  This means no sugar in anything that comes pre-packaged and processed; essentially this cuts out most breads, crackers, snack-foods, sauces, etc.  Basically, I'll be eating lots and lots of fruits, veggies, healthy protein, nuts, beans and some healthy starches (corn, sweet potatoes, brown rice).  Oh, and lots of good sauces and salsas and hummus dips made by yours truly.

I'm excited about this.  And not looking forward to it, all at the same time.  This is going to be really hard for me.  You see, I'm a stress eater.  Bad stress, good stress, you name it, I eat the stress away.  When I'm happy, when I'm sad, when I'm frustrated, when I'm in love, when I'm excited, anything - I eat.  This will be an act of discipline for me.  I want this time to be a time that I HAVE to rely solely on God and seek Him alone, not food.  I want to be a physically healthy woman, so that I can model that to my babes, and so that I can glorify God in this area of my life.

Today marks day number 1, and it is done.  It went fairly well.  From all my reading on sugar fasting and eliminating sugar from my diet, I have read that days 3-5 are the hardest.  After the first week, it should get easier, or so I hope :)  I'll keep y'all posted on how my sugar fast is going - what kinds of foods I end up eating, and how I feel after I get over the shock of much less sugar in my body!

It's obviously all or nothing for me, so here I go on my sugar fast adventure!

It's the simple joys in life, that so often I take for granted, which in the end, truly build me up:

The way my pudgy son, with the two little sharp teeth, reaches his arms up to me as I bend down to pick him up.

My husband, who came home yesterday to me: a snarky, hormonal wife.  He simply and repeatedly would squeeze me tight, remind me how much he loved me and get me to laugh, with that bright twinkle in his eyes.

Sneaking into the babies room every night, just to catch a glimpse of their sweet sleeping faces, and to tuck their blankets snug around them.  What peace they exude.

Watering my (growing!) flowers and relishing in the glorious colors and smells that they give off.  God is such an amazing and creative Creator.

A fresh, hot cup of coffee each morning.  Seriously, I sit down, take a sip and every time, I close my eyes and let out a content sigh.  Coffee is fantastic.

Fulfilling and deep conversations with dear friends.

Hearing Eliana say please or thank-you without prompting her.  And hearing her call out "love you" as we put them to bed.  Precious.

These are some of the things that fill me up.  The things that I never want to take for granted or forget to notice.  I don't want to miss the details, the ways in which God is continually showing me grace and love and peace.  I want to be aware, to be absorbent, to soak it all in before it's too late.  The simple joys of life.

I'm linking up with Laura today at Along for the Ride, on where I find God.

We returned home from visiting G-Aunt Kathy & Uncle David, my Grandma, Aunt, cousin and mom on Saturday.  The rest of the weekend was spent unpacking, heading to church, playing lots with Lucy (who had to stay here in J-ville with a friend of ours), buying groceries, doing fish stuff and picking up the house.

The remainder of our time in Charlotte was a blast.  We had some more pool time, celebrated G-Aunt Kathy's 60th birthday (in which a bunch of her friends came over and we threw her a party - my mom, Grandma and I prepared all the party food!) and just soaked up time with each other.

I am currently sipping my morning coffee, thinking about the changes I want to make to my blog layout/design (it's in the works as we speak!) and contemplating our day to come.  You see, today is Day #1 of potty-training.  And here I sit, thinking what in the world I have gotten myself into.  But seeing as the Doc (remember when we visited the kidney Doc a few months ago?) recommended we should start at 18 months with L, it's about time.  I have a feeling this potty-training thing could either go really, really well, or it could go very, very poorly.  All I know is that the potty-chair is out and ready, the cute little girl panties are washed and folded, and L will be waking up in a little bit with a fun day ahead of her :)

I'll keep y'all posted on how this thing plays out...

You would think that the above title would appear sometime in October.
Or at least during a month that the outdoor thermometer (NOT in the sun, thank you very much) does not read 94°.
But alas, it's 10 June and here I sit, sipping a homemade (hot!) chai tea latte and enjoying a square of pumpkin bar.
Maybe we just have the seasons mixed up.
Yesterday, Max looked at me and asked if it was time to start playing Christmas music.

Sometimes, I have to remind myself to cherish the moment.
You know?
I get so caught up in the little everyday things and become so absorbed by the "when you are this big"'s or "next year..."'s, that sometimes, I forget to appreciate the now, the right here.
It wasn't until this morning, as I was sitting at the Vet's office, chatting with the woman next to me, that this idea re-struck me.
She was telling me that her two oldest children were one year apart, and that now, they are 14 and 15.
I was thinking about our conversation on my way home, and I was overwhelmed with how fast time will go by.
Before I know it, that will be me.  I'll have a 14 and a 15 year old.
That's a scary thought.
Not that I'm not excited for that season of life, because I am.
It's just that I want to be sure to soak in every second of NOW, of today.
I don't want to look back in five or ten years and realize that I missed out.
Am I making any sense?
It's a rambling sort of day...

I was going to blog yesterday.
I had a whole blog post going in my brain.
All about how I have to very carefully watch L during a mealtime, or she leans over and slyly slips food to Lucy.
And about how my dear son finally decided to start eating cheerios.  Yesterday, he was shoveling handfuls into his little mouth, ha!
But then, as lunch was getting finished up, I noticed it.
The wet goo that Z was happily sliding his feet around in, under his chair.
And the realization that it was baby poop that had migrated from his diaper all the way to the floor.
It was terribly disgusting.
And called for an immediate emergency bathtime.
I put Z into the bathtub fully clothed, because I didn't know how else to not make more of a mess.
In the end, it was rather humorous.

My chai is half-gone and my plate has only crumbs remaining.
I am going to sit back and enjoy the rest of afternoon nap time, aka mama's breaktime.
And then contemplate the errands and tasks that have yet to be completed.

Oh. And I have had an itch to make a few changes to the blog soon.
Just letting you know.