Turning Over A New Leaf

I've always been pretty good about making sure that Dax and I eat healthy foods. I don't usually buy chips, unless Dax makes a special request for tortilla chips. I buy 100% whole wheat bread, wheat bagels, and even use whole wheat flour to meet half the flour requirement in most recipes. We eat lots of fruits and are pretty good about getting our vegetables in. I pride myself on how "healthy" my cart looks when I go to the grocery store (except for weeks when I buy Dax's "must have" frozen pizzas for Sunday dinner). All in all, I haven't felt like a failure when it comes to eating healthy foods.

However, one thing that I've always struggled with is MEAT. When we were first married and I tried cutting the meat in half in most recipes (mainly to save money at first, and then because I didn't want to eat too much meat)Dax freaked out and said that he needed more meat. Over time he has given in to my ways. :) However, every time I read in the scriptures about how meat is to be used sparingly, in times of winter and famine, I get the feeling that we eat too much meat. Not only that, lots of meat increases the risk of several diseases. So I've decided to find recipes that meet our protein requirements while cutting out some meat. I've found that lentils and many types of beans are fiber and protein POWERHOUSES. With that said, I'm only letting Dax and I have meat in meals a couple of times a week from now on. Also, for one week in March I am going to go an entire week without making something with meat in it! I haven't told Dax that yet...wish me luck on that tonight. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE meat. However, I feel good about cutting back on the amounts that Dax and I consume. The benefits of meat (protein, iron, etc) can be found in other good sources like milk, eggs, veggies, beans, etc.

Other changes I've recently made are that I now buy brown rice and whole wheat tortillas. I really enjoy the taste of them. The only downsides are that brown rice takes a little more preparation time (it takes like 40 minutes to cook) and that it is a little more expensive to buy whole wheat over cheap white. However, I figure if it keeps us healthy throughout our lives it will be worth it in the long run.

Wish us luck! Let me know if you have any good recipes that don't include meat.

28 Hour Getaway

We kind of decided on short notice to go and visit my grandparents in Grace, Idaho and go snowmobiling with some friends, Ben and Natalie. We left on Sunday afternoon and got to my grandparents in time for dinner. We enjoyed the evening with them. My grandparents are always such great hosts, and it was the first time they had seen Hayden so it was a special visit. After breakfast the next morning we took off to the Bear Lake area to go snowmobiling. It was so much fun! Natalie's mother graciously watched Hayden for us so that we could go. There are some fun mountains to play in right by Natalie's house. I didn't realize how cautious I am now that I have a baby. I kept telling Dax to be careful and to not do anything crazy because we had someone waiting for us back at the house. I guess being a parent does that to you. I hadn't been snowmobiling in so long. There were some crazy hills and jumps up in the mountain, and there was plenty of snow to make it possible. There were acres and acres of open land to snowmobile in. They actually call the place where we went Play Basin. Besides the journey up and down the mountain (there was 1 foot between the snowmobile and a cliff drop off) it was a great time!

Afterward we helped (well, mainly Ben and Dax)feed the cows, bulls, and sheep. Dax was having a hay day. He misses being able to do that kind of stuff on the farm. He wants to have some land and a few (meaning like 5) animals some day. It definitely brought back a lot of memories being in an old farm truck and driving around with hay bales in the back. Good times.

From the time we left to the time we returned it was almost exactly 28 hours. We still had an amazing time and were so glad we decided to get away for a little while. It was a much needed break!

Valentine's Weekend

For Valentine's weekend we were lucky enough to have my brother Paul come and visit us for a little while! I haven't seen him since he left for his mission and he returned home from South Korea December 31st. We were really excited to see him and introduce him to Hayden! Hayden loved his Uncle Paul and they had fun together. We all went to Dax's basketball game (they are 4-0), and just hung out together. I made them a nice breakfast on Valentine's Day and then Paul took off about noon. Dax came home after taking a test and brought some candy, sparkling cider, and a movie to watch. He made me a nice steak dinner and we relaxed.

Poverty Continues...

We just found out the other day that Dax was accepted to BYU for graduate school! We are really excited that he was accepted because he decided he didn't want to apply anywhere else, so if he didn't get accepted we would be joining the working world in a couple of months. It is a two-edged sword. We're excited that Dax can get some more education, and we'll have tons of siblings in Utah (6 on my side, 3 on Dax's). However, this means that we'll be poor for two more years before Dax starts making the 'big bucks." :)

Like Mother(and Father) Like Son

I HATE needles and knives, especially when it comes to the those objects puncturing my skin. I've always hated shots. Asking me to give a tiny vial of blood to run some tests is one of the worst things I could hear from a doctor. I have never and will never give blood; I assure you that I would pass out from having a needle in me and then a tube draining my blood for that long. Dax is the same as well. He won't ever give blood because he hates needles, and he hates to get shots as well. I was a little woozy all through labor just because in the back of my head I knew that there was a tube sticking out of me from where they had stuck a needle into my vein. I tried really hard not to look at it, and the dried blood surrounding the site. It wasn't that hard to say no to an epidural even when I was in immense pain because one thought of a huge needle being stuck in my back is far less pleasant to me than going through the pain. Anyway, long story short, needles and I don't mix.

I realized at Hayden's 4 month appointment the other day that he inherited Dax's and my intense dislike of needles. As soon as he gets stuck with the needles he cries so loudly and so sadly. It's like all of the trust we've been building up over his short life is swept away with two pokes in the thigh. We couldn't calm him down afterward, he cried all the way home, and then cried until I was able to feed him and then fell asleep. When he woke up he was ok, but he still wasn't the same all day. Poor boy, he dislikes needles as much as I do. Maybe he'll be lucky and outgrow it, but if he's anything like me (or Dax) I doubt it.

In other news, Hayden is growing well! He weighs 17.1 lbs and is 27 3/4 inches long. It has been fun to watch him climb the charts. He is such a big boy, he doesn't even look like the tiny thing I gave birth to 4 months ago.

One thing that people tell us all the time lately is how expressive Hayden is with his eye brows. I guess I just see it everyday so I didn't realize it until several people had told me. I'll try and get some pictures that really portray it, but it's not that easy.

Dax and I both have major tests this weekend (go figure that they just happen to fall on Valentine's weekend). We're hoping to get through them and then have time to enjoy the weekend!

Thank goodness for infant Tylenol!

Love Bug

Hayden has this toy that says Love Bug on it, and it makes a jingle sound when you shake it. Hayden loves it! Of all of his toys it is the one that will always make him smile. Maybe it's because it was the first toy I ever showed him, I don't know. Anyway, it is so cute to watch him interact with it.

Rollin', Rollin', and Standin'

Hayden decided to roll over for the first time a couple of days ago. It wasn't from his stomach to his back (we're still working on that), it was from his back to his stomach. He still has troubles getting his arm out when he does roll over, and he can't do it all the time, but we were excited! He has the physical ability to roll from his stomach to his back, he just has to figure out how to move so he can.

After rolling over, with his arm stuck :)

Hayden also loves to stand now. He doesn't like to stand still though, he likes to bounce. He grows and changes each day and it is so fun to watch!