what we eat.

soooooo we eat like total shit 90% of the time. This makes me extremely sad. I mean...we're the only ones that can change that or do anything about it and yet we don't. 



most recently, we've been trying to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, increased organic ingredients, make smoothies, eat less processed foods, eat all the salads - although, we can never eat it fast enough and then it seems to go bad:/ - cut down almost entirely on fast foods...but itttttt.isssss.hardddddddd! There are so many days that become 'the last day' we: go to Subway/eat ice-cream/feed the kids Mac&Chs for lunch. And then we vow to start all over again the next day...only to fail miserably all over again after a day or two!

our biggest motivation for continuing to try and make better food decisions are the kids. I mean...Jacob and I can hardly remember eating out during our childhood. McDonald's was a serious 'treat'. So why has it become a bi-weekly habit for us now? Well, we are lazy assholes, is the answer to that. And our kiddos deserve better. It kinda makes me ill to think of the shit I'm putting in their bodies daily because of pure laziness on my part! They deserve better and I damn sure can do better! 

anddddd we're in our 30's (VERY early, younggggg hawt 30's;) and some of this shit is going to start catching up with us. My husband has one of those stomachsssss/belly's??? and it's not a vanity thing...we both just want to be able to run and play with the kids - and not feeling the need to wear Tshirts in the pool would be cool too;). 
And I'm having babies in my 30's and I need to be healthy...as much fun as it is to gain 55lbs per pregnancy...it's just not necessary;) AND being healthy in those pregnancy months has a lot of benefits, overall - healthier baby/birth/recovery!

anyhoo.

where I think we're failing is...overwhelming ourselves. Every time we come up with a plan, it's like 2 pages long. I think we need to be a bit more focused on one area and go from there. Make some small goals, implement them and then build upon them.

what I'm hoping to do - and I'll let Jacob in on this as soon as he gets home;) - is:

- exercise at least 3 days a week
whether that be a quick run (no better time of year to be starting:), 10min of yoga or any googled work-out that you can follow, an hour long walk...blah, blah:)
I've found a lot of these 10min workouts to be amazing...I can get the kids down for a nap, do my workout and still sometimes get a nap in myself...OR if your kids, like mine, hardly ever sync up nap times...10min is the perfect amount of time before everyone is balling;)



- MORE water

- cut a few things out entirely
NO fast food. NO soda (which is something we already cut out of our household a few years ago!!!!) - Although, I do still drink soda if we're out to eat - pizza and water, ewwww!?!?!?;) or at a get-together but now I'm cutting that out as well. NO ice-cream.
What will this life BE without Ben&Jerry's?!?!?!?!! SAD.FACE:(
BUT an alternative way to look at it isn't by what you can NOT have...but what you CAN have. Start brainstorming replacements. If I can't have ice-cream in the afternoon - really;) - what can I replace that with? Fresh strawberries...frozen or dried bananas...yogurt, etc.

- ONE cheat day per week
I don't want to set us up for failure. I realize that it's going to be hard. It's been hard...SO, I'm allowing a slip-up once a week. I'm not sure if we'll put guidelines on that or not but once we cheat, we mark it on the calendar and must get another 5-7 days under our belt before we can cheat again.

here's a simple video that kinda helped motivate me. 

and really...when I really think about it...this has been a long time coming. I want to make these changes. I want our days to be healthier. I want us to feel better and FEEL all the benefits of being healthier!!! 
And just getting up a tad earlier in the morning. Meal planning. Being more active. I feel SO amazing when I do these things. So why am I not making that a daily priority? And bottom line...you are what you eat and so that means we are, basically, a bowl of Mac&Chs with an added can of Cream of Mushroom Soup - HOLY SHITTTTT!?!!?!;) EW.

i'll report back on our progress. I know it's not going to be easy and a lot of this we're already doing on some level but I want to REALLY start being intentional about this list. 
And there's something about putting our goals out there, feeling like you guys are holding us accountable, that motivates me.

i'm hoping that the next time you hear from me, I'm sitting on the couch at noon, writing up my follow-up blog post, with my gallon jug of water sitting next to me - 1/2 empty;) - after having just finished a quick work-out;)

PLEASE share any tips, healthy recipes/treats/snacks and your goals!!!

- casey

so, I did not have an ovary removed from my uterus.

i may have goofed and told a girlfriend that I was having an ovary removed from my uterus. Wrong. 

this morning, I had a cyst removed from my left ovary. The put you under, stick a breathing apparatus down your throat and make 4 incisions in your abdomen kinda surgery.

surgery is so weird. This was my first experience with this type of thing and on those few occasions that I wanted to cry from fear, I reminded myself that my 3-1/2yr old has done something similar...twice:/

by the time It took Jacob to leave the room and the nurse to wheel me around the corner...I was feeling all sorts of special! A speciallll special little kite;) And then I was being told everything would be okay and to breath deeply and boom...I was waking up in recovery! I never even remember drifting off. Nada. Not too bad;)

so this post could be all: yada, yada...I had surgery. Everything was good. Thank Jesus. 

but shit just isn't that boring around these parts...at least I don't allow it to be;)

keeping in mind that you can't 'un-read' things or pluck them back out of your head...or stop yourself from visualizing things because I'm explaining them in a way that doesn't allow you NOT to wonder;)...this is your 'heads up'.

so...this:

- jacob informed me, right before I was to roll into surgery - aka. be sliced/lasered?? open - that while in the waiting room, a pretty girl had taken a liking to him and Rocky (can't blame her;). Her name was, Stormy. Stoooorrrrmyyy.

Just one more time: STORMY.

not that there's anything wrong with that. Seinfeld! Anyone?!;)

my husband isn't the type to know better than to make a joke about your future girlfriend - girlfriend because Jacob also informed me that being married once...to me...was MORE than enough and he'd NEVER do thattttt again...this conversation 10min before having a a laser cut into me! - who's name is STORMY, raising my children because I don't make it out alive from the removal of a damn cyst - that we later found out did NOT have teeth...yeah, we're the type to be bummed about that and Jacob asked if he could still take it home. Good grief.

where was I?! 

Oh yeah...Stormy's livin' in MY house, raising MY children!!!;)

*jacob later informed me that he never even spoke to Stormy, only heard her name when they called her to the front desk. Idiot;)

- the good thing about having a 'baby vagina', as Courts calls it...

Let me explain;)

once, back in those shady drinkin' days...I may have - DID - showed Courts my lady bits, in the bathroom of a bar that's cool with lady bits being out for purposes other than urinating;) The reason was to compare 'hair styles'.

I'll add that I, for the 2nd* time in my life - in a big way - was told WE would do something, I went first and no one followed. Hmmm.

*1st being that time I was 17..in London..smoking clove cigarettes..staying in hostels (before you feared being murdered;). The drinking age was 18 and I was traveling with all 18yr olds (before you feared being murdered:/) and getting a tattoo on the top of my foot..on day 2 of our 12 day trip, seemed So.fucking.cool. 7 of us went in to get tattoos..I went first. 1 of us came out with a tattoo. Me:) I still love that tattoo.

Side Note: to all you underagers reading...best way to break it to your parents that you got your 1st tattoo..while underage - cause the owner of the shop 'believed' you when you told him you were 18 (back when there was TRUST;) - is while in a different country. 

okay...there's a point in there.

I didn't have to be 'prepped' for surgery. They came in, took a look and said: "ohhh...we're good!"

so there's that:)

so this is definitely, normally, something I would have talked and talkeddddd and talked about in the days prior but such is life. I have a couple kiddos at home and coffee mornings to be had and yada, yada, yada;) So I didn't really remember to fill anyone in. BUT here ya go...the play by play:)

but thank you to the Clinic. Good gosh. They made it almost enjoyable!!!;) Eric was a nurse that helped and also has a daughter with the middle name, Daisy! As you can probably imagine...receiving this information, as well as knowing my husband was in the waiting room with Stormy...I figured it was just my time. Jesus was all: you can go now, we got this;)

so they were fantastic. They found a freezer for my milk for Rocky. They went above and beyond to accommodate me nursing and pumping before and after the surgery. And I had a familiar face by my side, telling me how good I was doing and that it was all gonna be okay - thank you, thank you, Jen:). 

and the nurses who helped me get dressed and didn't even flinch when I told them I was going to pass on wearing a bra home...even when we all knew how frightening that was;)

my mom watched the older 2 kiddos for the whole day. SO helpful, although, Theo rushed home to meet her cuddling quota;)

courts made us dinner, pizza and brownies:) And now I'll never be able to eat a strawberry without thinking of an ovary. Thanks?! - see below.

and Jacob. Jacob is Jacob. I couldn't ask for a better, better half:) He is always one step ahead of what I need...which is why I can chuckle at the fact that he's been passed out on the couch since 845PM because, apparently, me having surgery is exhausting;)

absolutely NOT trying to show off the lady bits in these photos...justtttt the surgical site(s) andddd the sauce I spilled on my shirt from my Chicken Sandwich...andddd apparently, my nipples because I hadn't put my bra back on at this point;)

so what I'd love for you to take away from this post is mainly, the news that there's someone living out there with the name Stormy. 

totally kidding. Kinda?!

and now we cuddle and blog post and eat brownies with a side of Extra Strength Tylenol;)

goodnight, Friends:)