Learning about nutrition -- a new favorite book!

Most of you know that I've gotten really interested in nutrition ever since Karis started eating food. The most thorough book in that arena is Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and I highly recommend it. I learned so much from reading it and it totally changed my mindset about food. However, it is long and a little overwhelming. It makes you want to completely change your diet, but its just too much to do at once. So it should be on your reading list, but just not the first book you pick up. There are a couple of others I'd recommend first:

Another one of my favorite books is Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Mary Enig. This book is an easy read and is awesome! It explains why the current low-fat diet is so bad for you and why your body needs "good fats" like high quality coconut oil, olive oil, and butter. And guess what? Eggs are awesome, too! (See why I like this book? :) The book also contains a bunch of good recipes that I use regularly, especially the cereal and granola recipes. I'd recommend this book to anyone, whether he wants to lose weight or not!

I've just discovered a new favorite author: Nina Planck. She wrote 2 books about nutrition that are easy to read, thorough, and actually make you feel like eating healthily is feasible. These are the 2 books I'd recommend anyone start with. Real Food: What to Eat and Why is the best nutrition book I've read for someone just learning about nutrition. She is honest about her journey to understanding nutrition and very personable and understanding. My only complaint is that she comes from somewhat of an evolutionary mindset, but her research is good nonetheless.

Real Food for Mother and Baby: The Fertility Diet, Eating for Two, and Baby's First Foods is a book I wish I had read before I ever even tried to get pregnant. Did you know that your body actually needs fat in order to conceive? Or that soy products can cause infertility? Or that pregnant women need meat and salt, not iron supplements? Delaying the introduction of certain solid foods doesn’t prevent allergies. Cereals are not the best foods for tiny eaters; meat and egg yolks are better. From conception to two years, the body’s overwhelming needs are for quality fat and protein, not for carrots and low-fat dairy. Yep, I learned a lot from this book and cannot recommend it highly enough if you are thinking about getting pregnant or have a baby under 2 years. Its my new favorite book!

why a little girl "needs" so many bathing suits....

You may have noticed that Karis has had on a different bathing suit in each water post.... ummm.... yes, she has about nine of them... (Did I really admit that?) ummm... yes, I'm a little obsessive (call me a sucker :) about cute bathing suits. But lest you think I'm entirely frivolous, half of them were given to her, most of them only cost a dollar at an awesome consigment sale, and the few remaining were bought on clearance last year before I knew I would be finding so many great deals at the consignment sale! Anyways, I just had to show you these pics to say that we are pretty rough on our bathing suits -- we wear them all the time to do nearly everything! And of course because I love her sweet smile:)

I love my laughing girl!

...I can't help but laugh every time I watch this video of Karlie laughing so hard :)

More fun in the sun!

Last year I found this Elmo sprinkler on clearance and it sure has come in handy during this hot weather! As you can see in the pictures, both Karis and Pup-pup really enjoy it :)







Karlie likes being outside, too!

Big girl at the mall

We took the girls to the mall the other day (which, honestly, I can't remember the last time Karis was at the mall :) and Daddy had the crazy idea to let my 2- year old get out of her stroller to push it (yep, I thought he was crazy and told him he would have to chase her all over the place! :) She actually surprised me and did very well, being super excited about pushing the stroller. She never tried to run away except when she saw BABIES! My goodness, you'd think the child had never seen a baby before! She'd scream "BABY!!!!!" and take off after the stroller. It was pretty funny, though, to see peoples' reactions as she (and Daddy) ran over to see the babies. Some people smiled and talked to her and some people ignored her completely (how they can do that, I have no idea!) Anyways, it was great fun seeing her wonder and amazement at all the people and displays. She especially loved the little rock waterfall outside.

Congrats Daddy!

Daddy loves tennis and has really enjoyed our local tennis association. He's been playing with them ever since we moved to the area. This season, he decided to play in a team doubles tournament, something he'd never done before. Guess what? His team won! And they put his picture in the paper last week to congratulate him, along with his fabulous teammates. So I just had to brag a bit :)

(Sorry these pics are so tiny -- I downloaded them from the tennis website and don't know how to make them any bigger)

Friday from Karis

Since Karis is still talking about our crazy day Friday, I thought I'd let her tell you about it:

"car? No. Soccer? no. Daddy? no. More soccer? no. Side? Yes! Water!!!!!!! Kitty hurt. (very sad face) Sssssssssssssss. (mean look) Poor Kitty. Doctor! Dogguh, *smooch*. Happy Kitty. Yay! Soccer! Daddy!

Translation: On Friday, I got the girls all ready for soccer and strapped Karlie in her carseat, only to find the car wouldn't start (we needed a new battery). Karis was very sad to miss sccer with Daddy. So we went outside instead. It was too hot to play, so I stripped her down and let her run through the hose. We went back inside and found a very unhappy kitty with a really swollen face. He needed to go to the vet, but I couldn't take him because the car wouldn't start!!! Daddy came home on lunch break, jumped the car, and dropped the kitty off at the vet. Karis was VERY worried about the kitty. The vet called and told us the kitty had been bitten by a snake but was going to make it. We went to pick up the kitty that afternoon at the vet's. Karis had a lot of fun seeing a dogs and fish. Kitty was doped up on medicine but a lot happier. We decided to meet Daddy at work before going out to eat and played with Daddy on the soccer field. What a day!

And Karis finds the day so exciting that she will ask me to tell it over and over... she'll say Kitty? Doctor? ssssssss? and then we go through the whole story from start to finish.... over and over and over.... it never grows old to her :)

Happy Father's Day!!

Yeah, I know -- its the "We're waaay late for a nap and the camera has a smudge on the lense" kind of picture. But I wanted to get one pic of my girls with their Daddy on Father's Day and I caught them on top of him while I was fixing lunch after church :)

Oh, and the girls just wanted me to tell Daddy thanks for all the tickles, dances, diaper changes, bedtime stories, unhealthy treats (ha, ha, Karis always tells on him :), crazy fun, lots of outside time, and the best hugs ever.

And I wanted to say thanks for helping with all the housework that I just can't seem to keep up with, giving me a chance to actually take a shower, loving my girls so incredibly much and being willing to do anything for them, and much more that I would write if my toddler wasn't screaming to get up right now.

We love you Daddy!

"More Jesus?"

I love having Karis in the church service with us (although I'll admit its a LOT of work :)because she will randomly pick up words or phrases that stick in her head and pop out unexpectedly later on. For instance, a couple of weeks ago, the teacher said the word "holy." She repeated it excitedly right in the midle of service, and then the next day she got really excited when she heard it in a song on one of her favorite CD's. Now several times a day she asks me to sing Holy, Holy, Holy with her, a song that never interested her before hearing the word at church. And it is just so precious to hear the way she says "howy? howy? Mama, Howy!!!!" when she wants me to sing it with her. We cannot swing outside in her playset without singing it at least 5 times now :)

This Sunday, "Jesus" was the word that stuck out to her. She repeated it after she heard it, and then that afternoon realized that it is in many of her favorite songs. There is one song in particular that she has always loved that goes, "...my little heart has a great big love, a great big love for Jesus!" She has always loved to dance to it, but now has me play it over and over. And do you know how she asks for it? "More Jesus! More Jesus!" Music to my ears :)

Karlie Sue at 5 months

Ahh, Sweet Karlie Sue! I really can't believe that she is already 5 months old. I thought time passed quickly with Karis, but it was nothing like this :)

Karlie is such a happy little baby. She pretty much squeals with joy the entire time she is awake until she starts getting tired, at which point Mama better be nearby to pick her up :) She entertains herself really well in her excersaucer and playmat, especially if the dog, cat, Daddy, or Karis are nearby to watch. She is utterly fascinated with all 4 of them. She rolls all around just for fun. Karis was rolling over at this stage, but she never really kept going to the point where she was mobile. But I wouldn't be surprised if Karlie took up rolling across the room before she learns to crawl because she seems to enjoy it so much. Karlie wants so badly to be able to sit up, but it only lasts a second before doing a funny faceplant into her toes. But that's ok, because toes are evidently quite delicious. (Especially if they have cocconut oil on them, which is what Mama uses for lotioning her babies :)

Sleep: Karlie had a two-week span where she was waking up every 2-3 hours at night to eat. I indulged her for several days, thinking maybe it was a growth spurt or her gums were bothering her. Then I stopped t he feedings and just giving her the paci. She got over it and now usually sleeps a total of around 12 hours, usually waking up just once in the middle to eat. I am so excited that her wake-up time is normally around 9:00 am! Karis has NEVER slept past 8:00 and sleeping past 7am has only been in the past couple of months. So I'm pretty happy with Karlie's current schedule, but not naive enough to think it will last :) Especially because I know we will have to take her out of the swaddle before long. I tried it for a day, and she was doing pretty well, but then Karis got really sick and I couldn't handle both issues at once and gave it up. She sleeps so well in the swaddle that I just hate to mess it up!

Nursing: Going really well, other than the fact that Karlie is at the point where she is easily distracted and its not like I can hide her in her room to nurse. Nope, Karis is pretty much always a willing distraction :) So some feedings are really short, but I figure she makes up for it another time.

Teeth: Oh, she is working on her bottom two teeth so hard! She has been soaking her shirts and chewing on anything she can get her hands on for a month now, so I sure hope they pop out soon and give her a break.

A random assortment

Daddy managed to get both of them to stay on his lap for a good 2.5 seconds :)



...Umm, are you supposed to be sitting there Karis?

That's better :)
my dancing soccer diva :)

I could eat her up :)
Yep, she's into hats these days :)

Very excited (and a little timid) to have a big pet turtle (he comes to visit every time it storms; we live near a pond )

The "Not me" gold medal

Ok, I can hardly type because I am laughing so hard at myself --this is undoubtedly one of the funniest things I ever did NOT do:

I did NOT just go to change Karlie's diaper and find that I had put a diaper on her without taking off her dirty one. I definitely did NOT unbutton her onesie and see the cloth diaper I had put on her an hour ago and unsnap that diaper and find the real diaper I had put on earlier in the day. It was NOT the fattest diaper ever since it had been on her all afternoon. I did NOT immediately call my Mom and find it impossible to tell her what I did NOT do because I was laughing so hysterically. I did NOT blame it entirely on Karis, who was NOT thoroughly distracting me by tearing the house apart when I was previously changing Karlie. I am NOT going to go to bed earlier tonight to make sure I don't do anything like this again!

sprinkler fun!!

When we went to visit Nina and Papa last weekend, they set up a really cool sprinkler for Karis to play with. She had the time of her life! I know that this post will probably take the prize for the most pictures ever, but I just loved them all and couldn't delete any of them :)