Our New Home

This month we purchased a new home. Check back soon for more details of our 100 year old home!

21 Day Fix - Check - In {Day 4)

Good afternoon. I am sitting here enjoying my new afternoon snack - 10 raw cashews and a hot cup of coffee with maple syrup and pumpkin pie spice. I am sticking to the diet 98%. I refuse to give up some of the real foods that I see benefit in ie: butter and whole milk. I am not going to put skim milk in my coffee and a tablespoon a day of half and half is not going to kill me or cause me to not shed weight on this diet.

In order to not go crazy while on the 21 Day Fix you need to be organized! If you think that organization is not your strongest quality it can still be done but I would recommend eating the same thing every day. It is a lot like when I had to stick to the strict gestational diabetes diet except, thankfully, without the finger pricking! Here is how I stay organized because for my son and husbands sake I am not eating the same thing every day.

 Each color represents a different food category. They are separated similar to pie charts and that tells me how many of each food category I can eat in one day. I chart my water on the side with hashmarks. One of my glasses is 16oz of water. I try to drink 5 a day. I spend a little bit of time each evening planning out my day. Since I am away from home some days it is easier for me to do this so I can plan snacks and water that are portable. I start with dinner because it is our set in stone meal. I mark off the pie pieces I will use up for dinner with a D. Then I plan out breakfast, lunch (usually based on leftovers) and snacks. When I eat the meals I shade them in. This helps me because sometimes I don't actually eat everything I had planned on eating. Like today I had a BLT salad for lunch and had planned to have fruit but I was full so I didn't have the fruit and will likely save it for later.

Here are some overall thoughts so far on the 21 Day Fix:

• I am LOVING the workouts. In the past when I have purchased an at home DVD or gone to the gym I find myself getting bored or too sore to proceed because it requires that you do the same exercises or classes day after day. This is not the case with 21 day Fix. Each day you are working a different part of your body. Starting with the whole body cadio and moving on throughout the week to upper body, lower body, pilates (ick!), another cardio, something called "Dirty 30" and yoga. There is also a 10 minute ab workout that you are supposed to throw in a few times a week. I was very sore the first day but since we switch up workouts I am doing better and I feel great already.
• The workouts give me energy and that is awesome. 
• I am not a huge shake fan. I have never liked protein shakes. I can't get paste the chalky thickness. I have played around with a few recipes and they have gotten a little better but at this point I can say that I am not going to be a lifetime Shakeology user.
• The containers aren't nearly as small as I thought they were. 
• I actually have a hard time eating all my containers for the day. Surprisingly I struggle with fruit. This would probably change if I did the challenge in the summer but I am not going to spend $5 on strawberries that aren't going to taste good ;) so I am working with in season fruit - pears and apples mostly. 
• We have enjoyed normal dinners
• I love hard boiled eggs, a go to snack for me! 
• I miss ice cream and can't wait until day 22 when I treat myself to some ice cream with the hubby to celebrate our 10 year dating anniversary! 
• I think that this could become a lifestyle change with a few treat days thrown in for fun because I can't live my whole life without ever having dessert again or a sweet tea. 

All this to say. I am not very far in to the journey but I am surviving and actually thriving. Can't wait to see what my week one results are. If you are thinking about starting a lifestyle change journey let me know and I can hook you up with an awesome Beachbody coach. 

21 Day Fix - prep

Tomorrow begins my journey to more energy and toning. I have never been a big diet plan supporter. In high school I swam thousands of miles a week and burned more calories than I ate. My sophomore year of college I moved on campus and things quickly went downhill. O gained almost 40 lbs. All of which I lost before my wedding in 2008. After moving to Lafayette I joined a gym and worked out 3-5 days a week for an hour. I fell in love with Les Mills Body Pump and Body Combat.


 I was in the best shape of my life when I found out I was pregnant with Joel. I attempted to workout through my pregnancy but suffered severe back pain. My doctor advised me to take a break from working out after my 5th month.


After Joel was born I attempted returning to the gym but it was difficult. It was hard to balance it all and find time to nurse Joel and workout. Speaking of nursing it seemed to be helping me lose the weight I had gained with little to no effort. The year Joel was born we had an unusually warm winter so we were able to get out and run when he was 2 months. This helped.


With Millie I had gestational diabetes which helped me not gain ad much weight in pregnancy as I did the first time around. Again, with the help of nursing I have lost the weight I gained. However I am lacking the energy I used to have. It could be due to the fact that I am now 30 or the fact that I am caring for 2 kids and not getting 12 hours of sleep. But I am to the point where I will try anything.


Enter my best friend, Jennifer and the 21 day fix philosophy. I don't agree with everything, like I will NEVER drink skim milk, but I am excited for more energy, getting back in to workouts and learning portion control.


The next 21 days I am going to try and write more so come follow along on this journey!

Fall 2014

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love everything about it. The colors, the cooler weather, warm drinks, sweatshirts, apples and pumpkins. Phil and I have been enjoying fall since we first began dating back in November of 2004. Our first official date was when I made him attend my parents halloween party. He was a good sport and even wore a scarecrow costume. I'll try and dig up a picture.

Each year I get excited to share fall traditions with the kids and make new memories and traditions. We've been attending Kents Cucurbits in Brookston for the past 3 years. It is a small family run farm that sells lots of pumpkins for reasonable prices. We spent an hour their this afternoon walking around and looking at the pumpkins. Here are some pictures from the day.

Joel's first pumpkin trip in 2012 to October 2014

2012

Today

Happy Fall from the Travis Family

A Trip to Michigan

We spent the last week and a half of May in Michigan. Phil's sister Emily got married and we decided to make a long trip of it. We hadn't been home since September and wanted to make sure Joel spent time with all of his grandparents. He has 9 great grandparents and 5 grandparents. He saw all of them except 3 this trip. Millie was able to finally meet all of her aunts and uncles and some great grandparents. It was a wonderful time of introducing Joel to some of our favorite childhood memories and spending time with family. The trip finished with a beautiful outdoor Michigan wedding. We are so excited to have Jermell as part of the family! Here are some picture highlights of our trip:

Historic Train ride in Coopersville, MI. The town where daddy grew up.

MK and mommy

Philip's grandparents at the blueberry farm

@ the blueberry farm aka our happy place

Favorite ice cream spot in Holland

All ready for the beach

@ Grandpa Scott and Grandma Jills with "baby" the horse

Wearing great grandpa Ted's shoes and hat

Kensington Metro Park Farm - Mommy's favorite childhood memory

With Grace, our flower girl

Bubbles with Joel's "cousins"

Taking MK for a ride around the mall

MK and Grandpa Ski

1st trip to the beach, Tunnel Park, Holland MI

Learning the Travis family pancake recipe

4 generations

Happy wedding Aunt Emily

MK's first time swimming

MK :: 6 months old

Our sweet Millie Kate is turning 6 months old tomorrow. I cannot believe how fast time is going. We were not expecting to have another baby so soon after Joel but we couldn't imagine our lives any other way. Millie has been such a wonderful addition to our family. I cried and prayed and cried and prayed some more when I found out I was expecting her. I asked God for an easy baby because I was already feeling overwhelmed raising my then 14 month old who still wasn't sleeping through the night. Well God heard my pray and answered it in a big big way. Millie is the happiest, most easy going baby ever. She always has a smile for you, even if she has just met you. She has slept through the night since 3 weeks old! We can't wait to see how God uses her sweet nature to bless others in His kingdom.

Statistics:

at her 4 month appointment she was 11.6 pounds.We go to the doctor next week for her 6 month appointment. All I know is she is tiny.

Milestones:
- Tried baby food for the first time this past month. Started with carrots and she wasn't a fan. We moved on to sweet potatoes and they are her new love. She ate 2 tsps. tonight.
- Benn rolling over for about a month back to tummy
- Practicing siting up
- We started playing in our exersaucer and we love it.

Hates:

- being left alone

- taking baths

- not being able to go to sleep exactly at the moment she wants to at night

- the ergo baby carrier

Loves:

- her tag blanket

- watching her big brother

- storytime

- chewing on Sophie the giraffe

Mothers Day 2014

Weekends in May were non existent. That is to say they happened but they didn't feel restful at all. The Travis family was on the for every single weekend throughout the month of May. Motehers day weekend was no exception. When Phil asked me where I wanted to eat for Mothers day I said HOME and we did just that.

We spent the afternoon grilling out. Chicken and Asparagus. I made homemade french fries and iced coffee. We sat out on the deck and enjoyed our meal. Joel played in the yard and then both kids napped leaving some time for Phil and I to just sit and relax before heading to evening services at church.

Here are some picture from the day!