So the fun begins again. Stephen and I have gone back to South Beach – well, more officially this time. We’ve been eating somewhat Phase 3-ish, but haven’t been as strict as we could have been.

Then I spoke with my gyn on Tuesday. This pcos is something else. If things aren’t back to “normal” in two months, my doctor wants to put me on a medication that’s a potential abortifacient. I’m not exactly ok with that. . .so I decided to do what I could to help things along.

One thing that really helps keep my pcos in check is weight loss. Right now I’m still 15 pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight. I guess that’s not bad, but I really want to be at least back to where I was. Then I’d like to lose another 15-20 pounds. . .maybe. . .I haven’t decided on a final weight yet. I have a target number in my head, but am not sure if that’s realistic or not. We’ll see.

So today we started Phase 1. We didn’t follow the phases exactly the first time around, but now I’m going to try to stick with them to try and jump start things. Since moving back here (and it’s been a year and a half now), my sugar cravings have returned. It would be great if those would go away again – and quickly!

Today’s officially Day 1 of Phase 1. Here goes!

S loves to help me in the kitchen. My mom’s cousin sent down a construction apron for him, and he loves to wear it. I love that his clothes don’t end up covered in mess.

You’ll notice that in the picture it looks like I’m scooping out coffee. I’m not. We buy our cheese in bulk, and the coffee cans were the almost the right size to hold the cheese.

I’m eating a slice right now, and it’s good. :O)

Here’s our dinner menu:

Sunday – chicken breast, green beans, bread and dipping spices
Monday – ham and cheddar stromboli (working on a whole wheat bread recipe for the bread portion)
Tuesday – crockpot ranch chicken, brown rice, carrots or green beans
Wednesday – crockpot pinto beans
Thursday – Crockpot Taco Chicken Stew
Friday – homemade pizza
Saturday – hamburger steaks, mashed sweet potatoes, another vegetable

Breakfasts – grits, regular oatmeal, baked oatmeal, overnight oats, and/or eggs

Lunches – leftovers, salads, tuna, or wraps

Sides – fresh veggies

You can read more menu plans over at I’m an Organizing Junkie.

One of our favorite foods around here is warm breadsticks with olive oil and dipping spices. When the jar was empty, I mixed up a batch based on the list of ingredients on the jar. It tasted great, but I didn’t write anything down. When that ran out, I mixed up more, this time writing down everything as I added it in. We absolutely love it.

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Garlic Parmesan Dipping Spices
1/8 cup granulated garlic/garlic powder
1/8 cup salt
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 Tablespoons parsley
1 teaspoon oregano
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 Tablespoons dry milk powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika

Mix all ingredients in an airtight jar.

Wow – today was such a long day! How do some days seem to fly by while others seem to stretch on forever?

It started as a normal day. The first “big” event of the day was when S accidentally flipped over the bouncy seat – with C in it. I had only been out of the room for a moment. He says it was an accident, and based on what he told me, I believe him. C’s terrified screams sure scared this mommy – but they really scared S too. I really hope he learned his lesson and will be more careful next time.

Then instead of doing anything productive, lol, I sewed myself a PDA cover. It’s pink and red and matches my purse, the organizer in it, and my checkbook cover. Because I happen to like that particular combination of pink and red (cranberry? maroon? wine? burgundy? whatever). I need to do something about the purse straps soon too. I replaced the one strap that it originally had with two – but for some insane reason didn’t put anything in the straps to stabilize them. So now they’re really worn out and just plain need to be replaced. But I really didn’t feel like ripping my purse apart right now to redo straps, so I just put everything in an old (storebought, lol) purse for now. That’s actually when S flipped over the bouncy – when I left the room to get my old purse.

I wanted to switch everything over to the other purse because Saturday we’re going to an old-fashioned revival-type meeting with other members of our church. I think it might be geared toward youth but I’m really not sure. It’s Bro. Alfred Willis’ church – that much I DO know. That and it’s a 3 hour drive. So since we’ll be taking so much stuff with us for our boys, I figured I’d take a slightly larger purse so I could fit my smaller Bible inside it to carry it easier. I’m excited about the meeting, even if we do have to leave the church at 7:30 a.m. That part just makes me laugh.

S and I also went outside and picked some tomatoes, beans, and cucumbers. The cukes went to the chickens because they’d already turned yellow. The tomatoes are threatening to take over my kitchen table (there’s maybe 100 of them on the table – they’re threatening our family meal time). I really need to can tomorrow.

Then we left for church for piano lessons and youth choir. We had a little incident of Mama Bear coming out when I found out how much little C had been passed around. I don’t mind people holding him but I do mind having to search through the church to figure out who has my son. I pick up a teen girl on the way to youth choir (she’s the same girl that watches my boys while I teach lessons at the house too). When she told me that the other teens wouldn’t let her have my C back – when she’s the one that was supposed to be watching him – well, let’s just say that won’t happen again.

I’m proud of my babysitter. She tried to do what was right. And if other people can’t handle her trying to follow my wishes, then they can just take it up with me. My boys are too precious for me to have to worry about who they’re with and why I can’t find them. I’m all for letting a teenager hold my baby once in a while, but if things keep going the way they did tonight, I’ll teach piano lessons with a baby on my hip if I have to. If they can’t listen to her, I’ll just keep the baby with me and remove that part of the equation entirely.

Once I got home and the boys put in bed, there was a knock on the door. At 10:00 at night. Our dog had gotten loose and the neighbors brought him home to us. I’m glad we have such good neighbors.

Then I checked the tracking number for the digital camera I ordered this week. It got mis-sent somehow. That was disappointing; I was hoping it would arrive in time for my birthday tomorrow (even though it’s not a birthday present). Oh well. Hopefully it won’t take TOO much longer to get here!

So – there’s my long day – the not-so-short version. LOL! I hope tomorrow is a WHOLE lot less eventful than today was! Hmm. Maybe I’ll let S help me bake my birthday cake. He’d love that. . .

Well, little C has his first teeth. They broke through yesterday. How fun! I’m glad they’re finally though – poor little guy was miserable for a while. I told Stephen last week I thought the teeth would be in by the end of this week, and I was right.

He had his 6 month well baby visit today too. He’s growing great now that he’s on formula. I ended up having to switch because my milk supply just couldn’t keep up. I tried everything I could, short of taking the drug Reglan. I have nothing against taking the drug – it’s just that the protocol involved more time than I could spend with having a 4-year-old as well. It got to the point where I was stressing out about my supply. . .C was hungry more than he should have been. . . and I just couldn’t spare the extra 20-30 minutes every couple of hours to go try and fit in pumping time besides nursing. I didn’t want to switch, but I really do feel that it was the best decision for our family. It was a tough transition though – for me – not for C. He did great.

So. He’s eating solid foods (which I am having a BLAST making!) and is such a smiley baby that Stephen has taken to calling him Smiley. It’s so fun to watch him. So far he pretty much inhales anything I put near his mouth, lol. I’m glad he’s not been picky yet!

At the moment he’s playing with teething toys in his high chair – throwing them on the floor and letting S pick them up. S is having fun, C is having fun, and I’ve been able to work on some jewelry orders – all right at the table with my boys.

Oh. Looks like C has had it with their “game.” Guess my time here is up!

Well, today is almost over, but it’s still a special day. It’s our seventh anniversary.

I’ve seen so many women complain about their husbands, and for many reasons. I’m honestly not sure they’re always justified in that complaining, but I suppose that’s another post for another day. I got to thinking today though. . .and realized that I really have very little to complain about. Stephen has such a heart for God and desires to live for God so much that he really is an amazing husband.

We really don’t fight much (Praise God!), and honestly don’t have disagreements all that often either. Funny thing, those disagreements – usually they’re directly related to me being hormonal. Hmm. Now if that’s not something to work on, I don’t know what is.

It’s been a wild ride so far, but I’ve loved it. I never dreamed we’d do as many things as we’ve done in that time, but it’s been wonderful. I’m looking forward to the years ahead of us. Only God knows what’s ahead, but if it’s as good as the first seven years, I can’t wait.

Happy Anniversary Honey – I love you!

Here’s our dinner menu:

Sunday – ham, creamed corn, green beans
Monday – chicken tacos with homemade multigrain tortillas
Tuesday – crockpot country-style ribs, yellow squash somehow
Wednesday – tossed salads
Thursday – chicken and mixed veggie bake
Friday – not sure – homemade pizza is on the menu but it’s my birthday so I’m hoping Stephen will pick up Chinese.
Saturday lunch and supper – we’re going to revival services several hours away. Both meals will probably be fast food.

Breakfasts – grits, regular oatmeal, baked oatmeal, overnight oats, and/or eggs

Lunches – leftovers, salads, tuna, or wraps

Sides – fresh veggies

You can read more menu plans over at I’m an Organizing Junkie.

I learned something about making brownies today. It helps if you have eggs in the house.

Except we ate the last of the eggs for breakfast this morning. Oops.

But thankfully, we have chickens. S and I headed outside to see if there were at least 2 eggs so we could finish making our brownies for tonight. There were 10. I had to carry them all with my skirt – I didn’t even think to bring the egg bucket down with us. Oh well.

Oh. My. Word. These brownies are going to be SO good. We recently switched to butter from using margarine. . .and wow. Super fresh eggs and real butter. That is the best brownie batter I have EVER eaten. The brownies are about to go in the oven right now (and yes, there is enough batter left for the brownies).

It’s a good thing there’ll be extra people here to help eat the brownies. I’d really be in trouble if that whole pan were here just for our family.

Next I’ll start the pizza. Well, after we eat lunch, that is. Then it will be ready to just pop in the oven at dinnertime. . .

Sarah M won the Grace Necklace pendant! Sarah, I’ll be sending you an email! Random.org makes picking a winner so easy.

Thank you SO MUCH to all who entered the giveaway – it was a lot of fun reading what everyone’s favorite designs were.

If you’d like to buy your own necklace pendant from my store Hope of My Heart Designs, you can get it for 10% off right now if you use the coupon code endofsummer08 when you check out. Hurry – this coupon is only valid through the end of August.