Bath Time Fun and New Fall PJ's

THE GIRLS SHOWING OFF THEIR NEW PJ'S

WARNING: BATH TIME NUDITY!!

Bella has become much more mobile over night! She is crawling everywhere, climbing up and pulling up on things, and one of her favorite things to do is to pull out magazines and rip apart all the papers. She will sit there forever and and just crumble and rip up paper the whole time with this huge smile on her face. It gives her great joy! She is eating so much better now and has acquired a taste for most foods, not just breast milk. THANK GOODNESS! I just pray she takes to drinking whole milk in a sippy cup at 12 months, because this is getting ridiculous. Another thing Bella just really enjoys is bath time. She has really been going crazy in the water lately, and some times it is hard to keep hold of her so she doesn't slip all over. Sometimes she will be splashing and going wild and I my hand will slip off and she will get water in her mouth or face really bad and choke a little. I pull her up really fast and she coughs it out and is fine, but then she looks up at me like, "What the heck mom, why did you let me do that?" She will be turning 1 years old in 34 days from now. That just seems impossible to me. I am kind of stressing about what we will be doing for her birthday because we will more than likely be homeless at that point. I guess I need to think up something fun for her birthday.
Despite all our looking, we haven't found an already built house that fits our needs and is in our price range. So it looks like we will be building a new house in Bixby. Which is great, other than the fact that we will have to either rent an apartment or live with my in-laws for the time period that we are building. Simmons Homes is who we will be using and they swear they can start and finish the house in 4 months. I have my doubts about that, but Rob has a friend that just used them and he said they started building end of July and he was moving in the end of October. So I guess I need to be more positive about it and maybe it will happen.
Alyssa is busy as always. She really loves her dance class. She loves socializing with her friends. In fact she cries every time when we leave a play date because she doesn't want to leave her friends. She always stops and says hi or talks to people where ever we are. The other day she was wearing her cowgirl boots and walking beside my shopping cart at Wal-Mart, as we passed an older gentleman, she stuck her leg out with her hand on her hip and said, "Hey guy, do you like my new cool boots?" She is such a social butterfly and we love it. She is always entertaining that is for sure. She has also become a wonderful older sister and has grown up a lot in the past 11 months. She is quite the little helper. I can see her growing up before my eyes in the things she says and does with Bella.
As I mentioned in a previous post, Rob and I have been doing the weight watcher's program for 1 month now. Rob has lost 15 pounds so far and I have lost a whopping 5 pounds. (but then I've gained a pound back this last week from cheating on sweets) The counting points system is not that hard now, and I'm used to eating my allowed points per day. I just have a really hard time letting the sweets and chocolate go. My brain tells me every day, you need them, you need them! I really envy those people who are like, "Uh, I could take them or leave them."
It was interesting though because I was channel surfing the other day and found this interview with Dr. Neal Barnard, a nutritionist, and he said that the more sugar and chocolate a person eats the more your body is going to crave it.
According to Dr. Barnard, each year the average American consumes 205 pounds of sugar, 10 pounds of chocolate and 32 pounds of cheese! Dr. Barnard’s healthy alternatives to sugar, chocolate, cheese and even meat. Because these are all things he says we need to eat sparingly.

Alternatives to sugar:

Fresh fruit -- As a dessert, or as a snack; keep some sliced cantaloupe in your refrigerator, for example.
Maple syrup -- It’s sugary, but is so flavorful that people consume less.
Stevia

Alternatives to chocolate:

Cocoa powder -- Can be used for chocolate-dipped fruit, for example. Only the thin outer surface is chocolate.
Carob -- doesn’t cause migraines, as chocolate can.
Chocolate sorbet -- lower in fat and calories, compared with chocolate ice cream.

Alternatives to cheese:

Soy cheese -- widely available, but variable in quality.
Nutritional yeast -- makes a cheesy flavor in sauces and casseroles.
Avocado -- has the “mouth-feel” of cheese, without cholesterol or animal fat.

Alternatives to meat:

Veggie dogs, burgers, deli slices, etc.
Beans -- for burritos, tacos, and sauces.
Seitan -- a wheat derivative that tastes like meat.
TVP, tofu, and tempeh -- soy products that can simulate meat.

Great ideas huh? Now I just have to try and implement them into my day to day. :)