6 months

On Monday our baby turned 6 months old, and we celebrated big by starting her on Tamiflu. Sweet baby girl was prescribed it in an attempt to prevent her from catching the flu that has stormed its way through our household. So far she seems good, and the rest of us have recovered.

her chunky thighs can totally pull off white leggings in January

Now back to little Lettie. Her first 6 months have been perfect. She is the most content baby. As long as she can see someone, she is perfectly happy. Playing in her jumper is her favorite pastime, and Belle is probably her favorite person (followed closely by Mommy). Belle has started calling her, "My dear", which cracks me up... I have no idea why Belle has started talking like a 70 year old woman. The little dear rolls all over the living room floor to get to her toys, but I'm hoping she won't actually start crawling anytime soon, because babyproofing is no fun. She sleeps great all night, but isn't usually a big napper.

I always think that 6 months is the magic number. It usually takes me 6 months to feel like I have all of the logistics of a new baby figured out and to feel like life is completely back to a new normal. Not this time though. It seriously took no time to adjust to life with her. I'm nervous for any future babies we have, because no baby could ever be as happy and content as this lady. Happy 6 months little Lettie!!! We love you so very much. Thank you for all the joy, smiles, laughter, and snuggles you bring to our house every day.

Don't worry, Bug is very loved too :)

New Year's Eve

We are a boring old married couple with 3 young kids, and the Officer often has to work New Year's Eve, so we don't usually have exciting NYE plans.  This year though, we had exciting plans. My dear friend and college roomie, Lauren and her husband had a big group of our college friends (10 adults and 7 kids under the age of 4) over for NYE. They made us a delicious dinner, complete with all kinds of options for lots of different food allergies.... these friends are so kind. The kids all played and laughed, and then they toasted a New Year of their short lives with sparkling cider.

We put all the kiddos to bed with minimal (or frequent) crying, waking up babies, and trips to the potty, but eventually they were all asleep for a few hours at a time.  Then the men smoked cigars in the freezing cold and the women stayed warm inside talking and drinking. We told stories, remembered college, anticipated unborn babies, told really good Catholic jokes (some were missing the punch lines) laughed, and laughed. At 11:58 we decided we should watch the ball drop, so we turned on the tv just in time to miss the ball drop, but we toasted, hugged, and kissed. Then we talked some more, played 7 Wonders, laughed some more, and eventually at some late hour that I usually reserve for late-night feedings, we all reluctantly wandered to bed, only to be woken up 4 hours later by energetic toddlers. It was a night I want to remember. Thank you Lauren for hosting such a fun night- I vote that we make this an annual tradition!

the best Christmas gifts

This Christmas we started a new tradition with the girls, which quickly became one of my favorites. I stole the idea from one of my sisters who has done this for years with her kids (thanks SBBBB). I think it helped the girls focus more on gifts they were giving rather than gifts they were receiving. Of course the girls are going to be excited about their 4 gifts under the tree (something to wear, something to read, something you want, something you need- thank you to whomever I got this idea from!!), but we want them to also be excited about the birth of our Savior, and we want them to learn to be grateful and generous.

A week before Christmas I took Belle and Bug to buy presents for their sisters and Dad. We got a bag full of quarters out of their piggy banks, and then I took each girl by herself to the Dollar Tree to pick out some gifts. I had so much fun on this one-on-one shopping trip with the girls. They both loved looking through the aisles to find something their sisters or Dad would like, and they loved giving their quarters to the clerk at the check-out. Afterward they loved helping me wrap the presents, and they loved watching everyone open them and play with them. I was so impressed with how well Belle knew her sisters... she picked perfect gifts for both of them. She picked two gifts for Bug, and those were 2 of Bug's favorite gifts. I also enjoyed watching them pick gifts for their Daddy. Everything Belle found that her Dad might actually use she very practically pointed out that he already had it... "he already has socks", "he already has a candle", "he already has tools".... so instead she got him a giant coloring book (he didn't have one of those). These 2 trips to the Dollar Tree with my girls were my favorite Christmas shopping, and it was definitely the best $7.00 our family spent all season.  I look forward to doing this each year with my girls. I'm so glad I got this idea from my sister, and I thought I'd share it in case anyone else was looking for an idea to encourage some generosity at Christmas.

I really think these might have been the Officer's favorite presents. A giant coloring book and an alligator hat that Bug knew her Daddy would just love.

Another shot of the alligator hat, because it is just too good

Whole 30 COMPLETE

We did it!!! We did the entire 30 days and didn't cheat once.... During our 30 days we went to an out-of-town wedding with an open bar, and I tried to convince the Officer that one glass of wine wouldn't be a big deal, but the Officer is an "all or nothing" type and he gave me the "well I'm not going to have one, but you can if you want", and obviously I'm waaaay to competitive to be the one that failed the Whole30, so onward we dieted all the way through a delicious-looking Christmas holiday.

The super disciplined Officer has to pack lunch for his 12 hour work days, and this is what it usually looked like on the diet- this diet isn't easy "on the go" 

If you are considering doing a Whole30, you should absolutely do it (but make sure you do it with someone, because solidarity). The first 10 days were very challenging. I was in a grumpy sugar detox, and at lunchtime every day I was twitching for a soda. It was also a learning curve to make a grocery list that first week, and I had to adjust to spending much more time in the kitchen chopping veggies and cooking.

We ate salad almost every day for lunch with homemade balsamic vinaigrette. We topped the salads with all kinds of veggies, eggs, meat, almonds.... they never were boring

After the first 10ish days I started to feel good, and we figured meal plans that worked for us. We happily discovered that we really enjoyed all of the food we ate, and we never felt hungry. I never had any miraculous energy that I secretly hoped I would get, but I did feel really good.

oh my goodness this was one of my favorite meals - Bacon Apple Pork

The Officer and I both lost weight- I lost 16 pounds in the last 30 days. I've never really lost weight in my life, so that has been awesome. My clothes all finally fit again, and I don't feel like I constantly have to try to get my shirts adjusted just right so they are hiding my belly that has grown for 3 babies in the last 4 years. It's also been freeing to have complete control over food for the first time in my life. I have always been an emotional eater, and after a long day I always think "I need" a treat or a drink. In the past I thought I could never really say no to dessert, but for the last 30 days I said "no" every day, and it was easy by the end.

Belle requested that I take a picture of her food too- this is what their dinners usually looked like... I didn't make other meals for them- except the occasional grilled cheese.

I'm so glad that we did this diet, and we are still trying to figure out what we are going to eat now that we are done. I still can't eat dairy, soy, or peanuts, so I won't be able to go too crazy anyway. We both felt so good on this diet, so we want to keep doing some of it, but not as strict. I hope we don't get back into bad habits- then we might have to do another whole30, but I'm not quite ready to consider that again yet.

Here are some of the other meals we enjoyed if you are looking for ideas: whole30

12 in 2014

I'm joining HouseUnseen for a link-up of 12 photos in 2014. This was my first year blogging, and I loved going back through the year and remembering all the fun we had this year. It was an incredible year, and I'm truly blessed. 

We started January with a new (to us) minivan so that we'd be able to fit our third baby, who would be arriving in the summer. We sold my old car in our first experience using Craigslist, and everyone was excited to make room for a new baby. We spent the rest of the month enjoying snow, and independent Belle turned 3. 

We spent February surviving more snow (and I was slightly dramatic about it). Our cheerful little Bug turned 2, and we had a Magic School Bus birthday party for both girls. 

March was a low-key month with some more snow and a lot of toddler illness. 

April is always my favorite month.  The Officer and I celebrated our 4th anniversary weekend at a beautiful resort and were both so grateful for this wonderful marriage. We spent my spring break visiting one of my sisters and had a prefect Easter. 

We had a hot May, and the Officer was able to refinish our  front porch. May was a big month, because my preschoolers had their last day of school, and then I became a SAHM. 

We spent June doing all kinds of fun things before the baby came. The Officer and I took the girls on an incredible weekend get-away to the beach, and we enjoyed some ice cream trips, time at the mall splash park, and lots and lots of outdoor time. It was a fun month to end our time as a family of 4, and it was topped off with some beloved family moving back from across the country! I honestly thought baby number 3 was going to arrive in June, so I spent the end of the month waiting and waiting.....

In July our third baby finally decided to make an appearance 10 days past her due date. It was a crazy, exciting day, and then we spent the rest of the month soaking in our newborn. She was a cute, sweet, happy newborn. July was a perfect month.

August was a month of firsts for our little lady. She went to her first wedding, she made her first day trip to the beach, she went on her first airplane, and she attended a 90th birthday party. The highlight of the month was when she was baptized and joyfully welcomed into the Catholic Church.

September was another busy month. The Officer finished our powder room renovation, we met a new baby cousin, we spent lots of evenings at the tennis court, the Officer had a birthday, the girls went to Frozen on Ice, we all enjoyed Oktoberfest, and everyone else went back to school, but all the Mik girls stayed home and played instead. 

I thought September was busy, but October turned out to be even crazier. The Officer and I went on a ziplining date, the Officer demolished our Master bathroom. That renovation got put on hold, and our schedules got out of control when I went back to work as a long-term sub, and the Officer and I juggled watching the 3 girls and working. We finished the month with a fantastic Halloween, and the girls loved their Frozen costumes their Aunt made them. 

Things calmed down with a pretty quiet November. SuperDad held down the fort easily while I worked part-time throughout all of November, and the month flew by. We were so happy that we got to visit all of our family for Thanksgiving and met another new baby cousin. 

December was fast and fun. In a desperate attempt to figure out the food allergies of my baby girl, the Officer and I started off the month deciding to go on the Whole30 diet (today is our last day!!!). We fit in all of our favorite Christmas traditions with a trip to see Santa, the tacky light tour, numerous Advent calendars, and a school Nativity play. I finished teaching and became a SAHM again, and we had a magical Christmas with both our families (and yet another new baby cousin!). 

Preparing for Christmas

One week until Christmas, and today was my last day of school! Our Advent has been pretty hectic, but wonderful, and hopefully the girls are feeling the great anticipation of Christ's birth. Today our beautiful Nativity finally made it out of the attic, and the Advent candles arrived last week, so it's looking a little like Christmas at our house. I love all of our Christmas traditions, and the girls seem to be enjoying them too.... 

We started Advent with a fun family evening decorating the tree and listening to Christmas music. This year the girls were old enough to really decorate the tree with only a few directions from me. I did the fragile ones and they took care of the rest with some reminders that it usually looks better when there aren't 3 ornaments on the same branch. I have so many fond memories of tree decorating with my family growing up, and I hope that my girls will some day too. 

Of course St. Nicholas arrived on his feast day with a few pieces of candy for the girls, and my mouth watered while they ate their Reese's. 

Then we made a surprisingly successful trip to visit St. Nicholas. Last year neither of the girls would sit on his lap, but look at the picture we got this year! I made a huge deal about them showing their baby sister how to do it, and man did they deliver. They happily walked up, sat on his lap, said cheese, and walked away. This is our 4th year going to this Santa at Bass Pro Shop, and he is the best. We also go on a weekday afternoon when everyone is in school... there was 1 person in front of us in line, the whole thing was free, and then we got to go visit the fish afterward. 

Some women collect shoes or purses, but I collect Advent calendars. Every year the Officer has to remind me that we don't need another one, but I always find an excuse to get a new one. We currently have 4 in our house that the girls get to do each morning. This is our new magnetic one that the girls like to use as a backdrop for their Nativity.  I'm obsessed. 

Another of our favorite traditions is the tacky light tour in our city. Every year after dinner we load up the car and spend 2 hours driving to different houses on the tacky light tour. Last night we got to do this with the girls, and they loved it! 

Tonight I'm taking the girls out individually to buy presents for their sisters, and then we are visiting family, wrapping presents, and relaxing until Christmas. It's the most wonderful time of the year!!

Whole 30

 I started my first real diet ever last week, so hopefully it won't be all I ever talk about now.  For the last 3 months I've been trying to figure out my baby girl's food allergies. I've had to cut out milk, soy, and peanuts, which has seemed to help her, so I'm hoping we don't have any more issues.  Since I haven't had milk, soy, or peanuts for 3 months, I figured why not go all the way and do Whole30 (click away if you aren't familiar with it yet). Because I'm crazy. I casually mentioned it to the Officer, because solidarity, and because I definitely wouldn't be cooking any extra meals for my family. Once the Officer read about it and decided he was interested we started the next day, because once the Officer commits to something he does it 100% immediately. Which means that our 30 days will go through Christmas.... so that was well planned. Okay, enough about why I have taken this uncharacteristic turn to a very strict diet, and let's move on to how it is going....

I have some really cute helpers in the kitchen

So far it's going well. We just finished day 10, and we are still going strong. Last week was definitely hard as we got used to buying all these new groceries and got all the sugar out of our systems. I was exhausted and grumpy last week, which was probably from the diet, but now I'm much better. I've heard a lot of people find new energy on this diet, which I haven't found yet, but I'm feeling good.  I can tell that I have definitely lost some weight already, and I do feel a little tiny bit more alert once I'm up in the mornings (don't get me wrong- I still desperately want to push snooze 9 times every single morning). The groceries have been expensive, and we've spent tons of time in the kitchen cooking, but we are getting used to this change of eating, and the food has been delicious! So far the experience has been much easier than I thought it would be, but we are about to go out of town for the weekend, so we'll see how we do then. If you've considered doing Whole 30 I would so far encourage it, but please wait until after the Holidays!!


Of course my awesome husband has made this whole experience so much more enjoyable....
(A text I got on day 1) "One meal down. 89 to go. How was your breakfast?"
"I'm going to pick up another 6 pack on my way home..... of bananas"
"Did St. Nicholas leave some celery in our shoes??"
Thank you Officer for keeping me laughing even when I can't stop thinking about eating sugar ;)


Here are a few of the recipes we've enjoyed:
Sweet potato hash: http://nomnompaleo.com/post/19886925277/sweet-potato-hash-with-fried-eggs - this has been a great breakfast and the hash is my go-to for a yummy side dish (I don't have a food processor, so I- or my daughters-  just chop the potatoes with the pampered chef chopper)

Pork chops: http://nomnompaleo.com/post/77596713058/bacon-apple-smothered-pork-chops -umm this is amazing, but it does take a bit of work and time to prep. I skipped arrowroot powder and fish sauce, and I used coconut oil instead of ghee, but it was still so good.

Mango Avocado salsa: http://nomnompaleo.com/post/56076300574/mango-avocado-salsa-on-pan-seared-salmon -I was struggling without my condiments, but this salsa is delicious on salmon or grilled chicken, so I've made it twice already... yummy

Paleo Nachos: http://paleogrubs.com/nacho-recipe -I loved these... the Officer isn't the biggest fan of sweet potatoes, so I don't think they were his favorite thing, but he swears he liked them.