As I’ve mentioned before, one of our resolutions for 2016 was to begin our journey toward a healthier lifestyle. Three months into the year, I’d say we’ve been doing pretty well. I mean, we do have our moments of weakness here and there (aka late night trips to Taco Bell), but overall we’re still very determined and motivated to keep on keeping on. 

A few years back, Michael and I had stumbled across a documentary on Netflix called Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. The film follows Joe Cross as he embarks on a journey to try and cure his chronic disease by going on a 60-day juice fast. Yes, 60 days of nothing but juice. The results are nothing short of amazing! After watching and becoming completely inspired, we decided to go out and buy our own juicer to give it a try. It wasn’t anything special (only 30 bucks on clearance at Macy’s) but it got the job done. 

This past Christmas, though, I took advantage of the sales and got us the gift of a brand new juicer. After doing some research, I ended up going with the Kuvings Silent Juicer SC Series . What sets this apart from other juicers is that its low-speed motor is extremely efficient at extracting juice while still retaining important nutrients; also known as a masticating juicer. On the other hand, we have centrifugal juicers that use high-speed motors that tend to heat up and destroy key nutrients. Whichever option you choose to go with, you’ll still end up with a tasty juice, but it’s definitely worth the money to go with the masticating in my opinion! 

 
Our morning juice routine usually starts off with one of us (usually Michael) giving all the produce a good rinse and quick scrub with veggie cleaner. I’d recommend this natural veggie wash, which comes in a bundle pack to save you some money! Then it’s off to the cutting board. It’s important to make sure that everything is in small enough pieces to fit into the juicer.

Typically, we like to use tropical fruits to provide a sweeter flavor to our juices and help to mask some of the not-so-tasty ingredients. (Personally, I’m not a huge fan of how kale tastes; only the fabulous nutrients it provides!) Once everything’s all ready to go, we put it all into bowls and then it’s on to the fun part!

Lately, Hadley has taken interest in helping us to prepare our morning juices (much to our surprise). We’ve tried several times in the past to get her involved, but this time she’s sticking to it! When it’s time for her to help, she grabs the step stool and starts putting stuff in.

This is a great way for toddlers to practice naming their fruits and veggies, as well as colors. Hadley likes to say both as she puts them in (i.e. green kiwi, orange carrot, red watermelon, etc.) 

What a ham! She just loves posing for the camera. 😉

The end result -after a bit of mixing, of course- is a nice, delicious juice:

Green pretty much dominates as the primary color in most juices. But don’t be fooled! Depending on what’s in it, the taste is oftentimes the opposite of what you’d expect! 

Hadley’s definitely a fan. Some days, she’s not as excited about the juice, but we’re just happy that she’s involved with it now!

Tips For Juicing With a Toddler

• Get them involved. The first step is just to get your little one interested and keep it that way. Letting them help you wash the produce (Hadley just loooooves playing in the water) is a great way to make them feel included and most toddlers enjoy being mommy’s/daddy’s little helper! 🙂
• Start with fruit. Initially, Michael and I would make Hadley plain apple juice and then we would juice everything else for ours. Slowly but surely, we started to incorporate more variety, eventually leading up to leafy greens like spinach and kale.
• Keep it simple. Trying to include too many different things can be a bit overwhelming for your little one. Start with one ingredient that you know he or she likes, then expand from there, trying different options until you have a combination that works. 
• Make it fun! Hadley’s favorite thing to do when we drink our juice is to “cheers!” so we made a game where every time we cheers, we all have to take a sip. Since she loves to do this pretty much constantly, it’s a sneaky way to get her to drink as much juice as possible. 

My beautiful girl! Luckily, we got to enjoy some more sunshine this past weekend before the rains started again. Ugh.

One of the best parts about juicing -for me- is the energy that it gives me. Every time I juice, I just feel so much more awake and alert than on the days I don’t. Some days are more difficult than others (oh the joys of pregnancy), but I just have to tell myself that it’s not only for me, but for baby as well.

Stay tuned for more of our juicing adventures and recipes! 🙂 

Post may contain affiliate links. Read full disclosure here.

Nowadays, it seems like a normal weekend for us isn’t complete without a big ol’ list of things we have to get done (and this time was no exception). Oh, adult life… 

Our weekend started Friday night with a newly founded tradition in our house known as “Fajita Friday.” Basically, we just so happened to have fajitas for dinner on a Friday and that was that. It really gives us something to look forward to after a long week and Hadley has taken an interest in helping us out in the kitchen which makes it even more fun!

I have been using the same recipe for months now, which can be found here on Healthy Recipes. I’m a huge fan of how simple it is to make and how much flavor it packs despite having so few ingredients. The end result is nothing short of amazing!

Yum! In my opinion, steak fajitas are the only way to go. Especially when Safeway has their B1G2 promo every couple weeks! (Yes, that’s buy one, get two free.) 

Hadley’s definitely a fan as well! We’re always trying to expand her diet, and every time we have something new, she usually has no problem at least trying a few bites. 

Saturday consisted almost entirely of working on our most recent project, with several trips to our local Home Depot. I won’t give anything away, but expect a post about it in the next couple days. 😉 We took a break in the evening to have a nice, quiet movie night for Michael’s birthday, which as very much needed. 🙂 Then it was back to work on the project… till about 2:30 in the morning. Overtime!

And then came Sunday. Despite being a bit hectic, we were able to successfully pick up our new couch that I bought from my very good friend, Clarice. I am just so in love with it! We used Michael’s work truck to transport it and were almost home when it decided to pour down rain. Luckily, we were able to get it inside with only a couple soaked spots. (Oh, the joys of Washington!)

Nice, right? One of my favorite parts about getting a new couch was that it gave us an excuse to completely rearrange our living room. Our old couch was a little awkward for our layout, so the way we have it now makes so much more sense. It’s also a much lighter color, which brightens the room and makes it seem a little bigger. 🙂 

And since we were already doing a bit of a makeover, I took the time to update a bunch of our picture frames and hang them up! The wall where the TV used to be was completely bare and needed a little something, so I made a little collage. I think it turned out super cute!

Sunday night, my sister stopped by with her squad to surprise me with a bunch of adorable little outfits for our girls! I’ve already told her a million times that she doesn’t need to spoil my children (especially since one of them has yet to be born), but her excuse this time was that JCPenney was having a huge sale on baby and toddler clothes. 😉

Ugh, too cute!

Our weekend came to a close with us cuddling up on our new couch, relaxing for a little bit before finally crashing into bed at 10:00 (which is pretty early for us). Life can get pretty crazy at times, but that’s what family and friends are there for! And also…

GIRL SCOUT COOKIES. Let’s just say I know someone who knows someone… 😉 

Post may contain affiliate links. Read full disclosure here.

What a difference four weeks can make! Last time I posted about how I was just starting to be able to eat at 18 weeks, but now… I devour everything in sight. There was a day where I ate twelve pieces of bacon. I mean, it was actually six pieces cut in half, but still. Not my proudest moment. The good part about all this is that healthier foods no longer make my stomach turn. I’ve been munching on apple slices, yogurt, bananas (with nutella, my absolute FAV), and just all kinds of yummy snacks.

One of the -not- so healthy things I’ve been crazy about lately, though, are quite possibly the most evil substances on the face of the earth: rice krispies treats. Oh my goodness, I could eat about a million and a half of these. (Forrest Gump reference, anyone?) The only thing that holds me back is the silly thought I always tell myself: if you eat them all now, then you won’t be able to enjoy any later. This works -most- of the time, but not until after I’ve already inhaled at least two or three of the little devils. 

Also, Miss Baby has been kicking up a storm in there ever since the ultrasound a couple weeks ago. She skipped right past the “soft little flutters” stage and went straight to “kung-fu panda”. I’ve also noticed that she’s carrying very low as my lower abdomen has become pretty solid, and the rest of my belly resembles a big ol’ bowl of jelly. 

I’m starting to poke out more and more, though! I’ve definitely reached the “I’m preeeeeetty sure she’s pregnant” stage and have therefore given myself full permission to engage in public pregnant-belly rubbing. It’s extremely hard to resist; I mean, it’s right there!

Another thing I’ve noticed is that my nails and hair have been growing ridiculously fast recently. Which is terrific news for me because A. I’m always itchy for some reason and B. my hair is in a very awkward grow-out stage and I’m over it. (Why, oh why do I always cut off all my hair??) Overall, mostly positive changes all around which is what the second trimester is most famous for. I finally got some of my energy back as well! Hadley and I have been walking around the neighborhood and I’ve even found enough motivation to keep the house clean… most days. (That’s huge for a pregnant woman, okay? At least it is for me!)

Gosh, I just feel like this pregnancy is starting to fly by now. Next thing I know, Baby will be here alread; only four months to go! It’s all downhill from here. 🙂 

Post may contain affiliate links. Read full disclosure here.

Ever since we moved into the new place, Hadley has been on and off with her napping. Now, she has done this twice before already; once around six months or so and then again right around 18 months. The only difference this time around, though, is that this has been the longest and toughest sleep regression yet. At times, I actually considered dropping the nap altogether and replacing it with “quiet time” in her room… until, of course, I was forced to deal with an overly tired -and all around hysterical- toddler at bedtime. Not fun.

One thing is for certain: I know she still needs a nap. And she’s not the only one. (Thank you, pregnancy!) But luckily, she’s slowly been getting back into catching those afternoon Z’s. But for a little while there, she would absolutely refuse to sleep in her bed and instead I would find her passed out in various places around the house. Mostly on the couch…

…and sometimes on the floor, too! One time, I went into her room to check on her and she was nowhere to be seen- just heard. I followed the snores and found her curled up on a pile of blankets in her closet. Goober!

It has been extremely difficult at times (especially since I’m always exhausted no matter how much sleep I get), but I’m pleased to say that I think the Nap Wars may finally be coming to an end. 

Some tips for any fellow parents dealing with a nap time fighter:

• Keep a routine. Babies and toddlers don’t usually adjust very well to change, so be sure to follow all the steps and don’t leave anything out!
• Be consistent. When you’re trying to enforce nap time (or anything else for that matter), it’s important to keep at it and not give up. If they get out of their bed 200 times, you put them right back in 200 times as well. 🙂
• Don’t get discouraged! Some days are gonna be harder than others, some days it will take longer to get them to sleep, and some days it’s just not gonna happen at all. Just take a deep breath and remember that there’s always tomorrow! 

What are some of the odd places you’ve found your toddler sleeping?

Post may contain affiliate links. Read full disclosure here.