30 Things I've Never Done

Posting my first post as I recall the past 3 decades that is my life. This post should be EASY. There is SO much I've never done. There's a ton I'd love to do, and a ton I'd die happily never having done.

So.. here goes. I've never:

1. Been to Europe
2. Gotten a tattoo
3. Skydived
4. Had stitches
5. Broken a bone
6. Sold something I've made
7. Seen a shooting star
8. Owned a bird
9. Driven cross country
10. Successfully juggled
11. Ridden a zip line
12. Run in an organized run/race
13. Danced a solo dance in public (but my living room has seen quite the show on a few occasions)
14. Lived more than 1 hour away from my parents
15. Watched a sun rise on purpose (like, got myself out of bed to go see the sun rise)
16. Been to New York City
17. Seen Gone With the Wind. Or Casablanca for that matter.
18. Donated blood
19. Seen Mt. Rushmore
20. Had major surgery
21. Had a hangover (though I have been drunk, so I suppose I'll just consider myself lucky)
22. Had a cup of black coffee
23. Had a daughter
24. Ridden in a horse drawn carriage
25. Entered a pie eating (or baking) contest
26. Seen Garth Brooks perform live
27. Parasailed
28. Read a book by Jane Austen (although I do believe I was supposed to in either High School or College. Totally didn't though)
29. Had a garden
30. Had hair extensions

Woo - there is a lot out there that I would love to do! Also, many things I'm grateful for never having experienced. Next up... 30 things I HAVE done!

Closing out on the 30th year.

I have a little over 2 months until I turn 30.

I've been doing some self reflection as this big birthday approaches and I thought it would be fun to write down some things about me. What I know to be true about myself right now, after almost 30 years. I'm going to do this in a series. First I'll tell you 30 things I've never done. Then, 30 things I HAVE done. Next, I'll do three posts, each one covering a decade of my life - hopefully including pictures from each one.

How exciting does this sound to you all?! Haha!! I just realized how much I would be posting about myself and how I was thinking how interesting that would be. Then I realized that maybe you all don't want to know every little thing about me. Ah, well. It's all part of my reflecting about where these past 30 years have gotten me. So.. stay tuned and enjoy getting to know me a little better!

Max in Bloom

I didn't go into Max's new skills or his growth and development in his two year old post. He's really taken off this past month and I couldn't be prouder. He knows letters and colors and animals. He says everyone's name now and has mastered "I love you" and "thank you" which were VERY important to me and happened to take the longest to teach him. Basically he's become a parrot and repeats everything we say. I've included a few of my favorite videos of him talking. He surprises us every day with the things he says and does.










I feel like I am seeing more and more the person that Max will be. He's always had phases of things, but as he matures I'm seeing what I would think of as "permanent traits". We'll see if I'm right about that in time, I suppose. He strikes me as very sensitive. He's super in tune with his surroundings and I'll catch him watching me or others and really listening to them. He's the kind of kid that will take a minor fall on the way to the car and then 10 minutes later while we're driving recall that fall and start crying. I'll finally get out of him that he's upset that "I fall down" and I'll have to remember that he fell 10 minutes ago and remind him that he wasn't hurt and is okay now.

He is a people pleaser and a helper. This will come in handy I hope when it comes to discipline. He often disciplines himself before he ever even does anything "bad" (I hate that. Kids aren't bad, but I lack a better word). For example, he'll put his hand up full of smashed sandwich and prepare to throw it across the room and then think about it and say, "No, Max!" and change his mind. It kind of cracks me up and makes me feel bad all at the same time. Like, I obviously say, "No, Max!" way too often if this is his go to phrase. But, I'm also rather pleased that he doesn't actually throw the food. He fetches diapers for me and then throws them away and is ALWAYS ready to help with any task I ask of him. He is happiest with an audience of people clapping for his every accomplishment. I love this about him.



In the past, Max has showed little interest in any one thing. He would sort of play with whatever and not take to anything too heavily (except his beloved binky). Now, he has his "heboca" (helicopter). This little remote controlled helicopter that my mom got him for his birthday. It's broken, thanks to Max repeatedly throwing it on the ground and off of our balcony. Anyway, this helicopter has to be within his grasp at all times. In the car, during naps, at bedtime, in the bath - everywhere! It's a permanent fixture now and I think it's pretty adorable that he has a toy that he's attached to. I do not think it's adorable when he says, "fly!" and throws it at my head.



Our world keeps changing as Max evolves and keeps us on our toes. He's so loving and sweet and we feel more in love with him each day.

Bennett is 1 Month

I cannot believe our sweet new boy has already been in the family for one month! He has already brought so much joy and has made us feel like he's always been a part of this family. To say that I love this kid would be the understatement of the year. We bonded pretty quickly and I just couldn't imagine life without him right here with us.



He's proven to be a really good nurser. He's HUGE. He gained roughly a pound a week this month and is already in 3 month (+) clothing. He doesn't sleep as well as he eats. This is mostly because he wants to eat more :)



I'm a bit late on the update here and technically he didn't smile until a little after he turned one month old, but let me just tell you something; this boy's smile makes me laugh every single time. There's just JOY pouring out of him. His eyes crinkle, his nose scrunches all up and he kicks his feet and coos all while giving you this enormous, gummy grin that is impossible not to swoon over. This little one will know how to wrap me around his finger. He already has me there.



Bennett Andrew
One Month:

Height: 23 inches
Weight: 12 pounds 8 ounces (!)

We love you, Ben! You bring magic and wonder to our family with your presence. Now, sleep longer at night, okay??

Days 9 and 10 - AKA Real Foods While You Feel Like You're DYING From Mastitis

So, the challenge has technically ended. I should be celebrating a victorious 10 days of eating real foods. I wanted this post to be about how I was going to incorporate all I learned in the real food challenge into my daily life and which goodies I've chosen to allow back in in moderation.

But, we didn't make it the 10 days. We made it 5 full days before the day of eating out. Then came the day of MASTITIS. Ugh. It should really be a four letter word. While I've had it MUCH better than some I know who come down with this, it has still been no picnic. I've also had to go it alone during the day while Ritchie works and mastitis, two kids AND real food just doesn't mesh.

Let's just say there was Starbucks. TWICE.

I'm not going to write down what I ate. When I was home I grabbed a real food item like crackers and cheese or a sandwich. I was too down and out to make any decent dinners and Ritchie gets home too late to cook so we ate dinner from Whole Foods (my OB refers to Whole Foods as Whole Paycheck which I think is kind of hilarious - like IN a sentence she'll say, dead serious, "Oh, you can pick up some echinacea from Whole Paycheck" - I love her).

So, our challenge ends on a sad note. That said we WILL continue eating well. I REALLY want to add Diet Coke back in, but I haven't had a craving for it since I had it on Sunday, so maybe I don't "need" it in my life on a daily basis the way I used to have it. I would also like to incorporate Starbucks once a week at least until January. To ask me to forgo peppermint mochas and cranberry bliss bars during the holiday season should be illegal. Like, with jail time involved. Also, during the holidays I enjoy baking. I will strive to limit the baking so that we don't ALWAYS have some sugary treat around, but I'm gonna be needing to bake come November.

I WILL NOT keep Halloween candy in the house and all meals at home (which at this point is over 90% - a HUGE improvement from life before Ben- two kids will do that to you) will be mostly, if not ALL natural food. We'll continue to buy the products with less than 5 ingredients and that are made with all real food.

I have definitely reaped the benefit I sought out with this challenge as I've been as regular as can be since day one now. I also lost 4 pounds in the process - which was not the goal but it never hurts.

Thanks for reading! I know there were a few people following along and I hope I didn't disappoint.

Day 7 and 8 - AKA The Real Food for 5 Day Challenge?

Ugh. I decided to bundle together these two miserable days and I'm going to do it quickly and just know I DO feel guilty.

Day 7

We went out on day 7 for ALL THREE MEALS. Yikes. Here was the outcome.

Breakfast: Whole wheat toast, swiss, avocado and mushroom omelet with hash browns

Lunch: Pizza (I know, I know) and a greek salad with (oh, boy) diet coke (which I thought was INSANELY delicious - sorry)

Dinner: Chicken and a spinach salad with veggies and no dressing

So, two out of three that followed the basic rules. Not bad I guess. I blame lunch on Gilroy. We had Togos, In-n-out and pizza to choose from. We only chose pizza because we weren't sure what the kids would eat from the other two.

Day 8

Today. It was great until I got sick at 5pm out of nowhere. Chills, body aches, sore throat and tongue (what the heck?). So my making dinner was out of the question.

Breakfast: Banana and almonds

Snack: Triscuit like cracker and peanut butter

Lunch: Chicken with apple and cheese

Snack: Energy bites

Dinner: Peanut butter and jelly (rule broken with the jelly only) and tomato soup (Progresso - rules broken all over the place)

I needed comfort food and Ritchie was cooking up something quick after Max went to bed for me since I was soaking my sore body while they ate dinner. Ugh.

So, this is quickly becoming a 5 day challenge since that's how many days I made it without breaking rules. I'll still finish, but if I'm sick like this tomorrow I make no promises. Healthy food isn't the easiest to prepare. But I WILL try and do everything in my power to stick with this.

By the way, I don't care how bad Diet Coke is for you, I'm adding one a day back in starting Thursday - day 11.

Max's 2 year book

The link to Max's 2 year book didn't work, so I thought I'd try this for your viewing pleasure.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly photo books offer a variety of layouts and cover options to choose from.

Day 6

Today is the day that I broke the pledge (hangs head in shame). I do feel like I had a legitimate reason though and I'll explain after I tell you what I ate today. I'm not going to even try to separate it into meal categories because it was all so random. Here is the order though:

Hard boiled egg
oatmeal
energy bites (must have had at least 6 of these throughout the day)
crackers (ak-mak)
cheese
cut raw veggies
left over chicken nuggets from last night
chocolate ice cream bar (about 3 bites before Max had such a tremendous meltdown that I just surrendered it to him)
Chipotle steak bowl (with white rice)
Maybe 3 sips of Ginger Ale
and orange

*sigh* So, notice I was doing just fine until the latter part of the day. I didn't have a real meals today - but rather just sort of snacked all day. Then, around 3, I napped and woke and went grocery shopping with my family. I hadn't eaten enough, I had nursed a lot, I probably hadn't had enough water and I am SEVERELY sleep deprived (despite the nap). Anyway, I think that combo of things in what led to my nearly passing out in the grocery store. I just all the sudden got so lightheaded that I couldn't stand anymore and had to grab Ritchie for support. Then, of course, I panicked which made me feel even worse. Ritchie picked out some ice cream bars (shooting for easy, some protein and some sugar) and I took a few bites on the way to go get Chipotle (high protein and quick - there was no way I was waiting until I got home, unloaded groceries and cooked dinner). I got the rice to make sure to have some carbs as well as proteins. I was still feeling a tad off after dinner so I had a few sips of some ginger ale we had around to get a burst of sugar in me. I must have had low blood sugar because that is what finally made me feel more normal. Ugh. So... I need to up the calories throughout the day and make sure to not go long periods of time without eating, drink more water and TRY to sleep more (Ben, are you reading this?!)

The semi good news is that the Chipotle tasted insanely salty to me and the ginger ale was grossly sweet. I think I'm losing my taste for unhealthy foods! Yay! That said, I'm bummed I didn't make it the full 10 days. I will definitely continue on (we're eating out tomorrow so that will be a challenge!) for the rest of the challenge and make the best of it. I do feel like today was an extreme circumstance and I hope to not "have" to break any of the challenge rules again. 4 more days!