Yah for Healthy Foods!

So, Paul and I have started our New Year diets as of Monday night, and it's going GREAT. We have cut out most processed foods and any sugary drinks including juices and soft drinks. Luckily, I can still have my coffee so the world is safe! =) We have also started substituting Almond Milk for regular milk. It is not very good on its own, but put it in cereal or use it in making oatmeal, and it's not that bad.
Monday night we cooked Italian Turkey Burgers which were really good. Here's the link to the recipe if you want to check it out:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-easons-livefit-recipes-italian-turkey-burgers.html
We cut the recipe in half and it still made 5 patties so I even got to take one for lunch the next day and it was just as good then. The great thing about this diet is it requires you to eat every couple of hours so I might not get to eat a lot at lunch or dinner, but I'm not as hungry because of all the snacks. It also wants you to work out everyday and take some protein supplements, which we were doing anyway but we have kicked it up a notch! Yah!
Back to the food... Monday night and Tuesday lunch were the Turkey Burgers. Morning snack on Tuesday was plain greek yogurt with fresh strawberries which is very good, kind of tangy, but good and loaded with protein from the yogurt. My afternoon snack was a small green apple and a handful of pistachios. Dinner Tuesday night was a risk but with a great payout. The diet had a recipe for Tuna Melts, where she stuffed roasted red peppers with canned tuna and melted mozzarella cheese on top. Sounded good to Paul so we decided to try it. I am not a big fan of canned tuna so I was not real looking forward to it, but OMG... it was delicious! Here's a link to that recipe (and more recipes) and I HIGHLY recommend you try it. Very easy and good for you (and cheap!)
http://muffintop-less.tumblr.com/MTLCRECIPES
(please don't laugh at the name!)
Today for lunch, Paul and I had grilled chicken salads with mozzarella cheese and basalmic vinagrette dressing. Very good and a great change from the honey mustard we had been eating. Snacks were the same today as yesterday and equally as delic! Supper tonight was pretty normal, just made healthier. We grilled some Thin-Cut chicken breasts and made some home-made sweet potato fries. I have never been a big fan of sweet potatoes, so again, I was a little skeptical but these turned out very good too. The recipe is listed under the Tuna Melt recipe that was posted earlier. It was very hard but we left some fries for me to take to work tomorrow for lunch.
Not only are we eating healthier, we are also saving money. Buying fresh fruits and veggies is always cheaper than buying canned and I am no longer going out to lunch and buying the fat-filled burgers. (my mouth just watered talking about it actually... I hope I can keep this up!) Wish us luck! I will try to keep updating with different recipes that did and did not work. So far, so good but I know it won't always be this easy...

New Year, New You!

So, Happy New Year everyone! Paul and I have been members of The Club, our local gym, since this time last year when Paul began his weight loss journey. He has done an INCREDIBLE job, losing over 40 lbs! Hard work, Dedication! Dedication, Hard Work! (for all you Biggest Loser fans!). He works out EVERY DAY and we have stopped eating out as often. I try to work out 2-3 times a week too, so I have finally been able to fit into a lot of the clothes from pre-Kaleb! Yah!
Lately, Paul has kind of hit that plateau that comes with everyone's weight loss. So, in order to kick it up a level, we have decided to change our diet to a more protein-packed, low fat food based diet, recommended through the blog Muffin Topless (found through pinterest)! She is very inspirational and tells you how it is. Work out, eat right, and you will see results! Don't quit! EVER! You can only fail in your journey if you quit. As long as you keep trying, you can't fail. I have decided to do this along with Paul because it will make it easier if we eat the same things and can be each other's support. I am not looking to lose weight, just tone up some areas. I actually don't ever weigh myself except at the doctor's office. I don't care what the scale says, just how my clothes fit and how I see myself in the mirror!
As my sister so lovingly told me last night when I explained all the things I was picking up at the grocery store last night: "Good luck with that!" Hopefully, we can stick to this and see the results we have been working so hard for! We made turkey burgers for supper last night and they were really good! The recipe made 5 patties so I even brought one for lunch today. Tonight is going to be Tuna-stuffed Roasted Red Bell Peppers with melted Mozzarella cheese on top. She calls it a Tuna Melt for short. Sounds yummy but we will see! You get lots of snacks which include Greek Yogurt, Fresh Fruit, Nuts, Oatmeal,  Almond Milk Milkshakes, and lots of other yummy things. The hardest thing is going to be trying to give up soda. I have moved off of regular and onto Diet Pepsi but now I am going cold turkey! At least I get to keep my coffee (no more White Mochas, but I can handle that!). Might even save some money while we're at it! =)
I will try to keep you updated on our progress!

Christmas Chaos!

This year's Christmas proved to be a fun and exciting Christmas, everything I hoped it would be. Kaleb is finally at the age where he loves to unwrap presents, but not yet grasped the idea of Santa. One thing I did find out is a 1 year old LOVES a bag of presents (Kaleb last year), but a 2 year old loves a wrapped present! He would have nothing to do with anything in a bag. Good to know for his birthday coming up in March! With Christmas being a long holiday this year, we were able to sit back and enjoy more of it. We had my MeMe's christmas dinner on Friday night with his cousins on my mom's side. There are only 4 kids and 12 adults so it is a little less chaotic than my Maw's house. Kaleb had a great time opening his presents and then playing with everyone else's toys!  (Even though they got the majority of the same thing!) The funniest picture is Kaleb, Walt, and Landen playing with Laurin's Pet Shop Tree House while surrounded by all their trucks and tractors!

The next day was Christmas Eve so my brother, sis-in-law, and their two kids, along with my sister and her husband, came over to my mom's house to open presents at lunch. This was a lot of fun because my mom and dad definitely go overboard with the presents. They got Kaleb a train table which has yet to be put together (100+ pieces label on the box!) but I know he is going to love it when we do finally get it together, which will hopefully be this weekend. The funniest thing of the day is my brother's present. My mom got him a game that is a toy gun with a duck that flies and you try to shoot it. Seems easy but NOT! My brother wasn't that interested by my sister's husband was so he took it outside to see what it was all about. Needless to say, everyone ends up outside watching this hilarious thing flying around. It is very unpredictable and flew onto the parch right at Kaleb which he really DID NOT like and starting screaming that it was a bug! At one point, it ends up on the roof and my dumb butt decides to climb out the upstairs window and knock it off. Luckily, I didn't fall but I'm sure there were some pretty funny photos taken of me crawling in and out of that tiny window!

My sister and her husband LOVE to hunt more than any two people I know, so of course they took advantage of the cooler weather and all my family's land while up for the holiday. Chad ended up killing a 10 point with his pistol. He didn't want the meat so he gave it to a neighbor down the street (we definitely don't waste it!), but kept the head for his dad to mount for him. Before freezing it, he decided to hang it in the tree to "dry out". It was funny to show the kids the deer head in the tree!

That night we went over to Maw's house for the Cromwell christmas. This is where the CHAOS comes into play. There were 11 kids under 18 yrs old there and 17 adults! So 28 people in all! AGH! It is SO much fun to get all the kids together and watch them open presents then try to play with everyone else's presents! My grandmother is one of those people that you can never shop for because she has EVERYTHING! So, she had started mentioning that she wished she had a smaller coffee pot so she didn't waste coffee every day (apparently she had never realized you don't have to make 12 cups of coffee just because the pot will hold it!). So, when it comes time to open presents she gets THREE 4-cup coffee pots! HILARIOUS! Apparently she told everyone this story about the coffee and everyone got the same idea! 

Santa came that night and left lots of things for Kaleb! He even got his very first NorthFace Jacket! Apparently, Santa has been hanging out with the Easter Bunny because he even left a present in the laundry room! (oops!) But the biggest present was in the garage. He got a bounce house. Now if it's cold or raining and my little turkey has too much energy for the house, we can go into the garage and bounce our little hearts out! NOT SO FAST, though! Kaleb didn't want anything to do with it at first! Uh-Oh!

Luckily, he has a crazy Aunt Mel that helped him warm up to it (with a little help from his momma throwing him in!). We were jumping and having a good fun in no time! Even Paul got in on the action.

To be honest, the child is more interested in turning it on and off but he will get in it and jump for a few minutes before deciding to do something else. Oh well, maybe he will be more interested when it gets warmer.

On Christmas Day, we went over his Paul's mom's house where Kaleb got even MORE spoiled with two Smurf DVDs and lots of trucks and tractors! Even got him some Buzz Lightyear PJ's which he loves! Kaleb was in one of his moods that day (found out later he was running a fever so probably wasn't feeling well) so we didn't get to stay as long as we would have liked but with Kaleb, when he is ready to go, you go. No questions, just do it! I have no idea where he gets it from! =) 

Paul and I have known ever since we moved to Mississippi that when Christmas comes, we have to drive both vehicles to Covington, just to be able to get everything back home. This year was no exception. With the bounce house, the train table, and the two barstools that my parents got us, not to mention our weeks worth of luggage, both trucks were packed. But we loaded up Monday and made our way back to Madison. It is bitter sweet leaving the family you love, but it is really nice to be back in your own house and bed!

After we got home and unloaded all of Kaleb's new toys, we realized how many toys he had that he never plays with so we packed a bag full of toys, a couple bags of clothes, and a bag of shoes into my truck which I took to Goodwill on Tuesday. It made such a difference in his room to be able to see the floor again! =)

I hope everyone else had blessed and love-filled Christmas! Now, on to the New Year!

Breakfast with Santa

Our gym put on a Breakfast with Santa this morning. We haven't taken Kaleb to see Santa yet so we thought this would be great. They also had a train to ride on and a great breakfast spread. It was really nice. As soon as we got there, Kaleb wanted to ride the train and nothing to do with Santa! So we rode the train twice and then made him go inside to try and get a picture with Santa. Here's as close as we got:
The Santa was really nice and tried to get him to sit next to him but Kaleb wasn't having any of it and I don't want to be that mom that puts a screaming kid in Santa's lap
just so I can get a picture. So I took what I could and am happy with it. As I said earlier, Kaleb was obsessed with the train so we rode it about 15 times. The guy even let Kaleb drive it a few times! After we left there, we headed over to Dick's Sporting Goods. We made our way over to the workout equipment area and had some fun with the punching bags! All in all, it was a great morning!

Look Mommy!

Saturday, Paul and I ran by a store to buy my dad his Christmas present. When we got home, Paul went to town to get supper while I put dad's shirt into a box to be wrapped. When I tried to removed the price from the tag, I couldn't, so I decided to just Sharpie over it. Well, Kaleb came in while I was doing it and DEMANDED that I give him the Sharpie. Of course, I explained that he could not have my Sharpie but he could play with his markers in his room. So I took him to his room, got out his markers and a coloring book, and he was satisfied. I returned to my work with dad's gift. A few minutes later, I hear Kaleb yelling "Momma... Oh, Momma". I come into his room, and there he is, looking so proud of himself!

All I could do was laugh and hope to God that I got a picture before he touched anything! I was amazed that he hadn't gotten it all over the room too. But apparently, he was content with just changing his ethnicity status! So, I got my picture, sent it to a few people I thought would get a kick out of it, and then put him in the bath! As soon as he got in the water, it turned a pretty shade of blue from all the black ink. HILARIOUS! He was so proud of himself. I showed Paul after he got home and we both got a good laugh out of it. Oh, two year old boys! If you can't laugh at them, you will drive yourself crazy!

The gym we are members of down here are having a Breakfast with Santa this Saturday so Paul and I have decided to try and take Kaleb to get his picture made. I have been trying to explain Santa to him and he does recognize him in all the decorations everywhere we go, but I don't think he knows he is a 'real' person and he might have to sit in his lap. Wish us luck!

Another thing happened Sunday: typical Rasmussen style! Paul and I have lived in Mississippi for over a year and a half now, but have yet to really put ourselves out there to meet new people. I have really been pushing this since we were so social back home. I get to talk to people all day with my job, but Paul gets to work from home so his only interaction with people is at the gym, and he really hates it when people come to the gym to socialize! Well, a lady from our neighborhood stopped by while we were playing outside to introduce herself and let us know that they were UT fans also (we have stuff on both vehicles and on the house to make sure people know who we root for!). We talked for a while and she said that they were going to do Christmas cookies with the kids at her house at 5 pm on Sunday then go look at Christmas lights at the Canton Square (a lot like Christmas City from back home) and asked if we wanted to come. I said we would love to! So, Sunday comes and Paul and I decide to go riding around, just killing time, hoping to get Kaleb to take a relatively early nap. We get home around 2 and Kaleb is still wide awake! So, we decide to just let him skip his nap so we can go to this woman's house and meet new people. Well, of course, Kaleb decides to fall asleep at 3:30 pm! Really Kaleb?! So, I text her and let her know we might be a little late! She texts at 5:30 saying they were just sitting down to dinner and asked if we could come... Nope, toodle pot is still snoozin! I ask her to let me know when they start the cookies so if he is up, we could head down. At 6:15, I get a text, but still a no-go! He is snoozing HARD! And you do not DARE wake my child from his nap unless you have a sick sense of humor and want to pay for it the rest of the night!  (I was so paranoid about her thinking I was lying that I text her two different pics of him sleeping everytime she text!)  So, I apologized for not being able to come, and sat on the couch like a child that just got told she couldn't go to a birthday party that she had been looking forward to for a week! =) Kaleb decided to finally wake up aroun 7:00!!!!!!! Needless to say, we didn't get to be till aroun 11:30 that night, but he did sleep well after, so all in all, it wasn't too bad a night!

It's Christmas time... in the country

Christmas had officially arrived at the Rasmussen household. I have this funny rule that I don't put our Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving. I feel that Thanksgiving is a very special day that should not be overlooked because Christmas is so close. When we were younger, we used to make my mom wait till after our birthday (Dec 7), because our birthday WAS NOT Christmas. (And we did not appreciate people giving birthday/Christmas presents! I mean what kid wants one present instead of two?) Ha! So, as the years went by and birthdays were no longer something to look forward to, the tree has been moved up to the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
If you have been following along, you know that I am a recent addict to Pinterest. It has really gotten my creative juices flowing, especially for the holiday season. Paul is one of those men that does not appreciate a lot of clutter around the house. He doesn't mind decorations, but every single wall/corner/table does not need something on/in it. But when Christmas comes, the more the merrier. He LOVES Christmas, so I like to take advantage. And with all my new found ideas, via Pinterest, I have added a few more decorations to the house. Take a look...

The centerpiece for our kitchen island

Our Tree

My DIY wreath! Inspiration was a $125 wreath from Etsy that I saw on Pinterest. (Only $30 in material and some concentration)

Kaleb still doesn't really get the whole Santa thing yet, and I'm pretty sure it's because I haven't taken the time to really explain it. I am going to get a book from the library this week to try and  help him really grasp that some man in a red suit is going to come to our house with reindeer and presents on Christmas Eve. Hopefully he will be excited, not freaked out. =) I am also going to work on him with the Baby Jesus story this year. We will see how it all goes! We went to Brooks' birthday party (our neighbor's kid and also Kaleb's classmate in daycare) yesterday at a local gameroom type place called Gattitown. It was lots of fun, but we had to work real hard to keep Kaleb out of the cake before they cut it. It was a monster truck cake and he REALLY wanted the trucks and icing! =) But when Brooks was opening his presents, Kaleb sat next to him and attempted to help. He was really excited to open them but was really disappointed when I kept reminding him that they weren't his! Brooks is into big trucks and tractors also, so that's pretty much all he got. And Kaleb REALLY wanted to take them out of the packages and open them! (which we ended up doing later that night at their house! Thanks Karen and Greg for having us over! He LOVED it!) It makes me really excited to see him at Christmas opening his presents. He has never really been that interested in unwrapping things. Even at his second birthday party, it was Paul and I that had to do all the unwrapping. So to see his face when he realizes all these presents are for him is going to be so great!

Here are some pics from the party on Saturday!

Of course he had to ride the 'Tractor'. 

Being silly on the Johnny Rocket game!

He really loves the Whack-a-Mole games! This one was half broken but he still liked it.

Riding Nemo. I bet he rode this thing 10 times! By then end, I was saying 'Cheese' and he was saying 'No Cheese'!

Lazy, Clumsy, Greedy, Vanity, Brainy, Hefty...

Does any of this ring a bell to anybody?! No, I'm not describing anything or anyone we know. How about this: Smurfette, Papa Smurf? That's right. It's the names of Smurfs. Thanks to my mom, Kaleb has moved on from 'Toys' (which is funny seeing I got him BOTH the first and second Toy Story for Christmas), and has moved on to The Smurfs! Not the new, digitally animated one either. We're talking old school, 30 minute episode Smurfs. I forgot how cute and funny these cartoons were. So, it looks like we will be headed to Walmart to buy him the new Smurfs for Christmas too!