Advocare 24 Day Challenge: Week 1

I have been interested in trying Advocare for a while now, but the stars aligned when I got money for graduation (from my parents & Casey's parents!!) and the new year began! I love to make new year's resolutions, so I figured what better time to start a 24 day challenge?! I purchased my 24 Day Challenge through my friend Rachel who started the challenge the same day as me and is also my accountability partner! We have texted most days to see how the other one has done. That helps me a lot! We are also apart of a Facebook group with other people who are doing the challenge.

On Sunday, January 5th, I bought a bunch of fruit and veggies at the grocery store so that I would have plenty to snack on. I soon realized that I was going to need much more than that because pretty much nothing in my house was healthy or acceptable! We are very on-the-go eaters and Casey does not like much of anything that is green or fresh, ha ha. I could be fine eating mac-n-cheese for every lunch and cereal (Honey Bunches of Oats with Strawberries is my fav!) for breakfast AND dinner! Because we both work several nights a week, there's not many meals that we sit down and eat together. And most weekends we eat out, so that's been a big change this week, too!

Day 1:

• I woke up excited to start my challenge and then…I made the Fiber Drink we are supposed to drink days 1-3 and 8-10. Oh. My. Gosh. That thing was GROSS! I had no idea what to do to make it better on that first day so I just spooned, yes I said spooned it into my mouth. It was as thick as applesauce, but it didn't taste good. At all. Sawyer saw me eating/drinking it and asked me if she could have some. I let her try it and she said "Momma don't drink that. It doesn't taste good." Ha ha ha ha ha…
• After I finally got the Fiber Drink down, I drank some Orange Mandarin Spark. Orange isn't my favorite flavor, but after the Fiber Drink it tasted like Heaven!
• For breakfast I had a scrambled egg and was too full to eat anything else.
• I worked out legs/butt and ran that day!
• For lunch that day I ate with my mom & the kiddos at Chipotle wear I got lettuce, black beans, chicken, tomato, pico, and hot sauce (no rice, cheese, sour cream, or chips) with water with lemon.
• I had a snack of fruit when I got home.
• For dinner I took the Omegaplex pills and then ate grilled chicken and veggies (bell pepper and zucchini with season all) with water.
• I did not have an evening snack.
• I drank plenty of water on my first day - probably 60 oz. or more
• I took the Herbal Cleanse pills at bedtime.

Day 2 was a bit more tricky because I worked 12 hours and didn't adequately prepare the night before.

• I mixed my Fiber Drink with Orange Mandarin Spark this day and it was ooooohhhh so much better!!
• I drank plenty of water all day long
• I had a scrambled egg for breakfast…I know I was supposed to have more, but I was in a hurry and also super full from the Spark/Fiber Drink
• I went to Jason's Deli for lunch and got the Salad Bar! It was amazing because I sprinkled lemon juice over everything and also some banana pepper juice. I love salad's but also love salad dressing so I was kind of dreading it, but the peppers and also olives gave the salad enough kick! See my picture? It looks yummy to me even now!
• I had a small snack of Mangos covered in whole grain oats and fat free yogurt.
• I drank a second Spark that day - I needed it because I worked til 9pm!
• I had a meal replacement shake for dinner because I had back-to-back clients in the evening and no time to eat.
• I didn't have an evening snack.
• I took my Omegaplex caplets before bed

Day 3

• I made a massive fruit smoothie with 2 bananas and 10 strawberries for breakfast and mixed the Spark and Fiber Drink in with that to mask the taste - it worked!
• I didn't have a morning snack
• I did drink a second Spark
• I had tuna with lemon juice and pickles for lunch on whole wheat crackers
• I had celery and raw peanut butter for an afternoon snack
• I drank a meal replacement shake for dinner
• That night I forgot to take the Herbal Cleanse caplets before bed :(

Day 4

• I was sooo glad to not have to drink the Fiber Drink this day!!
• I took the Probiotic Restore Ultra pills 30 minutes before eating
• I ate a scrambled egg for breakfast & fat free greek yogurt with strawberries and drank a Spark
• I didn't have a morning snack OR a second Spark
• I ate at Jason's Deli again and got the same salad without dressing
• Drank plenty of water all day long
• I had apples and mango in dried whole weat oats and yogurt as a snack
• I worked out for the 2nd time this week - arms, shoulders, abs, & running
• I took the OmegaPlex with dinner
• I had a yummy dish of brown rice, shrimp, garlic, spinach, red bell pepper, and squash! So tasty!
• I did not have an evening snack
• I forgot to take my Herbal Cleanse caplets for the second night in a row :(

Day 5

• Day 5 was a lot easier because we were all 4 home together! 
• I took the ProBiotic pills before breakfast
• For breakfast I had 2 scrambled eggs, 3 grapes, 2 strawberries, and 3 apple slices with raw peanut butter with a spark
• I went straight to workout after my breakfast! I ran, did legs/butt and abs - total of 3 workouts for the week
• I had a second spark after my workout
• I didn't have any daytime snacks
• I ate tuna with lemon juice and pickles on whole wheat crackers for lunch
• I drank plenty of water all day
• I took my Omegaplex with dinner
• We made yummy shish-ka-bobs for dinner! They had pineapple, grilled chicken, green bell pepper, red potatoes, and fresh green beans as a side! Best dinner yet!!
• I had yogurt & oat covered mango for "dessert"
• I had plenty of water all day :)
• I FINALLY remembered my Herbal Cleanse caplets before bed!!!

Day 6

• I took the ProBiotic Pills before breakfast
• I drank a Spark and had a whole lotta fruit for breakfast! I was at Ginni's birthday party and it was super super tempting because there was a bunch of sweets, and that's my sweet spot! But luckily there was a lot of good fresh fruit :)
• I didn't have a snack or a second Spark
• For lunch, I had sushi with brown rice - Yum! I'm starting to mix it up a little.
• I had a small glass of 1% milk and a Muscle Milk protein bar as a snack
• I took Omegaplex with dinner
• We ate dinner at Mi Cocina for Ginni's 30th birthday and it was tempting, but I managed to not eat chips or salsa! Yay! I got Tilapia with veggies and beans and it was good!
• I didn't have a snack and I actually remembered to take the Herbal Cleanse caplets!

Day 7

• On day 7 I drank a Spark and had a Meal Replacement Shake for breakfast at church :)
• We took Casey to the airport so for lunch we ate out - I had turkey on wheat with lettuce, tomato, and banana peppers, with no dressing
• I didn't have a snack or a second Spark
• For dinner I took my Omegaplex and had brown rice, shrimp, garlic, spinach, red bell pepper, & squash (again)! 
• I had the munchies so my evening snack was a Muscle Milk protein bar with a small glass of 1% milk

I didn't cheat at all my first week and I am down 3 lbs!! I cannot believe it! I have more energy and am feeling good. :) Can't wait to see how the next couple of weeks goes. :)

27. Really?!?!

My birthday has come and gone, but I want to put the pictures up, so I might as well blog about it. I turned 27 on April 2nd. I am married, have 2 kids, and am almost done with graduate school, so I felt pretty old this birthday. Not too old, but still old, haha. (It always helps that Casey is 3 years old than me though…so while I turned 27, he was already 30…that makes me feel a bit better;).

As always, we went to my Momma Sheila's & Pappa Donnie's in Mabank for my birthday party. I always get a neat cake that has to do with something big that happened that year (for example, the year I graduated from A&M it was all maroon and Aggied out…my first year teaching the cake looked like a classroom had exploded on it, with rulers and apples and abc's all over it. You get the point). So, anyway, this year my cake had my babies on it! It said "Happy 27th birthday Momma   From, Sawyer & Dayton" My own name was not on my birthday cake. Instead it was replaced with "Momma" and my children's names made it onto the cake. Haha. So typical of having kids - do other mothers agree with me?! Oh, and we celebrated the day before Easter so it was fitting to have bunny rabbits and Easter eggs. :)

We always take a picture of the 3 of us on my birthday!

4 generations of Tapp, Rowan, Horton, Coats women :)

Uncle Russell & Dayton :)

my Mom got a tripod and was a little obsessed with capturing a group picture :) It turned out well!!

All of those presents really for me?! Can we say only child & only grandchild? ;)

On my actual birthday I had 2 birthday meals! The first one was lunch with my mom & Casey & the kiddos. I didn't get a picture with my momma. :(

The second was dinner with the Rickersons at Zanata's! YUM. We Coats & Rickersons always celebrate each other's birthdays with dinner with the 4 of us. :) It's always a fun time!

Casey also took me out to a fancy date at Sissy's!! I had been wanting to try it for sometime and he surprised me! I loved it!!! The food was so good and the decor was super cute. Thank you, babe!

I also had a celebration with Casey's family! We go out to eat for everyone's birthday and it's always a lot of fun. This year for my birthday we went to Campisi's at the Harbor in Rockwall. We had yummy cookie cake afterward! Everyone came back to our house and the kids had a blast hanging out in the backyard playing.

Me & my girl!

No smiling from her, but still pretty :)

cute nephew Caleb!! 

 Steph & the twins, Luke & Sadie!

 I think these pictures are cute because Sawyer is being shy, but loves her cousins! It's written all over her face :)

Sawyer may be Caleb's biggest fan!! 

Aunt Stephanie & Dayton!

cutie after his bath:)

After posting all of the pictures and writing about it, I've decided that 27 was a pretty great birthday! Geeze, am I spoiled! Did I really have FIVE birthday parties/lunches/dinners?! Lots of family, lots of celebration, and 2 super sweet kiddos this year. Bring on 27!! :)

Sawyer's TWO!

There is so much I want to say about Sawyer turning two, but I will try to be somewhat brief as this is already going to be one of my longest posts ever! First off, let me just say that these past 2 years have been 2 of the best years of my life. Being a momma has opened my eyes to a whole new love, and I can't explain the impact that Sawyer has made on mine and Casey's lives. She is such a ham and we love her to pieces. What I'd really love to do is go back and reminisce about when she was born, but because that would make this post way to lengthy I'll post this link of when I did that last year. :)

Sawyer has loved Elmo for about a year now so we threw her an Elmo 2nd Birthday Party! She loved it! We even had a guest appearance by none other than…ELMO! (Charlie dressed up in an Elmo costume for us…it's owned by the church and it's actually called "Delmo" for copyright purposes. So funny!).

Everything everywhere was decked out in Elmo, and to make it girly I threw in some pink, orange, and green to go with the resounding red! I love the way it turned out! Sawyer had LOTS of little friends at her 2nd birthday and I could tell she had a blast! It was extra fun to see her running around outside playing with other little boys and (mostly) girls her age (and a little older). The older girls, Lola and Aubrey weren't scared of Elmo, and I think it kept Sawyer from completely freaking out. Instead she smiled and gave him a hug high five. :)

After the party, she napped and then we went to dinner. Afterwards we went to my mom's house where Sawyer "released her fish" (Elmo's fish, Dorothy) tint my mom's pond where she kept saying "bye fishes!" Then we fed the ducks. I think she had a great day! :)

On her actual birthday (Sunday) we went to church, ate lunch, came home and took naps, played with her new toys from the party, and then went to dinner and the park! We made it a day about her :) She even blew out her own candles when we sang Happy Birthday to her at the restaurant. She loved it. And she LOVES cupcakes now. Sweet tooth like her momma. ;) After dinner we took her to her favorite park. 

Some Sawyer Stats…

She weighs 24 pounds (20th percentile), is 33.5" tall (45th percentile), and her head is 18.25" around (25th percentile). She's come a long way from her tiny 5 lbs 12 oz! She wears size 3 diaper, but is getting very good at potty training!! She goes on the potty every single day, multiple times a day. As soon as we get a good warm spell I'm going to strip her down and do some hard core potty training. I've heard this method is awesome and over in 3 days. I think she'll take to it very well because she likes the potty and she's already quite good at it.

Sawyer is spunky and funny! She is always on the go and rarely settles down. She loves to play outside, ride her tricycle, throw or kick a ball, slide or swing on her swing set, and play in her turtle sandbox! She also loves bubbles and loves playing with her new water table. Indoors Sawyer loves playing with dolls her babies and "cooking" at her kitchen. She also loves to color and play with stickers! She loves to dance anytime we play music and she especially loves to play with her daddy. :) She's a momma's girl, though. ;) Sawyer loves her "bubba" and still calls him either "bubba" or "Dayton." She has taken a special interest in him lately and has asked to hold him a few times, but that seriously lasts like 2 seconds. She loves to help and wants to throw his dirty diapers in the diaper genie for us…so we let her! ;) She will also put his paci in his mouth if he starts to cry or push him in the baby swing. :)

Sawyer is one of the chattiest kids I know! When we're at home she talks non-stop. She seriously talks all day long. It's insane. They say women have double the word count as men, but I think she has double the word count of most women! She is going to need to find a husband that doesn't mind listening to her non-stop. ;)

Sawyer is thoughtful and caring. Every time Dayton cries she seems concerned and finds him a toy, his pacifier, or gives him his blankie. Such a sweet big sister. She loves to give hugs and kisses and likes for people to be happy. If I hurt myself she will kiss my boo-boo like I do for her. The other day I said "ouch" and she came over and said "momma, wanna kiss it?" and she kissed my hand that I was rubbing. Haha!

Sawyer is becoming fiercely independent and one of her most commonly spoken phrases is "I wanna do it!"…she will either say this calmly or vehemently, depending on what it is. She is determined to put her shoes on by herself, and one day I let her go several hours with them on the wrong feet. She didn't seem mind, and I know she was so proud that she put them on by herself. It's as if all fear is lost when we enter the park! She doesn't want our help and she wants to go down the slides by herself. Seeing her become so independent makes me proud, but it also reminds me of how fast she is growing up and how quickly her childhood will be over. I remind myself often to cherish these days with her as a little girl. 

Here are some pictures of her party and as a big 2-year-old :) 

Check out her cute dress & bow by Donna Barnett & Ginni Rickerson :) 

 Elmo came!!!

giving Sawyer an Elmo doll :) 

I love the kids' faces when Elmo came out

 …and then he did pushups! Haha!!! That certainly gathered a crowd ;)

birthday girl just walking around…ha.

Lots of playing outside

I was so proud of how she opened all of her presents herself :)

The kitchen was an immediate success ;)

Everyone sure spoiled her!!!

We are so lucky to have so many friends and family that love our kiddos.

Sawyer has played non-stop with all of her toys & all of her clothes are adorable!

Happy 2nd Birthday!!

 she dug right in and then talked about cupcakes for at least 2 weeks ;)

Can't forget the party guests!!

and some decorations… 

My poor sunburned boy was a real trooper! (his shirt was also by Donna Barnett!)

"Releasing" Elmo's fish after the party!

and then feeding ducks… 

The next day on her actual birthday…

Sawyer Grace, you are such a sweet, special girl. We love you oh so much and are so excited to watch you grow up! You have already taught us more in your short 2 years than we could ever have imagined. Happy 2nd birthday, sweet girl!