Caleb's first haircut

Well, we decided it was time to give Caleb his first haircut.  He has been mistaken for a girl, one too many times...ok, make that every time we go out...even if he's wearing all blue.  It's time for him to reclaim his masculinity!  Plus he had long strands of hair hanging in his eyes.

Here is kind of a "before" picture taken at the beginning of December.  

I am by no means an expert at cutting hair.  I used to cut David's hair with clippers, but scissors on an 11-month-old is a different story.  So this is how we started out...

Yes, we hung him upside down. We thought, he likes to hang upside down, so it'll be more fun for him.  And it'll help me gather the long strands of hair together to make an even cut.  Isn't that how they teach it in cosmetology school???  :)

After I got all the really long stuff on top cut off, David held him while I snipped the bangs, around the ears and the back of the neck.  I was a little nervous to have scissors that close to his wiggly body and twisting head.  There are a couple of choppy spots, but his hair was never even to begin with.  And now I think he looks more boy-like. 

...maybe too boy-like.  Like, "Where did my baby go?  And who is the grown-up kiddo?"

Christmas recap

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

We had a fun time celebrating with the Domine side on the 23rd.  Caleb got some wonderful books and toys - including a Glow Worm from Aunt Sarah, which was a childhood favorite for both me and David.  Then we went up to Dallas where we had a white Christmas Eve, and the snow lasted on the ground for a few days.  Snow always makes it feel more like Christmas.

Here is a little picture recap (although I forgot to take pictures at Grammy & PopPop's).

Our family Christmas tree.

Caleb's new toys from us.

 Opening gifts at Nana and Grandpa's.  He's wearing his Santa hat that Grammy and PopPop got him.

And his jammies say My First Christmas.

David got a Wii.  We played it later with the family.  It was really fun!

I rocked at bowling.  Not to brag or anything.  :)

 

 Nana and Grandpa got Caleb a red wagon!  They were so silly to cut out pictures of us and put them on the box! 

 

The aftermath. 

 

"Whew!  All that opening presents is tiring!  Time for a nap!"

Family picture out in the snow.  :)

 

Outtakes!  :) 

 

 

Blessings to everyone in the new year!

The results are in...

David and I made it through our month of healthy eating! We learned a lot of things along the way. This is how we fared...

- David lost 14 pounds, and I lost 4-5 pounds...so 19 pounds total for us in one month (actually 23 days). Not bad!

- And we didn't even exercise! Can you imagine if we did? Maybe that'll be our goal for the new year. :)

- Our main goal was to eat healthy overall - so mostly veggies, fruits, and meats. We had cereal for breakfast. We tried to stay away from processed foods, sugar, and bread with meals. David did drink Equal in his tea and Crystal Light in his water, but I cut him some slack on that one because at least he wasn't drinking soda.

- We actually were very disciplined and didn't cheat much. We occasionally had a piece of dark chocolate at night for a sweet. And we had a serving size of chips with two or three lunches - like 7-10 chips! But other than that, we stuck to it!

- It required planning ahead, but knowing we had dinners planned out and healthy snacks on hand made it easier to avoid the tempting junk. We tried some new recipes and added new foods to our repertoire - marinated tuna on the grill and 20 clove garlic chicken. They were yum! We also tried spaghetti squash, which we've never made before. We liked that too!

- We realized how much of emotional eaters we are. When we had a stressful or rough day, we wanted to munch. Yikes- might need to work on that one.

- We started fantasizing about the foods we'd eat after the month was over. You have no idea how many times we said, "I could go for a big (fill-in-the-blank) right now!"

- Did you know Whataburger got rid of their A1 Thick and Hearty burger FOREVER at the end of December??? They even had a phone number you can call to help the grieving process. David loves that burger, and if we weren't eating healthy, he probably would have wanted one every week until it was gone. But he used it as motivation, and at the end of the month, he went and got one. :) He deserved a reward!

- We realized that we feel a lot better. In fact, after all of the Christmas food and sweets, we're ready to get back to eating healthy again!

Clapping!

Here is a VERY short video clip to show Nana, Grandpa and Aunt Susie that Caleb has learned to clap this week. It's really short because I accidentally turned off the recording button, and then Caleb stopped clapping. So enjoy this one-second entertainment!

The Green Monster

So I mentioned we're making an extra effort to eat healthy this month.  I found a recipe online for a breakfast drink called the Green Monster.  It's a healthy drink with veggies and fruit to help kick-start your day.  You can make it any way you want, but mine had spinach, milk and banana.

It wasn't bad.  Kind of like an earthy, chewy banana drink.  Sounds yummy, huh?  :)  I'll have it again, and maybe try some other fruits to mix in with it.  I have to use up all the spinach I bought!

The healthy eating is going ok.  David has had amazing will power to avoid sweets.  He's been getting hungry between meals though, so I'm trying to think of good snacks for him.  Trying to find foods that will fill you up and keep you full is a little challenging, especially when you're used to having bread at every meal.  And David doesn't have a lot of time to snack throughout the day.  But we're going to keep pushing through the month!  Hopefully by the end, we'll have healthier eating habits, and be able to keep it going...just not as strict.

I must admit though, I'm already thinking about making these cinnamon rolls for Christmas!  Those are definitely not figure-friendly, but the holidays call for a little indulgence.  :)