The announcement

Anessa has decided that San Jose State isn't for her. She was not happy there, and it just didn't seem to be a good fit overall. In the time that she decided this, Brian and a great team of coaches have been working hard to get her a scholarship at another college. It's hard work. A lot of emailing, writing, and using contacts that we have made over the last four years.

All this hard work finally paid off this Sunday, May 17th 2015! Idaho State will be Anessa's new home. Anessa was able to talk to the coach, and got what seemed to be a great vibe from her. That conversation was enough to convince her to say yes to Idaho. Oh, and we are going to buying her a new car to take to school. Her Prius is just not reliable enough to send with her to Idaho, and we live in California. We aren't going to drive 10 hours to help her with her car. So, that means she needs something that isn't going to break down. It is the best and easiest solution to the car situation. It is going to be tough financially? Absolutely. We have a bunch of other things going this year, specifically in the next couple of months. Lots of potential purchases. It is going to be very overwhelming and stressful. I am already feeling the weight on my shoulders. I will talk more about those changes and the details as it gets closer.

Her father and I are very excited to see her play as a Bengal!

Another big change is that we are moving again. Our landlord is selling the house that we are renting. WE have only been there for 7 months. By the time we move it will have been a year on the dot. We signed a 24 month lease, so this is much sooner than we expected to move. Ugh I dont know how we are going to do all of this. Talk about a full plate. We are also going to change some of our bills to accommodate the new things that we are going to be paying. 

Lunch Success

I am so proud of myself. I am really staying committed to this lunch and parking goal. I am making a lunch at least 3-4 days a week and parking in a garage that charges only $6 a day. That is an improvement from the $10 a day I was paying.

I started the day off with my normal cup of coffee. Then went and grabbed a little Friday treat. A egg, cheese, and hash brown burrito.  It was so good. I crave these burritos every week. Did I mention that they are not small and they are only $2.69!

 

Lunch was my turkey, and Havarti wrap with a grapefruit sparking water. 

 

After lunch me and some friends from work went for a little walk.  It is so nice getting outside late in the day. Being cooped up in my building is boring. Oh, and it was an excuse to wear my new sunnies.

 

Here is dinner. Homemade pizza dough. This is just cheese pizza. That is Averie and my favorite. I am having a hard time finding lactose free cheese. If anyone has any recommendations please comment.  Averie seems to be adjusting really well to the probiotic and lactose free milk.

 

The weekend had a lot in store. So much that it deserves it's own post. Well talk to you all tomorrow.

Making Averie feel better

Averie has been battling some kind of stomach bug. The same one that the whole family had about a week ago. It has taken her a long time to get back to normal. Finally I broke down and took her to the doctor. I wasn't sure what steps to take and I could tell that her belly was hurting her. By the recommendation of my best friend I started Averie on Culturelle kids probiotics. She is only on day two, but so far so good. No weird reactions, and her belly seems to be adjusting back to normal.

I also started buying Horizon Organic Lactose Free milk. Poor girl has been on the BRAT diet for several days now. I feel so bad that her diet has to be so bland, but what else is there to do. I will slowly start introducing regular foods back into her diet at dinner time. I can say one thing for sure she is a very excited little baby at dinnertime. Last night she had two plates of food.

 Now to vent. My daughter has down syndrome, and so we were regularly at the doctor for these stomach/bowel issues. I know not a pleasant topic, but when you can see the hurt in your little girls face cause she has gas or can't poop, or poops too much then you will understand. We have been to multiple doctors regarding this ongoing issue. My first problem is that not one of the doctors mentioned her seeing a GI doctor. Second problem, non of them thought to test her for an allergy to milk. Don't get me wrong she still has not been tested. The change to lactose free me is an experiment. Once she has normal bowel movements again I will take her off the lactose free and put her back on regular milk to see if it makes a difference. I shouldn't have to conduct my own experiments. I am at fault too, I did not request any of this stuff, but should I have to. I pay to come to the doctor and them tell me what to do. That is why they are the doctor. Okay, I am sure I can go on and on but I will spare everyone the details. I am sure I shared to much already.

I just want my baby girl to feel better, and luckily with these changes she is slowly becoming her bubbly and happy self. We have seen a big difference since the change to lactose-free milk. Or at least I think that is why she is feeling better. Time will only tell. I will leave you with this adorable picture of my sweet girl.

 

Oh, I almost forgot. The doctor did recommend one thing. Averie hates pedialyte, so the doctor recommended making popsicles. I am happy to report it worked like a charm. This is her chomping down on a delicious homemade pedia pop. I was feeding them to her like candy. This is what happens when mama's get nervous that their little ones will become dehydrated. I will update in a week or so.

I couldn't live without....

I couldn't live without flats. I love, love, love, all my flats. I wear them everywhere, and pretty much everyday. To the point where I think I need more! Why not right. I have just a few go to items in my closet and flats are one of those items that I just could not live without. Who has time for heels when you are working full time and chasing around a 4 year old. Sorry about the picture quality. I am not sure what happened.

Link up with For Lauren & Lauren, and Pursuit of Pink. I love the, "I Couldn't Live without" series. I it so interesting to see what people think they need or want.

Foodie Day

I have been so hungry lately and craving a ton of salt. Here is what was consumed on 5/13/15-5/14/15

Chock full o' Nuts is my favorite coffee ever. I am not sure the reasoning behind why, but I am sure it has something to do with my best friend. I only had one cup of coffee. I opted for tea the second time around. It was chamomile citrus so good. I also stuck with my Odwalla for breakfast. I am so addicted to them. I do wish they had just a tab bit less sugar.

Lunch was this delicious salty bag of chips and a salami sandwich. Both were so good, and the pickle that they gave me with my sandwich hit the spot.

I always crave something late in the day so I have been reaching for Fage yogurt. I figure it is a sweet alternative to candy or coffee, or even another salty snack.  

Dinner I had beer, I had 2 beers and the ravioli and green beans pictured below. I bet you thought I just had beer at first. No, I actually really enjoyed dinner on Wednesday. It was quick and easy. I think it come together in about 15 minutes. 

Thursday was a bit of the same. My morning cup of coffee, (not pictured), and an Odwalla. Sticking with it people. Hanging in there.

It is Thursday and that means it is Farmer's Market day. I was not in much of a shopping mood, so I walked away with a small basket of blueberries for the baby girl.  She loves frozen blueberries. LOVES! Around lunch time I walked back to the market and bought lunch.......

This Wood Fired Pizza from the Pizza Company is some of the best. I almost ate the whole thing. Almost.  Then right before my afternoon walk, I had a little snack of my Graze Box flapjacks. They were definitely tasty and enough to hold me over till dinner.

Dinner was the furthest thing from my mind, so I made something easy. I bought a rotisserie chicken from Safeway and called it a night. Lettuce, croutons, chicken, dressing and garnish with Parmesan and that is dinner folks. Nothing special, but it filled the bellies. Well that was the food adventure that I went on. I felt like I was eating all day. More than normal. Until tomorrow.

Happy Mommy BOX, and Thred UP

I think I have an addiction to boxes. In the past two years I have received many types of boxes. Birchbox, Blumm box, Happy Mommy Box, Hello Fresh box, Graze box, Stitchfix and Ipsy. Well Ipsy isn't a box but it is similar to the Birchbox boxes.  I think I might have a bit of a problem. I only receive a couple of these now. Could you imagine if I received them all still. It would be Christmas everyday at my house. I occasionally get a Stitchfix box. Maybe once every three months. Hello Fresh I bought through Zulily and so that maybe a one time thing, we will see. Graze I receive every month. There is a catch with this one though. I give the graze boxes to Grammy. They are healthy and fun to get. Happy Mommy boxes are also on occasion. It is mostly when I am feeling a shopping itch that I sign up to get one of those. I did send one to my Best Friend for Mother's Day. It sounds like she loved it. At the same time that I made one for her I also bought myself a little Mother's Day present.

I know it doesn't go with the shirt, but I only had a few minutes to myself before Averie woke up from her nap. So I snapped something fast. I was so excited to get it. Now if I am being honest It was not quite the quality that I was expecting. At the same time I am not sure what I expected at the great price of 11.99. It looks good on, so I will try it out with a couple of other shirts and see what the family thinks. If they say it looks cheap then it's gotta go.

I also received my Thred UP bag the same day. It is all about Tricia this long weekend. Excuse my appearance. I was up all night and day with Averie. The poor booger has some nasty stomach bug. 

The top three tops are all Ann Taylor Loft. My favorite store EVER! Thanks to Amber of course. The white one is J Crew. I ordered a Thred Up bag and sent in a bunch of stuff I never wear. There were probably 7 or 8 things in the bag. They paid me 52 bucks for all of it. Considering that I would have taken most of it to Goodwill where I would get nothing, 52 bucks was great. I used that credit to buy these tops. It is a great way to rotate clothing that you get tired of. After I tried everything on I washed it and hung it up. Can't wait to wear them, especially since the weather is getting warmer. The only problem with Thred UP is now I am addicted. I ordered another bag and just sent off a bunch more clothing. Just waiting to see what they take this time. I did sign up to get the rejected clothing back which was a fee of 12.95. Not bad considering.

Well until my next shopping habit strikes. See ya later.

What I Ate Wednesday 5/12/15

Okay so here it is my first, I think. What I Ate Wednesday. Which is actually Tuesday. Wait how does this work?

Oh goodness. Do the people who post What I Ate Wednesday post Tuesday's yummy food. My oh my. Well mine is going to be What I ate on Tuesday posted on Wednesday. I really don't see how it could be any other way.

Your not seeing double people that would be two coffee's. I was in a mood on Tuesday and had to have a double dose. 

 

These are a great breakfast replacement for me. I am going strong drinking them every morning. I don't tend to have one on the weekend because we make breakfast. 

 

This is a Trader Joe's Spinach and Cheese stuffed shells microwave meal. I was lazy yesterday and did not make myself a wrap. I will be making sure I do it tonight, this was not the best lunch. I didn't even finish it. 

Il Fornaio's Pink Champagne sorbet was a splurge. My throat is still pretty sore so I thought the nice cold sorbet would be refreshing. It is not everyday I have dessert after lunch.  

Hello Fresh for dinner again. This time we had  Argentine Spiced Steak. This is more Brian's speed of dinner. I did like the spinach and bell pepper couscous. This one was also only 7 steps. Easy peasy.

 Another day of eating pretty healthy food in the books. I also took my vitamins last night. I tend to forget a lot. Alrighty signing off for now. See you all next week for another What I Ate Wednesday, but from Tuesday. *smiles*