good old fashoned diet and exercise!

Mid January Nate and his buddy Steve started P90x, a 90 day fitness program with a nutrition program.  In the beginning Nate followed the nutrition as well as the exercise, but as I got sicker (being pregnant) the delish breakfasts stopped and so did the pre packed lunches.  He is not one for marking charts to be sure he gets all of his portions in, but he tried.  In the end he just ended up making better food choices.  He started at 178 and ended at 156.  A few weeks before the end of the challenge we went on a cruise and he did not follow the plan one bit.  A bit of indulgence, but I think that he made much better food choices than he would have prior to P90x.  He also worked out less on the trip.  After the cruise he has been eating "normal" and will continue to make good choices and eat smaller portions.  It has almost become habit.  He started cycling this week and will cross train with another beach body program: Insanity. 

These programs are not gimmicks for fast weight loss.  They are life style changes.  Hard work for 90 days and then you get in the habit of regular exercise.  He is much more lean and in better shape.  Snow boarding was much nicer this year.  He was not as sore or tired at the end of the day.  He can cycle up the hill to our house with ease now.  So excited to share the success.  And it will only continue. 

 

Before.  January 13, 2012

 

Now:  April 20, 2012

Easters

Jake took some chocolate covered strawberries to school for an Easter Egg hunt.  Surprised I was able to pull that off.   My kids are the victims of what I call minimal parenting during pregnancy. It looks as thought Mikah slept in her clothes.  So much for adorable Easter morning pictures of kids in their PJs!  

And, we got our old door replaced! Look at that big hole in the wall! 

Jake and I's Fried Chicken

I have decided that Jake and I make the BEST fried chicken.  I used to think my mother in law made the best and I learned some things from her, but I think that Jake and I have perfected it.  And no matter what variation we do, it is still always the best.  Our normal deal is to sprinkle the chicken with meat tenderizer, dip in egg and milk mixture, or just milk then in seasoned flour.  Lately we have been seasoning it with a Cajan seasoning.  And, as of late we have been doing the double dip.  In the milk, then the flour, back in the milk and back into the flour.  This makes it extra crispy.   Today I had soaked the chicken in some left over butter milk.  It was thick, and I told Jake that I did not think we needed to double dip.  He insisted on the double dip!  so we did.  He got all gooie and messy and when it was all double dipped he handed it to me to put into the oil.  We just put a small layer of oil in the pan (a mix of olive and canola...sort of trying to make this fried meal a bit healthier).  He kept calling the chickens Muskrats!  He helps me almost every time!  He often wants to help with dinner.  He does not know all the steps to the chicken, I usually call him in when it is time to flour it all up, but I think in time I will walk him through, it all and before we know it he will be making dinner for us all by himself! 
I make a gravy with the pan drippings, draining most of the oil out and then adding bullion cubes and some milk mixed with flour and some salt for taste. 
Potaotes are peeled, diced and then drained.  For 6 pretty large potatoes I added maybe 3TBS of butter and some skim milk, salt and garlic salt. And we love it with peas.  Frozen peas, warmed up...no butter, no salt.  Just peas.  Nate hates peas, but I think they are super cute!  Jake loves them too and knows they go best with fried chicken and mashed potatoes.  I try to see how tasty I can make things without the added fat and calories...I save them for the foods that NEED them to taste good...like cinnamon rolls and cookies. 

Jake likes to help a lot in the kitchen.  Maes on occasion, but I am sure we will find things that we love to do together too.  Mikah...She loves to do it all.

10 year anniversary cruise

We decided we wanted to do something big for our 10 year anniversary, so we picked a Caribbean cruise and went back to some of the same islands we visited on our honey moon.  We picked an 8 day cruise so we could have some much needed rest.  We were ready for the break, especially from the snow.  We had a nice storm right before we left.  It was funny to think while we were sun bathing on the ship that the prior week we had been shoveling snow! 

Our anniversary would not be until July, but I would be too far along in my pregnancy to go on a ship and so we picked spring break.  Our friend Cassie gave us a buddy pass for our flight home, so it cut down on some of the high cost of cruising during cruise season. 

I figured I would be in my second trimester and not sick.  I was wrong, and still have some bad cruise feelings!  We did have a good time, but I threw up 3 times during our fancy splurge dinner!  

We bought a water proof case, that failed right when we got into the ocean, it killed Nate's i phone and we lost photos.  At least it happened at the beginning of the cruise.  We bought a waterproof camera on the ship and were able to document the rest of the trip with photos!  

It was nice having a camera that we can let the kids use later!