How to read food labels

Oh how I am so horrible about Blogging!  Well, especially since my actual website holds a blog on there, but sometimes I like to talk about recipes, or DIY's, and well, you just can't do it there!  Today was another hectic day, though it always is!  I'm on my jump start to loose weight!

So, I called this Monday and made me an appointment to see Dr. Fagin at Fagin and Owen Plastic Surgery.  Unfortunately I was the women who didn't go back to there pre-prego size, and now I am struggling with it.  I have joined a gym, but with all of the family/medical problems, I have not made it, so I started going back today!  So needless to say, I'm going to cancel my consultation and do it the old school way!  I highly enjoyed my workout today.  I do believe I am going to invest and get me a personal trainer.  I really need to know how to do the correct exercise and everything.  I am very thankful that one of my sweet new friends from Church came over and helped me with my nutrition.  She went to school for health and fitness!  It was a huge eye shocker when she taught me how to read labels, now my husband isn't to thrilled about that!  So let me blow your mind real quick!






  Okay, so first off this is nutrition facts from a yogurt container.  So did you know that If it has any saturated fat it is a big RED flag!  Saturated fat is what stays on you, and is the hardest fat to get rid of.  Okay, so moving on down.  Sodium is very high for a serving of yogurt.  Then you get down to sugars!  17g is HORRIBLE!!  You are suppose to not eat anything that has more than 6g of sugar!  So needless to say, my grocery trips are much much longer!  I still have yet to find an honest to good yogurt, so if you have one, please pop in and let me know what kind!

So that is my first step was reading food labels.  Now, I have a huge problem of every time we are at the checkout counter I grab a candy bar and a soda.  Well, those days are over.  It became a habit, that I didn't even realize it.  My husband had to write me this long letter about my bad habits.  So that is really bad!  My next bad habit is eating on the go.  It sometimes is so much quicker to grab a bite while driving, plus after being a smoker for 6 years, I was always use to having something in my hand and mouth.  My replacement for both is, I have 100 calorie almond snacks in the car, and I ride around with gum.  Problem solved!

Okay, so after doing those few things, I then incorporated no fried foods in our house.  I think we might actually "bury" our Fry Daddy.  Oh it will be a sad day for my hubby!

I have some awesome healthy recipes to share, but I will have to set a time aside for blogging!  I can't wait to write down my healthy life style changes and my weight goal.

Update on Weaning issue!

Well, I am one very proud to announce that Aiden is fully off the bottle and off of formula!!  After a while, he started to notice that I wasn't going to give him the bottle, so he drank from his cup!  That was the easy part! Now, when it came to the formula what I did was I would give him 4 ounces in the morning and evening before bed, and then in between the day I gave him juice and milk!  Now he is not drinking regular milk at all, it is 2% Organic Milk, and it came from a local dairy farm here in Slocomb!  It is delicious!  I love how clean and smooth organic taste!  Well, yesterday we were out at the Farmer's Market, and we bought a half gallon to try on him.  He got thirsty while we were out and Steven filled his sippey all the way to the top!  By the time we had gotten home he had downed half of it!!  Finished it up by supper, and then drank half of another!  I was so proud, not only that, but he completely pulled himself up last night!  It was a beautiful moment for me!

"Love Dare" first week!

So, Steven and I recently wanted to start a devotional with each other!  We didn't know where to start!  I had the movie Fireproof, and I thought that would be a good movie for us to watch together.  After we watched it, the next day we went to Barnes & Nobles looking for some books for Aiden.  We ended up browsing the Christian section, and came across "The Love Dare".  They were two sets of books, a forty day journey, and a year journey.  We decided to devote our self to the year journey!  I thought that it would be great to blog about it also, so I can go back and see what I have learned from it, and maybe a young couple would want to try and do the same thing! 

So far, we are only a week into it!  We started a new week yesterday.  The first week came with a weekly prayer, it was to ask GOD to teach you how to love and be a loving person.  I felt like my heart was tested this week.  Almost a year ago, I lost one of my friends over some things here and there, not going into details!  Anyways, I recently talked to Steven about her, and he said that I needed to forgive her in my heart, and not have hatred towards her.  That night when I said my prayer, I prayed for her and her son.  Hours later, I received an email from her.  It stated that she wanted me to forgive her and not hate her.  I thought that was so crazy, the fact that Steven and I talked about how I don't need any hatred on my heart.  It was a test from GOD, at least it was for me!  If you knew the background behind things.  So, I slept on it, reread it in the morning and replied back.  A year ago, I would of ignored or deleted the email, but I responded, in a kind, loving way.  I feel like the first week was a success!  Hopefully lol!

We are on week two, so I will see what the next week brings!

Weening the bottle and the formula!

Weening the bottle:

I feel horrible sometimes because between 7 and 8 months, Aiden was fully on the sippey cup and off the bottle, then when he started cutting all of his teeth at once, we gave in and gave the bottle back.  Now, we are starting to have a hard time just with weening the bottle, but I took a cold turkey approach.  I washed and sterilized all of his bottles and put them up high in the cabinets so we can't get to them!  I am just giving him his sippey, and showing him, that's the only option he has!  At first, he threw it, cried, and just gave an "Alleluia Fit" as I call it lol!  For instance, this morning he woke up at 5:00 A.M., so I gave him a sippey with his formula in it.  He sucked about an once and then through it, grabbed his paci, turned on his side, and went back to sleep.  I figured if he really his thirsty he will drink it.  We have gotten to the point where Aiden is eating three regular meals, no baby food, a day.  For breakfast he usually has oatmeal, cereal, yogurt, or fruit.  He usually gets two out of those every morning.  Then for a light snack he gets his baked Cheetos, or fruit.  He really loves fruit!!  Then for lunch, I generally give him pasta, mash potatoes or rice, and then some peas and carrots, or just whatever I can whip up!  Supper, he eats what we eat, for instance last night he had, baked chicken, green beans, and rice!  He loved it, and then was followed by some yummy fruit!  He has his bottles in between his meal times, but it is enough to hydrate him, and feel him with the right nutrients!  I found an awesome food guide in my Pediatrician book, that I really want to start following!

Weening Formula:
This is beginning to be really hard.  I decided to start now, because I see how difficult it really is!  Now, I am not going cold turkey on his formula, he still gets it, I just give him milk in his sippey at meal times.  Aiden is still not on any juice at all, and it will remain that way for a few more months.  I don't want him to get use to drinking sweet stuff all of the time.  Now when we go to a restaurant, we do give him dabs of sweet tea, but it's not enough to harm anything!  We are all on an all organic/natural diet around our home, so the milk he is getting is organic, and I figured he wouldn't have any trouble because the taste is so much better, but he doesn't care too much for the white milk!  Yesterday I fixed him two ounces of white milk, and he took a drink and threw the cup at me lol!  All I could say is "Aiden Joseph King"!  This morning, I gave him an once of chocolate milk, he did drink it a lot better, but still am having issues.  Now, I know some of you might think chocolate milk isn't the way to go.  It is premixed already and sold by Horizon Organic Milk!  Absolutely love it and it is actually healthy for you!!  So far that is my journey in my weening issues, hopefully I can do an update with a great success!

Hormones....

I am in my seventh month of pregnancy!  11 more weeks to go!  Yay!  Aiden has grown like a weed, and I have been so busy I didn't even have time to blog!  Well, my bunny died today, now generally I would have not cried of an animal I've owned for less than a month, but in this case, my pregnancy has got me being a real big tear jerker!  I squalled towards Steven, I was so upset!  I don't know if it was the fact that if an animal dies under my watch, then what about my children.  It hurts me to even think like that!  Poor thing, she was panting so hard, almost like she was having a stroke or something, and then her red eyes just turned grey.  I put her in my tub, I was hoping she was still alive, just playing tricks on me.  That has to do a lot with my kind heart also, I know animals don't go to heaven, and I feel like a little 4 year old, but it's sad to think that they have no soul.  They are sweet little innocent things, but God put them here for us to enjoy.  I'm glad Aiden wasn't here for it, which it is great that he wouldn't of understood, so I got through my first explanation of "Mama, where is Flopsey going"?  What do you even answer to that?  How do you?  That is one thing I am not good at at all is lieing, I can't sit there and tell my child, "Well dear, she is in heaven, and one day we will be with her,"  I mean, if I was that kid, and when I got to heaven, I would be so mad that my rabbit wasn't there!  I would of felt betrayed!  I guess that is just my weak point.  A mockingbird got to her though, I do believe I will shoot her when I see that bird again, then she will see where I'm coming from.  Then again, that is the hormonal me speaking!  Shooting a bird, over a rabbit???  That bird killed my $20 rabbit plus, it adds up with food, cage, and carrots!  Seriously that is a crazy thought though! 

Photography
My side job business has been booming!  I am so thrilled of all of the wonderful people that I have met, and especially because they gave ME a chance!  I am going to continue to further my education on it, and in about five years, I will open a studio up in Daleville!  I believe that will be a perfect location!  I have so much business lined up between now and next week!  This is fun though, and I love it!  It's nice to do something you love!  I hope you got a tickle, or a tear out of my rabbit story, but most of all, I hope it didn't make anyone think that I was sincerely crazier than what was thought of!  Goodnight and God Bless!

Busy Bee!

First, I would like to say Happy 10 Months to my precious baby boy Aiden!  He is so smart and is the love of my life!  I can't believe in two more months he will be 1!  Sophia will be here in thirteen weeks!!!  How crazy is that??  He can do so much and he just impresses me with something new every day!  I love him so much:) 

I have started my own business Charlotte King Photography, and so far it is going good!  I have done two photo shoots, and I have three more booked!  I enjoy doing this, and it is a great extra income, because I'm not ashamed at all by saying, we need it!  I will continue to have my children at home, but photography allows me to work also!  I have mainly been doing it on the weekends, going to Botanical Gardens and Landmark Park!  I just recently ordered my backdrop and lamp set to conduct indoor sessions!  I have some baby sessions here soon that I am super excited about!  I'm so glad that Steven supports my decisions on wanting to do this!  I have a photographer's workshop this Saturday, and I look very foward to that also!

I am so glad that I actually found someone, that is a Christian that I have tons in common with!  It is so hard to find common ground sometimes! 

As for me and the Army, I will hopefully be getting a Hardship, and getting out!  I am thankful for that!  I served my time, I have been to War, and now it is time for me to be a wife and a mom before others! 

The bunnies:  are a mess, and I am now starting to think "What was I thinking???!??"  They are cute and cuddely, but that is as far as it goes!  They will be moving outside very quickly!

The house is going up on the market this time for sure!  We have decided, with the riseing of gas prices, it is too costly for us to drive from home to Fort Rucker every day!  We found a great home in the Country with some land, and a very southern country home, just the way I want!  It has 3 1/2 acres, and a creek on it!  Perfect for my simple family:)  I have been praying very hard, and just asking GOD to guide us in making the right decision.  It will save us in gas, and it will be our "forever and ever home!"  I really hope our house sells quick!  We have completly redone the inside, and it is just beautiful for a small family or retired couple!  It will be listed beginning Monday with Remax!

I have been thinking on ways of improvement for me!  There is always room for improvement!  I have learned to be a little patient, and just listen before I speak (and also think before I speak!).  It is always something that is very challenging for me to do!  I have become a better house keeper and cook!  I am still learning though.  I just wake up in the morning, and I come up with what I'm going to cook for the day.  I'm not a big meal planner, I just cook what sounds good:) 

I hope everyone has a blessed day!  Hope all enjoyed!

Memories

Aiden's first Easter was so great!  We spent our morning at our Church, and then went to my Mom's and had Easter dinner!  We hid eggs for Aiden and he just had the best time looking for them!  He would pick them up and put them in his basket!  My baby boy sure is turning into a big boy:)

I think to myself from time to time about little side things I like to do!  I have tried to sell my crafts, but people rather pay top dollar for something I do, the same, half price!  I am surprised how shocked they are when I tell them my prices, I wonder if I sell them so low, if that is the reason they don't sell?  I do a great job at vinyl designs.  I just want business, so I believe in selling just enough to make a little profit!  Over the past week, I decided hey, I think I could do Photography!  I bought me a DSLR camera, just like the pros and I'm going to start school soon!  I'm also doing sessions here and there.  I've had one person book, we are just waiting to actually set a date because we are waiting on my camera!  I have started working with my Photoshop, just learning and getting familiar with it.  I think I could be great at this!  I created a Facebook business page and you can like my Page:)  I would love for others to know about it, but hey then again, I dont' know who really reads my blog!  I have realized even though I am a SAHM (stay at home mom) I would like to make some extra income!  Things are just way too expensive now days!  I also would like to build a career at it if I am any good!  Which I think I could be, but it will take time!  I think of myself as an entrepreneur.  I will just pray, and ask GOD for guidance, and see what he has for me! 

Above is a photo I took and edited!

Well, we started studying with our neighbor who is a Jehovah Witness.  She is really nice, and has good intentions, I just would love to know where they get things from.  Like today, she said Jesus name was the Arc Angel Michael...hmmm...well I looked in my Bible, I just don't see it!  I will ask my preacher, because I am very interested in this.  I hope she learns from us as well we do for her! 

Aiden has two teeth, and two more are coming in at the same time and our house has been a mess!  He has cried for "Mama" or "Dada" all day!  Sometimes, he just has to cry!  I gave him some Tylenol, and it didn't help, but I'm not double dosing!  He is now watching Dora, and being calm!  Thank goodness! 

My husband has taught me so much!  He has opened my eyes to things outside of the box!  Last night we watched a movie, cuddled in the bed, and he just whispered so softly, "Charlotte, I really love you" now that melted my heart so much!  We have our bumps, and we should be experiencing being "newly weds" but things are different when you do them backwards!  I just pray that my children will do what is right and take their time with things.  I want them to be able to enjoy the first years of marriage.  Our anniversary is June and our some will be 11 months old!  We have been married for a year!  We sinned, but we fixed it, and I hope others can learn from our mistakes.  That is why I named my Blog Learning and Giving.  I would love to share what I have learned over the years, months, or even days!  I feel, someone can always need a little advice, and yes others do things differently!  I also believe that someone shouldn't put someone down for the way they do things either!  I learn from others and I love to share the info! 

Motherhood and being a wife, are both difficult positions, but with some prayer, a smile, and a great day, you can stand out in the crowd!  This life is ours and what we make out of it, so I say, make the best out of it!  Live, love, and laugh often! 

Goodnight and God bless!