Clean Blueberry Muffins

Who doesn't love blueberry muffins? This girl does! After Dayton was born, a friend brought over dinner and some blueberry muffins. They were perfect mid-afternoon (and middle of the night) snacks. Muffins are so yummy, but they are so not healthy. I found a good blueberry muffin recipe and then made it clean. Here it is! (The ingredients that are in parenthesis are the original ingredients.)

Clean Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup Stevia (sugar)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
•  2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/3 cup greek yogurt (vegetable oil)
• 1 organic egg
• 1/3 cup organic skim milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• extra Stevia to sprinkle on top

Directions:

1. Preheat overn to 400 degress. Grease muffin tin or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine flour, Stevia, salt, and baking powder. In a seperate bowl mix yogurt, egg, and milk. Combine the two bowels. 
3. Fold in blueberries. Mix just enough to combine ingredients. 
4. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full with the mixture. Sprinkle Stevia on top.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool and enjoy!

I made 18 muffins from this recipe! Yummy muffins with no guilt!

First Family Road Trip! Colorado

Oh Colorado. We could definitely move and live there. It's just so gorgeous and it just seems like the perfect place for us to live...someday...if there was a John Deere there.

My Dad's side of the family lives in Colorado and the hubs and I decided it was time for a visit - especially since we have our little bug now. Plus, recently my Grandpa Brunner's health has declined, so we wanted to get out there and see him one last time, let him meet Dayton, and say goodbye. Hard? yes, but necessary. The trip ended up being really great and exactly what we needed. We stayed with my cousin Jeremiah, his wife Amy, and their amazing son Griffin (Why is he so amazing? Read why here.) Love that little fam!

We left Thursday afternoon as soon as the hubs got off work. We decided breaking up the trip would help us get a good idea of how the babe would travel. The trip would take a total of about 11 1/2 hours. We drove until about 1 am, only stopping so that I could nurse the babe or if we needed gas. Dayton, let me just say, is great at traveling at 10 weeks! He slept basically the whole time. Perfect! We slept in a little and then finished our drive Friday, and arrived at Jer and Amy's house around 3 pm.

Top: Iowa Sunset | Bottom: first time in a hotel! / clearly he was happy about the trip...oh wait. 

Friday night we met up with my Uncle Charles and Aunt Cheri for a delicious Mexican dinner. After dinner, we all went to grandma and grandpa's house. It was good to see them both, but it was getting late so we did not stay very long.

Saturday we slept in a little and then the 6 of us (Us 3, Jer, Amy, and Griffin) got ready for a picnic lunch at the base of the mountains near a lake. It was an easy little walk, but the scenery was great! The boys took the kiddos down to the lake and Griffin enjoyed playing in the water.

Saturday night, we dropped the boys off at Chuck and Cheri's and then us parents went out for dinner and some drinks in downtown Denver. We ate at an excellent Greek restaurant and then headed over to a local brewery. This was our first time leaving Dayton with a babysitter and my first time having a drink (since last July)! Sigh...it was so much fun and I felt perfectly fine knowing that Dayton was with family! Side note - this was my first time drinking and doing the ole' pump and dump. I was so hesitant to do it (I'm blaming my ocd), but I have a ridiculous supply and I needed a break! Afterwards, I was happy I did it. Go me!

Saganaki - flaming cheese - delish!!  |  my first beer!!  |  the 4 parents  |  uncle Charles and Dayton

Sunday we all slept in - we had a tenancy to stay up late, the boys drank beer, and we all chatted. There may have even been a game of Cards Against Humanity. Heavens. After breakfast, we packed up and headed for Boulder. We went hiking in the mountains - gorgeous - and then ate lunch at a local brewery called Fate. A-ma-zing! Once we got home, we were all pooped so we took a nap and then headed over to grandma and grandpa's house again. Uncle Charles grilled, we ate supper, and enjoyed some ice cream cake and family time. What a perfect Sunday!

Mountains!

Lunch at Fate brewery

Great Grandma Brunner  |  cousins! Dayton and Griffin

The Brunner Fam! minus Dad, Mama, and Jaimie

I'm really glad that we got to see Grandpa Brunner one last time. Thanks to the hubs for making this last minute trip for me! It was also great to see this side of the family and hang out with my awesome cousin and his family. I love that we're really close with my cousin Jer and his family and that we're both in the same phase of life. Okay Jer and Amy...your turn! Love y'all.

Dayton ~ 11 Weeks

Every week I think that it couldn't get any better. Little man is just so much fun and I am dreading the day that I go back to work. Ugh. This week was our first family vacation. It went perfectly. I'm really starting to think that we have the best and easiest baby ever. We were a little nervous about how a 12 hour road trip would go, but we broke it up into 2 days on the way there and on the way back. Our trip went amazingly well. Traveling with an infant was so easy and I would encourage anyone to do it. Ever since we got pregnant, we've always said we would not be the kind of parents that stopped living because we had a baby. Yes, we've adjusted some of our schedule, but for the most part we still do everything that we want to do.

10 Weeks: This week little man had 2 play dates with his friends. It's so great having so many friends from our church group and from school who have recently had babies. We love our mommy play dates! Little man also took his first vacation to Colorado, met the Brunner side of the family, spent time with great gandma and grandpa, and has been "talking" up a storm! 

Activity: Dayton seems to be almost done with his grunting. Now we get lots of smiles, cooing, and sweet little noises. I adore it. He still prefers to be sitting up and looking around than laying in someone's arms. He's such an active little guy!

Size:  14 lb 11 oz.   |   size 0-3 month clothing   |   size 2 diapers

Bloopers: This week, the hubs helped me take the pictures of Dayton. It was so much easier that way!

 Please notice in picture #3...his finger. Haha bless.

Baby Love:

Top: new baby jogger! thank you hubby!!  |  healthy zucchini bread  |  Iowa sunset

Middle: cutie pie  |  Uncle Charles  |  that finger!

Bottom:  lunch with Daddy  |  early driving  |  sleepy

Postpartum Body

Here's the deal, I went back and forth about writing this post. Obviously, I decided to go ahead with it for a few reasons. 1) This is my blog. I plan to write about whatever I want to write about. This is my/our journey. 2) Several people have asked me about what I have done to lose my baby weight. 3) Health and fitness are things I love and am really passionate about.

That being said, I also feel the need to say this - if you don't want to hear me talk about going to the gym, working out, eating clean, and living a healthy lifestyle... don't read my blog. Simple as that. No hard feelings. Whatever the reason, apparently some people don't like to hear me talk about going to the gym?? Sorry. I've made it no secret that health and fitness are a huge part of my life. It's something that both the hubs and I love. That's why I talk about it. I/we love it. It's our lifestyle - our thing. I am just another person, trying to live a healthy lifestyle. Now, onto this post...

Hi. I gained about 35 pounds during my pregnancy - not too terrible. Pre-prego, I was in the gym 6 days a week lifting weights, running about 3-4 miles 4-5 nights a week and up to 10 miles on my Saturday morning run, and eating clean 90% of the time. When we were trying to get pregnant, my Doc told me that I would have to dial back the fitness and gain some body fat. Ugh, that went against everything I am, but having a baby was way more important - obviously.

So, why am I writing this post? I'm writing this because everyone struggles with losing baby weight. Even self-proclaimed fitness freaks. Has it and is it easy? Um, no. I struggle with it, just like everyone else. I get frustrated, upset, impatient, and I'm not confident about my body right now. Human. This is my journey from pregnancy to postpartum.

During my pregnancy, I walked during the first 14 weeks. I ate healthy, but some days I just got down what I could. Once we knew everything was safe for baby, I went back to working out in the gym. I had lost a lot of my strength since I didn't work out from early July to mid-November. My 2nd trimester was all about gaining back some muscle and strength. It was hard at first. I was nervous about having a miscarriage, but I was reassured by my doctors. My 3rd trimester, I felt great. I was lifting heavier than I was before I got pregnant, I was still running, and I didn't have to modify too much of my workout routines. I didn't have back pain, I had a good amount of energy, and I didn't swell. I really felt good and enjoyed my pregnancy. I would encourage any and everyone to continue to stay active during their pregnancy. I really believe this helped me enjoy every minute of being pregnant.

I knew from the very beginning that losing the baby weight was going to be a mental struggle for me. I knew I would want to lose it and lose it fast...but I couldn't because that would end my milk supply. Breastfeeding is a decision we made together. Not breastfeeding wasn't an option in our minds (unless it didn't work or something went wrong). I was and still am determined to breastfeed exclusively for a minimum of 10 months. Hopefully, we can get to a year. We shall see!

Since I had a c-section, I wasn't aloud to do anything or lift any weight for 4-6 weeks. Eeek. I'm an active person so I just about went nuts with that news. I started taking walks when Dayton was 5 days old. I had to get out of the house and move! So that's what I did for the first 3-4 weeks.Then I added in running (slowly). By week 5 I was back in the gym. I took it easy the first 2 weeks while I was lifting weights to see how it would affect my supply and my incision. I was eating clean, but made sure to keep my calories up with healthy and nutritional foods. So far, so good.

By week 8, I was working out at my normal pace. Lifting heavier weights for 30-45 minutes and finishing with 30 minutes of cardio (running, elliptical, stair stepper, etc.). So far, everything is going really well. My milk supply has not been affected at all. In fact, I'm still having to pump out excess milk (whew!!). I have gained more of my strength back and can lift heavier than before, I am able to run 3-4 miles at a good pace, and I have about 10 more pounds that I would like to lose. So, I still have work to do.

Honestly, through it all...it's been hard for me. I'm not used to having to really work to lose weight. It's a mental struggle. I've always been athletic and have been able to maintain an athletic looking body. So, not looking toned and strong has been hard for me. I struggle with body image every day. I know, I know... I shouldn't, but I do. That's my reality right now. I want my body back, but breastfeeding is more important. Like I said, I'm just another person trying to be healthy who struggles with losing that baby weight. Dear fat, Get off my body. Please and thank you.

I do feel good about the progress that I have made and I have a really supportive and loving husband. I also know that I'm way too hard on myself and this is a journey that will take time. A slower journey than I would like it to be, but that's okay. Every day I get to snuggle my sweet little baby boy. He makes all that extra fat worth it.

So here's a break down of what I've done so far:

• Week 5 postpartum, I stuck with the LiveFit trainer program-phase 2 (here)
• This is the workout program that I did throughout the 2nd and 3rd trimester.
• Jamie Eason is my hero.
• Week 7 postpartum, I started the program "Short Cut to Shred" (here)
• This is a 6 week program that utilizes HiiT training. So far, I love it!
• For the interval training I run, use the elliptical, stair stepper, kettle bell, etc.
• Clean Eating: I eat clean 80% of the time and allow 20% of my meals to be cheat meals. A trypical day looks like this:
• breakfast - 2 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 3/4 cup of oatmeal with organic milk
• snack - 1 cup fresh fruit, greek yogurt or a protein shake
• lunch - 6 oz. lean meat (ground turkey or chicken breast), 1/2 whole grain, 2 cups green veggies (usually a salad)
• snack - protein shake or fresh fruit, organic granola bar
• dinner - 6 oz. lean meat, 1/2 cup whole grain, and 2 cups green veggies
• snack 
• Weekends are our cheat meals. I make healthy-ish decisions with my cheat meals, but enjoy the "naughty" foods that I want or crave without guilt. Cheat meals are actually good for your metabolism as long as you don't go way overboard.

Hope this helps those of you have asked about my workout routines and clean eating! I know this journey will continue for a while, but I'm happy to be open and honest about it.

These Moments

"These are the moments I thank God that I'm alive.
These are the moments I'll remember all my life."

(Sara Evans)

 

Thanks to my hubby who snapped this picture on a Saturday morning. I know it's blurry, but I think it makes it that much more sweet.

Dayton ~ 10 Weeks

It surprising to me how much they can change in just a week. Little man is cooing and talking to us more and more. His grunting and squeaking is less, but luckily those sweet baby noises are still there. I need to get them on video before he stops! However, I do love it when he looks at me, talks to me, and gives me those precious smiles! Melts me.

10 Weeks: This week we had a great play date with several friends (kiddos were everywhere!), went to the pool, played outside, spent time with Grandma and Grandpa Bishop, celebrated Father's Day, and survived our first tornado watch. Dayton hates tornadoes as much as I do. While we were in the basement, he was super fussy and I had to nurse him (extra) to calm him down. Poor guy. He probably felt my anxiety!

Activity: Sleep. It's a beautiful thing. Dayton is sleeping through the night consistently now. He is sleeping 7 to 8 hours at night. Yay! Little man is sleeping less during the day, holding his head up well during tummy time, trying to roll his legs over, and still wants to sit up.

Something new this week...teething! Yep, my little sweet baby is teething. He is drooling, feels hot but has no fever, is fussy and clingy, is having trouble eating (pulling off and crying), and loves to chew on anything he can get his mouth on - especially Sophie. Bless Sophie.

Size:  14 lb 3 oz.   |   size 0-3 month clothing   |   size 2 diapers

Bloopers: He was a pretty happy baby the whole time we were taking pictures. Now...if I could just get him to look at me more... ;0) And those eyes in the last one - whoa! Haha.

Baby Love:

Top: smile  |  play time  |  Daddy snuck a picture

Middle: Grandpa Bishop  |  3 generations of Bishop men  |  Father's Day

Bottom: sweetness  |  stud  |  this is how we feel about teething - the fun has just begun!

Father's Day Weekend

His 1st Father's Day. Precious. This year has been really exciting for us in the parenting realm. New baby, new holidays to celebrate, new memories to cherish - love.

We kept Father's Day weekend fairly low key, which is exactly what the hubs asked for. On Friday, the rents drove up from the QC's to spend the night with us. Saturday morning we were all up pretty early to work on our landscape project. You see, last year we didn't get our sod laid until the end of June. The backyard fence went in the end of July and with the start of the school year, weekend trips, and finding out we were prego our landscape project got put on hold.

So this weekend, we started back up our plans for landscaping! We had planned to build a stone/brick wall in the front of the house as well as get some plants and tress put in. This weekend, we built our wall! Brad's dad had experience building a wall, so it was so nice to have the help.

The base of the wall took the longest!

The finished wall! Now we just need our plants.

After we got done with the wall, we cleaned up and all of us headed down to CR to meet Beth and Gene for a Grandpa's/Father's Day dinner. We ate at the newly opened Cheddar's. It was pretty good!

Grandpa and Grandma Bishop with Dayton

3 generations of Bishop men

I asked the hubs what he wanted to do on Sunday for his first Father's Day...his response? "Nothing." I think he was a little worn out from the previous day! We went to church, had lunch, had some friends come over to visit Dayton, ran some errands, went to the gym, and stopped by a friends house. That night I made chicken nachos - per his request - and we watched his new favorite movie, Lone Survivor. For Father's Day, I got him a beer glass with his Fatherhood establishment date (see example below), a canvas of him and Dayton, and he is in the process of picking out a Daddy ring. The Mommy/Daddy rings and the canvases were our gifts to each other and for ourselves! I'd say it was a pretty great 1st Father's Day.

Canvases and the hubs Daddy beer glass (obviously with different dates!)

To My Husband

Dear Hubby,

Happy 1st Father's Day! One of my favorite things about having a baby, has been watching you become a Daddy. I fall in love with you more and more each day as I watch you be a Dad. Dayton and I are incredibly blessed to have you in our lives. Being a parent is an incredibly huge role that we now have been entrusted with, but being a Dad might be the most important, hardest, and best role that any man will have. I know that you take your role as a Dad seriously and that you will pour your heart and soul into it. Thankfully, you are a godly man and I am comforted in the knowledge that you seek God's face daily. I could not have found a better husband and Dad for our little family. God gave me you.

I want you to know that Dayton and I both love you with all of our hearts. Some day, Dayton will know how much you love him and will appreciate having you as an example of what a man is. You are the hardest working man I have ever met. You are kind, loving, devoted, patient, and are the kind of leader that makes it easy to follow. I respect you and everything you do. You are my rock and the love of my life. I'm glad that you're my baby Daddy.

I look forward to helping you celebrate Father's Days for the rest of our lives. I can't wait to watch our little man grow up and watch you teach him how to play football, build things, hunt, fish, workout, work on the cars, learn, and follow Jesus. Always know that I am praying for you, that I support you, and that even through our mistakes you are perfectly equipped for this role. I can't wait to watch you be a Daddy. God is so good to us and I know that He will guide us through this crazy new role in our lives.

We love you!

Smiles!

My favorite part of the day? These smiles. Melts my heart.

Little man has been really interactive lately. We spend a lot of time "talking" to him. He coos back at us and gives us the sweetest faces and smiles! He is just so cute! Especially since he's such a chunk. Love.

Dayton ~ 9 Weeks

Our little bug is growing and changing so fast. Since we've hit 2 months, I've decided to take the weekly photos, but won't be writing the extensive weekly updates. I will definitely write monthly updates though! Time is flying by!! I keep forgetting that it's already June. Ah!

9 Weeks: This week we went to the pool with friends, met a bunch of our mommy friends and kiddos for a play date, went to the gym daycare for the first time (and slept the whole time), and got our new play yard in the mail!

Activity: Little man is a very wiggly and active baby.  He's looking into our eyes more, cooing in response to us talking to him, gripping onto things very tightly, smiling more, holding his head up during tummy time, trying to sit up for longer periods of time, and sleeping through the night consistently (woohoo!).

Size:  13 lb 7 oz.   |   size 0-3 month clothing   |   size 2 diapers

Bloopers: He's just so darn cute! All of his little faces just crack me up.

Baby Love:

Top: "When God made me He said, Ta-Da!"  |  working on bein' a #fitmomma  |  chunky baby

Middle: 2 month old shots  |  guard dog Belle  |  running buddy

Bottom:  sleepy man  |  watermelon obsession  |  playing with daddy

Dayton ~ 2 Months

We have a 2 month old. I knew people were right when they said the time would fly by, but I never thought it would fly by this fast. Some days I look at him and feel like he was just born...but then I pick him up and realize that my baby is not a newborn anymore. He has grown so fast! We've had a few babies born recently in the neighborhood and in our church group. Day looks huge compared to them and he's only weeks older than them. People used to look at Dayton and say, "I forgot how small they are!" Now I'm that person that looks at the new babies and says, "I can't believe he used to be that small!" Time. is. flying.

As I think back on the 2 months that our lil' bit has been with us, I can't imagine what life would be like without him. I always wanted to be a momma and now that I am, I feel like I'm finally doing what I'm supposed to be doing. God instilled such a desire in me to be a momma and have a family that some moments it's overwhelming that that time is finally here. I love that little man more than I would ever be able to describe. I could spend every second of every day with him. He's my whole world. Just to see him look up at me and know I'm his momma - makes my day. I love you to the moon and back bug!

Our life with a baby has pretty much settled into a steady routine. Everything is pretty easy and I have absolutely nothing to complain about -  not that I would. I wouldn't change a thing. Dayton has adjusted to his his schedule very well and has just fallen right into it. He eats, sleeps, and plays well and is such a content and happy baby. He loves to look at momma and daddy and coo or make noises. He's pretty active and wiggly with all of his kicks, punches, and wobbly head. This little man is pretty stubborn though. He insists on sitting up...or at least trying to for as long as he can. I used to be able to prop him up on a boppy, but now he wants to sit up. He's doing great with tummy time, is starting to put his leg over the other to roll over, and sits in his bumbo. Every day is sweeter and we are enjoying every second of watching out baby grow.

Happy 2 Months Dayton. Mommy and Daddy love you!!

2 Month Update:

Dr. Appointment: The dreaded 2 month appointment. Although we were excited to go to Day's appointment to see how much he has grown, I was really dreading the shots. The nurse brought us back to the room and talked to us, took some measurements, and discussed the shots. Dr. C came in next and talked to us for a while. He's such a great pediatrician! He said everything looked great on Dayton and told us, "You're doing a great job. Keep it up!" It's just nice to hear.

Then came the shots. The nurse had me hold Dayton's hands and talk to him while he got his shots. We laid him on the table and I held his hands and kissed his little cheeks. The first and second shot went fast, but when the nurse pulled the 2nd needle out, blood came shooting out. We had to move him so it wouldn't get all over him and the nurse quickly put gauze over it and cleaned up the blood. Poor little baby. Then he got his 3rd shot. At this point, he was screaming uncontrollably. I picked him up and it took a while to calm him down. He finally cried himself to sleep and at this point, I was almost in tears. I know he'll forget it immediately, but it broke my heart to see my baby crying in pain. Shots are hard...on everyone.

Overall, the appointment went well. Next time we see Dr. C. Day will be 4 months old. Yikes! After the appointment, Day had a rough afternoon. He was pretty fussy, although he was also sleepy. He slept on me most of the afternoon and woke up crying pretty hard every time. Poor little guy had a low grade fever that night and woke up at 3:30 am. The next day we wasn't himself again in the morning, but by afternoon he seemed to be doing better.

laying on momma   |   band aids for the booboos

Size: 13 lb. 6 oz. (74% weight percentile)  |   22.25" long (16% height percentile)   |   156 bpm   |
   39.5 cm head circumference 

Hair: Dark brown - A ton of his hair has fallen out on the top, sides, and back. However, there are small baby hairs growing in on the top of his head. He has a few bald spots, but the hair at the bottom back of his head is all still there!

Eyes: Dark brown.

Teeth: None

Food: Day is a big eater - still. Right now his eating schedule is: wake up between 4-5 am, 8:30, 11, 1:30 pm, 4, 6:30, and a pumped bottle at 9 pm. Dayton eats 4-5 oz. at each feeding. Nursing is going great! The hubs gives Dayton his bottle at night and every now and then he gives him a pumped bottle in the morning while I am at the gym.

Sleep: Dayton is still sleeping quite a bit! After every feeding, he sleeps about 1-1 1/2 hours. After his 1:30 pm feeding, he usually sleeps for 2 hours. As of last week, Day is now sleeping through the night on a consistent basis! 7 solid hours of sleep each night. Yay!

Clothes:  Dayton wears size 0-3 month clothes, a few 3 month clothes, and wears a size 2 in diapers.

Words: None. Just lots of cooing, grunting, and squeaking. He makes the sweetest noises.

Development/Activity: Dayton is very alert when he is awake. He looks into our eyes, follows our movements, and copies faces that we make. Dayton is even giving us smiles! love love love them! He's smiling enough that I can capture quite a few of them (mostly on my phone). Dayton is getting about 5-10 minutes of tummy time each day. He is getting really good at picking his head up, moving it from side to side, and pulling his legs under him. Dayton is also starting to pull his leg over the other in an attempt to roll over. He still gets stuck on his shoulder, which is fine by me! Dayton also really wants to sit up. He likes sitting up in our laps, sitting up in his bouncer, sitting in his bumbo, and sitting up on the couch. He is much less content laying down. 

Temperament: Day is such an easy baby. He is happy 95% of the time. After some tummy time, he does get frustrated and wants to be comforted. Most of the day is pretty happy around here. He really isn't a fussy baby!

Likes:  Dayton loves to play with daddy, cuddle with momma, watch the pups, swing, go for walks/runs. ride in the car, and he likes to be held propped up on a shoulder. Recently, Dayton has liked to be in his baby carrier. I have loved being able to tote him around strapped to me. Nice and comfy for us both!

Dislikes: There aren't too many dislikes. He's not a huge fan of his binky (totally fine with that), he let's us swaddle his arms again, and he definitely lets us know when he's tired of the position he's in. 

Small Moments: Nursing. I am very surprised at how much I love nursing. I didn't understand the bond that it creates. I always knew I was going to do my best to nurse as long as possible. I've had a great experience with it and am incredibly thankful for that. There is nothing about it that I dislike. Even pumping has been fine. I look forward to each feeding because I get to provide for my baby. I get to hold him. I get to giggle at his little faces. I get to have that special bond with him. He's all mine during those times. I adore it.

He's growing so fast! Look at those chunky legs. Love. And just for fun...

Stubborn Boy

This kid. He is 2 months old and already stubborn - in a good way! He isn't happy to just lay in his boppy anymore. He wants to sit up like a big boy. He's getting really strong and he's getting really good at holding his head up! I hope this isn't an indication that he'll be rolling over, crawling, or walking early! Of course, if he's an over achiever like his Daddy...

Yes, that is my son. Sitting in his bumbo. At 2 months old. Unassisted. For a minimum of 10 minutes. Oh boy.