Noelle: The Little Mommy

Here is a Celebration of Natalie's First Three Years.. Enjoy!

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Happy Birthday Natalie Sage!

Today my little baby is three. Ok, so she is not my "littlest" baby but she will always be the one with the biggest blue eyes that stared up at me through all those long nights after she was born. She will always be my chatterbox child who didn't really care for walking until 15 months old but could say 20 words by 12 months and could count to ten by 17 months. She will always be my little independent free spirit child who veers off on her own during playgroups and finds every leaf and every bug. Now my little girl seems to be taking big girl steps instead of baby steps and I fear before I even look up, she is going to be packing her bags for college. Today was a day of pink and red cupcakes (just what the birthday girl ordered)and tissue paper (seemingly her favorite present of all). Tonight as I lay her down in her bed, I asked her how it felt to be three. She grinned broadly and exclaimed "It's good!"

My New Love Affair with Being Healthy

So I can't contain it any longer.. I need to proclaim my love for thedailyplate.com! It is a free calorie counter site where you put in all your stats and it basically tells you how many calories you can eat that day in order to either gain, maintain, or lose weight. I have lost 25 pounds since July and I didn't even think I was anything but normal. I am stoked now! I feel so much better about myself and really have the confidence with my body looking the way I always wanted it to look. Why do I feel like I am part of an info-mercial? Anyway, I have started running on the treadmill at the gym and I am going way faster than I ever did before. I also feel like I can have a day or two off and go right back to it without much guilt at all. It is like a video game where as long as you follow the rules, you win! Chris has now been on it too and also has had quite a bit of success with it and many other friends/ family as well! I think I have realized that what I thought was a normal portion size was actually quite large. I also realized that I was eating the wrong foods (think white enriched flour instead of whole wheat and sugar junk instead of fruits and veggies). I now have a philosophy based on "You on a Diet" and modified so I can graze basically all day long on smaller meals so I don't have to kill someone in a starved rage. Anyway, it is great to finally feel like I look good. Thank you thedailyplate.com!!! P.S. From one snacker to another, those mini kettlecorn popcorn bags that are 100 calories are seriously the greatest thing since sliced bread (which, especially if it is enriched flour, has ended up not being such a great thing after all!)