Thanksgiving, Christmas

Thanksgiving is over. I had a great time. I did the Turkey Trot with Merideth. I also made a vegan pumpkin pudding that (not to toot my own horn) was pretty incredible tasting (to me). Mind you, I have not been able to eat dairy or eggs for like 3 months, so anything complicated and sweet tastes great... consider how many things actually contain egg and dairy and tell me you don't feel sorry for me. :'(.

On to Christmas!

Tonight I made some stockings for Jeff and Me. I used some old stockings I think my mom made, and gave to me. I just added some fabric, buttons, and made some modgepodge stockings. Akira and Cloud with both be getting stockings too, I just have to find some more stockings.

I also decorated the house today. I put up 2 wreaths, several santa clauses, garland, flowers, etc. etc. I feel accomplished. I hope no one steals my outdoor wreath I put on the garage. It's pretty beautiful. I'd steal it.

Oh, what's that? You want photos? Well... sorry. I'm too lazy to get photos. Maybe tomorrow. Check my facebook page if you want to see the stockings. They aren't the coolest ever but I feel like they are pretty good for FREE.99!

I'm done with you blog.

Turkey 5K

For Thanksgiving, Merideth and I are going to do the Turkey 5K, sponsered by Thundercloud Subs. I'm not asking for donations, but if you live close by, I think it would be a fun thing to do for all my friends and family in the area!

Christmas Dreams...

I'm a dreamer. That being said, I really enjoy that quality about myself... here's a list of my dream gifts, if I were a millionaire's wife and he could buy me everything I ever wanted... it's more fun in picture form, so enjoy:

this first image is what I would want in my little girl's room. But for now I would let it be Akira's room :). This is the coolest treadmill I've ever seen in my life:

Definitely want Olivia Wilde's closet... and all the clothes in it...

Dream house. Or one like it. I'm not picky.

The Tesla Roadster... droooooool.

Oh Christmas Tree

A Client of mine, who quite possibly surpasses me in the love of all things Christmas, and holiday, and decorating, told me about a great sale going on at Garden Ridge on Christmas stuff... so naturally I went the next day!
I found this beauty, 50% off, normally $150, I got her for a smooth $75!! If you can't tell it's a black, 7-foot pre-lit Christmas tree. I also bought icicles and white and peppermint ornaments.
I also bought some "make it yourself" ornaments, and a bag of feathers. Here's what I came up with after making a cheap looking ornament with gold paint on it (too embarrassing to post a pic). I call it a feathornament. You're jealous you didn't come up with it first. It's ok. Let the jealously flow. Cause I'm not done yet.

Here we have what the tree looks like right now. I still need a topper, plan on taking OFF the mint ornaments (they just cheapen the overall look), and putting those in a bowl as a cute decoration. I'm also considering having each member of the family/friends that plan on being around for Christmas bring their own white or glass ornament to add to the tree if they want to have their own ornament on display. Still working on the topper but I'm considering doing a big white bird on top. I'm loving what's going on... this Christmas, the tree will be SO ME!!! Muahahaha.

I know Thanksgiving has not yet happened. And I was the 1st to get annoyed by people skipping it and going straight to Christmas. But this year, Christmas is at my house, and there is a lot to do. I just want to take care of it while I'm feeling motivated and excited and SCREW THE RULES, I do what I want!!! EEEEEHEHEHEHEHEHE!

Blog out.

Thoughts

I promised photos... so here they are.

Today I saw a very informative/scary video about the effects of sugar and fructose on our bodies and the obesity epidemic... which is now (by the way) even effecting small infants (ie 6 month olds). I posted a link to the video on my personal training blog, if you are interested in watching it. I will warn you it's an hour and a half long, but I think it's worth sticking out to the end.

I've been learning a lot about nutrition and how incredibly badly we eat in America. As the owner of Ambrosia (a local raw/vegan/vegetarian restaurant) put it, we are not eating the American diet, but the Corperate diet of America. We eat what people who are trying to make lots of money want us to eat. There is a science behind why we crave certain foods, usually it's due to addictive ingredients. There is a reason we have a population of obese 6 month old babies. It's not because they aren't getting enough exercise. I really want you guys to watch that video on my other blog. Real bad.

In other news I have also been learning a lot about how to help my future babies. I recently read a study about how a baby that breast feeds, rather than bottle feeds, is a lot more likely to NOT need braces when they are older, because the jaw is formed properly when feeding on a breast rather than a man-made bottle nipple. I also learned that a pre-disposition to obesity can be determined in-utero if you eat high amounts of sugar or fats. The earlier you expose your baby to sugar, the more likely they will be addicted to it and crave it well into adulthood. I now have a really good plan of action for when I have a baby of my own.

Do not mistake this for me judging mothers who don't do what I plan on doing, I think everyone has their own ideas, their own thoeries, and I don't have any right to tell another woman how to be a mother, especially considering I am not one myself. I just wanted to write down my plan, and figured my blog would be a good place to do it.

Caitlin's Motherhood Plan:

1.) Stop drinking Green Tea while trying to conceive and until baby is finished breast feeding (it's known to drain folate stores and can lead to folate deficiency which causes Nueral Tube defects).

2.) Limit sugar intake (now and while pregnant) to fruit, or high fiber foods, and avoid high fructose corn syrup at all costs.

3.) Also avoid foods with MSG, artificial sweeteners (except Stevia and Xylitol), and most processed foods.

4.) Make nutritionally well-planned meals while pregnant to ensure optimum nutrition to baby. I don't want to overeat nor undereat while pregnant.

5.) Breast Feed Only, no bottles - this may come back to bite me... I know it's a difficult thing to do when you're busy and you may need to leave your baby with someone... but if I can do this at least 90% of the time I will be happy.

6.) Teach Babies about Nutrition EARLY so that they don't have to go through withdrawals and addiction-like cravings like I have had to do. I want to give them all the tools to be healthy, productive adults.

7.) New Chapter Pre-Natal Vitamins - I take them now, I plan on taking them a little more religiously when I am actively seeking pregnancy... right now it's more precautionary.

8.) Maintain fitness level before, during, and after pregnancy because a fit pregnancy, is usually a healthy pregnancy, and it's a lot easier to give birth and then recover from birth if you are physically fit.

9.) No Milk unless it's Organic, Hormone-Free Milk... and even then... calcium comes in many forms other than milk.

OK... so far that is all I've got. Now it's saved in my blog so I can look back and see my old plans and expand or detract from this list when the time comes.

Hope all is well for everyone else. As for me, things are good. Work is getting busier, and life is getting happier. I'm loving my new furniture a lot, and I had a great halloween.

Akira is doing better. She hasn't peed in 5 days now. Yes!!! If she can keep this up we won't have to medicate her :).

Our Thanksgiving plans are shady right now. With my sister, April, having her baby on the 22nd, and my Mom moving, we will probably stay in Austin and have Thanksgiving either with some friends or perhaps not at all. Even Christmas isn't looking too hopeful as far as seeing my family, however Jeff and I will probably be hosting Christmas at our house for any family willing to come. I inherited some great christmas decor from my Mom, and will be decorating soon probably. Maybe even tomorrow cause I am such a Christmas Geek! Luckily we have a lot of friends who are like family to us, and we won't be lacking in love or enjoyment of this holiday season.

I will try to blog more often. Until then, Blog Out.

The Furniture Fairy came to visit! oh and Jonny too

Jeff and I flew out a few weeks ago to Colorado to see my brother, Jonathan, and my parents. We had a great trip, and meanwhile my parents managed to sell their house while Jeff and I were on the plane on the way there.

We had a ton of fun, we had a karaoke night, and a birthday party for my Step-Dad. We enjoyed the beautiful Colorado weather and I took several really nice jogs out there. If I could just pack up and move to Colorado, I am pretty sure I wouldn't hesitate, I love it there.

Then we rented a 35 foot rental truck, filled it with my parents furniture, and drove to Lubbock. We had dinner with my Dad and Step-Mom, dropped off Meghan's new loot, and then took off the next morning for Austin. The road trip was nice, and we had lots of (very appreciated) help getting the furniture inside.

My happiness at being home was short-lived when we found what Akira had done to an entire wall in her room. She peed so much she ruined furniture and even some of our engagement photos. I was extremely upset. Luckily this last straw forced me to take action. I called her vet and asked if he would take Akira, because I couldn't do it anymore. I was sick with the thought of it, akin to when we put Muffin down... I could barely eat. Instead, he told me to drop her off and he would see if something else was wrong with her. He told me nothing was wrong and that it had to be behavioral.

At this point I realized I could not give up. Who is going to take on a cat who won't use the litterbox? So I decided to get a behaviorist. I found a woman o the internet who seemed like a good option. However, upon calling her references, I found that she was not a true behaviorist but only a Vet Tech with a little intuition. One of her references was a vet who recommended another vet who takes a great interest in behavioral modification. So I made an appoinment with her, picked up Akira, and took her to the new Vet the next week.

Night and Day are the only words that can describe my experience with the new vet vs. the old vet. This woman had the magic touch. Akira really liked her. She never hissed or growled once. She let the woman handle her, feel her flank, look at her teeth, everything! The vet was patient, had a TON of knowledge on the urination problem, and recommended we eliminate all physical possibilities that may be causing her issue. She also had lots to say about behavioral modification methods we could try should the physical turn out ok.

The tests she wanted to run were going to cost me almost $500, but I was willing to make payments and make it happen. Anything for my baby. 2 hours after I left Akira at the vets, the doctor personally called me and told me she found something. Something my last vet SHOULD have found. Crystals in her urine... the pH of her urine was not on the right level, and basically Akira was peeing razor blades. She told me this was good because it meant she didnt need the blood test ( saving me $200 ). She then did the stool sample and found nothing, which meant that she didn't need to do the specialty test for a parasite she'd had as a kitten (saving me another $150). So basically my new vet is awesome, didn't end up charging me up the backside, and she figured out a possible cause for Akira's litterbox issues.

So the solution to Akira's problem is a change in diet. Easy. Peasy. Lemon. Squeezy.

And she called tonight to see how things are going. Holy crap. Can I ask her to marry me?

Back to my brother's visit...

So my brother came to visit and we had so much fun. I really love my brother a lot. He and I have always enjoyed hanging out, and so of course I had to show him 6th street!!! My next post will have pictures, or you can look them up on my facebook page. We also got to catch up on lots of movies together and enjoyed lots of good laughs and good times.

I'm also enjoying my new furniture. I have just been SO BUSY... I finally have some alone time cause I sent Jeff off to the gym. Hope all is well with all of you.

XOXO

Caitlin