ahhhh-kay

every night I call and talk to mimi and I put her on speakerphone so I can let graham hear her voice. so saturday while it was rainy and yucky, I made several calls to mimi because...well....because quite frankly, we were pretty darn bored. we had outplayed ourselves on the floor, in the jumparoo, in his walker, in his excersaucer, on the bed...we had played with everything that we have for Graham to play with...so on one of the SEVERAL calls to Mimi, she was talking to Graham and telling him how excited she is to see him this coming weekend and she can't wait to take him out on the boat and take him fishing...and she said (in her broken English that we all just absolutely love...the way my mom talks...it just makes my mom, my mom), "Graham, you be good this week and I see you this weekend." and as if he REALLY DID UNDERSTAND WHAT SHE WAS SAYING, he responded right back, "ahhhh-kay." Mom and I both heard it and I about did a back flip off of our couch. It was the cutest thing in the world. I really do think he was seriously talking back to his Mimi. :)

This little boy talks all of the time. Honestly, I don't know where he got this from...I CAN be a talker if I want to be but for the most part, I am pretty quiet...and Chad is the exact same way. graham likes to say "ka" a lot. that's his favorite. So we "ka" like birds...a lot. ka ka ka...ka ka ka...

he is now sitting up on his own without having to hold himself up with his arms...and then I see his chubby lil legs turn purple and it really freaks me out. does this happen to anyone else's kiddos??

Graham is also starting to rock back and forth on his knees so I guess this means he is going to start crawling soon. He already rolls everywhere he needs to go...he also likes to spin himself in circles while he is on his belly. silly boy.

So, this morning was Day 1 of the 42 Day Challenge and so far so good. Woke up (well, didn't really WAKE up since I pretty much stayed up all night and I guess it was from anxiety about today so let's say that I GOT OUT OF BED) at 5am and did 30 minutes on the elliptical and a few arm exercises. This evening Chad and I will do the rest of our strength training. I've already had three bottles of water and I am getting a great workout just from walking to and from the bathroom.

For breakfast I had a bowl of Kashi GoLean Crunch (an awesome cereal if you don't like yours to be soggy).

For Lunch, I had a small salad.

My snacks for later on will be grapes, fat free yogurt, and a plum.

For dinner, I am cooking a YUMMMMMYYYYY Chicken Gumbo Soup...it's low fat and super good. I got it off of Baptist Health's website. It's one of our faves and SUPER EASY to make...

Chicken Gumbo Soup

Ingredients:
1 lb Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast, Diced

3 cups Reduced-Sodium, Reduced-Fat Chicken Broth

3 cups Water

1 cup Chopped Onion

1 clove Minced Garlic

1 tsp Salt

½ tsp Pepper

1 Bay Leaf

1/8 tsp Sage

¼ tsp Red Pepper Flakes

¼ tsp Thyme

1 cup Chopped Fresh Tomatoes

1 cup Corn Kernels, Frozen or Fresh

1 cup Okra, Frozen or Fresh

2 Tbsp Canola Oil

¼ cup Whole Wheat Flour

2 cups Cooked Brown Rice

Directions:

Place chicken in a large stockpot with 1 cup broth and bring to a boil. Add additional broth, water, onion, garlic and seasonings and simmer for 20 minutes. Add tomatoes, corn and okra and simmer for 15 minutes. In a separate pan, heat oil, add flour, and whisk until the mixture is golden brown and bubbly. Add 1 cup of the soup broth to the flour mixture and whisk until smooth. Add mixture back to the soup pot and whisk until dissolved. Simmer 30 minutes. Stir in rice the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

NUTRITION PER SERVING

Calories 271, Fat 7g, Saturated Fat 1g, Cholesterol 44mg, Sodium 480mg, Fiber 4g