Wanted: Pug to wear wig for Halloween every year for the rest of his or her life.

I bought this wig at Target (where else) on clearance for like a dollar or something a couple of days after Halloween last year. I couldn't resist. The package had a picture of a pug wearing a bleach blonde Marilyn Monroe wig. I thought maybe by next year we'd finally have that pug I've always wanted but instead we have another baby. You're welcome, Clara. Your dad and I will start saving for therapy now.


I know I haven't posted in a couple of days. I suppose I was waiting to see the results of Clara's reaction to my dairy free diet....or because I have had McDonald's three times since my last blog. It's okay, I asked them to hold he cheese on all my burgers :/


I don't even like McDonald's really but the one a couple blocks from my house was completely bulldozed and rebuilt. And it looks cool. Like really, really cool. And they happened to have Big Macs on special for $1 for their grand reopening. Whoops. I don't. want. to talk about it.

On Thursday morning I didn't eat a single thing until I went to HyVee to pick up some almond and soy milk along with some vegan butter and dairy free sour cream substitute. Of course at the check out, the cashier reminds me that all of their health food items (i.e. everything in my cart) is 20% off every Wednesday. Awesome. Thank you. Even if it had been Tuesday I would have considered holding off. But a whole week? No. I had to start my dairy free regimen and so far I have stuck to it fairly well. I suppose I have had a little bit of chocolate here and there (Emily and I baked cookies and Oreo truffles with the toddlers today...pictures to follow...) and the other night at happy hour I was dipping my bbq wings in ranch. I considered asking if their ranch was like a sour cream base or more of a mayo base but when I thought about it I decided I'd rather not know.




Have I seen a difference in Clara since going mostly dairy free? Yes and no. She's still fussing quite a bit but now we are all in the thick of a nasty throat/cough in our house. I bought some echinacea tea and some tea that said "throat soother" today and when I got them both home the throat soothing stuff warned that it is not for pregnant women or those who are nursing. I am glad I read that label because I never would have thought that I would have to be selective about my teas while nursing. I then proceeded to Google echinacea and make sure that is safe and all I concluded was the same old, same old, "check with your doctor. It should be safe in moderation. Blah, blah blah blah blah....". I swear that is all I ever come up with when researching these things.


My friend Katie is a dietician and she did some searching for me (thank you, again, Katie!!) and she brought up many great points. One of which was to keep a food diary. That really was my intent with my blog but I felt a bit narcissistic thinking people would be interested in reading my;

Breakfast -
Banana
3 scrambled eggs (scrambled with almond milk)
1 piece whole wheat toast (with "vegan buttery stick spread")


Lunch -
Vegetable sandwich on whole wheat with roasted red peppers, onion, portabella mushrooms, zucchini, spinach, banana peppers, mayo....


Yawn. I'm bored just typing it but really that was my Thursday. So I write it down as I go and enter it all in to MyPlate calorie counter on Livestrong.com. After seeing the nutrition facts of a Big Mac, though, I haven't put it what I've eaten since. Because it was more quarter pounders without cheese. Whoops.


So, seriously, November 1st is about a week away. I need to get serious. Time to drop some weight. I guess feeling discouraged makes it hard to keep trying. My mood today? A bit unmotivated. My grade? F.