Chocolate milk has Iron

I am so glad that I got the sequencing cards. I let Hyrum choose the stories today and we only got to three of the 5 or 6 I had him choose.


The first story is of a boy going to bed with three different cards. The first card shows the sun in the window and the boy sitting on his mother's lap while she reads a story to him. The second card shows the mother tucking him into bed, kissing him on the head and added nice loving things she is saying. The last one shows the boy asleep in his bed with the moon in the window. I tell him the story and give him each card as I tell the story for him to look at and put on the floor in front of him.

After I told the story two times, Hyrum jumped up and ran for his bedroom saying, "Blue blanket". He came back with the blanket and laid down on the floor with the blanket over him. I figured out that he wanted the story told again and so we played the go to sleep game several times. When he had only slightly satiated on that game, I went on the to the camping story that he wanted next.

The last picture in the camping story is about sleeping, so I showed him that first. Then while he was laying under his blanket, I showed him the picture of the boy putting up his tent. Next, the boy and his daddy making food at the fire and then the boy sleeping in his tent. In an effort to play this story up. I took a star blanket that we keep in the living room and put it over the back of two chairs, saying "tent" and showing him the first picture. He was still laying down but looking at me with interest. he wasn't far from the tent, so I just tugged him a little closer so that he was under the tent. He did not like that idea and pointing to the blanket tent, said "no blanket". I took it down.

The third and last sequence story was even more successful or just as interesting to him as the first one. This story has 4 pictures. The first picture is of a clear glass and milk being poured into it. Then there is a chocolate sauce contain behind it with part of the milk chocolate and part white and a spoon is starting to stir. Next the milk is all chocolate with the spoon on in front. The last picture has an empty glass with remains of chocolate in it. I told him the story, then I realized that we had chocolate sauce and could actually make it. We did and Hyrum drank it and said again. We did it three times until he couldn't drink anymore. hehehe.

I was really happy to realize that though milk has no iron, chocolate sauce has 9%. Maybe it is a way to get iron into him besides the vitamin that I have been forgetting.

And it is ... GONE

"I never would have believed I could lose weight so fast!"

That testimonial from Joy reflects our delight with the South Beach Diet. Today, very officially, Joy is below the weight she was the first time she went in to her OBGYN pregnant. She is at her pre-pregnancy weight!

"I was starting to feel that I was never going to lose the weight, like it was a permanent part of who I am."

This is a thought I know all too well. My ambition in life was to hold the line and be happy remaining there. I was thrilled to finally get below 10 pounds for every year I was old because I got older (I've been tracking that more or less since I was 5 years and 50 pounds).

"Wow. That's crazy, Derrill. Glad we broke the cycle."

Since early June, Joy has lost almost 15 pounds. That was after a largely ineffectual and very painful first two weeks when her metabolism, taste buds, and carb cravings really did reset as the book claimed. "But it took almost two whole weeks to do it." She's been dropping about 2 pounds a week on average.

Since early May, Derrill has lost 25 pounds, after a gloriously successful first two weeks of 10 pounds. So I've also been dropping almost 2 pounds a week since the diet phase.

We've been asked a number of times if we're still "on a diet." We're on a lifestyle, yes. We can't eat everything we might like indiscriminately. We have a theory you don't either. "But we have taken a couple of days off the diet," which is even approved and encouraged to keep your sanity up. The guy just encouraged people to know what constitutes breaking and how to get back on your lifestyle.

"We've enjoyed finding desserts that work with the diet" - pound cake, cheesecake, sweetened riccotta cheese (which is the filling for cannolies), pudding, peanut M&Ms, Snickers. It's been easier to get our fruits and vegetables in every day and we're actually fairly glad to eat less meat than we were doing for our nutritionist the last two years.

The real change is carbs. We have a little whole wheat bread, pita pizza, or pasta each day and really enjoy it. "My OBGYN suggested I go down to 1 grain a day when I was pregnant with Hy and I thought he was insane. But because of his suggestion, I figured that this diet would be healthy even some day when I get pregnant again." We've discovered that we don't really need a bunch of grains to fill up, while before the mashed potatoes and rice were a large part of what made the meal feel filling. "We find ways to work in our favorite foods so that it can be a lifestyle. We found your taste buds really change when you go to only one grain a day. Our fruits taste sweeter, our breads taste sweeter, and Joy - have a cow - likes dark chocolate!"

While in DC, I went off the lifestyle for a couple days since it would have been very difficult to follow and enjoyed a small pizza as well as the sandwiches they were giving me. Then I got back on track, and I've lost what I gained as a result. "I think your family is going to notice a real difference when they get here in two weeks. 25 pounds."

"When we read people's success stories in the book, we were like, 'yeah, right, whatever. No craving for carbs??' But I had misunderstood the word 'craving.' It means painfully in need of, like being addicted." Joy and I had very different experiences in those first two weeks, which is why I didn't think it made much difference. I just wasn't as addicted, probably thanks to earlier summers with Mr. Atkins. "I still like my breads. I often still think of them first. But I don't feel like I'm going to die because I don't eat them for every meal. I feel I can eat as much of the good food I want - guilt free - and not have to go hungry, and the breads are just a nice addition."

There is a third phase to the diet where we get to add a bit more grain to something closer resembling normal, but we'll get there once we've reached our ideal weights.

So we are rapidly becoming South Beach converts. It's been kind of fun as we were doing it to discover who else in the branch is converted. Who would've imagined this was even possible?? "Now is the day of our weight loss. We shall rejoice and be glad therein."

(PS - Derrill would encourage all the silent ladies who read this blog for Hyrum to pretend this is a woman's blog and actually make comments congratulating Joy. I have this theory I get fewer comments than my fellow blogging spouses because I'm a guy.)

Mother's Day

I had the most Perfect Mother's day ever. So, this blog is really a tribute to my wonderful Husband, Derrill!

It all started on Saturday morning. We had stayed up late to listen to the Dogders loose against the Giants. It was a really fun game to enjoy together, but we had planned that Derrill would be getting Hyrum in the morning. So I slept in on both Saturday and Sunday, because of my wonderful Derrill. This was really a sacrifice for him physically, since we were up past 1:30 am. Then he made crepes for me (my current favorite breakfast), and let me exercise and shower before sending me off to the temple. Derrill then took care of Hyrum all day after having taken care of him in the morning. Derrill usually helps a lot on the weekends, but he even told me when I got home that he realized that what he usually does is help with Hyrum on the weekends and he had felt before he was taking care of him on weekends by himself.

I only explain the last part, because part of him mother's day gift to me that was very sweet was his added understanding of how much work taking care of Hyrum is. Understanding and compassion beat gifts any day. I got home from a wonderful temple session at 5:30 and had some great time with my family, because I had missed them. A gift that Derrill did not plan on giving me that day was that he told me that I was a good cook. It was a conversation that was inspired by some comments of a friend who wasn't feeling like a good cook. It kindof hit me in this moment that Derrill really likes all of the foods that I make him that he had growing up and that I have been very blessed (partly because he is not picky) to be able to feel that I cook as well as anyone has for him. It really made my day. He also gave me a small plant with cute pink flowers called Azealia. He was so on my wave length. He has never gotten me potted fowlers that we not daffodills and I was secretly hoping for potted flowers of some kind. What a guy!

Sunday, Derrill got up with Hyrum again (as I said before) and made me breakfast in bed with a divine chocolate muffin, grapes and crepes with a fancy banana sauce. I appreciated the extra sleep and the special treatment. My Derrill is so kind (then on top of all of that he was concerned the mothers day had not been good enough). After church Derrill and Hyrum presented me with cards and gifts, one each. The card from Hyrum has been a source of entertainment. On the front it says. "And now, PLEASE RISE for the National Mother's Day Anthem..." Then you open the card and it begins to sing "I will survive, oh as long as I know how to love I know I'll be alive. I've got all my life to live, I've got all my love to give. I'll survive" The picture inside is of maham and pandamoniam with a cat chasing a dog, mom pulling out her hair, dad panicing with a screaming babe in arms looking at a young child happily roasting marshmellows on the living room floor. Laudry, hand prints, other wall graffiti, cracks on walls, overturned flowers, paint and it says "Happy Mother's day". "Thank you for your patience, mom. Hy (of course written by Derrill)"

Well, the card was funny enough just the way it is, but for most of the rest of the day Hyrum also sported the card as he tottled around the house. He made sure to make the card sing everyonce in a while, he was cute figuring it out. The gift that came with Hyrum's card where some delicious milk chocolate covered cashews. Derrill's card was a sweet card telling me a list of 25 reasons why we are perfect for each other. His gift to me is a pair of earings that he has ordered, but was not able to give them to me yet. I opened a wrapped jewelery box with a not letting me know about the delayed gift. It was a really great day. I was some kind of royalty for mother's day ;)

At church I conducted the congregational hymns which is always fun for me and we had a lot of visitors for the Law commencement (people are leaving soon, wawah). We also had two musical numbers. The branch choir sang For the Beauty of the Earth. I sang with Caroline and our new branch president's wife As Sisters in Zion. It was a last minute thing planned at the Cinco de Mayo branch party. I was sittting with Sister Horrocks and she said that she had wanted As Sisters in Zion to be a musical number, that is how it ended up in the program as the closing number. I told her that it was still possible, and we could go back to the previous hymn chosen for the closing. She asked me who would sing it. I said that she and I could and we recruited Caroline as well. Before the Branch party was over. We practiced the Hymn once or twice with Caroline doing Alto and us on Soprano and Ben playing the piano and were to practice just once more before church. All went well, what a blessing.