Raising Blessings

Yesterday Joshua James was given a name and blessing By Daddy. His brother’s Ryan (with his fiancee Symone) and Stephen (with his wife Kristina and baby Alex) came. JJ’s lab partner John also came with his wife and 3 daughters.



On Saturday I made a cake for Joshua’s special day.



That evening the cake was destroyed by Miriam. I was so upset but I just had to take a deep breath and move on.

The dinner turned out delicious though. I made a mexican style shredded chicken with Rice and toppings like red onions, diced tomatoes, guacamole, cilantro, lime and salsa. Something I will definitely make again.



Joshua is such a special little boy. It is so fun to see his personality developing. We can tell that he really loves his sisters, he smiles at them a lot. He loves to hear his name, play with daddy and snuggle with mommy. We are so happy that he is in our family.

I was asked by one2one network to review “SASS Yourself Slim” by Cynthia Sass which is a follow up to “Cinch!“, a book that I reviewed a little over a year ago.

“SASS Yourself Slim” includes the same healthy diet plan that is discussed in “Cinch!”. It also includes weight loss stories from those who followed the Cinch! diet. The stories were very motivating and caused me to think more about food combinations and the way I eat in general. Even Vegans and those on gluten free diet can also follow it.

According to Sass each meal should include the following foods:
1. Produce
2. Whole Grain
3. Lean Protein
4. Plant-based fat
5. SASS (Seasonings, herbs and spices)

So far the only changes I have made based on the book is eating a handful of almonds for a snack each day. I got 5 tins for only 99 cents each using coupons with a Smith Sale! I also stocked up on Greek yogurt with almonds for 50 cents each. Almonds are so good for you and one handful keeps me full for a couple hours.

I also need to try some of the delicious recipes the book features.

On Monday my washing machine broke down for the second time and I have only had it for 2 months! While driving to the laundromat last night this song comes on the radio:



Very fitting, right

Now I am not out to spread hate or try to shut down someone’s business but if you are in need of a new washing machine I would suggest finding somewhere else to buy one other than Appliance Exchange in Orem.

I really thought I was getting a great deal on a refurbished washing machine – $200 with a 2 year warranty.

However taking it over to the shop to get fixed is not an easy task (especially if it is going to become a monthly task) and having the owner swear at me when I ask how long she thinks it will take to repair, certainly does not give me a good impression of the business.

I read about the Pertussis epidemic in Oregon and Washington and decided that I better get Joshua’s and Miriam’s DTAP vaccine quick since we are going to those states next month. Rebekah also needed another vaccine for her Kindergarten registration.

So JJ got off work early so we could get all that done. We go to the County health department and they told us that they don’t vaccinate children on BYU health insurance anymore. So annoying! I asked why they don’t have that information on their website or by the door so we can at least know before filling out all the paperwork and they said that it would confuse people and the BYU students 19 and over won’t come in. Really?

Anyways they said that we could go to Mountainlands and they are open until 7 pm and you can just walk in. It was 5:30 so we headed over there and they say that they don’t do immunizations after 4:30!

Well JJ gets off at 3 pm the next day and we go back to the clinic. JJ had Sariah, Rebekah and Joshua watching Finding Nemo with him and I just had one kid with me – Miriam. Even with trying to get her busy drawing and reading to her she still managed to give every child a hug and kiss (this was a week ago and happily she has not gotten sick). After waiting 2 hours we were finally called back (should have made an appointment).

Joshua was first and cried until I took him back to the waiting area to nurse him. JJ took Rebekah and Miriam. Rebekah came skipping back out to me after and Miriam came running over and excitedly pulled up her sleeve and said “look! I got an owie”

I’m glad we got this done because it looks like the epidemic is coming to Utah.

Hopefully people who have coughs stay home from church, work and school to help protect the newborns and other people who can’t get the vaccine for various reasons.

Tomorrow April 17th is tax day in the USA. Several companies are offering tax day freebies. Here are several (feel free to leave a comment if you know of others):

Speaking of freebies Our winner for the Trix yogurt giveaway is comment #3 – Natalie Smith!

I have tried Trix Yogurt in the past and I did not like it at all mainly because of the aspartame after taste. When was offered to do this review and giveaway I gave it another try and I was surprised at how great the Trix yogurt tastes. I could tell right away that there were no artificial sweeteners.

I then learned that yoplait has REMOVED the artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, and high fructose corn syrup from their Trix yogurt. It sure does taste so much better!

One of my readers will win a Trix Yogurt prize pack that includes a 4 cup pack of Trix Yogurt, back pack, lunch bag, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, a pencil bag and this neat little thing that will keep your school/work lunch warm.

To enter leave a comment letting me know when do your When do your kids (or you) enjoy their Yoplait Trix yogurt? With a well balanced breakfast? In school lunch? As an after school snack?

To recieve an extra entry blog about this giveaway and link back to your post in a separate comment.

Enter by Monday April 16 at 5 pm EST. Make sure your email address is correct so I can let you know if you won.

“Disclosure: The Yoplait Trix Yogurt prize pack, information and coupon have been provided by Yoplait through MyBlogSpark.”

We love having Joshua in our family so much. He is so snuggly and smiley! He sleeps very well now and will even fall a sleep on his own sometimes. As you can tell from the pictures he is getting adorably chubby. He is below the 3rd % for height and at 14 lbs he is at the 50th % for weight.

He loves all the attention he gets from his sisters and once daddy is home he whines until daddy gives him attention.

Joshua is also a very active baby. Kicking and waving a lot and when I stand him up on my lap he wants to jump! I’m thinking he’s going to follow his sisters and be an early crawler and walker … Lucky me

Sariah crawled at 5 months and walked at 11 months. Rebekah crawled at 6 months and walked at 10 months and Miriam crawled at 5 months and walked at 9 months!

Joshua drools a ton and his lower gums are swollen so he is definitely teething! Miriam and Rebekah’s first teeth came through at 4 and 3 months so we could very well see a tooth poking out soon.

These Lee babies sure don’t waste time reaching milestones. I think we have a bunch of competitive children.

A Eucalyptus plant

Joshua woke up with a stuffy nose last week and he was having a difficult time nursing because of it. After hunting around my house for my little jar of baby vicks I realized that the ingredients listed on the back included eucalyptus oil, lavender oil and chamomile oil.   These three oils were included in my stash of essential oils so I decided to make my own “baby vicks”. Here is what I did:

• In a 10 ml glass jar I put in 2 drops of eucalyptus oil, 1 drop lavendar and 1 drop chamomile.
• I filled the jar up with grape seed oil. You can use any carrier oil you want such as olive oil, jojoba oil, coconut oil etc…
• Place the cap on the jar and shake.
• Add a few drops to baby’s chest, back and or feet.

This works just like vicks and it smells a lot nicer. In no time Joshua had a clear nose and was able to go back to nursing normally. You can increase the strength of the essential oils to use for older children or adults.