Argh, I am only 17 weeks pregnant and I feel like I have been pregnant for ever!  Well I guess I have technically been pregnant for a while.  3 kids in 3 yrs didn’t give me any downtime.  LOL!  I am so worn out, I just want to sleep and eat.  I just can’t keep up with my lil ones.  Especially with Lil Tony going through his terrible twos!  He wants everything and he wants it NOW! 

Aside from feeling tired, I feel like I always want to eat.  I don’t eat a lot at a time and I think that is the problem.  I can’t eat enough to completely fill myself for any extended period of time.  I sometimes wish I could take a diet pill and kill my appetite. 

I guess at least with all the eating, since I am eating several small meals a day, I am not gaining any weight.  Unfortunately I gained a lot just before I got pregnant and the first month or so after getting pregnant so I am really hoping I don’t gain anymore.  I know I need to because the baby will grow but I hope it’s strictly the baby and not extra weight.  YIKES!

Thanks to Mom Fuse and Ideal, I was given the opportunity to make these tasty cookies using Ideal No Calorie Sweetener.

I was sent some Ideal No Calorie Sweetener to try out.  I drink a cup or two of coffee a day with sugar and we also cook and bake a lot which means we use a lot of sugar.  I haven’t been as concerned with my sugar intake since I have been pregnant but just prior, when I was losing all the weight, I was cutting out a lot of sugar.  After this baby, I will be back on the healthy eating kick and will be happy to have found a great substitute for sugar. 

Today in America sugar consumption is the highest it’s ever been which leads to health problems such as obesity and tooth decay.  Ideal contains Xylitol which is found in fruits and vegetables.  It tastes like sugar and is a great alternative.

So, I thought I would put it to the test and I made some sugar cookies this afternoon.  Now here was the only problem I ran in to with the recipe.  It says it was supposed to make 48 cookies and I was only able to get 18.  With 48 cookies the calories were only supposed to be 33 but since I o nly made 1/3 then each cookie came out to be around 76 calories.  The problem is we need to find a low calorie butter.  I know they have some like “I can’t believe it’s not butter” and I have baked with it before but it’s just not the same. 

So anyways here is the recipe:

1 cup Ideal No Calorie Sweetener
1/2 cup butter softened
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

In a mixing bowl cream together butter and Ideal No Calorie Sweetener; beat in egg and vanilla

Stir together flour, baking powder and salt and add to butter mixture.  Blend well until ball is formed. 

Cover and refrigerate for 2 hrs or until firm. 

Shape dough in to small balls about 3/4 inches in diameter.

Set cookies on lightly greased baking sheet; press cookie until 1/4 inch thick

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until the edges are golden brown

Nutrition information (if you can get 48 cookies):  33 calories; 1g Protein; 2g total Fat; 3g Carb; 0g Fiber; 7 mg Calcium; 0g Iron; 38mg Sodium; 9mg Cholesterol 

I have already tried a cookie and I must say they are delicious.  Tony also used the sweetener in the corn muffins he made for dinner, those were also tasty. 

I am really excited that I was able to try Ideal No Calorie Sweetener out, I will say, it tastes just like sugar without the calories. 

Now for the greatest part, THE GIVEAWAY!  Ideal would like to offer 3 of my readers a chance to win Ideal No Calorie Sweetener.  Each winner will receive a 10.6 ounce baking bag of Ideal and a 50 count box of Ideal packets, PLUS coupons!  YIPPEE!!!!

All you have to do to enter is leave me a comment telling me why it is important you incorporate No Calorie Sweeteners in yours and/or your family’s diet.   

This giveaway will end July 27 at midnight EST.

Thanks again Mom Fuse and Ideal No Calorie Sweetener!

I will need to find somewhere else besides free online auctions to sell my Stampin’ UP! paper kits.  As a Stampin’ UP! demonstrator I am not allowed to sell them on an auction style website.  Auction style selling is really convenient to sell my paper kits and make a little money.  I am a stay at home mom and really don’t have any options to get a job outside the home, at least until my kids go to school.

Really, for the most part I am ok with that.  Up until I met Tony, I was working 3+ jobs at a time to support me and my daughter as a single parent.  I missed out on a lot when Nicki was growing up. 

Since I am still a newer demonstrator, I don’t really have any customers.  I was getting a pretty decent steady income coming in with my paper kits.  Online auctions are really cool because they usually sell a variety of things.  So if I ever came across anything I no longer needed I would just put it up for sale. 

I am proud to be a Stampin’ UP! demonstrator.  For a catalog or to place an order please feel free to contact me.  Either by clicking the “contact me” button on this website, my Stampin’ UP! website or leeanne@artfuldelight.com.  Or for some retired products or a wide variety of other items, check out some free online auctions.

I always hate when this happens because I always feel dirty, but I am confident we are not.  Nicki ended up with lice.  I feel EXTREMELY confident it came from the girls down the street.  She WAS playing with these girls down the street, the ones whose mom asked me to babysit and I don’t think they are the cleanest. 

They live a couple houses away and since we have moved in just over 2 weeks ago, there has been the same garbage PILE sitting on their porch.  They have an ass load of cats, not that they carry lice but still. 

So I saw some bugs in her hair last night an my first thought was “oh shit lice”.  It wasn’t until i got in there washing and combing her hair that I realized just how bad it was. 

We had this problem when I lived in Tampa.  It seemed to take about a month to get rid of it.  I would clean up her hair and send her to school and she would end up with it again. 

So last night I had Tony pull all of the blankets and pillows from her room and the living room.  I scrubbed her hair with RID lice shampoo and then spent about an hour combing through her hair.  The problem is she is susceptible to getting it because she washes her hair daily and lice like clean hair. 

After I combed through her hair, which was nasty, I put some gel in her hair and put it in a braid.  I am trying to keep her head under control.  I don’t wash my hair often and I usually have been keeping gel or mousse in my hair so I think I am safe and didn’t get it but I washed my hair with the shampoo as well.  Last time Nicki had it, I didn’t get it so I have my fingers crossed. 

I just feel so bad for her, she felt bad for making me have to do all that to her hair, spend all that time and money.  For the stuff last night I spent $40 and we have to wash again in 7-10 days.  I just really hope we took care of it last night.

I didn’t have very man people enter my 2 giveaways so I used a simple way to pick the winner….my daughter picked a number.

So for the Temporal Scanner she chose #4:

Leslie Says:
June 20th, 2009 at 9:35 am   edit

I’ve got 5 kids.

9, 7, 5, 3 and 9 months. I would love this for all of us!

And for Norman PhartEphant:

Mindy Says:
June 13th, 2009 at 2:31 pm   edit

Big Fun in Cleveland Ohio. It has everything! I submitted that to their site.

Thank you to everyone that entered!

I love surprises.  I don’t mean anything big or anything, mostly love getting things in the mail.  Well today in the mail I recieved a package.  I didn’t think I should have been expecting anything but to my delight it was a really cute wipes holder from Lili Couture.  I was given the opportunity through Mom Fuse. 

Lili Couture has a wide variety of baby wipe containers.  They are stylish and fun, from boys to girls and even gender neutral.  Any style to fit your desire.  They have a large list of stores across the US and if you can’t find a store in your area you can also purchase them online. 

Their wipes containers are very well made and very stylish.  I think these would be a great addition for your diaper bag or for a gift.

Thanks again Mom Fuse and Lili Couture for this great opportunity.

I am really excited, things seem to be going really well for us here in Virginia.  Tony is only working 5 days no more than 40 hrs a week, we have been able to eat a family dinner together almost everyday since we moved here.  He worked the night shift a lot in Florida.  He is home a lot and it’s fabulous.

As far as financially things also seem to be a lot cheaper.  Which will help us out for our future.  I THINK we like this home enough to stay until we buy our own place.  We should be able to save up living here. 

For example, we currently have Geico insurance and one car insured.  It wasn’t all that expensive in Florida, well at least I didn’t think so until I got an auto insurance quote for us in Virginia and we will be paying almost half less than we did in Florida.  Just little things like that will help us save.  Groceries also seem to cost a little less.  So far we are just really happy.