Some times I get so discouraged! Some days I feel overworked, unappreciated, underpaid and like I just want to stomp my feet like a little child, cover my ears and hide in my room. I had a day like that last week, when I had a list of 210 things I needed to do and not nearly enough time to do it in! I was feeling like just quitting and going home and sitting in my jammies and staring at the TV, when on my drive I heard the song "Beautiful" by Mercy Me, it goes like this:
Days will come when you don't have the strength
And all you hear is you're not worth anything
Wondering if you ever could be loved
And if they truly saw your heart
They'd see too much
Chorus
You're beautiful, You're beautiful
You are made for so much more than all of this
You're beautiful, You're beautiful
You are treasured, you are sacred, you are His
You're beautiful
Praying that you have the heart to fight
'Cause you are more than what is hurting you tonight
For all the lies you've held inside so long
But they are nothing in the shadow of the cross
Repeat Chorus
Before you ever took a breath
Long before the world began
Of all the wonders He possessed
There was one more precious
Of all the earth and skies above
You're the one He madly loves
Enough to die!
You're beautiful, You're beautiful
In His eyes
You're beautiful!
You are made for so much more than all of this
You're beautiful!
You are treasured, you are sacred, you are His
You're beautiful! You're beautiful!
You are made for so much more than all of this
You're beautiful! You're beautiful!
You are treasured
You are sacred
You are His
I was just deeply reminded of how much I am loved and how much the Lord has entrusted me with doing. This includes all of my so called "silly" daily activities. He thinks everything I do is wonderful. He created me to do this job and to trust Him in everything I do. I guess I am still learning to "embrace Cinderella" to love the little jobs that drive me crazy (like 3 grocery store trips in one day because my pregnant brain can't remember anything). I am a work in progress but you know what? I am beuatiful. You are beautiful.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
Learning to eat again
So, go with me here. I'm going to get personal. I mean really personal. Most of my life I have had awful belly aches. Mainly at night, mainly after I've laid down on the coach/floor/bed etc. I just assumed I am a gassy person (I told you, personal).
I exclusively breast fed Piper until she was 12 months old. At that point she started showing interest in eating solid foods so we let her eat a little of everything we were eating (a bit at a time to make sure she didn't have any major reactions). Fast forward to about 3 months ago and my little girl started waking up every other night for 1-3 hours a night and just bawling. I'd hold her and she'd arch her little back as far back as she could, she'd lay her head on my shoulder and rock her bottom back and forth, I'd rub her back in a counter-clock wise motion all of this in an effort to toot. We started noticing a major change in her personality (not in a good way) back in September and then the gas pains.
I had an allergy test done and it showed I had a major allergy to all things diary, white sugar, buckwheat, cranberries, bakers yeast, and chicken eggs. My amazing naturopath explained to me that this could be a major cause of my tummy trouble. I have never been so excited to know something was wrong! I can fix this!
I decided to take Piper to the Dr and have her allergy tested but it only came back that she had a major allergy to chicken eggs and a slight intolerance to dairy. Things we had already elliminated. When I met with her pediatrician he said she has classic signs of "Celiac Disease" (wheat belly, super distended, inconsistent weight gain, personality change & it all happened right after we started giving her human food). So he has referred us to a Pediatric Gastroenterologist Dr who will most likely be suggesting an endoscopy to confirm Celiac Disease. If this is indeed the case, this is a major change in how we live and eat. I am hopeful that it is something we can handle!
In the meantime, we are all eating Dairy Free, Dye Free and working on going completely gluten free. I'm getting a handle on the Dairy Free/Dye Free foods.
For those of you still reading this post, here are some links to some of my favorite foods that we are eating:
This is a delicious Banana & Berry Bread, I replaced the sugar with splenda (1:1 ratio), the flour with oat flour (which is GF), coconut oil in place of milk and almond milk (vanilla) in place of cows milk!
These are awesome German Pancakes (we did use green food dye for St. Patricks Day), we replaced the flour with oat flour, the butter with Earth's Best Vegan Butter, the eggs with this fancy little trick from PETA (1 egg = 2T water, 1T evoo & 1t baking powder, mix it together well and then add to dish), and almond milk in place of the cows milk. These German pancakes were so stinking good!
For these delicious homemade Peanut Butter Granola Bars we just had to substitute the chocolate chips for carob chips.
These amazing Protein Packed Energy Balls were simple and devoured in a matter of hours! We just used carob chips in place of the chocolate chips!
This Lemon Poppyseed Muffin recipe was a lot of work to convert but it was well worth it, holy moly they are good! We replaced the flour with oat flour, the sour cream with vegan sour cream, buttermilk with almond milk, the sugar with splenda and the eggs with that handy egg substitute from PETA
Speaking of amazing muffins, this Chocolate Chip Muffin was also a lot of work to convert but totally worth it. We just replaced the egg whites with the water+oil+ baking powder mix from PETA, the yogurt with soy yogurt, the sugar with splenda and the chocolate chips with carob chips
This is my favorite most delicious Chicken Avocado Salad EVER. Seriously. I just replaced the mayo with vegan mayo and then we devoured with with GF chips! Oh my word, so yummy!
We eat a lot of tacos since they are naturally gluten free (we just doing use cheese and we add vegan sour cream), we also eat chicken breast and salad a lot, and rice with hamburger (or turkey burger in our case). I feel like it's a lot of work, but worth it if our tummy's stop hurting and start working.
Our amazing Naturopath and the kids' Pediatrician, Dr. John Calcagno say it can take up to 12 weeks before we really see any results. So here is to praying we see results. I hope you all enjoy these recipes! Do you have any of your favorite recipes that you'd like to share?
I exclusively breast fed Piper until she was 12 months old. At that point she started showing interest in eating solid foods so we let her eat a little of everything we were eating (a bit at a time to make sure she didn't have any major reactions). Fast forward to about 3 months ago and my little girl started waking up every other night for 1-3 hours a night and just bawling. I'd hold her and she'd arch her little back as far back as she could, she'd lay her head on my shoulder and rock her bottom back and forth, I'd rub her back in a counter-clock wise motion all of this in an effort to toot. We started noticing a major change in her personality (not in a good way) back in September and then the gas pains.
I had an allergy test done and it showed I had a major allergy to all things diary, white sugar, buckwheat, cranberries, bakers yeast, and chicken eggs. My amazing naturopath explained to me that this could be a major cause of my tummy trouble. I have never been so excited to know something was wrong! I can fix this!
I decided to take Piper to the Dr and have her allergy tested but it only came back that she had a major allergy to chicken eggs and a slight intolerance to dairy. Things we had already elliminated. When I met with her pediatrician he said she has classic signs of "Celiac Disease" (wheat belly, super distended, inconsistent weight gain, personality change & it all happened right after we started giving her human food). So he has referred us to a Pediatric Gastroenterologist Dr who will most likely be suggesting an endoscopy to confirm Celiac Disease. If this is indeed the case, this is a major change in how we live and eat. I am hopeful that it is something we can handle!
In the meantime, we are all eating Dairy Free, Dye Free and working on going completely gluten free. I'm getting a handle on the Dairy Free/Dye Free foods.
For those of you still reading this post, here are some links to some of my favorite foods that we are eating:
This is a delicious Banana & Berry Bread, I replaced the sugar with splenda (1:1 ratio), the flour with oat flour (which is GF), coconut oil in place of milk and almond milk (vanilla) in place of cows milk!
These are awesome German Pancakes (we did use green food dye for St. Patricks Day), we replaced the flour with oat flour, the butter with Earth's Best Vegan Butter, the eggs with this fancy little trick from PETA (1 egg = 2T water, 1T evoo & 1t baking powder, mix it together well and then add to dish), and almond milk in place of the cows milk. These German pancakes were so stinking good!
For these delicious homemade Peanut Butter Granola Bars we just had to substitute the chocolate chips for carob chips.
These amazing Protein Packed Energy Balls were simple and devoured in a matter of hours! We just used carob chips in place of the chocolate chips!
This Lemon Poppyseed Muffin recipe was a lot of work to convert but it was well worth it, holy moly they are good! We replaced the flour with oat flour, the sour cream with vegan sour cream, buttermilk with almond milk, the sugar with splenda and the eggs with that handy egg substitute from PETA
Speaking of amazing muffins, this Chocolate Chip Muffin was also a lot of work to convert but totally worth it. We just replaced the egg whites with the water+oil+ baking powder mix from PETA, the yogurt with soy yogurt, the sugar with splenda and the chocolate chips with carob chips
This is my favorite most delicious Chicken Avocado Salad EVER. Seriously. I just replaced the mayo with vegan mayo and then we devoured with with GF chips! Oh my word, so yummy!
We eat a lot of tacos since they are naturally gluten free (we just doing use cheese and we add vegan sour cream), we also eat chicken breast and salad a lot, and rice with hamburger (or turkey burger in our case). I feel like it's a lot of work, but worth it if our tummy's stop hurting and start working.
Our amazing Naturopath and the kids' Pediatrician, Dr. John Calcagno say it can take up to 12 weeks before we really see any results. So here is to praying we see results. I hope you all enjoy these recipes! Do you have any of your favorite recipes that you'd like to share?
Cleaning, Laundry, Shower, Cook, oh ya, BREATH
Prior to reading through the book Feminine Appeal I was incredibly disorganized in the way I ran my day. I found myself struggling at the end of the day (like an hour before my hubby got home) running around, picking up, flinging the vaccuum through the house, tossing a quick dinner on the stove and getting frusterated when the kiddos got in my way.
I was talking with my friend Kelly about it and she was telling me how she does a little cleaning every day (according to her list) and she makes sure she is done every day by the time her kiddos pop off of the bus. That way she is freed up to be a mom to them, she isn't thinking about what she has to do before her hubby gets home. She can be a fun, engaged mom.
At first I was thinking, I don't think I could clean a little every day. I like to deep clean one time a week to make sure that at least one day a week my whole house smells and looks clean. But the more I thought about it the more I realized that this was worth giving a try. So for the past 3 weeks I have abided by a daily schedule that looks like this:
Monday
Laundry
Mop Floors
Vacuum
Exercise
Shower and bathe Piper
Make Tris' lunch
Eat lunch
Do Homework
Go to park
Tuesday
Laundry
Dust house
Clean bathrooms
Exercise
Shower
Make Tris' lunch
Eat lunch
Play outside
Wednesday
Laundry (include sheets)
Change Sheets
Clean out fridge
Vacuum house
Meal plan
Make grocery list
Shower & bathe Piper
Make Tris' lunch
Eat lunch
Go to park
Thursday
Laundry
Clean bathrooms
Exercise
Shower
Grocery shop
Make Tris' lunch
Eat lunch
Do homework
Pay bills
Friday
Laundry
Vacuum House
Dust house
Exercise
Shower & bathe Piper
Make Tris' lunch
Eat lunch
Go to park
Saturday
Laundry include sheets
Change sheets
Now this may look a little extreme that I have to add things like "shower" to my to do list, but these are things I will put off if they are not on my list! During the week as things pop up I add them to my list. For instance on my to do list today was also to make 2 weeks worth of frozen sandwhiches for my hubbys lunch, research a hat to make for T's hat day at school wednesday & run to the naturopath.
cleaning a little every day works out really well for me, I really like it actually and I find it is super easy to clean the bathrooms when I do it twice a week. I am generally done with all of my chores and showered by 10:30 am. Tristan gets home at 11:30 and I am free to be a mom, not tied to 600 chores I "have" to get done before 4:15 with John gets home!
What do you do make your daily chores more simple and free you up to be a more patient & attentive mom?
I was talking with my friend Kelly about it and she was telling me how she does a little cleaning every day (according to her list) and she makes sure she is done every day by the time her kiddos pop off of the bus. That way she is freed up to be a mom to them, she isn't thinking about what she has to do before her hubby gets home. She can be a fun, engaged mom.
At first I was thinking, I don't think I could clean a little every day. I like to deep clean one time a week to make sure that at least one day a week my whole house smells and looks clean. But the more I thought about it the more I realized that this was worth giving a try. So for the past 3 weeks I have abided by a daily schedule that looks like this:
Monday
Laundry
Mop Floors
Vacuum
Exercise
Shower and bathe Piper
Make Tris' lunch
Eat lunch
Do Homework
Go to park
Tuesday
Laundry
Dust house
Clean bathrooms
Exercise
Shower
Make Tris' lunch
Eat lunch
Play outside
Wednesday
Laundry (include sheets)
Change Sheets
Clean out fridge
Vacuum house
Meal plan
Make grocery list
Shower & bathe Piper
Make Tris' lunch
Eat lunch
Go to park
Thursday
Laundry
Clean bathrooms
Exercise
Shower
Grocery shop
Make Tris' lunch
Eat lunch
Do homework
Pay bills
Friday
Laundry
Vacuum House
Dust house
Exercise
Shower & bathe Piper
Make Tris' lunch
Eat lunch
Go to park
Saturday
Laundry include sheets
Change sheets
Now this may look a little extreme that I have to add things like "shower" to my to do list, but these are things I will put off if they are not on my list! During the week as things pop up I add them to my list. For instance on my to do list today was also to make 2 weeks worth of frozen sandwhiches for my hubbys lunch, research a hat to make for T's hat day at school wednesday & run to the naturopath.
cleaning a little every day works out really well for me, I really like it actually and I find it is super easy to clean the bathrooms when I do it twice a week. I am generally done with all of my chores and showered by 10:30 am. Tristan gets home at 11:30 and I am free to be a mom, not tied to 600 chores I "have" to get done before 4:15 with John gets home!
What do you do make your daily chores more simple and free you up to be a more patient & attentive mom?
Embracing Cinderella
Do you ever feel like you are so busy being mom that you don't take time to just be a mom?
I feel like this frequently. I find that often I am so busy doing laundry, picking up toys, showering children, running to baseball practice and the grocery store, mopping floors and cleaning toilets that I forget to find time to enjoy the fact that I am blessed to be one of an estimated 5 million stay at home moms in America.
I am so rushed to make sure my house is cleaned and in a somewhat decent fashion by the time my sweet, hardworking hubby gets home that I forget to take time to enjoy being a mom.
Recently, I have been reading a Book called Feminine Appeal and it has challenged my view of stay at home mommy-hood. I highly recommend that you check it out! I am not a slave to cooking and cleaning and caring for everyone else first. I have chosen this path, I GET to be Cinderella (except my family is so much more appreciative!), I am learning to Embrace Cinderella!
Hopefully this blog will be a place for you to get ideas on how to enjoy being a mama, help you get organized and help us share encouraging tips on how to embrace Cinderella!
I feel like this frequently. I find that often I am so busy doing laundry, picking up toys, showering children, running to baseball practice and the grocery store, mopping floors and cleaning toilets that I forget to find time to enjoy the fact that I am blessed to be one of an estimated 5 million stay at home moms in America.
I am so rushed to make sure my house is cleaned and in a somewhat decent fashion by the time my sweet, hardworking hubby gets home that I forget to take time to enjoy being a mom.
Recently, I have been reading a Book called Feminine Appeal and it has challenged my view of stay at home mommy-hood. I highly recommend that you check it out! I am not a slave to cooking and cleaning and caring for everyone else first. I have chosen this path, I GET to be Cinderella (except my family is so much more appreciative!), I am learning to Embrace Cinderella!
Hopefully this blog will be a place for you to get ideas on how to enjoy being a mama, help you get organized and help us share encouraging tips on how to embrace Cinderella!
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