TV: Friend or Enemy?

Oh the TV and I have a love hate relationship!

We don't get any channels on our TV, we just have netflix.  The kids get an hour a day.  Usually before school starts {Tristan seems to need it in order wake up}.  But we have big restrictions on what the kids can watch, mainly my qualifications are: it has to teach you something positive & you have to be able to tell me what that is if I ask.  I used to laugh at those kids whose parents wouldn't let them watch Simpsons and other shows like that but now as a parent, I get it.  I am in charge of making sure my kids minds stay pure.  The important things in life that they need to learn are not taught by watching SpongeBob.  But I know how darn easy it is to let the TV babysit, especially when you have important things to do like check FB, Pinterest and pee by yourself!!!

How do you handle TV time?

Sometimes Mama Just Needs A Break!

Being 32 weeks pregnant with #3, having a busy little girl and a busier little boy makes life fun!  But sometimes mama needs a break.  I've had guilty feelings in the past about how often my kids go to someone elses house to play and I get a break.  This month, I have made a concentrated effort to make sure I do a few things for myself while still making sure I am spending quality time with my crazies, I mean kids.

I make sure I start my day out in the Word.  I would like to say I get up before my kids but I don't.  While they are waking up, eating breakfast and getting ready I am reading the Bible and spending time talking to the Lord just asking for guidance for my day, and patience, I am always asking for patience.  Ha ha!

I drink a ton of water, I find that it really helps me feel better about me, lessens the water weight that I am retaining and fills me up!

When I start to feel frustrated that Tristan has asked me the same question 14 times in the last 32 seconds, I take a deep breath and remind myself he isn't asking me to annoy me, he is asking me because he needs to know the answer.

I am a busy body!  I move quickly, do a lot of things and really really don't sit still well!  I know this about myself which is allowing me to be directional about making sure I slow down.  I say directional and not intentional because I have can great intentions and still not do anything that leads me in the right direction, but if I am directional, I am making choices to get me where I want to go.  Does that make sense?

So daily I am slowing down, spending time as a family with friends or family.  I am working on getting away from sticking so strictly to my "to do" list and making sure that while I am caring for my home and getting my "chores" done that I am also making sure I am making memories for my children that don't include Fred Meyers and Winco.

But we all need a break, slow down mamas.  Give yourself some grace, enjoy your kids, get the rest you need to be the mom you were created to be!

7 weeks and counting

{32 weeks}

When I was pregnant with Tristan and with Piper, I felt like my pregnancies drug on and on and on.  I couldn't wait to meet them, kiss them, dress them, lose weight etc!  With baby #3, I know it is our last, I have to have a c section because of the abdominal surgery I had last fall and so when she does the c-section she will also tie my tubes.  Knowing this is it, makes me enjoy each little {or big} kick and roll, it makes me slow down and enjoy the pregnancy and every little {or big} pound I put on.  I'm not in a hurry and yet, here I am, 7 weeks away from meeting this little person.

I don't need anything.  We have cloth diapers, we have clothes, we have a bassinet, I am going to breast feed so I don't need bottles.  We are set.  But it feels like I have a zillion things to do.  Clean Piper's closet so there is room for baby's clothes, get a new double jogger because while 4 wheeling it with our 6 year old in it, John broke the front of it, the same day we got it!   LOL!  Finish Tristan's 1st grade curriculum, plan for 2nd grade so I am not trying to do that after baby gets here and probably 100 other things.

Ok that's really it, but nesting isn't kicking in and I think I'm going to turn around and have an infant at home before I know it!

I had my last little ultra sound the other day and the guy who did it randomly showed be a 3d image of baby's face!  It was so weird, I've never seen a 3d image of either of the kids so it shocked me!  From what I can tell this one doesn't look like Piper or Tristan!

{Baby was in the middle of yawning}

I'm super super bummed that I have to have a C-section, I wanted a water birth.  My Dr said it was my decision but that her thought if I have a vaginal delivery is that I will most likely tear up high where they can't reach and I will end up in emergency surgery.  I'm not in it to be a hero, I'd rather play it safe than sorry.  But I'm still bummed!  Have any of you had c-sections?  What was your experience?  What about those of you who had plans of a natural delivery only to end up with a c-section, how did you handle it?

Homeschool, baby wiggles & spirited little girls

I totally forgot I was even running this blog {just being honest!}, Life has been so busy in the last month.

We began homeschooling Tristan, the baby in my belly likes to move {a lot!}, Piper is talking a ton.  Suffice to say, it is NEVER quiet in this house.

Homeschooling is amazing and I can't believe I ever said that I would never be a mom that homeschooled.  We have so much fun and watching him learn is amazing!  We do field trips {we went to Seattle on the train, Twin Rocks Camp, got to see the Reptile Man, The Ag Fest etc}, we go to Sandy First Class {co-op} each week and hang out with other kids, go swimming etc.  He never misses out on time with friends he had at public school and is making new friends left and right!

When he first came home he wasn't reading easily, he just finished a 90 page book.  We started him with 1st grade curriculum to see how he would fare and he is doing great; adding, subtracting, fractions, spelling, reading (even compound words).  This is in no way, shape or form a knock on the public school system.  In fact, Tristan's Kindergarten teacher is probably one of the kindest people I have ever met.  This was just a very personal decision we felt we needed to make to make sure Tristan thrived.  And he is!

We are 24 weeks along now, baby #3 is a move and a shaker, mainly in the middle of the night when I am laying down.  It may move more during the day but we are so busy I really haven't noticed.  We can't wait to meet this little pumpkin and begin life as a family of 5 {FIVE!!!}

Piper, is insane.  I mean spirited, enthusiastic, dramatic, determined, kind, sweet and full of life!  She keeps us on our toes.  Her desire to find a way to do whatever she wants will never {and I do mean never} cease to amaze me!  I was struggling for a while to figure out how to parent this little soul, she is quite different than Tristan.  My friend Bethany told me about a book called Raising Your Spirited Child.  It has changed how I view Piper and how I teach, love on and raise her.  It's a little "worldly" {if that is even the right word} for me, but like any book, you have to take what you can from it!  I have loved reading this book and have found the patience I needed with Piper {through the book and a TON of prayer!}  So if you have a little on who challenges you, this is an easy read and may help!!

What have you been up to?

Simply Amazing!

I've discovered something amazing.  Are you ready for this?  Monthly meal planning!  Do you do this?  I never think beyond the week I am in.  Every Wednesday I sit down and plan my weeks dinners and make my grocery list and then on Thursday we hit the grocery stores.

But no more!  I subscribe to Confessions Of A Homeschooler and last week she sent out an email about her monthly meal plan (you can see it at the link above).  I thought, 'I'll give this a try', and I sat down and customized her meal plan for our family to include breakfasts, snacks (am & pm), lunch & dinner for an ENTIRE month for all 4 of us.  Then I wrote out weekly grocery lists (a separate sheet for each week).  On my first week of the month grocery list I included things I could buy for the whole month (meat & bread, that I can freeze, frozen fruit, pre packaged snacks etc), that means I could go to Costco and shop my heart out!

I keep my weekly grocery lists up on my clipboard by my computer so if anyone in the house thinks of something they can't live without they can put it on the list for the applicable week.

I was super impressed, I got a months worth of meat, snacks, frozen fruit & bread for $221 and that means I'll most likely be spending about $30 a week on veggies, milk & fruit.  I'm quite happy with this as it should lower our grocery bill from $600 a month to about $450!  Not only will I save money but I will be spending a lot less time preparing my weeks food and shopping!

Seriously check out her blog on Monthly Meal Planning, it will change your life!!

You're Beautiful

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. 

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?