Our kiddos

Challenge

Christmas has passed and our dwindling monetary funds have as well. There are no more fresh fruits or vegetables in the house save for one half of a grapefruit. And I know I have blogged many times over about this issue, but be that as it may, I must rant/vent again. I really wanted to do this juice feast with Caffe Dei on the 9th and I'm still hoping I can find a way to do it, but Oliver was like "We just need to stock up on Top Ramen and Macaroni and cheese." (Huge grimace on my face right now.) I'm really good at stocking up on beans, rice, soups etc but to be honest, I'm TIRED of beans and rice.

We are picking up Hanna and Ollie tomorrow so that means 2 adults, 3 children and 1 baby to feed. And seriously, I'm seriously having issues with this weight loss thing. I get so stressed out and depressed that I gravitate towards whatever is in the cupboard or whatever is at my parents house. And I'm not anywhere near vegan although I'm trying to liberate myself from labels as I have incorporated some fish back into my (and Connor's) diet.

Sometimes (Ok, a lot of the time) it is difficult to be an adult. I am searching and striving to find the best balance for the health of my family and myself and my mental well being. When I went raw a few years ago that REALLY struck a resonant chord. But there is so much clutter and stress and budgetary issues that are holding me back. I read this awesome article about our "lizard brain" hindering us from achieving greatness.

I just keep waiting (again) for that "AHA" moment and I'm able to commit and stick to my commitment.

Tonight we made vegan choc pumpkin cupcakes. This is Connor helping. He managed to de-pants me in the process!

Enjoying the break

Connor's 1st Xmas at 10 months old Dec 2011

Christmas has come and gone. I'm watching my days of break dwindle and I'm trying to pump myself up for next quarters classes (Human behavior in the social environment II and Cultural Diversity and Societal Justice). It's been so great to have Jakey home from school as well although he's only driving me somewhat batty. I'm also getting psyched up for Caffe Dei's community juice feast. I believe it starts on Jan. 9th. I notice that each morning I'm all revved for a healthy day of eating and I generally do wonderful until evening time. I had a lovely broccoli, green apple, and beet juice this morning as well as a smoothie and a gallon of water. I made beans for lunch cooked in coconut oil (oh so good!). However, I'm out of fresh produce!! So that means no juice tomorrow until I can grocery shop (Jan 6th).

 

"millions of peaches..."

This post has nothing to do with peaches but I heard it on the radio coming back from the gym and I have yet to get the chorus out of my head. I wanted to vent/spout how my day has been going and what a typical day looks like for this unemployed mama.

8:00am: Alarm goes off but I'm usually up prior to this for up to an hour before hand nursing the baby.

8:30am: By this time I have managed to get Jake dressed, fed and his lunch made. Wake Oliver to watch the baby, then out the door and dropped to school by 8:45.

9:00am: Back home, feed the puppy, put Connor in his high chair with some finger foods (chopped apples this morning) while I tidy the kitchen and prepare some fresh juice (apple/broccoli today). Then I prepare Connor's breakfast, usually fresh juice and his organic multigrain cereal. Oh yes make sure to feed myself (leftover juice from yesterday Beet, celery, green apple and a cup of chia seeds soaked in warm water). Start the laundry.

9:30am:  Clean up time, keep an eye on the puppy to make sure she uses her wee wee pad, hop in a shower with Connor. 

10:00am: We're clean and dressed. Playtime with Connor (continuously watching the puppy). 

11:00am: On to the computer to get my daily FB fix, had to send out evites for Jake's upcoming birthday party, start another load of laundry

11:30am: Connor nurses and goes down for a nap and let Oliver know I'm out the door for the gym. OH YEAH!!

12:45: Home from fusion barre. Awesome class. I didn't get to go to the gym at all last week so I"m going to make up for it this week.

1:00: Finish laundry, tidy the house, luckily the baby is still asleep. Make myself an after workout snack (plant fusion choc protein powder, MSM and unsweetened coconut milk). Hop online pay some bills and revamp the budget

2:00: So its currently this time and Connor has just awoken but Oliver says he woke up after I left for the gym and took some time going back to bed so this has been a short nap. He is a bit cranky. But he's sitting in my lap nursing now. Maybe I can convince him to nap again. If not time to get his lunch. 

2:30pm: Make lunch for Oliver, myself and baby. Pack his lunch for work.

3:15pm: Out the door with the baby and the dog to pick up Jake from school

4:00pm: At my parents to spend time with my Grandma and sisters. Make the boys dinner. Play with the boys, play with the puppy. Then have some glorious tv watching time (Dexter season finale, and Hung)

8:00pm: Go to my sisters house to hang but her husband said we couldn't have the puppy there

8:30pm: Back home, get Jake in the shower and ready for bed

9:30pm: Touched up this blog post and now about to get the baby ready for bed but he may not sleep until after 10:30. He seems pretty hyper.

Happy Birthday Jacob

7 years ago, you came into my life and BOOM you changed me. I feel such gratitude and joy to have you as my wonderful son. You are a constant source of happiness (and frustration). You have a quick wit and are awesomely smart. I'm so lucky to be your mom and I get to watch you continue to grow and learn new things. As much as I miss your chubby little cheeks and baby smell, I am excited to watch you branch out and find your place in the world.

 I love you to the sky and back and a bathtub full of mini......jellybeans

Here is a one of the first letters I wrote you (the very first is stuffed inside your lion)

April 26, 2005

My dearest Jake,

I am so lucky to have you in my life. Right now you are laughing and cooing to your Baby Mozart video. I love you so much. You are the sweetest little baby and you make my heart want to burst with joy. Everyday is an adventure with you. I get to watch you learn and grow. You are such a bright baby and you love to EAT. I love you little man.

Another?

Yes another... well I've already ruined Day 1 AGAIN. I feel like crying at my inability to stick to what I want to do. I need a buddy. I've tried the online community support but it just doesn't do the trick and Oliver (aside from being sick) is really not a helpful partner in this department. And as I type this, I just got a message from Ansley about her willingness to join me in a mini juice feast. At least 3 days! Oh I love her.

Monday monday...

This weekend was a blur of sickness, for both Oliver and I. I feel we are just now over the pink eye and I think my cough is getting better (it doesn't hurt my chest as bad). I ate a TON of vegan choc cupcakes last night. I'm going to say that was the cure. LOL. We had the kiddos this weekend too so it was busy busy busy. Now here it is Monday, I have several errands to run. As I'm typing this both the baby and Oliver are snoring away. I guess with my nasty cold, I've been snoring louder than usual and keeping Oliver up. I juiced a lot yesterday to store up for today so I wouldn't have to have the hassle. So my morning juice consisted of swiss chard, celery, spinach and green apple. Oh so good. Today is the 12th. I'm going to weigh myself tonight at the gym (Yoga tonight) and by December 19, I want to have lost 5lbs. There is my goal. :)
Now I'm off to the UW health clinic to get my hep B shots and PPD, then to drop some things off at registration and then to the bank and then back home to do laundry and then get Jake from school. Yoga at 6:45. Sigh.

A millioneth Day 1

  Like the new layout? It feels good. Fresh, clean, and simple. I am currently on winter break from school, yippee. Overall it was good. Stressful and crazy at times but the first quarter got my feet wet and helped me realize what needs to be worked on. I haven't blogged in forever, but hey that seems to be my pattern. One could call this crazy, this constant doing things over and over expecting change, but I just call it being stubborn. There has been a lot of ups and downs since my last post. 

Comparable to my last post, is the fact that we are all sick again. Well strike that, Connor had a day and a half of pink eye and he's back to his bouncy beautiful self. Oliver and I have pinkeye and I've been battling a really nasty cold and cough. I still feel strong as a vegetarian although I guess I would have to label myself as a pescatarian because the last 2 weeks I've introduced fish and shrimp back into my diet. Initially, it was with the thought I would try to do a modified low carb diet of fish and veggies but that lasted for all of 6 hours. Plus Oliver and I discussed adding some fish into Connor's diet for a few reasons. 

We felt that perhaps it would help relieve some stigma/anxiety from family (at least my side of the family) about protein intake. He's had a few bites of salmon and shrimp. While he doesn't turn it down, he doesn't seem overly wowed by it either. And when I say I'm adding this to my diet, I'm talking about a piece of salmon perhaps 2 times a week. I believe the addition of fish/seafood will be more for if I go out with the family I'm not so restricted in my choices. 

Now that I'm on break with no official school work/projects to be done for a couple of weeks,  I am able to look at other topics that have been neglected. Last week I was at the gym a few times but this week nada. Damn cold. I went to Wenatchee last weekend to have a quasi Thanksgiving/Xmas/multiple birthday party celebration. It was lovely. However I ingested quite the dairy cornucopia. It is so damn prevalent in products and food. It really is amazing when you try NOT to eat it. I'm done with labels "vegan, vegetarian." Pshhhaw! I'm just trying to eat the healthiest that I can with what feels right to me. Not eating meat (besides fish now) is right for me on a number of reasons; health, environment, morally.. etc.. 

My current plan of attack for this awesome break will be a combo of fresh juices, smoothies, chia seeds and some light vegan food as needed. But I am going to try to keep it more liquid as I have tons of cute skinny clothes calling (nay SCREAMING) my name. I'm not going to promise to post all my meals, although I am tracking on myfitnessdiary.com (I like to check my calories, nutrients etc). 

My goals for today:

• Laundry (massive laundry day requiring a trip to the Laundromat)
• Pick up Hanna's bday supplies
• Take some paperwork to UWT for registration
• Pay the phone bill
•  Pick up Hanna and Ollie later tonight

 Halloween 2011.