Project 365: February

Well, this has been a crazy month. I wasn't as consistent with photos - hubby traveled a lot and I just tried to keep the kids (and myself) alive and fed. :) It's pretty much survival mode, haha. I am just toast by the end of the day! G, C and myself have also been under the weather this week. Oh well. We still had some fun moments that I captured...

I don't think I can bend like this!

Climbing. All day, every day if I'd let him! Sometimes he says he is doing "pull-ups".

 

Our happy girl.

She loves sitting in the laundry basket! 

And C usually wants a turn as well. :)

On the one day that we could see our grass this month, DH asked

C if he wanted to go outside. His response "Sandbox." 

I was happy to be inside making dinner!!

Celebrating DH's Birthday! :)

His new fascination - cooking. The measuring cups are the perfect size. 

He says the drawer is his "oven" and he is making "sister's formula" and "eggs."

Fun with Daddy!

Bath time. We don't do this every night, but after months of standing up

and playing with the water from the faucet, C loves bubbles and is 

happy to splash around for a while!

Unplanned matching outfits with Granddad!

We sent this one to the family on a very cold day - 

think happy thoughts of the lake!

All excited and appropriately attired for her godmother's visit!

 more fun with Granddad the next weekend

Must. Not. Let. One. Crumb. Go. To. Waste.

It's our ordinary life... and we are extraordinarily blessed. :)

Baby G: 10 months!

I cannot believe that we are so close to the 1-year mark! Baby G is such a delightful baby - she provides so many smiles and giggles each day.

Stats:
Weight: 18.5 pounds, maybe 19?
Length: About 28 inches... I think! She was wiggling!

Foods: She is still mostly eating formula, and I know C had more solids by now, but we are still waiting on teeth! She loves homemade yogurt, and more recently applesauce, but new tastes seem to make her gag a bit. At first I was wondering if she had a banana allergy, but maybe it was the texture? I'll try it again after we see the doctor for her one-year appointment. She had eaten it several times, then all of a sudden, she would gag and spit up as soon as it was in her mouth. Banana is an odd one, but my nephew has a severe banana allergy, so I started wondering! We shall see. She continues to gain weight and I love her baby rolls, so I know she's getting what she needs!

Health: Had a cold this week, after visiting the library at the end of last week. Sigh. It bugs me when we're in a playroom and there is clearly a very sick child running around. Sorry. Pet peeve. Other than that, her health has been good through the winter! She's in the normal range now so she could be done with her StarBand, but I asked and she still has a bit more room to grow, so we decided to leave it on a few more weeks. Can't wait for unrestricted snuggles!!

Milestones: Lots of ba-ba, da-da, ga-ga sounds! She LOVES it when you repeat her sounds. Ma-ma twice. :) She clicks her tongue and still loves raspberries! No crawling but a ton of lunging forward on her hands. And reaching toward toys!

Likes: Her big brother, except when he's a bit on the rough side. :/ We're working on that. Loves to beat anything she can together- sticks, mini cymbals, blocks, rings, etc. She is just a super laid-back and easy baby. And content!

Sleep: I keep wondering what we did to get such a great sleeper! C has been an insane sleeper as of the last few months- waking up multiple times and trying to come in our room. So G's sleeping all through the night for 12-13 hours is amazing. She's a consistent napper too, a short morning nap-usually 20-30 min, and a mid-afternoon one for 1-2 hours.

Happy 10 months Baby Girl!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

From C....

Will you be my Valentine?

And from G...

She sure did go after them!!!

Do you have any special plans this weekend? :)

Happy Valentine's Day, friends!

HWFD: 21DSD - Week 3 Meals: 21 Day Sugar Detox

Yay! It's week 3! I am counting. down. the. days.

DH & realized that our last non-21DSD meal was actually lunch on Saturday the 24th (we grilled pizza), and that our dinner had complied with it, so lunch on Valentine's day is officially our last meal on the 21DSD. So excited. I am SO looking forward to this fabulous dessert: 

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

C has also requested popcorn as we've been reading Tomie dePaola's The Popcorn Book a ton this week. And we have gouda cheese and GF crackers for an appetizer. So yes, we are all looking forward to Saturday night!

And now, back to reality this week. :)

Week 3 Meals

Breakfasts:

Sausage Frittata, same as weeks 1 and 2. I just love it.

Eggs and sausage grillers and whatever leftovers can be thrown in with them, like veggies!

Sunday
Tilapia with Asparagus & salad
I baked each piece of tilapia in parchment paper, sprinkled with paprika, salt, pepper, garlic, onion & chives and drizzled it with olive oil. Yum! 

Monday
Spaghetti with meat sauce
I make my own sauce using half hot italian sausage and half ground beef (this time I used an extra pound of ground beef, so 3 pounds of meat total. We like meat. :)) I throw in 1 can of diced tomatoes flavored with basil, garlic & oregano, and a can of tomato puree, onions, and a bunch of seasonings - salt, pepper, basil, garlic (fresh), oregano. I use spaghetti squash for the "noodles." 

Tuesday
Asian-style meatballs and cabbage slaw from the 21DSD cookbook
These meatballs were super yummy and made with ground pork. I made a double batch so we'd have lunch the next day, so I'm glad they turned out to be a thumbs up meal! DH & I agreed that the meatballs on their own would be a really good appetizer for a party!

Wednesday
Sausage grillers and a salad
I had chicken planned but we were out most of the morning and early afternoon, and it wasn't defrosted, plus I had choir rehearsal, so I threw this one together at the last minute.

Thursday
Chicken Thai Pad See Ew
I will have to omit the coconut sugar. I'm going to add some ginger instead! :)

Against All Grain, recipe here 

Friday

Salmon with creamy dill sauce 
from the second Against All Grain, Meals Made Simple

Saturday
End of 21DSD!!!! Woo-hoo!! We decided to grill our pizza - perfect for Valentine's day. :) And I. cannot. wait.

HWFD: Week 2 - 21 Day Sugar Detox

Happy Friday, everyone! I don't know where this week went; I meant to post my menu for this week at the beginning of the week. In any case, here is what we ate this week!

Breakfasts
Eggs and sausage griller links at the beginning of the week and the same Sausage Egg Frittata as last week.

Sunday
Beef Stuffed Peppers - recipe here
These were good although a bit on the bland side. I like making mine with a mix of italian sausage and ground beef to spice it up a bit.

Monday
Pumpkin Spice Pork with Butternut Squash
I did a much easier version of this recipe. But the linked one is excellent; I've mentioned it before!

Tuesday
Creamy Dill Salmon with Asparagus (Against All Grain, Meals Made Simple)
This was good... but I honestly prefer pan-seared salmon so I might make it that way instead of baking the salmon in the oven.

Wednesday
Curried Short Ribs - recipe here
My husband is a big fan of curry.... I never tried it until I met him. I love this recipe! Instead of making it with ribs, I made it with beef chuck roasts. The ribs are excellent, but I wanted something that was easier to deal with since it was a week night and I had choir rehearsal. It sits in the crock pot all day and I made the sauce Tuesday night so there was minimal cleanup Wednesday morning.

Thursday
Chicken Fajitas
Super easy - I used my own fajita seasoning that I made a bunch of a few weeks ago. I just cooked the chicken along with a few tablespoons of water and the seasoning, then added a green pepper, a yellow pepper and an onion. No wrap this time, but I will definitely add one next time and add some kind of cheese! :) I love this recipe for our wraps! The trick is making them thin enough - rotating the pan so the batter can spread is the trick.

Friday
Well, it is Friday and I realized I don't have the yellow squash for the noodles for our Pepperoni Pizza Pasta. Ack!! :) I might make it tomorrow night, but we actually have a ton of leftovers this week so I might not need to. So - leftovers tonight! Minimal kitchen clean-up. Win.


Some thoughts on week 2...
I'm still craving sweet stuff, though not as much as before. I am really enjoying my snack of an apple and almond butter. I've also realized that my snacks are also more of the crunchy carb variety - I love plantain chips - those are my favorite. :) And even though I crave the sweet stuff, it's more that I miss honey in my tea and berries and other sweeter fruits. I'm not quite as hungry as last week but I'm still looking for snacks in the afternoon. I've definitely eaten too many nuts! I'm looking forward to adding the raw milk cheddar back into my afternoon snack! I may stick with the apple most days though. Rather spontaneously I made the pumpkin pancakes from the 21DSD book for brunch last Sunday. Meh. Not much flavor and I love maple syrup. And butter. Can't wait for that again, haha.

Hope you all have a great weekend! :)

2015 Goals - January review

January was actually a great month! I feel like writing down my goals (and publishing them, haha) really helped me stay focused.

My progress...

1) Intellectual
I finished 3 books! Woo-hoo! I finished Thou Shall Prosper--a good read, and one I told my husband I thought he would appreciate more. Maybe when he finishes his stack, haha! I also finished Eat that Frog! which was very helpful to me. If I get a chance this month, I'll do a little review of that one because I would recommend it to anyone looking to be more productive with their time. Last, I read Jen Fulwiler's book Something other than God. I was really surprised the library actually had it! I read that one in 2 1/2 days. Excellent. I love conversion stories! If you haven't read it, you should. Really. You should. :)

Right now I'm reading (frantically because it's due Friday and I can't renew it - someone else has requested it) Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids. This one I'm taking notes on. It's one I would probably like to own, but I already have a number of parenting books and really don't need any more. So I resolved to take notes as I go along. Again, I'd like to do a review of it once I'm finished.

All in all - 3 books finished and another one will be by Friday. Woo-hoo! I've definitely been spending more of my time in the evening reading.

2) Physical - workouts are between 4-5 a week so that has been going well. Last week I started working on pull-ups using a progression that DH emailed me a while back. I ended up ordering another pair of assist bands to help. I'm alternating M-W-F as pull-up days and T-R as aerobic and other exercises. Saturday and Sundays are now rest days.

In case you are curious about the pull-up progression, it looks like this:
Warm up with something aerobic - I've been doing jumping jacks for about a minute. Then the pull-up warm-up:
10 pull-ups with 4 assist bands
5 pull-ups with 3 assist bands
3 pull-ups with 2 assist bands

Then the actual work-out: 3 rounds of 5 with 1 assist band.

The idea is to work on getting used to the actual movement of the pull-up by using the assist bands. After 5-8 weeks you are supposed to take a break for an entire week.

The 21DSD - we began on Sunday. I am definitely eating WAY more veggies on this! I can only eat 1 piece of fruit per day, and it's limited to either a green-tipped banana, a green apple or a grapefruit. They are much less sweet than other fruits. I am definitely craving sweet things still. I also am not sure I'm eating enough because I'm finding myself really wanting a snack about 2x a day. We'll see how this week goes. I made some granola and while it was good, after we get past the 21 days, I will be making it again with a dash of maple syrup or honey and adding in raisins or cranberries. :) And I am REALLY looking forward to making a dessert for Valentine's day night!

3) Spiritual
I'm going to still focus on Our Lady this month because I'm not where I want to be with this yet.

4) Family
Went to the Science Center once with C - he loved the water activities in the kids area! It was hard to pull him away! Looking forward to going again this month. C has gotten to play outside in the snow a bit, although he mainly just wants to eat it. :)

5) Social
DH & I ran into another adoptive family at church this week - we met the couple briefly a few months ago, right before they were placed, so we are hoping to have them over for brunch later this month. The little boy is so cute, and also African-American... since our parish is mostly caucasian I am looking forward to having more kids who look like ours there!!

6) Career
After getting snowed in twice so that we had to cancel, my former voice teacher and I are getting together for coffee this week. She is also an organist at a local church (not Catholic) but I will let her know I'm available to sub. And hopefully this week after Mass I can chat with our parish music director as well. I've played a little of the piece I want to re-memorize, but not as much as I want to. But I've gotten in a few practice sessions each week, I think.

7) Financial
Month one - no clothing or accessories or shoes purchased for me, not even with my gift cards or Christmas money! I have made a little wish list of things, but no purchases yet. It's not as long as it might have been in prior years because I'm definitely thinking more "do I really need that?"

How are things going for your resolutions/goals?

Project 365: Days 22-31

Day 22: Hanging out with Papa

Day 23: The donkey sings and dances to "Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch"

Guess who loves to dance with him? :)

Day 24: "I don't need a nap," he said.

(This was after the first nap in his bed. He came downstairs and crashed on the sofa for the second.)

Day 25: Piggies!

Day 27: Napping in G's crib is Sophie. 

C insisted we turn on the monitor to make sure she was doing ok.

Day 28: In addition to Sugar Pie, little lady loves the Rubber Duckie Song!

Day 29: After delicious meal of yogurt and applesauce, G decided she was ready for some solid food.

 Day 29: Also, on this day, mysterious towers began to appear in the house. 

My sister's response to the photo on the right: "He wants a stack of cookies. Coooooookieeees."

 Day 30: The Soup bowl. Brilliant.

Day 31: After a trip to Lowe's with C, Daddy settles

in to pick out a snow blower with G.