Real Food Pledge: Day 2

Breakfast Brunch

Due to our lingering colds (and Anni developing her signature nasty cough), Miss Anni slept waaaay in yesterday morning, so our breakfast turned into more of a brunch.  I cut up pineapple (fresh pineapple = obsession), cooked up some eggs and onion (there was supposed to be leftover bell pepper in it as well, but Anni ate the leftovers as I cooked the stir-fry the night before) and, you know, toasted some toast.  Anni and I can finish off an entire pineapple by ourselves and, well, it may have happened before Daniel got home from work (sorry, honey!)

We didn't really have lunch since that was so late, but we both ate some random fruits and veggies as snacks throughout the afternoon.  Oh, and when I made the ww baguette bread for dinner, I told Anni she needed to wait to eat any until it was time... and at one point I walked out of the bedroom to see her chowing down on a chunk.  "Look, mommy!  I got myself a piece!"  I just laughed... this was not a battle I was going to pick!

Dinner:

I'm pretty proud of this dinner.  I made the sauce from scratch (it was quite yummy!), baked up some whole wheat baguette bread, and then threw together a salad and some whole wheat pasta: oi-la!  We all quite enjoyed the meal (and Daddy pulled out some wine... quite lovely!)

Real Food Pledge: Prep & Day 1

Daniel and I have been considering taking the 10-Day Real Food Pledge for a little while now, but weren't quite ready to commit with trips and stress and the fact that I've only barely got my cooking steam back since Miss Lettie's arrival.  We started our planning stages in-between our recent trips with the plan that we'd start as soon as we got back (well, with one day of recovery/grocery shopping first).  I will say, it took a little prep to think through the little things, like "This usually has sugar in it... will honey taste weird as a replacement sweetener?" and "I eat my feelings.  We know this, what can I eat instead of entire bags of chocolate chips?"  You know, the usual. 

So.  (I had a writing teacher in college who hated when we started sentences with "so".  I still do it, but have serious twinges of guilt every time I do so.)

So.

We got home, realized we were all super allergic or coming down with terrible colds (still not sure which wins, we're feeling awful either way), and decided to forge ahead anyway, because something will always be inconvenient... just the way it is.

Now, please keep in mind

1) I am not a good food photographer.  It's just not something I've practiced enough, so, don't expect much there ;-).

2) Just because the meals are real food does not make them perfectly balanced or, by any stretch of the imagination, fancy.  I am still learning to balance work and spending time with two sweet babies, so, I fully expect to struggle with some of the extra work entailed in these meals.

3) I'm not going to get photos of snacks unless it's something super exciting... we'll pretty much be sticking to fruits and veggies.  Also, Daniel's breakfasts and lunches may be what we eat at home, but they'll probably vary some (though they will still be real food).



After I had my over-detailed menu and list ready, Daniel headed to the meat market (locally-sourced meat is one of the rules... probably one of the more expensive ones!) and the bakery (Great Harvest Bread Co. has a honey whole wheat sandwich bread that has very few ingredients and tastes great)  It was a bit expensive, due in part to the meat not being the cheap supermarket stuff and partly because I had him pick up a little more than we need so I can double a couple meals to freeze for later.

Then, I headed to the grocery store and spent extra time reading labels on anything that came in packages, and spent most of my time and money in the produce section, trying to make sure to cover all my bases.  There you have it.

And, without further ado,

Day 1:

Breakfast

I had actually planned a bigger breakfast here, but, as our colds set in with serious fervor, we went with simple (and something I knew Anni would love and eat!)  Plain yogurt (in lieu of my former buy of vanilla yogurt... which unfortunately has sugar in it) with a drizzle of local, raw honey (my first time trying it... so far so good!), nectarine, banana and strawberries and some flax seed (Anni's had way more flax... she is far less picky than I am... I'm working on it). 

Lunch

Oh, man, can it get any simpler?  We'll start off with the chips, because I'm sure you are thinking I already messed up.  We actually discovered these through the 100 Days of Real Food website as they only have three ingredients.  They are definitely still junk food, but real food junk food.  Then we just have some pb (one ingredient: peanuts!  Who knew that would be so hard to find?!) & honey on ww bread and carrots (which Anni requested "big").  I'm pretty sure we shared a nectarine or some other kind of fruit later for a snack, but I don't remember for sure.
  
Dinner

 
Stirfry!  We have brown rice (I had to ditch my usual "Seasoning Salt" and all of it's extra-chemically ingredients and throw in some other fun things), chicken, onions, red pepper and a few cashews.  Yum.  I think I may have made some ww toast with this... but it's possible I just considered it and didn't follow through.  This tired brain doesn't remember.

Daniel and I also made a bit of a treat later that night.  There you have it.  Super simple day of food, but we made it through.  

Road Trip!

We decided to go a little crazy this past weekend and spent over 30 hours on a massive road trip so we could be where we needed to be (really specific writing there, eh?)

By far, the most relaxing part of the trip was the time we spent staying in the country on my sister's land.  Babies were held, toddlers ran around outside with their cousins all day long, and I got to chat with my sister in person and marvel at all of the amazing things they are doing.

The girls wore jammies for the 10 hour drive... and as soon as we got to my sister's, we just hopped out and started playing.

On Saturday, we were privileged and blessed to be able to attend a dear friend's ordination to the priesthood.  Rickey was actually a groomsman in our wedding, so it was wonderful to be there for his "big day" as well!  I also saw a lot of former teachers as well as grade school and high school friends (Rickey and I went to school together from 1st grade until he entered the seminary after our sophomore year of college).      

Receiving a first blessing!  We both felt those graces, for sure!

 Then there was more cousin time, and repacking everything up from my sister's home to get ready for a very early morning drive to Nebraska.

We rose and shone a little after five in the morning, and were on the road by 6:15.  A little over five hours later, one upset baby vomit, and some cruddy drive-thru breakfast, we were officially at the family reunion (or "communion" as Anni calls it).  

Babies were snuggled by aunts, uncles and cousins, we met all of the cousin's babies that we hadn't gotten to marvel over in the past few years, and just soaked in the general family craziness.  

There we all are!  Not only was it great to catch up with cousins I haven't seen in forever... but I was able to see some of my siblings who hadn't even met the baby yet (ahem, especially that mister getting his doctorate several states away).  

It was a wonderful, crazy, humid (have I mentioned I love that Colorado is so not humid), hug-filled afternoon.  Afterwards, we all crashed for a few minutes in our hotel rooms and then went on to fill a few tables at the local Mexican restaurant, where Anni promptly passed out and spent the rest of the meal sleeping in Daddy's arms.  The next morning, a sweet friend made us a delicious breakfast, we visited my wonderful godmother in Omaha and then, after a meal at the Bohemian Cafe to bolster our spirits, we headed out on our drive back.  The drive back was definitely not as smooth as our first drive... Miss Lettie was d-o-n-e.  We did the first three hour stretch and then stopped six times in the next couple (several times just pulling over to the side of the road) to calm our poor baby.  Finally, a little over 10 hours later, we made it home, started a load of laundry and passed out, waking up to massive colds and a whole lot of preparation for our 10 day challenge (more on that later).  Whew.  We both determined we don't want to drive again for a verrrry long time.  Totally worth it though: family and all of that stuff.

Lil' Bit at Three Months

My joyful little Lettie.  Unless her tummy is seriously empty or she's hit that exhaustion wall, this girl is all smiles.  All she really wants is to lock eyes and grin you into a pile of mushy happiness.  She's working on head control, and while I don't worry a ton about tummy time (we do a lot of baby wearing, which is supposed to work the same muscles), she's totally showing off every time we do practice.

She has definitely discovered those dimpled little hands, as well!  Most of her happy time is spent clutching them together as tightly as she possibly can hold them, and otherwise, you will probably find them over her eyes when asleep, or sucking on them furiously if she's managed to get them as far as her mouth.  Oh, this girl loves to chew/suck on things, and she definitely hits a point where she wants to suck, but doesn't want to nurse, so we've introduced a pacifier for times when that happens, especially in the car (she is not a lover of that carseat, that's for sure... which is funny, since we're about to head on a massive road trip). 

She has most definitely turned around her opinion on baths.  While her first few baths were very much "get her clean and get out", she is all smiles in her warm water (and I am still madly in love with her post-bath crazy fluffy hairdo).

Her big sister is crazy in love with her, and while affection can get a little rough for our little Lettie, she generally showers Anni with the same sweet smiles she has for everyone else.  I love their little powwows on the floor, I'm just in love with our darlings!

Oh, this girl.  I'm so glad she's joined our family.  The first month felt like it moved really quickly, but this last month has been a little more leisurely.  I've felt like I've had a little more time to just look in those sweet eyes and soak in that sweet smile that just lights up her entire face.  I am thrilled to keep learning who this little girl is and who she'll grow up to be, but I'm happy to live out the moments as that happens, no hurry here!  Happy three months, my girl.

Beautiful Things

I have felt a lot like a failure today.  My temper and motivation have been seriously lacking, and I feel like everything and everyone is getting the short end of the stick from me.  So, instead of telling you all the rough things, I'm going to tell you about the beautiful things... because I need that today.

My Lettie sleeping is a beautiful thing.  That hand thrown over her face reminds me of every sonogram we had taken of her.  While the technician was checking for those pockets of fluid in her kidneys, I was looking for that sweet little face, always hidden behind one sweet little fist.

And lots of times, those sleepy times end up with her lying right against my heart, letting go of her desperate fight against rest, all cozied up.  Sometimes, I admit, I am totally "touched out", but a snuggled in sleeping baby, there's always some beauty in that.

Oh, and the fact that while that baby hates napping by herself, she has been sleeping 7 hours a night is awesome.

My baby brother graduated, and we got to watch.  I am so proud of him, not only did he graduate, but he already has a (really great) job lined up.  And, hey, it doesn't hurt that he has an absolutely sweet, wonderful girlfriend who graduated the same day.

 Because my brother was graduating from our alma-mater, we got to spend a little time wandering (we actually stayed four days, fit in a few shoots and lots of seeing friends).  It made my heart happy to spend some time in the place we met and fell in love.

 

And, of course, it's never bad to fit in some extra time with my parents... it's hard living so far from home!

My sweet, anxious, Nugget asks to say "the scared prayer" before we close the door at naptime and bedtime.  It came about when she started having nightmares a few weeks back.  It goes a little like this (there are variations depending on who actually says it):

The Scared Prayer

Dear Jesus, Help Anni to not be scared, send her guardian angel to watch over her and Mary to hold her tight.  Amen.

Sweet, simple, beautiful.  I'm glad it brings her sweet little soul comfort.

Beautiful things to come: getting to see a dear friend ordained to the priesthood this weekend annnnd on to a family reunion the following day.  I may need to reread this post a few times tonight to remind myself how good I've got it, but it's all true, each and every bit a nod to all of the wonderful things I have in my life.

Celebrating Three

This year, I was kind to myself, and everyone else, and didn't try to drive us crazy by attempting the "perfect" birthday party.  I knew two things 1) I wanted Anni to know that she is precious and that the day of her birth should be celebrated and she should be made to feel special.  2) That we need to make it awesome with a minimum of money and time (aka, we just had a baby and I didn't plan for months like I loved doing for the previous two).  Therefore, I begged my darling husband to help me come up with a plan.  He, being awesome, thought of everything our little gal loves and put this together: party at the park, the strawberry cupcakes she's been begging for, friends, bubbles, food.  boom.  done.  It was cold and windy, and the kids totally didn't care.  They played to their heart's content, ate yummy food, blew bubbles and just celebrated.  It was awesome!  Happy third birthday, my sweet girl, you really are the sunshine in our lives! 

 

 

 

An interview with Anni at 3

Our little Nugget turned three... so we decided to do a fun little questionnaire now that she's old enough to actually answer questions.  She completely cracked us up!  I didn't think ahead enough to modify some of the questions (I just pulled up something on pinterest and we started asking), so we may change just a few or add a couple next year, but still a fun look into who she is at three!

1) How old are you?

Two... fwee!

2) What makes you happy?

Going to school someday and playing with the toys at school.

3) What is your favorite thing to eat?

 Apples 

4) What is your favorite color?
Green color

5) What is your favorite TV show?
A Snippy one.  (Snippy=snoopy)

6) What is your favorite book?
Max's Birthday

7) What is your favorite song?
Twinkle Twinkle. 

8) What is your favorite movie?
A Dog Movie

9) What is your favorite thing to do outside?
Play

10) What is your favorite thing to do inside?
I watch rain when I'm inside.

11) What do you like to do with Mommy?
 I like to play with you.

12) What do you like to do with Daddy?
Play with my magic wand with Daddy. (They've actually never done this, maybe she was anticipating?)

13)  What is your favorite store?
A banama store

14) Where is your favorite place to go?
The store!

15) Who are your friends?
My friends with Sophia, Mrs. Kont-erba, Don Paul.  Let me think... Don Paul's baby brudder.  Let me think... Lucy maybe?  That's all for now.

16) What is your favorite holiday?
A special holiday.

17) What is your favorite outfit?
A blue outfit.

18) What is your favorite toy?
A green toy.  A yellow toy.  I have a pink toy.

19) What do you want to be when you grow up?
 I want to be Nonna and Papa's age.  I want to play when I grow up.

20) What would you like for your birthday?
Cake.  Frosting cake.  Sniger snap peas (sugar snap peas).  You spell is a-n-i-n-p.

Seven Quick Takes: Volume II

1) Guys, I'm overwhelmed.

Like, have to catch my breath because sometimes I can feel the anxiety of having nothing done, ever, rising up in me, and feeling like I spend so much time spending five seconds on each thing that not only does nothing get done, but, well, nothing gets done.

2) But, I keep trying.

So, um, we decided to do Anni's birthday party this Saturday.  That's... tomorrow.  A few months ago, I figured we'd be in a house in May (our lease is technically up on our apartment in less than two weeks).  Then the housing market got insane, we didn't find a house, we extended our lease three months and now we're in a place in which there is no room for a three year old and her little buddies to run and scream like they should when celebrating a birthday.

Henceforth: party at a nearby park (praying that the snow storms stay away this weekend), and pulling together easy and yummy food (Anni's choice, her main request being "strawberry cake!")  Luckily we know someone who makes an amazing strawberry cake... I'm talking epically changing your view on strawberry cake amazing.  But, anyway, decorations, maybe?  We're headed to a party store tomorrow to see what fun, but quick, things we can use to decorate the gazebo.  This isn't going to be a party decorated and designed to the "t", and I'm reminding myself to be okay with that, because it's about Anni and celebrating her, whether or not we can afford crazy extravagance.  Everything a three year old needs: friends, food, fun.  Done.

3) I worked out for the first time since early in my pregnancy with Lettie (a workout which I abandoned after 15 minutes and realizing it was going to make me vomit everywhere, despite my determination to "train for labor", ha!)  It may never happen again (though my brain is making goals I'm not sure my body can keep up with... so here's hoping!), and it's possible I asked Daniel to go get me a bar of dark chocolate to recover... don't judge (oh, and my husband is pretty amazing that he didn't even blink when I begged him).

4) We made our first "overnight trip" since Lettie's birth last weekend, to Daniel's parents' house a little over an hour away.  I did a couple shoots while we were there and met this amazing, strong, mama (and took photos of her sweet little gal... stay tuned on the business blog for more of those someday soon!)

5) This morning I may have realized that it had been... a little long... since poor Lettie had had a bath.  Therefore, I decided, with five minutes before we needed to leave for my mom's group, to wash that sweet girl's blonde locks.  Best decision I made all day.  #3 comes after that.  I love her fluffy post-bath hair.

6) Anni is very into cooking with me right now, which I both love and struggle with.  Love: well, what's not to love, right?  Adorable girl wanting to throw on an apron and "mix mix"?  I love the bonding time and teaching her a life skill, but to answer the "what's not to love" question... it makes things just a tad slow!  When we didn't have little Lettie requesting my attention, I had a little more luxury in time spent in the kitchen... but now things need to be thrown together as fast as physically possible if it's going get done.  We tend to strike a deal that I let her help with some parts, but do take over at some point so that we get our meal going eventually (on time?  well, not quite).

7) Just love.  Yes, I'm overwhelmed, but I have this snuggly, snuggly baby to hold, her big sister to sing and dance with, and their daddy to love all my days.  I'm a lucky gal no matter what else is going on in my life.

More Seven Quick Take Fridays here.

P.S. My eldest sister had a birthday (and an un-birthday due to the fact that her hubby's hospitalizations have put a damper on her birthday the last few years... but not this one!) this past Tuesday.  She's amazing in ways that I actually can describe, but choose not to at the moment because I need to snatch sleep before my littlest wakes up.  Either way, send up some beautiful thoughts and prayers for her... I'm lucky to have her as my big (er... little?) sister (and she's one of the few to read my blog on a regular basis... so, there's that, too!)