Distractions while we wait...

We've officially been doing this adoption wait for 1 week. Yep, just 1 week. In reality, I feel like we've been waiting since mid-February. My mind was consumed with baby #3 during the months of February and most of March. This was a good and a sweet thing. I was constantly thinking about and praying for our next baby and birth mother that we'll probably begin building a relationship with in the future. Then we decided to do some food testing with Holden (I keep promising more on this - and I never make the time to sit and put it all out there). Anyways, we took a very dramatic turn with his diet on March 18th. Yes, I remember the date that things in our kitchen really changed. We already had him on a somewhat limited diet - gluten free and dairy free. Can I just tell you that was a piece of gluten free cake compared to this new deal?! As I was saying, it has been a distraction. In the long run, I completely believe in the route we're headed. But I'm going to admit that it hasn't been easy on my end. Or his. But I've probably whined about it much more than Holden has.

 

A much sweeter distraction recently has been planning that boy's 5th birthday. Oh my goodness, I get a lump in my throat when I realize that he is almost 5!! It really, really, really does not seem possible that I have been a mommy for 5 years. Jeremy and I decided we would do big parties for our kids through their 5th birthday and then we'll change up their celebration in the future years. So this is the last little party that I will plan for my firstborn. Whoa. I threw out a couple of theme ideas to Holden and I was happily shocked when he chose the one I had been hoping for. I figured he'd pick a character theme or something. But it's been a fun distraction for me to put together the little details for his 5th birthday celebration.

A practice run on the birthday cupcakes. One of the main ingredients is pureed chickpeas! I promise this recipe could fool you! Gluten free, dairy free, rice free, nut free, quinoa free. Just about everyting FREE. ;) Nonetheless, delicious! He was a big fan of his chocolate cupcakes.

 

I mentioned in a previous post that we were planning to start some landscaping this spring. Well, demolition started last weekend. We ripped everything out of the front yard, except for our one lone tree. Somehow we started with an idea to do some type of permanent edging for landscaping and then we'd fill it in with plants and flowers. Then a few conversations later and we were extending our front patio. Jeremy is a DIYer through and through. And because I've seen him do so many projects throughout the years, I never really question if he can do something or if it will look anything less than perfect. He's a thorough researcher and on top of that, a perfectionist. This little project has taken most of his free time for the past two weekends. And his back was killing him by Saturday evening. But it's been a fun distraction to watch my husband add some much needed curb appeal to our home. He amazes me with his talents and abilities. I told him last night, that in my opinion, this is his most impressive DIY project yet. I'll definitely be posting before and after pictures once the whole thing is completed. We're just calling this phase 1 of 3. :)

On demolition day, Holden had the privilege to play with some worms. Ewww.

We are tentatively planning (please note that planning is a VERY loose term in our house these days) an early summer vacation in the next month. Obviously, if we get our baby call, there will be no vacay. And we're a-okay with that. But if we are still in this wait, it's a little something extra to look forward to. Sea World just may be in our future again. I just know the boys would love it so much at this age. It's been two years since their first Sea World experience. And I would love for it to work out for us to take them again very soon.

 

These two faces are my constant reminder, that God's plan is NEVER delayed. His timing is always perfect. So for now, I wait with joy and contentment for him to fill our home again with another baby love. And as we wait, I'm thoroughly enjoying my family of four.

beets.

Tuesday we received beets through our fruit and veggie co-op. During the boys afternoon naps, I found a recipe that I thought might appeal to them. I cooked the beets in the oven, let them cool, slipped off their peeling, and chopped them up into bite sized pieces. Then I combined them with chopped orange slices, apple slices, a drizzle of olive oil, a splash of lemon juice and a sprinkle of sea salt. The apples and oranges also turned magenta as I stirred them together. I just called the dish fruit salad hoping to sneak the beets past the boys. But Holden studies his plate. He doesn't just dive right in.  So he quickly informed me that he wasn't going to like this particular fruit salad. :) We stripped down the boys explaining that the beets might stain their clothes. And as we sat down to eat, I ate a beet first and then showed them my tongue. That was all it took. The dove right in and loved them. Actually they didn't love the taste, but they loved what the beets did to the insides of our mouths. And my veggie lover, Pax even shivered a little bit as he chewed. And they both requested a second helping of this healthy fruit salad. You just never know how dinner's gonna go down over here at this house. But Tuesday night was a success!

Chocolate Protein Smoothie

I randomly threw together a smoothie several weeks ago. And it just happen to taste AMAZING! Like a chocolate milkshake! To tell you the truth, I don't remember the last time I had a real-deal milkshake. So maybe to most people it won't taste exactly the same. But I thought it was delicious. And so healthy!

After months of reading some nutritional blogs (may fave being the Fitnessista), I started freezing bananas. I was finding that you can make some pretty incredible, healthy "desserts" with frozen bananas. For instance, banana soft serve. It really taste so great. And pretty much the only ingredient? Bananas! Crazy! Who comes up with this stuff?! So now, I ALWAYS have peeled bananas in my freezer. Always. So that's how this little smoothie came together. So here it is:

1 cup almond milk - unsweetened almond milk is 35calories/cup and has a thick texture. Not like watery skim milk. It also has a great nutty flavor. It's also great in coffee because of the unique flavor. But you could use any kind of milk you wanted.
1 scoop chocolate protein powder (or you could use vanilla. But oooooh the chocolate . . .)
1 frozen banana

Since the banana starts out frozen, it really gives the smoothie that thick icecream texture. One day I randomly added frozen blueberries wondering if I had ruined my shake . . . I mean smoothie. :) Almond milk+blueberries+banana+chocolate? That just sounds crazy. But since I had seen the Fitnessista post crazier combos, I gave it a whirl. And to my surprise, it was a hit. Go ahead and try them. Tell me if you like it. My guess is that you won't be disappointed.

Organic Co-op

A friend recently told me about the organic co-op she had joined. Here is where she directed me, which is basically just for the DFW metroplex. There are a gazillion in the metro, so you just have to find the one closest to you. And our co-op is only a 2 mile drive away! So for 6 weeks, we're trying it out. We pick up our fruits and veggies every other Tuesday. I think we might need to add an extra fruit share, which I can easily do later. But for $25 (since we opted for a half share rather than a whole) we received the following.
1 head of lettuce, 1 head of bok choy, 1 head of broccoli, 2 cucumbers, 3 roma tomatoes, 6 carrots, 7 potatoes, a bunch of cilantro, 3 green onions, about 1 cup of green beans, 6oz blueberries, 4 bananas, 3 apples and 1 cantelope. And obviously it's all organic. I think that seems like a pretty good deal. But if you just whipped out your calculator, you may decide otherwise. To be honest, I'm not a great price watcher. I mean, when Sprouts has grapefruit for 11 cents each, I know that is a fabulous deal. But alot of times I just buy what's on sale and what we need. But I haven't been buying much organic fruits and veggies because of the significant price increase. But this house has been inhaling tons of produce and probably with some pesticides along the way. So no more pesticides. We're trying this out. And I'm pretty excited about it!

green thumb?

Last summer our family took a pretty big turn in the way we eat. It's been a process and one that I'm still growing into. I wrote a little bit about it here. But in the middle of last summer, I suddenly wanted my own garden since my eyes were opened about the produce my family had been consuming. I'm not overreacting and saying it's going to kill us. But if I grow it myself, then I know exactly what we are getting. Well, we definitely don't have room for a garden in the backyard. Especially with the little project we have going on right now. More on that next week when it's all completed. (SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS!) But I did spend a few dollars on organic potting soil and a few plants that are staples in my fridge. So I'm trying out my green thumb to see if I can be a full-time farmer right in my own backyard. :) So here we have 2 cucumber plants and 2 tomato plants. I would love some sort of fruit tree, a strawberry plant and some herbs. But it's baby steps for now. So this is what I'm beginning with this spring. Once these veggies start growing, I'll easily have my ingredients for this delicious salad!

currently on my mind . . .

Just some thoughts that have been filling up my days lately.

*Baby Denton. Remember Holden's BFF from Oklahoma? His name is Lyndon.Well, he's a big brother now! Denton entered the world yesterday at only 29 weeks. He's doing well. As is his momma, who is my sweet friend. But I know prayers for this baby boy and the family would be much appreciated.

*If Holden continues to resist potty training, then maybe we can train both boys at the same time! This is an exciting thought to me. I mean, Pax will be 18 months in just 2 days and many kids pick up on potty training around that time. Especially younger siblings, from what I hear. So if Holden keeps being fearful to sit on the toilet, maybe his little brother will inspire him. I did sit Pax on the toilet 2 weeks ago and made a big hooray about it. I was hoping it would encourage big brother to give it a try. No luck. So I'm not pushing. But secretly (or not so secretly since I'm mentioning it here), I'm hoping to kill 2 birds with 1 stone in the future. Maybe it's just 1 of my benefits of having 2 boys less than 16 months apart.

*Wondering if I could feed my boys homemade almond milk instead of cow's milk. Wondering about the health benefits of doing so. And wondering if it would be cheaper or just cost me more $$. I haven't done enough research to even know if that's a great idea. I've just been reading the fitnessista blog and getting inspired with all of her creative recipes. Have I mentioned how much I love this chick's blog. She's funny and pretty inspiring. So yesterday I took another baby step in trying something new. I made my own almond milk! I had never even tasted almond milk before yesterday. Honestly, I just wanted to try her super healthy Strawberry Banana Milkshake. Which was delish! Too bad, I didn't take pictures of the process. But here are the almonds soaking.
And coming from a girl that doesn't enjoy milk, this stuff was pretty good!

*Thinking about Holden's 3rd birthday party that will be here in May. What sort of fun theme we could have . . .And I've been quite impressed with my little Holden lately. He's becoming polite, more patient and obeying on the first time asked. Okay, not all the time. He still has his moments. But I'm seeing a behavior improvement, big time. Instead of whining "milk, milk, milk" until I place it in his hands. He's saying "Mommy, may I have some milk please?" or "Mommy, may I go outside to play." Oh my! I've HARPED on manners for the past 18 months and it's finally paying off. Mister Politeness. He's made me so proud during this past week. Which makes me wonder what kind of hell next week will be. Ha! Not being negative, just being honest. It goes in cycles at our house. But I'm crossing my fingers that some of this is going to stick.

*We are back in our honeymoon phase! When we brought home Holden, I described it like a honeymoon and we stayed there for a long while. Like 16ish months. We were starry-eyed with our new life as parents. Then we added Pax. And the adjustment of having 2 little ones was rough stuff. Holden was into everything. Pax was a needy baby. My attention was divided. Sleep wasn't as good for a few months. We moved. Twice. It was hard. I was tired. And I'm pretty sure that I aged at least 5-7 years during Pax's first year of life. Now my eyelids droop, which was never the case before. I need some cream for that. Please don't stare at my eyelids the next time you see me. That's just rude. :) Anyways, I think when Pax started walking, we entered back into the honeymoon phase. The boys are playing so well. Getting along so well. Laughing at each other most of the day. Kissing, hugging and occassionally ripping toys out of each other's hands. But life is fun and easy again. We are back in the honeymoon phase and it really is great!

*We've already bought our passes to the water park this year and I CAN'T WAIT! Partly for everything I just mentioned. Both boys are a little more independent now and will be even more so this summer. So, even though it may be a busier time for me at the water park, making sure no one drowns, I'm ready to get out and have some summer fun.

*Grateful that my kitchen floor is no longer sticky. I used naptime to mop today. I'm pretty sure that my boys are messier eaters than 2 wild animals.

*I think I've relaxed a little with child #2. Pax is feeding himself yogurt and other sloppy foods. Which could be part of the reason my kitchen floor was sticky just an hour ago. And it's for sure the reason that I took him to the grocery store yesterday and noticed later that he had dried yogurt on his forehead. But I sure love that desire for independence!
*I feel like I have so many friends going through difficult seasons right now. So this verse has been on my mind: "So that your faith would not rest in the wisdom of men, but on the power of God." 1 Corinthians 2:5. Praying to see His power in the lives around me.

And those are some things that have been filling up this brain lately.

green smoothie addition

So for the first time ever, Jeremy tasted the green smoothie. It was a few days ago and he was unimpressed. I think that's because most of us require lots of salt, sugar or artificial flavors to satisfy our taste. We've gotten too far away from whole, basic, unprocessed foods, which is what this green smoothie consists of. So as a random experiment, the other day, I added a granny smith apple to the smoothie. At the very end, after I had blended the spinach, I added the entire apple (minus the core). And it added some flavor. I loved it and will probably do this regularly. So I downed the smoothie, with a little help from Holden and Pax. And that, right there, is 3 servings of fruit (at least) and 1-2 servings of vegetables (depending on how much spinach you add). Can't beat that. So if you've tried the green smoothie and were unimpressed, like Jeremy (though he can be a bit high maintenance in the food department :), then try adding something like the apple.
And on another note. Look who is pulling out the shorts with the beautiful weather we're having this week. It's been amazing. Here's to hoping that spring has hit Texas for good.

Eating Clean

Some of you asked after my muffin post, so I will try to share what I have learned. First, I'm going to admit that I am a beginner at this. So I'm still researching and trying to get a good grasp on this nutrition stuff and the changes I want my family to make. Baby steps. I normally tend to see things black and white. Go hard or go home. I don't inch slowly towards something that I want. I jump into it with both feet. But this change was overwhelming. So as my sister (who planted her own organic garden this past year) kept whispering to me "baby steps, baby steps", I knew she was onto something. This was not a change I could make in 1 day.

So it started about 9 months ago. I recorded an Oprah show because I read that it was on nutrition. I have an interest in all things fitness and nutrition related. I majored in it in college just because I loved it. Though I haven't always followed the rules like a passionate lover of it. And I only worked in the field for less than 1 year, and that includes my internship. Unfortunately, typically, the money made in this field will barely pay your rent. Much less student loans from my beloved, but way too pricey Christian college. But my interest in reading and learning of it has never left me. So I recorded the Oprah show to watch it later. My eyes were opened. I almost felt convicted, dare I even use that word, at the way we feed ourselves so conveniently. So I decided to have Jeremy watch the Oprah show. I figured he would blow it off and no changes would be made. Surprisingly, he was as hooked as I was. We were hooked, but so overwhlelmed. So you know what happened? Not a whole lot. Michael Pollan, the brains behind Food Inc (which I highly recommend you renting tonight!) explained how we eat so much meat these days. So that was a change we made. Less meat. We both realized we could enjoy some filling dinners without meat on our plate. But other than that, no changes were made. We didn't know where to begin. We didn't know anyone knowledgable in the subject. We just had no clue as to what the next step should be. So we didn't take one. We continued with our normal eating. Which included lots of fruits and veggies, lean meats, whole wheat pasta and bread. Generally healthy. But still lots of processed foods such as "healthy" cereal and granola bars, goldfish crackers, cream soups and canned goods to help me out in the kitchen, non-organic milk, eggs and meat. Just a typical diet, I think, that most would call generally healthy.

Fast forward to just 5 months ago. I had a giftcard from my birthday to Barnes and Nobles that I was dying to use. I decided to order online rather than take my 2 babies shopping for books. Having just received the 30 Day Shred video for my birthday, I started looking through Jillian Michael's books. And there I found what began our little baby steps. Here it is. The part that stated "naturally balancing your hormones" is what caught my attention. For obvious reasons, mine are screwed up. And so for me, this was just a weight loss book. I had no clue what the "3 Diet Secrets" would be. Had I known that the subject would revolve around organics and living chemical-free, I probably never would have bought it. Because again, to me that looked overwhelming and crazy expensive! But I made the purchase, immediately began reading and felt so enlightened. Simple things. Things that should have been common knowledge to me. It made perfect sense now. She broke it down and explained it for me. And I ate it up. I read the good stuff to Jeremy. He ate it up. And as simple as that, we were ready for the change. Even if it cost us more dollars. We felt that the health benefits were more than worth it for our family. One little snippet from the book that I loved:

Take our Power Nutrient food tomatoes. God created tomatoes and they have all the cancer-fighting health benefits mentioned above - the best form of medicine with no harmful side effects. Now let's take our little tomato and see what happens to it in the name of capitalism. The tomato is grown conventionally, and sprayed with up to seven kinds of pesticides. Then it is picked too early because it must make the long journey across the country - or across the world - from its original location to your supermarket. Yes, you are now polluting the environment with all the gas used to transport the tomato. But there's more. The tomato is still green because it was picked too early, so now it is sprayed with argon gas (also used to euthanize dogs) to make it turn red prematurely. WOW! We have just taken God's natural medicine and turned it into poison - for us and for our environment. That is why we simply must make efforts to go organic.

The life of a tomato. This one has stuck in my brain. Argon gas? Are you kidding me? If that doesn't make you twinge a bit, then I don't know what to tell you. And we can say things like "I've been eating this way my whole life and I'm fine." Well, I can't actually say that since I was infertile by age 26. Maybe even earlier. And my guess is that most of you can think of 3 others with similar issues. Most of us can count 5 people without spending much time pondering it that are terminally ill with cancer or that have already died from this disease. A disease that was extremely uncommon 50 years ago. But my theory on this whole nutrition thing is To each his own. I do feel a little passionate about it. But it's what I'm choosing for my family. Not anyone else. Eat your Fruit Loops and Doritos until the cows come home. And I'll even partake with you on occasion. :)

And at age 18 my children may decide to eat like CRAP for the rest of their lives. I hope that's not the case, but it's possible. My thinking is that at least they had a foundation of healthy eating. My parents had that foundation also. That was before we shot up our animals with hormones and antibiotics and sprayed our crops with pesticides. Life has changed in the past 50 years. And my generation got screwed from the get-go. Many of us grew up on convenience foods. Thus, my slight feeling of urgency, to begin making positive changes now. 30 years later. And that's where I'm at with clean eating. Learning as I go and still just trying to figure it all out. A friend of mine has recently pointed me towards Tosca Reno. An author of many books/cookbooks on eating clean. So I am just now cracking those open. If I come across some tasty, healthy recipes, you will be the first to know. And as a side note (as if I haven't had enough side notes), we haven't been spending more money since we began buying organic. Amazing how it balances out when you change the way you shop. You take out the processed stuff, spend a little more on the fresh organic foods and it seems to balance itself out.

So my recommendations if you're interested in learning:
1) Come to my house and watch the Oprah show. I still have it recorded. :)
2) Read the book.
3) Watch the documentary.
4) Then you can decide for yourself. And at the end of it all, feel free to stick your head back in the sand. It's always a viable option. :)

The ever-so-healthy muffin.

At our house, for many months now, we have been trying to "eat clean". Let me say we are probably at it 80% of the time right now. We started off with a bang. I would say eating 95% clean in the begining. Though, we will never give up eating out and if you have us over for dinner, we will eat whatever you serve. And if we have you over for dinner, don't expect it to be "clean". So let's just say we still treat ourselves. But after a few months, I sort of ran out of ideas and began sneaking a box macaroni and cheese into our grocery cart here and there. So yes, my boys had mac and cheese for lunch today. I struggle with wholesome lunch ideas. Feel free to share clean-eaters. Though I do have to say, Holden has taken well to Organic Peanut Butter and could surely eat a PB&J sandwhich for every single meal if I allowed it. But breakfast, I've got down. I haven't bought frozen waffles in several months. I've been making my own and freezing them in batches. They are whole wheat, so a healthy little way to start the day. Then it seemed like Holden was getting tired of the waffles. So lately we have been on a muffin kick. In a recent post, I briefly mentioned this recipe. And it has been a winner with the kids (Jeremy and I love them too!). We've eaten so many I've seen poppyseeds in my boys diapers. Weird, huh? And I probably just shared too much information. I substituted the oil with applesauce and other than that, just followed the recipe.

And then today, I ventured upon this recipe. They are in the oven now and smell delish! I also bought some organic canned pumpkin today. Whole wheat pumpkin muffins are next on the list to try. I think I will be trying this recipe out. I always take out the oil and use applesauce instead. Makes it a little healthier, I think. And instead of sugar, I always opt for honey. And so far so good. So go and bake your family some healthy muffins. :)