October Budget

We went over again this month for the 3rd time this year.  Here is the breakdown...

Food:  Over by $82
Fixed Income:  Broke even
Entertainment: Over by $200
Extra: Over by $480
Household: Over by $350

We spent $205 more than Victor's monthly salary.  Thankfully, during the month of October he gets 3 paychecks so all but $200 of the 3rd paycheck went into our savings/project fund. 

Notable Moments- Erik

Erik and Victor were playing "I Spy" on the way home from church today.  After multiple rounds of " I spy something green, white, red, etc." Erik changed it to, "I spy something pretty!" 

Victor immediately said, " Do you spy Mommy?"

With great excitement Erik exclaimed, "Yes!!"

So cute, my sweet boys.

Food Challenge! Please Join Us!

I have been following a blog called "100 Days of Real Food."  It is written by a normal American family of four that decided to cut out all processed  and refined foods for 100 days.  They made a lot of changes cold turkey with the idea of committing to the changes for 100 days.  They never gone back to their old diet. 

I like the recipes and information on their blog but haven't been inspired to make the same cold-turkey changes.  In the past they had challenged readers to take a 10 day pledge.  This would be much easier than 100 days but most likely wouldn't be permanent so I never joined them. 

Well, they recently wrote an article titled " 14 steps to Cut Out Processed Foods."

They are challenging readers to make one change in their diets each week.  Some are easy, some are hard.  We are going to do it!!  I am planning on having each week add upon the next (with a couple of exceptions) so by the end of 4 months we should have incorporated all the changes into our eating. 

I plan to take a break from the challenge for the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas.   I am going to post a summary every Sunday with our success and failures from the past week.  I am quite excited about it and HOPE I can convince a few other families to join us in this journey! 

Here is the 14 week plan.....

14 Weeks of “Real Food” Mini-Pledges

• Week 1: Two fruits and/or vegetables per meal – Eat a minimum of two different fruits or vegetables (preferably organic) with every breakfast, lunch, and dinner meal.
• Week 2: “Real” beverages – Beverages will be limited to coffee, tea, water, and milk (only naturally sweetened with a little honey or 100% pure maple syrup). One cup of juice will be allowed throughout the week, and wine (preferably red) will be allowed in moderation (an average of one drink per day).
• Week 3: Meat – All meat consumed this week will be locally raised (within 100-miles of your hometown). Meat consumption will also be limited to 3 – 4 servings this week, and when it is eaten meat will not be presented as the “focal point” of the meal. Instead meat will be treated as a side item or simply used to help flavor a dish.
• Week 4: No fast food or deep-fried foods – No fast food or any foods that have been deep-fried in oil.
• Week 5: Try two new whole foods – Try a minimum of two new whole foods that you’ve never had before.
• Week 6: No low-fat, lite or nonfat food products – Do not eat any food products that are labeled as “low-fat,” “lite,” “light,” “reduced fat,” or “nonfat.”
• Week 7: 100% Whole grain – All grains consumed must be 100% whole-grain.
• Week 8: Stop eating when you feel full – Listen to your internal cues and stop eating when you feel full.
• Week 9: No refined sweeteners – No refined or artificial sweeteners including (but not limited to): white sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, sucanat, splenda, stevia, agave, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, brown rice syrup, and cane juice. Foods and beverages can only be sweetened with a moderate amount of honey or maple syrup.
• Week 10: No refined oils – No refined or hydrogenated oils including (but not limited to): vegetable oil, organic vegetable oil, soybean oil, corn oil, canola oil, organic canola oil, margarine, and grape seed oil.
• Week 11: Eat local foods – Eat at least 1 locally grown or raised food at each meal. This includes, but is not limited to: fruits, vegetables, eggs, grains, nuts, meats, and sweeteners like honey.
• Week 12: No sweeteners – Avoid all added sweeteners including, but not limited to: white sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, honey, maple syrup, date sugar, maple sugar, sucanat, splenda, stevia, agave, fruit juice concentrate, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, brown rice syrup, and cane juice.
• Week 13: Nothing artificial – Avoid all artificial ingredients including, but not limited to: sweeteners, flavors and colors.
• Week 14: No more than 5-ingredients – Avoid any and all packaged food products that contain more than five ingredients no matter what ingredients

We are going to start this journey on Sunday November 6th!  Who is going to join us?!   If anyone else with a blog decides to participate I'd love to have you do weekly updates as well and I will put a link to your blog each week. 

Let me know what you think!

Sesame Place

Lainey watching Elmo

Sesame Street Show

Erik and Hanna are in the high "fish"; Lainey and I are in the low "fish"

Hanna and Erik at the tree line - So high!

Lainey and I not quite so high!

My favorite.  Oh my sassy girl - you are loved!

Erik, Sonja, Hanna, and Jamison on a small roller coaster.

Very steep nets we all climbed.

Erik, Lainey, and I went in the hot air balloons.  Lap infants weren't allowed and I was the picked by the kids to go on the ride.

Climbing up Cookie mountain!  Erik loved this and the line was short so he did it over and over.  Climb up and slide down.

Sesame Place is located about 30 minutes from Mike and Sonja's.  It is an amusement/water park targeted for young kids (2-7 years old).  I was really surprised that Erik was so excited about the rides.  He loved them all!  Lainey liked them too but was a bit more anxious than Erik.  She did all but 2 of the rides that Erik went on though.  She is quite brave!  Erik really wanted to ride the big roller coaster but we ran out of time.

We were able to get 4 free tickets because Victor is in the Navy which was great.  Mike, Sonja, Jamison, Silas, and Hanna joined us in the morning.  We stayed all day long.  The kids were very, very tired and slept the entire way home.  We just stopped once in a gas station parking lot so I could nurse Carson.  We never turned the interior van lights on so the big kids didn't even know we stopped. :)

Erik does still get motion sick but I had given him 1/4 of a dramamine for the car ride to the park with the bonus that it would last through out time at the amusement park.

Sick Kids again

Erik, Lainey, and Carson have all had colds since Monday.  I have had one for the past couple days.  Victor, as usual, is healthy.  Poor, poor Carson has had a lot of trouble with wheezing and coughing again.  Sleep has been quite limited. He has had a low grade fever since last night as well. 

I started him on Albuterol again a couple days ago with little improvement.  Yesterday, his left ear appeared to be red as well. 

So we went back to the pediatrician again today.  He is concerned about the fact he has really been wheezing most of the past 6 weeks.  We are starting him on Budesonide nebulizers (steroid) 3 times a day.  We will follow up in a week. 

As for his ear, the doctor kind of hemmed and hawed about whether or not to treat.  He mentioned it being red (I didn't tell him I look at it myself) but his tympanometry is normal at this point so we are going to wait and see.  Hopefully, it will clear on his own.  If not, I will have to make an extra trip to the doctor. :(

He is still 19 pounds (50%) for his weight so no weight gain during the past 7 weeks although he did regain the weight he lost with his last respiratory illness. 

I'm sure Carson will be okay.  I am quite exhausted (so is Victor) though and a little sad that my poor baby is struggling again.

Sleeping Arrangements and photos of the Chen Men

 Erik and Lainey spent the night on a pull out couch.  I was not sure this was going to be successful but they did great.  I listened to them talking to each other and singing the ABC's before falling asleep for the night.  We didn't hear from them again until morning.

Mike and the cello - he is talented!

Victor trying to look natural in his photos. He is a natural with babies but always 

seems to make a face for pictures.

Photo Fun in Philly

My favorite

The best one??  4 kids are looking at the camera.

Getting a good photo of 5 kids 4 and under at bedtime

makes taking a family photo seem easy.

We tried at least!

Current ages of the cousins...
Erik 49 months
Lainey 28 months
Jamison 22 months
Carson 7 months
Silas 6 weeks

Lainey is the only girl so far.  I can relate as it was me and 9 boy cousins on the Baker side of my family until Melanie showed up when I was 10. :) 

Notable Quotes- Lainey

Lainey was very sad this morning because she touched a hot cookie sheet. I put her hands under cold water and got her an ice pack.  She was still very sad but her hands looked fine so I said, " Honey, I think you are okay now." 

She picked her head up off of my shoulder, stopped crying for a second and said, "No Mommy, I am still crying." 

Ha ha!

Family Fun in Philly

We spent Friday and Saturday in Philadelphia.  Mike and Sonja have lived there for a year and it was our first trip up there (sorry!).  They bought an old row house and renovated it.  It was beautiful and suites their family well.

We were very excited to meet Silas for the first time.  He is 6 weeks old and already plump!  It is so amazing to see the difference between a 7 month old and 6 week old.  They change so quickly! Silas was a pretty laid back little guy.

Here is the first batch of photos from our trip.  More to come....

The kids traveled really well both ways.  We let them watch movies for about 1 hour total round trip.

Lainey holding Silas

Meeting my newest nephew

Checking out the competition

Showing off his grin

Jameson- 22 months and pumpkin ice cream

 Sonja made one of the best meals I've ever eaten - butternut squash/sweet potato lasagna. 

I hope to replicate it someday.  Yum!!

Sonja and Silas

More tomorrow- it is late and I am tired!!

Comet the Spacedog

Well, as cute as this dog was, he needed to find a different family.  :(  He was really gentle and sweet but pooped on my floor 5 times in 5 days.  The first 48 hours he was fine so I got the false impression that he was house trained.  Not so much. 

Wednesday I was gone for a few hours in the morning with the kids. I knew at that point that he might not be completely house trained so I put him in the crate when we left.  When I got back, at nap time, I came home to a disgusting crate and a dog covered in poop from head to toe. 

That was it for me.  Not only did I have to put 3 tired kids to bed I had to spend nap time cleaning up a disgusting, not kid related, mess.  No thanks. 

Victor still wasn't convinced but then Comet pooped on the floor 2x the following morning, while we were home.  That did it for Victor as well. 

I called 4-5 no kill shelters in the area and all were full.  There is one in DC that said they might take the dog (no guarantees), but it was a 3 hour drive round trip, you had to pay to drop him off, and he might get rejected.  So sadly, we left him at the humane society with hopes that he will be adopted. 

We really did enjoy having a dog in the house but I think we will hold off for another 3-4 years and get a different breed as apparently house training is notoriously difficult with beagles. 

Still Alive!

This has probably been one of the longest stretches I've had between blog posts.  Too tired to tell you about our week now but I will post a couple photos to hold the grandparents over.... 

Reasons I've been busy....

Comet the spacedog

Cousins

We've Been Adopted!

By Farmer or Astronaut depending on the time of day you talk to Erik.  

We found him wondering around on the back roads (wooded area) early yesterday morning.  He didn't have a collar/tags so I tried luring him into the van but he wouldn't come.  It was clear he was friendly but too nervous to get in the car.  

A few hours later another neighbor spotted him.  They had dog treats with them so he hopped in their truck.  They already have a dog so were planning to take him to the local humane society (there isn't a no-kill shelter in the area).  

I am not sure what possessed me to go look at him one more time but we did and now we still have him. 

He is in good shape but appears to have an ear infection, a badly ingrown toenail, and is dirty.  He is a really sweet and laid back dog.  He likes the kids and does really well with them.  He seems to be house-trained.  He walks well with a leash.    He really likes people and dislikes being crated.  He is not afraid of other dogs and doesn't bark when we walk by one.

He is really afraid of doorways and is somewhat timid when people initially go to pet him (ducks for a second).  He really loves being petted though and warms up quickly. 

Erik and Astronaut (nickname Astro which sounds like Asshole to me!)

All three kids like Astronaut but Erik is especially fond of him.  We crated Farmer when we went to church this morning and he was whimpering when we got back.  Erik rushed in the door saying, "Don't worry Astronaut!  I am here now!!"  So cute.  

Last night I got up at 230 AM to feed Carson.  I noticed that Erik's light was on and his bedroom door was open and he was missing.  I went to check downstairs and found him asleep on the kitchen floor next to Farmer/Astronaut.   

We had originally planned to crate Astronaut/farmer overnight but the howling was enough to drive even a deaf person crazy.  Once we let him out he went straight to his bed and slept through the night.   Cute dog!

We did notify the local "pound" that we found a beagle (no one was looking for one) and had a vet check for a micro-chip (there isn't one).  Our neighbor also posted a "found" ad and I have kept my eyes open for a "lost" poster.  It seems Astronaut either escaped from somewhere or was dumped by someone who couldn't afford him.  It would be interesting to know. 

I'll take him to a vet in the next 24-48 hours to make sure his health checks out and then we will decide for sure whether or not Astronaut/Farmer is a permanent resident in our home. 

Fondue With Friends

 We had our buddy Zach over for chocolate fondue tonight!

 YUM!!

The table was set for three! Erik-4, Zach-3, Lainey-2

The moms watched from a (close) distance!

Baby Ryan (almost one) and Carson missed out on the chocolate.  Carson didn't seem too sad.

Erik, Lainey, and Zach are all pretty good buddies.  Zach and Erik will be in the same grade, Lainey one year behind, and then Ryan and Carson two years behind Lainey.  It will be interesting to see what trouble they all get into during the years to come! :)

School Boy

Erik likes to circle books and toys he wants in magazines.

Grandma and Papa -- Papa is wearing a hat.

Erik is very interested in learning how to write (and read).  His ability to draw pictures has grown significantly during the past month or two as well.  Erik is particularly fond of drawing combines. Since he has been taking naps only 3 days a week I try to use the other days to work on "school" stuff with him.  He is always very interested in this.  I love it too!  It's a fun way to spend 30 minutes while Lainey and Carson are asleep. 

Erik had his second tae kwon do class tonight.  He happily participated throughout the class and was very excited about it.  It has to be one of the cutest things I have ever watched. He listens and follows directions really well during class.  I love it!

Carson - 7 months!

Beach bum 10/10/11

What a fast and busy month!  This has been the fastest month for me since Carson was born.  I can't believe he is already 7 months! 

This is what he is doing now.... 

Eating:
Still exclusively breast fed for the most part.  He seemed interested in solids (applesauce, mashed bananas) for a few days but then he caught that awful virus and cut 2 teeth.  He is quite a bit better now (still coughing) but refuses to eat anything (he is nursing fine again)!  So, aside from 5-10 bites of food all this kid has had so far is breast milk.  We will see how the next month goes.  I am not worried, he will eventually learn to eat!

Sleeping:
About the same as a month ago.  He goes to bed around 730 pm, I dream feed him at 10:30 or so,and then not again until 6:30 AM.  We do hear him sometimes but try not to go in.  While he was sick this schedule was ignored of course.  He was up a lot!  Victor was out of town most of that week so I was extremely exhausted last week.  Finally, we are all getting back to normal.

Development:
This has been a busy month!  He now crawls, goes from laying to sitting with ease, and apparently can pull to a stand.  No one has witnessed him pulling to a stand but he had to have been standing in order to "jump"out of the crib last week. 

Carson personality has flourished a bit too.  He is very good at communicating his needs already.  He seems to be quite opinionated. So much for my laid back baby!  He loves to be played with and held. He gets sad if he is left alone.  He doesn't enjoy being put into his car seat but is usually fine in the car.  He is still full of smiles which makes everyone around him happy. :) He bounces joyfully when he is happy to see you.  So cute!

Carson had a really crummy respiratory virus with high fevers (up to 104.2) for 4 days (a fever for 6 days total).  He developed bronchiolitis as well.  He is significantly better but still coughing.  We are using albuterol nebs 1-2x a day still.

He is phasing out of the "nurse-to-sleep" stage and screams like a banshee when you leave him in his crib.  He usually falls asleep within 5 minutes on his own though.  If he isn't tired he will not quit crying within 5-10 minutes.  If that happens I just get him out and play for another 30 minutes or so and then try again when more tired.

This month we took Carson hiking and to the beach.

He is not a big fan of the backpack - Lainey likes it though!

We are so thankful for our little guy!