Merry Christmas!

We have had a fun Christmas weekend.  The kids are at fun ages because Erik and Lainey have a pretty good understanding of what is happening and don't hide their enthusiasm yet. Very fun!

Saturday we went to church.  That was an adventure because Carson did not want to be in the nursery.  We got paged after about 10 minutes to get him.  Lainey came out too.  We already had Erik with us because his Sunday school class wasn't in session.  3 kids 4 and under in church is an adventure.

For the Christmas service they hand out candles to everyone and light them for the last song.  This was very exciting for Erik!


When we came home we had a birthday party for baby Jesus.  I have made a birthday cake for Jesus every year.  This year Erik insisted that we have balloons and streamers for him as well (just like we did at Erik's party).  It was a last minute request so the streamers didn't happen but we did blow up lots of birthday balloons.  Cute!

 Bribing still works

Today was pretty low key we stayed home opened presents and ate food.  Erik's favorite gift was his civil war musket.  Lainey loves her doll stroller.  Carson only received one present, a ball-dispenser thing, so I guess that is automatically his favorite. :)

Here are some videos and photos from our day....

Erik had left a note for Santa requesting an army gun and cap and shirt.  He was politely looking for them in this video, quite convinced that Santa didn't see his note.  I am so thankful that we had a gun for him or I would have had one sad little boy.

Hasn't let go of his new gun yet - took it to bed with him!

Note To Santa

All for the kids. Victor and I didn't exchange gifts this year.

Lainey LOVES her baby dolls! 

 Funny Lainey story....

Lainey got a few barbie style Disney princesses for Christmas.

They are not nearly as popular as her baby dolls but they were 60% off so I bought

them hoping she will like them in the next year or two.

She played with them a little while today and then insisted that they all get undressed.

When she took the dress off the first princess she got all excited and shouted, 

"Look Mom, MILK!"  

Ha!

SOOO BIG is Carson's favorite game!  Mine too.

We hid stuffed animals downstairs and sent Lainey and Erik hunting.

Lainey's new swing/book corner. 

2 wheeler!

Look what Erik learned today?! 

I am so proud, so is he!  His grin was from ear to ear.  He told anyone who walked by, "Look at me!"  So so cute!!  

The Blissful Couple

They laugh together.
Read together.
Dance together.
... Paint together.
Listen to music together.
Walk, holding hands, together.

They love exchanging
Warm
Wet
Mushy
Kisses.

He rushes to greet her,
His arms outstretched,
Joyfully calling her name,
When he sees her arrive.

Who, you are wondering,
Is this blissful couple?
She is his grandma.
He is almost five.

--by Judith Viorst

Grr!

Carson likes to growl at us when frustrated.  He is also trying to perfect the pincher grasp.  Both skills are demonstrated in this video.  Enjoy!

Friend or Foe?

It's easy to get really skeptical about the entire food industry while attempting to alter our families diet to resemble the 1950's staples.  For example, I am fairly convinced that the healthiest milk for my family would be organic, grass fed, low-temp pasturized, non-homogenized whole milk.  In other words - milk straight from the cow with the addition of low-temp pasturization.  Well, that milk is not sold anywhere in the county.  It is simply not available.  The best option is organic whole milk ($6.79 a gallon).  There is one store that sells organic milk from grass fed cows but the store is 10-15 miles from my house and they charge $12 a gallon for that milk.  Not practical or affordable.

Other frustrations lie in purchasing meats.  I found a source of local grass fed beef but there is no local option for free range chicken in the county (that I am aware of at least).  I probably should check with an amish farmer but I haven't yet.  There are a lot of amish farms close to our house but it is a little awkward to just stop by uninvited with 3 kids in tow.

So again, not easy to access meat or dairy in it's natural form.  Frustrating.

Of course finding highly processed food is not only easy, it is cheap. Even more frustrating.

Before I shake my fists at the food industry entirely though I must remind myself that commercialization of our food is somewhat necessary.  If you don't believe me let me tell you a story about my Grandma, known as GG in our house!

In 1958 GG was a young mom of 4 kids 6 and under.  Times were tough.  Living in rural Kansas they had been trying to support the family by farming were struggling so my Grandpa went back to work.  To supplement the families income they bought 1,000 chickens.  Yep, 1000!!

So, each day in addition to making butter after milking the cow (Grandpa milked the cow, grandma made the butter) my Grandma was responsible for washing and sorting 700 eggs!!!  Can you imagine?

In addition to making butter and cleaning 700 chicken eggs a day,  Grandma was also tending a VERY large garden, canning food, sewing all of the clothes for the family, cooking everything from scratch, all while tending to 4 kids 6 and under.  Yikes!!

I asked GG if they ever butchered the chickens and if Grandpa was the one to clean them.  She said they did occasionally butcher a chicken but that was "women's work!"  Ha!!

Can you imagine a group of today's 30 year old women butchering chickens and cleaning 700 eggs a day.  Me neither!


So, I don't completely hate the food industry but I do hope we find a way to make "real" wholesome and organic food cheaper and easy to access.

Food Challenge: Week 6 Full Fat Foods!

We made it through week five's adventure of adding new whole foods into our diets.  It went pretty well.  I introduced the following foods to our family....

1- Kale:  I used this twice.  Victor and I like it a lot.  Lainey didn't complain about eating it in the soup either.  Erik will not go anywhere near it.  He hates leafy greens and kale is included in this category.

2- Lentils:  I cooked the lentils in chicken broth similar to cooking rice (2:1 ratio) and seasoned it them with cumin.  I then mixed them into quesadillas with the grass fed beef I bought and corn.  Everyone ate them without complaining.  They replaced rice which was great.

3-Cranberries:  I put them in my oatmeal every morning and thought they were great (thanks Jill).  The kids hate having anything added to their oatmeal (except for cinnamon and honey) so I didn't try that.  I did add a cup of cranberries to their smoothies and this tasted great! No complaints.

4- Beets:  This was a pretty big reject.  I prepared them by boiling them and making a potato/carrot/beet salad.  I seasoned with dill, salt, pepper, and a tablespoon of mayonnaise.   Carson was willing to eat some plain veggies I left out for him.  Lainey wouldn't touch the beets no matter how they were offered to her.  Erik ate one bite of beets but only while plugging his nose and being bribed with a cookie.  Ha!  Victor and I ate them but I am not pining for more.  It was a good adventure at least!

Onto week six which is....  

Do not eat any food products that are labeled as “low-fat,” “lite,” “light,” “reduced fat,” or “nonfat.”

Americans are fat.  Really, really fat and for a long time we have blamed calories for all of our weight issues.  So to help counteract that thousands of "healthier" fat free versions became available.  Americans got even fatter.

I think it is fairly obvious that shoving yourself full of "low-fat" highly processed foods is in no way healthy - they are full of chemicals and artificial products that aren't good for you in any form.  I really try to avoid these foods already.

A little more controversial, in my mind, is the idea that full fat dairy products are better for you than low-fat products.  It seems that the full fat and low fat versions are still whole foods, offering the same nutrients and health benefits right?

I don't think so.

I have read a lot of books on health and nutrition.  I am in no way an expert, and have many unanswered questions myself (someday when I have more free time I hope to really investigate this topic).

There are lots of studies suggesting that whole fat, grass fed dairy products contain more healthy fats necessary for health, contain more nutrients and vitamins A and D that are better absorbed by our bodies.  Did you know that most skim milk is first diluted down to a watery state and then they add powdered milk back into it so it is a similar consistency of while milk.

I, like most other Americans, have quite a bit of trouble going back to full fat yogurt and milk but we are going to try it!

I tried to find easy to read articles with researched based evidence supporting this decision.  They are available but most are really, really lengthy.  Below are a few links with info regarding dairy.  Let me know what you think.....



Interview with Dr. Mary Enig 


CLA's and fertility


Live Strong

Some people suggest drinking raw milk.  I do actually think this provides the most nutrients but there is also risk of listeria and plenty of other infections so I have no intention to jump on that bandwagon.


For now we will try to drink organic, whole milk and if possible milk from grass fed cows that is low-temp pasteurized (only available at one store in our area so I won't go there every week).

I challenge you to do your own research and let me know what you decide!

Notable Quotes - Lainey

Yesterday, after getting the kids dressed I ran upstairs to take a shower.  Carson came with me but I left the other two downstairs in the playroom.  Lainey had mentioned to me that she didn't like the outfit I picked out for her after I helped her get dressed but since it was made after getting dressed and we were behind "schedule" I told her it was fine.

Lainey disagreed.  She didn't fuss about it but while I was in the shower she managed to completely disrobe (tights, dress, and shirt).  She then found a bench, climbed up in her closet, picked out new clothes, and got dressed again.

She was quite proud of her all pink outfit.  I was quite amused.  Funny girl!

Notable Quotes

Lainey:

Lainey didn't fall far from the tree when it comes to sass.  I'm sure I don't need to clarify which parent is responsible for that gene.  If I do, you clearly don't know us well.  Anyway, yesterday I was putting Lainey down for a nap.  She has never been one who likes being cuddled or held.  Well, I was reading her a book and tried to put my arm around her.  She abruptly looked up and said, "Mom, Don't touch me!"  Okay.  Moving on I finished the book and laid down next to her so I could rub her back.  She once again looked up at me and said briskly, "Mom, GO out!"    I did and she went right to sleep.  Haha!  Miss sass.

This morning while Erik was at school Lainey and I were making cookies.  I jokingly asked her, "Lainey, who loves you the most?!"  With NO hesitation she enthusiastically answered, "Grandma!"  I asked her who else loves her a lot, "Papa!"  I tried once again.  This time she had to think for a while but finally said, "Erik!"  I then gave up!!  Haha!  At least she knows a lot of people love her!

Erik: 

When I picked Erik up from preschool on Friday he was really sweaty.  I asked what he had been doing and he said, "Chasing the girls!"  Hilarious.  When I asked for further clarification he explained that he and Nico had been "bad guys" and were chasing Sophie.  She apparently wasn't real happy with this arrangement.  Today when I picked Erik up from school I asked what he did at school and he reported that he and Nico had been "walking slowly."  Haha!  Maybe the teachers weren't too pleased with the "chasing the girls" activity either! 

Carson - 9 Months!

Carson is a BUSY 9 month old!! 

He is still the happiest baby ever but now I'd say he also gets 

 in quite a bit of "trouble!"  

Eating:

Still nursing 6-7x a day, once in the middle of the night

Eating some solids.  I offer him solids 2-3x a day.  

He prefers to feed himself if possible.

I made some egg-free blueberry pancakes (not trying anything with eggs for a while as I am still slightly traumatized by Erik's first bite of pancake) and he thought those were exciting!!  

He doesn't have a very good "pincher grasp" yet so he picks the tiny pieces of food up by clenching them in his fist and then shoving his whole hand in his mouth, hoping to get a bit of food with the fingers.  I find this pretty hilarious!

Carson now has 5 teeth!

Sleeping:

Generally speaking he gets up once a night around 2:00 AM. I feed him and he goes back to bed until 6:00 or so (goes to bed around 7:00 or so).  

Takes two naps a day -- approximately 3 hours total.  Sometimes his schedule is screwed up due to sibling activities.  He adjusts well!  

Health:

He has been healthy this month thankfully.  He is still coughing/wheezing (has been since September) and gets the budesonide nebulizer 2x a day. I am not convinced this is making a difference and will ask about it at his 9 month check up.

Development:

He cruises fast on everything!

He can "walk" from one object to another (cough to chair) as long as he is hanging on with one hand.

Pulls up on everything even walls.

LOVES to push the wagon around and walk behind it.

Can grab things off of the floor while standing if hanging on with one hand.

Can walk while I hold only ONE of his hands!!  

I saw him take ONE step independently but he fell quickly after that.  

Walking isn't far off though!

Personality:

Carson is very busy! 

He LOVES slamming cabinets and drawers open and close, ripping up paper  sticking his hands and toys in the toilet, eating ANYTHING off of the ground (crumbs, rocks, paper, toys, etc.), throwing himself back while you hold him (it's a game!), playing peek-a-boo, playing independently.

Carson loves balls and plays catch by himself.  He throws it and crawls after it repeatedly.  He is a very busy baby but also extremely content.  He will happily play by himself for an hour if you let him.   

I think Carson has been my easiest baby by far but I envision him as an extremely busy toddler that requires a lot of chasing/attention.  We'll see! 

Stats:

20 pounds (40%)
29 inches (75%)

We love everything about you sweet Carson!

New blog

For ideas on how we can make Daron's hospital stay less miserable go here.  I will not mention this here again so if you want to get updates you will need to follow the new blog via google reader or e-mail (or I guess you could actually check it on your own!). 

Daron, if you have started reading my blog please don't click over!  I am trying to organize a surprise for you! Much love!

Food Challenge Week 5

This week we added the challenge of eating locally raised meat.  I bought some ground beef from a local farm but the rest of our meat was from the grocery store.  I usually only fix meat 2-3 times a week so about 1/2 our meat is now locally raised, grass fed. 

I also was able to get information regarding other local sources of meat but haven't had a chance to look into those farms yet. 

Week 5 challenge is....  Add Two new whole foods into your diet!  

Our new whole foods this week are going to be.... 

1) beets!
2) cranberries
3) Kale

I am looking for a good way to prepare beets (Jill B?!).  I have truthfully never consumed a beet before so it should be interesting.  I don't like cranberries so I never buy them but thought I should give the kids a chance to try them. 

I already made a soup using the kale and it was delicious!!

Here is the recipe....

Cheese Tortellini Soup:

Dice/Chop up the following...

Onion
Garlic -2 or 3 cloves
Sweet Potato (1)
Carrots (4-5)
Kielbasa sausage (optional -- I added about 1/2 cup from some leftovers)

Saute' for 8-9 minutes in a little olive oil
Season with thyme, oregano, and a bay leaf

Add 4 cups of chicken stock and 4-5 cups of water
Bring to a boil

Add....
4 cups of chopped kale
1 can of white beans

Simmer for 3-4 minutes, until kale wilts

Add cheese tortellini (9 oz) and simmer until cooked  (4-5 minutes)

Serve immediately, top with parmesan or asiago cheese

All of my kids liked this! 
I served it with homemade cornbread!


What whole foods are you adding to your diet this week?

School Boy

Erik has really, really become interested in school this fall.  He asks me to teach him how to read and loves to practice his numbers and letters.

Here are some photos of our most recent projects....

 I wrote out 0 through 20 and mixed them up.  

Erik taped them to the paper in the correct order on his own without looking at his "number board."

He did mess up once, but when I told him to look at it again, he was able to correct the problem on his own (he had 0-12, then 17 initially).

 Writing the numbers 0 through 10.

He writes his letters and numbers from the bottom - up.

That's seems backwards to me, any suggestions mom or other teachers??

Writing the alphabet.  

Not all the letters are done correctly but he makes an attempt at least.

Lainey drew this picture.  

It is a picture of her and Erik.

She didn't put it in this picture, but frequently she "writes her name" in the upper right 

corner of her photos.  It is just a scribble, but oh so cute.

It is SO fun to see my kids learn. 

Blessings

My life is so full of blessings.  

I am now praying that through these upcoming trials we will still be able to see the blessings. 

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe


'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise

Ahhh!!

Have you ever had a week that left you feeling like this??

That yelling is courtesy of an overtired Lainey and Carson. 

I considered joining them but decided it was kind of hilarious and recorded it instead.

Thankfully, our drive was only 2 miles and double yelling is quite unusual.  

I had been planning to do a post about Advent season as our pastor is doing an

excellent series of sermons called "Finding Our Way To Christmas."

This week I haven't been thinking much about Christmas. 

I've been walking around in a cloud.  I actually spent 3-4 minutes today looking for my 

keys when they were already in my hands.  Haha!

 Two people I love dearly have been dealt really difficult cards recently. 

It's overwhelming and scary.  Sometimes, living in this broken 

world it is so easy to get discouraged and lose hope.  

Feeling like this I thought there was no point in talking about the series

at church.  But I decided it was actually quite appropriate because the first sermon was

a reminder to have faith, even when others doubt and it seems impossible.

My cousin Julie told me I need to "pick a verse" for the moments when life seems "shafty".  

So,  I am stealing this from my cousin Terri's blog...

Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 

So, I am going to trust that even when the situation seems less than desirable that God knows what He is doing and will make it "beautiful" in the end.  

Lets take those crappy cards and run it!

*I am being specifically vague to protect the privacy of my two loved ones, so you will not hear much more about these situations but please know we appreciate your thoughts and prayers.*

Notable Moments - Carson

 This morning I kept Carson with me at church because I knew he would need to eat during the service.  Well, he is very social and kept "flirting" with the people around us.  He seemed particularly fond of the man sitting next to me.  He kept smiling at him and eventually scooted over, grabbed onto the man's sweater, and laid his head down on the man's chest.  He then peeked up at him again, smiled, and laid back down on his chest.  It was so so cute although certainly distracting so I sent him to the nursery after he ate. 

Carson now LOVES to fling himself backward when you are holding him.  He thinks it is a fun game!  Hopefully, he won't try it unless I am paying close attention to him or he will land on his head. 

Our sweet baby is such a joy!

Zoom!! Off We Go!

I am fairly certain I am going to spend most of next

spring/summer chasing this little boy!!  

He is sooooo excited that he can "walk" now!

He is able to push the wagon up to a couch/chair and transition over to the

couch without falling. So cute!

Food Challenge Week 4

Well, we completed week 3 which was eliminating fast food and fried food from our diets.  We do eat out about 3-4 times a month but didn't miss it this week.  I decided Qdoba doesn't count as fast food (and it's not fried) so we will likely go there if we eat out a couple times a month.   The only time we go to a sit down restaurant is when the kids stay home (at most 1x a month).

This week I have stopped missing my diet coke!  Yay!! I do feel healthier without it.  Hopefully, that is the case.  I haven't drank tea everyday ether so I have actually been caffeine free part of the time.

This week we will be focused on MEAT! 

We are supposed to eat meat raised within 100 miles of our house.  This is a bit challenging but I was able to buy some local grass fed beef from the farmer herself.  At this point only are beef will be local.  We don't eat a ton of meat but I can't figure out where to get locally raised chickens at this point.

We do get our eggs from a farmer (maybe I will ask her about her chickens!). 

We are enjoying this food challenge so far!  The kids have increased their fruit and veggie consumption with no complaints.  Erik has stopped asking me to send him to school with a juicebox.  Yay! 

If anyone else is following along, how are you doing?

November Budget

Total Saved: $13 (I think I am off by about $10 but I can't figure out what I am forgetting!)

Total Food Bill: $691  - not too bad considering our food revolution process

Total Medical: $205
Total Gas: $270

I have about 2/3rd of Christmas shopping done already.  December is going to be tricky as we have repairs in both the WI and MD house that need done, I got my hair highlighted, I need to re-order contacts, finish Christmas shopping, and we will have to pay for both Tae kwon do and gymnastics for the kids.  We will see how it goes! 

Lainey's New 'Do!

 Lainey has been asking me to take her to get her haircut

for about a month.  She got her wish granted today!

She seems to like it and keeps stopping to look at herself 

in the mirror!  Ha!

My little Lainey is sweet and sassy.

Now her hair is too!

I sure do love this little girl!

Girl Time

My fashionista!

Erik has pretty much stopped taking naps.

So, Lainey gets to stay up later than the boys!  

We hung out eating popcorn on the couch last night after the 

boys were sleeping.  I had a fun time with my girl!