3 MONTHS!

Calvin is almost 4 months old and I've never posted his 3 month pictures! It's been a little busy lately, I guess.

This is one of my favorite pictures because it says so much about how far we've come.

I have a photo of Brian sleeping with an infant on his chest with each one of my children. It usually occurs in the newborn phase when the baby will sleep anytime, anywhere in combination with us as parents getting no sleep and also wanting to catch a little shut-eye anytime we can. But since we missed all of that newborn cuddle time with Calvin from his colic and reflux (he spent most of his newborn phase incredibly unhappy and uncomfortable), he just never "drifted" to sleep, especially laying down with us. He always had to be held upright.

But here, at 3 months, he is such a different infant! He has calmed down so much! He has been our BEST baby to fall asleep in our arms, which I LOVE! We still don't have him sleeping through the night yet, but it's coming soon and I can't wait for that day! He is very happy and smiley these days. He loves attention and socializing! He loves to hear the sound of voices and get SO excited when he hears talking. He loves coming to Primary with me for that reason! The kids help out a lot when he is fussy, just by talkingto him. They fight over turns to get to talk to him while he swings or bounces. He loves the attention.

Although he's only pushing 12 or 13 pounds, I've had several people ask "Is he six months old?" when I say he's only 3, they are so surprised. "He's so big" and "He has such a strong neck" are some of the responses.  I don't think he's much bigger than my other babies at this age, but oh well! He sure is cute! He has found his fingers and loves to suck on them, just like Eli did!

Here's to 25 years...

.....of public school! AHHH! I can't believe this day has come. Here are a few shots of our first day of schoolers...

We figure that starting from this day on, Brian and I will have kids in public school for the next 25 years! Yikes! 25 years of first day of school routines, back-to-school blessings, summer vacations and all the ups and downs that come with the school system!

Jackson had a great start to his day. He got to meet his teacher on Monday night (Mrs. Godfrey) and was super excited to see his new classroom, the new playground and to start school!

Zoey was so excited to go to school! She asked about it all summer long and FINALLY started last Wednesday! She couldn't wait for August to come, but here we are! I'm surprised at how fast the summer went by. Brian snapped the first day of school pics, and if it weren't for a crying Calvin who needed my attention, I would have liked to capture the picture of him holding Zoey's hand as they walked to shcool that first day. Ahh, I guess I'll have to keep that in my memory....

A few favorites...

Thought I'd share some favorites I've come across lately. These are just a few 'staples' I make each week or so:

Spring Asparagus Puree:
1 bunch asparagus
3 handfuls baby spinach
2 cloves garlic
1 cup grated Parmesan
1 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon (or more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Blanch asparagus for a couple of minutes then add to food processor with remaining ingredients and blend! Easy!
This is great used as a pesto over pasta, as a sauce for pizza, on a sandwich instead of mayo (I've used it on a morning breakfast roll with a wheat tortilla, eggs, avocado and tomatoes-very yummy!), it could also be swirled over soup.... Very versatile and tasty!

Granola Cereal:
4 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup sunflower seeds/sesame seeds (I just put some of both in a 1/4 measuring cup)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut (my husband hates coconut but loves this cereal, I use an unsweetened finely shredded coconut, although I'd prefer more of a flaked coconut myself)
1/2 cup brown sugar (optional, sometimes I just double the honey instead of using the sugar)
1/3 cup vegetable oil (or other oil of preference- coconut or sesame would work well here)
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla

mix dry ingredient in a bowl. mix wet ingredients in a smaller bowl. pour wet mixture into the dry and mix well. Spread over rimmed cookie sheet and bake at 300 for 60 minutes, stirring occasionally (i usually turn the sheet around and stir about every 20 minutes).

This will last us about 7-10 days, we go through it pretty quickly. It's great with soy or coconut milk and topped with your favorite fruits or yogurt.

Bread:This is a great bread recipe!! It makes about 4 loaves (although it says 6- I've only managed to make 4). We make it every other week, and my kids won't eat anything else!

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/dees-health-bread/

I make as directed EXCEPT I omit the lemon juice, use flax meal instead of the whole seed, and sub 1/2 cup old fashioned oats for the cracked wheat and sunflower seeds. Turns out great!

Garden Salsa: I know everyone has their own recipe and a favorite they like to use. I don't have an official recipe for mine, I just chop and taste and add more of this or that. I make it quite often and use it with eggs for huevos rancheros, in a tortilla for a veggie taco, in broth for tortilla soup, as a salsa dip...it's so versatile! my basic ingredients are: avocados, black beans (drained and rinsed), onion, peppers (any combo of red, green, jalapeño, etc. I love red pepper especially), corn, tomatoes, cilantro, limes, limes, limes, slat and pepper (i also will add cucumber sometimes). so yummy and my kids love it!

Veggie Stand

Last Tuesday, Jackson came to me and said, "Mom, I'm going to sell flower petals and rocks to people to make money and buy a toy." (It reminded me of when Jaran tried to sell me rocks) And Zoey chirped in and said, "And I'm going to sell Butter!"

I channelled their idea and help them come up with selling something that people might buy- like the whole flower, and cookies made with butter. Then we added veggies from our garden and WA-lah! They had a veggie stand! I guess summer isn't complete unless your kids try to sell something on the front lawn!  

 They made a whopping $24 and Jackson finished the day by saying, "I am overjoyed!" I think he like his enterprise, making money, working hard, and spending it all (except tithing, of course)!

That Friday, we went on an excursion to the Aquarium! It is always a big hit. They've added penguins and otters to the exhibit which were both really fun to watch. The kids were amazed!

Today is our nanny's (Audrey) last day of work. sniff, sniff. School starts next week and she and the older two kids will be heading back to school for the year. Summer over! I can't believe it. She really helped make the summer manageable. The kids and I counted all the things we did with Audrey and came up with a sizable list of things I wouldn't have been able to do without her. Some of them included the pool, library, aquarium, park, bike rides, doctor appointments, tree house at the mall, etc. She spent a lot of time reading books, playing, swinging, wiping bottoms, cleaning house, etc so that I could nap or run errands. She was such an amazing help and worth every penny! The kids had an awesome summer too.

We gave her a little going away party today, and here are some pictures of the fun we had on her last day:

This is where they would spend most of their time reading books, telling stories, and playing games. 

30 Day Challenge

We are just days away from finishing the 30 day vegetarian diet challenge. The kids never once asked "where's the meat?" I think I was able to get away with it because they are young enough, but had I implemented something like this among teenagers, I'm sure there would have been more griping :)

Here are a few things I've learned:

1) It's easy to be a vegetarian. You can eat pizza, fries, ice cream, cookies and cake all day long and still be a vegetarian. The challenge was feeding my family on a healthy "whole foods" diet. It was a great time of year to start because we got to enjoy tons fresh produce from our home garden.

2) Eating a vegetarian menu was great when we were eating at home, but more of a challenge when eating out. Restaurants just don't have a lot of veggie items that are also yummy...plus their veggies are usually under ripe and not very flavorful.

3) It's amazing what you don't miss. I never felt the craving to have a steak, or chicken. Not that I'm going to completely eliminate those items from my diet, but nice to know they don't have to be the main fare anymore.

4) I learned a TON about new foods. It opened a whole new world of food items I've never tried before. It was exciting to learn about these foods and how to cook with them. Although some things were removed from our grocery list for the month, so many more new foods were there to replace it, that i never felt we were missing out. Not all recipes were a success, but for the most part the kids enjoyed what I made.

4) For the first time in 5 years, since being pregnant and/or nursing, I've felt my hunger level maintain and regulate without going through huge dips of feeling starved, shaky, and sugar-low. I've also felt that my recovery period was quicker and my soreness level from working out and exercise was a lot less.

5) Making my own granola, granola bars, bread and healthy snacks is fulfilling to me. It's not too hard and the whole family enjoys them so much more than the store bought stuff. Plus it makes the kitchen smell good!

6) I challenged myself to pick a vegetable and prepare it in as many ways as possible. I chose a zucchini because we have it coming out our ears. Here is what we did:

Raw: Zucchini "pasta" salad. We loved the tomato, basil, garlic dressing and doubled it for the second time I made it.
 http://www.wholeliving.com/133487/zucchini-pasta?czone=eat-well/seasonal-foods/summer&center=136760&gallery=136699&slide=129181

Baked: Zucchini bread. This recipe came from the "Good to the grain" Cookbook (recommended!). There are a million different recipes of the same variation on zucchini bread. This was something I came across that was a new twist. It used rye flour and I LOVED it! The rye and zucchini flavors were like a match made in heaven! So good. Plus it didn't have a lot of spices that tried to hide the zucchini flavor, so it was a nice hearty blend. So good!

Sauteed, fried, grilled...we just did a ton of stir fry, risottos, savory bread puddings/casseroles, etc. They were all really good.

Other than zucchini, we made quinoa patties, stuffed squash, veggie tacos/quesadillas, different soups, gnocchi, salads, smoothies, just a ton of yummy food! It's been a great month in our kitchen!

Did you see that?

Eli is or little daredevil. We hear comments from him all the time like; "WOW! See that?" or "uh-oh!" This is usually followed after his attempt to jump off of something unstable, or wreck... without getting injured too badly. And then he will repeat himself just for fun. He thinks these things are totally cool. He's just nuts sometimes! Even watching him run makes me nervous because his whole body looks like he's out of control and could fall at any given moment.

Last night we had a scary moment of when I could say, "yes, I saw that!" and I'm glad I did!

  Our couch in the living room backs up to some windows that are dressed with rolling shades. Eli saw a fly bouncing around the windows and wanted to kill it with the fly swatter. So he climbed on to the back of our couches so that he'd be the height of the windows. No big deal. Right? In the back of my mind, I was rooting for him to kill the fly too!

Luckily I was nursing Calvin in the same room, so I watched the whole thing happen, and I still don't know how it happened, but next thing I knew Eli had fallen off the back of the couch and was hanging with the cord of the blinds around his neck. I screamed and bounded across the room to lift him out of the scary predicament. It was seconds and my response was immediate. He wasn't hurt more than a rope burn around his neck, it was pretty sore and puffy last night, but faded to nothing more than a little red line around his neck that looks like a scratch.

It was just too close and too much for me. The thought of what might have been, or what might have happened if I hadn't been there just haunts me. It shook me up pretty good. Definitely not something I wanted to see. The flash of him hanging by his neck on that cord just replays in my mind.

It's him that I worry about slipping in the tub and falling under the water because he's goofing around (yes, we've saved him from would-be tub disasters before), or getting into some kind of predicament that will leave him hurt in some way.

It's for reasons like these- incidents that can happen all to commonly, and all too quickly that Brian and I have been fighting for 9 months about safety issues we've had with recent changes in the church parking lot, and the speed at which the increased users take when using the entrance that borders our house. It's a long story, and one I will record at a later time, but Brian appropriately compared our undertaking as trying to boil the ocean! It has seemed that way, nearly impossible at times! Over the past nine months, we've become experts in pedestrian fatality statistics, parking lot fatalities, and spot-the-tot statistics. We've had a lot of frustrating moments. Mostly that our battle takes place with people who are members of the church and should understand our concerns, yet we have to rely on them to get things done, and those "things" just don't get done.

Last week, however, we learned that a new manager of the project had been placed and within days we had speed limit signs placed and 4 speed bumps put in! It was a great success in our efforts. It was nice to see some changes finally happening.

Safety over my children is paramount in my prayers. At one moment I was feeling so overwhelmed with the responsibility of keeping them safe, and not having the support and resources to do that (regarding the traffic issues by our house), that I paused to say a little prayer about it on the way downstairs. As if in an immediate answer, I heard Jackson playing with his cars and trucks on the floor and singing "I am a Child of God." I felt the reassurance that these children were God's children too, and that they were just as important to Him as they are to me. I felt relief in knowing He would do all in his part to watch over and protect them...and He knows I am doing all I can to do the same.

Lazy days of summer...

This summer is almost over! I can't believe it. I think the last time when summer days were truly "lazy" I was young and living off the good graces of my mom. Back then, I had a chance to feel boredom. Thanks mom, for all you did for us each summer, because now I know what amount of work goes into each day! 

We just completed two weeks of swim lessons. They all did excellent! Eli was a wild man in the water. Jackson is learning to be a great swimmer. Zoey was cautious but did very well! 

 We got our first huge blackberries a few weeks ago! They are big and beautiful, but not too sweet. i'm hoping they will make great additions to cobblers or jam, toppings for oatmeal and ice cream and shakes. I'm excited to have these in our yard just as much as I love having our veggie garden!  

Here is our garden..or Brian's garden. I haven't had time to help him with it much this year, but am enjoying the fruits of his labors! It's beautiful and produces a lot of tasty veggies we love!

I've been lucky enough to have help come in the afternoons to be with the kids so I can nap, or get to the grocery store without all kids in tow. It's also been helpful for Dr. appointments and other errands to have her around and give the kids the attention they deserve, when I am unable to be around. She is AWESOME! the other day, she took snap shots of the kids playing on our back patio. I loved the funny faces they pulled. 

 Zoey is so good natured to play with her brothers and all the boy toys we have around. She makes a good companion for Jackson, although she likes to steal some moments to be by herself and play with her "girl things." She'll quietly go to her room and lay out all her accessories, dolls and ponies and just play very quietly by herself. I think she enjoys that time...

 Jackson has quite the budding personality. He has really silly moments and tries to be funny and get a laugh. He likes to be the boss/first/best in everything. He is going through a phase of testing limits, and trying to get by with the least amount of effort. If he has to make his bed, he'd rather sleep on top of the sheets. If he has to brush his hair, he'd rather cut it off. If he is asked to wash his hands after going to the bathroom, he'll use his elbow instead! The list goes on and on! He is super helpful at times, and at others, my biggest thorn. And sometimes when he thinks he is really helpful, he is just to opposite! He makes a great companion for running though. He rides his bike along while I jog and we make a good team. He loves to hold Calvin!

 Look at that sad face! Eli is in the "best of times and worst of times" phase. He can be the sweetest boy one moment and a monster the next. But whatever he does, he does it LOUD! There is nothing quiet about him. He walks loudly, talks loudly (I don't think he has the whisper decibel), and eats loudly. He gives the best hugs and kisses and is so sensitive to other's feelings. But the terrible two's are creeping in and I've seen a good share of some fantastic tantrums. He has learned good pouting techniques from is older siblings! Although he communicates really well, he is the best at combining words, my favorite is "EWK" a combination of Ewe and yuck. Usually said when changing a diaper :) At least he knows context!

I just did an update on Calvin, so I won't do it here, but these kiddos keep me busy! I love them!

Calvin is 2 months!

 First off, I know this is not a picture of Calvin, but I saw it on my camera and had to post it! Don't you ever feel this way?


Although Calvin still has some bad moments, he's been doing TONS better! We've had a lot of successes this month! YAY! We started off with some dry burps and a few good nights when Calvin only woke up 2 times. Who would have thought those things could be so exciting! At first I was counting them, but now I've lost track because there are too many good nights in a row that it just seems like the normal thing anymore.  I couldn't be more happy about that! At 7 weeks, he slept for 7 hours straight through! If only I could get him to repeat that!

He is smiling, and mom is smiling! I've tried to capture a few of those smiles, but they are so fleeting, and our camera is too slow to catch the cuteness! I love it when my babies start to smile, it's like a reward for all the hard work!

 He is showing a bit of personality and preferences. He prefers showers over baths, so much so that we have removed the bath out of our nighttime routine and now shower him in the morning. He's just different than any other baby I've had! He isn't much of a snuggler. He loves being outside, that's when we see him the most calm. He doesn't like the traditional cradle hold, but prefers to be held  upright or on his tummy with head nestled by my elbow. He rarely takes a binky-- although sometimes I wish he would! He likes routine and dislikes his carseat. I try not to run errands with him since he cries the whole time he is in the car.  And I'm pretty sure he can tell the moment I leave the house, because no matter what, he'll wake up from his nap and fuss until I return :) He also has meals times planned perfectly to the moment I sit down to eat too. It's like our biological clocks are tuned together or something, but as soon as I sit down to eat, he will also wake to nurse! Usually it means I am eating cold food, or food with one hand while I try to nurse, or I just let him cry until I am done eating.

I can't believe it's been two months. It seems like he's always been a part of our family. I wonder what month 3 will bring?! We love him and are grateful for him!

4th of July

We had a great holiday as usual. It was pretty low-key this year. Although one of Brian's favorite holidays, I wasn't up for much with having a new baby. We tried to make it a memorable holiday for him and the kids, and I think they would say it was a spectacular day!

I went for a 3 mile run (it's great to be back in the saddle!), Brian did some yard work, we took the kids to the pool while Judy watched Calvin, we had a small BBQ, and Brian took the kids to a firework show in PG while I stayed home with the baby. It was great. Just enough to celebrate! 

 We had 4th of July waffles topped with blueberries, raspberries, bananas and whip cream. A holiday tradition we all love!

 The kids swam their hearts out at the pool. Eli was a crazy man! He just wanted to jump into the pool from the side, saying "again, again!"Jackson and Zoey are getting to be good swimmers!

The kids thought the firework show was awesome! I wish I could have been there to see their reactions. The next day they asked "Is the fourth of July over?" Sadly, yes. Until next year!

Food Evolution

About a year ago, I mentioned to Brian "I wish I had a good vegetarian cookbook." We were eating one of our favorite (but few) meatless dinners we call "Spring Pasta". It's delicious and I wished back then that I had more great recipes like it, because honestly I have to beg my kids to eat their meat (unless it's fish) at dinnertime. They devour all kinds of carbs, fruits and vegetables, though, and it's hard to keep my fridge stalked fully with them.

So I guess you could say this has been a long time coming... this food evolution we are going through. Our mindset and tastes have changed a bit over the course of a year.

Since that wonderful dinner a year ago, we have come across educational movies such as "Food, inc" and "Back to Eden"(which also has a great website backtoedenfilm.com). I totally recommend watching these, probably better worth your time than other movies out there! My next "to-watch" item is "Fork over knives." These messages really resonate well with Brian and I.

They have not only been educational, but inspirational. We've read books and visited websites that have educated us to be more aware of what we are eating. I wanted to make the change to eat healthier and make better choices at the supermarket (not that we were very unhealthy, but there was room for change), but I was just too lazy. I was comfortable with what I bought and how I cooked.

It wasn't until dealing with Calvin's very sensitive tummy limiting my diet, that I come across this:

 This wonderful little chart has helped me a ton to manage what I could eat so that the breast milk I created was not too acidic for Calvin's tummy to digest. But I noticed how the majority of what I "could" eat, not all (I really only have to be careful of the very last column), were fruits and veggies....so I decided to take the plunge! I've been introduced to knew food ingredients such as spelt, and quinoa. I've ordered a few interesting "whole foods"cookbooks, and cookbooks on how to bake with grains other than white flour. I totally recommend these (although there are tons more I'd like to read and try):

This book has a recipe for whole-wheat chocolate chip cookies and other great stuff I have yet to try! 

and

Heidi also has a fab website called 101cookbooks.com. I love it!

It's been educational, eye-opening, and exciting. Our family has actually really liked the switch! Instead of planning meals around a meat dish each night, I will serve meat maybe half of our meals out of the week. We LOAD up with all the good stuff of fruits and veggies, and whole grains. It's been fun thinking of ways to serve as many fruits and vegetables in a meal as I possibly can. I've secretly been excited to see the refined snack products slowly disappear from our "snack" shelf and get replaced by better food.

Of course, there are some favorite dishes that I can't give up which include meat, or the use of white flour...but for the majority I think we are making a great change in the right direction!

So for what it's worth, the change I had to make for Calvin has been good after all, since it has pushed me to do what I've wanted to do for a long time, and have just been too lazy to do it! I have opened my eyes to be more aware of what I am feeding my family. I  think we are happier for it!

(I have seen a menu plan for 30 days of vegetarian meals, and I'm "thinking" of giving it a try... I'll let you know if I do, and how well it goes over with the family! I can do 30 days, right?!)