Busy Busy

It's been a while since I wrote because life seems to have gotten very busy.  We had Carolyn's birthday, then last weekend functions to attend, and this weekend Carolyn has been battling an ear infection.  If she gets some good sleep tonight I think she'll have it beat in the morning.  But she wakes up and thinks she's better, then is sapped for energy until she gets to sleep again.  So tomorrow will be another day of snuggles, reading books, doing puzzles, and maybe even an art project.  Anything really to help get her to sit still.  She was running around in the basement this afternoon, but too tired to even sit on the couch by herself an hour later.  So hard to figure out a 4 year old.  Jon isn't feeling well either now, so not sure what's up.

My promotion has been going well and I am definitely much busier and billing many more hours.  I think I will average about 11 hours a week for April once the day ends tomorrow.  It's nice to earn a bunch for a cushion right now to put towards the car to pay it off early.  But I don't feel too overburdened with the work, so it's good so far.

Haven't done any new recipes lately.  With nicer weather we've been grilling some, which is a nice change and easy to cook up a few nights at once.  Tonight we did pizza.  The crust came out so much better using freshly shredded cheese it was really amazing.  Definitely plan to do it again with freshly shredded cheese.  Tomorrow I'll do meatloaf again, making a full 2lbs of meat so we'll have plenty for leftovers for lunch or another dinner.  Then we'll grill Tuesday and do sausage and peppers on Wednesday.  Then Thursday and Friday we'll have leftovers.  We went to Sam's club yesterday and stocked up on some grilling foods, got some big blocks of cheese, a box of eggs, and a big bag of almonds.  So now our weekly trips should be a bit cheaper for a few weeks.  We might go back for the next free preview, but it's not worth the membership at this point.

In other exciting news, I've hit my first 10lb milestone.  Weighing myself yesterday I am down a full 11lbs since starting all of this in January.  I can fit into my old pair of jeans, which is extremely exciting.  For the first time in my life I'm losing weight without being hungry all the time!  It did take me 3 months to lose the 11lbs, but slower weight loss is what generally tends to stay.  So I'll take it.  I have definitely discovered that I do better with a slightly higher intake of carbs.  I am in a better mood and I lose weight more effectively.  I'm probably up around 75g carbs/day, going most of the day very low because breakfast and lunch and each under 10g most days and then for dinner I'll have some sort of starchy vegetable.  Seems to be working!  I love that I don't have to give up all the foods I like and can have treats on special occassions without completely derailing my weight loss efforts.  I only wish I had come upon this earlier.  It will be interesting to see what weight my body settles into after a year or so.  If I can get down below 178lbs by the time I go in for my next doctor's appointment, I'll be thrilled.  That's where I was when I got pregnant with Carolyn nearly 5 years ago.  5lbs in 2.5lbs I think will be very doable as well.

Well, off to get some rest so that I don't catch what seems to be going through the house!

All Is Well

Today was a wonderful day.  We took Carolyn to the pediatrician and got a chance to talk about our concerns.  Her moods have really stabilized lately, so we didn't discuss that.  We did talk about the bloody noses - suggested that is allergies.  So will keep an eye on it but not treat it unless it gets worse or is actually bothering Carolyn.  Talked about the bed wetting - found out that 15% of 5 year olds still wet the bed nightly.  Won't need to even think about anything unless she's 6 and having problems.  So for now we'll just keep doing diapers until she starts waking up dry.  And we discussed the night waking.  Since she doesn't resist going back to bed, she said there isn't much to truly worry about.  Perhaps the pedi telling Carolyn she needs to let us sleep will help.  My fears of hearing about her being underweight did not come true as though she's only 32.4lbs, she's also only 39", putting her at exactly 25% for both!

We came home and played around the house, had lunch, and both kids took wonderful naps.  I took a 20 minute powernap before working because I was SO exhausted.  Was still able to get everything done so I can relax tonight.  Had a snack, then played outside until I had to work.  Carolyn is already super fast on her new bike!  By the end of the summer I'm thinking she'll be going up the hills with no problem.  I tutored this afternoon, then we played in the basement while dinner finished cooking.  Now James is asleep and Carolyn is working on getting to bed.  What a terrific day.

Happy Brithday Carolyn!

Carolyn turned 4 yesterday!  Didn't have time to write since I was busy decorating her Curious George cupcake cake and cleaning for the party.  She had a wonderful time with two of her friends, Ellison and Lily on Friday.  And then we had family over yesterday afternoon.  Carolyn is quite spoiled and received everything on her list.  Although how can you say no to an alarm clock, big girl bike, books, clothes, and gardening tools?  I love that we have low key parties where she gets a chance to visit/play with everyone here.

Things have been pretty busy otherwise as well.  Jon had an interview last week.  He thinks it went really well and we're hoping/praying he'll hear back soon about round 2.  They said this week, so hopefully tomorrow!  I have worked 13-14 hours the past 2 weeks with my new promotion.  That's enough to not even need my in person tutoring and be over what I need for the month (45hrs)!  So I should get to keep a bunch of the cash and we can pay extra toward the car.  A nice thought since we keep hoping we'll be ready to sell and move next Spring.

Tomorrow we go for Carolyn's 4yo check-up.  There's a list of things to discuss with the pediatrician and hopefully we'll find some answers.  Between the bloody noses, minimal weight gain, restless nights, and wetting the bed (through a diaper), I'm hoping to figure something out!

I've been horrible this past week with eating.  But I'm back on track today with no grains.  Once the cupcakes are gone I will be no sugar as well.  I'm reading The Primal Blueprint right now and am interested in how the idea differs from Wheat Belly.  I think it's more adjustable and I will do better with the slightly higher carb level (50-100).  I've been cutting back on dairy more as well to see if that makes any difference.  About 6 more weeks until I'm done nursing and then can truly focus on getting my body into the best shape it can be.

Promotion!

Thursday afternoon my boss' boss sent an email requesting to speak with me on the phone.  I told her what hours I was available on Friday and asked if I should be nervous.  I immediately starting running through the reasons she could want to talk to me.  For whatever reason, my initial thought was "what did I do?"  I couldn't come up with anything, and this company is really good about not blind siding people with bad news.  You get a couple bad reviews, then a warning, and if you're being let go, you have to know it's coming (or are choosing to ignore the signs).  She said not to be nervous (as if that were possible) and we set up a time.  I tried to stay busy Friday morning until the phone rang.  She started by asking if I liked my boss.  I said yeah, things were good.  Then she mentioned that she knows I've shown interest in a promotion and wanted to know if I'd like to start next week.  I was definitely shocked by the immediacy of this, despite hoping for the promotion for a while.  I was figuring my current boss would get a full time job and then I could have her job.  But I'm going to be getting my own team of mentors sometime this coming week.  Starting out small (4), in addition to the 71 tutors I have, but will shift to fewer tutors and more mentors over time.  I'm excited, but at the same time a little scared.  It will all take some getting used to.  But in the long run, hopefully this means fewer hours I need to work and more flexibility.

Still hoping Jon can get a new job for next year though.

Today was another weigh-in day and I'm down another pound.  I have now lost 9lbs since starting all of this.  I tried to run today and struggled again.  The hills certainly don't help, but my body is just not cooperating.  Will be doing crossfit some more this week and hopefully over time running will be more enjoyable.  I did cut over 2 minutes off my time, but everything seems to hurt.  I continue to be totally exhausted lately and we have no idea why.  Saw my doctor this past week and my lung function is improving, will recheck again in a month.  I really hope that we can figure out what in the world is going on with my body.  The exhaustion and dizziness combination is really getting to me!

Odd Behaviors

So Carolyn has been acting, well, different lately.  She's been saying please and thank you less, talking back more, started telling lies, and just generally not acting nice.  We've tried talking to her about it, tried ignoring it, and yesterday we left the park early when she started stomping her feet (I forget what it was about).  She complains about being tired all the time, despite an early bed time (7:30/45) and taking nearly daily naps.  She continues to eat fairly voraciously, asking for multiple helpings of meat loaf tonight and finishing her green beans and having some of her potatoes for dinner.  She continues to devour books, always asking to be read to, and draws on the easel and wants to do her "preschool" worksheets.  Everything she does she excels at, yet her behavior lately has been ugly.  She has even been having a little trouble in gymnastics and soccer as of late.  The only thing that I see that could be a sign of a health issue is her bedwetting.  She'll be 4 in about 2 weeks and she needs a diaper for sleeping.  When she falls asleep in the car she wakes up soaked.  And multiple times a week she's waking up with wet sheets, despite wearing a diaper.  So what's going on here?  Are these 2 things linked?  If anyone has any ideas, I'm interested in hearing them.  Definitely plan to talk with her pediatrician when we go for her 4 year old appointment in a couple weeks.  Saw a glimpse of the old her tonight during dinner and our walk.  But this is all puzzling.

Made a great dinner tonight that had the kids asking for more.  It's a great feeling as a mom to cook a healthy meal and have your 1 and 3 year old children asking for more meatloaf and green beans.  Neither of them ate much of the mashed potatoes (with butter, garlic, and salt), but that's okay by me.  They each had 3 helpings of meatloaf, which I made with almond flour instead of bread crumbs and omitted the worchestershire sauce after seeing "modified food starch" and "wheat" on the label.  Even Jon said it tasted just like normal.  I put some coconut oil on the green beans and couldn't taste it at all.  Will probably start pulling things out for Jon before doing things like that though, as he didn't like it.  But overall a great dinner that will be repeated again, possibly even within the next week or so.  Could become a regular meal if we can continue to find the ground beef and ground pork so cheap at Joseph's.

Meatloaf
0.5lb ground beef
0.5lb ground pork
1 egg beaten
almond flour
1/4 tsp garlic salt, ground mustard, pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Combine ingredients and shape into loaf.  Cover with ketchup.  Place in baking dish and cook for 1 hour at 350. 

Unschooling - Gardening

We've been enjoying a fun week as a family.  Monday we relaxed at home, Jon played with the kids while I tutored in the morning.  Yesterday the kids had gymnastics in the morning, I went to the doctor, and then we all went out to dinner at Red Lobster.  At things that I probably shouldn't have, but I figure every once in a while isn't going to kill me.  I get no side effects from eating wheat either.  This morning we went to the library and then the park.  This afternoon we broke ground on our garden.  Looking at the weather forecast, I think on Sunday we will spend some time splitting off the doubles/triples from the indoor seeds and try planting those.  Won't be too upset if they don't make it.  Likely start everything else the end of April.  Feels great to start the garden though!

Tried a new recipe for dinner tonight, from the Wheat Belly book.  It turned out okay, but the kids weren't big fans.

Three Cheese Eggplant Bake

1 eggplant, cut crosswise into ½” thick slices

1/2C olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

3-4T sun-dried tomatoes

4-6C spinach leaves

2 tomatoes, wedges

2C tomato sauce

1C Ricotta cheese

1C shred mozzarella cheese

1/2C grated parmesan

4-5 basil leaves, chopped

Preheat oven 325.  Place the eggplant slices in a baking pan.  Brush both sides of the slices with most of the oil, reserving about 2T.  Bake for 20min.  Heat remaining 2T of oil in large skillet over medium heat.  Add onion, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and spinach and cook until onion softens.  Scatter tomato wedges over eggplant.  Spread spinach mixture on top.  Top spinach with tomato sauce.  Mix together ricotta and mozzarella.  Spread cheese mixture over tomato sauce and sprinkle basil.  Sprinkle parmesan on top.  Bake uncovered until bubbling and cheese is melted, about 30 min.

Probably won't make it again, but got me thinking about using eggplant to make a dish similar to lasagna.  Might have to give it a shot sometime.  Thinking it might work if I cut the peel away and use the insides as a noodle layer.  Perhaps I will try it with some of the eggplants we grow.

Picked up some more homeschooling books today and got a chance to start one on Unschooling.  So far I feel like it's the way we already live.  I try to take advantage of any time my kids ask questions.  Carolyn has been loving counting the newly opened flowers every morning.  We found lots of worms in the graden area today as we were digging, so we looked up why worms are good for the soil.  The village is about to do some work on a sewer drain near the big pond at our neighborhood entrance, so we talked about drains and sewers while on our walk this afternoon.  So many easy ways to teach our kids, without even really thinking about it.  Some days (like today) I wish that I could get Jon on board with homeschooling.  I really do think that both of our kids could thrive at home.  But he's already firmly stated he's against it.  So I have the next year to work with Carolyn, and then hopefully we can continue to keep her interested in learning through unschooling at home even after she starts school.  The next few years are going to be interesting.

Happy Birthday Mom!

My mom would have been 64 years young yesterday.  Hard to believe she's be gone for 6.5 years.  But so much has happened since I lost her and I know she's smiling down upon me.  I took the kids to the library, since she loved to encourage learning.  And then we spent some time at the park, because she would have loved to go with us.  I also made ice cream for us and then we went on a family walk.  I was going to write last night, but was physically and emotionally exhausted after finishing tutoring at 8:30.  I still still think about my mom every day.  I wonder if it will ever get easier, but I suspect it won't.  My kids are a constant reminder of what I don't get to share with my mom.  But at least I know she's watching over us and she'd be thrilled with the attention we give our kids and the healthy track I'm trying to set us up for.

I bought an ice cream maker for under $10 on Tuesday.  I've tried it 3 times and it's gotten a little better each time, but I think we'll stick with going to Dairy Queen for a special treat and I'll make popsicles for better frozen at home treats.  I'll probably still try to make ice cream now and then, but it's not standing up to what I was hoping for, even with actual sugar in it.

I worked on the first unit for Carolyn's preschool tonight as well.  Since we've already kind of been doing plants and we're doing a garden this summer, it seems like the perfect place to start.  So we'll look at flowers and plants.  I found some handwriting worksheets that go along nicely, which she'll love.  Some art projects which we'll all do together.  Picked out some books to pick up from the library.    And some math activities to work on counting and sorting.  I'm excited to start this with her, I think she's going to love it.  I only came up with 5 days worth of activities.  So I think I may need to rethink the whole "1 month per subject" idea.  Rather just pick topics, then see how many days worth I can spread it out.  I do think that animals for June and the olympics for July might actually take up a whole month.  I'm excited to turn our activities in daily life into preschool lessons for Carolyn.  I also found today some progressional evaluation pages.  This will help me to see what I should be pushing her towards each step of the way.  Looking forward to help her learn as we go along.

I discovered today that James know 4 shapes already - he identified square, triangle, circle, and star drawn on the driveway today.  And he likes to mimic the counting I do with Carolyn.  We've been counting the flowers each morning as new ones bloom so he'll point and say a number.  So amazing to see him developing so fast before my eyes.  I can't believe he's not even 2 at times!  But then when he climbs into my lap and asks and signs "more", I'm reminded how little he is.  I'm treasuring getting to sing "my baby boy" to him each night before bed.  I love how snuggly both kids are.

Looking forward to spring break as a family next week!