So, I have noticed that more of my friends who blog have started planning and posting the meals they are going to make. My mom always planned meals for the month when I was growing up, so when I started cooking for myself in college, it was only natural for me to start planning out meals as well. I started when I was around 20, but completely committed to it once we got married. It's funny, because that's one of the biggest tips in the economy right now for saving money; planning meals and shopping accordingly. I've been doing it for years! I actually plan every 2 weeks, since that's about how often I grocery shop right now. I often have to go once a week though, because I eat all of my fresh fruits and veggies so fast! I then put the meals on my whiteboard calendar on the fridge. I don't always cook the exact meal that I have planned for that day, but I have food for 2 weeks worth of meals and can change my mind if I want. I use a lot of recipes from Rachel Ray and my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I check out cookbooks at the library on a regular basis, so I'm always trying new ideas. I try to use organic versions of everything. I also don't really cook with beef, pork or anything but boneless, skinless white meat chicken or ground turkey. I'm trying to limit our overall meat intake and make vegetarian recipes more often than not. I usually serve a side dish of a spinach salad or some kind of steamed veggie. I'm trying to find new, tasty ways to cook fresh veggies. My mom was/is the queen of heating up frozen veggies and serving as is, which is fine, but I'm trying to branch out. So, here's what I planned before I went to the store this past Saturday:
Saturday: Vegetarian Chili (new recipe) (I used stock, not beer and left out the green pepper)
Sunday: Whole wheat pasta with homemade pesto sauce
Monday: Smoky Shepherd's Pie (I leave out the celery)
Tuesday: leftovers (Nelson has an evening program with dinner, so I'm not going to cook!)
Wednesday: Green Curry Chicken over coconut brown rice (couldn't find the recipe online, but it's a stir fry of chicken, peas, broccoli, onions, peppers, flavored with ginger and coconut milk)
Thursday: (out) BBQ at Nelson's dad's house
Friday: Spinach Manicotti (new recipe)
Saturday: (out) At Joel and Sarah's and then Mom and Dad's for Halloween
Sunday: Chicken with Black Beans and Rice (new)
Monday: leftovers
Tuesday: Garlic Shrimp Pasta (totally fattening, too much butter and parmesan, but sooo good)
Wednesday: Chicken with Creamy Dijon Sauce (new, from some random cookbook, couldn't find the recipe online) along with some wild rice and veggies
Thursday: Cheesy Pasta (from the same cookbook)
Friday: (out) We'll be down in Oregon for Kalaya's 6 month check up, so probably Red Robin, it's right near the dr's office.
I bought green beans, spinach and broccoli, so those will show up. I already have some recipes ready to try next week, I checked out another Rachel cookbook at the library and have been looking things up online. Now I'm hungry from typing this!!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
5 Months
Miss Kalaya is now 5 months old and actually has been for a couple of weeks. Time is just flying by, we're already in the middle of October! It's crazy. We've had some fun things going on this month and are enjoying every minute of being a family!
We started off the month with Kalaya's first trip to the pumpkin patch with our favorite family, the Coupens. It was so much fun! We went on the first Sunday of October, on a sunny afternoon after church. Why so early in the month you ask? To beat the crowds to Roloff Farms! (If you don't know what this is, or don't care, move on to the later paragraphs) If you're a fan of the show, you know what I'm talking about! Those of you who know me well, know that I'm addicted to most of the family-based reality shows on TLC, including Jon and Kate (though I've gotten pretty fed up with them lately), 18 Kids and Counting, The Little Couple, and Little People Big World. If you watch Little People Big World, you will know that they own Roloff Farm, which is just outside of Hillsboro, about 5 minutes from my parents' house. Being a big fan of the show, I decided we should go there! It's a fun pumpkin patch and we had a great time! It was neat to see all of the attractions from the show; the treehouse, the castle, the treviches, the pirate ship and everything else. We also got to see most of the family members; Amy, Jeremy, Zach, Molly, Jacob and Grandma and Grandpa Roloff (not Matt). It was neat! Plus, we saw the TLC camera crews going around filming everyone. We may have gotten filmed in the background, but I doubt it. Kalaya and her BFF Elena had a good time in the hay maze, the pumpkin fun house, the petting zoo and picking out pumpkins. Kalaya did NOT like the tractor ride. Probably because she was hungry and it was close to nap time. All in all though, we had a fun time with GREAT weather!
We also went to Kalaya's first Halloween party at church. It was in the evening, so she wasn't a happy camper, but she was perfectly happy in her costume as a goat:
Reaching the 5 month mark means we're getting close to starting solid foods at 6 months. She has her 6 month appointment on November 6th and I'm going to discuss it all with her pediatrician before starting. We talked at her 4 month appointment about it, but he said there was no need for anything other than breast milk until she was 6 months. I've been reading a lot about how to make baby food and plan to do so! It doesn't seem too challenging. I've started buying some organic fruits and veggies to get started and my mom gave me a good high quality blender and food mill to get started. I'm going to make and freeze some sweet potatoes, bananas, apricots and prunes this week. Speaking of prunes, we had to give Kalaya some prune juice last weekend to get some things moving. She hadn't gone in NINE days, so I called the nurse line. It's normal for breast fed babies to go a week or more without, but I was getting worried. Believe me, prune juice WORKS!! 45 minutes later, no problem. Hopefully we're back on track.
I had started getting all of the 9 month outfits ready and then decided we didn't quite need them yet. She's outgrowing 6 month pants and some onesies, but not outfits. She must have long legs and/or a long torso. Plus, those cloth diapers throw off the sizes. She's still wearing 6 month clothes, though she's outgrown some. I've put away all her summer clothes, fall weather is definitely here to stay in Oregon/Washington!
We found a mommy group in Battle Ground! We've only gone to one activity, but we plan to keep going. I've only met 2 mommies with their toddlers, but they were very friendly and we're hoping to meet more. We've gone to story hour at the library a few times, which is where we found out about the group. It will be nice to have some friends in town and closer to home. There are several events coming up. I look forward to meeting other moms!
We still get the question all the time about if Kalaya is sleeping though the night. It's funny, I am not sick of getting woken up at night, just sick of that question! Even in the "traditional" baby books, they only define sleeping through the night as 6 hours continous sleep, which happens almost every night between about 9pm and 3 am. This is, of course, interrupted some nights, but stays fairly regular. Most nights I only wake up once or twice. (I think) Again, I usually don't remember by morning. One of these nights she's going to sleep all the way through and I won't realize it right away, as all the nights blend together after awhile and I usually have to think about it, unless it's been a bad night of more than 3 times awake, which maybe happen every 10 days or so. She has started waking up crying the last couple of nights, which is really unusual for her, that hasn't happened since she was a newborn. The only thing we can figure out is she has finally figured out we are swaddling her and she doesn't like it. We're trying it without swaddling for a few nights to see how that goes.
We still haven't seen any signs of teeth. She does gum on her fingers and fists all the time, but she's been doing that for a couple of months. She doesn't have a large amount of drool either. She does explore toys and everything else with her mouth though. She has not rolled over from back to front either. She is content to lay on her back to play or sit in her Bumbo. She'll get there, I'm in no rush for her to be mobile! She has always done things at her own pace, in her own time and I'm sure she'll get there soon. And then we'll be getting ready to baby proof! I can't believe we're almost halfway through her first year already! I get choked up just thinking about it!
We started off the month with Kalaya's first trip to the pumpkin patch with our favorite family, the Coupens. It was so much fun! We went on the first Sunday of October, on a sunny afternoon after church. Why so early in the month you ask? To beat the crowds to Roloff Farms! (If you don't know what this is, or don't care, move on to the later paragraphs) If you're a fan of the show, you know what I'm talking about! Those of you who know me well, know that I'm addicted to most of the family-based reality shows on TLC, including Jon and Kate (though I've gotten pretty fed up with them lately), 18 Kids and Counting, The Little Couple, and Little People Big World. If you watch Little People Big World, you will know that they own Roloff Farm, which is just outside of Hillsboro, about 5 minutes from my parents' house. Being a big fan of the show, I decided we should go there! It's a fun pumpkin patch and we had a great time! It was neat to see all of the attractions from the show; the treehouse, the castle, the treviches, the pirate ship and everything else. We also got to see most of the family members; Amy, Jeremy, Zach, Molly, Jacob and Grandma and Grandpa Roloff (not Matt). It was neat! Plus, we saw the TLC camera crews going around filming everyone. We may have gotten filmed in the background, but I doubt it. Kalaya and her BFF Elena had a good time in the hay maze, the pumpkin fun house, the petting zoo and picking out pumpkins. Kalaya did NOT like the tractor ride. Probably because she was hungry and it was close to nap time. All in all though, we had a fun time with GREAT weather!
We also went to Kalaya's first Halloween party at church. It was in the evening, so she wasn't a happy camper, but she was perfectly happy in her costume as a goat:
Reaching the 5 month mark means we're getting close to starting solid foods at 6 months. She has her 6 month appointment on November 6th and I'm going to discuss it all with her pediatrician before starting. We talked at her 4 month appointment about it, but he said there was no need for anything other than breast milk until she was 6 months. I've been reading a lot about how to make baby food and plan to do so! It doesn't seem too challenging. I've started buying some organic fruits and veggies to get started and my mom gave me a good high quality blender and food mill to get started. I'm going to make and freeze some sweet potatoes, bananas, apricots and prunes this week. Speaking of prunes, we had to give Kalaya some prune juice last weekend to get some things moving. She hadn't gone in NINE days, so I called the nurse line. It's normal for breast fed babies to go a week or more without, but I was getting worried. Believe me, prune juice WORKS!! 45 minutes later, no problem. Hopefully we're back on track.
I had started getting all of the 9 month outfits ready and then decided we didn't quite need them yet. She's outgrowing 6 month pants and some onesies, but not outfits. She must have long legs and/or a long torso. Plus, those cloth diapers throw off the sizes. She's still wearing 6 month clothes, though she's outgrown some. I've put away all her summer clothes, fall weather is definitely here to stay in Oregon/Washington!
We found a mommy group in Battle Ground! We've only gone to one activity, but we plan to keep going. I've only met 2 mommies with their toddlers, but they were very friendly and we're hoping to meet more. We've gone to story hour at the library a few times, which is where we found out about the group. It will be nice to have some friends in town and closer to home. There are several events coming up. I look forward to meeting other moms!
We still get the question all the time about if Kalaya is sleeping though the night. It's funny, I am not sick of getting woken up at night, just sick of that question! Even in the "traditional" baby books, they only define sleeping through the night as 6 hours continous sleep, which happens almost every night between about 9pm and 3 am. This is, of course, interrupted some nights, but stays fairly regular. Most nights I only wake up once or twice. (I think) Again, I usually don't remember by morning. One of these nights she's going to sleep all the way through and I won't realize it right away, as all the nights blend together after awhile and I usually have to think about it, unless it's been a bad night of more than 3 times awake, which maybe happen every 10 days or so. She has started waking up crying the last couple of nights, which is really unusual for her, that hasn't happened since she was a newborn. The only thing we can figure out is she has finally figured out we are swaddling her and she doesn't like it. We're trying it without swaddling for a few nights to see how that goes.
We still haven't seen any signs of teeth. She does gum on her fingers and fists all the time, but she's been doing that for a couple of months. She doesn't have a large amount of drool either. She does explore toys and everything else with her mouth though. She has not rolled over from back to front either. She is content to lay on her back to play or sit in her Bumbo. She'll get there, I'm in no rush for her to be mobile! She has always done things at her own pace, in her own time and I'm sure she'll get there soon. And then we'll be getting ready to baby proof! I can't believe we're almost halfway through her first year already! I get choked up just thinking about it!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Another week of being parents and it just keeps getting better and better! Nelson and I absolutely love parenthood; we often wonder why we didn't start sooner! : )
Kalaya is just about to outgrow her 6 month clothes! She can still wear some outfits, but anything that's the 3-6 (as opposed to 6 month) month is getting too small, especially onesies. (those bulky cloth diapers!) It looks like fall weather is here to stay, so it looks like summer outfits won't get too much more use. The outfits that are just too cute to not wear have acquired a layered look with long-sleeved onesies underneath, along with tights or Baby Legs. (leg warmers, love them!) That's the problem with having a spring baby; everyone shopped for showers in the spring and bought spring clothes! We've been wearing a lot of fuzzy warm jammies too. I've started washing and getting the 6-9 and 9 month clothes ready! We started our current size in early August and I'm STILL finding things she hasn't worn yet. Trying to get them all worn at least once!
We haven't had any major milestones in development this week. She still turns onto her side, almost all the way to her tummy, but likes just hanging out there. She is content to lay on her back, looking at toys, books, faces, playing peek-a-boo and interacting. Rolling over is not currently a priority for her. Fine by me! She coos and babbles all the time, mainly noises like "ahhh!" "neeeh!" "haaaa" "mmmmm" and other things like that. Not too many consonant sounds at this point. I swear she has already connected the "Neh" sound with "nurse" because she makes it whenever she is looking for that activity, which she didn't do before.
Here is a typical day at home for Kalaya and I:
*Wake up for the day* This can be any time between 7:30 and 9:30. Typically around 9. When she wakes up at 7:30, it's because she hears Nelson getting ready for work. Usually when we nurse, she'll fall back asleep for at least an hour or so. If she's ready to start the day, she coos, babbles and smiles. If she is still tired (which is usually the case) she's cranky and fusses until we nurse.
*9:30 Playtime* Kalaya is staying awake for longer periods of time. Play time is getting more and more interesting, as she can do such a variety of things now! She enjoys both independent play and interactive play. Independent play usually consists of watching her mobile in her swing, playing on her gym or sitting in her bouncy chair and playing with the hanging toys. Interactive play is so many different things! We tickle, play peek a boo, sing and listen to lots of different songs, read books, play with a large variety of toys, play with Pippy, play with puppets, have tummy time, and so much more. This can last from half and hour up to 3 hours, depending on how well she slept and how hungry she gets. She usually stops to nurse for about 10 min, about halfway through.
*11:00 Morning nap* After a while Kalaya starts yawning, rubbing her eyes and losing interest in playing. Then we go into our room, lay down on our bed and nurse until she falls asleep. She is not a long napper, usually only about 45 minutes. Our pediatrician said this is fine, as long as she seems rested when she wakes up. It's very obvious when nap time was successful. She starts talking and babbling to announce that she is awake! If she fusses awake, more nursing and then usually sleep for a little longer.
*12:00 Playtime, interrupted by nursing*
*1:30 Nursing and early afternoon nap* During naptime I usually get some laundry or other housework done, or read, check my email, watch TV, etc. If we had a tough time the night before, I often nap with her.
*2:30 Playtime and take Pippy for a walk* If is isn't pouring rain, we take a walk around our neighborhood, which is really big! Some days we walk to the library, which is about a 10 minute walk from our house. We have parks near our house as well, all of which are fun to go see. She some times naps in the stroller toward the end of the nap, but not usually.
*3:30 Nursing and late afternoon nap*
*4:30 Playtime interrupted by nursing* Some times this is her fussy time. During that time, she doesn't want to nurse, play, nap or anything else. The 2 ways to calm her are to put her in the sling and walk around or to put her in her crib with quiet music playing from her mobile.
*Around 5:30 Daddy gets home!: Nelson is great about spending time with her when he gets home. He likes to play peek a boo with her, talk to her about her day and sing songs together. This is when I usually am making dinner or having some time to myself.
*6ish Dinnertime* Right now this consists of us taking turns playing with her (or calming her, she's starting to wind down for the day at this point) while the other person eats dinner. Usually she and I nurse while Nelson eats and then I eat while he plays with her. Some days she's have independent play time while Nelson and I both get to eat.
*Between 6:45 and 7:30 (depending on fussiness) Bath time! We are still using the baby bath on the kitchen counter and it works great! She loves bath time. As soon as she notices she's getting fully undressed, rather than just a diaper change, she wriggles and squeals, because she knows it's time! Bath is followed by lotion and massage, jammies, swaddling and stories.
*By 8:00 Tank up Nursing* We usually do a big long nurse, with her awake on and off. Most nights she falls asleep within 5 minutes of starting to nurse. But, she'll wake up every 45 min or so to continue nursing.
*9:00 Down for the night* At this point she'll usually sleep on her own, in our bed, for anywhere from 45 minutes to 6 hours, but usually until we go to bed for the night.
*9:00-6:00 Sleeping, waking to nurse occasionally* Since we co-sleep, I truly don't know how much she wakes up to nurse, unless it's a challenging night where she wakes up more than twice to nurse. I am usually barely conscience when we wake up at night. She really isn't awake either. We have nights where I'm a human pacifier and she wants to nurse every 45 min, but those are getting less frequent. Typically she starts moving around once or twice and nurses back to sleep really quickly.
Again, theses are very, very general times. Some days are completely different, especially if we have places to go, things to do. Even around the house, these change constantly. It's so nice to be a stay at home mom, so that I can be ready for anything. She rarely cries when we're at home and it's so simple to figure out what she needs, based on her noises and actions. I am not big on having the same schedule every day, because it doesn't always work for her! Maybe by the time she's 2 or 3, her routine will have settled more. Or, maybe sooner! We'll see!
Kalaya is just about to outgrow her 6 month clothes! She can still wear some outfits, but anything that's the 3-6 (as opposed to 6 month) month is getting too small, especially onesies. (those bulky cloth diapers!) It looks like fall weather is here to stay, so it looks like summer outfits won't get too much more use. The outfits that are just too cute to not wear have acquired a layered look with long-sleeved onesies underneath, along with tights or Baby Legs. (leg warmers, love them!) That's the problem with having a spring baby; everyone shopped for showers in the spring and bought spring clothes! We've been wearing a lot of fuzzy warm jammies too. I've started washing and getting the 6-9 and 9 month clothes ready! We started our current size in early August and I'm STILL finding things she hasn't worn yet. Trying to get them all worn at least once!
We haven't had any major milestones in development this week. She still turns onto her side, almost all the way to her tummy, but likes just hanging out there. She is content to lay on her back, looking at toys, books, faces, playing peek-a-boo and interacting. Rolling over is not currently a priority for her. Fine by me! She coos and babbles all the time, mainly noises like "ahhh!" "neeeh!" "haaaa" "mmmmm" and other things like that. Not too many consonant sounds at this point. I swear she has already connected the "Neh" sound with "nurse" because she makes it whenever she is looking for that activity, which she didn't do before.
Here is a typical day at home for Kalaya and I:
*Wake up for the day* This can be any time between 7:30 and 9:30. Typically around 9. When she wakes up at 7:30, it's because she hears Nelson getting ready for work. Usually when we nurse, she'll fall back asleep for at least an hour or so. If she's ready to start the day, she coos, babbles and smiles. If she is still tired (which is usually the case) she's cranky and fusses until we nurse.
*9:30 Playtime* Kalaya is staying awake for longer periods of time. Play time is getting more and more interesting, as she can do such a variety of things now! She enjoys both independent play and interactive play. Independent play usually consists of watching her mobile in her swing, playing on her gym or sitting in her bouncy chair and playing with the hanging toys. Interactive play is so many different things! We tickle, play peek a boo, sing and listen to lots of different songs, read books, play with a large variety of toys, play with Pippy, play with puppets, have tummy time, and so much more. This can last from half and hour up to 3 hours, depending on how well she slept and how hungry she gets. She usually stops to nurse for about 10 min, about halfway through.
*11:00 Morning nap* After a while Kalaya starts yawning, rubbing her eyes and losing interest in playing. Then we go into our room, lay down on our bed and nurse until she falls asleep. She is not a long napper, usually only about 45 minutes. Our pediatrician said this is fine, as long as she seems rested when she wakes up. It's very obvious when nap time was successful. She starts talking and babbling to announce that she is awake! If she fusses awake, more nursing and then usually sleep for a little longer.
*12:00 Playtime, interrupted by nursing*
*1:30 Nursing and early afternoon nap* During naptime I usually get some laundry or other housework done, or read, check my email, watch TV, etc. If we had a tough time the night before, I often nap with her.
*2:30 Playtime and take Pippy for a walk* If is isn't pouring rain, we take a walk around our neighborhood, which is really big! Some days we walk to the library, which is about a 10 minute walk from our house. We have parks near our house as well, all of which are fun to go see. She some times naps in the stroller toward the end of the nap, but not usually.
*3:30 Nursing and late afternoon nap*
*4:30 Playtime interrupted by nursing* Some times this is her fussy time. During that time, she doesn't want to nurse, play, nap or anything else. The 2 ways to calm her are to put her in the sling and walk around or to put her in her crib with quiet music playing from her mobile.
*Around 5:30 Daddy gets home!: Nelson is great about spending time with her when he gets home. He likes to play peek a boo with her, talk to her about her day and sing songs together. This is when I usually am making dinner or having some time to myself.
*6ish Dinnertime* Right now this consists of us taking turns playing with her (or calming her, she's starting to wind down for the day at this point) while the other person eats dinner. Usually she and I nurse while Nelson eats and then I eat while he plays with her. Some days she's have independent play time while Nelson and I both get to eat.
*Between 6:45 and 7:30 (depending on fussiness) Bath time! We are still using the baby bath on the kitchen counter and it works great! She loves bath time. As soon as she notices she's getting fully undressed, rather than just a diaper change, she wriggles and squeals, because she knows it's time! Bath is followed by lotion and massage, jammies, swaddling and stories.
*By 8:00 Tank up Nursing* We usually do a big long nurse, with her awake on and off. Most nights she falls asleep within 5 minutes of starting to nurse. But, she'll wake up every 45 min or so to continue nursing.
*9:00 Down for the night* At this point she'll usually sleep on her own, in our bed, for anywhere from 45 minutes to 6 hours, but usually until we go to bed for the night.
*9:00-6:00 Sleeping, waking to nurse occasionally* Since we co-sleep, I truly don't know how much she wakes up to nurse, unless it's a challenging night where she wakes up more than twice to nurse. I am usually barely conscience when we wake up at night. She really isn't awake either. We have nights where I'm a human pacifier and she wants to nurse every 45 min, but those are getting less frequent. Typically she starts moving around once or twice and nurses back to sleep really quickly.
Again, theses are very, very general times. Some days are completely different, especially if we have places to go, things to do. Even around the house, these change constantly. It's so nice to be a stay at home mom, so that I can be ready for anything. She rarely cries when we're at home and it's so simple to figure out what she needs, based on her noises and actions. I am not big on having the same schedule every day, because it doesn't always work for her! Maybe by the time she's 2 or 3, her routine will have settled more. Or, maybe sooner! We'll see!
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