Thursday, July 28, 2011

2 Months! (Monday)

Dear Sweet Little Taryn,

You're still so small.  You're so lovable.  We can't believe it's been two whole months since your birth

You are very observant.  We're not sure if you don't like being held long in the Ergo or Moby because you have tummy bubbles or because you want to see.  You love to watch your brother play and talk.  If he's around you couldn't be happier.




This month you've started to smile on purpose.  You've also decided to laugh in the last couple of days.  Your laugh is the sweetest thing.  You think it's funny when we say boo at you and lift you up and down.  We are loving your squeal too. 



You are such an easy baby minus the tummy troubles in the beginning.  You've started sleeping well in the last week, helping your Mama and Daddy get some more rest.  You don't mind the car too much.  You don't mind to be put down for a bit when I have to help your brother. 




Quite the talker you are.  You say your coos when I am talking on the phone to Grandpa Jack.  And your Grandma Cheryl said 'you might be another talker like your Mama.'  lol.  Maybe one day between you and Luke I won't be able to get a word in!
 
This past weekend you met your great grandmother.  You just coo-ed away at her.


You are strong, you can already support your weight on your legs while we hold you.  Your head control is pretty good too!  And you drool all over the place, we almost think you are teething...



I forgot how sweet a baby smells, but your head has the sweetest baby smell.




You've already really taken to EC.  You love that you don't have to pee and poo in your diaper.  And it really upsets you when you do.



At night when we are trying to get you to go to sleep, after nursing, daddy takes you and listens to podcasts of priests homilies.  You also like the sound of the dryer (which is a good thing, we wash a lot of diapers around here).  Both of those put you right to sleep... and the warm hold of Daddy.

We love you dear Taryn. Can't wait for more!!

Love Mama and Daddy

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Lettuce Wraps

We've had a bunch of Lettuce from our CSA this first two weeks.  Here's another fabulous thing we've done with our lettuce!

Lettuce Wraps



Lettuce- you wanna use the big leafs
1lb of ground meat.  We've used ground pork and grass fed ground beef from our local farm.
2 carrots grated
1 zucchini grated
1 tomato chopped

1 Tablespoon of coconut oil or other fat to cook meat in
1 Tablespoon of Tamari
1 Tablespoon of sesame oil

pepper to taste
hot sauce for afterwards :)

Just cook up the ground meat in the coconut oil or other chosen fat.  Add zucchini, carrot and tomato half way through.  You could also choose any veggies to add the first time we did pepper instead of tomato.  Then when it's almost cooked add tamari, pepper and sesame oil and finish cooking.

Then you take your lettuce leafs and use them as wraps for the meat!  Then add your favorite hot sauce!


Friday, July 15, 2011

This week in the life

I keep wanting to update about how life is with two now.  But I think I'll just start writing down what we've done lately because I don't even know where to begin.

This week we pretty much did nothing Monday or Tuesday.  Which is mostly what we do everyday.  I'm trying to start to do more as I am feeling less postpartum-y

But Wednesday was my first La Leche League group meeting.  At 9am.  Yes, that's right, 9am.  I had to wake up the boy who sleeps till 10 or so up at 8:30.  And, lets face it, I usually sleep in too.  But I'm really glad I went.  I met a few like minded mothers there.  I actually, for once, didn't feel weird at all saying that I'm nursing both my two year old and my baby.  Most people there thought it was cool.  Now that's the type of support I'm looking for.  
As far as how it went with the both kids while out, it was actually pretty amazing.  I can't believe Luke sat next to me and ate some snacks and played with his trains the whole time.  He just was very content and happy AND he didn't ask to go home.  Usually he asks to go home.  Taryn nursed happily to sleep and slept the whole time.  Boy was I lucky there.

Thursday we were supposed to go to a baby wearing meeting at 10 but I was just too tired to go, so we stayed home. That's a goal lately.  I am not going to push activities, it doesn't make any sense to stress out over something I don't have to go to.

Today I met a new friend, I had met at the library, at the park.  She's pretty like-minded in that we have similar parenting styles.  I enjoyed hanging out with her.  Her son just turned 1. 
When we got to the park there was a little 3 year old girl there that was very chatty.  She was very interested in Luke.  But Luke was shy from here but I could tell he was interested because later when she left, he asked where she went.
Taryn slept the whole time in the Ergo.  Despite how she isn't a huge baby wearer like Luke was, she's getting more used to it.  I think once she has more neck control she's really gonna like looking around. 

Anyway, that's it for now.  Here's some pics of my sweeties.





Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Lots of Lettuce Salad

We have an abundance of lettuce around here since we've started our CSA.




We have two shares so that means we've received 8, yes 8, HEADS of lettuce.  The first week we had lettuce wraps a couple times and LOTS of salad.  This week we got a recipe from the farmers.  I modified it a little.  It was wilted lettuce salad.  I used yams instead of potatoes.  But, before that recipe I didn't know you could wilt lettuce.  So today I tried something out.  This is my recipe called extra lettuce veggie salad.


2 Tablespoons of coconut oil
1/2-1 head of lettuce chopped up

1 large zucchini chopped up

1/2 head of cabbage chopped up

1 sweet onion diced

1 teaspoon (or so) of Paprika
1 teaspoon (or so) of garlic powder
salt
pepper
a few swirls of balsamic vinegar


heat pan on medium heat add coconut oil, zucchini, onion, and cabbage.  Then add spices while stirring.  After veggies have gotten soft add lettuce to wilt.  Once it's almost wilted add balsamic vinegar.  And that's it!  It's so yummy!

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Primal Challenge

I have mostly been eating primal/paleo through out the last of my pregnancy until now but I really wanted to stop cheating.  I wanted to really stop eating sugar because it's toxic, read here and also grains because of the way they hinder digestion and cause loads of other problems, read here. But even more than that, I feel so good eating a clean diet.  So Ben and I decided that once I felt like it, we would do a '30 day primal challenge'.  
For us, it means...
  • no cheating - no grains, no sugar, nothing but good old paleo foods.
  • getting better at preparing food in advanced to eliminate the need to eat out.
  • adapting more of the primal lifestyle, more below.

We started a month after Taryn was born, June 25.  It's been about two weeks and boy do I feel great.  I have WAY more energy than I did post-partum with Luke! 

But more than just the eating, I wanted to adapt more primal things into my life.  The ten primal blueprint laws from The Primal Blueprint are...


1. Eat lots of animals and plants.


We are really working on this 30 days because I don't want to push myself too hard with the working out thing because I don't want to hurt my milk supply

2. Move around at a slow pace.

We are trying to go on nightly walks.  Even if not too far, just getting out and taking a few loops around the neighborhood.  I also am trying to walk around a lot outside with Luke when we play.
Some nights this hasn't been easy for us.  It seems like by the time dinner and dishes are done we don't have time.  So making time and maximizing our time needs to be improved on.

3. Lift heavy things.

 Haven't really started this yet. Besides the two kids I tote around.

4. Run really fast every once and a while.

Started my first primal work out last week.  I haven't tried sprinting yet.

5. Get lots of sleep.

Trying hard at this one too.  It's a little more difficult with a baby.  But I'm really trying to make sure I take full advantage of nap time, and I started doing this when I was pregnant so it's pretty easy.

6. Play.

You would think this one is easy since I have kids.  But I have noticed that myself and a lot of other parents just watch their kids play.  Instead I am making an effort to actually play.  Do you sit on the mom bench at the park?  Why?  Maybe it's time we all get out and go climb the monkey bars.

7. Get some sunlight every day.

This one is easy in the summer.  But, I also have been trying to take my vitamin D every day.  

8. Avoid Trama.

Lower stress.  I have my moments but I'm really trying not to let stupid things bother me.

9. Avoid posionous things.

Grains.  Sugar.  Also, trying to eliminate things that don't help my religious life or my kids.  I have always tried to do that.  An example is that I don't watch Bachelorette on the TV anymore.  I don't think it's appropriate for Luke to see so I wait until nap time or when my husband is home and watch on the computer.

10. Use your mind.


I have been trying to learn new things and explore new ideas.  Also am trying to brainstorm ways to decorate our playroom when I get the opportunities - creative energy.

I hope I can keep improving on things.  I am enjoying challenging myself, especially eating.  I feel so healthy.

Nursing Two

Wow, two years ago I wouldn't have even imagined nursing Luke until two.  But after reading a lot about breastfeeding and seeing that the World Health Organization recommends two years or beyond I decided that I would nurse Luke until he naturally weaned or at least two.  Then I got pregnant when Luke was 15 months old.  I knew my milk would probably go down during pregnancy and that there was a chance he would wean (though I always kinda thought he wouldn't, and he didn't).  When Taryn was born, while sometimes it'd be nice to only have one nursling, I decided to continue nursing Luke to make the transition easier.  And boy has it ever!  I always envisioned jealousy, crying, and really  bad days.  I've only witnessed Luke hugging, kissing and cuddling with his sister.  Never once has he said I don't want a sister, or that he wanted her to go back, like I've heard from other families.
It's not all roses like I made it sound, though.  Luke has gone back to nursing more. Taryn wasn't back to her birth weight as fast as they expected. My midwife told me that to support both, I need to be consuming 1000 extra calories per day, instead of 500.   Once I started eating more, way more, I knew it wasn't a problem anymore.  But boy is it hard to eat that much extra sometimes.
Now I'm starting to not enjoy nursing Luke when he just is goofing around at the breast, sort of like when I was pregnant.  Sometimes he nurses because he's bored and that is hard because I hurts to have him just barely  nurse. 
And some nights, there are just too many wake ups.  And I'm starting not to like nursing them both at the same time, though it's awful cute when they hold hands while nursing.  And it's really nice to just nurse both of them to sleep and get a nap during the day.  And I love at night when I get to cuddle next to Luke and nurse him to sleep, it's really good close time together.
There's really so much that I love about it, but so much that I am starting to dislike.  I'm hoping that I can keep it up as long as I can because I enjoy the 'goods' more than that bads.  Plus, it's been really nice having a toddler who is not jealous and who is so healthy from having mamas milk :)