I Love...

I love that Keller tied a rope onto his trick-or-treating pumpkin and called it his "sash" and that he actually wore it across his chest when trick-or-treating.

I love that Neko would have been perfectly happy only going to one house on Halloween.  That once we left that door all he kept saying was, "Can I eat my candy now?  Can I eat my candy now?" with his big dragon costume tight around his face and his dragon feet not quite down to his ankles!

I love that Scout is at the squishy phase, that she is still all folded up with her heiny sticking out when I pick her up!  I love that when I sit her up to burp her, she sticks on hand out in front of her as if staying "Stop!"

I love that Neeks calls Keller, "Keddah"--I will be sad when that goes away

And that Keller doesn't make the "sh" sound but instead only pronounces the "s"-goes for "ch" as well...so shucking corn is "sucking corn" and Chuck Taylors are "sucks"...

And that at night Neko calls out from his room or tells you when you go in there:  My tuck is broken...my piggies.....(He only really needs his "piggies" tucked under every night...)

There's more for sure but since I'm in the middle of making dinner, I better tend to that...too much to do, too little time!!  But all good!

Happy Days:)

I love my kids:)  I do.  I love being with them and taking them out and about and having them around as my side kicks.  They're cute, they're funny, they're kind, they make me and those we're around smile.  Usually:)  Not to say they don't have their moments (and I mine...) but overall, I really just kinda like having them around.  And when they're not (like nap-time, now) I am ever so glad to have a break and to be alone, and I love to get out into the world on my own, too, but all in all, I think we go good together:)

I say this after spending the morning going to doc for a prenatal visit.  This is the first one I've brought the kids to and since we were late due to traffic, we had to wait even longer than usual for our turn to see the doctor.  But they were well behaved and good company.  Keller tried out each and every seat in the waiting room and told the nice old lady next to us about our vegetables we bought yesterday and then showed her some fancy spinning jumps.  Neko just sat in his stroller with his green Crocs and chubby little legs taking it all in.  When it was our turn to go to the nurse's office, the boys stayed with the nurse while I went across the hall to the bathroom.  When I returned, the nurse was laughing away as Keller was going on and on about how he was going to be a farmer today and plant seeds and vegetables.  When she told him the name of the stethescope, he quickly replied to her that he knows that already.  Know it all;)  He charmed the doctor who performed his C-section and they chatted briefly about their garden plans (she's doing her first official garden this year, too).  And Neko just sat and took it all in, probably glad that he wasn't required to contribute to the conversation.

So from the doctor's office we hit the "dirt store" to buy more soil for the second garden box, came home, had lunch, filled up the little pool and got to it!  The boys played happily in the shade at the pool while I filled up the garden with dirt and sat with my notepad trying to make a plan as to what to plant where.  The kids splashed and giggled and screamed and dumped water and had a blast while I put some plants into the ground.  After a couple of hours, the kids were hosed down and soaped up and we headed inside for stories and naps.  Perfectly tired kids and a perfectly hot and sweaty mommy.  After a busy weekend of going up to New Hampshire to visit Abby and her husband, coming home late Sunday, Trav taking a test Monday morning and working in the garden in the early afternoon, then hitting the parade and going to the store for dinner and then making dinner, and bathing children, it was nice to have a day with "no plans" except to hang out and actually plant the garden.  I am ever so grateful to have these not-so-lazy days home with the kids.  And just to be fair, I will add that the only reason I was actually able to complete this post is because both kids are actually sleeping, which is not always the case and in such the situation as that, the tone of this post would have the potential to sound very different, if you know what I mean!!!  But as for today, I am glad for my happy days home with the kids:)

Sweet Commitments

I recently read an article about kids and sugar intake.  The article of course linked sugar to obesity and pointed fingers at sugary drinks and even 100% fruit juices, not surprisingly.  The article said that kids should keep their sugar intake to 12g per day, or 4 teaspoons.  (A kids Chobani berry flavored yogurt has 14g sugar)  Women should keep it to 24g or 8 teaspoons, and men to 36g or 12 teaspoons.  Several years back, pre-kids and pre-husband, I remember a New Years resolution that was as simple as having less sugar in my tea.  I am now drinking two cups of tea a day and was adding more than one but less than two teaspoons of sugar to each cup.  I also have not even really been "enjoying" my tea, it has seriously become more of a ritual (and physiological need;) so I've been thinking about what I can replace it with...But until then, I'm committing to only using 1 measured teaspoon per cup which will cut the sugar involved in my tea ritual nearly in half.  I have also committed to no longer buying the crap store brand (or even Smuckers on sale) jelly and will stick with the no corn syrup spreadable fruit (Polaner's) type spread.    Occasionally when I'm in Trader Joe's I pick up the organic stuff but anywhere else is just too expensive.  I will also be more diligent about bread...I need to buy better bread, no corn syrup or a billion other ingredients...granted, we usually buy the Arnold's or "higher end" whole wheat store brand type bread, but I want to officially "commit" to finding a bread without corn syrup and other crap.  (not to mention taco shells...what the heck is TBHQ...I will commit to finding this out along with whether these recommended teaspoon amounts also apply to naturally occurring sugars such as those in milk (lots) and fruit)  Another biggie which bothers me is yogurt.  The Stonyfield Farm yogurt is gross because it's just too sweet for me.  Sometimes I'll by a big tub of flavored and a tub of plain and mix them together, but still, the consistency is not creamy enough or something.  And the kids love to eat yogurt, but really the sugar content is terrible...ugh.  I need to find something in the yogurt department I'm comfortable with (those Chobani kids ones are really yummy though:)  Another thing that we've fallen off track a little with is whole grains, well not really, just in the English Muffins department.  (but the not 100% whole grain ones are much yummier...)  But back on track...and Granola.  I keep meaning to buy some to put in my yogurt but when I read the ingredients, I get mad and tell myself to just make it on my own (which I've done in the past with delicious results but...) and so I go without.  And again, when I go to Trader Joe's, their Muesli is pretty pure and fairly priced and that is yummy in yogurt, too.
The other slippage that has occurred in this house has to do with our cereal choices.  While I would always try for the organic or more natural brands, since Keller has such specific requirements, we stick with the very basics, Chex, Kix, Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies...and we generally will buy the store brands except when Gorilla Munch is on sale or when we get the organic rice or corn puffs from the health food store...But after reading that whole disclaimer on Facebook about the Kashi cereals and how highly pesticided they are and knowing that regular corn is such a subsidy and chemically driven commodity, I don't feel good about the 5 boxes of cereal I just brought home that are store brand even though their ingredients are really basic and "whole"...what a conundrum.  And on the topic of cereal, I recently bought myself a "treat" of apple cinnamon flavored "O's" to mix in with my organic plain "O's" (because alone that cereal is too sweet, might as well eat Apple Jacks!) so I read the label after just having read the sugar article and then carefully measured one serving 3/4 cup into my bowl, which constituted a full serving of the cereal (14 grams of sugar!) along with a cup of regular O's to make what would seriously be considered one grown up serving of cereal, added my milk with another 12 grams of sugar or whatever ridiculous amount that was and that simple meal brought me to my recommended limit for sugar intake.  Craziness.  But anyway, just stuff to think about and keep in mind.  We're in a much better place than most sugar-wise in this house and the kids aren't missing out (yet!) but still, it's something that I/we need to keep bringing to the forefront because food marketing and school-based food services and even preschool programming are not looking out for us.  I look forward to our CSA starting up again because that will make me have to cook what we have on hand and therefore go to the grocery store less.  That place just bothers me all around!!  Too many choices...

Three Months Later...

Well, I think about my blog often but just don't get to it.  I think that part of it is that I'm generally babysitting most naptimes which is the ideal time to get to it.  Then when I'm not babysitting I have 500 things to accomplish during naptime and/or one of the two napping parties is not napping.  And PLEASE, don't anybody let on to Keller that this is about the time when kids might stop napping....Mama NEEDS her naptime!  Luckily, he'll spend at least an hour in his room reading or playing on those no nap days, but that also involves about 10 trips out of the room to pee, to bring me a small scrap of paper or random toy from the bedroom, to come out to tell me something but not really have anything to tell me so he just sort of fumbles over his words awhile before he gets personally escorted back to the room...But he's still cute so he gets away with such behavior:)  He's only got a few weeks left of preschool to go and then next year he'll be in the 4 year old group 3 mornings per week.  He's a good boy:)

Neko is talking up a storm.  Cracks us up.  Him and Keller are finally able to hold conversations together, well, sort of:)  He's much more able to tell us what his needs or wants are, though he's not always willing to do so.  He's our screamer for sure and he was from the very beginning!  I remember hearing his cry in the hospital thinking, "Wow!  That's a lot more attention worthy than Keller's ever was!" and use those lungs he does!  Even for what appears to be no reason sometimes.  And he's moody like his Mama, especially when tired or hungry...He loves to be outside, especially in the sandbox though he's not always so good at keeping the sand IN the sandbox.  We've got all summer to work on that though.  I figure he's clearing out the old "dirty" sand so that I can put the new sand in without feeling like I need to sift through all the twig and sticks and stuff myself:)

And baby number 3.  Yes, that next little baby is doing well too:)  We're at just about 17 weeks and I'm feeling good, still doing Jiu Jitsu and conditioning classes, but "going easy" when it comes to the actual "rolling" (wrestling) part (which is a bummer cause that's the most fun and best exercise part:) but all good!  We've gotten so far as looking at some cars online and soon we'll get out there to test drive and try 3 carseat configurations out...Ideally, I'd like all three in the "second" row, at least for now while everyone is kinda little and then to have a third row for carpooling or for growing into.  And I'd like to opt out of the minivan choice unless there's a "mini" minivan we encounter (Mazda 5?)  We'll have to see.  I don't want anything huge and I do care about gas mileage.  With two, we've been perfectly fine in my Subaru so I expect we'll be fine for a good while in the next size up.  Rav4?  Gotta try it...though might need those Radian carseats?  Kia Sorento?  I'd consider a Highlander (used)...Who the heck knows!  As for the house thing, we're good here for now.  It would be too much for me right now to think about moving/packing/finding a house/finding a renter for this house/figuring out new car payments AND house payments while knowing that the few hundred bucks I've been making while babysitting won't be in place come fall...So we're hunkering down here in our familiar and cozy home.  The new little baby will be fine in our room for awhile and then can move into Neko's old room in the kitchen!!  I think he was there for 7 months!  Which will bring us to next spring, next tax return, a better time to make a big change...I'm at peace with that:)  (today...)

All in all, Life is Good:)  I'm loving watching my little boys grow into the people they are becoming.  I love to see there smiles, their frustrations, their discoveries, and their relationships developing.  There's a lot going on out there in that great big world and as Keller becomes more social with school and friends and bigger cousins, etc. he learns more and more about that world (that maybe I would have preferred to shelter him from).  But alas, that is part of growing up.  Getting out there, learning new things, and hopefully sharing what you've learned at home so that there can be conversation about it.  I'm still figuring it all out myself!

Reading

I just actually finished reading a book cover to cover in just over a week's time. How about that! I have several books started that just weren't pulling me in. One was a Christmas book from my mom that my sister and I were supposed to read...a tradition. But I only got to a chapter or so of that. I've read bits and pieces of various books with health-related themes. I'm interested in those books but my reading time is before bed and therefore it is a bad time to try to read anything that requires thought and/or processing. I had expressed my troubles to Trav and mentioned that I should read the Twilight series (finally), The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (because it seems like that book always comes up on FB when people ask for a good book), and The Hunger Games series. So Trav came home from the grocery store with the Dragon Tattoo book which I knew nothing about. It hurt my brain to read the first chapter or so, but then I got into it and looked forward to reading it each night and didn't want to put it down. So a good read, especially for a book I knew nothing about. But not really a light read. A little disturbing, a lot disturbing, actually. And I know it's fiction but I'm really bothered by how things were handled. I have a partial understanding of why some actions were taken, and a partial understanding of why some actions were NOT taken, but I want a better understanding. The most disturbing part about the book is that these types of situations/scenarios exist. There are some crazy people out there. No wonder I get creeped out at the thought of jogging in the woods. This book left me with a similar image that Lovely Bones did. (the book...no need to see that movie) except I can at least say the Lovely Bones had a message of hope to it. Dragon Tattoo, not so much. AND it makes me question an author's character when you read such a story. I don't read many "thriller" type stories so I don't know how this compares, but man, or rather this man/author had to devise some sketchiness. Don't want to elaborate on that. So when I finished the book last night I was all pissy. Crap ending. And only just now when looking online for some kind of "critical discussion" did I realize the the other books in the series are related to this one. Duh. I knew there were other books, but somehow I didn't expect them to be the same peeps. And so even though I already told Trav I didn't need to read anymore books on the whole abused women thing that this guy writes about, I just may find myself onto the next one...next time I go to the library. In the meantime I'll crack open the Twilight book from Tasha. Vampires can't be all that bad. Especially the teeny bopper kind. Right?

Germs

Germs are gross. They make people sick. We've all been sick in one capacity or another since Thursday and whatever it is likes to linger...bleh...Keller started with a fever on Thursday and by Thursday night Neko had it. Thursday night I was feeling nauseous and as I mentioned the thought to Trav I commented on how I hadn't thrown-up since being in labor with Keller...good memories of course:P We briefly discussed how humiliating of a thing it is (both puking and the whole humbling that labor does to you...) and actually, quite thankfully, by 11:30pm my stomach felt much better after running to the bathroom to throw up. I know. Lovely topic. But really, no one talks much about it and this is what Trav and I have been talking about since then...Throwing up sucks. That's all there is to it, but it sure does relieve a nauseous belly! So Friday was a rager of a fever day for me (today is Trav's rager day which means last night he puked as I lay in bed smirking...because it's a terrible horrible state to be in, but it's kinda funny?) Saturday was on and off fever, and Sunday and today have been "funny tummy" and like a dizzy kind of thing going on. Excellent. Glad the kids just seem to have had fevers and lots of lovely poops and poop experiences! Ugh. Gross. Must disinfect everything!

In an effort to keep from going stir crazy, we did make it the the library this morning for storytime, which we haven't done in over a year. I would bring Neko in his bucket seat and he hung out in that for most of the time...Then he began taking a solid nap in the morning and we have become morning recluses ever since. Even this morning I put him down for a nap, but he didn't quite go to sleep so by 9:45 I was getting everyone ready for a 10:15 departure. We made it there. Keller sat uninterested. No singing, no interest in participating. Neko stood on my lap and cranked at me any time I tried to make his hands do a motion for a song or bounce him. It was a great time:P We did hang around a little afterwards and played with toys. Neko just putzes around doing this and that oblivious to where Mommy is...and Keller found some Duplo blocks to make a castle with. I actually sat down for a breather for a few moments:) We FINALLY got Keller a library card and checked some books out. We'll see how good I am about getting them BACK to the library! I'm generally very bad at that part but I always view my fine as a contribution to an important public service!

After the library we went to the deli up the block to grab some turkey and "hapancheeeez" according to Neko or a half pound of cheese according to anyone else;) I love where he's at with his talking. The things he says crack me up. Out of nowhere sometimes he just shouts, "pancayes" (pancakes) and I laugh and say it back to him and he laughs and I don't know if he's trying to be funny or if something made him think of pancakes or if he's saying something else entirely and I just thing he's talking about pancakes. He certainly does like eating pancakes though! When he sees a pirate or sailer type person/picture anywhere he'll of course say, "arrrrrr", he mostly is on putting together 2 words, 3 if it includes please: pay.....outside. Mo cheese...pleeees. And he can certainly talk in jibberish like it's nobodies business. Keller likes to translate when he does that! Two little monkeys...

Hoping we're even more better tomorrow!

The Allergy Thing

Just to give a quick update on Keller's allergy post, we're doing well, he's doing well. We're keeping the allergens out and rotating the most prominent foods in his diet on a four day basis still. He's taking Larix (larch extract) and a homeopathic supplement every day both to boost his immune system and he has not had so much as a cold since we started this whole madness. So I'm thinking that this whole package deal is really doing the trick for him. I was dreading the whole sick all the time first year of school thing, but fingers crossed that we'll keep going strong! We meet with the doc in February and will hopefully figure out how we can begin reintroducing some of the allergy foods or at least back off a little on the rotation of things...His diet is a bit predictable, especially the breakfasts! Millet day means "millet balls" cereal and hemp milk, Quinoa/oatmeal day usually means oatmeal for breakfast and cows milk which means dairy day, Corn day is either Chex or Kix and coconut milk--there's usually corn cakes (like rice cakes) or corn wraps for lunch or dinner, and Rice day is Rice puffs, crispies, or Chex--rice day is an easier one too because there's rice bread which means pb and j is allowed! Rice cakes, crackers, and just plain old rice make it easy also. Rice wraps, not so yummy or easy for little people to use. When Travis is feeling particularly motivated on a weekend there will be rice or corn-based pancakes which is a nice treat. I gotta tell you that I can't even believe what a great sport Keller has been about all of this. He asks, "Am I allergic to this?" "Someday, can you buy me bread that I'm not allergic to?" We try to make a baked good that he can have on any given day so there's random stashes in the freezer of cornbread, Quinoa apple crisp, Quinoa muffins, oatmeal granola bars...and other random homemade then frozen goods like gluten free chicken nuggets and millet veggie burgers. It's so nice having REAL frozen food to fall back on. I REALLY want to get better at that, not just for Keller's "special" food, but for the whole family. It's so much nicer to eat say a veggie burger that I can actually identify each and every ingredient...know what I mean? If only I didn't hate to cook so much!! Maybe it's not the hating to cook part but rather the distraction of it? Or the distraction that happens when I'm trying to do so? Who the heck knows! Point being, I should make and freeze more real food perhaps even every time I make a freezeable recipe...I'll shut up now!

Scuck!

This is my current favorite thing to hear from the mouth of my nearly 19 month old. Scuck! He's on a chair, one leg caught in the rungs..."scuck!" Putting his shirt on and his little fingers haven't quite made it all the way out of the sleeve..."scuck!" Trying to get the top off a marker..."scuck!" Trying to get off a ride-on toy that's a little too high up..."scuck!" On Daddy's lap in the bathroom as Daddy is trying to brush his teeth..."scuck!" And my very favorite is when he's in his carseat, we arrive at our destination and I open the back door to take him out of his seat and he wiggles a little and looks up at me pleadingly and says, "scuck!" Little cutie pie! Makes me smile:)

This one is my all-time favorite shot of Neeks! (for now;)

Mostly About Me

I just left Keller screaming in his teacher's arms at his school this morning. That sucked. But he'll be fine. Right? Last week I locked Neko in the running car outside the doctor's office as I was rushing to get from the doctor to babysitting to get the little girl off the bus. Luckily after calling the fire department to unlock the car and the girl's mom to make sure she didn't get on the bus, all was fine. Ugh. Oh, and to register Keller for next year at school I'm supposed to arrive at 6:00 am for the 8:00 registration (If I want the 3 day a week morning class...) What??? Will the afternoon class be fine? He's slacking in the nap department anyway...Who the heck knows.

I've been working on a few things here. Namely, me. I think. Since the new year I have been to the gym twice, tried jiu jitsu twice, found a "playground bootcamp" meetup group in Stratford that meets on Friday morning (when Keller is in school) and the kids play in the indoor gym while the parents get some exercise. I'll try that on Friday with Neko. I bought a two month trial pass for Bikram yoga (the hot kind) and will be starting that when Christine returns from Hungary mid-February, and I went to a drum circle. So it's good to be getting out there, though it's not easy...I'm such a stay home kind of gal these days, but once I'm out it's okay. So the two things I'm really trying to work on are 1) exercise (really, my clothes don't fit...) and 2) people (I really need to find people near me that I want to spend time with which means I have to actually make the time to spend with them...which is all part of what I'm working on.)

What I've learned over the past week: I ENJOY exercise. This I know and have known. It's just been so hard to get it in. I'm still in search of a schedule that works for me...I liked going to the gym the other morning before Trav left for work, but typically I much prefer laying in my cozy bed for as long as I can...which is usually near 8 when Trav is up with the kids. Cozy Bed? or Gym? Must prioritize. Then comes Jiu Jitsu. Trav has been "suggesting" it for 3 years now. They even have an all women's class and a conditioning class. What's kept me away for the past three years? Physical contact, aggressiveness, disinterest, money, timing (class is from 7:30-9:00pm) and the fact that Trav is out a couple of nights a week doing his Muay Thai (kickboxing in place of Jiu Jitsu at the same facility). And so and so. I've learned that I'm terribly shy. I have no concept of Jiu Jitsu. And I'm an absolute snob as to who I choose the spend my time with. Which is why I have no new friends. Only the tried and true:) And I thank you for putting up with me and my snobbishness!! But I'm working on it. I recognize that I personally have a hard time connecting with new people because I lack that "small talk" skill that is key to "breaking the ice" which you need to do in order to find ways to connect with people. Ugh. So scientific. I also have less of a base from which to derive my small talk because generally my knowledge base is that of Mom of Two Young Boys which is a wonderful knowledge base but not very diverse. So I'm working on that, too, which is why I dragged my whole family to the drum circle (and everyone enjoyed themselves!) Maybe I can connect with some new people through that type of thing. I just have to make myself GET THERE. I just wish everything I wanted to do was just 10 minutes away. Including YOU, my friend! (I can say that with confidence knowing that only 10 people (max) ever even read my blog which is perfect:)

And so it's 9:45am. Neko's asleep. Keller's at school (hopefully fine by now:( And I'm sitting here still trying to figure things out (in a good way). I've updated my blog. My tea is still relatively warm. The house is relatively clean. I'm enjoying the sound of the rain outside. And in a few minutes, I'll be ready to tackle that giant bin of laundry to fold. And that my friends is a day in the life! Maybe my next post will be about my kids;)