Menu planning

I am a huge fan of menu planning and have been for about a year. It is a huge saver on the sanity, helps with grocery shopping, and also keeps your grocery budget down! My goal is $300/ a month for groceries, toiletries, and supplies. A mama friend of mine shared this site recently: http://organizedhome.com/ which I have yet to fully explore. There are tons of ideas on how to get organized, printables, articles, etc. etc. I'd like to read it more if I get time someday.

Most days lately I literally have zero minutes of time to myself and if I don't have some sort of plan ahead of time- then we would never eat dinner. Seriously. With 7 dinners at home a week- that's a lot of food. We don't eat out very often because of a)Money and b) We have two babies...it's sometimes more work than fun! That said- we do build this in sometimes or if we are spontaneous then I'll just do the dinner that was planned a different night- no prob!

So....I print off a monthly calendar and try to plan 1-2 weeks at a time of meals (or if I'm really ambitious longer). I plan this based off what I have in my stockpile, what's in my freezer, what's left in my pantry, and of course what sounds good haha. Looking at past month's calendars definitely helps as I remember which meals we liked most.
You will also want to build in dinners of Left Overs if applicable, see if you can use the main dish from one meal to create a new dish the next day, etc. Do what it takes to get dinner on the table.
I have a plethora of cook books and magazines, too, that I occasionally look through to glean new recipes. Those 90% of you with smart phones can access a plethora of recipe apps. And...by far my favorite recipe website right now is www.weelicious.com. It has lots of ideas for tots and kids- but stuff for the whole family. I like how you can search by type of food- gluten free, dairy free, etc. Our dinners have to be gluten free and mostly dairy free for the hubby- so this helps if I'm stuck on new ideas! And best of all- the site is about healthy, wholesome foods w/o all the additives,etc. I'm beginning to like to make things from scratch and I'm beginning to like to bake even. It's weird, really. In the last couple of years we removed High Fructose Corn syrup and artificial sweeteners from our diet. This year I'd like to use more whole wheat (though not for Aaron...how about brown rice?) and eat more vegetables!

Anyways....I'm one of those people that organizes her grocery list based off store section:
Produce
Bulk
Deli
Dairy
Frozen
Boxed/Canned

Going shopping with a baby and a two year old.....I don't have time to waste and I don't have time to think about what's for dinner while at the store. So planning ahead is a must. I have tried the last two WinCo trips to get two weeks of groceries which was nice because it meant less grocery shopping and it forced me to be creative and use foods up..... but I found this to be a ludicrous endeavor and one not to be attempted a third time. It's just too long of a trip with both boys- while packing the 15 lb baby around, pushing the toddler in the cart, not to mention all the loading, unloading, bagging, and unloading of groceries into the car with same baby in the front pack. Anyways...you just have to figure out a system that works for you in your season of life.

Every night I peak at the calendar to see what I'm making the next night. I'll take out what I need from the freezer. Last night I even prepped the veggies for today's crock pot meal just b/c I didn't think I would have time this morning. And I was right...b/c both boys got up at the same time. I'll work on a little bit of food prep during the day as I have time so that come 5:00 I'm not starting from ground zero.

One meal we had this week:
Crock pot rotisserie style chicken with yellow sweet potato fries, spinach walnut salad, and grapefruit (not pictured).
Favorite veggie of the week was brought to my mind because I helped a friend make baby food a few weeks ago and we used the yellow sweet potato/yams. So yummy!

Make your own Christmas gift bags...

I worked at a fabric/craft store while I was in high school and on college breaks. If you work at a fabric store- you should be a good sewer- right? Well I was 16 and didn't know much but my mom taught me the basics. I am no seamstress but can handle simple projects and hemming.

Anyways, something I started doing over the last couple of years was sewing gift bags with old remnants of Chrismtas fabric that I'd collected years before. I wanted to use it up and thought it would be fun to have some reusable gift bags that I'd made. Last year after Christmas I purposed to use up ALL of the fabric I had laying around and come this year I had a nice little stash of bags to use for gifts. Here is one:


Besides the thoughtfulness of a homemade bag, I obviously like these because they are reusable and create much less Christmas waste than wrapping paper....(though I do enjoy some wrapping paper too) They can be passed back and forth between family members for years or given away to friends. Plus....you can get remnants of Christmas fabric for pretty inexpensive that they don't end up being any more than a gift bag you buy....you just have spend the time to sew. For example, I spent $10 at Joanns recently on Christmas scraps. I'm sure I'll be able to make 15-20 bags from all of this depending on the size.

Goal for January: Find a baby free hour to sew!!

Design on a Dime...repurposing a calendar

So those of you that know me well and have been to my house know that decorating is not my biggest strenth. You'll know this by the remaining mostly-empty walls that still exist in our home after almost 3 years. Can I blame it on having two babies since we moved in here? Maybe. I love organized, clean, efficient....but I'm not always motivated to decorate. Seems expensive...and I sometimes wonder what the purpose is or if it's functional.

Well this weekend my mom and dad were here to visit (can you say DATE NIGHT!!?? We got to leave the house. By ourselves. For like 2 hours.). My mom helped me with a couple mini projects for Alex' room that I have been wanting to do but just haven't.

I decorated his room with some of the animals from the Suzy's Zoo theme- the giraffe, the bunny, the bear, and the duck. I love those creatures and though not everyone agrees that they're unisex...I think they're adorable. He's just a baby. I'm the one that sees the stuff anyways haha. Here are a couple of pics:
Last year I found a Suzy's Zoo calendar in the Dollar Bins at Target.... so of course I snatched it up. I wasn't even pregnant yet but I love Suzy Zoo. This calendar had been hanging in Alex' room all year and since the pics are so cute I thought I could just string them along the wall to decorate. I picked my six favorite, found some string, and taped them up. Didn't cost me anything. It sure is fun to look at and fills up that huge empty wall in Alex' room. I'm sure you could do this with any calendar or magazine picture you came across. And most people have string or yarn laying around somewhere!

The other thing we added (in place of the calendar) was an old small bulletin board that was collecting dust in our basement. I found a scrap of yellow fabric in my stash of remnants. I also found some Suzy's Zoo border strips that I had in with my teaching stuff. Easy way to display some cute pics of my boys (I just need to print some now!)
'Til next time,
Thrifty Chica

12 Dates of Christmas and our Christmas Blessing project

Things have mellowed out a tiny bit around here! Aaron still is limited on what he's supposed to lift (not more than 15 lbs) for a bit longer but he's feeling a lot better and can help with Alex (who's a whopping 14 lbs!!). Mateo can't wait for his daddy to be able to pick him up. Soon. I think Aaron was impressed (or intimidated) with how strong I've become these last two weeks. I'll gladly give him the muscle jobs back when he is ready....

Alex, who though pretty cranky in the afternoons and evenings...has been doing so well at night (besides it taking me too long to get him down) and I'm thankful for that! Last night he slept like 10 hours straight, nursed for 10 minutes, and then slept for 3 more hours. I was beyond confused. Mateo didn't sleep that long at a stretch until like 9 or 10 months or so. Same mom, same milk, same crib even. I guess every kid really is different. I cannot say we did anything different at ALL really. We just got lucky. I'm hoping it will last...! Next hurdle.... convincing Alex that taking a nap during the day really isn't such a bad thing...and that it would sure help Mom from being utterly exhausted by the time Dad gets home, haha. Right now I kind of have him kind of asleep in the moby wrap... which hurts my back mucho...but hopefully he will chill long enough to finish this blog post!!

Speaking of Aaron, we decided to do a unique present for Christmas this year. I got the idea from the Advent Conspiracy http://www.adventconspiracy.org/

It's called the 12 Dates of Christmas. We did $20 stocking stuffer stuff each...and then decided to do these 12 dates...some of which involve the kids...and some that we still need to finish (getting an appendix out wasn't on the plans for December...thus we need a little more time ;) Many of these may seem overly simple and things you may not even consider "dates" but we've had quite a 3 months and just doing anything together is quite enjoyable....and much more fun than a tangible present.

1 Get a Christmas Tree and decorate it with Mateo.
2. Watch Elf
3. Watch an episode of Psych (our fav. tv show that we rarely make time for)
4. Coffee shop (which means we set up a coffee shop downstairs and make hot drinks and hang out)
5.Take the boys to see Christmas lights (
6. Shop for our Christmas blessing project and assemble bags (care packages for homeless people)
7. Distribute blessing bags Christmas week
8. Play Mario on wii
9. Sing Christmas songs with Aaron playing guitar
10. Do weekly devotionals (Aaron's been choosing one verse and having us each answer a few questions separately before chatting together on the weekend).
11. Go to bed by 9:30pm
12. Make cookie dough together.

There are still a few that we need to finish...and I look forward to cashing in this Christmas present in the next week or so. Below are a couple pics of our care packages. Mateo had fun helping us put them together. One fun thing is that I collected all the oral hygieme items for free this year with coupons. I hope as Mateo (and Alex) get older, Christmas is not all about presents but more about Jesus' presence in our homes and world. What would Jesus want for Christmas?

Appendicitis and finding small blessings...10 reasons I'm thankful for my Mama friends

I'm experiencing a new level of tired. It's so foreign to me to have Aaron out. Poor guy had his appendix out on Monday. He's not supposed to lift anything over 10 lbs for THREE WEEKS! And that also means no basketball (which he loves...) Hate seeing him like this. As Mateo prayed today..."I pray Daddy's band aids all better. Daddy pick up Mateo more more times.". I feel bad that it's sometimes chaotic at home during the day, though I try my best to lock him in the bed room to rest/watch Netflix/play PS3. He's just not very good at resting (says the mom who probably won't take a nap til 2017 when both boys are in school...). And of course I'd be lying if I didn't admit that this whole thing has been hard on me, too. I'm somewhat used to really long days with cranky baby and toddler- but I could at least count on an extra set of hands in the evening. I'm trying to power through though running out of steam.

Though...I do believe that age old saying that God won't give you more than you can handle. [Check out this song by Matthew West...one of my favs... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8JsRxVczm] We will never be strong enough for life on our own...but God will be strong for us. I do sure weird things would stop happening to us. Early baby, c section, hospital, colicky baby, stomach flu, cold, Aaron's ear infection, Mateo's croup, almost Mastitis,
Aaron's appendix. Seems like when one thing gets easier then something else begins. Alex has fallen into a bedtime routine the last week or two. Life just got easier, right? Well yes but then your husband spends the night in the ER and has his appendix out. And the doctor comes out...not just any doctor but the chief of surgery...to talk to you and you think something went terribly wrong...but turns out he just wanted me to know that the surgery went fine. Sheesh!

But Aaron and I don't like to camp out in self pity for long. Sometimes it's necessary while you process things. But there is no productivity in self pity or feeling sorry for yourself. Taking the focus away from you sure does help keep things in perspective. Trying to help other people does help you to remember what life is all about. We are incredibly blessed beyond explanation.

And at least....thank God for those mercies we never notice.... that Aaron's didn't get appendicitis while I was having a baby! Or during Alex' hospital stay. It could have been much worse. And at least .... I'm healthy as an ox right now to take care of everything...though I admit that if I don't get a little more sleep I don't know how much longer I can keep it up! Alex is still up 2-3 times a night so my consecutive hours of sleep are pretty low. BUT...he has a bed time!! Baby free evenings are back!! woot!

Small blessings. A new theme. A mantra maybe. We aren't given more than we can handle. A rather large blessing for me has been my Mama friends, without whom I might have failed miserably at this Mama/Homemaker gig. I have many reasons to be thankful for those Mamas (and you know who you are....). Here are a few:

1. You have that someone to text when you need a pep talk about breastfeeding. It's that friend who will be just tough enough on you to help you push through and not give up.

2. It's the friend who gets up to go mall walking- regardless if either of you slept the night before. Just because it feels good to get some exercise while the kids are strapped in...and just because it feels better to chat/vent/share stories/encourage.

3. It's the mom who knows everything about cloth diapers and everything green or healthy. You facebook them with a few too many questions each month hoping they won't get completely annoyed and de friend you. But they don't and they graciously answer all of your questions. I love to learn.

4. It's the mom who you text when there is a breakthrough (or a meltdown). So and so is asleep!! Miracle!! So and so has been wearing real underwear all day!! Amazing! Those texts to share those little moments that only a mom would understand.

5. It's the moms who are home all day with their kids and are really the only ones who can possibly understand what that's like. They understand why you might be going a little crazy that day, why you might need to get out of the house, vent, eat chocolate, ________ etc.

6. It's the moms who drop off a coffee or cookies for you when you're stuck at home taking care of a recovering husband and two little ones.

7. It's your own mom who is just like Martha Stuart (minus the felon part) who you call with cooking questions a little too often...

8. The moms who share yummy recipes with you!!

9. And the moms who are fellow couponers!!

10. It is the moms who don't judge. Breast vs. bottle, cloth vs. disposables, homemade vs. jarred babyfood, organic vs. regular. It does matter but it doesn't matter.
http://630andaglassofwine.bangordailynews.com/2011/12/07/married-life/im-a-good-mother-youre-a-good-mother/ <---a friend just shared this link...quite entertaining!

We all have convictions and resolve to do things a certain way. I think that's good...though I'm always open for learning new things regarding homemaking and mommy-hood. And sometimes (just admit it!) we have no idea what we're doing at all. But that's what friends are for. To support us when we need it, encourage us or convict us when we need it, teach us stuff and share ideas, to bring us cookies when we need it, and to just be there.

I don't have family in town. I don't even have a lot of friends comparably, but a few good mama friends make all the difference.

endurance

We feel a little less than sane most days here at our house. Mateo is acting up a lot. Alex cries a lot. So between the two of them it seem like someone is almost always crying. I think I deserve a turn...but there's not time.

Then I brave up and want to go visit my parents because my mom has been pretty sick. And I get sick with the stomach flu (always great for a nursing mom). So we come home. Mateo catches a cold. Mateo gives mom and dad said cold. Mateo wakes up at night every 2 hours crying because of said cold. Baby wakes up every 3 hours at night to eat.... after Mom drives baby around the foggy city at midnight so that he will FINALLY go to sleep at all(read SHE and dad can finally go to sleep).

Today is the tip of the iceberg. We have an app. for Mateo this afternoon at the pediatrician b/c he won't eat lunch, won't nap, won't stop crying, etc. That's not like him...even though he's been kind of sensitive since Dad went back to work. It's not like him.

On the flip side, I found some neat forum/blog things on facebook for parents of preemies. I so wish that I would've known about something like that when Mateo was born. You feel completely abnormal, completely misunderstood, and completley lost. One blog writes:

Remember it's ok to grieve that u did not have the pregnancy, delivery, etc you thought you would. Transition to home can at times seem worse then being in the NICU. We are here to listen.

I don't think I gave myself permission to grieve with Mateo's experience. You are in survival mode for so long, much longer than others think is OK. People think you should be normal by now, you should bring baby to church 2 days after he is born, you should attend everything and bring your delicate baby everywhere. Your baby should be sleeping through the night by now, etc. And I think I tried to psych myself into thinking that I didn't need to grieve this time around with Alex. But I probably do. Most don't (and can't) understand why a "Congratulation" doesn't feel right.

And coming home from the hospital was far harder than being in the hospital (in my experience) except for the fact that I got to sleep in the same bed as my hubby again and see my toddler every day. But as far as baby stuff goes...much, much harder And it seems we've been the unlucky recipients of another cranky baby who doesn't like to sleep when we'd like him to and has bad reflux that interrupts his sleep and takes away any happy awake time. Another blog writes this:
Having a preemie means your venture into parenting will not be "normal". You will learn words that many people will never even hear (and thankfully so). You will learn patience you didn't know you were capable of, you will learn true fear and faith. You will be able to change a diaper standing sideways at an isolette, while avoiding wires, tubes, and I.V.s. .You learn that the journey doesn't stop......... once they leave the NICU. Your childs pediatrician will become like family because you feel that you are at their office as much as you are home. You will learn that all the books you read on "what to expect" didn't teach you anything that YOU needed to expect, and you are forced to learn as you go. THE most valuable lesson that I learned was just how precious life is, and how fragile it can be. NOV 17 is World Prematurity Day. Please wear purple!http://www.facebook.com/breastmilkforpreemies/posts/257441120970693

That all being said, I know I have a million things to be thankful for. Here are a few:

1. A husband who, even when we're miserable, helps out as much as he can...sacrificing gym time, recreation time, etc. etc.

2. That Alex had 2 weeks and 2 days longer in utero than Mateo did.

3. That we'll be able to pay all of our ridiculous hospital bills off.

4. Plenty of disposable diapers that I paid pennies for with coupons so I don't have to think about starting cloth with Alex for a few more months...

5. That I was able to breastfeed Alex to give him the best possible nutrition in the crucial months of a preemie.

6. A warm home and plenty of clothes for both my babies.

7. That God, in some (mysterious) way, will bring good out of all of this and it will be for his glory.

8. My husband's job.

9. My SAHM group.

10. My parents who, even though I don't see them nearly enough, love their grandbabies more than anything.

11. The Moby Wrap and my Baby Bjorn...only hopes of survival, and the only way I am able to finally write a blog post! Alex will sleep in them (and hence be happy and quiet!)

12. Homemade pizza in the freezer that we can pull out on a day like today for dinner.


For now, I tell Aaron that we need just a little more endurance. That we can do this. Someday we can sleep again. Someday we won't have stress stomach aches so much. Someday life will be fun...and...Alex will be fun. For now we cling to God and to the hope of the future.

New Job, Day 3, and reflections

Aaron went back to work.

Life is a tad rough right now.

Day 3 of my new job.

Alex spit up all over one of my two pairs of jeans that kind of fit. While I was nursing in a parking garage. With a toddler in the back seat.

I am so tired that my stomach kind of hurts. Almost too tired to nap. Especially over the goat-like noises of our little angel...who keeps us awake at night even when he's asleep. Reflux, possibly (very common for preemies). Frustrating, definitely.

I pumped this morning while sitting on the floor, trying to pacify a screaming baby and while trying to put on Veggie Tales for the toddler. Not very successful.

Folded a load of laundry. Might hide the other load til tomorrow.

Got toddler down, nursed baby, pumped, cleaned said pump parts, time for me to rest...and toddler wakes up crying....

Oh, and yesterday I had to nurse the baby while sitting on the bathroom floor helping Mateo on the potty.

Such a contrast to having just one baby. I could nurse at my leisure while reading a book and sipping a cold drink. Now I nurse on bathroom floors and in parking garages lol.

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Alex has an occasional happy awake period but so far he's been pretty cranky. He's happy while eating and somewhat happy when sleeping though he makes a LOT of noise. I think I need to record this baby sleeping b/c nobody knows what we mean. But then as I write this, Alex is ODDLY sitting awake and happy in the swing. First time ever. So weird. I'm thinking this is what normal people experience with a baby. Happy, smiles, warm fuzzy feelings? I feel like a bad mom saying this...but (here goes) I don't particularly like babies. Phew. Now don't get me wrong. I love my baby and would do anything to protect and take care of him...but I just don't think babies are fun. At least so far. Who knows. Maybe Alex will become a super happy and easy baby. And maybe next week he'll sleep 8 hours straight. Maybe.

I've decided that life isn't fair...but that regardless of what things are easy for us...that we often did nothing to deserve it...it's pure grace or blessing. I can't hold a baby in full term to save my life- but then you see that "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" show on TLC where these moms are drinking and doing all sorts of things that one wouldn't think of doing had they known they were growing a baby...and their baby is fine. I've recently met some moms on a facebook page Eats On Feets (http://www.facebook.com/EatsOnFeatsOregon) that can't breastfeed or have a super low supply. Then I think of our deep freezer overflowing with frozen milk. I did nothing special to be able to breastfeed.
I think we're an arrogant people. We think because things happened a certain way that it's because we did so good at something. I did nothing to be able to nurse...besides eat like a horse, pump, and have a lot of persistence. People criticize other people too much for this or that instead of extending them grace. You can't possibly understand what someone else experiences. I don't have an easy time with babies. Being a stay at home mom is really hard for me. Though people still criticize saying if you did this, or if you did that, then...but sometimes you just end up with a colicky baby and there's nothing you can do about it but wait it out, go on a lot of walks, and eat a lot of chocolate. Hopefully we got our colicky baby stuff out of the way with Mateo. I'm so so hoping and praying that Alex will be happy and portable and easy going.

All that said... I am ready to call it a night, hopefully get a few hours of sleep, and enjoy the weekend as much as possible with my hubby home. Life is better when he's around. I think God totally knew what he was doing when he brought us together. I so need someone like Aaron. And so do my boys. Here they are... Mateo is 2 years and 4 months old. Alex is almost 5 weeks (one more week until he's full term!). Mateo wants so badly for "baby Alex play toys?!" Hopefully soon!