I never really realized it, but prior to Fiona’s birth, my default view on things seemed to be: If someone can do it better than me, why bother doing it myself? This applied to many things, but overall, it freed me from needing an opinion of my own about most anything. I was constantly vacillating, always bending when I faced resistance or opposition. Scared to have a home birth, more because of the questions I’d face from friends and family than any concerns for my wellbeing or the baby’s. Scared to homeschool, even though the idea had been in my brain for quite a long time. Worried about whether I should have one more baby or five more or no more, or if I should eat this or that, or where I stood politically. I didn’t know what to think or feel or believe, and I thought I was ok with that.
This is all a very roundabout, overwrought way of saying that I cut my own hair tonight. Something that never would have even entered the realm of my possibilities at any other time in my life, I did it tonight, pretty much on a whim. And it was more than just a trim. AND it’s cute!
How is it that one can have such wildly varied emotions in the course of 15 minutes? I got the kids to bed, fell asleep for a blissful 30 minute nap while rocking Fiona to sleep, and then was so exhausted and emotional about the state of my day, that I could think of nothing but ice cream. I need to work on that new webs–…..ice cream…..Maybe I should read some more of that boo–….ice cream….
Edy's Double Chocolate Chunk
You get the idea. I’ve been doing so well for roughly 3 days, too. THREE WHOLE DAYS. I suppose it was bound to happen, eventually, that my resolve would waver and I would be overcome with a ridiculous desire to consume a whole bunch of something. Ice cream is my go-to, and I did indeed go to it after this hellish afternoon.
You see, my son has a new obsession with lying. He can be scarily convincing or just ridiculously transparent, with no real rhyme or reason. He lies to cover up things he is doing or has done, and he gets irate if someone (coughBriannacough) tells on him. Which – duh, she totally does, at every single opportunity. I’ve been seriously limiting TV time, working on our diet, spending lots of time reading to them, and otherwise just doing my best to chill them out and open up their creative brains. Lately I think the main problem is that they’ve been spending too much time inside. It’s been cold and dreary and muddy and just not the greatest conditions for hours of play outside. It’s also hard to send them outside when it’s too cold for their baby sister to go out with them, because I can’t get anything done without their help. She loves to play with them, and sits at the window watching for them, calling out “Bubba!” over and over and getting into mischief.
So anyway, Eli tried to destroy his big sister today when she was about to tell on him for secretly playing with the iPod after he claimed he wanted to be alone to read. And I fell for it, again. He asks for alone time, and my instinct is to respect that and encourage it. Then I find out he’s breaking the rules and trying to strangle his sister for spoiling the fun and I just want to scream. And eat ice cream.
If I didn’t hate puking so much, I might totally get down with some bulimia. Because I wanted that ice cream so badly that I could think of nothing else. Until I’d eaten it and then I fell into the shame spiral and wished I hadn’t eaten it, because it wasn’t worth it and I don’t feel any better and why do I suck so completely, etc etc shenanigans.
Advice for the harried homemaker? Have you dealt with a big fat liar of a child? How did you handle it? Commiserate with me or solve all my problems. Or make me feel better about the ice cream. Or tell me about something shiny. Glitter!
So, officially, my baby is not so much a baby as a toddler. Closing in on 18 months, I’ve now been through 2 winters and plenty of warm months since her birth. What I’m saying, is that I really have no excuse for this ever-accumulating chub that seems to be happening.
YAY CARBS!!!!!!
After the relatively easy 20 pounds I lost on The Paleo Diet, I gained back 10 of that (in a freakishly easy fashion) on The Complete Opposite of Paleo Diet.
I’m 30 now. I’ve birthed 3 not-tiny children, and I’m pretty consistent about being awful and lazy when it comes to getting back in shape post-partum. Yes, even though it’s 18 whole months, this still counts as post-partum. Ahem.
The biggest kick in the butt for me right now is the fact that I’m going to be Maid of Honor in one of my best friend’s wedding in April. And I already have the dress. And I bought it when I was on Paleo. Sooooo, I have to fit into it! And, you know, I’d rather not look like a wild boar up there next to a bunch of cute, skinny non-moms.
We’ve already been improving the quality of our food, mainly for the kids. Brian and I still let some things slide for ourselves (like Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream – my super duper yummy weakness). I may or may not have eaten some every night. For a month. Maybe? I can’t remember for sure.
I’m pretty notorious for going all out with whatever I’m doing (when I finally get around to whatever it is), so when I decided to go “casually low carb”, I of course went overboard on Day 1. I woke up the next morning sweating (who am I kidding – I was liquifying), shaky, weak, and out of it. Whoa. Thankfully, my adorable children randomly decided to bring me breakfast in bed. This consisted of banana bread I had made a few days before (yay carbs!!) and a stroganoff-esque dish leftover from the night before poured over some biscuits (they thought the stroganoff was gravy from biscuits and gravy….). I wolfed down the much needed provisions and went back to sleep, praying that I would awake back in one piece.
I did, and after that, I chilled out a bit with the low carb and just aimed for moderation of everything. I started using an app to track my food and so far, I’m managing to stay in the range of 1600 calories a day without feeling like I’m starving. I get as much protein as I can and try not to graze too much. I’ve been guzzling water. I guess this is where nursing comes in handy – that burns an extra 300 or so calories each day! So far I’ve lost 4.5 pounds and I’m hoping that it keeps dropping. I want to get back down to my cute size before I get all pregnant and big again someday…
I can't even believe that's me, except for the small boy chewing on my leg. Dead giveaway.
Anyway, it’s a process, but I’m trying not to be too strict or all-or-nothing about it, which again, is totally my M.O. Anyone else trying to get rid of baby/winter/lazy weight? What’s working for you?
We’re still rocking it Mostly-Stage-1 Feingold around here, and seeing excellent results. Other people who knew my kids pre-Feingold are even commenting on how well-behaved and calm they are. I must admit, this warms a Mama’s heart. Especially because, as with anything, you can convince yourself that you are seeing results even if you aren’t. Nope, we really, truly, are seeing positive changes.
They actually mostly LIKE each other....and they are SO cute.
Next. Pizza. Because nothing is as important as pizza. Heh.
One quarter of my readers contacted me about the pizza dough recipe I posted awhile back. She tried it (I was both shocked and flattered) and was a sad panda when the dough didn’t cook through. I guess I didn’t really specify how large I make my pizzas…Whoops.
I flatten my dough out on the back of a large rectangular cookie sheet, and it pretty much touches all sides. So it’s good sized and it makes the crust just the right thickness. I made it with whole wheat flour this week, in an attempt to add more wholesome nutritious goodness to our ‘za, and it turned out ridiculously well. I had to knead it/beat it up a bit more, because the wheat flour seemed to be denser, but the finished product was a universal hit. It took 15 minutes @ 450.
Also, in that same post, I shared an “Un-Tomato” recipe. It was okay, but the beets were really pretty disturbing color-wise, and the texture wasn’t perfect. I searched around on the Feingold forums and found another un-tomato recipe, which I made tonight. It was perfection. I highly recommend it for any salicylate-sensitive (or not!) people out there. DELISH. So, here’s that recipe.
I never thought pomegranates would have anything to do with my pizza...
The recipe originally called for 2-15 oz cans of carrots, but I didn’t have any. Fresh makes me happier anyway. I decided to steam them to retain as many of the nutrients as possible. I peeled the carrots, chopped them up into little rounds and steamed them. I stirred them once after 5 minutes, then cooked them for 5 minutes longer. Then I combined everything in my Cuisinart and pureed.
Then I modified it into my pizza sauce, like last time, by adding:
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp dried basil
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp garlic powder
It was outrageously yummy. I highly recommend this to everyone! Enjoy
