It’s been almost a week since I decided to incorporate more raw foods into my diet. I still eat meat and fish (cooked), but instead of having cooked rice, oatmeal, potatoes, etc. I eat raw veggies or fruit. Quit caffeine and feeling tired in the second half of the day. Overall, feeling good. It’s been hard to refuse cakes and bagels at work, but I haven’t given up yet.
I’m also looking forward to buying a dehydrator.
It was a decision long coming. I think moving from our house to a larger rental house finally pushed me over the edge. I have a crazy busy lifestyle as it is. I am a wife, a mother of two young children (4 year old and 20 month old), a full time worker, a part-time graduate student and now a landlord. Besides that, I have to make sure the house is clean, the laundry is done and the meal is cooked. I also try to squeeze in 15-20 minutes of workout every morning before work to the benefit of my children (don’t think they would like their mother crocking early from some heart disease or the lazy sedentary ass sindrome).
So, with that said, I am feeling like I am running low on battery most of the time, and no matter how hard I try, the to-do list just keeps getting longer and longer, and longer and longer….. But, dropping the ball on any of the above is not an option. Now I find myself exhausted mentally and physically, tired, moody, stressed out and never caught up with things that I have to get done. So what the heck??? I got to do something to keep functioning.
One, I decided to get a housecleaner for once every two weeks. I posted a listing on craigslist. The phone did not stop ringing for two days. I never knew about how people are desperate to clean houses! Thank goodness someone is starting soon, so I won’t have to scrub toilets and dust anymore. Now I wish I had enough money to hire someone to cook, pick up toys and do laundry for me. LOL, maybe someday when I’m reach or when the kids start school and instead of paying for their daycare, I can pay them to run some errands for me.
Two, I decided to start keeping a list of what I need to get done that I can access via both, my computer and my smartphone. My husband recommended Wunderline. I am yet to try it and will post an update once I do.
Three, I decided to quit all of the caffeinated beverages. I don’t feel like getting into the whys, there are plenty of enlightening blogs on the topic.
Four, I decided to eat better.
So many people have varying opinions on whether to vaccinate their kids or not. One, it is hard to get a child into the daycare, either home or public if he or she is missing the required vaccines. Second, what about these so called diseases? It’s hard to argue because some diseases are extinct or very rare. On the other hand they still pop up here and there and the doctors argue that if we stop actively vaccinating, they will come back. Third, both, me and my husband received whatever vaccines were required at the time and seem to do okay.
Here is the thing, Continue reading
My 18 month-old son has been getting ear infections every couple of weeks to a month for the past 5 months in the row. About 2 months ago we’ve been given a referral to the pediatric ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist for placing tubes in his ears. We were very reluctant to doing this due to both, the effectiveness of this treatment and the cost of the procedure itself. We have a high deductable insurance plan, so unfortunately we would have to flip the bill for his treatment. After calling the ENT specialist and learning that just the consultation alone will be $300-$500, I decided to try something different. After pondering numerous advices from family and friends, we ended up trying three very cheap suggestions that made the most sense to us.
First, Continue reading
Couple of days ago Nathan started saying “Daddy” to his daddy and today he started saying “Monni” to me!! He actually names us the right names, yay. He was transferred into a group up today at daycare and did well.
We started bringing our own snacks for him to daycare since he’s facing the tubes in his ears. Too many ear infections…
Elyana is still in the bunkers phase. She’s scared of the dark and sleeps by the door on the floor in her room with the lights on. Some nights she gets out and turns on all of the house lights and ends up falling asleep on the couch. Go figure…
I’m still working full time. I just got done with my Summer semester that went very very well. I have three more classes left and the graduation in 2012 looks very promising. Dave is working as usual for himself.
I know it’s about 3 months late, but Nathan is walking! He made his first steps on April 21; his first three steps. His 14-month birthday came the day after on the 22 and on that same day he started walking for real! We were at my mother-in-law’s house, gathering for something, possibly Easter. We had Bryan and Joanna there and Dave’s grandparents. It was awesome, he’s such a show-off. He was so excited to walk to me, it seemed like at that moment his main motivation to walk was to get to me, his one and only mama. And he was so happy, with big smile he was reaching out to me with his tiny hands and moving his tiny feet along the carpet… This precious memory will be with me forever because that was one of the moments when I felt that being a mother is one of the greatest rewards of life.
Nathan is already 16 months! Where does the time go?
For the longest time the only sound he’s been making was “A-Daaaa” and different variations of it like the French version “A-Duaaaa-a-a-a” and the casual version “A-du” and the other version “A-doe”. Also, since “A-doe” sounds almost like “All Done”, my motherly brain’s, been telling me that that’s exactly what he’s been saying all these months at the end of his meals. And you won’t convince me otherwise!
Anyways, today he graduated to saying “E-ka Ba,” almost every time after I would say “Take a Bath”. Now this I didn’t make up! And he kept repeating it even after he was done with the bath. He’s so enjoying his new abilities.
He also likes to sing ABCs song. It usually starts in the middle and doesn’t go till the end, but who cares, right?
That’s my boy 
So I’m in the bread isle looking for a loaf of healthy bread. Here is the ‘Health Nut’, ‘Healthy Multi-Grain’, ‘Heart Healthy’, and then some. Wow, awesome! I guess I pick the one that appeals to me the most — “Healthy Multi-Grain” with “No Artificial Colors, Flavors or Preservatives”. Why not? The name clearly states – healthy; it’s also multi-grain, which sounds even more healthy. And on top of that, it has no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives, sounds very, very healthy to me! I bought it.
After having a piece of my great-tasting healthy bread, I wanted to find out its caloric and fat info. It wasn’t bad at all, within healthy range. Then I noticed ingredients’ list beside it and it seemed quite long, and the longer I read it, the less familiar they sounded. Here they are:
whole wheat flour
water
sugar
wheat gluten
brown rice
cornmeal
oats
wheat bran
yeast
cellulose fiber
soybean oil
salt
molasses
cultured dextrose
maltodextrin
DATEM
mono- and diglycerides
calcium sulfate
citric acid
poppy seeds
grain vinegar
soy lecithin
nuts
whey
nonfat milk
Okay, so the first few ingredients I am very familiar with, I know their origin, what they look like, taste like and they sound okay-healthy to me. But as I’m going down the list, the names get more scientific and not nearly as familiar. I run into the unpronounceables! What are these ingredients? Still healthy?
Out of curiosity I decided to do a little research Continue reading
I’ve decided to tighten up on my diet habits by trying to eat more wholesome and natural food to get closer to what nature intended for us to eat! I decided that I don’t want to put any of the processed crap into my body anymore. No more chips, kielbasas, dry cereals, bread or milk. Basically, if I can’t buy it in its raw natural state, I won’t eat it!
It’s been a while since I updated about Elyana’s potty training, since the last couple of posts, “The Potty Training Challenge” and “The Potty Training Challenge 2″. Basically, we didn’t have much progress since then.
It seemed like she developed a phobia of going into the potty. She’s been perfectly ready for the potty for at least 6 months. She’s been able to go without a diaper without an accident for a while. As she needed to go, she would request a diaper. And if we tried to make her go into the potty instead of a diaper, she would put up the biggest stink. It involved lots of screaming, crying, resenting sitting on the potty, until she had no choice but to go on the floor!
Finally a few days ago I decided to enforce the “no diaper” policy. Basically, I wasn’t willing to give up no matter how much stink she puts up. The goal was to make her go into the potty versus the diaper or the floor. I even sweetened up the deal by promising ice cream if she goes into the potty.
First couple of times we had to force her to sit on the potty while she was peeing. It came to the point where she would cry, scream and shake from trying to hold it in. But eventually, she just had to let it loose. There was quite a bit of spillage, but some of it made into the potty. After much praising she got her ice cream.
Now she seems to enjoy peeing into the potty. She gets really excited when she does, she runs around clapping and proudly showing everybody her full potty.
But our work is far from over. Our next step is to make her go #2 into the potty. The ice cream deal didn’t seem to work tonight. We’ll see what happens tomorrow!