New pics on Flickr…
Colin Colouring…
Xavier Painting…
He wrote the three letters X O A and was starting the M
Some pics taken at the Park yesterday…
Another Change…
Like I said the other day in the post about changes that I am starting to make in my life I mentioned the meal plans… I have been making meal plans each week so that I don’t have to go to the store as much… I can try to save a bit of money…. I know what we can eat and that we have everything for those meals, we waste less and it just makes my life a bit easier and less of a hassle…
Well… last week I was checking out some really cool vegetarian and Vegan blogs and got some good ideas for meals… Something that I have wanted to do for a long time is eat a more vegetarian diet… I don’t want to become vegetarian because… well.. I like meat! and I just love the BBQ season that is coming…. however, I would like to eat a lot less meat so that I get more whole grains and veggies in my diet and I happen to do that more when I cook less meat…
One little problem is that Simon doesn’t eat Tofu… won’t even try it anymore… It is not a “Taste thing” but a “texture thing” (at least that is what he says 🙂 ) but I think it is more of a “mental” thing cause I grated some tofu into a soup and he ate it and then when he found out that there was Tofu in it he wouldn’t eat it anymore…
Anyways… this week is a veggie week in my meal plan and I want to try new meals and get more ideas (also great to get the kids to try more things) After this week I want to make each week have more veggie meals then meat based meals…and I want to try something new at least once a week…
Anyways… I need some good ideas….What’s your Fav meal?
BTW… these are the meals for the week in our home…
- Veggie Burgers
- Vege Pate (prolly in a wrap with a sauce, sprouts and grilled veggies)
- Grilled Veggie pressed sandwiches
- Pizza with veggies, sun dried tomatoes etc…
- Chile
- Toasted Pitas with a bean dip
- Stir Fry with Peanut sauce
Happy half-birthday Colin!!
Colin is 18 months old today…. He is growing so much, changing so much, becoming such a little boy…
He nows says…
Mama, Papa/dada/daddy, Xavier, Colin, Thank you, up, cat, tea, pipi, caca, baby, bath, Dora, Cheese, jus (for drink or have condiments) Apple, timber, Hi, doggy, Ow, bobo, un (one), deux (two)
He does the following sounds:
Train, meow, pants like a dog, neighs, moos, chicken, fish, monkey, duck (plus a few more)
And the following signs:
Maju, more, all done, butterfly, book, bird, monkey, pig, drink, eat, plane, hello/bye, Sun, diaper (plus a few more)
He is such a joy to have around, he is such a loving and cuddly little boy. He is charming and wants to make us laugh all of the time. He is gentle and silly, outgoing and happy, smiley and just plain cute….(of course… he looks like me 😉 )
Here is a year and a half in pics… (not all of course 😉 )
Before Colin was born I remember being scared of not being able to love a child as much as I loved Xavier. Now I have trouble grasping that feeling… the instant he was born, I was in love, I was in as much love as I was with Xavier. I remember feeling that the only difference was that I just didn’t know as well…
Colin makes us laugh every day, it is not only because he is cute and does funny things… he goes out of his way to put a smile on our face… He knows that he can make us laugh…
Colin loves everything and everyone…. he loves to cuddle with Daddy and it doesn’t take long for him to warm up to someone… If you were to come to our home, he would greet you with a smile and say Hi, play at your feet and within a few minutes he would bring you a book expecting you to read to him… He is very attached to mama but doesn’t mind if I leave him with Daddy… He falls asleep on Daddy about half of the time also…
Colin is still not sleeping through the night… well… not “technically”…. he starts off the night in his bed and comes into our bed oon after we have went to bed… he will nurse a bit and then sleep cuddled next to me until morning… I have a feeling that he may nurse at one point during the night but I am not completely sure anymore…. if he does, it doesn’t wake me…
Colin is very sensitive and can get a bit jealous… He doesn’t like to see his brother cry and sometimes looks a bit sad and confused when Xavier is upset… He also is jealous to see his brother nurse… if Xavier nurses Colin will push him out of the way…. He also has one of the most high pitched screams that I have ever heard… I few times strangers have heard him scream and are surprised that he is a little boy….
All in all… Colin is a Joy to be with, he is such a special little boy….
I look forward to seeing him grow…
ch-ch-ch-ch-ch changes….
I am in the midst of changing a few things around here…
One… I had never wanted to give juice but it made its way into our household for occasional use and just became a more then occasional thing… Recently Xavier stopped wanting to drink water as much and wanted juice all of the time… I didn’t let him have it but it was a struggle that I just didn’t want anymore… so now… I have now stopped buying juice…
Since Colin was about 7-8 months old I would make him cold plain herbal teas… Xavier never wanted it before but now he sees it as the alternative to water and has started asking for it. I have quite a few kinds so he is having fun choosing… Today he tried Summer Berry.
Two… TV… I have to admit (not the first time that I admit this) that the kids watch more TV then I would like… However, we are starting to break the habit and it is working… I let them watch a show in the morning and then I turn the TV on to the Talk radio that I listen to and that is what stays on all day until I start getting Supper ready… Sure, they still watch a bit of TV but I am OK with that… Maybe our next step will be no TV at all but for now I don’t see it… we are cooped up in the house a lot because of the weather, cold etc and it just does help…. I do know that once spring comes we will be out more, I know that when summer is here we will live outside most of the time… for now… I am quite happy with the amount of TV that they are now watching….
Three… I have been making meal plans each week and sticking to it… I made a really cool Shopping list grid that I can just fill out every week…. I check what we already have, what is on special and choose about 7-8 meals including breakfast, lunch and snack ideas and then fill out my list to make sure that I have everything. Now, instead of asking myself (and Simon) everyday what we are going to eat, I just look at my meals for the week and choose one knowing that I have everything… I have also made sure that I use everything and I try to make enough for the next day’s lunch for Simon…
Four… You may or may not know this… but I have never been a good housekeeper… I hate cleaning and would rather be with the kids, and even before I had kids, I would put off cleaning… the house isn’t dirty (no food etc hanging around)… but it can become messy…
However, I have been cleaning more. We were in a rut… the house would get messier and messier as the week went on and then the whole weekend was used to clean, making family time almost non-existent… Now I have been doing quite a bit more throughout the week doing and I have set small goals for myself… (kitchen clean everyday, the floors swept, and sometimes I even make my bed!) Weekends have now been a lot more relax and have a completely different atmosphere… we clean but we have more time and if we have company over it isn’t as much work…. Also, the more I clean, the easier it is to keep it up, so it has become easier to clean and less depressing…
Five… I have been on the computer a lot less lately… which has meant less posts lately…but I am having fun with the boys… it also means that I don’t visit BabyCenter as much since I resigned as host and since then I have not needed to rant as much… but don’t worry… I still have a lot more ranting to do!
I’m Ok, You’re Ok
I borrowed this post from Sara…. I have been wanting to write something simular for a while now.. but she said it too perfectly…
I have strong feelings (some call them opinions.) They’re my reality. They’re based on instinct and intuition. They feel right to me. I share them. I never intend the sharing of my feelings and thoughts as harassments of the choices of others. However, sometimes people respond defensively to what I say. I think that if those people truly felt secure in their choices, they wouldn’t feel so affected by what I say.
I don’t doubt that others who choose different ways love their children as much as I love mine. I don’t live up to my ideals, but I’ll keep those ideals anyway. Circumstances, even financial ones, don’t change what is. That excuse will never convince me of anything.
I don’t believe that my way is the one right way. I just know what feels right for me and for my babies. That’s all.
So, why do I share? Because I learned from the shared thoughts and feelings of others, especially from the ones who challenged me.
Thanks Sara 🙂