Guess What I....

pulled out of Sunnys old clothes? Her small jammies. That will fit Lachlan now (size 6-9mo if you're wondering how large my second child has accumulated to). For some reason jammies are always in need for my kids; no matter how many jammies we own, its still not enough. They're super cute to shop for so I dont have many problems with this. I have a problem now though, because we do have enough jammies for Lachlan, only they look like this:

My mom made me promise I wouldnt take any photos of him in pink flowery butterfly-ery feetie pajamas; she said it was for my own good later in life. Since you never understand where your mother is coming from until you've been in her exact shoes, I probably wont listen to her more-than-likely great advice. Until then, I'll tell you that Lachy looks like a little boy in girls clothing. He is currently laying in my bed pretending to be my second daughter.

But as usual, I've saved money. At the cost of my son.

How To...

Make a weekly meal plan.

Something I've stuck with since buying our own house and living on our own is a weekly meal plan. I go to the grocery store ONCE a week, do you?

The main reasons I do the plan is to save money (if I only buy whats on the list, those impulse buys go out the window), save time (I cant lug 2 babies to the store daily), and its fun- really, I enjoy the organization and planning for an entire week. Planning meals and writing them down is healthier- I get to see what each meal consists of and add veggies accordingly. If a meal looks too unhealthy, I can see right away since its written down- for example, I erase "gravy" and add "veg" instead.

To begin, I search online for the weekly flier from whichever store I am shopping at. We go to Publix and I think those fliers come out on Thursdays, as do most. To plan each meal, I first look to see what meat is on sale that week. If chicken breasts are on sale, I will get those to make a meal or two. Or if something weird is on sale, like ribs, then we have those that weekend or something. I just wouldnt buy a turkey, a meat that you just dont eat everyday and its more expensive, on a normal week. But if it were on sale that week... then we would! Remember, only buy whats on your list! You dont need reserves, you dont need a freezer full of crap in case WW3 breaks out, only buy enough meals for that week and thats it. I dont care whats on sale, if it didnt make the list, it didnt make the list.

Since meat is the most expensive item on our list, we do not eat it every meal. Thankfully Jason is not a meat and potatoes-guy. Sure, he looooves steak, but he's also happy eating his veggies. With that in mind, I begin with my recipes. I like to make family favorites, things that dont require recipes like meatloaf, pastas, or pot roasts. I'll add one of those to the weekly menu just so I dont have to think too hard one night! But I love to make new recipes. 4 nights out of the week are new recipes at our house. I find these online at foodnetwork.com or I find them in magazines I subscribe to, like Famiy Circle, Real Simple, BH&G, etc. Whatever we are eating, Sunny is also eating- so pasta and rice dishes are in right now, tomato and spicy dishes are out- I'm breastfeeding and Lachlan appreciates this. I keep a file folder full of magazine recipes or things I've printed online- if we like the recipe, I write "Good!" on it (thanks mom!). If we dont like the recipe, I THROW IT AWAY. That seems obvious...

If, for example, I roast a chicken for one nights' meal, the next day I will usually do some sort of soup for dinner where I can use the remaining chicken. I hate wasting food, and I really dont eat leftovers, so incorporating it into a meal works perfectly for us. Since I dont like leftovers (leftovers get sent to work with Jason for his lunch, he loves it) I also wont buy huge portions of anything. Two small chicken breasts, a handful of fresh green beans- this is all we need! You have to figure this out for your own family.

As I think about recipes, I double check the pantry. Any random item that is in there (there are only random items if a) my dad gave them to us since he loves to find anything on sale  b) I caved at the buy-one-get-one section  c) I skipped a meal a previous week and ordered pizza) I will try and use up, ultimately saving us money at the store. I do the same thing for a bag of frozen peas in the freezer or a jar of opened alfredo sauce in the fridge that needs to be used soon- I'll base an entire meal around peas if I need to use them! SAVE MONEY.

As usual, the reason I do a weekly meal plan is to save $$$$$ (this is my job as a stay at home mom, save the family money!)- by only buying whats on my list and only eating meat on average 3x per week, we save plenty of money. I hardly ever have buy-one-get-one's sitting around in my pantry just because. Something we use daily, like mayo, I do buy when they are BOGO. Something like peanuts or canned tomatoes (I see these 2 things all the time!) I do not buy because they are on sale. We just dont use them often enough so it is a waste. Even if they're on sale. So dont buy BOGO unless its needed! Got that?!

To make the weekends fun we try and grill Saturdays; I buy meat for the grill and also veggies that you can throw on there too. Or we just do something easy, something we can eat outside. Sundays I try and use the crockpot- also easy, as you all probably know. There are a zillion crockpot recipes online, it doesnt have to be just meat, potatoes, and carrots in there (thats actually our meal today!) Basically I free up the weekends so that we can spend more time with family, not slaving away in the kitchen.

Here is my meal plan for the week. Target has fun meal-planning lists like this one. I use it for shopping and then I stick it to the fridge so I know what meal to cook next. Its not my most amazing meal plan for the week, but I've got it down to this, simply. Everything not on the list to buy, I already have stocked up on at home... I wanted to make a stirfry on Monday because I have lots of rice. I wanted potato soup so that we dont need meat that night. And my "wedgeless" salad is a wedge salad! Only I have a bag of salad that I wanted to use up so now its wedgeless...

Buy enough of these main items to last you the week so you dont have to go back! Bread, eggs, milk, etc. We buy lunchmeat for sandwiches, but I am weird about how long I let lunchmeat sit in the fridge. We get 1/2lb and when its gone, 2-3 days, its gone. Then we eat tuna or whatever.

I think I've exhausted this subject. Email me with any questions!

Pedi's, and not the feet kind

I miss Dr Brown. Old fashioned and wise. He could take one look at Sunny and say, "Her eyes arent bright enough, somethings wrong." My kids' pedi here in Sebastian... ugh. They are nice enough. I semi-trust them. Ok, I dont trust them at all. I think theyre on Google while we're discussing things.

I have to know my shit when I go to the pedi's office. Since they dont really know theirs. I ask questions that I already know the answer to just to see what they'll say. They arent schooled in immunizations, the PA said today. Well... I wonder what she is schooled in?

I didnt get on here to talk crap about my kids' Drs. They are doing their job, by the book, no deviating. But each kid isnt by the book. They are individuals.

And I dont care about the Herd. She started on about the Herd today, I stopped her. Ive got my own agenda. Two of them.

Lachy is on day 3 of having a fever and I am going to take him to the Dr perhaps. The Dr I have in mind though is at the ER. Our ER is very clean and nice and we are usually in and out of there quickly. Those Drs know what they are doing. They arent trying to vax my kids, guilt me, or ask irrelevant questions. Our insurance covers these ER visits.

Since realizing I'd rather go to the ER than my kids own pediatrician, I've decided to leave our pediatrician for good. We are officially in the market for a new one.

Hello World

Holy rollercoaster.

Can I summarize our last 3 months? It has something to do with having a baby, having in-laws, having a vacay, having jetlag, having sickness.

And today I woke up seeing the day a whole new way. Helllllloooooooo life. We are back to getting back on track. There is nothing planned in front of us for as far as the eye can see.

Lachy is fevery and sleepy and cranky all at the same time. But its ok. Cuz Im not sick anymore and I have the energy to take care of him. And Sunny's healthy. And Jason's Jason.

A long tantrum. You are warned.

the good, the bad, and the ugly.
I blog about enough good in the glig life since its nice not to dwell on the bad and the ugly. Plus no one likes a complainer. But its not like the bad stuff isnt there.

I updated my Facebook this morning with some whining about potty training. We're not even potty training, I dont know why I even did what I did this morning. It will not continue though, and I am scared to read my FB now for it is surely full of comments about how "sunny must not be ready" and "hang in there momma!"s, or there is nothing at all about my update cuz no one cares.

Sunny did walk up to Jason this morning, with her potty chair, told him she wanted to go potty and attempted to take off her diaper and jammies. Well Jason didnt seem to get the gist of what was going on so she struggled with her clothes for a minute, then stood gazing off in the distance the next minute. She'd peed. And she knew she was going to so she told us. We lost a precious potty training moment.

I took that as a "Hey, lets catch the next one!" and let her walk around naked for a bit. A bit turned into 2 hours of staring at her butt, seriously, to see if she was gonna go #2 (she always does in the morning). She held it for 2 hours. Then peed on the floor, herself, and Lambie while I let 10 feet somehow get between us. I put a diaper on her and she went #2. I was so mad at myself. What was I trying to prove anyways, that my newly 2 toddler can be potty trained? I dont even care if she is! I want preschool to teach her that, lol, I just dont have the patience. I do A LOT of seemingly weird things to my kids that make me go out of my way and makes life a little tougher (strange to other people perhaps- cloth diapers, organic food, no candy, blah blah blah) but I do not have patience for potty training. I get too disappointed and I know Sunny can tell that. I dont want that.

End of the potty training saga... We had an appointment to see Sunnys new school. We are THINKING of enrolling her starting in August for 2 mornings a week. No huge deal. We went to check it out. I loved it. Cute, small, church preschool, sweet teachers. They know 2 year olds. We saw the room then went to the office to talk more. Sunny.. oh Sunny- she either clung to my leg or screamed that she wanted this baby that was in the classroom. In my quest to be consistent and firm when Sunny began the tantrum, which is fine in my own time or even at Publix because I dont know those people, I was embarrassed to have to talk over her, try and quietly tell her we were doing this now, we could see the baby later, etc. I dont even know what happened. Thankfully a teacher was holding Lachlan and loving it, showing him off to everyone else so i had no worries there. We left sooner than I wanted; i just couldnt concentrate any longer on anything the woman was saying, I had a 2 year old fussing in my ear. We saw the baby, said goodbye to the baby, then proceeded to really lay it on-- I took Lachy and we hauled ass outside to continue the tantrum. Sunny wouldnt come outside, I drug her out. Then she collapsed at the front doors. Screaming. I started walking down the sidewalk in one of those mommy tricks, she'll follow, and she did. I took her hand and she turned into jelly legs. She wanted to be held but I had Lachlan....

Ok, this just goes on and on. I dragged her through the parking lot kicking and screaming. Buckled her in kicking and screaming. Attempted to drive 2 miles to my house and didnt make it- I pulled over. A first for me since becoming a mom. She was just too much! I never heard such a shrill scream, I couldnt take it! And i swear we live on the same street as the damn school, I didnt have to go far. I pulled over, turned around and almost let her have it. I just said over and over to "Stop it!" She did. At least that worked, but who feels good about themselves after that? Oh, speaking of feeling good about themselves, before I left the preschool director asked if baby #3 was on its way. *sigh. I dont have much to say about this. Except I really almost drove straight to this gym Jason and i have been talking about, and I probably would have if I could drive 100 yards with Sunny in the car, but I couldnt. I took her straight home, left the car running as I grabbed her and we went straight to her room. Set her inside and said something about unacceptable screaming, time out, mommy needs a drink... no i didnt say that. Just thought it.

I took Lachy and soothed him since he wasnt into mommy pulling over either. He fell asleep. I went into Sunnys room to get her, since she obviously was pissed to be put on the back burner. She was laying on the floor cuddling Lambie. I got teary eyed and picked her up. We rocked and rocked and she fell asleep instantly. 30 minutes later she is still doing that "sniff sniff" breathing thing kids do after a hard cry? She's sleeping in my bed next to me. Wore herself out.

My kids are both sleeping and I can breath for one second. Having kids is hard. I dont like to talk the future on my blog, but... these 2 rascals might be the only mini Gligs. Dont hold me to it. Or hold me to having more, I'm just sayin....

Lessons learned from today:
1. leave potty training to the experts (the school said they'd do it!)
2. def enroll Sunny in preschool, she needs structure and time away from her parents (very clingy!)
3. Join gym.

4th of July morning

My parents came over the day before a 5k race that my father and I were running together on the 4th along the river here in Sebastian. I was actually looking forward to the run, even as we drove there, something that doesnt always happen. I knew that in order to get me out of the mood I'd been in (it was a terrible mood, like a post-vacay blues mood, the "house is a mess" mood, etc) I would need to start running again. I havent ran in over 2 weeks and its depressing.

*On a side note, I did lose weight while in Germany, not something I contribute to a healthy diet or anything, but to walking through the city with a baby strapped to me and going up stairs a TON--- in Berlin our elevator only held 150kilos, a weight I'm not entirely sure about so I would take the stairs instead of hopping in this with Jason... And its also not thanks to German food or beer, which I ate and drank enough of to gain plenty of weight.

I was surprised that I finished the race without walking, which is always my only goal. Maybe one day my goals will change to trying to get better times... one day. I ran this race as fast as I ran the previous race in Vero a month ago- 12 minute miles. Slow, right? Well, at least I am fine with this number. I did just have a baby. 3 months ago, but still. People were staring at me some; sometimes I thought they must like my cool glasses, other times I think they thought I was still pregnant and running....

Running is all in your head. My body can do it, but my mind will scream to just stop and go lay in some shady grass. I keep motivated by listening to music I used to listen to in my prime, things like Crazy Game of Poker- I've ended many runs with this song helping me along the way. I also bore my eyes into the backs of 80 year old runners in front of me, saying to myself that there is no way that old codger will beat me. This time I'd passed most of the nursing home and instead focused in on another demographic that I just cant run behind- a 6 year old in front of me. When I passed him I told him I've been trying to catch up with him for miles. He beat me in the end. Next time, rugrat.

I didnt register to run. This was my first race as a bandit. Thats run-jargon for cheap loser.

My post-run endorphins have thankfully replaced my nausea- I left the race to pick up my kiddos at the house- they were still sleeping so I just left them there knowing they would be fine until I got back. Kidding, my mom was there... I took them in their red, white, and blue glory back to the river for a parade. Friends of ours are party planners so they always have the sweetest setup, complete with vodka even though its 8a. It was SO HOT though... I almost just left. The kids were fine but I was sweating, just as much as everyone else I'd realized, so I stuck around.

Can you see Lachy sleeping in the chair above? Parades make him sleepy. He jumped practically out of that chair when the sirens of a firetruck went off right next to us. He screamed, was so scared  :(

I lost my car keys before the parade, in the midst of feeding Lachy once I'd parked, changing diapers, getting the kids out of the car, into the stroller... My dad came and rescued me later, found my keys under the car. Figures...

a german aussie??

Sunny is not a fan of her roots.