Wednesday, January 29, 2014

My Mini-Vacation

I just had 5 days off from school, and it was great.  For the first time since Natalie started in October, I had 2 days to myself without having to take care of the boys that I could use to get stuff done.

Friday was an unexpected day off, as I attended a memorial service for a friend and colleague at Harvard, Marlene.  She was only 52 and died after a long, hard battle with cancer.  A few years back when I went to visit her once, she gave me some books for the boys.  She also gave them a stuffed seal.  The boys have always liked that seal, but in the past few days they've taken even more of a liking to it,which is weird....but comforting.

Saturday the boys had music class, and then I left them with Carlos to head into the city to see Charlie and visit Kelly, who just had a handsome baby boy.  So nice to see them all!

Sunday we had a play date with Max and Michael, the boys' NICU friends.  They are like 2 or 3 days older than the boys.  It was so nice to talk with Susan, their mom, and compare.  We completely understand each other because our boys are similar in many ways.  And, as always, it's reassuring to hear that someone else experiences the same things you are.  The boys weren't all that excited to be around each other for most of the time.  They basically just fought over toys and did their own thing, none of which involved running, which is what we were hoping they would do!  All four of those boys need to burn off a lot of energy!  But at the end, just as they were leaving, they all started running all over the upstairs.  They didn't touch anything or get into trouble.  They just had fun exploring.  At one point, I caught Adrian high-fiving Max in the guest bedroom, and then they were thick as thieves.  Sebastian kept yelling, "Come on, Max!"  And then they'd all run off together.  Now, for the past few days they keep asking for Max and Mikey.  Too funny!  All the photos we tried to take were blurry--it's hard because someone is ALWAYS in motion!



Monday, Natalie came so I went to Saver's and spent 2 hours in there shopping.  I was in heaven because I could take my time.  I left with a CARTLOAD of awesome clothes for the boys, including a like-new Kenneth Cole jacket for this spring/fall and a Carhartt jacket that is so adorable--it looks just like the adult ones.  I also found a great Christmas record (I love old-school Christmas albums and played them all Christmas season for the boys on the record player), and a ton of books for the boys.  Some of them I think I might put away for later because I found so many great ones.  It was a very productive trip.

Tuesday I ran errands--Target and grocery store.  Nothing exciting, but it had to get done.  Then I vacuumed the upstairs very thoroughly and started organizing linens under the beds in storage boxes.  I've been meaning to do something with the pile of rubbermaid storage bins that line the hall to the basement bathroom for a while now.  I figured I'd store sheets under the bed that they are for and then use one of the hall closets to store comforters.  (Right now, one closet is dedicated to housing all the picture frames that we haven't hung up yet because we need to paint pretty much every surface in the house.  But I can't use the space like that any longer.  I'm going to have to either hang them on ugly walls or store them elsewhere!)  So, I'm not done yet with all this organization, but I started and made a dent in it, so that felt good.  I also tackled the broom closet, and that's now neat and organized.

It's kind of sad when you're excited about having two days to clean and organize, but I don't get to do much of it these days!  I'm looking forward to my March break, although at that point, I'll be with the boys full-time so there won't be much of anything "productive" going on.  But, truly, spending time with them gets more and more fun every day and is more "productive" than cleaning the house!

February Goals


I need to have them written down and hold myself accountable for them!  I've stated lots of goals in the past, but I get overwhelmed by the sheer number of things I want to accomplish and don't make any headway on anything!
  1. Finish Valentine's Day video for the boys
  2. Use my "real" camera to take photos
  3. Experiment with Manual mode and read online tutorials about photography
  4. No-spending month: only groceries (which I will still try to cut back on) and absolute necessities like toiletries if we run out (but we shouldn't because I planned ahead).  Only other exception: Saver's half-off President's Day sale!  
  5. Eat less.  I've mastered the WLC diet, but I think I'm just eating too much still.  Eating smaller portions in general is something I need to learn to do, especially after this experiment is done and I have to return to "normal" eating.
  6. Donate unused household items
  7. Organize the linen closet
  8. Organize the garage, or at least make some progress.  This is a big task!
  9. Read about square-foot gardening and plan for making it happen
  10. Continue the WLC


Saturday, January 25, 2014

Monthly Project

I'm a Pinterest addict, and lately, I've been inspired by a bunch of new ideas.  One of them is to take a picture each month (or as often as I can manage) and put on it what the boys are liking at that particular moment.

So, because the photos taken in Mexico this past summer were perfect for the project, I did one for each boy at 20 months, when the photos were taken.  I still remember what they liked at that point in time.

Then, I did one for this month with not so great photos.  Next month, with this project in mind, I'll see if I can get better pictures for this project.  I've also made a promise to myself that I'll use our nice camera more and the iPhone less because I'm tired of blurry pictures.  

So here's what I came up with for now.  Eventually I'd like to print them out and make a binder of them or something.  I'm not liking the spacing of the text, particularly on the last one of Sebastian.  But I'm too lazy to do it all over again right now.  I don't have a very sophisticated editing program so my options are limited.  Well, it's a start.  Shoot--I forgot to add Lexi to both boys' 20-month list and Tom Brady to the 26-month list! ;-)






Friday, January 24, 2014

End of Week Two of WLC

I've decided to help myself out by posting once a week about the Whole Life Challenge and my progress (or lack thereof).  I would like to be able to look back at the end and remember what I was thinking and feeling.  And, if I decide to do future Challenges, documenting my experience could be useful.

Let's get the negative out of the way first so I can end on a positive note!  My major complaints are only two things:  1) It's expensive to eat well in this country and 2) As someone who doesn't really love eating any kind of meat on a regular basis, I'm sick of beef and chicken!  We have made it many different ways, but I just don't like it enough to want to eat it every day, no matter how it's prepared.

Looking forward, I need to start eating more fish and maybe shrimp.  That would add some additional variety.  I just don't like seafood of any kind that much.  BJ's sold Salmon that I LOVED (it was chipotle-something-or-other) but they no longer carry it.  Furthermore, I couldn't eat it anyway because I believe it had some sort of sweetener (honey, maybe?) and breading.  Ok, so I'll eat more fish.  Aside from bacon, I'm not much into pork at all, but I suppose I could try at least one or two recipes to work it into the rotation as well.

On the positive side, I notice my pants fit better.  It's no longer a struggle to close the button!  I haven't been going hungry.  I've tried new recipes.  I realize more than ever what CRAP I have been putting in my body for years and years and, also, what I've been feeding my boys.  I feel good when I do exercise every day, and I'm sleeping better.  I am drinking a ton of water, and I was always dehydrated before.  My body literally seems to be functioning better.  Carlos is also participating, although not as faithfully as I am; I have the benefit of being part of the Milton team.

All-in-all, I'm still very glad I took on this challenge.  I feel good after 2 weeks.  I will admit to being impatient about seeing results.  I think I half expected I'd have lost 30 pounds by now!  Crazy, I know!

Monday, January 20, 2014

Weekend Roundup

So nice to have a long weekend!

Saturday we had the boys' music class (I still hate those stupid Music Together classes.  Yuck.).  Then we went shopping for a few things in the afternoon.  I had chaperone duty at night at Milton so I had to be on campus from 7:15-9:45-ish.  I was assigned the a capella night, so it wasn't that bad of a duty.  But I still hate trudging all the way to campus on a weekend night.

Sunday we had friends over to the house for dinner.  Carlos made Ensalada Arabe and Kafta (sp?).  It was absolutely delicious, and I only had to lose one point to eat a full dinner (the Kafta is like meatballs, and there is shredded potato in it).  I turned down dessert and was proud of myself.  I NEVER turn down dessert.

Today we hung out, went to Home Depot to buy some shelves for garage organization. We were thrilled because at Home Depot we found a shopping cart full of items that were marked 1CENT!!!  We got 2 artificial poinsettia plants (nice ones!), 5 boxes of icicle lights for the porch, a box of blue snowflake ornaments, and some bows to put on my wreaths.  For 1 cent I couldn't resist!  Even if I put the lights on the Online Yard Sale I'm pretty sure I can get more than a penny for a box of brand new lights!

While the boys were sleeping, I tried a new workout.  Our friend Andrea, who was at our house last night, told me about Jillian Michaels' 30-day Shred video, which is on You Tube.  It's 20 minutes of intense exercise: cardio, strength training, and stretching at the end.  It was hard for me in my current condition, but I hope to do it at least a few times a week and see some improvement in my muscle tone and conditioning.  It's also convenient that it's available online and requires only some dumbells to do.  I'm already sore from doing it!

After nap time, my brother, Jen, Baby James, and my mother came over for a while.  We hung out in the play room while the 3 boys played with the toys.

Here are some photos from the past week or so.

My mom pulled out some of our old Fisher Price toys from the attic.  I found this little baby that has the Satan Swirl just like Sebastian.

Natalie took it upon herself to rearrange the playroom one day.  I love it like this.  And the boys loved the change of scenery.


The reading nook

The boys didn't want their picture taken!

Sebastian fixing his car.  He tipped it like this and went at it with the drill. 

Then Adrian took over
 Adrian loves to wear his sunglasses...




He wore them even in the mall



Watching the Patriots lose.  I taught them to yell "NO PAYTON!" whenever Payton Manning came on the screen.

Bedtime tonight...the boys were in a silly mood!















Adrian smelling his feet...Ummmm yeah.....not sure what's up with that.



Favorite Crockpot Recipes

Andrea, I did this for you!  Much easier than typing them all out, and now I have them all in one place as well.


Crockpot Buffalo Chicken
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-buffalo-chicken-sandwiches/

Chipotle Pulled Pork
http://www.marthastewart.com/333225/spicy-pulled-pork

Southwestern Pot Roast
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/slow-cooker-southwestern-pot-roast/0a67a2ae-376a-431a-8675-7fdd8940e7e3

Slow Cooker Lasagna
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-lasagna/

Party Meatballs
http://www.oceanspray.com/Recipes/Corporate/Appetizers/Ultimate-Party-Meatballs.aspx

Cranberry Sauce Chicken
http://www.yummly.com/recipe/external/Cranberry-Sauce-Chicken-Ii-Allrecipes
** This one says to bake in the oven, but I've also done it in the crockpot on high for 4 hours.  Just make sure you don't overcook it...




Friday, January 17, 2014

Flashback to Summer 2013

This past summer our friends Estelle and Oriana were nice enough to invite the whole family down to their beach house in Narragansett.  Whole family invites don't happen very often when you have toddlers, so that was a very gracious offer!  I was a bit of a basket case that day--ok a lot of a basket case--because I was a bundle of nerves.  First because my boys are like tornados and they have a beautifully decorated house fit for a magazine.  Second, because neither boy would listen or cooperate, and, third, because Natalie our nanny was starting the next day.  As much as I felt that hiring a nanny would be a good thing for our family, I was still incredibly nervous about it.  And my nerves were obvious that day.  They were good sports to put up with me.

After some play time in their yard and a delicious meal, we headed down to the beach, which is only a few blocks from their house.  Oriana is a great photographer, and she snapped some awesome shots of us playing on the beach.  She just sent them to me, and oh man, I love them!

Sorry for posting pretty much all of them.  I love them all and want Carlos's family to see!
































This photo is the story of my life right now...Adrian's face is priceless.









Estelle and Gloria












LOVE LOVE LOVE this one.  So sweet.