Why is breastfeeding still even an issue?

I've tried really hard to avoid talking about this. In fact, I've started and deleted this post several times over the last few months because it wouldn't come together, didn't convey what I wanted and sounded unintentionally a little judgey towards non-breastfeeders (which I'm not judgey! promise!).

But I just can't resist.

Boobs are all over the TV. They're in magazines, flaunted all over the beach, on billboard ads and video games. According to our society, it's fine. They're boobs and they're sexual and who doesn't like a nice rack?

But then all of a sudden you put a baby next to those "fun bags" and whoooa, whoa, whoa! Everybody starts having little hissy fits and gets offended. As if a woman can't use her boobs the way nature intended. And people are like, "how dare you nurse that child like that WITH YOUR BOOB in front of me [or in a restaurant, or on a bus, or hanging out in the mall]!?"

Time magazine's article didn't do us nursing moms any favors. If anything, everyone else probably thinks we're whack jobs planning to breastfeed our children into their teens to show that we're "mom enough." I'll fully admit that I'm not mom enough for that; I'm just trying to do what's best for my children.

But today I heard about the controversy around this picture:

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The backlash is shocking [but then again, not really]. Frankly, I've seen more cleavage in a Carl's Junior commercial. The article from Hollywood Gossip sites some quotes from military moms that have heard people call this a "disgrace to the uniform" and that it is comparable to "urinating or defacating" on it. The Air Force is apparently not very happy about this photo either. As if these women should have changed their clothes for 20 minutes so they could feed their babies. Seriously? I get there's all of this hooplah about not doing anything offensive while dressed in a military uniform, but come on.

I don't care what you're wearing. You could be covered in green paint, wearing a snuggie, hanging upside down from the rafters [although I'd be really interested to see how that would work]. Feed your baby in a boat, wearing a coat, next to a goat. Whatever. When a child is hungry, a child is hungry and whether it's with a bottle or boob, feed the baby!

I was recently in a restaurant with my husband and Jonas started fussing because he wanted to eat. It was supposed to be a quick in-and-out so I didn't bring in a large blanket to cover myself with [which I normally do], just a little burp rag. He nearly had a heart attack when I steathily started nursing him uncovered and called for the check. We were in the corner and all that was visible was the top of my boob, something that would have shown in a bathing suit or sexy shirt, but because my child was nursing, it was a big fat deal.

I'm just horrified at our entire country. For the judgement, for making women feel like they have to formula feed [or for feeling bad if they choose formula], for making breastfeeding difficult. In Europe, women have their boobs out all over the place, breastfeeding or otherwise.

The annoying thing is that it isn't just about the Air Force or Time Magazine unintentionally making a mockery of the rest of us. It's that we're still having this conversation after all of the research and studies showing how advantageous it is to breastfeed. If you choose to use formula, that's fine too, but I shouldn't feel like the "weird" one because I have chosen to use my god-given resources.

I mean, we are in the 21st century, people. It's extremely beneficial for the child. It's easier for the mother. It's financially responsible. It helps fight a gillion different diseases and boosts the immune systems for both mom and baby.

Go fight childhood obesity or cancer or something. Leave us breastfeeding mamas alone! Judge that mom who gave her daughter chicken nuggets every meal for fifteen years. Or the people who put their kids in a washing machine.

And yet, breastfeeding is offensive. Please.

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Maybe I should try finishing a book or two

I'm currently in the middle of all of these...

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An eye-opening look at the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Also kind of freaky. I can't decide whether I think some of the "prophets" are/were quacky schizophrenics or brilliant, incredible wordsmiths. Very interesting...very weird.

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I want to be a French acting, Tiger mom disciplinarian with a little tiny bit of American attachment parenting thrown in. Maybe. Or perhaps I just want to figure out what works for my kids and go with that. Either way, this book has an interesting perspective.

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Chick literature. It's okay - a little boring and not sure if I'll ever finish it.

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Again, chick lit but at least it's mostly based in England and who doesn't love them some British humor?

 

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Okay, I haven't really started it, but I'm anxiously and excitedly waiting for this one!! Thanks, Bianca!!

As soon as I'm done with all of these, I'm moving on to 50 Shades of Grey. I just can't handle being out of the reading loop!

What books are you reading right now??

Intentional living: making some baby food

One of the areas in which I have tried to be more intentional is watching our budget, more specifically, our food budget. As any parent knows, aside from diapers and formula (thank God we don't use formula because that ish is pricey!), one of the pricey items is jarred baby food.

I never made Gabriel's baby food, mostly because I was lazy and partly because I didn't realize how easy it was. With Jonas, I decided that I would give a shot, see how I liked it and go from there. Turns out, it is one of the easiest things to do! Not only that, but I love it because I know exactly what is in the foods I'm giving to him - no preservatives and he gets real-tasting food. Shocker...broccoli actually tastes like broccoli!

Here are my weapons of choice:

It's really tricky to make the food so let me explain. 

Wash veggies. Place in steamer (or oven if you're doing potato or squash). Push buttons. Let steam (or roast). Open contraption. Place in immersion blender. Push more buttons. Blend. Place in ice cube tray. Freeze.

It takes about 1.3456 minutes to put the veggie in the steamer (or oven). Then it takes about 3.6934 minutes to blend and place in the freezer. So...all in all I spend about 4.98 minutes, once a week, to make Jonas' meals for the next 40 days.

To the untrained eye, this may look like science-experiment-turned-moldy-mushy-mess, but to a 5-month old, this is green bean bliss. 

So far, I've made sweet potatoes, carrots, butternut squash, asparagus, broccoli and green beans. I'd estimate that the veggies have costed me approximately $8.50. I've made about 40 servings, meaning it costs me around 0.21 cents per feeding. This means I've already saved $11.50 at the very minimum, if baby food costs .50 cents per jar. The organic jars are more like .80 - $1.00 so the savings only increase since all of the veggies have been organic. I'd say that the 5 minutes spent per bag is well worth that extra dough!

So what do you think, would it be worth it to you to make your own baby food? Am I nuts for doing it?

Happy (day before) Memorial Day!

Remembering the past...

...and honoring the present.

Thank you for your commitment and service.

Book Review: The Tortilla Curtain

In my mind, this book was too good to not talk about. I'm not sure if book reviews will become a part of this blog or not, but reading is something I enjoy that has not been reflected on this blog enough. I took a little break from reading regularly because I couldn't find a book that I really enjoyed, but The Tortilla Curtain got me rolling again.

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The Tortilla Curtain by Tom Coraghessan Boyle, in a nutshell, describes the lives of two distinctively different couples - one, an affluent husband and wife who live in a private hilltop community in Los Angeles, and the other, two Mexican illegals who have come to the States to search out the American dream. Their lives converge several times in unplanned, unfortunate and usually disastrous ways. 

Boyle uses flowery descriptive vocabulary to describe even the mundane; at times it felt almost superfluous but most of the time I found it to be captivating. 

To be honest, what I got from this book was not what I expected. I assumed that the upper-class family would run into the illegals, they would take them in, have them as their help staff and all would live happily ever after. If you are looking for a book with closure, pass on by. This book brings to life real racism and common stereotypes about illegal immigrants. Between those circumstances, natural disasters, language barriers, rape, judgement and being on the brink of starvation, how will the four characters ever come to a mutual understanding - a common existence?

Go read it. It's good. I found it at my library.

And now I'm signing off to go enjoy story time at the library, shopping at Target and then we're driving up to Camarillo to enjoy lots of friends and family on this Memorial weekend. 

See you Monday!

Awkward moment: World Market

I used to be really outgoing, or at least I think I did. I also used to be really great at making friends, I'm pretty sure. It must have had something to do with living on a mountain where everybody knew everybody and there was never anybody around that I wasn't familiar with.

Well, as we all know, my social life has taken a nose dive since college and my adult interaction really took a hit when I decided to become a stay at home mom. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of people that I talk to, they just happen to live in Vegas, San Diego, New York, Texas...you get my drift. I have to make an extreme effort to take a step out of my comfort zone and engage with people because I would honestly rather pull a celebrity move - cover my face with enormous bug-eyed sunglasses, stick my cell phone in my face and pretend like I don't need to know you.

So now that I have prefaced my awkward run in with my awkwardness, here we go....

Oh wait, I have to take another step back. So, several weeks ago at the Mother's Day performance at Gabriel's preschool, I gave up my chair to a pregnant young woman, perhaps my age, who was sitting on the floor. We smiled at each other, she said thanks, then we both turned back towards the stage. Prologue over.

Last Wednesday, I'm walking around World Market in San Diego with Gabriel before our play date with a friend at Chuck E. Cheese. Who do you think I see? None other than the sweet pregnant lady I gave up my chair to. So I'm like, okay, it's fate. We're 100 miles away from home, we run into each other. It's destiny, we're supposed to be best friends.

Me: Hi, this is random but...uhhh...do you live in the Valley? 

Pregnant lady: Umm...(looks around uncomfortably)...yes?

Me: Oh, yeah, okay, I thought so. You look familiar. I'm pretty sure our kids go to the same school?


Pregnant lady: Ohhhh...Little Pioneers. Does your son go there?

Me: Yeah, him, yeah. I took him out today to go to Chuck E. Cheese.


Pregnant lady: .....................

(Clearly I didn't really think this conversation through)

Me: Okay, well ummm...yeah. Thanks. Okay, bye. I'm going to walk over here now.


I'm pretty sure this is like when Adrian saw the love of his life aka Lauren Conrad at LAX and could not open his mouth to profess his undying love for her except I opened my mouth and word vomited awkwardness all over her.

How do I recover from that the next time I see her??

Weighing my options: going back to work

It keeps coming up that I maybe should go back to work. Husband's words, not mine. Granted, I'm kind of keen on the idea, especially if it means I have an extra couple seconds to myself every day. Not that I want to escape my kids or anything. You know what I mean. I don't have an official job offer yet, but let's face it, I'm awesome. Okay, not really but the truth is whenever I've set my mind to find a job, I've found a job. And in this town, it helps that I have a leg up with the second job I applied for - it just so happens that Adrian knows someone who happens to be looking for someone for their marketing department. Allegedly.

But then I think about this:

And what I might miss if I go back to work, which makes this decision much harder and about a zillion times more confusing. It's not just Gabriel anymore, not that it would be any easier. I've grown quite attached to being at home with my boys, watching them change and grow. So, I came up with five reasons why I want to go back to work and five reasons I want to stay home. Nice even numbers that basically help me not at all in weighing my options.

Five Reasons Why I Want To Go Back To Work:

1. I would like to converse with adults regularly. I have no friends, we all know it. It would be nice to have "forced friends," AKA co-workers who are forced to be in the same room with and listen to me all day. 
2. My brain is turning to mush. I need stimulation. It's very evident when I play the game Cranium and try to spell.
3. Someone (again, the husband) has mentioned the fact that I can relinquish house cleaning duties if I go back to work. Or at least split them. I'm thinking a housekeeper who would come once a week. BAM.
4. I genuinely like to work. I like feeling productive, leaving the house every day, putting on pants, you know...the usual stuff.
5. My brain is supposedly worth $24,000 according to Sallie Mae, lender for my student loans. If you account for the entire amount of tuition, whoa. My brain is worth at least $192,000. Say what? I want to get my money's worth usage of this noggin, ya'll! I didn't spend a pretty penny to sit at home, just saying.

Five Reasons Why I Am Totally Freaked Out About Going Back To Work:

1. DIYing and blogging and cooking and baking and catching up on all of the good shows is way too much fun. I'm getting a little too used to doing all of those things on a regular basis.
2. I really like wearing yoga pants. I'm sure I could find some comfy slacks, but really, is there anything that beats yoga pants?
3. When I worked last year, my life was a whirlwind. Things are already moving in light years, so I have a feeling if I go back to work I'll wake up next week and all of a sudden it will be 2017. 
4. Having someone else raise my children for 8 of the 12 waking hours of the day seems a lot more daunting when it's not someone I know. I was way too lucky in SD. 
5. The most important reason - see above photo. And this. And this. And this. 

Tell me what you think. I need some help (mental help, clearly), some clarity, maybe some chocolate.

Please excuse my absence

It's been almost a week since I've blogged. You know, life got in the way and I'm okay with that. Sometimes you just have to disconnect and take time for what's important. Like the people above.

This evening is the first bit of normalcy we've had since last Tuesday and it figures that I feel like death. I swear it came from the germ-fest that is Chuck E. Cheese; Gabriel and I went on Wednesday to meet up with my friend and her son. By Thursday, he was feverish, booger-y, irritable and all around sick. It just so happened that on this particular day, he also had an infection, meaning a doctor's appointment. The day I was supposed to packing and running around for our trip to Walnut Creek.

Oh, did I mention the power went out on Wednesday night? Yeah, that happened too. Didn't come on until the next day. It also is worth mentioning that El Centro's nighttime weather is currently hovering around 90 degrees. The windows were flung open and we woke up covered in mosquito bites.

We proceeded to spend 18 hours in the car this weekend. Saw my sweet, amazing cousin graduate from St. Mary's. My boys were so well behaved, I thought someone might have swapped them out for obedient look-a-likes. There were Don Ramon shots in honor of the original Don Ramon's 8th birthday in heaven. Cake. Lots of car. Lots of watching the movie Up on our car dvd player. iPad playing (I am 95% sure I'm buying one this weekend. Hands down best child distracter EVER). Headaches and sickies and wanting to cry because my head was going to explode and my ears were going to pop.

St. Mary's Graduation

Today was our first day back on a routine, Gabriel went to school and that sweet little boy did not make one peep when I walked out the door. He's starting to enjoy school and that makes me so, so happy. And of course, as is his way, he taught himself how to swim. There is no pushing or prodding with that child. When he is ready, he is ready. Just like with potty training and walking and crawling and coming into this world. Here's a video of him swimming across our above ground pool, so proud of himself...

From Drop Box

Anyway, I promise I'll be back to a regular schedule this week, although we're going on yet another trip this weekend to Camarillo. At least this is for awesome reason...I GET TO SEE MY BFFF WHO IS MOVING TO NY. I'm sad. And I'm happy. But I'm sad that I didn't take more advantage of seeing her whenever we visit Adrian's family. Oh well, now I have an excuse to go to NY! Woooooooooo.

That's all for now. No more rambling. Promise.

Oh PS, somehow I got lucky enough to squeeze in some alone time. I think I got a little spoiled because I'm sick. Whatever, I'll take it. It was heaven on earth.

PSS, I'm linking up with Mrs. M. for Monday Mashup. Goodbye.

The threes

There is nothing in my three and change years of motherhood that could have prepared me for the terrible-awful threes. I think this age makes me crazier than the baby blues. More depressed than the fact that we have no friends (except for one couple that has kids my age). More exhausted than when I was waking up at all hours of the night with Jonas.

Throwing a fit because he doesn't want to  perform
 in the  Mother's Day presentation.

Somewhere between two and three, something went wrong. Or he grew up before my eyes and now all of a sudden he has a mind of his own. He decides if he's tired, not me or the clock. He throws mega-tantrums where I swear the whole house shakes with his screaming. If he's in trouble and sent to his room, he kicks and pounds at the door and then I start to have nightmares of when he's sixteen and punching through walls or something. Remember when I said he was like me? Not Adrian, the relaxed, calm guy who I'm certain I've never actually seen mad. He's never once yelled at me. I can see my teenage self punching through a wall if I was a guy. Thank God I'm not. I really hope he's not a teenage guy version of me someday.

On Mother's Day, my mom and I were sitting at her table enjoying our coffee, and explained how I thought I might be losing my already-gray hair because Gabriel was making me crazy. That he fights me and yells and kicks and hits and screams and ohgodmakeitstop. I thought she would impart on me some infinite mom-wisdom about how it all gets better and give it a few months, but no. She pointed to her grays (dyed, of course) and said that we gave her every single one of them and I had plenty more ahead of me. She also pointed out how it was clear how much we wore her out because with each subsequent child (there were four of us), the rules were more lenient and the consequences less severe.

So, without much help from my mother, it hit me on Sunday night that I need to get crafty. Sneaky sneaky. I need to trick my child into believing that he's calling the shots but really, it's all about manipulation. I have a bachelor's degree in Psychology, I don't know why it took so long for this to dawn on me. Is that awful that I'm playing mind games with my three-year old? Whatever. I got him to nap yesterday without replicating a WWF match or tears.

I'd call that a KO.

Weekend

This weekend we celebrated my fourth Mother's Day. Man, that makes me feel so old. And wise, since I've survived four Mother's Days.

Adrian took the boys and I to Seaport Village where we rode the historical carousel, dined on the water and walked from shop to shop, leisurely browsing through knick knacks and things.

Gabriel and I held a parrot and it was awesome, aside from the fact that I was a little nervous that he might have the idea that my ear was a delectable treat for him to nibble, but alas, we both came away with all our facial features intact. 

Gabriel was dying to ride on a boat. As in, we heard "I want to ride on a boat" on repeat for two hours straight. Over. and over. and over. and over.

I'm not exactly sure why I look so disheveled here. And Gabriel looks like he just smelled a dirty diaper or something. It wasn't Jonas.

We gave my mom a cute little herb garden and this photo in a nice pretty frame. She was so cute, I thought she was going to cry!



We spent Sunday at Nana's house again this year and it was great to spend time with my aunts and fellow moms. The whole weekend was nice and relaxing, but I would say the coolest part was that Gabriel learned to swim and jumped off if the diving board! It truly is amazing to see him grow - last year, he was scared to even get close to the diving board and in the pool, he clung tightly to the wall. Now he's fearless. He jumps bravely off of the side of the pool. He keeps his cool and just keeps swimming when he gets nervous. I'm so proud to be his mama.

In other news, I applied for a job and have moved into the second phase of the interview process! I'm a little nervous and hesitant because we don't necessarily need the money, so I'm not 100% sold on returning to work. However, it would be nice to get out of the house and it's for the city so the benefits would be great. It would definitely be reminiscent of my days at Children of the Night, an emotional rollercoaster, because it would be in the Child Welfare department. Who knows what will happen...I'm looking forward to at least having the choice to return to work, so we'll see. I'll keep you posted!

And since this has become a random smattering of information, I thought I would tell you that I have become the Queen of baby food-making. Yes, I have become quite adept at creating bland, tasteless wonders. Who knew? But really, I can't believe I didn't do this for Gabriel. It is so incredibly easy.

Because we're talking food here, and I'm hungry, I'm making this for dinner. Or maybe this. I'm still undecided.

This weekend we're taking a trip to San Francisco to watch my cousin graduate from St. Mary's. It will be such a fun girls weekend - just me, my mom, sister, the boys and aunt. I can't wait!

How was your weekend?

This moment, 3:25pm, Wednesday

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I'm watching Gabriel swim in his little pool right outside the sliding glass. 

Jonas is talking to himself on his play mat right next to my chair.

The rest of the house is quiet.

I'm staring at a bag of fresh, local avocados that I want to devour right this second.

(I have made plans for this in the very near future)

All is right in my world.

Tell me about it Tuesday #8

In honor of Mother's Day, I figured we'd have a mama-themed question!

Tell me about a special memory you have with your mom and something she did that you would like to use in parenting your own child(ren).


Memory: Right around my due date with Gabriel, we were in the middle of purchasing a condo and of course, it just so happened that we closed escrow while I was in the hospital. To say that the whole process caused us some stress would be saying it lightly. Since we knew we were moving, I had packed up our entire apartment in preparation before Gabriel was born. The night I was released from the hospital we spent our last night in an apartment, and then the next night I spent in a hotel room with my mom and sister while Adrian stayed at the condo working on some final touches. As a new mom, I had no clue what I was doing and was completely flustered when Gabriel woke up at 9:30pm wanting to eat. I was engorged and couldn't get him to nurse. I was crying, he was crying and we were both completely frustrated. My mom, ever the collected one, picked up my sweet baby and told me to go take a warm shower so I could calm down. When I came back out, she had calmed both he and I down enough to where he was able to nurse and drift off to sleep again.

My mom stayed with me from the day I got out of the hospital (Thursday) until Sunday because she had to return to work. She unpacked my entire house, made sure both Adrian and I were fed, cleaned and took over with Gabriel when I needed some rest. I will never forget those first few days of Gabriel's life with her and how grateful I was to have her there. When she left on Sunday, I cried and wondered how I would get through each day without her. She reminded me that I was her daughter and that I would pick it up just as easily as she had 23 years prior.

Parenting lesson: My mom sacrificed so much time and energy making sure we were able to take advantage of every opportunity on the "mountain." We all played at least several activities like t-ball, soccer, ballet, tap dancing, karate, softball, horseback riding, in addition to carting us back and forth to Alpine for CCD multiple times a week and church, shopping trips in town, piano lessons and various other things all across the county. She always made it to our games, which was especially appreciated because my dad was rarely able to get off early - she was always there. I want my kids to know that no matter what their interests, whether they want to go to art classes or fencing, I will always support them. I'll always be watching and helping and doing whatever I need to do to be there.

Tell me about a special memory or lesson from your mama!

Four months old

Here we are now, four months later, and I swear it could have been yesterday! I know I say that every month, but it is just so true. I can't believe how much his personality has changed over the last month or so. Long gone (hopefully?) are his fussy, colicky days and all that remains is a happy, sweet, smiley baby. We actually went to our friend's birthday party this weekend and several people commented on Jonas' calm demeanor - it was so refreshing to hear that for a change! In the first 10 weeks of his life, people would've held my squirmy, fussy baby, handed him back, pityingly cocked their heads to the side and said, "Oh, he's colicky, isn't he?" Now he is just the most pleasant little baby to be around!

Stats

Height: 27.5 inches, 99th percentile

Weight: 20lb 9.5oz, 100th percentile

Diaper size: That sweet little bum just started fitting into a size 4 yesterday!

Clothing size: 9 - 12 months

Likes: Still loves laying on his play mat and bath time, playing in his exersaucer and pushing the animal buttons, being tickled, shaking his rattles around

Dislikes: Being held in the cradle position, napping in his bed, the period between bath time and clothes being put on

Special notes: There were so many exciting and fun things that happened this month, I'm not really sure where to start. About 2 weeks ago, he started rolling over from his tummy to his back. He also started sucking his thumb, which happens to be the cutest thing ever! He consistently sleeps from around 6:30pm - 6:30am every single night; every morning I wake up to his sweet coos and squeals and as soon as I walk in, I'm greeted with the biggest smile. And, oh man, the raspberries he has learned to blow are just hilarious. He now has the dexterity to hit and grab the toys that hang from his play mat as well as grab and rattle toys sitting in front of him. About two weeks ago he started eating baby oatmeal and it was just like nursing - he acted like he'd been eating from a spoon his whole life. I roasted and pureed some sweet potatoes for him yesterday and he ate them up so quickly!

One month old.

Two months old.

Three months old.

Homemade Pop tarts

I mentioned last week that I made some homemade pop tarts, and man, were they good! They were so delicious in fact, that they disappeared within about 4 days.

I subscribe to emails from the blog Money Saving Mom and I kept seeing these pop tarts on her weekly menu planning post. I am a pop tart fanatic (for the first 12 weeks of my pregnancy with Jonas, I totally craved the chocolate ones) and so the idea of making my own was quite intriguing...

Here is the recipe (with a few of my little changes) in case you get the sudden urge to try them.

Homemade Pop Tarts
3 1/2c. flour (I used half whole wheat/half white)
1 tsp salt
1 c. melted butter
1 c. plain yogurt (or in my case, 1 c. fat free sour cream - tastes the same!)
Jam/jelly flavor of your choice

Mix the first four ingredients together.Knead dough and roll out on a nice floured surface. Cut dough into the shapes that you would like - I did mine like a regular pop tart, albeit bigger! I used a pizza cutter which made it extremely easy to cut!

Fill half of the rectangles with jelly, but not too much or else they will seep out/explode. Top the jellied side with a non-jellied side, crimp with a fork and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. This recipe made about 12 pop tarts, though the original creator of this recipe says it makes 15-20, so you can tell mine were pretty big!

Sit down with a cup of coffee and enjoy.

He got it from his mama

It's funny to see what traits and characteristics your children get from each parent. For example, Gabriel's face could have been stolen from one of my baby pictures. There is no mistaking him as my child. Alas, he has also picked up my nail-biting, finger chewing ways and inability to sit still for long periods at a time. Yet he has Adrian's height, humor and propensity for making one stinky fart. And Jonas, that boy is all Adrian, down to the nose. I'm interested to see on which end of the personality spectrum he lands.

Today we have officially we made it through week one of preschool and it was anything but easy. In fact, it was quite the doozy for both of us. If there was one quality of Adrian's that I had hoped would be reproduced in Gabriel, it would be his ability to adjust to any situation. He is never at a loss for words and makes friends so easily. I swear he could make friends on a deserted island (although who knows if that friend would take form as a displaced volleyball or maybe a fallen coconut).

I, on the other hand, suffer from anxiety. Not so much that I need to medicate myself (although that might make it easier for me to ease into situations), but enough to where I feel very uncomfortable and will look for an excuse to a) leave early from a given situation, b) not go, c) text (or fake text) through given situation to appear as though I have so many better things to do. Which is why I've RSVP'd at least 6 times to events with the local mom's groups and have found 6 different reasons not to attend.

I digress. It has been very apparent through this experience that Gabriel suffers from a combination of my anxiety/nervousness and a serious case of the mama's boy syndrome. On his first day, he cried the. entire. time. There's nothing that makes you feel lower as a parent than when you show up after four hours, expecting to find your baby playing cheerfully on the playground when in fact he is standing next to the teacher holding her hand and wearing his backpack that contains his blankey while sobbing uncontrollably. They say he cried for me all day.

It literally took all of my effort not to demand a refund, stuff him in the car, and take him home, never to return to that place because he is too young/not ready/I'm not ready and can't handle change. But you know what? Although he had a hard time today getting there, he went. And then when I picked him up, he was fine. According to the teacher, it was a 75% better day than yesterday.

He'll be fine. It might be uncomfortable and hard and scary and nerve-wracking and I may or may not keep myself extremely busy so as not to think about it, but then one day, it won't be. And it will all be worth it because I think we'll both learn a thing or two.

Meal Planning Board

I told you I would get to this, didn't I? One of my favorite things to look at on Pinterest has been meal planning boards. I'm not really sure where my obsession comes from since I am awful at meal planning, though I've been really trying to get better because when I do actually plan ahead, I save myself about a million trips and a lot of back and forth in the store.

After perusing awhile, I stumbled across this and my heart skipped a beat. It was perfect. Beautiful. All of the colors! Ahhh, must have. So I set about gathering supplies. I had several things on hand, but there were a few things that I had to go out and get.

Here's my list:
-Calendar white board - Target, $9.99
-Second white board to hold additional magnets - on hand
-Magnetic roll - Home Depot, $3.99 (My HD had it cheaper than shown on web)
-Photo paper - Dollar Tree, $.99
-Ziplocs
-Permanent markers
-Nails for hanging

Step One: Print out labels using free printables.
Step Two: Cut all printables to size. This gets really boring. Really fast.
Step Three: Separate all colors into their respective groups, place in ziplocs and label.

Step Four: Pull out labels from each category and label foods that you eat often. I also added a separate category for meals that are less generic such as sausage, onion and pepper sandwiches, lasagna, enchilada casserole, and garlic chicken thighs with potatoes. You may want to store your recipes in one place for this, whether it's on your blog, a recipe book or a photographic memory - your choice. I prefer my recipe book from my mom.

Step Five: Attach magnets to the back of each strip of paper. My magnetic strips had stickies on the back and all I had to do was cut whatever sized portion of magnet I wanted from the roll. Very convenient and easy.

Step Six: Organize on your board. Very tough, I know. It's even color coordinated to make it easy!

Step Seven: Hang in desired area! Mine is going in my hallway, where I'm going to try to build a command center-typeish area. I'm really digging this:

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Step Eight: Meal plan! Okay, I haven't really gotten to this step yet, but I will! I swear! Either way, I'm loving my new meal planning board. I hope it makes it much more convenient for us all to be able to take the reins for meals if need be, because everything will be right in front of our faces.

Hope you enjoyed my little DIY sesh!
(Linked up with Romance on a Dime!)

Tell me about it Tuesday #7

Do you currently have any DIY projects going on?

I have so many, I just can't finish them all. I just started this and I'll be posting it soon:

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We also got the hardware for this to go in our bedroom:

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And I redecorated my kitchen sink ledge because it was still donning Christmas candle decor:

Show me some pics or send me a link. What do you have going on? 

(Maybe I'll get inspired to finish the ones I started 

and start some new ones!)