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meredith is three!

Well my crazy girl is three. We had a casual family party in the park for her on Saturday evening. There was picnic food and cake. An awesome jungle gym and plenty of room to run around. Uncle Scott led the kids on a nature hike where the highlight was throwing sticks in the creek and looking for frogs. Even though Meredith spent the first half of the party subdued because of a bug bite that puffed her hand up, she eventually rallied and had a blast hanging out with all her favorite people.

Then on Sunday, her actual birthday, we kept things pretty routine but she did get some extra treats, gifts from us, and more cousin play time which is her absolute favorite. She enjoyed looking through all her new gifts and playing with them by piling them all around her and “making a house.” Who cares how you’re really supposed to play the games and puzzles, right? It ended up being a perfect summer weekend.

So far three years old is keeping me on my toes. I can tell you that the word “threenager” was invented for a reason, but she has personality for sure! One minute it’s “leave me alone!” and the next it’s “I wanna hold you.” She is fiercely independent and stubborn. Does not like to be ignored. Is shy at first and hangs back, but comes out of her shell quickly with a little attention. She is silly and has some pretty great jokes. Kind and cuddly. Loving and attentive to her baby brother. I can’t wait to see what the rest of life has in store for her, but for now she can stay little for awhile longer.

An Interview With Meredith On the Occasion of Her Third Birthday:

1. What is your favorite color? Pink

2. What is your favorite toy? Glasses (swim goggles), kitty cat candy, books

3. What is your favorite fruit? Apples

4. What is your favorite tv show? Frozen (she has never seen Frozen)

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Chicken

6. What is your favorite outfit? Blue shirt (the one she was wearing)

7. What is your favorite game? Nursery rhymes

8. What is your favorite snack? Goldfish. We don’t have any goldfish? (No.) Why? We didn’t bring some?

9. What is your favorite animal? Cow. Moooo

10. What is your favorite song? Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so…(keeps singing)

11. What is your favorite book? Nursery rhymes

12. Who is your best friend? Liam

13. What is your favorite cereal? Cheerios

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play bubbles

15. What is your favorite drink? Chocolate milk

16. What is your favorite holiday? Tuesday

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Creeper, books

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Eggs

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Shasha (she starts talking nonsense and laughing)

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Ms. Pari (her teacher)

Love you the most, Meredith. <3

July 21, 2014
currently

snacking on dark chocolate covered almonds.

limiting dairy in my diet because it makes me feel bloated.

hoping it doesn’t rain tomorrow for Meredith’s birthday party in the park.

keeping the party stuff simple.

starting a new daily photography project involving my Instax.

wishing for a digital camera other than my iPhone.

itching to tweak my blog design.

loving my morning Bible study time.

evaluating our budget.

planning my whole-life personal organization notebook.

needing to dig deep for patience with the kids sometimes.

missing one of the daycare teachers who I’d come to like, who just left to continue her schooling.

enjoying the company of David’s aunt who is in town.

taking Liam for his six-month checkup this afternoon.

feeling energized and excited about the weekend.

July 18, 2014
liam at six months

He:

>Has his six-month checkup Friday, but according to our home scale he weighs about 20 pounds. He is in 9-12 month clothes and size 4 diapers! (He wears cloth during the day and disposables at night.)

>Started on baby food last week! So far he’s just had a few bites and isn’t sure quite what to do with it.

>Is extremely grabby and is finally enjoying sitting in his jumper toy sometimes.

>Really is too big for his infant tub now, so I’m gonna have to graduate him to the big tub.

>Holds his own bottle.

>Loves tummy time now that he can really push up, but he’s starting to be a real roly poly.

>Is an early riser and since he still sleeps next to me in bed, he senses anytime I am getting up and wakes up at the same time…even if it is 4:30am! I’ve given up on “alone” time in the mornings and instead let him play happily on his play mat while I do my thing.

>Went for his first swim this month.

>Is still just the happiest, calmest baby for the most part.

I:

>Am most definitely making these lactation cookies this weekend (now that I can have them again)! I want to keep nursing Liam for quite awhile longer, so I do want to keep my pumping output up (it’s been dropping over the past month, but picked up again recently – yay).

>Have a lot less anxiety about starting him on solids than I did with Meredith. Now I know that it doesn’t mean he won’t want to nurse anymore, and the two can happily coexist for a long time. Also, I am a lot more confident with cooking and preparing real food for my family now (thank you whole30!) so feeding kiddos doesn’t scare me anymore.

>Need to set up his baptism.

>Am thinking more about setting up a new room for Meredith to move into (so hopefully she will start sleeping in her own bed) and then maybe we could reclaim the crib for Liam. I don’t know. It’s overwhelming!

>Do know that a toy purge needs to happen. I think this should be a thing prior to every birthday and Christmas.

>Have been thinking a lot about productivity systems. I have a lot of little routines and systems and tools that I use, but I would like to put them all together to have something more comprehensive. Eventually I want to try and create my own customized notebook that works in the way I think. I’m researching and planning a lot lately. I love productivity and using time efficiently because as a working mom I have to use my time well in order to be able to rest. I don’t love being busy for the sake of busyness or achievement. I just want to live a full, balanced life.

And for fun…a little video where you can see how ticklish he is. :)

http://youtu.be/Dt9wWTfFRHw

For reference:

0 months
1 month
2 months
3 months
4 months
5 months

Meredith at 6 months

July 17, 2014
whole30 week four // completed!!

Previous updates: week one / week two / week three

I’m here with my last food diary update for the whole30! In this post I’m going to finish detailing what I ate and how I felt day to day, and then next week I’ve got a big recap for you about my thoughts on the entire experience. This is a bit longer than usual because it has nine days to it.

Day 22

Breakfast: three fried eggs, banana/blueberry/coconut flake mix, cold-brew coffee with coconut milk

Lunch: salad with shredded chicken and strawberries with an olive oil + raspberry balsamic dressing, and a fruit medley

Snack: Larabar

Dinner: baked chicken tenders dipped in mustard, a salad with tomato and olive oil + balsamic dressing, and a peach. Omg those chicken tenders were so good I ate six. SIX! But at this point I never overeat. I didn’t feel stuffed afterwards.

I felt: It was a really great day. I loved all my meals and felt awesome.

Day 23

Breakfast: four fried eggs, banana/blueberry/coconut flake mix, cold-brew coffee with coconut milk

Lunch: salad with shredded chicken and strawberries with an olive oil + raspberry balsamic dressing, and a fruit medley (I made a batch of shredded chicken so this is a really easy & yummy lunch right now.)

Snack: dried apricots

Dinner: leftover veggie & chicken stir fry with a scrambled egg added, fruit salad

I felt: I realized that I am just happy all the time right now. I feel great. I am excited about this ending soon, but I am not dissatisfied with the food I am eating currently.

Day 24

Breakfast: three fried eggs, banana/blueberry/coconut flake mix, cold-brew coffee with coconut milk

Lunch: salad with shredded chicken, tomato, and olive oil + balsamic dressing, strawberries, and a peach

Snack: Larabar

Dinner: my father-in-law made us strip steaks. I never liked steak all that much in the past but now I love it. Also had salad and fruit.

I felt: Another awesome day! My kids came to visit me at work and it made me so happy. One hard thing was that there was a birthday celebration at work and since our unit is under construction and we don’t currently have a break room, the food (barbecue and homemade cake) was served in our office and I got to look at it and smell it all afternoon.

Day 25

Breakfast: three fried eggs, banana/blueberry/coconut flake mix, cold-brew coffee with coconut milk

Lunch: salad with shredded chicken and strawberries, olive oil + raspberry balsamic dressing, a peach, and a few grapes

Snack: Larabar

Dinner: the same baked chicken tenders dipped in mustard I made earlier in the week because I am now obsessed with them. Would it be normal to make them every night until I get sick of them? Anyway I also had a salad with strawberries.

I felt: Really good again! These days I am pretty much happy, energized, and inspired all the time. I don’t get headaches like I used to, I don’t feel tired in the afternoon or even wiped out before bed.

Day 26

Breakfast: three fried eggs, banana/strawberry/coconut flake mix (we ran out of blueberries!), cold-brew coffee with coconut milk

Lunch: leftover chicken tenders dipped in mustard, salad with strawberries, banana

Snack: dried fruit

Dinner: my mom made us stuffed burgers (mine had peppers, onions, & pineapple inside) with a big salad on the side

I felt: I was a little bit tired by the end of the night (lately I have been energized all the way until I lie down in bed, but I still go to sleep easily) but otherwise still great!

Day 27

Breakfast: three fried eggs, banana/strawberry/coconut flake mix, cold-brew coffee with coconut milk

~~Lunch~~ Second breakfast: a few hours later Meredith and I wanted more breakfast…so we repeated our entire meal (minus the coffee). So then I didn’t really eat a “lunch.”

Snack: dried fruit

Dinner: I met a friend at a restaurant and got a big veggie salad and had them add egg. I couldn’t even have grilled chicken on it because it was marinated in canola oil (so annoying) and I brought my own dressing from home. Later at home I made cinnamon apples for “dessert.”

I felt: I am still feeling amazing, but mentally I am kinda over this. :) I made out the next week’s grocery list and it was great to add regular bacon, cheese, and yogurt to the list!

Day 28

Breakfast: four fried eggs, banana/strawberry/coconut flake mix, cold-brew coffee with coconut milk

Lunch: a few bites of leftover chicken apple sausage, but I wasn’t into it. So I made a salad with ground beef, paprika, tomato, and olive oil + balsamic dressing and had two clementines.

Snack: none

Dinner: we had our church life group and the meal was nachos, so I had a taco salad instead with a fruit salad for dessert.

I felt: awesome! The end is SO CLOSE and the last weekend is over.

Day 29

Breakfast: three fried eggs, banana/strawberry/coconut flake mix, cold-brew coffee with coconut milk

Lunch: baked chicken tenders dipped in mustard, salad with tomato & olive oil + balsamic vinegar, fruit salad

Snack: nuts

Dinner:

I felt:

Day 30

Breakfast:

Lunch:

Snack:

Dinner:

I felt:

July 16, 2014
the houston project

Image credit

I was recently inspired by my friend Stephany to experience our hometown more fully. This project is fun for me on so many levels. I have already greatly enjoyed researching more about Houston, compiling recommendations, and making this list of goals. Checking them off will be awesome too, as they involve a mix of family adventures and new date night ideas. I plan to post monthly about it with a roundup of all the things we did. But for now, here is my list:

Family Adventures

1. Walk the Memorial Park loop and visit the Houston Arboretum

2. Go to a Sugar Land Skeeters game

3. Visit the Waterwall and Williams Tower observation deck

4. Play at Discovery Green

5. Go to Adickes Sculptorworkx to see the giant presidents’ heads

6. Visit the Health Museum

7. Go to the Katy Train Park

8. Visit the Children’s Museum

9. Go to Oil Ranch

10. Attend a Lakewood Church service

11. Visit the Houston Aquarium

12. Attend storytime at Brazos Bookstore

13. Go to Hermann Park and ride the train and pedal boats

14. Attend a Houston Polo Club match

Date Nights

15. See a new musician or band at the Mucky Duck

16. Check out the Menil Collection and Rothko Chapel

17. Go to the Showboat Drive-in Theatre

18. Live music with dinner at House of Blues

19. Explore Buffalo Bayou: ride bikes, take a boat ride, and see the bats

20. Discovery Green Flea by Night

21. Do a food truck crawl

And Also…

22. Try ten new independent restaurants (1/10) : Torchy’s Tacos

Off we go! Have you ever done a project like this? For some reason, turning it into a challenge even makes the experiences themselves more fun. :)

July 15, 2014