Saturday, September 29, 2012

On the Road Again

I know the next lines are "I just can't wait to get on the road again", but I really can't wait to see the end of the road. We're not going to push ourselves, just going to focus on enjoying ourselves, as much as we can anyway.

We've started doing little exercises each time we stop, and we're doing our best to keep eating healthy. We bought some vegan power bars and snacks, and we're using an app called Happy Cow to help us find vegan/vegetarian/vegan-friendly restaurants.

I think Leilani and Natalia are both already going stir-crazy. Natalia is doing this screech thing and Leilani's yelling back "be quiet, Natalia!" Such fun sitting between them, trying to keep them both calm and all. Natalia ate some baby food while sitting in her carseat. We have two jars and I let her choose which one she wanted to eat. She chose apples and blueberries. She then ate about a fifth of the jar (I got the 2nd step stuff), plus gnawed on/slobbered all over a cracker.

At one of our rest stops, Jeremy swung Leilani around and around. I got some really awesome pictures of that. After this trip is over, and I have picture uploading capabilities again I'm going to have several posts of just pictures.

We were going right by my uncle and aunts house, so we called my cousin and swung by to see some of my family. It was awesome getting to see them again after such a long time! Leilani got to play with her cousin for the first time in years, and Jeremy got to meet some of them for the first time, too. It made me so happy to get to catch up! We got some incredibly adorable pictures of Leilani and Klaira.

Friday, September 28, 2012

Animal Rescuer

Leilani definitely wants to be an anima rescuer. We got smoothies this morning and the place had vegan cookies, which excited Leilani because it meant no animals had been hurt. She wants to find a place when we move to help rescue animals, so between hopefully doing gymnastics, swimming and maybe Girl Scouts, she's going to be one bay girl!

We tried a vegetarian restaurant that is vegan-friendly. Leilani got a pizza and Jeremy and I got this absolutely delicious sandwich. Natalia got a taste of the chipotle aioli, at first she absolutely LOVED it! Then, all of a sudden, the heat hit. I felt awful she got a taste and it burned. I quickly latched her on and gave her some milk. That helped, and so did the apple cider. She really really loved that! Leilani was excited because they had lots of vegan sweets. We all got a dessert. Yumminess!

We're taking off fairly early tomorrow, so I'm not sure how much blogging I'll be able to do. But I'll definitely try to keep track of everything. I'm taking pictures as we go, but not having a computer I can't get them up on the blog. As soon as I can, I'll have a few posts of just pictures.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

In a Holding Pattern

Today we finished cleaning the apartment, got the rest of our stuff and went back to the hotel. The girls and I hung out there while Jeremy ran up to work to take care of some stuff. All I can say is, thank goodness for cable and personal DVD players. For dinner we tried out an Indian restaurant. There's this awesome app called Happy Cow that tells you what vegan/vegetarian restaurants are in the area, and that's how we found it. Before this, I'd never had Indian cuisine before. And, I was the only one who loved it. I mean, I've had curry before, but authentic Indian cuisine, no. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it very often, since Leilani and Jeremy weren't too crazy about it. Natalia was mad because I wouldn't let her have too much, she did get a taste and loved it, but her face went kind of red from the heat. But, boy was she mad when I wouldn't give her anymore!

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Packing Day

Today the movers came out to start packing. The way they worked can be described in one word: fast! Leilani didn't stop talking to them, she was quite excited to have a brand new, semi captive audience. I can't believe the amount they got done, and I must say, it was so nice not having to do it all myself. We will be living off pbjs for the rest of the week, but there are worse things to live off.

Leilani played on the iPad, watched Dora, stared at the now-packed sucker fish and ran around. She thoroughly enjoyed herself. Natalia, on the other hand, didn't seem too crazy about it all. She seemed rather bored, being stuck all in one area with unvarying scenery. Besides all the noise. The tape was awfully loud and screechy.


School's on hold for the foreseeable future. I just don't see how we're to get any done with all the chaos and craziness. Hopefully we'll find a house quickly! And hopefully the trips not too long. Leilani's new game is burrowing through the boxes in the small tunnels only she can find. Hopefully that'll make up for the fact that all her toys are packed. We'll see.


That was on Monday, today, Wednesday, they're packing the truck. We spent yesterday and this morning cleaning. After everything's out of here, we're going to clean the carpets and finish everything up, and go stay in a hotel. Jeremy found both the personal DVD players, so the girls spent the morning on the couch (while it remained) watching their DVDs. The whole thing was quite surreal. Leilani had a few moments where she was just a bit frantic, like when they were taking out her horses and kitchen, but otherwise she was fantastic. Natalia had her own moment - a huge poo all up her back. By ten she was in her second outfit of the day. She also tried bananas, peaches and raspberries this morning. She ate more of that than anything to date, I can't decide if that's because she loved it, or because she just really wanted to eat. This little girl loves having "big people" type foods. She also enjoyed snuggling in to me and watching the movers carrying boxes and walking back and forth. Leilani seemed to prefer trying to figure out how to do the scallywag Backyardigans style.


Once again, I must say, it was nice not having to do any of the moving ourselves, and just watch the boxes disappear. It's also quite strange, our hour being empty of everything. We plan on taking off in the next couple of days. It's been quite an eventful and fun year here. I'm looking forward to what the next year in a new city brings!

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Last Sunday in Ohio

Today is our last Sunday here. Tomorrow the movers will be coming out to start packing all our stuff. In the interest of having less stuff to move, I used up almost the last foodstuffs in the cupboard. I made a quinoa pilaf with vegetables I had in the fridge, added in some basil and oregano, and it turned out surprisingly yummy.

We all slept in some today, and Leilani played most of the day. Yesterday she lost her movie privileges because of throwing a fit, then arguing. Basically, the moment really sucked for all parties involved. But I stuck to my guns, and she seems so much happier. I usually relent after a while, which is definitely not good. See, she usually watches movies in the morning, since Natalia sleeps in, but because of what went down last night, I told her she couldn't. And this morning, I didn't let her. I put the movies up, and told her she would need to play quietly, which she did. So, I'm patting myself on the back here *grin*. She did wind up with a slight fever this afternoon, so I heated up some vegetable broth and put on Dora. Since she still wants to go to Awanas I told her she needed to sit still and drink up the broth, and I figured the best way to get her to be still was with a movie. It seemed to work. She actually sat on the couch and drank the broth. And I think it helped.

We read lots of books. All six books Leilani got yesterday, plus two of Natalia's books. I'm glad both girls like me reading to them and enjoy books so much. We also went over verses for tonight. Tonight's "parent night" at Awana. I told Leilani and she said "but I don't need you there, I'm not a Cubby any more." I love that she's growing up, but it still sometimes makes me kind of sad. The good kind of sad.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Computer...

Remember how earlier in the week Leilani spilled water on my laptop and Jeremy fixed it? Well, last night, my computer had the dreaded blue screen of death. So I no longer have a computer. It's still under warranty, but since we're inthe process of moving and don't have an address yet, we can't send it in to get it fixed. Do you know how hardit is to type on an iPad? So my posts may not be as long for a while. Also, there probably won't be very many pictures. But I'll still be posting and keeping everybody in the loop.

Today we celebrated my birthday, at least a bit more than yesterday.  W Ernest to one of the only vegan cafes in the area, The Flaming Ice Cube.  It was alright, nothing to write home about. Pretty much just stuff I make all the time, anyway.  It was fun to get out, though, and not have to cook or clean or anything. From there we went to my favorite place.....the bookstore.  I really didn't plan on buying too much, if anything at all.  But I saw a book on herbal remedies on clearance, and really, who could resist?  Leilani got a set of books, and I got Natalia The Very Grouchy Ladybug, one of the only Eric Carle books we don't own.  I got a couple books to help me with writing, since I really do want to do that.  Write, that is.  And it's perfect timing, since y computer is dead.  I'm going to have to actually focus on completing the books and learning.   I'm really excited about it.  

Tomorrow promises to be more cleaning, getting our cars ready for a long trip across country.  It's also going to be our last night at awanas here.  I can't believe we're this close to moving.  This next week is going to fly!

Friday, September 21, 2012

My Birthday

Last night wasn’t too great. Leilani didn’t sleep much, instead, she played. And kept us awake. But you can’t force a kid to sleep, and she’d stop when we told her to be still and cut it out. But then, as soon as we were basically asleep, she’d start back up again. At least, that’s how it felt. I don’t think it was quite that bad, although we’re all tired and cranky because of it.

Today we only had to do math for school. We managed to get all the rest of the week’s school done by Wednesday, since I knew the movers were coming out yesterday and had no idea about the rest of the week. Fortunately, that’s all we had to do today! And I do mean fortunately. Leilani has been incredibly whiney and cry-ey because of being so tired. All she’s doing is crying, arguing, whining and complaining. Oh, and naturally, the exact opposite of what she’s told. It was a long morning. Argh. So we just plowed on and tried to figure it out as went.

I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to parent. There are a few things I know absolutely – 1) I refuse to spank. I was spanked as a child and the only thing it taught me was to be sneakier so I didn’t get caught. Oh, and how to hide incredible rage, because that’s how it made me feel. 2) Spankings don’t work, because before I started thinking, I thought it was the only way to discipline. All it did was make her furious and sneaky. Clearly not a good situation. 3) I know there are better ways out there, the question is, what are they, really? I don’t want a child who’s running wild and crazy, but there’s a lot to undo from the past. What with having spanked, major upheavals in her life and all. I keep reminding myself “progress, not perfection”, but sometimes it doesn’t feel like enough. I have all these expectations I need to get rid of. Having a perfectly behaved child. First time obedience (which I no longer agree with anyway). There are a lot. I suppose I need to sit down, figure them out, figure out why they seem so important, and decide what really is important. This is a good first step, though. Seeing some of my expectations. I think they’re from growing up the way I did. Every child was supposed to be a certain way, and how the child acted was a direct reflection on the parents. Only I don’t think that’s the way it should work. I think, in a lot of circles, it’s forgotten that children are people, too. They have complex emotions, just like adults, and less tools and experience to know how to deal with them. That, I think, is the major responsibility of parents. Not making them obedient, per se, but teaching them how to deal with emotions and life in general. Oh, and about earlier? I treated her with respect and love, and things got better. So I do have proof it works. I just sometimes lack the patience to let it work out long term and start looking for a short term “fix”.

We made some chocolate cupcakes for my birthday cake. Vegan, of course. And almond butter icing to top them off.
And those truffles I made yesterday? Didn’t even last the night. Actually, they didn’t even get fully hardened before Jeremy and I ate them all. They were healthy, though, right? Almonds, dates, soy milk, cocoa powder (organic fair trade, no less), and raw agave nectar. The cupcakes don’t have anything healthy going for them, only deliciousness. I also decided to make pumpkin soup for dinner. Super, duper delicious!
All the votes are in; the soup was great – even Natalia couldn’t get enough!

She had just had sweet potato not that long before the soup was done, but pretty much insisted on having some of mine, then on having more and more and more. I use two spoons to feed her, that way she has one and I can feed her with the other, but I do have to put some of the food on her spoon, which makes quite a mess, but she loves it. (How’s that for a run-on sentence?) Leilani even liked the cilantro on hers, so I must be doing something right :). I’m so glad my girls like spices, seasonings, and complex flavors.

Leilani made me some pictures for my birthday.
(a mermaid) She really is such a sweetie, and so cute to boot.

She’s been watching Diego a lot lately and has decided she wants to be an animal rescuer. I told her being vegan is like being an animal rescuer, because since we don’t eat animals or animal products, we’re helping save animals’ lives. Animals don’t have to be killed to feed us, and baby cows aren’t being separated from their mommy cows to give us milk. I explained (in five year old terms) that lots of animals are raised to be killed because people like to eat meat, and that since we don’t, that means fewer animals being killed. She declared that she will not ever eat animals and we’ll drink “regular not-cow milk” to help the baby cows. She also said “I don’t ever eat animals or animal products! I never do that!” So, she’s a five year old animal rescuer.

I don't think Natalia had any idea what to do with this, but she's always wanting to drink out of our cups, so I thought she'd like having her own

Tonight, when the girls took their bath together, Natalia didn’t have to use her bath seat! She sat up in the tub all by herself. It is a bit more difficult to sit up in the fluidity that is water, so she was a bit wobbly, but definitely liked not having to use the seat. She couldn’t stop grinning. Leilani loved having Natalia in the actual bath tub, too, because they could sort of play together. I just love my girls, they’re so sweet, cute, cuddly, smiley and precious. I may be biased, but I have the best girls in the world :).

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Getting Ready to Move

We spent the morning getting things ready for the movers to come give an estimate. I say we, but it really was mostly Jeremy. Natalia is very clingy so I wound up sitting with her and helping out where I could. Leilani clomped around in her shoes, tried climbing Jeremy, played and got in the way. As Jeremy was cleaning and Leilani was chasing him, I overheard this conversation: Leilani "I'm trying to do something I've never done before" Jeremy responded with "what? clean?"

The company will be packing us up Monday and Tuesday, and putting everything in the truck on Tuesday. Then we'll clean and leave, too. So we'll probably be on the road by Thursday or Friday. It's been dragging for so long, and now we're going at rocket speed.

I made some vegan truffles. Tomorrow being my birthday, I want something sweet (we are going to make chocolate cupcakes with almond butter icing tomorrow). Lemme tell ya, those truffles are amazing. I licked the spoon. And kept licking. Just take 1 cup of raw almonds, 3/4 dates, 1/3 c soy milk and blend on high. Take it out, add in 1 tablespoon cocoa powder and 2 tablespoons raw agave nectar and mix. Spoon out and freeze. And make sure you lick the spoon!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

An Independent Sitter

It's official, Natalia is an independent sitter. She sat for half of Leilani's math lesson yesterday, all of her bath last night, and really, most of yesterday and today. Natalia also loves her Guess How Much I Love You book. More eating it than reading it, but still, it's a good sign, right? She still has apparently no desire to roll over, but that could have something to do with the fact she's so chubby. I think she's too fat to roll over. Not that it's gonna stop her from being mobile. Oh, no. She's trying to crawl. Not doing such a hot job, but still trying.

The movers are coming out on Thursday to look at everything and see how many boxes they'll need. We still don't have an actual move date, but this is a good thing. It means it's actually getting closer. It also means I need to gather up everything I don't want them to pack and put it in a safe corner. Which means lots of work, and with a baby who won't let me put her down, that's nearly impossible. Fortunately, Jeremy's a much better cleaner/packer/organizer than I, and he's probably going to stay home Thursday to take care of all that and talk to the movers.

Leilani has decided she simply must have a certain Dora DVD, so she’s going to have to pay for it. She has quite a bit of money in her piggy bank, and she’s going to start earning money for doing chores. This little girl has expensive habits and no concept of money. It should be a fun journey. She got her school done fairly quickly in order to go to the store, too. Math took her the longest, it always does. I don’t think she’s very fond of it, so she dawdles the whole time. Any tips on getting her to just buckle down and do it?
(yes, I know this is a picture of her doing phonics) Personally, I think Natalia likes Leilani’s school books more than she does.


We went to Target (have I mentioned how much I love Target? So much better than WalMart). Anyway, we went to Target to get the movie, and I got sucked down the costume aisle. Natalia is going to be a unicorn, Leilani is going to be a mermaid, and I’m going to be a witch. Notice anything? Yeah, my family has a teensy weensy obsession with fantasy. I also got a few things we actually needed, like diapers, wipes, baby spoons and “fresh food feeders” so Natalia can eat bananas or whatever and feel like a big girl. I’ve been looking for them for months, I literally squealed when I found them. I also got Natalia some rice rusks, apparently they’re a traditional Chinese first food thing, and I’ve been looking for something non-GMO and organic and vegan to give Natalia to hold and eat. They dissolve very easily, too. So no worries on that score.
She really seemed to enjoy them! She’s wanted to eat big people food for a long time, like since 3 weeks old she’s been trying to grab my food. I’m so glad I found stuff today to help keep her happy and me sane.

As soon as we got home, Leilani had to put on her costume.
Cute, no? After Natalia woke, I put her in hers.

She wouldn’t stop grinning.

I’m using up food we have; today, I got rid of the rest of our couscous. I made pesto with spinach, tossed it with the couscous, and waalaa, cheap meal. Tomorrow we’re going to have spaghetti. I really have barely any food left. It’s an incredibly odd feeling, since I’m used to having so much in my cupboard.

Natalia’s going to be eating sweet potatoes for a while. I opened a jar today and froze most of it. I’m tired of throwing away over half a jar at a time. Fortunately, she really seemed to enjoy the sweet potatoes.
She finished off her “big people eating” eating with a slice of apple in her fresh food feeder.
Quite a food day for this little girl!


Oh, and the reason there are more pictures of Natalia than Leilani is because Natalia can't run away from the camera.

UPDATE: after reading the warning about arsenic in rice, I tossed the rice treats I got her. What a day to be without internet, right?

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

100th Post


Well, todays my 100th post here. I wanted to do something amazing and awesome for it, butt couldn’t think of anything particularly flashy, so I’m going to go through 100 highlights from my posts. Yesterday involved some drama, Leilani spilled a cup of water on me, Natalia, the floor and the computer. I didn't have any computer for the second half of the day. Fortunately, my hubby managed to fix it and I still have a computer!

Here's my list:

1. Natalia was born, a nice, healthy, eight and a half pounds.

2. I had a lovely home water birth

3. Leilani got to help catch Natalia

4. We went vegan

5. Princess “Camp” and all the crafts we did with it

6. The girls dressed up as mermaids during “camp”

7. I started cross-stitching Natalia’s birth record

8. We got to watch the helos land downtown for Marine Week

9. We stayed in a nice hotel for Marine Week

10. Because of my hubby’s position for Marine Week, we got to do all kinds of cool things – go out on the tarmac, go on the baseball field, drive places instead of having to walk there, and see the airshow from the air conditioned vehicle

11. Leilani enjoyed climbing through all the big equipment at Marine Week

12. Leilani got to play with some Marine bomb-sniffing dogs and met a police dog

13. The wreath laying ceremony at the Traveling Vietnam Wall, it was incredibly moving

14. All the new, fun foods we’ve been trying since becoming vegan

15. The fact I can go through and remember all the things I’ve been thankful for over the past months

16. That I have a record of a lot of the funny things Leilani has said

17. Seeing the fun we had on our stay-cation – Leilani loved the lake waterpark

18. Having the memories written down by the pictures, so they’re not just pictures and I don’t have to wonder what was going on there

19. We went through the submarine downtown, Natalia slept the whole time while in the Moby

20. Getting to visit Grandma Olalah.

21. The goofy rhymes Jeremy told his grandma

22. Showing off my vast book collection

23. Making dresses for Leilani and me

24. Making barefoot sandals for Natalia

25. Leilani playing in the rain and gathering flowers for us all

26. Watching Leilani at the parade on the 4th of July

27. Watching Leilani and Natalia both enjoy the fireworks that night

28. Leilani and Natalia cuddling, always super cute

29. Sharing some favorite movies with Leilani

30. Natalia starting to seriously suck her thumb.

31. Watching Food Inc

32. VBS and watching Leilani become more independent

33. Skyping with family

34. Getting loads of new diaper covers

35. Getting to take walks during VBS

36. Natalia liking her swing

37. Leilani learning so much on starfall

38. Natalia playing on her playmat

39. A Day in Pictures

40. Reviewing some thoughts from my previous blog and realizing how much I still don’t know

41. Doing loads of school with Leilani while she enjoyed it

42. Arts and Crafts with my girls

43. Making Leilanis’ sensory jar

44. Playing with my girls

45. Co-sleeping with them

46. Picking all the flowers before going to Florida

47. Dad helping us drive down to Florida

48. Getting to Florida and seeing all the family

49. Meeting cousin L for the first time

50. Watching the cousins all play together

51. Leilani learning to swim

52. Getting to spend the day with Uncle Jeff and family before he deployed

53. Natalia getting to meet Grammy Mandy

54. Cousin cuddles

55. Getting to dress all the girl cousins in matching outfits

56. Photo shoot with some of the cousins in shirts our cousin gave them

57. Sophie guest blogging

58. The cousins getting to bathe together

59. Introducing Gracie to some of Leilani’s favorite movies

60. Natalia got to try her cousins’ bassinet and Jenny Jump-up

61. Exploring new vegan foods with Sophie

62. All the baby cousins getting held by their aunties and uncles and PawPaw

63. Trying to do a Shrek marathon

64. Makin vegan Oreo truffles

65. Playing on the beach

66. Natalia’s beach blow-out…got me, the moby, and my swim suit

67. Accidentally eating some of a different blow-out. Definitely memorable

68. Leilani and Natalia watching movies together

69. Making myself use up all the food stuffs I already have so as to not waste
money

70. Being able to share my heart

71. The realtor’s visit – ugh

72. Going down to Columbus to see Uncle Dorr and family

73. Officially starting school

74. The new curriculum finally arriving

75. Natalia starting to grab everything

76. Walking and exploring

77. Finding things to help with PPD

78. Randomness

79. Leilani learning to type her name

80. Getting to read lots to both girls

81. Making cloud dough

82. Getting to dress Natalia in Leilani’s baby clothes

83. Natalia’s sensory play

84. The Yummiest Art Lesson

85. Natalia eating real foods

86. Experimenting with our school – one benefit of homeschooling

87. Leilani “reading” to Natalia

88. Finding my lesson plan book

89. Getting new running shoes and a new diaper bag

90. Going for a jog on Labor Day and Natalia loving it

91. Trying to teach Leilani to ride a bike

92. Finding out Natalia loves avocados

93. Getting to document funny things, like in this post

94. Leilani is a Sparky!

95. Using Leilani’s floppy seat for Natalia

96. Leilani writing her name by herself

97. Getting to see how much we’ve all grown

98. Leilani making a bread sculpture

99. Orders being finalized! We're heading west.

100. Getting better from our head colds - hurray for orange juice and pinterest (I found and made "vicks" diy shower discs, and they worked great!)

Sunday, September 16, 2012

All Better

Orange juice and vicks diy shower discs are miracle workers. We're all so much better today! Well, Natalia's still fussy, but I think she's tired from the past few days, and she woke up earlier than usual this morning.

I can't believe how cold it was this morning, not even 50 degrees. I think, maybe, fall is here. At least, I hope so. And the city to which we're moving is much farther north, and incredibly rainy. Good thing I like rain :).

Today, Leilani, Natalia and I ran to the store and actually BOUGHT some Dora/Diego movies. I really do like hearing Leilani yell the Spanish from the shows. It's incredibly cute, plus, she's actually learning the language! Leilani also got some new boots, shiny and black. After she saw Natalia wearing hers, she just had to have some. Actually, she's always had some, except for the past few months. She outgrew her last pair and I just couldn't find any that fit the cute/good price bill. Target's great for that, though. Natalia got something too - a new book. I've already read it to her numerous times - Guess How Much I Love You.

The grocery store here now carries vegan, gluten-free frozen pizza! So guess what we had for dinner? Yep, pizza. I have to say, I love the convenience of the frozen pizza, plus I don't have to feel so bad about it, since it's natural and organic.

Tonight is Leilani's second night at Sparkies. It's also one of our last nights at this club, since we'll be moving really soon. Jeremy's been working on getting all the move stuff lined up today, and we should be moving in the next week. And, thank goodness, it won't be a DITY...that would be horrible, with two little girls, we'd have to stop basically every hour. Hopefully we'll know more tomorrow.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Daddy's Almost Home!

Last night, Leilani got to stay up late, watch Finding Nemo, eat ice cream and hang out. It was loads of fun. After she went to bed (Natalia wasn't sleeping) I watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Would you believe I'd never seen it before? I must say, it's definitely unique. I've been puzzling my head over how, exactly, to describe it. I think "unique" is probably the best word.

Last night, sleeping was a bit better than the night before. We’ve all been really congested, so yesterday I made vicks diy shower discs.
They take 12-18 hours to harden, but I didn’t want to wait that long to see if we could reap the benefits of them, so I took one of my Scentsy plug-in warmers, put one of the discs in there, and used it last night. I think it helped, because Leilani and Natalia slept much more soundly than the night before. As a matter of fact, Natalia only woke to eat at 5:30. I slept straight through, too, so we’re all feeling much better this morning. The disc dried up completely while in the warmer, so I took it out, dropped it in the shower, turned the water to super-hot and Natalia and I sat in there to unclog our noses. It really worked fantastically. We just kept doing that off and on throughout the day, and hopefully we’ll all be better soon! Ireally should get to the store to get some orange juice, but we all feel icky so we're watchind Dora and Diego and eatingg popcorn. At least we're resting!

Jeremy gets back this evening. While he was there this time, he looked around at different places for us to live when we move. I’m so excited, it’s such a beautiful place, mountains, ocean, lots of hiking, and plenty of vegan places. Yep, we’re going to the west coast! More than that, I can’t really say yet…so keep tuned in to find out exactly which city we’ll be in.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Art Day

Friday is art day. Today Leilanimade an edible bread sculpture. I think she's a bit excited for winter, because she made a snowman. Sort of. I had to help her make the circles, and then she put raisins all over it. I think it's supposed to have eyes and a mouth and buttons, but I'm kind of guessing. Anyway, she had fun and got to be creative and play with her food. Win all the way around.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

A Much Better Day

Thank goodness Leilanidecided to rent Dora yesterday! She watched it this morning while Natalia and I slept in a bit. Just enough for us to all get a good start to the day. We finished the first Molly book - Meet Molly, which I read to her while she ate her breakfast. Natalia was incredily uninterested and watched Baby Einstein instead.

Phonics went amazingly smoothly, math not so much. She keeps making her 6's and 7's backwards, so I need to find a writing program that will help with that. For bible we're working on memorizing John 3:16 for Sparkies. They've broken it up into sections which I almost think makes it harder. However, she's doing a fantastic job with it. History and science were just reading and oral answers, which were nice and easy. Leilani can now play an "a" and a "b" on her flutophone. I decided on the flutophone for music because it's small and portable, and she and I didn't seem to really be "getting" piano together. I think I need to find an actual piano teacher for her.

Natalia is definitely sitting up by herself for short periods of time. Of course, when I praise her and tell her how fantastic she's doing, she gets all excited and goes a bit rigid and falls over, with the biggest grin on her face and her eyes all alight with happiness. It's funny and adorable, all at the same time.

On our drive to take the movies back to Blockbuster, I was enjoying the drive, fresh air, greenery, new colors on the trees and sort of lost track of where I was. I passed our turn by a huge margin. But it really was a beautiful drive, so instead of getting upset, I just looked at the beauty all around us and Leilani and I tried to see who could see leaves turning first.

So, really, today was a much better day. It's amazing how much sleep helps!

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Break with a Banshee

Leilani has taken to screeching loudly lately. She's woken Natalia several times over the past 24 hours....and I just don't know what to do. I'm going to try taking away movies if she does it again and see if that helps Hopefully it will. It's not that I don't want her to have emotions - those are good - I just need her to learn a bit more control over them. And to understand that mommy can't do everything Leilani wants just when Leilani wants it. Tough lessons, for both of us - her to learn, me to teach. Also, the name of my post is a bit of a geeky reference, just seemed to fit today, what with the screeching an all :).

School went terribly. She wants to take breaks every five minutes (really, I'm only exaggerating a teeny bit). If we were moved and settled into a new place, I'd be school hunting. But not knowing when we're moving and all those pesky little details, makes it rather hard. It also adds stress to both of us. I know it's really getting to me. Fortunately, after we're done with school things generally get better. We returned our movies to Blockbuster and Leilani got something besides Puss in Boots (huge sigh of relief here,I'm rather tired of that movie lol). At least Dora teaches Spanish. Today, Leilani said hello in Spanish, and Mandarin. And a whole lot of other Spanish words I've been trying to teach her and she's not been too keen on.

Natalia finally fell asleep, so I was going to lay down and nap with her after I went to the bathroom. Naturally, as soon as I set her down, she woke up. Grrrrr. No nap for this mama. And not much of one for the baby, either :(.

Anyway, the best thing about today is that it's nearly over. Thank goodness.



Monday, September 10, 2012

It Turned Into a Good Day After All

Last night was rough. Leilani had some nightmares that sounded like they involved the iPad - she kept yelling "don't take the iPad from me!" and other unintelligible things. She didn't remember any of it upon waking, though. And when she was sleeping soundly, Natalia decided to cry. It was an insanely long night and I got up knowing today was gonna suck. But it got better.

Leilani did her school very quickly today - she wanted to go rent Puss in Boots again. We reviewed the short vowel sounds and practiced writing a, e, i, o, and u. She has the e, i, o and u down, just struggles with the a. Oh, she also wrote her name last night at Awana on her paper....all by herself!
Natalia and I were in the nursery pretty much the whole night.
We'll be working on memorizing John 3:16 this week. I really don't think she's going to have any trouble.

We went to Kmart (mainly because it was closer to home and more on the way to Blockbuster). Natalia sat up in the cart, I used the floppy seat I had for Leilani. Natalia thoroughly enjoyed it. Well, for a while, anyway. It was a good thing I brought the moby in with us.

We did get some oreos while at Kmart - we did a phases of the moon thing I found on Pinterest. Leilani enjoyed it, mostly because it was edible. And it at least introduced her to the phases.

Natalia and I took a nice two hour nap while Leilani watched Puss in Boots, again. She also decided to clean the floor for me. That involved lots of water and not much planning. I thought the gesture was sweet, however, and thanked her for it. Really, just a quick swipe of the towel, and the floor was dry and, I must say, cleaner *grin*. So, really, it was a good day, after all.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Sunday

It's been a few days since I last posted. We've been pretty busy, though :). On Friday we did our art lesson. Leilani did a pretty fantastic job if I do say so myself.
Her fox - she decided he was angry because someone was stealing his food.

After that, we ran to the grocery store (we go through milk like crazy) and got The Lorax. I absolutely LOVED that movie!
Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, It's not going to get better. It's not. - Dr. Seuss
A good reminder that this world is the only one we have, and we need to take good care of it or it'll be gone. Unable to support life. Not to mention, it was cute, too :).

Natalia is definitely sitting up on her own for short spaces of time. Her balance is getting pretty amazing. I think she's skipping the whole "rolling over" thing - she has zero interest in that, but is desperate to try to crawl. She gets her arms under her, her head up, and her feet go crazy. She also does the "superman" an awful lot. And, she never stops jabbering - she and Leilani are like two peas in a pod in that respect.

Saturday we went to Blockbuster to get some movies. Leilani got her favorite: Puss in Boots and Jeremy thought she might like Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Boy, was he right! She couldn't stop running around, saying things like "Lucy just went into Narnia!" "Narnia's my favorite place in the world!" and "Aslan is my favorite lion!" So, safe bet that she enjoyed it *grin*. Jeremy and I got a couple movies - J. Edgar - which was rather dry and boring. We wound up stopping it and putting in the movie we got especially for me: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Would you believe this is my first time watching these movies? Well, I thoroughly enjoyed it, except the place where the disc froze, that was aggravating. Oh, and I had a difficult time with R-Patz, mainly because I have trouble seeing him as anything other than a sparkly, vapid vampire. Even though it didn't follow the book exactly, I definitely enjoyed it. After having (finally) read the books a couple times each, it's fun to see them brought to life.

Today we all slept in again. In a strange reversal, Jeremy was up long before Leilani. Natalia slept in until ten for the first time in a long time! I'm going through our food. The other day I used my second to last can of beans and made oodles of seitan...we had pot roast Friday, tacos yesterday and will finish it all off over the next week. Today I made green olive tapenade pasta and used my last can of beans...it made a rather creamy sauce. Jeremy used the vitamix and made basil-lemonade to go with it. Natalia loved the pasta sauce- even with its red pepper flakes! And Leilani drank up her lemonade. I just love when she actually eats/drinks stuff that's good for her. It's not that she's picky, she just doesn't have time for things like food.

Awana starts back up tonight. I can't believe Leilani's a Sparky!

Jeremy's going to be out of town for the next week, so I might not have much internet.

I managed to catch this moment, I thought it was incredibly sweet!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Wednesday

I doused myself with alcohol this morning. Not on purpose, mind, but I don't have a corkscrew so I had to dig the cork out with a knife. Just an FYI, doesn't work so well. Why, you ask, was I opening wine in the AM? For dinner, which I had mostly assembled last night, but I forgot to put in the wine. Slow Beans Bourgingnon. Fortunately, after putting the insert into the crockpot, I re-read the recipe and realized I'd missed it. However, I smell like Merlot, it sprayed all over my face (my glasses protected my eyes, I just couldn't see) and my shirt.

We made a tent on the back porch using sheets and did some school under there. Natalia enjoyed boucing in her bouncy seat and staring at the cloth ceiling inches from her face, while Leilani was upset the sun could still get through and circled all the short Uu's she came across in her phonics. My bum was crying for more cushioning the whole time. I was actually relieved when Natalia got fussy and wanted to eat. I could take us both inside and sit on the nice, soft bed.

Did you know it's nearly impossible to eat spaghetti while holding a wiggling baby and NOT get messy? So in addition to the merlot, I have marinara sauce splashed down my front. We watched 321 Penguins while eating lunch, then followed that up by finishing school. The curriculum we're using has a bible subject, but after starting to read today's lesson, I just couldn't finish it. I mean, child sacrifice is a pretty heavy subject, one I think is way too heavy for a 5 year old! So suffice it to say, we skipped that lesson. Science was much better, we're learning about senses, today was the skin/touch. Leilani squeezed her eyes shut and I placed different objects into her hands. She proceeded to tell me how they felt "like metal" "cold" "like Natalia's nail clippers" (yeah, she peeked on that one).

After a long stretch of quiet, I decided I probably ought to figure out what Leilani was up to. At first glance, it was innocent and sweet - coloring in her new coloring book (a first! I know! It could help that it's an Angry Birds coloring book). Second glance, however, showed me she had an incredibly, strangely, orange colored foot. So much for actually coloring in the book. It looks like her foot has eaten a ton of carrots.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Quick Takes

A quick review of the past week or so

1. Leilani asked Jeremy (more like told, really) to go get her some Salt and Vinegar chips from the store. Jeremy asked her if she was going to give him the money and she said "no, you make the money!"

2. After spending what felt like forever cleaning the highchair, I put Natalia in it only to realize a significant piece is missing, consequently, the tray can't attach. Glad I saved a broken thing for 4 years.

3. My running shoes are fantastic. I jogged/walked for a bit by the river yesterday. Never having run before, I think I did pretty good. Leilani not only didn't get the hang of riding her bike, she preferred Jeremy to push it while she sat on the seat and dangled over the handle bars. I must say, that way sounds pretty darn good to me!

4. Natalia seems to be in love with avocados. She had more yesterday and her face was green after feasting on them. She also enjoys driving me crazy by trying to nurse and suck her thumb simultaneously. Either that or take a quick drink of milk, bounce off and suck her thumb, then back on for milk over and over again.

5. Leilani seems to like having a new play room. Except, as she said "I'd rather have two bedrooms for me". So a whole playroom's not enough, huh?

6. Natalia is aaalllmmmoooossssttttt to the sitting up by herself stage! She actually did sit up by herself last night. She had been sitting on Jeremy's lap while I ran down to get the (not-gonna-work) high chair from the garage, and when I came back up, she was sitting on the floor by herself!

7. Leilani has been trying to do gymnastics on her own this past week. Yesterday she walked up a fallen log with no help, granted it was a bit wider than a balance beam. She got my yoga mat out and was doing somersaults back and forth on it. However, she's convinced she already knows how to do it all so has no need for an instructor.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Randomness





Labor Day

My beautiful 4 month old baby. She's been in the process of discovering her feet for the past couple of days. I think she's getting mad she can't pick them up like she does her toys.

We decided to go down by the river so I could try out my new shoes and we could teach Leilani to ride her bike without training wheels. The shoes are fantastic! Leilani definitely did NOT get the hang of riding her bike! She seemed to prefer playing down by the river.

From there we tried to find a local vegan restaurant, but it was closed. The next nearest one was quite a ways away, so we went to Chipotle instead. While it was good, I was really hoping to find a vegan restaurant. The next city we're moving to is incredibly vegan-friendly though, so there shouldn't be as much trouble finding vegan food - at grocery stores or restaurants!

After eating, we walked over to Trader Joe's (they're practically next door to each other) and got quite a few things, including avocados (Natalia's favorite things in the world besides my milk makers lol) and some soy ice cream.

We finished off the day with some veggie tales and ice cream. Perfect, no?








Sunday, September 2, 2012

Sunday

So I'd like to start off by saying, I have the best husband in the world. He packed more boxes, cleaned the living room, did dishes and cleaned the kitchen in the past couple of days. Actually, he cleans the kitchen a LOT...he's really good at it. He also made me a PBJ while Natalia was napping on me, made Leilani a bunch of bagels while Natalia was napping on me, helped keep Leilani quiet so Natalia could nap and is just generally awesome!

We all slept in until around 10 this morning, so stayed home from church. Natalia and I did run to the store - we seem to go through our soy milk and fruit awfully quickly! While I was there I finally remembered to get the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers to clean the walls....those things are awesome! We'll need to get a few more though, to get the walls spotless for moving out. Ergh. Oh, and I'm finally doing laundry, too. We made the delicious green smoothie from yesterday again, so I probably should've bought more spinach.

Tonight we're gonna watch the new Sherlock Holmes movie. Hopefully I'll get to bed a bit earlier tonight than I did last night!

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Delicious Green Smoothie

Today we did, well, Jeremy did, some getting-ready-for-move-cleaning. We got rid of Leilani’s bed, not the mattress, just the frame. It’s five years old and has become a danger. The spindles were falling off and nearly hit people in the head (Leilani and me). It was kinda sad to see it go, I gave birth to Leilani on that bed, but safety definitely comes first! Now, her mattress is in the master bedroom, so we’ll all be co-sleeping for a while *grin*. Her room is now the play room. I just couldn’t handle stepping on one more Lego or Lincoln Log!

I made a delicious green smoothie this afternoon, the ginger gave it a bit of a kick, and it’s chock full of different colors, which means TONS of nutrients and antioxidants. It was all gone before I could take picture, though *grin* Yummy and good for you! You’ll need a high-powered blender to make it, and put the ingredients in in the order listed. Other than that, enjoy!

Delicious Green Smoothie

2 cups water
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
1 tablespoon ginger paste
2 loose cups spinach
2 apples, quartered (NOT peeled)
1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
1 frozen banana, broken into chunks

Put all ingredients into blender and blend until fully combined. I got two large servings, plus one small one for Leilani, from this.