So much has happened!
Last week, Liliana took her first step, but like her signs, it has disappeared again. She also has started pointing and saying what sounds like "bayoh," which is of course adorable.
Andrew has been tremendous, keeping up his evening routine and getting dressed for school and sometimes making himself cereal all by himself.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
New Year's Resolutions Should be Revisable
So, my New Year's Resolution has already gone the way of the sad, browned hydrangea on my porch.
Evenings, I have been falling asleep with the baby, sitting up talking to my husband, bustling in the kitchen.. anything but sitting in my comfy chair each night, taking deep breaths, reading poetry, writing in my journal.
Yesterday, my dear son asked me, "Mommy, please do things slowly."
From the moment I'm up, I rush a little. Throwing clothes in the washer. Balancing a stack of dishes and a baby. Fixing a lunch, soaking beans, eating breakfast, wearing the baby, and somehow trying to talk to my son.
So this is my new resolution. To please do things slowly. One at a time. To fill a cup with water and watch it twinkle. To push eggs onto my son's plate and delicately steal one, with a wink. To dance with the baby, even though it's the 47th time we've heard this song this morning. To wipe down the table. To appreciate the beauty of our things, our moments.
To do things slowly so my children will do things slowly.
Edited to add: It occurs to me, maybe this is also a meaning of, "What does it profit a man, if he gains the world and loses his own soul." What does it profit me if I get everything done (or at least look like I'm trying to get it all done), and never actually remember doing it? "The tao does nothing, nothing goes undone."
Evenings, I have been falling asleep with the baby, sitting up talking to my husband, bustling in the kitchen.. anything but sitting in my comfy chair each night, taking deep breaths, reading poetry, writing in my journal.
Yesterday, my dear son asked me, "Mommy, please do things slowly."
From the moment I'm up, I rush a little. Throwing clothes in the washer. Balancing a stack of dishes and a baby. Fixing a lunch, soaking beans, eating breakfast, wearing the baby, and somehow trying to talk to my son.
So this is my new resolution. To please do things slowly. One at a time. To fill a cup with water and watch it twinkle. To push eggs onto my son's plate and delicately steal one, with a wink. To dance with the baby, even though it's the 47th time we've heard this song this morning. To wipe down the table. To appreciate the beauty of our things, our moments.
To do things slowly so my children will do things slowly.
Edited to add: It occurs to me, maybe this is also a meaning of, "What does it profit a man, if he gains the world and loses his own soul." What does it profit me if I get everything done (or at least look like I'm trying to get it all done), and never actually remember doing it? "The tao does nothing, nothing goes undone."
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
So, my friend Lauren (over at the Momnivore) has inspired me to talk a little bit about how I plan meals. Plus, my baby, after a morning of being in my arms and nip-napping for a reeeally long time, has a sudden interest in being away from me. So, while lunch cooks:
For a while, I did the Saving Dinner program, and then for a long time, my own variation of it, which basically is 6 meals, preplanned, with the accompanying ingredients in a shopping list on a one-page document already sorted by group (dairy, produce, dry goods, etc.).
Then, I made a radical decision to do something I've always wanted to do: Go plan-free. Eek!
This was a couple of months ago, and I'm really loving it, even though it means that sometimes my husband comes home and whips up dinner after a long day at work, because I've forgotten to do it. Or because the baby held onto me all day.
The plan-free plan is basically three parts:
1. A repertoire of recipes that we use over and over and love.
2. A full pantry list that gets purchased once a month (I check the pantry, fridge, and freezer to see what we need, then circle it on the list).
3. A weekly plan for our meals that goes like this:
Monday Mexican
Tuesday Veggie Burgers or Patties
Wednesday Quiche or Casserole
Thursday Soup (Salad in the summer)
Friday Stir Fry
Saturday Pizza
Sunday Pasta (or leftovers, but they mostly get eaten for lunch)
The key to making this work was going through all of our recipes, making 6 or 7 categories for them and then dividing them up so that I could serve one kind each day of the week. Then, recording ALL the ingredients in all of the recipes (plus the recipes for things we like for breakfast and lunch and snacks) and putting them all in one document, with some space to add the odd extra need.
It looks like this.
And then I wing it. Like yesterday, which was Mexican night, I decided to try a new recipe, Tex-Mex Pot Pies, which I was going to partially make up and partially copy from a website, but then time ran out. And my husband threw together some delicious bean and cheese quesadillas with corn soup.
Okay, that didn't work out so well. But he swore he didn't mind. And mostly, it works out great, and allows me to save leftovers by using them up at the last minute instead of being locked into a meal plan.
Anyway, it's only one way to do it, and there are many great ways, but that's what works for us. Thanks Lauren for the idea!
For a while, I did the Saving Dinner program, and then for a long time, my own variation of it, which basically is 6 meals, preplanned, with the accompanying ingredients in a shopping list on a one-page document already sorted by group (dairy, produce, dry goods, etc.).
Then, I made a radical decision to do something I've always wanted to do: Go plan-free. Eek!
This was a couple of months ago, and I'm really loving it, even though it means that sometimes my husband comes home and whips up dinner after a long day at work, because I've forgotten to do it. Or because the baby held onto me all day.
The plan-free plan is basically three parts:
1. A repertoire of recipes that we use over and over and love.
2. A full pantry list that gets purchased once a month (I check the pantry, fridge, and freezer to see what we need, then circle it on the list).
3. A weekly plan for our meals that goes like this:
Monday Mexican
Tuesday Veggie Burgers or Patties
Wednesday Quiche or Casserole
Thursday Soup (Salad in the summer)
Friday Stir Fry
Saturday Pizza
Sunday Pasta (or leftovers, but they mostly get eaten for lunch)
The key to making this work was going through all of our recipes, making 6 or 7 categories for them and then dividing them up so that I could serve one kind each day of the week. Then, recording ALL the ingredients in all of the recipes (plus the recipes for things we like for breakfast and lunch and snacks) and putting them all in one document, with some space to add the odd extra need.
It looks like this.
And then I wing it. Like yesterday, which was Mexican night, I decided to try a new recipe, Tex-Mex Pot Pies, which I was going to partially make up and partially copy from a website, but then time ran out. And my husband threw together some delicious bean and cheese quesadillas with corn soup.
Okay, that didn't work out so well. But he swore he didn't mind. And mostly, it works out great, and allows me to save leftovers by using them up at the last minute instead of being locked into a meal plan.
Anyway, it's only one way to do it, and there are many great ways, but that's what works for us. Thanks Lauren for the idea!
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