You are enough

A video popped up on my facebook newsfeed the other morning and it could not have been timed more appropriately. Since having baby # 2 I have been working my butt off (literally) to get back to my pre-baby body. I have done this "gain and lose" game before, once before my wedding and again with my first son, but for some reason it has been even more difficult this third time around. 

Here is some background knowledge for you. I am a fitness and dance instructor, my Mom is a nutrition consultant and was previously a body builder. I have a wealth of knowledge regarding food, eating, healthy lifestyle choices, exercise and so on. But for some reason this excess of 11 pounds lingering after my second baby has been the biggest weight loss battle I have faced. It took me less than 6 months to lose just shy of 20 pounds before my wedding and I kept it off until my first baby. It took me 5 months to the day to lose approximately 30 pounds with my first baby. And here we sit, 6 months post partum with my second baby and I hover around the 1 or 2 pounds left to lose. I have tried it all, eating clean, calorie counting, food journaling, the 80/20 rule, the one cheat day a week approach. I do cardio EVERY day, I weight lift, I take classes, I run. You name it, I do it, but for some reason my body has changed. It started to get to the point of obsession. I would weigh myself before and after meals, first thing in the morning and last thing before bed. I took my scale with me on vacations. My husband and friends made jokes about it but I justified it by saying "seeing the number keeps my eating on track". 

But the truth is, no, it didn't. It kept me obsessed with my weight. Many times when I should have taken a nap or a even just sat and had a coffee I raced downstairs to my home gym and got in an hour workout while my kids slept. I got up 2 hours before my kids so I could get a workout in before they woke up. My weight was consuming my life. Over the weekend I had a complete breakdown and called my mom (moms always know best). I cried to her about how frustrated I was that no matter how hard I worked I wasn't getting to where I wanted to be. I wasn't enjoying food and time with friends and family. I was missing moments with my sweet babies because I was so consumed in a battle with myself regarding food and my weight. It had taken over my life. I have never been one to resort to unhealthy weight loss options but from a mental perspective I was almost at the point of an eating disorder. I decided it was enough. I gave my scale to my husband and told him to hide it. I went through my closet and packed away any clothes that didn't currently fit. But most importantly I told myself, I love you and you look beautiful. Not in a conceited way. In a truthful and loving way. I am enough, and I am more beautiful than I give myself credit for. 

I have stretch marks, and cellulite and varicose veins. But guess what, I also have beautiful eyes, strong and muscular legs and a big heart. I am a mother of two little boys that are still in diapers. I have my whole life to work on my body but for right now I want to work on my mind. I want to be a role model for my children, my dance students, my friends and other mommy's. 

You are enough and you are more beautiful than you think!

Another Picnic Table Redo

Hey, remember back in August of 2012 I got the idea from Pinterest to refurb a children's picnic table?  Well it has been a staple piece of furniture in our home. We seriously use that thing everyday, all day!

As you can see it gets a lot of love. So we decided to make one for my nephew for Christmas! I have had so many ideas about how I would do another one, so I finally got to put those ideas to use! I decided I wanted to make him one that was a children's version of a real picnic table. I used white and red checkered fabric for the table top to resemble a table cloth. I then used a brown "wood grain" fabric for the seats to resemble the wood of a picnic table. The rest we did black as thats the paint we had on hand. I think it turned out great!

Now that I did the project a second time I decided to take note of the fabric measurements I used to help with the original tutorial. So for the table top purchased 1 meter of fabric and had a little left over. I also used 1 meter of fabric for the seats of the table, again with some left over. If you were using the same fabric for both I think you could get away with closer to 1.5 meters of total fabric but that also depends on the size of your table.  For the plastic vinyl covering I used 1.2 meters which also came in a taller measurement meaning I didn't need as much length. Depending how it comes at your fabric store you may need anywhere from 1.2 to 1.5 or even 2 meters to cover your table and bench seats. Idea: measure your table before you head to the fabric sore ;)

For the painting part, if you want a good quality paint job try vinyl automotive paint, sold at NAPA auto parts. It sticks much better to the plastic and doesn't chip off like a spray paint would. We have been generously using our table for over a year now and have not had any paint chip off. You might want to also consider using felt bottoms for the underside of the table depending on the type of surface your table will sit on. We push our table around a lot on our laminate flooring and haven't had any issues but always better to be safe than sorry! 

For this project I found our table on Kijiji for $15 (although Im sure you could find a used table cheaper as my first time doing this I found the table for $10). My fabric cost me $26 and then of course the vinyl paint and staples for the staple gun. All in all its a super cheap project and ends up being very useful with toddlers! 

I hope my nephew loves his table as much as my son loves his!

Halloween Projects

I haven't had time to work on many crafts lately but I did make time over the weekend to create a super cute halloween wreath. I went a bit overboard on the halloween decor last year but the one thing I didn't get was a halloween wreath. So this year I wanted to make one. Much like my Easter wreath I turned to Pinterest for inspiration. I stumbled upon many cute ideas but ultimately chose a yarn, spider wreath to create. I usually just look for an idea and then copy it, and make it up as I go. This particular wreath that I decided to recreate is actually one from an Etsy shop, so to make sure I'm not stealing any ideas and for those who are not into crafting, here is the link to whimsysworkshop, the original creator of this wreath. If you think you might want one and don't want to brave the glue gun and yarn yourself, head on over to their shop on Etsy!

Anyway like I mentioned earlier I didn't follow any blog tutorial for this, I just saw a picture and went for it! First step was supplies. I was in a bit of a rush so I went to Michaels (and for once I remembered a coupon! Go me) but hindsight it would have been much cheaper to hit up Walmart and Dollorama. Sigh, next time.

I obtained the following supplies for my wreath:

A foam wreath (is it foam? It's the stuff that floral people use, it was white)

Varying sizes of styrofoam balls (Depending on the size of wreath you are making you will either need more or less balls)

Black tape (OR black spray paint)

Varying colors and textures of yarn

I already had:

googley eyes

pipe cleaners

glue gun and glue

ribbon for hanging the wreath

You could probably get the balls, googley eyes and pipe cleaner at dollorama and everything else at walmart but again I always think of these things AFTER the fact. 

Next step, prep the wreath. So I decided to tape all the way around the wreath so that it was solid black, you could probably spray paint it instead but that was just my idea. You'll have to let me know how other attempts go! 

Following that you will need to create your spider web. Using yarn I created a star pattern with six pieces of yarn inside the wreath. Start by cutting 6 equal length pieces of yarn. Tie them all together with one single knot. Use that knot as your centre point of your web and tape (or glue) each leg of the web to the back of the wreath. Next cut a substantially long piece of yarn and tie the end of it to the centre of your web. from there continue to attach it to each leg of the web by tying a knot, gradually working your way around the circle. Continue to do this until you reach the outside of the web, AKA the wreath. Tie it and cut off any excess yarn. voila web is done. 

From there its time to yarn your balls (Ha!). I had a friend ask if they came premade. Sadly, no. I yarned each one of those dang things, spiders included. So alternating colours start wrapping those balls with yarn. Start by gluing the end of your yarn to the ball and wrap away until you can see any part of the ball, just yarn! Use a dab of hot glue to finish it off. Once you've covered all your balls you can make a few spiders as well. I used furry black yarn for the spiders, I covered the balls in the yarn and then glued on two googley eyes. To finish off the spiders I cut 6 pipe cleaner legs (your choice of length), stabbed them into the styrofoam balls and bent them into little zig zags.

Before you start adding the balls, cut a piece of ribbon to wrap around the top of the wreath (the top is wherever you choose to make it). Glue the ribbon together so it makes a nice little hook for the wreath to hang from. You can even add a bow for decoration if you want!

Lastly it's glue time! Mix and match the balls and spiders and glue them all around your wreath! As you glue, hold them in place until the glue sets so that your yarn balls don't slide all over the place! 

And thats it! There is your halloween wreath! I have a nice silver wreath hanger that sits over top of the door so that I don't have to wreck my door with a drilled or glued hook. I found that little bad boy at the Dollar store!

Baby Wearing

I want to write a post about a recent love of mine that has had a lot of inquiry from other moms and friends, and that is; Baby wearing. So here goes.

Many moons ago, when I was pregnant with Al, I went online to Babies R Us and created a baby registry for my baby shower. Much like other new moms I had absolutely no clue what I was doing. I picked out things I thought I would need and little things that were cute. Now being a Mom for the second time around I realize what was necessary and what wasn't, but back then it was all new to me! One of the things I registered for was a way to wear baby. This was especially foreign to me but I do remember being interested in wrapping my little babe. I didn't know much about it but was very intrigued and definitely wanted to try. So I registered for a Maman Kangaroo stretchy wrap and a good ol' Baby Bjorn. Something I could try out and something that looked a little easier. I ended up receiving both as gifts (very generous of my family and friends) and started wearing Al right away. I mastered the stretchy wrap in no time and very much enjoyed it. 

As Al approached the weight limit on the stretchy wrap I started to use the Baby Bjorn more but found it relatively uncomfortable and started to use it less and less. It became more of a novelty than anything and was soon stored away in a drawer. Al was happy being worn for the first 6 months of his life for grocery trips and a few other outings here and there but as he became to big for what I had it seemed that we had "outgrown" babywearing. 

With number two on the way I started to revisit the idea of babywearing again and this time had a few really great inspirations to look toward for advice. "Try a woven wrap" they said! So I did, I ordered my first woven wrap. Now I must interject here that I was a bit shocked at the price point of these bad boys. I soon learned why they were so pricey by exploring different internet groups and doing some research. I also found out that these woven wraps held their value very nicely and could be bought and sold second hand! Anyway when I received my first order of fluffy mail (ah babywearing lingo, aka new wrap) and I gave it a try with Al. He wasnt much of a fan since it had been so long since I had worn him. However I realized that this wrap would have been a godsend on all the nights I had been trying to cook dinner and Al wanted "up"! Better late than never I suppose. 

I practiced with my new woven wrap here and there (with stuffies and pillows) until Ashe arrived. He was a big baby and we were able to start wrapping right away. I wore him all the time. It was my ultimate life saver! With two under 2 I was able to get my baby snuggles in while still playing with my toddler. I think it was one of the best investments I have made. 

I have since added to my collection but this time utilizing the babywearing swaps online to buy second hand (and sell some as well). Trips to the park, camping, grocery shopping, you name it, has all been made so much easier thanks to the world of babywearing. As Ashe has gotten older I have dappled in other forms of carriers and we have found our perfect fit with wrap conversion mei tais, basically a mei tai made from a woven wrap. He and I seem to like them best for their ease of getting on and off while still getting the beauty, structure and support of a woven wrap. I have even convinced Al to get in the mei tai a time or two.

I have come to learn that everyone will love something different to carry their baby in but it is the common love of wearing your child close to you while still "functioning" in your daily life that ties us "baby wearers" together. I really hope my big baby boy will continue to love being worn as he grows older as it has been such a bonding experience for us (plus a back saver!). I am by no mean an expert on any of this but I am enjoying learning new ways of wrapping and wearing my babes all the time. Heck I am even learning about things like safety, support & posture and so many other things! But if I can recommend anything to the second time mom it would be this, wear your baby! Whatever you choose to use will be the best for you but I promise you will love the closeness and bonding you get out of it! 

Next mission: convince Dad to wear the babes! (in something other than the bjorn)

Ashe

I'm eating

And bouncing

And rolling

And sitting up assisted.

Just a little update on what our big baby is up to these days

Recipes

Cheese & Ham Buns
2 eggs cooked and cubed
2 cups ham grated or finely cut
2 cups grated cheddar
Mayonnaise
Mustard
Onions finely chopped
celery finely chopped
pepper

Mix all ingredients together and stuff inside buns. Wrap in tinfoil and freeze all buns in large ziplock bag. Day of cooking, thaw and bake in oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Check after 20 minutes, should be melted all the way through.

Beef Lasagna
Lean ground beef
lasagna noodles
taco seasoning
tomato paste
Veggies (carrots, celery, onion, anything you want)
cottage cheese
mozzarella

Fry lean ground beef (and onion if using) at the same time boil 5-7 lasagna noodles. When beef is browned drain meet, mix in taco seasoning, tomato paste and 1/2 cup of water. Stir in veggies and container of cottage cheese.
In pan layer as follows: (bottom to top)

meat
mozza
noodles
mozza
meat
noodles
mozza

Bake at 375 covered for 15-20 minutes
Remove lid and bake additional 10 minutes uncovered

Creamy Chicken Lasagna
Lasagna noodles
4 cups cooked shredded chicken
1 1/2 tsp basil
12 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup chicken broth
3 cups marinara sauce
4 cups shredded mozza
3/4 cups grated parmesan

heat oven to 400. Combine chicken, basil 8 ounces of cream cheese and 1/4 cup of broth

Mix remaining cream cheese and broth in separate bowl

Spread 1/3 cup marinara in bottom of baking dish

then Layer as follows:
lasagna noodles
2/3 cup marinara sauce
1 cup of chicken mixture
3/4 cup mozza
2tbsp parmesan

repeat layers as many times as ingredients allow

Top with last noodles and broth cream cheese mixture and remaining cheeses.
Cover and bake 45 minutes.
Take off lid and broil 5 minutes.

Hamburger Pie
1 lb ground beef
1 1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
3/4 cup bisquick
1 cup grated cheddar
1 chopped tomato

heat oven to 400 F and grease pie plate
Fry beef and onion until browned. Drain and stir in salt and pepper. Spread in pie plate. 
Beat milk, eggs & bisquick until smooth. Pour into pie plate. Baked 25 minutes. 

Top with cheese and tomatoes (put into freezer bag and freeze at this point if doing a freezer meal) bake 5-8 minutes or until knife comes out clean when inserted. 

Turkey Pot Pie
3 cups cooked cup up turkey 
10 oz mushrooms
2 cups cooked sliced carrots
2 cups cooked potatoes
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup cooked chopped onion
3 packs of gravy (2 cups)
chicken bouillon cubes (2)
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp celary salt
Pilsbury Pie Crust

Cook vegetables. Put turkey and mushroom pieces into bottom piece of pie crust. Add cooked veggies

Make gravy as per packet instructions  add bouillon cubes and fully dissolve. Stir onion powder and celery salt in. Pour over meat and veggies lifting with fork to let gravy run through. Dont make gravy too thick. 
Cover pie bottom with pie top. Cut slits in pastry top. 
Bake at 400F for 30 minutes or until heated through and light brown. 



Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
2 cups flour
1 cups sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 bananas
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 F. Combine all ingredients together in large bowl. Grease bottom only of bread pan and pour in batter. Bake 40-50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes

M & M Cookies
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter
1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups m & m's

In small bowl combine flour, baking soda & salt
In large bowl cream together butter and sugars until fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs, beat well.
Sift dry ingredients into creamed mixture and blend well. Lastly add M &M's
Bake 8-10 minutes at 375 F

Granola Bars (Special thanks to Ashley)
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup flour (or sub oat flor)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup liquid honey
1 egg
1/2 cup oil
2 tsp vanilla

Add pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chocolate chips or anything else you like

Mix everything together with hands, add extra honey if ingredients are not sticking together well.
Bake in greased pan at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Cool and cut into bars

Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup peanut butter
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Cream butter and sugars together, beat in eggs, mix in peanut butter.
Stir in flour, baking soda and salt.
Shape into small balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Press with fork
Bake at 375F for 10-12 minutes

Busy Bags

Well what do you know, last week it was pouring rain and this week it is scorching (and I mean scorching) hot! The poor weather last week forced us inside so we decided to work on some "busy bags". As usual I found a ton of inspiration on pinterest and got to work on a few different ideas. We are working on learning colours and numbers the last little while so I decided to base my "busy bags" on those concepts.  

The first busy bag I made was rainbow pompom magnets. There is 1 red magnet 2 orange magnets 3 yellow magnets... Im sure you can finish the sequence. This will allow us to work with colors AND numbers!

The next busy bag is a number match game with ladybugs and leaves. Each ladybug has a number of dots on its back between 1 and 5. Each leaf has the number 1 through 5 written on it. The idea is to count the lady bugs dots and match it with the correct number on the leaf.

We made a few busy bags that contain busy boards, basically felt boards with felt pieces that stick to them.Our  first busy board is a pizza with numerous toppings in varied colors. The next busy board is a fish tank with different underwater animals and plants. 

We added another bag to our collection, this one containing home-made slime. Our nanny made this with Al one day and he just loves it! Great for exploring textures, plus its cheap and homemade.

And along with our slime we made rainbow rice for more color and texture play!

Lastly we made a pompom pipecleaner press to work on fine motor skills. Al loves to push all the pom poms and pipe cleaners into the different sized holes and then dump them all out again. Perfect for the toddler that loves to pack and dump!

We have a few more busy bags to finish up but for now we are enjoying the nice weather outside. I think our busy bags will come in handy for all the trips we are about to be taking too! They are quick and easy and definitely keep Al entertained!

Threading the coloured noodles onto pipe cleaners 

Hide and Seek Bag

Rock Monster eye counting

Bean Sorting

Eat Clean Train Mean

Baby Ashe is 8 weeks old this Thursday and it's time to get back on track. I have 11 pounds of "baby weight" to shed ASAP. In order to do so, priority number one is getting back to clean eating. This includes healthy choices, portion control and food prep.  The next focus is fitness. Back to running, lifting weights and being active! I always love getting back at it. I am getting more sleep now that Ashe is going longer over night so I am ready to get active! 

My new meal plans look like this:

Breakfast

Oatmeal with berries and chia seeds

coffee with sweetener and almond milk

Snack 1

apple, 1 light baby bell cheese, small bag of mixed nuts 

Lunch

2 egg white muffin tin omelettes with turkey bacon, peppers, tomato and cheese, side of cucumber and avocado 

Snack 2

two rice cakes with almond butter

Dinner

chicken stir fry with peppers, zucchini, broccoli, onion, carrots. 

brown rice 

Post Workout

Protein shake with greek yogurt, frozen berries, banana, spinach, flaxseed, unsweetened almond milk, ice, 1 scoop of whey protein.

Some recipes for other healthy snacks

Protein Cookies

1 1/2 – 2 cups of Oats
2 Ripe Bananas
1 cup of All Natural Unsweetened Apple Sauce
1/3 cup of Unsweetened Dried Cranberries
(Or any other kinds of dried fruit.. Raisins, Cranberries, Dates, Goji Berries, etc.) 
2 tsp of Cinnamon2 or 3 Egg Whites
5 tbsp of Protein Powder
1 cup of sweetener 
Step One: In a large bowl, mash up your Bananas – preferably no lumps.
Step Two: Mix in the Apple Sauce. Then add your Egg Whites. Mix well.
Step Three: Add in your Cinnamon, Protein Powder, and Dried Cranberries.
Step Four: Preheat Oven to 350°
Step Five: Spoon mixture onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
Step Six: Bake 12-18 minutes

Banana Chocolate Protein Bars
Ingredients:
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup oat flour
1/3 cup protein powder 
1 T chia seeds (optional)
1 t cinnamon
pinch of sea salt
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
3 egg whites
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 T smooth natural peanut butter (or almond butter)
1/2 T honey
5 drops of liquid stevia (or 1 T more of honey)
1 t vanilla
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F.
In a bowl combine all dry ingredients: oats, oat flour, protein powder, chia seeds, cinnamon, and salt.
In a large bowl combine all wet ingredients: bananas, egg whites, almond milk, peanut butter, honey, liquid stevia, and vanilla.
Slowly pour and stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until everything is well mixed, then gently stir in the carob chips.
Pour the batter into a greased 8 x 5 in. or 8 x 8 in. baking dish.
Bake for 15-20 minutes; remove from oven and cool for 15-20 minutes.
Cut into 8 squares and enjoy.

Family of Four

Well it has been 6 weeks since Ashes arrival and things are going very well. The transition from one to two children was MUCH easier for me than the transition from zero to one. Al has adjusted quite nicely to life as a big brother and we are settling into routine. That's not to say we haven't had our moments. Al being the age he is,  is prone to the odd temper tantrum and that is only amplified by his extreme personality and the big change going on in the house. Like any other stage or phase we've encountered with him, we've handled it with firm limits and boundaries and lots of consistency. Rules are rules are rules. I know a lot of Moms in my immediate social circle are starting to experience the change we have just gone through and there is a lot of anxiety about how the big sibling will handle it all. I didn't get too carried away with prepping Al for it and I only did minimal reading on the topic but I did find a few things helped when it was actually time.

1. I tried to make sure Al got a few minutes of undivided attention from me intermittently through out the day. This is important not only to help with feelings of jealousy but also because of his age. He needs the one on one time. There is a lot of focus on new baby from the family and visitors so it is important that he still gets his focus and attention as well. It can be hard to put baby down and make that time initially but it is very important.

2. Routine. I am a huge advocate of routine so this one was a no brainer for me. Things in his world needed to stay as routine as possible to eliminate the upsets of "change". He is used to things a certain way so keeping them as consistent as possible helps him adjust. This includes boundaries. He definitely tried to push the limits and test new boundaries because of all the change, but staying as consistant with rules, punishments etc helps him to understand that the same behaviour is expected of him as always. 

3. Trying not to blame baby or cause fear or resentment of baby. We did this by allowing Al to show his affection and curiosity towards Ashe. I tried not to hover over him as he gave his brother hugs and kisses or touched his face and so on. There are definitely times where I have to intervene in his "affection" but for the most part I try to allow him to interact with baby as much as possible and not to be scared of getting in trouble or having a parent tell him to leave baby alone. I want him to interact with his brother so a bit of careful but relaxed supervision is key. I am convinced that is why god made Ashe so much bigger, to withstand some of the so called affection from his brother. The other thing is that I try not to blame baby for things, such as "we have to leave now because baby has to eat" or "please be quiet baby is sleeping". I read this causes resentment towards baby so changing your language or not blaming baby helps to develop more of a fondness toward the sibling. Who knows if that is actually true but worth a shot. 

Those were the only big things I tried to remember when dealing with the big change of one child to two. I think every family will have a different experience and every child will react differently but it will and does get easier. Take it a day at a time, and just spend time with the kids. Dont worry about the house and dishes and laundry. Relax and enjoy and soon everyone will be adjusted to the knew dynamic. I hope that helps any mamas about to go through the big family change!

Little Brother

Introducing 

Ashe Monthomery Stein

April 11, 2013

1:20 pm

8 lbs 9 oz

21 inches