Midwife appointment and Christmas

I had the first appointment with the midwife this afternoon. I can already tell that this is going to be a complete change from the OB care I had with Colin, and I'm so looking forward to it. It was so nice to have a conversation about my plans for delivery and to be treated like an intelligent adult who knows her own body.

I left Colin home with Derek and went to the appointment by myself so after I took advantage of the time alone to get a bit of Christmas shopping done. All that's left is to pop by Old Navy and grab two more gifts and then by Canadian Tire for some outdoor decorating stuff. Everything else is done, including stockings, and about 90% of it has already been wrapped. It looks like I might actually achieve my goal of not setting foot in a mall during the entire month of December.

OMG!

I seriously overestimated how much food we were going to eat last week. Add in a couple of spur of the moment dinners elsewhere (once at my Mom's once at my sister's) and you've got almost a whole week's worth of leftovers and uneaten meals to take care of.


Tuesday
pizza

Wednesday
bbq pork sandwiches, red pepper strips with dip

Thursday
turkey and rice soup with homemade bread

Friday
pork and baked beans, Caesar salad

Saturday
spaghetti, Caesar salad

Sunday
leftover turkey and rice soup with homemade dinner rolls

Monday
western omelets, fruit salad, toast

To see what everyone else is having for dinner this week, go over to Orgjunkie.

In other news, since Derek had the day off today I decided he should spend the day at home with Colin and I headed over to my sister's, sans baby. I think I spend so much time in Babyville that I forget that my niece and nephew aren't babies anymore. Right now, they're upstairs playing in the playroom by themselves. I'm just not used to not having to always be right there with them. It's 6:30 at night and I'm having quiet time. This concept is completely foreign to me, but I like it.

Bagels!

Ever since we discovered Colin's red dye allergy I've become a label reading maniac. I don't think I ever realized just how many foods have artificial colouring in them. Of course, most labels will just say "colour" and won't tell you WHAT colours they used so we've had to take out so many things. The upside to this is that it's got me cooking from scratch again. Tonight it was blueberry bagels.

I use this recipe that I got from the lovely 4Hats. I've made the recipe as is and it's fantastic but this time I decided to substitute 1c. of frozen blueberries for the raisins.

The dough

Letting them rise

Boiling

The finished product

I don't know if it's the lighting in my kitchen or something with my camera, but these pictures don't do justice to the colour of the finished bagels. They are a really rich indigo/violet with dark navy pieces of blueberry throughout. They're not nearly as perfect looking as store bought bagels but they taste amazing and as an added bonus my kitchen now smells like cinnamon and blueberries.

Tackle it Tuesday: The Toybox Edition

One of the things on my fall cleaning list was to clean out and organize the toys. I've been putting it off because, honestly, it seemed kind of pointless. In this house the only time that toys stay nicely put away is if the boy is sleeping. I did need to go through them and start weeding out the ones that were too babyish or missing pieces though, so that is my tackle for today.

Step 1:
Drag all the toys to the middle of the living room.

Step 2: Let the sorting begin!

Blocks, Little People sets, bath toys, books and things with wheels

Big blocks, push toys, random toys, stuffed animals and balls

Step 3:The finished product



One bin has random toys and stuffed animals, the other has blocks, balls and things with wheels.

As I predicted, the toys are once again all over the floor but I'm hoping that now that things have a place it will make end of the day cleanup easier.

To see what everyone else is tackling this week head over to 5 minutes for mom.

The month of laziness has been fun but after seeing how much money we've been spending on takeout and junk lately, it's time to get back to the meal plan. Pork tenderloin was on for $0.97/lb this week so I stocked up. They're about 5lbs each so the plan is to cook one at the beginning of the week and use it for meals for the next 2-3 days after that.

Tuesday
-pork tenderloin, rice, mixed vegetables

Wednesday
-bbq pork sandwiches, brocolli

Thursday
-pork and baked beans, red peppers with dip

Friday
-turkey and rice soup, homemade dinner rolls

Saturday
-pizza

Sunday
-leftover turkey and rice soup, homemade dinner rolls

Monday
-blueberry pancakes, bacon

Lazy, lazy, lazy

That's the only way to describe me these days. I just have no desire to do anything. I haven't worked out in 6 days now, I didn't make a menu plan this week, I haven't even really been grocery shopping yet. I've just been spending my time hanging out with the kids during the day and watching Big Brother at night. It's actually kind of nice, to be honest.

In other news, we are now officially trying for baby #2. We've been flip-flopping on it for the last few months but we're both at a point where were ready to do it. I'm excited. I miss being pregnant. I even miss having a newborn. Colin is a little ball of energy and I love that about him but at the same time I miss my cuddly baby. We've decided to try for a May or June baby, that way if it's another boy all of our clothes will be in season. The only thing I don't want is a winter baby. Our city doesn't seem to beleive in sidewalk plows and I dread the idea of being stuck inside all the time with a newborn and a toddler.

Colin's finally down for a nap so I'm off to shower and get dressed before the other 2 get here.

I miss summer :(

It's not even August yet and it feels like summer is already over and done with. I miss our afternoons on the deck in the sun. I miss going for a walk and not having to worry about whether or not I should bring an umbrella. Come back summer, I wasn't done with you yet :(

Menu Plan Monday

Since Derek will be working afternoons all week, Colin and I are on our own for dinner. On one hand, it's a pain to cook for one adult and a very picky toddler without having enough leftovers for the rest of the week. On the other hand, him not being here means I get to cook all of the things that I love and he hates.

Monday
-meatball subs, brocolli

Tuesday
-whole wheat spaghetti, meatballs(leftover from Monday)

Wednesday
-fried perch, sweet potato fries, peas

Thursday
-meatloaf, potatoes, peas

Friday
-vegetable couscous, pork souvlaki

Saturday
-stromboli

Sunday
-hamburgers, sweet potato fries, salad

Breakfast will be hard boiled eggs, french toast sticks or mini bagels and fruit depending on who is here that day. Snacks will be jello, yogurt, fruit or cheese and crackers.

For more meal plans head over to Orgjunkie.com

The only real problem I have is lunches during the week. All 3 of the kids at are very different stages. Amanda will eat pretty much anything I give her (LOVE that girl) Colin is a lazy eater and still needs everything cut up in tiny pieces or there's choking and Ethan is a super picky eater who absolutely refuses to let you feed him anything. If he can't pick it up himself he wants nothing to do with it.

I can do crescent roll pizza for Amanda and Ethan and reserve some of the chopped veggies for Colin to have with a diced egg, I can do soup for Amanda and Colin and make waffles or pancakes for Ethan. The only thing I can't seem to do is make one meal that satisfies everyone. Anyone have any ideas? I'm stumped.

30 Day Shred-Day 1

As much as I love pilates I've noticed that my 20 minute workout no longer feels like a workout. I have the advanced video but I don't have the 60 uninterrupted minutes I need to do it. So, Mari Windsor consider yourself replaced.

Jillian Michaels scares me. I should probably get that out right now. She scares the ever loving crap out of me. But if anyone is going to be able to whip me into shape it would be her.

This was the hardest 20 minute workout I've ever done. When Jillian says she can cram a full workout into 20 minutes she's not kidding. I don't think I stopped moving at all. It did go by quickly though. I can't find my had weights so I did the movements without weights and I still felt the pull in my arms.

Before pics and measurements were taken, I'm anxious to see what kind of results I can get with this.

Tackle it Tuesday

One of the downsides to using a laptop is my lack of a desk. I've tried to resolve the problem by using a basket as my "office in a box" but it quickly turned into junk and clutter central. After spending 10 minutes digging through it in search of the wipes coupons I need for today I decided to get it sorted once and for all.



The before shot. It's a wonder I could find anything in there.



Sorting through it all. Among other things I found $0.11 in change, half a pack of gum and my cheque book.



The finished product. Office supplies went back in the basket, everything else found a home elsewhere.

To see what everyone else is tackling this Tuesday head over to 5MinutesforMom

Gerber prunes should come with a warning label

Let's just say it's a good thing I'm well stocked in wipes. I knew what they were going to do that's why I bought them, I just never expected it to happen so quickly (15 mins) or to be so....plentiful. Ew.

What better way to start the new blog..

than with a couponing post.

It's such a nice day today and C was getting cranky so I decided to throw him in the stroller and take a walk to Shoppers for baby bonus week.


Here's how we did:


Pampers Cruisers-$13.99-$10.00 P&G coupon=$3.99
Playtex liners-$3.99-$1.00 coupon=$2.99
Pampers wipes- 2@$5.99ea=$11.98-2X$3.00 coupon=$5.98
Herbal Essences 2in1-2@$4.47ea=$8.94-2XFPC=$0
Diet Coke-$1.67
Gerber prunes-$0.69
Cost before coupons-$41.28
Cost after coupons-$15.32 + $2.99 tax (booo)= $18.31

I saved $25.96 oop, which is great. But it's about to get even better. I got 320 regular Optimum points and an extra 3500 points for spending $30 on baby products. On a bonus redemption day those points will be worth $10.18. Also the Pampers have GTG codes in them that are worth $0.88 for Futura and the UPCs can be mailed in for another $1.50 in Futura.

So...
Cost OOP-$18.31
Value of points and rewards-$12.56
Total cost to me-$5.75