First Week with Baby

This first week has flown by! Everyday I wanted to blog, but by the time everyone was in bed, I wanted to be there with them! By the middle of the week, the lack of sleep caught up with me. Poor Daniel is the one who had to deal with my sleep deprived hostility. He told me I didn't have postpartum, he said I had the post-hate'ems. Sorry, dear. 

Monique holding her new baby sister. 

One of her first requests right out of bed in the morning.

Monique is wearing one of the first onesies 

Daniel and I bought at  Gap 

when we found out we were expecting Thérèse. 

Crazy that soon our THIRD will be wearing it as well!

We usually spend a lot of time reading, but this week, we have been reading even more than usual since that was one of the only things I could really do with them. We have a giant Dr. Seuss collection book from my cousin, and yeah, we powered through that thing in one day. 

A sweet friend gave me these nursing smocks to wear after I had the baby. I love them! While I wore them, I spent half the time loving them and the other half hating that I didn't have some for my past two home births. They are so comfortable. We just kept washing them so I could rewear them. But by day five of wearing them, Daniel told me I needed to stop pretending I was in a hospital. I hesitated, because I was trying to figure out how to explain to him that I was planning on spending the rest of my life in them. Paired with leggings would make them trendy, right?

Daniel is such a natural with newborns. While I always forget how to treat them or what we are supposed to do with them, he always picks up right where we left off. Amazing. 

First bath or "pleasure bath" as the midwife calls it. Turned out to be shear torture for her. I kept telling Daniel that it's a good thing this isn't our first kid or we would be freaking out, "Oh no! Why is she crying?! Something's wrong! She's dying!" I love not being a first time parent anymore. 

I love how baby lips and cheeks marsh mellow out when sleeping.

We gave the girls "Big Sister" gifts to congratulate them on becoming big sisters. I made them a card that told them how special being a big sister is and some of the new responsibilities it would bring. Thérèse loved it. She wanted me to read that card over and over again throughout the day. 

Notice how I have retired my post-labor nursing smock. Daniel always tells me he prefers me without make-up, never notices when my hair isn't done or cares when I forget to shave. So when the guy asks me to be a little more feminine, I'm not going to complain. Wearing my much loved nursing tank instead. 

Please note the raised eyebrows to keep the sleepy eyes open. 

Dividing the gifts. When they share, I have hope for the whole human race.

Or at least for my sanity. 

I'm super against giving videos as gifts to kids. 

But these Sign Language videos are amazing. 

They say when  kids learn sign language it opens up a whole new area of their brain. 

We dragged our feet with teaching Monique ASL. 

So glad we did though! 

It's nice to communicate with her without fits or tantrums.

They love being able to communicate their needs.

And even though Thérèse can talk, she still loves the videos.

I also made them a felt board.

I had a lot of fun making it. Felt is very forgiving!

It was a lot of fun getting to be crafty and sew again after so many months of homework.

I used a friend's tutorial as a guide.

I added a library, helicopter and a slide that Thérèse says the little girls broke 

because they are too big for it. Proportions may or may not be accurate. 

The girls put up their felt town like it was a 'Wizard of Oz' tornado.

Monique may not aspire to be everything her sister is, but when Thérèse is acting goofy, Monique jumps on that. 

I love this cause the girls can use their imagination.

Nice, quiet gift. 

Already planning my next sewing project!

Jesse and Bullseye. Who else did you think it was? 

Daniel did an art project with the girls.

And they started an art gallery in our hall which I love!

Newborn baby pictures! 

Soak up the youth! 

Took a great nap today and I'm ready to get back to normal life. 

No more of this recovery nonsense.

Anxious to get back in the kitchen and get moving. 

I've already started doing light yoga and swimming,

but yes...still taking it very easy.

I love having my body back and getting to enjoy my new baby! 

It's A Girl!

Athena Rose was born on Sunday at 12:11 p.m.

weighing 8 lb. 11 oz, 20 in long!

We are so happy to have her out and enjoy her!

Thérèse is a natural with her. She's definitely a professional big sister, warm and loving.

Monique was timid at first, but now she won't stop stroking, laughing and talking to her. 

Our new baby girl! 

My dad with his girls.

The happy sisters! 

When Monique first meet her, she wanted to kiss the baby, but she was shy to.

We'd tell her to kiss the baby and she would jump up and down with excitement, but end up shaking her head.

Thérèse waited patiently for her chance to hold the baby.

She was so excited to finally get a chance. 

This was in her p.j's right before bed. Thérèse is so gentle with her. 

We had another home birth, and while I love the home birth experience for so many reasons, I'm so glad labor is over! Saturday was my due date and we lived life like we normally would. We ran a bunch of errands and were exhausted by the end of the day. I started having contractions that evening but I really wanted to have a good night sleep. All night I had contractions ten minutes and later six minutes apart.  I'd sleep in between them. It was super miserable. I was really surprised the birth went by so fast and how calm I was, but the transition period was the worst I've had in all my deliveries. I have very difficult labors in which I have traditional contractions with back labor and terrible leg pains. The human body can only withstand a certain amount of pain but when a woman is in labor, she surpasses that limit. I certainly felt it during transition and I kept saying, I can't do Ican'tdoitIcan'tdoit. Make it stop. My midwife suggested I go into the shower to help my body relax. I stepped in the shower, immediately shut off the water, got out and let everyone know, "I think I'm crowning!" My midwife wanted me to go into the next room and deliver the baby and started telling her "no" and we had a small argument about that. But once I decided to do it, my body calmed down, much of the pain went away, and after 15 minutes of pushing our baby girl was born! And I said, "It's a girl! I knew it would be!" Daniel and I really wanted a girl! The baby has been nursing non-stop since she was born so I expect my milk to come in at any minute. So with her eating and pooping I didn't sleep much last night either. Today I laid in bed and wondered when I'd sleep all night again and starting plotting for a way to get a full night of sleep. The big question for moms is, Would you want more money or more sleep? Humm...

We love our little family of five. Three girls is so exciting to us. Right now we are teetering between enjoying all our special moments and surviving. I forgot how incredibly special newborns are. So sweet and so tiring! I'll be glad when my body has fully recovered from labor!

Build it, Plant it, Grow it, Pick it, Eat it

I love having a garden. 

Nothing compares to fresh picked produce from the ground to the plate.

I spent the first several months in our new home

complaining I didn't have a fresh basil plant.

When the time was right, Daniel made us this great garden

I wanted to share with you.

First of all, how adorable is this girl?

Sporting an outfit we found for her at a San Francisco second hand store

and a mean jean jacket that was passed down from her sister. 

We had a new fencing put in. Daniel recycled the old fence to build our garden!

We have become super green lately.

Actually, we can't decide if we are green, or just cheap.

The two walk a fine line. 

Either way, win win! 

Cynthia, an old friend of Daniel's, found out we needed dirt. 

Since they were landscaping their yard, they had lots of extra dirt laying around

and were nice enough to share it with us.

You can check out Cynthia's super cute blog here.

Here are the girls planting our new goodies from a grower at farmers market! 

Monique making faces. She kills me. 

Here is our beautiful garden after a few weeks.

Do you see that basil plant? 

Lovely.

We also planted parsley (that didn't last. Sad), 

a lettuce mix, beets, leek, and later zucchini that thinks it's a bunny plant. 

It won't shut up and stop making zucchinis! 

It's a real problem, guys. Nobody likes squash that much. Nobody. 

Our lettuce was the best I've had. 

Thérèse will not eat lettuce. But she ate ours!

I know you are this happy to get your picture taken first thing in the morning too. 

Dah! That lettuce is so beautiful! 

So crisp and colorful. 

Can't wait for this horrible heat to go away so we can get to planting some more! 

Daniel used the rest of the recycled fence wood to make a compost, which I love. It feels good to see all those mushroom stems, banana peels and other plant uneatables, take on a new purpose. Feels good to have less garbage too. Our earth worms found their way to our compost on their own. How cool is that?

My due date is tomorrow. I've been instructed that I can't have the baby on Friday the 13th. My brother is leaving the state for a week Sunday so I need to have the baby tomorrow or I have to wait a week for him to come back! So hard to work around people's schedules. 

What Comes First? Breakfast!

Today I received an email from a past reader asking what had happened to my blog. I almost died of flattery. I stop blogging back in September 2011 because I went back to school. Between my two girls and reading 100 pages every night for homework, I had to put blogging on the back burner. I've been dying to blog though! It was my intention to start blogging after I graduated last month, but instead I got caught up re-organizing/decorating our home that we moved into back in December. It was nice to finally have the time to do that!

So much has changed in our lives since the last time I blogged, and I certainly will be sharing some of the many changes in our lives. First and foremost, we are expecting baby #3! Any day now actually because our due date is July 14th! We don't know if we are having a boy or a girl. This is our first surprise! 

My 20 month year old Monique, loves cereal. The problem is, i don't like to serve packaged sugary cereals. Healthy boxed cereals that are agave sweetened are super expensive, and to top it off, Monique is allergic to nuts! So we are very limited on the healthy cereal we can serve her.

I have modified my favorite granola recipe from Vegan Family Meals so it is allergy-free and contains much less sugar. Because this granola is high in calcium, contain a low amount of natural sugar and healthy fats, this serves as a great snack. Monique gobbles it up and asks for it multiple times a day. Every time I bake this granola, I want to hit myself over the head. We go through a batch within one week. You would think that at least once I would remember to double it! To make it completely allergy free we serve it with rice milk.

Photo from Diary of a Vegan

Allergy-Free Granola Version:

Replace almond and Brazilian nuts with 3/4 cup pumpkin seeds. Use 3/4 cup sunflower seeds. 

Also, I eliminate the brown rice syrup. I think it is plenty sweet with just the maple syrup alone. If you don't have coconut oil, use canola oil instead, but I highly encourage using coconut oil because it is so beneficial. I also eliminate all the dried fruit. I don't think this granola needs anything else to sweeten it, also without the dried fruit it is much cheaper! I bake this for 20 minutes, flip the granola over so the other side can cook, and bake it for another 20 minutes. Then I let it rest for a bit before transferring it to an airtight container. I also store this in the fridge since seeds preserve better that way. 

I'm so excited to blog again, I have so many things to share! And I will keep you all updated on baby! 

Family is All I Need

Recently I had a follower email me requesting

a prenatal vitamin recommendation.

New Chapter, baby!

They make the best vitamins.

I've been taking them for three years since I've been 

pregnant then nursing, then pregnant then nursing.

I love them.

Other vitamins made me nauseous. 

These are small and are taken three times a day.

When I first had to get into the habit of taking a vitamin three times a day

I would make checks on my calendar so I could keep track.

I also take their Vitamin B since I don't eat meat!

It is so important to take vitamins since our soil is so depleted.

You can get them inexpensively online from vitacost.com.

Time with My Girls!

My past couple weeks have been terrible! 

I've been so stressed and busy with midterms and events.

Now that they are all over with,

I set yesterday aside to do nothing but spend time with my family.

Of course, for a Mother,

"Nothing" mean doing three loads of laundry,

scrubbing both bathrooms,

and making three means from scratch,

Yummy!

It was such a great relaxing, memorable day. 

A perfect day for me includes 

working in the kitchen with my toddler!

I found this Itsy Bitsy Spider Tutorial

on Natalie's blog and I had to make them with my girls.  

I consider this a great treat because it really isn't bad.

Well chocolate, yes.

I only think about the good qualities of chocolate when I'm eating it though.

Of course I eliminated the shortening,

I used canola oil instead.

We used raisins as eyes instead of sprinkles,

and I didn't use the reese's pieces.

But other than that, come on,

crackers, pretzels, peanut butter...sounds like a perfect snack to me.

Plus singing the itsy bitsy spider is an essential part of our day.

We are major fans of the guy. 

These were so fun to make together.

Thérèse dipping the crackers into the chocolate.

Working very hard to get that chocolate spread on.

Putting on the eyes.

Pretzels dipped in chocolate.

Her art. 

AH! Spiders. Yes I want one! 

As I was eating mine,

I felt like I was four.

After a week of midterms...

yes I want to feel four again. 

Stick them in the fridge so they can hold together.

Yesterday we also loaded the girls into the trailer 

and road our bides to the park.

So fun!

Monique is my energetic one!

I don't know if she'll ever sit still enough to cook with me in the kitchen.

The other day we carved pumpkins.

I was stunned that when we were finished,

they looked like our personality.

On the left, we have my brother-in-law,

who is always making THAT face when he can't believe 

he is eating yet another vegan meal.

HAha. (Btw: He secretly loves being vegan).

The middle is me, I'm the stressed/uptight/annoyed one.

At the right, my husband.

Enough said. 

I think you can understand his personality just by looking at that thing.

Too happy about life. 

How I Get Through My Day

Oh good people of the blogging world,

how I miss you, 

and the simple life I had when I was able to blog.

I'm dealing with midterms in school right now. 

Which is....okay, I'm not going to lie, 

I actually kind of like school. 

I enjoy my major (English Lit) 

and I totally am in love with my professors.

Not totally down with the craziness of school and babies though.

And we are commuting for my classes which is super hard.

Take your own Lunch:

The Cheaper Healthier Option

I always take my own lunches and snacks to class with me.

Daniel will make dinner, clean the kitchen, 

and sit down with a sigh after a long day of running the house with the babies.

Then I'll get in the kitchen to make my lunch for the next day while I hear him exclaiming,

"Your always cooking! You have to take wraps, sushi....",

and it's totally true.

Hey, if I'm going to spend six hours on campus

sitting in uncomfortable seats, and watching everyone else eat fast food

I want to treat myself with some good food.

GOOD food. Food that is going to 

fill me, nourish me and make me excited to be alive.

I'm going to share one with you.

It isn't by any means a meal you sit down to, and think about the amazing flavors.

But I loved it today. 

With the built up stress of homework, essays, midterms, potty training,

I've been doing daily cardio and intense yoga. I'm finally intermediate! Yay!

So today I did an hour of exercise, showered, and rushed off to school.

After my first class this tempeh salad was perfect.

Tempeh is a food for atheletes. 

It's loaded with protein.

We try to have it once a week.

You can pick it up at Trader Joe's (Their brand is in an orange package)

or any health food store.

It's usually in the fridge section with the tofu.

Tempeh Salad

1) Unwrap tempeh from package and steam for twenty minutes.

Remove tempeh from heat and cool completely.

2) This is a salad. So go crazy with the veggies!

I used the leftover veggies that were in our fridge.

Here are some options:

- 1 chopped carrot

- 1 chopped celery

- 3 chopped radish

- 1 minced green onion

- 1/4 cup frozen peas

- 1/4 cup frozen corn

- 1 tablespoon minced parsley

3) Mix in: 

1/4 cup veganaise

a dash of umboshi plum vinegar (optional)

a teaspoon mustard 

I made this salad Monday night.

Got to plan ahead when you take your own meals!

Lunch #1 

Tuesday I had it in two wraps with lettuce in Ezekiel tortillas. 

I love these hearty tortillas.

They are packed with fiber.

Lunch #2

Today I had these with the most scrumptious crackers.

My in-laws had them in their cupboard.

Trader Joe's Multigrain Crackers.

Really yummy.

This meal is super colorful and rejuvenating. 

I highly recommend it for busy, active people.

Stretch it Out

For me, doing yoga is the equivalent of getting a massage.

I feel so great after a work out!

Here is my new favorite. 

My body gets a complete stretch.

Indulge in Stories of Hope:

This month is Domestic Violence Abuse Month.

A friend of mine recently lost her best friend to domestic violence abuse.

You can go to Natalie's blog to read her whole story.

Anytime she mentions it in her blog I just burst into tears

because she is so honest about her suffering and 

hopeful about the reason for this suffering.

Please pray for an end to domestic violence

(they recently legalized it in Kansas)

and pray for Shannon's two beautiful babies.

On that note, I'm very happy with my babies

(and the messes they make)

and our happy (stressful) home.

Talk to you soon!

Wall Art

Wall Art is taking creativity to a whole other level. 

Hmm, I wonder why, maybe my the size of the art piece.
It catches the eye and creates drama in a way other pieces of art miss. 

Wall Art and Street Art are the thing now. 

Since I found the video below, I knew that I wanted to paint, 

use mixed media, and spray paint a big piece of art. 

SUPAKITCH & KORALIE - VÄRLDSKULTUR MUSEET GÖTEBORG from elr°y on Vimeo.

Amazing and inspiring but the only problem with this method of creativity, 

is the temporariness of the piece of work.
I would want to preserve it, just in case we ever moved or got tired of the space. 

My cousin and I were talking about this the other day. 

How cool would it be to have a big piece of canvas that you could draw, paint, whatever. 

This got me thinking into various ways to create a canvas,

other than just using a wall.

Today, I found a solution to the problem.
Taking household products I created my own cardboard canvas.

(I know its a poor paint job, but once the whole piece comes together it will look cool)

Items needed:

Cardboard
Masking Tape
Scissors
Nails
Paint

You just need enough cardboard to the size desired.
Since I have been itching to do a wall art piece
I made my as big as a wall in our house.
After getting to desired size nail the cardboard to the wall.
I recommend nails to really support the cardboard,
once the cardboard gets painted it begins to lean forward from the weight.
Find those studs! Nail into a stud whenever possible.

After you have it up, its time to paint it whatever color you choose 

to be your background. 

I choose white since I had a spare bucket of it in the garage. 

D'awww look at my help! 

I will be sure to snap a picture of the finished outcome, 

whenever I am able to complete the whole piece. 

The cool thing about using cardboard isssss, it's cardboard

you can easily replace it or make another if needed to, anyways 

this is your art piece make it your own, create a canvas in the shape of 

a dinosaur, a tree, whatever! 

Have fun, I now I will!

Sweet Potato & Pecan Cinnamon Buns with Maple Glaze

Hey good people of the Blogging world!

I really should be doing homework right now,

but I absolutely had to share this recipe with you all.

It's Autumn! Time to get our fall foods on!

Which include sweet potatoes and cinnamon rolls,

put them together, and you get perfection.

My mother-in-law made these a couple days ago.

I finally made it to their house today to devour not one,

oh no, but two.

They made me do a little dance and be excited about life.

Oh! Don't they look good!

She made them with whole wheat flour and they still rocked. 

They also call for vegan cream cheese, 

which turns the frosting into paradise. 

There are lots of brands out there

and major grocery stores are starting to carry them.

Very cool.

You can find the recipe here.

Alright! Back to homework!

Love you all,