She's Mobile

The Newbie started crawling on August 31st, but things have been busy here. I'll post more later, but this is a short video of her in action.

Happy New Year! Melkam Addis Amet!

Friday, September 11th was the Ethiopian New Year, but we celebrated today (Sunday). I made Alicha Sega Wot (mild beef stew), Misir Wot (yellow lentil stew), Kikel Gommen (cabbage, carrots and potatoes) and Chicken Tibs (fried chicken without breading, except I made it without the onion and peppers for the kids). We used Injera that we brought back from our trip to Minnesota and kept in the freezer.

A quick note, my Kikel Gommen looks purple because we had red cabbage from our farm share. And, yes, I know the beef stew looks like a pile of poop, but I tried and it tastes delicious even though it looks like crap. Ditto for the lentils, except think breastfed baby poop. Hey, I know you are all thinking it, so why not put it out there? Despite the fact that I desperately need a food stylist, I'm proud of the meal. It tasted pretty good and reasonably authentic. My kids and Dan loved it.

If you want to learn more about Ethiopian New Year, click here. Chatty Cathy also has a good link on her blog. I tried to use Cathy's link to no avail.

Oh, and we usually don't have such a loud tablecloth on the table. Nama was here and told the girls it is never too early for Halloween (her favorite holiday). We had to start decorating today because the girl were sooo excited. Thanks, Nama!

In other news, the Newbie started crawling. I also have lots of photos to post-- Uncle A came to visit and we had a great visit with the cousins (until we had to kick them out to go to Disney on Ice, that is a story for another day--Sorry guys, blame Nama!).

Go Irish!

The Newbie's first ND Game (on TV, because taking three kids to the ND game would be a disaster).

Bike Shorts

It started with the lone purchase of a flowered pair for gymnastics last summer. They were perfect--fitted but not too tight, no pockets and they were acceptable per the gymnastics dress code. Then she began to wear them every day. Then it was fall, phew! At the beginning of this summer, I bought a few more pairs because really, who wants to do that much laundry? Suddenly, that was all she would wear. We have them with monkeys, ladybugs, and flowers. We have solid colors and polka dot. We have a few extra long pairs with rhinestone hearts on them. I thought, ok, so I'll buy the matching shirts. It won't be so bad. Except that she refuses to wear the matching shorts and shirts combos. The photo above is one of the more acceptable outfits. Most of the time she looks like some elf who escaped from a whacked out biking race.

The irony is that she can't even ride her bike without training wheels yet.

I didn't care too much at first, since she was going to preschool. But now, it's kindergarten, and I'm afraid she will be made fun of. It's bad enough that she packs the oddest lunch known to man and is a teacher's pet who follows all the rules. Now this? Before I know it, she's going to be that girl--the weird one who eats the paste.

I blame myself, really. I have a fondness for 70's and 80's tunes. I'll bet if you listen to certain Madonna tunes backwards they tell you to buy bike shorts in neon colors, lace gloves, and those jelly bracelets. Truly, even clothes a la Linda Evans in Dynasty would be better.

In the meantime, we've negotiated that she will wear a skirt for picture day. If anyone has any ideas on how I can break this bike shorts habit, I'm all ears. In the meantime, it's all 80's all the time here.

Double Ear Infection? What Double Ear Infection?

So the Newbie had a cold a while back. It cleared up. Then we had two nights of fussy followed by very slight ear pulling. I took her into the ped after giving her a bit of Tylenol yesterday, and she was super happy. The nurse was all, "So THIS is your sick kid?" She was giving me a bit of the overreacting parent bit. I told the nurse she should see the Newbie at full strength!

Sure enough, Dr. L looked in her ears and the Newbie had a double ear infection that was spreading to her eyes. The Newbie was really sad looking this morning, with her goopy eyes, but she was smiling. After a couple of doses of antibiotic, she's starting to drain. The mucus bothered her a bit and Dan tells me she had a small gag/barf today. But still, she is the happiest baby ever. Here she is just a few minutes ago after some yogurt.

Being Good to Yourself/Accepting Your Body

I had a revelation after my maternity leave with the Newbie. I ate whatever I wanted, when I wanted. Seriously. Lots of mac and cheese. Pizza. For Breakfast. Blue cheese on cranberry walnut bread (if you have not tried this you must. I prefer Blue Castello which is a brie-like blue cheese on Whole Foods' Cranberry Walnut Bread). Take-out Chinese food.

I abandoned my workout schedule and just played with my kids. I got a pretty good amount of sleep. And guess what happened? I lost weight. I don't know how much, since I never weigh myself. But my work clothes were looser. And I didn't have any headaches--not one migraine or tension headache, not even a sinus headache.

It caused me to wonder about what I was doing at work that was counter-productive. Some things were obvious. My body needs to eat between 4:30 and 5:30-- waiting until 7:30 for dinner doesn't work--I eat too many unhealthy snacks. The other parts I couldn't quite pin down. I think in a nutshell, I was being good to myself. Taking care of my physical needs. Eating when hungry, running around with my kids, not being stressed.

So am I doing anything differently? I'm packing a lunch and packing healthy snacks. I'm making sure I get enough sleep. I'm back to my workout routine. I'm starting a yoga class next week. I'm trying to be more active on the weekends in real life, not by planned exercise. All in all, I've been doing some thinking about healthy bodies and body image.

Two articles really hit home. The first is about reducing cancer risk through exercise. Click here to go to the article. It's pretty convincing and a nice reminder that exercising doesn't just help firm up your body, it has other, really great benefits. All the more reason to start my routine again. I needed this reminder since I was getting bored with my workout routine.

I loved the second article/blog post. Click here to go the post. The post is from a mom talking to her daughter about body image. Her approach made sense-- if you eat right and exercise, whatever size your body is, is the right size for you. For some people, that is a little bit small and for others a little bit big. This is in tune with other things I have read. It is better to be fit and a little fat than skinny and not exercise. I don't totally agree with her about demystifying the "fat" label, but I think her perspective makes a whole lot of sense. I'm always trying to find ways to talk to my girls in healthy ways about themselves without introducing my own past issues.

I think pictures like this help. Major fashion magazines showing what real women look like. I know there was a big uproar that this model really isn't plus size and I hear that, but I like this trend. Airbrushing helps none of us. I liked that the model's belly looks more like mine that I could have ever imagined--although mine of course is bigger.

I'm pretty comfortable with how I look now, and I'm nowhere near thin. I would like to be firmer in some places, so I'm trying some different exercises and trying to eat healthier (although we eat pretty well with our farm share of fruits and veg, there is always room for improvement). I really don't like the stretched out skin and belly pooch from my surgeries and pregnancy, but not enough yet to do anything drastic about it. Some days I would like to be thinner, particularly for health reasons, but overall, I'm pretty ok with myself. I have a body that is well used--it has lots of battle scars--stretch marks and surgery--but it's fed two kids, incubated two to full term and two others to a lesser extent, it has carried plenty of girls in a sling and on its shoulders. It has danced and skipped and run and hefted kids and it has been a source of comfort. I'm confident for at least a couple of months in 1992 and 1993 it was a source of lust for teenage boys. My body is not the prettiest, but it is pretty strong and it is mine. This is what I want to impress upon my girls. Healthy doesn't always mean perfect and perfect doesn't always mean thin.

Kindergarten, Day 2

This morning, all the other parents waited in line with their kids before school. I asked Doodle if she wanted me to stay or go. "You can go, mom!"

Doodle was very excited about her first day--they had an assembly where the teachers told them the rules. She LOVED it. Today, she came come with two rewards for following the rules. She is so going to be the kid the teacher leaves in charge when she leaves the room. Like mother, like daughter.

Today was also the first day with a lunch. She wanted: white rice with a bit of salt on it, an organic fruit leather, apples with caramel dip, naan and chocolate covered sunflower seeds. I packed all of these items, except for the naan bread. I wasn't on board with that many carbs in one meal. I'm pretty sure her weird food tastes are going to land her stuffed in a locker sometime, but the kid needs to eat. We got a note home today that we need to pack a fruit or veggie snack in addition to lunch. I was banking on the granola bar counting as a healthy snack, but alas, the teacher has other ideas. We made a quick trip to the store for carrots, celery, caramel dip, corn, and apples, which is the sum total of the fruits and veggies she will eat. It's going to be interesting.


In other news, the Moo totally requested pierogies at the store today. Glad to see at least one of my girls are in touch with her Polish heritage. Moo's been the girl who loves sausage, but this was a nice development.