Boo's Words

mama
dadda
bye-bye
more
water
ouch
uh-oh
nice
thank you
book
all done
ball
up
duck

Well, I think that's it. I just wanted to have a running list somewhere. I may have to add to this if I've forgotten anything.

Eating Veggies and Giving Up Ice Cream

Well, we've been doing okay with eating our veggies. It is work though as I really have to think outside the box for meals. It's so easier some days just to cook up a slab of meat, throw a veggie or two with it, throw the bread and butter on the table, and voila - dinner. Two nights ago we had a leek and potato bake thing. It was alright. I added some grated zucchini to it for some added nutrients. I thought T would complain about that, but he ate it and liked it. He liked this meal better than the stuffed peppers. I guess he didn't care for those after all. I LOVED them! When I asked him what he didn't like about them he said he liked the stuffing - he just didn't like the green pepper that it was inside. Do you see what I have to work with here??? So T has eaten meat for lunch the past two days in a row. And he came home last night and ordered a pepperoni pizza. I diligently picked all of my pepperoni off. However, despite these "failings" I am inclined to applaud him. No meat at dinner is still an improvement. I did end up having some salmon yesterday. I'm not sure that I want to give up seafood completely. I think it's pretty healthy anyways...so I'll probably have seafood occasionally.

Right now, we're in the lacto-ovo department (or trying to be at least) as far as vegetarians go. This means we allow dairy and eggs. I'm seriously thinking about going from lacto-ovo to just ovo. But I really like cheese! Hence my downfall. When I gave up dairy products for several months while Boo was breaking out the pounds started melting off. I wasn't worrying about what I was eating or how much other than just nothing with a milk product. I think I discovered something about my body then and I've been trying to get back to that ever since. For now I think if I could find a way to limit my dairy consumption that would help. I'm okay with giving up milk as I've become partial to rice milk and I'm really concerned about the cow's milk that we drink with homogenation and pasteurization and all, not to mention antibiotics and hormones. I found a recipe to make rice milk at home...so much cheaper than buying it all the time. So I'm going to try that. But anyways, I think maybe I'll just start with finding a way to cut back on cheese - perhaps only allowing it once or twice a week. I have cut out ice cream successfully in the past week or so. And rather easily I must admit. I bought lowfat plain yogurt and a variety of fix-ins and I've been eating that instead. So I'm still eating it most nights, but I figure a dish of yogurt every night is better than a bowl of ice cream. My favorite mix-in? Crushed up good quality dark chocolate! And it only takes a little bit of it if it's a good quality chocolate.

Our First Meatless Meal

I guess the title's a bit misleading. It's not like I've never had a meatless meal before, but I guess this was our first dinner that we intentionally didn't use meat. I got these green bell peppers through the local farmstand here. Originally I figured I'd make stuffed peppers with ground beef and the works. So, I wasn't sure what to stuff the peppers with now that we're officially meatless. Here's the recipe I found:

Pig in the Kitchen Saturday Night Peppers

They were so incredibly yummy! I LOVED them. T thought they were pretty okay too. Boo? Well, that's another matter. He threw it on the floor and refused to eat anything but fruit! Oh well...that's kind of the phase he's in right now.

Pass the Veggies???

Well, my hubbie informed me this evening that he is ready to go vegetarian. He's been mulling this over for some time and I have heard him mention it in the past. But he's decided we're taking the plunge. And when I say "we", I do mean all of us together. I'm actually okay with this. He's so much more of a meatlover than I am. I'm just concerned as to how well he'll do with this...I'm constantly hounding him to eat his veggies and try new things. So I guess time will tell. But...it's time to go grocery shopping and I'm not going to buy any meat or plan any meals with meat. So we'll see how it goes. I do love seafood and so I think I will have to partake in seafood now and then...which I know is not true vegetarianism, but hey, whatever...it's better than nothing. So...we'll see how this goes. And we're going to have to find ways to make wonderful grilled veggies as we have a grill that I bought Tom for his birthday! But both of us are concerned about health and living a healthier lifestyle, so I'm actually looking forward to giving this a good try.

Trying To Change My Ways

Change can be so hard...especially when you're trying to chip away at lifelong habits. One thing that I've been working hard on since before Boo was born is living more naturally and responsibly. I went from thinking Bleach wipes were the best thing since sliced bread to only using natural homemade cleaner in the home. It's much healthier for everyone's body. And by the way, it is cheaper and just as effective. I've been using cloth diapers to save the environment and put more natural materials next to my child's body. I've switched over pretty much entirely to organic produce - I also get produce from local farmers instead of the chain grocery store. I can't remember the last time that I've shopped at Wal-Mart. I use cloth bags when I shop (when I don't forget them at home or in my car). So all in all I feel as though I have some things to be proud of. I'm excited about the changes that have come about and look forward to progressing even further.

Here's some areas that I'm still working on. I still allow too much conventional medication into our lives. I've done pretty decently with Boo. But since I'm nursing him, he gets what I take. So I need to be more diligent about looking for alternative options when an antibiotic or some other prescription might seem to be a necessity. I have a couple of good books that have a wealth of information on the subject. Part of the problem is that there's no local supplier and I don't want to drive some distance or order something online when I'm sick now. So, I need to plan ahead and get a few things on hand that I know I'll use. I'm still working on the family's nutrition. I was actually doing pretty well with this one and then I fell off the wagon when I went back to work full-time. It's hard to find the energy to be creative and healthy sometimes when I'm in a hurry to get dinner on the table and overwith so we can all get to bed on time! After Friday this may not be as much of an issue as I'll be returning home. Granted, I'll still be pretty busy as I get my home childcare business up and running. So, anyways, I need to work on better meal planning and better variety. I think that less meat would be a good goal. I'd like to cut down to three dinners a week and go from there. Problem is, I know my hubby will say "Where's the meat? It's not dinner without meat!" LOL. I'd like to figure out the exercise thing. I've been going to yoga consistently every Thursday for a year now - YAY (I guess this part should have been above). But anyways, one day a week hardly cuts it as regular exercise. Soooo...I need to find a way to incorporate more movement into my daily life. T and I have been biking with Boo and that's helped, but we don't go every night. I've considered a jogging stroller. Perhaps a jog after dinner w/Boo? Perhaps it'd be an easy way to put him to sleep. I just don't know how I'd feel about jogging at the end of a long, busy day. Well, actually, I know exactly how I'd feel about it! Hmmm...this one I just am not sure about. Any ideas??? So I guess that's all for now. Those would be some of the big things I'm working on. Is anyone else working on changes that are hard or has anyone successfully made any difficult lifestyle changes? I'd love to hear about it.

I Made a Woven Wrap!

I "made" a woven wrap. Well, actually I went to the fabric store and bought fabric cut to the amount of yardage that I wanted and voila - a no sew wrap! No cutting, sewing, etc...These suckers are expensive if you try to buy them. I'm sure the fabric is nicer and prettier and blah blah blah, but I don't have $200 to spend on a baby wrap. I just don't. I bought some yellow cotton fabric. It's a little plain I'll admit...but I figure I can always make a fancier one later if I happen to come across some great fabric on sale or something. The bill came to $16.50 - yes, that's right, $16.50 for a baby wrap. Oh, I'm so good!

Take this job and shove it

Well, that's what I felt like saying. Instead I gave a nice, polite two weeks notice. I've been getting more and more done for the daycare and feel that I'm at a point where there are things that just aren't going to get done when I'm at work 40 hours a week. Soooo...I've decided to cut that tie. I'll be done working on August 8th. My goal for starting the home daycare is September 1st. This gives me three weeks of inbetween time. Hopefully that'll be enough to get the house organized/scrubbed, finish up paperwork stuff for daycare, interview parents, and line up a few kids. I won't be licensed yet when I start, so that means I can have two kids in addition to my own sweet Boo. I feel like that's plenty to start with. I think I'd rather start with two than with five anyways. And I can just do that until the license comes through. It's a bit scary as I know things are going to be tight financially until the daycare really gets under way, which might be awhile. But it is what it is and we'll deal with it the best we can.

I feel very official this week though. My business now has a tax id number and I have a business checking account. Also business checks and business cards are on the way. I've got the paperwork to register my business name with the state as a servicemark. I just haven't sent it in yet though.

Some big things I'd like to accomplish are setting up my office/files and typing up my policies/parent handbook. So we'll see how that goes. So there you have it, and now I must do some work!