How We "Meal Plan"

I wake up early on Saturday mornings (mostly just because my spawn need me for something--food, diaper changes, or turning on the TV) and clean the kitchen--unload/load dishes, wipe down countertops & cabinets, and then REALLY clean the kitchen...

This is something I used to do every few months, but I found it pretty easy once I started doing it more often.

I take everything out of the refrigerator and freezers that is old or yucky. Wipe it down, and  assess what we still have. I then go through the food cabinets and see what we have.

I then make a "use" list--i.e. Things we already have that I can use in a recipe/meal. 

I then head to the computer (and just think about meals I already know) and make a list of the meals and the ingredients to buy at the store.

Then, ill search my apps and coupon websites before going to the store on Sunday to see if I can easily save. 

Sunday, I have my son match Tupperware & lids for me.

I go to the store & come home. When I unload groceries I take a lot of stuff out of the outer packaging just to save space. 

After putting away, I do some preparing ahead. This really helps with time and lack of energy for cooking later in the week!

I pack my son's lunches, pack my own, (my husband deals with his own) and do as much meal prep as I can for breakfasts and dinner the rest of the week!

Today 1.2.14

I woke up in the middle of the night on one of my 209328430276342982347098 trips to the bathroom and ended up not being able to sleep much afterwards because of a horrendous cough.  Marley had snuck into our bed at some point, Chris had escaped to Marley's room to sleep, while my little guy snuggled as close to me as possible.  I tried to tell him he could sleep on Daddy's side of the bed, but he said, "I want to sleep right here next to you" and pulled me closer.

I am going to miss cuddling with Marley when I am up in the middle of the night breastfeeding a new baby.  I anticipate co-sleeping with her (we left a Queen-sized bed in her room) for awhile, and I'm really hoping Marley understands he can't be a 3rd in that bed too (although daddy would love to cuddle him too).

I was up before everyone else this morning--which is rare, Marley is the best alarm clock!  But was back in his bed snuggling daddy when Marley did come join us to say good morning.  He was sick yesterday, and more sick today too--so we let him stay in his PJs.  Chris followed me to drop Marley off at grandma and grandpas--his new Build-a-bear dudded out in Batman PJs too.  Our departure was better today than most days.

I should have stayed in bed, but I have a major deadline next week at work and am pretty stressed as it is.  Not being prepared is only going to make that worse.  Plus I had two meetings before noon that were crucial.  I spent the rest of the day at my desk doing preparation & took 2 trips to the meter to feed quarters before I headed home at 4pm & that was the extent of my exercise for the day (none). ((But for good reason---my cough only got worse as the day went on))

I dropped off dry cleaning for next week & headed home. I took a hot shower after stepping my sausage feet out of my flats & got right into bed--towel and all.

And so began not only a sick day, but a sick weekend! 

The Best Way to Predict the Future is To Create it.

I saw this picture on my facebook feed today.  People are very excited about their resolutions in the first few days of the new  year.  I don't personally have any "resolutions" but I certainly have a lot of "plans" for the new year/my new life that is set to start in about 5-6 weeks...

I thought this meme was interesting because when I tally the green and the yellow, I land about in the middle.  But one theme in this little picture is planning, and avoiding laziness.  I don't know that I am going to stop hoarding information or talking about people, but I think it includes some really great ideas.

Today. 1.1.14

A day off in the middle of the week is always strange.  Today sort of felt like practice for when I am staying home.  Marley and I started our day off lazy, in our PJs watching Rescue Bots & me browsing online and drinking my morning Joe.  It wasn't until almost 10 o'clock when I ventured off the couch to take a shower and start doing chores around the house.  (Laundry, several loads of dishes, picking up toys and trash around the house).  I felt like I got a lot accomplished.

Marley started feeling stir crazy around lunchtime, so we went on a little 1/2 mile walk down to the mailbox and back.  (Yes, I realize mail doesn't come today, but I hadn't checked it since before Christmas.)

Our dog followed us.  Chris really needs to fix that broken fence.

Marley collected various rocks along the way.

And he had to get the mail himself.

Our walk was really nice & leisurely.  It was nice to get some fresh air for both of us when we had been couped up inside all day. Marley's little bit of exercise improved his mood instantly.  Mine too.  It made me reflect on the importance of getting outside & getting some exercise.  I need to be sure to integrating getting out of the house and doing something physical from day 1 after I deliver, even if its just to the mailbox.  We've talked about having a "track" around our property, & there's a couple great little parks with a track very close by.  Marley loves the park, but he takes issue with not being the center of attention, so that may not work out too well....We'll see.

We came home, had cheese quesadillas for lunch, and started a "project" as Marley calls any arts & crafts type thing we do.  Today, it was a painting party.  This kept Marley busy for a good hour as I finished chores up around the house.

We chilled out for another hour, I got ready, or so before going to Grandma's house for New Years day dinner.

We finally ended the night with some hanging out in the living room before I put Marley to bed!

One Little Word: Discipline.

One of my favorite bloggers, Ali Edwards, has been doing this "One Little Word" thing for years now--I've been a loyal reader of her blog for many years and I have decided, now that I am a real-life blogger myself, I would participate.  My word for 2014: Discipline.
















Why Discipline you ask?  Because that is what my life is in most need of.  I am a bit of a dreamer, in that I always have a bunch of ideas for everything, but I spend way more time dreaming than actually doing.  And a lot of that is just because I am not very self-disciplined.  I'd much rather zone out on the couch at home in the evenings than exercise, tend to a garden or do activities with my son.  I'd much rather press snooze 87 times than get up that extra hour early to get done what needs to be done.

There are so many things that are going to take a lot of discipline in the new year.  I need to be more disciplined when it comes to exercise, money, family, time management, and figuring out this new role I'll be playing as a mother to my daughter.

A lot of my blog is about forcing myself to be disciplined anyway, so I am totally excited about my one little word this year!

Encouraging Healthy Eating with Fun Food.

I am really into the idea of making mealtime fun for kids--plus it's a great conversation piece.  I am so envious of the fabulous Bento Boxes you see for kids on Pinterest and other blogs, but it seems like doing fun luches takes an awful lot of supplies, time, and planning--all things that I am currently deprived of.  (Although improving all of that are legit goals for the new year).

We had been having some trouble with Marley at mealtime--particularly dinner & breakfast.  (We're not really with him too often at lunchtime, but I know he gets fed an awful lot of McDonalds on other occasions, so I doubt they have the same problems).  In any case, I set out to purchase more healthy options at the grocery store  & make mealtime more fun for Marley.

The first day of this plan involved staying up late looking at Pinterest & all of the fun meal ideas for breakfast & lunch....then I went to the grocery store with healthy options in mind.  I thought I did well until I saw the bill was about $100 more than one of my usual solo grocery trips (shopping with the kid or husband is an entirely different story).

I leaped out of bed when my alarm went off the next morning to make my son some delicious happy face pancakes with fresh fruit, fruit rollup hair & the best happy face I could make--only to have him still detest it.

Motherhood can be crappy like that.  I jumped through hoops and was so excited for the reaction I was looking for, only to have him push it aside and demand chocolate donuts or nothing.  That day, he ate nothing, but other days I would have ran to the Quicktrip to get him what he wanted.  Needless to say, I didn't make pancakes the next day...

What I've learned from Holiday Anxiety.

Now that Christmas is Over for another 365 days, I can confess: I kinda hate Christmas.  This year, it started as just a nagging feeling that we never have enough money and that I'm kind of a disorganized mess.  I forgot my secret santa presents (that I actually planned out but ended up doing 1/2 ass because of my unwillingness to take the time to do the projects.  We felt dissatisfied with our gift decisions and guilty about not having the money to get anything for anyone--Call it Pregnancy Hormones/Fatigue/Pressure, or whatever you want to call it, but I know it's none of those things and that I always feel that way.

The anxiety really hit about an hour (or maybe two, or three--depending on if you count the time I woke up at 3:30 to my old dog wanting to be let out of the house & stayed awake (after first hiding the Elf-on-the-Shelf in the medicine cabinet in our room) while lying in bed.  Chris and I had mixed feelings about the amount we spent on Marley, whether he was going to be happy, whether he got too much.  We were on edge about the whole thing for a few days.  Everyone had really gone over the top with him and I had major fears about his recent meltdowns on what should be a day of being grateful.

It turns out my son woke up and gave me a hug before he even showed interest in any of his gifts and once he did, he went one by one, playing with each one and pretty much got bored of opening before he even got to all of the smaller, more thoughtful things I got him---books, coloring stuff, things he enjoys but doesn't come with voice control or a big box.  The rest of the day he acted wonderful showing off his gifts, remembering who gave him what and being pretty grateful for everything.  My kid is pretty awesome & all of my anxiety clearly wasn't worth it because everything went well with him.  It was my own inadequacies that made me have anxiety. . . 

Despite the nice breakfast and homemade gifts from Marley,   I seem to always fall short when it comes to the Holiday thing.  And it sucks to suck.  So as my anxious thoughts had time to settle, I got a few ideas to help me out in 2014 so that maybe I can just avoid this feeling in the future...I spend a lot of time looking at Pinterest.  I am relatively crafty, but not nearly as crafty as my Mother-in-Law who is Martha Stewart on extra-strength caffeine pills.  But I have an eye for photos and paper-crafting, I have a college degree and some pretty good computer skilss--plus, a husband who can build/make anything, I should be spending more time doing and less time mindlessly surfing the internet. 

As for what I learned, and how I plan to be more prepared and less anxious next year, in upcoming weeks I'll write about just how these things are going to work out:

Spread the Love--a year long Holiday budget & planning method.

Featuring the 12 days of Christmas.

These goals/plans will fit right in with my other goals for the year focusing on becoming more organized and less time starved so that I can do all of the things that I want to do.  (More on that later).