I Want to Stay Six Forever

As you can see from the last post, I'm pretty overwhelmed.  It was a miracle today that Marcus decided to come with me to pick up the boys from school.  That was so nice, & I know BB really appreciated it. 

BB says he likes the school, that he has fun, & that he has made new friends.  But he says he doesn't want to go back; instead he wants to go to Nana & Papa's.  I think it's because it's new & different than what he was expecting a school to be.  He told them he was allergic to milk because he doesn't like to drink it.

Anyway, when Marcus left, as planned I gave the boys a snack & then started cooking while BB started his homework.  I try to brief him on the plan several times before actually doing it so there are no surprises when he has to not play games or watch TV.  Things went well for about 5 minutes or 1 page.  Then he was bored; it was taking too much of his time.  All of a sudden he didn't know how to count to 9.  (He totally knows how to count to 9).  I started explaining how to figure out the different combinations of 9 until it became completely clear that he wasn't listening & was only interested in whining his way out of doing homework. 

Okay BB, let me know when you're ready to try. 

I went back to cooking.  Almond Crusted Chicken with Broccoli & Rice (really Cauliflower Rice). 

He kept whining.  But it's so hard.  I can't figure it out.  I don't know how. 

BB, you figured out almost the same thing with every other number.  Use your counters (crayons) to help.  You know this answer.  You just need to focus & start thinking. 

We probably went back & forth like this for an hour.  There were a few times when he bolted out of the seat to go play or sulk on the couch.  I sternly told him to get back to the table; he was going to sit there until his homework was done.  No playing until he finished his homework.  Eventually I told him that it wouldn't hurt my feelings if he sat there all night, ate & then went to bed without playing. 

Finally finally finally, he decided to start trying.  Quickly he figured out the answers.  Then I walked him through figuring out the rest, how to use the crayons to figure out combinations to equal any number they gave him.  He worked diligently until dinner was ready. 

Somehow a miracle worker came along & possessed Isaiah to calmly & quietly go through books he found in a drawer during this whole trying to cook & help BB with his homework dilemma. 

We sat down to eat.  At first, BB said everything was good & was eating.  Then not so much.  Isaiah loved the Cauliflower Rice as did I.  And the broccoli.  But I overcooked the chicken, an art I have not come close to mastering because for some reason I'm always too afraid of undercooking.  But BB said everything was spicy.  I said if Isaiah the baby is eating it, it must not be that spicy.  I tried to explain the difference between saying something is spicy & just not liking it.  I said it was okay for him not to like it.  But I asked him to finish his broccoli.  He did. 

When he was done, he washed his hands, brushed his teeth, washed his face & changed into his jammies when I asked him to.  And I got in lots of cleaning.  I cleaned the counters, the table, the floor & picked up everything that Isaiah had thrown around the apartment. 

THEN, BB read a whole book to me & Isaiah.  Oh the Wonderful Sounds Mr Brown Can Do...  Wow, he did such a good job!!!  I feel like reading came so suddenly for him.  Isaiah was just playing & cracking up at his big brother the whole time. 

Bedtime for Isaiah - he went right to sleep.  Please stay that way Sweetheart.  BB sat down to finish his homework.  He worked quickly even though he said he was tired.  And we finished an entire "Topic"!  We were excited. 

Bedtime for BB - I said let's say a prayer.  He said his, Now I lay me down to sleep...  And I asked if I could say one too.  I thanked God for him & all the special time we were getting to spend with him & that he was able to hang out with his brother.  I asked God to give us more time to hang out with MB.  I thanked him for lots of things & asked for a lot.  BB told me to ask God to make the Gamefly come faster. 

I said tomorrow, maybe he could say some things to God too.  He said okay. 

He asked me why Jesus died on the cross.  I explained that because God made this rule a long time ago that said when we do bad things we have to sacrifice a real animal.  But we kept doing bad things over & over & God decided to send his son to be the sacrifice instead of all the animals, so that we would be forgiven & go to Heaven. 

He asked me if all of the people, God's people in Heaven not down here, are alive.  I said they were alive in a different way than us.  Like all of the thoughts & feelings called a soul or spirit are still alive. 

He asked me what will happen after I get old.  I said I would probably die. 

I want to stay six forever so I don't get old & die. 

I said, but BB, then you wouldn't get to do all the fun stuff that I get to do.  You'll get to go to more fun schools, get a job, make lots of money, drive cars, play lots of video games & have lots of girlfriends.

Come on!! 

He said he wished he was born in Hawaii like me.  I said we would visit one day. 

This summer? 

No it won't be very soon because tickets are very expensive - like $1,000. 

Okay well I want to go. 

But if we all go, you, me, your daddy, Isaiah -

And my cousins? 

Okay & you're cousins, Nana & Papa? 

And Makayla.  Yes! 

Well then how many people would that be let's count. 

10. 

So if tickets cost $1,000 how much money would we need for everyone to go? 

$10,000?

That's right.

Okay, is Daddy getting that tonight? 

I laughed.  No we're not going there this summer. Then he asked when we were going to get a little sister so Isaiah could play with her.  I said we would have to see - God controls all the babies. 

Then without a complaint he went to bed. 

So I guess you forget about all of the hard work after just a few moments like these.  Now I'm off to finish the dishes & laundry & maybe I'll get some real work done too.

Getting Adjusted to a Stepmom

Yesterday (Day 2 of the meal planning & new roomie) was hard.  Marcus & I worked an event (wake at 7am, take the kids by 9am, pack equipment at 9am, restaurant at 10am, event at 11am-2pm).  Then afterwards we had to finish moving all of our catering stuff to a new storage.  Moving boxes & catering equipment, shelving units & glass racks is not very fun at 2:30 in the afternoon in Dallas, TX in the middle of summer.  Which is one of the reasons for the move into a climate controlled space. 

Marcus finished while I picked up the boys & came home.  The plan was to have a snack then with Marcus, go to the store to buy BB some clothes because we are very very low on clothes that fit.  Marcus took much longer than we anticipated so we tried to do some homework while we waited.  BB was frustrated because he wanted to be playing, Isaiah was frustrated because he wanted to play with BB, & I was frustrated that there was so much chaos.  Finally I decided to leave, fearing that we would end up being at the store at bedtime if we waited much longer. 

When we arrived at the store, I got out to get the stroller ready & BB asked if he could take his football.  I said no, thinking there would be lots to grab his attention in the store & we didn't need anything to potentially lose.  But then I thought, ehhhh whatever, let him take the ball.  But he didn't hear me say that; instead he said well I'm taking MY BALL!  And went to grab it.  I said he wouldn't be taking it now. 

Pout pout pout, but I want to.  I asked if this is what he did when his mommy said no.   

No. 

So why are you acting like this with me?   

Because I want to take my ball. 

But don't you think you should listen to all adults & all the people that love you including me like you listen to your mommy? 

Yes. 

Then he went for the ball again like saying the right answer would land him what he wanted. 

Oh no, I said, still no ball.  You have to have a good attitude to start with to get the ball.  You can't fix it now to get what you want.  You can have a good attitude in the future, but you're not getting your ball now, no matter how many questions you answer right.  Pout pout pout. 

He ran to the door while I was putting Isaiah into the stroller. 

BB!  Get away from the door right now.  I walked over.  You know your daddy's going to be here soon, & you are getting in trouble. 

Nooooooo!!!!  He cried bloody murder then cried & cried & cried & wailed in front of the store.  We waited & waited.  Marcus called only to say he would be 20-30 more minutes & asked to talk to BB.  Yes sir.  Yes sir.  Okay I will.  He hung up the phone.  Okay Jewels, I'll do whatever you say. 

I explained that I would always tell his daddy about the way he is acting.  So it's best if he always does things that his daddy & mommy & God would be proud of.  He said he understood. 

He was okay after that.  We got several items before Marcus got there & it was instantly better when he arrived.  Of course he informed me that all of the things I picked out for BB were too small now.  He had moved on to the next size. 

It was fun after that.  The boys enjoyed their daddy.  Isaiah refused to come to me.  Instead he insisted on helping Marcus do everything. 

I planned on not cooking because I knew shopping would take up the whole evening.  And guess where Marcus picked to go eat?  Tacos.  So I had another taco salad, minus everything good about it & it was worse than the one I made the night before.  Hunnie how is your salad?  Marcus asked.  Well hunnie, it's not so delicious without the cheese & the sour cream.  Some queso as an appetizer.  And a margarita.  Blehhh, Mexican food is no good on this diet. 

And now...  Watch as Isaiah roams the aisles of Old Navy. 

 Awww....

Meal Planning & New Roomie

So the diet's been going well.  Back on this day, frustrated with the constant existence of my baby weight, I started a fruit & veggie only diet.  That was intended to be the beginning of my transition towards the Paleo Diet.  I made it a week before I started doing actual research on the principles of Paleo, which taught me I would likely lose weight faster if I went to meat & veggies instead of fruit & veggies.  That sounded much more appealing, especially since I found myself waiting until I fed Isaiah whatever to begin cutting & cooking my dinner & then he never got any of the good stuff. 

Since then I've been pretty successfully doing meat & veggies only & calorie counting.  The only times I found it difficult were when I was at someone else's house and once when I was doing a tasting with one of my catering clients.  The removal of cheese, ranch & corn were pretty devastating.  But I no longer crave them, and I'm not really interested in eating bread or desserts.  I've lost around 10 pounds. 

I've come to the conclusion that I shouldn't really have a cheat day (at least while I'm trying to lose weight) because it tends to counteract whatever I did the previous 2-3 days.  So I've been thinking a lot about the simple math of calories in & calories out.  And the thought of eating what I used to eat & having to exercise to make up for it in order to maintain my weight seems really depressing.  So for now, I will choose to lose weight simply by eating better but mostly by eating less.  Then maybe when I lose most of it, the weather will be nice enought to start walking & then down the line maybe I'll have enough time & money to take the classes I want to take.  Maybe.  I wish.  One day... 

The other struggle I've had recently is getting bored with my default veggies & meat.  Usually I just barely make it to the grocery store & grab a bunch of things that sound good.  And then I end up with a fridge full of chicken, eggs, broccoli, & salad stuff.  Poor Isaiah - that's not good for him.

Plus tonight begins our month long summer with our new roomie - BB.  I knew it was out of the question to have chicken, eggs, broccoli & salad stuff for him.  And rather than keeping that for me & giving my sons frozen mini corn dogs, I opted to make an attempt at meal planning. 

I got several recipes from this website, dedicated to meal planning for the Paleo Diet.  I spent all day today figuring out what to cook for 3 boys of completely different ages & me, creating a grocery list & going grocery shopping.  I'm already overwhelmed.  Mommies, does it get easier?

Breakfast is usually pretty fast here, so I plan to either get the boys to school before they eat breakfast there or cook eggs, sausage, & toast most mornings.  Maybe on the weekend I'll make these Paleo pancakes.  I just got some sandwich meat for lunch because the boys will have lunch at school & Marcus & are seldom around, mostly just eating/tasting food from our events.  Then 2 nights we have events to attend/work.  I blocked off one night in the middle for leftovers.  That leaves me 4 nights of cooking.  And that seems like so much.  I spent $150 at the store.  Again I was overwhelmed.

But then I thought, I am feeding 4.  if we can make it without spending anymore, that's only $21.43 per day.  So I'm doing good!  Plus, as my husband just pointed out, we might have food leftover from catering events.  If that's the case, some of the meat I've planned will stay frozen & they will make it to some meals in week 2. 

Tonight we made a Tacos. BB had meat & tortillas.  Isaiah had mostly tortilla & a little meat. 

And I had meat, avocados, tomatoes, black olives (I ate most of them before I finished cooking) over romaine & red leaf. 

I missed my sour cream & cheese, but it was still delicious, and the boys were happy.  BB asked on the way home if we could have mini corn dogs, but I asked him to try the tacos first.  I guess they were good enough. 

We'll see how the rest of the week goes! 

Isaiah & BB were pleased to know that a bath awaited them after dinner...  Isaiah was cracking up at BB the entire time.  It's delightful to see the development of their relationship.

We're Both Losing Weight

Okay I'm on day 2 of trying; I actually haven't lost any yet.  I'm going for fruits & veggies only for 2 weeks.  No dairy, grains, beans, eggs, sweets, alcohol or meat.  I know it's drastic, but I figured now that I don't have any "I just had a baby" or "I'm breastfeeding" excuses, I should do something drastic.  I've been stuck at 10 pounds over pre-baby weight since a month after he was born, and I wasn't close to my ideal weight pre-baby so I've got a journey ahead of me.  I am supplementing with Michael's Naturopathic 2 week cleanse & lots of Vitamin D. 

I did the fruits & veggies only thing back in the day before Isaiah was even imaginable.  It was fine; I had lots of access to veggies, fruits & salads working in restaurants, and I lost weight, but the alcohol did me in.  One day some guy named Marcus made me mad, I drank a lot, then I needed to eat junk food to recover.  And then the diet was over. 

Anyway after these 2 weeks, I plan on moving to the Paleo Diet.  It makes sense to me.  Seems very manageable, and I like the idea of something to turn into a lifestyle.  And it seems pretty laid back.  Eat whenever & however much you feel like (within reason), just stick within this pretty wide range of foods. 

It hasn't been too difficult so far.  I haven't been dying to eat anything that I'm not supposed to have.  The hardest part is having to constantly buy fresh ingredients, cut them & cook them. 

This was tonight's dinner.  Sauteed asparugus, broccoli, red bell peppers, onions, garlic & kale.  It was pretty delicious & filling.

It's a lot of work, and I look forward to the day when I can just eat some turkey if I'm hungry.  Or eat any of the large variety of meats at my restuarants.  Oh & the other hardest part is feeding Isaiah meat.  It's so natural for me to just take little bites along with him.  And one more hardest part - trusting my staff to taste the food & give feedback about it. 

I looked at a lot of iPad, Mac & iPhone apps for tracking nutrition & weight, but my favorite so far has been one recommended by a friend called Nutrimirror.  It is the most comprehensive as far as keeping track of normal calories then vitamins. 

Anyway 2/14, we'll see how the rest go.

As for Isaiah, he hasn't been weighed lately, so I'm not positive about the weight loss, but it seems like he's losing some of his baby chubs.  I'm pretty sure he needs to go down a size in diapers.

See for yourself - I just put this diaper on him.  As he lugs a heavy load of balls he got for his birthday from his cousins.