.Guilty

2. More. Weeks.

I'm finding that the closer I get to going back to work, the more my "mommy guilt" is starting to set in because I'm looking forward to it. I still very much feel mixed emotions as maternity leave has been a blast, but I'm finding myself really starting to get excited about going back to the office and seeing my co-workers again. As much as I love flying by the seat of my pants during maternity leave, we are still fairly structured as I have things planned almost every day this week! I'm having so much fun but I'm definitely feeling guilty about going back to work and leaving him at daycare. This is normal, right?

Even though I'm looking forward to going back, I will miss all of Kendrick's play dates! I never really visualized myself being a "mom's group" type of person, but I am so thankful for the group I found and the people I've met over the past year! For someone who never really had a lot of close female friends, I am so grateful for this network of new moms to be able to bounce ideas off of, vent to, and learn together as our little ones grow up. Although I have found some great friends that I've become close with, I've also found that I don't agree with some people's parenting styles. There are lots of memes and blogs about how we shouldn't be judge-y of other mom's choices as we are all doing what's best for our children and I think that's absolutely true! However...sometimes it's very difficult NOT to judge when someone talks about something that you feel is very wrong or unsafe.  However, I keep it to myself. I've learned to start to take things with a grain of salt and just go with the flow. I felt very judged a few weeks ago when I felt like a woman at Sobey's was judging me for buying Kendrick organic milk. I didn't like that feeling and because I'm not usually very confrontational I chose not to make a big deal of the situation, but I thought it was slightly rude and my reasons for choosing organic milk for my son is none of her business.

On another note, I finally took some time during nap time yesterday to plan my dinners for the rest of the week. Here's what I have planned:

Yesterday: Pasta with tomato sauce and turkey & apple meatballs - a WIN!

Today: Tacos with lean ground beef

Tomorrow: We're eating out so no dinner planned

Thursday: Coconut chicken salad

Friday: Slo-cooker mongolian beef over coconut rice

Saturday: Chicken fingers & fries

I've included links to the recipes that I plan to try. I'm also trying to incorporate some meals that I can share with Kendrick! He's starting to eat more finger foods and less purees, so I've been trying to brainstorm some meals that he can easily eat that can double as dinner for us. The turkey & apple meatballs turned out fantastic and Kendrick loved them! If you haven't already, check out my board on Pinterest specifically for recipes that I've tried and that have worked really well! I usually put in the comments if I've changed anything in the recipe - which is almost all the time because one of my quirks is not being able to follow a recipe. I always have to add something of my own! I also started a board for kids food recipes that Kendrick & I have tried and loved which will hopefully get bigger as the weeks go on!

I've been continuing to work out at Blitz Conditioning twice a week for the past month. I'm feeling pretty good! I'm hoping to continue when I go back to work, I'm just debating on whether I go super early or go right after work. "Mommy guilt" creeps in again here because if I go I won't see Kendrick either in the morning or much before he goes to bed, but I know that I'll schedule to make sure that I won't be missing him for an entire day. I'm going to also take the plunge and buy the monthly pass instead of the 10 pass punch card, which means I'll have to go at least nine times to make it worthwhile so that will help me keep motivated!

xo
-Dianne

PS: I also found a recipe for no bake banana bread bites that I'm attempting to alter a bit to become little pieces of heaven. They are also pretty healthy, and don't take long to prepare which is even better! As soon as I figure out the perfect blend, I'll post it!

PPS: I gave up pop for lent (four days late because I missed the start date). For some reason since I was pregnant with Kendrick I've been craving it and drinking it way more often, and it didn't stop when I had him! I felt like something sweet so I picked up some banana milk instead. I knew it had some sugar in it, but it turns out it actually has a very similar amount of sugar to pop (although some pop has slightly more). How depressing! Oh well. Time to go to Planet Organic and pick up some sugar-free sparkling juice! 

.Gratitude

"When sunlight is fading

the world will be waiting for you.

Just show 'em what you're made of."

- Backstreet Boys, "Show 'Em (What You're Made Of)"

I realize it's been a long time since I've blogged. Life happens! It's been a month of ups and downs and my running has been taking a back seat unfortunately. That being said, my body is holding on pretty well and I'm keeping my pace up! I ran 10K on Thanksgiving Monday before getting a turkey cramp (which was pretty impressive that it took that long considering all of the food I've eaten in the past two days) and am feeling pretty good about the Vancouver Rock N Roll Half coming up in less than a week! My goal is going to be 2:30. I haven't been able to train as much as I want but when I have been running my times have been good. As long as I can make it through without cramping up I'm thinking very positive. This will be the end of running season for me so I want to finish with a bang! :)

I've made a decision that I have to go back to running in the morning. In my last two night runs even though I thought I gave myself enough time between meals, I cramped up and had to cut my run short and that's a real pain when you're on a runners high! I actually ran a 32 minute 5K yesterday which was pretty good for me, but had to walk and stretch it out afterward because the cramp was so bad. I never get cramps running in the morning! It's just so hard to get up! I have been taking 1/2 a dose of melatonin before I head to bed and it's been helping me fall asleep which is good, however I'm still waking up more often than not during the night. Kendrick seems to be going into a little bit of a sleep regression as he's waking up 1-2 times a night for his soother, so hopefully that ends soon and I can start getting a little more sleep!

I'm starting to create a list of things to pack for our big trip! The packing is giving me a bit of anxiety, which is why I'm making a list. We've been getting such beautiful weather here in Edmonton, but the bonus of this time of year is that I can start packing all of my summer clothes! Our Australia trip will be the longest I've ever been away, with the second longest being when I went to London in 2012 and was gone for 25 days. 

The good news of the week, I'm only three pounds away from the weight I was when I found out I was pregnant! This means that I'm nine pounds away from my goal weight! The bad news is, none of my old jeans fit! Pants in general are my nemesis right now as I only have a few pairs that actually fit me. When I look in the mirror I feel like I look close to the same as I did before, but my clothes say otherwise. My little dude is worth it though, and it means I get to do some shopping before I go back to work in the new year!

Kendrick has been growing like crazy! He's so close to crawling and he's been working on sitting up for awhile now. He pretty much mastered it on Thanksgiving weekend! He's also eating like a champ! I've become an expert baby food maker too! We are lucky that Kendrick will eat pretty much anything. On thanksgiving he tried little pieces of turkey! He got more on the floor, in his hair and on his face than he did in his mouth but it was a pretty fun experience anyways.  I've been doing a mixture of my own baby food concoctions along with some packaged Baby Gourmet organic food to make sure he likes it. Although I love feeding him home made food because I know exactly what's going in it, while we travel it will be a lot more difficult to make baby food! So I did some research and checked a lot of labels and settled on Baby Gourmet. I'm already impressed that Kendrick likes things like pumpkin! So far, it doesn't seem like he has any allergies so fingers crossed it stays that way.

I'm gonna try to blog on the road when I'm gone if I can get wifi access! So excited for this trip of a lifetime as it will be our first time down under! :)

xo
-Dianne

PS: I made some pumpkin cheesecake for thanksgiving and had a ton of leftover pumpkin, so I added some to my oatmeal lactation muffins recipe! I also added two bananas instead of one which made them much more moist. I still have pumpkin left so I'm thinking of making some banana pumpkin bread or something before I go. I can always freeze it so it's a treat when we get back!

PPS: I'm thinking of doing a gratitude challenge. I did #365DaysOfHappy last year and into this year and coincidentally it timed out almost perfectly with Kendrick being born. I'm thinking of doing #100DaysOfGratitude. I think it's important to be thankful for the good things we have because some people aren't so lucky. Stay tuned to my twitter page in the next few days if you'd like to follow along!

.Honest

Oh, how things change on a weekly basis! I feel like these last few weeks I've really started to pop, which in a way is a relief because now it's fairly obvious that I'm pregnant and people aren't looking at me funny trying to figure it out one way or another.

For the last five years or so I've been trying hard to buy more things (particularly fruits and veggies) that are organic. I don't like the idea of pesticides all over my food, and you can really notice the difference between organic fruits and veggies and non-organic. I also try to shop locally when I can and support the local economy! A few months ago I noticed that I was getting a lot of ads from the Honest Company on Facebook and noticed that a lot of my Facebook friends liked them as well, so I decided to check it out. This company was founded by Jessica Alba and a gentleman named Christopher Gavigan who were looking for items that were organic, eco-friendly, free of chemicals, and just plain all-around good stuff. I admit, I was intrigued. I don't mind spending a little more on things like this - but the product has to be worth it. The Honest Company has a fabulous introductory offer of trial kits for $5.95 each, so you can see what their products are all about and try them first hand. If you like them, they will continue to send you items (based on the selections you choose) each month, or on a 5 week or 6 week time frame. You can cancel at any time, and you can change the dates as well if you don't need anything for a particular month. I figured I have nothing to lose, so I ordered the baby bundle (which included a trial pack of diapers and wipes) and the essentials bundle (which includes household items) in the trial forms. I was so intrigued by the essentials bundle that I actually ordered the full one right afterward. I tried to order things that we needed replacing for anyways such as dish soap and dishwasher detergent, so I could see if I really noticed a difference between that and store brand that I usually buy. Here is what I received:

So far in the essentials bundle trial package (on the left) I really like the face + body cream, the organic healing balm (perfect combined with bio oil for the growing tummy & trying to prevent stretch marks), and the multi-surface cleaner. I feel better using these products knowing they aren't loaded with the same amount of chemicals as the normal items I would buy in a store. The diapers are incredibly adorable - they all have cute little prints on them! I anticipate I will order one baby bundle closer to when the baby will be born and see how the diapers hold out. In speaking with my friends who are moms, you have to see what works for your baby as every one is different! In the baby bundle you get 320 diapers and 4 packs of 72 wipes for $79.95. For me that seems a little pricy, but I'd like to try them out and see how they are before I make any judgements. I haven't tried anything in the main essentials bundle yet, but I will definitely report back when I do! I ordered the dishwasher packs, dish soap, air freshener, dryer clothes, and the fruit and veggie wash (which I'm very intrigued by, so I'm looking forward to trying it out!) I will definitely report back with reviews as soon as I try everything out!

The essentials bundle is $39.95 and since I've tried some of the products I really think that I'll be keeping this subscription. The products are good quality, organic, and so far in the things I've tried they've been awesome so for me it's worth the price. The fact that I can adjust the date so I don't have to order every month is a huge bonus too, as I'm sure some of these things will take awhile to get through. I have to admit, it's pretty awesome getting this stuff delivered right to the door, especially when you look out the window on a day like today! (Not that I'm slighting winter, it IS my favourite season however when you are sick & in sweatpants going out in the snow is not that appealing). Have any of you tried the Honest Company? What do you think of their products?

Unfortunately I came down with a cold this week. Nothing major but I'm down and out today resting at home with some chicken soup simmering in the slow-cooker. Thankfully my sore throat is starting to subside and the cough is slowly starting to go away, so I think I'm on the mend! This is a good thing as I'm dragging the hubby along with me to West Edmonton Mall tomorrow morning to help me find a Christmas party dress that will make me feel perdy at both his & my Christmas parties coming up in the next month! I'm really hoping I can find something stretchy as the parties are a few weeks apart and my body seems to be changing on a daily basis!

xo
-Dianne

PS. According to the weekly baby emails I get, Baby Peanut is able to hear muffled noises now, so I read him a book today. Felt a little strange...but he kicked me a few times throughout so I assume he was listening! :)