Feb. meal planning

I have tried several different meal planning techniques since I started working full-time. Including not cooking at all.

I even signed up on an online meal planning website. They send you a meal plan and shopping list for each week. It is convenient and I recommend the site, but it just didn't work for our family. The problem I ran into was that I was not realistically cooking 6-7 times a week, I was spending more money on groceries each week than I would like, and the recipes often took longer to prepare and cook than I was willing to do.

Jones and I get home between 5:15 and 5:30 during the week. Jones immediately goes to his highchair and says "ee-ee-ee" (eat, eat, eat). I can sometimes get him distracted by playing with Trey while I cook, but the bottom line is the kid is hungry after school! So I needed fast - but healthy - meals with little prep.

I decided to make my own meal plan. I am only in the first week so I can't say it's perfect, but the past two nights have been easy - and tonight's dinner is already prepared.

I worked out a plan for two weeks, cooking three times a week. 3 times a week is a little more realistic for me. Plus, it gives us nights to eat leftovers, which we always have.

Trey and I made a commitment not to go get Mexican this month (we are trying to not eat out at all). We have found ourselves eating Mexican once a week- it's fast, yummy, and cheap. But it's not really healthy and we don't need to spend that money eating out.

Anyway, thought I would share the first two weeks of meal planning. I try to grocery shop on Sunday afternoons after I get coupons from that morning's paper.

It is nothing fancy or earth shattering and definitely not gourmet, but hopefully it will work for us.

Jones certainly enjoyed the yummy chicken soft tacos Monday night, which is success enough for me. I cut up avocado and grape tomatoes and he loved it! He is not a meat eater at all, but this chicken was so flavorful and tender, he ate it all. We had it for leftovers last night. Just as good.

Tonight we are having poppy seed chicken, which I prepared last night. All I have to do is put it in the oven and heat the green beans. Yay for low stress week nights.

Friday night we are having zucchini fries. I have to sneak vegetables not only in my toddler's meals, but also my husband's. Wish me luck!

Here are the links to some of the recipes I am trying:

http://pinterest.com/pin/237776055296085946/ - Weight Watcher slow cooker lasagna
http://pinterest.com/pin/237776055296097612/ - taco chicken
http://pinterest.com/pin/237776055296041670/ - fries
http://pinterest.com/pin/237776055295957804/ - crock pot french dip


What are some of your favorite easy weeknight meals? How do you quickly get healthy meals on the table? I would love to know!

My Current State of Affairs

Idea stolen from one of my favorite blogs: Rare and Beautiful Treasures. Hope you don't mind, Erin! (PS - I love you and want to be your real-life friend)

I added a few I-phone pictures thrown in for your viewing pleasure

Current guilty pleasure: Sunday afternoon nap while Jones naps. 3 weeks in a row. Lovely.

Current nail polish: I am bare!

Current play list: "It is well with my soul" Pandora station on my computer at work. I like it. A lot.

Current read: Just finished Tina Fey's Bossypants. Hilarious. Now I am reading the Bible with our church's read through the Bible in a Year program. It takes up my reading time, but Trey and I are enjoying it.

Current drink:hazelnut coffee with hazelnut creamer. Can't get enough.

Current food:frozen dark cherries and almonds.

Current favorite show: We don't have cable and we don't watch much TV at all, but right before bedtime, Jones snuggles up with me and we watch a Baby Einstein DVD. It's my favorite time.

Current wish list: material - a new purse / non-tangible: to sell our house in Hattiesburg

Current needs: faith and patience

Current triumphs: I have not cried on my way to work in over a week! And I am really enjoying my job and Jones loves his new school. We are going to make it after all!

Current Indulgence: breakfast at Starkville Cafe with Trey and Jones

Current blessing: a sweet lady at work has taken me in as one of her own

Current excitement: Trey and I are going to Oxford to visit old friends, Russell and Callie, next weekend. Adult time!

momastery

I have a new blog love: momastery.com.

She's cute. She's funny. She's honest. She loves God.

Her story is amazing. You must check her out.

She had me at this line in her bio:
"I love Jesus, gay people, adoption, and rearranging furniture. In the interest of combining all my loves, I have asked Jesus to help me adopt Nate Berkus."

Funny, that girl.

Happy reading!

case of the monday mornings

Only it's Wednesday.

And only I have it every morning.

I am not sure what I am in, but it is a major funk. I cry and/or get mad every. single. morning. on my way to work. As I type this, I realize I sound a bit unstable.

Once I am in my office and settled in, I am better. I am usually fine by 9:00.

I had a 7 am meeting this morning. After which I met with the dean of the college, my boss, around 8 am. She commented how perky I always am in the mornings and how put together I seem to be.

I almost simultaneously laughed, cried, and tee-teed on myself.

Put-together?

Let's recap, shall we?

1) I have on tights under my dress, but nothing else. Clean laundry is hard to come by at my house these days.

2) My hair is in a pony-tail because my child woke up at 5 am so I attempted to straighten my hair while in the kitchen reading him a story while he ate his cheerios.

3) I haven't eaten a meal since yesterday at lunch, unless you count the crust from Jones' grilled cheese sandwich last night
4) I am fairly confident I forgot to put on deodorant this morning

I appreciated the confidence boost, thanked her, and considered joining the local theatre; I was putting on some show here.

My mom reminded me this morning when I called her at 6:45 on my way to the meeting in tears, that this is normal. The working-mom part, not the overly sensitive psycho part. This too shall pass, my friends.

Jones got in the daycare we have been waiting on. He got on the waiting list the week we moved here and we found on Jan. 3 a spot came open and he got in! He could start the day after MLK day! In the words of Jones - YAY!

Only he got sick the Thursday before. Fever at school. Sent home. Fever lasted until Friday afternoon. Then it happen - he broke out. All over.

Yep - Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. Or as I refer to it: Disgusting Disease Kids Get at Snotty-nose Daycares.

He's better now and started his new school this morning. Acording to Trey, he walked right in and started playing. Praise God! I know this to be true because, as all wives know, husbands sometimes tell you things you want to hear and I was not going to be played a fool. I called the director of the school and checked on things for myself. He told the truth! Jones walked in like he owned the place. Score one. Check that off the worry list.

It's hump-day and I am looking forward to dinner with fun friends tomorrow night. What gets you through the day?

Did you know I have a niece?

I feel like I have neglected this here blog. And that's not the kind of operation I want to run. Do something right or don't do it at all, you know?

So I am going to try to get back on the blogging train, so to speak.

Starting with a very important addition to our family: Noelle Adams. She came a few weeks after our abrupt move. Lucky for us, our move was to the current resident of this precious child.

Henry's got a little baby sister.

And we are all in love.

How could you not be?

Here she is this morning sporting a dress my Mamaw made that my sisters and I wore back in the 80s. Sweet thing.

put your big girl panties on

I read my last post to Trey. He made me realize I need to put my big girl pants on a deal with it. No, he didn't say that. He was very supportive and offered suggestions to make it work. He knows I am happier when I run (and, come on, when mama ain't happy....).

But as I read the post out loud to him, I realized it sounded like I was a complaining brat. Sorry, readers.

But thanks for the suggestions! (except you, Evelyn. 4 kids and she runs at 4:30 am??? Who is this wonder woman?? It will never be me. j/k. I valued yours suggestion, too. I guess)

My schedule is consistent and everybody has the same 24 hours in the day as everyone else. So I will figure it out. I was just in a pitiful mood this morning that consisted of me thinking I was the only woman in the world that had to send her child to daycare. Brat. Sorry.

I leave you with a picture of my sweet man in his favorite outfit - rain boots:

I am not wonder woman. I need suggestions

I am a working mom now. It's fine. I really like my job - it's a great fit for me. And I work for the greatest institution known to man that also allows me to have off two weeks at Christmas. The perks are good. And I am slowly learning how not to cry from the drop off at daycare to my office at work.

But there are a few things about my new role that I can't seem to figure out.

Let me explain.

I like to run. I enjoy it. It is my me time. Before our abrupt move to our new town, I was in the middle of training for a half-marathon. When we moved here and our lives were turned upside down, that training fell to the way-side.

When I was a stay at home mom, I found making time to run simple. I had a running partner that would meet me at 5:30 to run a few mornings a week. I would get back home in time for Trey to leave for work at 6:45 and then Jones would wake up at 7:00. I would have time to jump in the shower before Jones woke up. But I didn't have to worry about getting fully dressed for a job and having both me and Jones looking somewhat presentable, fed, happy and out the door by 7:30 for work and school. That schedule just wouldn't work now. Especially since Trey leaves for work even earlier now. There are not enough hours in the morning.

Let me stop you before you mention the unmentionable. Do not tell me to wake up before 5 to run every morning. It just won't happen. Not with me running alone. I won't do it. And there is no need for me saying I will do this, only to not then in return feel like a failure.

My other simple option of running while I was a SAHM was to put Jones in a jogging stroller after breakfast and go. Jones loved it. It was nice. This is, for obvious reasons, not an option now. At least not during the weekdays.

I would run my long-runs on the weekends.

And finally, my last running time was when Trey got home for work. I had been with my little man all day and I felt no guilt taking an hour or so to myself and running alone. This is the one I am struggling with now. By the time I get home from work, it is 5:30. I have seen my child for a total of about 45 minutes all day. I refuse to leave him again to go run. It is just not that important to me. I miss my child all. day. long and being without him for one more minute is just not going to happen.

So this leaves me with my last option - running after he goes to bed. He usually is asleep by 7:30, so this seems like the most realistic option.

By the time he is asleep, I am changed and ready to go, it is 8:00. This does not take in consideration anything I need to do around the house, dishes that need to be put away after dinner (if, in fact, I cooked dinner. Let's not be mislead, this does not always happen) clothes folded, etc. And what about my time with my husband? I have seen him even less than my child during the day. At least I get to take my child to and from school. Car time = quality time these days.

So sometimes I run and sometimes I want to cry and sink into the couch with Trey and watch Friday Night Lights on DVD. (Clear eyes. Full hearts.)

And then the cycle repeats itself - saying I am going to run at 8 or 8:30, not running, going to bed, feel like a failure.

I am running this half in April (I was thisclose last year before chaos ensued) so I need suggestions. How do I juggle it all? Maybe it will get easier when he is older and stays up later? Maybe I should do the unimaginable and wake up at 4 to run? (please oh please don't be the answer) Maybe it will get easier when it doesn't get dark at 5:30?

I know working moms run. A lot. So how? When? I see moms with multiple kids and high-stress jobs doing a lot more than me. I am not sure about this working mom thing, but I am doing what I have to do so I am determined to make it work.

it's been a while.

Anyone still out there?

I have many reasons for not blogging, and they are all pretty darn good, but I am going to take another stab at this thing. Jones is growing up right before my eyes (20 months on the 17th!!) and I don't want to miss a thing.

I am working full-time now. Very thankful for a great job, but I miss staying home with my not-so-baby-baby so much. Obviously this was not in "our plan" that Trey and I worked out before Jones was born, but life rarely follows our rules. Sometimes you just have to do what you gotta do and when life throws major curve balls in your face, you just gotta do your best.

So that's what I am doing. My best. I don't beat myself up for working outside the home(well, ok, some days I cry), don't beat myself up for not have a clean house, dinner cooked every night, or for not working out everyday. I am still trying to figure out this working mom gig. Thankfully I have a wonderfully supportive husband who has done more than his fair share with cleaning and grocery shopping and bath times.

Changes are hard, and this one is no exception, but thankful for God's daily graces.

Moving on.

Jones is hilariously wild. WILD. I know boys are wild. Mine may win. And, according to his teachers at "school", he does win. Yesterday he got his first bad report card. I had to talk to his teacher this morning. Parent/teacher conference at 3 days shy of 20 months. Pray for me.

Anyway, they proceeded to tell me that he tackles every child and then lays on them while the poor, innocent victim cries for help.

I believe this. He can bring me to the ground. PS - he weighs 30 lbs. I am pretty sure there is a girl in his class that weighs no more than 15. Bless her.

They informed me that after Christmas break he will be moving to another classroom. That's right. He is getting kicked out of his class. He is moving to an older classroom "where the kids are more his size". Am I raising a bully? This is hilarious.

I have tried to talk to him at home about being sweet and gentle and hugging all of his friends. Which he does - right before he brings them to their knees.

Right before he takes his next victim. You can see the fear in that poor child's eyes.

I have tried several "discipline" techniques including time-out (sitting still for 1.5 seconds....maybe) and even popping his little hand, to which he looks at me with his big blue eyes and long eyelashes, tilts his head and says "mama" ever so sweetly while leaning in for a kiss.

This kid is good. And I have my work cut out for me.

His loves right now: trains ("cha-chas"), his big cousin Henry, his little cousin, Noelle Adams ("awww"), balls (duh.), trucks and books. Oh, and tackling.

On his non-love list: Santa.

His vocabulary is still a little slacking. Trey is a bit worried. I think he just is satisfied with tackling and sees no use for words. At any rate, he has his very own language. When he sees a train he says " Cha-cha, mama!" Say that in a very British accent. That is how he talks. He can also say daddy ("da"), "book", drink ("thisss"), "ball", Thank you, ("tanktu"), "boot", and "dog".

Other than that, it's his own language. Most everything is "adda!". Who knows. We thought for a while "What's that?" but now I am not so sure. He is very funny and has full conversations with me in his own language, changing his tone, expressions and even shaking his little finger during the really important parts. I usually respond with "ok!" and he seems satisfied with that answer. I sure hope I am not promising a pony for Christmas.

He had tubes put in his sweet ears on Monday. Bless his heart, the Dr. said they were just awful. They are still draining a good bit. We go back next Monday for a check-up. Hoping for a clear bill of health! And we are also hoping being able to hear will help with his speech.

We are getting settled in a precious home in our new town. We will be renting this home for about a year and a half. I love it and could not be more grateful. Our home in Hattiesburg that we rented out for years while we were living in Gulfport is back on the market. PLEASE, for the sake of all things good in this world, someone buy it soon. If not, you may find me and sweet hubs in the nut house soon after the new year.

His favorite movie watching spot at our house -- inside the ottoman.

Maybe it won't be months before we talk again.
LOVE MY WILD MAN

OK. Let's get honest.

Truth is, I was going to make this blog private. Truth be told: I probably still will. But, people, I got to email #200 of people asking to be added when I was told that only 100 people can be added to your private blog. And I wasn't even half way through the list.

So, if we are all perfectly honest right now, I have to tell you I feel pretty darn loved. If ever you feel down, tell blogland you are going private. That will perk you right up. Thanks, readers. I love you too.

A few things have happened since we last spoke.

Namely, we are no longer residents of the coast.

Just know we are starting a new life in a new town. It's neither here nor there. (What does that even mean? I just felt like it fit there. )We are both so excited to see what God has in store for us. It has been amazing to see His hand in this move already.

And, yes, we are appreciate your prayers.

However, from the responses to my "going private" post, I now know that none of y'all come to this blog to read about us. Jones, as it turns out, is far cuter than I will ever dream of being.

So with that said, here are his latest ever-so-exciting tricks at almost 17 months:

- Gives zurberts. Come on, you know what that is. Don't act like if I spelled it correctly that it would change things. Raspberries on your check, leg, or his personal favorite, stomach. He pulled my shirt up in a store once to give me one right smack on my belly. We are still learning what is appropriate outside of home behavior.

- Refuses to try to say Sophie. He simply calls her dog. I will say "Jones, say Bye Sophie!" and he will say "Bye, Dog!". I have tried to sound out her name while pointing to her. "Sooo-feee." To which he replies, while pointing to her, "dooo-ooog". As if to say "why is this idiot calling this dog a sophie when clearly it is a dog?" We will work on proper nouns at a later date, I suppose.

- At 15 months he weighed 26 lbs (71%) and was 33 1/2 inches tall (97%). When I hold him on my hip, his feet dangle to about my knees. We look awkward.

- I have never seen a child so obsessed with balls. He sleeps with a football. He wakes up saying ball and he goes to bed saying "night-night ball". It's all he wants to play with, throw, kick, hug, etc. He loves a ball. Which is a perfect lead to...

- The other night we were watching the first state game (go dawgs) with some friends who have a 7 month old that is so precious and still and quiet. Jones kept throwing a football at his sweet little head. (no fear. it was soft. I don't promote abuse) When Jones got sick of the sweet baby not playing his games, Jones picked up a toy laptop and chunked it at the babe's face. Game over, kid.

- He loves to wear caps, get muddy, tackle his mama and daddy (and random sweet little girls at the library) and play ball. And to think I once thought I would want a prissy princess. I love my all boy little man. I can't imagine anything better.

Here are Jones' precious one year pictures taken by the ever talented Tricia Butts at Betty Donne Photography. He was actually closer to 14 months when the pictures were taken due to Jones having the fever virus around his birthday and busy schedules.

Seriously, this girl is good. He doesn't sit still for more than half a second at a time. The fact that she is able to capture good pictures of a running monkey never ceases to amaze me.

(Check out all of them on her site. )

I am alive! (but going private...)

Hello? Is this thing on?!

Anyone still out there? A lot has happened since I last posted. My little man is now 16 months. What? How did that happen!

There have been circumstances in our lives that are going to require this blog to be private.

So....if you are so inclined in keeping up with our little life (come on, we are fun!) leave a comment with your email address. I will make the comments private so that your email is not out there for all to see.

Hopefully I will have the blog ready to go private in the next week or two.

Get ready - lots of pictures of my big one and a half year old coming soon!