Thursday, December 29, 2011

New Diet

Michael has been suffering from heartburn for years and years. He's tried all sorts of solutions but to no avail. A couple months ago he decided to do a master cleanse where he drank a lot of lemonade with cayenne pepper and maple syrup. Not my idea of fun, but it seemed to really help him. Following the cleanse (which lasted 8 days or so) he began a new diet aiming to eliminate heartburn. As a family we've joined him in many of his dietary restrictions (though we are not completely strict in this). It has been quite an adjustment, but I like knowing that we are eating healthier as a family. We are vegetarian and dairy-free (occasional glass of milk for the kids). We're also mostly gluten-free. We avoid highly-processed foods which means Michael or I make most of our meals. Our new favorite is our version of spaghetti. We use fresh tomatoes, green onions, mushrooms, cilantro, spinach, and Italian seasoning to make a sauce and we serve it over spinach rice spaghetti noodles. Yum!

Daisy is like me and loves food! With Jack it's more of a battle to get him to eat his meals. He would rather snack on tortilla chips and raisins all day, I think. If anyone out there has a good recipe they'd like to share with me, I'd love it. I'm always looking for something new to add to our now-limited menu.



Daisy the Comforter

Since Calvin has joined our family Daisy has become more mothering. She got a doll for Christmas that she pretends to change its diaper and care for. But prior to Christmas she used what was available...and that usually meant a superhero figurine of some sort :) This particular day it was SpongeBob and a little stuffed dog. And by the time I had the camera, Jack had joined in the fun.

Daisy and Calvin Love Each Other...Right?

This girl...

...loves this boy:

He loves her...

most of the time...

:(


Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Hungry?

Jack and Daisy love pretending to make food and eat it. Here, Jack is stirring the syrup for his pancakes. It was a little surprising what he chose to pretend were pancakes:

Diapers! Yes, while I was working on packing boxes to move to AZ, I found Jack and Daisy eating diapers as pancakes! Hilarious!

Not my first choice...but, hey, I'm not going to be the one to suppress their imaginations.


Aren't they cute?

(And, yes, I'm back in the blogging world...stay tuned for more updates soon!)

Monday, December 12, 2011

Still alive...I think.

Yes, I'm still alive. We've moved and things have been crazy. Right now we are all currently dealing with a puking bug, but as soon as that goes away I will be updating this blog. Don't forget about me!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Pie Day!

I missed out on all the fun my Utah family was having on Pie Day...

...but we were able to enjoy our own little festivities!

We celebrated Pie Day with some friends, Matt and Leanne Hicks and their daughter Clara. Many of you aren't aware of the new eating restrictions (no gluten, no dairy, very little processed food, and no meat) at our house (this in hopes that Michael's heartburn will go away, which it has decreased significantly so far), but it's made things quite interesting since I seem to be trying new recipes all the time (some of them good and some...definitely not). Both pie recipes I made were new to me. I made the gluten-free crusts from a mix and used a vegan buttery spread in lieu of butter. The berry pie was a simple recipe from my mother. It turned out pretty well. The vegetable pot pie was a success! Michael and I both liked it so I think it will be added to my little list of do-over recipes. Leanne made an apple pie and her crust was delicious! She also brought gluten/dairy-free Oatmeal Cinnamon Bread which was a HUGE hit! Jack probably ate half the loaf :) We had a really fun time playing "Ticket to Ride" after dinner. It was a great way to celebrate one of my favorite holidays!

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Two-Week-Old Calvin

Calvin is two weeks old! He weighs 9 lbs. 4 oz. and is an incredibly sweet baby. He hardly ever cries. He sleeps like you would expect a newborn to sleep...lots in the day and less at night :) but he'll grow out of that. If he doesn't, though, he's to blame for me becoming a permanent zombie. Calvin laughed last night...twice in a row. Surprised me, to say the least. There's not much that can make me smile when I'm losing precious sleep, but Calvin laughing out of the blue definitely does the trick.