7 QT Friday

1)

Wrapping up Catholic Schools Week this week.  If you are considering Catholic schools, but don't think you could afford it, or aren't sure if it's worth it, please read this.

2)

It's Chinese New Year!

What animal are you?  I'm a sheep, which is sort of fitting...baaaaaaa.

 Make sure you order or make some Chinese food to celebrate!

Colleen, why you gotta be so bossy and tell people what to eat for dinner?  
Because I love you.

Chinese New Year 2013.

3) 

Pass.

4)

Our new bed finally came.  This is the Christmas present that almost turned into a Valentine's Day present.  I kept saying, "I wonder what's going to be delivered first, our bed or the baby?"

But, it was worth the wait because it's beautiful, and solid wood, and made in Maine, where everybody knows the best trees and craftsmen live.

Proof:

5)

Happy linkies:

Lisa's having a girl!!  Sarah is blogging again!

and Sad ones:

Rebekah and Melody say their blog goodbyes (for now).

6)

Today is Mismatch Day at school, or as I like to refer to it "Let Dad pick out the clothes Day".

  

Alexander just does not understand that he is not in school yet.  Whenever the kids talk about their teachers or events at school, he thinks it's going to happen/happening to him as well.  He'll say "Well my teacher said..." or "We're having ice cream at school today!"  Poor little one just wants to be a big kid.

7)

What's that, you want another picture of my offspring?  Happy to oblige ;)

Xander put on one of my boots and said, "I going to work Mom!"

(Looks like he works the street corner.)

*snap*

Have a Happy Chinese New Year and Superbowl Watching Weekend!!

When I Grow Up...

Today is Career Day for Catholic Schools Week, and without further ado, may I introduce you to a future:

PRIEST:

Lord, please let this one have a vocation.

Fr. Eamon gives us his blessing:

CIA AGENT:

Love how he's in character.  So serious.

John-Paul was thrilled with the ear piece Phil created for him from an old set of headphones:

Alexander ran over and said "When I grow up, I gonna be a big train!"

"But now I just a little train.  Take my picture!"

"And this is my smushy face!"

PRO FOOTBALL QUARTERBACK:

And I think he could be, if his Mom only let him play football!  #notgonnahappen

Phil, super Dad once again, went out last night to get him a mouth guard to complete the look:

MOM:

Shocker, she's pregnant!  Well that's what moms do, right?

And she had a nice, easy labor and recovered in warp speed:

Maggie said she was the only girl in her class that wanted to be a Mom when she grew up.  What a sweetheart!

5 Favorite Healthy Snacks

I am a huge believer in eating a healthy diet with occasional (even small daily) indulgences.  And the two things I focus on are my water intake and how much protein I eat.  I find that if I drink enough water and eat enough protein, the rest of my diet is pretty healthy because I am not hungry for junk.

Especially in pregnancy and while nursing a baby, the requirements for water and protein go up.

General fluid needs increase during pregnancy in order to support fetal circulation, amniotic fluid, and a higher blood volume. The current recommendation for water intake is drinking 8–10 glasses of water each day...  Increased fluid intake can help to alleviate constipation. An adequate fluid supply also ensures that the mother has enough reserves to tolerate blood loss during delivery. (source)

and from another article...

Protein requirements are complicated because the amount we need changes with age.

• Infants require about 10 grams a day.

• Teenage boys need up to 52 grams a day.

• Teenage girls need 46 grams a day.

• Adult men need about 56 grams a day.

• Adult women need about 46 grams a day.

One important exception is pregnant or lactating women. The recommended intake for them rises to 71 grams of protein a day.

So, I'm linking up with Hallie to share my Five Favorite ways to increase both water and protein:

1) 

Water is an easy one, as long as I fill up my water bottle 3 times each day, I've had 9.5 cups of water by days end.  I try to drink one bottle by lunch, one by dinner, and one through the evening.  This water bottle is my favorite.

2)

Greek yogurt.

I eat one every day, either for breakfast or lunch. It has tons of protein, calcium, and probiotics for digestion.  I feel like this is a nutrient powerhouse.  I just tried the vanilla and almond Yopa! and yum yum yum!  

With 15 grams of protein, it's highly recommended!

3)

Cottage cheese.

This is my one and only pregnancy craving over the past few months.  I never used to eat cottage cheese on the regular, but it's sooooo good!  A little salty, a little cheesy, and tons pf protein again.  I usually mix in some pineapples or eat it alongside a juicy clementine.  For me, it has to be full fat and small curd, and that has 28 grams of protein per cup!

4)

A Protein packed breakfast.

Two  egg, cheese, and sausage muffins for breakfast.  About 21 grams of protein to start your day off right!  Here's a good recipe, but I change it around a bit.

5)

A super quick and delicious dinner for us is:

+

+

In total, this fast and easy meal has 38 grams of protein!

So that's some of the things I've been devouring lately.  What are your go-to protein meals?

He Said, She Said

"Mom, these are my fast running socks!"

Xander loves to see the "new baby"....especially at the worst moments...

Xander, at Mass: Open your belly!

Me: No, not now.

Xander (putting his hand down my shirt): Open it!  I want to see new baby!

Me: Later.

(He proceeds to lean in for what I assume is a hug, but turns out to be a shoulder bite)

Me: Ow, you just hurt Mommy!

Xander (as he's pulling my shirt off my shoulder): Show me the booboo, I kiss it!

Me: No, not now.

Xander: You feeling shy, Mom?

Me: Yup. Now shhhh.

Xander (whispering): I tell you a secret.  You are really pretty.

~

Eamon: Mom, I made up a joke!

Me: OK, tell me!

Eamon: What song would a cow and jaguar sing?

Me: ?

Eamon: I got the mooos like jaguar, I got the moos like jaguar, I got the moooOOOOoooos like jaguar.

~

When Xander goes to timeout, he's allowed to get up when the microwave timer beeps.  The other day, the fridge was beeping because someone left the door ajar...

Xander: Who's in timeout?  Timeout's over now!  I in charge!

~

Kids: Xander's a big boy now!!!!
(Much yelling and jumping around ensues)

~

The kids had to dress up country western style today for Catholic Schools Week...

Me: Maggie, do you want pigtails or braids for your cowgirl outfit?

Maggie (who's still deathly scared of braids): Real cowgirls wore ponytails.

Me: I'm going to do pigtails.

Maggie: But then I won't look like a real cowgirl!

Andrew: Well, real cowgirls don't wear dresses.

Maggie: The cute ones do!

~

Eamon: Why do they call us cowboys if we ride horses?  Shouldn't they call us horseboys?

~

Alexander comes into my bedroom banging on his drum...

Me: Xander, why do you have to play your drum soooo early?

Xander: Cuz I feelin' the beat!

{Linking up with Rosie and her funny kids!}

32 weeks 1 Day

After my walk yesterday, I took a photo of my 8 month baby bump.  Phil saw me doing it, and offered to take the picture for me.  He also suggested that I should change out of my workout clothes and take a shower so he could take a nice picture.  NO WAY!  I explained I needed to be sweaty and in workout clothes and taking the self-photo in this bathroom so that I could compare it to my 32 week photo with Alexander.  It's all in the details. 

#husbandsjustdon'tunderstand 

#pregnantwivesbecrazy

So here we are with Baby Martini:

Wow those non-maternity stretchy shorts are all kinds of not flattering.

vs.

32 weeks pregnant with Alexander:

Even sweatier because it was June.

Now do you believe me that it's a boy?

I only have pregnant photographic evidence with Maggie at 39 weeks, if you must see a pregnant-with-girl photo to compare:

This sweat was purely from pregnancy.

7 Quick Takes Friday

1)

How can it possibly be Friday already?  With the Monday holiday and a snow day on Wednesday, this week absolutely flew by!  

#Icouldgetusedtoa3dayworkweek

2)

On Monday, we teamed up with Clan Donaldson and went to the Museum of Science in Boston.  I don't know why we don't do this more often, as we have free passes because of our membership to a cheap little zoo near our house.  The kids loved playing with the Donaldsons, as usual, and were very happy to see the Lightening Show.  If I was a homeschooler, we would do field trips every day.  Which is probably a great reason I'm not a homeschooler :)

3)

After the Museum, Ken and Cari forced us to walk for miles and miles in the cold winter air until we found the greatest pizza ever in the North End.  Oh my goodness, was that pizza divine.  Then Phil found me a Cannoli Florentine after I had a little hormonally charged pity party for myself when I realized the bakery we had first entered only took cash, and cash, I had not.  

4) 

When we got home, I warned the boys that I was going to cut their scraggly hair, and methinks thou doth protested too much, so I packed them up and brought them to a new hair place for a semi-professional to do the dirty work for me.  Since the shop was having a grand opening, the haircuts were only $4.99 each!  And, as they all reported to me after, the most exciting part was that nobody got their ears nicked and they put powder on their necks to help wipe off the hair.  My boys are forever spoiled now.  There's nothing like a good ear-nicking to ground a child.

3 heads = $14.97 and no complaints!

5)

I heard on the radio yesterday that keeping your house cold helps you lose weight!  Score!!  We keep our heat at 65 during the day (when we're at home) and 60 at night.  Repeat after me: Thrifty = thin.

Winning!

6)

How sad is the news that Justin Bieber got arrested for a DUI?  I mean, we all knew it was kind of coming, but fame sure does ruin people.

I had a dream this week that I got invited to a One Direction concert and I was sooooo excited, but then I remembered that I'm a 34 year old pregnant mom and got embarrassed.  Whatever, their songs are catchy.

7)

Speaking of pregnancy...

I saw the midwife yesterday (I'm at the every 2 week appointments now) and told her that I think the baby was transverse because all the movements I can feel are on the sides of my belly, and I can breathe a lot better.  Sure enough, Baby Martini is laying like so:

I'm almost 32 weeks, so I still have time for him/her (but we all know it's a him) to turn.  My midwife lovingly reminded me that once you have as many babies as I have, there's a lot of room in there for baby to move around.  Well excuuuuuuse me :)  I'll start trying some of these exercises soon.

Have a great weekend everybody!!

Caught in the Act

Today's Theme Thursday is Catching People Unaware.   Boy this was hard, as I found out I pose my kids for photos a little too much.  

Note to self: start taking more impromptu shots.  Real is better than faked perfection. 

So here are the few I have that fit the theme:

Belly scratchin' and boy part snatchin'.

Diggin' for gold on the open road.

This moment will be forever in our memories.  Oh Maggie!

Also, I've been caught unaware that I'm a nominee for a Sheenazing Award!

Vote here for your favorite bloggers (it's simple, you don't need to be a blogger or have any technical skills at all to vote.  I'm looking at you, Mum!)

Proving It

I have been really slacking in my prayer life lately.  On the best of days, I get to daily Mass or pray a family Rosary, but on the worst of days (which are far too frequent) it's just morning and bedtime prayers with the kids.  

Our Pastor gave a great homily on New Year's Day that challenged us all to make some spiritual resolutions for the new year.  He said a lot of us make resolutions to eat right and exercise more, but what about our souls? 

Then what really struck a chord with me (the exercise lover) was when he compared muscle confusion in workouts (when you switch up your workout routines to constantly challenge your body to adapt) with spiritual exercises.  He said sometimes we can prefer to pray a certain way, or only make time for Mass, or attend our weekly Adoration hour and sort of fall into a rut.  But if we can add something new and challenge ourselves to grow, we can flex those spiritual muscles until we become a bulky Mother Teresa. (OK, he didn't say "bulky Mother Teresa" but seriously, how strong was she?!?!)

So I decided to try harder, and my first step is to incorporate some spiritual reading into my day.  I picked up this book the other night, and I searched for the passage about fear, because unfortunately, I am still having lots of fear and anxiety about this impending labor.  The words jumped out of the page at me:

My child, in many a trial and trouble, I come to you and ask you to believe in Me.  Put your confidence in Me, and prove that you mean it, by refusing to worry.  If your trials were not good for you, I would remove them at once.  

Do not be frightened.  Why worry about coming events?  Take care of today's problems and leave tomorrow in My hands.  Many of tomorrow's troubles are only in your imagination.

Lastly, remember that nothing can happen without My consent.  Put yourself in My care and fear nothing.

What a challenge this is: Prove that you mean it.  I've never had it put that way.  

How can we say that we love and trust someone, but then check their emails and phone logs and worry and constantly check up on them?  That's not love or trust.  

So why do I do the same with God?  I say "Jesus, I trust in You" and then I worry about everything that might go wrong that I won't be able to handle.  "It's just too much, God!" I yell,  "You know I can't handle this!"  But only He truly knows what I can and can't handle better than me, and He will give me the grace to conquer the challenges when the time comes.

And the only way I can show Him that I actually do trust Him...the only way I can prove that I believe He uses all for good...is to stop worrying about the future and be thankful for today.