Jack is 18 Months Old!

OK, so he was 18 months on Tuesday but I caught the plague on a work trip to Minneapolis this past weekend.  Therefore, we are a few days late.

Stats:

Weight:  22 lbs 11.5 oz (25th %tile)

Length:  31 3/4" (50th %tile)

Head:  18 1/2" (50-75th %tile)

Size clothing:  18 months, 5 or 5.5 shoe

Eating:

He is a voracious eater and will try anything.  His favorite foods are Chipotle tacos, pasta of any kind, freeze dried mangoes, beans straight from the can, raisins, frozen peas and corn, lentil soup from La Marsa and anything bread.  He is a super healthy and great eater.  He is still making a huge mess but he has gotten really good control over his spoon lately.  For breakfast he usually has a green smoothie or oatmeal, lunch is either pad thai or pasta and then dinner is whatever mom makes.  He only drinks water and breast milk at this point.  He is still nursing right when I get home and then about 3 times after that.  Knock on wood, I am SO hoping that that is preventing him from catching this terrible virus I have.  

Sleep:

He started sleeping through the night at about 14 months when we moved his crib upstairs.  He is at one nap from 1-3 usually and goes down between 7 and 8 and up between then, too.  He has a few nights here and there where he wakes up and its hard to get him back down without lots of rocking but those are fewer and fewer and now that he has almost all of his teeth, I am sure we will be sleeping through the night soon.  His top canines are almost in and so we just have the bottom ones and then the 4 2-year molars.  Luckily he slept great for Trev while I was gone in Minneapolis.

Development:

My baby is hardly a baby anymore!  Every day he looks and acts more like a toddler/kid.  It is hard to believe how fast it goes.  He can climb, jump, kick, run, roll and dance with ease.  I think the biggest change is how much he understands us and how well he is getting at communicating.  He can nod his head and say "mhm" or shake it and say "uh uh" which helps a lot, especially if he points to what he wants.  (Or it is really hard because he freaks out for 5 minutes in Chipotle until we discover he wants his taco rolled up like dad's burrito.)   He knows a few words:  "neh" for nurse, "ba" for ball, can roar like a dinosaur, meow like a cat, woof like a dog and make an elephant noise, can say go, dip dip dip when he dips his food, hot hot hot when he thinks something is hot, says woooo after we say "go jack go jack go jack".  Although this is all he can say, we can ask him nearly anything and he can tell us yes or no appropriately (like if he needs his diaper changed, is hungry, is tired or wants to play upstairs).  He's really into doing things on his own.  Going down the stairs, helping clean, flushing a toilet with toilet paper, brushing his teeth (which he hates), feeding himself, reading books, playing, etc.  He has learned to cover his face from the water during a bath, loves Little Einsteins (and doing pat pat pat pat, blast off! all the time), enjoys the Snuggle Puppy book the most, is obsessed with dancing and doing a few yoga moves, has gone sledding and said "go go go go, whoaaaa!", loves peek a boo and hide and go seek, has a new obsession with playing with Leo and a string now that Sofia is up north with my grandparents and Leo comes out and about now.  

He brings so much joy to our lives and I am so happy he is ours.  He fills me up with so much love, I love every bit of him with all of my heart!

Formation of Motherhood Photo Shoot

Friday night my girlfriend Heather and I did a photo shoot for the website and eventual book, Formation of Motherhood (link: http://www.formationofmotherhood.com/). The idea is to help make all post partum bodies and experiences accepted.  Here are my pictures. 

Cookbook Winner!

Laura!

Happy Herbivore Light and Lean Book Tour and Giveaway!

It is no secret that I am a huge Happy Herbivore fan.  I have all her cookbooks, am on her meal plan site as a testimonial, and did a giveaway last year!  She makes it super easy to eat well.  Being that I am a working mom and Trevor and I trade shifts taking care of Jack, I don't have a ton of time to cook at night when I am trying to wrangle Jack.  I also don't want to spend ungodly amounts of money on groceries.  But eating healthy (Whole Foods Plant Based No Oil) is really important to me and it is even more important that I make Jack a WFPBNO dinner every night (Trevor already has their breakfasts and lunches covered!).  Lindsay makes it so easy with her cookbooks.  And I have to say that this cookbook is by far her best.  The ingredients are straight forward, the recipes are quick and easy requiring little expertise, time or special equipment, and the meals are super satisfying and tasty.  I tend to like nearly anything healthy but Trevor is quite a bit more discerning.  He has loved everything I have made so far, even the tempeh bacon...and he doesn't like tempeh!  Yay!

Lindsay was kind enough to select me to participate in her blog tour again this year.  That means I get to tell you all how wonderful this cookbook is, share a recipe, and then give a copy away to a reader!  The recipe I chose to share with you all is the Meatloaf Bites.  This is such an easy, filling and versatile recipe.  I like to make it on the weekend with some sort of potato for a quick lunch.  It was actually the first recipe I made from the book.  The bites are the perfect size for Jack, too!  By the way, do you see that all of the nutrition info has Weight Watchers points added at the bottom?  I know a lot of people on Weight Watchers and I think they would love this new addition!

Meatloaf Bites

Makes 8

Gluten-free, Quick, Budget

One afternoon I grabbed what I thought was corn from the freezer but later realized it was mixed vegetables. Once they thawed on the counter I knew they weren’t going back in, so I looked for a new, inventive way to use them. A can of kidney beans started calling, and before I knew it I had a vegetable-filled meatloaf in the oven. Since this meatloaf is baked in a muffin tin (great for serving sizes and portion control), I call it meatloaf “bites” and, yes, leftovers are great as a burger!

1 15-oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 tbsp onion powder

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

1 tbsp chili powder (add another 1 tsp if you like it spicy)

3 tbsp ketchup

2 tbsp mustard

1 tbsp Vegan Worcestershire Sauce (recipe in full cookbook)

1 c frozen mixed vegetables, thawed

6 tbsp instant oats

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or use nonstick. Mash beans in a bowl with fork or potato masher until well mashed. Add remaining ingredients, except oats, and stir to combine.

Stir in oats. Spoon into muffin tin and pack down. Bake for 20 minutes until crisp on the outside and fairly firm to the touch (firms a bit as it cools). Serve with ketchup, Quick Gravy (pg. 188), etc.

Per Bite Calories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Fat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.7g Carbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.9g Fiber. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6.5g Sugars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3g Protein. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5.8g WW Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

 I have also made:  Chocolate Surprise Frosting, Sweet Pea Guacamole, "Cheese" Ball, Marinara Sauce, Tempeh Bacon, AJ's Vegan Parmesan, Everyday Mushroom Gravy, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Deviled "Eggs", Taco Burgers, Ruby Chocolate Muffins, Chocolate Cake, Classic Cornbread, Lentil Joes, Skinny Mac 'n Cheese, Thai Tacos, Parmesan Greens, Chickpea Tenders, Jerk Tofu, Spinach & Artichoke Dip, Eggplant Parm, Tofu Scramble, Pineapple Stir Fry, Soba Peanut Noodles, and Skinny Puttanesca.  I am not exaggerating when I say that these were all great.  My family all gobbled up the deviled "eggs" (even saying they were better than the real thing), spinach dip, sweet pea guacamole and "cheese" ball at my Christmas Eve get together.  Trevor was fighting me for kale when I made the Parmesan Greens (really?!).  Jack eats the Chickpea tenders like most kids do McNuggets.  Most of these meals I have shared with either Trevor, my friend Heather, Jack or other family and friends and no one has had a single complaint.  Healthy food done right!

In addition to all of these yummy recipes, there is a section with easy at home workouts to do.  I haven't had a chance to do any of them (to be honest, I loathe exercise that isn't dancing with my baby or yoga these days) but I am motivated by the fact that it looks like I could start doing any of them today and don't need a gym membership or special equipment.  She also discusses the 100 calorie factor with weight loss and The Utopia Paradox about what is really "good" and "bad".  They are really good short articles for perspective in being healthy. 

So, do you want your own copy of this awesome cookbook now?  Before 11:59 PM on Sunday 12/29/2013, leave me a comment here letting me know what you plan to do this new year to be a more healthier you.  I will choose a winner by random on Monday morning and you will have your own copy sent to you!  Good luck and if you don't win, I really hope you still consider purchasing this yummy cookbook! :)

Jack is 15 Months Old!

Well, he was 15 months on the 11th.  But life has been busy so 6 days late (when I haven't blogged in 3 months!) is to be expected.  I really though once he hit the year mark things would start slowing down.  But I have so much to say, actually!

Stats:

Jack is 20lb 8 oz. and 31 1/2" long.  He has finally broke the 20 pound barrier, if you can believe it.  He is still in 12 month clothes and on the smallest rise of his BumGenius.  My big baby is still a peanut.  

Sleep and Eating:

At the end of October or beginning of November my sleep deprivation was really, really getting to me.  We noticed that he would be fine sleeping until we came in the room and then once he could see us from his crib, he would cry until we pulled him into bed.  Then, he would proceed to nurse all.night.long.  I was touched out.  So we put his crib upstairs and he has been sleeping through the night ever since.  Occasionally he needs a bottle, diaper change or cuddles once a night, but not every night.  It has been AMAZING having some time at night to myself or to spend with Trevor.  It is even better to wake up in the morning and not feel like a zombie.

We are still nursing.  He really has zero desire to stop.  I tell him "all done" when he seems to be nursing infinitely but he freaks out.  At this point I feel as though it is more comfort than anything else so I am not fighting it.  He also, knock on wood, has yet to get sick and stayed healthy through my flu bout, so we will keep with it.  The sleeping through the night cut back nursing a ton, though, and brought with it my first postpartum period.  Disastrous is all I have to say about that.  He has vanilla sweetened non dairy milks (he likes almond and coconut so far the best) and really will only drink from straw or his bottle.  He is still having a hard time tipping up a sippy.  He eats three meals a day and a couple snacks.  He really enjoys freeze dried mango, cheerios, raisins, peas, fruit, tomatoes and casseroles.  Silverware is really fun for him and he is getting so good at it!  I love that Trevor cooks a vegan meal every day for the two of them and he makes him vegan breakfasts as well.  I'm pretty lucky to have such an awesome husband!

Development:

So much has happened that this is about to be a really random paragraph.  He has 10 teeth (4 top and 4 bottom center and left top and bottom one year molars).  These molars are hell.  The third is coming in now and they really screw with his happy disposition and sleeping.  Communication is really increasing!  He understands us more and more often and he is saying more.  He can meow, woof, make an elephant noise, "uh oh", "what's that?", "yeah", "mamama", "dadada" and the cutest "hai" for hi.  We picked that last one up from looking at food in the oven with the light on and saying hi.  (Which, he LOVES to cook alongside me at night.  It is adorable.)  Besides cooking with me, Jack loves dancing.  If you put on music or if some is playing randomly and he starts busting a move.  The music on Disney Channel, specifically with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, is the best.  There really isn't anything cuter.  Baths, diaper changes, cleaning his nose or wiping him down after meals is akin to being skinned alive...or you would think that with the way he screams.  He is such a busy body that detaining him for a few seconds or minutes to do these tasks is just unreasonable, in his opinion.  We finally cut his hair into a big boy haircut before Thanksgiving and he looks like a toddler now.  It is hard to believe that his baby-ness is slipping by so quickly.  We've played in the snow, leaves and with his basketball hoop a lot this fall.  He is loving undecorating the Christmas tree right now.  Little bits of my personality are coming out.  He enjoys putting things in groups and in lines in perfect order.  A little OCD like his mama.  He's also a people pleaser; always happy to do anything where you say "please" or "thank you" to him.  He's also a clean freak like his mom and dad.  Pushing the buttons on the washing machine and dryer and holding the cord while dad vacuums is pretty exciting for Jack.  We have a hard time keeping him out of the dog dish and the toilet.  Poor Sof's dish is always on the counter and the bathroom doors are always shut.  He can get off furniture now and is skilled at by passing the babyproofed cabinets.  Luckily we have some pretty high and sturdy baby gates.  Jack is such a happy and social (and cute!) little boy.  We are so, so, so lucky to be his parents.      

Other randomness:

We finally finished getting our floors done and have plans to get blinds this month (since I was an idiot and cut our strings to keep them out of Jack's reach and now we can't close them).  We will get a few dead trees chopped this spring and then I want a break from house updates.  While the end product is great, I can not stand it being done and the mess it creates.  I was eating a little dairy and vegan junk food recently (as was Trev) and I got the flu for the first time in forever.  I am 100% back into a whole foods plant based vegan diet and am not looking back.  I forgot how easily I get sick when I eat like that.  It isn't worth it to me.  I am LOVING the new Happy Herbivore cookbook, Light and Lean, and will be doing a review and giveaway on 12/29.  I'm pretty excited because I am hosting my family on Christmas Eve for WFPB appetizers.  I am really hoping to knock their socks off!  Work is going well and I have been changing a lot of what I have been doing but the kids are doing such amazing work.  It is infinitely more time consuming and intense for me but I think it pays in the long run.  We got family pictures done mid-October but they aren't on this laptop and I am too tired to upload them, so you will have to just check them out on my Facebook page.  Well that is it for now!  I will at the very least be back at the end of the month for the Happy Herbivore post.  :)

Jack is One Year Old!

Wow!  To think that this time last year I was holding my squishy, dark haired, tan, 8 lb 8 oz baby in a hospital bed, completely overwhelmed by love, chaos, nursing and responsibilities. Time has certainly flown by. Trev and I each just wrote a letter to Jack in his baby book and it really made think about how lucky we are to have such a sweet little boy. I feel so very blessed. Motherhood is ten times more demanding and wonderful than I could have ever understood before but it really is the best thing in my life. The love and patience I have for him just never existed before in my heart. That is not a slight to my marriage at all. I certainly could not have done this without the support and love from Trevor this past year. But being a mother and loving my child is something so entirely different. I know Trevor would agree. Jack has taught me to savor the present moment since the time flies so fast. His curious, playful and happy nature brings so much joy into my life. I've learned to go with the flow more and not stress about the small things with him, because the little frustrations really don't matter in the grand scheme of things. Jack has been such a wonderful teacher, addition, son and I'm so grateful that he is mine.

Additionally, I am so thankful for the father and husband that Trevor is. I would have never imagined he would be such an amazing Dad. He surprises me every day and it makes me fall in love with him in a whole new way. If there's anything more sexy than a husband who is a helpful dad, I don't know what it is! :) I have been back to work for three weeks now and I am reminded again of how great he is at being a dad. His patience with Jack and willing to get down on the floor and play with Jack for hours is so endearing. The handles a to-do list with Jack with more calm and grace than I ever can muster. He's always willing to help with putting Jack down or changing a diaper.  I even think he handles the day time responsibilities better than I at times!

And I certainly couldn't have gotten through all of my nursing struggles without his support. It makes me emotional just thinking about it because I absolutely can not believe I made it to a year nursing and I know it wouldn't have happened without Trev's understanding, patience, encouragement and support while never being judgmental and letting me make my choices. Nursing for this past year has been hands down the hardest thing I've ever done. From 5 months of pain, oversupply, reflux with Jack, latch issues, using a shield then to tanking supply, pumping at school twice a day and then reaching a year with a baby who loves to comfort nurse all night long has been emotionally and physically challenging. It's probably my most proud accomplishment, to be honest. But I certainly didn't get here on my own. I owe a lot of it to Trevor and his support.  I feel a huge sigh of relief and accomplishment rush over me as we are nursing at his one year birthday. For those curious, I still plan to nurse at night and in the morning and on weekends hopefully until he is two (if he shows interest and my supply stays up). I am no longer pumping at work (thank Jesus) but we have enough of a stash for Jack to get an afternoon bottle once a day when I'm at work until about the end of October/beginning of November. I plan to continue for many reasons. One, the immune system benefits are amazing. Two, he comfort nurses so much that I can't imagine taking that from him. Three, with him toddling and being adventurous he takes many spills; a quick nursing session immediately fixes any boo-boos and stops all tears. Four, we plan to raise him vegan and am not interested in starting him on cow's milk. Eventually we will give him coconut milk or hemp milk which both are high in fat, along with avocados, but he hates sippy cups and prefers adult cups and I don't feel like dealing with that mess.  But in the end, I am definitely giving myself a much deserved pat on the back for making it this far. Not for any judgement or superiority to formula feeders but for me working so damn hard on this and actually making it this far. Literally the blood, sweat and tears (oh, the tears!) were so worth it. 

OK, onto Jack!:

-after his doctor's appointment  we will find out weight and height but he's a peanut still (even though he eats like a football player). He's in 12 month clothes but still fits into many 9 month items and 12-18 is too big still. He's been this size since about February!

-he's down to two naps and takes those in the crib. He starts the night out in the crib then moves into bed with us at some point. Waiting it out, not crying it out, another huge accomplishment. He's yet to sleep through the night once. Ugh. The longest stretch we've had is 4-5 hours recently. I know there's no medal for this type of self sacrifice but I'm not willing to jeopardize his sunny disposition and independence with crying it out. This isn't to say I'm enjoying this period and anxious to move on...I am. Slowly we are working into non-CIO sleep methods. 

-he eats three meals a day. Usually cantaloupe or blueberries and other fruits for breakfast and then whatever vegan yumminess dad makes for lunch and I make for dinner (Trev and I are back I opposite schedules during the week but are off together on the weekends-we are so lucky to have this arrangement). He loves food and will try anything. He adores Olive Garden, lol. He tried beets and liked them this month. His favorite foods right now are tomatoes, cantaloupe, berries, pasta, peas, vegetarian baked beans and beans in general. Acorn squash and quinoa were new and not loved as of now. 

-he loves making silly faces at us, random people and the camera while taking selfies. He loves looking at tires moving, standing in strollers and carts, taking floor vents off and throwing toys down them (ugh, we've lost so many, he's so fast), playing in water (including the toilet and dog water-have I mentioned how fast he is?), an has taking to laughing at the noise he makes when gagging himself (gross). His favorite books are Pat the Bunny, Chicka Chicka ABC, and Tails. 

-he started toddling/walking on 8.14 and hasn't stopped!  His favorite way to get around though is butt scootching like a monkey. 

-loves to ask "what's that?" To EVERY THING. Half the time I don't even know what he's asking about. He talks a lot, says "Dadadada" so much after hanging out with him all day, will wave hi and bye and greets us when we come home (he can hear the garage door open and knows) or says goodbye when we leave (he pretty much knows who leaves when), points to things and where he wants you to carry him to and is just so smiley!

Well that is my ONE year old in a nutshell!  Can you believe it?  And just so no one is offended, we wanted to keep his first birthday small and personal (every one we know has a baby-it would have been a huge party), so we are just having our families come over for (vegan, hehe) cake and presents. :)

Happy 50th, Dad!

Phew!  The cat is finally out of the bag and this present is in my Dad's hands. 

A few years ago on Pinterest I found an idea called 60 Years of Memories (http://nothingbutbonfires.com/2011/06/sixty-years-memories). I kept it tucked away for my Dad's 50th knowing it would mean so much to him. The idea is that you contact X number of people in, this case, my Dad's life, to get their special memories of my Dad so I could put them into 50 different envelopes. So in May I got a list of people from my mom that she thought he'd like to hear from. I proceeded to use extreme detective measures to find email addresses, phone numbers, mailing addresses of nearly 100 people. I used Google, Facebook, other people, stealing his iPad, etc. and was pretty successful. But it didn't come without nearly a week or two of intense searching, calling, emailing. In the beginning of May, I sent out this email to many people as well as a few letters:

Dear Friends and Family,

First of all, this is a secret, so please do not let my dad, Jon Brief, know that I am up to something.  I want to surprise him with this gift.

If you're receiving this message, you probably know that my dad, Jon Brief, is turning 50 on August 24th (much as he would hate me to be reminding everyone, I'm sure.).  To celebrate his birthday, I'd like to put together a little surprise to let him know that his nearest and dearest are thinking of him. I’m going to try and create "50 Years of Memories" by filling 50 envelopes each with a memory his friends and family have of him.

And this is where you come in! 

If you have a spare moment in the next few weeks, I would be so grateful if you'd jot down a favorite memory you have of my dad and put it in the mail. It doesn't have to be anything fancy -- you can just write it down on a piece of paper and sign your name. You can mention anything you’d like -- although the more nostalgic the better! Feel free to send more than one memory on different pieces of paper (in fact, I welcome it -- I've got 50 envelopes to fill!).  I know handwritten would mean a lot, if you have the time, but you can send me an email as well.  If you have any pictures to add, I would appreciate it.  Lastly, please feel free to pass this along to anyone you think that might like to help (especially if I only sent this to one member of your family) because I could not find all of the people my dad is close to!

Thank you so, so, so much for participating -- I know everyone is busy with their own lives, and I do appreciate you taking a few minutes to do this.  I know my dad will treasure this gift more than anything I could ever buy him.

Thank you so much again!

(Then I have them my contact information)

I ended up being able to get 73 letters, meaning nearly half of his envelopes would be double stuffed.  I can't believe I was able to pull this off. Nearly everyone that knows my Dad, knew about the gift. I was in constant contact with so many people, and I appreciate everyone's patience with me, that I was so very nervous about the surprise being leaked. 

So the past week I went to Joann's looking for a way to put it all together. I found a great box, some envelopes, some stickers to number and label things and then some inspirational quote stickers that said things like "The best things in life aren't things". Then one night, when Jack was down, I spread out all the letters and was so overwhelmed. What order do I put them in?  Which ones do I combine?  I laid them all out and was looking at this mess:

I then laid out each envelope 1-50 and laid the letters under each envelope. I did friends 1-32 and family 33-50. 

I stuffed them and packaged it all up to look like this: 

(I found this idea to explain to my Dad what this present meant to me on another blog. I really wanted to include this because I learned so SO much about him in these letters. Specifically what a happy, hardworking family man he truly is and it was great to learn that.)

(A copy of the email I sent out)

So I packed it up and we headed up north for the weekend to spend the time in a cabin with my family for my Dad's 50th. When we woke up on Saturday, his birthday, I was so incredibly nervous. I was anxious to give it to him and anxious that all the people blowing up his Facebook saying "Happy birthday" would let it slip. I was ready to pass this hard fought gift off, finally. We finally got around to giving gifts around 10:30/11. Everyone gave them his gifts first as mine would obviously take considerable time.  When I finally came time for me to give the box to him I got very emotional. A mix of relief, anxiety and excitement for him to ready these memories (that painted such a beautiful picture). He got emotional because I was getting emotional! 

There were lots of laughs and lots of tears, lots of memories relived and enjoyed again. 

So in the end, the gift was a complete success. My dad said it meant so much that I was able to not only reconnect him with so many people from his past but that he gets to hear these things while living, as favorite memories are usually only shared once someone has passed. He is so grateful that people took the time to write, since nobody really does anymore. His only qualm is that I didn't give him a box of tissue to go with it!  

In the end, I am extremely grateful to all of you who participated. I obviously could not have pulled this off without your participation and secrecy!  Thanks to each and every one of you and Happy 50th, Papá!