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!

Meal plan

Smoothies for breakfast!

M:  migas from "happy herbivore abroad"   (lunch), harvest pasta from "my beef with meat" (dinner)

T: BBQ LOL, kale with OMG walnut sauce and roasted potatoes all from "my beef with meat" (lunch and dinner)

W: pasta pie from "my beef with meat" (lunch) and kidney quinoa burgers from everyday happy herbivore with mashed potatoes and steamed green beans (dinner)

T: black bean sweet potato quesadillas from "my beef with meat" (lunch and dinner)

F:  cheater pad Thai (lunch and dinner)

Jack is 11 Months Old!

WHAT?!  I am going to have a TODDLER in a month?!  It is crazy to think that a year ago today I was going in for my 36 week check up with Trevor in tow.  We were so excited because we were going to have an ultrasound to check his growth.  Ultrasound was perfect and then my blood pressure was high when the nurse checked it...she checked it again...and again.  She left and I told Trev "I told you, I knew this was going to happen" (I had been getting up in the middle of the night really swollen and unable to sleep).  Another nurse came in to check.  Then the doctor.  Ugh, he made SUCH a big deal out of it, had me in tears, sent me straight to L&D making it sound like I was about to deliver.  If I got to leave and didn't deliver...I would be on bed rest for the next month.  I was crying, scared...you name it.  All checked out fine.  I just had to be very careful and have Trev check my BP often and go to the doctor often to be sure I didn't get pre-eclampsia (only had Pregnancy Induced Hypertension at this point).  We made a trip to Trader Joe's to stock up, came home and Trev cleaned the house up, I got my hair cut and carpets cleaned and proceeded to sit my butt on the couch all day every day for the next month (except sneaking to work for a two weeks so not to interfere with my maternity leave).  I think about that now and how in the world I would sit my butt on the couch for a month with Jack is beyond me.  I hope whenever #2 comes we don't have that issue.  Our little soon-to-be toddler just wouldn't let his mom sit around, lol.

How big is Jack?  Soooo big (actually, no he isn't...haha)
So Jack is still a peanut.  He is wearing 9 month clothes (some 12 months).  It is hard not to buy all the clearanced clothes now in preparation for next year but after doing that last summer and all of his clothes being too big, I will just buy as we need now.  Luckily I can just throw some long-sleeved tees under his shirts and get some use out of them this fall now!  We did have his Bum Genius on the medium rise but his crawling and activity level have made it so we are going back down to the first setting.  He doesn't go for a check up until 9.13 so I won't know his height and weight until then!

Sleeping
Jack has been learning how to communicate and get around so much this month that sleep really isn't the greatest thing.  He is trying to condense 2 naps to 3, going to bed earlier (9ish) and getting up earlier (7ish) and can not seem to turn his mind off at night with all the thinking about "OMG THAT TOY" and "AHH! I WANT TO NURSE 24/7!!" and "I NEED TO PRACTICE WALKING!!" and "OW!  MY TEETH AND GUMS HURT!!".  He actually goes down much easier for Trev lately so Trev has been putting him down.  He starts in his crib and then comes into bed with us after that.  I don't mind it because I am hoping to not pump at work when I return in 11 short days and his nursing in bed with us at night will make sure he gets enough sessions in.  His naps are getting shorter and longer and between 2 and 3.  Still sleeping on his belly when in the crib.

Eating
Boy, this kid loves to nurse.  I was thinking that he would be cutting back on sessions as he got older but some days I feel like he nurses like a newborn (whatever, keeping my first post-partum period at bay and giving me a rocking metabolism).  I think part separation anxiety, part getting minor injuries toddling, part teething and part developmental leaps have made nursing a necessity still.  In terms of solids he has tried chocolate and tomatoes.  He LOVES tomatoes and eats whole ones in one sitting.  He enjoys pasta in any shape or form (asian, italian, soup, etc).  Has had a little bit of chocolate via dad's bday cake.  Really loved a new lentil loaf I made (so did we!).  Eats peas and blueberries one by one but will eat an entire tray filled with them.  He will try anything and is such a good eater!  Even green monster smoothies.  Tofu and potstickers are becoming more popular, too.  The sippy cup is not interesting right now (he doesn't even hold his own bottle).  Oh well...we will keep trying!

Development
Jack will imitate everything we do...laughs, cries, noises.  He now meows and woofs when we do or he hears an animal do it.  Even if he just sees a cat or dog he will do the appropriate noise.  He says mama a lot and we will go back and forth.  I will say, "Jack", then he will say "Mama" back and forth.  He also says dada and na (no).  And will say mama mama mama na na na when getting wipes down after dinner (which he hates and also happens to hate bibs) or when changing his diaper (and now has figured how to ninja crawl away mid poop change (UGH!).  Usually quoting his favorite book helps distract him in these instances.  "Are you a cow?" is his new favorite book so I will go through every animal to distract him...I run out often and think of crazy animals.  Haha, the things I do as a mom.  He really enjoys throwing his toys everywhere and has quite the arm...you've got to be careful!  He shrugs if he's talking and doesn't know something.  He loves making noises with his tongue.  When he plays with his car he makes a "vroom" noise.  He really enjoys reading books and will pick out books for us to read (or keep turning back to the front page over and over once a book is done).  He got the top 4 middle teeth at the same time...not fun!  He waves hi and bye to everyone, especially when out and about, and has the cheesiest little grin that shows off his teeth and what seems to be a dimple at the top of his right cheek.  He can stand up easily and walk around using the furniture just to balance.  He lets go often.  I bet next month I will be telling you he is walking!

He has mastered the fake cry and tantrum already.  They don't happen that often, he really still is the happiest baby ever.  But if he gets overtired and wants something he can't have, watch out!Gentle parenting is taking more effort now this month but we know it is worth it.  A deep breath and redirecting him work well.  No yelling or spanking here!  We are working better at not saying "no" but rather telling him what we would rather see him doing instead.  Obviously we aren't perfect and this is a skill we are learning as it is instinct to just say no...but clearly that doesn't help him learn what to do instead!  No matter how many times we ask him to get away from the toilet or Sof's water dish he still goes to it because it is fun, so redirecting works best most times.

Family
We got laminate in finally!  It was put in the kitchen/dining, front entry way, back hallway and laundry/back entry.  We love it!  Now to get tile in the bathrooms and re-carpet the rest of the house!  Trev has been doing a great job eating healthy and I think I am really going to miss making all our meals like I do in the summer instead of lots of leftovers and big batch cooking during the school year.  Trev and I have had some great date nights this month.  I am really sad to be going back to work in 11 days.  This summer went by faster than I could have EVER imagined.  Seriously.  It was so much easier to go back last year when I knew I would be off another 13 weeks.  Back to living for the weekends and nights with my little pumpkin.  Thankfully he is still with Trev during the day.  That gives me SUCH peace of mind.  Trev takes such good care of him.  I will miss the lazy mornings and late night snuggles and just not feeling like I have a million things going on.  I don't quite get how I make it work when I am working...getting everything done.  But I guess I do since I did it last school year!  I feel like I am constantly busy now.  Lucky I have a partner that helps so much.  We are a great team! :)

Well, that is all for now!  Here is my 11 month old!!!

Menu plans

OK, I've been making meal plans and forgetting to share them. If you follow me on IG (@a16343) you'll get to see pics. I'm really burnt out on oatmeal so I've been doing green smoothies for breakfast with our Vitamix. That thing is a powerhouse!  For snacks I'm being more diligent on un-processed fruits and veggies (my sweet tooth has gotten the best of me lately). My new favorite is sliced oranges in the fridge. 

Last week I made the BBQ LOL (lentil oat loaf) last week-delish!  It's from My Beef with Meat. We've had such a great success with recipes from this book, I'm cooking almost entirely from it this week. Trev loves nearly everything I've made. Also, my face has been acting up a little bit so I'm determined to get the last little bit of processed oil from my diet and cook more from scratch. I notice the cleaner I eat, the more the other types of food just don't taste good. And I LOVE the way I feel!  (My lunches are leftovers from dinner). 

S:  JR's pizza dough and pizza sauce from MBWM topped with red pepper, basil, onion, broccoli and nutritional yeast

M:  whole wheat pasta with pasta sauce from MBWM tossed with broccoli and cannellini beans

T: butternut squash lasagna from MBWM

W: ABCD sandwich with carrot fries

T:  Mexican pizza from oneingredientchef.com

Jack is 10 Months Old!

We are in double digit months now and only 2 months away from a year...how is this even possible?!  If last month was a huge leap in development, this month was as well PLUS a HUGE leap in personality.  Our smiley, happy little guy is SUCH a sweetheart.

Eating
Still nursing and is quite a bit actually.  He is getting his four (?!?! craziness) top middle teeth in right now so lots of comfort nursing is happening.  I'm not going to complain...I'm not pumping and I think my little leech has prevented my periods from ever returning so I will take it!  Still baby led weaning but not eating a ton right now.  He will take a bite and it hurts his gums so he will throw it to Sofía.  I just tell myself the mantra "Food before one is just for fun" and I just offer food when I eat it.  Sometimes he eats a bunch, sometimes not.  Still loving squashes and fruits the most.  Watermelon and kiwi are new favorites and he still loves pasta and bean meals.  Tofu is increasingly a winner.  He tried mushrooms, polenta, tomatoes, brussels sprouts, curry, green peppers, lemon, muffins, pancakes and one tiny drop of syrup, honeydew, pineapple, oranges, potstickers, salsa and horchata this month (all plant based vegan versions, of course).  We are trying to introduce the sippy cup with water but he isn't too big of a fan.  He can't quite seem to figure out that he needs to tip it up and most of the time he just wants to teeth on it.

Sleeping
He is pretty much down to two naps a day and unless we are out and about he takes them in his crib in our room, on his belly with the sound machine on.  I usually nurse him for a few minutes, walk around the room and then he is out.  The nap range from an hour to two and a half hours.  It is absolutely HILARIOUS when he is done with his naps because he stands up in the crib, rips his paci out of his mouth and spikes it like he is in the end zone with a football.  We give it back to him and he spikes it again.  Such a stinker.  He is a night owl and will stay up SO SO late with us.  If he stays up with us until we go to bed, he just falls asleep in the middle of our bed with us.  If I put him down before, he will sleep for about an hour on his own and then he is like "where are you guys?!" and I go in (usually my bed time by then anyway) and go to sleep with him in our bed.  I had plans of getting him in his bed full time this summer but he sleeps so well with us that I don't want to mess with a good thing.  It makes it easy to go to other people's houses, too, because he doesn't need anything but us to sleep!  It was adorable the other night when he was having a really, really hard time teething and he was flopping all over the place.  Full body thrashing in his sleep.  He woke up for a second, took his paci out, grabbed my cheeks with both hands and gave me a kiss on the lips and then passed out.  Absolutely melted my heart.

Personality, development, etc
Jack is just out of control with personality this month.  Besides the things mentioned above he is doing a ton more.  First, he is obsessed all of a sudden with our cats (Leo and Gato) and dog (Sofía).  He understands the difference between "Where's the kitty?" and "Where's the puppy?" and will go to whichever we ask.  He likes getting Sofía's toys for her, crawling to her and handing them to her or throwing them to her.  Sof is such an amazing dog for Jack.  She literally lets him do ANYTHING to her and doesn't growl, bark or snip.  Leo is just as good with him.  For as particular as he can be, he really lets Jack do whatever.  I think it is because I let Jack take a string belt off one of my shirts and play with Leo and Leo likes that so he puts up with the rest.  Jack and Leo will crawl around the house with that string for 30-45 minutes at a time with each other playing.  It is adorable.  Outside of our animals, he loves playing with a wooden hammer that was part of another toy.  The hammer goes everywhere with us and everything gets "fixed". It is pretty cute.  He also just likes to throw his toys absolutely EVERYWHERE leaving a path of destruction.  You need to be careful because he has some strength.  He is such a great help when he is done playing at night, he starts cleaning up his toys all on his own.  It is adorable and we've taken a few videos of it.  He is definitely our kid...super neat freak like us...haha!  He is also really interested in tires.  Anywhere we go, if he sees a tire or cars driving, he STARES at them like they were some really cute girls walking by lol.


One of my new favorite things he does is when you say "Aw" or if you take a picture of him, he poses by tilting his head.  He loves the reaction so much he will tilt his head over and over until you take a picture or say "aw".  And then once you take the picture he wants to look at all of them.  Facetiming with Nana is a favorite activity because then he can do it non-stop.  He also likes to do a big, fake and cheesy smile showing his bottom teeth and doing a sort of laugh through his nose and teeth while tilting his head in order to flirt.  This kid LOVES attention.  We go out to a restaurant and he will be staring around looking for people to look at him and then will tilt his head, fake smile and laugh to get attention.  One afternoon we went to Olive Garden and we were in the middle of a ton of tables and he wouldn't eat...he was just soaking up all the attention.  Trevor and I were dying.  The other activity he likes to do at restaurants and later at night is screaming to talk.  He seems to have figured out that he can make his voice really, really, REALLY loud and we now call him dictator Jack sometimes because he will just talk forever, (usually somewhere like a restaurant or at bed time) like a loud dictator.

He is also making a lot of nasally "ga" noises and has perfected the fake cry.  Such a faker.  Everyone that comes around just gushes over what a mellow, easy going and happy personality baby he is.  Since he is VERY mobile now we do have some sort of small injury every day that involves a couple tears, and the teething has made him somewhat sensitive and he was being a bit of a needy one last week.  Lately because I am with him 24/7 he definitely has a bit of "mama's boy" syndrome.  Trev was trying to hold him the other night and Jack had full on tears and crying going and would stop if I held him, being near me with Trev wasn't cutting it.  I think he was partly tired and in pain (which the Hyland's teething tablets work WONDERS for at night, by the way, only thing I use!) but boy I think that was hard on Trev.  I know it is just a phase and they'll be best buds once I am back to work.

Jack loves to kiss people, if you ask for a kiss he'll either push your lips away or give you a million kisses.  No in between here...lol.  Hot or cold!  He is standing well and cruises around the couch effortlessly and can let go of one piece of furniture and go to the next seamlessly.  Occasionally, (first time on 6.25) he will let go of furniture and stand on his own for a few seconds.  Especially when he is standing up net to cabinets and trying to open them to get into them!  Jack is into EVERYTHING.  He is also starting to dance more and points to things E.T. style.  Oh, and he was famous this month.  Our friend Renee put a picture of Jack and I on the homepage of VegMichigan!

So that is it for Jack!  This month Trev and I got new appliances and are starting to look at new flooring to FINALLY finish the kitchen we started almost 2 years ago.  I think we may go with cork.  I love the eco friendly,warmth and price of it.  In pure Ashley style I am over researching everything to make sure we do this right!

Gato has been really sick this month (she is my 19 year old Persian I have had since 8 years old).  $500 in vet bills, medicine and tears pretty much sum up that story.  It is so hard for me to see her be so old.

I haven't really posted meal plans in a bit, and probably won't during the summer.  I eat really randomly in the summer and try to just make do with what we have.  I managed to make meals for 2.5 weeks without grocery shopping in June to save money and time and to use up what we had.  Perfect timing because at the end of it we lost power and then or new fridge came.  It made the transition and day without power really easy (once our neighbor saved my breast milk stash!).  I'm still making plant based vegan meals and Jack is loving it.  I love the laziness and laid back feeling of summer.  When we get up I make us something like a smoothie or pancakes or muffins rather than trying to scarf down oatmeal really quickly.  I never cared much for baked goods in the morning (usually more of a savory person) but lately I have been making sweeter breakfasts.

Yesterday Trevor and I celebrated our 4th anniversary by going out to dinner at Miyako, Sweet Earth for dessert and then to the theater to see Kevin Hart's new film.  It was a good time and it felt SO weird to be baby free while my sister Kim watched him.  I felt so rebellious just being out without Jack!  Haha, getting old.  I love that we are still like we were in high school, or even middle school for that matter.  We settle disagreements with rock paper scissors (I always win), we are sassy and goofy with one another and we balance each other out so well.  I feel so lucky and fortunate to have such a great partner and father to my son.

Well I think that is all!  Here are Jack's 10 month pics: