Independence Day

Yesterday was the 4th (which means Daddy was home with us! WOOOO). How sad that was my favorite part about this week, lol. Staying at home with the boys can be tiring and a little daunting, and I love having Darren home with me. Throw in a random day off midweek and I am one happy girl! We enjoyed a day like any other weekend yesterday; a big breakfast all together and spending some time outside in the hot weather. The boys were in their cute 4th of July get-ups and we made plans to go to a BBQ after Cohen's nap. It was a good time; we go to this BBQ every year. Our friends w;ere there, along with delicious food. Cohen got to play with some of the other kids and Darren got to kick ass in volleyball. Os was such a good boy getting passed around by every one. He took a few little cat naps, and we finally left around 8 when he was getting crabby and Cohen was ready for bed. After we got the boys down, Darren went back over there and I got to enjoy alone time with the last season of Weeds and a bag of chips. I also worked on a craft I am making for my best friend's wedding. It's just a little gift for one of her showers. She is marrying Darren's best friend on the 14th (wow it's coming up!). It's a jute-wrapped letter and it's looking really good. Crafts, Weeds, and snacks by myself... Pretty good way to end the night. 

Things have been going really well here. I'm still not sleeping because Os is still not sleeping :) He wakes up about every 2 hours. Sometimes he surprises me with a 4 hour stretch but it's almost always his first stretch (when I'm still up getting Cohen to bed or picking up from dinner). Our days are pretty good since the weather is nice. C burns a lot of energy outside and we go to the park almost every day. My mom comes over once or twice a week, and my sister comes over about once a week, too. It's nice to have some adult conversation besides my coffee lady :) Darren's mom likes to take Cohen now and then and he loves to spend time with her and gives me a little break. Os is such a great napper, so Cohen and I have been able to have some normal days and spend a lot of quality time together. I'll admit by 4 oclock I'm harassing Darren to come home early. He doesn't get to very often, though :( Last week Cohen and I even got to spend an afternoon by ourselves, and I could tell he really loved it. Grams loved watching Oslo, too. I took Cohen to get his hair cut which look AWFUL. The guy messed it up so bad. It breaks my heart. We have to put product in it and make it into a little mohawk to look normal. Thank goodness it grows fast. Darren is not pleased! Lol. 


Here's a photo dump of my sweet patriotic babes:

Happy Father's Day.

Tomorrow is Father's day; Darren's first one with his two boys! It's been a whirlwind of a month. Os is almost a month old and it's all going by so fast. I'm feeling exhausted, overjoyed, in love, and stressed. We are still trying to get a routine down. Oslo is a terrible sleeper, and I wouldn't expect anything else from a 4 week old. He is eating really well, though. Cohen was terrible at nursing so I'm so grateful Os and I can have that bond and have it go so well.

 I have been a SAHM to two boys under two for 3 weeks now and it's been interesting. My days are so structured yet all over the place. That makes no sense. I have a routine for the day, although that depends on the crazy boys that run the house. As soon as I get Oslo down after his first morning feed (anywhere from 6-8 AM), I try my best to sit on the couch with my cup of coffee and breakfast before Cohen is up. Some mornings I get to enjoy the alone time for half an hour, some mornings just 5 minutes ;) Once Cohen is up, it's a usual day--breakfast, toys, puzzles, running around. He sometimes struggles while I nurse Os, so I try my best to sit on the floor with him in the playroom. We read books, sort shapes, work on shapes and colors, etc. He will throw a fit when he doesn't get the attention he wants, which causes me so much stress and guilt. He has to get used to it and learn to get over it, though. As soon as O is asleep, I spend all of my time with Cohen, usually outside in the beautiful Summer sun, in hopes he will get sick of me by the time Oslo wakes up again :) At this point we are still using freezer meals from my stocked freezer, so I don't have to worry about getting dinner cooked or anything. Cohen's nap time is my favorite time of the day--relaxation! If Oslo is up we enjoy the alone time snuggling on the couch. Most mornings they both sleep so I get to watch my shows, fold some laundry, and eat lunch. I enjoy the quiet time more than I ever have before.

I'm so lucky to have Darren. He has stepped up as a father and has impressed me so much. As soon as he is home, he takes Cohen outside to burn some energy. They go on nature walks and go explore the river across from our house. While they are out Oslo and I go through his bedtime routine and I attempt to get him down. Then I can at least start picking up the house and then we get Cohen down for bed. Os is usually up before then, as he likes to take his sweet time getting down for the night. Sigh, the joys of newborns :)
Happy Father's Day to my amazing husband, best friend, and better half <3

The Os-man's birth story

On 5/19, 9 days before my due date [and Cohen's 18 months], I woke up praying I'd go into labor that day. If I did, Darren would be home with us that weekend, that week, and the 3 day weekend following. Darren and I both had a feeling it would be that day, even though part of me also thought I'd reach my due date. We went on a long walk that afternoon with Cohen and the dogs. I was having contractions but frankly I was having them anytime I was somewhat active, so I ignored them. We went home and during Cohen's nap tried another method of trying to naturally go into labor ;) ;) After Cohen woke up we got ready and went to the Ash Kicker; a big, muddy marathon hosted at the RV park. We met up with some friends and walked around a bit. I was having contractions while we were sitting on a bench, and the thought occurred to me that I had not felt any contractions while sitting in a while, and that could mean good things. On our way home (about 4:30) I mentioned that I was still feeling some, and maybe I'd time them after dinner. Well not even an hour later I was having them every 5-8 minutes as I made dinner. I wrote down some times but none of them had become more intense than another, so I wasn't sure what to think.

I made a bad habit of comparing every detail of this labor to my labor with Cohen. With him, just 18 months prior to that very day, I had timeable contractions for only a couple hours before I couldn't walk through them. I was writing down contraction times around 2 o'clock, we were at the hospital by 6, and I had him at 9. I figured this time around would be faster, and we had a bit of a longer drive to the midwife's, so I wanted to leave as soon as I knew it was the real deal. At about 6:30, Darren's parents picked up Cohen so we could focus on the timing of the contractions. Darren cleaned the whole house while I walked around timing contractions. They were still coming, but none had really hurt, yet. I was feeling slightly discouraged. My midwife said to take a bath as that can speed up the process if it's true labor. I took a bath as well as walked up and down the driveway for half an hour. A few had been more intense, but then they'd just go back to bothersome. Darren suggested we take a drive because the car always makes it way worse! I decided I wanted a brownie sundae from BK so we drove there and then drove around town a bit. It was about 8PM at this point, and I had finally had a really good contraction that made me stop what I was saying. Darren looked me and said, "We're going!" But the rest of the drive there didn't do much. I was hoping for some intense contractions in the car, but I got nothin :[

We got there at 9 and I was feeling discouraged that I hadn't had any good ones. It had been 4 hours since I noticed contractions, and by this point with Cohen we were headed to the hospital and I was moaning in pain. I walked and walked and walked, and she checked me at 10 or so. I hadn't changed since my appt 4 days prior [3cm 50% effaced]. I wanted to cry. I got in the jetted tub, as relaxing can sometimes help you dilate. It was too relaxing! I didn't feel one contraction the whole time and I was falling asleep in there. At 11, Laura told us we could go home and sleep and maybe I'd wake up to more intense contractions, or we could sleep there in the birth suite and see what happens. She said she would be surprised if I didn't have the baby in the next 24 hours. I was so exhausted, as was Darren, so we decided to go to sleep there.

I was passed out by 11:30 but only got one lousy hour of sleep because I woke up to back pain. I got up and walked around and they were definitely coming every 2-3 minutes and hurting me. I didn't want to call the MW right away as she was probably sleeping [her house is connected to the birth suite/her office]. Darren woke up to me walking around and helped me time them and at 1:30 he called Laura [MW] because I was feeling uncomfortable. She came over looking like she had been up and ready for the call. She said she figured the sleep would relax me enough to send me into labor, and sure enough it had. I got in the tub and could still feel the back pain coming so that was a good sign! I enjoyed maybe half an hour of uncomfortable contractions in the tub, and then the real show began.

At 2, I was moaning in pain, yelling for Darren to jam his fist into my lower back where the pain was. This back labor was 1000x worse than with Cohen. The jets in the tub helped, but I still hated every second of this labor. The nice thing was having a minute in between contractions. With Cohen, they were right on top of each other. I would moan and visualize and rock for a minute, then have maybe a few seconds of relief before doing it all again. This time around, I would yell and visualize and swear for one minute, then have almost a whole minute of breathing and pep-talking that it was only temporary and soon I would have my baby. Darren was such a wonderful coach. He crammed his fist into my back for the entire minute as I was yelling at him to do it harder. He reminded me to breathe, told me how good I was doing, and repeated to me that soon we'd meet our new baby boy. After 40 minutes of hearing me like this, Laura checked me at about 2:45 AM. I was 6CM and almost completely effaced. I told Darren to text my mom and sister because they wanted to be there, and it could be sooner rather than later. I tried a few other positions for one contraction each--hands and knees in the tub, on the bed, hula hooping against the counter, & sitting on the toilet. The toilet was the only other place I liked aside from the tub. The sitting position and having Darren to cry into was comforting.

I was back in the tub when I mom and sister got there a little after 3. I was in the tub, on the toilet, in the tub,  on the toilet for about 45 minutes. Laura asked me if I felt like I had to push, and I told her I had been pushing a little bit with the last few contractions because it felt a little better. But nothing like the pressure to push that I felt with Cohen. I knew exactly when I had to push with him, and I also felt relief. Pushing contractions with him were amazing--no more back pain, just my body completely taking over to push him out. I didn't feel any relief at all this time, so I thought I was far from needing to push. Laura decided to check me and said to push with that contraction. The rest was such a blur. My sister has a video that is 3 minutes and 6 seconds long. The first 30 seconds is of me in the tub with Darren at my side and Laura waiting for me to have a contraction as she wanted to check me. Then 10 seconds of me screaming "GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT!" because her checking me was excruciating! Then she's telling me to push. I was so confused. It wasn't time to push yet, was it? I hear her ask Darren if he sees the head. What?! I felt his head come out and it was so relieving, I threw my head back panting. Laura yelled at me that she needed my air to get the body out. My sister, mom, Darren, and Laura were all encouraging me to push, so with one huge push, I felt his entire body just pop out! Cohen wiggled out slowly, but Oslo was just so so fast! Suddenly he was on my chest and I was staring at the face of my new little boy. Darren and I were both crying as he gave me a kiss and told me how great I did. After the cord stopped pulsing, he cut it and I tried nursing my new baby. I sat in the tub with him for maybe 5-10 minutes as I delivered the placenta. Then she took the baby to clean him up and weigh him and pass him off to Darren. I stood up and showered which felt amazing. The pain was gone, I had a new bundle, and I felt euphoric. He was born at 3:58 AM. 8lbs 4 oz, 21 inches long. On 5/20--my parent's anniversary :) Intense labor started at 2, so I'd say not too shabby! 2 hours of hard labor, 90 seconds of pushing.

Afterward I got in bed and nursed him-he latched on like a pro. My mom went and got us Subway as we tried to pick a name for our new baby. We could not decide for a while. I had decided on Ephram and Darren agreed. Then we tried to pick a middle name and as Darren said Ephram out loud more and more, he decided he didn't like it anymore, lol. I had suggested Oslo [the capital of Norway... I heard it on the news once] during my 1st tri and Darren shot it down. He eventually warmed up to it a few months later, so it had been on our list along with Ephram, Kingston, Keaton, Abel, & Abram. We both decided we liked it, and chose Ryan for his middle name. Ryan is his best friend's last name, who is marrying one of my best friends so it will soon be her last name, too :] We left Laura's at almost 7AM, and I was home in my bed with Oslo and I couldn't have been happier. I had an amazing experience with my midwife, and I was so so happy to not be in the hospital. I encourage every woman to attempt a natural labor and delivery. Both of mine were the best experiences of my life. Our bodies were meant to do it! It's incredible.

 We love our new addition <3

Oslo Ryan is here.

We welcomed Oslo Ryan ten days ago; he came at 3:58 AM on 5/20, weighing in at 8lbs 4oz [the same as Cohen at birth] and was 21 inches long [half an inch longer than Cohen was]. It seems crazy! He was just in my belly and here we are ten days later, settled into a nice routine, exhausted but overjoyed. Cohen was confused at first; he cried when he heard Oslo cry. But he's already adjusted really well, and aside from him not understanding that some things have to wait until Mama finishes feeding the baby, his days haven't been too different.

It was so wonderful laboring and delivering at my midwife's birth center. Such a better experience than the hospital with Cohen. It was a quick labor and delivery [I will post my birth story soon] and we got to be home not 3 hours later after having him. It was nice to get settled in at home and catch up on some sleep. 

Darren spent the first week at home with us [aside from a few half days during the week, when GMaw & Aunt Mandee came to help out]. With the three day weekend that gave us 9 days with Darren at home. Cohen was thrilled. He got to spend so much quality time with his Dad that week, he loved every minute of it. Yesterday was my first day alone with the boys, and it wasn't bad at all. It's already 2 o'clock here and today hasn't been too shabby either. The nice weather helps--we spend a lot of time in the yard, even with Oslo on my boob, lol. 

Os nurses much better than Cohen did at this age. His sleep is as expected: 2-3 hour stretches in between feedings. I'm not worried about it, I know he'll sleep long some day :] For now I'm enjoying our quiet time in the middle of the night, since we don't get many private nursing sessions during the day. It's nice to snuggle him and talk to him in the quiet of the night. 

He's due to eat any minute, so I'll leave with a few photos and post my birth story in the next few days.

A few hours old.

4 days old.

Cohen wanting to pick him his baby brother.

Daddy trying to give Oslo a binky. No dice, he doesn't like them.

A day in the life with one baby.

I'm 38 weeks and 2 days pregnant now. Plankton is ready to come out, and I'm ready for him to be here. I had an appt with my midwife last night. Baby is very very low (I'm sitting on his head all day; it's uncomfortable). I'm 50% effaced, and 3 CM dilated. My cervix "is mush. It's very favorable" ... hm, alright. This is definitely happening soon. I have contractions all the time, hopefully they are helping me progress slowly so the day of labor isn't so bad. Cohen's labor was so quick so as soon as the contractions are feeling time-able I am jumping in my car and heading to her house. We are all set up and ready for Plank; his room is ready, the Rock n Play is next to my bed, ready for him to move in. My bag is packed, the freezer is stocked full of meals, and we're down to the countdown of 12 days (or less).

This has me thinking. I'm kind of freaking out. I have some long exhausting days with Cohen; what will life be like with TWO babies?! I wanted to post what a normal day is like for us, so that one day I can look back and read it, all while laughing my ass off at how hard I thought it was with just Cohen; I'll probably be crying on my keyboard because it will be way more difficult (and more amazing if possible) with two!

So this morning looked like this: Cohen woke up at 7. I'm not sure what he's doing these last few days, because he used to wake up at 8. I think we need to try keeping him up a big later. Anyway, Cohen was up and changed, the coffee and milk were poured, and I started on breakfast. C was impatient while I cooked (not abnormal for him) so I had to hold him half the time so I didn't hear him whine. He loves to watch me cook. I need to get him a learning tower. Anyway, I got him in his high chair with bfast while I finished up mine. We ate, he threw food, he threw his silveware, he signed "all done", but he didn't want to get up, he ate some more, threw some more food, and finally signed "all done" and got out. I cleaned up from breakfast while he played in his playroom. This doesn't usually last all that long, but some mornings he surprises me with his independent play. I reheated my coffee for the 4th time that morning and joined him in the playroom. We built some megablocks, read some books, sorted shapes, practiced animal sounds, played with his cars, read some more books, stirred imaginary food in his play pots and pans, and he rolled around with the dogs on the bed while I browsed Facebook on my phone.

 Doesn't that sound like a nice hour or two in the playroom? No, it was only 25 minutes at most. Cohen will not spend more than 5 minutes doing one activity. He's nuts. So we did it all again; basically just kept him entertained with music and toys and books for maybe an hour total. I made him his daily smoothie (he's obsessed. Fine with me; a handful of spinach and fruit blended with milk is a tasty treat to him). Then we went upstairs so we could get ready to play outside. I don't know what we're going to do when it's raining; we spend at least 2 hours a day outside. More like 4 or 5. It kills so much time, burns so much energy, and Cohen is in such a good mood. Anyway, we were upstairs for about 45 minutes--he played with the dogs and the toys in his room while I got ready. He watched a 15 minutes Baby Einstein clip while I cleaned the bathroom and sorted through some of his old clothes to pack away. I got him dressed and we went outside.

Swinging, running around, kicking soccer balls, shoveling, pushing around his tractor, more swinging, water table, and more running around. We spent about 45 minutes outside, took a quick trip to the store (he loves the ladies at the store, and they love him), had a snack, went back outside, checked the mail (his current favorite task), enjoyed more swinging and more running around kicking soccer balls. Finally it was lunch time; he was being a fuss bucket as he was tired, so it was a task to get lunch heated while he threw his fit about God knows what. But finally he gobbled lunch, we had a dance party in the living room, went back outside for a small session of YOU GUESSED IT-swinging. He was getting sleepy in the swing so we came inside, read some books, and I put him down for his nap. That was at 12:45. I was exhausted and now had the decision of what to do during naptime; I always get dinner at least prepped so cooking isn't so stressful later. So I did that, finished some cake ball truffles I made the day before, and ate lunch. Here I am now. It's 2:10 and I'm praying to get another 45 minutes at least. I'd love to do some yoga and fold the laundry in the dryer. Some days Cohen naps 3 hours--being outside exhausts him. Others, like yesterday, he only gives me an hour and half. You just never know how the ole nap is going to be.

I'm exhausted just thinking about the day we've had so far. Only 4 more hours until Darren gets home! Yikes! I'm out of here to get some yoga in before he wakes up. In a couple weeks I can write a post about a day in the life with my two babies--if I can keep my eyes open long enough to post! Ha!

Me at 9 months knocked up. 38weeks1day.

My bear on Mothers Day <3 Love him.

My life, hippified.

Hippifying your life will make you so happy. I'm not a total hippie (yet..ha). I mean, I own a pair of Birkenstocks, but I don't ever wear them because Forever 21 makes a cuter gladiator sandal. See? I'm a cheap-clothes-wearing, meat-eating, I-don't-care-if-you-drive-an-SUV type of hippie wannabe. Basically there are just certain aspects of my life that benefits being hippie-like and it's proven to make my life easier.

#1. Foods. Buy organic.. not everything. That shit's cray and expensive. Buy organic when you're buying any veggies on the Dirty Dozen list. LOOK IT UP. It's gross. Stop eating processed foods! Well, I cut out as much as I can. I have just started this a couple months ago. But seriously, if it is found in the middle of the grocery store in a package, and not on the outskirts of the store, it's not as good for you! They throw in a shit ton of chemicals to make it last longer in a box. You know what's crazy? I feel so much better when I haven't been eating processed foods. Especially canned! I have completely cut out canned foods from our grocery list. I'm still using the few that are in our cupboards, because it's like a couple cans of gravy and some tomato sauce. Whatevs, I'll use it. But seriously, why buy beans in a can, when you can buy them for way cheaper, way healthier, in the bulk section, and I can cook them on my own, and know exactly how then were cooked. Beans in a can=ingredients: 3948759847584754 things. Beans from the whole foods bulk in=ingredients: beans. BOOM. I also used to buy canned tomatos. For any recipe that called for stewed tomatos, diced tomatos, tomato sauce, blahblahblah, I bought canned. BPA! AHH THE BPA. Seriously, the research on BPA is seeping into my mind and I can't believe all of the canned goods I used to buy. Now I buy ACTUAL TOMATOS---who would have thought? So much cheaper and insanely better for you.

Moving on. More hippie shit. NATURAL MEDICINE. Say wha?

Eat ginger when you’re nauseous
Eat raw garlic when you have a cold.
Gargle salt water when your throat is sore.
Guzzle some water with a drop of peppermint oil when your head hurts.
Eat oats to increase your milk supply.
Eat yogurt for yeasty beasties.
Use the Neti-pot when your sinuses are full of ick.

Medicine is expensive, and I hate buying it. and quite frankly I just got way too used to it. I think that's why I used to get sick all the time--I took medicine for any and everything that eventually my body needed it and I was sick all the time. Oh, that doesn't make sense? Well, whatever, it probably isn't true. Even if it's a total anti-placebo affect, I'm never sick, and when I get the slightest symptom, I do my super natural holistic stuff, and NIP IT IN THE BUD, BABY. Aside from like two times that I've taken tylenol when my hippie methods haven't worked, I have not taken medicine since before I was pregnant with Cohen [who is 16 months. do the math]. I can live without it, for sure.

I suppose seeing a midwife instead of an OB to have an unmedicated labor and delivery if filed under natural medicine. I don't even want to go into the details of comparing medicated hospital births to unmedicated ones, especially because there are ALWAYS circumstances that are out of our control. I would never judge/bash someone for having a medicated birth. HOWEVA. It does make me sad that nobody really does any research on it anymore. It's just assumed that they'll go to the hospital, get an epi, and pop the kid out. If only it were so simple. I mean, at least look at the risks and rates and stuff, ya know? But whatever. That's a whole other thing. I just had a wonderful experience delivering Cohen, as well as a recovery time and I wish that some people looked more into it before saying "Ow, that would hurt, so no." Go watch The Business of Being Born [Netflix, yo] and it will maybe shed some light on how L&Ds in America are going down the pooper.

A WORD FROM MY FAVORITE BLOGGER, MODG:
i read once in a hippie book that when you’re in doubt about your body (like in times of birth), be a monkey. Think with your primal instincts. Your body can do shit that your brain has no idea about. For example, you know how you can’t poop if a hot guy is standing in the bathroom with you? Oh you never tried that? Me neither (…) Doors in public bathrooms have locks and stalls for privacy because our muscles need to feel comfortable and safe to open up. Also no one wants to see your pee hole. The same way your baby shooter does to have a baby. It won’t open up and dilate easily  if you are under a billion bright lights, with people reaching up there and machines clanging away. But go in a quiet, dim, private area and feel safe and comfortable and BAM all systems are a go. Just like your pooper. Like a monkey pooper.
/END

Other natural things. Cleaning products. The chemicals in cleaning products are a no-no, so I make everything. Super easy. I actually didn't head down this road for hippie-training, I did it to save money. I'm all about saving dough these days. For a multi-purpose disinfectant, I soak some orange peels in vinegar for a week-10 days, then add equal parts of water. Voila. For carpet cleaner, equal parts water and vinegar, scrub on stain, sprinkle baking soda on top to absorb odor, and vacuum up. For the most amazing tile/shower/tub cleaner ever in the world, microwave some vinegar--about 1 cup, add 1 cup orginal Dawn dish soap. Mix in a little bit of water. BAM. It's seriously amazing. I just keep it in the shower, and spray down the tile when I notice the grout start to get a little pink. It's magic. Magic, I tell you.

2 words: Cloth Diapers. No other words needed.

ANOTHER WORD FROM MY FAVORITE BLOGGER:
SWEET and BRIGHT: Do not, no matter what ever never use artificial sweetners and try your best to avoid artificial dyes. That goes for Splenda, Equal and any other alien chemical that tastes sweet. And I don’t just mean don’t sprinkle it. Diet Coke and the like is bad too. If you need it just use regular sugar. It comes from the earth. Don’t eat it by the spoonful like an idiot.  Splenda chemically has more in common with a pesticide than sugar. And trust, if someone told me this when I was depending on coffee to live my life, I would have slapped their face with my ass. So you can do that to me if you want. There is evidence that food dyes lead to behavioral disorders, especially in kids. You can research this one if you’re interested. I know you’ll be all pissy about this one. /END

Okay that's enough for now, even though, you better believe I have more hippie shit to add. MUWAHAHA.

Meal Planning/Cooking. Am I growing up?

Trying to decide if becoming a mom has just this to me, although I kind of think I'd enjoy it even if I was babyless. I get way too many kicks out of my 2 week meal plans and trying new recipe. I've become an old woman.

Pinterest has helped this addiction; seeing new recipes and pinning them to go back and see later is awesome. Pinterest led me to punchfork which I love; it's basically pinterest but just for food. I can search recipes by genre or by ingredient, and then "like" them and it saves under your likes, so I can go back and look at them later. Then of course there's my usualy favorite sites like skinnytaste.com and allrecipes.com. I actually get excited to sit down and make my meal plan. I usually do it for 10-11 meals, as we go to the grocery store every two weeks, and I don't cook every single night. It works out well. I can order the meals in the event there's any produce that may go bad earlier than that, I'll make it within days of grocery shopping.

My favorite part of it all is experimenting with new ingredients and recipes! The first few menus I did, I made all new recipes.. 10 brand new things to try! If it was a hit I definitely use it again later on. What I've been lately (and hating that it took me so long to start doing it) is doubling two or three of the meals on my menu and freezing them. Right now I have about 7 dinners in the freezer, and my goal is to have 30 by the time baby is here. I know 10 of them will probably be made on an afternoon that I dedicated specifically to freezer stocking. Darren and I are also going to spend a Saturday afternoon (while C naps) making a bunch of waffles and french toast, and freezing them so we can just pull them out for our weekend breakfasts.

One of my favorite habits I've developed is tossing 5 chicken breasts in the crock pot with some water, putting it on high, and shredding it up about 5 hours later. Then I seperate them into 4 or 5 different small single-serving containers. I stick 2 in the fridge and the rest in the freezer and have chicken for lunch for the next 5 days. I'll throw some on a a salad, or wrap it in a tortilla with some cheese and salsa. Some minute rice and teriyaki sauce make for a quick and delish lunch as well. I just hate that it took me so long to do this. It will come in handy with the new baby when I'm breastfeeding and wanting to eat the entire house.

Anyway, go to punchfork.com now.. RUN. You'll love it (or you'll think I'm crazy for making meal planning/cooking a hobby).