Easy, healthy whole-wheat biscuits

I try to eat and feed my family healthy foods. I think it actually all started when I watched Food Inc for the first time. And then read In Defense of Food. And then watched Fed Up. And then had gestational diabetes during both of my pregnancies. Basically, I got scared into eating healthy.

One of the first things I did was switch to whole-wheat whole-grain everything. When I stumbled upon these whole-wheat biscuits I felt like I made a scientific discovery. And still feel that way every time I make them. (I can't remember where I found it, otherwise I would have totally given credit where credit is due.) And the best part - you can actually relinquish the whole process to your child. Score!

Recipe below.

conversations with my two-year-old

The other afternoon, I decided that Leo had spit up on himself enough times to warrant a mid-day bath. Annika loves to be involved with everything concerning Leo (including asking to see his poop, when I change his diaper... sorry for that!). So I let her "help me".
We sit down by the bath tub and I start washing Mr. Leo, who loves baths very much and doesn't make a peep. So it's me and Annika having this lovely conversation.

- What are you doing, mama?
- I'm giving your baby brother a bath.
- Why?
- Because he isn't very clean, baby. You saw how much he spit up on himself.
- Why?
- Well, babies always spit up a little bit when they eat.
- Why?
- Because if they spit up too much, then there won't be anything left if their tummy.
- Why?

Then she got distracted by bubbles in the little tub and I had a minute of quiet. Enough time to think that, man, the girl's got the "5 whys" technique down...

And then...

- What are you doing, mama?
- I'm giving Leo a bath, baby.
- Why?

oy...

Mother of the Year award goes to...

Me!!! Yesterday was one of those days where I could have totally won that award (it exists, right?). Super productive from dusk till dawn, kids were little angels all day, homemade dinner was delicious, laundry done... And I looked fabulous through it all. 

Okay, that was a lie, beginning to end.

Instead, I took Annika to daycare having forgotten her diapers, sunglasses (which are a necessity for that little diva!), and her Show'n'Tell item. Later in the day it also occurred to me that I had forgotten her wipes and to dress her in all black (the daycare had some sort of a theme going... but don't ask me what it was, I wouldn't know).

Mr. Leo got his fair share too. I woke up in the morning wide-eyed announcing to Greg and later to my little Instagram world that my baby boy was 1 month old. The boy was in fact only 4 weeks old and who would have thought that you actually go by dates and not by days of the week when celebrating one's birthday? He will be 1 month old on the 17th and I hope it was the only time I forgot my child's birthday.  

Little buddy also got a boo boo (yes, it's boo boos and awees ands ouchees in this house!). I was making shrimp and grits for dinner and holding Leo as I was stirring the grits. Right as I though that it probably wasn't the smartest idea to have a child so close to a cooking pot, some very hot grits splattered on both of us. Poor guy has a little blister on his elbow and I have some serious wounds on my mommy soul. 

Total mama fail! My poor, poor children. 

* I was ready to drink wine at noon yesterday. But I held off, I swear! I think...  

the one and only way my toddler will eat broccoli

Also, the only way I actually enjoy eating broccoli myself. Also, one of the ways I'm channeling my Martha Stewart in the kitchen. Doesn't happen often, but when it does, might as well document it, right?

It's pretty simple, actually.
You will need a couple of eggs, some broccoli, salt and pepper. The amounts will be based on the number of mouths at your dining table.
First wash this yucky stuff, then cut off the florets.

Do you steam your veggies, btw? I used to always just boil them, but word on the street says steaming is the thing now. It's healthier or something.
After you steam (or boil) the veggies, sauté them with some eggs.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and voila. By the way, I'm a faithful believer in this seasoned salt. I think it makes everything taste delish. Maybe not chocolate though...

You can be crazy and put some grated parmesan cheese before serving. I'm not crazy, because it means that my toddler will focus her whole attention on those tiny pieces of cheese and that will just negate the sole purpose of this proud my-child-eats-broccoli post. Nuh-uh!

And then, enjoy... Your meal and watching your toddler eat something that doesn't involve sugar.

I also got to enjoy my view;)

a two-week-old, a two-year-old, and two exhausted parents in love

In case anybody missed the news - a brand new Winn joined our family (almost)2 weeks ago. Meet Leo Thomas Winn. A sweet, sleepy, cuddly bundle of cuteness who is an exact replica of his big sister, which makes him an exact replica of his dad. I've been robbed of any sort of resemblance with my child yet again. I guess it's all right, all I did was carry these offsprings in me for 40 long, not-so-pleasant weeks and have undergone 2 major abdominal surgeries to get them into this world. No biggie, children, thankyouverymuch!

So far, Leo has been very easy. Sleeps, poops, eats, sleeps, repeats... 3-4 hours stretches of sleep at night. Very happy and content when awake. Unlike his sister, who was very "vocal", especially in the rare moments someone dared to not hold her. She was a good sleeper, gotta give her that!

Speaking of the big sister... This has a been a bit of a challenging time with her. On top of her terrible twos (which alone would have been enough!), the parentals made her move houses and brought someone else to love on into the family. I mean, the guts! My little girlie has been nothing short of traumatized. Once a happy-happy sleeper, she now cries and cries and wants to hold my hand until she falls asleep. Once a sweet little baby girl, she now acts out like a teenager. The ''NO, MOMMY!" is oh-so-prevalent in our house these days. 

Just in the last 3 days things have gotten better with her sleeping. She is getting used to her new room and is once again happy to talk to her toys and animals before falling asleep. (We had switched her to a toddler bed, but quickly realized she wasn't ready, so back to the crib she went!). But the behavior is still a bit off and this is something she'll have to outgrow. 

Annika does love her brother though. First thing I hear in the morning is "I want to go see my baby Leo!". She wants to hold and kiss him all the time. If only she would understand that she doesn't necessarily have to hit him first, before kissing him.

And us... Well, we are adjusting. There've been tears, tiredness, but overall we are managing. Even though we both can't wait when the littles start playing with each other, we are trying to enjoy this stage of life. We know it's all going to go really fast, so we want to cherish these moments.

*** Gee, I really need to break out my real camera again... If only I could find it in this mess...***

on my year of being a sahm

So, I'm nervous. It's been a big year for our little family. What, between Greg becoming a business owner, and us buying a house and getting ourselves a new baby...

Plus, I'm about to embark on a whole new adventure. I just finished my school year before becoming a stay-at-home mom for 12 months. I only had about 3 months at home with Annika, and every morning I was jealous that Greg got to get up, get ready and go to work. I truly hope this time will be different, because I'm wanting to embrace my babies and the every-day ups and downs at home with them. Many people, including my own husband, might think that I chose to take a year off because I needed a break from work, because I wanted an "easy" year... Ha! I KNOW it will be a much more difficult and challenging year than the year I would have spent working. But it will also be more rewarding to me. And that is WHY I made that decision. Time flies... I don't want to look back and say "oh, I wish I had spent more time at home with my kids."  

Maybe I'm naive, but I'm hoping that this year will be a busy one and that I won't actually be "staying" at home all the time. Annika will be starting preschool at the end of summer. I'm planning on library visits, walks to farmer's markets, play dates, outdoors adventures... And tell me if I'm being completely crazy here, but I'm also hoping to spend some me time... like working out, doing DIY projects, decorating our new house, reading, photographing, blogging. Too much? K, we'll just play it by ear then:)

One of my resolutions (and this one is really worrisome to me... in the sense that I think I'm going to fail!) is to speak more Russian with the kids. I started pretty well when Annika was a baby, but little by little Russian almost disappeared from our home... Apart from Greg occasionally pointing out my body parts in Russian to Annika. Wish me luck! I want to raise my babies bilingual, because this is one of the best things I can give them. Aside from chocolate, of course... 

Alrighty, now that I've set super ambitious goals and plans for the year, I'm going to go pray to the Almighty. Seriously...

First pregnancy update... at 36 weeks

36-week belly

The first time, when this whole pregnancy thing seemed new and fascinating, I did a much better job keeping track and documenting the whole experience. Didn't work out this time. I wonder if having an active toddler has something to do with that:)

This has been a completely different pregnancy. Well, apart from the suspected gestational diabetes. That stinker is there again, we think. It's suspected, because it's not officially diagnosed. Once again, I failed the first glucose screening and refused the second (the 3-hour one), because I know how hellish it was the first time (I puked it all out, if you were curious about the details:)). Knowing that I had a high risk of having elevated sugars, I started controlling my diet right away. Actually, even before, because I was doing Weight Watchers (in which, btw, I'm a total complete believer! Amen!)

This pregnancy has been easier, faster, less... noticeable, for lack of a better word. To begin with, I started off about 15 lbs lighter than the 1st time. My nausea lasted for about 2 weeks, on and off, and mild. That's in contrast to a whole 1st trimester of 24/7 queasiness the first time around. Yuck! So I Praise Jesus! 2nd trimester was a breezy breeze! There were days, when I would forget I was pregnant, and would wear heels and accidentally order a triple latte. 

I also didn't start showing until much later and have been smaller at every stage. Just in the last couple of weeks that belly's popped out of control and it. is. uncomfortable. I'm predicting these last 3 weeks will be difficult, if not downright unbearable. But that's a small price to pay for having had such an easy going so far. Right? Right?!?

Just like the first time, we don't know the gender of the baby, but I'm feeling a boy. Possibly because I have a boy name picked out and still wrecking my brain over a girl option:) Maybe just like the first time, Greg and I will be fighting over a name on our way to the hospital. Fun times:)

I have no quality pictures of this pregnancy, but I will show you some that I have posted on my Instagram. Please, excuse the iPhone quality, please!

Oh yes, and get ready for the selfie overload of the century!

Mommy life so far...

Last Monday was officially the first day of my year as a stay-at-home-mama. There are so mixed emotions about this new experience, and "nervous" is definitely the bigger part of the mix. Greg's new business ownership, new house, new BABY... To say this is a life changing year would be an understatement of the century. I won't be going to work everyday, our income will decrease (but the expenses increase), there will be 2 children to depend on me daily... Plus I'm still not over being selfish. Wish me luck, would you?
I'm so ready to put on the "mommy jeans" (not really, but metaphorically speaking) and embrace this year as a SAHM. I'm envisioning many tea parties, play dates, trips to the library, crafts, farmers markets and mommy groups.
Last week was wonderful though... On Monday I took Annika to the park for story time (for the month of June our public library moves their story time to the central park and they even provide a free lunch for the kiddos). Lots of mamas were there and I didn't even feel awkward in that atmosphere (strangely, I always do at our park, as if I don't belong in the mommy group...). Annika saw some of her friends and even shared her raisins with them (that's big, because NOBODY touches Annika's raisins).

The rest of the week the two of us ran errands all over town, mostly grocery shopping, picking out paint colors for the house, doctors' appointments and what not. There may even have been a playdate where everybody was running butt naked under the sprinklers. But I can't say for sure, there must be a crack in my memory... Hehe... I'm sorry, I had to...
I think the secret to not going crazy as a mama is to keep busy. So far so good, I must say.

Celebrations galore

End of April -  beginning of May are quite eventful in our family. So much joy going on:)

Easter starts it all and soon after that, we get to celebrate Greg's birthday. This year he turned 33. We celebrated him with a family dinner the night before, and with a big dinner with friends a few days after. The big day fell on a Monday, but Annika and I still tied to make it somewhat festive: when he got home from work, we greeted him with a "cwaft" form the "bottom of {Annika's} heart" and a freezer full of his favorite coffee flavored ice-cream. 

 

We got him a beer club membership (the boy loves his beer:) and this guy.

I hear there is a lot of fuss going on about the Chemex and thought, what the heck, it's not like we have a ton of coffee-makers. 

But, sorry, yes we do have a ton of coffee makers. 8 to be exact. The boy LOVES his coffee:)

A few days later we celebrated our 6th anniversary. We went to a theater about an hour away to watch a Broadway production of "The West Side Story". I don't have any pictures from that day, but how about a flashback to 2008? Such babies:) I really really like this guy!

Then we had a beautiful Mother's Day. It was complete with flowers, chocolate covered strawberries, Mother's Day brunch, and a day outside in the summer temperatures. 

And the very next day, which is today, our little bunny turned 2. The party will be later this week, but I made sure to get her a little cake to celebrate with her friends and we spent the whole afternoon playing with more friends and eating more chocolate covered strawberries. I just love this little girl to the moon and back and thank God every day for choosing me to be her mama. Such an honor and such a blessing. 

A day in the life of a working mama

Today I'm a full time working mama of one. In just 2 months I will be a stay-at-home mama of two (for at least some time). So life is really about to change. I thought a few months from now, I will find it interesting to reminisce on my "easy life":), so I decided to depict a very typical day. Nothing spectacular, a day just like any other at this stage of life.

6:00 Alarm sounds, but I get up a couple of snoozes later. And of course no time for shower.

Well, hello there, 3rd trimester bump.

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