Crunchy Tip #3 (Food Storage)

Ever since I learned about the BPA in all plastics, I've been gradually replacing my kitchen plastics with glass. You will see many advertised plastics with "No BPA" labels but be informed that they still all have some traces of it. Also, manufacturers are not required to label BPA so we have no way of knowing if it's present in the plastics.

On the bottom of (most) anything plastic, you will see a number. There are varying degrees of plastic and it is best to know which ones are the least harmful. Shoot for plastics numbered 1,2,4, and 5. Anything else I would advise staying away from. Most importantly, never heat food in plastic or put heated food into a plastic container. If plastic is all you have, wait until the food is cooled. Heating plastic can transfer harmful compounds and the BPA can leach right into the food and drink.

Since I no longer purchase food in cans, I purchase them in glass. Instead of going out and buying new glass food storage containers, I save my glass containers and reuse them to store various foods in. Two birds with one stone- I avoid using plastic and I save money.

Making Faces at Bathtime

Everett went through this odd phase that I like to call "terror of the drain." He was absolutely terrified of the bathtub drain. He refused to get in and when we would set him in the tub, he screamed and climbed out in lightning speed. For a few months, either my husband or I would have to bathe with him and even then, he was scared and we would have to talk him through it. He would only sit on my lap and refused to sit my himself. How I knew that it was the drain that terrified him was just by saying the word. After lifting the drain to let the water out, I have always said, "say bye bye to the water going down the drain!" Even after he was out of the tub, I would just say "drain" and he would yell 'no' and shake his head and start crying. Perhaps he had a bad dream about going down the drain or something?

The last few bath times, he has willingly sat my himself (with me still in the tub though) and the other evening, he bathed by himself but that lasted only 2 minutes before he jumped out. Surely not long enough for me to really get him clean.

It's silly these phases that they go through. I got some cute photos of him making faces during one of his baths last week. I especially love his "stink face."

Shamrock Run 2012

I ran my first official race yesterday! I ran the 5K Shamrock Run on the Downtown Portland Waterfront with two of my girlfriends. This year's event reached it's record high of 32,500 participants. Wow. Let me just say, there were A LOT of people there.



And it was very cold. My fingers were icicles and my toes froze. We did the best we could to stay warm.


We ran most of it but it jammed up near the finish line and we had to walk to it. I definitely wasn't focused on my PR with this race. Nonetheless, it was fun and I loved the atmosphere. Many people have told me that races are addicting. For some reason, they are! I'm doing my first half marathon (Vancouver USA Marathon) on June 17th with my best friend from high school, Michelle (see photo of us below!) and Foot Traffic Flat half marathon on the 4th of July with another friend, Ivy. I have yet to run close to 13 miles and can't quite fathom that right now but I start my Hal Higdon's Novice 2 training program tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to both of these races!

Distraction by Kitchen Utensils

I found a way to distract my son for a few minutes so I can get a bit done in the kitchen from time to time. It usually only lasts a few minutes but if I'm lucky, he'll give me about 10 minutes. I use this tool of distraction so I can get his meals prepared, even though I've mastered the art of making his breakfast, lunch, and dinners with him on my hip, one handed.


He's tall enough so he can stand on his tippy toes and reach the kitchen utensils in the drawer. I'll ask him to line them up for me and to show me when he's all done. He seems quite pleased with himself while doing it as if it's a very important task I've given him.

I need to maybe buy 20-30 more utensils. Maybe that'll give me at least 30 full minutes.

Is it Summer yet?

Why do I love the Pacific Northwest? I'll tell you it's not because of the rain but I don't mind it really and am one of the few who choose to live here and don't complain about the massive amounts of it we have. I love the greenery and the many beautiful places to visit and that we have 4 seasons, Fall being my favorite by the way. My only complaint is that it has always seemed that the Winter season is so drawn out. It seems so much longer than the others. I wouldn't be complaining usually but I am this year because we've had a rough time with the cold and flu this time around. Everett has been sick more in the past month than he has the entire 27 months of his little life. Sadly to say, he came down with the flu the other night. The poor kids already had a cold consisting of a rough cough, a sinus infection, and now the flu...all in a month's time.

His temperature shot up over 102 the other night. Because this has been the highest temp he's ever had, I admit I freaked a little and stayed up all night worrying. I even shed some tears. Is it just me or does your heart ache so badly when your child is sick and you know they feel miserable? That night, I checked on him hourly and finally didn't get into bed to sleep until about 4am. I spent hours debating on taking him to the emergency. I even texted one of my well-seasoned mom friends, Tiffany, at 2am to get some encouraging advice. I know, over-reactive first time mom here. Hello.

He's been so quiet and hasn't wanted to do much other than resting on the couch or in my arms.


I wanted to rule out ear infection so my husband and I took him into his pediatrician yesterday. No ear infection. By the way, he got a weight check and he's 25 lbs. He has gained some great weight since his 2nd birthday. He has a petite frame and looks smaller than 25 lbs. He's got great muscle mass.


On the way home, he was so out of it. His eyes were droopy and he just looked plain sad to me. He spotted a picture that he colored at church in the seat pocket and it brought a little smile to his face. He held it tightly the whole drive home.


As I have mentioned in previous posts, Everett doesn't nap much since we stopped cold turkey rocking him to sleep back in December. He still spends 2 hours in his crib everyday regardless. Today, he napped 2 hours after he woke up and later asked to be put into his crib in which he napped again. I know for sure that my little guy is not feeling well for him to do that. Tonight, he brought his night time diaper and pajamas to me, which he never does, and quickly fell asleep after we said our prayers.

Is it Summer yet? I'm quite ready for some warmer weather and for all of us to be well and healthy.

Baptism

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19



On March 4th, my husband made the best decision of his life. The decision to take a step in obedience in his walk with the Lord. He shared this public testimony with members of our home church at Elevate, his parents, and my family. It was an emotional day full of happiness and I am so proud of him for making the decision to to be baptized.




It was an exciting and eventful day of Baptisms and Brats, as our Pastor called it. We fellowshipped and enjoyed a potluck after the service.

Everett was on Cloud 9 with both Nana's there. The last time that happened was at his 1st birthday party.


He kept on pointing to one and saying "one" and then pointed to the other and said "other one" and did this back and forth a few times. He was quite thrilled about having the attention from both of them.

Later that evening, my mom made dinner in celebration of the baptism and for my brother's birthday. It was quite the special day and one that will be worth remembering.

Storytime

I took Everett to storytime at one of our local elementary schools yesterday. It is through a program called Building Blocks where they offer reading, music, dancing, and arts/crafts for newborns to 5 years.

When we first got there, there were only 3 others kids and he seemed really eager to sit down to listen to the stories.


He quickly found a nearby rug with planets and moons on it and was pretty excited about the moons.


He did great sitting on my lap and listened to 3 stories. He was a bit timid and didn't want to sit on the cushions or on the floor with the others kids. He was an extra cuddle bug and I admit I didn't mind the extra cuddles. They did some dancing to some music and played with a scarf pretending it was rain but he threw it. Oddly, I think he didn't like the texture of the silk scarf because when I handed it to him, he acted like it was a hot potato.

After storytime, everyone gathered around a table to color an umbrella but he wanted to play with the toys instead.




We didn't stay for too long. A kid aggressively snatched a toy out of his hand and took off and that upset Everett. He banged his head on the floor (he does this all the time when he gets frustrated) and started crying and asked to go "bye-bye." Where was this kid's mother? Nowhere to be seen. I don't know if it's just me but I find it irritating when parents don't look after their kids and hold themselves accountable for their children's actions and behaviors or at least be there close by.

As we were leaving, one of the mothers stopped me and said that I looked familiar. Come to find out, we went to high school together. She was two grades ahead of me and graduated with my brother. It's always fun running into people that you know or once knew.

I possibly plan on taking Everett back but am considering taking him to our local library's storytime. The city we live in has a few small library branches and there's one about a mile and a half from our house. We go there every week and last week, I poked my head in to check out their storytime and it seemed smaller and more quaint, which I feel would be more accommodating for Everett and his shy personality. While I am working on opening Everett to more social activities with other children, I need to remember that we need to take small steps during this process.

Crunchy Tip #2 (Rinse Aid)

I never was aware of the compartment in my dishwasher where it allowed rinse aid until about a year ago. Even then, I never used it. I'm not sure why I didn't since I had heard that using Jet Dry worked well in drying the dishes. That's one thing that slightly irritates me about all dishwashers- that the dry cycle never really works and I always end up having to towel dry most of them, especially the cups and bowls on the top rack. I've used many different dishwashers and have yet to come across one that actually dries the dishes. A week after our recent move a few months ago, we got a brand new dishwasher. Surprise! Even brand new, the dry cycle didn't even function correctly. Back to the hand towel drying method. We received a small trial size of Jet Dry and I tried it even though I was aware that it's made of chemicals. It worked well in drying my dishes! I loved that but did not like the fact that it contains dyes and synthetic fragrances.



I now use distilled white vinegar for my rinse aid and it works great. It assists in the drying process, is very inexpensive, and does not leave your dishes with the vinegary smell (that I despise).

Fire Station

Everett had his very first visit to the fire station with his daddy last week. He absolutely loved it! Besides his trains, he also has a love for fire trucks. He gets excited and points them out whenever we're out and about. I also love how he stops everything and yells "fifi tru!" whenever we hear one from inside the house.




I wish I was there to see the joy on his face but I think the above photo shows it all. That smile right there is filled with pure, genuine happiness. The firefighters there were very welcoming and allowed Everett to push all the buttons inside the truck and showed him the hoses and everything else inside the firehouse. This was about as fun as it gets for a 2 year old boy!

Progress

I'm pleased to say that we've had a little bit of progress in the potty training department. As I mentioned before, Everett has had zilch interest lately. He's really been into reading so we went and got a few potty books from the library. We spend a lot of our day reading but when it comes to the potty books, he takes one look at it and says "the end" before we even open the first page.

Because he's had such a lack of interest in potty training, any subtle sign makes me want to take a giant leap of joy. So, I'd like to proudly announce that Everett...

...wait for it....

...sat on his potty recently! (Gasp!) I know, it's not that big of a deal but it has my fingers crossed that he'd like to try again. Also, he hasn't been wanting a new diaper on after I change him in the morning from his night time diaper so we've been going diaperless the past 2 mornings. Yesterday morning, he didn't have an accident for the first 4 hours of wakening, which means he held it the entire time. Of course I asked him (probably 10 too many) times if he wanted to go sit on his potty chair. The answer was always no but twice I pulled his pants down and sat him down and he was up barely a second after his butt touched his potty chair. This morning, he held it for 2 hours, had an accident and freaked out, and then asked for a diaper after I got him changed.

Nonetheless, he's been willing to sit on it 1-2 times a day lately. I'll take that over his despise any day!