18 Months!! (Holy Cow!)

At 18 months Peanut:

~ weighs about 24.5 lbs

~ is about 32.2 inches long

 

~Is hard to keep up with...walking and running all over the place!

~Has such a funny personality. He cracks me up with his goofiness.

~Has started to say a few words, finally. He calls both me and Hubby "Mom" much to Hubby's dismay. Other words: one, Ernie, moon, Elmo, murmel murmel (from the Robert Munsch book!) and up. Very strange to see which words are important to him! And they aren't all that clear yet (beyond up and Mom)

~Eats like a champ, but it depends on his mood. He is very adept at using his fork and spoon, and drinks out of a cup now. But we still use the straw to minimize spillage when he's on the move. 

~ He's invented a bunch of different signs for everything. Popular ones are more, diaper and Big Bird.

~ Still gets into EVERYTHING. 

~ Loves bath time, and chasing Kitty. But now that he can run, Kitty is much more alert! 

~ LOVES music. He plays his ukelele, his drum set and our piano. He dances up a storm and "sings" along. He loves it when Hubby plays the guitar or when I play the piano. 

~ He is a reading machine. We spend hours a day going through books, reading them, looking at pictures and pointing out all the words we know. We have had to "lose" a few books because we just couldn't stand reading them any longer!!


I cannot believe that he is a year and a half. He has become his own little person, and it's so fun to watch him learn and explore the world. I am one lucky mama! 

Adventures in Juicing: Week 1

When you bring up the topic of juicing, my mind immediately turns to that old infomercial of the incredibly fit older man extolling it's virtues. He juices everything imaginable! So I suppose it has always had a sort of gimmicky and old-fashioned image to me. But recently I have seen many a pin on Pinterest, or heard of people who have embraced juice as a way of getting healthier, so it seems it's not just for the "as seen on TV" folks anymore. And when I look at my diet and lifestyle I can tell you 2 things with assurity: I don't get enough vegetables and fruits in my diet, and I can definitely stand to make healthier choices in my life. So, what do I know about juicing? I know that you put fruit or veggies in a machine and it makes juice. That is it. Oh, and I know you drink it. I don't even really know what fresh juice tastes like...isn't that sad? I have only really ever had purchased juice. Beyond freshly squeezed orange juice, I am completely in the dark. 
A few months ago I signed up with a local organic grocery delivery service, SPUD.ca. I was struggling with getting fresh produce in our diet without so much waste. My usual method of grocery shopping is plan for meals throughout the week by picking recipes that appeal to me and then buying the ingredients. Seems like a good plan, but I almost never take into consideration the ingredients I am using, so I usually end up with extra produce not being used in the other recipes. Which means I end up with a lot of waste. Or, I would only stick to the basics (carrots, potatoes, apples and sometimes bananas) and never venture out of the box. So when I heard about SPUD's produce boxes I was intrigued. They basically choose a fresh box of local (when possible) organic produce and deliver it to your door every week. Honestly I wish I would have started this earlier...it is the most convenient thing ever! Going to the grocery store is always an ordeal with a toddler, but since my belly is getting much, much bigger and I move at the pace of a slow waddle at best it's even more of a challenge. Now I only pop in to grab meat and staples (I still grab these from the grocery store for cost reasons...SPUD also has organic meats and grocery items you can get delivered as well. Which is going to come in VERY handy when the new baby arrives!). I have basically been spreading the word to all my mom friends about this service because I can't get over how great it is. Any time you can make something a little bit easier as a mom (not to mention healthier!) I am all over it! 

Our fancy new juicer! (pic taken on
our floor for lighting...and maybe
 so you don't see our messy counters.
Laziness at its finest!

When SPUD contacted me about their juicing program they just rolled out and asked if I was interested in trying it out, I was super eager. I have been a very happy customer of theirs, so I knew it was going to be great. It really can't be any easier: they deliver a juicer to your door (which you can buy outright, or pay for in small, weekly instalments), as well as a fresh box of juicing produce each week so you can have a glass of fresh juice each day. They have 6 different juicing boxes (detox, juicing for kids, etc) depending on what you like, or what your goals are. For someone who knows absolutely nothing, it is perfect. They have recipes online and they include a book on juicing basics with your juicer as well, so it has everything you need to get started.
Our new juicer arrived on Friday night and we immediately opened it up and gleefully made our first glass of juice. It is so much fun. I don't know why I find the act of throwing fruit in a machine and watching it get squashed and separated into juice and pulp so amusing, but it's not just me; Hubby thinks it's awesome too. The result was very tasty, and we are looking forward to experimenting with different fruits and veggies this week. One thing I can tell you I am a little wary of is the whole veggie thing. I like to eat vegetables. Not all of them, but some of them. And I like them prepared in different ways. But, the idea of drinking vegetable juice is a little off-putting for me. I suppose it's because I think that juice should be sweet. I have never had a V8 in my life. I don't like tomato juice. So I am very intrigued to see how it will taste! What I do love is the idea that I can get my daily intake of veggies and fruits much easier. I have a hard time trying to work a ton of veggies into my diet, but I have no problem drinking a ton of juice a day. 
If you are in the Calgary area and are interested in getting started with juicing, SPUD has an amazing promotion on right now, but only until the end of January. If you want to purchase a juicer through SPUD, they will give you 4 free weeks of juicing produce ($140 value!). Or, if you would rather sign up for their 6 month juicing program (weekly organic juicing boxes and you can pay for your juicer in weekly increments) you get a $140 SPUD credit. Pretty great deal! Check out all the details about juicing through SPUD here: Juicing Program This is the first in a series on juicing. Next week I will examine the basics of how to juice, and how we have fit it into our life.
*Please note that this series is sponsored by SPUD.ca, as they provided the juicer and the organic juicing produce in order to facilitate this series. But all content and opinions are completely my own (as usual!). 

33 Weeks Already? (and Still No Name...)

Let me start by saying poor New Baby. He is the second kiddo and already is getting the short end of the stick. With Peanut I took weekly belly photos, which means there were roughly 42 of them. This time around I think I may have taken 5 so far? And we are almost 34 weeks in to this thing. In any case, here is what my 33 week belly is looking like. And yes...you get a cliche cell phone selfie. Sorry about that.  

PS I am wearing my 2 favourite maternity items that I pretty much live in these days. They are both pretty big splurges for me, but for the amount I wear them and for the level of comfiness, they are so totally worth it. The top is from Seraphine Maternity (and it doubles as a nursing top as those are snaps on the side!) and the jeans are Paige Maternity. What I love most about the jeans is they have no panel. I hate hate hate bands of stretchy material on my tummy. These jeans have 2 darts of elastic at the waistband so they can stretch with you, but otherwise are completely "normal". They even have a zippered fly! Love em! 

I was measuring very big at my last couple of appointments (surprise surprise!) and as a result we had to go in for an ultrasound to make sure New Baby was happy and to get an idea of just how big he is. This is not new to me, as the exact same thing happened with Peanut. In that case, Peanut proved to be a very large little dude, and so we were sort of expecting the same result with New Baby. As it turns out, New Baby is totally normal-sized! Looks like we may be able to use that newborn sized outfit we bought for Peanut (and never used) after all! 
However during the ultrasound New Baby was being lazy and not practicing breathing. I was assured by the tech that this is totally normal. But when I got home I got a phone call from my OB saying we had to go into the hospital that evening for a nonstress test. If they don't practice breathe during the ultrasound they lose 2 whole points on the scale and so you have to get tested just to make sure everything is ok. Now this is where New Baby gets the benefit of me being an experienced mom. If this had happened with Peanut I probably would have been freaking out. I mean, a call from my OB at home not 20 mins after the ultrasound occurred, and he tells me to go to the hospital for a test?! Mommy-panic mode engaged! 
BUT, I had a few of these tests with Peanut. I know that it measures heart rate (which was totally fine in the ultrasound) and movement. Movement is one area that New Baby exceeds in. I sometimes think he is going to somehow kick his way out of the womb. I never have a moments rest from the crazy internal acrobatics. So, I already knew the test would be normal, and sure enough it was. On the bright side we got to get a little more familiar with the hospital we will be delivering at, as we never had to check in with Peanut (we got the VIP treatment since we were transferred in by ambulance from another hospital. Yay??). So New Baby benefits from a calm and confident mommy. 
Another area where New Baby is sort of getting a raw deal though is in the name department. We are so not even close to choosing a name for this little guy. It was hard for us to choose a boy's name the first time around. But we settled on one a few months before Peanut's arrival. This time we are pretty much still at square 1. And there are only 44 more days (according to my pregnancy app) before this little guy is supposed to arrive. To say nothing of the fact that he may come sooner than that. I don't know why it is so hard for us to agree on a name, but we just haven't been able to find "the one" yet. Besides scouring the internet for name lists I am at a loss as to how to proceed. Poor little dude is going to be stuck being named New Baby. We can't be that cruel...
So, any suggestions for a name for Finnley's little brother?