March Mommy Memoirs

Dang....time flies!!!

It's already mid March??? What the heck!?

oka oka oka.

So let's see...what's been happening?....

Well....to start off my March Mommy memoirs...

1. I've been in a cooking rut for the past month. 

Why?
Simply because Aljay has decided to change his life (physically) and return to the gym and eat healthy once again. 

What does that mean for me?
That means I'm going to make whatever he asks me to make and since I'm too lazy to make separate meals for him, our whole family is going to eat healthy. 

Yes..when Aljay's on a healthy kick then we are ALL on one too.

It makes it easier for him to reach his health/fitness/supermodel status goals....annd it's just better for everyone also.

Isn't there a plus side?

Yes. 

1. We are all healthier of course. 

2. Food starts to taste better. Don't know how to word it. But you start tasting the true flavors of veggies and fruits without salt/sugar masking it. 

3. The kids develop better eating habits. 

What does this have to do with my cooking?
It means I have to expand my horizons (food wise) and try new recipes or else we are going to be eating lean meat and veggies every night.

My go-to recipes have been mainly stir fry (with veggies, meat, no salt, no shoyu, and no RICE) and steamed/roasted veggies and baked/pan seared chicken/whatever lean meat we have.

Just about every night.

(Yes he has his cheat days...and I have my cheat weeks lol..I've sneaked in my share of cookies and sweets and junk food...how can I not? Happy Preggo Wife = Happy Life for Everyone...but for the most part we make healthier choices because we want to....aannndd mostly because that's all we have to eat at home)

But after 3 weeks I'm itching for variety...at least when it comes to dinner. 

So now what?
I decided to try something new and the first thing I tried was Lentil patties. Yes...I know...why would I? cuz I have choke lentils from WIC lol. 

Long story short....I had my elite panel of judges taste them annnnddd------

Judges Remarks

Kids- both didn't like it (Not surprised).

          Sefa said "I don't wannit"

          Leila said "Oh no thank you I can eat the meat and rice" (weh!)

          Luckily I made pork chops and rice as a backup. 

Aljay-  said "i like these!"

          ....but didn't eat em when I packed it for his lunch the next day. lol

 (And that's about all the feedback I got from him. I think it helped that he was really unsure about the patties when I first told him and therefore had low expectations lol)

Me-  It was okay. 
         We had it with a churizo tomato sauce, which was nice...but I didn't like the texture of the lentils and would add diced carrots and salt next time.

Remaking? Yeah Dont think so.

Back to the drawing board......aka pinterest, google, allrecipes.com, etc...



2. I'm SICK of FROZEN

With the catchy tunes and lovable characters who wouldn't fall in love with Disney's FROZEN? 

I was a big fan after first watching it but OH MY LIFE!!!

 Listening to it eeeevverrryyy ddaaayyy iissss keeeeellliinnggg me!

The first things the kids do is wake up and ask to watch Frozen.

And even though I try to divert their attention by introducing them to other movies like Aladdin, Pocahontas, and Hercules....they still ask to watch their beloved Queen Elsa 

LET IT GOooooooOOooOooOoo!!

On the bright side though....

Their Elsa/Ana Obsession has motivated me to be a better Mother. 

I've been better at trying better activities for the kids,

Valentines project

Art Time

Daddy's art class

Our failed attempt at homemade play dough lol

 getting them more involved with the chores (and yes I have used Frozen to bribe them into cleaning...not my ideal choice but boy do they pick up with a quickness),

and with the weather warming up (slightly) they are able to get outside more and get some SUN.

Leila's been LOVING her bike riding adventures and Sefa's been enjoying running around freely. 

Although I'm exhausted by the time Aljay gets home and sometimes don't have dinner ready, I'm happy that the kids aren't spending their day wasting away in front of a screen. 

THIS SCREEN!!!!

3. The Kids' Personalities are Growing!

Selfie so'o this girl

Conversation the other day while riding in the car...

Dad: Leila you want me to craaaacck you?

Leila: Dad you want me to turn you into a gum?

Dad: What?

Leila: So I can chew you up!!!

Aljay and I looked at each other and said "not a bad comeback for a 3 yr old"....is it bad that were kinda proud?

Yeah we are probably going to regret it when we start getting phone calls from Leila's teacher. lol

Sefa Boy is a sweetheart. He loves warm hugs and cuddles (what a little Olaf), plays nicely with his Sister (never retaliating physically but with verbal commands first). He always tells me when he's tired and ready to sleep. He knows exactly what he wants to eat and tries to make suggestions when I'm cooking. He loves my belly and now tries to look at eevverryyoone's tummy. He lets us know that he is ready to wipe when he's on the toilet. 

This guy with his play dough "temple" and Elsa cape

The other day he was pooping and started saying

"ouch! Ouch! My bum bum!" 

I was cooking so I sent Leila in to inspect.

She came back with her diagnosis

"Sefa has two cavities in his bumbum!"

I thanked her for her help and went to check on Sefa who was sitting on the toilet waiving his little piece of toilet paper around in the air. 

I'm grateful they are close in age and have each other to play with, hug, hit, annoy, bother, laugh with, share with, learn with, cry with, comfort, and care for. 

Even though they drive me nuts, test my patience, and destroy our house...

 I love my kids. 

4. TWO more MONTHS till Delivery!

Woohoo almost there!

I'm excited. 

Even though my belly is huge and looks like I have a basketball under my shirt..

and everyone looks at me thinking I'm due any day...

and then give me the look of shock when I tell them I have two more months left...

and suggests I'm having twins...

and people feel sorry for me...

and ask me why my belly looks the way it does...

and most my clothes don't fit...

and I have to wear the same things over and over again..

and I get back pain sometimes....

and my love handles are getting lovelier by the day..

I'm enjoying my pregnancy.

I don't give much thought when people make comments that have the potential to bother me.

I don't really go any where so I don't worry about wearing the same clothes.

I don't have to work outside the home and can just lay down and rest when I need. 

I eat better (than the last 2 pregnancies) ...but still have my chocolate treats to keen me sane. 

I don't worry about the weight cause I know it can be worked off (lets see how well i actually do huh? #heavenhelpme)

and to top it all off... I scored at the D.I. and got a maternity orthopedic support band/belt/thing for $1.50, and it feels so good!!!

5. Square Foot Gardening!!! 

Spring is almost here!!! Yessss!!

Well at least I hope it is! It's been getting warmer (40's and 50's) so I'm getting excited about warmer weather. 

BUT everyone tells me to hold off on planting cause you can never tell if it is going to snow again. It snowed in May last year. Boo.  And the other morning it did snow but melted the same day, but I'm still hopeful that the weather will continue to warm up. 

Either way...me and the kiddies are starting to prep our back yard for our garden!!!
YAY! 

My little gardener in his gardening attire....

And the poser with her Micronesian inspired outfit that she picked out all by herself. 

So we haven't planted anything yet.
Or built our planting boxes.
Or bought seeds or soil.

BUT ....

We are excited! lol...does that count?
And we've started cleaning up our back yard....kinda
And I've camped on youtube, pinterest, and google on how to start a garden in Utah. hahha

Nah we have a lot of work to do, but I'm looking forward to it. Check out all the crap we have in our little back yard...

Three dishes that came with the house....that don't work and are completely useless.

Pic taken from the back gate.

A dresser we got from the Kumar's that has yet to be moved into the kids room....and  their washer and dryer that has yet to be stored in a better spot lol. 

6. Sweet Husband-Wife Moments

Since we've been in Utah date-nights have been non existent (I lie....we went out on 1 date...last year). Because Aljay is always working, works on his art/huaka'i stuff in the evening, goes gym after dinner, and I'm tending to Mommmy duties/house duties/Huaka'i stuff and yadda yadda....any free time instantly becomes FAMILY TIME. We love spending time as a family, but both Aljay and I have been missing and wanting date nights again (where it's just us and no kids). 

Which is why I treasure our little sweet husband-wife moments where we can just talk about US. 

We get to have these moments on nights when the kids surprise us and knock out at 8:30pm without fussing.

Or when we make our hour long drive to and from Tooele and Aljay gets to come with us. 

Or when we are coming home from Church and we share thoughts, impressions, ideas, feelings that stood out to us and touched our hearts. 
Or when we are working on Aljay's art board/ or making costumes together. 

We tried to plan out and organize his art portfolio....getting there. 

It's refreshing and keeps us in tune with one another. 

It's not always easy to put each other's needs/concerns/desires/whatevers first since our kids are such a priority. And I've heard this before...that couples need to put forth effort and work in order to keep connected, because their focus becomes centered on their children (which is good) but when the kid's grow up and leave the nest, they have to reconnect again and shift their focus on each other (of course the children will always be part of their focus...but yah know what I mean).

(And that was a long grammatically incorrect sentence that is going to bug me...but I'll just let it goooo let it gooooo....eeeggghnewaysss)

Well I've found this to be true. Aljay and I always end up talking about our kids and what they've done, how they are growing, the funny things they do, the crazy things they say, what they are going to be like, what sports/hobbies we want them to get into....

So when we get sweet moments to ourselves I really make a conscious effort to focus the conversation on us. 
We usually end up talking about our dreams, hopes, the future, our personal goals, our past, the present, everything in between. 
I can honestly say that these talks are the ones that reconnect us, allow us to share openlywith one another, learn and relearn things about each other, and add kindle to our steady fire. 

(ooooh "kindle...to our fire" I kinna like that one lol)

These moments are precious and need to be frequent in our lives. Because no matter how well we know our spouse, we can still learn about them and from them. 

*Storytime-
The other day Aljay had been sensing that something was bothering me and he couldn't quite figure out what it was. I told him that night that I was just sad because I'd been eating soooo healthy and just really needed a chocolate chip cookie (lol...yes this is a bubbogum story hahah). But he looked at me and said " OOoOOHhh!!! That's what it is?....OH man I was trying to figure out what it was that was just making you a little sad!" kalofae...I just started laughing because in my mind....he should already know that I am a chocolate addict and suffer major withdrawals when I don't have a little chocolate during the day....when I finally got to sit down with a warm cookie and a cup of milk I was sooooo satisfied and everything about my demeanor changed. So now he knows that if all else fails, give me chocolate.

Moral of the story-

No matter how much I think Aljay should be able to read my mind, the truth is....he can't always possibly know what is going on in my head and I shouldn't expect him to. And we both need to be better at expressing our concerns/needs and not assuming. Ia okay the end!

Until next time...

.