Vegan Goodness:
After a hectic week all three of us were glad to settle into one of our favorite comfort meals: Kale, Mushroom and Udon Noodles in Shiitake Broth (from Veganomicon!)
Today we ate:
- Trader Joe’s “cheerios” and raisins and strawberries on the side along with a soy hot chocolate for mom. I can’t get enough strawberries these days.
- Smoothies for LP and his dad.
- Pasta salad and edamame for mom’s lunch
- Crackers and grapes for a snack (for mom and LP)
- The aforementioned Kale, Mushroom and Udon noodle dish for dinner – one of LP’s favorite! He really can’t get enough kale!
- Popcorn and a couple squares of chocolate for mom’s post-dinner snack.
Money Matters:
During the month of June we have a bigger budget than we will in July. This is partially because I am still working, and there are costs that come with that (transportation, classroom materials, meeting co-workers for weekly Friday breakfast, etc.) So, rather than be completely limited by our “Year of Family” budget, we are simply trying to be more aware of our spending this month, and trying to cut down on “extras.”
Today we spent the following:
- $4.44 on soymilk hot chocolate at a local coffee shop. I usually make this at home, but I had to get to work early today and didn’t have time to make it at home and catch my bus.
- $33.15 on groceries at Costco. We love to stock up on things lie almonds, garlic, onions, etc. at Costco where buying in bulk is cheaper in the long run.
- $10.77 in plant staking material at Home Depot
- $40 at Target, which included some disposable newborn diapers. Apparently I’m going to have a baby soon (which boggles my mind because I’ve just been focused on getting my “big” kids through their final portfolio presentations!)
- $112 on vet needs for our cat. She is really sick right now – her kidneys are shutting down. This has been a difficult week for all of us because of that, and I’ll probably be updating this blog with some bad news soon. The one thing I will say is that we set money aside for just this type of thing (see my comment about “rainy day” needs in Money Details). This means we are able to just focus on our cat’s health needs and our emotional well-being and not be stressed about the money involved. That is good, because there is already enough emotional stress to go around.
Baby Update Thursday:
I’m pretty much at full-term with baby #2, although I am still 2 1/2 weeks away from my due date. It seems a bit surreal to me. At my last appointment the nurse I always see said “It just seems like this pregnancy has flown by!” It is really true. I think part of this is the fact that I have been pretty much pregnant through the school year, which has it’s own calendar that I am used to. But mostly, what makes this pregnancy different from my first one is the fact that I’ve done this before. I’m just less nervous, and I have a lot less time to think about all the things that can go wrong (what with a toddler running around at home!) I haven’t looked at the baby book in months, and I had to write “do kick count” on my to-do list to remember to do it!
There is also an element of preparation that makes it a little easier to tune out the impending addition to our family. We have pretty much everything we need – a car seat, a place for the baby to sleep, bottles, pump, nursing pillow, etc. We could really throw everything together at a moments notice – not my plan, but it does make it easier to procrastinate. Although yesterday the G-man did tell me “We should probably figure out names, right?” I guess it is time to get our baby-game together – but maybe I’ll just wait until school is out.
In a month or so this section will be all about our new baby! As mentioned before, I am due with our second child on July 4th. As we get closer and closer to my due date, I’m starting to get even more questions about names. This is always further complicated by the fact that we chose not to find out the sex of our baby (and, by the way, I mean the sex, not the gender. The gender is something that our child will figure out for themselves, and it might change over their lifetime! Just want to be clear).
When I think naming our children, it seems like an awesome responsibility (even still for LP). That might sound silly. Surely the awesome responsibility part is the part where we have to both keep a tiny human being alive and parent them as best we can to help them grow and thrive. But somehow I think the name has become a symbol of that responsibility, at least for me. The G-man and I often joke about names to give our children (LP was very close to being named Buckminster, and both of are semi-serious about giving our second child the middle name “Baldrick” which is super funny if you are a Black Adder fan). I think these jokes are our way of using humor to alleviate the pressure we feel when we think of being parents. However, just like parenting, it can’t all be about what entertains the adults, and we had to buckle down and give LP a name that really worked.
However, one of my favorite things about LP’s name is the story behind it. We came up with it when were talking about how awesome it would be to have a kid named Luke so that the G-man could say “Luke . . . I am your father.” Now I love the fact “Lucas” just seems to fit LP so well, but at the same time the G-man and I have passed down a little of our nerdiness to him through this name-story. Maybe that is really what the naming – and parenting – is about. Giving your kid enough of yourself to get them started, but then letting them make their name, and their identity, their own.
With all that said, I still think it would be awesome for LP to have a sister named Leiana (nickname Leia. Get it!!??)
