This week started off as a tired week, thanks to work, I guess. Then Thursday came and I reverted to my other job--taking care of the Fam! It's been easier lately--Malachi has been sleeping a little bit better, and Michelle has been recovering (6 weeks now since the C-section), now able to take a larger load in the work we share. So in between the usual dishes, laundry, cleaning (!?), cooking, and diapers, we got a few things done. We finished stuffing envelopes for Malachi's birth announcement. We went mattress shopping and bought one quite quickly from the store a block away. I threw it on the roof racks and drove it home. Then I threw the old one on the roof racks to take it to the dump, but it fell off on South Fraser Way when one of my bungee cords snapped. That was a bit hairy, but I managed to get it back on quickly and drive to a quiet street where I tied it down with twine. Then I drove 30 km/hour all the way to the dump! We bought that old mattress over 7 years ago and it served us well.
Today we got out to watch a play, Gallery 7 Theatre's Tuesdays with Morrie. It was good! A bit of a tearjerker actually. It is my favourite performance I've seen where Ken the Artistic Director has been an actor...meanwhile Grandma and Grandpa were over to watch Kate and Malachi. They got a bit more than they bargained for as Kate has been potty training the last few days and was not tired enough to nap this afternoon. Kate has done quite well during the last few days. She pees in her potty and although I had to help her get there this time, she also put in some solids tonight.
The ceiling fan has been crying again lately, as in the roof is still leaking. Looks like we'll get some sunny weather now so I'm not too worried. The strata corp. had the roof guys here yesterday but they might have to do a call back.
Regarding the title of this post, I have been eating lots of beans! White beans, pinto, black, edamame. Sometimes I notice some interesting effects a few hours later but they haven't been that bad overall. The rest of the family seems to fare worse--especially Malachi! Which leaves me to eat even more beans by myself. Protein! I have been losing weight again these last few months. People have noticed that my cheeks are not as chubby as they used to be. I suspect some of the digestive aids I've been using are working a little too well, maybe. I think I'm back to my high school weight (150 lbs). I need to find something fattening...maybe I'll eat an avocado a day or something.
Saturday, 29 January 2011
Sunday, 9 January 2011
Some Beautiful Things This Week
Some things (and people) brought me much joy this week. Here are a few of them:
1. A Delicious Breakfast Shown here are some cooked buckwheat groats with carob chips, wild blueberries, cinnamon, and soy milk. Mmm! Topped off with a fried egg and a few supplement pills.
2. A Fine Little Fellow [sleeping]. He is not a bad baby. Although he eats every 3 or 4 hours at night, he doesn't usually fuss much afterwards.
3. 3 kids Wait! I thought I only had 2! Weird.
4. Snow Last night around 11pm I was groggily awakened by Michelle. Blinking the sleep out of my eyes, I followed her to the living room, carrying little Malachi. I stopped and blinked. Outside the window, the trees were covered with a glistening layer of snow. It was worth waking up for that!
1. A Delicious Breakfast Shown here are some cooked buckwheat groats with carob chips, wild blueberries, cinnamon, and soy milk. Mmm! Topped off with a fried egg and a few supplement pills.
2. A Fine Little Fellow [sleeping]. He is not a bad baby. Although he eats every 3 or 4 hours at night, he doesn't usually fuss much afterwards.
3. 3 kids Wait! I thought I only had 2! Weird.
4. Snow Last night around 11pm I was groggily awakened by Michelle. Blinking the sleep out of my eyes, I followed her to the living room, carrying little Malachi. I stopped and blinked. Outside the window, the trees were covered with a glistening layer of snow. It was worth waking up for that!
Saturday, 1 January 2011
Happy New Year
Well the old has gone, the new has come. Seems like 2010 was just yesterday, ha ha. New Years Resolutions anyone? I don't really make them anymore. I guess I could resolve to love more this year, be less in debt, and healthier. But sometimes monkey wrenches get thrown into plans like that. Of course, if I took said wrench to a pawn shop, it might help with my debt, eh? :)
Malachi is still doing well, feeding regularly, keeping us from sleeping etc, but seems to be a pretty good baby overall. I don't think he's as fussy as Kate was at his age...but I could be wrong! It's hard to remember the first months of a baby's life because it all becomes one sleep-deprived blur!
We had a good new years eve. Went out for supper at BP with some friends and then went to some other friends' house to hang out, play a game of What, eat a few snacks. Kate was supposed to sleep in her pack-and-play but didn't do so well. We got home before midnight but due to Malachi's meal schedule we were actually awake to ring in the New Year, which is kind of rare for us!
Malachi is still doing well, feeding regularly, keeping us from sleeping etc, but seems to be a pretty good baby overall. I don't think he's as fussy as Kate was at his age...but I could be wrong! It's hard to remember the first months of a baby's life because it all becomes one sleep-deprived blur!
We had a good new years eve. Went out for supper at BP with some friends and then went to some other friends' house to hang out, play a game of What, eat a few snacks. Kate was supposed to sleep in her pack-and-play but didn't do so well. We got home before midnight but due to Malachi's meal schedule we were actually awake to ring in the New Year, which is kind of rare for us!
Malachi on his first day of 2011
Saturday, 25 December 2010
Ho Ho Ho
Merry Christmas! I am the only one up so far this morning. Even the little guy is sleeping fitfully. So between frying my eggs and eating my flaked barley I can post a couple of pictures of ...
Malachi Andrew
Born December 14th, 2010
7 lbs 12 oz 53cm
The last eleven days have been a bit of a blur. There was the birth, then some lack of sleep, then some more lack of sleep... you get the picture! But he is settling down a bit and sleeping for 4 hour stretches sometimes, and not fussing too much after feeding, which allows me to go back to bed at night! We got him circumcised on Monday and he was a bit fussier after that, and he was also not too happy the two times Michelle ate chili, but that might be coincidence. Michelle's mom has been very helpful and stayed with us the whole time until last night when her dad arrived for Christmas and they are staying at Stacey's place. Michael also arrived a couple of days ago and is sleeping on the floor in Kate's room, with a bedsheet strung up from the ceiling so she can't see him (if she could she would never sleep!).
And now...Christmas!!!
Born December 14th, 2010
7 lbs 12 oz 53cm
The last eleven days have been a bit of a blur. There was the birth, then some lack of sleep, then some more lack of sleep... you get the picture! But he is settling down a bit and sleeping for 4 hour stretches sometimes, and not fussing too much after feeding, which allows me to go back to bed at night! We got him circumcised on Monday and he was a bit fussier after that, and he was also not too happy the two times Michelle ate chili, but that might be coincidence. Michelle's mom has been very helpful and stayed with us the whole time until last night when her dad arrived for Christmas and they are staying at Stacey's place. Michael also arrived a couple of days ago and is sleeping on the floor in Kate's room, with a bedsheet strung up from the ceiling so she can't see him (if she could she would never sleep!).
And now...Christmas!!!
Monday, 13 December 2010
What goes around
I had a busy week and have not caught up yet--to the point that I called in sick to work today. Which is silly, because I have the rest of the week off starting Tuesday for baby reasons. But, I did not feel well this morning. Perhaps it was the busyness, or the change in diet (see below), or the food at my work banquet last night, or the nasty flu that Kate and Michelle had last week. Regardless, here I am, a bit weak but not too bad otherwise...waiting for Michelle to pick up her mom at the airport. Baby is arriving tomorrow!!!
I saw my naturopath on Thursday, 2 months earlier than my scheduled appointment, due to a cancellation. The purpose for this visit was a food sensitivity test that I had previously requested. It took about 20 minutes and there was no pain or blood drawn or divining rod. I just held the metal rod in one hand, that is wired somehow to the metal pen he would push on a part of a finger on my other hand. The graphs on his computer screens would be drawn as pressure was applied. Anything above a 70 range was something I was sensitive to; the food data was programmed into the computer. He went through a full-page panel of foods, starting with grains and going through fruits, vegetables, meats, nuts, dairy, spices, additives, etc. While not completely comprehensive, just about every food the average north american can readily think of was on there.
There were a few confirmations of my suspicions. For example, Cows Milk made that graph shoot up past the top. It was subsequently labeled a '3' on my paper (don't eat it). Other cow's milk products had the same result. However, there were plenty of things that surprised me, as well. Goats milk products and soy products showed up as fine. Wheat and spelt were a '2', as in don't eat it but if there's some flour in your soup sometimes, that's okay. And there were a few foods that I was mildly sensitive to, such as yams, and radishes. Peanuts got a '3' (no more peanut butter!) :( Chicken and pork got 2's (that'll be a tough one). Eggs were fine, all the weird new grains I've been trying were fine, beef and fish were fine although shellfish like shrimp were not too good. The tomato/pepper/potato family was all 2's...strangely enough.
So, a few more things need to change, once again. I was just starting to get used to this Glycemic Index stuff...which will continue of course, as it seems to help.
Stay tuned for baby pictures in the next few days!
I saw my naturopath on Thursday, 2 months earlier than my scheduled appointment, due to a cancellation. The purpose for this visit was a food sensitivity test that I had previously requested. It took about 20 minutes and there was no pain or blood drawn or divining rod. I just held the metal rod in one hand, that is wired somehow to the metal pen he would push on a part of a finger on my other hand. The graphs on his computer screens would be drawn as pressure was applied. Anything above a 70 range was something I was sensitive to; the food data was programmed into the computer. He went through a full-page panel of foods, starting with grains and going through fruits, vegetables, meats, nuts, dairy, spices, additives, etc. While not completely comprehensive, just about every food the average north american can readily think of was on there.
There were a few confirmations of my suspicions. For example, Cows Milk made that graph shoot up past the top. It was subsequently labeled a '3' on my paper (don't eat it). Other cow's milk products had the same result. However, there were plenty of things that surprised me, as well. Goats milk products and soy products showed up as fine. Wheat and spelt were a '2', as in don't eat it but if there's some flour in your soup sometimes, that's okay. And there were a few foods that I was mildly sensitive to, such as yams, and radishes. Peanuts got a '3' (no more peanut butter!) :( Chicken and pork got 2's (that'll be a tough one). Eggs were fine, all the weird new grains I've been trying were fine, beef and fish were fine although shellfish like shrimp were not too good. The tomato/pepper/potato family was all 2's...strangely enough.
So, a few more things need to change, once again. I was just starting to get used to this Glycemic Index stuff...which will continue of course, as it seems to help.
Stay tuned for baby pictures in the next few days!
Thursday, 25 November 2010
The snow has come
This morning the snow started falling. Beautiful! After a very cold, dry, windy week it is nice to see some fruit for our 'labour.' Kate doesn't think much of it (she seemed to think it was dirty and wouldn't walk in it). Michelle's last day at school with her kindergartners is also today. She expected they would be bouncing off the walls with the snow coming down...hope all goes well. Michelle goes on Maternity leave December 1.
In other news Kate chewed through her last soother (the kind that she likes the best that is) so I'm hoping she will be able to settle down and sleep. I just put her down for her nap but she is playing in there as I can still hear her hooting away (probably at Monkey).
Thursday, 11 November 2010
I finally visited the Naturopath
Last week I saw the Naturopath for a consultation. It was kind of cool. They took a fresh drop of blood and stuck it on slides right there in the office, and showed me the clumps of red blood cells on a TV screen as the doctor moved the slide around on his microscope. There were also white blood cells; he showed me pieces of plaque (and other stuff that's not supposed to be in there). He also had a nifty machine that somehow measures the energy levels to different organs and the levels of hormones and vitamins and toxins. I held a metal cylinder in my left hand while he prodded my right hand with some sort of sensor. I know it sounds kind of science-fiction-y...and there were a few things that seemed a bit out there...but he found that my insulin level was a bit high, just like a recent fasting blood glucose test showed. He also found that my small intestine wasn't too happy and that I wasn't digesting protein well. I was low in vitamin B2 (riboflavin) and D3. I was high in a few toxins, allergic to mould...interestingly enough my adrenals seemed just fine. After asking me about my health complaints (and actually taking the time to listen!) he 'diagnosed' me with Leaky Gut Syndrome and prescribed some supplements for me. I now take 3 'horse pills' with every meal: B2, digestive enzymes, amino acids, and some sort of anti-toxin thing. As well, he explained the Glycemic Index a little bit (sugar leads to inflammation) and as a basic guideline told me to only eat foods with a GI less than 80. From what I understand this will also help with my insulin resistance issues. He affirmed my suspected milk allergy but said we would test it and other food allergies in a few months after we've given my system some time to get better.
This leads to another change in my already strange and stringent diet. Instead of avoiding just sugar in its various forms, I need to avoid other high-GI foods, such as whole wheat flour and other processed grains (no more bread, tortilla chips, cheerios). Brown rice is borderline but I'm still eating that. Potatoes are very high, in fact one baked potato supposedly spikes your blood sugar as much as 17 teaspoons of table sugar! Vegetables and most fruits are fine...as are nuts, fats/oils, and meat. The Glycemic Index is tricky to understand in that it's based on percentages of carbohydrates as opposed to weights of foods, so I am still trying to figure it out. So what can I eat? I'm still trying to figure that out too! So far some of my staples have been rolled oats, red river cereal, quinoa, and rice. Michelle is excited to cook more meats than we've been having lately...she made pork chops last night.
Overall my naturopathic visit was encouraging and gave me information and hope...and also a huge bill; the visit and the supplements came to over $300. We'll see how much our insurance actually covers...
This leads to another change in my already strange and stringent diet. Instead of avoiding just sugar in its various forms, I need to avoid other high-GI foods, such as whole wheat flour and other processed grains (no more bread, tortilla chips, cheerios). Brown rice is borderline but I'm still eating that. Potatoes are very high, in fact one baked potato supposedly spikes your blood sugar as much as 17 teaspoons of table sugar! Vegetables and most fruits are fine...as are nuts, fats/oils, and meat. The Glycemic Index is tricky to understand in that it's based on percentages of carbohydrates as opposed to weights of foods, so I am still trying to figure it out. So what can I eat? I'm still trying to figure that out too! So far some of my staples have been rolled oats, red river cereal, quinoa, and rice. Michelle is excited to cook more meats than we've been having lately...she made pork chops last night.
Overall my naturopathic visit was encouraging and gave me information and hope...and also a huge bill; the visit and the supplements came to over $300. We'll see how much our insurance actually covers...
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