End of Month Recap - November 2010

Finally a month where I feel like I actually accomplished something again.  I'm happy to be feeling better and back to my usual busy self.  Overall a very successful month.  Here's how it went:

1. Eating for pregnancy, specifically the 1st and 2nd trimester - check!  Bring on the meat, eggs, raw milk, cheese, etc.
2. Reduce grains.  About half way through the month I was finally able to get back into this.  No more toast for breakfast every day!  Back to eggs :)  My tummy is already happier.
3. Eat in season - apples, pears, pumpkins, squash, root veggies - check.

4. Food preservation - I didn't can or dry anything.  But I was able to do quite a bit of baking.  It's good to have a few easy breakfasts and snacks in the freezer again.

5. Chewing - continue to try to chew my food more thoroughly.  Check.

6. Raw milk - We did get a cow share!!  And I'm SOOO glad we did.  It is the most amazing milk I've ever had.  And after just one week of drinking it I could tell it was doing good stuff to my body.  The die off phase it created wasn't pleasant, but it means it's filling my gut with good bacteria and flushing out all the bad stuff.  I recently had to drink some "regular" milk (pasteurized, homo)...and I could barely do it.  It did not taste good to me at all.  I love drinking milk lately.  But I could barely stomach that stuff.  It tasted fake.  And today we are starting our 2nd share!  So now we'll get 2 gallons a week.  I am just praying that come spring they will have some openings for a regular share.  I don't want to have to give up my raw milk come Feb.  For now I'll drink it up while I can :)

HEALTH

1. Continue my healthy eating/lifestyle series. I did a post on microwaves.

2. Research topics
a. digestive process - I need to do this to continue working on my OCD. My perspective of what's normal has gotten skewed over the years, especially since my colon surgery. I think learning the details about digestion and what really goes on will really help me. Learn what healthy digestion really is and how our bodies use what we eat. - I have done some research.

b. pregnancy and childcare - learn more about natural care during pregnancy and for raising children (i.e. nutrition, cloth diapers, first foods, etc.). I also need to start making a list of everything we'll need to buy and do before baby #2 arrives - My list has been started.  And I have figured out our cloth diapering situation...at least to start with.

COST REDUCTION
1. Continue recording spending and sales - check.
2. Food budget - go down to $120/week now that the farmer's market/fresh summer produce is done - check.
3. Continue to plan meals based on sales/what we have on hand and on what's in season - check.
4. Continue to make as much food as possible from scratch - check.  Here's a rundown of what I made this month:

orange raisin muffins
granola
vanilla wafers
hot fudge
brownies
chocolate chip bars
breakfast cookies
hashbrowns
sourdough english muffins
pumpkin muffins
soaked cinnamon raisin coffee cake
pumpkin pancakes
homemade cleaners
homemade mouthwash
tomato soup (6 jars in the freezezr)
soaked whole wheat tortillas

5. 2nd hand shopping when necessary - not necessary
6. Simplify - continue to minimize where possible - check.

FAMILY/PERSONAL

1. Sewing machine - I really surprised myself with this one.  I just wanted to get the machine working.  In the end I got it working, picked out some projects and made two cute little totes.  Not too bad.  I must say I love sewing!!  It's really kind of like engineering.  You go step by step, put something together and trouble shoot/problem solve as you go if there are problems.  Perfect for me :)  It combines my creative side with my logic/engineering side.  I'm very excited to keep learning and challenge myself with harder projects.  I think sewing is becoming a new passion for me.

2. Be creative - This was a fun challenge for myself.  And I think it was very good for me.  It really energized me to take time to do things I enjoy and create things.  The main thing I did was work on the sewing machine/projects.  But I also did some sketching.  And Rebecca and I made several crafts...some for Thanksgiving and some just to explore and play with glue, shapes, pictures, etc.  I think the crafts are as much fun/as valuable to her as they are to me :)  As always we spent time creating in the kitchen too.  This is definitely something I want to keep up.

3. Activities

a. Kindermusik - check...although we had to miss 2 meetings due to illness and travel.
b. nursery cmt (meeting Nov. 15, nursery duty Nov. 14 and 21) - check.
c. Little Lambs (Rebecca's class at church. I help on Nov. 28) - check.
d. MOPS (meetings Nov. 5 and 19) - check.
e. Start Christmas shopping - I bought a few things, but I still have a LONG way to go.
f. Do some more thorough cleaning - mostly focused on the kitchen.  Every little bit helps.  At least I finally got the whole refrigerator thoroughly cleaned.  Feels good to have it clean and not have any old stuff in there.

4. Fun stuff.

a. CAO concert? - There is a Calvin Alumni Orchestra concert on Nov. 13 that is geared towards kids. We might take Rebecca - decided to skip it...she's not quite old enough.

b. cloth diapering workshop? - I did end up going to this.  Loved it!!!  So much good info.  And I got to see pretty much every possible cloth diapering option.  It helped me solidify my decision about what cloth diapers and accessories I want to use.

c. WI for Thanksgiving - We'll be visiting Justin's parents for Thanksgiving this year - check!  Aside from a UTI, a cold and some rough nap/bedtimes for Rebecca it was a great trip.

5. Rebecca - some things to do with Rebecca this month:

a. Keep working on potty training - Rebecca got a UTI this month.  I think it's from potty training...she tries to hold things too long.  So we took a little break.  We will start up after it's done.  And I have some better direction now on how to proceed/what I think will work for us.  More to come on that.
b. Keep working on letters, numbers, spelling/sounds, counting, math, etc. - check.
c. Teach her a little more about babies - check.
d. Keep working on her new room - find a dresser - still working on this.
e. Start transitioning her to a toddler bed for both night time and nap time - we decided to start this in January - after the holidays and after getting over her UTI (which causes her to want to get up constantly to use the potty).

6. Memorize scripture - I went with a short one this month.  But still very powerful for me.  Something I struggle with.  It has been a great reminder every day to love, not judge.  I memorized Matthew 7:1-2:

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

7. Long term goals - still a work in progress.

a. Overcome OCD
b. Stop using miralax - my body is not ready for this yet.  And I'm being realistic.  It may not be ready until I have the baby.  But I did do some research and found some potential natural remedies to replace it.  That would be wonderful.  I'll talk more on that later.