Monday, February 12, 2018

What we're doing instead of watching the Olympics

Apparently, much of the world is watching the Olympics right now. The Olympics are great, but we don't have TV, and while I'm sure I could find them online somewhere, I just haven't gotten around to it (I've got very little motivation this pregnancy!). When I came home from a meeting the other night, my husband was watching Olympics...of a sort.

I still can't figure out if the Marblelympics are really dumb or pretty cool; maybe both? My husband is fairly obsessed with them, so we've been watching them quite a bit, and lots of other little things have been filling our days. 


The other night, when I needed a break from watching marbles race down a track, I made some grain-free chocolate chip cookies. I have really been enjoying them. I figure that since they're made of almond flour (protein!!!) and coconut oil, they're not that unhealthy, and make a relatively good pregnancy snack.


Lent, one of my top-favorite liturgical seasons, begins on Wednesday. While lots of people are trying to figure out how to celebrate Valentine's Day and Ash Wednesday this year, I'm just really excited that my Baptism anniversary coincides with the beginning of Lent :) If any of you are still trying to figure out a "Lenten Plan," you could take a look at an article I recently wrote for some inspiration: Lenten Plans and Goals.

Season 10 of Doctor Who just hit Amazon Prime, so I have been squeezing in the occasional episode here and there. I'm almost halfway through, and I'm really enjoying it so far. Though, I have noticed that even though this is a sci-fi show, the episodes about astronauts in space usually aren't my favorite-I much prefer the creepy episodes and/or the ones with monsters, particularly if they have a cool historical setting.

There have been a couple times in the past few years where people have made comments to me which basically romanticize stay-at-home-motherhood. Apparently, they have visions of perpetual tranquility and fun cooking sessions and incredible leisure. Well, let me just shatter these illusions right here: Being a SAHM is mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausting (and I'm an extrovert). Add in first trimester pregnancy, and it can be pretty grueling-even though I'm not nearly as nauseous as some women I know. I love spending each day with my toddler, but caring for him completely wipes me out. He really likes jumping on my head and/or poking my eyes when I try to sit down to rest, but at least he's really cute ;) 

One of his recent favorite games: I make a "house," and then he tears it down.
Repeat until I collapse ;)
I really do love seeing all of the developments my toddler (he's about 20 or so months, I think) is displaying, though. He's recently started using more short phrases and is communicating a lot better, which is really exciting to me! Earlier today as I was making dinner, he walked over to the baby gate and announced "I hungry!" If we ask him questions, he quickly responds with "Okay!" or "NO!"

Speaking of communication, there's a recent homeschooling success that I'm really delightedwith: Last week, I began to teach Peter the names of some of the characters in a comic book he was looking through. Well, I am proud to say that he now is able to identity-and differentiate-Dr. Doom and the Hulk. So yes, I believe our cultural enrichment lessons have been quite fruitful so far ;) 

Oh, and I got a haircut! I hadn't been to a hair salon to get it cut for about 10 or so years, so I was excited to have a few hours of pampering (a lady from our church works at a salon, which made it even better, because we could have awesome conversations!) Here's what I was dealing with before...



...and after! (Though I've decided I really like a side part, so that's what I've been going with lately)


I hope that y'all have a great start to your Lenten season and your week! I'm going to get back to battling this nasty sore throat and cold that have been attacking me :) 

14 comments:

  1. Your haircut is adorable!!! I love it! That's on my list to do before baby arrives. :)

    And solidarity with the cold...I'm starting to get one and I just had one a month ago!! Darn pregnancy hormones that make your immune system go down :(

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  2. Wow, the hair is a big change! I've been missing my short hair lately...I'll probably change it up after baby gets here.

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  3. I've been thinking about chopping my hair lately (it's down to my waist and too high maintenance for me). Maybe I'll take a page out of your book and do it, too.

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    1. Wow, that's amazing that you've been able to handle having hair that long! For a time, I wanted really long hair so that I could do an awesome braid like Elsa's (in Frozen), but I just couldn't deal with it haha. I definitely encourage hair chopping if hair is getting to be too high maintenance! Even if you just chopped it to just below your shoulders, I'm sure that'd make it tons easier to care for it.

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  4. Awesome hair cut! That's hilarious about identifying characters in the comic book.

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  5. Your haircut suits you very well!

    Do you have the recipe for those cookies? I'm trying to get back to being gluten-free!

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    1. Thanks, Lianna! The cookies are the Wellness Mama recipe! I made them with coconut oil, so they came out with an Almond Joy vibe, since I could really taste that coconut; so if you want them to taste more like traditional chocolate chip cookies, you may want to use butter (I think I'll do this next time, just to see what they're like): https://wellnessmama.com/5810/chocolate-chip-cookies/ I randomly met this dietician a few months back who made the comment that pretty much everyone could stand to eat fewer grains, so while I don't think I need to go gf at this time, I am really trying to eat less grains and it's been a good experience so far :)

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    2. I've definitely found that I can think more clearly and have more energy when I cut down on grains. Thanks for the recipe! I really like coconut, so I'll try it as is!

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    3. I hope you like it! Have fun!

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    4. That cookie recipe is on my to-do list now, thanks!
      I also love your stories about the little ones, and appreciate your honesty in both their precious and non glamorous sides.

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    5. I hope you like the cookies, Sarah! Thanks so much-I always appreciate when women show the full picture-joys and sorrows-of motherhood, so I've been trying to do that more.

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  6. The hair cut looks super cute! And I am sure much easier for when the baby arrives.

    I haven't been watching the Olympics much either, but that could do with not having a TV in my apartment lol! Although I'd much rather bake warm cookies and enjoy them with a cold glass of milk! :)

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  7. Totally agree about stay-at-home motherhood not being easy!
    Although the toddler years can be rough, I do love it when toddlers start communicating more clearly! It's awesome when they can tell you what they need. Nitara's new phrase is "I need _____." Of course, she rarely actually "needs" the object she is asking for, but she understands how to ask for it! I love it!

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    1. That's so cool that Nitara is able to communicate so well! I agree, it's awesome to be able to do that with a toddler. We often tell Peter "use your words" when he looks like he needs something, so that instead of getting frustrated he actually tells us-and it's been so nice to have that clarity from him, unlike when he was a baby and it was always a guessing game!

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