Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday night) - Getting fresh with a fellow dancer HEE HEE!

Weekend pics . . .

It has been a nice, laid back weekend. I somehow managed to NOT get any really stellar photos of my girls yesterday, but we were in a hurry to get out the door as usual. Here are the best I managed to get;o)

Bath time!

Until tonight I have not taken any pictures of Mariele's bathtime because I have found the easiest way to bathe her is to just get in the big tub and hold her. But now that she is sitting up more I have the option of the baby bathtub. So I got a few cute pics tonight:





Wrapped up in the fluffy towel!

Din Din . . .

Was awesome tonight! We had vegetarian spring rolls with peanut sauce, vegetarian noodle soup, sushi and seaweed salad! And I did not have to cook because it was TAKE OUT! WOO HOO!

Then Mariele got to have her first taste of rice cereal! She ended up eating the whole serving (it was a very small serving). Toward the end she was figuring it all out and deciding that she kind of liked it!

Here are some pics and a tiny video clip (had to shrink it down a lot):

Anti-inflammatory foods

Hubby emailed me this list of anti-inflammatory foods today, with a request that I incorporate many of these foods into our meal plans.

Here are the foods that interest us (being vegetarians):

Vegetables

Bell Peppers
Bok Choy
Broccoli
Broccoli Sprouts
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Chard
Collards
Fennel Bulb
Garlic
Green Beans
Green Onions/Spring Onions
Kale
Leeks
Olives
Spinach
Sweet potatoes
Turnip Greens

Herbs & Spices

Basil
Cayenne Peppers/Chilli Peppers
Cinnamon
Cloves
Cocoa (at least 70% cocoa chocolate)
Licorice
Mint
Oregano
Parsley
Rosemary
Thyme
Turmeric

Oils

Avocado Oil
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Drinks

Green Tea

Fruits

Acerola (West Indian) Cherries
Apples
Avocados
Black Currants
Blueberries
Fresh Pineapple
Guavas
Kiwifruit
Kumquats
Lemons
Limes
Mulberries
Oranges
Papaya
Raspberries
Rhubarb
Strawberries
Tomatoes

Nuts & Seeds

Almonds
Flaxseed/Linseed
Hazelnuts
Sunflower Seeds
Walnuts

We already eat quite a few of these foods on a daily basis. For example, my homemade granola contains almonds, flaxseed and sunflower seeds. And then we often add blueberries to it when we eat it for breakfast. I LOVE avacados and green onions. I'm sure I can find some good recipes to make with those. Since it is summertime, I would like to try grilling some pineapple slices. That would be yummy I am sure! Anyway, it seems like all of these foods are very tasty and have lots of super health benefits.

Lost weight

Hair weight that is!! My hair is wavy/curly so it is deceptively long. It has been driving me nuts. Falling out and growing at the same time. And it has been growing uneven and just has not been feeling healthy. So I just got back from the salon where my stylist took about an inch and a half off! My head feels lighter. I feel so much better! Of course since she blow-dried it straight you really can't tell that she took that much off, but believe me she did!

Pumping is a BEEYOTCH!!

I have nothing but total admiration, respect and awe for those mommies out there who are pumping their breast milk or have pumped their breast milk in the past. I am just trying to pump enough to make little breast milk ice cubes to mix in with some rice cereal for Mariele. About 20 minutes of pumping this morning yielded me about 3.5 ounces!! The milk was coming, but very slowly. I am using a handheld single Avent pump. Anyway, the milk I pumped this morning filled 6 ice cube tray compartments (they are supposed to be 1 ounce servings per compartment). I am going to pump a little every morning to try to get used to it. There is definitely a technique to using those little manual pumps.

So I guess I should have said first that I am planning to start Mariele on rice cereal within the next few days. Her ped gave us the go ahead at her 4 month appointment, but he said it would be fine to wait until 6 months since she is thriving so well on my breast milk alone (chubby thighs hee hee)! Well, lately she is so interested when we are eating. She is grabbing at our food and salivating even more profusely than she normally does. I guess I'm starting to feel bad that we are all eating in front of her. So I will try a little rice cereal with her (no more than once per day for awhile).