Cultivating Gratitude in your Toddler

My daughter received a beautiful compliment the other day – a family friend was amazed by just how polite my little 21 month old is. Insert proud mama moment here.

In fact, she's received praise for all her "please's" and "thank you's" a few times now. The hubs and I are by no means perfect parents, but I'm thinking we must be doing something right.

At this stage, Gemma can't grasp gratefulness and politeness -- these qualities are obviously too conceptual for my Elmo and raisin fixated toddler; but what she does understand is that the world isn't at her fingertips, simply a metaphorical snap away. No, she's coming to terms with the fact that as she grows older, her attitude matters.

One of my conscious goals as a parent has been to raise a grateful child. I'm now in my seventh year as a high school teacher and my experiences in the classroom really impact how I parent. Very rarely do I see a grateful teenager walk through my classroom door. The ones who thank you for the fun class planned that day, the ones who thank you for allowing them to re-write a paper they bombed, the ones who thank you for bringing in cupcakes "just because" -- these grateful teens are on the extinct species list. Oh, please don't think I am hating on teenagers: I wouldn't do my job if I didn't love them and think they had great potential. But reality is reality. We have an entitlement generation, and most adults working with kids will tell you that.

Entitlement is a scary thing. It screams "I deserve this because I exist!" And let loose too long, it becomes a cancer, multiplying and seeping into the most critical areas of our children's lives -- like their humility, their relationships and their work ethic.

No, I do not want this for my girl.

So for Thanksgiving--a day where we pause and reflect on all we have to be thankful for: the things we have earned and the things we have been given freely--I want to share my take on how to cultivate gratitude in our toddlers. So that they become the big kids who recognize the gifts and service of others, are grateful for all they've received, and realize the importance of hard work.

A few ways to cultivate gratitude in your toddler:

Expect it of them – I am a firm believer that children meet the expectations set of them. I see it each day in the classroom. Its what explains how one group of students can be complete terrors in one class with one teacher and then in the next period with another teacher become sweet angels. Same students – different expectations.

In the home, it meant that as soon as Gemma could sign or say “please” and “thank you”, we expected nothing less. I don’t give Gemma her drink, her toy, her crayons...unless she asks appropriately, saying please and without whining. It also means that sometimes it takes a few tries on her part to get it right and I have to resist the urge to just give her what she wants to keep her quiet. And when she forgets to say thank you, we remind her, every time. With kids, consistency is key.

"More is caught than taught" – This is one of my favourite Dave Ramsey-isms. Yes, I can teach Gemma to be thankful by expecting nothing less from her, but those lessons certainly won’t stick if we don’t model it in the home. The munchkins are watching, and they love nothing more than to copy exactly what Mommy does -- especially the not-so-good things. Consider whether you express gratefulness for what you've received from others. Consider your dinner table conversations -- are you positive and appreciative of the situations and people you came across that day? Are you thanking your spouse for helping with the laundry or doing the dishes? As long as those little eyes can see and those little ears can hear -- they will copy you!

Serve as a family – Nothing instills gratitude quite like serving. When you give of your time, your talents and your treasure, and feel what blessing others feels like, you feel more appreciative of all you've received. My husband and I were both raised by pastors--who were always serving their congregation--and it's no surprise that we chose careers that had us serving others. It just feels right. It just feels like what we should do.

Jump on whatever opportunity you have to serve in your community. Creating a culture of service in your home will always create a by-product of gratitude. How's that for chemistry?

To turkey and stuffing, and all the other things we are thankful for,

♥ Dion

Making Sense of Baby and Toddler (GIRL) Clothes Sizes

Tell me I’m not the only one -- baby clothes sizes do not make sense.  We’ve all had clothes in the closet go unworn by our littles because we didn’t realize that 6-12 months ACTUALLY MEANT 3-6 months!

How frustrating.

But it’s all good – I’m here to help.

I’ve created this table to break down baby/toddler clothes sizes at some of the most popular children’s retailers. If you’re a new mom trying to organize the mountains of baby clothes you’ve been given at your baby shower...you’re going to need this!

With the exception of the first few months of her life, Gemma has always been in the 50^th percentile for height and weight (literally the picture perfect average sized baby) so all my observations are based on her size. If your little one is smaller or bigger than average, keep that in mind as you read this chart. Also, sizing could be different for boys than girls, so that is another factor I can’t comment on.

I’ve stuck to the more affordable and available clothing brands.  Because frankly, there’s something wrong about buying your baby Burberry or True Religion jeans. Baby Uggs and Toms...well that's a different story!

	Tops	Bottoms
Joe Fresh (Superstore)	Fit true to size to small	Fit true to size to big
Gap	True to size	True to size
Old Navy	True to size	True to size
Pekkle (sold at Costco)	Baby sleepers – these are notorious for shrinking. Always size up! (i.e. buy 24 months for your 18 month old)
H&M	Fit large	Fit large
Carter’s/Oshkosh	Fit true to size to small	Fit true to size to small
Cherokee (Target)	True to size	True to size
The Children’s Place	True to size	True to size

18-24 (24 months) vs. 2T: 2T tends to be longer in the arms, torso and legs. Whenever possible I skip buying the 18-24 month item and go for the 2T to get more wear out of it.

To buying too many baby clothes ‘cause they’re just so darn cute,

♥ Dion

The Five Best Cookbooks for Healthy Family Cooking

I have a confession: I am a cookbook addict. I don’t know what it is, but whenever I see a beautiful cookbook on a store shelf, I just have to have it! Each Christmas I give my husband some not-so-subtle hints about cookbooks I’d love to own, and I usually find one waiting for me under the tree. A cookbook might be a risky gift for some husbands, kind of like buying your wife a personal clothing shopper (yes, we know a guy who did that!). It might not send the right message. But to me, a thick cookbook with a beautiful cover doesn’t tell me I need to cook more or better, it inspires me to try new things in the kitchen and incorporate even healthier foods into our every day diet.

 When friends come over they often see what cookbook I have on display (yes, I have a display) and thumb through it. They are always a talking point in our home. The other day one of these friends asked for a list of my favourite cookbooks for healthy family cooking, leading me to write this post.  Busy moms like us want to cook healthy, affordable meals for our families, but we don’t have the time to pour over new recipes and figure which one will work. Cooking can be a bit of gamble like that. So to take out the guess work, here are the top five cookbooks for families that I rely on most to serve up delicious, healthy and affordable meals each evening. If you’re really out to save money, check out this post on meal planning.

#1 – Looneyspoons by Janet and Greta Podleski. – This is a VERY popular cookbook in Canada, and for good reason (which I’ll explain in second). I’m serious when I write this -- If you don’t have this cookbook, you need to stop reading, go to your local bookstore and pick it up right NOW. Yup, stop reading. Go to the mall.

What I love about this cookbook is its premise. Two sisters decided that they wanted to eat healthier, but still enjoy all their favourite foods. They made minor adjustments to recipes that decreased the fat, sugar and sodium, while retaining (and even amping up!) all the flavour.

I do probably 80% of my cooking out of this cookbook. The recipes are easy to make and don’t use any fancy shmancy ingredients that you can’t pronounce. I love all the photos so you can visualize exactly what you are going to cook--something I look for whenever I purchase a new cookbook. Don’t be turned off by the “loony” play-on-words titles for each recipe. Although they are actually kinda funny, I always have to read the sub-title to know exactly what I’m making! A huge plus to this cookbook is that it includes all the nutritional information such as calories, fat, sodium, etc for each recipe.

There are hundreds of recipes in this cookbook, and I’ve cooked a lot of them. Some favourites are: Maui Wowie Chicken (chicken with pineapples, peppers and carrots), The Nutcrocker (slow-cooked peanut-ginger chicken thighs), The Six-Million-Dollar Manicotti (chicken and vegetable stuffed manicotti), The Yellow Bows of Texas (turkey and bean chilli on top of pasta), FULLafel Patties (their twist on the mid-Eastern falafel), Lasagne with Mex Appeal (Mexican Lasagne), and the list could go on.

Tonight I made Indian Appleous 500 (coconut-curry chicken with apples). It was a hit with the hubs and the toddler. A home run in my books.

I could go on about this cookbook forever, but to keep it short, if you buy one cookbook from this list, Looneyspoons is the one to go with.

 

#2 – Jamie’s Food Revolution by Jamie Oliver – When I was first married, I cooked from this book A LOT. At the time we were really into watching Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution tv show and I found this cookbook, inspired by the show, at Chapters. Since it was the first time in my life I really had to cook for someone else day in and day out, I pretty much relied on this cookbook for meal ideas each week.

The meals are packed full of flavour and are healthy, although no nutritional information is given (sad face). And you might think that recipes by a celebrity chef would be tough, but these truly are straightforward. He includes pictures of each step, so its pretty hard to mess up! My favourite part of the cookbook is the “Twenty Minute Meals” section. These are perfect when you need to whip up a quick meal after work. Matt’s favourite is the Quick Salmon Tikka with Cucumber Yogurt and my favourite is the Classic Tomato Spaghetti. And if you love curry dishes, there is a “Quick Curries” section that gets a lot of use in our household (Gemma eats it too!).

#3 – Quinoa 365 by Patricia Green & Carolyn Hemming – I picked up this beautiful cookbook after I decided that I wanted to cook more with quinoa (a super-food you should definitely incorporate into your family’s diet) but I was really lost as to how to use it. After thumbing through the book and stumbling on its baby-food section, the new mom in me was sold. In Quinoa 365 are some of the most yummy baby food recipes that Gemma loved, like Chicken Veggie Mélange; Chicken, Quinoa and Apple Puree; and her absolute favourite, Blueberry Banana Mash.

But there’s much more than baby food in this cookbook. There’s a great introduction section that explains all you need to know about quinoa, its different types and a variety of ways to cook it. I have a tab on the cooking instructions page so that its easily accessible, especially when a recipe in a different cookbook calls for cooked quinoa.

Some favourite recipes are the Black Bean Quinoa Quesadillas, Black Bean Soup, and a recipe that I make and freeze for every new mom, Cheese and Spinach Frittata.

There aren’t as many pictures as I’d like in a cookbook, which is why sometimes I veer towards other cookbooks more, but every recipe I try is awesome and a ‘make-again’. There is no nutiritional information but you can tell the recipes are very healthy, and each recipe is labelled whether it is gluten-free, vegetarian or “kid-approved”, which is really handy!

#4 – The Oh She Glows Cookbook by Angela Liddon – When I first saw this cookbook, I wanted it purely for its gorgeous cover and how nice it would look on my counter. But it’s a vegan cookbook and we are a meat & dairy loving family -- I doubted we’d like it. Then through the power of instagram I saw all these people hash-tagging pictures of these awesome looking meals they’d made with #osg. I did a little digging and saw that it was referring to Oh She Glows! Since other meat & dairy loving friends were cooking from it, I thought I’d give it a chance too! Besides its beauty, this cookbook has so many awesome features: easy ingredients you can find at your local grocery store or costco, a list of what each recipe is free from (i.e. gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, oil-free, etc.), and lots of photos.

At a recent party I made the “glowing strawberry-mango guacamole” which was a huge hit. For breakfast I love to make the cover recipe, “effortless vegan overnight oats” that had me fall in love with this cookbook in the first place.

#5 – The Family Cooks by Laurie David and Kirstin Uhrenholdt – This is my newest cookbook (a recent birthday gift) so I haven’t had a lot of opportunity to cook from it. It totally meets my beautiful cookbook requirements and everything I have made has been awesome! This book is all about healthy eating for the whole family, and teaching your family to stop relying on sugar and other detrimental additives to our food. There’s a great smoothie section that I’ve frequented lately and Gemma and I recently made “seedy crackers”, the author’s alternative to goldfish crackers (aka baby crack cocaine) to take on our family holiday to Kelowna (a 10 hour drive!).

I hope one of these cookbooks finds its way into your kitchen soon and inspires you to keep cooking wholesome meals for your whole family!

To cookbook addictions,

♥ Dion

P.S. - Help further my cookbook addiction by commenting on your favourite healthy cookbook for the fam.
 

Easy DIY Learning Tower

This year I became friends with a mom who had recently moved back to Canada from England. In her kitchen she had a learning tower that her dad had built -- learning towers are all the rage in the UK but haven't seemed to catch on in Canada yet. A learning tower allows your toddler to stand at the counter to observe and participate in the kitchen. It is based on the Montessori model of education that encourages independence in learning. Now, I didn't realize that at first -- I just knew it would help to keep my very busy toddler entertained. Which is normally a pretty exhausting feat each day.

 

Learning towers go for around $200 online. Whoa. Not in our budget. So after almost resigning myself to the fact that I wasn't going to get a learning tower for Gemma, I decided to ask my hubby (who, like myself, isn't much of a DIYer) to make one, and I am so glad I asked.

Gemma just loves standing on her learning tower. It was a hit from the moment we brought it in from the garage. She will stand on it and help me make my coffee in the morning by taking the lid off the coffee can and putting a scoop of grinds in the French press. She pretends to cook by stirring and whisking uncooked macaroni noodles, and practices scooping up the noodles and dumping them in another bowl. When she gets really excited, she plays a fun game where she throws the macaroni on the floor and mommy or daddy pick it all up (sound like a toddler much?). Yes, some of this newfound freedom has backfired, but for the most part Gemma seems to be learning lots by observing and "helping" mommy in the kitchen. I've been especially impressed with her improved use of utensils. She holds her own fork and spoon better now that she's used measuring cups and practiced scooping.

Now, with anything you build for children, parental supervision is a must. I know you know this, but I thought the reminder wouldn't hurt. You will need to move any potential dangers, of which there are many in a kitchen, way out of your child's reach. When she stands by the cutting board, I put the knife block on the other side of the kitchen. When she's by the toaster, I make sure it is unplugged. That kind of thing. Also be watching carefully that they don't try to climb on the counters. Some of you have climbers. And I can't imagine the stress your climber causes you each day. And despite all the barriers on this learning tower, toddlers have a knack for hurting themselves. So just stay near them.

The rest of this post comes from my wonderful husband who I must admit surprised me with his handyman skills here. I have now come up with a whole list of new projects for him to tackle (shh... I haven't told him yet!).

To handy hubbies and towering toddlers,
♥ Dion

DIY Learning Tower - Step by Step Instructions

This summer my wife asked me to build a learning tower for our 18 month old daughter.  Being not a handy man, I was a little nervous.  On my wife's advice I looked to Pinterest to get a few ideas, and after a bit of looking, found one that I thought looked both good and pretty simple.  It uses an Ikea BEKVAM stool for a base, with a fabricated railing set up on top.  Here's how it was done.

 

 

1) Picked up the stool from IKEA

2) Purchased materials from Home Depot.  Some of these materials I already had, but the list below has everything I used:

-1.5" x 1.5" x 7'

-3/4" x 3.5" x 5'

-dowel 11/16" x 1.5'

-these measurements should give you a bit of wiggle room, but not a lot if you need to redo cuts

-small box of 2 1/2" wood screws and 1 1/2" wood screws

-wood filler

-fine grit sand paper

-spray paint primer (2 cans to cover)

-coloured spray paint (this wasn't bought at Home Depot because they didn't have the right colour.  We ended up buying from Serres: Liquitex paint - Phthalocyanine Green 7.  (2 cans but I may have been able to do it with 1)

-clear, spray paint sealant (satin finish)

3) Tools needed:

-skill saw

-drill and bits

-saw horses

-tape measure

-square

-pencil

-wood bore bit (11/16")

4) Cut the wood to length and assemble

-the posts that stand vertically on top of the stool are 1.5" x 1.5" x 16.5" (the 16.5" makes the tower flush with our countertop.  Be sure to measure the height of your counter to ensure that the tower is not too tall, or short; the IKEA stool is 20" tall when assembled by itself).  CUT 4

-I then attached the four posts to the top side of the upper step of the BEKVAM stool using the 2 1/2" wood screws (see photo).  I drilled pilot holes in through the bottom of the stool into the vertical posts, and then attached them.

NOTE: I did not fully assemble the BEKVAM stool until the very end, as you can see in the photo.

-I also used the same 1.5" x 1.5" wood for the lower braces on the sides of the tower; mine were 6 5/8" long but yours maybe be different, depending on how close you place the vertical posts to the corner on the top of the stool.  CUT 2.  I attached mine with 2 1/2" screws 6 1/2" from the top of the stool.

-next you should drill the hole for the dowel.  I drilled mine through the two vertical posts at the back using an 11/16" wood bit.  Drill right through both posts and when you attach the top railings, it will cover up the holes and hold the dowel in place.

-the dowel I used was 11/16" but 5/8" would work fine too.  I cut it at 14 1/8" but again be sure to measure yours because it's length will depend on how far your four vertical posts are apart from each other. Insert the dowel before you attach the top support rails

-the rails around the top and front are 3/4" x 3.5".  The side rails are 10 1/4" (CUT 2) and the front rails are 13 3/4". CUT 2

-I attached them as shown in the photos using 1 1/2" screws.  Be sure that the screws you use are not too long that they go right through the wood and poke out, and that they do not hit other screws you've used to attach other pieces and possibly split the wood.

-I then used wood filler to fill the screw holes and sanded them down.  I repeated this one more time, and also gave the rest of the pieces a quick sand to smooth out any rough parts, especially on any exposed cut surfaces

-finally, I assembled the BEKVAM stool and attached the upper structure to the rest of the stool

5) Paint

-first I primed the learning tower

-sanded it down in some areas and primed any spots I missed

-painted with the coloured paint (1-2 coats to touch up)

-finally, sealed with clear spray paint satin finish, to give it a somewhat shiny (not too shiny) finish, which should make it easy to clean.

That's it.  It was a really fun, simple project.  And if it was something that this unhandy man could complete, pretty much anyone can.

Adapted from mintinthemiddle.com and ikeahackers.net

 

What I learned from a stay-at-home dad

Last week the hubs and I switched roles – he stayed home with Gemma all week while I put in a week of contract work that had me downtown all day. I call this post “what I learned from a stay-at-home dad” because that week was enlightening, to say the least.

When we first decided that I would pick up this work, I could tell Matt was a little nervous about a full week taking care of Gemma without any relief.  Up until then, he’d probably only had her for one full day max. Looking after a toddler can be draining, so I suggested we hire a babysitter for a couple mornings. You know, give him a break and let him do something for himself. Matt wasn’t too keen on that idea, and I get it – It  sounded like I wasn’t confident in his parenting abilities, which isn’t true, but I must admit, I was worried about what shape he’d be in after a full week! Alternatively we decided that Gemma could spend some time at her grandparents through the week to give Matt the breather he might need; however, as we got closer to last week, we ended up having a death in the family and my parents flew to Ontario for the funeral. Matt was going to be on his own. Dun, dun, dun!

When the week finally came, I must admit I was looking forward to coming home each night and having my husband bow down before me, praising me for all my efforts in taking care of the home and Gemma. But instead of a flustered husband, a burnt supper, in a toddler-trashed house, I came home to a collected husband who had made a lovely dinner in a perfectly toddler-trashed house (there’s no superpower to counteract a toddler’s mess making abilities). Immediately I thought, man, he’s better at this than me! I kept asking him how the day went; he just seemed too positive and relaxed.

And guess what, to my disappointment, the rest of the week went just a smoothly (I know, I feel awful being so honest).

So I’ve decided that instead of resenting my husband for being so awesome at my job, haha, that I might as well learn from him.  Here’s a few takeaways:

1.)    RELAX. My husband has a pretty relaxed nature. As he says, “my highs don’t get too high, and my lows don’t get too low.” Now that’s a picture of mental health! I could tell that he didn’t let the day-to-day challenges/struggles/annoyances/frustrations of parenting a toddler get to him too much. There were temper tantrums, meals that went uneaten, and messes made, but he seemed to let them roll off his back instead of holding on to them and letting them build up inside. I, on the other hand, like to bank my frustrations and let them earn interest. Not a wise investment.
 

2.)    Make a to-do-list. I had given my husband a couple things I’d like him to complete this summer, and he decided to bite off one of the projects this week. I wasn’t too sure if he would complete it, but he did! He kept a manageable mental to-do-list of what he had to accomplish each day and took the opportune moments to do it. I, on the other hand, try to accomplish everything at once, and find myself frenetically going from playing with Gemma, to cooking, to cleaning, to starting a project, to changing a diaper, all in a matter of half an hour. It gets exhausting. A to-do-list, especially a small one, is a good idea.

3.)     Take advantage of time to yourself. My husband actually had down-time that week. That was really annoying! I asked him about it, and he said that once he accomplished what was on his manageable to do list, he just sat down and read, or watched tv, or went on twitter. Seriously, it’s that easy? Moms, if you’re like me, I think overestimate the importance of doing things for our families and underestimate the importance of relaxing and recharging ourselves. A frazzled mommy snaps, and well, that’s just dangerous. And so, after I write this blog, I am taking my husband’s advice and sitting down with a coffee and doing nothing. Or, at least I’ll try.

4.)    Housework is optional. It’s ok if your toilets go uncleaned this week. No one cleaned our toilets the week I was working and we all survived.

5.)    Working full-time is not for me. Ok, so this is sort of a lesson I taught myself. Coming home each night and having missed out on every story, every game, every adorable moment—well, that was just brutal. I’ve been teaching part-time since Gemma was one, and it isn’t easy juggling it all, but at least I have some extra time home with Gemma each school day. Not having this time was really tough, and it provided some of the clarity I needed about career decisions. In particular, being a full-time working mother is not for me. I need the balance between work and home.

But the most important lesson I learned was to LET GO. The world keeps spinning on its axis without mommy at home. What a relief.

I’ll finish with a quote from my husband, reflecting on staying home:

“One day, simple. One week, doable. One month, painful. One year, brutal. The rest of my life, no thank you.”

It’s a good thing I’m happy to stay at home part-time.

To stay-at-home moms AND dads,
♥ Dion
 

Summer. Toddler. Fun. - St. Albert Market

I am starting a new series of blog posts on fun, affordable and toddler-friendly activities to do with your little ones this summer. Matt and I decided that this summer we would simplify our lives by ‘staycationing’ and explore all that Edmonton and area has to offer.

 

Today I took Gemma on a mother-daughter date to the St. Albert market. I’d heard a lot of great things about this market from family and friends but had never made the trek out there. As soon as we got there, I was filled with regret – regret that I hadn’t gone sooner!

The market is good sized and has excellent variety in vendors. The produce looks truly beautiful. Many of the growers are familiar to me since I order most of my produce through the Organic Box, so although we only came home with a cucumber and some tzatziki (thank you internet dictionary for helping spell that), I’m confident it all tastes as good as it looks.

Despite the really hot weather today Gemma seemed to have a good time. She sat happily in her stroller for quite a while, soaking up the rays (with 60 SPF) and people watching. The vendors were very generous with the samples -- she enjoyed trying out all the dips, cookies and berries at each station. I owe thanks to all those samples to keeping her happy in her stroller for so long. Parents know that food = entertainment, and I was glad she stayed entertained so I could SHOP.

Some of the particularly child-friendly aspects of the market are the bouncy castle and the balloon animal station. I gotta admit -- Gemma didn’t notice either, so we just strolled by, but I bet if we go next year she’ll be all over that. They also had a few outdoor pianos, one of which is a kids’ piano. Gemma enjoyed watching other kids ‘play’ the piano, but when it was her turn to tickle the ivories, a little stage fright kicked in. I got one picture at least!

To me, the most awesome thing is that there is a parking lot on site! As someone who can hardly park, let alone parallel park, street parking sends panic through my veins—especially with a toddler potentially crying in the backseat. It was easy finding a parking spot and I had plenty of room to comfortably take out the stroller and grab Gemma from the backseat, without being worried about being side-swiped. I am a tad paranoid.

There are a ton of vendors that specialize in children’s products, including teething rings, security blankets, taggie blankets, clothing, tutus, Frozen (the movie) themed apparel, and even baby cocoons. Not sure what those are for. I almost bought Gemma’s dolly a new wardrobe at the dolly clothing store— there is truly something for everyone and everything at the St. Albert Market. A fellow shopper looked at the clothes and said to me, “who’s baby is this small?” haha. She had no clue.

Some of our favourite food vendors included the popsicle lady at the far end of the market. Her popsicles are all natural (something this mama loves) and she even dips them in Lindor chocolate (something else this mama loves). Gemma has been cutting some teeth like crazy so this was the perfect treat for a hot teething day. But of course, one treat is never enough. We caved (I hold Gemma equally responsible) and had 4 bite sized stuffed brownies and blondies. They made this chocolate-lover’s day. When Gemma is really enjoying something she’s eating, she stuffs as much of it as she can in her cheeks and kind of just lets it sit there. She was doing that with these brownies. I had to cut her off so mommy could get some!

We left the market on a sugar high, which led to the inevitable afternoon energy crash. I timed this perfectly with nap-time. It’s 4:15 and Gemma is still napping. You see, a hot day at the market is just what every toddler and mommy needs.

To long summer days and long summer naps,
♥ Dion

For information on all the Edmonton and areas farmer’s markets, here’s a map courtesy of Made Urban.

Link to full size map

How I Con My Toddler into Eating Spinach EVERY Morning – Recipe: Gemma’s GREEN Smoothie

We are officially in the toddler picky-eating stage. It’s brutal. One moment she’s stuffing her face with what I’ve made for her, the next moment the whole plate is on the floor, on her head, or even better, all over mommy.  Last night for dinner Matt and I had hot dogs – Gemma, on the other hand, LITERALLY ate  ketchup by the handful. Tell me you can relate. Please, tell me.

So when I find a meal that is healthy that Gemma will consistently eat, I’m sure to put it in the rotation frequently.

Although Gemma is great at eating her fruits, and not bad at eating veggies (meat is a whole other story), I like to feed her smoothies for breakfast to make sure she’s getting all her nutrients. Lately I’ve been making this green smoothie for her, and its fast becoming a favourite for her. I know some toddlers have an aversion to eating anything green, but Gemma hasn’t developed this yet. I’m hoping that as long as I keep offering her some green foods that she enjoys, that she’ll continue to try other green foods I serve.

Gemma’s GREEN Smoothie

Blend all the following ingredients well to ensure there are no chunks and serve immediately. Serves 2-3 (or one Gemma – she keeps asking for “mo”).

1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or other preferred milk)

1 cup fresh spinach leaves

1 pear or apple

1 peach or ½ mango

1 banana

2-3 pitted dates*

1 tablespoon ground flaxseed or chia seed

3-4 ice cubes

*dates are an awesome way to sweeten smoothies without using sugar

Yum!

To conning children into eating their veggies,

♥ Dion

How to lose the baby weight...and how it’s all about how you THINK.

Let’s talk baby weight. And losing the baby weight. For some women, pregnancy is a glorious time where they throw off the shackles of society’s expectations of how women should look and how much they should eat. They embrace the “I’m eating for two” mentality because there’s such a small window of time in life where eating five cupcakes in a sitting is considered cute.  But you might have been like me -- I found the thought of gaining something like thirty pounds in nine months more scary than liberating. That’s because I struggled with my weight when I was younger. In my twenties things turned around and I began to focus more on having a healthy lifestyle. So when it was time to start our family, I was nervous that I would gain more weight than is healthy and find myself discouraged about my body afterwards.

I was pretty careful about what I ate during pregnancy, but I did make a few mistakes. For one, I know I drank too many empty calories by drinking fruit and vegetable juices. I drank these beverages in hopes of getting all my servings of fruits and veggies, but I would’ve been better off eating the actual foods instead of consuming all the extra calories in the juice! But this was the real kicker -- sometime around my second trimester, a Tim Horton’s – Canada’s favourite doughnut shop – opened up in my neighbourhood, right by the exit to the highway that takes me to work. Multiple times each week I succumbed to own lack of self-control and picked up a bagel on the way to work.  Considering that Gemma was born in the 3^rd percentile at only 5lbs 9oz, I’d say that a lot of my baby weight was actually bagel weight!

Fortunately, I can say that when Gemma was 9 months old I stood on the scale and was back to my pre-baby (ahem, bagel) weight, and my old jeans were actually loose. But I wasn’t one of those moms who we all kinda hate because they look like they’ve never even had a kid weeks after delivery – for myself it really was the 9 months on, 9 months off scenario.

So, I’ve decided to devote a couple posts to how to lose the baby weight in a healthy way and maintain a positive self-image.  Keep in mind that I am so not a doctor or fitness trainer -- make sure you seek out some expert advice if you don’t know much about personal fitness.

Ok, so here goes.

#1 - It’s all in your head.

In any goal you intend to reach, the biggest hurdle to succeeding will be a mental one. Once you retrain your brain, the actions needed to meet your goal will follow.

For example, when I was losing the baby weight I heard this saying that you can’t expect to see any changes if you don’t do anything different. I know it sounds obvious, but be honest with yourself -- how many times have you told yourself that you are going to change something, don’t do anything different, and then get frustrated that nothing has changed! (New Years much?!?)

Once I came to terms in my MIND that I had to do something different than I had before, I started to take the steps necessary to lose the weight. For me that meant I had to do something active each day. During my pregnancy, although I was conscious of my diet, I quit working out about four months in – something I sorely regret. For me the change I needed to make was getting back into the habit of working out consistently.

In order to lose the weight you will have to make some changes. You will have to sacrifice. You will have to do something different to get a different result. I think this is where a lot of moms find themselves -- stuck in a mental battle where they want to see change, but haven’t made up in their mind that they're willing to do what it takes to see change occur.

#2 -- Be realistic.

It’s so important that you have realistic expectations about weight loss and what your body will look like.  Six weeks post partum you will not look like Kate Middleton or some other super rich/famous mom whose super tight body is plastered over the magazines in the grocery store. New moms do not have rock hard abs – nope, they have smushy tummies that resemble bread dough.  New moms don’t look like supermodels, and that is a good thing. The amount of time and special diets needed to look like that are truly only afforded by the celebrities. OK - I do know some non-celeb moms who are in incredible shape, but they’ll tell you about the level of dedication necessary to look like that, and if you’re like me, it won’t excite you.

Instead, focus more on how you want to feel and less on how you want to look.

You want to have the energy to keep up with your kids. You want to be able to run a certain distance. You want to get back into that activity or sport you used to play.

 When you start to work out and eat healthier, you will begin to feel better quicker than you’ll see physical results. When you start to feel better and have minor victories here and there, you’ll be more motivated to keep doing what you’re doing. And then the physical results come.

But if you begin with an unrealistic picture in your mind of what a busy mom’s physique should look like, you’ll likely get so discouraged when you don’t look that way, that you give up.

Stay realistic moms. Its ok to be a little smushy. Focus on being healthy and you’ll start to see results.

#3 – Let yourself off the hook.

You will have setbacks in your weight loss journey. I lost the first 12 pounds almost immediately after having Gemma, but the last 15 or so took longer than I expected it would. For me my setback was a health one. I had a c-section with Gemma (if you haven’t read my blog about the c-section club, you can read it here – it's a favourite of many of my readers) which meant absolutely no working out for the first six weeks and then a very slow integration into working out afterwards. You don’t go from having your abdomen sliced in two to doing high intensity interval training right away. I began with simply walking the track at the gym (Gemma was born in the dead of winter in Alberta...like -30 degrees Celsius). I walked and walked and walked, and smiled at my adorable little munchkin in the stroller all the way along. I ran into a nurse/acquaintance one day at the gym and she admired that I was six or seven weeks postpartum and walking the track. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I guess it was a big deal for a new, exhausted mom who has just recovered from major surgery to go so hard. I was determined.

Feeding Gemma (6 months old) in the hospital three days after surgery.

The c-section led to a whole host of other setbacks. For instance, I wanted to desperately breast feed, and despite all my efforts, it just wasn’t happening for Gemma and I (I’ll be sure to blog on that one day). Consequently I missed out on the weight loss benefits of nursing. And when Gemma was six months old I went in for another surgery to remove a cyst off my ovary that was found during the c-section. To make a long story short, what was meant to be a routine day surgery had me ambulanced back to the hospital that evening where I was readmitted for four days with peritonitis (inflammation of the peritoneum). The pain was beyond excruciating and although I was sent home four days later, I lived with chronic pain for a number of months afterwards. Breathing was painful for many weeks following the surgery which meant all exercise was a no-go. Gemma was probably 8  months old before I could really exercise the way I needed to get rid of those last pounds.

I hope your setbacks aren’t that dramatic. But I can guarantee you’ll have them. Just don’t give up in the face of them.

I know these points aren’t necessarily practical steps for losing the baby weight, but before you can implement any weight loss plan, you have to prepare your mind for the challenge. Be encouraged and know that you can truly do anything you set your mind to.

To losing the bagel weight,  
♥ Dion