Clean Eating Progress and recipe links

We've been eating 90%+ clean for around 2 months now. It's going great, and I no longer really equate food with comfort. So that's an awesome feeling. I've lost weight, not where I want to really be in my clothes, yet, but it's a definite start. My husband has lost weight too. Overall, I just feel really proud and happy with what is going into our bodies. Our bodies will find their own happy weight on their own, since we are giving them the right fuel. G has adjusted pretty well, and J eats lots of our table food, since it's all clean anyways! Sometimes when G was his age, I'd make special foods for her because what we were eating wasn't what I'd want to feed her so young...which is saying something. Even though I thought we were eating pretty well.

If it's not something you want to feed your infant, why do you want to feed it to yourself? Baring alcohol and the occasional treats...and honey.... you know what I'm getting at.

Sometimes things I make take up a lot of time, and I hate that, but it certainly makes me appreciate our food a lot more. My husband respects the effort I put into feeding us well. I haven't bought bread products since the end of July. Yah. Mind blown.

It's not any more costly, either. I'm spending right around the same amount as I was before. I was hoping it'd be less, but produce and meat still make up most of our budget. Processed goods just got replaced with baking ingredients or healthier snacks.

I definitely think being a lover of all things kitchen, and a small appliance dork, have helped me succeed so far. If you don't like to bake or cook, your eat clean journey might be a little tougher. Definitely do-able, though, but a love of baking and cooking will certainly increase your chance of survival.

When we do eat junk now, we can tell, and to be honest (never thought I'd type the following)...it's not as good as I thought it was, and I don't crave it like I used to. Sure, there are days when all I want is a little bit of ice cream/custard. Ok, I'm human. And I have it. But a lot of times, I'm like; "Man, it's weird...I want to be craving ice cream, but really, I'm not. So strange." I literally think that to myself. Now, dark chocolate chips and plain Greek yogurt, I could eat that all day. WHO AM I??
We recently went to a picnic at a local cider mill put on my husband's work. We ate the BBQ provided, because, it's free, and good; but definitely not clean. I ate the white bun, but it was seriously hindering the meat's flavor. I almost took the meat off, but the portions were small, and we had just run 6 miles, and I was honestly famished so I kind of needed any calories I could get, sadly. I ate about half a snack-bag size of plain potato chips. Yes, they were pretty good, but old-Kaylene would have eaten the whole thing. I had an apple cider doughnut (ok, 2?) and it was the awesome...overly sugary, but yeah, it was good. These few and far between treats get me through. Oh, and then there's G....  can totally tell when she's hopped up on sugar, since she doesn't really have it often. Half of the doughnut and she was doing circles.

Ok, back to the point. We are doing great with eating clean, but do so within our means and take advantage of little treats now and again.

Here are some of my favorite recipes;

Clean Wheat Tortillas
Clean Pizza Dough
Zucchini Brownies - I combo these two recipes A and B

Honey 100% Wheat Sandwich Bread

Clean Hamburger Buns

100% Whole Wheat Rolls

Clean Crackers. This was a super chore. I've made them once. I'd really just suggest forgoing crackers all together, or stocking up on Annie's Homegrown like me ;-)

Sweet Potato Lentil Stew

Stuffed Red Peppers

Eat Clean Potatoes with Lemon


I stock Daisy Cottage Cheese, Chobani Plain (some flavored cups for easy lunch-packing and G's snacks), deli cheese, low sodium no nitrate lunch meat, clean peanut butter (PS no stir style "natural PB" isn't clean), homemade jam, healthy cereal, eggs, Annie's Homegrown snacks, almonds, and of course fresh fruits and veggies.

We eat a lot of salads, a lot of Mexican style dishes because I bought a 5 lb bag of Masa (to make corn tortillas), meats and veggie meals...I make a lot of veggie muffins and quiche using personal recipes. I also make up a lot of my own meat recipes, including a secret clean chicken and dumpling recipe that I want to enter into a contest ;-)

For anyone out there questioning if they should "go clean" or not...the answer is DUH, Yes!! Just know it takes some planning, some sweat, and some serious motivation. Commit and don't look back, because you already know it's better for you. :-)

Cloth Bottom Baby plus Giveaway

Recently a co-worker from college reached out to me regarding her new cloth diaper clothing line. When our kids were young(er) we messaged specifically about our cloth diapering and other natural-parenting choices we share. I appreciate that she values my opinion :-)

She wanted to send me some of Cloth Bottom Baby's new clothes to try out with baby J. So glad G is potty trained and need not participate in this review.

a happy Cloth Bottom Baby selfie

Cloth Bottom Baby started because famous name brand clothes are no longer made with cloth diapered babies in mind. Sure, many years ago it was the norm for babies to be in cloth diapers, but nowadays it's still pretty rare except with us hipsters, frugalistas, or crunchies. Thus, clothing companies have changed their patterns and styles to fit over thin disposable diapers that are so popular. Which leaves us CD-parents with two options (okay three, if you count using cloth diapers as bottoms themselves, which isn't realistic in Kansas winters).

Family fun days

I've taken to labeling certain days "family fun days." Basically that is any day we don't have work & I want to focus on fun rather than chores. Saturday was one such day. We slept in until about 8:30, ate chocolate chip pumpkin pancakes, ran 11 miles, and then I went grocery shopping during nap time while my husband did a few things around the house to help me out.

After nap time we went to jcp for some family portraits and J's 9 month photos. Then onto a local custard place with an attempt at sustainable / mostly eat-clean practices. They also offer $1 local beer. Two of those to our order please. After we made it home, G got to play outside with daddy to burn off some sugar-high. After the kiddies went to bed my husband and I had eat-clean style nachos and watched some tv. A fantastic day. 

One of my favorite parts was on the way to the picture studio, the radio was playing Katy Perry's new song (roar or something?)... Apparently J loved it so he started clapping along, then G did, and it was such fun :)

I also love watching G's face light up when she eats ice cream with SPRINKLES. What is it with kids and sprinkles? They're a waste of a topping if you ask me, but they're pretty & that's what she likes so whatever :) 

Sunday we went to church, and behavior was B for J and A- for G. I heard nearly all the homily. Victory. It was a long winded missionary one too. Whew.

Then a quick lunch, zucchini brownie making (love.), nap time, and onto the moms group picnic. G got to romp around on the play ground with my husband and I socialized with some other moms.

The house is mostly clean, fridge and freezer are full, and we had a play date this morning (after my early morning run). There's a cold breeze blowing through my open window and I'm making stuffed bell peppers for dinner.

More days like I've been having lately, please and thank you Lord.

Nine Months Old baby J

Having a nine month old baby boy sure is fun! He's into everything, makes everyone happy, keeps me on my toes for sure.

 J is very curious. He wants to see what everyone is doing, and likes getting into the action himself. He's feeding himself, army crawling (maybe it'd be better described as crocodile crawling lol), pulling-up on almost everything (except his crib, which is weird, because that's the first place G pulled up, but his crib is taller), clapping and waving, and just being a generally awesome little man. He plays peek a boo by pulling covers up and down, he can find some hidden things when shown them first. He can put things in and take them out. He's trying to mimic some motions, so maybe signing a few things might be in his future. He likes anything with a screen, which is a sign of the times, eh.

He is super into G's fan, cords of any kind, bathrooms, doors and door stops, and shoes-especially flip flops. Sounds like a puppy to me, LOL - of course I stop him from getting those things and so that probably increases his interest in them.

He eats 3 meals a day plus nurses about 5 times a day. He sleeps from about 8:15 pm - 5:30 am, nurses, and sleeps again from 6ish until about 9 am.... give or take, usually. He takes a nap from around 1:30 pm until 4 pm. Yeah, he's a one nap baby already. And I thought G was an early 1-napper.... though I did kind of push J into one nap so that our life opened up in the morning a bit.

J eat peeled/cut grapes, bananas, peaches, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, shredded meat, bell peppers, squash/zucchini, puffs, yogurt bites, pumpkin, and cheerios. He's tried lots of other things, but that's what he eats fairly frequently. He loves food and feeding himself.

He kind of drinks expressed milk from a sippy, with a lot of help and a lot of it spills, but this is helpful for getting through mass. I can't nurse under a cover because he pulls it off, so nursing discretely through mass isn't an option.

He's taken several tumbles because he's really top heavy, so when he pulls up on something and then tries to creep along or transfer between objects, he falls. I can't be right next to him every second...so long story short he topples over and cries. :-( Oh well, part of being a kid, right?

Then there's G who has pulled him over on accident a few times. She has just tried to help him "walk" but it ends up being her pulling him down since he can't walk. We've had a few talks about just letting him be....

She's a super awesome big sister, seriously, I've never seen a better one. She loves on him, plays with him, helps get his food, and takes care of him as much as a 2.5 year old can. Not that I put that on her really, but she's got a maternal instinct.

J is doing really well as far as CDPX1 (chondradysplasia punctata) is concerned, at least in my non-medical opinion. He seems to hear well, but we'll have his hearing checked pretty soon. He may or may not hear exactly right though, only time and monitoring will tell there. He seems to see well too, but again, we'll keep an eye on it ;-) His breathing is fine. He snores sometimes and makes odd sounds, but mostly does great. Let's all pray he stays healthy and avoids serious illness this Fall. His bones are the main thing, and we won't have x-rays again until December when he's almost 1. His torso and head seem to make up most of his body, so I think his legs are shorter than normal, which is why I think he's so top heavy....but he's only 9 months old ;-) so we'll see what happens in the future.

I'll update his height and weight tomorrow after his appointment. He's got two teeth on bottom and 4 about ready to bust through on the top.

Love you baby boy!!

Quotes of the day and fall fun

"It's kinda like pizza!" Regarding the eggplant Parmesan she was eating

"It's park, mom" regarding how I said we were going the parkski.

Other fun things from today, th weather was beautiful so we went to a little park and had it all to ourselves. J was in the beco and I sat on the swing with him strapped on to me and we had a grand ol' time swinging like that...literally he giggled at the wind in his hair.

Days like today are what life is about.

We also went to the library :)

Eight month + J-man

A few days late--j is now 8 months old!!

I went back and read G's 8 month post, and they are only a little alike. I wrote how she was the happiest baby around...but man I feel like J just knocks that out of the water. Maybe I'm forgetting since G can be temperamental these days, though she's not too bad. 

J takes one nap a day, which is kind of crazy, because I thought G transitioned early (11 months), but I kind of forced it on J....because I want the kids to sleep at the same time. He also sleeps about 12 hours at night (eating 1 or 2 times, though he's slept through a total of two times). So his total sleep is around 14 hours. 

He has eaten just about any kind of baby food around, loves puffs (duh) and Cheerios, and has had real pieces of cooked carrots, peach, banana, sweet potato and halved peas. He also had cherries, blueberries, and lemons in the mesh feeder. Once he's done with these pouches we have, I don't really want to buy more--just move on up to finger feeding or learning off a fork. By 10 months G could eat off a fork, so we'll see.

He's had breast milk from a sippy cup because its hard to nurse him at church and the timing was such I figured he'd want to nurse this past Sunday (err,Saturday  night)...so I pumped and brought the cup. I had to hold it for him & go slow since its much faster, but he drank it and was captivated. He hasn't been keen on bottles ever since he got off them after the NICU when I pumped more. I hate pumping. So I doubt this sippy cup thing takes off.

He is lightening fast at army crawling. And loves exploring, investigating, finding any cord possible, opening cabinets G never even tried to open until she was two... Crazy! (Though I wrote she loved exploring too, J just takes it to a new level)

Oh, and the first place he ever pulled to standing? The fireplace. Fantastic. Haha. I've got my work cut out for me with this one. He's since pulled up in G's rocking chair, and his learning table that we put the legs on now! Pretty exciting stuff around here.

He adores G and is also a big mommas boy--but thoroughly enjoys when daddy comes home. He seemed to miss him while my husband was away on business last week. Duh, we all did.

J can now; smile, roll, sit, clap, wave, eat, pick up small-ish things and bring to mouth, work age appropriate (and some advanced) toys, play peekaboo (moving the blanket on his own!), recognize his name and "no!", swing, army crawl, pull-up, laugh, make babble noises, and investigate. Take that mutated X chromosome!!

Love me some baby boy!!

He's in 9-12 and some 12-18 month clothes, weighs around 19.5-20 pounds and is 27 inches long. (Home measurements). He has 2 teeth.

On mothering two, versus one...or, Lessons I've Learned

I've found myself sounding like a broken record, of late. I'm pretty sure if we are friends IRL (you know, in-real-life), you've heard either A. about my birth opinions/J's story (which we don't need to rehash on the blog) &/or B. how I feel about the differences between having 1 & 2 kids. 

So here we go.... Kaylene's great insight into motherhood...which is what this blog is about anyways...and it's so funny to look back on old posts--if you're new here, hopefully you read this one before all the old ones...because I'm a lot less neurotic now. Well, sometimes.

You can not teach a woman how to be a mom. Trust me, I have BTTT (been there tried that, for those less acronymly inclined). While pregnant with G, I wanted to know how to be a mom, so I talked to moms around me, I read articles about being a mom, I read books (I read two books. really!), and I read TONS-literally hundreds-of mom message boards/forums about a plethora of topics. It.did.not.matter.
Maybe you've heard, "there's nothing you can do to really prepare you for that first night with your baby." I would argue that's not really true. You can do a lot to prepare...but that's totally different from actually getting your hands dirty. You can't teach that. True motherhood is something you have to experience on your own--to really figure out how to be a mother--because it looks different for all of us. Maybe someone told me that, it certainly didn't register though. I really wanted someone to tell me how to be good at mothering. I thought if only someone would tell me what to do, I would do it, and do it well, and then I'd be on my merry way to find the next task at which to excel.
You see, that's how I am. I get a goal, or a responsibility, and I work super hard to knock their socks off. Who is this someone, this their, this they, this them?? "They" are made up in my head, perhaps your head too.

Being a mother is not a goal, or a responsibility. It's a life path that is simply about the journey. There is never an end...well, there is, but it's pretty finite and let's not think about that, mkay?
There is no 'next task,' so don't look at it as something to be good at and move on, look at it as a daily way of life...caring for your babies. What ever that looks like for you, rock it, but know that there's no one who will come give you a gold star or A+. Do what you do, and do it so that YOU can sleep at night. That is, if your babies will let you. It was never about having the best kid, I just wanted to do the 'right' things for her...but thankfully I've learned that to be the best mom, I have to stop trying to reach the finish line. If I would have started this motherhood thing like I did my marriage, I would have been a lot better off. I look at my marriage like a path to stroll down together, and that's what being a mother is like too. My kids and I, taking this awesome walk. Together.

Being a mom of one, I was a total ball of nerves. I don't know why. And I was totally oblivious to it. People around me knew it, because they even TOLD me I was....but I deflected, because I honestly didn't think I was. I really was just trying to find my way. And that's how we ALL are. There are the natural-mothering-types, to whom being a mother comes naturally, and I actually think I am one of those women, but I had to relax for that to really show. I have a super type-A personality, but children--especially close in age--force you to let go on somethings...or at least they do if you want to have a happy life. So having #2 only 22 months after #1 was exactly what God had planned for my life. My natural mothering instincts were getting overridden by my forceful personality, and having baby J was a much-needed reset.

With G I wanted to control everything...I mean, I did and I didn't. I knew that  I had to let her "be", but...you guys have read my blog (or most of you have anyways) or remember me with her, and I was pretty anal about things, especially her sleep. With J, I wouldn't say I'm completely non-anal, I just know how to manage his sleep schedule without letting it consume my life. And I know that I don't give birth to children who like to sleep...so I gave up trying to force it. I actually gave up trying to force a lot of things. I don't get nearly as flustered as I used to. This too shall pass. Keep that on repeat in your head (that is, if you are looking for advice).

When you only have one baby, there's a LOT of time to think about how you are screwing them up, how you can do it better, and how other people are doing it better (or worse). When you have two (or more), there's substantially less time to do that...so you are lucky because your life is fuller and more complete with real-life activities. This is not to say those with only one child have an incomplete life, I'm simply saying there's more time to obsess.

As you recall, this blog used to be a lot more active. I had my reviews to give me something to do and feel productive (or over-stretched!), I wrote about my opinions on mothering (many of which I still believe in, but don't obsess over), and I shared miniscule details of my adorable baby girl's life (that are fun to go back and read, but also aren't all that noteworthy). But then baby J happened. and I got busy living life. THE LIFE. The one I thought having kids would be all about. Ladies and Gents, we have arrived. Come visit our house and you will find a real family lives here. Not one trying to maintain some TV show pedestal, or some parenting book model.

When I only had one baby, I thought...man this is so hard...how could I do it with more? How do bigger families manage? I may only have two now, but I totally know....they let the little things slide. They roll with the tides.

I have learned that it is okay if J chews on a toy that isn't specifically a "chew toy" (I mean, as long as it's not digestible-like paper-, or covered in dirt or something, it's fine, right?). I've learned it's okay that he's army crawling on the kitchen floor, even if it's been more than a day since I last mopped it (oh the travesty!). I've learned that even though he's "supposed" to take two naps today, it's okay if I pushed him off a little bit so that he takes one (fingers crossed) longer, better-suited-to-my-schedule, nap while G naps too. It's okay if I reuse a bib from breakfast at lunch (so long as it's not gross, I mean, I do still have my above-average clean standards). I've learned that he can slobber on his clothes a little bit and not have to change it right away (type A is something I'll never be able to get away from). I've learned that he can cry, or whine, or fuss, way more than I ever let G...and I thought I let her do that a lot...haha--nope.

My favorite thing I've learned? I can take two crazy kids to the store, with hardly anything, and be totally fine. I do not need to pack for deathcon5. I can take them to the park, J in the Beco and still be able to lift G up into the swing. I can take them grocery shopping, while one attempts to jump to his death from the cart-seat, and the other zoom-zooms her way around with the kid-cart, oblivious to the can of beans she just knocked over (actually, I added that for dramatic effect, G has the keenest attention to detail ever). I am, in fact, super woman, and haven't you heard--I'm freaking awesome at this mothering thing. If you don't think so, there's the door...because you know what? I think you're freaking awesome at this mothering thing too.

Recently, rather, constantly, we hear about this "mommy war" shiz...or parental-judgement...or whatevs.
I think it's a crock, and apparently a lot of you do too, because a big parent magazine did a nationwide survey and found that while parents believe the mommy-war exists, they don't feel it in their day-to-day life. And I couldn't agree more. I really think that social media, the internet, and news articles perpetuate this balloon of judgement. There is, as I've always maintained, a parent-information-overload. I don't interact with women who judge me, and I don't judge them. Sure we do things differently, and maybe I don't agree with everything they do...but I don't sit there and tell them they shouldn't do it that way.... I don't have their kid, or their life, and how could I possibly presume to know what they should do? I think tons of moms feel this way, and that's why this whole mommy-judgement thing is a crock. Sure there are a lot of people out there judging other people, there always have been and there always will, but as with anything--get away from them. And take it from me.....life is not all about the type of mother you are...life is about the little people that made you mothers to begin with. Take a deep breath, remember this could all be gone in an instant, and live a little.

As I say to my husband...."We've gotta live OUR life, ya know?"

We have tons of fun. Learning happens through play, real-world activities like errand running or play dates, and being a stay at home mom really allows me to foster an environment of success for our kids. We are truly blessed and judgement has no place in our life. I'm so much more relaxed as a parent and person. I credit my husband for being the ying to my yang, and I credit my kids for reminding me just how awesome the tickle monster is. We love hanging out with other families or couples, because we hope to be a good example of balance as a Catholic Family.

Eating "Clean" and Running

This summer has flown by! We are now on week 10 of half marathon training, and it is going super well! Our longest run has been 8 miles, so far, and we do 10 miles, three Sundays from now! How exciting! I pray we stay fit and healthy. I'm very thankful for my body and what I can do with it. I feel strong, even if I don't look like it. Having a C-Section, let alone 2 babies in 22 months changes your body permanently. Especially when baby #2 stretched out your belly like you had twins--my abs are still split down the middle :-( I don't think they'll ever get back together. Gross. This brings me to our attempts to eat clean. I think that eating 'healthy' as our current culture defines it is not good enough. How is drinking a shake made from a manufactured powder good for you? How is eating a "bar" made with "grains and fruit" good for you if it also has a lot of other processed stuff? It's not. I know that eating clean is kind of a fad right now, but let us be honest....it's a good one. There can't be anything wrong with eating whole fruits and vegetables and non-processed foods. The thing is, I have to be realistic. We don't live on a farm. We don't have a full-fledged garden, and we are millionaires to afford to buy everything at Whole Foods or Farmers Markets. So, we are doing what works for us. And feeling great about it. I have the Fooducate app--and that's been pretty helpful. I'm trying to lose weight--not for vanity's sake or to achieve some number--but because I want to feel better. My mid section and flabby arms are ridiculous...hopefully eating cleaner will help us. We donated a few packaged food items and are slowly eating our way through the already opened ones--because there are starving people across the country and world, so it's a huge disservice to the environment to just throw food out. Here on out though.... no more boxed Velveeta Shells and Cheese (so bad but so good!), no more packaged granola bars, no more processed ice cream (cookie dough, anyone?), and no more buying bottled salad dressings. I've found recipes to replace common snacks, and will be getting familiar with non-bread-machine-yeast. I would say I hope this works out, but I know it will... It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle, and one that humans were born to thrive on. Poor G...she was just getting used to those awesome kid food like the blue box and hot dogs. I think there will be a learning curve here, though, so I'll keep you posted on how it goes. So far I've made some pretty delicious meals and our breakfasts have been full of veggies and fruit thanks to things like zucchini-carrot-banana muffins and carrot-blueberry-greek yogurt muffins (I threw in a banana too). I've been trying to get all the food groups into our meals, especially breakfast, the most important one of the day.

--and now for what you really care about, the kids. J is seven months old and killin' it at milestones. He's currently sick, though, and teething, soooo yah, real fun. G is almost 2.5 and rockin' the potty, coloring like a champ, and impressing us all with her vocabulary and comedic timing. They are super sweet together and life is good.

J's milestones too!

It's been a big milestone week around our house! In case you missed it, G is officially potty trained, knock on wood.

But in order to keep up with the excitement, J woke up last Monday (7/1) and decided he'd like to sit for a long time unassisted!! He first sat "alone" around Father's Day, but would topple over very quickly. He now can sit and play, sit and reach, sit and whine, sit and watch, sit and eat, you get the picture ;-) He's a sitting fool. GO him!!

Then he decided to start army crawling not even a full week later! Whew!! July 7 is when my baby boy started squirming his way toward things. It's so awesome to watch. It made me almost cry the first time I saw it, I hardly even cheered for him - I was in shock I guess! He's getting faster each day, and is starting to investigate. Yesterday it was under the pack and play, today it was under the end table and nearly to the lamp cord until I caught him!

The above video is one of his first army crawls caught on camera.


My life is moving so FAST!! Before you know it, I'll be driving around two potty trained, talking, self-dressing/feeding, friend-making, word writing, book reading, no-nap-taking BIG kids....sheesh!

LOVE THEM!!!! xoxo :-)

Officially (knock on wood) potty trained!

I've been contemplating when to consider G potty trained. A few weeks ago, I thought she was there but then she had a pee accident. My husband says these things happen, but I don't know how you could call a kid potty trained if they pee or poop their pants...not even trying to make it toward the bathroom. Well, I think what happened there is she just tried to hold it too long because she was outside. There have been countless times outside that she's said she needed to go & we went in & used the potty...but not that time. Bummer. Then she continued to have poop accidents at least a few times a week.

However, I feel like I can officially call her potty trained after this morning. I was cleaning the kids' bathroom tub while they played in my room right next door. I heard J start crying, so I went to investigate. He was alone! I found G in her room on her potty...she didn't even say anything to me about going as she had to go past the bathroom door. She went pee and poop all by herself! She's kind of done that before but not in this circumstance (playing in a separate room). She has also kept her bed dry without us getting her up to pee for a week straight & hasn't had any poop accidents. It's magical. Super happy mom over here. So for pee, I'd say it took her a month to figure it out, 2 to perfect it. Overnight and poop, 3 months.

I don't think that's too bad. I know I was pt by 17 months or whatever my mom says :) but G is a different kid & I'm so proud of her!


ETA; Her last two year molars are cutting through now, and I really wonder if that has something to do with potty training.... as in a sign of 'maturity?' People I know who have had "early potty trainers" also had kids who got all their teeth "early"... thoughts on that?