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So uh - the pics won't upload...GAH

HO HO HO

(and no, I'm not calling you names!)

WE'RE BAA-ACK! AAhhhh to be home again. Its fan-flippin-tastic. While spending almost 2 weeks with family is nice, i ain't gonna lie...it grates on you a bit. (sorry folks, but you know its true)

CliffNotes
CHRISTMAS - rocked.
no seriously, this was the beginning of FUN with kids. G actively enjoyed opening presents, and candy - oh lord does this child love candy. My sister is amazing and got G a BOX. Yup folks you know how everyone says 'the kid would be just as happy with a box to play in'...well Jude took it a step further and made lil G happier than any kid alive with just that. This box had tinsel, stickers, crayons & a peek-a-boo hole and a sidecar for her lil puppy. I was HUGE on the lets-not-be-wasteful on presents we don't have room for or need and I really couldn't have appreciated this anymore.


NEW YEARS - egh.
for the record ~ i've never been a big fan. I think any mom with kids under 5 will back me up when i say...a night of uninterrupted sleep is about as blissful as it can get. Trying to organize fun filled family activities for kids ranging in age from 1-16...is not. Soo umm...I napped and left Daddy with a list of ideas that he wonderfully executed. I did wake up around 11 (to be friendly) and play a few games & toast with grape juice. Then promptly went back to bed about 12:14. WHOO HOO.

KID TIME - solid GOOD.
We always have a few issues but thats to be expected when you only see your steps on a limited basis, but as they get older it gets SOO MUCH easier. G has permanent friends/babysitters ~ they can entertain themselves (for the most part) and as far as photography goes...what pre-teenage girl is going to turn down make up and a fancy camera?? Seriously - they woulda been happy with a 'shoot' every single day.


HOMEMADE PLEDGE - WHEEE
so this year I took the homemade pledge. I've been crafting for strangers for almost a year now and really enjoyed getting to know each and every one of them though the swap process. Then one day it struck me ~ why don't i spend the same amount of time, love & consideration on those that i really love and care about. It seemed ridiculous. My talents are rather limited and thus this year was deemed the 'Year of the Apron' ~ BUT i am proud of what I accomplished and feel that most people got it and were honored by the gift of thought. (no worries, there WILL be a post of it all so i can brag a lil bit more)

PETE-A-LEE!!!

I just finished (again) cleaning off the desk in G's room so i can have an official workspace. Its great being in here off the floor and having G play in her room and even color beside me. Used to being in the same room as Peter I often inclined to just randomly start talking to him as he's in the room. Clearly I don't get a response. Sooo i shout out "PETER" and there's a lil echo "PETE-A-LEE, COME HERE!"

Makes me giggle ever time.

Thankful

So of course we were away for awhile spending Thanksgiving with my fam & the kids. Each year just gets better and better. This year was no exception. New family, G's antics and a fantastic birthday celebration just to name a few. I'm slugging though the pictures (over 100 taken in raw format - AHH) and have TONS i can't wait to post, but this one struck me.

As a stepmom myself, friends with a newly single mom and fiance stepmom and have to say that above all ~ I am truely thankfull for THIS.


pictured would be from left to right (stepmom, dad, stepdaughter, half sister, half brother, stepdad, mom & uncle who pointed out just how lucky I am)

another lactivist...

So Peter and I have often thought that there was a difference among G and her daycare peers. Specifically i'm talking about head size.

When G was born her head was pretty normal size. In her following pediatrician appts it was clear that she was not following the normal head curve progression. There were a few days i was concerned ~ but after a few more appointments we were assured that her noggin was indeed growing, just on its own curve. Although we never stopped noticing just how LARGE some kids heads were growing. I had come to think it was the norm for babies to have ginormous noggins, but had to admit, i thought G's proportional body was far cuter. But i'm her mom ~ thats my job.

Yesterday I was talking with a fellow BF'ing mom who was complaining about how her pedi is giving her crap as well and mentioned her lil girls head size too. I told her our lil observation and was met with a loud "YESSSSSS ~ I TOTALLY AGREE".

Now while i have no idea if this is just the I-Hate-Formula-Companies in me talking or if there is real information to support my theory ~ i did come across this article. In China 2004 ~ some no-nutritional content formula got out and...

Up to 200 babies who were fed the formula developed what doctors called “big head disease,” causing the infants’ heads to grow abnormally large while their bodies wasted away. Some babies died within three days of being fed the formula, while others were hospitalized after parents discovered their children were sick.

Sooooo who's to say some ingredient in 'nutritional' formula isn't the same as what was in this not-so-nutritional one. I think i'm onto something.

Just please don't tell Similac where i live. I don't trust em. :)

November Craftin

November's Swap theme was 'Fall'. I had quite a time thinking about what i wanted to make. Though i'm a 'sewer' so is the mom i was tasked with so i thought it might be neat to step outside my comfort zone. She had created something so unique for me (remember the bag of knitted bags) that i wanted to do the same.

I searched and searched and practiced and practiced. Till i came up with THIS.

and hee hee - i even made one for myself :)

Then ~ on to the good stuff. We got such cool stuff. I got some slippers (whee) and earings that are SO LIGHT and adorable (can you tell i've worn em a few times). G got a ball cover that ROCKS. I love the idea of having a lightweight ball that we can just bounce bounce bounce everywhere. I definatly see this as a future gift if i think i'm up to the task. Then of course ~ her precious scarf...in the post below. Just a lil bummed its mini size ~ mama wants one too!

I think i might bow out for the December swap though. I'm trying to make this year's presents 80% homemade. I told someone this and she said "why bother ~ i just like to get something and be done with it" Exactly i thought...thats exactly what I don't want to do. I've spent a lot of time over the past year creating neat gifts for girls and children i hardly know and its been an amazing experience. Sure it takes a lot more effort ~ and sometimes doesn't cost any less than going to a store...and even if they don't like/need it ~ at least they know it came from my heart vs something I 'had to do'.

Closer to TWO

As of 6:06 this morning my BABY is closer to 2 years old now than she is one. Like one wasn't hard enough to swallow. but TWO.

Although the signs are there. She's a whole little kid now. I can't get over her joking. Sometimes i find myself confused because i think she can't acutally be making a funny ~ can she??

Last night for example i was getting a lil more than irratated with her lack of interest in going to bed. Of course it was our fault as we let her nap too long / too late, but whatever ~ i wanted to veg a lil before i went to sleep too. But SOMEONE wouldn't let me. Around 11 I raised my voice and said GIULIANE ~ HEAD DOWN. To which she scrunched up her lips, brought out that little pointy finger to her mouth and shhh'ed me. Yea - she shh'ed me. "Ohh your a little stinker" i said and rolled over to my side so i could silently giggle.

And just so you don't think she's only bugger to mum ~ a few weeks ago Peter had gotten on G's nerves. For what no one really remembers, but one thing is clear. When Peter repeatedly asked for kisses she said NO NO NO NONO, but when he'd grab her and kiss her and blow raspberries on her belly ~ even through the giggles she kept her lil lips tucked in her mouth so Daddy could not kiss her. Mommy fine ~ no problems. Daddy ~ lips zipped.

Even though she's a lil 'stinker' it just makes me more and more excited for the upcoming holidays.

TA DAAAAAAAAAA

www.jlaphotos.com

now i just need business cards and ummm more clients.

pimp me internet nation. pimp away!!!!

I love my beautiful ordinary life

So i was teasing myself this morning.

What happened to the cool me?!?! Oh yea, she's been replaced with a suburban mom. Damn I'm all but one step away from a mini-van and bad jeans.

As I was listening to napsters "top 10 easy listening" downloads (8 out of 10 of which are Michael Buble) I came to this realization. G's playing at my toes and I'm trying to work. It's all pretty NORMAL.

Then comes Wayne Bradey. YES - he has an album and its pretty great acutally. So with the new season and my new old&wise mentality we'll be updating the Alcantarians header and a new song is below.

but don't go crazy we're still anti meds / vax / cook from scratch / make cleaners / drink goats milk / have many homeopathic remedies / love our wood toys / waldorf dolls / etc etc

Flintstones -- Meet the Flintsones

I just realized that I never did post the whole family pictures from Halloween. We had SUCH a fun night trick or treating with our friends. I thought it was ridiculous to go t-n-t w/a 1year old, but when you have 2 glasses of wine and a 10year old ninja ~ anything seems to be ok. Then as if that weren't great enough...we got to party as ADULTS!!!!

Holy Guacamole

I'm 30!!!!!

What an amazing amazing birthday. I have the best life. That's really all there is to it. There was absolutely NOTHING that I truely wanted for my birthday. And I think that just might be the best gift of all!

Giving Thanks

So the past few days i've been obsessed with finishing our Halloween costumes. Straight Up Obsessed! Its been fun this year because i'm making all of them. And must say -- i'm pretty darn proud.

I've done a lot of sewing the past year (a la mom-ness I presume) and have gotten soo much better. And while i'm totally self taught and couldn't follow a real pattern to save my soul... I must give credit where credit is due.

My Grandma ALWAYS made sure we had a 'yarning' project at her house. Something to do while she watched her 'stories'. Silly stuff of course, but always something w/our hands and always something that made me feel grown up.

Then we alllllways had homemade costumes growing up. Granted my sister and I were a clown about 10 years in a row between the two of us, but my Mom made us costumes. And she rocked at it. As a mom now - nothing makes me more excited than seeing G in something i took the time to make her. When people say to me 'Why bother???"..."its SOO much work", etc, etc...I simply respond. My mom loved me enough to do it. So can I.

So I guess that's what all this silliness boils down to.

Love.

On this historic day

G went POO POO IN THE POTTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The menu

So long gone are the days of
1/2 plate veggies ~ 1/4 protein : 1/4 starch

For those of you interested this is what a day SHOULD look like. Since our day starts and ends later than most 'normal workin' folks we've swapped out a snack b4 dinner for one after. But its all about blood sugar and intervals, so really no biggie.

Breakfast:9am
Dairy (1)
Fruit (1)
Protein (2)
Starch (2)

Snack:12pm
Veggie (1)
Protein (1)

Lunch:3pm
fat (2)
protein (4)
starch (2)
veggie (4)

Dinner:6pm
fat (1)
protein (4)
starch (1)
veggie (4)

Snack:9pm
Veggie (1)
Protein (1)

The (1)'s (2)'s, etc are exchanges -- not servings:
one protein exchange is approx 5g of protein
(1oz lean meat, 1/2c beans, 3/4c cottage cheese)
one starch exchange is approx 15g of carbs
(1 slice of bread, 1/2c starchy veg (corn-squash-peas), 1/3c beans
one veggie exchange is 1/2c cooked or 1c raw veggies or 1/2c veg juice
(check out how much PER DAY!)
one dairy exchange is 1c lowfat milk // 3/4c plain yogurt

Thats a whole lotta veggies cooked or not. Pesto's & shakes have been some suggestions not yet tried, but I'd love to know what some others do.

mmmm Goatmilk!

So awhile back when I was a kellymom.com junkie I remember reading that cows milk is really a marketing scam and that if you eat a balanced diet there is really no need for it. NO NEED. In fact ~ "in large quantities milk can cause iron-deficiency anemia and put kids at risk for a poor diet."

That's a pretty bold statement for those of us growing up hearing '3 glasses a day', and 'did you drink your milk'??? ALL THE TIME.

But of course G luuuuvs her milk. But something just didn't sit right with me. We've discussed raw, but its so hard to get and goats milks always been an idea since its the closest animal milk to human, but... but...

Well this afternoon Peter gave me a shot of whole cow's milk and I almost threw up. Literally gagged and wanted to get rid of that taste as fast as humanly possible. Firmly believing that i can not ask my child to eat something i would not (i.e. no babyfood) I KNEW there had to be a better option.

Since I'm running low on probiotics, I knew a trip to Whole Foods was in order ~ so i figured why not just TRY goats milk. I'll admit the thought kinda made me shiver, but NOTHING could be worse than the buttery-grossness of the whole milk.

Long story short(er). IT was AMAZING! Tasted clean / whole and like MILK. Not like butter fat and grossness, but like a perfect cross between boob juice and milk as I think of it. (and yes-all BFing moms have at some point!)

So that's it - i imagine its all goats milk for the house from here on out.

Craziness.

I LOVE FALL

I love everything about fall. The temperature, the sound of the leaves, the sweaters, the rosy cheeks, the layers and layers, the smell.

But best of all - seeing someone else love it as much as me.

Where's Shea?!?

So Giuliane has a buddy in daycare, Shea ~ who's great with cute lil parlour tricks. Whenever anyone says "Where's Shea" both Shea & Giuliane grab their heads and shout with glee.

"Where's Giuliane" however results in a chorus of crickets.

Perhaps mom needs to up the ante?

Busy busy busy

Its been a crazy crazy month ~ what with the end of the fiscal year for work, a looong weekend wedding down in Miami & just the general craziness of being a wife, mom, chef, payclerk, motivator, cleaning lady, laundress, etc, etc...This month has totally gotten away from me.

BUT I've got plenty of pictures and silly stories in my head to share.

Giuliane is ususally SOO GOOOOD when we go out to eat, but wouldn't it be just the case that she totally was a nut when Gramma & Grandpa Vic came to visit. Not BAD ~ but ummm a lil energenic for the booth at Sweetwater. I'm sure everyone agreed with G when Peter pronouced it was time to go and she said "YEAAAAAAAA"

And since Grandma & Grandpa were in town she was promptly rewarded with gifts when we got home :)

I CAN'T BELIEVE I HAVE A BABY WHO'S WEARING MY SWEATER!!!

A baby book milestone (sorta)

So last night i waas changing G's diaper. Halfway through she said "buff pate". Hmm
"butt paste giuliane, do you want mommy to get butt paste?"

At this point she hops up and goes to get the tube, comes over, hands it to me. "buff pate" and smiles.

So yea ummm. my daughters like 6th word is "Butt Paste".

(and man when it rains it pours! Just like the signing, when she decided it was time to talk ~ its time to TALK!)