Revelations from Living

We've had a very interesting last week.

1. We took a family vacation to Harrisburg.  Okay, its not Disney, but it was a lovely time.  We went to celebrate the 1st birthday of my cousin's daughter, Lily, and decided to stay for a mini vacation.

The kids think that hotels are just about the coolest things ever.  We went swimming, ate Vietnamese food and then hit the State Museum and the Capitol building.

P and J on the big pig

Q, our little Cabbage Patch Doll

During the tour of the Capitol, Logan asked, "why is there so much gold in this room?"  What a great question!  It was hard for him to understand that the reason was simply that we had tons of money, so that's how they decided to spend it.

My boy, L, humoring his father by riding on a snail

It really was a great couple of days.

2. Since focusing on our nutrition, I've noticed a couple of things:
    a. The baby is constipated.  Well, I think that all the kids are.
    b. The W's are gassier than normal.  Stinky!  This is despite our bean sprouting because, let's face it, you can't sprout every bean you eat.  Sometimes, you just don't plan appropriately.
    c. When meat is near my children, they become a pack of hungry wolves.  J never really was a meat-lover, but you wouldn't know that lately.
    d. It is too difficult to eat out being a vegan, especially when the only "non-meat" option is tofu.  Hello, endocrine system.  Want some mutations?  That can't be the only option.
   
    This got me interested in reading more about veganism, which is essentially was a plant-strong diet is.  I read about an 11 month old breastfed baby that died because of a lack of nutrients...her mother was vegan.  I read about how to ensure that vegans get the proper nutrition.  At the State Museum, I read about the diets of man, from the earliest man until now.  I read a lot!  And, I could read more, if I wanted.  Then, a friend sent me a more in-depth review of the Forks Over Knives movie, with several rebuttal points.  Intriguing.

What I've realized is that I am happy to cut the meat in our diets.  It makes financial sense.  It makes sense our strain on the environment.  It makes sense to be kinder to animals.  BUT, meat is not evil.  The way we treat our foods is evil, i.e. hormones, pesticides, added sugar, overly processing, tons of added fats.

I am still going to continue this focus on nutrition.  I will continue to ensure that we eat as few processed food items as possible.  I will continue to sprout our legumes.  I will continue to offer days with no animal products. I will, however, make meals with meats (fish is key) and eggs.  The portions aren't going to be crazy large, though, like they are in many homes.  A deck of cards each.  That's it!  I'm thinking, pesca-tarian with occasional other meats.  My hubby will be thrilled, if he ever reads this.

3. C is a KLUTZ.  That's right!  Several days ago, J was jumping over her (a game) and then fell on her arm.  Fast forward 2 days later and while trying to get a doll from the floor, she fell off of my bed and re-injured her arm.  She has a huge black bruise from her wrist, about 3 inches up her arm.  She continues to hit it and cry.  She falls all the time and bumps into people all the time.  She's a wreck, but we love her.

My stylin' girl, C.  She is so much fun!

4. Never use your children in a lie. Okay, this one is obvious, or so you'd think.  On Valentine's Day, I went to lunch at Wegman's and I really wanted to put C in the babysitting room.  She'll be 3 in less than a month and she's been potty trained for nearly a year.  So, I put her in the room and filled out the card with a fictitious birthday (come on, you know you've done the same, so don't judge me!).  J was all, "mom, C is 3 now?!"  I said, "C can go in the babysitting room with you."  On and on go C and J about how C is 3.  That afternoon, they told L that C can go in the babysitting room at Wegman's, to which he corrected them.  Three days, I had to listen to C talk about how she is 3.  Eeek!  Seriously, this girl can talk for an hour, non-stop.  I told the girls that I made a mistake.  Now, C keeps talking to me about her birthday. Better get on that!