Psychic Medium - Part 2

After hubs had his reading  we booked one for my mom, who really needed it.

Remember that  2010 volcano eruption in Greenland that put so much smoke &debris in the air it suspended flights to Europe?

well, that's when my Grandma died....my mom couldn't fly to Poland to be there for her last few days of life or for her funeral. She never got to say goodbye and she carries such guilt over that.

 she hoped to get some sort of closure through this reading, and she did just that.

I have the conversation recorded, 

So as I play it back I will mention some of the good parts.

Thomas: who is Christopher?

Mom: my son

Thomas: did he work a lot last month?

because your Mother wants him to know she was watching over him and is proud of him for helping so many people

My brother is a cop, even on his days off he was out helping people after hurricane Sandy.

Again, Thomas.... doesn't know anything about our family

Thomas: Someone in the family is pregnant, but they don't know it yet. Shes not going further into it but it will be known soon enough

I took a pregnancy test after this HA! phew negative. Very curious though, I have lots of girl cousins in Poland so maybe one of them. We shall see.

Thomas: your mother is at peace, she found who she needed to find on the other side. She's  there with another woman

We are assuming the other woman is my Aunt who passed away from cancer in 2006

Thomas: your mother is saying that she wished she had one last goodbye but shes acknowledging that it wasn't your fault you didn't she wants you to know that

Mom: :::crying:::

Thomas: she says you are always looking for some sort of sign to know shes there

Mom: that's exactly what I do!

Thomas: know shes with you all the time in spirit

Mom: what does she see for me, for my future?

Thomas: shes telling me that you will be moving. Not soon but definitely sees a move...maybe 3-5 years.

My dad retires in 3 years exactly and they plan to move to Arizona

Once upon a duckie

Yesterday evening while Sienna was getting a bath in her duckie tub

she said her 1st English word....

"DUCKIE"

up until now, 

all words that she had said were in Polish :)

her little voice just melts my heart!!

Grilled Veggie Sandwich

 

This is one of my favorite sandwiches ever! I thought Id share the recipe.

Even though its vegetarian, trust me - you wont miss the meat and if you do...I'm sure it would be yummy with a chicken breast as well.

1/4 cup of mayo

3 cloves garilic, minced

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/8 cup olive oil

1 cup sliced red bell peppers

1 small zucchini, sliced

1 red onion, sliced

1 small yellow squash, sliced

focaccia bread split horizontally

1/2 cup of crumbled feta cheese

Directions

1. In a bowl, mix the mayonnaise, minced garlic, and lemon juice. Set aside in the refrigerator.
2. Preheat the grill for high heat.
3. Brush vegetables with olive oil on each side. Brush grate with oil. Place bell peppers and zucchini closest to the middle of the grill, and set onion and squash pieces around them. Cook for about 3 minutes, turn, and cook for another 3 minutes. The peppers may take a bit longer. Remove from grill, and set aside.
4. Spread some of the mayonnaise mixture on the cut sides of the bread, and sprinkle each one with feta cheese. Place on the grill cheese side up, and cover with lid for 2 to 3 minutes. This will warm the bread, and slightly melt the cheese. Watch carefully so the bottoms don't burn. Remove from grill, and layer with the vegetables. Enjoy as open faced grilled sandwiches.

*Since its cold out now and we didn't feel like going outside to grill, I baked the veggies till they were soft & it was just as good!

To-Do Lists

I hate them

I hate making them

I hate sticking to them

BUT I love crossing things off of them

So tell me if I'm crazy for doing this...

stare at it

work on it

cross a few things off

THEN ADD THINGS THAT WEREN'T ORIGINALLY ON THE LIST JUST SO I CAN CROSS THEM OFF

haha

it gives me a weird sense of satisfaction

anyone else as crazy as me??

♥

what my 9 month old eats

This month little Sienna entered the "picky eating" and "I refuse to eat anything" moods

lovely.

This pickyness has been pretty bad lately. We have been strict with what she eats from day one...no juice, no junk, avoiding gluten and buying all organic produce. I have been making her purees but shes starting to only want things she can feed herself.

Breakfast: for breakfast she has yogurt mixed with mashed banana or a fruit puree. Sometimes Kefir in a sippy cup. This stuff she loves and isnt usually picky about. On weekends when I have Dans help, I make her gluten free pancakes that she loves. I cut them into small pieces and she feeds herself. They're made with coconut flour, ground flaxseed, cocnut oil, egg, vanilla.

Lunch: This is where I try to sneak in veggies. I started to adding cinnamon to certain purees to make it more tasty for her...recent favorite is sweet potato & cinnamon  or Apple, carrot, cinnamon. I swore I would never do this, but sometimes I have to trick her with a snack...she opens wide thinking shes getting a yogurt melt but instead I sneak in a spoonful of veggie...it makes for a priceless facial expression too since its not what shes expecting.

Since shes big on feeding herself, I like to steam up some big pieces of broccoli or string beans or asparagus and let her hold it and bite pieces off

 

Dinner: usually a meat, if she cant have what we're eating for dinner we cook her chicken in coconut oil, sometimes some sourdough bread with butter or pieces of cheese and when all fails, she gets more yogurt for dinner because that she wont refuse.

to make life easier, I portion her chicken when I buy it then freeze it. When I need one serving for her...I just take one ziplock out and its enough for a dinner and lunch the next day for her, that way I always have it on hand and don't have to defrost a whole lot but just enough

There is a farmers market 5 mins from us every Saturday and where we get fresh baked sourdough bread (practically gluten free)...her second favorite thing to eat. Who doesn't love carbs?

3rd favorite thing to eat...soups & stews which I make often anyway because I'm a huge fan myself

here is a Sienna serving of homemade Chicken soup

snacks:  she loves these, they save us during cranky times in restaurants and I don't feel guilty giving them to her because they're 100% fruit

what she drinks: she still drinks pumped breast-milk throughout the day of course with drops of DHA & vitamin D added. In her sippy cup she gets coconut water & kefir

& a typical face when trying something new - isnt she a riot? 

any mamas have any healthy suggestions? 

 Id love some! :)

Sienna's 1st Christmas

We had a wonderful 1st Christmas as a family of THREE

well four, if you count the the little gremlin who is trying to bite me for sticking a Santa hat on him- it made for a cute candid shot atleast :)

Christmas Eve was by far our busiest day, filled with lots of  food and little traditions that make the busyness all worth it. 

So many of my Christmas memories are centered around my mom, that sometimes the holidays feel empty without her. But these traditions, the pieces of our lives I'll always have with me to carry on for years to come in my new family and hopefully Sienna will do the same.

Christmas day we got up early, certainly not our choice but we dont have control of how long we get to sleep anymore...someone else is in charge of that, its a good thing shes cute.

I woke up craving pancakes, not just any pancakes...but thick fluffy ones! yum. So hubby whipped some up while I got Sienna dressed cute to open gifts.

 

We decided to keep her gifts simple and to a minimum and we will continue to do so every Christmas.

why?

 1. I know she would be way more interested in the wrapping paper this year 

2. I don't want her growing up thinking Christmas revolves solely around gifts and setting expectations.

I want my daughter to growing up believing in love, empathy, kindness, the simple things that make the holidays...not a toy store worth of gifts that she doesnt really need and wont appreciate because of their sheer abundance.

It makes me really sad that so many kids have nothing, they will receive nothing and yet other children receive everything and appreciate nothing...I see it happen all the time.

When I was little & lived in Poland, my parents did not shower us with gifts... Santa came and brought a gift or two per child...just getting markers & a coloring book made me truly happy, and I learned to appreciate what I had and I think those lessons are ever lasting.

My best memories of Christmas as a child were not gifts...but going sledding with my siblings, my dad going out in the forest and bringing us a tree, caroling.

I know I am able to give my children everything I never had, and everything I always wished for...I could, but I wont. I think the lessons I can teach them will be way more meaningful than getting every toy they ever wanted.

So no, I was not one of those parents who spent hundreds of dollars on her toys. She got 2 toys and they're plenty enough....she gets showered with love, not gifts :)

 

 

first Christmas pierogi! - so glad she loves mamas cooking!

Christmas Eve Hike :)

The weather has been so amazing here lately (upper 60s, low 70s), big part of why we moved to Arizona. We decided to take advantage and go on little nature hike. 

Sienna loved it... she was obsessed with picking up sticks and touching bark on the trees, we let her crawl and get dirty....shes a natural little explorer ;)

Now I have to get to cooking, lots of pierogis to make!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! I'm really excited that its Sienna's very 1st!