April showers bring May flowers…oh wait, we already saw all the flowers bloom in April and we’ve had tons of rain already in May. More crazy Michigan weather with lots of wind, followed by a couple of hot days, then back to rain and cold. Hopefully normal spring will arrive soon.

Another busy week here. The biggest event of the week…my baby turns one!! I can’t believe it’s been a year since Abram was born. We’ll be celebrating as a family on Wednesday. After this week things should slow down a little. Today is church. Monday is my check up with my surgeon. Tuesday is Kindermusik (last class this semester!) and voting. Wednesday is groceries and celebrating Abram’s birthday. Thursday I have yoga. Friday is MOPS (last meeting this year!). Saturday is soccer. There is also a Lego event at the library that Rebecca and Justin might attend. We could also go to Tulip Time. There is also a chance my parents will come out on Friday to celebrate Abram’s birthday. Lots of potentials at the moment.

Plenty to keep me busy in the kitchen this week. I baked Abram’s cake last week. This week I have to decorate it. I also have to make some kind of bread or muffin for our MOPS meeting on Friday. I might try experimenting with some homemade toddler snacks. I also need to make yogurt, kefir, mayo, sour cream, ice cream and grind flour. Aside from food I want to make some thank yous for the MOPS volunteers in Rebecca’s class. I would also like to continue some thorough house cleaning. I got a little done yesterday. But there is plenty more to go.

Last week started out quite rough. But with some diet changes things improved quite a bit by the end of the week. I think I may have finally figured out part of the root issue as I mentioned in my goals – inflammation. At this point it seems as though some of the major contributors are grains, nuts, fiber and PUFAs. So those are very limited in my diet right now. I have to focus on what is calming and easily digested. I found more great info regarding this. And it reminded me of just how great broth/stock/gelatin is for healing and nourishing. So I’m trying to add that back to my diet regularly again. I may have to make a new batch of stock soon. I don’t have a ton in the freezer. One other interesting thing I read was about how digestion actually works…that you need some sugar to help with digestion. An easy to remember phrase is “root plus fruit.” Eat fruit with starchy food to help digest them. And focus on root vegetables instead of fibrous vegetables. I also have to focus on easily digested sources of protein – broth, eggs and dairy. I’ve been eating a lot more sour cream and yogurt again, mixed with some fruit. It seems to be working well so far. Hopefully I can get things calmed again and when I think I’m ready start adding foods back in very gradually. I don’t know what my diet will be like long term. I’m just taking things one day at a time and doing what works at the moment. I’m trying to enjoy the good days when they come. As a side note, since I’ve cut way back on the inflammatory foods I feel like I deflated 😛  The puffy/bloated feeilng is gone. And…my weight is down 1 1/2 lbs. since last week! Crazy.

I am also reading more and more about the importance of sleep. I’m hoping to do a sleep challenge for myself in the next week or two…plan my week so that I don’t have much “extra” stuff to do and focus on getting to bed early and sleeping later (as much as my children will allow :P). My OCD makes this difficult, but I’m trying to push myself a little. I figure if what I’m doing isn’t working it can’t hurt to try something new, right?

Finally I had my first two yoga classes last week. I think I’m hooked 🙂  I LOVED it. I hope to make this a regular part of my life. I don’t know how often I’ll be able to take classes. But I hope at least once in a while. I need to get some good videos as well so I can do it at home. The classes were so relaxing and yet challenging. It was so nice to have an hour of quiet and time to myself. What a treat. I’m thankful that Justin is willing to watch the kids while I go. I think it is very good for me mentally.

On to the menu. I’m trying to plan with a new challenge now…making plenty of food that Abram can eat. So far he seems to be a cheese and chicken lover. Meals at the end of the week might change depending on whether or not my parents come and what we end up doing on Saturday.
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S (prep lunch, make yogurt, church, make mayo, grind flour, prep smoothies, boil eggs, strain kefir)
  B – leftover pb honey stuffed french toast
  L – cp meatloaf, potatoes and carrots
  D – avocado cheddar omelet, peas, fruit

M (prep dinner, clean, make snacks, Dr. L.)
  B – sd english muffin, fruit
  D – (prep ahead) – squash soup, bread

T (crumb coat/frost cake, skim cream, make sour cream KM, vote)
  B – chewy granola bar, smoothie
  D – pan seared salmon, cheesy potatoes, beans

W (decorate cake, Meijer, Abram’s birthday, make ice cream,  make kefir)
  B – breakfast cookie, smoothie
  D – (prep ahead) – chicken, squash (all food that Abram loves :), asparagus, pears
  des – birthday cake and homemade ice cream

Th (prep dinner, feed sd, bake for MOPS, roast beets, make thank yous, make ice cream, yoga, strain kefir)
  B – yogurt, granola, grapefruit
  D – (separate/snack for me) – chili, cornbread

F (make yogurt, bake scones and muffins, MOPS – bring sd/kefir grains)
  B – tbd
  D – scrambled eggs, cornbread w/ syrup, broccoli

S (clean, soccer, Lego event?, Tulip Time?)
  B – cornbread w/ syrup, fruit
  D – grilled steak, roasted veggies