nourishment

nourishing my spirit: I had a really lovely day. Juliet surprised me once again by doing incredibly well in the nursery so I could enjoy my mom's group (MOPS) all morning. I felt like I could really nourish my spirit and connect with the other women I sit with, instead of the usual stress of rushing in and out of the room to try and console Juliet, while also juggling Audrey. I just had a really great morning of feeling refreshed, and inspired, and perhaps nourishing some new friendships. (lesson: As it usually turns out, the girl that I thought was a stuck up, judge-y type turns out to be really kind and probably was just shy.)

nourishing my body: I felt very inspired by the comments left on my last post, so thanks! I have made an effort since last night to prepare easy but nutritious meals. I am realizing that the reason I feel especially overwhelmed by this journey is that I am not just preparing one meal per day (dinner).

I am preparing breakfast for Juliet + Me, then lunch for Juliet + Gary + Me, then dinner for Juliet + Gary + Me.  (Oh, and feeding Audrey about 8-10 times per day as well!) It's just a lot of food to figure out. And a lot of dishes to wash, and so on. (I know that most women with families do this, but it's just a learning curve for me! My goal is to start sitting down on Sunday and plan out a menu for the week.) But I was blessed that our Moms group activity this morning (we have discussion + speaker + craft) involved creating a meal. I am going to just be blunt and say that the craft time at MOPS is usually incredibly cheesy. If I were in charge, I'd eliminate the craft portion all together. Who needs a votive candle decorated with rhinestones? I know I don't. But this morning, we created "Chili In a Jar" which was intended to become a fall gift for your kid's teacher or something. But since I didn't have a meal planned for tonight, I used it myself! So today looked like this:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and spinach, Juliet (she eats eggs every morning.); Latte and oatmeal, Me
Lunch: Goat Cheese Ravioli from Trader Joes with leftover stir fry chicken and veggies for Juliet; Subway sandwiches for G + Me
Dinner: Chili with Lean Ground Turkey

Before

After

It's 9:30 and my girls are both asleep. Gary is playing basketball with some friends tonight so the house is quiet, and I feel a rare moment of peace and calm. I'm off to bed.

nourishing the mind: After an 8-week post-partum hiatus, I'm back to reading real books instead of just trashy magazines. I just started reading Water for Elephants and loving it already. Anyone have a book to suggest for me once I finish?