Catching up!

Well, I’m sad to say during my NYC trip, I didn’t even make it to one.single.vegan restaurant. I was an epic fail. But I did have fun and indulge in many other foods! I’m glad that is out of my system.

I have been feeling a little restless lately. I actually feel like I just woke up out of a 2 month coma. Because I kind of did. You see, 2 months ago, I found out I was expecting our 3rd child, and the reason I found out was because I was SO SICK! I’ve never been this sick with my other pregnancies, so I’m thinking it must be a girl!

But what I mean about the coma, is that my poor boys have been watching cartoons and eating junk food for two months because I’ve been so sick and tired. To top it off, we moved into a house that is temporary (moved before I found out about the new baby), and the kitchen here is not my favorite kitchen to cook in. We have had pest issues, and when I was so sick, washing stinky dishes was the last thing I wanted to do, but to avoid bugs, I had to keep them clean- so I tried not to make dirty dishes. Thus, my kids ate a lot of crap, and when I felt like eating, if something sounded good, that’s what I had to have. So it was mostly fast food or eating out that I wanted. Probably because I didn’t have to smell anything while cooking!

But, alas, I have reached 12 weeks, and I feel alive again. And I’ve had a couple of wake up calls in regards to my children’s health that I wanted to write down…

My oldest son, is almost 4. He is a generally very happy, silly boy. He likes to drink almost as big a green smoothie in the morning as I do. His baby finger food was black beans and avocados.  He mainly started liking the junk food like goldfish and candy because I got lazy. Otherwise, he usually eats whatever I make, even if it is kind of weird.  I’m so lucky he is a good eater.

My two year old is another story. He is a string bean, and hates sitting still to eat. He mostly throws or smashes his food. He has texture issues. He will not touch anything slimy or mushy- like bananas or avocados.  Getting him to drink his green smoothie every morning is a half hour or more long battle.  His big brother chugs his in less than two minutes.  The baby would love to eat jelly beans all day long. He will, however, eat a plate full of hummus and carrot sticks but he prefers pretzels.  He refused lunch and dinner yesterday, and before he fell asleep, I felt so bad because I knew he was hungry, so I offered him a banana, and he said yes, but as soon as I opened it, he threw it! He ended up going to bed hungry, so I thought he would be so happy to drink his smoothie this morning, but boy, was I wrong. After 3 time outs to his room, and finally bribing him with his vitamins, he drank most of it! I just worry that he doesn’t get enough to eat most days.

My oldest just gave me a scare last week. He was running around the gym at church, playing really hard, when he told us his chest hurt. I was worried that he just hadn’t been getting enough exercise, or else what if he had asthma? He has always had croup and respiratory issues every winter/ spring…So I took him to the doctors, and I won’t even get into how much I hate the military hospital where we are stationed, but the doctor did nothing to answer my questions, or test to find out why his chest was hurting. I’m working on finding a different pediatrician this week…

So, I started researching, and a lot of asthma can be helped with diet. So I think I am going to start treating him like he does have it, and change his diet. He already is mostly vegetarian, with very little dairy, but there is much room for me to improve his diet.

Then, I’ve been reading about chemicals/food dyes, and how it affects children, and I was sickened. I woke up this morning, threw away the surprising stack of candy we had accumulated, and I am going to stop buying crap with food dye in it. I’m hoping that by getting rid of nasty chemicals it will improve my two year olds attitude. I know the “terrible twos” but he really has been out of control lately. I worry that with his picky eating, and mostly getting goldfish crackers and other colored things, he has become a little more malnourished. But then, I’ll make beans for dinner, and he’ll wolf down a whole plate and totally surprise me.

But lastly,  as I’ve come out of my first trimester “coma,” I’m feeling pretty guilty at all the crap I’ve consumed. I know more now with this pregnancy than the others, and I really have no excuse to eat these bad things and potentially hurt the baby. I have been thinking lately, that maybe my cravings were so intense because I already was addicted to sugar and bad food. I mean, it had gotten out of control. So I’m vowing today, here and now, to down my green smoothies every morning (which, luckily, I think was a tiny saving grace- even when I was really sick and tired, I would 5 out of 7 days force myself to make them, and I amazingly, always felt better for the next 3-4 hours after drinking), and switch back to homemade, whole foods vegan/vegetarian cooking.

I was realizing this morning, how much I used to love to cook- when I was a new mom, we were living in the Pacific Northwest- so, since it was always rainy and gloomy outside, I always wanted to be cozy and happy inside, and usually warmed us up by cooking. This was long before I made the switch to vegan, but I already was doing whole foods/ homemade everything for the most part. I have such fond memories cooking there…I think it was a combination of the cozy feeling I was going for, and the fact that I only had one child, who was really good at playing quietly while I cooked. Once the second one came, I could hardly look away long enough to peel a carrot before I had to go intervene or take care of somebody. So maybe when the new baby comes, I’ll be able to figure out a new way of getting things done, and be able to keep us healthy. I’m sure it will be chaotic, but the boys will be older, and I want them to start helping me more, anyway, when I cook, so that will keep them occupied!

I don’t even know if anyone cares/reads this, but sorry this is so long! I just needed to write this down for myself, mostly, and commit to myself to step it up. I love reading other vegan blogs, I subscribe to a few in my RSS reader, and they inspire me every day! Thanks for doing what you do!