Day One of Veggie diet

Fail!

So I completely failed day one of trying to add more veggies to my diet. I was actually really excited to start this but by breakfast (pancakes, eggs, & coffee), I had completely forgot about my goal! I remembered by lunch and skipped the pizza & soda I would've normally had since I took the kids to eat at Sam's Club (a proud moment for me!) and just drank water until I could get to something healthier. I snacked on grapes in the car in our way to a birthday party and had tomatoes & pickles on my burger (that counts... Right?) at the party. I also had some more fruits and only a small brownie for dessert. But then I got home and caved in when I saw my left over pack of M&M's from yesterday.

All in all a complete failure... But looking forward I've decided not to buy anymore M&M's (this time I mean it!) and to stock up on veggies the next time I do grocery shopping. Saturday is an awkward day to start new habits anyway (I've decided)!

Prayerfully,

Yasmin

New Vegetable Challenge

Today I've decided to start eating right. Since I've given birth my diet has really gone down hill... Consisting mainly of Peanut M&Ms. Since I'm breastfeeding, I definitely need to step up my game - for Samuel's sake.
So starting tomorrow I will be adding more vegetables to my diet & removing the candy. My goal is not to lose weight (though that would be fine if it happened) but to eat healthier for myself & my son.
I am lost as to where to start so I bought a vegetable cookbook & I'm really excited to put it to some use! But before all that I will start it all off with prayer. I pray that the God that made this Earth & all the vegetation in it will give me the strength & wisdom to make it through each day and each recipe!
Looking forward to a healthier me (both inside & out)!
Prayerfully,
Yasmin

Happy Birthday, Marissa!

Wow... Just eight years ago today I gave birth to our sweet little Marissa Margarita. She is really such a sweet heart of a girl with a very huge heart. Such a new heart that she cried on her birthday because she wanted to help other kids that don't have as much as she does (and all she received was an iPod & a fashion kit!). I pray that God would open up my own heart the way He has for our Marissa.
I thank God for giving us our Marissa - the sweet diva of the family.

Summer HW Meltdown

So today I got the kids back on track with their Summer HW assignments (we'd fallen off for about a week). It was a bit chaotic with Samuel going through a crying session in the middle of it and Marissa getting frustrated and crying about having to find words with the Long E sound... but eventually we got through it.
I have to say I'm proud of myself for not losing my patience with Marissa. All the crying over finding Long E sounds was really frustrating to me! But I kept calm and we got through it... prayerfully we'll be able to get through the rest of the worksheet tomorrow...

Prayerfully,

Yasmin

Meal Planning Monday - July 25 - 29, 2011

So today is my 2nd or 3rd attempt at meal planning. With four kids and an extra hungry husband, planning my meals would really help me out during the week. Meal planning was something I never even heard of while I was a working mom, but now its like an essential part of my week!

So here we go:

Monday - Brown Sugar Butter Roasted Chicken
Tuesday - Italian Pork Chops
Wednesday - Baby Back Ribs & Mashed Potato (no link b/c hubby seasoned the ribs and they sit in the fridge now)
Thursday - Southern Low Country Boil
Friday - Chicken Salad w/Chips

My goal this week is to follow my plan and make sure dinner is prepared every day!

Prayerfully,

Yasmin

Frustration

Today was a busy day for me: the kids started VBS for the first time ever, while they were at VBS I did some food shopping with a sister from church, then we went back to church to pick up our kids (my 4 plus her daughter and two nieces) and went back to my house where we hung out all day until they were all picked up (from 12pm - 4pm).
So there were a total of 7 kids in my not so clean house - a fact that did not escape my husband when he came home and I (mistakenly) complained about my tiresome day. It's not that the visitors were troublesome - I'm just not used to having people in my home and it's something I'm hoping to get rid of. I want to open my home to our church family and allow my kids to have fun and enjoy fellowship with others. It's just hard for me, my first instinct is to be left alone and not have to deal with anyone but my own rugrats. So my mistake was to take my day and turn it into a complaint to my husband instead of turning it into a praise report! I opened our home to another family and the kids had fun and dinner was cooked when you got home! yay!
But no, instead I complained and then my husband began to complain: how could I have ANYone in this messy house! And dinner? Dinner was nothing but spaghetti & sausage thrown together last minute because I didn't have time to make something better.

Granted, that last argument was very upsetting for me and I responded by taking an hour to buy some breakfast items at our local supermarket. I started out in the car by arguing with God about my insensitive husband but prayed for Him to open my eyes and heart regardless. And slowly my icy heart became warm again and I wasn't bothered anymore by those words. They are just words and they were probably as a result of my own complaints. How would I feel if, after working a physically exhaustive job, I come home to a complaining spouse? I think I might be annoyed and unintentionally pick at things that my spouse had (or hadn't) done.
So though I was a bit frustrated and felt underappreciated, I was able to pray through it and see the other side of it.

Lord, please help me clean a little better tomorrow and come up with a meal my hubby would love to come home to!!

Easy to be Lazy...

It’s so easy for me to forget why I wanted to stay at home with my kids.  There are days where taking care of my 4 kids (3 kids and one infant), cleaning, figuring out breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, snack, snack, dinner, snack, etc. can just get overwhelming for me.  And the dishes will pile up from breakfast, lunch, and snacks and I will sit at the sofa feeding my 3 week old for the 100th time today (he breastfeeds, so it seems like he’s just always on me) and get in a funk.  And a scene will play out in my head where my husband comes home and I will give him my most tired look, hair all crazy, one breast in my sons mouth while trying to fold clothes with one hand and say “I’m exhausted! The kids ate (cereal, pizza, popcorn) for dinner, just get something for yourself.”  I can fall into that so easily...

But then I remember why I wanted to stay at home.  I want to be the wife/mother/woman that God created me to be.  I think of the famous Proverbs 31 woman who did it all and still was able to dress nicely for her husband.  I don’t want my husband to come home to a messy house, rambunctious children, and a sloppy wife - and no dinner to top it all off!  I want him to come home and feel relaxed as soon as he walks in - knowing that he’s come to his house and he can be at peace in it and know that he will always have something to fill his stomach after a hard day at work.  After all, I’m asking him to provide for his family while I stay at home now - that’s a tall order!  I used to be the main income - the one with the good job with good benefits... but I’m giving all that up to be something more than that and now my husband has to take that weight onto his shoulders.  I can at least make it easier for him by keeping up the home.

Lord help me remember the woman you made me to be and never become lazy and complacent.

A visit from Grandpa

So my dad visited our family this weekend... and I don't know why I didn't take more pictures!  My dad lives in NYC and I can count how many times he's visited us on one hand (more like two fingers!), so I definitely should've taken more pictures.  It's not that we rarely see him - we visit NYC at least once every few months (sometimes more).  It was just the fact that he actually came down to South Jersey!
My dad came down with his girlfriend and her 18 yr old son - they visited for an hour or so before taking us out to dinner and then they headed back to NYC.  It was a nice visit - short and sweet is nice for me with my 3 kids and an infant.  Plus talking with my dad's girlfriend is still a bit awkward, though she's been around for a few years now.
At any rate, below is a picture of Kaity (my eldest) and her grandfather while we waited to be seated at Olive Garden.

Yasmin

Introducing Samuel Elijah Alberto!

Our fourth child (2nd son) was born on June 20, 2011 at 11:51pm.  He weighed in at 7lbs 10oz and 19.5 inches long.  It's hard to describe how wonderful it feels to have him in our lives... Samuel is truly a gift from God.

I will never forget the first feeling I felt when the midwife first held him up to me - complete surprise! I don't know why or how it was possible to feel surprised - being that I felt him growing in me for 40 weeks and 1 day.  I guess I can just say that it didn't really feel real until I actually saw him in front of me.  It's odd to say that I was surprised to see my little infant after going through labor and pushing him out of me - but I really was.  And then I wanted nothing more than to know he was OK and to hold him and never let go.  I want to enjoy every last minute of him because I know he is our last baby - though the thought of his preciousness makes me want to have 3 more!!

I thank God every day for him and for my other three children... just like I can't imagine my life without my first three, I know can't imagine having to have lived my life without our little Samuel Elijah.  I just found out today that Samuel means "God heard".  And all I can say is that God did hear - He listened to my quiet prayers of having a big family and being a better mom & wife than I had been.  Samuel is here and has changed my life (our lives) for the better.

I love you little Samuel and thank you God for hearing my prayers!