Living a Full Life - And Making it Work!

To those of you who visit my blog once in awhile - I apologize for this post.  I feel like writing today, but I'm not feeling very creative.   I thought I'd write about something very mundane, but that I rely on to make my days work, which is meal planning.  I just finished cooking my deli-style roast beef for Sunday night sandwiches, which is what prompted this topic.

In lieu of menu plans, I have discovered that I/we enjoy a combination of the predictable, mixed up with some alternatives.  I think everyone knows that I make and freeze up to 30 meals at a time.  However, I've learned how make them stretch for 2 or 3 months by scheduling other meals during the week.  For example, Wednesday night is always spaghetti night, and Friday is dinner-and-a-movie family night, during which we usually rotate between pizza and bean dip with chips.  Saturday is generally breakfast-for-supper night, so we pick something special to make that we usually don't take time for in the mornings, like crepes, waffles, quiche, or French toast.  Mealtimes tend to be a never-ending, overwhelming task at times, even for people like me that generally like to cook.  Now, with 3 babies, I've learned that a little bit of planning can go a very long way in keeping me sane.

Having designated meals on designated days really seems to help me break up the overwhelming-ness of the never-ending feeding cycle of a busy household.  There are basically 180 meals in a two-month span, not including snacks, which is a completely different category/subject!  During most of the year, except those 2-3 summer months that are just too hot to cook, we have a basic breakfast rotation that includes cold cereal on Saturday mornings, toast on Sundays, and then puff pancake, baked oatmeal, muffins and eggs, hot cereal, and pancakes during the week.  I keep a fresh-ground, multi-grain pancake mix in the freezer with a recipe card in the bag, so even Rachel can make that breakfast on her own.  In fact, I keep the rest of our breakfast recipe cards taped inside the kitchen cabinet door above the mixer, for convenience. This is a huge help for Rachel, who is now able to make most of our breakfasts on her own, or with Kaelin's help (but only on the mornings that she is running on time with her morning chores!). That little bit of planning takes care of 60 of the 180 meals.

After constantly being frustrated by lunches - they always seem to sneak up on me! -  I learned to keep a list in my daily planner, with our menu, of about 4-5 different types of favorite soups and 4-5 sandwich ideas, that we rotate through each week or two when we are not using leftovers.  That takes care of another 60 meals, so now I have crossed off 120 meals of the 180.  Oh, since Wednesday is spaghetti night (Rachel's favorite food!), we have a mac-and-cheese Monday (lunch) for Kaelin, since that is her favorite meal.  Also, a quick note on Sundays - I don't usually cook on that day!  We generally have leftovers for lunch.  Supper is roast beef sandwiches for now, maybe deli-style turkey breast when I can get one on sale to bake.  I have started making a deli-style roast beef (google for some great recipes!) sometime during the week, and slicing it thin for sandwiches.  I can freeze half and make one small roast stretch for two Sunday suppers.  French dip works great with this, as well as adding mozzarella cheese and onions, or whatever else strikes one's fancy!  The reason for having something super simple for Sunday meals is so that Adam and the girls can swing it on their own when I simply need to have a kitchen strike for a day.

By having  a plan like this, with days/meals that are set, I am left with just 3 days a week where I need to use my frozen meals, making them last two months instead of one.  This allows us to have variety sprinkled with some predictability.  It seems to be a good mix for us where pallette is concerned, and the planning takes boat loads of stress out of my life.  Even the kids know - Wednesday is always spaghetti night, Friday is always pizza or dip night, etc. 

Also, with  the never-ending rising cost of food, I'm learning to plan smarter for grocery trips, as well.  I already use the Internet for most of my shopping, so am able to price compare from the comfort of my chair, since everywhere I shop has a website now.  In addition to using Amazon to "subscribe" to diapers, toilet paper and dishsoap, I also use the Internet for the bulk of our grocery shopping.  One grocery store in Bismarck charges only $5 to shop an entire grocery order, bags it, and brings it to the front door when I drive up.  That's how I get groceries with three babies in tow!  Sam's Club does the same thing for free, and I have learned to create a 6-8 week shopping list of "staples" for Sam's, that is kept on the fridge, that I always order, and other lists of the cheapest places to buy certain items.  I am also learning to use Azure for more things like produce.  It's usually organic, and competes with the regular non-organic prices of the grocery stores around here.  In these ways, I am able to keep my trips to Bismarck to a minimum, and cut down drastically on impulse buying.  I am also able to save several hundred dollars each year by making our bread, yogurt, and laundry soap.  I googled household grocery budgets recently, and was shocked to learn that a typical monthly food budget for a family of 4 was between 6 and 8 hundred dollars - and that is for frugally-minded people.  Whew!

Our three sons

 It's amazing to think that only 14 short months ago, we did not know any of these three little faces!

Luke is NOT impressed with the giant, fake ladybug





Ethan and Elijah, 3 months



Peace - such a beautiful sound!

Ethan and Elijah.  Probably one of my favorite pictures of them during their first few days home.

Guess who's here?!



("Hmmm, I'll take that")



Long Labor of Love

Wow.  I simply can't imagine why anyone would ever choose a c-section over normal, natural delivery of a child.  That being said, I am so thankful that God has allowed, and ordained, that modern medicine is capable of such miracles.  Ethan Michael alnd Elijah John were welcomed into this life by emergency c-section last Monday, while fighting over who would have first rights to the birth canal.  Elijah, the smaller of the two and in a breech position, wanted to come feet first, at the same time that Ethan's head was trying to present.  I can't say much about the experience; the surgery itself was the easy part; trying not pass out while I was stitched back up while my blood pressure bottomed out was a different story, not to mention the entire recovery process.  I have an entirely new appreciation for true hospitalization, especially when surgery is involved.  The boys spent 11 days in the NICU while being closely monitored for respiratory issues, common in preemies.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to recover and rest from my surgery before being fully responsible for not just one, but two! baby boys (who, incidentally, are identical twins).  Even though it was incredibly hard to leave them in the hospital when I was discharged, there was also comfort in knowing they were being watched closely around the clock, which enabled me to sleep better at nights while my body recovered.  The only way I can think to describe the whole ordeal is something like 11 days of labor to bring these babies home.

When None of the Options Seem Great.....

As I sit, or lie down, and sit, and lie down some more....I keep hearing the phrases "50 centimeters," "triplets," "distended uterus," "irregular contractions," "deliver in the operating room," etc., etc. On the bright side, the babies still look great, and a normal delivery is still a possibility -- though the longer we wait, the less likely. My doctor said yesterday that the last time she measured someone at 50 centimeters, they were carrying triplets. Also, I learned that twins/multiples are ALWAYS delivered in the operating room, something I was completely unaware of. Labor can still be done in the birthing rooms, but as a safety precaution, they move the moms to the OR right before delivery and have the anesthesiologist in the room, just in case something goes wrong. The more distressing news for me is just in knowing that at this point, labor is more likely to be irregular and possibly prolonged, just because the uterus can not work as effeciently when it is so distended. Add to that is the issue of anesthesia; if there is no epidural in place (which I have never used before, and have no desire to now if trying to labor naturally), then IF an emergency c-section is deemed necessary, usually with the second baby, then general anesthesia has to be used, and I would be completely unconscious for quite a while. In that case, a scheduled c-section sounds better to me, because at least I would be awake and aware, even if not fully alert for a short time. At any rate, it is a lot to process and pray through, when none of the options sound very great. At this point, I am thinking that we are going to probably try something for next Friday. I am uncomfortable with letting things go much further. If we try to wait much longer, I may not be able to move at all, and if I decide to try for a regular delivery, that is important. In addition, the longer I wait, the greater the likelihood of an emergency c-section with whatever dr. is on call. I know my own doctor, and I trust her judgement, not to mention the fact that she knows me and what my preferences are. She'll work with me in whatever way I choose, until she feels she has to step in.