Those Crazy BOYS!!!

This is early in the AM. Still somewhat calm.

Now that my family is here visiting, my living room and hallway has turned into a racing track of little feet running up and down the hallway and round-n-round the living room sofa. My sister brought my cutest nephew who is soon to be three. Him and Ethan have been having a blast playing and screaming and having the occasional little tiff. No major fights to report yet, but we have had three nose bleeds and a cat scratch. Ethan is the nosebleeder and the cat scratch involved some tail pulling (we wont mention any names). Isaak's eyes have been bugging out watching all the excitement. Sometimes it's just a little too scary for him and he freaks out. It wont be long before he's running around with them.

New teeth!

Isaak has two new little teeth. They are so cute and little(I'd post a picture of his teeth but they are still too small to see) I was wondering why he was having such a hard time sleeping the last few nights. I didn't even think to check his poor little swollen gums. Then daddy came home on Wednesday from work and pointed out the two new little chompers in his mouth. Daddy was so pleased to have noticed before me. Usually I'm the one that notices every little change. I guess I've just been in too much of a medical whirlwind and too tired to notice(I'll explain later). My poor baby was teething and I didn't even realize it. I feel just awful. It also makes me so sad that my cute little baby can suddenly sit up, roll over and grow teeth in a blink of the eye. I just wish they weren't growing so fast.

For those family members and friends that don't know, I had some small lumps checked out on my ankle and several (10-15) cysts were found in my foot. After further testing, several tumors were found throughout my left leg, from ankle to hip. After even more testing, I have found out that I have a bone disease called Ollier's Disease. They still don't know much about how this is affecting me so I will be having surgery next Wednesday to have the cysts in my ankleand foot removed and biopsied. If the biopsy is all clear, I will only have to get yearly check ups to make sure that this disease does not metastasized into a malignant state.

Thank goodness for my mom, dad and sister who have flown over here to be with me and help watch the kids during my numerous tests and now the upcoming surgery. I have also been fortunate enough to have my good friend M, from back home, help me out (she just happened to move here in the nick of time) And thanks also to all of my wonderful family and friend who has been thinking and praying for me. I really appreciate it! I will blog an update post surgery.

6 Months

Isaak has been advancing well into his 6th month of life. Today he is exactly 6 months. So far he can sit very well on his own, roll over and leap twoards anything he might want to chew on. He also has a very strong grasp(especially when mommy's hair is in his hands) and a good arm- he can throw his toys pretty far when he wants our attention. He's eating 1-2 homemade baby meals each day and continueing to breasfeed every 3-4 hours and his feet are a fun and tasty treat. He's growing so much everyday and his personaltiy is beganing to blossom. It's hard to believe this, but Ethan was actually almost 2lbs bigger than Isaak at this stage. We love to look at old pictures of Ethan and are amazed at the similarities between the two boys.

Yummy, Yummy Chocolate!

Ethan has developed a love for chocolate, just like his mommy. Today we made soy chocolate pudding. Very yummy. Ethan loved it so much he was trying lick every bit out of the cup. I made a big batch and made individual servings using cleaned out applesauce cups. I'm constantly trying to come up with healthy snacks that wont make him feel deprived. Ethan now has a whole drawer in the fridge filled with healthy snacks. There is washed apples, small bags with cleaned grapes, applesauce cups, little raisin boxes, and mini yogurt cups. He loves being able to get in the fridge (after asking of course) and helping himself to a yummy mid-morning or afternoon snack. It helps out mommy too, especially when her hands are filled with Isaak.

Brotherly love

I have to say that I have been very lucky with how Ethan has welcomed Isaak into his life and home. Each day they grow more and more in love with each other and sometimes I am quite amazed. Ethan had a pretty good life before the arrival of Isaak. He was king of the castle and had 100% of our attention and affection. Now he has become quite the big brother and has adapted very well to sharing his mommy & daddy. That's not to say that Ethan doesn't have his moments. His explosive energy is sometimes very frightening to Isaak and his kisses and hugs can become a little overdone to the point of near smotherings. Now that Isaak is actively responding to Ethan they are constantly interacting with each other. Ethan will act crazy and to his utmost delight, Isaak will laugh and smile back. I can't even tell you how happy it makes me to see them playing and laughing at each other. I hope that they will grow up to be the best of friends, the way that my sisters have become my best friends.

Favorite Vegetarian Cookbooks

Thought I'd share some of my favorite vegetarian recipe cookbooks. The books have helped to make eating time a lot more pleasant for my family. Ethan has been eating amazingly well since we came home from vacation. He's been more willing to try new foods. I've been using the following four book quite frequently to prepare my weekly menus. They have also been a great source for information on the vegetarian/vegan diet.

Better than Peanut Butter & Jelly by Wendy Muldawer and Marty Mattore

This book has easy recipes with very basic ingredients. The best part is that each recipe has been given a "Vegan", "Vegan option" or "Vegetarian" heading so that you can create a meal that best suits your eating style. There is a recipe for the best vegan banana muffins I've ever had- and they're super easy to make. Some of Ethan's favorites include: Eggless Humpty Dumpty Salad; Howlin' Hummus; and Meatless sloppy Joes.

The Vegetarian Family Cookbook By Nava Atlas

This is also a must have for vegetarian families. With easy recipes and easy to find ingredients, this book is full of great ideas for any meal. Also has each recipes marked clearly with a "dairy","honey", "vegan", or"vegan option" labels. Another great thing about this book is that Nava Atlas offers suggestions for making each recipe into a meal.

From Animal Crackers to Wild West Beans by Carol Timperley

I love this book because the recipes are organized by age of the baby. For example, one chapter is called "First Flavors: 4-6 months" and another is called "Texture and Taste: 6-9 months." There is a lot of egg, milk or dairy which would require adapting for a vegan family, but most adaptions are simple to make. This book also includes little smiley and unhappy faces with the boxes under each recipe which is useful for checking off how baby reacted to the food. Snowflakes are marked for those recipes that can be frozen.

The Vegetarian Mother and Baby Book by Rose Elliot

I could definitely do without the parenting advise in this book, but I love the nutritional information and charts, the menu suggestions and great recipes. Ethan doesn't necessarily like these recipes as much, so I make them when I need a little more spice in my diet. We especially enjoy the Spinach Dal, Creamy Cashew Nut Korma, Spice Vegetable Pilau, and Felafel recipe

Keep the questions coming!

Ethan sure has been asking a lot more questions than usual (If you can imagine that!). "Why are there trees ?", "Why do cars drive only on the roads?", "Why do all of the houses have to have doors on them?", "Why do some people eat meat?", "Why? Why? Why?" It's constant, cute and sometimes just too much. We are constantly trying to give him answers with substance instead of the casual, "Because! That's why" answer that we hear so often. Plus he's like a sponge right now and he remembers everything we tell him. So, we have to make it count and give him the best answers we can. We promised ourselves, before having children, that we would never get mad at our kids for asking too many questions. We made this promise when we were visiting a state park in AZ and a cute little boy was yelled at and told to keep quiet after asking what a ruins marker had said. How horrible, I thought at the time, to cut off an opportunity to teach your child something remarkable. Little did I know that the questioning can be very overwhelming. Well here is our time to stand up to the plate. We will take on the questions the best we can. I will have to remember this when I've had little sleep and am quite grumpy (which is often) and just look at his innocent little face and smile. And sometimes we will just have to answer, "We don't know why".

Bike Riding at the Park

This morning we went for our Sunday morning walk/bike ride with Ethan. We are trying to get E used to riding his bike. We usually walk along side of him to help push him along and keep him motivated to keep pedaling. Unfortunately we decided to go to a park with a playground so his interest in bike riding, which was high when we left the house, tumbled at the sight of the brightly colored playground. We did manage to get him to go around twice before he tossed his bike to the side and ran for the slides. We can't blame him- playgrounds are such an exciting place. Especially the ones in Dallas. A majority of the nice parks have some kind of water feature like ponds or fountains which are a major safety concern for most of the parents at the park since most kid have no fear of falling into the disgusting slimy green/brown water. We try our best to maintain some kind of calmness by talking to Ethan about keeping a safe distance between him and the EDGE instead of being one of those parents that go screaming across the playground at their kids to NOT GO NEAR THE WATER! Remember I said try. I vaguely remember screaming hysterically a couple of times, but I've calmed down as Ethan has become older.

I also have to mention the type of weather we've been having. It was only 84 degrees out but with 70% humidity, which means that it feel like its really 95 degrees out. The humidity is oppressive here. I really can't stand it. I 've decided that I can tolerate dry heat so much better. Can you imagine sitting at the park doing absolutely nothing and being so sticky and sweaty for no reason at all? And you should see poor Ethan with his hair all wet and beads of sweat running off his chin. And Isaak isn't doing much yet he still has little beads of sweat all over his round little head. They don't seem to mind in the least.

No sleep again!

There goes sleeping in on Saturday morning. Ethan actually slept in until 7:30 (his usual time is 6:45-7:00am) , but Isaak tossed and turned all night wanting to breast feed. At 6:45 I finally changed his diaper and was wide awake. Isaak went back to sleep of course while we quietly awaited Ethan's usual burst through the bedroom doors...45 minutes later. Sleep just doesn't come easy 'round these parts. It's just something we are gonna have to face: Our boys do not like to sleep at night!

Isaak had pureed carrots for dinner last night. He absolutely loved them. He was shaking with anticipation of each bite. My new goal in life is for Isaak to love vegetables as much as I do (afterall, we ARE vegetarians) . Unfortunately, my other child seems to be taking on the eating preferences of his father- pasta, bread, cheese, beans and mock meats- no veggies please. I will never give up trying! You never know what a little patient persistence might do. I might actually end up with two vegetable loving children. Ah- one can only keep dreaming!

Here is an update of both my children's growth statistics. For being little veggie babies. I'd have to say they are not starving in the least- they are growing quite well!

Isaak's 5 1/2 month visit: Wt- 21lbs 6oz (96th percentile)
Ht- 28 inches ( 95th percentile)
Head circumference- 45 inches (85th percentile)

Ethan's 4 year visit: Wt- 41 lbs 4oz (95th percentile)
Ht- 42 inches (75th percentile)

Yes, I do have big boys. We can only wait and see if they stay that way. Ethan is already thinning out despite his 95th percentile ranking. He's very slender and solid- just like his daddy.

Now back to the carrot puree. I have to mention that I bought the coolest little ice trays with lids. I just cooked a bag of organic, sweet baby carrots in a small amount of water for about 15 minutes (with the lid on) , then whizzed them a few times in my food processor until they were nice and creamy. Next, I just spooned the carrot puree into my wonderful little ice trays (two of them) popped the lids on (for safe keeping) and froze them. After frozen, I just popped the cubes into a freezer bag and wha-la! 24 perfect little baby servings of carrot puree. I've already done this with breastmilk and plan to do much much more!! Another great thing about the frozen carrot cubes is that I can pop several cubes into store bought spaghetti sauce for added nutritional value- Ethan will never know. So sneaky.

Who's Momofeni?

Just incase anyone is wondering who "momofeni" is? Momofeni is a great person. She is a hard working mother of two, and a good wife and friend (If I do say so myself) She also is a little funny, crazy, imaginative and sleep deprived. Okay- really it's mom-of-E-n-I. Funny huh? I love it. I thought it was just a little clever. I don't think I'd mind being called momo.

Welcome

I thought I'd start up a blog starring my two beauties Ethan and Isaak. Being in Dallas I can't share all their milestones, cute smiles and funny sayings very easily with all of my good friends and beloved family members. With my time being limited (carrying a 20lb child while chasing a highly energetic 4 year old can be quite time consuming) I can just type in an entry with pictures every once in a while and you, my good friends and family can log on and check it out. You will also have an opportunity to comment or send an e-mail if you would like. Hope you enjoy my new blog spot and come visit us again soon.