Month: September 2012

Meal Planning Week 1

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Over this summer, with me feeling TERRIBLE because of this pregnancy and the move, I have been pretty my the worst home maker ever. My house was never clean, unless people were coming over, and I didn’t make a meal that took more than 6 minutes of prep. We spent SO much money on groceries and eating out this summer… I’m not even going to write how much we actually spent because it is just embarrassing. 
From what I can gather from the 5 or 10 minutes I spent on Google trying to research, I found that the average family of 4 last year in the States, two adults and two young kids, spends between $500 and $1200 on groceries per month. Since the dollar is basically on par and our eating habits are so similar to the States in Canada, I’m going with these numbers. According to last years USDA Food Plans I should be spending $537.90 for a thrifty plan and $1045.70 for a liberal plan. 
My budget on the app on my phone has been set to $500 for groceries since I started budgeting. I have made that budget in the past… not this summer. I think we can cut that number down though too with meal planning and learning sales. I don’t know how to sale shop at all yet. That is step two. Meal planning is step one. When I meal plan, I generally make my budget. I have never actually crazy, low-cost meal planned before though. I decided that September was a good start off point! 
So, last week I made a plan for 13 meals, mostly low-cost and all easy! I chose to do a 2 week plan because I just don’t have the time or energy to go shopping weekly. I printed out all the meals with recipes and directions if needed and posted them on my fridge. I went shopping and spent $149. I stuck to the list pretty closely but did pick up a few easy quick meals and snacks… like a frozen lasagna, some chips and sherbert.
I was a little unsure of how much of some things to buy. For example I have no idea how much milk we go through in a 2 week people or how much sour cream we would need for tacos and quesdillas. I figure I might need to get Jon to grab a few things on his way home from work once or twice in the next 2 weeks.
Wednesday I made two Chicken Cauliflower casseroles. One for that night and one for the freezer. We eat it over rice that I have a bunch of. Delicious! Not the cheapest meal but I had cauliflower that needed to be used and a flat of mushroom soup on hand.
Thursday I made Sweet Potatoe Quesidillas. This is also a meal that I had all the supplies from previous shops. Tortillas were in the freezer and the sweet potatoes had to be used.
On Friday I had a whole fryer chicken in the freezer that needed to be used so I made a herb roasted chicken that had been marinating since the night before in the slow cooker over potatoes and carrots. I whole chicken’s are pretty cheap to buy.
Saturday was a leftover day! No cooking!
Sunday we had an easy meal day… Jon was cooking 🙂 He chose Chicken Salad Wraps. It was made with canned chicken which I was hesitant about but it was really cheap. I gave it a shot and it was really yummy! The kids even liked it 🙂
Monday I made another family favourite, Black Bean and Beef Taco Salad. Super easy and yummy! At the same time I did all the prep for two simple Shepherds Pies, everything but the potatoes. I froze one and left one in the fridge for Jon to finish for Tuesday when I wasn’t going to be home most of the day.
Tuesday, today, Jon finished the potatoes for the Shepherd’s Pie!
Tomorrow is going to be another leftover meal day! No cooking!
So far, week one of meal planning is right on target! I have another week to go to see if these meals and groceries last us. Friday is the MCC Fair that we usually go out for a Vereniki dinner for, so that will be our one big eat out meal in the two week period!
I’m excited about this plan and can actually see it working, as long as I am diligent! But could I actually cut our groceries to under $300 a month! I’m going to just go along with this meal planning until I feel really on top of it before I start sale following and possibly even couponing! My boss needs to teach me about couponing… her last two weekly shopping trips cost her $0.19 and $0.25. How the heck did she do that!??!

The Reveal

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My mom really wanted to give us a 3D ultrasound. She is fascinated by the technology so as much as the gift was for us… if was for her 🙂 We invited my Grandma along to who was just as amazed. The 3D stuff was really neat but I was mostly excited to find of the gender.
The verdict is in….
It’s a GIRL!
I was convinced I was having a boy up until a few weeks ago when I started having a few dreams of having a girl. I have a bit of a weird connection with dreams. They, more frequently than can be explained by coincidence, come true or been true with out my knowing. Friends used tell me dreams that were bothering them and I would matter-of-factly know what they meant. As a child I even knew my grandparents had been in a terrible crash before my mom had got the call. Weird stuff. Anyway, dreaming it was a girl totally threw me from being certain I was having a boy! 
Then, the technician checked three times and told us we were having a girl! I don’t think it has quite sunk in yet. I was so convinced we were having a boy. There is still a seed of doubt in my mind that the reading was correct even. I won’t be getting rid of any of my girl clothes though! 
I’m very excited about having another girl! I always said I had just wanted girls. Being raised in a house mostly of girls I didn’t think I would know how to raise a boy. With being convince I was having a boy, I was actually very excited to have a little Mama’s boy 🙂 Plus, I really love our boys name, Cohen Timothy. I guess I’ll have to let go of that.
So, without further ado…
Introducing,
Evelyn Jane (probably)

Evelyn is just because we like the name and it is kind of a traditional older name like Olivia and Sofie.
Jane is for Jon. Jane is sometimes considered a female version of Jon. There isn’t a good female version of Timothy (Jon’s Dad’s name) and we wanted her to have a name some what after his side of the family. Livi’s middle name is the same as mine. Sofie’s middle name is a combination of our two closest grandmother’s and now Evelyn’s middle name is after Jon. It doesn’t hurt that Jane Austen is my favorite author either:) 

Livi has decided that her nick name is Eva (EE-vah). I thought it would be Evie (Eh-V-ee) but I think Eva is sticking. We’ll see how it plays out I guess. I get my house of girls! I hope they have the special sister bond that I get to have and know many other sister’s share. There is nothing like having sisters!

Preschool

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My girls are starting preschool in ten days. I’m so nervous about it. Not really sure why. Livi loved preschool for the five months that she went last year.

I think the wild card here is Sofie. I’m worried for how successful she will be. Originally, I wanted to hold Sofie back a year and start her now in 3 year old preschool… but that can’t happen with the way the funding works for an assistant. CDC covers an assistant up until the child reaches 5 years old. The school system takes over funding an aid at 5 years old. If I was to hold Sofie back and start her in 3 yr old preschool now that she is four, no one would fund an aid for her at 4 year old preschool, when she would be 5. Confusing, right?

Basically, what we decided is to go ahead and put Sofie in with her sister in to 4 year old preschool, 2.5 hours three days a week. Next year they will both go to kindergarten, in separate classes. I’ve already registered them for kindergarten even! I want them in a choice Fine Arts public school so we had to register really early. Sofie will then repeat kindergarten. I need to fight for this because the school board doesn’t want me to hold her back but the principal is on my side so I WILL GET WHAT IS BEST FOR MY GIRLS!

I’m very stuck on Sofie being held back for numerous reasons. She has had little to no early intervention in her life. All the child development books talk about how important early intervention is. I figure, Sofie is going to benefit from developing in the younger grades than the academic senior grades. Plus, special needs kids frequently get to do a grade 13 at the end of their school career. This is because CLBC doesn’t start funding support until they turn 19. I figure, Sofie is going to benefit more from an extra year in the beginning than in the end. Sofie is also, technically, ESL. I think an extra year to learn the language better and understand social cues a bit better will also be crucial at this point.

Another huge factor in this decision is the fact that I don’t want to “twin” my girls. Livi is our first child. She is developmentally older than Sofie as well. I want her to feel like the “big” girl we talk about her being. I want them to each have their own friends. I don’t want Livi to feel extra responsible for her sister. That will probably be a natural outcome with the way our family is, but I want to limit that as much as possible. I also don’t want other kids and teacher to rely on Livi to take care of her sister.

So, both girls are starting in a preschool that is known for having “high expectations” and kind of more “academic” if a preschool can be academic. I think Livi will flourish. She is so ready to start reading. I just haven’t had the energy to start that with her. I think preschool will give us the extra push we need. Sofie is ready to have more expected of her. She needs a change of environment from being just at home with me. There is only so much a mom can do sometimes. I’m excited to see how preschool helps with her vocabulary and social skills… hopefully.

September also means the beginning of gymnastics, which Livi has been talking about for months! Sofie is also going to be doing a Parent and Tot gymnastics class. I actually foresee her having a lot of fun with this. The classes are back to back so I don’t know how well the waiting period is going to be for each other. And, we are so excited to get to go back to the music class that Sofie LOVES! A new teacher but the same program which I am so happy about because it is inclusive of all ages, infants to school aged. I’m also taking a speech therapy class to be able to help Sofie communicate better. I’ve heard good things about it so I’m looking forward too it.

It’s going to be a busy fall! Before I’m ready Christmas will be here and then a new baby! I can’t wait to see how much we all grow as a family in the next few months. It’s going to be good!