Wellllll, another month has gone by with no post, time to pull up my socks (not that I wear any in this heat) but you know what I mean. Shit hit the fan for my family the past month and I seem to just now be picking up my scattered emotional pieces. My dear grandpa became ill, ran into some irreparable heart troubles (due to his wonderfully ripe age of 91!) and sadly he passed away on June 21st. His almost 3 weeks in the hospital are a bit of a blur and well so is the time thereafter... with having a 7 month old to contend with, she was a pleasant distraction (and in so many positive ways) but ultimately delayed me having the time to deal with the loss to our family. Our visits to see my grandpa at the hospital were sad but to see the smile on his face when I walked in with Molly melted my heart. She was dubbed 'the spreader of smiles' at the hospital because every person that saw her smiled, and of course, she smiled back. I carried her in my much loved Beco Gemini carrier so she was facing out, facing all the patients and visitors and giving them her big toothless smiles. I'm so lucky I get to see that face every day. 
Especially this new one...

Now we fast forward a few weeks and our poor babe is now run down to a virus, basically a cold, which breaks my heart to hear her hack and cough, then sneeze and have boogers on her face. I deem this time, 'us' time... time for me to reflect and absorb things and to take care of our baby girl. The pediatrician at the walk-in clinic yesterday was great, after he ruled out anything in her chest he said 3 things: lots of rest, breastfeed more often (more fluids and antibodies to help fight it off! Yay breast milk!) and Tylenol if she gets a fever over 38.5... but only then, he said the fever is good to a point but then you want to make them comfortable. I liked this doctor and so did Graeme. And I'm not big on doctors. So that means a lot. 

Onto the foodie topic, Graeme, to my delight cooked up some french toast for breakfast today but the joy for my favorite brekkie turned to sadness when I realized we are still out of maple syrup... boo! So I had to make due and think of something else sweet and yummy... the answer was a spread of my mom/sisters homemade strawberry jam and chocolate coconut yogurt made by Yoso (this stuff is my saving grace since I'm 99% dairy free). I think I could have eaten a whole loaf of bread worth with those toppings! Yum! 

Next post will be all about labels, my obsession and nemesis... as a nutritionist teaching clients how to read them is such an important lesson! 

And here is a link to a post I read this morning, post on 'Tips for Overcoming FoMo' by a fellow Nutritionist Meghan Telpner - yup that's right 'Fear of Missing Out'... I know quite a few people who suffer from this (including myself once in a while) check it out! http://meghantelpner.com/blog/tips-for-overcoming-fear-of-missing-out-fomo/

Have a wonderful day! 

Andrea :)

Balance

We're only human, I get it, balance is tough. Some people are naturals at it, but some, like myself are not. Its taken me over 6 months to get the hang of being of mom, attempting homemade meals each day, keeping food from rotting in the fridge, keeping our house some what clean and trying to have some fun. Its no easy task. A lot of days it has me stumped. 

On those days I just (try to) remind myself - I am only human, as long as we all eat today, that's all that matters. :)
Especially in today's time there is so much pressure to DO, DO, DO. Do crafts, make homemade meals, blog (ha!), be perfect (thanks Pinterest!) Its not fair! You DO what you can and be proud of it. 

I love that today I got to have a hot unrushed shower, put some laundry on and made myself a smoothie! Yay! Thats it for the day! Everything else is bonus.
Molly just woke up from her nap, so now I move onto her schedule and her plan for the day. I.Love.It. 

Moral of today's post - do what makes YOU happy and don't feel pressured to do what everyone else is doing (unless it makes you happy! Ha!) :) 

*.*.*.*.*

Hug someone (just not a stranger, they might call the cops) 
xo

New goals, new beginnings

Well as you can see with my last post, waaaaay back in 2011, entitled 'Slow Start', that is exactly what it has been. Without boring people to death on the details of the last few years its been a roller coaster - ending on a high! 
So here I am, back online with a 6 month old baby girl and I'm loving every minute! 
Now that I am getting the hang of this mommy thing I am learning to make time for myself and work on things on my 'to do' list, including my blog! 

Since having my daughter I've had some free time, well not really free, but while limited to my glider chair feeding my babe I can surf the net and check out other mommy's blogs, Pinterest and I'm following some really great people on Twitter that inspire me every day! 

So what is my goal or purpose of this blog you ask?! My goal is to post at least once a week and share information that is near and dear to my heart and my family. I know, I know... there are blogs EVERYWHERE and it seems like everyone has one (at least everyone under the age of 30!) but I am doing this for me, as an outlet for my thoughts and passions.

I do hope in one way or another you enjoy it or that it helps you out in some way. 

Cheers :o)

Andrea

Slow start

Well now that's a sad start to my blog.... lets just say I've been a little, teeny bit preoccupied the past few weeks. I've been preparing for my much delayed exam for nutrition. Yes folks, the time has finally come for me to become registered! Let me tell you it has been hard to revert back to the way you did things in school or do things the way school wants you to. As a few years have passed I have developed my own way of looking at things and working with 'clients'. None the less I am very excited to put this exam behind me and officially move forward as a 'Registered Holistic Nutritionist' and do what I love.
Speaking of what I love - I have found my calling for a hobby - sewing!!! I took a course at 'the workroom' on Queen West, and thanks to the wonderful owner and instructor Karyn, I fell in love. Sewing (re)teaches me patience and allows an outlet for creativity. It is fulfilling and challenging... exactly what my brain needs.

Speaking of challenging, I'm finishing up my last couple of case studies that I have to hand in on Friday so I must must must get back at it.
I'm looking forward to this weekend, getting to celebrate being done my exam and hopefully enjoying a fun night out with my other half and his friends.
Stay positive, be happy and spread some love... it goes a long way.

The boob tube...

I must say the more I watch the tube, the more I understand why our society is unhealthy! The commercials are FULL of misinformation! Marketing, promotions and claims - false false false! Its not to say that its only that 'bad' things are made to seem good for you, everything and everyone has their own take on products, whatever makes it sell. My biggest issue is with FOOD products. People think that if they eat Dempsters white bread they are 'healthy' and getting essential vitamins and minerals because they are 'added' and the commercial says so. Not true... oh the list goes on and on. All products aimed at childen's consumption should not exist - I swear they are some of the WORST products out there... full of refined sugars, chemicals and food so processed it shouldn't be called food anymore.
Back to work, more thoughts on this later....