
7 Quick Takes Friday #7qt
1.
Craziness ensued on Tuesday. Which was pretty much planned. On Tuesday it was April 1st, or more commonly expressed as April Fool’s Day. About a month ago I had a brilliant idea. My dear husband has, for the past 13 years, carried a beard on his face. If you know him, you’ll likely have known him only with a beard. Once, while in Ottawa, he gave himself a goatee. But all his hair was never fully removed. The plan for Fool’s Day wasn’t to remove it all, but rather to shape it in a creepy, unbecoming way. This is what we came up with:
Side profile
Front profile (with cheese).
My thoughts were based on:
(Ocean’s 11)
I think we pretty much captured the spirit of creepy. It was fun, and I’m glad Andy was interested and willing to do it. It fooled many. He found there were a lot of people who
a) didn’t know he had a beard to begin with
b) didn’t know his face well enough to notice a change
But he did get some good laughs, too. And some people who were too polite to say anything.
2.
So now, for the first time in 13 years, he has gone baby face. He tried to just shorten the beard, but it still looked kind of creepy, so he shaved it all off so that everything would grow back together evenly. This is what he looked like 13 years ago:
1997 (he was 20 years old, not 12)
36 years old
And that, my friends, is Andy without a beard (and 40+lbs heavier, he told me to let you all know). This will not likely happen again (if he can help it)(the shaving his beard off part).
3.
The kids’ growth spurts continue. Cassia has decided that she actually can eat ground beef, and will most likely devour it when in the form of mini-meatballs. She is still really picky about eating foods, especially veggies; I don’t know if it’s by association, or if it’s timing of day, or what. Sometimes she’ll happily munch on broccoli florets in between meals, but when they show up on her plate at a meal, they won’t be touched. Anyone understand toddler that can translate?
Spencer has taken to doubling his portion sizes for the past week, rivaling what I eat (sometimes he eats more!). He continues to be moody, but not as bad as he was when he was eating wheat, so I have to keep it all in perspective. The worst right now is his listening skills (aren’t they always the worst?); I thought he was bad before this growth spurt. I should have counted my lucky stars. We are managing, though. Two major growth spurts at the same time is exhausting, I am finding. Somehow, we’ll get through it and define a new ‘normal’ and try to recover until the next one hits (or the baby comes; whichever first).
4.
Speaking of eating, as I have mentioned before, I am gestational diabetic (BOO!). A couple days ago I turned to pinterest to ‘research’ low-carb options for muffins, as I’ve been craving craving CRAVING sweets now for three days. Consistently I found that low-carb options are (out of necessity) also basically gluten-free, which means that I now have a vested interest in baking for my sake and Spencer’s. He’s going to get a lot out my vested interest here, I can already tell. Poor boy. The kids hardly have sweets at all. A big part of it has been that I’m intimidated by gluten-free baking, which I need to do in order for both kids to have a treat, so they basically don’t get sweets or treats at home.
Being gestational diabetic will hopefully change that. I have a stack of recipes I want to try now that look reasonable to put together. I found one website (Maria Mind Body and Health) that has gotten me really thinking lots about the way I eat, namely about proportions. She follows an 80% fat, 15% protein, and 5% carb diet and also does nutritional consultations and has written books. Ultimately it’s anti-grain (think Wheat Belly but not as ego-centred as I found that book to be). Each blog post starts with a testimony of someone who has committed to this style of eating, and I have to say, their testimonies are really convincing, especially when it comes to diabetes (for me). The focus on fats, oddly, doesn’t feel foreign to me at all. I feel like I’ve been fighting a philosophy out there that fats are bad, but all I can remember from health classes is that bad fats are bad, but good fats are good. I’m not shy about loving fats (butter, coconut oil, avocados, etc), and I hate it when people give me the double-look or the lecture about how bad fats are for people. Ultimately, I feel a little vindicated with this website! Here is an educated person saying the same thing and getting great results with it! At any rate, I’m looking forward to trying some of her recipes with a couple alterations (she uses a specific sweetener that, as far as I can tell, is not available in Canada).
5.
Spring! It’s possible that it has finally sprung here! We were out a couple days ago enjoying the splashing and poking and not-freezing we were able to do outside. I have unfortunately noticed that Cassia does have a tendency to fall into puddles. And they are never just small puddles she falls in. They’re the type that fill the gum boots with water. Oh well. All a part of the spring experience, right? I’m itching to get the rake out and start raking the dead grass and leaves off the lawn. Next week promises to be tons warmer than even this, so I’m very excited!
6.
She loves cameras. If the back of the phone is even pointing in her direction, she starts giving it smiles. It is super duper cute.
7.
34 weeks pregnant. It’s sure getting closer. And I look like a deer caught in headlights. I think that applies figuratively as well as physically.
Don’t mind the mess. We try not to. And unfortunately, it’s not due to any real reason for being messy…it just is that way.


One Comment
Heidi
I discovered the fat emphasized diet when I was pregnant with my first and since have not been shy one bit about TONS OF BUTTER. If you haven’t read it, “The Coconut Oil Miracle” (book on Amazon), was what did it for me.
And also…eating and growth spurts…we’ve decided that food is not a battle we want to fight all the time, and so while I still give Callan some of everything, we don’t push him to eat and he usually ends up eating something (I don’t cook extra food and he gets hungry enough). Someone mentioned to me via a pediatrician (when I was really worried about his veggies) that at the rate he’s growing, if he gets a few servings a week of some kind of veggie, he’s doing good. He loves fruit, and there’s nothing wrong with getting those vitamins and fibers from fruit.
Your kids sound sweet, and your April Fools’ prank was hilarious. My car broke down that day, so I figured the universe had the last laugh and didn’t try anything.