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Meal Planning for Blended Family
Do you ever wish there was just one more day in the week? Time is one of the most precious gifts we can give ourselves and our children. As we step back into the busy days of online learning for our children, we are forced to balance just one more thing in our already busy lives. This meal plan is created to give back a bit of time to the moms trying to do it all.
Most of the meals are kid-approved. Like come on, “breakfast for dinner” is not the romantic dinner I plan for my partner and me, but on the weekends that the gang of picky eaters is at the other parents, we enjoy our favourites of curry or steak (not listed, but red wine is recommended).
The calendar also has easy-to-cook meals for kids, such as pasta dishes and make your own pizza. I love working with our kids in the kitchen and teaching them new skills that will build their confidence and help them be self-sufficient someday.
Recipes can be found on MamaOutpost Pinterest page. Happy Cooking! Would love to hear what meals were a hit in your house, please share your comments below and sign up for newsletter for more updates.
Mostly Healthy School Lunches
One week of outside of the box ideas for the picky kiddo that does not like sandwiches!
Who is excited for back to school?! Not sure who is more excited the kids or me! That said, it also means back to school lunches for PICKY EATERS!
One kid likes sandwiches, the other does not.
One kid likes crackers and cheese, the other does not.
Keeping track of likes and dislikes is almost a full-time job in itself. The thought of planning lunches that actually get eaten and mostly healthy can be overwhelming that is why I end each week with meal planning! I let each kid choose a couple of “must” items that they will enjoy (and eat) and try to make the lunch colourful and fun.
Here is my first week back to school lunch plan! Download and Print HERE Let me know what you think in the comments:
First’s of Loss & Life
It has been an incredible year of so many firsts, first Christmas, first birthday, first anniversary. But these are not the first as one may think, they are the first milestones of child loss. The pain of losing Aiden aches in my heart every day but each milestone also shows me that we will get through this. Life really does carry on, and we are so blessed to breathe the beautiful air every day. I thank Aiden every day for teaching me how special our lives really are.
It is also crazy to think that the next year will also be full of first but differently. We will celebrate our first Christmas, first birthday, and the first year with a new baby in her arms. It will be our rainbow after such a long storm.
In the last 365 days plus 1 month, I have felt so much devastation and grief but also so much love and hope at the same time. I sometimes feel guilty about the joy I feel for our new arrival. I feel like I am cheating grief somehow. I wonder what I would be like right now if I did not have this beautiful life growing inside of me keeping my mind busy and giving me something to look forward to. Emotions are so complex, to feel incredibly happy and incredibly sad in one breath. At times I even fear judgment from others, although deep down I know this is only my own judgment I feel. I judge myself for the happiness I feel for our new baby as I never want it to take away from my memory of Aiden and everything he was in our family. This feeling may be the strongest and most difficult first I have had to work through.
I remember the first time Jay and I discussed having a baby together. It was when Aiden, Declan and I were first in Memphis. We had so much hope then that this would be the cure we needed. One night, I whispered on the phone with Jay as the two boys slept soundly on either side of me in bed. We talked for hours about how beautiful a baby would be. How different an experience it would be together and how the baby would be part of all of us in our beautiful blended family. It was the first spark in the idea of us bringing a new life into this world together.
We also talked a lot about Lynkon that night. Lynkon was only 10 months old when Aiden was rushed to the hospital diagnosed with brain cancer. I remember the moment I had Lynkon I felt complete. 3 was the perfect number, or so I thought at the time. This shows us an example of how life and what you think you know can change so much. Leaving Lynkon at 10-month-old, still breastfeeding was of the topmost difficult things I have had to do in my life. Not only was my oldest terminally ill but I had to abandon this ideal life I had developed on my head and my new baby. I remember one doctor telling us during a bad scan early on that grief is a long process. It is not just the grief of losing the person, but the loss of the life you thought you would have. This has always stuck with me. I missed so many firsts with Lynkon, first steps, first words, first foods.
You never appreciate the small things until you realize the small things are what make the big things in life.
Now in the final weeks of pregnancy as I prepare more physically and mentally and everything becomes so real I am pretty much on an emotional roller coaster. Poor Jay, one minute I am euphoric, the next terrified and the next full-on sobs of both joy and grief.
I feel like a first time mom all over again but this time much more paranoid. I try to recall all the signs and symptoms of labour, what it’s like to have a newborn and everything in between. I swear your body makes you forget a lot of pregnancy and birth so you do it again. I also feel so many more fears than with all my other pregnancies. I think these fears have developed partly from being older but also because when that one in a million happens to you it filters through to the rest of your life. The last couple of appointments with my midwife have been filled with tears and anxiety as I race through a million what-if questions. I am told this is a normal feeling for parents who have experienced a loss but that does not comfort me in the middle of the night as I contemplate all the what if’s. I don’t really remember asking any questions with my other pregnancies other than, how much will it hurt and will there be drugs, oh to be in our 20’s again when we were invincible.
I know many who follow MamaOutpost have experienced child loss through miscarriage, stillbirth, accidents and cancer so I wanted to share my story with other moms struggling to see the sunshine again.
So how am I really preparing for childbirth after loss?
- I am reminding myself to not feel guilt over feeling joy
- I am reminding myself that love is infinite and it does not take away from my love for Aiden.
- I am reminding myself that I have no control over many of my worries and to let life play out as it needs to.
- I am reminding myself that even through tragedy in our lives there is always joys waiting around the corner (or for water to break).
Self Care
Well yesterday my psychologist said that it would be over a year wait list for me to see a CBT to help me with my anxiety, PTSD and Grief. She did however give me a list of online resources to work through counselling myself until I could see someone.
A lot of what we talked about was self-care; taking care of the body, practising mindfulness, taking moments for myself, talking myself down from the “worst-case” scenario in my head and taking it easy when I need to. So I thought about her advice for a while and decided to come up with a pretty easy Self-Care challenge for the month. Then I thought why not share it and see if others want to join me on this challenge!
Follow @mamaoutpost on Instagram or Facebook with hashtag #mamaoutpostselfcarechallenge to join the challenge, post photos and well let’s just love ourselves this month!
Just an Ordinary Day
Well I have been meaning to write for awhile… not deep or insightful just life but it’s writing, right?
November 10th, 2020
Aww look how great it looks! I say dripping with sweat and tears at the now two day process to get a new headboard setup! After sleeping with our mattress on the floor for well over a month I had saved enough from my makeup sales to finally purchase a bed frame. It felt so great, I was so excited! So yesterday I went out to the Brick to see options – well it turns out most items you need to preorder and WAIT – both which I am not good at!
I saw the headboard and fell in LOVE! They were just putting it together but I begged the store clerk to sell me the floor model! Happy Dance! Oh shit I need a frame! I had an ikea bed before with frame but it went to D’s room in the renovation as it was WAY to squeaky 😊🥰🤣! The store clerk set me up with a frame and even threw in two pillows! I load it all into my SUV with a smile. Everything was pretty flat so fit good with all the seats down. One of my traits would be poor sense of dimension and what will actually fit in my vehicle so I was very happy when everything fit nice. After school Declan helped me drag the headboard, frame and two pillows up the 37 stairs in our home. I was exhausted! Who knew getting a headboard could make you so tired! Needless to say after dinner with the 5 kids, zoom karate and bedtime routine I was fast asleep by 8:00pm last night.
I woke up refreshed this morning sooo excited to finally put my bed together after the boys went to school. After struggle for 30 minutes and a phone call to Jay I finally watched a YouTube of putting frames together. Turns out I was putting the locking part into the wrong hole. Mild sweats and a couple swear words but I did it! I allen-keyed the 20 bolts onto legs and headboard and then to the frame and finally I am ready to put the mattress on and relax!
At this point I am wondering why I ever thought the high top mattress was a good idea, it’s so awkward and heavy! I drag my 100+ lbs mattress to the frame put it on and what the !$&@!!! Turns out I also need a box spring! Ugggg! So I call around to a few places but nowhere had any you can just pick up same day! Ok ikea here I come! Oh wait a box spring will not fit in my vehicle! Ring Ring! Hello dearest brother, what are you and your truck doing today? I am so lucky to have such a great brother! So off we go after picking up my niece from school to come along as she had fell on a branch waiting for the bus that morning and somehow was feeling the effects after an hour at school. So here we go big family trip to ikea. I joke with my brother, “Does this not feel like the million of times you moved me in my 20s!” he laughs “Don’t remind me!”
While we drive I messaged a few people on marketplace hoping to find a better deal. Like is there really a big difference in box springs? I actually had a matching box spring to my bed when I first moved but sold it because my ikea frame did not need it! This is what I repeated numerous time through the day! Well we obviously can’t go to Ikea hungry so we stop for lunch at Kelsey’s. It was really nice having time with my niece and brother although he did make me pay for driving, well and I offered! It did turn out good though because Just as we sat down I received a message that the 50$ Queen box spring was still available!!! Sweet! I say. “Whoa whoa” says my brother “Where are they located?” I message back… Trainyards… My brother the bargain hunter “Tell her 40$ because of the distance” ok I laugh and shake my head but do as instructed. DEAL! We continue our lunch with my brother informing me the tricks and trades of marketplace shopping. Something I am not too familiar with at all! We finish lunch and head back to the mission of getting my box spring!
My brother exits to a road I am all too familiar with and prayed I would never have to be on again. Getting off at Riverside floods me with emotions but I am able to brush off the tears forming in my eyes and finally we arrived at a building. The lady meets us outside and we followed her up 4 flights of narrow stairs. Yeah I am not in the best of shape, I can be the first to admit, as I huff and puff and my thighs start to slightly burn reaching the top.
A quick exam and the box spring looks good. Back down the stairs awkwardly flipping and turning the box spring to make it fit the narrow hall and finally to the truck. The ride home is quick, my niece introduces me to TickToc and tries to convince me that I need a tickToc channel as well! I have 3 Facebook Pages, 1 Facebook Group, 1 Personal Facebook page and 2 Instagram accounts I think I am good!
Finally home it is now 2:30 in the afternoon! Up the 37 stairs to our bedroom and flip the box spring to frame! Step 1 complete! Flip the Mattress onto Box Spring! Step 2 complete! Make bed and Relax! Step 3 Finally complete! Ok nap time here I come till I get bombarded with the 5 kids and dinner and routine but until then I am pretty content on a mission completed! And I have never felt so high off the floor!!! PS. Moving the pictures to centre above the bed is a project for another day!
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