Mini-Update or "It's About Time! Where've You Been Already?!"

Hey All! Finally, at last, a super-mini update from me, in that I simply can't go back and fill in all the blanks, but I'm doing what I can.

Facebooking for Mental Health
I've been super duper busy, as you've probably imagined. In what online time I have, which comes in fits and spurts (and not extended sit-downs,) I've been Facebooking and keeping up with the vast majority of my peeps that way. Apologies to my non-facebooking friends, but you are in the tiny majority and it's much MUCH faster to keep up with everyone via facebook, much faster than via e-mails and blogging. So, there I live, when online, much of the time.

Facebook is actually sanity-saving for me! I'm kinda sequestered at home for the next, oh, few years, and checking my Home page on fb is like entering a big room filled with friends, each with something interesting to share. It's my cafe-at-home, my window on the world, my social outlet. I work well in crowded, noisy places, so it truly is a sanity-saver for me. =)

SAHM Status
Yep, I'm pretty much a Stay At Home Mom now. Not entirely! I'm also a Work At (from) Home Mom, and will hopefully be doing more in that respect soon. For now, I'm way too busy to do much money-making.

In a big family meeting, we determined that if I do the cooking for the household (including Gigi), we can save as much as 1/2 my paycheck a month in non-wasted food/not eating out. A significant amount! Plus, we'd all get healthier, as Gigi and I really need to be on SCD right now and it requires a lot of time-intensive home cooking - impossible for Gigi or I to do while working (and especially me while working and with babe-in-arms!) So, I've taken on a more traditional role in our household, with menu-planning, shopping, and cooking all lunches and dinners 7-days a week and providing some breakfast foods too.

Cooking, cooking, cooking... Dishes, dishes, dishes.... Cooking... Dishes.... Changing diapers....
Between taking care of Laurel and seeing to the food, I'm pretty well socked in all day everyday, with little time to spare for other things. In the past two weeks, I have made From Scratch:

• A Vat of tomato sauce
• Mayonnaise (need to make more now!)
• Yogurt (REALLY need to make more now!)
• Garlic "bread" w/ almond flour
• Lots of g-free muffins
• 30 boiled eggs (one a day each!)
• Chicken & tuna salads galore

Entrees have included:

• Stuffed zucchini
• Pizza (A big deal to make g-free from scratch!)
• Eggplant-spinach lasagna
• "Mock Antipasto" salad w/ anchovies =)
• Gluten-free crepes/pancakes
• Baked apples (From-scratch dessert!)
• And so much more....

So as you can see, I've been swamped. I'm a good cook but I'm no chef, and I'm not very fast. To my Relief, The E.P. and Gigi have both enjoyed the food and not gone (too) hungry -- a real challenge when it comes to preparing "bag" lunches for all three of us! Hurray for good leftovers =)

I wanted to share this with you to give you a taste (har!) of what my days are like right now. Lots of cooking and dish washing and diaper laundry and baby feeding and holding! It's a traditional role I never fully envisioned myself in, but one that I've always wanted -- not to be "traditional" but to be able to feed my family truly healthy home cooked meals to get us healthy, and to be able to have my child with me all day regardless of what I'm up to. Events have worked out this way, and it's a big adjustment to see myself as a SAHM! ...Though, I do hope to be a true WAHM fairly soon. I have big plans in store, if I could just find time to carry them out...