Mother's Day

This is a pretty special Mother's Day for me. I've spent three Mother's Days pregnant, and this will be my sixth Mother's Day since Lucas first made me a mom. But what makes this one special is that it is the first Mother's Day I get to spend with my mother since I became a mom. We've been separated by a continent or two for the last 10 years, and the upcoming birth of my twins (next week! YIKES!) is what allowed her to be here with me this year.

My two precious children who made me a mom.

Becoming a mother is what enables you to really appreciate your own mom. Nothing like a few years of being pregnant, nursing, changing diapers, tucking into bed, potty training, snuggling, tickling and playing to make you think of all your mom did for you. All she did to prepare you to become a mom yourself one day. And now I have the opportunity to see my mother not only as mom, but also as a grandma.

Top left: Holding her first born's first born (Lucas). Top right: Holding the second born (Elena)
Bottom: This week - enjoying ice cream together.

 At this point in my life, I am so grateful to have my mom around. Feeling massively pregnant my mom has been a wonderful help around the house in the last 10 days since she arrived in Brazil. I'm not quite sure how I would be managing without her. The kids love her and are having a great time with Nana around.

Mom, in the midst of this sure-to-be-life-changing event, I am cherishing the quiet moments we have together to drink tea, talk and pray together, and enjoy the friendship we have developed despite living so far apart normally. I am inspired by your selfless servant's heart and I hope you know how loved and valued you are. Love you!!

Of course, there is also the other side of our family, and I could not do a Mother's Day post without also talking about my amazing mother-in-law. All the clichéd jokes about mothers-in-law are totally irrelevant in our case (although I do like to clean my house before my mil arrives - even if she's coming to help me clean...) I have been welcomed into the family as a true daughter and my mother-in-law continually shows her love for me and our little family in a multitude of ways that would take too long to mention here. I'm also not quite sure how I would have managed the past few months without her.

Top left: With Lucas (one of our first few days in Brazil) Top right: With Elena
Bottom: Reading to both kids

Mom, I have been so blessed to spend the last few Mother's Days with you. You continue to amaze me with the way you are constantly serving those around you and opening your home to anyone who needs a place to stay. I am so thankful for our relationship that has flourished over the last few years as you've helped me adapt to Brazil, go through two pregnancies and strengthened me as a mom and wife. Love you!

A rare moment with my Mom,  Mother-in-law and my kids. (At the Zoo in Sao Paulo)

So I guess this is a doubly special Mother's Day as I get to spend it in anticipation of two more little blessings and in the wonderful company of my two moms and two crazy kids (who for some reason got up early today and haven't yet figured out that mom needs at least one day to sleep in and get breakfast in bed). Maybe next year?

Happy Mother's Day!

Preparing for the Twins - The Kids - Part 2

I can't quite believe that in a little over four weeks we'll be welcoming our twins into the world! There are lots of things to get ready still in our house, and while we can do a lot to prepare, we can't really predict how our kids will react to the twins.

A few weeks ago we had a visit from their Aunt Grace and cousin Kevin and were able to spend a few days with them. Kevin turned 9 months old during their trip here. We haven't had a lot of interaction with smaller babies recently, so I was interested to see how they would behave around Kevin.

Lots of fun with family! 

 I was happy to see how gentle Lucas and Elena were with Kevin. We discovered pretty quickly that it was much better to have only one of them playing with Kevin at a time - otherwise the poor little guy was a little overwhelmed with two cousins so close. So I guess it's good we'll have two little girls - each big kid can entertain a little one. :)

I'm not sure exactly what game these two were playing, but it sure looked like they were getting ready to hold their baby sisters! 

Thankfully both my kids were pretty good eaters as babies, but I can already imagine how much more challenging it will be with feeding two at the same time - so I'm sure I'll be asking my little helpers to pitch in. While Kevin was here, both Lucas and Elena had a chance to help feed him. It was pretty cute. Check it out...

Any other tips for helping my kids prepare for the twins' arrival?

Ferocious Fours

We have hit some big milestones with our oldest boy turning four this month. 

He finally gave up his beloved papaz (pacifier) by throwing his last remaining broken one into the trash, saying, "bye bye papaz" and that was the last of it. (Apart for a few random requests now and then that are easily squashed / forgotten). 

He also mastered all his potty business, day and night and now we're down to one diaper a day for Elena (at night - although she is pretty much ready to get rid of that one too). 

He gave up his daily nap (much to mommy's dismay).

I had this all ready for his birth story post - was just waiting on the 4 years old shot! My how time flies. 

Now we are dealing with the "ferocious fours". 

fe·ro·cious - extreme or intense.

Every emotion he feels is to the extreme! He was so excited about his construction themed party that he prayed about it for a few days before the party. We also get the intense frustration when he can't do things all on his own, when mommy decides something needs to stop, or we need to go do another activity. This feels like the most difficult time we've have with him in terms of discipline. (Of course, this is probably because we are in the middle of it right. now. With another child. And a pregnant/sick/exhausted mommy.) He is learning to express the whole range of emotions and we are trying to teach him how to deal with anger and sadness in appropriate ways.

I think most "stages" of parenting can feel like the worst when you are going through them. I certainly remember feeling extremely overwhelmed in the first few weeks of Lucas' life. Now I look back and wish I had let him sleep on my chest more, rocked him in the chair more and cherished that season (as crazy and sleep-deprived as it was). 

When you are in the thick of the "ones" they can often be the Worrisome Ones. Is my child developing on schedule? Will he ever start talking? Could he please eat more fruit than just bananas? Why won't he sleep through the night? Of course once you hit the twos - the ones start to look more like the Wonderful Ones!

The Terrible Twos turn into Terrific Twos when you hit the Traumatic Threes.

The Traumatic Threes turn into Thrilling Threes when you hit the Ferocious Fours.

Now, don't think that it just gets worse with every passing year. It's just different. New challenges to keep you on your toes. And with new challenges, come new blessings and fresh developments that make your relationship with your child so much deeper and stronger. The learning curve is pretty steep in motherhood - and we're never going to stop learning. So we stick through it knowing that when we look back we will see the foundations that were put in place through laughter, tears, sleepless nights and long days. We will remember 80% of the good things and probably only 10% of the bad things. 

So if you feel like you're in a really bad/hard/challenging stage of parenting, don't give up. It will get better. (And then worse, and then better again, but that's not really the point.) It is all part of the journey, yours as a mother, and your childs. Embrace it. 

Even when it feels like you can't make it to bedtime.   

Belated Birth Story: My Firstborn

Did you know my husband delivered our first child? No, he's not a doctor, or a nurse, or even medically trained at all. But I shudder to think of what could have happened had God not blessed me with a strong, smart and brave hubby who, in that very crucial moment, knew just how to help me deliver our son...

Let's go back a bit, considering my firstborn is turning 4 today. I never really wrote down my birth story and I know it's something I'll love to look back on.

2008: Hubby and I had been married almost three years and I had baby fever. Bad. We were working as missionaries in Bangladesh with an international church, serving as youth and worship leaders. The time was right. In March of 2008 we conceived.

After a very easy pregnancy, we were getting close to the due date, and no signs of anything. I knew that a lot of first pregnancies are often late, so I wasn't worried. I was hoping for a natural birth, and my doctor would let me go until 41 weeks before inducing me. So 39 and 40 weeks passed. We were enjoying the cool season in Bangladesh, celebrating Christmas with our friends and cherishing the moments, just the two of us. The "due date" was Dec 28, 2008. On New Year's Eve we attended a party - still nothing. It would be a 2009 baby for us.

January 2nd, 2009: Friday, and usually a church day for us. Our church met on Friday afternoons in another church's building and the sanctuary was 4 floors up - tall floors and no elevators. So we decided to skip church that day and instead headed out for a leisurely evening of dinner out and card games at the American Club (Recreation center provided for embassy members, American expats and other International guests). Not sure it was the best idea to go waddling around, riding rickshaws and whatnot at this stage of a pregnancy, but I guess it worked - right after we ordered our food I went to the bathroom and my water broke. I had not had any signs of labor until that point.

We texted our friends who were just finishing up the church service and asked them to pick us up. (We had no car.) They thought we were joking as just minutes earlier David had texted to see if they wanted to join us for dinner. I sat in the bar, starting to feel contractions, as we waited for our ride.

We also called our midwife, Diane, and she and her husband drove us to our home to pick up our bags, and then on to the hospital. Contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart and about 30 seconds long by this point. We were fortunate to make the trip across town to our hospital at a good time of the week, not too much traffic (which can sometimes be at a standstill for hours).

Upon arriving at the hospital, about an hour after my water broke, we asked for a wheelchair and made our way up to the maternity ward. We had done no pre-registering or anything, but soon I had my nice hospital gown (top and skirt) and my own labor/delivery room with my own bathroom. David later had to go back down to the emergency desk to officially register me.

Getting settled for a LONG night ahead. 

I was well stocked up with snacks, juices and lots of water. Before giving birth in a foreign country and hospital, I had asked another missionary woman about her experiences giving birth in this hospital and what advice she had for me. The biggest thing she said was to know what I wanted and not let the doctors walk all over me. So when they asked to put an IV of antibiotics in as soon as I got there I said no. There was no way I was going to be chained to the bed by an IV line when my water had just broke and there was no chance of infection.

Being in a third world country, we had no birthing classes or anything like that. So all I knew was what I had read and a few pieces of advice from other new moms. I didn't really want an epidural, and it's a good thing because the hospital was only equipped to provide one during office hours, when their anesthesiologist was on duty (7am - 7pm or something like that). I arrived at about 7:30pm. So I dealt with my labor pains by walking a lot, squatting, swaying, and taking baths. I was monitored every few hours and basically left alone for most of the night. I didn't have music, candles or anything else, just used my imagination to take me away to a calm and peaceful beach scene through each contraction.

I was allowed to have one person accompanying me, so my hubby, David and our friend who is a midwife (not connected to the hospital or recognized by them), Diane, took turns staying with me and resting.

January 3, 2009: This is where it starts to get blurry. I am not a night person, so to be in labor throughout the night was definitely not fun. It got to a point at the end where I was falling asleep in between contractions! David was faithfully timing them on his phone and keeping our parents and family (in Brazil and Canada) up to date on my progress through Facebook.

Finally, at about 5:30am, I was at 10cm dilated and ready to go. Soon I had the whole team of nurses and my doctor there with David. Since I was only allowed one person with me, Diane was waiting outside. I felt like I pushed forever. And nothing was happening. My feet were up and I had those handy handles for my arms. And there was the problem. I was pushing with my arms, not my stomach. I was pushing on those handles, and actually closing my hips instead of opening them up. By this point I had asked the doctor how many more pushes and she had given up and went to sit in the corner, convinced it would just take more time.

But somehow David sensed there was something amiss, and he noticed what I was doing wrong. He told me the next time to pull with my hands and push with my hips. Sure enough, after two more pushes Lucas came flying out, the nurses barely had time to grab him and fling him on my belly. If he had been stuck in the birth canal any longer, who knows what kind of oxygen loss he could have suffered.

That, is how my husband delivered our first son. Lucas was born at 6:45am, after almost exactly 12 hours of labor.

Lucas was whisked away to get checked out and I was stitched up (had an episiotomy). We were told Lucas had some signs of distress and was looking "a little pale". They wanted to take him to the NICU for observation. We called my parents and my dad encouraged David to go with Lucas to the NICU to make sure they didn't try anything funny. Sure enough, they wanted to give him antibiotics and put him on oxygen. He would not stand to have the oxygen mask around his face and kept swiping at it.

Even though we were told Lucas might have to stay in the NICU for up to 48 hours, at about 10:00am, after I had been taken to my recovery room, Lucas was brought to us there. Exhausted, and still in pain from the worst post-delivery stitching ever, it was such a surreal experience to hold our little son.

Holding Lucas for the first time. 

We spent only one night in the hospital before taking Lucas home.

And now, here we are in 2013, celebrating this little boy's 4th birthday! My, how time flies.

Saturday Sleep-In

{and a few random tidbits from our weekend}

I've written before on how much I love (and desperately need) sleep. Sleeping in was something that used to happen very regularly on a Saturday morning and always included waking up to a clock that started with double digits. Now, of course, that has been drastically re-defined. Anything after 7:00am is classified as a sleep-in. 

Friday was a holiday here and we took the kids into Sao Paulo to meet some friends and then spent the afternoon/evening at Grandma's house. The one hour drive home is our favorite (and easiest) way to put the kids to bed after a long day. And even now that Lucas is getting older, and staying awake the whole ride home, he is usually pretty happy to get into his own bed when we arrive. 

I was pretty sure, however, that despite the long day and later bedtime, I would still be woken by my little angels before 6:30. It seems sometimes that the later they go to bed, the earlier they wake up! So imagine my surprise when Lucas comes into our room at 7:30 (Yes! 7:30 people!!) to inform me that Elena needed me. Our baby monitor occasionally cuts out and so I wasn't hearing her call for me. Once we were all up and relaxing in the living room I saw some evidence that Lucas must've been awake for a while before hearing Elena calling and then summoning me - mainly a freshly finished cup of yogurt. But you know what? I am more than happy to let him get up, get a snack and entertain himself for a bit in the morning (especially with Elena safely in her crib) so I can have a resemblance of a sleep-in. Hooray for growing up :)

More evidence of growing up - look how nicely they are sharing the blocks!

Also wanted to share this precious conversation that happened between Lucas and his grandma. They were talking about his cool car and cool house when grandma asked, "And do you have a cool mommy and a cool daddy?" To which Lucas replied, "No, I don't have a cool mommy and a cool daddy, they're just old." (Clearly to him "cool" is synonymous with "new")

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Sharing - and Co-Hosting Monday Mom Musings

Sharing. It's something we all have to learn to do. We've all heard the phrase "sharing is caring" and it's one of the big lessons we have to teach our kids. Especially when you have more than one. Before Elena was born I was worried about how it would be raising two kids who were so close in age. But the things I worried about weren't hard at all. Caring for a newborn and a toddler wasn't too bad - after all, I was already a pro at diaper changing, giving baths, breastfeeding, sleep routines and the like.

It was managing my time and balancing the two that became tough - right around when Elena became mobile. Because then she became very interested in whatever Lucas was doing and he wasn't old enough or mature enough to be able to/want to share with her.

Why is it that kids only want the toy that the other is playing with? And once discarded by one, it is often forgotten by the other as well. We are working hard on sharing and taking turns in our house. Distraction is also a widely used technique. I just have to make sure I distract the other one with a quiet toy - anything that makes any noise will immediately attract the other and we have to start all over again.

How do you help your kids to share?

Lucas "shares" ALL the toys and books with Elena in her crib.

We enjoy games and activities that make sharing easier.

Another phrase we use with our kids is, "it's more FUN if you share" - and as adults it's true too! I'm so excited to share the link-up {Monday Mom Musings} with my new blogging friend Jelli from Jellibean Journals. Check it out and share your mommy stories. 

Now it’s your turn! Please join me and link up your {Monday Mom Musings}; anecdotes, game & activity ideas, gems of wisdom, crafts, recent triumphs, or anything else that you’ve learned or would like to share with us this week about parenting.

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Make a pal! Visit {at least} the two posts ahead of yours & comment!! As I visit every link, I smile to see you all sharing ♥ .

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Smooth Sailing

These days don't come around all that often, so I'm going to take this opportunity to write it down for posterity! We had a wonderful day yesterday. Nothing special happened, it was a normal school day for the kids, but for some reason, it was just smooth sailing all the way to bedtime. 

Part of it might be the fact that the kids actually slept in a little, only waking up just before 7. Usually it's sometime between 6 - 6:30.

Once they got home from school they enjoyed their usual little snack and a 10 minute TV show before heading to their room to read a few books and lie down for their nap. I just love it when I can feel Elena falling asleep on my lap as I read to them, her little head just gets heavier and starts to flop to one side, and her breathing becomes so slow and deep. They're both getting so big it's hard for us all to fit in one chair, but we'll keep it up as long as we can. 

Maybe it was the fact that I had done a lot of meal prep in the morning which meant I didn't really have much to do to prepare dinner.

After naps and another snack, I found the kids had hidden themselves in our bedroom. They aren't usually allowed to play in there, but today Lucas wanted to make a tent. So I got out a clean sheet, some clothes-pins, a random piece of wooden dowel that was lying around and made us a big tent. We probably spent at least an hour playing in there and reading books. Just awesome.

It's nice when the kids find something that they can do together that doesn't involve fighting and stealing toys from each other. 

Of course, we also had to turn off all the lights and get the flashlight out for a bit.

After we had exhausted the tent, the kids ran around outside while I finished making supper, then it was bath time and bed. The kids were nice, kind, gentle and most of all, pretty obedient!

Hoping for lots more days like this!

Essential Mommy Skills

Before Lucas was born, I'd had very little exposure to babies. I knew I wanted to be a mom, and just assumed that most things would come pretty naturally. And while some things did happen very naturally and easily, others are, well, definitely by trial and error. I am by no means a Super-Mommy, but I have picked up a few skills to keep in my arsenal.

1. Early on with Lucas I learned to nurse him on one side while pumping the other. This is a convenient way to store up some extra bottles of milk for when you're out or you need someone else to feed him. It is also an efficient (although not modest) way of using your nursing time. So don't try this one in public!

2. It's pretty easy to change a diaper when your baby is still pretty much immobile. We could probably even change a diaper in the dark with our eyes closed and one hand behind our back. But when they start moving, it can become a little trickier. After a good 5 years of combined diaper usage so far, I think it's safe to say I've become a master at wrangling a squirmy toddler in all sorts of places, to change their diaper without hurting them or allowing them to hurt me! Oh yes, I've also managed to become a pro at changing a diaper while the toddler is standing up. (Not recommended for the poopy ones though!)

3. The ability to check on your child and attend to all their needs in the middle of the night without actually waking up or remembering. (Also known as the One-Eyed-Mama.)

4. This one took a little practice, but has already been very useful - being able to crack an egg with one hand, while holding your baby/toddler in the other hand. It is pretty amazing what you are able to do with one hand; washing dishes, cooking on the stove (without burning your little ones feet), ironing clothes (admittedly this one is pretty tough).

5. The mommy-sense of just knowing when something suspicious is going on, being able to almost magically find that favorite missing toy, and the power to cure owies with a kiss and a hug.

 6. Learning to let go, embrace the messiness of life, cherish the moments, grow in patience, kindness, love and gentleness, and be thankful for each and every day we get to pour into our kids lives. (Still working on this on those hard days, but boy, are these two ever worth it!)

What's your mommy super-power or essential skill?

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Saturday Morning

My kids have gotten into a nice weekday routine now that we've finally kicked the colds (mostly) and they are back to school every day. Namely, they both still go down for a nice nap after getting home from school, having a small snack and reading a few books in their (darkened) room.

Unfortunately, over the last few weekends, I have discovered that they don't get as tired out at home, and we are staring to have a weekly Saturday nap battle. And everyone knows, this momma NEEDS nap time for her sanity. It's just a must.

So I am starting to make sure the kids have lots of energetic activities to do on Saturday morning, hopefully enforcing a no-war zone around nap time. 

Today we have played a lot of cars, had a dance party and created an obstacle course. Now that Lucas is getting older and more into building things, it's a lot of fun for him. We just pulled out our two collapsible tunnels and used what we have in our living/dining room. Go through the tunnel, climb over the chair, go around the table, climb over some more chairs, jump over a few things and presto! They ran around for a good 10 minutes, then spent at least 15 more minutes rearranging and doing it all over again! Lots of cheering and high fives from mommy and hopefully some tired out kids.

We also used an old packing box to make an impromptu slide.

I'll let you know how nap time goes today!

Update: After lunch, a short tv show (10 minutes) and ONE BOOK, Elena was out. Lucas read one more book with me and laid down, pulled up his blanket and went straight to sleep. Happy Mommy here. 

Children's Week at Pre-School

As I mentioned on Monday, the kids had all kinds of special things planned for them by the teachers at their pre-school to celebrate Children's Day which is tomorrow. Their patience at taking photos only lasted for the first day but I did manage to get a few of them in their various outfits for the different days.

Crazy hair day!

Pyjama day - Lucas in Backyardigans and Elena in a Princess set.
Side note: my kids L.O.V.E. the Backyardigans, they ask to watch it at least twice a day, and I could probably sing you a song from every. single. episode.  

Dress-Up Day - A princess and Superman. You can tell Lucas was really not into taking photos on this day! 

Mismatch day - two very different plaids with mismatched shoes. 

Mismatch day - flowers, dots, stripes and mismatched shoes.

The kids had a great week, and even though I picked out all their clothes, they enjoyed wearing something different each day, and it also gave me a few days to wash all their uniforms. Tomorrow they have the day off school, and hopefully the presents they get in the morning will keep them occupied for a good few hours. I can hope, right?

Big Sister and Crazy Hair

Although Elena is our youngest, because she and Lucas are so close, she is starting to display some "older sister" qualities. 

Mealtimes are sometimes a struggle for us, not with Elena, but with Lucas. He usually has ants in his pants, can't sit still and wants help with eating. Elena, on the other hand needs no encouragement and is a great eater. The other night as I was sitting down with the kids to eat, Lucas once again pleaded with me, "momma, feed me!" to which I replied, "Lucas you are big enough to feed yourself. Just look at Elena, she's eating so well!"

Lucas took one look at Elena, sitting there next to him eating so contentedly, and asked so sweetly, "Elena, you feed me?" and in true older sister fashion, Elena picked up his spoon and fed him the rest of his food. Sure, the spoons got switched and lots of food and germs were shared, but by the end both were fed and both plates were empty and I could actually enjoy my own meal. It was quite funny to watch. 

In the event we have another child, Elena is going to be a great older sister and a big help to mommy.

In other news, at the end of this week we have a holiday. October 12th is Children's Day here and so the kids have the day off school and it is customary for them to receive a gift on this day. As well as that, their pre-school has planned a week of fun things for them to do in the run-up to the holiday. 

Today is crazy hair day. At first Lucas was a little hesitant when I said I was going to make his hair look funny, "But mommy, everyone will laugh at me" and I explained that no one was going to laugh because everyone was going to have funny hair. So he let me try to gel his hair into a mohawk. Elena also wanted gel in her hair but I thought it was too long for it to do much, so we tied a whole bunch of little pony tails resulting in a super cute "palm tree" look. 

All ready for school in their cute uniform and crazy hair.

Tomorrow is pyjama day!

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The "Whys"

Yes, we have hit that dreaded stage, the "why" stage, with our oldest. Ack! Mom is supposed to have all the answers, right? At least we are to let them believe that for as long as we possibly can. And how do we do that? By answering all. their. questions.

On average we get about five "whys" in any given conversation. Here's one that happened recently, as we were watching fish, waiting for our car to get pulled out of the parking lot (yay for cheap valet in Brazil - super nice when you have a big car on narrow roads and don't want to try to parallel park.)

via

Lucas: Can I touch it?
Me: No, Lucas.
Lucas: Why?
Me: Because the fish needs to be in water, so you can't take it out.
Lucas: But why?
Me: Because if you take the fish out, it will flop all over the place. Fish need water to live.
Lucas: But why?
Me: Because they swim in the water and if you take it out, it can't swim.
Lucas: But....
Me: No buts, let's get out of here! (distraction technique at it's finest)

Sometimes I think he also has the memory of a fish because I swear we had that conversation at least three times while we waited for our car.

Now, I don't want to brush off my kid and abruptly end every conversation that starts with "why". I want to encourage a love of learning, and it starts with being able to ask questions. I never want my kids to think they can't ask me something. So I try to answer as simply and briefly as possible so he will understand, and stay patient while repeating things over and over and over.

But I don't have all the answers, no surprise there. I do have some questions of my own though.

Why do kids choose the most inopportune moment to have a potty crisis?

Why do kids think the toilet bowl is a good alternative to the sink for washing hands?

Why do kids put everything into their mouth? (including previously mentioned "potty hands")

Why do kids wake up just as you're ready for bed, lights out, teeth brushed and dozing off? It's like they have special radar or something.

Most of these questions remain in my mind, probably never to be answered, but my kids are also the target of "why" questions, usually this one:

"Lucas, why did you do that?"

As my kids get older, develop a better grasp on their language, communication and knowledge, I have an idea as to how to deal with the "whys"...

Lucas: Mommy, why is the sky blue?
Me: Why do you think the sky is blue?
Lucas:...
Me: :)

Share your "why" questions (yours or your kids) in the comments!

Bilingual

You know, those people; the ones who have multiple languages stuck under their belt, switching effortlessly between the two, depending on the person and situation. Those people who can start a sentence in one language and finish in another. I don't like them. Ok, that's not true. In fact, most of the bilinguals I know, I love. :) It's just that I'm jealous that they grew up speaking two languages and can't remember how they learned them. I, on the other hand, despite living 12 years in Asia, got by with English and a little bit of Bangla. Definitely not enough to be considered fluent or bilingual. And so I find myself here in Brazil, struggling to learn another language, wishing I was gifted in that area like my dad is, and raising two kids to be bilingual.

When I met my husband at university, we spoke English all the time. (He is my favorite bilingual) Admittedly he did try several times to get me to learn Portuguese in those early months/years together, but as we were living in Canada and then Bangladesh, it was hard for me to add on another language. It wasn't until we moved to Brazil in 2009 that I really started learning Portuguese. I have since forgotten any Bangla I used to know, and refuse to think about any French I once knew (having studied it for 7 years in school).

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There's lots of differing advice out there about how to raise your kids to speak more than one language. Some suggest that each parent exclusively speak one language with their kid. In our case, my hubby would speak only Portuguese and I would speak only English. But what happens when you are all together?

Since we are living in a dominantly Portuguese culture we have done it this way; when we are at home, we all speak English. When we're out, I almost always speak English with the kids and hubby alternates.

It has been interesting to see how our kids are starting to incorporate both languages into their arsenal. Lucas only really started talking a few months after he turned two - a little delay probably because he was getting two languages, and when he started, it was all English. He started pre-school a few months before he turned three, and while the first few weeks were challenging, he adapted very well to the Portuguese-only environment. Soon he was coming home singing Portuguese songs and learning to distinguish between the two languages.

People sometimes ask me how Lucas is doing with Portuguese and it's a little hard to know exactly how much he knows because he usually speaks English with me. For a while he would come home from school speaking Portuguese and if I would respond in English, he would say, "Não, mamãe, fala português" (no, mom, speak Portuguese!) Now I think he understands that it's easier for him to speak English to me. When we are out, however, he happily speaks Portuguese to people around, at church, at the shops, to kids at the park. Sometimes when he's playing by himself I hear him switching between languages. And it's so cute.

We have a lot of books in English and Portuguese at home. 

For now I think I know a little more Portuguese than he does, but I know the day will come when he will start correcting me. :)

So I'd better get back to my language study...

Mommy to Mommy - Eating with Kiddos

Very pumped to share with my readers my first "guest" post on one of my new favorite blogs Monkeys and Tutus. Misty started this great series called Mommy to Mommy - Check out this week's post and click the links to see more on her blog. 

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Today I am so excited for Mommy To Mommy Q&A because we are talking about Eating with Kiddos!  Lots of great advice from some awesome mommies!  Hope you find something that helps you! I know I did! Feel free to leave your advice in the comments as well!  

Lets meet this week's mommies!

Cindy from Vegetarian Mamma

Cindy: I am a stay at home blogging mamma and loving every minute with my two energetic boys! My oldest little man is 5 and my youngest is 2.  My husband is an engineer in the food industry.  Our family is vegetarian and our youngest son was diagnosed with a life threatening peanut and tree nut allergies as well a a dairy allergy and gluten intolerance.  We blog about recipes that are adaptable for all eating styles!

Twitter:  @vegetarianmamma

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vegetarian-Mamma/126775957379585

Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/CindyDG

Sarah Eleanor from Spoon Fed Baby

Hi, I'm Sarah Eleanor from Spoon Fed Baby.  I blog about homemade baby food, play time ideas, products I love and well, um, staying sane as a stay at home mom!  My son is 13 months old and thankfully not walking yet (knock on wood). My husband is awesome and sometimes reads my blog (Ha!). 

Facebook

Twitter

Taara from Dual Voltage

Coffee drinker, candy addict and self professed introvert, Taara blogs at Dual Voltage on the joys and challenges of living as a missionary abroad and raising her two kids, Lucas (3.5) and Elena (2) in a multi-cultural context. At her blog you'll find everything from craft tutorials to party ideas, cultural observations to parenting epiphanies, and all sorts of random tidbits along the way. 

Q-  How do you get your kids to try new things?  My younger 2 will try anything, my oldest absolutely will not!  

Cindy: Getting to try new food items can be so tricky!  Often times its how its presented to the kiddos that gets them hooked!  Don't be afraid to "play" with your food!  A fellow blogger told me...you cooked that food with love, so put it on your plate with love. That is very true.  Take some time and present a new veggie nicely on the plate, instead of slopping it down (I am so guilty of doing this in the past!) Try mixing a new food with a food that your child likes.  Getting them used to the taste a little bit at a time helps!

Sarah Eleanor: My son has been an awesome eater so far.  He chows down anything you set in front of him.  Now that he is over 1 and is becoming more aware and more toddler-ish, I find that I have to be ok with letting him eat the stuff he likes best (bread and fruit) first and then work in the new food after he is satisfied with the favorites.  Mixing them onto his fork together helps also because he is getting his old standby plus the new flavor. 

Taara: We try to eat a lot of different foods, and get the kids to at least try a little bit of everything that is served. We also have a little song we sing about how if you "try it, try it, you just might like it"  and "it's good to try something new". If a recipe really goes over bad I'll wait a few weeks before trying it again, and if it's still a no-go then we probably won't try it again. Also depends on how mommy feels about it. If I really like it I'll give it another go.  

Q - Do you have creative ways to get veggies in your kidos?  Again my youngest 2 no prob but the only veggies I can get my oldest to eat is Campbells Veggie Vegetarian soup haha 

Cindy: One of my favorite tricks that even my 5 year old still likes is putting their food into a 6 hole muffin tin! My kids will practically eat anything from a muffin tin.  Again, its how the food is arranged.  Try to vary the color, texture, etc of the veggies.  I had a friend that made a HUGE selection of veggies for her 3 kids.  She had them sample all the veggies.  They had to pick 3 veggies that they promised to eat.  She serves at least one at dinner everyday.  Her kids have stuck to the plan because they have ownership in making the choice of those veggies!  Let kids take ownership in the store by picking out veggies and also let them take ownership in the kitchen!

Sarah Eleanor: My son just starting to not care for the veggies as much.  He will eventually eat them but just not with as much gusto as before.  Putting veggies into mini meatballs or muffins is a great way to get them in, because they are in something he loves to chow down on. 

Taara: My kids are somewhat picky on the veggie front so I make a lot of one-dish meals that you can put tons of veggies in without them really noticing. When I make spaghetti sauce I put in spinach and grated carrots and even I can't notice a difference in the taste. We do try to have salad once in a while and get them to eat raw veggies, like carrots, tomatoes and cucumbers (with dip if it helps!). Soups are also a great way of getting their veggies, I especially like a homemade beef barley soup. Soups are good too because you can make a huge batch and freeze part of it. Then serve it with yummy bread and only give them the bread once they've eaten part of their soup. No joke, we bribe our kids to eat their veggies, with bread. :) 

Q - Where do you go to find new recipes or ideas for foods for your kids?

Cindy:  I love visiting websites and surfing the web for recipes. I find many recipes at my Gluten Free Fridays recipe party on my site!  Its fun to have others come and link up their favorite GF foods!

Sarah Eleanor: I use Weelicious, Pinterest (duh!) and Wholesome Baby Food.  I relied on the last one tons as I was beginning to introduce solids.  Each food is broken down with nutrition information, when to intoduce it, and lots of tips! 

Taara: I signed up with allrecipes.com and get a new recipe every day - some are really good. I keep a lot of my recipes there. Other than that I also make up stuff a lot of the time and have a few really good stand-by recipes that I can make when all else fails. 

Q-  Can you share a fun kid approved recipe?

Cindy:  This is our favorite kid approved snack! Frozen Chocolate Banana Bites! http://vegetarianmamma.com/chocolate-bloghop-frozen-chocolate-banana-bites-chocolatelove/

Sarah Eleanor: One of my son's favorite meals for breakfast is muffins.  I found a recipe for whole wheat muffins at food.com that include carrots, zucchini and apples.  He chows them down for breakfast and I feel good that he is getting some veggies in! 

Taara: Here is a post I wrote a while ago about getting your kids to eat Spinach, with a super easy recipe (http://dualvoltage.blogspot.com.br/2012/04/how-to-get-your-kids-to-eat-spinach.html)

It's basically a pasta alfredo sauce made with bacon, garlic, cream, spinach and parmesan cheese. My kids love almost all things pasta. (except Kraft mac n cheese!)

Q - Do you let your kids cook with you?  What age did you start letting them help? 

Cindy: As soon as they could hold a spoon I let them "help"  Maybe it takes a litlte more prep work, but they kids love it!  Have them help by pouring or dumping items into a bigger bowl.  They can stir.  Its interesting that my 2 year old will try anything that I am prepping to cook.  He may be apprehensive at the table to try something new but if he's helped cook it....he'll try it.

Sarah Eleanor: Well, baby boy is only 13 months right now, so we haven't started cooking together yet.  He is interested though when I stir something so I will often give him a bowl and whisk and let him stir up his blocks on the kitchen floor.  I hope that soon he can help me by dumping some of the ingredients into my pot or mixing bowl. 

Taara: Most of the time I cook by myself, but every once in a while my son, Lucas, wants to help. He likes to stir the pot, and usually he is pretty careful. I would like to do more baking things with my kids, but they are still kind of young for that - unless it's a really simple recipe.

Q - Whats your best advice for making sure picky eaters get enough of the right kind of nutrition? 

Cindy: Never to be forceful.  We need to provide a variety of nutrution on their plate.  Its their job to learn to eat it.  However, as they are learning, we can certainly coach them.  I have found the more you force the worse of a battle you will get.  And most likely you won't win. 

Sarah Eleanor: I have not had to deal with the "picky eater" stage yet, but I have read to not sweat it.  Kids will go through phases where they love a food, only to hate it the next week.  Take a break from that food and revisit it later. As long as you are giving them a variety of foods on their plate they are most likely getting the right nutrition.  You can always be sneaky and add things in to favorite foods to ease your mind.  For example, wheat germ can be added in to most anything to give the meal a fiber boost. 

Taara: Try a variety and be consistent. I remember reading about how you shouldn't force kids with eating when you are starting to feed solid foods - but as they get old enough to have an opinion, sometimes you have to just make them eat a small amount. Also find fruits and veggies that they like and stock up. I'm also considering starting them on a chewable multi-vitamin. 

Q - Does your entire family eat the same thing for dinner or do you make different things for the kids?  

Cindy: Typcially we all eat the same thing, unless I make something really wacky!  its pretty much been known as a rule at our house, your dinner is on the table.  "I am sorry if you don't like it, but that is what's for dinner."  They will eat it if they are hungry enough.  Most of the time my older more picky son ends up eating it and says "oh wait, I guess I do like this...."  :)

Sarah Eleanor: Now that baby boy is 13 months we are often eating the same thing.  I will sometimes have to alter what we are eating just a bit to make it suitable for baby boy.  For example tonight we had chili for dinner.  I took out a serving of meat and cooked it with the tomatoes, beans, and spices separately so that I could make it less spicy and lower sodium than ours.  Easy! 

Taara: Yes! There is no way I'm going to start cooking individual meals. Sometimes the hubby and I wait until later to eat if we want to have take-out or something, but generally speaking I just cook one meal and the kids have to eat it. Of course sometimes if it's a new recipe and they really don't like it, we substitute some bread/PB etc (after they've tried the food of course!) Did I mention my kids love bread? :) 

Some more fun advice from Taara: My biggest piece of advice would be to make an easy, flexible menu with lots of variety. I make a menu every week and usually swap a few meals here and there, but at least I know I have all the ingredients for those meals. We eat Chinese, Indian, Mexican, Brazilian and all kinds of foods. Have fruits for snacks and focus on veggies during meals. When you cook, make double and freeze the extra. It's super handy for a busy day when you just have no time or energy to think about the next meal. 

I am working on Octobers Mommy to Mommy Thursdays Questions/Topics etc.  I need your help!

What topics are you interested in reading about?  What questions would you love to hear advice from other mommies on?

Next Thursday is Juggling kids and house hold and Our first Thursday in October we are talking about Babys 1st year and I still need 3 ladies to participate!

You can comment below or email me at monkeysandtutus@gmail.com

I am also looking for mommies to participate and answer the questions!  My goal is to have all the topics and questions ready to send out before October starts!