Kimber's Navy Family

Of all the meals in the day, dinnertime is my favorite. The savory foods, the whole day is past and we have lots to talk about sitting around the table, the end of the day is near and a warm bed in sight... but why, dinnertime, must you fall at the hardest time of day? Screaming babies, a wild pupzilla, and a three-year old who thinks couches are Buzz Lightyear Space Portals, not to mention a husband who is rarely home to help hold down the fort so I could--possibly-- cook a wholesome meal. Not for nothing, we fell back on the easy choice: frozen pre-made dinners (poke a hole in the plastic wrap and bake) or take-out (served on our "nice" plates). I recently wrote a blog about going through our freezer and starting to actually cook. I am happy to say that we have stuck to the plan and here we are 21 days later (see "The First Step" posted on October 1st) and I am still cooking! No fast food, no take out, no frozen dinners, and over 2 pounds lighter! However, I do...

The first six months we have relied on a variety of baby products and techniques to make our life easier. Here they are: 1. Posting the schedule. If you ever plan on leaving the house sans children, your spouse or sitter will need to know the schedule. Make it easy. There will be reasons to leave the house: hair cut, picking up a medication, your own doctor appointments, running to the store, a much needed spa day, taking your other children somewhere. This saves you from writing it down every time you have to leave the house and it may prevent you from stalker calling your husband every five minutes, "Did you wake up the babies? Did you feed them? Did you give O his medication?" 2. Roll with the punches. Your clothes need to be washable. You need to be able to walk in your shoes. You need to be able to get ready in twenty minutes. You need to dress your new body type (even if it is a work in progress). You will be doing a lot of laundry, changing a lot of diapers, boun...

We have survived six months with twins. There were long nights on the nursery floor sleeping in a comforter, long afternoons where I had spit-up in my hair, a puppy running wildly around the apartment with Woody in his mouth while my three-year old chased him in tears, dinner straight out of the box (who hasn't munched on raw macaroni noodles?), more caffeine than healthy breakfasts, and lots of "phone a friends." Recently, I am most grateful to my girlfriend who emailed me easy delicious recipes (4 ingredients and a crock pot-- yes, please!) and another friend who has prayed for me through a long month of teething (the tooth is right there , please break through!). I joined the local mothers of twins group and have met wonderful women with multiples. One of my favorite women to talk to has children the same age difference as mine, a 5-year old and 2-year old twins. She has helped me file many things in to the "Don't Worry About It" category and given me c...

Our freezer is tiny. And was packed full of horrible foods: Friday's spinach dip in bulk-- my husband went a little crazy at the wholesale club when I was out of town this summer, frozen microwave dinners, meat in Ziploc bags starting to get freezer burn, dinners I had frozen who knows how long ago. It was a disaster. On top of that, my family was surviving off packaged snacks and premade dinners, when we ate hot dinners at all. Since the twins started teething, I have had no time or energy to cook in the evenings during peak fussy times after a day of fussing and a sleepless night of fussing. Tired of a freezer full of bad food, money wasted on take out and mediocre dinners, and baby weight that won't disappear, I decided it was time for a change. I inventoried my freezer to see what was actually usable and googled casserole and frozen dinners with those ingredients. I made a grocery list and blocked out a weekend to cook. My husband and I were so excited at the prospect of di...