Just a Dash

Let’s Wrap it Up!

December 29, 2025December 28, 2025by SymoneF1 Comment

What a better way to end the year than with a post! Because I’ve kept you wrapped up in my posts all year………

Yes, take all that sarcasm for what it is but here I am wrapping up the year for you. Yay!

Navigating 2025 was truly the hardest of my motherhood journey. Seriously, with a 7 year gap, jumping back into this newborn/toddler life was the pits. Adding another (mobile, clingy) human to our chaos without extra help was definitely a challenge I wasn’t prepared for. No amount of therapy/hearing from other parents or even outside help could prepare me for this shit.

The first slap in the face was accepting I was older, and navigating my new postpartum body that I was trying hard mentally to accept and adjust to. Exercise, diet, adjusting to new normals, navigating postpartum being over 35 and with way more to deal with in general, lead to one thing – finding acceptance that this is a temporary phase, and dressing for that phase rather than sticking to the image in my head of where I should be right now. Reevaluating what I want in the future and being realistic on how achieving that might go. But, change was coming…

We got a nanny this year and she’s been amazing for our family. With that adjustment, after being a stay at home mom all these years, I won’t lie to you and tell you it was easy. I’m still struggling with giving up some responsibility and being more relaxed about things not being done how I’d do them but just accepting they were done and it’s one less thing for me to do. One thing I was very quick to appreciate was the freedom I used to enjoy while the big kids were in school. Simple things like going to the supermarket less stressed because I didn’t have to rush back home before the baby woke up as my husband was still in meetings but watching him on the monitor. Being able to go to the gym, a random massage to work these tired, stressed out muscles and getting a nail appointment guilt-free. I’m excited that she joined our family and that the kids all adore her. Again, change was coming.

With my return to the gym, I convinced myself I can be in a costume for Crop Over in August. As a back up, I paid for the option to back out of jumping if I didn’t feel like I was going to be comfortable. Let me just say, I *never* would have been in a costume 14 months postpartum after my first two kids. I appreciated this level of confidence I gained. I told my trainer and everyone else, the costume gets what it gets once I can squeeze into it because the journey to it was definitely not going as planned. If there’s one thing I came to accept, it was that I birthed 3 kids, they had a mom who was present and there for them when they needed her. This is not a permanent physical state for me and I can look back on memories and show I was there and not letting little insecurities deter me. That was my biggest takeaway for this year – this is all temporary, and I can get back to, or close to where I was, if not entirely back to it. After all, after each kid, our bodies are only trying to say you did this and things won’t be the same but you’re stronger mentally and physically! So I took another leap here… As I’m bridging the gap to 40, I wanted to work on something that gym wasn’t going to help with. I lifted and expanded the girls. I had the option for lipo at my fingertips but I took it off the table. WHY?! Because, truthfully, at the end of the day, I think of everyone else before I think of myself. I also saw it as a challenge for myself in the gym. I already had to go 2 weeks without lifting the clingy baby, I couldn’t add to that extra time and I still thought of the older kids and what they had going on at school. Some people would’ve jumped at that opportunity but I don’t think I’ve done too bad after 3 kids and I can wait a little longer to achieve those goals. Ideally, I’ll be there by my 40th and I’m just along for the journey still trying to be present for the kids whenever possible right now. Change… it’s coming.

So we took 4 trips overall this year – Vegas, Maui, London and Barbados. Absolute madness with an active infant/toddler in tow. But we did it. I did it. New memories, lessons and experiences were gained. Making travel arrangements and packing for 5 people 4 times was no joke. So we kept our butts quiet for Christmas and did a staycation. Yes, I still had to pack but at least it was a much smaller scale. I think I’ll be more prepared for whatever 2026 brings on that front. I don’t think we’ll be so crazy next year but I won’t rule it out. There are always experiences to be had, challenges to overcome and life to be lived. Life is not stagnant and if it was I know I’d be a very miserable person. I live for this temporary stressed out life and for the love we’re all surrounded by. Change is coming, and I’m first in line to accept it.

family, Uncategorized

What’s This?!

January 7, 2025January 7, 2025by SymoneF2 Comments

What’s this? A post?! My goodness I know it’s been FOREVER… but is there a better way to ring in a new year than to share something new? Let’s dive in!

New Year’s Eve 2023 I announced we were expecting our Mic Drop – the final addition to our family. I hesitated for a long time about sharing because I had such a hard time accepting that the pregnancy was real. Hold on, lemme explain!

In 2020 I somehow convinced my husband that we should give it a go for one more…

In November 2022, I suffered my second ectopic pregnancy and my husband was *not* keen on me risking my life one last time. That was embryo #7 since we started our journey to #3 in March 2021.

I think I’ve said it before that IVF is very taxing physically and mentally. After a therapy session post ectopic, I was left with one question to help make a decision on our final embryo: “can you live with whatever decision you make?”. I gave myself until the end of Summer to go wild and have fun before making a decision that had the potential to shake things up for us. So in September 2023, I contacted my fertility doctor. I came to this conclusion: I need to transfer this embryo. If it doesn’t work, I’m ok. If it does, we’ll be expanding our family! I’m ok with either outcome but I’d never be ok discarding that embryo. Now, luckily for me, I’m very in tuned with body. My husband knows this and that’s why he was ok (after more convincing) with this final transfer. I just couldn’t throw away the last fruit of my labor. And it was better to do it sooner than after I turned 40 (for me).

So we transferred… shortly after I had a hematoma that presented with a lot of bleeding so I thought:

“ok! This is it… no baby. I’ll be ok.”

But after an ultrasound this little stinker was there bouncing around having the time of their life! There was more cramping, more bleeding… and every time I went in, sure I’ll be receiving bad news, they kept growing stronger and thriving. This was embryo #8 in two years so forgive me for not having the most positive mindset.

Well! After all of that in my first trimester, I had an uneventful pregnancy. I was of “advanced maternal age” and this was an IVF pregnancy so I had an extra scan or two but otherwise I survived. I’d promised myself that my next pregnancy I would continue working out (I’m not young anymore!) and I did that until about 33.5weeks (8 months). This was also my first full term C-section. The last ectopic pregnancy had to be removed via C-section and being pregnant almost an exact year later after it meant I had to have a C-section to reduce the risk of uterine rupture.

I wanted my older two to be involved. Every week, we’d watch the short What to Expect videos to see how the baby was growing and developing. It was exciting for them and I was happy to keep them involved. As this was our last embryo ever, I requested to not know the sex of the baby at transfer. Something else I wanted to experience with the kids. I always wanted 2 boys and a girl, so I was ecstatic when we did our little gender reveal at home and found out it was a boy. I kept lots of items from my son in hopes of having another little boy and it’s been so sweet to see #3 wearing them!

So that was the journey to number three in a nutshell. We’re now a family of 5 and I’m always in shock that I have 3 kids. I say “my son” referring to my eldest and then “the baby” is my second son. My older kids are helpful and I believe everything happened when it was supposed to. Having the kids be older and more self sufficient was a huge plus. Having both my parents and my MIL be retired and able to help us until the end of the year was icing on the cake. I’m forever grateful for that.

I don’t know what 2025 holds but I also don’t see us slowing down. We have one life to live and we’re going to enjoy it.

Food

“I’m hunnngryyy!”

February 8, 2021February 6, 2021by SymoneFLeave a Comment

Another topic that was put to me was meal prep. This is a topic that I feel comfortable sharing because of the sheer laziness that made me meal prep. Also, I don’t know if we’ll be “outside” by Summer so it means we have to continue this excessive cooking that none of us were born to do… My kids are now doing better with the mixed food but when lockdown started, they were very much for the deconstructed meals. It took some time but I finally figured out snacks and meals that kept me out of the kitchen for very long periods. It also took a lot of frustration. While restaurants were still open for takeout I was getting annoyed that the food had always tasted better fresh – in the restaurant, and I was getting its distant cousin when it was delivered. So I had to think about what I could keep in my freezer that would make easy meals for the kids and for adults. I had to think of what wouldn’t add to the quarantine weight that was beginning to pile on as well.

Now, I think, the key to getting through all of the cooking is to have tools that make it easy! My go-tos are:

Stasher bags – Less plastic waste by not throwing out endless ziploc bags.
Air Fryer – 20mins wings that I don’t have to babysit? HELLO!
Grill pan – that chicken for the salad would be done right quick in this!
Rice cooker – “kthxbai” rice… put it in and leave it until you’re ready to eat!
Containers – A good container to store leftovers is important when you will be storing more food than you usually do.

A sliver of my stasher bag collection. Dishwasher and freezer friendly?! GIMME!

We’re meat eaters, so buying poultry/meat in bulk when I did a grocery shop meant that I’d “plan” a menu for the week, purchase whatever meat I needed and then once it came, it was going to be cleaned and seasoned before it was frozen so that it was ready for the pan once defrosted. The kids LOVE my greek seasoned tenders. After a lime and salt bath, the tenders are placed in a Stasher bag and dressed in olive oil, pepper, salt, ground garlic and greek seasoning. I’d do enough for more than one meal. So once defrosted, I’d have enough for lunch and dinner but the sides would be different. I found boneless chicken thighs were also very fast to cook (no bones!) and having Sweet Italian sausage for pastas and rice was very good to have on hand.

LUNCH: Stir fried brown rice with sausage and roasted corn and carrots

Let me break this one down a minute. Brown rice: I cook brown rice in a big batch in the rice cooker and keep it in the fridge for different meals. It could be stir fried (like above), I can bake some chicken and steam/grill some vegetables for the side or it’ll just be in a bowl for my rice loving daughter. Sausage: this meal was a shocker, laziness made me do it and it was so good! I bought the sausage to use with pasta, sliced like this or removed from the casing to have a more ground meat consistency. Corn: I LOVE fresh roasted corn. Ever since I learned to roast it by just broiling it in the oven and turning it until each side is a little brown, I can’t do corn from the tin. If there’s extra, I always keep it in the fridge to throw in salads or other meals. It’s about the versatility of the groceries you’re buying, and getting sick of the same thing all the time will have you experimenting and trying new things. Don’t be afraid to try it! My rule of thumb is to add something that has a flavor I can’t resist to pull me into the meal.

Grilled boneless thighs with a warm salad (roasted squash and corn, spinach and farro drizzled in olive oil, salt and pepper. (I may have added lemon but I can’t remember!)

When I do “adult” meals like this, I tend to give my kids the same protein and then they’ll have one fruit/veg and rice or pasta with it. Speaking of kids, please stock up on those mini pizzas, nuggets, frozen mac & cheese dishes that they like. They’re eating every 5 seconds and you don’t need to be in the kitchen cooking a whole meal every time. Also, let’s be honest, they waste so much food. It’s better to have options that you know they’ll eat and not waste and would hopefully keep them full an extra 5 minutes. Whether you have a heavy lunch and a light dinner or a light lunch and heavy dinner, you deserve a break for either one of those. Just chuck some baby carrots or orange slices on the side and you’re good to go. Also, farro is a great grain to cook with. Again, I cook a batch if it’s in my meal pan and just put it in the fridge for salads – cold or warm!

The air fryer has been a blessing. I told the BFF I was considering it and she surprised me with one and once I figured it out, my husband had to beg me for a break from it lol. But he didn’t turn down wings! Baking wings before needed at least an hour in the oven, but this amazing machine had them done in 20mins for lunch. I just turn them half way and they’re ready when you hear the ding! The kids love the wings and tenders from it too! I’ve used it to reheat as well and I’m so happy to have it. Just take out you pre-seasoned wings in the stasher bag 😉 in the morning and they’ll be ready by the time you’re done putting together your sides.

Taking a break from the lunch/dinner options, let me pop into the breakfast realm for a minute. As easy as cereal is, we know it’s not always our preferred option. Or maybe it is for your family and that’s ok. Some days we prefer a heartier option when we know it’s going to get a bit busy. One of my freezer go-tos is a waffle. I either use my regular waffle recipe and add protein powder to it, make them, wrap individually, freeze and reheat in the toaster over or use the Kodiak Cakes protein waffle mix for a faster option. Any extras are frozen individually also. Another favorite is when I freeze the extras from Sunday morning scones and those are used for breakfast or a light dinner! If it freezes well, always try to have a few extras to freeze for an easy last minute meal whenever you need one. Breakfast for dinner is a thing right?!

Speaking of freezing, you better be freezing the rest of whatever casserole-type dish you made! Shepherd’s pie or lasagne… it may be one or two portions left, but if you or your partner or kid is sniffing around for an extra meal, warm it up! A toaster oven is great to have as well. I’m not a microwave person, I love my toaster over to make it hot and like I just cooked it. Yeah! I’m one of those people who would be starving and wait 20mins for my food to reheat in the toaster oven before I reheat in the microwave. Try it, you won’t want your microwave unless you have to melt butter.

Before I get to a sample menu, if you’re in the US, don’t be afraid to sign up for a meal service. Whether it’s Blue Apron or Hello Fresh, it helps to give you a break from your usual suspects and also it may teach you a thing or two to help make cooking faster or give you a new staple.

Here’s a sample meal plan for a week that I saved to my phone. I normally write it out so I can scribble changes as the week goes along but I think I mostly stuck to this one.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Breakfast	egg frittata & toast (kids: bread)	protein pancakes	eggs (kids: muffins)	egg fritatta

Lunch	wings, cauliflower rice/corn/coleslaw stirfry kids: wings & mac & cheese	baked sweet potato, sautéed spinach grilled tenders kids: tenders and rice	stir-fried rice & chicken	grilled potatoes & pork Kids: pork and pasta
Snack:	animal crackers	cheese & crackers/fruit	popcorn	cheese & crackers/fruit
Dinner	salad	oven fried tenders & salad/veg	lamb & veg	(order)

I hope you note a few things: Friday is blank, on purpose. Don’t stress yourself out on the last day of the week, order from where for every meal if you can, you cooked most of the week anyway. “Order” was placed on Thursday so it wasn’t last minute rush from being blank and could be ordered in advance. My kids do not eat eggs so I have to do something with the homemade bread for them. That’s a note for me to also make bread lol. Muffins are either from scratch or a box, depends on what we’re in the mood for/ have time to bake. We’re not being picky! I’m vague with the salads because I let my mood determine what kind of salad it would be. If the kids have tuckered me out it will be the simplest salad I can put together. If I’ve got a pep in my step, it may have more love in it lol. I see meal plans as a guide and nothing to take to heart if it isn’t done as planned.

If there’s anything, you want me to do a separate post or be more specific on don’t hesitate to drop a comment below!