October 24th, 2010 was the thirteenth anniversary of my marriage to V's Daddy. It has been a tumultuous thirteen years with crazy ups and devestating downs. As we wait with baited breath on pins and needles to find out if the bank will approve our HAMP application, or if we are going to loose our home and belongings, what did we do to celebrate our time together? We attended my nephew's Catholic baptism (we are UUs) and reception, ate lots of food, went home and collapsed.
Two of our cats are very ill and we cannot afford to take them to the vet, which makes me a bad cat mother. I'm feeding them home made chicken soup (boiled organic chicken and carrots) even though I'm a staunch vegetarian, and praying to all the powers that may or may not be to help them kick whatever this is. They are inside only cats so I'm hoping it is a flu-type thing that we inadvertantly brought home on our shoes.
Yesterday I celebrated my father's birthday by treating him to lots of food. I baked Italian bread in the morning, started vegetarian smoked paprika lentil soup before we went out for Thai food for lunch. Had the bread and soup for dinner and made a very labor intensive lemon cranberry poundcake for dessert.
My most crafty adventure lately has been learning to tie dye with a cheater's kit from Tulip.
I tie dyed six onesies, three for my nephew and three for my daughter and they turned out great for a first attempt. Eventually I will use their camo kit for more onesies for my nephew.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Things I Love Thursday
I've been pathetic with my posting recently, so here goes a full out TILT post of everything that I realized I really appreciate this week.
Pandora Radio: I have this application on my new Droid 2 and I absolutely love it. Seriously, I listen to this almost daily and am collecting an ever growing list of "stations." If you aren't familiar with Pandora Radio, and I wasn't for much too long, you make a free account and search with a band name or song title and it builds a radio station based on what you searched. I have Dave Matthews, Tool, Nine Inch Nails, Beethovan, Mumford & Sons, and The Trucks stations already. Sometimes it gets a little frustrating when the station doesn't play anything by your chosen artist for a few hours, but I have discovered groups and music I wouldn't have otherwise.
Cinnamon & Nutmeg: In an attempt to be a healthier person and a better role model for my daughter, I have started cutting out excess sugar and salt from my diet. In doing this, I have stopped putting sugar in my coffee and hot cereal, instead, I'm using liberal amounts of cinnamon and nutmeg. Not only does my house smell like the holidays, but cinnamon can help control blood sugar levels, and nutmeg is just awesome. Massive amounts of cinnamon (and raisins) are also the "secret" ingredients in my world's best applesauce.
Bob's Mill Creamy Brown Rice Farina: Speaking of hot cereal, while I'm fine with a nice hot serving of oatmeal, this is my favorite ever hot breakfast. I was first served Farina as an adult a few hours after my daughter was born. The L&D nurse (Deb, my angel from India who had nursed me through early labor and "false contractions" twice before I actually went into labor), offered to order me breakfast to help keep my strength up. All I told her was that I am a strict vegetarian and she ordered the perfect meal, farina, vanilla soymilk and pears. I had my husband buy farina when we got home and ate it every day for weeks. Now that V is eating solid food, we share a bowl sweetened with apple or peach sauce, cinnamon and nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice. Sometimes I will put soymilk in my portion. I even made up a recipe when I didn't have enough farina to make a full portion.
1 cup water
Several tsp cinnamon, few shakes nutmeg
1 handful organic raisins
1 small sweet organic apple diced
1/4 cup farina
Mix all ingredients EXCEPT farina in small saucepan, bring to boil. Boil, stirring constantly for at least 6 minutes or until apple starts to soften a little bit. Add farina, stir constantly and cook until thickened enough to pull away from bottom of pan briefly. Add soymilk if desired. Yummy.
Scunci 1/2" Comfort Headband: Yes, I'm loving a headband. I bought this two pack a while ago so I could make a fancy head piece for a friend who was turning 9-years-old. She's blonde, so I used the "tortoishell" headband for her. My hair has gotten quite dark over the last few years, so I kept the black one. My hair is also currently a train wreck since I shaved it down to 1" a few months ago as it was falling out with a postpartum hormone change. It is now growing out and well, yeah, I need something to make me not feel like I have ridiculous helmet hair. And yes, I've resorted to wearing a headband and I'm not going to apologize. What's so great about this band is that the ends curve up and are not pressed into my skull by the earpieces of my glasses. Awesome!
Fraggle Rock
: Fraggle Rock is as wonderful now as it was over 25 years ago. And while it would be great if I could avoid making my child as much as a TV monsters as I am, at least this is wholesome entertainment we can both enjoy. Plus it is adorable to watch her dance to the songs.
Random Love List: October thunder storms, pumpkins, butternut squash, dried leaves, purring cats, migrating monarch butterflies, vegan sausage and peppers over rice, grilled asparagus, canolli cake.
Pandora Radio: I have this application on my new Droid 2 and I absolutely love it. Seriously, I listen to this almost daily and am collecting an ever growing list of "stations." If you aren't familiar with Pandora Radio, and I wasn't for much too long, you make a free account and search with a band name or song title and it builds a radio station based on what you searched. I have Dave Matthews, Tool, Nine Inch Nails, Beethovan, Mumford & Sons, and The Trucks stations already. Sometimes it gets a little frustrating when the station doesn't play anything by your chosen artist for a few hours, but I have discovered groups and music I wouldn't have otherwise.
Cinnamon & Nutmeg: In an attempt to be a healthier person and a better role model for my daughter, I have started cutting out excess sugar and salt from my diet. In doing this, I have stopped putting sugar in my coffee and hot cereal, instead, I'm using liberal amounts of cinnamon and nutmeg. Not only does my house smell like the holidays, but cinnamon can help control blood sugar levels, and nutmeg is just awesome. Massive amounts of cinnamon (and raisins) are also the "secret" ingredients in my world's best applesauce.
1 cup water
Several tsp cinnamon, few shakes nutmeg
1 handful organic raisins
1 small sweet organic apple diced
1/4 cup farina
Mix all ingredients EXCEPT farina in small saucepan, bring to boil. Boil, stirring constantly for at least 6 minutes or until apple starts to soften a little bit. Add farina, stir constantly and cook until thickened enough to pull away from bottom of pan briefly. Add soymilk if desired. Yummy.
Fraggle Rock
: Fraggle Rock is as wonderful now as it was over 25 years ago. And while it would be great if I could avoid making my child as much as a TV monsters as I am, at least this is wholesome entertainment we can both enjoy. Plus it is adorable to watch her dance to the songs.Random Love List: October thunder storms, pumpkins, butternut squash, dried leaves, purring cats, migrating monarch butterflies, vegan sausage and peppers over rice, grilled asparagus, canolli cake.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Things I Love Thursday
This is a difficult day to be posting a TILT entry, I've been fighting depression and sadness all week and am just embedded in a ball of stress with no way out. But there are a few things I do always love.
Having a friendly, outgoing, and let's face it, gorgeous, baby girl. V stops traffic with her smile and interest in everyone she meets. She's funny and sweet and mostly gentle, loves animals and children and rarely seems scared of strangers. She is my greatest love.
Having a friendly, outgoing, and let's face it, gorgeous, baby girl. V stops traffic with her smile and interest in everyone she meets. She's funny and sweet and mostly gentle, loves animals and children and rarely seems scared of strangers. She is my greatest love.
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.2
Monday, October 4, 2010
Baby Wearing
The CPSIA (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act) is working to have a standard in place for slings and non-front pack baby carriers which is going to eventually make it almost impossible for work at home mothers and small businesses producing soft baby carriers to stay in business. The testing required to be approved by the CPSIA costs on average about $2,000, per product. This is really going to have a devastating affect on small business and the variety of baby carriers available.
Baby wearing is a subject near and dear to my heart. Once I found slings, being with V while going about my day, soothing her for naps, breastfeeding on the move, all of this and more became infinitely easier. I cannot brag about my joy of baby wearing, or my slings enough. My personal favorite, and an example of a well developed, and safely produced design, is a Sleeping Baby Production Sling. I am the proud owner of a gorgeous custom sling from Jan at Sleeping Baby Production and use it regularly. I also have a Sling Fling Sling, and an Over the Shoulder Baby Holder sling. I use them all although I have a feeling the Sling Fling sling will not last very long compared to the others. In the beginning of my mommy-hood I used a Moby Wrap Baby Carrier and really really wanted it to work for us. I loved the luxurious feel of the stretchy cotton jersey and the way it hugged V to my body, but I couldn't make it work for me. Eventually I found my way to rings slings and haven't looked back since.
I will admit that I did own and use an Infantino pouch sling. I bought it specifically because it matched the outfit I was wearing as a matron of honor in a friend's Halloween wedding. Terrible reason I know. At that time V was about 2 1/2-months-old and had excellent neck control, and she was a full term and very healthy baby. Even not knowing much about baby slings at the time, I felt that the sling rode much too low on my body and would shift her and the sling up past my navel and support her with my arm, all the time. I hated that the sides of the sling would occasionally inhibit my view of her face and that I could barely breastfeed her while she was in the sling without making major adjustments. V outgrew that Infantino monstrosity very quickly, inspiring me to look into other options.
A dear friend sent me the Over the Should Baby Holder that he had used with his children and I loved how sturdy and secure it was, how high I could place her on my body, and how completely comfortable she felt. It was however a bit too padded and bulky for what I was looking for when going out in the world. I found out about open tail ring slings on the internet, but had (and have) very limited resources. I went to eBay and bought the Sling Fling Sling for $20.00. This is not the best sling out there, but it definitely started me into finding out what are, and made me a die hard ring sling fan. It is made out of a single layer of light cotton that will wear out, so I make sure to check it every time I wear it to make sure it hasn't started to fray. V is at least 23 lbs and about 30" tall and I still sling her regularly. When the holidays rolled around and my baby girl was just about 4 1/2-months-old I asked for one thing only from my Mother-in-law, a Sleeping Baby Production sling, custom made for me. It was my favorite gift of the holidays and I get tons of compliments when I wear it. And I used Jan Andrea's instructions to make ring slings for my sister and have the supplies to make some for myself as well. Which I will when I get around to it to have some more variety.
Why am I going on and on about these slings? Because I do not want it to become impossible for mothers to find and purchase safe and affordable slings in the future. I do want the voluntary standard to help assure that slings and carriers are safe, but not at the expense of the vitality of the entire industry.
Baby wearing really helped me get through a very tough time after V came into my life. I have struggled with depression most of my life and was at an increased significant risk of PPD after her birth. I was home alone most of the time with her, for months debating whether or not I would go back to work for someone else, almost never seeing my husband, feeling more and more isolated and stressed. By the time V was six months old money had become a significant problem and the stressors just kept coming. Being able to hold V close, breastfeed her with ease, get out and about and not put her in a stroller, let her nap while being carried, these things became an oasis in a seemingly crazy world. Even as recently as our trip to the Bronx Zoo I carried her in the sling most of our time there, she even napped in the sling with her little head on my shoulder. I am carrying a child who is about half my hight in my slings, and I have no interest in stopping.
Baby wearing is a subject near and dear to my heart. Once I found slings, being with V while going about my day, soothing her for naps, breastfeeding on the move, all of this and more became infinitely easier. I cannot brag about my joy of baby wearing, or my slings enough. My personal favorite, and an example of a well developed, and safely produced design, is a Sleeping Baby Production Sling. I am the proud owner of a gorgeous custom sling from Jan at Sleeping Baby Production and use it regularly. I also have a Sling Fling Sling, and an Over the Shoulder Baby Holder sling. I use them all although I have a feeling the Sling Fling sling will not last very long compared to the others. In the beginning of my mommy-hood I used a Moby Wrap Baby Carrier and really really wanted it to work for us. I loved the luxurious feel of the stretchy cotton jersey and the way it hugged V to my body, but I couldn't make it work for me. Eventually I found my way to rings slings and haven't looked back since.
I will admit that I did own and use an Infantino pouch sling. I bought it specifically because it matched the outfit I was wearing as a matron of honor in a friend's Halloween wedding. Terrible reason I know. At that time V was about 2 1/2-months-old and had excellent neck control, and she was a full term and very healthy baby. Even not knowing much about baby slings at the time, I felt that the sling rode much too low on my body and would shift her and the sling up past my navel and support her with my arm, all the time. I hated that the sides of the sling would occasionally inhibit my view of her face and that I could barely breastfeed her while she was in the sling without making major adjustments. V outgrew that Infantino monstrosity very quickly, inspiring me to look into other options.
A dear friend sent me the Over the Should Baby Holder that he had used with his children and I loved how sturdy and secure it was, how high I could place her on my body, and how completely comfortable she felt. It was however a bit too padded and bulky for what I was looking for when going out in the world. I found out about open tail ring slings on the internet, but had (and have) very limited resources. I went to eBay and bought the Sling Fling Sling for $20.00. This is not the best sling out there, but it definitely started me into finding out what are, and made me a die hard ring sling fan. It is made out of a single layer of light cotton that will wear out, so I make sure to check it every time I wear it to make sure it hasn't started to fray. V is at least 23 lbs and about 30" tall and I still sling her regularly. When the holidays rolled around and my baby girl was just about 4 1/2-months-old I asked for one thing only from my Mother-in-law, a Sleeping Baby Production sling, custom made for me. It was my favorite gift of the holidays and I get tons of compliments when I wear it. And I used Jan Andrea's instructions to make ring slings for my sister and have the supplies to make some for myself as well. Which I will when I get around to it to have some more variety.
Why am I going on and on about these slings? Because I do not want it to become impossible for mothers to find and purchase safe and affordable slings in the future. I do want the voluntary standard to help assure that slings and carriers are safe, but not at the expense of the vitality of the entire industry.
Baby wearing really helped me get through a very tough time after V came into my life. I have struggled with depression most of my life and was at an increased significant risk of PPD after her birth. I was home alone most of the time with her, for months debating whether or not I would go back to work for someone else, almost never seeing my husband, feeling more and more isolated and stressed. By the time V was six months old money had become a significant problem and the stressors just kept coming. Being able to hold V close, breastfeed her with ease, get out and about and not put her in a stroller, let her nap while being carried, these things became an oasis in a seemingly crazy world. Even as recently as our trip to the Bronx Zoo I carried her in the sling most of our time there, she even napped in the sling with her little head on my shoulder. I am carrying a child who is about half my hight in my slings, and I have no interest in stopping.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Insomnia
I honestly cannot remember the last time I slept really well. I am sure there are people who would blame my sleep problems on my bed sharing and night time breastfeeding, but the problems long precede V's arrival in my life. I am sure stress is a major contributing factor, but that isn't going to change any time soon. I'm tired.
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.1
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)