I knew that this poor blog would be neglected following Baby E's birth, but I didn't know how much. I'm struggling to keep up with writing for the local parenting blog, an offshoot of the local parenting magazine. I'm struggling with laundry. I'm struggling with homework time. I'm struggling to make dinner. But I'm doing it all. Just very slowly and somewhat incompletely. I have to remind myself that that is enough.
I killed a rat last week. Yeah. I bludgeoned a rat to death. While that sounds pretty wild, it's also pretty common in Wheeling since the sewers here are old and full of little creepy nasty things that manage to find their way into the old homes here. Fortunately, I'm blessed with a helpful degree of coordination and clear-headedness in a crisis. I grew up killing gophers in the garden, so this was quite similar. I do have a twinge of conscience when it comes to taking any life, but it's their babies or mine! This one was actually kinda cute! I've since set up a series of traps in case there are any others, and we are working to seal up any possible access points. Peaches the foolish mutt was actually quite helpful in harassing the critter so that I could nab it. I have to put the traps in boxes, or Peaches gets snapped because she can't resist eating the bait. &%#@(&* joys of home ownership! A run-down home down the street appears to be the source of the critters. The owner evicted his tenants, waited 6 months, and then gutted the house, stirring up a lot of critters. That's about the time we realized we had company. We know people who have had rats in every home they've lived in in Wheeling, so we're just doing our best to eradicate and prevent them.
We're painting the whole interior of our home these days. We put in a new dishwasher, sink, and garbage disposal. Yep, tax check came weeks ago! Roman shades are going up, and clutter is heading to the curb or the thrift shop. It's a challenge to keep the bio-hazards at bay with this crowd of sticky-fingered minions transporting food all around.
On the health front, my PPD and SAD are improving tremendously. I'm taking Zoloft for the PPD, and it's March, so the SAD will continue to fade! I'm dropping baby weight. I've developed a vastly better support network of good friends who love to go out for some fun activities, with and without kids in tow. My kids have been healthier this year than any other year of their lives, with IM missing no school all year due to illness, a first for him! A-man, who's always healthy, has missed two days. The pediatrician has confirmed that they indeed have ADHD, so we work to help them develop self-control in a world that is not particularly patient with their kind of energy. M-girl has had one ear infection after her tubes came out, and she's doing great. Baby E is healthy and round and teething these days.
Dr. O' has graciously offered to teach some summer courses to help us live quite comfortably and cover the unexpected, so he will be very busy again this summer. He will also be writing an article for a theological dictionary and writing an article for his yearly conference. I'm hoping that the boys get some time at camp and swim lessons this summer. They're getting so much bigger and more independent now! They can meet up with a counselor and board a bus near our home every Tuesday for 6 weeks this summer and go to camp for the day. Now that they are both old enough, I plan to send them together.
The parenting group I'm involved in is thriving and offers a ministry of support and grace to many women in our area. I'm so thankful for this outlet! We have people planning meetups, new friendships are forming, and we are all learning so much from each other.
Our church family continues to be a source of love and support to our family. I love teaching the children and seeing their hearts grow closer to God through the work of the Holy Spirit. Dr. O' was asked a few weeks ago to preach the sermon since our pastor was out of town and the sub couldn't make it. He got to church, looked at the readings, and made up a great sermon. I did the children's sermon that day, someone else led worship, and everything went great.
A-Man had been eagerly awaiting his first communion for about a year, and he finally got to participate in the sacrament a few weeks ago. Since then, he's been prostrating himself in the center aisle, or maybe taking a rest. I'm not quite sure. He also joins our pastor for the benediction and can say the whole thing himself. He can say The Apostle's Creed and explain each article with a bit of help. I love to see his heart grow in Christ!
IM is growing up so quickly these days! He turned 8 in December and is turning into a young man these days. He's still so very innocent, and it's interesting to hear his views on life. He likes to boil everything down to facts and rules one minute and is wildly imaginative the next. He reads everything he gets his hands on and is blossoming socially. I took him to a birthday party, and all the girls from his class came up and hugged him and lifted him off the ground!
M-girl turns three this week, and I'm in awe of how rapidly she's attaining new language and new skills. The period between 2 and 3 is simultaneously so fascinating and frustrating for me. All my kids have gone through a period of being so curious about the world that they have this rapid explosion of social and verbal development. The downside is that they also get into insane amounts of mess-making and trouble-causing at this age. I realized that age 3 is when I start thinking about preschool for each of them, so M is off to preschool in August. She's bored and needs some stimulation and structured activity.
Baby E is still pretty much the nicest little baby ever. She's sweet and smiley and easy-going. She waits pretty patiently for me to get to her, she throws her self backwards to indicate that she wants to be put down, and she falls asleep in any position when she's tired. She sleeps 10-12 hours straight at night and wakes up all smiles. She has her fussy days, but those are typically due to teething. Quite a remarkable little chubby cherub, and I can't imagine life without her. Her hair is falling out a bit/ getting thinner on her growing scalp, and her eyes are slowly turning brown.
Me? I'm doing what I do. We've been over that ;)
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
Picky eaters series for local parenting blog - triple post!
Picky Eaters Series - Strategies for Peaceful Mealtimes
I have picky kids with food sensitivities and allergies, so planning meals that they can eat and will eat is a challenge. However, that doesn't mean that we're doomed to eating hot dogs and chicken nuggets every night!
Strategy #1. Hide the good stuff
This strategy gained national attention when Jerry Seinfeld's wife Jessica published a cookbook called Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food. I own a copy and use it as inspiration for boosting nutrition in the meals I already cook rather than as a straightforward cookbook. She includes ways to sneak purees of veggies and fruits into meals, snacks, and even desserts (Brownies with carrot and spinach hidden!). If you've got a baby, you can use the purees for baby food and to fortify the rest of the family's nutrition. My kids like her chicken nuggets that are dipped in veggie puree before being coated with breading. This strategy works best for kids who truly cannot abide the sight of veggies in their food. My oldest was this way and actually required occupational therapy for eating as a toddler.
Some examples of other sneaky strategies include using garden vegetable spaghetti sauce and pureeing it first before serving it over pasta or on pizza. Many breads can be baked with shredded zucchini when that's plentiful in the summer. Rather than using regular juice, try the juices with vitamins blended in. Smoothies made with blueberries can also have leaves of fresh spinach in them. One my favorite strategies is making and freezing a Central and South Amercian cooking sauce called sofrito. It's a chunky puree of green peppers, a red pepper, an onion, garlic, and cilantro. To use it, sautee 1/4c sofrito in oil, then add rice or beans or meat, then cumin, chili powder and paprika. It goes great with any Tex/Mex food!
I also make whole wheat waffles with pumpkin puree. They're full of fiber and vitamin A, and the whole wheat is very filling. The pumpkin pie spice makes them smell fantastic, and with just a drizzle of maple syrup they are like a treat. When I can, I make some to store in the freezer for a quick breakfast. They heat up great in the toaster or microwave!
Whole Wheat Pumpkin Waffles (adapted from http://www.eating-for-england.com/whole-wheat-pumpkin-waffles/)
Mix in one bowl
•2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
•2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
•1 teaspoon baking soda
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•3 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (I double this!)
In a separate bowl mix
•1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
•4 large eggs
•2 cups well-shaken buttermilk (or milk with 2t vinegar, or yogurt)
•1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin (or make your own pumpkin or butternut squash puree for a twist)
•3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
Mix the wet and the dry ingredients together, and bake as your waffle iron directs, and you may need to oil the iron.
For another sneaky veggie treat, check out http://allrecipes.com/recipe/whole-wheat-pumpkin-applesauce-muffins/detail.aspx I make a double batch, and they never last long!
Strategy #2. Be a good example and allow a range of choices
We can't expect our kids to eat well if we don't! And don't we deserve healthy bodies too?
For the reluctant child, Jessica Seinfeld recommends putting raw veggies out with a healthy dip while dinner is cooking. This provides a healthy appetizer that won't spoil anybody's dinner and takes the pressure off of a kid to eat veggies during mealtime, where the showdown typically occurs. My kids like this because they want to see what I'm doing in the kitchen, and they snack on the veggies or fruit I put out while we spend a little time together before dinner.
At mealtime, my kids have a choice between eating the veggie side that I serve or eating a handful of organic raw spinach. My boys usually choose the spinach with no dressing or dip. I try to keep in mind for my toddler girl that a serving of vegetables for her age is really just a few tablespoons, so if she eats a few peas, most of the corn, and all of the carrots from her mixed vegetables, then she has made a good effort. All my kids will eat broccoli, but my toddler who is not fond of green veggies will only eat the very tops of them. I figure that's where the nutrients are, so great! The key is that she is willing to touch and to try the vegetables. When I make soup, the kids have to eat at least half of what is in their bowl. They're getting a lot of the vitamins in the broth, and they find that the veggies are more palatable when the flavors have all mingled.
A friend of mine recently reminded me of her afternoon years ago with my firstborn, who was a preschooler at the time. He was my kid who had sensory problems and was terrified of the feeling of vegetables in his mouth. She had a house rule that everyone had to eat a small amount of veggies before they got down to play. No big deal. For my son, this led to total meltdown! Years went by, and she now has a child with sensory difficulties and who can't handle food textures. She understands completely!
The best strategy in this case is a gradual approach to introducting new foods, even if the child is school-age. My son had to smell a new food, touch it, kiss it, lick it, and finally taste it, possibly several attempts later. This worked great for us, and he now eats a wide variety of foods. He's still picky, but he rarely melts down over dinner at age 8. I also allow my big kids a few "no thank you" foods. They may be exempted from eating a very short list of things that they have tried as long as they are polite about it and agree to try it again later. If the child wants to put honey, ketchup, salsa, barbecue sauce, cinnamon, or any other favorite flavor onto the food, it's fine by me! It's not worthwhile to fight with kids over food, so it's best to avoid power struggles.
I will admit that we occasionally have a grown-up meal and feed them what we call "kids pick". This is for when we want to eat something that is utterly delicious and totally not kid-friendly. Our kids hate curry, and they don't have an appreciation for Mediterranean food. Fine, more for us! You can have your nitrate-free all-beef Kosher hot dogs, kiddos.
Here are two practical ideas for a way to serve a meal that allows each family member to choose what foods they like best but still eat the same meal. Keep in mind that with practice these are quick meals. I make them regularly during afternoon chaos while parenting 4 kids, 8 and under.
1) Pasta Bar
Boil an appropriate amount of pasta for the family (try whole grain!)
Provide pasta sauces such as marinara and alfredo
Bake and slice one or two chicken breasts
Sautee a green pepper, an onion, and a zucchini with some garlic and olive oil. Season it with Italian seasoning and maybe a little drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
Provide parmesan cheese
This way, family members can customize their dinner with their favorite pasta toppings. My husband doesn't like pasta, but he took the rest of the leftovers to work the next day.
2) Chipotle Night - no need to make all of these unless you want a little leftovers!
Provide wholegrain tortillas and tortilla chips
Shred some melty cheese like colby jack
Open a can of black beans, drain them, add a little salsa and cumin, let warm on the stove or in the microwave, then mash them
Stir fry an onion and a green pepper
Scoop out an avocado, add salsa, cumin, cilantro, and lime juice and blend for guacamole (stick blender rocks!)
Bake or sautee a sliced chicken breast or two. Marinate or cook in a mixture of soy sauce, lime juice, garlic, olive oil, and chili powder. Grilling makes this spectactular!
Make Chipotle rice with lime and cilantro. This recipe uses basmati, which cooks very fast! http://chipotlefan.com/index.php?id=rice_recipe
This meal can be made faster and cheaper than a trip to Pittsburgh for Chipotle, and it is so delicious!
Strategy #3 - Include them in shopping and prepping meals.
I know, I know, this one is a PAIN. If you ever see me with my kids at Mt de Chantel Kroger or Jebbias, you'll know us by the noise and chaos swirling around my cart. However, I feel like there are many good lessons to be learned in the store with my kids. When they ask for a treat, we look at the box and try to find the ingredients to make it at home and make it healthier. They are more likely to eat vegetables and fruits that they have helped to select. I have my kids each choose a fruit and a raw vegetable that they like, and it's amazing how fast the food disappears!
I'm hoping that this year is the year we start gardening here. My kids have enjoyed helping with a vegetable garden in the past, and I can't wait to try this spring! The anticipation of yummy food they have helped to grow will make the food more delicious and will give us a fun outdoor activity.
The big struggle I have is with letting kids help in the kitchen. My 8 year old likes to help with grinding wheat for bread (yeah, I'm crazy), and my 6 year old is fascinated by our compost pile, but letting any of them help me in the kitchen means that the oldest 3 will all be crowded around me, and the baby will be strapped to me, so I have to set some ground rules. Only one helper at a time, and only if the baby is sleeping. Everyone must wash their hands, and no fingers are to go into their mouths or their noses (strange what rules I have to make these days!). King Arthur Flour has a great post on baking with kids this month http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/?go=EC120203D&utm_source=EC120203&utm_medium=email&utm_content=&spMailingID=4361093&spUserID=MTEwMDMzNDU1MTQS1&spJobID=262197081&spReportId=MjYyMTk3MDgxS0
Note: no giveaway on this blog. This is just where I write my rough drafts! This post will be 3 separate posts that will go up tomorrow.
I have picky kids with food sensitivities and allergies, so planning meals that they can eat and will eat is a challenge. However, that doesn't mean that we're doomed to eating hot dogs and chicken nuggets every night!
Strategy #1. Hide the good stuff
This strategy gained national attention when Jerry Seinfeld's wife Jessica published a cookbook called Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food. I own a copy and use it as inspiration for boosting nutrition in the meals I already cook rather than as a straightforward cookbook. She includes ways to sneak purees of veggies and fruits into meals, snacks, and even desserts (Brownies with carrot and spinach hidden!). If you've got a baby, you can use the purees for baby food and to fortify the rest of the family's nutrition. My kids like her chicken nuggets that are dipped in veggie puree before being coated with breading. This strategy works best for kids who truly cannot abide the sight of veggies in their food. My oldest was this way and actually required occupational therapy for eating as a toddler.
Some examples of other sneaky strategies include using garden vegetable spaghetti sauce and pureeing it first before serving it over pasta or on pizza. Many breads can be baked with shredded zucchini when that's plentiful in the summer. Rather than using regular juice, try the juices with vitamins blended in. Smoothies made with blueberries can also have leaves of fresh spinach in them. One my favorite strategies is making and freezing a Central and South Amercian cooking sauce called sofrito. It's a chunky puree of green peppers, a red pepper, an onion, garlic, and cilantro. To use it, sautee 1/4c sofrito in oil, then add rice or beans or meat, then cumin, chili powder and paprika. It goes great with any Tex/Mex food!
I also make whole wheat waffles with pumpkin puree. They're full of fiber and vitamin A, and the whole wheat is very filling. The pumpkin pie spice makes them smell fantastic, and with just a drizzle of maple syrup they are like a treat. When I can, I make some to store in the freezer for a quick breakfast. They heat up great in the toaster or microwave!
Whole Wheat Pumpkin Waffles (adapted from http://www.eating-for-england.com/whole-wheat-pumpkin-waffles/)
Mix in one bowl
•2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
•2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
•1 teaspoon baking soda
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•3 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (I double this!)
In a separate bowl mix
•1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
•4 large eggs
•2 cups well-shaken buttermilk (or milk with 2t vinegar, or yogurt)
•1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin (or make your own pumpkin or butternut squash puree for a twist)
•3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
Mix the wet and the dry ingredients together, and bake as your waffle iron directs, and you may need to oil the iron.
For another sneaky veggie treat, check out http://allrecipes.com/recipe/whole-wheat-pumpkin-applesauce-muffins/detail.aspx I make a double batch, and they never last long!
Strategy #2. Be a good example and allow a range of choices
We can't expect our kids to eat well if we don't! And don't we deserve healthy bodies too?
For the reluctant child, Jessica Seinfeld recommends putting raw veggies out with a healthy dip while dinner is cooking. This provides a healthy appetizer that won't spoil anybody's dinner and takes the pressure off of a kid to eat veggies during mealtime, where the showdown typically occurs. My kids like this because they want to see what I'm doing in the kitchen, and they snack on the veggies or fruit I put out while we spend a little time together before dinner.
At mealtime, my kids have a choice between eating the veggie side that I serve or eating a handful of organic raw spinach. My boys usually choose the spinach with no dressing or dip. I try to keep in mind for my toddler girl that a serving of vegetables for her age is really just a few tablespoons, so if she eats a few peas, most of the corn, and all of the carrots from her mixed vegetables, then she has made a good effort. All my kids will eat broccoli, but my toddler who is not fond of green veggies will only eat the very tops of them. I figure that's where the nutrients are, so great! The key is that she is willing to touch and to try the vegetables. When I make soup, the kids have to eat at least half of what is in their bowl. They're getting a lot of the vitamins in the broth, and they find that the veggies are more palatable when the flavors have all mingled.
A friend of mine recently reminded me of her afternoon years ago with my firstborn, who was a preschooler at the time. He was my kid who had sensory problems and was terrified of the feeling of vegetables in his mouth. She had a house rule that everyone had to eat a small amount of veggies before they got down to play. No big deal. For my son, this led to total meltdown! Years went by, and she now has a child with sensory difficulties and who can't handle food textures. She understands completely!
The best strategy in this case is a gradual approach to introducting new foods, even if the child is school-age. My son had to smell a new food, touch it, kiss it, lick it, and finally taste it, possibly several attempts later. This worked great for us, and he now eats a wide variety of foods. He's still picky, but he rarely melts down over dinner at age 8. I also allow my big kids a few "no thank you" foods. They may be exempted from eating a very short list of things that they have tried as long as they are polite about it and agree to try it again later. If the child wants to put honey, ketchup, salsa, barbecue sauce, cinnamon, or any other favorite flavor onto the food, it's fine by me! It's not worthwhile to fight with kids over food, so it's best to avoid power struggles.
I will admit that we occasionally have a grown-up meal and feed them what we call "kids pick". This is for when we want to eat something that is utterly delicious and totally not kid-friendly. Our kids hate curry, and they don't have an appreciation for Mediterranean food. Fine, more for us! You can have your nitrate-free all-beef Kosher hot dogs, kiddos.
Here are two practical ideas for a way to serve a meal that allows each family member to choose what foods they like best but still eat the same meal. Keep in mind that with practice these are quick meals. I make them regularly during afternoon chaos while parenting 4 kids, 8 and under.
1) Pasta Bar
Boil an appropriate amount of pasta for the family (try whole grain!)
Provide pasta sauces such as marinara and alfredo
Bake and slice one or two chicken breasts
Sautee a green pepper, an onion, and a zucchini with some garlic and olive oil. Season it with Italian seasoning and maybe a little drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
Provide parmesan cheese
This way, family members can customize their dinner with their favorite pasta toppings. My husband doesn't like pasta, but he took the rest of the leftovers to work the next day.
2) Chipotle Night - no need to make all of these unless you want a little leftovers!
Provide wholegrain tortillas and tortilla chips
Shred some melty cheese like colby jack
Open a can of black beans, drain them, add a little salsa and cumin, let warm on the stove or in the microwave, then mash them
Stir fry an onion and a green pepper
Scoop out an avocado, add salsa, cumin, cilantro, and lime juice and blend for guacamole (stick blender rocks!)
Bake or sautee a sliced chicken breast or two. Marinate or cook in a mixture of soy sauce, lime juice, garlic, olive oil, and chili powder. Grilling makes this spectactular!
Make Chipotle rice with lime and cilantro. This recipe uses basmati, which cooks very fast! http://chipotlefan.com/index.php?id=rice_recipe
This meal can be made faster and cheaper than a trip to Pittsburgh for Chipotle, and it is so delicious!
Strategy #3 - Include them in shopping and prepping meals.
I know, I know, this one is a PAIN. If you ever see me with my kids at Mt de Chantel Kroger or Jebbias, you'll know us by the noise and chaos swirling around my cart. However, I feel like there are many good lessons to be learned in the store with my kids. When they ask for a treat, we look at the box and try to find the ingredients to make it at home and make it healthier. They are more likely to eat vegetables and fruits that they have helped to select. I have my kids each choose a fruit and a raw vegetable that they like, and it's amazing how fast the food disappears!
I'm hoping that this year is the year we start gardening here. My kids have enjoyed helping with a vegetable garden in the past, and I can't wait to try this spring! The anticipation of yummy food they have helped to grow will make the food more delicious and will give us a fun outdoor activity.
The big struggle I have is with letting kids help in the kitchen. My 8 year old likes to help with grinding wheat for bread (yeah, I'm crazy), and my 6 year old is fascinated by our compost pile, but letting any of them help me in the kitchen means that the oldest 3 will all be crowded around me, and the baby will be strapped to me, so I have to set some ground rules. Only one helper at a time, and only if the baby is sleeping. Everyone must wash their hands, and no fingers are to go into their mouths or their noses (strange what rules I have to make these days!). King Arthur Flour has a great post on baking with kids this month http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/?go=EC120203D&utm_source=EC120203&utm_medium=email&utm_content=&spMailingID=4361093&spUserID=MTEwMDMzNDU1MTQS1&spJobID=262197081&spReportId=MjYyMTk3MDgxS0
Note: no giveaway on this blog. This is just where I write my rough drafts! This post will be 3 separate posts that will go up tomorrow.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Post for local parenting blog
So I'm back! After a good birth of my fourth child, an eventful adjustment to being a party of six, my husband's trip to California, an exhausting end of the semester, and a bout of serious postpartum depression just before Christmas, I'm glad to be back.
Eating hospital food for 2 days inspired today's post, and this inspiration was further bolstered by the holiday treat baccanalia that followed with Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, two birthdays, and New Year's in rapid succession. Our bodies aren't meant to be fueled this way! My health and mood go down when this is how I eat. My kids' behavior takes a turn for the worse, and they catch more of whatever plague is going around when we don't eat as nutritiously.
I am absolutely to blame for this, but you know what? I don't beat myself up about it. I am a reasonably skilled baker, and I make hundreds of cookies during the holiday season to give away, to take to events, and yes, to munch on. I'm all for keeping this special tradition. I made about 900 this year, and I still have a triple batch of citrus sugar cookie dough in my freezer that will stay there until Easter, I believe. I am happy to say that we don't have any actual cookies in the house. I think there's an errant tin of them under the seats of the van, but I'll excavate that one of these days and take the cookies to church for coffee hour. At least they're in cold storage, right?
My biggest concerns with this excess of sugar have been my second son's behavior, my toddler girl's pickiness, and my own postpartum crash. My son has always been really good about savoring a treat and taking forever to finish candy, but his sweet tooth has suddenly been switched on, and he has no off switch. He is not able to stop himself when sugar is available, and that is how I was as a kid, resulting in a lot of cavities and mood swings. I want him to develop some self-control, and I need to model that for him. He asks for dessert every night, even though it's never been more than a weekly or bi-weekly option. I lack the will to make everyone go cold turkey, so we will scale back our sweets for a while and then possibly give up all sweets for Lent as a family, with exceptions for the two birthdays that occur then. My major strategy for all of us is to make lots of veggie-loaded soups. Whole wheat pasta, beans, rice, and barley are nice add-ins for many of our favorite soups, and whole wheat bread is a filling side.
As for myself, I have come back to reality (as opposed to survival mode) now that I'm taking Zoloft, and I know I can't eat a cookie every time I breastfeed my sweet and ravenous two month old. I have to start my day with a kefir-yogurt-berry smoothie or a bowl of oatmeal. Kefir and good yogurt contain healthy bacteria and yeast that balance out the flora in the gut, allowing the digestive system to work properly. Some frozen blueberries provide vitamins and antioxidants, and I feel great when I start my day this way. I sweeten it with a little stevia if the yogurt is very tart or the kefir is very strong, and it is delicious! Oatmeal is helpful in keeping breastmilk production up, and I feel full all morning when I have a bowl.
I need to eat lunch. Every day. This shouldn't be an epiphany, even though I'm writing this on Epiphany. I get so busy with infant and toddler girls that I often skip lunch and nosh on whatever is handy. I need to make sure that nutritious stuff IS what's handy so that I'm not setting myself up for failure and crashing by the time my school-age kids come home.
My toddler girl has been on a course of antibiotics and needs good yogurt to help restore the flora in her belly as well. It provides calcium and protein that she does not otherwise get because she is sensitive to uncultured milk. She has been on a graham cracker diet because she was sick and didn't want anything else, so I'm taking this opportunity to get her back on a variety of healthier fare as well. She won't eat what I'm not modeling and providing for her. I'm happy to say that she sneaked and finished my oatmeal this morning.
Interested in learning how to make yogurt and kefir? Join us at Wheeling Mountain Sprouts at Edgwood Evangelical Lutheran Church on January 20 at 10am. I'll be demonstrating the processes and sharing some fresh yogurt and kefir. We'll also be talking about bread baking.
Eating hospital food for 2 days inspired today's post, and this inspiration was further bolstered by the holiday treat baccanalia that followed with Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, two birthdays, and New Year's in rapid succession. Our bodies aren't meant to be fueled this way! My health and mood go down when this is how I eat. My kids' behavior takes a turn for the worse, and they catch more of whatever plague is going around when we don't eat as nutritiously.
I am absolutely to blame for this, but you know what? I don't beat myself up about it. I am a reasonably skilled baker, and I make hundreds of cookies during the holiday season to give away, to take to events, and yes, to munch on. I'm all for keeping this special tradition. I made about 900 this year, and I still have a triple batch of citrus sugar cookie dough in my freezer that will stay there until Easter, I believe. I am happy to say that we don't have any actual cookies in the house. I think there's an errant tin of them under the seats of the van, but I'll excavate that one of these days and take the cookies to church for coffee hour. At least they're in cold storage, right?
My biggest concerns with this excess of sugar have been my second son's behavior, my toddler girl's pickiness, and my own postpartum crash. My son has always been really good about savoring a treat and taking forever to finish candy, but his sweet tooth has suddenly been switched on, and he has no off switch. He is not able to stop himself when sugar is available, and that is how I was as a kid, resulting in a lot of cavities and mood swings. I want him to develop some self-control, and I need to model that for him. He asks for dessert every night, even though it's never been more than a weekly or bi-weekly option. I lack the will to make everyone go cold turkey, so we will scale back our sweets for a while and then possibly give up all sweets for Lent as a family, with exceptions for the two birthdays that occur then. My major strategy for all of us is to make lots of veggie-loaded soups. Whole wheat pasta, beans, rice, and barley are nice add-ins for many of our favorite soups, and whole wheat bread is a filling side.
As for myself, I have come back to reality (as opposed to survival mode) now that I'm taking Zoloft, and I know I can't eat a cookie every time I breastfeed my sweet and ravenous two month old. I have to start my day with a kefir-yogurt-berry smoothie or a bowl of oatmeal. Kefir and good yogurt contain healthy bacteria and yeast that balance out the flora in the gut, allowing the digestive system to work properly. Some frozen blueberries provide vitamins and antioxidants, and I feel great when I start my day this way. I sweeten it with a little stevia if the yogurt is very tart or the kefir is very strong, and it is delicious! Oatmeal is helpful in keeping breastmilk production up, and I feel full all morning when I have a bowl.
I need to eat lunch. Every day. This shouldn't be an epiphany, even though I'm writing this on Epiphany. I get so busy with infant and toddler girls that I often skip lunch and nosh on whatever is handy. I need to make sure that nutritious stuff IS what's handy so that I'm not setting myself up for failure and crashing by the time my school-age kids come home.
My toddler girl has been on a course of antibiotics and needs good yogurt to help restore the flora in her belly as well. It provides calcium and protein that she does not otherwise get because she is sensitive to uncultured milk. She has been on a graham cracker diet because she was sick and didn't want anything else, so I'm taking this opportunity to get her back on a variety of healthier fare as well. She won't eat what I'm not modeling and providing for her. I'm happy to say that she sneaked and finished my oatmeal this morning.
Interested in learning how to make yogurt and kefir? Join us at Wheeling Mountain Sprouts at Edgwood Evangelical Lutheran Church on January 20 at 10am. I'll be demonstrating the processes and sharing some fresh yogurt and kefir. We'll also be talking about bread baking.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Friday, November 4, 2011
Very Much Overdue Post
Thankfully, I was not overdue! We got through the last month of pregnancy with few incidents, lots of sorta-labor, and lots of nesting. I kept picking up my iPod to blog only to see a speck of something and go on a cleaning/organizing rampage. Not a particularly fruitful exercise since it always gets undone! I just had so much nervous energy waiting for labor to kick in and trying to settle the details for my older kids.
In the end, I opted to augment things through a mild cervical ripening, trusting that if my body was ready, it would respond. If it wasn't ready, we could go home and wait a few days. However, I was losing weight and there were concerns about GBS and placental health. The induction was very mild overnight and was effective. Since I only had one doctor available , my last two practitioners missed my births, and I tend to go very rapidly at the end while remaining pretty calm, we knew our best bet was to have her when the doctor was definitely going to be in the building. It was so good that we did. Her cord was around her neck, and things went so rapidly that the doc had to be called out of a friend's prenatal appointment! The labor was a bit tougher, but I was prepared for that. They did offer epidurals, but they don't work on me after a back injury, and I coped pretty well. I did manage to avoid pushing until the doctor arrived and suddenly didn't feel like pushing when he did because I had successfully breathed through some awful contractions. I pushed her out with 3 pushes in 2-3 minutes and got to hold her after a minute of blow-by oxygen because she was blue from the cord. In the end, I got what I wanted because I had a manageable birth within a timeframe that worked for my family. Dan said, "there's ideal, and then there's what actually works in our situation." I totally agree. It was the birth experience that worked best for all of us, and I have no regrets.
She is an excellent little nurser, she is content and happy 95% of the time, and Dr. O' tells everyone what a perfect fourth baby she is! She sleeps great in our bed and wakes up around 4am for a feeding that I mostly sleep through. I can cut a 1am feeding by nursing her at 11pm. Her Daddy quits grading then and comes to change her diaper and wakes me to feed her. Those nights she sleeps from 11 to 4. We know how fortunate we are to have this pattern, but we've also paid our dues with IM and Nub, who were terribly fussy babies thanks to colic and ear infections.
We were talking about how if we had been "Babywise" parents, we would be so frustrated with this sweet little girl who naturally cluster feeds during the day and sleeps long periods of time. If we tried to put her on a schedule, we would feel guilty for holding her so much. We would be concerned by how long and how frequently she nurses and be forcing her into a schedule that a book dictated to us. It's asinine. We would be missing out on her natural patterns of waking, eating, and sleeping, and we'd have a grumpy and frustrated baby with grumpy and frustrated parents. My baby is wise enough, thank you!
The other kids are transitioning beautifully, including Nubby, who is more upset to have her Mom-Mom O' gone now. They all love their sister and are so interested in getting to know her. It's such a blessing!
In the end, I opted to augment things through a mild cervical ripening, trusting that if my body was ready, it would respond. If it wasn't ready, we could go home and wait a few days. However, I was losing weight and there were concerns about GBS and placental health. The induction was very mild overnight and was effective. Since I only had one doctor available , my last two practitioners missed my births, and I tend to go very rapidly at the end while remaining pretty calm, we knew our best bet was to have her when the doctor was definitely going to be in the building. It was so good that we did. Her cord was around her neck, and things went so rapidly that the doc had to be called out of a friend's prenatal appointment! The labor was a bit tougher, but I was prepared for that. They did offer epidurals, but they don't work on me after a back injury, and I coped pretty well. I did manage to avoid pushing until the doctor arrived and suddenly didn't feel like pushing when he did because I had successfully breathed through some awful contractions. I pushed her out with 3 pushes in 2-3 minutes and got to hold her after a minute of blow-by oxygen because she was blue from the cord. In the end, I got what I wanted because I had a manageable birth within a timeframe that worked for my family. Dan said, "there's ideal, and then there's what actually works in our situation." I totally agree. It was the birth experience that worked best for all of us, and I have no regrets.
She is an excellent little nurser, she is content and happy 95% of the time, and Dr. O' tells everyone what a perfect fourth baby she is! She sleeps great in our bed and wakes up around 4am for a feeding that I mostly sleep through. I can cut a 1am feeding by nursing her at 11pm. Her Daddy quits grading then and comes to change her diaper and wakes me to feed her. Those nights she sleeps from 11 to 4. We know how fortunate we are to have this pattern, but we've also paid our dues with IM and Nub, who were terribly fussy babies thanks to colic and ear infections.
We were talking about how if we had been "Babywise" parents, we would be so frustrated with this sweet little girl who naturally cluster feeds during the day and sleeps long periods of time. If we tried to put her on a schedule, we would feel guilty for holding her so much. We would be concerned by how long and how frequently she nurses and be forcing her into a schedule that a book dictated to us. It's asinine. We would be missing out on her natural patterns of waking, eating, and sleeping, and we'd have a grumpy and frustrated baby with grumpy and frustrated parents. My baby is wise enough, thank you!
The other kids are transitioning beautifully, including Nubby, who is more upset to have her Mom-Mom O' gone now. They all love their sister and are so interested in getting to know her. It's such a blessing!
Friday, October 7, 2011
Working out the details
This week has been busy with Dan's work, baby prep, and keeping the house/kid stuff running smoothly. We successfully transferred ownership of the CR-V to my in-laws, although we had to make it technically a "sale" since we were missing a piece of paperwork that still hasn't arrived. The visit is short, but we'll see them again when the baby comes.
I will be 37 weeks on Sunday, which is considered full-term. She's active and certainly trying to make enough room without much success. We are all looking forward to having her here, and I've been sorting through there details this week. I wrote up instructions for short-term caregivers who will help out until Dan's mom gets here, and I wrote an email to the boys' teachers detailing our plans and asking them to call my cell if anything is unclear. I wrote my birth plan, aka "leave me alone until I hit transition, then get the doc here now" plan, and I still need to write out instructions for my MIL so that she doesn't worry about doing something that I won't like. Honestly, nothing she'll do will be a problem, but it will help her feel at ease to know my preferences. We've known each other long enough for her to know that I'm particular about how I do things, and she wants to honor that. I've known her long enough to of course trust her, but I know she wants to try to do things my way in my house. I appreciate that! I will have to get some paper towels because not having them will probably gross her out. I'll have to label my homemade cleaning supplies so she knows what they're for, and I'm going to get some pull-ups for Mara who will certainly be regressing then since she is now.
My to-do list remains daunting. The crib still isn't put back to infant mode. The kids' rooms, the LR, the bathroom, and the kitchen still need paint. The painting is leftover stuff that we should've done after the move, but it seems more urgent now that I'm nesting! We need a bassinet, a soft carrier to wear the baby in, and a changing table. The gear will come along at some point, but it leaves me anxious not to have things settled. God provides so abundantly for our needs that I know it'll all work out in time.
The biggest struggle is that we had no idea how busy this semester would become. Dan is presenting a paper in California in November, his department is reviewing its curriculum, they're hiring someone new, he has 4 classes of nearly 100 students total, he has faculty meetings and just other random events to show up for. It's a lot. And yet he manages to be so sweet and helpful at home. He's amazing. For me to work or go to school would be nearly impossible. I'm definitely in the right place for this point in our lives.
I will be 37 weeks on Sunday, which is considered full-term. She's active and certainly trying to make enough room without much success. We are all looking forward to having her here, and I've been sorting through there details this week. I wrote up instructions for short-term caregivers who will help out until Dan's mom gets here, and I wrote an email to the boys' teachers detailing our plans and asking them to call my cell if anything is unclear. I wrote my birth plan, aka "leave me alone until I hit transition, then get the doc here now" plan, and I still need to write out instructions for my MIL so that she doesn't worry about doing something that I won't like. Honestly, nothing she'll do will be a problem, but it will help her feel at ease to know my preferences. We've known each other long enough for her to know that I'm particular about how I do things, and she wants to honor that. I've known her long enough to of course trust her, but I know she wants to try to do things my way in my house. I appreciate that! I will have to get some paper towels because not having them will probably gross her out. I'll have to label my homemade cleaning supplies so she knows what they're for, and I'm going to get some pull-ups for Mara who will certainly be regressing then since she is now.
My to-do list remains daunting. The crib still isn't put back to infant mode. The kids' rooms, the LR, the bathroom, and the kitchen still need paint. The painting is leftover stuff that we should've done after the move, but it seems more urgent now that I'm nesting! We need a bassinet, a soft carrier to wear the baby in, and a changing table. The gear will come along at some point, but it leaves me anxious not to have things settled. God provides so abundantly for our needs that I know it'll all work out in time.
The biggest struggle is that we had no idea how busy this semester would become. Dan is presenting a paper in California in November, his department is reviewing its curriculum, they're hiring someone new, he has 4 classes of nearly 100 students total, he has faculty meetings and just other random events to show up for. It's a lot. And yet he manages to be so sweet and helpful at home. He's amazing. For me to work or go to school would be nearly impossible. I'm definitely in the right place for this point in our lives.
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