What I've learned.

So, in the past eleven and a half weeks (Holy cow!!!) I've learned that being a mama has its ups and downs, and that when you think you have something down, your baby will completely change the game on you. I've learned that the worst poops will happen when you didn't pack a change of clothes for you or baby. I've learned that the little things will absolutely melt your heart. I've learned that it's the hardest thing I will ever do. I've learned that there are some feelings I'm ashamed to admit, but in the end it's okay because I truly love him. I've learned that adult interaction is necessary for my sanity. I've learned that I can't do all the same things I did before. I've learned that I get to do so many more amazing things. I've learned that very few things will work more than once. I've learned that the animals will always be the loudest right after I get R to fall asleep. I've learned that sleep is scarce and how to deal with that a little. I've learned the magic of coffee. I've learned that Papa's will try their hardest, but still manage to bug you because they just don't get it. I've learned that R's smile can always make me smile. I've learned that you will get more unsolicited advice than you can shake a stick at. I've learned that R will ALWAYS cry as I begin to eat or get a shower. I've learned that babies will fight sleep tooth, nail, and lungs. I've learned that even though I get so frustrated when he's lost his mind, I get so sad when I see how much he's grown. I've learned to take help wherever I can get it. I've learned that I miss cooking. I've learned that I have a baby that just needs to be held. I've learned that I am RIDICULOUSLY out of shape. I've learned the value of baby wearing. I've learned that some friendships will end. I've learned that I'll long for old friends, but look forward to new friends. I've learned that not everyone will agree with my style of parenting, nor I theirs. I've learned that I will be told I am spoiling my child. I've learned that I will not hesitate to be an advocate for my child. I've learned that some things I would have previously considered gross I now do without a second thought. I've learned the many uses of breast milk. I've learned that I'm really good at masking my frustration. I've learned that it's okay to cry. I've learned that husbands give really good hugs. I've learned that my life has changed for the better. I've learned that I still have a lot to learn. I've learned that my life is amazing.

Also, I swear I have pictures, I just have to post them. :)

DIY Deodorant

One of the things I definitely prefer to make at home (when I have the time) is deodorant. Store bought deodorant is too pricey and full of crazy chemicals for our taste. This version has only four ingredients, takes only 10 minutes to make, and is a fraction of the price. Not to mention, The Hubs and I prefer the way it smells to any other deodorant we've ever used. So, here it is!

8 Tbs Unrefined Coconut Oil

1/2 C Baking Soda

1/2 C Cornstarch

20 drops Essential oil of your preference

(I cut this last batch in half due to close to no cornstarch, so feel free to do the same.)

Put the coconut oil in a glass bowl and melt the oil (my microwave takes about 30 seconds to do this). 

Once melted, add the essential oil. We tend to do half cinnamon oil and half clove oil. 

In a separate bowl mix the cornstarch and baking soda. 

Slowly and thoroughly mix the dry ingredients into the oil. 

Set the mixture in the fridge to harden. 

When solid, pack the deodorant into an old deodorant tube, or use as is.

Be sure to store it somewhere cool since the oil has such a low melting point.

There you have it! Cheap and easy deodorant!

Progress and Grins

So, The Hubs and I failed at the birthday party. We expected R to have a meltdown much sooner than he did, and therefore were at said party much later than we expected. So, we caved and ate crappy Chuck E. Cheese pizza. We started over the next day and are now completing day two of eating totally gluten free.

Day one consisted of Cinnamon Chex cereal, I'm blanking on lunch, and chicken salad on tortilla chips. Today was a tea for breakfast, leftover chicken salad for lunch, and steak, quinoa, and salad for dinner. Snacks have been various fruits, yogurts, and spoonfuls of peanut butter. So, it hasn't been too bad. The pain is going to be knitting at Panera tomorrow night. I've been scouring their nutrition section, trying to find what I can have, and it looks like my options are going to be pretty slim. On top of that, I can't be sure that there won't be any cross contamination, but at this point I'm not going to be too picky about that. I think the important thing right this moment is cutting out as much gluten as I can. I'll be more picky about cross contamination once I've gotten this down.
My life saver so far has been www.gfoverflow.com. The Hubs' sister told me about this site, and I absolutely love it. If you aren't sure about the gf status of a product, you just type in the name and the site will let you know. It's really great for the hidden gluten in "natural flavours." Another site that I've been thankful for finding has been www.glutenfreegirl.com. This lady is married to a chef, so good food is very important to them. Because of that, they have worked really hard to de-gluten a lot of different things, posting the recipes as they go. Things are sorted into neat categories, so everything is easy to find. With the holidays coming up, I was beginning to get sad when I thought about the things The Hubs and I R would be missing out on, but thanks to these sites he won't miss out on anything. He can have most candies at Halloween, and I found a sugar cookie recipe for Yule.

Besides working on this whole gf thing, I have been working on getting smiles out of R. Gathering evidence  of said smiles is my primary occupation.

Taking the Plunge

In the last year The Hubs' mom was diagnosed with celiac disease and several of his family members have at least a gluten sensitivity. With that in mind, The Hubs and I have decided to also remove gluten from our diets. Due to the family history, R is predisposed, as is The Hubs, and we both have several issues that are said to be exacerbated by gluten, so what will it hurt to just cut it out?

We are now on day two of no gluten, and I'll be honest, it makes me feel a little trapped.Things have to change, and as selfish as it is, I don't want them to. I don't like that I can't make a quick stop at some fast food place if I'm out running errands and am starving. I don't like that I might not be able to get anything to eat when I go to knitting at Panera. I don't like that at the birthday party we're going to today I can't have cake or pizza. I don't like that since we have decided that this is the best option for our family, all I can think about are muffin, fresh bread, and all the fall treats I can't have. It's silly, and like I said, selfish, but it's frustrating.

So, now we're working on figuring out what we can eat and how to incorporate it into our lives. It's going to require me cooking a lot more, which is something that has seriously decreased since late in my pregnancy. It also requires me to plan my meals a lot better. I can't just wing things like lunch anymore. I think the thing I'm most worried about is food being boring. I've never been the type of person who enjoyed eating the same thing days on end, and it feels like that is what's in store. So far I've had salad, salad, and more salad.I know there is more I can have and do, it's just the process of figuring it out that seems daunting. I can definitely understand why The Hubs' mom was so depressed when she received her diagnosis, and I have no idea how his sister does it on top of being vegetarian! If they can do it, though, so can we. His mom is just going to receive a lot more calls asking what we should make for dinner. Also, if anyone has any suggestions for gf lunches that are easy to put together while dealing with an angry baby, I'm all ears.

I'll let you all know how this goes and if we see any improvements. :) Wish us luck!

So incredibly behind!

The last few weeks have been incredibly hectic! We've been out of town almost every weekend, I've been crocheting up a storm for Castle's Cradle, I've had several house guests, I'm preparing myself for a much unwanted visit with certain family members, working on designing menu plans built mainly around whole foods, babysitting, baby showers, and much more! On top of it all, third trimester has finally hit me! All I want to do is sleep and gorge myself on tums! Granted, my life hasn't been nearly as crazy as some of the amazing people I know, and for that I consider myself truly lucky! I am extremely blessed to be in a situation that allows me to not have to have a traditional career. (I say traditional because although I don't bring money into the home, I still consider caring for the home and finances to be my career) Alas, I shall continue to use all of this as an excuse for my absence. So, something had to be neglected, and unfortunately it was this blog.

As a side note, I finished taking the pictures for the Photo-a-Day June, I just need to upload them.

So, I've learned that it is VERY easy for me to get off track with the things that are important to me when life begins to get crazy. When there is company it is easy to neglect the meals I had planned and instead eat out. When there is company it is also easy to neglect the housework that needs done. Once these things have been neglected for a few days, the daily ritual has been broken and it becomes difficult to start again. Things have slowed down just a little, and I am still having to force myself to get back into the daily routine. I find myself putting off things that I was previously quickly getting out of the way. Laundry waits a couple days longer to be washed, and then sits in a basket for several days waiting to be put away. The daily chores might get done, but the special tasks are put off for another day. The menu is made, but a dollar menu dinner is still had. It is so easy to let laziness creep in, and I have yet to learn how to combat this. I have such big plans for our family, but ti is difficult to implement when the smallest things set us off track.

I guess the best I can do is not beat myself up about it and just try to get back into the swing of things as quickly as possible. Now, I'm going to put together a menu for the week and designate the daily housework. :) Wish me luck!

June Photo-A-Day: Days 11-13

It's been a little busy around here, and so I haven't had the chance to post my photos, though they have been taken. So, here they are!

Day 11:

Door

 

 This is the door in R's room, which is encompassed by a tree from the mural that Briana from Tyr's Womama is painting for us.

Day 12:

From a low angle

 

 The bookshelf, or at least most of it. The photo editor made me cut out part of it. Adorned with a birdhouse, candles, a sword, an angel, a Buddha, and a statue that still managed to look beautiful after a particularly rough move that resulted in multiple amputations.

Day 13:

Art

 

I couldn't resist posting more pictures from the mural Briana is painting! It's already so beautiful, and she isn't even finished yet! I can't tell you all how excited I am to see the finished product! I'll post a nursery before and after when it's all done :)

Alright! Those were days 11-13, and I hope you all enjoyed. I should be back on track now, and things should continue being on time!

I have a few other things I plan on posting in the near future, mostly recipes, so keep checking back!

It's a little late, but

In my defense, I just learned about it. Apparently there is this spiffy little thing called Photo-a-Day over at Fat Mum Slim's blog. There is a prompt for every day of June (in fact I think there is a new prompt list every month...) and you simply take a picture of that thing, as fancy or elaborate as you feel, and post the picture. You can post via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, your blog, whatever, just share it and add the hashtag #photoadayjune so that others can find it as well. I'll post my picture a bit later today, but here is the list for any one else who would like to participate. :)

Meal Plan Monday...

Uhh... Tuesday... Ehh Monday was long and consisted of a car ride stretching from New Jersey to Virginia. The next MPM will actually be on Monday. Probably, anyways.

Chicken and Rice Soup*
Chicken Caesar Salad
Chicken Casserole*
Frozen Alfredo Skillet Meal
Chicken and Broccoli Casserole*
Leftovers/Panera (As is the Wednesday night knitting group custom)
Beef Lo Mein

What is your meal plan for the week? Link your post over at True Confessions of a Real Mommy.

*These meals will be updated with links to my blog posts with the recipe, so keep an eye open! :)

And Here It Is...

Okay, so by now I'm sure everyone and their mother has seen the recent Time magazine cover, but in case you haven't, here it is:

mommyish.com

 

 

This cover, and I suppose for some the article, has caused major controversy as of late. I have heard everything from cheers of encouragement to sneers of disgust. I have read comments calling this woman and all mothers like her both saints and perverts. I have expressed my personal opinion to my husband and sister, but beyond that have refrained from saying much. I have researched and reposted several articles discussing different points of what is considered attachment parenting, but have refrained from expressing whether or not I actually agreed with those articles. This was all to prevent a possible backlash from those in my life, but in the end I only know one of you, and I'm sure that particular reader won't disintegrate into a pool of blind anger if we happen to disagree. So, with that, I'm going to discuss my personal feelings about this cover, the article, and AP in general.

The Cover:
The actual cover of this article ticks me off. It isn't even the picture that upsets me, I think the picture is great. Art is supposed to cause a stir, get people talking, and no one can say that it didn't do this. The look of a mother almost defiantly feeding her child in the way nature intended whether the world likes it or not is beautiful. What upsets me is the way this photograph was used, especially in conjunction with that title. "Are You Mom Enough?" THAT is what angers me. The picture and title were used to incite anger, to pit us against each other, to cause shame, and all to make profit. In my opinion, that is misuse of power, and that is why I dislike the cover.

Four other pictures considered for the Time cover. 

 

 The Article:
The enclosed article contained a quick rundown of attachment parenting and a profile of Dr. Sears. This also annoyed me. The actual article had very little to do with the cover art, which just confirmed my suspicion that their aim was to get people in an uproar in order to sell more issues. The title of the article was "The Man Who Remade Motherhood." I despised this title. It implies that the ideals of AP were invented by Dr. Sears, and anyone who follows them is simply following a fad like The Master Cleanse or Myspace. It overrides the fact that these techniques are things that we are biologically programmed to do. It ignores that these are things that women have been doing since the beginning time. It implies that women need a male physician to tell us that it's okay to do what our instincts tell us to do. I appreciate the message that Dr. Sears has worked to spread, I simply dislike the idea that he invented this.

Attachment Parenting:
I agree with many of the ideals of AP, and hope to apply them to the ways I raise my children. I know there are certain things that I won't use because I am not comfortable with them, such as bed sharing, and that's okay. I know I don't have to follow every single one of these ideals "perfectly" in order for my child and myself to reap the benefits. In the end, I keep referring to them as ideals for a reason. Ideally we'd all breastfeed for an extended period of time, practice elimination communication, baby wear, and never let our littles cry, however life doesn't always allow that. I feel there is a lot of science behind why these things work and why we instinctively want to follow through with aspects of it. If anyone wants to learn more about AP and the science behind it, I highly recommend Mayim Bialik's Beyond the Sling.

Beyond the science, the reason I like AP is because it feels right to me. I will do what feels right to me, to the best of my ability. That's all we can truly ask of any parent. In the end, I think that is all that matters. We as mothers, as people, need to support each other in the decisions that we make in our families for our families. We live in a society where no matter what you do, someone is going to disapprove. There will always be someone who is angry with us because of our decisions. So many like to act as if the negativity is all one sided, but it isn't. This heat and negativity is coming from all sides. Either you're an "extremist who needs to get some serious help" or are "lazy and obviously don't care about the well-being of your children." If you happen to be floating somewhere in the middle people want you to settle on a side and fully commit. Someone on my Facebook said she was tired of all this "mommy war shit," and honestly, so am I. Granted, she meant that she didn't believe it was going on, but either way, it works. We need to quit tearing each other down, because we get enough of it from the outside world, we don't need it from each other also. I may not agree with some of the decisions others make (that will be a whole different post) but I support their right to make those decisions. I haven't walked in their shoes, I don't know their experiences. What feels right to me might not necessarily feel right to them. You know what? That's okay. Those differences in opinion, in life style, are what make life beautiful.

In the end, I support parenting in all ways, shapes, and forms. That is my opinion.

Friday Already??

Alright! I'm off to a late start since I had to run some errands first thing, and refused to get up earlier. Here is day one of sharing my daily list with the world!
Daily Chores:
Make beds
Feed pets
Load/Run/Empty dishwasher
Sweep kitchen & entryway
Clean kitchen sink
Clear/Wipe kitchen counters
Plan / Cook dinner
Wipe out bathroom sinks
Empty trash
Do laundry
Exercise
Quiet time
Take vitamins/medication
Prepare tomorrow's clothing
Tasks for the Day:
Change dishcloth/towel
Change hand towels in bathrooms
Clean refrigerator drawers
Sweep porch
Do a quick tidy/put away in each room of the house
Spend time on a craft/hobby

Okay, it's 1:35, and I'm going to get to work.

~*~

The Hubs got home at about 2, and so I took a break to hang out and talk with him. I started again at 2:55 and completely finished by 3:52. All in all, that's an hour and 22 minutes. That's a bit longer than I said it normally takes me, but I have some special circumstances today. The dining room table tends to turn into a dump spot for us, and it still needed to be cleared off from yesterday's errand run. Also, our sink decided to fall apart yesterday, literally. So today I had to haul all of the dirty dishes to the bathtub in order to wash them. Between my belly and my knees it was much more difficult than I had anticipated. I've decided that we're using disposable food receptacles until the plumber comes on Monday. Additionally, there will be lots of sandwiches.

Either way, a little under an hour and a half to get the entire house looking very nice isn't bad.

I consider day one to have went very, very well.

Getting Down to Business

So, like I said, my main focus right now is getting this new house in order and getting back into the habit of keeping my home organized. Now that everything is unpacked (Yay!!) and all that is left is R's room and hanging decor, I'm getting back on track with taking care of my home.

I try doing this in little ways. I make a list of meals I plan to make this week so I can shop efficiently and cut down on last minute trips to the closest fast food place. I work on a home journal that houses all the different chores I want to do on each day. I keep a calendar with all the things going on through out the month, and then transplant them onto a mini calendar each week so I can see what is planned for that particular week. I keep a running list of things we need so that I can grab them as I run errands on a set day. I have all these little things that I try to make myself do so that my life can be easier and everything gets done.

There's a problem, though, I am truly terrible at keeping up with most of this. Life happens and everything else goes out the window. I remember doing really well with all of this for a while, then I started college again. Between a 30-60 minute commute depending on traffic, 7 classes a week, hours of homework, and infertility treatments, I was too tired to take care of anything. All of the work I had put into getting a solid system in place kind of disintegrated. Then I found out I was pregnant and the Hubs and I decided I would take a break from school to focus on preparing for R and then taking care of R. Since I wasn't going to school I figured I could really get back into the swing of things and get everything under control by simply reimplementing all the things that had worked in the past. By that point, our house was a disaster and I had underestimated how exhausted and sick I would feel in the first trimester. By the time I had energy again, we were looking to buy a house and dealing with that level of disaster felt pointless and daunting at the same time.

Well, now we've moved and I've had time to really evaluate where I've gone wrong in the past. I don't do well with paper. I don't do well with big giant jobs every day. I don't do well with opening that big binder because I know when I do I am going to get completely overwhelmed. I've learned that what works well for me is simple tasks that cover several areas instead of completely scouring one area. I work well with my phone because it reminds me to do my jobs and attend my meetings. My meal planning works pretty well as long as I'm not being lazy, which, let's be honest, I can be. So, I'm going to begin truly playing into my strengths.

On my phone I've downloaded the Google Tasks app, which incorporates both a to-do list and a calendar. I love that the tasks and appointments I put in can be repeated in different intervals. I have simply programmed in the little things I need to get done each day and set reminders for different times. I also love it for the calendar because, like the lists, I never think to look at the darn thing. With this I program appointments, dates, and events as soon as I learn about them. I enter the time, place, date, and set a reminder. So, my poor habits aren't as disastrous.

One of the big things that has helped me has been the Motivated Moms program. If you haven't heard of it, it's basically a PDF (or app if you have an Isomething, which I don't) that has a separate page for each week. On that page daily chores are listed for each day along with several tasks for each day. Based on everything I have said previously, this sounds like the last thing that would work for me. However, it works perfectly for me. The chores are so intuitive and the tasks are so simple! Literally, the daily chores include things like make the bed, feed the pets, run the dishes, wash laundry if it needs it, etc. Very simple. The tasks are even more simple. The real tasks take place Monday through Friday, with tiny tasks on the weekend. For example, every Sunday the tasks are Cut/Sort/File Coupons, Make a shopping list, and Pamper yourself. The particular Monday I am looking at says to Change dishcloth/towel, Change hand towels in bathrooms, Clean middle shelf of refrigerator, Inventory refrigerator contents and plan meals around leftovers, Vacuum main/public rooms or 1st floor, Vacuum furniture in family/living room, Clean toilets, Replenish stock of toilet paper in bathrooms. It looks like a long list, but it's all small things. I love that you aren't focusing on an entire room or area. I would be much more likely to clean a single shelf in the refrigerator than the entire thing. Also, it's not the end of the world if a task doesn't get finished, because it'll pop up again at some point. All in all, I can finish everything I need to do within about an hour. Being a stay-at-home wife and soon to be mom, I can plow through everything right after I get up. It's a solid hour of working, and then I have the rest of the day to do whatever I want. With the tasks being so small, they're easily broken up, so a working mom or wife can also easily get everything done. I can't express how much I love this program!

Once I fully have this implemented, I'll be able to really start doing a lot of the things I miss and want to do. I'll have time to crochet more, read more, focus on R when he gets here. All in all, I think it'll be really nice. What I want to start doing is posting my jobs for the day, how long it takes, and just keep myself accounted for. :) Wish me luck!

Homemaker's Challenge