Healthy Food Blogs

There are so many wonderful food blogs out there on the internet, but doesn't anyone have a good low-carb/low-sugar blog? I do have one really good diabetic cookbook, but I don't want to have to buy another one. We have been eating some pretty tasty food in the last week and a half, including Fajitas, Sloppy Joes, and Chicken Marsala. I definitely don't feel deprived even though I haven't had any sugar in over a week and a half. I don't miss it. I feel GREAT! My blood sugar has been in the 70's all day today! Maybe I should start my own food blog...........

Morning Thoughts

Today was day #1 of me getting up with Pedro to make a healthy breakfast for both of us. We had oatmeal with flaxmeal, wheat germ, blueberries and bananas. Yum! I think it went well. (Even if I did get distracted and burn the oatmeal. I never burn things. What's up with that?) Neither one of us could remember the last time we did this, but we decided it must have been before Sam.
Sam has been sleeping in these days. (Yesterday, he slept until 8:00!!!!!) So it was hard to drag myself out of bed at 6AM when I knew I could sleep in a little more if I wanted to. However, it was also nice to sit at the dining room table and have a quiet breakfast with Pedro. And it will be even nicer to NOT have to rush through my own breakfast while trying to get Sam fed this morning.
Tomorrow morning, I think I will try to work-out also. I usually try to squeeze it in during Sam's afternoon nap, along with about 9 billion other things I have to get done.
It's 7:45. The house is quiet. What to do now? I think I'll lay on the couch and read. Have a beautiful day everyone!

I WON something!!

I entered a contest on facebook to correctly guess the name for the shade of red of a new style of cloth diaper that Bummis is launching. You can check the diaper out here. I guessed that they were naming the red diaper pomegranate and they are! SWEET! I never win stuff. I can't wait to get this diaper and try it out on Sam. We used Bummis diaper wraps and pre-folds when he was a newborn. He had outgrown the size we had by the time he was two months!

Jeremiah 29:11

My doctor called today to tell me I have gestational diabetes. I sat on the floor and cried after we got off the phone. Sam gave me lots of hugs and kisses and I still cried. Pedro called and I still kept crying. Pregnancy hormones, I will not miss you. Eventually the crying stopped and then I just sat there and felt MAD. I eat healthy, I take care of myself, and I do NOT want to poke myself multiple times a day. Yuck! Then I got over my little pity party and realized how blessed we are to be parents of (soon-to-be) two sweet little boys. I have been blessed to be able to get pregnant easily and feel great during it. I refuse to let this rob any of the joy I feel about our new little boy.
Jeremiah 29:11 came to mind "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." And also Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." It's amazing how quickly the word of God can bring peace.

It looks like the Accu-check compact plus and I will be good friends for the next 3-4 months. Maybe I will have to poke my finger and give up chocolate for a while, but its small price to pay for the happiness of adding another little life to our family.

A little more prepared this time!

We got a visit from our diaper fairy yesterday! I love it when the diaper fairy comes. So does Sam. She mailed us a 5-pack of toddler size AIO's, 3 super-cute toddler onesies that are extra roomie in the tush for cloth diapered babies, an 8-pack of infant size baby basics (I think these diapers with a couple of wraps will be perfect for holding in that runny infant poo.) and a 5-pack of newborn size AIO's. These newborn diapers are precious. They look SO tiny to me. I think I'll have to bring them to the hospital with me for pictures. We never did newborn pictures with Sam because we were completely unprepared when he was born.
Sam's birth completely took me by surprise. I was 11 days past my first due date and 3 days past the only other possible due date we could come up with. However, I was still set on going into labor naturally. Right. I should have known that would never hapen with the doctor I had. The week before she had tried to have me induced for preeclampysia. She was measuring my belly and checking the baby's position when she realized the nurse hadn't recorded my blood pressure so she brought in another nurse to take it while I was laying FLAT on my back and had been for about 5 minutes. Of course it was extremely high at that point. Whose wouldn't be after laying on their back with 20+ lbs. compressing a main artery. Then she said "Well, I just can't understand it. Your blood pressure has been great, no swelling, no protein, you've even lost a little weight since last week. I'm going to send you over to the hospital to be tested and if it comes back positive we'll induce. If not, I want to see you first thing Monday morning." I was fine. Good thing I was still teaching full-time and had amazing insurance that paid 100% of all the needless testing I underwent with that doctor.
I went in early in the morning the following Monday for a bio-physical profile to see how Sam was doing and it was determined that my amniotic fluid was low, and the baby wasn't doing well so my doctor insisted on inducing. I was tired and ready to get the show on the road so I didn't resist too much. For reasons I still can't understand to this day, my doctor insisted that I go straight to the hospital instead of running home to get my bag? In retrospect, not smart. I should have gone home to get my bag and drop off my car. Pedro couldn't find most of what I needed so I ended up being stuck with the hospital's brand of toothpaste/toothbrush and other toiletries. Not the end of the world, but sometimes you want the comfort of your own stuff. We had NOTHING for poor Sam to go home from the hospital in. Someone had brought us two 3-6 mo. size outfits so we ended up putting him in one of those. I remember it being ridiculously huge and the nurse looking at us like we were completely incompetent.
Now I laugh at all the things we didn't know, but we survived and so did Samson. I'm sure when baby Levi arrives we'll discover more new things.

Ah-Bye!

I have been working on teaching Sam to say the baby's name. So far he says "Ah-Bye." Cute. Pedro and I always have fun picking out names. Its one of the first things we do. We want to start calling the baby by his/her name as soon as we know the sex.
We got a lot of flack over Samson's name so this time around we considered not telling anyone until the birth, but we decided against it. It's our child and if people don't like the name, oh well.
Some of the names on our list this time around were:
Henry
Abner
Abram
Elijah
Ezra
Simon
Luke
Thomas
Ephraim
Maxwell
Caleb
But the name that we decided on was Levi James. We both liked it instantly and kept coming back to it. I think its a good follow up to Samson.

Oh American Idol!

I really look forward to the beginnning of the American Idol season because I LOVE to watch the auditions. Especially, the bad ones. (Simon Cowell is my favorite judge.) No one can EVER top the panther man (Check him out on youtube) but, last night did not disappoint. Once the auditions are over, I usually stop watching. One of my favorites was the very first person to audition. She said she had spent the last two years playing the American Idol video game and had finally mastered it so she was ready to audition. WHAT? She was shocked when everyone told her no and said that everyone who heard her told her how good she was! WHAT?? Why would you encourage someone who can hardly carry a tune in a bucket to go on national t.v. and embarass themselves?? Although, I guess Pedro and I aren't any better since we love to watch them and laugh.

I have made yogurt several times now and it turns out great every time. Monday I decided to experiment a little bit and see if I could make custard-style yogurt. It worked!! After my yogurt was done, I took a packet of raspberry flavored gelatin and mixed it with one cup of boiling water. Then, I mixed three cups of yogurt in with it. If I had had frozen rasberries I would have added those also. I put it in the fridge overnight and when I woke up the next morning it had firmed up just like the little cartons of Yoplait. Yum! A healthy dessert.

Ping Pong With Daddy

I have been trying forever to get videos to upload on my blog. Finally, SUCCESS! Here is a short clip of Samson playing ping-pong with daddy. And let me also add that even holding Sam, Pedro still smoked everyone he played against. Thanks Aunt Noelle for the videos!

Expresso!

I took a wonderful looooooong nap this afternoon. Apparently, too long because I misjudged where the bedroom door was when I got up and slammed it into my forehead. It definitely left a mark. Then my husband made me a decaf mocha expresso and Sam snuggled with me for a good twenty minutes while we watched Winnie the Pooh and all was right with the world again. The end!

Got Modesty?

I was pretty disgusted by the fact that a huge majority of women were posting a description of their undergarments on facebook yesterday. Ick! My husband is the only one who should ever be privileged to that information. Call me old fashioned. I don't care. If you really want to "keep him guessing" then why not post a positive word or phrase that you think describes your husband. Post your favorite food. Post your favorite vacation spot. Who cares. But, let's be classy ladies. Let's guard some of the things that make marriage sacred and special.

My better half

I love this man. I'm glad that he is all mine. He is a good dad, a great husband and an AWESOME man of God. I love seeing how much my husband has grown in his leadership as head of our family. I love that he is just as comfortable having a serious conversation as he is rolling around on the floor being silly with our son. I love that he brushes Sam's teeth at night before bed and always checks to make sure he is covered with a blanket before we go to bed at night. I love that he works hard all day long, but still has the energy to help me out around the house when he gets home from work. I love his attitude. I love his heart. I love him.

Ick!

I engaged Sam in a brutal tickle war. We had fun......and then 2 minutes later he puked on me. I guess I should have waited a little while for the snack he had just eaten to settle. Lesson learned. Two hours later my hand still smells like puke.

Cloth Diapering

** If you don't want to read about cloth diapers, skip this post.**
I know some people may think I am a little crazy, but I love using cloth diapers. These are two pictures of Samson at 7 months in a cloth diaper. It has taken a while to get my husband on board, but he is finally getting into the habit of grabbing a cloth diaper instead of a disposable. The system we use couldn't be any easier.
I thought I would write a little bit about it and why we do it.

When Sam was an infant we used a system called Bummis. It consists of a prefold and a velcro on cover. Its similar to what would have been used years ago before disposables except there is no need to fold the diapers, no pins and the covers velcro on instead of pulling on. I liked them a lot, but unfortunately Sam was a very heavy wetter so almost as soon as I had the diaper on him I had to change him again. (One of the downsides to a cloth diaper is that most of them don't wick away the moisture like disposables.) Recovering from a c-section and changing a diaper every 20 minutes was just too much work so we mainly used disposables during the first two months. When Sam was finally able to go longer between changes, he had outgrown his Bummis. (This kid weighed 21 lbs. at 4 months.) At that point we decided to change to the system we use now, Kushies. (Don't you love the silly names?) We switched from the prefold system to Kushies for two reasons:
1. A better weight range; the infant size is for 10-22 lbs and the toddler size fits 22-40 lbs. We liked that we only needed two sizes of diapers until he is potty-trained. Some of the other systems require 4-5 different sizes which ends up costing more in the long run.
2. Easier to use (READ more daddy friendly.) The Kushies are an all-in-one diaper. The inside is soft flannel sewn into the cover. It velcro's on and is just as easy to use as a disposable diaper. With a prefold, there is still some folding to be done before it can be put on. Then the cover has to be put on and you have to check that there is no cloth sticking out of the leg holes or at the waist. They are very absorbent, but its a little more work.

I do wash all of the diapers myself. I know for some people that can be intimidating and maybe off-putting. It really isn't a big deal. I used to wash quite a bit more because he wet more frequently, so maybe every other day. Right now I wash diapers twice a week. The poop isn't a big deal either. I have disposable liners that go into the diapers. When he poops, the liner holds it all. All I have to do is dump the liner in the toilet and flush. I keep my diapers in a dry pail and usually don't have an issue with smell until it starts to get full and even then its pretty subtle.

We don't cloth diaper during naptimes or at night. There are some really wonderful cloth diapers you can get that do wick away moisture and keep a baby feeling dry all night, but they are also expensive. (Anywhere from $20-50 a diaper, figure you need at least 4-6 to cover naps and bedtime for 2-3 days.) Some people put their children in regular cloth diapers all night, but that seems like a recipe for diaper rash to me. Plus, I don't think it would be comfortable to sleep in something wet all night.

We also don't cloth diaper when we leave the house or go visit family. It's a lot of extra stuff to lug around. 20 cloth diapers takes up quite a bit more room than a compact bag of 20 disposable diapers.

The only other con to cloth diapering that I can think of would be the fit. They are much bulkier than disposable diapers so Sam usually has quite the bubble butt going. I think its cute. However, I have noticed that it does make a difference in the way his pants fit. Sometimes I have to go up a size and then cuff them at the bottom so they will fit his tush.

Some of the benefits to cloth diapering are:
1. The savings!!!!
2. Less waste.
3. No emergency trips to the store for diapers.
4. At 19 months, Sam knows when he is wet or poopy and he lets me know. We're getting ready to start potty training.

Prayer and Parenting

We pray every morning as a family before Pedro leaves for work. We usually stand next to Sam's high chair and each put a hand on him. This morning for the first time ever, he put down his spoon and bowed his head and sat quietly during the whole prayer. YES!
Then I sat at the table reading my bible while he finished his breakfast and he pointed to my bible and said "Bi-blo" or something like that. After breakfast he sat and let me read him a story from his little bible. I get so excited about little things like that!

Samson's tantrums have gotten 100% better. In fact, I don't think he has had one in a week. I think he needed to get back into his routine. I'm also reading a pretty awesome book, "The Happiest Toddler on the Block." Some of it is common sense, but there are some great tips and tricks for ending tantrums. My other go-to parenting book has always been "Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood." This is the method I used while teaching. I was really excited to see that they had developed an early childhood book. I read it last year while Sam was still in the infant stage and constantly refer back to it. I am definitely not an expert on parenting. Sometimes I think it was easier to teach a choir of 60-80 kids than teach my one little whirlwind, but he is absolutely worth it. I am so thankful to be able to stay home with Sam. Sometimes we do miss having two paychecks and occasionally I miss spending time around other adults, but for the most part I would not give up this time with my little guy for anything. Someday when our kids are all in school there will be plenty of time for me to return to teaching, finish grad school and pursue my career.