A year ago at this time, I was a swollen beach ball with a belly monster inside. I could eat whatever I wanted, work a full time job, take uninterrupted baths, and go to the movies. It was awesome, in a pregnant awesome kind of way. (of course, due to the amnesia of post pregnancy, I already forgot what it felt like, so I guess I'll just have to do it over again!)
One year later, our lil cracken is a crazy crawling loving bald baby. I can still eat whatever I want (yes, breastfeeding!) but I quit my job, cannot take uninterrupted baths, go to the movies or have a moment of silence to myself. My mama job is 24/7/365, with no vacations, no breaks, and no alone time. And it is the best paying job in the world!
It is the happiest I have ever been in my entire life. I am so thankful for my healthy family, my loving husband, and my crazy child. I wasn't quite sure about the whole mom thing when I was pregnant, but now that I am a full time mom, I wouldn't trade it in for the world. Thanks to my awesome husband for working so hard so that I can be a full time Domestic Engineer!
And here is to the future of many more kiddos running around!
One of my favorite experiments this year was taking my vitamins and analyzing them, mommy style. Sounds wierd, right? Read on.
See, I was taking prenatals because I had a baby and am nursing. I also believed even before I was pregnant that supplementing was the way to go to keep me and my family healthy. But I had a friend who told me that I probably was not getting all the nutrients that the supplement I was taking was supposed to be giving me. Wait- WHAT I said?! You are joking. Right?
She encouraged me to take my current prenatal vitamin (or any vitamin around the house) and put it in apple cider vinegar to mimic the acid in my stomach and see how long it would take to dissolve. Sadly, my prenatal vitamin was still whole after one hour. That meant that my body was not getting the nutrients it fully needed! Not only that, since I was nursing, neither was my daughter! Total-bummer! I asked her how long Shaklee supplements took too dissolve, these apparently AMAZING (and they are!) supplements she was telling me about, and they took only 15 minutes!
How could my body absorb the nutrients in the vitamins I had if it can't even break down in apple cider? One reason Shaklee differs from other vitamins is their bio-availibility. (ability for your body to absorb the nutrients it needs when and where it needs) I was clueless that my body was not getting all the nutrients my former vitamins were claiming to be giving me.
Now, I get this alot:
"I dont need to supplement, I'm a healthy eater.."
or
"Shouldn't we get all the nutrients we need already from the food we eat?"
In a perfect world my friends because....
Only 2% of the population gets the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables in our diet.
Most foods are not grown locally or organically, thus losing a lot of the important nutrients our bodies need.
There is a 38% decline in nutrient value in produce, and even the soil is not as rich as it once was.
Countless studies show the health benefits of nutritional supplementation. With proper nutrition AND supplementation you can prevent 80% of all heart disease in women, 90% of all type II diabetes and 60% of all cancer related deaths. Even Shaklee users of over 20 years have only .6 different perscriptions compared to the average american that has 12.2 throughout the year (UC Berkley). That is pretty outstanding!
Why Shaklee?
Shaklee spends over $100 million in clinical research at some of the more respected universities in the country (Harvard, Yale, MIT, Georgetown, University of Texas, Stanford..etc) There are countless number of studies that show Shaklee supplements improve the health and wellness of people. 80,000 quality tests are performed on the nutritional products alone and their ingredients every year. This is particularly important in producing herbal products. The proper plant genus and species must be used and grown with no pesticides or herbicides. The active ingredients in each herb are measured to be sure the herb is fresh and properly harvested, dried and prepared to insure its safety and effectivness.
Many store bought vitamins are synthetic vitamins. Synthetic vitamins are part vitamins part CHEMICALS. SCARY! There are four reasons to stay away from synthetic vitamins:
1. Nature intened you to consume vitamins, nutrients, and enzymes in the WHOLE FOOD form.
2. Your body can only absorb a small amount of synthetic vitamins.
3. Many synthetic vitamins give you too much of inexpensive nutrients and not enough of the important ones.
4. Side effects come from synthetic vitamins
Shaklee is a company that has been around for over 50 years and the average Shaklee user uses their products for over 17 years. The landmark study alone showed that people who tok Shaklee supplements had overall BETTER HEALTH than those who took another supplement or no supplement at all.
Shaklee products are always safe. There are 350 tests on every single ingredient to screen for heavy metals, pesticides, or any of hundreds of other harmful contaminants.
Shaklee products always work. Over 90 publushed clinical peer reviewed studies prove their effectiveness, including Landmark Study at Berkely proving that poeple who took Shaklee supplements had markedly better nutrient levels in their blood and far less incidence of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other serious illnesses (Landmark Study, Published 2007).
And of course, they are always green. Shaklee was the first company in the world to offset all its greenhouse emissions, the maker of first biodegradeble cleaner Basic H, and the popular non toxic environmentally safe cleaning products called Get Clean. The company partners with Nobel Laurete Wangari Maathal planting 1 million trees in Kenya and the U.S. Shaklee continues to join forces with people all over the world who care about the planet enough to create moevements of change. Committed to making truly sustainable natural products that respect the earth.
Now for the GIVEAWAY.....
I will be giving away a one month supply of Shaklee's Vitalizer to ONE winner. This is definitely one of my favorite products. My husband and I noticed a change in our overall wellness, including: our energy levels, improvement in digestion and keeping us healthy when everyone around us is sick.
After a Landmark Study, Shaklee developed Vitalizer- a vitamin strip packed with 80 nutrients. Vitalizer not only comes packed to the brim with highly tested raw materials, it has a patent-pending, cutting edge delivery system designed to improve absorption of key nutrients. I guarantee you will feel better in 30 days! I know I did.
Here is how to enter for the giveaway:
REQUIRED: Leave a comment on my blog about why you would like to try the Vitalizer or how you think Vitalizer will help you.
OPTIONAL: To enter your name in the drawing for a SECOND time, share this post on your facebook page.
I will pick the winner by Saturday, Dec 22 at 9 pm central using a random drawing system.
Feel free to email me if you have any questions about Vitalizer, or any Shaklee products in general. If you want to shop, click on my Shop Shaklee link.
Jeans are a great invention, one of my favorites even- you can wear them with a shirt, sneakers and a ponytail or dress them up with high heels and still feel beautiful. Three cheers to Mr. Levi Strauss.
Since I have become a mommy, jeans have taken a bit of a backseat in the closet. Why you ask? YOGA PANTS.
Yoga pants are the new jeans. No, I can't really dress them up with high heels at all but....
-I can get spit up out of them very easily.
-I know that when I bend over to to change my child's diaper, no crazy cracks will show (you all know what I am talking about.....).
-They will not restrain me when I need to run after my child.
-I go to sleep in yoga pants, I wake up in yoga pants and oh, yeah, I don't have any time to change....
-One word: COMFY.
-They will still fit when I get pregnant again.
-Because of the awesome "adjustable fold over panel" I can hide any kind of wobbly bits I may have .
-Last, but not least, they are cheap. At target the other day I found two pairs of yoga pants for 20 dollars. It used to be that my jeans were at least $120 for a pair. So, if you are reading this late at night, and you are really tired, that means essentially I could get 12 pair of yoga pants vs 1 pair of jeans. That my friend, is a bargain.
So moms everywhere, don't be embarrassed about those totally tubular yoga digs you got going, throw in some downward facing dog, strut your stuff and be proud, 'cause you are a mom on a mission.
As each month goes by and Hayden gets a little older, I notice how drastic the changes are. One moment your baby can't sit up on their own and FLASH they are doing it without you. I suppose this is how the rest of my parenthood goes, right?!
And so drastic has the diaper change been. Gone are the days of the sweet moments on the changing table where your child calmly lays while you change them with a sweet smile. Gone are the days at the restaurant bathroom changer where you only need one hand to multitask and even if your child pees in the middle of the change, you can still fix everything with that one hand.
Hayden has become an official contestant in the diaper gymnastics. If you don't know what the diaper gymnastics are, your child has not become a contestant yet.
Individual Competitive Events
The Layout: You lay your smelly child to be changed and you look away for one second only to find your child has already turned over and is looking at you tummy time style.
The Twister: While attempting to unsnap the diaper your child twists and turns to reach for the nearest shiny object.
The Foot in the Poop: As you have the dirty diaper open and are trying to clean your child up they squirm and kick and BAM! There goes the foot, smack dab in that poop....
The Runaway: Your child is finally all cleaned up and you are ready to put the clean diaper on and FASTER THAN LIGHTENING your naked baby is crawling away....
Some prime examples of Hayden competing:
While the diaper gymnastics have mostly been challenging, they always make me laugh and my favorite part of all is when my husband is with me...
Me (changing the diaper): Could you hand me a wipe please?
Ok, heres the deal: Babies come in all shapes and sizes. Whether is be long, wide, narrow, short, big, chunky or lean, every baby is amazingly and awesomely different. I absolutely love that babies are different, that no baby is the same and they grow, talk, crawl and walk at different rates, but I never thought I would run into issues with having a "banana baby."
Banana baby is the term used for a baby that is long and lean. When I had Hayden, I expected a lil roly poly baby, bc when she was born at 8 lb 5 oz, I didn't expect anything else. But alas, I have the kiddo in the fifth percentile. And I am totally awesome with it because after all, you can't put a baby on a chart....
I totally just put this pic in because I thought it was cute...true story.
But the PROBLEM with having a skinny baby (which there shouldn't be...), is everyone else, and everything else.
The Doctors: Your baby is SO petite. I bet you aren't producing enough milk, supplement this chid with formula! (I was a big ol milk factory producing way enough...)
The people: Awwww, your baby is SO precious. How old is she?
Me: 9 months
The people (eyes bulging like I am a horrible parent) Really?!?! She is WAY too small to be 9 months...
The clothes: Yes, my child is constantly drowning in the whatever brand clothes out there and you have to constantly search for a better fit that is always more expensive. Shoes? Try finding a pair of shoes for a 9 month old with newborn feet....
These are both 9 month sleepers, one is a common brand and the other is not....you can guess which one Hayden actually wears...
The diapers: Once again, even cloth diapers are made for the average baby. Had to have mine special made....
But the true moral of the story is this: We are fearfully and wonderfully made. There is a reason we are all made different. So whether your baby is small medium or large...who cares?! After all you are the mother with the instinct. You are the mother who KNOWS what your child needs. And don't let the Drs beat you down. Mommy knows best.
So on this day, skinny babies unite! (and all babies for that matter....)
I really prefer the term Domestic Engineer instead of Stay at Home Momma. I feel like SAHM gets a bad rap. Not to mention, as much as I stay at home, there are many things outside the home I do.
But I digress.
If you know me, you probably would call me hippy or granola. If it is natural, I am all in.
I was introduced to Shaklee by a friend from Illinois who I knew a long time ago. She gave me a sample of this super sweet non-toxic cleaner called H2. And I tried it. It was rad (see blog post). So because it was so rad I started doing some research on the company. And boy, it was a life changer for this DE.
As I did the research, followed up by lots of questions to my friend I found out that things like allergies, asthma, infertiity, cancer and other various diseases have been linked to toxins in our environment. Simply changing the cleaners in your home can have a huge impact on not only your health but your families.
With my mom being a nurse I have always been big into prevention. I began realizing that traditional medicine (while it does have its place) only puts a band-aid on symptoms and does not treat the real reason why you have the symptoms you do. I was sick of taking my prescription meds for my migraines that made me feel like I wasn't myself and I constantly had the same question over and over: How can I feel healthy and continue to prevent illness in a safe and NATURAL way, especially for my daughter? Shaklee was my answer.
The reason why I do what I do: this cutie.
I found taking the toxins out of my home and switching to Shaklee's Get Clean line begin to reduce my migraines. Adding my multivitamins with Vitalizer and adding a natural anti-inflammatory and natural anti-histamine of Alfalfa helped even more. When I feel like I am getting sick I take Defend and Resist Complex or Nutriferon and I feel better faster than I would have before! I found I loved the company and it's amazing products so much I decided to work for Shaklee.
Working with Shaklee not only helps my own families health, but I get to continue to stay at home with my daughter Hayden. I love being a Domestic Engineer and I love working for Shaklee. With Shaklee, I get to do both because I can work wherever and whenever. I can work when she is in her johnny jump up playing, or at night when she falls asleep and I am in my comfy clothes! My team is an amazing support system of other moms including a nurse and nutritionist and we are all in constant communication while consulting with clients. I love how easy it has been to fit Shaklee into my daily schedule AND I get to provide for my families financial goals of the future. Most of all, I love being to help other families in their journey to health and wellness.
Interested in being a Domestic Engineer and working for Shaklee on the side? Email me schlipf@gmail.com.
Want to get it on these bodacious natural and safe products? Click on the Shop Shaklee link up top. For more info you can email me as well!
I actually love school. I am a nerd for life. If I could get more degrees, I totally would! But the whole point of the title is that...
Moms are cool. So cool.
Here is the thing about being a mom. We can get away with anything. No, I am not talking about speeding tickets here (actually, pretty sure it is possible to get away with that as well, as long as there is a crying/pooping kid in the vehicle). I am talking about how awesomely different we are.
Because as a mom, we can show up things with spit up on our shirts, in our pajamas, and it's like, whatever, shes a mom. Poop on your white cardigan? No big thing, you are a mom! Did you wear that outfit yesterday? Who cares!
My ultimate favorite about being a cool mom is peoples reaction when I put makeup on. "Wooooooooowwwww, you look greeeeaaat!!!" (as opposed to when I normally look raccoon eyed and haggard? Yeah, its true). It is like all the sudden I am a supermodel! But I know I am not, it is just that everyone is used to staring at those epic dark circles.
Other reasons why moms are cool:
We can multi task 4 different things at once, including nursing a baby while making your breakfast while occupying your toddler and talking on the phone with your hubster.
We don't need to take a shower every day and we figure out ways to do it without smelling funny.
We can change poop explosion diapers with only one wipe left.
We really only need one arm and we can do anything.
We know how to fix a boo boo without a band aid.
We teach our children how to read, how to walk, how to run, how to love, how to help, how to make change in our world....
An there is more where that came from.
So remember moms, you are cool AND you are making a difference in your child's life. So keep on keepin on! GO MOMS!
In 2009, I married a United States Marine. My friends thought it was romantic, and he definitely looked handsome in his uniform, but my life changed then and there: not just because I was getting married, but because I married a Marine.
Everything quickly flip flopped in my life. I was suddenly extremely aware of the sacrifice that our military men and women made. How heartwrenching it was to miss someone that was gone for months, or even a year. Mothers and fathers missing the birth of their child. How precious every little second was. How hard these men and women worked.
And for this, I am thankful. These people are willing to die to keep us safe.
And it doesn't end on the battlefield, or in the fleet. In May, the unemployment rate for young veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan was 12.7% while the national unemployment rate was just at 8.2%. When these men and women fight for us then leave active duty, they have to fight for themselves just to get a job.
I urge you to take one second of your day today and any day to thank a veteran. Call them. Write them. Clap for them in the airport. Send a random package. Because it means more to them than you know.
I also want to give a shout out to my favorite charity, Wounded Warrior Project. It is an amazing charity that has grown throughout the years, and to be honest, most wounded warriors to not recieve the proper aid and care they need from the government, and WWP has done some AMAZING things for these men and women. As WWP says , the greatest casualty is being forgotten. Let us never forget these men and women.
And if you are a servicemember reading this post. THANK YOU.
We have watched Downton Abbey together, ate mass amounts of food together, surfed the net, read books, and while 3 am might enjoy me, I am not so much into 3 am.
I have experimented with everything in order to get Hayden to sleep through the night. You mention it I have tried it- switch from this diaper to that diaper, move this feeding to that feeding, give her mass amounts of oatmeal to fill her up right before bed, or even, I know, let's keep her up alllll day, and she will FOR SURE sleep through the night, right? Nope.
If you are a mama, I know most likely you feel me. You have done it, you are doing it. Still the wake ups, still the neediness. 8 months into it and the only sleeping through the night is a complete fluke.
I have just faced it. 3 am needs to be something I enjoy. Time to embrace it. Because several months from now, when my daughter begins wean, I will want 3 am back. And when she finally is fully weaned, I will whine for 3 am back. And when she is 18, I will cry for 3 am back.
Every moment with your kiddo is an awesome moment, even the 3 am ones. Just keepin it real, one day at a time.
Ever feel overwhelemed as a new parent when you walk into those baby stores? I sure did. As a new parent, I wish I knew what we didn't need. So, because I found out the hard way, here is a list of the top 10 things you don't need for a baby as a new parent.
10. Baby powder: Still not quite sure what it is used for.
9. Wipe warmer: Nobody warms up my toilet paper...
8. Bottle Warmer: Hot water and a bowl works just fine.
7. Shoes: Cute, not functional. I am just starting to put shoes on our daughter now that she is 8 months old.
6. Robes:Too many changes- baby is going straight from bathtub to towel.
5. Baby bathtub: Two words- kitchen sink.
4. Baby Bullet: A blender or food processor works just fine. Plus, your baby bullet most likely will break anyways.
3. LOTS of toys: Let's be honest folks, half of your childs life you are going to get them epic toy items and they are going to have more fun playing with the cardboard box it came in. Toys are great, but you don't need a ton.
2. Baby oil : still have not used it. It is a great eye makeup remover though!
1. Stroller: Ah yes, the stroller. The most complicated of them all. Ours was a gift and as much as I absolutely love it (it's a jogger), we use it the least of all or our baby items. They are big and bulky and it is just way more functional to have our daughter in a front carrier. So, if you are on a baby budget, I say eliminate the stroller unless you have multiples.
Remember mommas, I am just on a need vs want system. Even though we didn't need the stroller, I still wanted it anyways and I jog with it for sure. But if it wasn't a gift, we probably wouldn't have had it in the budget.
I thought I would add a little more about cloth diapers to those of you who are curious about taking the dive.
There are so many cloth diapers, so where do you start? To be honest with you , I'm an instant-gratification-amazon-junkie. A mom told me about fuzzibunz and I went to amazon for some one click shopping, put them in my cart and was ready to go. But then, my mother stopped me....
Mom: What are you doing?
Me: Investing in cloth diapers.
Mom: That's great, but what are you doing?
Me: Buying them on Amazon.
Mom: Weeelll, how do you know they will fit?
Me: Uuuuuummmmmm....
Mom: Maybe you should wait until we find a store that sells them.
Me: But mooooom, I want them noooooowww.
Mom: You should wait.
Me: Ok....
So instead of ordering on Amazon I decided I would find out where these things were sold. Some are sold online, some in stores. I found a specific cloth diapering store when I was staying in Iowa and we ventured on. And I am so happy we did, because I got a full tutorial on cloth diapering.
You see, not all babies are made the same, some are small, some are big, some wide, some long. So it really helps to know what kind of baby you have and what kind of diaper you need on them.
When I checked out fuzzibunz at the cloth diapering store they looked ginormous. You see, Hayden is a banana baby, and at that point she was at about the second to fifth percentile. The kid eats and eats and just poops it out! If I bought her those Fuzzibunz, she would have leaked out of them- they were to wide for her long and lean frame. Good thing I had options!
Option 1: Go the traditional route, or as I call it, the old school way- buy the diapers according to weight, get diaper pins which are now called snappi, and a plastic cover. This usually is the cheapest.
Option 2: Bum Genius diapers- closest diapers for a skinny baby i could find. The one I purchased is a one size so it is adjustable from 8-35 lbs.
Option 3: Homemade. The ones I have are also one size which is awesome. These are my favorite!
These options, are for a long and lean baby. I have lots of issues with my daughter because she is very skinny, so she does not fill out much. The traditional route or homemade ones have been the best for us. I also prefer diapers with buttons because I despise velcro. Whenever I throw anything with velcro in the washer or dryer it is a disaster
Taking care of the dirty diapers:
If it is a breastfed only diaper, I either throw it in a bucket or directly in the wash machine. If solids have been introduced I dump that poop in the toilet, then the diaper goes into bucket or wash machine. I fill the bucket with standing water and then add Shaklee's H2 all purpose cleaner or Shaklee's Basic G which keeps anything from smelling funky.
When my load is ready I have all my diapers in the wash machine. I do a rinse only load in cold water first to make sure all the poop is gone and does not stain. Then the wash load with the detergent in hot warm.
When you go to wash your diapers you need to have a natural, non toxic, fragrence free detergent. It is not only better for your baby and the earth, but better for the diaper. I use Shaklee's fresh laundry concentrate. It is cheaper than Tide and it does 224 loads! If you need to get stains out try Shaklee's Nature bright laundry booster and stain remover. This is also natural and will not harm your baby nor your diapers.
And thats it. A lot of people hang dry their cloth diapers because it helps preserve the diaper but I really don't have the time of day for that, especially since I live in a humid climate. If you can find a cloth diapering store near you I encourage you to try it out!
Today I am going to write about poop. Yes, I said it, poop. That dirty four letter word. I'm choosing to write about this subject because while at most, I think it's hilarious; it truly rules my life.
Ok mommas, raise your hand if you think your child's pooping runs your life just a tad. No? Really!?!?! C'mon......
Like, you know, when you don't want to leave yet because your child hasn't pooped yet and you don't want them to blast out in the carseat for fear of leakage? Or you are on your way out the door and they poop at that exact moment and you know you can't leave them in the poop because the diaper won't hold anymore. Or the all time favorite, the blast out onto the wall while you are all by yourself and need both hands to clean it up, but your kid is on the changing table.
See?
I'm going to be honest, from the day we brought home our little poop monster until she was about 4 months old I attempted to figure out how poop could rule over me a little less. How does such a petite lil girl get her bowel movement from her bottom all the way upher right arm? How was that possible?! How was it that every time I put her in the bouncer, the bouncer became KIA? I knew there had to be SOME way to keep the poop IN the diaper!
That is when I decided to experiment with cloth diapers. For most families, cloth diapers seem ultra gross and scary, but I am going to be honest, that is a common misconception. I have actually delt with more gross poop situations in disposables than cloth. When I switched over to cloth it would keep the poop in, and soak it up. Total awesomeness. The laundry may seem scary to some, but if you have enough diapers, you really only do maybe one extra load.
And from one fashionista to another, they are cute! Hayden has diapers in Dr Suess prints or pretty in pink to match her outfits.
Oh yeah, we spend 25 dollars a month on our water bill, and thats all the money that goes to diapers!
So if you are trying to keep the poop explosions from exploding out the sides and up the stomach, I vote cloth, it will save you time and grant you sanity.
I thought that title would get you in here! Well, here we are and YES there is a giveaway, but first read on.....
Who here loves to clean?!?!
Ok, let me rephrase that...Who here HAS to clean?!?! This momma!
Yep, it is the truth, cleaning is just part of our nature. Cleaning for the hubby, cleaning for the kids, heck, just cleaning for yourself. The older I got, the more I wanted things clean. Food on the floor, soap scum in the bathroom, I just want it to sparkle.
Lysol here, bleach there, cleaner everywhere. But then came the issue: how is it that everytime I used one of these cleaners I had to leave the room because it would give me a headache? And ppppeeeeew that smell of bleach in the toilet was KNARLY. I thought, this can't be good for anybody in this family, especially Hayden.
So I started to research, and the truth was frightening for me. Did you know that common chlorine bleach is the number one household chemical involved in poisonings? That common cleaners give off fumes that can potentially increase the risk of kids developing asthma, the most common chronic childhood disease? OR that organic pollutants that are found in many common cleaners are 2-5 times higher inside your home than out?
So I changed. EVERYTHING. (and I mean everything) I couldn't bare to think that the things I was doing to keep Hayden safe were actually harming her. From my cleaners, to detergent, to dishwasher soap- it was all toxic.
So where did I find all of these things to replace my toxic cleaners?
A friend introduced me to Shaklee. A company that is ALWAYS SAFE, ALWAYS WORKS, and ALWAYS GREEN. And it changed our lives, forever.
So because I love their products so much, I thought I would have a giveaway. I am giving away 5 samples of the H2 product. The sample is enough to fill one bottle of all purpose spray and and one bottle of window cleaner, yowza!
Read on my friend...
The Basic H cleaner is:
Natural
Nontoxic
Superconcentrated
No phosphates
Biodegradable surfactants
The clean clincher? One bottle of Basic H2 equals the cleaning uses of 5,824 bottles of 26 oz Windex. UUUmmmm, hellllo, did I just hear the dollar bill signs go down? Money saved peoople!
You can use it for thousands and I mean THOUSANDS of household jobs- removes dirt, grease, grime, walls, windows, countertops mirrors, bug guts, barabecue grill grunge, carseat goobers, you name it! Plus it is a no-rinse, no-residue, streak-free, patent pending formula.
The biggest perk besides the fact that it is safe? It cleans almost everything, now I only use a few of spray bottles for cleaning, not 20 different things.
Here is how to enter for the giveaway:
Required- Leave a comment on my blog about what you would be most excited to use the H2 cleaner for.
Optional- To enter your name for a second time, share my blog on your facebook page.
I will pick the winners by Sunday at 9pm central time using a random drawing system.
Feel free to email me if you have any questions about the cleaner, or just Shaklee in general.
schlipf@gmail.com
Or isn't that always what us mommas want to shout when we are stuck in traffic with screaming children or last in line for the bathroom. Seriously, mommas should have special privelages for moments like that in life. At least my grocery store has parking for mommas with kiddos (mental note: write them a thank you).
As the election is nearing, I put on my sharp momma cap and the lightbulb went off: VOTE EARLY. That's right, if I vote early, then on election day I don't have to deal with the crazy lines. Because while most people just vote on their own, I have my sidekick with me. So if you are a momma with your sidekick(s), you want to make the most of your time outside the home.
So off we went, Hayden in the front carrier, license in hand, ready to go. Because at the maximum I was pretty sure this event would only take 10 minutes. Easy peasy lemon squeezy right?!
WRONG. Apparently every body else in Harris County had the same idea as me....yikes. The line looked like it went on for at least an hour, and for 2 whole seconds I thought about turning back. But if you are a mom, you know that once you get the kiddo out of the car seat and into the apparatus, you most trek on.
So we did. And we waited in that line for 30 minutes, while chatting with multiple other voters (ooooo, look at the baby!)
Personally I would not recommend voting with your kid strapped on to you. It sounded like a brilliant idea but by the time we got to the voting booth Hayden was in the get me out of this kangaroo pack lady I want to go home stage. At that point, to at least attempt to calm her, I took her out of the front carrier. While voting with my one hand, crying kid on hip, I attempted to read the incredibly long instructions on the computer: not easy to concentrate whatsoever. Then add your child trying to press the buttons for you while everybody stares at you because you aren't "all together and your child is upset". At that point you just end up voting one straight party because you don't have the time to sit there and read everything while your child is crying and all you want to do is make her happy.
The conclusion to this experiment? Next time, Dad is babysitting while I go to vote. Then Mom and baby are both happy!
When is that baby going to start eating REAL food?......is the question I get asked all of the time, as my 7.5 month old is still nursing. It's a funny question, so I often answer, this IS real food.....as I nurse away. As most kids start to eat these so called solids, I constantly wondered when it would be time for Hayden. One doc says this, the other says another, and we never know the real answer. Is it 4 months? 5? 10? What time was right?
The right time is science experiment time.
As Hayden's sixth month rolled around, our pediatrician recommended to start on some rice cereal. Of course, that was not liked by the wee little one, so I moved onto oatmeal for about a month. It went ok. At month 7, I introduced a big whammy, AVOCADO! It sounded so yummy, and I loved making it from scratch. She loved it so much she squealed and squealed for more, we were on a roll!
I think one of the biggest reasons why I was so excited to feed Hayden solids was because I made everything from scratch using the blog Wholesome Baby Food, and have had fun doing it. Hayden's next food in line was butternut squash, and boy she loved it so much I gave it to her twice that day! (which as some of you may know, that is quite the no-no when introducing a new food, but who can say no to that face?!)
And that is when solids of mass destruction started. That squash created 3 days of monster madness up all nights. I could take a picture of the dark circles under my eyes, but really, who needs to see that? Poor Hayden's lil tummy couldn't take what that butternut squash had to offer! I then tried applesauce ( by the way, tastes amazing, you should try it yourself!) in which I thought would possibly curb the crazy effects of the squash- but to no avail, it was yet another 3 night monster mash madness. I felt AWFUL. How is it that the world is telling us we need to start solids at 4-6 months but my 7.5 month old can't even handle it?! That was really telling for me. I even tried giving her avocado again or oatmeal and she refused that knowing her body wasn't feeling quite so normal. Smart cookie. Good thing babies can survive on breastmilk for at least 12-24 months!
The conclusion to this science experiment? Just because your pediatrician tells you it is time for your baby to take solids does not mean your baby can handle it. And also, if it tastes good, that doesn't mean our bodies will enjoy it (sheesh, I should probably remember that one when I eat a gallon of ice cream and do not feel good afterwards....) The only way to know is experiment.....Alas, back to nursing it is!
Ok, I will admit it, having a kid is a science experiment. My mother once told me that, and I finally believe her. I mean, hey, let's go to bookstore, buy all the books we can about parenting and thats EXACTLY how it is going to go. Or so I thought.
I remember when my husband and I decided we wanted to get pregnant. Oh, the dreams if our sweet lil babe laughing and playing, going to sleep at 6 o'clock while we got to revel in our time together, watching movies and living the dream. C'mon, isn't that what we all have pictured? No matter how many times our parents and friends told us to get ready for the "up-all-night-feedings-I-want-to-be-held 24/7/365-life-will-completely-change-because-of-me," I just didn't think life would change that much. I was prepared, I GOT THIS, I would think knowing that my career was working with kids.
And so here I am, trying to make it through life one experiment at a time. There is no book, no guide, no yellow brick road to tell you where to go or what to do, just you and the decisions you make. Hence the blog. Everytime I chatted with my best friend about our adventures in raising a family, she said, you should write about this. I thought, why not, even if only parent reads it and thinks, hey, I'm not alone....
Science Experiment #1
Pickin cute right?
Well, I suppose I am super biased since I am the one that carried the belly monster around for 9 months. I have decided that God made babies so adorable to help get us through the crying, the all night parties at the breastaurant, and lots of dirty diapers. Because you can't get mad when you are looking at that face. Just sayin. More anectodes to come.
