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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Music {My Summer Driving Playlist}

Ever wish that life had a soundtrack?  

Me too.  

That's why I have created my ultimate summer playlist, featuring some of my favorite summer songs and upbeat anthems.  

This list is best listened to while driving with the windows down, at full volume, while singing at the top of your lungs.  

Long live summer!  




Harvey Danger :: Flagpole Sitta
Blind Melon :: No Rain
Los Vargos :: Dizzy
311 :: Sunset in July
Len :: Steal My Sunshine
Violent Femmes :: Blister in the Sun
Red Hot Chili Peppers :: Dani California
Natasha Bedingfield :: Pocketful of Sunshine
Owl City :: Fireflies
MGMT :: Electric Feel
Starland Vocal Band :: Afternoon Delight
Rolling Stones :: She's a Rainbow
Red Hot Chili Peppers :: Soul to Squeeze
Coconut Records :: West Coast
Air :: Playground Love
Cults :: Go Outside  
Los Lonely Boys :: More Than Love
Florence and the Machine :: The Dog Days are Over
Black Eyed Peas :: I Gotta Feeling
The Ataris :: Boys of Summer


Cheers!




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Sunday, July 24, 2011

Crafty Idea of the Day {Alphabet Sheets for Baby's Room}

When I was a kid, I had an alphabet train choo-chooing its way around my room.  The engine was the letter A and the caboose was the letter Z, with cute train cars in between covering the remainder of the alphabet.  I truly believe that the alphabet train aided in my early cognitive development, so I wanted something similar for Lily's room.  


I started decorating her room with a hodgepodge of items, but it has settled into a fairies, flowers and woodland animals theme.  I looked high and low, and just couldn't find exactly what I wanted when it came to the alphabet (in my price range).  There are very cute wall decals and posters containing the entire alphabet, but I wanted a full page dedicated to each letter, like my train had done.  And I wanted something whimsical and unique.  


Ultimately, I typed "fairy flower alphabet" into Google images in hopes that I would come across a shop or store that had what I wanted.  Instead, I found images of watercolor paintings by Cicely Mary Barker and I was inspired to make my own alphabet pages!





I printed the pictures, bought some pretty scrapbook papers, bought a flower shaped paper punch for the white accent flowers, and drew and cut out my own letters.  Each page is laminated.  I'm super happy with how they came out.  I used tacking putty to hang them because I didn't want to poke holes in them with thumbtacks; but they keep falling off the wall, so I need to figure something else out.


Happy crafting!




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Thursday, July 21, 2011

My Experience with Lactation Boosters {Beer and Fenugreek}

Since Lily was born, I have had lactation supply problems thanks to an overzealous nurse practitioner who prescribed 6 ounces worth of formula supplements per day for Lily when she was 5 days old (because she had lost 10% of her birth weight, which is NORMAL at day 5).  I am a first-time mommy who has no prior experience to go on, so I trusted that the nurse was doing what was right for Lily.  The problem was that my milk had just come in 12 hours earlier, so I hadn't had a chance to really get her going with real milk instead of just colostrum.  So my breasts didn't know that they should have been producing 6 more ounces a day than they were.  So I wasn't producing what I should have. Great.

I did not want to use formula, yet it was thrust upon me by a "knowledgeable" authority.  I was devastated that I "wasn't producing enough" when in reality, my body wasn't even given the chance to adjust to Lily's needs, and it caused long term supply issues.  After 2 months of supplements, I had had it.  I wanted a breast fed baby, dammit, and I wanted formula out of my house.  I was about to go back to work, and I needed to get my supply up so I could pump while at work.

A friend of mine who is a labor and delivery nurse asked one of her lactation consultants for advice for me.  She said to try a beer a day.  BEER?! *angels singing*   I was totally down to try it!  And you know what?  IT WORKS!  After only a couple of days after starting my "beer therapy" I was able to quit formula supplements!  Joy!

Then came summer (yay!), and Lily's first yeast infection (boo!).  We battled the yeast for 3 weeks.  I figured beer was the culprit, so I stopped beer therapy (begin beer hiatus - bah humbug!).  After that, and after changing medications at the advice of the pediatrician, the yeast retreated.  Finally!!

But, guess what?  When I quit drinking beer, I started having trouble pumping enough for Lily's consumption during the day while I'm at work.  My stock in the freezer dwindled to nothing, and I am currently pumping day-to-day.  Supply problems suck.  Sigh.

I tried different sized breastshields for my pump, I tried hand expression, I tried drinking even MORE water than I normally drink.  No dice.

So yesterday, after much debate, research, and flip-flopping over what to try next, I tried Fenugreek.  I took 2 capsules after lunch with a full glass of water.  About 20 minutes later I started belching with the most god-awful flavor in my mouth and got a rager of a headache.  Then after dinner, my guts turned to liquid, and I spent 15 minutes in the bathroom.  Awesome.  So Fenugreek is off the menu.

Luckily, last night after my visit to the bathroom, I talked to my friend Melissa.  She had mentioned my yeast issue to her friend, who told her that beer wasn't my yeast culprit - babies just get yeast infections in the summer sometimes.  Say what?  No way!

"You mean, I can drink beer again?  Really?"  Beer hiatus OVER!

I'll be stopping for a 6-pack on my way home from work today.  I'll update if Lily gets another yeast infection.  But I seriously hope she doesn't.  I don't want to have to try any other herbals that may confine me and my sensitive tummy to the bathroom.

Moral of the story: ASK QUESTIONS if you do not agree with or understand what you are being told by a medical professional.  If your gut tells you that there's something not quite right with what you are hearing, don't ignore it!  Get a second and third opinion if necessary.  I wish I had called a lactation consultant BEFORE starting the supplements.  I truly believe that I would have had less (or no) problems with lactation supply. 


Moral #2:  Beer is awesome!!

P.S. Fenugreek works for a LOT of my mommy friends.  It just doesn't work for my body.  So don't discount it just because my tummy hates it.  I do suggest beer first though ;)

Cheers!


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Recipe of the Day {Syrupy Overnight French Toast}


I made this using the original recipe from Good Housekeeping for Father's Day.  I have to say, it didn't go over well.  None of the family cared for it.  Even my dad, who is not picky about food, didn't like it.  The banana was really overwhelming, and the bottom of the toast was total mush.  I think it would cook better with the bread actually touching the bottom of the baking dish instead of having a mushy banana barrier.  

Even though this recipe was a flop as written, I wanted to share because I think it's a good base recipe that  would be REALLY good with a little tweaking.  Plus I dig the fact that this can be prepped ahead of time.  So ultimately, it's a good recipe to have!  Next time, I will try it sans banana and will add fresh fruit on top after it has baked.  Mmm, now that sounds lovely!

Syrupy Overnight French Toast {REVISED RECIPE}
Ingredients
6 tablespoon(s) butter or margarine
1 1/2 cup(s) packed brown sugar
1  (12-ounce) long loaf French or Italian bread, cut crosswise into 1-inch-thick slices
6 large eggs
2 cup(s) milk
2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
1 teaspoon(s) ground cinnamon
1/2 cup(s) sliced almonds or coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
Your choice of fresh fruit for topping.

Directions
In microwave-safe small bowl, heat butter in microwave oven on High 1 minute or until melted. Stir sugar into butter until moistened. With fingertips, press sugar mixture onto bottom of 13-inch by 9-inch glass baking dish. (It's okay if mixture does not cover bottom.) Top sugar mixture with bread slices, cut sides down. In medium bowl, with whisk, beat eggs; whisk in milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. Slowly pour milk mixture over bread; press bread down to absorb egg mixture. Sprinkle with nuts if desired. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove plastic wrap from baking dish. Bake, uncovered, 45 to 50 minutes or until bread is golden brown and knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.  Top with fresh fruit.






*Tip: I cut the bread hella weird.  It says to cut it crosswise, but I started cutting it in slices (sometimes I don't follow directions well), then I realized it wanted "crust up" so I cut it properly crosswise... however, it was too thick that way, so I cut it in 3 slices instead of just in half as if I was making a sandwich, and because I started cutting slices first, the crosswise pieces were too short to fill the pan properly, so I had to cut little puzzle pieces of bread to fill in the crevices.  Phew!  Longest tip ever!  (that's what she said)

 
Those brown globs are cinnamon nuggets.  If you can figure out a way to get powdery cinnamon to mix with gooey egg... please let me know.  I failed, and had big globs of cinnamon all over the place.  Sigh.


Syrupy Banana-Nut Overnight French Toast {Original Recipe}
From Good Housekeeping via Delish
Ingredients
6 tablespoon(s) butter or margarine
1 1/2 cup(s) packed brown sugar
5 large ripe bananas, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1  (12-ounce) long loaf French or Italian bread, cut crosswise into 1-inch-thick slices
6 large eggs
2 cup(s) milk
2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
1 teaspoon(s) ground cinnamon
1/2 cup(s) sliced almonds or coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
Directions
In microwave-safe small bowl, heat butter in microwave oven on High 1 minute or until melted. Stir sugar
into butter until moistened. With fingertips, press sugar mixture onto bottom of 13-inch by 9-inch glass
baking dish. (It's okay if mixture does not cover bottom.) Spread fresh or dried fruit over sugar mixture; top
with bread slices, cut sides down.
In medium bowl, with whisk, beat eggs; whisk in milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. Slowly pour milk mixture over
bread; press bread down to absorb egg mixture. Sprinkle with nuts. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate
at least 2 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove plastic wrap from baking dish. Bake, uncovered, 45 to 50 minutes
or until bread is golden brown and knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before
serving.



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Wednesday, July 6, 2011

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

This morning I got out of bed and found an itchy little bite on my foot.  I didn't think much of it, figuring a rogue mosquito made its way into our room.  No biggie.  About half an hour later, while folding laundry on the bed, THE GROSSEST BLACK SPIDER EVER CRAWLED OUT FROM UNDER MY QUILT!!!!  Yes, I screamed.  And yes, I killed it... with a pair of Jim's clean boxer shorts... which are now back in the laundry basket to get the spider cooties off them.  UGH, my skin is crawling just thinking about it.  I'll never be able to sing The Itsy Bitsy Spider to Lily without thinking of a spider in my bed.  No more spider amnesty in this house... no more catch and release.  It's shoot to kill time.

P.S. Mother nature just made it up to me.  Jim just went to turn on the front porch light and found a baby praying mantis sitting on the light.  He brought it to me and we just freed him in our greenhouse.  I feel more balanced now.

I think I'll name him Murray the Mantis.

Spiders are still on my shit list though.

Cheers!



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