I'm Tired From Labor Day Weekend and My Brain Hurts.

Upside to breastfeeding: Health Benefits! Bonding! Zero Cost! Calorie Burning!

Downside to breastfeeding: When the baby starts sleeping through the night.

OUCHIE.

More Love.

Cub loves to climb into bed in the afternoon to read books. He brings a stack of books in bed and I crawl in next to him, and we read while Naomi naps.

Labor: 3:30AM - 4:30PM

Pushing: 4:30PM - 8:08PM

-------------------

Naomi's expressions are a constant in our home now, whether it's a smile or a giggle or a shy grin. From the changing table to her bouncy to the floor to her boppy and back to bed again ... our little girl loves to engage her little corner of the world.

Labor: 6:00AM - 1:38PM

Pushing: 1:38PM - 1:43PM

-----------------

Labor? Entirely worth it in every way.

(Now if there was only a day to celebrate pushing. :) )

Happy "Labor" Day, friends!

What's your labor story ... and what moments make it worth it?

Love.

Sunshine In the Storm.

Today was a toughie. On Tuesday I enjoyed a delicious soy mocha from Starbucks, slightly suspicious that such soy mochas may be harsh on Mouse's tummy, but willing to give it a go to find out.

Okay, I get it, I found out, BAD IDEA.

I don't think it's a soy allergy. I think I just have a little lady with a sensitive stomach. Dairy protein allergy, and a sensitivity to other things. Things that I figure out every few weeks or so.

Needless to say, it was a long Tuesday night and a long day today. I was discouraged. I was expended. But, as is the way of life with children, there were gleaming bright spots amidst the somewhat cloudy day.

Naomi fell asleep on me in her nursery for a quick evening nap. After lots of crying and fussiness and gas all throughout the day, those few moments of snuggly peace were invaluable. You can't tell in the picture, but her little arm was wrapped tightly around my neck and she was clenching my hair in her fist. I think I was holding her just as tightly. It may seem silly to snap a picture like this, but I wanted to--I know how these moments feel, and I want to know what they look like, too. Tired, barely any make-up, sleeping baby. Peace.

And Cub insisted on sitting in "Dadda's chair" (the chair my husband always occupies at meal times) at dinner, when Dadda was running late from work. He climbed up and took over his new perch, sans booster seat. I was so proud of my little man. And he ate his entire piece of homemade veggie and chicken pizza. Something about that little boy bib, the monkey plate, the bright IKEA placemat, the tractor sippy cup, and that adorable face ... it made for the perfect view while I ate my piece of pizza. This boy brings so much joy. Tonight when I read "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You See?" to him before bedtime, he laughed hysterically at the voices I assigned to each different animal. I sounded totally lame. And he thought I was totally funny. Bless that boy. He's at this great age where he's exerting independence, but he'll still snuggle with Mama to read books. Love.

It's good on a day like today to be able to look back and focus on the good things that happened. The good things were there, showing themselves sporadically, kind of like sunshine slicing through storm clouds. You know it's there the whole time, hiding, but it's nice when it decides to shine through, too.

Have a lovely day.

Eating Greens Is A Special Treat.

It makes for long ears and GREAT BIG FEET.

(Name the movie!)

So. I've never exactly been a fan of salads. Through high school, college, and the life thereafter I have attempted on several occasions to order a salad and like it, to force myself to crave leafy greens over a hamburger. I mean, I should like salad, right?? It's healthy! But I realized the only salads I liked were the ones topped with at least seven items, preferably some sort of fried chicken and cheese, where the poor lettuce smooshed on the bottom barely peeked out, almost as an afterthought...which kind of defeated the purpose of ordering a salad in the first place.

So, naturally, when this whole non-dairy thing emerged, I cringed when The Pediatrician suggested a diet of primarily veggies and fruit and meat. My first thought was SALAD.

For a couple of days I did the salad bit, chewing lettuce as a cow chews cud, miserably knowing that I would not feel full afterwards. I like spinach leaves okay, but, without cheese? Meh. Pleh. This is when I recognized that if I was going to make it through at least a few months of not eating dairy, I was going to have to get creative. So, I tossed the salad idea aside (pun intended! ha ha!) and started with a clean slate, mulling over the 'safe' items I could eat. And I realized that I do like most vegetables. And most fruit. And I do like meat. And I could put those items together and make some yummy dishes.

Dishes that WEREN'T SALADS.

(Tacos with cous cous, black beans, tomatoes, peppers, corn, organic hot sauce, and beef)

And y'all, it was the most liberating thing to realize that I do not have to eat salads. So, let me take a deep breath and declare:

My name is Katie. I do not like salad.

Ahhhh. Exhale. Fabulous.

This whole non-dairy bit has made me examine all of the food that I eat. After reading various articles on all the crap that gets sprayed on our produce and the genetically engineered "food" we put in our bodies (Kraft mac 'n cheese isn't bright orange because of the "cheese"), the diet in this household has been on major overhaul. In the past, I had skirted around the issue of organic food and such, shrugging my shoulders and deciding it was just too hard (and expensive) to forego packaged stuff or to buy organic. But, after doing a little research and talking to my various health nut friends from college, I've been able to assemble affordable ingredients to create dishes that my family likes. I've almost felt like it's my duty--my responsibility--as the self-proclaimed chef in this house to feed my family healthy food. I guess when it's the food I'm putting in my babies' mouths, it suddenly becomes more important. And thusly, all of us have started to make some changes.

(Thankfully my husband and Cub like raw vegetables.)

Firstly, we're incorporating way more veggies into our diet. Local produce is cheaper than store-bought and isn't pesticide ridden and I'm excited to hit up local farmer's markets for those. Lots of raw carrots, bell peppers, and tomatoes, and sauteed veggies in various dishes. If it comes in a package, it has to contain ingredients I can pronounce. But I'm trying to limit boxed food, with the exception of rice, cous-cous, cereal (Annie's and Ezekiel have been our favorites), and, of course, coconut milk ice cream. Thankfully, the absence of a pantry in our kitchen makes it hard to store food anyway, so we pretty much eat week-to-week when it comes to dry packaged goods. Rice and cous-cous have replaced our mealtime bread for the most part, and olive oil has replaced our butter. If we can't find veggies we want, I buy frozen instead of canned.

(Chicken fajitas with cous cous, black beans, peppers, and organic hot sauce on corn tortillas.)

I've started adding chia seeds to random recipes for an added health boost, too. My husband loves Mexican food, which makes it easy to use raw, whole ingredients. I have yet to find organic tortillas, but I'm on the prowl. Surely they're somewhere??

Anyway. This has been a large undertaking, but hasn't been nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. I'm not hardcore--my cupcakes have plenty of white powdered sugar--but I'm learning and I'm listening. I just think that somewhere along the way, our generation allowed our taste buds to settle for high sodium processed food, and we're passing that onto our kids when we feed them McDonald's chicken nuggets. I want to keep myself and my family healthy by feeding them whole foods. And at large family gatherings where there's tons and tons of casseroles and pies? We'll jump right in and enjoy ourselves. It's when we're under our own roof that the rules apply.

And it's nice to know those rules don't have to involve salad. :)

So, that's what I've been learning. I will step down from my soap box now to eat some ice cream!!

Have a lovely day!