So, a few weeks ago we accidentally bought the Tide “fully loaded” not the unscented, free kind that I usually buy for the cloth diapers.  Around the same time I ran out of the 7th generation natural detergent that I normally use on all our clothes and linens and have been using the Tide on anything.  I wonder if that might be the cause?  I would think it if was the dairy, it would have shown up before her 8th month?  Anyway, just something else that I need to change and be mindful of.

Dairy-free heaven!

So I often joked with a friend that the one thing that preventing me from giving up dairy (before Quinn’s eczema) was ice cream.  Everything else I could easily live without or substitute with something else.  No longer.  A brilliant woman from MY OWN CITY came up with Nadamoo!  It is a brilliant frozen treat that is based on coconut milk.  There is some tofu, but that is not the base of the ice cream.  If you have ever had Tofutti or Rice Dream’s “ice cream” – well, they taste like crap.  I had the La’Da Mint Chip of NadaMoo and it is to die for.  The “ice cream” is expensive – almost $5 a pint, but that is what we would spend on a trip to Amy’s anyway and I don’t eat ice cream that often, so the cost it worth it.  Anyway, I had to tell you guys about  this.  Even if you do eat dairy, you should try it.  I think it taste better than most of the brands out there because the ingredieints are so good and simple.  There isn’t a lot of additives or food chemical crap to achieve the flavor or texture. 

Give it a try – Whole Foods sells it.  I will have to check Central Market next time I am there.  Oh, and Amy’s Ice Cream here manufactures it for them which I think is cool!

Oh, and a shout out to my friend Susan who introduced me to this heavenly dessert and has made it possible for me to give up dairy.   A true friend understands the need for comfort ice cream – thank you!

Our sweet, angel girl

Our Little Girl’s Eczema is Getting Worse

Two weeks ago when we took her for her 6 month well-check (at 7.5 months, bad mama) there were these rough, dry patches on her elbow and back of her arm. They weren’t red at the time. The doctor said it was eczema, the she was probably a dermatologically sensitive baby and to keep her skin moisturized. Since then, it has gotten much worse spreading to her chest, back and all over her arms. Quinn is so happy all the time and it didn’t seem to be bothering her. However, this past week, I had her in a short-sleeve shirt and that day she scratched her arm so much it began to bleed. At that point, I realized this is getting serious and I need to do something.

Today is my last day consuming dairy. It is possible that the dairy (getting to her through my breastmilk) is causing her skin sensitivity. I will see if cutting milk (not eggs yet) out of my diet has any effect. If not, I may include eggs and wheat. I also bought a skin creme for babies with Calendula which should be healing and moisturizing for her skin. The lotion could help or make it worse – I have to just try it for a week and see. Her skin just looks terrible and it makes me so sad to her skin so irritated. I will keep you guys updated.

Somber Thoughts

One of the Moms on the main list woke up in the middle of the night to find her baby girl floppy and unresponsive and stopping breathing every few seconds. She took her into the light and the baby was grey and her lips blue. So far she in intensive care at the hospital, but doing better. It sounded like it might be the RSV virus. The little girl is one of triplets, so her immune system may still not be very strong. It freaks me out thinking how Tyler caught that when he was only 4.5 months old and then looking at my baby girl – my heart tightens to think what that Mom must be going through. I plan on being in bed early and snuggling with my little girl.

I kind of wish I could just sleep with Tyler tonight – the poor kid fell backwards off a picnic bench this evening and smacked the back of his head real good. He had a huge knot. Chris is putting him down now. There are days I am sad that I can’t be with him at night. He and I go all day long, so snuggling with him peacefully in bed is just so sweet. But Quinn will wake up and will need me, so I can’t. Makes me sad. See, the kids will get older and not need me as much and then it will be me wanting to sleep with them all the time!

Pregnant In America

I cannot wait until this documentary comes out. This is the stuff that I worried about with my babies. And looking back, one of my dear friends had her breech baby naturally with no surgery. I wish I had been more educated and maybe I could have had both my kids that way. I can tell you now that it is a truly different experience. I personally think that one huge reason I am so much more attached to my daughter is my birth experience with her. There are a lot of other variables there obviously (he was my first, I have been home with her full-time, etc.), but the birth was so powerful and really brought the two of us together. Also, because I could actually move my body, I could focus on her and not the pain I was in.

Doctors have their place no doubt. But I think we have taken a very natural experience and industrialized it to a point where it is damanging to the mother and baby. We have made great headway from the days where the Dad’s weren’t even allowed in and the women were strapped down during labor, but we still have great strides to make. Birth should be an empowering experience, not one of submission through the fear of “what if”. I was told by someone that I should be proud that I had a “natural VBAC”. Apparently that is an option that not many people even get these days. I have a friend having to switch OB’s to preserve that option.

It is crazy. Check out the trailer at Pregnant In America

My pladough creation!

Chocolate Smells

Yesterday, before going to lay down with Tyler, I went and snuck a piece of chocolate from a box Chris had gotten me for Valentine’s Day. I lay down with Tyler and we are face to face. He looks at me and says, “I smell chocolate”. He then tries to get me to open my mouth, but thankfully, by then the candy was gone. My son could smell the chocolate – is there no safe place for comfort food on a rough day, people?? That one blew me away….

Playdough Fun!

I gave Tyler some playdough and cookie cutters to play with. I didn’t show him what to do with the cookie cutters, so he figured it out on his own! he used to playdough to hold the cookie cutters in place. I just love the Christmas tree!

Well, so we didn’t take a walk.  Tyler was playing in his kitchen.  We ended up  drawing on the paper-covered coffee table while Quinn played on her mat.  She was getting tired, so I turned the video back on.  Usually, she is out in 5 minutes, but she couldn’t get comfortable.  I was switching her from side to side in my arms and she wasn’t happy.  Finally, I got up and twisted from side to side swaying her.  Bam!  She is out in less than a minute.

That is what I hate about being tired.  I am so dead set on the road I want to take, that I miss all the other ones that go to the same place.   When I don’t get the cooperation I need to plans start falling apart, I dig into the road even more only wanting to go in one direction which translates into upset and hurt all around.  Self-care is so important.  I feel like I have been getting rest, but I think I haven’t been drinking enough water or eating the best combination of foods (curse you Valentine’s chocolate).

My Spring will be incredibly active with me starting to go on runs and more hikes with the kids.  We will  be outside even more, so I really need to prepare my body for the energy output that will require.  I want my athletic body back so I need to start working on it – stretching as much as possible, weights/strength training and slowly starting to run again.

Anyway, Quinn is now asleep, so I am going to go lay on the couch with my son and reconnect.  We may just snuggle for the next hour, I know he is tired and so am I.

If you are on the brink of having two kids, this right here is the worst part.  Went to IKEA, baby doesn’t nap.  Baby doesn’t fall asleep on way home either.  She woke up late around 7:30am, so she is fine, but it is nap time.  Get home, feed toddler and attempt to rock baby to sleep.  Toddler has to come in room, arouses the drowsy baby (because she has to see what is doing) and now baby won’t fall asleep.  Put video on for toddler to attempt to get baby  to sleep, but no dice – she is up.  It will probably be another hour before I can try again, because that is how my baby works.  Once something has aroused her she is up.

Very upset, I turn video off pissing off toddler.  I let him watch one a week and I am not going to waste that time if at the conclusion of it I do not have an asleep baby.  So toddler is tired and pissed and I am tired and pissed because I wanted to lay down and snuggle with him.  So instead of warm fuzzies we are all pissed at each other.  It is a beautiful day, but 36 degrees…ug.

She is on the bed talking to herself and he is outside and I am in here talking to you guys.  Since he doesn’t nap my days and so LONG.  And when she doesn’t nap it makes them even longer because I don’t have a  break from either kid.  You cannot believe what a break it is to drop down to one kid for even an hour.  Just to have the one-on-one time is nice.

So here I am reacting as I usually do when plans go awry – hide and kill time.  Somedays I can flex and bend with the best of them and some days (at the end of a long week for example) I just stare at the clock.  {sigh}   I hate letting Tyler watch any TV – in fact I am done with Thomas videos.  However, there are days where I need to get her to sleep and it is not rational to expect a toddler to be okay with being completely cut off from his mother for 10 minutes.  In the span of 10 minutes there a ton of things a toddler feels he needs to communicate – the dog ate his broccoli, he want this or that, the wind did this,etc.

Okay – well I had better go and do something.  I need to see what Tyler is up to outside and I hear Quinn getting fussy….

Update:  Okay, I decided to do what I always do – go outside.  I will just bundle us all up and go for a walk.  It is a beautiful day and it feels strange to keep up in here.  Tyler is in his sandbox quite content.  I need to go apologize to my toddler now.   I have been so grumpy with him this week.  Our weekends have been so active (hikes and no naps), so I am just tired.  I probably need to be eating more and better which would help.  Anyway, Tyler and I have just talked and decided he would go in the stroller, so I need to go bundle us up.  I already hear him in the garage getting ready.

Well, Quinn has started going back to sleep at that 5/5:30am awakening.  I am the only one awake right now!  That makes me so giddy!!   There are so days when that is the only REAL all alone time I get. 

Here is a picture of Quinn spying something that she is about to reach for.  She is a pretty determined little one.  I have seen her reach and reach trying so hard to obtain what is in her sights.  She is still working on those crawling mechanics and has backwards down pat.  She can scoot backwards several feet and now just have to work on switching gears into “drive”!

Tyler and I have been having an okay week.  Yesterday was a bit of a rough day for both of us.  I really am looking forward to Spring weather hitting.  The no napping can make for a long day for both of us. 

Should be a beautiful weekend.  We have a family hike planned and a birthday party to attend.  I plan to sneak away to get some more goodies to organize Tyler’s toys.  I actually did a pretty big toy rotation last night and got out of blocks (older kid type, various shaped ones – cylinders, triangles, rectangles, etc.) to see how he would play with them.

I won that AMAZING outdoor spaces  book on eBay and think that will be my Dad’s project while my folks live with us in March.  They are waiting for their house to be completed up here.  I also asked Chris for my birthday present early and ordered a ton of books off my wish list – I told you the Prime thing was seducing me.  Of course, by ordering Wed night, I still won’t get my books till Monday – oh well!

Okay, off to take my shower.  I just wanted to get a post and a cute pic out there for you guys.  Thanks for all the feedback on my future plans.  I really appreciate all the comments.  They give me a lot to consider and think about.  You guys take care and have a great Friday!

Sorry to dissapoint- so much to do in the evenings now, so not much opportunity.  Tyler not napping, so no opportunity there.  Wireless not working on laptop and Quinn sleeping in a little more, so not much opportunity in the morning.  More soon though…lots more.