We went to visit my cousin and she took this lovely picture of Zander, who spent our entire visit trying to destroy her beautiful condo. Had to share, it would be selfish of me to keep this picture to myself. Enjoy.
Archive for May, 2009
Lactation a Celebration
This post is for my younger sister and my friend, who are both pregnant and due in August. Anyone who knows me, knows I am very passionate about breast feeding. What I am not so passionate about is the size F boobs I have because of it. I didn’t even know bra sizes went up that high?
It took me a while to find a great nursing bra and I really lurve these Bravado Designs. All they make are nursing bras, so they are very specific. They are extremely comfortable, they make all different kinds for many different figures (even us F’s, G’s an H’s!) and they make tanks as well. Plus, you can get their bras in an organic version. Lurve.
I would also like to mention, I WISH I had bought nursing bras when I was pregnant. I kept going up sizes while and kept buying larger regular bras. When the baby finally came, I had no nursing bras and I had already spent a ton of bucks on larger bras that I will probably never use again.
Lessons from a Sick Day
It started with Zanders runny nose and inability to fall asleep, next thing I knew I had chills and body aches. We were sick, it was official. Unfortunately I was in the middle of a project for a client, I emailed to put it on hold for a few days and me and Zander bunkered down for a few days.
The house went to utter chaos, laundry backed up, toys everywhere, dishes in the sink. Zander and I napped together in my bed for a few hours at a time. He watched DVDs much longer than I usually allow, I probably spent too much time on the computer and the rest of the time I just lay on the floor while he played. Normally, I am cleaning trying to keep our house organized while Zander plays or naps and then we are out and about, running errands, seeing friends. Every day is busy and very task oriented.
What was so great about the past couple of days is I gave myself permission to have a messy house, to not be a perfect parent and I have to say I was a lot more relaxed and happy. We stayed in our jammies until 3 and the house was a mess and we bummed around together. I played peek-a-boo with him for the first time in a long time, he laughed hysterically to my delight. I thought, if it is so easy to make Zander laugh like this, why aren’t I doing it more often? It was kind of like a vacation, I got the video camera out and took some footage of him crawling around, something I haven’t done in ages.
I don’t know if this is a related, but Zander over the course of these three days started showing me real affection. He will kiss me by placing an opened mouth on my cheek and will hug me by snuggling his head into my shoulder.
What I am taking away from this: The housework can wait, my clients can wait, and sometimes Zander can wait. I’ve got to take the pressure off myself to be perfect all the time. Real perfection is a toothy grin and a big wet kiss.
My New Windex
When I think back, the chemicals in cleaning products have been making me noticeably sick my whole life. I would clean the shower and tub with my Mother’s brands of cleaning agents and I would get the chills, cold sweats and my lungs would hurt afterwards. Until I was pregnant I never thought about those reactions, I never questioned those brands, besides it was what Mother taught me to clean with, what other way was there?
After Zander was born I became very aware of the chemicals in our daily life. One night I cleaned the tub before his bath, afterwards I spent another 15 minutes just making sure there was no residue from the cleaning products. That was when I realized I was no longer comfortable using chemical cleaners.
The past ten months I have tried several kinds of natural cleaning products as well as made some of my own. One thing you have to be open to is that these cleaners are not going to work exactly the same or clean the same as a harsh chemical cleaners. Once you rid yourself of this expectation you will thoroughly enjoy working with natural cleaning products. I breathe a true sigh of relief when I use them because I can actually breath without pain when using them!!
A friend turned me on to Parsley Plus and it is my absolute favorite. It cleans multiple surfaces very well, mostly I use it to spot clean the kitchen floor now that Zander is crawling everywhere. The smell is bright and verdant. Fresh parsley, I can’t think of a cleaner smell…honestly!!! I truly lurve it.
LOOK what I made!!
My husband grew up on a beef farm and I was a vegetarian for 7 years. A few months before we started dating I began eating meat again. Although I do eat meat, I eat it sparingly. My husband’s diet was beef-centric before we moved in together. He is pretty adventurous and agreeable food-wise. He also lost 15 lbs upon living with me, so he is pretty much a convert, although in the beginning he did tell me he was suffering from a “protein deficiency.” Not sure what his symptoms were and considering he eats meat at lunch and I cook a meat dish a couple nights a week I wonder if this was truly a valid concern.
How did I convert him? I make yummy food. It also appeals to his frugal side, it’s a lot cheaper.
Since I left my full-time design job to stay home with Zander, cooking has become a creative outlet for me. When I was stuck inside with the baby the first few months I watched the food network, participated online at Allrecipes.com and dove into my cookbooks. It became a challenge for me to learn new recipes and cooking skills and the results were amazing. There is nothing quite as satisfying as a piece of warm honey wheat bread you made yourself! I really enjoy interpreting recipes from restaurants or developing my own from scratch. I made these stuffed portobellos the other night and Will was practically licking his plate. This is a recipe I made myself.
Spinach Stuffed Portobellos
If you don’t like mushrooms you could substitute a variety of vegetables, red peppers, acorn or butternut squash, or omit the the tomatoes on top and stuff a tomato instead. You can also change the cheese if you like, I would probably use fontina if I were to serve these at a dinner party. You can also omit the butter and cheese to make them vegan, in that case I would recommend sprinkling the tomato with some bread crumbs for a crispy finish.
4 portobello mushroom caps
10 oz. chopped fresh spinach (I recommend using regular spinach not baby)
1 medium onion diced
2 T. olive oil
1 T. salted butter
4-6 good handfuls of italian style bread crumbs
4 thick slices of tomato
4 thick slices of havarti cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Pre-Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
In a large frying pan heat the oil and butter over medium heat, add the onion and sautee until transparent. Add the chopped spinach and sautee until wilted. Add the bread crumbs, you can play with the quantity and make it as hearty as you like. Quickly toss the bread crumbs to coat the spinach. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes, add salt and pepper to taste. If you notice the bread crumbs are clumping up break them up with a fork and mix again. Divide the mixture into 4 equal portions and stuff the mushroom caps, top each mushroom with a tomato slice. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the mushroom is soft. Top each mushroom with cheese slice and bake in the oven until it is melted, 2-3 minutes.
I recommend serving over a long grain rice. For a more flavorful rice substitute the water for chicken or vegetable stock and add a tablespoon of butter or olive oil. At the end add a half cup of fresh chopped parsley. Yum!
H2OHHHHHHHHHHH
I am so sick of buying water bottles.
As a breast-feeding mother of an Infant, I have never drank more water in my entire life. IF I don’t drink at least 12 glasses a day I dry up like the Sahara which means Zander is not a happy guy. The taste of water has become monotonous, boring and medicinal to me. Every glass I approach with an attitude of “let’s get this over with” and drink it as quickly as possible.
Being the mother of a 10 month old (Today exactly he turned 10 months!!) my life is less than organized and I often don’t drink enough at home so that leaves me foraging for water while I am out and about. The evidence is in my car, littered with empty water bottles. It’s just those bottles are everywhere, they sell them EVERYWHERE and I get thirsty and Zander is looking thirsty too so I just buy one more. It sounds like an addiction doesn’t it?
The more I hear about the water bottle industry and it’s negative impact on our resources not to mention the harmful chemicals in those bottles themselves, I want to give it all up.
I purchased a few glass lined stainless steel bottles. The problem is in the climate I live in if you forget to bring your bottle in with you on a cold night the glass shatters and renders the bottle useless and they are not cheap.
My Aunt takes this bottle with her everywhere she goes. I like that it’s a flip top and you can open it with one hand when you are driving. It’s also large enough to hold a good breast-feeding sized quantity but not too large that it would discourage you from taking it with you everywhere you go. Plus it is BPA free.
I think I am going to buy one more plastic bottle.
Paper or Plastic
I love those reusable shopping bags. It makes me feel slightly better about myself for using them. I think “hey, maybe I’m not a total jerk?” I do enjoy the message they send as much as the purpose they serve. In carrying these bags I am communicating to the others around me that in my small way I am trying to do better. It also keeps the conservation movement fresh in my mind and present in my daily life.
The only problem: I constantly forget to bring them with me to the store for one reason or another. When I get to the checkout and have the realization I forgot my bags again, I feel a twinge of guilt over a wasted opportunity.
I found these envirosax and I think they are the perfect solution. They are compact enough that I can put a few in my tote or diaper bag and never be without. They are more pricey than the 99 cent ones my grocery store offers, but the convenience and cuteness make up for the price.
Mass Production Blues
My husband and I recently moved to a new place out in the country. Previously we had been living in a cramped, old, smelly apartment, but with the birth of Zander we knew something had to give. So with great trepidation, a girl who was raised on the coast of Rhode Island, moved to the country. The REAL country with no Internet connection or anything.
The thing I love about living here is the light, it just floods our place from all around, and there are no buildings around us to block it. The house we moved to is NEW too, no “charming” gaps where food and dust can collect. Everything is flush, crisp, and frankly a bit boring. I will take boring over 100 plus years old any day. Now that Zander is crawling I need to keep his path clean.
For once in the longest time, I want to decorate my space. For all intensive purposes we were living like college students, futon couch and all. And since the house is kind of a blank slate, we really need to infuse it with some style.
A few weeks ago my Mother came from RI to help me start decorating the interior. As we went out for our first day of shopping we were full of optimism, we had a mission. We were going to buy a tablecloth. Not just any tablecloth, this tablecloth was going to transform my bare kitchen into a warm and inviting place. It was going to cover an eyesore of a table and just generally perk up the room. We talked at length all the way to the store (40 minutes, because I do live in the sticks) about the colors we wanted, the types of patterns we liked, the fabrics we preferred. Yes, we were going to give my kitchen a makeover and that effort hinged on this tablecloth. Instant gratification.
When we arrived at the store, a major chain devoted to all things kitchen and bath, you know the one. All we found were solid color polyester tablecloths. There were hundreds of them and aside from the colors, they were all the same. We were deflated, bewildered and a little incensed. It thwarted our whole trip. We bought four plain white towels for the bathroom and returned home.
The ride home we discussed our “chain store” culture. How bigger wasn’t always better, and how these stores in their attempt to appeal to as many people as possible were appealing to no one, or at least not to us. The choices we had encountered were safe, boring and mass produced.
When I came home I immediately went to etsy.com a site that specializes in handmade goods. You can purchase directly from thousands of craftspeople, artists, artisans, whatever you call them – the bottom line is everything is hand made or vintage one-of-a-kind type items. After the disappointment I felt at the store this was the cure for my soul. I explored with great delight tons of amazing tablecloths in so many patterns, colors, and styles. I am considering this or this.
It’s no wonder a site like etsy is wildly popular. I think we all have the mass production blues, we want something authentic, something genuine made by a real person who put real thought into what they were doing. It just makes you feel better, connected to someone somehow.
I don’t know if I can design chain stores out of my life just yet. I definitely avoid them as much as I can. What I can tell you is I am going to design more handmade goods into my life even if that means I have to save up a little bit more for them or I have to make it myself.
