So Excited!

I'm sure some of you have noticed that I have been rather bad about posting since December. The honest truth is that I got busy prepping for Christmas and then I didn't have the energy. Those of you who are related to me or are friends with me on Facebook have already heard the news, but for those of you who haven't we are expecting our second child!!! We found out right before Christmas, but kept it quiet due to a previous loss. At this point though, everything looks great. I had an ultrasound a few weeks ago to double check the date (good thing we did as I ovulated later than I thought and this bought me an extra week) and then on Monday we were able to hear the heartbeat. I'm going to try to be better about blogging now that I'm getting some energy back, but expect some more blog silence around the end of August ;)

Tuesday Tip

Over the last year or so I have learned so many wonderful tips and tricks that have made my journey as a mom easier. I don't remember where I got them all, but moms that I have never met have made my life easier and more enjoyable in so many ways. I can't really pay them back, but I want to share some of the little tips I've picked up in hopes of passing on the favor. One of my favorite tips this flu season is for those of us who still have little ones in cribs (though it would work as well on bigger beds too). I don't know about you, but I have a hard time reaching down in the crib to change the bedding, it's especially hard for me because I'm short and we use a wedge under the sheet because A. had reflux as a baby and now has the occasional allergies. The wedge, while useful for her, makes changing the sheets a royal pain for me. I actually will generally pull the mattress out, change the sheets on the floor and then put the whole thing back. While this is a mild annoyance on wash day, it becomes a major pain in the middle off the night if A manages to get her diaper off, throws up or does any of those other things that toddlers are prone to do that requires a quick change of bedding before anyone can go back to sleep. In the middle of A's last bout of sickness I came across the suggestion to sandwich the bedding. What you do is you get several waterproof mattress pads (they make some for cribs that are soft and kinda like thick flannel or felt) and several sheets. You layer them so that there are several sheets on the mattress each separated by a waterproof layer. Then instead of stripping the whole bed at 3am (turning on the lights and swearing under your breath the whole time, or is that just me?) you just have to pull off the top layer and throw it in the wash so you only have to worry about the sick kid, not the clean-up. It's brilliant, I wish I'd thought of it myself.

{this moment}

{this moment} - Inspired by Soulemama. In her words: A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you want to participate head over to her blog and enjoy!

(And a bonus!)

Be Prepared

We are lucky to live in an area that doesn't really see many natural disasters. During the summer there are wild fires, but those happen in rural and wilderness areas so those of us in the city don't really have to worry about them. We get the occasional flash flood, but again, in the city it isn't much of an issue. We don't have blizzards, or tornadoes or earthquakes. We don't have hurricanes or mass riots. In the summer it gets hot, but that happens every year and we all have swamp coolers or A/C and swimming pools and shorts. We know how to deal with heat. What we don't know how to deal with is cold...We may have a few days each year that dip below freezing, but when I say "below freezing" I mean that it may get down to 30 at 5am and then warm back up as soon as the sun comes out. What we aren't used to is the weather we've had the last few days. Last night it got down to 18 degrees (-4 after the wind chill was added), pipes burst, the water company's computers shut down in some areas and the gas company RAN OUT (at least in some areas). As of noon today it wasn't quite back up to freezing, though by 4pm it had made it all the way up to 38 before heading back down. Tonight they are estimating that it will get down to 15 degrees and as of the last report I read 1500 homes are still without water and homes in other areas are still without gas to run furnaces and water heaters. This probably sounds crazy to anyone who is from somewhere colder, after all 18 degrees is warmer than many places have been all week. However, the people here aren't used to it. Our pipes aren't insulated against it. Our plants aren't meant for it. Our infrastructure isn't designed for it. Most importantly, our citizens aren't prepared for it. Today I happened to be near the local high school as they were getting out at 2:00pm. It was maybe 35 degrees outside and windy, but most of the students were walking home in nothing more than hooded sweatshirts because that is what they had. Families with young children and babies in our neighborhood woke up with no water because their pipes had frozen or burst. They didn't have bottled water anywhere because why would they? In other areas the water company's computer went haywire because of the cold and stopped delivering water. And I don't know how many people are stuck inside with their children because they don't have warm enough clothes to go outside to play. Tonight some people in our city will have to sleep in shelters, not because they don't have homes, but because they cannot warm their homes. They don't have gas for their furnaces and there are no space heaters to be had because everywhere has sold out.

This brings me to my main point. No matter where you live you should be prepared for at least basic emergencies. Electricity can fail because a construction worker accidentally cuts a wire which causes a transformer to blow which messes up the entire power substation and causes rolling blackouts for a whole city for a while. (This happened here a few years ago.) A water or gas line can burst leaving one or more neighborhoods without the clean, hot water we have grown accustomed to. On a smaller scale, the hot water heater can die on Thanksgiving day when you have family visiting and a giant pile of dishes which may only affect your family, but makes the rest of the weekend a pain unless you can find a plumber willing to come out and fix it for you. Then there are the bigger emergencies like floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc that actually make the news...But no matter what it is that happens, some basic preparation can make life a lot easier, happier and less stressful for everyone. You don't have to be prepared for everything or run out today and buy a special prepackaged kit so you'll be "ready", but it does make sense to at least have a few basics on hand just in case. If you camp and/or spend a lot of time outdoors you may well be most of the way there already. What you need will vary based on your family, but if you think of it in terms of "food, clothing, shelter and water" you'll be pretty close.

Here are some of the things that week keep on hand:

-Water - Normally only a couple of gallons because this takes a lot of space, but if there is anything that might cause a shortage we fill up our camping jugs. If you are worried about a longer term shortage due to something easily predictable like a flood or a hurricane you can scrub and bleach the bathtub, give it a good rinse and then fill it up with water too which will get you a lot. Maybe not the tastiest water, but it will keep you hydrated and healthy.

-Food - This is a hard one because while you probably have plenty of food at a given time if you have an electrical outage your refrigerator won't work and it will spoil after a few days (if your electricity does go out don't open the refrigerator unless you absolutely have to and if it will be more than a few hours throw some ice in there to help keep it cool). The other problem that you run into is that you may or may not have a way to cook any food you have. This is where a BBQ and/or a camp stove can come in handy. Dry goods and canned goods will probably do you the most good. Also, things like instant rice will be better than normal rice because it has a much shorter cooking time which will help you conserve fuel. What kind of food you keep on hand will depend on what your family likes and how you might be able to cook it if your stove didn't work. No matter what you choose, make sure that you have enough for any foreseeable emergency in your area and that you rotate through it so that it doesn't spoil/expire/get weevils before you need it. One thing you might also consider is keeping a larger food store (3-6 months or even longer) that you rotate which can help even out high grocery prices or give you something to eat if you have to cut your spending suddenly due to job loss, unexpected medical bills, etc.

-Stove or BBQ - If you were to lose electricity or gas how would you cook your food. We used to camp a lot (and still do occasionally) so we have camp stoves and propane to run them. If you don't camp do you have a gas BBQ? You can put pots and pans on your grill or grill meat normally. It is especially good to cook up any meat you had in the fridge that is starting to get too warm.

-Warm Clothes and Cool ones - Do you have clothing for yourself and your family that will keep you warm if you have to go outside on a cold day? In most places the answer would be yes, but in those places with a warmer climate the answer may be no. Many people may only own a sweatshirt if it almost never gets below freezing. If that is the case I would strongly suggest at least adding a hat, mittens/gloves, warm socks and a windbreaker for each person. A sweatshirt doesn't do much if it is windy, the wind cuts straight through you and you get cold really fast. By adding a windbreaker you will keep the wind at bay. A hat will help keep heat from escaping from your head and mittens and socks will help keep your hands and feet warm when there isn't enough warmth to go around. My favorite material for warm clothing is wool because it stays warm even when it is wet, but there are a lot of other good options out there. The big thing is to have some set of layers so that you can go outside if you have to. Murphy's law says that the kids will all get sick on the coldest day of the year and the only appointments open will be first thing in the morning when it's freezing. As for cool clothes, on a hot day if you loose your A/C or even your fans you will be much happier if you can walk around in shorts and flip flops. Be sure you have cool, cotton or linen clothing for those hot days. Don't wear man made fibers when it's hot because they will just make you hotter.

This brings us to shelter. This sounds like a silly thing to have because after all, if you are reading this I bet you have a house or an apartment. Shelter should be covered, but what you really need is to make sure that your shelter can keep you comfortable if the lights/heater/air conditioner goes out. Do you have flashlights? Do those flashlights have working batteries? What about candles or lanterns? Some sort of light will make life a lot easier. If you don't have electricity it is generally better to just go to bed early, but if it goes out after dark you may still need light to check on children, prepare dinner or get everyone calmed down and in bed. Do you have an alternate heat source? Today, in my city, a lot of people's furnaces stopped working due to a gas shortage (I'm told the gas company bought plenty of gas, but the distribution computer failed or some such). There was a run on space heaters and now all the stores are out. If you live some place cold a space heater or some other sort of back-up heat source is not a bad idea. If you live some place like here and have plenty of warm clothes you may be fine with lots of blankets. Whatever you decide, make sure that you have a plan in place if you have young children. Young babies can suffocate with thick blankets and toddlers and space heaters can be a bad combination. In both cases you might be better off with warm clothes or use one solution in one part of the house and another elsewhere. The key is to think ahead and have some option in place. We have plenty of warm clothes because we visit colder climates so we just go the blanket route. We also have dogs and cats that will curl up in bed with us if it gets too cold and they keep the place pretty warm too...

There are a ton of other things that may or may not be appropriate for your family. If you have some sort of medical device that requires electricity or live in an area where the electricity goes out frequently you may want to consider a generator. If you have pets you should always make sure that you have enough food and water for them as well. Whatever you need will depend on what is most likely to happen where you live. The key is to think about it. Even if no major disaster happens it is nice to know that when lightning knocks down your power lines for a few hours you can still feed your family or if the lights go out during story time you can simply light a lantern or some candles and continue reading to your family. The best part about being prepared is that when you start hearing about rolling blackouts or water or gas shortages in your hometown you have the peace of mind to know that you and your family will be okay. You can relax and enjoy the adventure instead of worrying.

Which reminds me, the most important thing to have in any emergency situation is a calm demeanor, a sense of humor and the knowledge that this will make for a great story later. (And with that I should return to knitting more stuff for my family, hopefully I can get stuff done before it warms up too much to wear it.)

Cloth on the Go

I'm taking a quick break from my previous rant discussion to talk about cloth diapers. I love cloth diapers for lots of reasons, they are cute, they are easy, they are cheaper than disposables, don't smell like strange perfumes, A. likes them better and they mean I never have to go to the store with a sick/cranky/tired baby because we are almost out of diapers. Many people will also tell you that they are better for the environment and keep harmful toxins from touching your baby's delicate skin which is also true, but less of a concern for me as those concerns can be mitigated to some extent by buying some of the more eco-friendly disposables. We love cloth for lots more reasons that I'm not remembering, but I did a whole post about it so if you want to hear me go on and on some more click here, otherwise I'll attempt to get to the point.

Before A. was born I knew that I wanted to use cloth diapers. I had some people tell me I'd never manage or that it was too hard, but that just made me want to prove them wrong. The one thing that even supporters of cloth diapering said was that I would probably want to use disposables while we were out and for the first month or two after A. was born that is exactly what I did until one day when I realized it was no longer easier. Those that were suggesting disposables while out and about were all in my parent's generation and did not have access to many of the things that we have now to make cloth on the go so easy. For them it was a lot easier to use disposables, but many of the problems that made it that way have now been solved. Now, if you have the right equipment, it is actually easier to leave your baby in their cloth diaper than to switch them into a disposable before leaving the house. You can use cloth diapers on the go without buying anything extra, but there are a few things that make it a little easier.

Wet bag - When you leave the house with cloth diapers the biggest drawback is that you can't just throw away the dirty diapers. Instead you have to carry them with you. At first this seems like a major issue, but a good wet bag will hold in any smell or dampness. There are a lot of good wet bags on the market and many of them are really pretty. I love having a wet bag in my diaper bag even on those rare occasions when I'm using disposables because they are also good for holding nasty burp clothes, bibs or soiled clothing. Babies can be disgusting sometimes and it is nice to have a clean place to put whatever it is they have soiled. I don't know how many people I know who've thrown away an outfit because they were out and about when their baby had a blowout (normally while using a disposable diaper) and they didn't have a way to get it home to wash it. I've also found that not all public changing tables have a trash can nearby. Since I'm putting everything, including wipes, in my wet bag I don't have to worry about trying to manage a dirty diaper, wipes and a baby while looking for the nearest trashcan or even consider turning around with my squirming baby still on the changing table to throw stuff away in the trashcan behind me.

Cloth Wipes in a Wipe Case - The next thing I love to have are cloth wipes in a wipes case. Plain cases can be found at most baby stores or you can buy fancy ones on Etsy. They will generally hold 5-6 cloth wipes which may not sound like much, but frequently one cloth wipe will do far more than one disposable wipe so you don't need as many. It may seem silly to use cloth wipes, but it is nice to not have to remember to put the diaper in the diaper pail and the wipe in the trashcan or to have to separate the contents of the wet bag into the wash and the trash when you get home. We use cloth wipes almost exclusively because we are lazy and cheap are concerned about our environmental footprint. You can carry dry wipes and a spray bottle with water or bum cleaner, but I generally just grab a few pre-wetted ones from the bin of them on the changing table and put them in my wipes case on my way out the door. I've seen people do both and they both seem to work well. This isn't to say you can't use disposable wipes, I just find it easier to use cloth.

Pocket Diapers or All-in-Ones - At home I normally use prefolds with a snappi and a cover, but when I'm out I like the diapers that work more like a disposable because they are faster, easier and take up less space in the diaper bag. I have done it both ways and can tell you that it really isn't hard to use prefolds when you are out and about, but I'm lazy and A. doesn't like staying still for a diaper change in the middle of a play date the way she does on her changing table at home. There are a ton of options for these styles of diaper and which ones you use depend on everything from whether or not you are willing to stuff pockets to how much you want to spend to how chunky your baby's legs are and even what colors you like. BumGenius and FuzziBunz are the two most popular brands and both are great. FuzziBunz tend to work better for chunky babies and the BumGenius tend to be better for slender babies, but your mileage may vary.

Disposable liners - One of the big things that people (including myself when I started) worry about with cloth is what to do about the poop. If you are still exclusively breastfeeding (no formula or solids) the answer is easy, just throw it in the wash! (Yes, it really is that easy and no this isn't a trick, everything is water soluble and the hot water and soap will kill the germs.) If you are out and about throw it in the wet bag which will contain the smell. If you are using formula or solids though, the answer is a little more challenging. In a pinch you can still put the dirty diaper in the wet bag, but I prefer to put a slightly cleaner diaper into the wet bag when I can. If I am near home or at a friend's house I use the same washable liners that I use at home and shake any solids off into the toilet. If I'm out shopping or traveling though I prefer disposable liners. These are thin, flushable and biodegradable. You put them inside the diaper and toss them in the trash for a wet diaper or flush them poop and all for a dirty diaper, easy peasey. That said, we only use them if we are going to be out a while as it is one more thing to remember and I'm lazy (plus by the time they are on solids babies generally only get one dirty diaper a day and it normally happens at a regular, predictable time).

Back-up supplies - The one problem with cloth diapers and supplies is that they are bulkier than disposable diapers and wipes. This means you can't carry as many with you and I know I tend to worry about running out. The first thing to remember is that there are stores in the world and even those using disposables will run out sometimes and have to buy a pack of diapers because the shopping trip ran long, they stopped for lunch or their toddler drank more water than they thought. However, in the interest of being prepared I normally carry one or two disposable diapers and a small pack of disposable wipes tucked into the corner of the diaper bag "just in case". (This actually started after A. dirtied her last diaper when we had one more store left on a trip running errands on the far side of town and I had to run in and buy a pack of diapers.) I know that once we put the disposable on her that we need to head for home, but it buys me the time I need sometimes. The only problem we run into is that we use so few disposables that when A. starts getting to the top of a size range we need to make a concerted effort to use the rest before she grows out of them and remember to buy more in the next size up (which reminds me, I think she's probably been in size 3s for a while now and we haven't ever bought any...). Thus far we have used exactly one pack in each size and I'd kinda like to keep it that way.

I hope this answers any questions for those of you who are considering cloth for your next kid, currently using cloth at home but switching to disposables while out or even using disposables and considering switching to cloth now. (Toddlers tend to potty train faster in cloth, just saying.) If you have any questions on how to get started or if you currently use cloth out and about and have a great suggestion for how to make it easier please leave a comment. Now days, for me at least, it really is easier to use cloth out than it is to bother changing a clean diaper simply because you are leaving the house and want a disposable.

Attachment Parenting

As I was reading through my blogs this morning I came across a post on a friends blog talking about the failings and shortcomings that all parents inevitably experience and that those of us who practice "attachment parenting" beat ourselves up all the more for. I think that people tend to forget that "attachment parenting" isn't supposed to be a strict, prescriptive method. The idea is to have a strong bond with your children, to pay attention and respond to their needs as quickly as possible. AP is not meant to be an all or nothing prospect, the idea is to do what works best for you, your child and your family.

A great example is cosleeping, or bringing the baby (or child) into bed with the parents. The idea is that if the baby wakes up for some reason during the night you are right there to comfort and sooth them back to sleep instead of leaving them to cry alone in a room. Cosleeping can make life easier and happier for some families and worse for others. I never sleep well when A. is in bed with us. She moves around and I'm always half awake because I know that I toss and turn a lot and wouldn't want to hurt her. Also, she is a light sleeper and wakes up every time I roll over or DH coughs or the dog barks in his sleep. When she was tiny and nursing a lot at night she slept in a bassinet in our room so that we didn't have to walk across the house several times a night. For the first 6 months this worked beautifully with her occasionally coming into bed with us if she was having a hard night or a growth spurt. At some point between 6 and 7 months she suddenly went from waking up once or twice a night to waking up every 1-2 hours. No one was sleeping and we were all miserable and cranky. DH decided to put her to bed in her crib one night and promised to bring her too me and take her back every time she needed to nurse. We turned on the baby monitor and turned it up so high that we could hear her breathing and the clock in her room ticking. She only woke up once! Thinking it was a fluke we tried it again the next night, but the same thing happened. Turns out we were waking her up and as soon as she had her own space we all started sleeping better. Part of me wants to beat myself up for not cosleeping like many of my AP friends say is best, but I know better. We are all getting enough sleep because I listened to my daughters need to be in her own bed, in her own room down the hall. We still respond immediately when she cries, but unless she's sick that doesn't happen much. We may not cosleep, but we follow the spirit in finding what works best for our family and helps us all feel the most safe, secure and rested.

Another big component of AP is babywearing. Now, those of you who know me know that I am a big fan of wearing A. I have a ton of carriers or all shapes, sizes and colors and will happily help anyone who is interested in "wearing" their baby or toddler figure out what works best for them. When A. was tiny I didn't even own a stroller and we took our walks the way she liked best, with her snuggled against my chest asleep. Not only was this A.'s favorite way to be held, but it left my hands free so I could take the dogs on a walk too. Once she was old enough to go into a jogging stroller this changed. I love the chance to go jogging, an activity that isn't safe when you are wearing a baby, and she likes being able to look around and have some quiet alone time watching the birds and plants pass by. Every morning she goes into the stroller and we go for a walk (or jog) that ends up at the park where she gets to run around and play herself. However, just because I am now using a stroller doesn't mean that I am no longer wearing her. When we go grocery shopping she prefers being on my back to being in the cart. Honestly, I haven't pushed the matter because it is also a lot easier for me because she can't stand up and try to climb out (did I mention that she's figuring out how buckles work?) or grab stuff off the shelves as we are walking. By wearing her shopping is a pleasant activity to do together instead of the constant fight I get half the time when I try putting her in the cart. I also love it when we are traveling or out and about. I can fit a wrap, sling or my Ergo in my diaper bag and carry A. or let her walk depending on her desire and how much of a hurry I'm in. I've yet to find a stroller that will fit in a diaper bag or let you zip through crowds the way I can with a wrap or the Ergo. Babywearing is also great for hiking, we can take any trail a backpacker could and share the remote mountain beauty with our daughter, try doing that with a stroller. However, doing one does not mean that I can't do the other. I use push A. in a stroller for some activities and wear her on my back for others. While I may feel a bit smug as I dodge between the strollers stuck in the crowd at ZooLights with my baby on my back, that doesn't mean that strollers don't have a place in my life or that I feel bad when I put A. in our stroller and go jogging along the paved nature trail near my house.

There are many more of these types of things where the conflict between someone else's (or my own) definition of what "should" be conflicts with the reality. However, this blog post is getting crazy long so I'll stop here. Hopefully I'll post more tomorrow.

To be continued....(if I remember...)

Pan-fried Fish

I love fish, but I've always been rather intimidated by the thought of cooking it myself. This is probably because I didn't grow up seeing it cooked combined with a few spectacular failures early on. Even the times that I considered my efforts a success DH didn't like it so I had pretty much given up and left fish to the professionals. Then yesterday I was at Trader Joe's and noticed some frozen tilapia fillets that seemed to be calling to me. I was really in a fish mood so I picked them up and decided to experiment. I "followed" (meaning I only changed half of it) one of the recipes on the package and did the same for a tarter sauce recipe I found online and wound up with an amazingly fast and tasty meal. DH was so impressed by the end product that I'm not entirely sure he hasn't been replaced by aliens, but I'll take my victories where I can find them and have decided to write it down before I forget what I did. Here goes:

You need:
White Fish Fillets (I used tilapia)
Flour
Lemon-Pepper
Garlic Powder
Salt
Vegetable Oil

Put 1/2c-1c flour in a pie plate and add a bunch of lemon-pepper along with a dash of garlic powder and a pinch of salt. Mix it all together with a fork. How much lemon-pepper you add depends on how much flour you add, you are trying to get to where the flour is nicely speckled with the pepper once it has all been mixed up. Rinse the fish off and if you have giant pieces like I did you might consider cutting them into more manageable pieces. (I did this on accident, it was frozen and I broke the fillets trying to get them apart. One of the fillets remained intact and I cooked it that way, but we liked the smaller pieces better.) Put enough oil in a frying pan to just cover the bottom and start heating it up over medium-high heat while you dredge the wet fish in the flour mixture. Be sure to cover the fish well and then shake off the excess flour. Once the oil is hot put the fish pieces in the oil and cook for 3 minutes, flip and cook for 3-4 more minutes until the middle is firm and white and it flakes easily with a fork. You will have to poke it with a fork to tell though, because the breading holds it together. At this point the outside should be a nice golden brown, if it isn't turn up the heat a touch next time. If you are working in batches because your pan is too small then line a plate or platter with a paper towel and put them in a warm oven. The paper towel will help keep them from getting soggy while they wait and will also let you see how little oil was absorbed by the thin breading so you feel better about eating fried fish.

For the Tarter Sauce:
Mayo
Lemon Juice
Dill

Take 2-3 tablespoons of the mayo and add a splash of lemon juice and mix it up until it has the consistency that you want. If it is too thin add more mayo, too thick add more lemon juice. Sprinkle in the dill until you have an attractively flecked sauce. Double check that it tastes the way you want and adjust the seasoning to suit.

Serve the fish with some tarter sauce on the side. If you add couscous and some frozen veggies cooked in the microwave you can have a tasty, healthy dinner in less than 15 minutes and all of the ingredients can be stored in either the freezer or the pantry so you have them on hand for those busy evenings.