Baby Things I Couldn't Have Done Without

Being that Elijah is well on his way into the world of Toddlerhood, I got to thinking today about the things that were life savers to me in his first 14 months of Infanthood. And the top 5 are (drumroll, please....)

1) The Miracle Blanket.
Enough said. It was indeed a miracle. This is my go-to baby gift now. Eli was able to sleep for longer stretches in this because it actually kept him swaddled, unlike so many other blankets I tried. I initially referred to it as the "straight jacket for babies", but realized that sounded somewhat austere, so I opted for calling it a "cocoon for babies". Much nicer ring to that. I wore mine slap out. Holes in it and everything. I was able to use it until E was about 4 or 5 months old. I love that blanket.



2) The Boppy. Duh, right? Esp for nursing moms. For trying to nurse anywhere (plane, a chair with no arms) this thing was priceless. It also helped anyone else who may have had to try to give Eli the occasional bottle of pumped milk, as it was something he already associated with meal time. It's also a great help for propping baby up, and for helping with tummy time. We used it every day until Eli was weaned.





3) The HALO Sleep Sack. I love this because I don't have to worry about Eli getting suffocated on a regular blanket, but I still know he's nice and cozy. They have cotton for the summer and fleece for the winter. They come with or without swaddling wraps depending on your baby's development level. Once he starts rolling over, you don't want to swaddle any more. They also come in an array of sizes to grow with your baby. Eli still uses one for naps and he's almost 15 months now. Another plus of using the sack is that it is an important part of our "naptime routine". When the sack goes on, he knows it is getting time for nap, and he will almost immediately start rubbing his eyes.

4) Room Darkening Drapes. I noticed a HUGE difference in the length of Eli's naps once I bought a pair of these for his room. Again, an important part of the nap routine is a darkened room. I bought mine at Target, but you can get them just about anywhere to match any decor.

5) An air filter. I purchased a relatively inexpensive air filter, also from Target, to put in Eli's room. In addition to helping with air quality, it also provides a nice soothing "white noise" effect that helps drown out any smaller noises that might disturb his sleep. And yet again, this is another important part of our nap and nighttime routine. When the air filter goes on, his head goes right on my shoulder and he starts to burrow down. Sweet boy :)

So, these were the things that I immediately thought of off the top of my head. I didn't sit and plan this out and weigh which things were most important. These just must be because they were the first things I thought of. Funny how 4/5 of these are related to sleep. Because let's face it, if baby's not sleeping, mama's not sleeping. And that makes for one unhappy household.

Honorable Mention. On Becoming Babywise. The reason I put this as honorable mention and not on the list is because although I credit this book with being a great tool in helping get your baby on a good eat/sleep/play routine, I understand that it will not work for every parent. Also, it is just what I said, a Tool. It is not the gospel. There are even things in the book that I didn't agree with or that didn't work for me. That being said, the basic principles of feeding and sleep schedules helped us immensely. Eli was sleeping through the night (8-9 hr stretches) by about 12 weeks old. He is currently a great napper and nighttime sleeper. Obviously we had our setbacks and battles, but this book helped me set a good foundation. I will say that I checked out other books in the Babywise series and WAS NOT impressed at all. In fact I would warn you to stay away from the other books in this series. Not helpful or practical, and in some instances harmful.

So, hopefully this can be helpful to some new parents or parents-to-be out there!

The Whole30, Day 11: What Do You Eat All Day?

Some folks have been asking me what do I eat all day if I'm not eating dairy, wheat, sugar, beans, peanut butter, processed foods. So, here is an example of my day today.

Breakfast
Approx 4 eggs (scrambled up 6 to split with two toddlers, so 4 is a guess)
Fresh fruit medley of bananas, kiwi and pineapple
Coffee (black)
Multi-vitamin & 3 Fish Oils

Mid-Morning
Celery sticks with raw almond butter (I ended up just eating almond butter out of the jar because I really hate raw celery)
Banana

Lunch
Venison Chili, a great recipe from The Primal Blueprint Cookbook

Mid-Afternoon
Cold sweet potato with pecan halves (this is my go to snack, esp when I'm having a sweet tooth)

Dinner
Paleo Stew. This was a recipe that I adapted from another awesome recipe in The Primal Blueprint Cookbook. This is a great recipe if you want to use up any random veggies in your fridge before they go bad and any leftover meat. This was perfect for me as the meatloaf I made a few nights ago turned out kind of dry and I wasn't very stoked to eat the leftovers. So I chopped up my leftover meatloaf, added it to a quart of all natural chicken broth and let it simmer for an hour. Then I added whatever left over veggies I had to the mix (celery, brussel sprouts, onions, cauliflower and cabbage). I also chopped up some bok choy and added that as well. I let that simmer for about 20 minutes. Then added my leftover venison summer sausage as well as some basil, salt and pepper and let it simmer for another 10 minutes. It was LEGENDARY. Super good.

Evening Snack 
Almonds and a cup of hot chamomile tea

So, there you have it. A culinary day in the life of me.

The Whole30, Day 10!

So, here I am, day 10 of the Whole30 Challenge! Still going great and I am actually surprised that I haven't caved yet. Although I almost did when I saw this amazing picture and recipe of these scrumptous looking cupcakes that my friend Heather baked. Good thing she lives like, 8 hours from me or else I would've driven over to her house and demanded some. So, tonight I tried something WAY easy, and I was a little leary because I've never really liked cooked cabbage. Or so I thought. This is a recipe I got from the Primal Blueprint Cookbook, which I am loving by the way. This is a super simple easy recipe that can be ready in under a hour with almost no prep time. The amazing thing was I loved it and so did Eli!



The recipe in the cookboook called for smoked kielbasa sausage, but we have about 20 packs of venison summer sausage in the freezer, so I used that instead. One head of cabbage, chopped (or a bag of the preshredded, which is what I used), a couple of tablespoons of water or chicken broth, and a couple of tablespoons of the fat of your choice (ghee, lard, EVOO). I coated a 9x13 dish with EVOO, spead the cabbage out, placed my sliced sausage on top, added two tablespoons of water and then dotted the top with a little more EVOO. Cover with a lid or foil and cook for 40 minutes, removing the lid for the last 10 minutes so it can brown. Yummers!

Sounds Like Life to Me

I'm not complaining, just letting you all know about my week thus far since Rusty left.

Tues- Rusty leaves

Wed- go to podiatrist, he confirms stress fracture and puts me in a cast. My right foot mind you, and says I shouldn't drive and stay off of it as much as possible in the next two weeks. Right, I'm home by myself with a 14-month old.

Thurs- returning from Barnes & Noble, (yes I was driving) Eli gets sick about 1 mile from home. And pukes all. over. everything. Strip him down, throw him in the front seat b/c his car seat is DISGUSTING and I will NOT put him back in it. Yes, I am aware that this is against the law. But I'm not Britney Spears, leave me alone. Spend over an hour cleaning up car, carseat, diaperbag, but cannot get the smell out of the Jetta. Will have to get it detailed at some point. So glad we don't have nice cars. So, in the interim I get his infant car seat down from the attic (yes, in my cast) and thankfully Eli is not too big for it yet! So I put it in the Subaru and we've been rocking that since Friday.

Friday- Go into town to run some necessary errands. Subaru is on empty, so stop to fill that up. Drive to pick up E's shot records, drive on post pick up a copy of my bone scan to take to my podiatrist. Can't get on post because my wallet is not in my purse, thus no ID. Realize I left my wallet on top of my car when filling up with gas at the service station by my house, 30 minutes away. Call gas station, no wallet. Drive back to gas station, creeping up and down highway, no wallet. Up until this point, I had been cool as a cucumber. Saying goodbye to Rusty, I didn't cry. Cast, no tears. Puke, not a tear, although I did gag some. Now I cry. I cry because the thought of having to get a new DL, new military ID, new debit cards, credit cards, etc is too much. ugh. Call my minister's wife and dear friend Maurine. She agrees to watch Eli so I can hunt for my wallet. On the way there I see a flash of red on the side of the road...MY WALLET! YESSSSSSSSSSS! I immediately begin praising God!

Saturday- pretty uneventful, except Eli has developed a runny nose, cough and loss of appetite

Sunday- up, ready for church, Eli wakes up, eats a decent breakfast, but he feels warm. 101.5 temp. awesome. I text my RN friend, Megan. She suggests I take him to the urgent care clinic where she works. So, off we go. I am PRAYING it's not the flu. Thankfully, it's only a cold, but he does have the beginnings of an ear infection. Got some antibiotics to nip that in the bud.

Monday- ?????? BRING IT.

The Whole30 Day 3!

Three days down, 27 to go! Feeling great so far and it hasn't been as hard as I was expecting. I thought I might share with you guys what I've been eating throughout the day as well as some other tips that have made it helpful. First off, The Whole9 has a great post about trying to eat Paleo on a budget. I read this several times and printed off some of the resources to take with me to the grocery store. They have great produce guide you can print off and keep in your purse (or shrink down and fit in your wallet). It tells you what fruits and veggies are fresh for each season and which ones are clean or dirty so you know which ones should be a priority to buy organic. They also help you prioritize your shopping list and make the best decisions you can for your budget. My plan was to buy in season produce and the best meat (within a reasonable price) that I could. I decided I would make my meal plan depending on what the store had vs what I wanted. This also makes it easier on the budget.

So, what have I been eating? Well, luckily I had starting eating Paleo-ish back when I started training for my triathlon last summer. So, I had gotten pretty accustomed to little or no grains. Just serve up a double portion of veggies for dinner instead of rice. But kicking the dairy much harder! So for breakfast I've been eating a 3 egg scramble with diced onion, spinach and mushroom. Add seasonal fruit of choice (pineapple, grapes, bananas). Mid morning I'll nosh on some leftovers or have some nuts or a piece of fruit. Lunch is usually leftovers from dinner the night before. I like to make plenty so I have plenty to munch on. Venison Chili is one of my faves, and it's Paleo friendly (no beans!). This recipe calls for a jar of salsa, but it's hard to find one that's Paleo compliant so I just sub an extra can of diced tomatoes. Tonight I made Lemon Chicken from one of my favorite sites, Simply Recipes. Her site is not Paleo, but she has a ton of great recipes that you can modify. Plus there is a recipe index so you can search specifically for what it is you want a recipe for. For this recipe I simply removed the chicken skins after I baked them (less fat) and didn't include the butter the recipe called for. It turned out FAB! With the chicken I boiled some fresh broccoli for about 7 minutes and then seasoned with olive oil and vinegar. Then I grabbed a sweet potato from the fridge that I had baked the night before. Done. And please let me tell you, I have always microwaved my sweet potatoes, but after reading Tom Denham's post about how he makes sweet potatoes, I tried it. Suffice it to say baking them for 2 hours ROCKED MY FACE OFF. I will never microwave a sweet potato again.  I really like Tom's site. Some great Whole30 compliant recipes. If I get hungry throughout the day I'll pop a handful of healthy nuts, like almonds or macadamias. Or have an avocado. The fats help you feel fuller while giving you the healthy Omegas  3s you need.

So, that's where I am so far! Oh, and one more tip for all you late night sweet cravers like me. I have been having a cup of hot tea after dinner, like raspberry or chamomile, and that has really helped me get past that time where I usually cave and eat crap. A few of you have shown interest in wanting to do the Whole30 challenge as well and I think that's awesome! Cheers!

The Whole30 Challenge

Well, it begins tomorrow. I am embarking on a 30-day challenge to reset my body's dependence and cravings on the crap I have shoved into it for years. On average, I eat better than a large percentage of most Americans I would say. But, I want to get back to what I feel like is more in line with what God and nature intended. Then I stumbled across this amazing website, Whole9 Life. The movement was started by a couple who really wanted to focus on helping people strip all the crap that they ate from their diets, thus resulting in improved health and fitness. I could go in to the whys and the science behind the concept, but I won't bore you in case you aren't interested. If you are, you can check out more info on their website. It is very similar to the Paleo/Primal diet, but the 30 day challenge is extremely strict, no cheating whatsoever. Basic tenants of the Whole30 challenge, as they call it, are as follows:

1. No processed food of any kind
2. No grains
3. No dairy
4. No sweeteners or added sugar, even natural (i.e. honey) or artificial (i.e. Splenda)
5. No alcohol
6. No legumes (beans, peanuts)

People have been asking me, "But what will you eat?!" The answer in order of priority:

1. Lean meat, seafood
2. Fresh veggies
3. Fresh fruit
4. Healthy fat (nuts, seeds, coconut milk, EVOO)

I love the approach and the attitude of the people behind the Whole30. Some excerpts from their website that I love:

"It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Giving up heroin is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard." 

"Don’t even consider the possibility of a “slip”. Unless you physically tripped and your face landed in a box of donuts, there is no “slip”."

"You never, ever, ever HAVE to eat anything you don’t want to eat. You’re all big boys and girls. Toughen up. Learn to say no.  It’s always a choice, and we would hope that you stopped succumbing to peer pressure in 7th grade." 

I am super stoked to start my challenge, and as I sit here drinking my Kona Longboard in a frosty mug and eating Nutella out of the jar, I am glad to know that I won't be doing this anymore for the next 30 days! My friend Ellie started the challenge with her husband right after the New Year and they are both feeling great and loving it. I had intended on starting it at the same time, but decided not to subject Rusty to the potential moodiness that may occur in the beginning, so I waited until he left for a bit to start. Can't wait to start feeling the same!

My New Haircut

Well, not mine really, but Eli's first haircut! But I just couldn't resist the reference to the YouTube classic video of "My New Haircut". But I digress....

So, E's hair has been getting pretty wispy crazy, right?

So, Rusty decided to set him up with his first haircut appointment with Kendall, the gal that cuts Rusty's hair. E-bones did great! He sat right up in the chair like a big guy and didn't fuss at all. Toward the end she had me put him in my lap, just so I could get him to tilt his head down and she could get his nape. Made me a little sad when it was over, just because he looks so much older now!

I was really glad we went ahead and got his haircut because a few days later we had some family photos taken by our good friend Todd Hibbs. If you haven't seen them yet, you can check them out here. If you want to see them bigger than what shows on the blog slideshow, just click on the picture below to view my Picasa web album.

Todd did a great job and he and his wife Kim are an awesome couple that we are blessed to be friends with through our church family. Hope you enjoy!

Bathroom Remodel

So, Rusty and I created I huge "TO DO" list to try to accomplish before he leaves for a few months. On the top of Rusty's list was to redo our master bathroom. I was perfectly fine with our bathroom, but Rusty has disliked it for some time. And I will back him up on the fact that it really didn't flow with the rest of our home. Our home is predominately neutral colors with warm decorative accents. Our master bath was a color called "Pewter Tray" and had white cabinets. Rusty had a vision for a bathroom that would have much more of a coffee house feel to it as opposed to a prison bathroom (his words, not mine!). So, of course I didn't think of taking before and after pics until we were a little ways into it, but you will get the idea none the less.

Rusty wanted to sand down the cabinets and repaint them a nice espresso color and to paint the walls a warm chestnut color. We also wanted to update our bathroom fixtures which were a brushed nickel to an antiqued bronze. We could've just bought new ones, but of course that's not very DIY. So we sanded those down and repainted with a textured spray paint, saving us a pretty penny there. When it came to the light fixtures, we were going to do the same with those as well, but the lovely folks who built our home kind of threw it up there fast I guess, so Rusty had some challenges with the fixtures resulting is some broken bulbs and we decided to just buy two new light fixtures instead. The difference was about $40 more, but it was worth it for the time it saved him! So, check out some of the shots below and let us know what you think!

The Holidays

WOW...so much packed in to such a short amount of time. So, here is the rundown of our holidays!

Rusty, Eli, the dogs and I headed up to my mom's a few days before Christmas to get settled in. I've learned to try to get there a day or two before I actually want to do anything because Eli usually has a "introductory" rough period. This time was no exception. First night there he woke at around 12:30...and I was up all night with him. Yes, all night. First time ever for an all-nighter. I started getting nervous because Rusty and I were supposed to be leaving him with Mom and Rob while we went on our trip to NV, but I couldn't bear to leave him if this was still going on after a few days. But, true to form, he was fine by the next night. Whew!

Christmas Eve arrived and we had a nice dinner that Mom prepared. My sister and her husband came over for dinner as well as my Granddad, my uncle and my cousin along with her husband and son. I thoroughly enjoyed this time with our family, but please let me tell you. I know know where they get ideas for movies like National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Our evening was complete with bad toupees, inappropriate breast comments and uncomfortable remarks about my sister's procreation plans. It was hysterical!

We opened a few gifts, with Eli of course getting the majority of them. He got two riding toys which he was pretty stoked about. His dad got him a John Deere ATV, which Rusty had been excited to get for him since last Christmas!

Eli and his Great-Granddad

Eli and his new John Deere

Eli loves his GiGi

And his Grandpa!

Christmas Day Rusty, Eli and I drove to Jackson, TN to spend time with my dad's family as well as some dear family friends, the Hayes'. It was so nice to be with the Woodruff family. Every single aunt, cousin, etc was all packed into my Grandma's tiny house. Normally we would've been at someone's house with more room, but my Grandma is now at home in hospice care and is on oxygen, so it was easier on her for everyone to meet there. Many of my family members there I hadn't seen since my dad's funeral. Some longer than that. Seems weird that none of us ever stayed in touch, but I was amazed at how it hadn't felt like it had been 10 years since I'd spoken to many of them. I felt right at home and loved, and of course everyone loved Elijah. We stayed the night at our friends the Hayes' who have been so great to me over the last 10 years. Brian was one of my dad's closest friends, and he stepped in where my dad's family didn't. He has checked up on me over the years, told me stories about my dad I never knew, and loved me and my family like we were part of his own. Before we left J-town the next morning, I drove Rusty by the first home our dad built for us in Jackson. I loved that place!

 Eli with his Great-Grandma Woodruff

The first home my dad built for us in Jackson!

On the 28th, Rusty and I took off for Reno, NV for a few days. Rusty was in a wedding of one of his buddies from the Army, Kyle. I was so looking forward to our time away together! But a little apprehensive about how Eli would do since I was still nursing. Well, he did great! Slept better for mom and Rob than he does for me! This of course made our time away even more enjoyable since I wasn't fretting about how he was doing. I can't even begin to describe how much this trip alone as a couple was needed and enjoyed! I felt like I was in my 20s again! hahaha...and it was so amazing to fly unencumbered! I had forgotten what it was like, esp since I have made 5 or 6 roundtrip flights with Eli already. I flew with nothing but my purse on board and it was AWESOME! No boppy, no diaper bag, no stroller, no carseat, nada. I got to sleep on the plane. Golden.

The wedding was lovely, and it was our first time meeting Kyle's fiancée, Leslie. This girl was awesome, and I immediately fell in love with her family! They made me feel so welcome, and made the time even more enjoyable. Of course it was great for Rusty and Kyle to spend some time together. They were in as privates together and went through Ranger school as well as several other Army schools together, so they have seen each other through some tough times. Kyle got out 8 years ago, but he and Rusty have always stayed in touch, and Kyle honored us by being in our wedding almost 8 years ago.

Kyle & Rusty

We flew home New Year's Eve and Eli was having such a great time with GiGi and Grandpa that it took him a bit to warm back up to us. I actually know how Rusty feels now when he comes home and Eli takes some time to warm up to him. It kinda pulls on the heart strings!

We drove back to GA the day after New Years. It's nice to be home in our own space, but I miss being near family. So thankful they are not too far of a drive away. I hope 2011 has lots of great stuff in store for us and for you! Can't wait to see what this new year will bring!