I heart Floradix.

It's expensive. It doesn't taste too great. But man has it ever helped.

Instead of feeling pooped all day, I am now just exhausted in the morning. If it's really bad, a cup of half-caf does the trick. I've been watching my sugar for the most part too. Still eating fruit and whole grains. Cheated with some bday cake this weekend, but other than that it's all good.

So woohoo! Thanks to the midwife for suggesting it.

PS If you too need an iron supplement that doesn't *ahem* bind you up and is gentle on your system I suggest purchasing some from iherb.com.

Good prices and if you use my referral code / coupon code "MAM340" you can save $5 off your first order. They sell lots of other vitamins and supplements too. I get fish oil for the kiddo and me there.

Blueberries!

It's blueberry season here in NJ!

The bountiful rain we are having is creating a bumper crop of the little blue gems. W and I checked out a "you-pick" blueberry farm yesterday. They use "organic methods" but are not certified organic. The weather was perfect. It was overcast and not too hot. It's so cheap to pick your own! I wanted to stay longer and pick more, but the little one was only into it for so long. I'm going to try again next week and bring a friend. I'm hoping W and the other kid(s) can entertain eachother while the mamas pick.

I came home and whipped up a blueberry cobbler. It was yummy, but since I subbed out the sugar for agave and the flour for whole wheat and oats it was not quite the sugary goodness of the regular stuff. (I'm watching my sugar intake due to the pregnancy.)

Gotta get more to freeze! And I think I need to add some blueberry muffins to my post-baby freezer stash.

PS I always think of my friend *shell* when I pick blueberries. She used to have a job doing it when she was a kid. :)

keepin' busy aka random post

My last post was a little whiny. Those that know me, know that I'm not so great at enjoying this pregnancy thing. I'm just plain grumpy when I'm uncomfortable and hormonal.
Oh well. We all have our flaws! : P

On the plus side, I'm now in the 3rd trimester! Yay! I have been forcing myself to take a nap (no matter how hard W goes down for his) and it really is helping me feel a little better in the evenings.

My new fav book is Raising Your Spirited Child: A Guide for Parents Whose Child Is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent, and Energetic
Just reading through the description of "spirted" to Papa K last night was one of those ah-ha moments. More on that once I finish it. :)

I've been really trying to get the little guy out of the house and as busy as possible. Monday we had a nice trip to the playground. Today my bro is coming down to watch W while I run some errands. Last night was La Leche Legue Meeting. This morning is story time at the library. And weather permitting, Friday is our first "beach day" of the season.

energy?

I have none. The only reason I am up past 9pm tonight is because I crashed on the couch for a couple hours while I was supposed to be watching a movie with the hubs.

Anyone know of any good, natural sources for iron? I ordered some Floradix, but that stuff is crazy expensive. I'm going to try it for a month and see if it helps at all.

My blood sugar was borderline for "gestational diabetes" so no formal diagnosis this time. But my midwife told me to go low-carb and exercise and all that. Basically, do all the stuff I did with W minus the blood sugar tests 4x's a day. Sigh. I knew that was coming, but oh how I love the sweets. Time to break out the South Beach recipes for some inspiration. That will probably help with the energy thing too.

To update, I'm now 6.5 months pregnant. Everyone says I don't look it. They said that last time too. I was still getting the "is she/isn't she" looks well into the third trimester. Which is probably less annoying than being told how huge you are, but still annoying because you know strangers just assume you are fat. *insert eye roll*

FREE Books!

I was waiting to post about this until I actually earned something and Tuesday I got my big brother books from Amazon.. for free! How? Well I earned reward certificates on Swagbucks and by using my Amazon.com credit card. Pretty sweet right?

All you have to do is join Swagbucks and use their search engine. So instead of going to Google, you use Swagbucks. Easy right? If you follow them on Twitter and Facebook and their blog sometimes there are codes for more bucks, but I don't always catch those. Mostly I just use the search engine in my daily surfing.

You can cash in your "bucks" for other prizes too, but Amazon.com certificates are my favorite.

Here's my referral link:




And if you haven't heard about PaperbackSwap.com, it's a way to get some great used books while unloading ones you no longer need. You pay shipping on the books you send out and then request books to be sent to you for free in exchange. I have stocked up the LLL Library and my own library too using this service.

My referral link:

Fruity Play Dough

I have a confession to make. For someone who generally dislikes food dyes, I have a nostalgic affinity for Kool-aid. So I get my fix by playing with the stuff instead of drinking it. It can be used to dye protein fibers, such as wool yarn and silk fabric. And my son's favorite use is to make fun lightly scented play dough. He actually refers to the little packets of drink mix as "play dough." haha

We made another batch up a couple weeks ago with the intention of gifting half to a little friend for her bday.

(Recipezaar.com is the the original source for the recipe.)

Kool-Aid Play Dough
1 & 1/2 c. BLEACHED white flour
1/4 c. salt (regular salt works best, but I just happened to have kosher on hand)
1 packet drink mix, such as Kool-Aid brand
1-2 tsp Cream of Tarter (this is optional, but helps improve the texture I think. It's a little expensive so I only put about 1 tsp usually.)
1 & 1/2 Tbs oil
up to 1 cup BOILING water (the heat of the water "cooks" the dough so it's important that it's really boiling)

Mix up the dry ingredients. Add in the oil and the boiling water. I find that just under 1 c. of water is best measurement, but it depends on the humidity and stuff like that. Mix with a spoon until well blended and cooled down a bit. When cool enough to handle, turn out onto the counter and knead until smooth. (This part can be a little messy.) Keep in mind that it will firm up a bit as it cools. Once it's about room temp, put it in air tight containers. These little tupperware thingies are a perfect fit.

Cultural Perceptions of Breastfeeding

How interesting is this picture?!

I snagged it from this blog that takes a historical look at breastfeeding. It was taken sometime in the late 1930's-40's. I love how the menfolk are just looking on like it's NO BIG DEAL to see a mom nursing a baby. This was before formula was really being used. (It is a relatively new invention after all.)

With W, I realized that many people are uncomfortable when you nurse around them. I find it especially odd that many women are so uncomfortable with it. Maybe that has something to do with the low breastfeeding rate in our country? I know that many moms DO feel very uncomfortable nursing in public. We have no problem flashing skin in any other situation, but a baby nursing with little to no skin exposed? Eek!

I never would intentionally make someone uncomfortable and I practiced nursing discretely but still the reactions from people are priceless.

Apparently women's bodies are only acceptable if "sexy" and an object of lust, but when they are fulfilling their God given purpose us Americans just don't know what to do!
.

Reminds me of these cartoons:

Links

* I can't be the only mom who never seems to have enough bibs on hand. Check out this tute for denim bibs. I am SO making some of these out of some old jeans.

* Deluxe Whole Wheat Strawberry Shortcake. Nuff said.

* 9 Ways to make your own Backyard Bubble Solution. wheee!

* Unless you count graham crackers, I've never tried making crackers. This "wheat thin" recipe looks like a great place to start.

* 10 Ways to Stay Cool Without Air Conditioning

* How to Remove Breastmilk Stains (and other protein stains) from clothes... I have pulled some things out of storage that could use some help.

Eight Years!

Happy Anniversary to my hubby!

June 2, 2001 we tied the knot. We were such babies then! Life has been filled with ups and downs since, but I'm glad to say the love and respect is still going strong... despite my recent hormone induced mood swings.

This year we will celebrate quietly. No gifts. Maybe go out to dinner or something? Neither of us are into big romantic gestures, but "slow and steady wins the race" I always say. :)

Chocolate Mug Cake

I never cook in the microwave, but when I got an email for 3 minute chocolate cake I had to give it a try. I found a similar recipe on Recipezaar so I went with that one.

It turned out pretty good! It wasn't as good as cake from the oven, but it is a great quick fix. Mine was a little on the dry side but I think that has to do with my microwave. I'm going to play around with cooking times. I think that frosting, chocolate syrup, ice cream or something like that would have made it better.

Give it a try! Magic Chocolate Mug Cake

ETA: If you are watching what you eat, be sure to check out the calories first. This is not a healthy dish. It makes a BIG serving so you could easily eat half and save the rest. Or check out the suggestions to replace some/all of the oil with applesauce. You could also use a sugar replacement to cut back some more. I'm going to play around with the recipe now that I've figured it out.