French Toast Sticks

Do you want some this? NO
Do you want to have a sandwich? NO
Do you want to try some banana? NO
....This was almost every meal time once Inga was around 18+ months. 
Once your child starts to eat real meals and doesn't live off of random shit thrown in front of them it can be a bit jarring. I know, for me, it was a bit of a transition between that time when I just let her "play" with her food and gave her lots of choices, to switching to giving her real food that really she needed to start eating. 
I don't think that Inga is all that picky in comparison to other kids, but I do think she has her quirks. She still is not a big meat eater, other than some chicken tenders and the classic summer sausage. She has recently started to venture in the realm of fish. Whoa now...settle down there miss foodie. 
Since we still make her meals for daycare, I needed to try and come with meal ideas for her so that the daycare still thought I was a good mom that didn't just give my child the same thing every time she went. I am sure they already find me to be an inconvenience since she is the only child in the toddler room that doesn't eat what the daycare serves. 
I saw a recipe for French Toasts sticks in Pinterest a while back and I thought I would try it. The hard part with Pinterest is that there are no reviews for these recipes and I wasn't really in the mood for a "nailed it" moment. I looked up recipes for french toast with good reviews and used that recipe instead. 
It isn't all that complicated and if you make french toast regularly then you pretty much got it covered. This post is moreso just to give an idea of a food item that you can make that you know what the hell is in it that you can feed your little nugget. 

I use about 7 slices of white bread - sue me - You could use the wheat bread, but the wheat bread we buy has seeds all over it and she was not having those. 
Milk 2/3 cup
Vanilla 1 teaspoon
2 Eggs
Cinnamon to taste
Powdered Sugar to taste

When I make the mixture, I just use the vanilla, eggs, and milk. Cinnamon does not mix with just liquids and what you will find is that the first slice you make would be like the Youtube Cinnamon challenge if you tried to mix the cinnamon. 
I dip the slices in the mixture and put them in the pan and then I sprinkle the powdered sugar and cinnamon on the slice. Works pretty slick that way. I use the powdered sugar as just a little bit more sweetness to entice the monster to feed. 


My monster isn't too keen on the crust and so after I make them and they are cooled, I get to enjoy a bit of the fruits of my labor by cutting and eating the crusts. Then I cut them into 3-4 strips and put them in a ziplock bag and freeze. Done and done. 

Exclusive Pumpers: Never Give Up! Never Surrender!

Breastfeeding can be hard. Exclusively pumping can be hard. I get it. But try...just try. I am sure that you wouldn't be reading the blog if you weren't planning on trying or did and you get high fives!
I pumped for 13 months and I will say that I am extremely proud of myself. I breastfed for the first month but we were just having issues latching on and I was pumping at the same time to get my supply going and pumping just kind of took over. It was also nice so then my husband could feed her, which he loved.
These are some of the tips or advice that seemed to help me get the best out of my pumping. These may not work for you since every boobie is different. 

1. Make sure you have the right size flange. 
This is a huge one that will DESTROY your pumping experience and I am convinced this causes a lot of moms to stop. I used the flanges that came with my pump and they ended up being too small....YEEOOOUCCH! They don't cost a lot of money and I bought mine on Amazon, but try to get another size up. You can google breast pump flanges and see how they are supposed to fit properly.

2. Pump Often.  
Your fun bags are actually extremely smart, which seems a bit oxymoronic. They know that if you breastfeed or pump a lot, that they need to start producing more. If you start breastfeeding first like I did, you should always try to pump afterwards to make sure that all of the milk is out. Your jubblies will only product what they emptied so if you don't empty them, they won't produce as much the next time. The instructions even say in the pump to continue to pump after the last drop for about 5 minutes and I think that is why I ended up producing so much and ultimately allowed me to get away with only having to pump 3-4 times a day. I started out pumping at least 6-7 times a day until about 10 weeks and then slowly started to do fewer pumps but longer sessions to readjust the jugs to my upcoming work environment. 

3. Take supplements if you have to.  
There is no shame in taking herbs or making lactation cookies to help your supply. I got sick at about 9 months and had to take a Z-pack. Even though the doctor said it wouldn't affect my supply, it definitely did. I went down about 6-7 ounces each day, which is a lot if you don't have a huge stash in the freezer. Fenugreek is extremely helpful as well as these supplements that have a little bit of everything. Mother's Love Supplements have lots of different herbs that definitely helped to maintain my current supply and not let it dwindle. I ultimately did add another session to my day. Lactation cookies work great as long as the recipe has the 3 main ingredients: oats, brewers yeast, and flax. Unfortunately the recipe that I originally followed had like a cup of ground flax. My stomach churned the rest of the day anytime I ate those, but they did certainly work. That is the only reason why I am not posting a recipe. Just search Google and you will find a lot. 

4. Replace the white membranes often.  
These are the little white flaps that...well flap...inside the bottle to drop the milk in. If they get washed to hard or generally worn out they don't provide a proper seal and decrease the amount of suction necessary. These little effers are dirt cheap and you can buy a large amount of them to have in your bag for when you need them. 

5. Wash your pieces carefully. 
I'll be honest, I hated washing my breast pump pieces. Breast milk is very oily and sticks to everything and you always need to devote a good amount of attention to give them a deep cleaning. I did find that the little brush that comes with the Dr. Brown bottles is EXTREMELY handy when cleaning the main part. It just fits perfectly and bends around in the little crevices. 
The one piece of advice that I found saves you so much headache....DON'T WASH THE TUBING! For crying out loud....no milk comes in contact with the tubing and when you put water within the tubing, it is near impossible to get all the water out and therefore it can get into the motor and mold. Yes..mold. It even says in the manuals that washing the tubing is not necessary. If you were researching pumps like me, and lots of reviews say they hated the pump, because water got in there and it molded, it is their own damn fault. They are the dumb reviewers that put I hate this product because the person shipping it didn't wrap it nice enough.....what? 

Some perks to pumping?
- Most to all insurances cover really nice pump for free
- You legally get breaks at work to pump. Some mothers complain that their workplace is not very nice about them pumping or they make it difficult. It is your right so stand up for yourself. If they make you feel ashamed, don't. It is their own damn insecurities and they should be ashamed themselves. 
- It's free! Woop Woop!
- For an introvert like myself...it's your "Get out of Jail Free" card to not have to socialize or leave places early. 

What were some tips that got you through pumping or what are some perks of pumping for you?

Feeding our kid in public - The Battle rages on

Inga just turned 9 months this past Sunday, so she has been eating solid foods for about 3 months now.
Who knew that feeding your kid had the potential for such disagreement with other parents.

It started out great, just like my previous post had shown, with a great video of her first time eating some banana and just loving it. That continued for a couple weeks. We only had her eat once a day as to not overwhelm her stomach. As you can see from the video it was very telling of what was to come in the next few months. She was pretty meh about the mushed up banana and just wanted the banana itself. She did seem to enjoy holding onto the spoon but that soon turned into wanting the bowl that the puree was in.
Fast forward to now - she ate purees for about 2 weeks, then we just switched and gave her whole food and that seems to be the way that she wants to roll. And that is great! We gave her the tools and the choices and chose correctly. What can I say? She is gifted I guess ha! /sarcasm.
Before we started solid foods, I had wanted to do Baby Led Weaning. I had bought the book and was all prepared, but I was extremely nervous on the possibility of her choking of a whole piece of banana so we decided to be a bit half-ass about it. She pretty much decided for us that that was the way she preferred. I feel like babies need to learn how to chew/mush something before they can swallow it and starting with purees seems a bit back assward.
We have yet to just give her everything that we eat but she does try almost everything at least once whether it is just sucking on it or playing with it in her hands. This seems to be the issue when feeding her out in public. Sometimes when we give her something, we get the hover parents looking at us like,
"OMG she is going to choke. Why would ever give a baby that?"
"Does she ever eat baby food?"
"Is she even eating any of it?"
No she is not going to choke. She might gag, but she isn't dying and will spit it out. No we don't feed her baby food. Have you tried that shit? Hmmm jarred chicken dinner or a chicken drumstick?
Who cares if she is actually eating any of it?
Food is supposed to just be fun and a learning experience until they are one anyways so don't put so much pressure on them to eat.
Some people just have to have an opinion on everything and everyone and because of our parenting style, we probably just need to get over the fact that helicopter parents are going to give us the business.
She does still gag on certain foods, and that can be scary but she is not choking and she has to learn. Like my dad said that you can just go to the court house and get an eating permit lol
Some of Inga's favorite things to eat are:
Orange segments - she can eat about half an orange and her poo smells like oranges haha
Blueberries - she eats lots of blueberries at Grandma's house
Mcvities Digestive crackers - she shares these with the dog every time
Watermelon - these are a new favorite
Tomatoes - She sucks and pulls all the meat and juice out of them like a champ
Cheese - This is one of the dog's favorites haha
What are your little nugget's favorite things to eat? Any suggestions on getting whole grains - since she doesn't really care for oatmeal? Leave comments!

Lies you are Told About Having a Baby

You get lots of advice. You read lots of books. You scour Pinterest and the internet for information. Yes, I will admit that some information is helpful and some information you read ends up being true but most of the time it is so generalized that truth has fallen to the wayside. Having a baby is an individualized experience and every baby is different. I will be creating new posts as she gets older with the new lies we are told as she grows up. These are more about a newborn or preparing for a baby. 
I am just going to jump into them without spending too much time flooding you with too much sarcasm. 

1. PINTEREST....
How dare I? Yes yes, for the most part the beautiful nurseries and extreme organization ideas are lies. These are lies spread either by photographers who set up the most perfect scenario or by Stay-at-Home-Moms who really have nothing better to do with their time than make Pinterest posts to make us feel bad about our pitiful lives. I have an entire post on just being a Pinterest parent. 
Some of the organizational posts for nurseries can be helpful if you take them with a grain of salt. When I was designing Inga's nursery, I had so many Pinterest inspirational pictures that I ended up using that ended up being completely pointless and actually cumbersome. There really is no need to completely overhaul a closet and make it the children's closet to beat all children's closets. Most clothes are thrown in drawers or in our situation, we pretty much live out of her laundry basket of clean clothes. We really only hang sweaters or jackets and all you really need is this Closet Doubler from Bed Bath and Beyond. Don't waste your time with adorable velvet hangers either...they are the most obnoxious things to use for smaller clothes. They just stretch the clothes and I knew my husband, Matt, would HATE them. Buy the 10 for $1 at Target ones. 
One thing on Pinterest that was a HUGE TRUTH and I am so happy with the decision was instead of getting a changing table, buy a dresser instead. What are you going to use a changing table for after they are out of
diapers...a liquor cart? Hmm...I am sure you could find a pin for that. Otherwise, why not get a dresser and actually have it serve a purpose past potty training. The IKEA Hemnes dresser seems like the go-to dresser and that is what we got and love it. The top fits a changing pad and wipe warmer perfectly. 

2. Diaper Bags
Diaper bags have become quite a fashion statement. Quite an expensive fashion statement. Marc Jacobs has one for $300. Vera Bradley has one for $150. Even Coach has a diaper bag for $180. Why? Why? WHY!? It is a bag! I did a ridiculous amount of research into the "best" diaper bags and I went through the phases of wanting the best and most expensive bag possible down to the most practical.  A lot of the expensive bags are pretty but they are not the most functional or practical. For a budget family a new backpack would actually work awesome but if you don't want to walk around with a backpack I would suggest a shoulder bag or a bag with a messenger strap. The bag I ended up getting and am very happy with

is the JJ Cole Satchel bag in black canvas. It is ginormous inside and it has a messenger strap and an obscene amount of pockets for all your jazz. And it is not obnoxiously girly that my husband will happily carry it around as a messenger bag if he has to go anywhere. You need to think about that. Are you buying a diaper bag for you or are you buying a diaper bag for your family? You are not the only one going places with your baby. 


3. Clothing
Buy footies....buy zippered footies....trying to put onesie bodysuits on your newborn feels like cruel and unusual punishment for both of you. If it is colder outside and you need to put a onesie on under footies, then get the side snaps. This is a lie perpetuated by all the stores selling you those adorable must have onesies for newborns.

4. Needing to have a ton of newborn to 3 month clothes. 
You can really get away with like 5 onesies and 3 pairs of footies. You will be doing lots of laundry and like I said before, we pretty much just live out of a laundry basket. Spend more money on these bibs from Target then the clothes won't get dirty as fast or as stained with breastmilk. This lie is coming from all those newborn checklists telling you that you need 50 of every item. 

5. You have to breastfeed to feel connected with your baby.
 Don't misunderstand me...you should always try to breastfeed your baby first. The idea that you have to breastfeed to be a loving mother is completely untrue and kind of damaging to mother's self esteem if that does not happen with her. I tried breastfeeding for a couple weeks and it was possibly the most painful ordeal emotionally and physically for me personally other than actually giving birth that I had gone through. BUT, I wouldn't give up and decided to pump my milk instead and I can guarantee that I feel just as connected with Inga as if I was actually breastfeeding. That feeling of accomplishment that you get when you know that you are giving your baby the best nutrition they can get no matter what is awesome and deepens the connection just as much with your little peanut. If you and your baby have a hard time breastfeeding, please try to stick with it or else get a pump and start pumping. Your insurance company usually covers a free pump. 



6. You need to have a glider/rocking chair in the nursery.
HA! My mom and I were at IKEA today and I said to my mom that I was glad I didn't pay full price for my POANG rocking chair for feeding because it has barely been used. You know where you are going to be sitting or nursing your baby? The couch or in the living room. So I wouldn't even spend the money on a glider/rocker unless you plan to just have it in the living room. 

Some of the other lies we were told or read about have been covered in other posts I have done.
What are some of the things that you were told or read about that were lies. Comment below! I want to hear them!

Are you Crunchy or Just Plain Crazy?

Being "crunchy" can be a good thing. You have made the decision to live a more natural lifestyle for yourself and your child. You try to keep as many chemicals away from your child that are not necessary and try to keep things more simple. It can also be completely and absolutely ridiculous. Have you ever heard of "Elimination Communication?" Oh you haven't?? Look it up. 

This post is just about Crunchy Products. I might do separate posts regarding a crunchy lifestyle with your child, but she is still a bit young. 

As I have stated in previous posts, we are fairly crunchy. I suppose you could say we are Crunch Lite. Diet Crunch. Crunch Zero. We made the decision to be crunchy because I have lots of skin sensitivities and allergies and she could possibly be the same. There was no, "Well I think this will make us better parents than you."

The main difference between a Crunchy parent and a Crazy Crunchy parent is whether or not you are willing to be realistic. A Crunchy Parent knows when convenience beats out being able to tell people that you are completely crunchy. 

There is an episode of South Park called Smug Alert where Kyle's dad buys a Prius and therefor thinks he is better than everybody else He had such a smugness about himself that he would bend over and smell his own farts. This is what Crazy Crunchy parents remind me of. They feel so pious and righteous that they chose this route and you didn't so that makes them better than you. They are what my dad and I like to call "Virtue Sluts." 

Being crunchy doesn't have to take a lot of time or money. It can be simple changes that can really make a difference. Instead of using the cheapest of something, read the ingredients and go with the better quality. Even though Johnson & Johnson is the go to brand for babies, there are many other options out there with more quality ingredients that don't break the bank. 

Johnson and Johnson Bedtime calming lotion:

Water, Mineral Oil, Glycerin, Carbomer, Phenoxyethanol, Ceteareth-6, Fragrance, Methylparaben, Sodium Citrate, Stearyl Alcohol, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, Citric Acid, Sodium Hydroxide.

Earth Mama Angel Baby Lotion:

Aloe barbadensis (organic aloe) leaf juice extract, Olea europaea (organic olive) oil, Aspalathus linearis (organic rooibos) extract, Calendula officinalis (organic calendula)flower extract, Olivoyl hydrolyzed oat protein, Cetearyl alcohol, Glyceryl oleate, Glyceryl stearate, Kosher vegetable glycerin, Vanilla planifolia (organic vanilla) fruit extract, Butyrospermum parkii (organic shea) butter, Citrus sinensis (organic sweet orange), Xanthan gum

Wouldn't you rather put the item on your baby where you can pronounce all of the ingredients? 

We use diapers that are made with fewer chemicals, perfumes, and dyes. We use Earth's Best and Bambo diapers. Bambo was named the greenest disposable and is completely hypoallergenic. These diapers are a little bit more money than regular Huggies or Pampers, but if there is one crunchy item you could spend money on, it would be diapers. 

We wanted to use cloth diapers, but only if I was going to be a stay at home mom. We barely remember to do our own laundry so I don't see washing diapers every 2 days realistic for us. I also couldn't find a daycare around here that allowed cloth diapers

either. Think about it, those diapers are on your babies bottom 24/7 so don't you want to keep as many chemicals away from soaking into your babies skin. Disposable diapers were invented only back in 1948, so what the heck did our grandparents use? Cloth diapers. Disposable diapers are for convenience and are not required to be able to raise a baby. At least that is the way I think about it. Cloth diapers weren't for us, but that didn't mean we weren't going to try and get the next best thing. 

Another item that we wanted to be as crunchy as possible on was our wipes. You are wiping these all over their bodies so we wanted to get something fairly chemical free. We use DermaH20 Water Wipes. They are made in Ireland and they are 99.9% water. Now a very crunchy parent might use cloth wipes with either bottled water or a solution of essential oils. We had planned to use cloth wipes for when she switches to solids and her poo is more firm, but the water wipes are just so great we don't really feel the need. We use the cloth wipes we bought for when we give her a bath. Etsy is a great place to find cloth wipes, if this is a route you want to take. 

A big ticket crunchy item would be diaper cream. Desitin is like a crazy crunchy parent's nightmare. They might run away screaming if you come towards them with it. The reason they respond like this is the Zinc Oxide. The Zinc Oxide is what repels the moisture from your babies bottom therefore keeping diaper rash either at bay or resolving it. Apparently there have been studies stating that some chemicals can soak into the babies skin. It also is very hard to wash off so Crunchy parents that use cloth diapers can't use Zinc Oxide as it makes the diapers non-absorbent. 

We didn't really care about the Zinc oxide so much as just the chemicals in general. We use the Grovia Magic Stick. I mention this in my Newborn Essentials Post and I have to say that everybody that has used it mentions how ingenious it is as a product. Use it every diaper change and she is 4 months old and never had diaper rash. 

Laundry detergent is another area where you can crunchify your life. If you are concerned about allergies or if your baby has sensitive skin this would be an area to focus on. We use a biodegradable and hypoallergenic laundry soap and it actually works really well. We use Charlies Soap for all of her laundry loads. Rockin' Green is also another great laundry detergent specifically made for cloth diapers, but can be used for baby clothes in general. It is a bit more expensive and this is the detergent that a Crazy crunchy parent would say in a smug tone," Oh...you don't use Rockin' Green? That's unfortunate." 

There are also some items that you really can't go partially crunchy on. They are pretty much all or nothing. 

Breastmilk - I might do an entirely separate post on breastmilk, but this is definitely an item that is crunchtastic. I am proud pumper and I will pump until I can pump no more! Formula is not the same and those that say it is are naive. This is probably one of the few items that we are Crazy Crunchy about and don't mind saying it. 

Bottles - All bottles are legally supposed to be BPA free now so unless you want to be crazy crunchy and use like glass or steel bottles, you should be good to go. 

Clothes - Ooooh this is Organic cotton..that means it's better right? Psch I don't know but I do know an organic cotton onesie on Amazon is like $30. Ain't nobody got time for that!

Vaccines - It is entirely your prerogative on whether or not to give your child vaccines and this is quite a controversial crunchy topic. I don't have a dog in this horse race so I don't have much to say about it. All I know is that Jenny McCarthy waged a whole vaccine war using her "autistic" son who she just came out and said was never autistic...

Leave a comment on some of the items that you use that make you crunchy!