A No-So-Typical Saturday.

Saturdays are my favorite day, so why did this one have to be oh-so crummy? It started at the beginning of this week. My daughter started getting a fever, then a nasty cough. She wasn't too bad though until Friday. She stopped eating, playing, and then sleeping. She is a great sleeper, too, so I admit, I'm a bit spoiled. But she woke up about a half hour after I went to bed, then every half hour after that until she got to the point that she wouldn't even let me put her down. Every rattling, wheezing cough made her cry, and she was burning up. Finally, after the 2nd dose of Tylenol kicked in, she slept for about 4 hours. Thankfully, her pediatrician's office is open in the mornings on Saturdays, so needless to say, we made a visit.

The good news from the doctor is that our daughter doesn't seem to be struggling to breathe, although he was listening very carefully to the rattle in her chest. A chest x-ray may be in order on Monday. She does have an ear infection, which is actually the first one she's ever had, so I count my blessings. I really don't know how you poor mamas do it who have babies with chronic ear infections. Do you get ANY sleep??

So after I got home from the pharmacy, I tried to take a quick cat nap before heading out again in the cold rain for a hair appointment that I had to reschedule because of our impromptu doctor's appointment. I realized as I tried to nap that I am a hormonal mess. For some reason not known to any woman on this earth, my body decided to combine the PMS with the MS. I couldn't stop eating cream cheese, and I had a strong urge to scratch the eyes out of anyone who crossed my path.

Already tired and grouchy, I headed out to my hair appointment. I refuse to pay salon prices, so I go to the local cosmetology school. I spent 3 hours in a chair with sweat rolling down my back because it was insufferably hot, and, after every little slice of the scissors, the hair stylist had to get a teacher to check (which is really a good thing so that they don't do something horrible, but today it was annoying, thank you hormones). And I hate my hair cut. Hate might not be the right word. Disdain sounds better. The hair stylist actually showed me a picture of her idea of what she wanted my hair to look like, and I was all for it and excited. The problem was the picture and the do did not match whatsoever. I've always looked younger than my age, and now, I look like my age...not good. Utter disdain.

What's worse is the reaction I received from my husband when I got home. I could immediately tell he didn't like my hair. He hasn't said anything about it since I got home. I'm not even going to ask what he thinks, because I know no matter what flattering comment he would make, I would take it the wrong way.

I now realize that I should never get my hair done when I am hormonal. I am in a much worse mood, and my last hope of feeling more than just a 30-something-year-old mom is gone. Why, oh why do hormones have to exist at such extreme levels? By the way, I'm writing this as I'm eating a bowl of cookies and cream frozen yogurt with a massive amount of Oreos blanketing the top. And I will probably have dessert afterwards. Honestly, food is the only relationship I want to be involved in at this moment. Give me a hotel room by myself with a bag of chips, as many Girl Scout cookies as I can muster, and a bucket of fried chicken PLEASE! And this coming from one who prides herself on making homemade organic goods. I am definitely not myself.

I was hoping that writing this and venting would help me feel better. But honestly, I'm just more annoyed. I try to be optimistic in any given situation, so the good news is that I don't think I've given into my emotions and done or said anything today that would hurt another. So I think I'm going to call it a day and find my pillow before I do anything regrettable. Tomorrow is another day, and I thank God that He has given me one more day to try again.

Do I Ever Not Use Cloth?

I get this question quite a bit. Are there times when I use disposable diapers? And if I do, do I still save money?

Yes, I use disposables sometimes. There are usually 3 reasons I do:

1. Vacation. If we are going out of town for longer than 2 days, I will buy a pack of "sposies."
2. Diarrhea. If she has one bad one, I usually wait to see if there's a second, then I switch to disposables. It's not the mess that makes it so bad, because she doesn't usually leak out of the cloth, it is the smell and the "gross" factor. It makes me gag just thinking about it.
3. Really bad diaper rash and nighttime. My daughter can have bad reactions to foods (strawberries made her bleed. We have avoided them since, as it was very traumatic to mommy!), and I like to use medicated diaper rash cream on these rare occasions. I will slather her with it and put on a disposable for that night because I do think disposables wick moisture away a little better.
4. Ok, I just thought of a fourth. Sometimes my daughter will get the cutest pair of jeans as a gift, and if I want have her wear them, I have to use a disposable in order for her to fit into them. It bugs me that I can't find jeans at a local store for her to wear with cloth, but I understand that there isn't a market for it, and using cloth is more important to me anyway.

So, no, I am not completely granola. But even with these reasons, I do still save a lot of money. None of these reasons happen on a regular basis, and I only buy a bag of sposies if we are going on vacation. We just use the leftovers for the other reasons. Right now, I don't have any on hand. Let's hope she doesn't get the runs! :-)

You Can Leave Me Comments Now!

My daughter was sick today, so my husband stayed home this morning, and I took the afternoon shift...which means I get the nap time to work on my blog!

Anyway, I have been told by enough people that they can't comment on my blog, so I figure it is me that is the problem. I still haven't figured out the reason for this problem, but I did find a quick fix. So, that means you should be able to comment on my posts now. Now, if only I can figure out how to switch my blog to a different email address...that one still stumps me.

So sorry if you've been trying to leave me comments but couldn't. I love to hear your comments! Talk away!!!

Btw, my daughter is feeling better. She sounds like a bullfrog, but I don't think we need to visit the doctor yet!

Also, if anyone out there could leave a comment to see if it works, that would be awesome!

Have a great day!
~Christie

Monday's Munchies...Waffles!

Are you feeling the effects of the Eggo shortage? Due to flooding and other plant problems, Eggo is rationing their waffles, and many store shelves are empty. This gives new meaning to Leggo My Eggo!

I am a huge fan of Eggo brand waffles. However, after getting on my all natural and organic kick, I realized that even though I may not be able to recreate the taste of the Eggo brand specifically, I can make a healthier waffle at home that I feel comfortable letting my toddler eat that can also be quite tasty. So for Christmas, I asked for a waffle iron, and my family has been very satisfied with the results. For me, the time I take to make homemade outweighs the convenience of packaged, expensive, white flour frozen waffles

Every few weeks, I plan on making up a big batch of blueberry waffles to freeze. Homemade waffles will keep in the freezer for up to 6 months. Here is the recipe that seems to work for me at the moment.

Homemade Waffles
2 Cups 50/50 flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1-3/4 Cups milk (I use whole milk for my toddler, but you can use reduced fat if you want)
6 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 Cup blueberries (can be fresh or frozen)

Place first 6 ingredients in a large mixing bowl and combine until well blended and smooth. Fold in blueberries. Let batter sit for 5 minutes before using. Bake in a preheated waffle iron following manufacturer's directions or until waffles are golden brown.

To freeze: Before freezing waffles, cool completely on wire racks. Heat directly from freezer in toaster or toaster oven just as you would with store bought waffles.

The next time I make waffles, I plan on using Super Flour, which is flour mixed with nutritional add-ins by Ruth Yaron in her book, "Super Baby Food." My favorite version of Super Flour is to put 1 Tbsp. soy flour, 1 Tbsp. instant dry milk, and 1 tsp. wheat flour in a measuring cup, then adding 50/50 flour to top off cup to equal 1 cup of Super Flour. Thanks Ruth Yaron!