WFMW: Preparing for baby?

For today's backwards edition of Works For Me Wednesday, I was hoping you could give me advice about preparing for mom-hood and bringing the baby home.

Baby girl is due in 72 days...right about at the 10 week mark. Holy cow! My to-do list has about 72 items on it! Ok...maybe not 72, but definitely more than 10. This is coming quickly!

What did you do to prepare, and what did you later wish you had done to prepare? Both for bringing baby home, but also for the change of becoming a stay-at-home mom? What did you do that was smart, or unnecessary, or what would you have done if you could do it all over again?

These can be anything from preparing a bag for the hospital (good advice on what to put in it?), special things you did w/ hub, buying a _______ that turned out to be so useful?

Thanks internet!

WFMW: Cheap "insurance"

The other day I came home from doing some errands, and hubs had gotten home before me. This kitchen was a mess! Turns out that we had had a leak under our sink (ok, really we had a garbage can thing under there that turned the plumbing bolt thingy every time you pulled out the garbage can). There was a flood! Thankfully, it didn't spill out, mainly because there is linoleum in the cabinet that curls up in the front - it held all the water in.

Anyway - everything was a mess under there. Hubs pulled everything out to toss it our dry it out. Praise God - it turns out we had some cheap insurance that we didn't even know about.

We had a nearly full roll of paper towels under the sink (unwrapped). It acted as a huge wick and soaked up tons of water. Even though only part of the roll touches the linoleum, the full roll was absolutely soaking wet. Hubs was pretty sure that this saved us from the water spilling over the linoleum and into our kitchen.

That works for me! We decided that we should always keep a roll of paper towels under the kitchen sink, just in case. It's pretty cheap flood insurance!

Need baby STUFF advice

It's a backwards day at Shannon's Works For Me Wednesday, and of course, I've got one thing on my mind: BABIES. I've got one in me that's about 16 weeks old.

We are going to try to register early, hoping that we might get help with some big ticket stuff for Christmas, and so we've started the research. Oh my gosh. How on earth do you pick which car seat (infant or convertable? Which brand?), and stroller, and ALL the other things to buy?

More so, I really would rather err on the side of minimalist. I don't want baby stuff just because they sell baby stuff. If we "need" it, fine. But otherwise, my kid can cope.

So....all you mom's... my question(s) for you is what baby stuff did you love having? What things would you suggest I pass on? Were there any specific brands/types that you really thought were better than others? I need HELP!

Really need help. If I get overwhelmed and can't make a decision, I do nothing. That's not necessarily a good decision here. We've had a great debate about where the kiddo will sleep when it's first born. We'd like it in our room, but not in our bed (really - it's not an option, so you can leave out that suggestion). We had a serious discussion about the feasibility of just using a laundry basket. We're currently leaning towards the bassinet in a pack-n-play. Like I said HELP.

Thanks everyone!!

goodbye and hello

Goodbye sweet children.

Goodbye yummy mangoes.

Goodbye lovely sunshine.

It's time to go home.

I really am here, just quietly. I'm in the space of confused observation that comes after a trip to a different world. I really do miss my blog, and especially my blog friends, but have gotten into the habit of enjoying the blog world by observation as well. Today, I thought I'd post a simply post, just to get over the hurdle of posting.

I am here.

I got back from Haiti mid last week and it has been a whirlwind. I'm exhausted - not from jetlag (it was only a couple hours away), just from... everything. I've been going through some emotional/spiritual cartwheels, and that takes a lot out of me. Also just physically - I was going non-stop while in Haiti, had one day of down time when I came home, and then back to the office for a thousand meetings for two days. More to come on another day about the emotional/spiritual cartwheels.

And I'll be leaving again soon. While in Haiti, I found out that I need/get to go to some meetings for work in Lisbon, Portugal. Yay! I'm SOOOO excited. I've never been to that part of the world before at all. The only hard part is that I leave in 8 days, which is a bit too soon for my preference. I'm honestly not all the way unpacked and cleaned up from Haiti. I have a ton of personal life things that need to get done....housework (it's in disaster mode), paid work, wedding work for church, bible study work, etc. Plus, I'd really like to catch up with a few friends. I have one friend who just had a baby, and I haven't seen him yet, and another friend who was due yesterday, and although I saw her yesterday, I HAVE to have time to see her and then baby when this child decides it's time to make an appearance.

So, I'm here.

Crazy moment of the day (yesterday): I've been enjoying club soda with lime lately. I really enjoy this while traveling and decided I should drink it at home too, but be warned - I've been told it's disgusting. I got a 2 liter bottle of club soda. Came home. Opened it up. Without even a bit of "hissing" warning, it promptly became a giant spewing fountain of club soda with a 5 foot radius in my kitchen, which included me.

Works for me Wednesday: Better Yogurt

Hurray for the kitchen edition of Works for Me Wednesday! I need all the help here that I can get! Check out Shannon's site for more tips!

My tip is about making customized yogurt. It is more nutritious and cost effective that individual servings of yogurt you can buy.

First, I buy the big tub of plain low-fat yogurt. Plain yogurt has TONS less sugar than flavored yogurt. The ingredient list is so much shorter - actual foods instead of chemicals. I get low-fat instead of non-fat because I need to make sure I'm getting some fat in my diet - I tend to cut it out too easily. Also, because of all the sugars, our bodies tend to process flavored yogurt as more of a carbohydrate rather than a protein, but in plain yogurt, our bodies can recognize what it's eating and it's digested as a protein. Finally, the big tub is way cheaper than 7 or 8 of the little containers.

Unfortunately, I think plain yogurt tastes gross, so here's what I do. I get my big tub, split it into 7 or 8 little containers (I use the little ziplock plastic containers and wash them when done), and add one packet of splenda to each one.



Then, I add about a quarter cup of frozen mini blueberries and a few frozen raspberries. I stack these up and put them in the fridge.

When I'm hungry, I grab a yogurt, stir well (the berries will defrost in the fridge and make it a little watery), and put some grape-nuts or other granola on top. It's healthy, cheap, and yummy. Works for me!

Starting off the new year differently

I'm going to just link back to this for my Works For Me Wednesday Post, because it is definitely working for me!

It is a privilege for a woman to manage her household. Since this often includes tasks that women enjoy (cooking a bit, making our homes a place of beauty, bringing a spirit of creativity into the home, teaching children, etc.), I think we tend to think it should be easy, and are shocked when we're overwhelmed doing something we want to be doing.

A little while ago, I decided to start making a schedule for my day. I would tend to wake up in the morning and forget what I really should be doing and when, and get a very slow start. I would be reactionary all day long and just felt frustrated all day - and some important tasks would be neglected. I need something that tells me what I am to do. I hope someday I will be less list-dependent, but for now, I need something that tells me to vacuum. Really, the thought won't just pop into my head, and if it faintly does, it won't be strong enough to motivate action. But, if it's written on a piece of paper, no question.

I've recently read similar thoughts on other blogs. Moms who feel too reactionary in their day. I'm guessing this isn't JUST me or doesn't JUST go away.

I really wanted an official daytimer calendar to make my list in, but the stores no longer carried 2006 ones. My habit fell away. With the new year, comes a new set of office supplies in the stores. I got myself a daily/monthly calendar where I can write out my schedule the night before. As I did this last night, I was so glad I did. I have a lot of errands I want to get done this afternoon, and had I not written it out, I surely would have forgotten some, or just gotten too late of a start and had a frustrating dinnertime.

For today, I have a lot to do. I slept in too late this morning and am already behind schedule. However, today I know what my schedule is, and I know that I'm behind schedule, which is a great improvement from last year. Happy 2007!

Works for Me Wednesday - Fire!

Well, we're finally back. Our power came back on Monday evening, and our internet/phone came back yesterday. I am so grateful. That's 3 days without power, 5 days without internet, 5 days without the telephone, 5 days of spotty cell phone service, 3 days of living in the cold and dark, but... several days of getting to know our neighbors and church family very well. Mixed blessings, I suppose.

The other night we were driving home from a friend's house (they were sharing their heat, food, and conversation for the evening...we were coming home to camp out in front of our gas fireplace for the night). On the way home, there was a house fully engulfed in fire that was very close to our home. Actually, from the way we were driving, we thought there was a chance that it might have been our home. When I realized it wasn't ours, I felt so guilty that I was glad that it wasn't ours, for it meant that someone else was suffering greatly that cold night. I pray they are ok.

As we entered our cold home, we soberly lit all the candles - knowing they had the potential power to burn down our home (although, mine are all in protective glass candles holders, but still...). We realized that we didn't have a fire extinguisher out and easily accessible. We had just moved into our house, and it was still in the garage. Even had we been unpacked, it would have been in the "right" spot in the kitchen for a kitchen fire or something.

So, my WFMW tip is that when the power goes out, and you have a jillion candles burning (and it's winter in Seattle so you only have 8 hours of daylight), get your fire extinguisher and set it out on the counter or by a main door...somewhere that it would be easy to find in the dark. The places in the home where a fire would likely start are different in a power-outage than in typical daily living.

My other power-outage tip (I didn't do this, but heard it on the radio), is that if you have a gas hot-water heater, you can fill your bathtub full with HOT water, and the heat that the water lets off will heat your home/room. Apparently, water is very efficient at heating air. You'll want to clean the steam off the walls when the power comes back on so it doesn't mildew, but if you are freezing, this can be a good solution.

See Shannon's blog for more tips!

WFMW - Christmas #2

Is it bad to have two Works for me Wednesday postings? I hope not! I just thought of another things I'd like to share.


This is a tip that I've thought of but have never actually done. If it sounds interesting to you, and you do it, would you write me back and let me know how it went?


No matter how much I try to keep Christmas focused on Christ, and keep it a peaceful family time, I'm always a little saddened during the gift-opening time. It goes by so quickly and it's just about what am I going to get next.


I think it would be fun to open presents in a way (this would work for birthdays too) where the focus is on the giver instead of the recipient. Currently, we go in a circle of recipients - when it's your turn, you get to open a present. Instead, I think it would be fun to go in a circle and each person gets to give one of their presents to someone else. They could say who it's for, and why they thought of them, and personally give them their gift. To say, "I knew this would make you smile, so I shopped for months to find one" sounds so much sweeter than just picking the next present from under the tree.


I've heard of people doing something similar to this for kids birthday parties where the birthday child sits in a special chair to open their present, and the friends take turns sitting in a chair right next to the birthday child. Each friend gets to personally give their gift, the birthday child gets to say thank you, and it's easier to take pictures.


Anyway, I haven't done this yet, but I would love to change the focus from gift-getting to gift-giving.


- kel

Works for me Wednesday - Christmas!

I don't have any one big tip to share, so I thought I'd just offer up a few things I've done that worked pretty well for me.

• Cheap decoration: holly! My mother-in-law has a huge holly bush in her yard. When we were first married, I found that holly clippings on the mantle were the best Christmas decoration, and free!
• Christ in Christmas: I often don't have gifts wrapped until pretty close before Christmas (I buy them earlier, but don't get around to wrapping). I bought a small nativity scene (one where all the pieces are connected) and put it under the tree. It is a good reminder that Jesus is the REAL gift... and it doesn't look so sad to have a gift-less tree.
• Family time: The first year hubs and I were married, we had been asked to do a Christmas morning breakfast with hubs' family, and we had Christmas evening plans with my family (they live an hour apart). We aren't morning people anyday of the year, let alone Christmas morning! It was horrible to have to open our stockings quickly and hurry though our first Christmas morning. No more. We decided it was important to have time for OUR family (no matter how small our family is at the moment). I have also realized that "Christmas to me" is NOT driving around to lots of places. When I was little, we often lived far away from our extended family. Therefore, we stayed home. Christmas was a very quiet, private time. Sometimes we had a family member visit us, but they just stayed with us the whole time. I hate driving around a lot and being super busy on Christmas day. We decided that hubs' family gets Christmas eve, OUR time is Christmas morning, and my family gets Christmas night.

Merry Christmas to all!

Works for Me Wednesday - Frozen Cookie Dough

Making cookies in my house is a bit of a challenge. It is a challenge to keep from eating too many cookies all of the time because we LOVE cookies. If there is cookie dough in the fridge, I'll eat it, and if there are baked cookies in the cupboard, hubs and I will both eat them. Especially me. I can't NOT eat cookies in my house. Too many cookies! I try to only bake cookies when hubs is craving them (or I would be eating them all the time), but even if I only make a batch of cookies when he is craving them, then I'm still going to eat a full batch of cookies. Freezing the cookies doesn't work because he loves fresh baked cookies. There lies my final problem - he loves FRESH baked cookies. So, I came up with a solution.

When I make cookie dough,

I make it like normal, except I make cookie dough balls and put them on a plastic plate (after baking a few immediately, of course) and put it in the freezer.

In a few hours, or the next day, I transfer all the cookie dough balls into a plastic ziplock bag and store them in the freezer.

Then, whenever hubs wants some fresh baked cookies, rather than feasting on cookie dough and cookies for days, I can just take a couple (really - just two or three - no extra) and bake them real quick. I've found that they really don't take any longer to bake (maybe just one minute or so... depending on your recipe) than fresh dough, since butter doesn't really freeze hard.

Yum.

Works for Me Wednesday - Bathroom Organizing

Well, by the time I usually get around to thinking about a "Works For Me Wednesday" post, it's Thursday for most folks, so I decided to post on Tuesday night instead. Now that works for me!

My post this week is about organizing. My bathroom cupboard (under the sink) has been so messy - it drove me crazy! I finally decided to fix it. It was a bit challenging, as the space is so small. Those darn sink pipes just get in the way.

It's all done and I'm so proud of myself. I just love opening the doors and looking at it!

I decided to use the space on the right door for a garbage bag (they sell special garbage containers that attach to a small door) and paper towel holder. I figure it will be easier to wipe down the bathroom and keep it clean if there are paper towels handy. I found plastic bins that can stack up on the left side of the sink pipes. There is also room for extra TP to stack up next to the bins. The right side of the sink pipes is smaller, and I'm just going to keep cleaning supplies stacked up there. I put a self-adhesive hook up on the side wall to keep my rarely-used shower cap (only used after working-out in the evening....which just means that I don't work-out enough).

I don't know why more people don't utilize the space on the door itself. I love it! It works for me!

Works For Me Wednesday

I enjoy reading all the Wednesday tips on Shannon's blog and today I thought I'd add my own. It's my very first WFMW!


My tip is about salad. I love salad, but only if I have a large variety of ingredients and they are all fresh and crunchy. Hubs will tolerate salad, but will eat very, very few ingredients. I hate left over salad that is already all mixed up. Some ingredients go bad faster than others, then you have to toss the whole thing. I used to not prepare salads at all. It just seemed like they went bad too fast, for just the two of us.

Then I changed how I make salads and the new system works really well. First, I make a big bowl of lettuce. I prefer a mix of romaine and spinach, but will sometimes add other baby greens. I can just pick and choose what looks good and is on sale and mix it up at home. In the TW bowl I keep it in, it actually stays fresh for a very long time, much longer than if it were stored in the bag or with other ingredients.

Then I pre-chop all the other ingredients and put them in individual containers, even the little ziplock/glad containers work well for this. I like to have a large variety: olives, bell pepper, carrots, broccoli, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, etc. There are only 4 containers shown above, but sometimes there are more.

When we make dinner, there is no extra time spent making salad - it's all already in the fridge. I just get out all the bowls and we each get to make the salad we want, and if one ingredient is looking a little suspicious, you can toss it without tossing all of it. Recently we went to some friends' house for dinner; they asked us to bring the salad. My containers were still pretty full so I just put them all in a bag and headed over. They were so impressed that we all got the salad we wanted, with really gourmet ingredients. When we were done, I packed up my containers, put them back in my fridge, and they still lasted a long time more.

Works for me!

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