Ramblings

Spring has not sprung. It's still cold here and we're missing our trip to Morton Arboretum. Boo. We did have fun at group yesterday though. I really like the church where we meet. The kids put on an impromptu play, the big kids had robotics class. I wish Chris would participate more(though I'm not sure why, it's his choice). He doesn't really like it much and usually cuts out. Yesterday he spend the whole time building a lego ship. We had chips, guacamole, fruit, and granola bars for lunch. I LOVE the guacamole from Whole Foods. It's more expensive than should be legal but it's so good. I'm going to try to match the recipe today. After all, the ingredients are listed.

Now to talk about my newborn. Rambling was indeed a great title. He's so sweet. I'm still staring at this perfect little creature. It amazes me that I grew him and am still growing him all by myself and he's healthy and thriving. Many thanks to my husband for the cell he donated to me for this little miracle ;-) This child has eyes for only me. He stares at me all the time, it's as if I'm the only person in existence in his eyes. My voice soothes him. I'm in awe of him. It's amazing to me that I still feel this way about my newborns after 6 kids. It never gets old with soft, sweet new babies.

Now, more rambling! I just bought a math set for the girls, since math is my hang up and I simply can't see me unschooling it My next step in pulling them from the jail they attend each day. They are having such fun this week! They will be so sad next when they have to return. This topic is becoming the topic of several mini arguments with my husband. He thinks they should be home now. While I agree in my heart I think that logically, it's still best they finish out the year. I'm not how this will end up just yet. We'll see.

Again about the baby. I have all items for the newborn screening. I started yesterday but he was crying so hard! My poor baby. The poke didn't phase him at all. It was the squeezing and holding his foot hostage that bothered him the most. He has this odd reaction after hard crying. The small amount of information I've found refers to what he does as a breathing spasm. I suspect this is just what the moms with this issue have started calling it. I haven't been able to find this listed anywhere as an actual medical term. He does this thing that I did as a child if I cried to hard. It's almost like a gasp but not. It's the quick inhale then exhale. I never knew it lasted more than a few minutes after a hard cry but with him it lasts a full day. When he nurses it causes him to have these but he seems to forget how to exhale. He will get a shocked look on his face while not really seeming to breath for 3-7 second and then he exhales a big breath. If it takes him a while he'll let out a startled cry if not, he just latches back on and keeps nursing. I have no clue what causes it or what stops it. I'm just careful not to let him get to that point if I can help it. The thing is that this all causes no real signs of respiratory distress. The doctor isn't worried and all the moms I've found on the Internet with this issue never find a diagnosis. I even found an adult who is still having this issue. I'm not sure what to do about this but worry. I have no clue what I should do as far as the newborn screening. My friend may come over to help me finish it today but we're both concerned about this breathing issue and not sure how to proceed. We'll see what happens.

Food! I'm writing a list. According to my weekly plan I should be shopping tomorrow. We might just go today if we get everything done. We'd really been looking forward to getting out of the house and due to....social issues in our group, in addition to the weather, it doesn't look like we'll be going to group. I'm hoping I can think of a nice variety of meals to make but, my head feels really empty at the moment. Hopefully Mack will help me think of some things.

Now for the last portion of my chaotic post: Politics. We had a bit of a political conversation at group yesterday and it made me see that I don't really identify with any one political group. For one, I've not educated myself well on what the groups truly stand for. I seem to identify with a few traits of a few parties. I guess this is common though. I have a live and let live view on life, this mostly stems from the worry that the government will one day tell me I can't homeschool/unschool, I must vaccinate and unassisted birth(or even plain homebirth) is illegal. These are choice I want to make for myself and I just don't want the government butting it. I'm also pro-life. I really feel abortion is wrong but at times I feel as if maybe it isn't always the wrong thing(this happens rarely) so I guess that could go either way. I know this view is more republican than anything else. I also feel as if the government should provide help to those on need. I don't think they should pull the weight of system moochers but the working poor should be able to get some help if they are truly trying and have a desire to do better. I don't think WIC should provide formula without prescription from a lactation consultant but I guess that's an entirely different post. What does all this make me? I simply don't know. I am starting to have a few issues with our president. While I'm quite happy the color barrier has been broken, I'm not sure he's making all the right choices. Some of his actions seem questionable to say the least. I guess I'll just wait and see how things go over the next year before I make any real decisions on how I feel about him.

I had more but I'm tired of writing and the children are calling me.

Dinner update(and lunch and snack too!)

We had a really healthy food day and everything met our kid's approval, woo hoo! For lunch I made chicken-veggie sandwiches on whole wheat pitas with grapes on the side. Oh, it was yum! I heated mine and Nick's since we both have an issue with cold food but it was really good! For snack I made the healthiest guacamole recipe I could find and we ate it with corn chips. It was really simple. 2 avocados, some onion, a splash of lemon, bit of salt and some garlic. I think it needed more garlic and I didn't add enough salt. I added some tomatoes too. I was the only one who thought it was lacking, they ate it up! For dinner the salmon was soooooo good! I still have to get used to fishy flavors as I've never been a fish eater but the kids all wanted seconds. We had it with brown rice and spinach as planned. Perfect! Maybe this healthier eating thing won't be so hard. I just have to look for better recipes of the things I know we like. Why didn't I think of that before?

And for the recipes. Salmon marinade : http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Salmon-II/Detail.aspx

Guac: (read the comments and tweak to taste) http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Best-Guacamole/Detail.aspx?prop31=5

The chicken salad recipe is from my book and I just don't feel like typing it all out. I will try when I have some free time. Aaron is not a happy or calm baby tonight!

What's for dinner?

I'm obsessed with my kids' nutrition. It's something I think about all the time. I wish I'd picked a simpler obsession. This one seems too complicated. There are simply too many opinions and too much to figure out. Not to mention the rebel children who refuse what's on their plate under the guise of 'it's gross' when they haven't even tried it yet. My older daughter has put on a bit of weight due to some life changes with her. Since December she's put on 11 pounds. I took her to the nutritionist and realized one 20 minute session with a woman who doesn't know me won't fix a thing. She didn't even scratch the surface. I bought two books by one of my favorite people to read about on raising kids-Dr. Sears. I'm about done reading 'The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood'. While I still find all the different requirements for the perfect diet enough to make my head explode, I'm much happier with the new knowledge I have. He makes it simpler and repeats things often. Gotta love repetition, makes things hard to forget. So, I'm changing my already decent eating habits to try to have a better diet. I don't actually think it will be too difficult as my children are used to my over concern with the things they put in their mouths. We have a few foods around here that I really want gone, like instant oatmeal. Did you know I adore instant oatmeal? I despise making breakfast. Instant oatmeal is easy enough for even my 5 year old to make and I will really miss it. It's now being replaced with steel cut oatmeal which means I have to cook breakfast. Blech! I don't mind cooking it occasionally but the thought of cooking during the most busy, loud and tiring part of the day doesn't make me happy. I've asked my children to eat it for breakfast everyday until it's gone. I also have a thing with being frugal so I can't just throw it out. There's a kid in Africa someplace that would love to have that food to eat! Or, that's what my mom always told me when I wasted food ;-) So we'll eat it. I also bought some hamburger helper a few months ago(probably like 7 or 8) because I was able to get it for 70 centa a box! Great deal right?!? Unless, the thought of feeding it to your kids makes you freak out. Holy sodium batman! So now I have like 30 boxes of hamburger helper taking up space and it will never get eaten. I'll have to donate it to someone because that's the only way I'll ever get rid of it. I have to remind my spend thrift self that it's only a deal if you will use what you've bought. Otherwise, it's a total waste. Lesson learned. So back to the original question that was asked. What's for dinner? We're planning to have salmon. It's rich in Omega-3s which I've read are greatly lacking in the American diet. I used to buy flax oil and give my kids a daily smoothy with it but I've slacked on doing that. I don't really care for fish so this will be harder for me than my kids who love it! We'll be eating it with brown rice and spinach. I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully I'll post again once I'm done. In the past I've sucked at blogging but I really want a blog so I'll try harder this time.