Bra Burn

Last Friday was my last time to nurse a baby...for the REST OF MY LIFE! While I am a little sad, I know had a good 9 month run with this sweet baby, and I am mostly excited to not wear those ugly, uncomfortable nursing bras! I nursed three babies and in all that time I could not find nursing bras to fit me and have any kind of support for larger boobs. So, I am about to do a big ol' Bra Burn. Anyone want to join me?!

My husband took this picture of me on one of the last 'daytime' nursings a couple weeks ago. I love it!



Sidenote- to any nursing moms out there- don't let this picture fool you. I usually wear a nursing tank top around the house since it is so hot in Texas so Brad had to bring up a shirt for me to put on before the picture. I also usually am catching up on facebook on my phone or looking on the ipad. There is only so much 'bonding' and 'gazing at the baby' I can handle...and that period of time ended about 8.5 months ago. Right about about the time T-Bone wanted to nurse every 2-3 hours and I decided flipping through Pinterest was more entertaining than watching a baby nurse for 30 minutes. However, Thomas was the funniest and went through a phase of grabbing my face and neck while he nursed. He just liked to hold on which was cute until he started pinching my throat- that was awkward. :)

I saw a post on Pinterest about getting fitted for a bra. I thought I would give this measuring a try because I am super busty and would love a great fitting bra. After using her guide, I went shopping and found that it was a pretty accurate way of measuring. I used to think I was a 38DD or even a 38DDD. However, I am actually a 34G! Holy Canoli! Thankfully Soma had a great bra for big boobed gals like myself and I am in bra heaven. I have never felt so lifted and supported!

So, if you want to join me in the nursing bra burn, follow the smoke to my backyard!!


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Curtain Rod Trick

I am almost done with my formal living room and am so excited to share how it is turning out! Today will be a little sneak peek at how I modified some store-bought curtain rods.

The window in the room is a bay window of sorts. Of course, it isn't a normal bay window that I could easily find a curtain rod. It has an extra set of walls, if that makes any sense at all! My fabulous designer (my sister who you can find on facebook HERE) said I just needed two panels for the window treatments. So I found some reasonably priced panels online at West Elm.

When it was time to hang the curtains, we bought a gold-ish rod from Home Depot and some plastic tubing from the plumbing section. Brad measured the lengths we needed and cut the rods to size. To connect the two pieces so they would make the bend for the bay window, he put a piece of plastic tubing in each rod.

 No measuring for the angles needed!

I like to make sure Brad knows that I 'saved' us tons of money by modifying the rods ourselves. Let's not think about the fact that I am saving us money by not buying more expensive panels or custom rods. It just sounds better when I say to Brad 'I saved us money on this purchase!'.

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Kids and Food Allergies

If you are new to the blog, my sweet son John has an egg allergy. Thankfully his isn't severe (he can eat baked goods with eggs in them like cookies and cake) but he still can't touch or eat raw or cooked eggs and we carry an Epi-Pen with us at all times. His allergy is obviously easy to keep up with when he is with us, but my biggest stress is him being away from me and people feeding him food without knowing about his allergy! Talk about Mommy Worry!! 

So, in honor of John, today we have a guest writer, Claire Edmundson, who will be sharing a little abotu food allergies with kiddos! 

Healthy Tums, Happy Moms

Every mom likes to see their kids enjoy their food, finishing off what is on their plates and leaving the table happy and healthy. We know that that kids have their fads, eating something solidly for six months and wondering how they don’t go off the taste of it, only to then decide they don’t like that anymore and won’t eat it – usually within two days of our having bought a month’s supply and put it in the freezer. But how do we please our kids and keep them fed when we discover they have an allergy?

Responding to Allergy

Identifying that one of our kids has an allergy and then the sometimes long road to figuring out which food, or foods, they are allergic to is one story. The way in which we have to respond to the allergy and change our lifestyle to accommodate it is another.

Food allergies in children are surprisingly common. It is estimated that 8% of children in the US have a food allergy; with the most common being peanuts, milk or eggs. This is costing the nation almost a staggering $25 billion dollars a year in medical expenses, specialist foods and changes to diet, as well as working lifestyle changes.

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On the Bright Side

Changing the way we cook and serve food because of an allergy can actually be good for all the family. Not only do we eat more healthily, but the family gets to spend more time together. Licensed Prescriptions informs us that although involving our kids in cooking has been something of a dying art in recent years, doing this makes for an interest in good, healthy food and teaches our kids a great skill for when they are older. Going back to scratch with our cooking might seem like a huge deal when we have gotten used to depending on convenience foods from the stores; but cooking from all the basic ingredients gives us the chance to try out new foods, put different ingredients together to come up with some amazing meals that all the family will enjoy and mean healthier, happier tums. Just discovering new recipes from books or online is an activity which can involve all the family; and getting the kids joining in with recipe hunting can be turned into a great game.

Getting Down to Basics

Without going into the maze of dos and don’ts when it comes to our child eating outside home, whether at school, with the child minder or at friends’ houses, adjusting our lives to avoid any chance of setting off an allergic reaction starts at home, right in the kitchen. There is a real danger of cross-contamination if we have a child with a severe allergy. For this reason, many parents choose to get rid of all foodstuffs in the house which contain the allergen.

The shopping list is one of the first things to get a makeover. Off come all the foods which our kid has an allergy to, along with any foods which might possibly contain even a hint of the forbidden food. All of a sudden, we have very little left – especially if we are dealing with an egg or wheat intolerance.

The cupboards get cleared out too. A great way of disposing of all those packs and cans which are no longer safe to be eaten is to box them all up and give them to your local church for distribution or to a local charity or food bank.

A major shop is then in store as you have to re-stock your shelves and cupboards with foodstuffs that are safe for your family to eat.

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Substituting Foodstuffs

Thankfully there are substitutes we can use for many, if not all, the ingredients which now have to be left out of our cooking.

When we want to cook food which normally needs eggs, for example, we can sometimes use egg replacement products, which should not be confused with egg substitute products as these are aimed at people with cholesterol problems and DO contain egg. Egg replacement products, often bought in powder form, can be used in recipes where the eggs act as a leavening or binding agent. Whatever we buy, it is really important to read the label when we pick it up off the shelf to make sure it is completely safe. Xanthan gum can also be used to bind and add texture. For a child with a corn allergy in addition to egg, Xanthan gum should not be used as it is derived from and fed on corn sugar. Where we need to use egg to glaze foods before cooking, using melted margarine is a great substitute.

 For wheat substitutes, we have a number of different alternatives. Depending on what we want to cook, we can either choose to use a single ingredient substitute such as rice flour, potato starch or rolled oats; or combine different non-wheat flours, such as rice flour, oat flour and barley flour for better results.

With so much information available to us and support in changing our cooking and eating habits, having an allergy in the house can mean a real improvement in the quality of the food we eat and the health, not just of our kids, but the whole family.

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My Only Regret...

This weekend I decided to pull out John's baby pictures and make a photo book. Let's not worry about the fact he is turning five in a three months. We will also ignore the fact I made the book only because I bought a Groupon for it and was already caught up on the most recent set of pictures since Matthew has been born. I think I have been putting it off because I look at his sweet baby pictures and have to face my biggest regret since he was born- I didn't take good pictures of him! (Can we also take a moment to realize how lucky my family is that this is my one and only regret for the past 5 years?!)

I had a point & shoot camera when John was born. So I have tons and tons of pictures, but I bet only half are actually pretty decent. (Note to Brad- of course I deleted all those other pictures. Promise.)

Sometimes I got lucky and got a good picture, but it is a pretty good bet that anything indoors isn't frame worthy. Outdoors usually fared much better. However, focus wasn't always happening apparently!

Hey, sometimes the outdoor pictures looked crappy too! Awesome.

So, here are the indoor beauties. Note the dark backgrounds with messiness & chaos everywhere. Not pretty!

A lucky indoor shot since it was by the window.

More dark backgrounds and mess everywhere.

Ahhhh...FLASH!!!

So, here's the point. Pictures are so important to me. I love taking them, love looking at them, and love sharing them. I was so envious of people who have these wonderfully perfect photos of their children. I really wanted those photos to treasure of my own children. I had been wanting a really nice camera for a long time. Probably since before the kids were born. So I convinced Brad to let us get one from my parents as our Christmas gift last year. This was by far the best present I have ever gotten. (Thanks Mom & Dad!). 

The pictures were a million times better but again I had a realization. I wanted professional-looking pictures of the boys (and the rest of the family) yet I had no idea how to use my camera. Now, I didn't want posed family shots. I wanted to document our every day lives as a family. This meant taking pictures inside, with low light, and with moving subjects. Unless I got a job soley to pay for a private photography to follow me around all day (which would be AWESOME)  I figured the only way I would get those precious pictures of my sweet boys is if I learned how to take them myself.

Enter the fabulous Liz Labianca of Liz Labianca Photography. She took our family pictures twice and I love love love her work. She luckily loves to share her passion and a couple months ago I took a photography session with her at my house. I hardly ever spend lots of money on myself, but this was the best money I have spent in a long time. 

I now know how to take pictures in the manual setting on my camera. Yes, the MANUAL setting! That is big time, guys! Even better, I can take pictures of MOVING BOYS.

Lookie here- I can take pictures of silly boys INDOORS! Did I finally learn to clean up my house? Nope. But you can't tell anymore! Double Bonus!

Even though my photos aren't perfect and I have an infinite amount more to learn, I love these photos. Of course, I am biased!

I love seeing my sweet boy, knowing I will treasure these pictures forever.

Most of all, I am so proud of myself for figuring out a way to get what I wanted for our family. I wanted beautiful photos to remember these days and times that are literally flying by in the blink of an eye. The photos may not be beautiful to anyone besides myself, my husband, or our family, but I am ok with that. I am not trying to become a professional by any stretch of the word.

I always looked at Liz's photos of her daughter on facebook and thought 'Liz is so lucky that she is a photographer and will have such beautiful pictures of her children. Her daughter is so lucky to have gorgeous pictures from her childhood'.

I can now feel the same about myself. I am lucky have these special pictures of my favorite boys. Brad may think we have too many of these special pictures but I can't part with any of them!

And I truly hope the boys will realize how special the pictures are when they are older and can look back at the bond and love they have built between brothers.

Now it is time to start saving up those Groupons for photobooks because I have a couple thousand pictures a year to print. (Brad, hopefully you didn't read that last sentence. And if you did, I hope you didn't have a heart attack).

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