Bedtime Stories

I have pretty much resigned myself to the fact that poop is a common topic of conversation in my house. Maureen is considering potty training, so we've been mentioning how she can have treats if she uses the potty. At least a couple of times a week, Johnny says to her, "Hey Maureen, I need to poop. Do you want to come?" Then they go off, hand in hand, to the bathroom. I'm hoping she gets it soon, even though she told me last week, "No pee in potty. I don't like it!"

Then there is Johnny. He is currently obsessed with talking about all things bathroom related. My natural inclination is to laugh, but it's embarrassing when he starts talking about poop and pee and butts and farts in public. I just haven't decided how to deal with it yet. Do I send him to his room? Repeat, yet again, the line about those words being for the bathroom and not for public? Do I pretend I don't hear it at all and cross my fingers it's just a phase? Suggestions would be helpful.

Anyway, the kids went to bed at the same time tonight, which means that neither of them went to sleep immediately. There is always some amount of talking and laughing before they settle down.

Tonight, we heard Johnny tell Maureen a bedtime story.

"Once, there was a little boy, and he had a turd. And then he threw the turd at his baby sister. And then the sister said, 'Ewwwwwwwww! You threw a turd at me!'"

John and I were silently cracking up in the other room and Maureen was not so silently cracking up in her bed.

I have to say, as far as bedtime stories go, this one was pretty original. But not quite soothing.

Sweet (stinky?) dreams!

Happy Birthday, Pop Pop Bob!

Today is my dad's birthday and when we got up this morning, I told Johnny that we could call Pop and sing to him. I meant eventually, but he wanted to call right that instant, so we did. Then Johnny asked, "How old are you? I'm four!" Sixty-seven seemed a little beyond his comprehension.

After that, he wanted to make Pop a cake, but he had to get ready for school, so he painted a picture of a cake instead.



The best thing about painted cake? No calories and no bajillion candles to burn the house down.

Happy Birthday, Pop Pop!

The Minutiae Of Life In February

I apologize for the lack of regular posting around here lately, but I haven't had much to say that isn't boring. My life, in the middle of the most miserable month of the year, is pretty much that. Boring.

Almost every day, I wake up and think, "Ugh. What sort of boring stuff do we have to do today?" And then at the end of the day, I think, "What a boring day. What the heck did I get accomplished?" The answer is a whole lot of boring stuff.

The highlight of the past couple of weeks was a giant rat managing to pry the lid off our trashcan, and then jumping out of it onto my husband's arm before scurrying off to join the rest of his disgusting rodent brethren. I would have screamed bloody murder and then dropped dead from a heart attack, but he just came into the house, holding his arm stiffly away from him and wondering if he needed to throw his rat contaminated jacket away. I decided it was okay to wash it, but he neglected to fully empty his pockets first. So I washed his cell phone. He got a new phone, then proceeded to play with it for three hours straight, trying out all the ring tones while I was attempting to watch ER.

Speaking of TV, we finally installed our converter box because some of the stations were going ahead with the digital conversion ahead of the new deadline. The picture is great and we're picking up channels we never got before. We even have a weather channel. Except that before we got the box, watching TV went like this--Use remote to turn on television. Choose station. Sit on couch and watch program. And now it goes like this--Use remote to turn on TV and set to Input. Use second remote to turn on Stereo Receiver and set to Aux1. Use third remote to turn on VCR. Use fourth remote to turn on converter box. Choose channel. Sit on couch. Unless you want to watch a DVD. In which case you need to use the third remote to go into Setup in the VCR menu and choose Source, then change the source to Aux2. And use a fifth remote to turn on the DVD player. It's all very complicated. And honestly, what's the point of doing all this for a great picture when a certain someone keeps playing ring tones through ER anyway? I might need to take up a collection to pay for the batteries in all those effing remotes.

Speaking of converter boxes, the only station that isn't coming in well is PBS. Come on, people! I have been letting Johnny watch TV in the mornings so I can shower in peace. Not that I'm shy or anything, but I finally decided it would be nice to shower without someone barging into the bathroom and announcing, "Mom! I need to poop!" So instead, I turn on Dragon Tales or something, he sits on the couch and I only have to deal with Maureen wandering in and out of the bathroom with her baby doll in tow. But NOW, with the stupid converter box, we have a whole lot more channels, but just not the important one. PBS keeps freezing up, like when a DVD gets stuck. I LIKE my peaceful showers. I NEED Dragon Tales and Word World! Its enough to incite wrath or something.

Speaking of wrath, I have decided that my cat is a giant asshole. Sometimes he is very sweet and he likes to sleep on my feet and keep me warm, and he has been very cute playing with his pom poms lately. But he has also bitten me for no good reason four times in the past two days. The last time was hard enough to make me shove him off the couch and shout at him that if he didn't knock it off, I'd stuff him in the trashcan with the rat and let them fight it out. Seriously, I'm the one who feeds his ungrateful self. You'd think he'd find someone else to bite. Or maybe he's bored too. After all, February is such a boring month.

We had Ham and Chickpea Soup for dinner last night, and neither kid would eat it until I picked apart all the ingredients and served them with separate piles of ham, pasta, chickpeas and cheese. I guess it somehow tastes different that way? And we went to the grocery store again because Johnny has been eating constantly, and I discovered that Safeway has their Easter candy out. So I bought three boxes of Cadbury Cream Eggs, which I will probably devour in the next 24 hours, but I forgot the cereal bars that we went for in the first place.

Gah. February is boring.

I'm also tired of wearing black sweaters and jeans all the time, but my wardrobe consists of mainly black sweaters and jeans, so on Thursday I wore a new t-shirt that I bought at Target that is very cute and flattering and non-black, hoping that the sight of bare arms might make the wind die down. It didn't work, and since the t-shirt is called a "tissue weight boatneck," it also meant I was freezing all day.

On Wednesday night, our power went out for about an hour. I didn't realize until then exactly how dark our house is at night. We always have a couple of night lights on to keep Johnny from falling down the steps should he get up in the middle of the night, or to keep me from stepping on the cat as he walks under my feet in the middle of the night. But when the power cut out, and Maureen immediately woke up and started to cry, I had no night lights to guide me as I felt my way down the pitch black hall into their room and then felt around to change her diaper in the dark. And then I stepped on the cat, trying to find my way back to bed. Which is perhaps the reason he has been biting me, now that I think about it. And the house got really cold really fast, but the hour without heat was probably a good thing because I just heard that BGE plans to raise our rates next year.

So that's it. The extremely boring details of an extremely boring month. Is there anyone else out there that has something fun going on?

My Evil Twin Strikes Again

Supposedly, every person on earth has a twin somewhere, wandering around living a separate life. Depending on who you talk to, that twin may or may not be evil, and I've known several people who swear they've met their twin.

My twin is definitely of the evil variety, because she does stuff like piss off my friends or get drunk in public and fall down. In college, a friend would occasionally act wounded and hurt, and when I asked what was wrong, he'd say, "Why did you completely ignore me on Tuesday when I said hi to you?" Except that I didn't have class on Tuesday and wasn't even on campus. Or the Teaching Assistant for a lab would smirk and ask how I was feeling. It turned out she saw someone who looked like me getting blitzed at a bar over the weekend and then falling down and ripping her pants, but it was at a bar I'd never even heard of, at a time when I was actually at work.

I haven't heard much about my evil twin lately, but she surfaced again this week. I discovered that someone used my credit card at Michael's to buy all this stuff.



A giant bottle of Elmer's Glue. Yarn. Googley eyes, felt, two packages of colored popsicle sticks, and (OHMIGOD!) pipe cleaners.

Surely it wasn't me who bought all this stuff. I don't do crafts, remember? And as much fun as we Johnny had making his Valentines, I was relieved that I could cross them off my To-Do list. Crafting on a deadline is stressful, I'll tell you!

Now, I surely won't let all this crafty crap my evil twin left at my house go to waste, so we'll be starting up with Easter crafts soon. But first we need to get through the preschool science project.

What are the chances my evil twin could come over and clean my house and do my grocery shopping (with her credit card, not mine) the next time she feels like causing trouble?

Breastfeeding With Hypothyroidism

I was just 23 when I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. It runs in my family, but I was surprised at the diagnosis, because hypothyroidism is generally known as a "middle-aged woman's disease."

The thyroid is a butterfly shaped gland in the neck that affects almost all the metabolic processes in the body. Hypothyroidism has several causes, but the net effect is the same. Lack of adequate thyroid hormone leads to symptoms such as fatigue, cold intolerance, weight gain, memory problems, brittle fingernails, depression and irregular menstrual periods. Untreated hypothyroidism can be harmful to the baby during pregnancy and can also cause infertility.

Even if you make it through pregnancy and delivery fine, having thyroid disease can make breastfeeding a lot harder as well.

Before becoming pregnant with my first child, I went to my doctor and had my thyroid levels tested and my medication adjusted. I had no trouble becoming pregnant, and my pregnancy was relatively easy. Breastfeeding, however, was another story. I struggled with thrush and low supply problems. It took a lot of research and effort to be able to continue, but I was able to breastfeed my son for 11 months and my daughter for 9.

If you already have thyroid disease, keep these things in mind:

**Make sure you take your medicine!! Thyroid supplements are best taken on an empty stomach, and you should also avoid calcium and iron supplements, as well as foods containing large amounts of calcium or iron, for 3-4 hours after taking your medication. If you're a new mom and already tired, it can be easy to forget to take your meds, but it is essential that you find a way to make sure you take them.

**Consider additional pumping and/or herbal methods to increase your milk supply. In addition to nursing on demand, I ended each feeding session with a five minute pumping session to help stimulate my supply. I also had good luck with fenugreek capsules.

**Be aware of the symptoms of thrush. Some thyroid disease patients are very sensitive to yeast. A thrush breast infection is painful, and can be spread to your baby's mouth. Mild cases can be treated naturally at home, but if you have a severe infection, or if your baby is also infected, you need to talk to your doctor and pediatrician.

**Get tested regularly. After your baby is born, your medication will need to be adjusted, and again as your baby grows and starts solids. Make sure you have regular bloodwork!

**Take a look at your diet. If you're struggling with supply problems, take a good look at what you are eating. Some foods, known as goitrogens, can effect the thyroid gland negatively. Other foods, such as avocado, are known to stimulate the thyroid gland. If you find that you are eating a lot of the foods on the negative list, consider cutting back or temporarily removing those foods from your diet.

If you don't have thyroid disease:

**If you don't feel well, insist on being seen. If you're eating a balanced diet, drinking enough water, and sleeping as much as possible, but still feel rundown, make an appointment with your doctor. Thyroid disease often goes undiagnosed because it's symptoms mimic those commonly felt by new moms. It's worth a trip to the doctor.

Do you have thyroid disease Did it affect your ability to breastfeed? What things did you find helpful?

Happy Valentine's Day!!

A Hint Of Spring

Sure, it's only February and that stupid groundhog saw his shadow, but I get a little excited when we have a couple of warm days. What can I say? I was over winter two months ago.

It was 70 degrees on Wednesday and my mom took the kids for ice cream.

It was cooler on Thursday, but after weeks of gloomy skies and an absent sun, it was still nice to get outside and actually need to wear my sunglasses!

The kids needed jackets and hats today, because it was incredibly windy (enough for whitecaps on the water), but these lighter fleece versions were good enough. It was also sunny enough for decent pictures, and both kids were, surprisingly, in the mood to cooperate.





I just realized that Easter is late this year, in mid-April, so maybe Maureen won't have to wear a sweater over her dress.

Yes, I get excited over little things.

Come on Spring, we're waiting!

Menu Plan: The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

We had a couple of days of really nice weather, and I can feel the winter blahs lifting. Of course, the temperature has already dropped into the 40's, but spring is just around the corner, right?

Safeway had some really great sales this week, so I snatched up a nine pound turkey breast for 99 cents a pound. It's a little big to feed four people, but it'll give us leftovers for sandwiches and I can make stock from the rest.

Here's what my menu plan looks like:

**Roast Turkey Breast, mashed potatoes and gravy--Steamed veggies and salad to go with it.
**Ham and Chickpea Soup--This great soup comes together easily in the crockpot. The stock from the turkey will go into this recipe. Bread and salad on the side.
**Sesame-Mango Chicken--The best thing about this recipe is that the only thing I need to buy for it is the mango. Salad and steamed veggies as well.
**Homemade Pizza--I still need to borrow a cast iron skillet to make the dough. But I'm thinking a "top your own pizza" night with various toppings so everyone can have something a little different. Or maybe we'll make stromboli.
**Almond Crusted Chicken--The best thing about chicken with any sort of coating is that both kids will inhale it. This version also uses slivered almonds, which Maureen loves. Oven fries and steamed lima beans to go with it.

What are you eating this week?

Privacy, Please!

Until recently, privacy was a foreign word to my four-year-old. A closed door just meant it needed to be opened, and with two kids in a small house, sometimes it's nearly impossible to get dressed without someone barging in on you. My son has been known to strip down to hop in the bathtub with me, and since my daughter is starting to consider potty training, she spends a fair amount of time running around with no pants on.

In September, Ami at Writing: My Life wrote this guest post concerning toddlers in women's locker rooms. The topic seems to be a hot one with moms, because the post was five months ago and it's still getting comments. The general consensus is that other women don't have a problem with small children of the opposite sex in the restroom or locker room, nor do they consider it an invasion of privacy.

Lately though, the person that has a problem with the privacy issue is Johnny. He still has no problem barging in on me, but if he's the one that needs to go, he announces, "Mom, I need privacy. Please leave and close the door." (A sentence, funnily, that was echoed last night by Maureen.)

Just a couple of weeks ago, he balked at using the Ladies Room in a public place and said, "I can't go in there, I'm not a lady." We were at the ice rink, and we were practically the only people there, so I knew there was no one in the men's room. I stationed myself by the door, told him to be quick and if he wasn't out in a few minutes, I was coming in to get him. He went in and immediately said from behind the closed door, "Mom, come in with me." Then he came out and went into the Ladies Room with me.

Today he refused the Ladies Room altogether and went into the men's room, giving me a running commentary on what was going on while he was in there. "Okay Mom, I peed and now I'm washing my hands. Now I'm coming out. You better still be there, Mom!"

He's only four, and I'm still uncomfortable with sending him into a men's room by himself in public areas, particularly in crowded places. There's always that slight chance that there's a pervert lurking inside, and I like to keep him within sight if there are a lot of people around.

However, I distinctly remember my father taking me into the men's room at the beach when I was a kid because I needed to go and my mom was temporarily unavailable, and it made me uncomfortable and embarrassed. I have no idea what grown men feel about a little girl being in the men's room.

What do you think? At what age is in important to let a little boy grow and become independent, and at what age is in inappropriate for a young boy to be in a women's restroom?

Is Your Skin Care Routine Age Appropriate?

It has long been a source of irritation to me that my husband can wash his face once a day with regular soap, rarely uses facial lotion, and never breaks out. My skincare routine is considerably more complicated and every once in awhile, he makes a crack about how much my upkeep costs. He's right, some of the products I use are a little on the pricey side, but if I used plain soap on my face and never touched a bottle of moisturizer, I'd be all dried out and wrinkled and pruney.

My basic skin care routine has stayed the same over the past ten years or so, and I've been feeling lately like maybe I needed to tweak it to meet the needs of my skin now that I'm no longer twenty.

For example, I don't break out like I used to and when I do get an occasional pimple, I keep the area clean and leave it alone and it goes away. The acne products of my youth are no longer appropriate for my skin, they are too harsh and too drying. I've been a loyal Clinique user for years, but have a lot of questions about what my skin needs now. Do I need a night cream? How often should I exfoliate? How do I prevent wrinkles, and what can I do about some pigment changes that worsen in the summer?

The science behind Clinique's line of products and make up is that for your makeup to look good, you have to have healthy skin underneath it. So over the weekend, the kids and my husband and I headed to the mall and I had a long talk with a skin care expert at the Clinique counter.

For starters, she said I'm absolutely right to be considering changing my routine. What I do with my face NOW will impact how I age and how I look in the future. She also said I should reevaluate my routine frequently, and consider changing it as the seasons change as well. For example, the forced heat of winter has dried out not only my skin, but that of my kids as well. After each bath, the kids get lotioned with Aveeno, and Vaseline applied to the really dry spots. In the summer, chlorinated pools can dry out the skin, but we use a lighter moisturizer to avoid feeling hot and greasy.

She also recommended a thicker moisturizer and stressed the importance of sunscreen. As for the pigment changes, that's something that manifested with my first pregnancy. In the summer, I get darker pigmented areas on my cheeks and nose. So I came home with a product designed to even out skin tone. I apply it twice a day, and as it contains fruit extracts, additional exfoliation isn't necessary. Pigment changes are generally caused by age and UV exposure.

I also chose bottles of my usual ultra-gentle cleanser and clarifying lotion. It's only been a couple of days, but my skin already feels more supple and moist.

Below is a summary of my visit to the Clinique counter.

**Sunscreen--A broad spectrum is a must to block the damaging rays of the sun. Some dermatologists recommend wearing a heavy duty sunscreen each day, and each time you leave the house. Considering the latest evidence that most people are Vitamin D deficient, I opt to use SPF 15 on my face and neck daily and skip it elsewhere unless we'll be in the sun for an extended period of time.

**Moisturize--Keeping your skin hydrated is your first line of defense against wrinkles and sagging skin. Hydrated skin is firmer and plumper. Even if you have oily skin, you should use a product formulated for your skin type. Make sure you drink enough water too!

**Stay Gentle--You don't need to scrub your face with suds until it tingles. The best cleanser should remove dirt and oil without irritating your face.

**Remove your makeup FIRST, then wash your face--If you wear makeup, you need to remove it first before continuing with your skincare routine. Traces of makeup can clog pores and cause irritation, and your creams and moisturizers will penetrate better if they are applied to bare skin.

At some point, I plan on going to see a dermatologist for an all over skin check, and I'll also ask for brand recommendations from the cheap to the expensive, and I'll share those with you at that time.

Also, Clinique's next giveaway is in April, so I'd like to head back for some help choosing colors for spring/summer makeup. My brown and peach eye shadows and liners are appropriate for my eye color, but I'd like something a little lighter for summer.

How about you? When was the last time you reevaluated your skin care routine?

Saturday Links

I apologize for my absence in the blogosphere lately, a lot of things have coincided to make it harder for me to sit down and write.

I've also been busy with a number of different projects, and have been feeling like I have less to talk about here. Since my work is being spread across the Internet and I'm getting more traffic from random sites, I feel like I need to be extra careful about what I say or post here, both for my sake and for my kids.

In lieu of a regular post today, I'd like to take the chance to direct you to some of what I've been working on.

Some of my recipes are being featured on Stonyfield Farms Blogger Bites website. Cooking with yogurt is a great way to cut the fat and calories in your diet. Replace up to half of sour cream or mayonnaise in recipes with plain fat-free yogurt. You can also strain the extra liquid from plain yogurt, using cheese cloth, to create a thick, creamy base for dips, spreads, mousses and more.

Posting on the website for my work has been sporadic, but some of my coworkers are helping me out with content. Be sure to check out Eastern Animal Hospital's blog for the latest information on animal health, as well as fun posts about how you chose your pet's name, or what sort of dog you might be.

Finally, my February post at API Speaks is up, and I'm asking for advice on how to wean Maureen from the pacifier she uses at naptime and bedtime.

Happy February to all!

Menu Plan: My Crockpot Is My Salvation

Fighting a serious case of the winter blahs here, and that means I don't want to do anything. I don't want to get out of bed, I don't want to get dressed, leave the house, clean anything or cook. I still have to go to work and take Johnny to school, so those first three things have been happening anyway, but that drawer full of take out menus has been calling my name. Or I could do what I did last night and fall into bed exhausted without eating dinner at all. I wouldn't recommend doing this, because it means you wake up at midnight, starving, and then proceed to devour the leftover Spinach Dip from Super Bowl and then smell faintly of garlic in the morning.

Anyway, I'm trying to avoid this by planning easy to make meals, and that means I use my crockpot. Dump everything in first thing in the morning and press start. By dinnertime, when my apathy has reached it's peak, dinner is hot and ready to go. Perfect!

Our next few meals will be:

**Parmesan Crusted Chicken--Anything involving chicken and cheese is guaranteed to be a hit with my kids. I'll serve it with couscous and some sort of steamed veggie. This is not a crockpot recipe, but all I have to do is drag the chicken through some egg whites and cheese, then bake it.
**Tuscan Beef Stew--Nothing says winter like beef stew. The last version of beef stew I made was considerably complicated, involving chopping and washing leeks and parsnips. This version is carrots and beans and gravy goodness. Salad and bread to go with it.
**Quesadillas--I bought a giant package of tortillas for Super Bowl, to make cinnamon chips and fruit salad, and we still have a lot left over. Depending on what sort of meat is on sale when I go shopping, I'll probably make a couple different kinds. Beef and cheese, or maybe shrimp. If I do beef, I'll cook it in the crockpot so it's nice and tender. Salad on the side and maybe chips and salsa.
**Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese--Comfort food at it's best, when all this mama wants to do is sit on the couch and eat, then take a nap. This version is a lightened up recipe, and it also makes a bunch, perfect for eating at midnight when you fell asleep without dinner.
**Ham with Mustard Cream Sauce--This one isn't a slowcooker recipe either, but it's ready in 15 minutes. Hooray for precooked ham steaks! This sauce also works nicely for chicken if you're not a ham person. Salads, bread and steamed green beans on the side.

I'm so over winter, and I can't wait for the days when my menu plans are full of things like sandwiches and fruit.

Do you have a slowcooker? Do you like it? How often do you use it?