Best Bleepin' Brownies in the World

Every time that I have to bake something for a pot luck I usually go to one of two standards: Chocolate Chip Cookies made with butter flavored shortening (you may cringe but damn its tasty) or a recipe for brownies that my friend Marie gave me that she got from a lady who worked at the same dentist office she did. No, these are not sugar free LOL not by any means. But they ARE tasty as heck and bound to be a hit at any party.

The only problem is that they are DEEP DISH so must be made in either an 8x8 or 9x9 pan (unless you want to double the recipe and then I suppose a 13x9 would work...)

First, the recipe:

3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup of MELTED butter

1.5 cups of sugar--Organic "Sugar in the Raw" is the best tasting and makes it a little crunchy!

1.5 tsp pure vanilla extract--not imitation though!!!

3 eggs

1 cup DARK chocolate chips (I prefer Ghirardelli or Hershey's Special Dark)

Prep:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 8x8 or 9x9 pan -- important for DEEP DISH effect!

COMBINE in separate bowl:

Flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

COMBINE in mixing bowl:

MELTED butter, sugar, and vanilla. Use an ELECTRIC MIXER to blend these. Add eggs to this mixture and beat well with a SPOON. Next, gradually add flour mixture to this. Do it VERY SLOWLY, about 1/4 cup at a time and use the SPOON to combine. Its best to do it slowly because I have found that doing it too quickly allows for clumps and it takes forever to go through and break them up to make it smooth. And you want it smooth, trust.

After well blended go ahead and add the chocolate chips.

Spread into the prepared pan evenly. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Cool completely and cut into squares. Should make about 16 brownies. Don't eat 'em all yourself ;)

Ain't That a Pisser, or The Truth About Cats.

See how innocent I am??

I have been home for over a week now. At the end of my time in NC my husband had called me to tell me that the kitten we have had for 2 months now had peed on the counter and the kitchen table, and also the curtain that I had just installed from a nerve-wracking trip to Walmart a week before.

"We have one curtain that is shorter than the other one." he told me when I asked if he had washed it.

Ok, fine. I can deal with that. I can always get a new curtain, right? But when he told me about the table and the counter I had had enough. I really like this kitten as he is quirky and sweet and curls up at my feet wherever I plant my fat butt. Even the bathroom. Ok so you didn't need to know that. ANYWHOOO...

I immediately went online from my sister's house and put him in the paper. I had gotten rid of the cat before him (Fluffy #1) after dealing with him pissing all over my house for the better part of three years, spending tons of money and time and anguish on trying to make it stop. I couldn't believe my bad luck was continuing with this little guy.

When I got home I also listed him on Craigslist and Facebook. I assumed that because of my older male cat that the younger one was getting territorial and that as I had had him tested for UTI's that he would be fine somewhere else, even outSIDE!! Thoughts of how I could remove him from my house intensified when the next day there was pee on my counter that ruined several pieces of mail and narrowly missed Kris' camera (just ruined the strap).

Perhaps you have been in my house (poor you) and know that my counter top is a landing space for anything, everything, and whatever is in between. There are cameras, sunglasses, mail, endless amounts of children's artwork, toys, photos, frames, sculptures, books, Bibles, pens, pencils, ETC I COULD GO ON FOR DAYS.

Well on Monday my Dad came over to visit. He's always giving me a hard time about the counter and associated areas, and I try my best but when no one helps I just give up. I'm not a go-getter when it comes to trying to clean up after everyone else. He wanted to use my nice camera to take a photo of something. It was sitting on the counter (of course) and when I picked it up I noticed something dripping from it.

NO.

My heart stopped briefly. I really couldn't believe it. I was speechless. Well, for a minute.

Then I was not so speechless.

"STUPID EFFING CAT I AM GOING TO KILL HIM OH MY $*&($*% WHY THE EFF WOULD HE DO THAT AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGH" I said. My Dad ducked.

If that wasn't bad enough I had also chosen that particular piece of counter to set Autumn's precious blankie on while I was feeding her.

I stormed across the street and went into the Show Me The Biscuit store to get some Nature's Miracle. That crap is expensive. I asked the lady if she knew of anything I could do and she just kind of looked at me and went "I-uh-no" and I burst into tears. I paid, and stormed back home. I cleaned my camera as best as I could and it still stank. I soaked Autumn's blankie in a pail with Nature's Miracle and some hot water. Thank GOD that took it out.

But my camera, not so much. On the bottom of this camera is where the battery compartment is located. Also there are several tiny screws and of course the cavernous screw mount with all of its little ridges and gaps to hide the dreaded pee crystals. And there is a bit of rubber that stops up the ports for the coax cables and USB cable. Nothing gets piss out of rubber. Nothing. I cleaned it all several times, and even sat it gently in a tray of baking soda for a couple of hourse.

It still smells. Now every time I hold my camera up to my face I gag.

What about the kitten? Did I make a delicious Chinese Pot Roast that evening for dinner?

WELL LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN.

He spent the rest of the day in the garage (comfortably of course. I'm not an abuser.) and that night I locked him in the basement with a litter box that I had thoroughly cleaned, some food, and some water. Fluffy 2 remained upstairs. The next morning I came downstairs and went towards the bathroom. I got a whiff of cat pee as I walked past the kitchen table but assumed it was from the litterbox which was nearby.

Then Alicia came downstairs. She went to put her bowl down on the table but I wanted to clear the crap off it first. I picked up a book she had just gotten at the book fair and it was soaked. I took one sniff and came to the horrible realization that it was FLUFFY who had been peeing on those surfaces, not the kitten!!!! No way am I getting rid of him!

Can't hate on this face.

I opened the basement door and let him out. Then I decided to take drastic measures: I CLEANED.

I removed everything from the table and all surfaces of the kitchen. I also had cleaned both litter boxes with Nature's Miracle to make them odorless (it really does work on some surfaces just not my camera). We kept one in the basement and leave the door open a bit. I bleached every surface and have been extremely strict about not letting junk accumulate there. So far we have been pee-free for almost a week!!!

So the kitten can stay. See, we have never actually SEEN him pee on anything (or Fluffy for that matter) we just assumed it was him because it had stopped when Fluffy 1 left. I felt bad for a minute because a few people had answered my ads and I had to tell them sorry he was staying but oh well. I hope that they all find a kitten somewhere else. Lord knows the Humane Society has plenty of cats.

Was That Real or Just a Dream

View of Myrtle Beach at Night

Did I even really leave? You may or may not know that for the first time I left all three kids and my husband home for an entire week to go visit my sister during the week of her son's birth in North Carolina. It was surreal to just get on a plane and not really look back. This is the first time I have ever left my 1 year old for more than a couple of hours and she was not weaned. My husband deserves a medal.

Grand Isle Ferry

We left on Saturday afternoon out of Plattsburgh (I think that has an "H" at the end...) on DirectAir straight to Myrtle Beach. A little background on DirectAir if you have never heard of them like me: They only fly on certain days of the week and only 2 times per day so they load those planes up as tight as possible which allows them to charge less airfare, but then charge you $30 for 1 checked bag and $35 for each bag after. I see it as paying $.99 in an eBay auction and then $35 for shipping.

When we arrived 2 hours early to the Plattsburgh airport we noticed a large mass of black leather jacketed fellows speaking french. Each one had a case with them the size of a small casket. Hoo boy. Canadian golfers are a jolly bunch, and it was our luck (not saying good or bad lol) that there was some kind of golfing expo in South Carolina that week. We were not as amused as we were at the end of the line with about 100+ of them in front of us, each checking at least one of these monstrosities.

Canadians Waiting for the Plane

When we finally got through the baggage line (my Mom just needed to check one measly little suitcase) we then had to go through security. It wasn't so bad I suppose. Then we got on the plane. We were right on schedule when we got seated, but for some reason the plane wasn't moving. Now I have only gone on a few plane rides in my life but I know that usually they let you know if there is a delay right off. After about 10 min we hear over the intercom:

"Ladies and gentlemen, due to the 200 checked items that need to be loaded on to this plane we will have a slight delay in takeoff."

Then another 15 minutes later we hear:

"Ladies and gentlemen the pilot has gone out to help with the baggage loading. We should be ready shortly for takeoff."

Finally another 5-10 minutes after that the pilot comes back on the plane looking a bit sweaty and tired (Oh crap) and the flight attendant says "Everyone let's give the pilot a round of applause for going out there and getting those bags on!"

Seriously?? Wow. That's what happens when you try to cram as many people on one flight as possible, and that's what happens when people try to fly cheaper because of all the new airline fees. Oh and the 'refreshments' are no longer free either. They are $2 each. For a FREAKING BAG OF .50 CRACKERS.

The lady sitting next to me mixed a Bloody Mary as soon as the attendant was walking around. I have recently given up trying to drink alcohol because of the physical effects it gives me. I prayed for no turbulence.

We arrived around 10, I can't remember exactly. Maybe it was 9:30 who cares. Checked into the Breakers hotel on the beach. One thing about parking in Myrtle Beach: IT SUCKS. The hotels have these narrow little lots that if you go down the wrong one you have to BACK out between two rows of cars and not kill anyone if you are lucky. Nothing is marked clearly. We finally figured out which building of this monster hotel it was supposed to be and got out.

The elevator had an open half empty can of Bud Light sitting quietly on the floor:

The room wasn't bad, nice view...

but we were treated to an open dirty cloth diaper with a huge crap in it right next to our car (driver's side hehehe) in the morning.

Classy.

Don't you hate when weeds push up through the concrete?

We drove three hours to Morrisville and checked in to the Four Points Sheraton (the one right near Hooter's and BoJiggly's) and got this gorgeous room with 4 feather pillows on each bed and a comfy down comforter.

Mom sorting out her electronics

It was nice and quiet and parking was way nicer. For the first time in years I slept like a log all the way through the night, and not the kind of log we found in the parking lot of the other place. Unfortunately feather pillows sound good on paper but really screw up your neck :( It was ok though, I dealt.

I left on this trip saying to a few people that I was going to try to lose 10 lb while away from the kids and not nursing and all that.

Those are fat free waffles, right?

Yeah right. There was a gym on site at the hotel but we were on the 6th floor and it was near the lobby where all the drunk people be at. I went down there twice and used the elliptical for a half hour. The first time was ok but the second time there was a very creepy dude in there and it was just him and I so I didn't stay long. Instead I went back to the room and made my Mom watch CSI: NY with me and then the news. I have never seen news so depressing in my life. It was murder, murder, stabbing, robbery, "Child reunited with parents after kidnapping!", murder, robbery, murder, car accident, fire, robbery, etc. The guy was talking so damn fast because he had so much to report that I gave up and just looked at the pictures.

Sarah the day before Luke was born

I won't talk too much about my sister's birth experience as it is her story to tell, but she had a crazy adorable little boy named Luke:

and I got to hold him, change him, rock him to sleep, and give her and her husband little breaks so they could nap. I love newborns. I wish I could have a job where I just go to someone's house that just had a baby and take care of them for a few days until they were rested up and ready.

My mom and I did get to take a couple of walks (I forced her hehehe) and I filled up both camera flash cards.

This is a house near my sister's apt complex. Yeah, I know. I thought it was a federal building also.

NC foliage was just as good as VT foliage was! I got to see foliage for like 3 months straight LOL

We had to leave my sister on Saturday afternoon and drive back to Myrtle Beach for a short stay at another hotel and then an early flight out Sunday.

Random wildfires on the side of I-95 South. I called 911 but the dude didn't seem too excited.

That hotel was called Paradise Resort.

View from the balcony on the 18th floor

We got the 18th floor and figured it would be a nice quiet chance to fall asleep listening to the waves. WRONG. There was one of those suite doors between our room and the next one and clearly it was meant to be shared because we could hear the group of people in there laughing, talking, slamming crap around, and finally leaving at 11:30pm. We had to be up at 4. I shouldn't have drank that Barq's at Burger King on the way down but I did and therefore was up until 12:30am.

I need this sign over my front door.

When we got to the airport we could hear this odd slapping sound coming from the group of black leather jackets waiting at the baggage check line. As we drew closer we could see that the bonding experience of Canadian Golfing must have been intense because they were all hugging, slapping each other on the back (I hope) and doing these odd handshake combos that I only usually see on CSI:Miami. Whatev. Luckily they must have learned from the last time that they need to hussle getting those damn golf bags on the plane and we didn't have a delay.

I was hoping for lots of cool cumulus and stratus clouds to take pics of but dangit, it was a beautiful day. I did get to see some anti-crepuscular rays created by the airplane's shadow which no one was excited about except me:

Anticrepuscular rays are the dark shadow lines to the right of the wing

When I got home there was no one here. I sat in the kitchen feeling my anxiety building. I am not sure why, but I can only imagine that it is as my friend Fran said, "Guilt from enjoying yourself without them" and Nancy also shed some light "It is hard to face a crowd of adoring fans" So hard that I thought I was going to be spending my entire alone time in the bathroom trying not to puke!!!

My expectations were that the kids would run up to the house, hug me, and then go about their business of annoying the crap out of me. I also envisioned my darling baby seeing me, kicking her legs and holding her arms out to me in delight that I was finally back and that she must have missed me to death.

Ah, to dream.

The older kids did exactly what I imagined. However, when my husband brought Autumn in from the car she looked at me like I was a stranger. She buried her face into Kris' shoulder and clung to him. I took her, well I PRIED her off of him and tried to hug her. She pushed me away violently and arched her back, screaming as if someone was trying to steal her! I tried talking to her but she wouldn't even look at me. My heart was breaking. I tried putting her down and then picking her back up but she just reached for her daddy and when he picked her up she buried her face in his shoulder again. Then she looked at me shyly and kept her head on him. I just sat there, not knowing how to react. I could feel tears welling up and started to wonder if I made a horrible mistake leaving her that long. I had these thoughts that I had scarred her for life, that I had created a rift that would not go away. I started to think of every bad thing possible. I mean, I have nursed this baby endlessly for the past 12 months and in 1 week it seemed that the bonding we had done was just...gone.

I thought maybe if I put the camera in front of my face she'd recognize me...

Instead of continuing on that destructive path however, I got down on the floor and had Kris put her down there. I had him go in the other room and tried playing with her. She still looked at me warily like she didn't know who I was. I got her to let me pick her up and brought her to the laundry room. I changed her diaper and then took her into the living room. I lifted my shirt and offered her my breast (it was the only thing I could think of that might bring her around) and she latched on immediately, reaching up for my hair which she always twirls in her fingers while she is feeding. A look of recognition sparked in her eyes as she looked up at me from that angle. She smiled a little out of the corner of her mouth and then closed her eyes, still holding and twirling my hair.

Amazingly I am still producing milk after a week of only pumping twice. Guess I am not done nursing. You know, I am really ok with that.

Ever since that moment when she realized who I was she has wanted me to hold her and now is back to normal, if not a little clingier than before. If I set her down she is constantly checking to make sure I am still there. Its a good feeling if not a bit selfish but I'm glad I have my baby back. And I wouldn't trade my experience with my sister and her family for anything either.

Alex was psyched I was home...Kris had been actually disciplining him all week!

IBS--I Be Shreddin'

Need a break? :)

Sick of watching daytime TV as it contains nothing but political ad drivel (today being election day I am reallly looking forward to tomorrow!!!!) Since becoming a stay at home mom (and I ain't susie homemaker so I don't get a lot of "exercise" doing housework) I had given up on getting any real results doing workouts. I have nursed a baby for a full 12 months now and it seemed like everytime I would try to exercise some of my baby flab off it would just make more pounds stick on. Combine that sad fact with the IBS I suddenly developed when I was 29 one day after eating a kiwi at work and am now violently "allergic" to any raw veggies and some fruits and well, I'm pretty out of shape.

An amazing opportunity has presented itself via my online friends at Northeast Mountain Guiding to accompany them on some of their outdoor hiking/mountaineering/rock climbing trips to be their photographer. As a serious amateur photographer who loves being outside and turning over rocks to see what creepy crawlies are under them I am so wanting to do this!!!! BUT the truth is that I am not sureI will be able to keep up with them. That is going to change.

My sweet baby still nurses up to 5 times a day and sometimes as little as 1-2 times. I am going to be visiting my sister in NC next week for an entire 7 days and not bringing ANY kids with me so now is the time to cut her off. I feel HORRIBLE about it on the one hand and excited on the other. I can't believe that stage of her life is really already over. On the other hand it is a step toward getting my own identity back. This entire year and the one before (when I was preggo) I I have had these feelings about myself:

Old

Boring

Fat

Useless beyond being a mother

Frumpy

Lumpy

Unsexy (spellcheck says that's not a word but whatev)

Out of control

This is not the baby's fault of course, and I never have regretted breastfeeding her. She just feeds so MUCH!!!! For the first 8 months it was literally up to 12 times a day and for hours at a time some days. I have lived mostly in sweatpants and 1 pair of jeans. My hip bones still show a bit so I know they are still there, but my thighs seem so wide that I cannot even dream of putting on a skirt or normal jeans. Its hard to feel human when you have to dress like you are going to bed all the time. And dressing like that puts you in the mindset of laying around all day.

The extra weight I am carrying around (about 25 lb from before I was pregnant) has really put a strain on my knees. Apparently my knees are not very good??!! I never had trouble with them before this baby. Now I cannot bend down and stand up again without some pain. And because of the pain there are a lot of exercises I can't do. How can I lose weight if I can't eat healthy (i.e. VEGETABLES which are full of fiber and few calories--I can't even eat a bite of salad!) AND I can't jog, which has always been my go-to quick slimming exercise.

Luckily I think I finally hit rock bottom. This sounds bad but that is what I have to do: hit the bottom so I can start to go back up. I do this a lot in life. I'm hoping my kids are not like this because let me tell you it is not the easy way by far. This morning I got up, took a SHOWER (OMG!!!) and got dressed. Instead of laying in bed and nursing baby for 40 min I picked her up, got her dressed, and brought her straight downstairs. I gave her breakfast, some water, and got the kids ready for school and off we went. Coffee with my morning buddy and then when I got home baby nursed for 5 min and went straight off to dreamland. I spent about an hour doing the mending (LOL) which involved sewing buttons back on 3 sweaters, a poncho, and fixing a hole on a cute shirt Alicia has. Why don't they put buttons on better??? Why is it that I buy a damn sweater with buttons and they pop off one at a time within hours of wearing them????

After I fixed all that crap I decided I would stop slacking and put the 30 Minute Shred in with Jillian Michaels. I used to do it every morning when my BFF Becca lived next door but when she moved 8 minutes away well, it was just too much work to get r done LOL

And so, I shredded. It really wasn't all that bad and my knees didn't hurt at all. The lovely twisty part of my lower spine that has developed over the past 10 years kind of made me wince a few times but it just needs to obey. I'm hoping that I can keep it up all the rest of the week, and then when we are down south I can use the gym facilities at the hotel to at least do some cardio every day. Then I can transition into actually USING MY GYM MEMBERSHIP and get through the next few months with that, snowshoeing, X-Country skiing, and hopefully HIKING.

That reminds me...I need to do some laundry now and make my husband think that I actually have this place under control...

The Quest for Truth

Sorry for the lapse in posting...haven't really had much to write about since school started!!

As our family has expanded to a size of five we have been crammed into a sedan for the past year and its gotten a little hard to deal with. With the help of family we were able to purchase a 2005 Nissan Quest from Freedom Nissan in South Burlington. The last car I bought was a Saturn Ion and it was directly from Saturn (they aren't slimy, just tell you the price and you buy it or you don't) and it was brand new. Since Saturn is gone now and since I feel that Nissan is a brand that I have liked and trusted in the past I figured they would be safe to deal with.

Now, I am not going to get into bashing them or their sales techniques. I will just say that I had to bite my lip a few times because it did feel like they think we are stupid or unaware of what goes on in car dealerships. And maybe up to a point we are naive, too trusting. But come on, really? You sell us a car at what you make out to be a substantial discount and then take an entire week to fix what is an 8 hour job (according to them), then lie to my face that you ordered the part, it came in the wrong box but it was the right part, you called allll over to Nissan dealerships to find out if they had the part (the only one was 3 hrs away in NH apparently), then your technician who "has been with us for 20 years" fixes it but "it just doesn't feel quite right" and "the wrong part being in the right box really threw him off"....WTF????? Seriously????? Its ready Friday, no wait, Monday, no...no TUESDAY.

Yes I got it on Tuesday, exactly 1 week after shaking their hands. They hand us the keys and even though they are Nissan sales people and its a Nissan van the guy can't tell me diddly about how anything works.

What I am really pissed about is very small. Its the size of a credit card. Its called a Remote Keyless Entry fob. Its essential for, gee, I don't know...EVERYTHING?? Well it happened to not be present on this key set. What was present was the remote car starter, which yes I appreciate the fact that this van has one, but I would rather not have one and have a freaking REMOTE KEYLESS ENTRY!!!! The van does not lock when you start driving. It does not unlock automatically when you go into Park. If my car alarm was to go off I would have no way of resetting it. That could get ugly.

Well we called the Nissan dealership and their response was "Well because we gave you a deal and because of the cost of repairs the key is what comes with it."

DIRTY.

No they should say "Oh I'm sure we have one in stock you could have." or even "Well, we can give you a refurbished one for $X.XX"

Not impressed. I would not recommend dealing with them unless you have a firm resolve and are not afraid of confrontation or passive aggressive behavior. Now the baby is awake and this is why I don't blog very often!!!

UPDATE: Kris went in and talked to the Sales Manager who was a lot more reasonable than the first guy. I know these people are all trying to do their jobs I just wish there was a little more REAL honesty involved. We should have our Keyless Remote tomorrow morning (I hope)...

Redneck Pasta Salad--Pot Luck Idea

I'm super lazy and would usually just buy something like this at the store but they never have what I really want in a pasta salad. SO I decided to make my own! Well, Kris cooked the pasta and drained it and put in the oil but I threw in all the other junk :D

1 box of Pasta (I used regular Macaroni)

1 large can of sliced black olives

1 bag of Turkey Pepperoni Minis

1 brick of Monterey Jack cheese, diced (or whatever cheese you like)

1 1/2 bottles of Italian dressing

Olive Oil

Cook pasta, drain. Add Olive Oil, about 2 tablespoons or so, and stir. This will keep the pasta from sticking together. Put in fridge and chill until cold to touch. Add Italian dressing, stir. Add olives, pepperoni, and cheese. Heck you can put whatever you want in this concoction! I just used the things that I know I like. I hate mayonnaise and I'm always wishing something had pepperoni, black olives, and/or cheese in it when I go to a barbecue! Serve and Enjoy!

Serves about 10-12 people, depending on how much they eat ;)

Move Over, Macguyver!

Its hot. Damn hot. I have all three kids this week and its a veritable heat wave (they said so on Channel 3 so you know its true!!) and I'm trying not to rely heavily on AC or mall walking to stay cool!!

This morning a thought came into my mind. I should have ignored it. But as I had almost zero sleep last night due to neighborhood fireworks keeping baby up well past midnight (I think she was freaked out even beyond the time they were actually setting them off) my mouth and brain were not communicating properly.

That thought (sorry for the suspense wow lol) was "Hey I should go get a kiddie pool for these guys and put it out back on the porch!" I said it out loud, it was heard by Alicia, and cemented into reality.

We took a trip to the Dollar General. They had an 8 ft round pool that said "Easy setup! Fill with water within MINUTES!" It neglected to say how MANY minutes. It was not the cheapest thing (which honestly, you get what you pay for with cheap pools so in my opinion its worth it) and it showed 6 kids and an adult inside all having a blast. Now, I have had kiddie pools in the past and they usually don't last very long. But this heat just made me ignore all that intelligence and I bought it. We'll be eating leftovers this week.

I brought it inside and it said to inflate the outer top ring. I started blowing it up by mouth and after about 10 seconds of that foolishness I started swearing. When I'm tired I have a hard time not reverting to IBM Potty Mouth. Alex quickly ran up stairs and brought down an air pump my dad left here. He has learned to anticipate my needs. What a good boy. The only problem with the air pump was it was missing it's attachment that you would use to blow up something with a small intake valve. Oh and it had no batteries and takes 4 D size. Ok so that's two problems. Also, the pretty picture on the inner instructions also showed a white pump system that cleans the water. No where in the box did I find this pump. The box is so small I have no idea how they crammed that huge pool into it. I went back over to the DG and asked the clerk where the pump was or if they had one you had to buy separately. She passed the buck to another clerk, who passed the buck to another clerk, who had no clue. They said to call the 800 number on the box. Yeah like I'm gonna do that. I decided to buy the batteries and just deal with the dirt.

So now I'm back home, and I remember there is no attachment on the air pump. I am not about to let a little technicality like that get in my way. I search the house first for the damn attachment, no luck. Then I switch to survival mode. Wracking my brain (sounds like it hurts, and you are right) I thought of potential items that I could use instead of the real thing. I pondered briefly about making a valve out of playdoh, or gum, or maybe taking a pen and removing the innards. Then I thought of a funnel. While looking for said funnel I stumbled upon Macguyver GOLD! A turkey baster!!!!

Alex played me the "Pool Inflatin' Blues"

I removed the useless bulb on the end (I didn't even know I had one of the damn things) and it fit perfectly over the end of the pump. It was not airtight so I took Alex's mantra "Duct tape fixes everything" and wrapped the duct tape around the crack. VOILA!!



I shoved the pointy end of the turkey baster into the air hole of the pool and cranked the air pump on.

Delight filled my soul while I watched the pool get bigger and bigger...

DING DONG (my doorbell, not me)

My neighbor came over to tell me that despite all my hard work and brilliant ideas, he had the exact same pool already set up with the pump and ready to go and the kids could just jump in there any time they want.

BUZZKILL. I thanked him for his offer, tried to decline as I had gone through so much to get mine going, but he insisted. So now I have a perfectly good pool (I deflated it after all that) that I can't get back in the damn box and probably can't return the way it is. I contemplate cleaning out a large portion of the basement and setting it up down there but have a feeling that would result in another blog post and I just don't have the time ;)

Well...duh.

Me, now

Pre-third kid

For the last few months I have been kind of not caring about my baby weight, yet at the same time beating myself up inside every time I stepped on the scale. As some of my long term friends may remember I used to be very thin and in fairly good tone. A sedentary job, a miscarriage at 11 weeks, and then a successful pregnancy later I am not what I used to be either mentally or physically. This is good in some ways, but also sad in others. I'm OK with not being a size 2 anymore. But I'm not OK with only losing 15 of the 50 lb left to lose after the baby was born EIGHT MONTHS AGO. I expected to hold on to maybe 10 or 15 lb but not 35.

Today I got onto the scale. Ugh. I try to only do it once every couple of weeks so I don't get too depressed...ignorance being bliss in this case. Again my weight has not budged since March. I take my measurements once a month also because I am insane. Oh and my body fat percentage too. Did I mention I used to work in a gym? Yeah I got a little obsessive. I'm only slightly obsessive now. Plus way lazier.

I decided to stop blindly eating whatever I want and take stock in what I am doing to myself. I got out the measuring cups, the scale (the food scale, not the meanie scale) and went to the Daily Plate to find out exactly why I am not losing any weight despite breastfeeding like mad (500+ calories burned daily supposedly) and walking 3-4 days a week for an hour at a time.

This is where the "Well, duh" comes in.

My breakfast has for many years consisted of Maypo (if you haven't tried it...you are really missing out) which is high in vitamins, iron, and both kinds of fiber. A serving of Maypo has 180 calories. Not bad for a breakfast food. BUT in true Betsy fashion I can't just eat it plain. Even though its Maple flavored I still need more. SO I dump in chocolate chips. I used to use a 1/3 cup to measure. Hell I used to use my fists to measure but I figured I should tone down. After Autumn was born I started to cut down even more and used a 1/4 cup measure (heaping of course). Chocolate chips have 70 calories in 30 pieces. That's about 2-ish calories each. A 1/4 cup has about 164 calories. I know this because I counted them out individually and did MATH EEEEEEEW!!!! I also add about 1/4 cup of whatever percentage milk we have in the fridge to cool it down and make it extra yummy. So my breakfast is about 400 calories. Not great but its filling and I am not usually hungry until noon.

BUT I am also a daily cup a day coffee addict. And no, I don't drink that black. I like my coffee like I like my Maypo: Full of SUGAR!!! I just blindly dump in flavored creamer (Dulce de Leche mmmmmm) until it reaches the danger spill over zone. 1 tablespoon=35 calories. I figure that I must be dumping in what, 3 tablespoons? WRONG. I measured (using water) how much I am actually using. By my calculations (I wrote it out on paper and proved my work!) I am adding 220 calories to my 4 calorie coffee!! SIX tablespoons!!! SOOOO my breakfast in total is over 600 calories. How many of you out there take creamer with YOUR coffee? I'm going to keep my tablespoon measure next to the coffee pot from now on.

Just this small bit of measuring really opened my eyes to what is wrong with my diet and how my perception of serving size is way off. I really think that they should teach more in school about things like what a tablespoon, a cup, a gram, and an ounce look like. Obesity is now epidemic in several parts of the world, and I think we need Food Education just as badly as we need Sex Education. And also, just as we as parents should be talking to our kids about the birds and the bees we should be talking to them (and demonstrating) about the chips and the fries.

A Rash Decision

Don't you just love my pun titles. I get that from my mother ;)

My little darling is all growed up...she is getting her first teeth! At almost 8 months old she is the first of my three to get a tooth before 1 year! Her bottom two are coming up and out. So far the worst symptom is a horrible rash on her patootie!! At first I thought it was the solid food she has been hogging down (mostly carrots, sweet potatoes, and mixed veggies) but then I talked to someone who takes care of a baby almost her exact age getting the same exact teeth and they had the same problem!

After going through several days with minimal naptimes, an entire tube of Desitin, and seeing no improvement I decided to try a different cream. I feel that Desitin works well if you use it at the first signs of a rash (before it gets angry and bloody) but once it is really bad it doesn't seem to be able to heal it. So after standing in the grocery store for a good 10 minutes in the butt cream aisle I decided to give ol' A&D a try. Wow what a difference! Within the first use her rash was much less ugly, and this morning when I changed her she looked almost normal! You don't use as much of it either as its very creamy and not greasy at all. I combined using the A&D cream with a dose of infant's Ibuprofen every 6 hours and my angry, screaming baby turned back into my giggling goofball again. Phew!! I thought I lost her!

What I take away from this experience is: Don't be afraid to try new things if the standbys don't work. Imagine if your butt looked like you played slip n slide in the driveway without the slip n slide and you had to rely on someone who can't understand you to make it all better!! You would want them to try everything!!! ;-)

Cloth Diaper Update

WOW I promised to blog about this and I just haven't had the time to sit down and do it!!! Photography has taken priority over blogging and I have been taking pictures like mad.

SO I have been using the cloth for what, about 6 weeks now? Feels like forever. The bottom line: they are GREAT!! NOT like yo mama's cloth diapers that's for sure. I envisioned soggy bottoms and narsty stenches in the diaper pail and laundry room.

One of the best things was setting up my laundry room to double as a changing room. Now that we have front loaders (cue Hallelujiah chorus) I have a long, flat surface in which to lay down baby. My friend Becca has had front loaders for a while now and she is the one whose idea I used.

Basically I put down a soft, thick blanket on top of the dryer, then got little baskets to hold the diapers, wipes, and covers and a smaller one to hold the BumGenius diaper detergent and Ecover Chlorine free bleach powder. The dirty diaper pail is also in there and is lined with a waterproof, washable laundry bag. I have a tiny garbage can wedged between the edge of the dryer and the wall with a grocery bag in it to throw away wipes and the regular diapers I use at nighttime and naptime.

One tip I have learned is that you need to go against your instinct to throw the dirty ones (peed on) into the pail and shut the lid. DO NOT SHUT THE LID!!

If you can keep it somewhere that is not public, keep it open as this will inhibit the growth of bacteria which is the cause of the stink.

Now, what do you do with POOPIE diapers you may ask? Well one method is to shake the poo off into the toilet and then flush and then give the cloth prefold a swirly. GROSS!!! Sorry, I am not that hardcore. There is this GREAT invention that you can get online for about $40 (I got mine on Amazon) that is basically a hand held high pressure sprayer.



You attach it right to your toilet's plumbing:

ANYONE can do it!! My husband did it and it works! And you can adjust the spray pressure to shoot that poo right off into sewerland.



I highly suggest practicing with the pressure BEFORE you use it on poo as it can go very strong and make a nice Jackson Poo-llack painting all over your bathroom wall and your pants!!

Once you have removed the poo from the diaper, and the sprayer really does wonders with this, the diaper will be sopping wet. What I personally have been doing is either wringing them out and laying them over the edge of the pail to dry and then washing the heck out of my hands, or leaving them in the sink until its time to do a load of laundry. That's the lazy way. We have three bathrooms, and one is attached to the laundry room, so that is not really a big issue to have one out of commission.

How often do we do the diaper laundry? Well if I am home all day and use them exclusively I will do a load every day. I wash them on HOT using the Cotton/Normal setting and then dry them on HOT/Very Dry also using the Cotton setting. They are supposed to shrink down a bit from their original size. I DO NOT DRY THE BUMMIES WRAPS! They dry quickly on their own, and using the hot heat setting will destroy their water proof abilities over time. I just made sure I had enough so that if most of them were drying I still had enough for the time in between.

Also, I feel that using proper detergent and bleach is important. I use the bumGenius detergent which is a powder (bought online but can be found in stores)

and instead of using Oxiclean which is 30% product, 70% filler, I went right to the source and bought the 100% product that Ecover makes.

It is chlorine free and really does work, and you don't need a lot.

That being said, I do bleach them once a week with regular bleach. Part of this is for my washing machine's health and part to make sure that germs are dead. This was recommended by the company I purchased the diaper from. I do not use a lot, and if possible the Bummies should not be bleached as the bleach breaks down the elastic. I also spray down the glass on the inside of the washer with antibacterial all purpose cleaner to make sure that it doesn't stink!!!

Sounds like a lot of work eh? Well, it is and it isn't. I can see this not working for someone who is not home all day to attend to everything. I can see it being tough with a newborn (I didn't start using them back then so I can't testify to that experience) as they poo so much. BUT your baby is only going to be in them for so long, and they pay for themselves very quickly. I find that if I don't use a paper diaper for nighttime and naps she won't sleep as long since she feels wet faster. This may come in handy for toilet training days!!!

If you have any questions about cloth diapering please feel free to ask!!! Or if you have any tips or tricks please post them so we can all learn something!!

Straying From the Norm---Smart or Just Plain Crazy?

Since I am plugged into Facebook/Internet for the better part of my waking moments due to marathon nursing sessions I came across a "fan page" or "group" called "Pampers: Bring back the old Cruisers/Swaddlers!!!"

This piqued my interest since I LOVED the box of Swaddlers that one of my husband's relatives sent us a few months ago. So soft, absorbent, felt like a blankie on both inside and out, and didn't give her red marks. As I read some of the posts and looked at some of the pictures of burned baby booty I started to get a little freaked out. I read more on this subject of Pampers switching how they make these diapers (now with an added feature called Dry Max) which seems to be causing much discomfort to many babies. They are made by Proctor and Gamble, who also make the cheaper version called Luvs.

I use Luvs, as I am cheap. I had noticed that her little butt crack would get red for no good reason. I am exclusively breastfeeding her as she HATES baby food right now so its not a new food (except maybe for Dill Pickles but that's another blog). The only new thing lately is she has been on antibiotics for an ear infection. But this redness (its not even a rash really) has been going on longer.

After doing quite a lot of reading something in me snapped and I ordered a set of cloth diapers, wipes, and covers. They shipped that same day (Saturday) and arrived on Monday! I set them up around me and looked at them. Now what?? When I first had kids, the thought of cloth diapering turned me OFF! All I could think was GROSS! I just pictured having to fight the kid to pin on some odd shaped piece of cloth and then everytime they peed I figured it would get all over and be nasty!

Let me just say, THANK YOU GOD FOR YOUTUBE!!! I usually don't have much use for YouTube anymore but wow you can seriously find an educational video on ANYTHING!!! Here's the link for how to fold a cloth diaper just like the kind I bought!!

My stash^

What I bought is:

• Organic cotton prefold cloth diapers
• Bummi Whisper White Covers
• SposoEasy All in One Diaper (for those occasions where we may be out or someone else may have to change her)
• Snappi Diaper Clip (No pins needed!!)

Where I bought it from is Green Mountain Diapers

I am not so hardcore, however, that I will never use disposables. Until I am more used to it and she is eating solids more she will be wearing either Huggies Naturals or Seventh Generations for bedtime and when we go out.

First attempt at using the Prefold with the Snappi

With the Bummi cover on

Wearing a Seventh Generation Diaper. You can see the redness on her thigh (left in the picture) from wearing the other diapers (Luvs).

So far she has only peed in them...