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...

Home Improvement

New

Old

Piggybacking on my pissing cat post.

Since one of the little b-tard's favorite places to pee was on/in/around the washer/dryer we had in our laundry room we used our state tax return to purchase a new set of front loaders! Its insane the difference in how the house now smells. I can't believe that we had to wash and dry our clothing in a pissed on set of appliances. I hope that all this time we haven't been smelling like cat pee when we go out with our clothes on!!! No one ever mentioned it...maybe they were too polite?

I did one load of laundry in the new set and dumped it out on the bed with intentions to fold (yeah...that didn't happen). I walked out, then came back in the bedroom about 20 minutes later (still didn't fold them though hehehe) and inhaled. WOW. It smelled so fresh and delightful. I didn't know laundry could smell like that for real. I don't even use dryer sheets anymore*! I'm in love.

The only bad part is that we can't have a door to the laundry room anymore because the new set are so deep you can't open it all the way. That ties in to the cat because we were keeping the litter box in the 1/2 bathroom that leads to the laundry room (an awkward, smelly, dirty option) for lack of other space to keep it. Fluffy #1 was repeatedly pissing in front of the vanity which was destroying the wood that it would seep under so we took the litter box out and its in the dining area near the sliding door (fine for summer when we can keep the door open most of the time...).

Now that we have these new awesome appliances I want to use them!! But our dining room is too small for our table and the table mostly collects crap at all times. SO as an experiment we took it apart and put it in the basement, and brought up a tiny table that my sister left behind when she moved that really is a 2 seater but we could all sit at it if necessary. We will need room for the highchair soon also.

Now I am able to easily walk around the little table to get to the laundry room with baskets in arm without gouging myself on the corner of the table or crushing my fingers into the molding of the garage door!! We won't be able to have people over for dinner at a table though...good thing we have a big couch!

*I now use these dryer balls I bought at Christmas Tree Shops for $2.99 that are blue, spiky, and work just as good as the sheets did!! No chemicals or having to keep buying them and throwing them away!!!!!