A New Favorite "Food"

Tommy isn't crawling yet but I decided to let him try puffs. I think they taste great, Tommy thinks they're weird. He just kinda smacks his mouth if I give him one but won't put one in his own mouth. He does, however, LOVE pop cakes!

I bought a bag to try for myself since the grocery store where we shop was sampling them. They are very bland but I noticed that they pretty much just dissolve in your mouth so I thought I'd let Tommy try a piece. He went nuts over it!

Now I give him a piece every morning to munch on while I get my lunch made and his bottles put together for daycare.

Food Friday: Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

So this recipe was recommended by some girls on the TB Aug 12 board and they were pretty good! I was able to make them dairy-free and they came out pretty delicious!

Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter or Earth Balance to make them dairy-free
1/3 cup Frank's Red Hot sauce or any other favorite hot sauce
1 pound ground chicken, preferably thigh meat
1 large egg
1/2 celery stalk, minced
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon salt

Yields: 40 3/4-inch meatballs

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Drizzle the vegetable oil into a 9 x 13- inch baking dish and use your hand to evenly coat the entire surface. Set aside.
Combine the butter and hot sauce in a small saucepan, and cook over low heat, whisking until the butter is melted and fully incorporated. Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool for 10 minutes.
Combine the ground chicken, hot sauce mixture, egg, celery, bread crumbs, and salt in a large mixing bowl and mix by hand until thoroughly incorporated.
Roll the mixture into round, 3/4-inch balls, making sure to pack the meat firmly. Place the balls in the prepared baking dish, being careful to line them up snugly and in even rows vertically and horizontally to form a grid. The meatballs should be touching one another.
Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the meatballs are firm and cooked through. A meat thermometer inserted into the center of a meatball should read 165°F.
Allow the meatballs to cool for 5 minutes in the baking dish before serving.

Food Saturday?

Oops, forgot to post my Food Friday post yesterday. I had a hellish week at work and it slipped my mind last night.

This recipe has been suggested by a few people on message boards and I pinned it on Pinterest as well. I finally gave it a shot and let me tell you, it's a keeper! We mixed it with rice and veggies, we put it in tacos, Bill made it into quesadillas, and I'm sure there's more we could have done too!

Crockpot Chicken

1 envelope Taco Seasoning
6 pieces Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 jar Salsa (16 oz)

Dump everything into a crock pot and stir to blend the seasoning with the salsa. Cook on high for 4 to 6 hours or on low for 6 to 8 hours (I actually cooked it for almost 10 because I didn't get out of work as early as I wanted to, remember I had a hellish week, but it was fine! I really need to get a crockpot with an automatic shut-off!). When done, stir with a fork or wooden spoon and the chicken should shred easily.

Food Friday: Dairy-Free Brownies

Another dairy-free recipe. This one was really exciting to find because I was really craving some baked goods. These aren't the best brownies I've ever had but they are definitely tasty. I brought them into work (to keep myself from eating the whole pan...) and my coworkers raved.

Ingredients
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
In a large bowl, stir together the cocoa and baking soda.
Add 1/3 cup vegetable oil and boiling water.
Mix until well blended and thickened.
Stir in the sugar, eggs, and remaining 1/3 cup oil.
Finally, add the flour, vanilla and salt; mix just until all of the flour is absorbed.
Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Allow to cool before cutting into squares.

Breastfeeding Update

Who would have thought that I'd keep breastfeeding at 7 months? I had planned on breastfeeding but had no idea how it would go. After a few weeks, I hated it. After 2 months, I had to give up dairy and went back to work. Well now, at 7 months, I've decided to night-nurse.

I gave up my mid-day pumping session and I feel so much more free at work! I nurse Tommy when he wakes up in the morning, he drinks 3 bottles at daycare, then I nurse him around 6pm and again before bed. If he wants to eat overnight I nurse then as well. So far, it's going really well. I was really sore the first few days of not pumping but my body seems to have adjusted. It means that Tommy is getting full formula bottles while at daycare and during the day at home but it doesn't seem to bother him. It's expensive since we us Enfamil Nutramigen but this is way to keep breastfeeding at least some without being tied to my pump. I was starting to get really frustrated at work. I was losing my whole planning period to pump which meant staying later at work and getting less time with Tommy in the evening.

I hope to continue with this arrangement for as long as we can!

Food Friday!

So I know I haven't posted Tommy's 7 month update yet but I swear I will soon! Until then, here's my recipe for Food Friday! Another dairy-free idea, though I've been making this for years, long before I started my dairy-free diet!

Chinese Chicken Salad

1 bag prepared coleslaw, rinsed & drained
3 tbsp. sesame seeds
1 bag sliced almonds
2 pkgs. crushed top Ramen noodles (do not use seasoning)
4 to 6 split chicken breasts, cooked & shredded (I boil the chicken)
1/2 c. vegetable oil

In 1/2 cup of oil brown almonds, sesame seeds and crushed noodles. Let mixture cool. Mix with greens and toss with dressing. Add chicken and refrigerate.

DRESSING:

1/2 c. oil (1/4 c. sesame oil & 1/4 c. vegetable oil)
3 tbsp. rice vinegar (do not substitute)
Top Ramen season packets
3 tbsp. sugar

Wisk together and pour over salad. Toss and serve chilled.

Food Friday

I'm linking up with Lauren at Our Little All-American Family for Food Friday. I've done this once before but kind of slacked off when I started my non-dairy diet. I realized I really should post some things I've found that are dairy-free!

Crockpot BBQ Beef

3lbs beef cut into 2 inch cubes
8 ounce can tomato sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
1 med. onion chopped
1/2 cup celery
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp Worcester sauce

Brown the beef then dump everything in the crockpot. Cook on low for 7-8 hours and serve over rice (or mashed potatoes but I did rice and it was great!). That's it! Super easy and delicious!

Oatmeal Success!

If you have been following me for even a short amount of time, you know that Tommy has a sensitive stomach. He has a dairy sensitivity and we had no luck with rice cereal or oatmeal at 4 months, 5 months, or 5.5 months. Our pediatrician wanted us to feed him cereal of some sort for the iron content which he would need after 6 months but we really didn't want to put him through the awful stomach pains he seemed to experience after eating rice or oatmeal. I started making spinach for him and luckily, he loves it.

Last week was February break for me and since I had a couple of days where I had no where I needed to go, I decided to give oatmeal another try. The first day I fed it to him (Thursday), I mixed it with peaches and fed him in the morning. I followed it with a couple of spoonfuls of prunes. That night he did great! I braved it again the following morning and again, no stomach pains!

Since then I've given it to him once a day either in the morning or in the evening for 6 days straight and ::knock on wood:: we haven't had any problems! Wooohoo!!!

Oops (6 months old!)

It's been 2 weeks since my last blog post. Wow, time got away from me! My baby boy is 6 months old already! He is wearing some 6 month sized clothes, some 9 month, and some 6-9 month sized clothes. He's in size 3 diapers and weighed in at 17lbs 12oz at his 6 month appointment which is the 54th percentile for his age. He was 26in long (33rd percentile, although I think he has stretched out since that appointment) and his head circumference was 17.5in (71st percentile, yikes!).

The pediatrician suggested trying barley cereal since we're still having trouble with rice and oatmeal but I'm holding off for now and feeding him spinach to give him the iron that he needs. She also said that if I wanted, I could try and introduce dairy when he's 8 months old. I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be breastfeeding for though. Things are still going alright so I'm going to keep going but we are up to 12oz of formula a day.

Two days ago we had a tooth break through! It's just one little needle-sized piece but Tommy's been teething non-stop since then! Luckily, he hasn't been too fussy or anything, just drooling and chewing everything. Yesterday, he was laying on his belly playing with some toys and he pivoted around and started nomming on the leg of his bouncy chair!

Tommy isn't crawling but he is trying! He tries to pull himself forward by his arms and he tries to get up on his knees but when he is able to, he face-plants! I don't think he's super close to being able to crawl but he is starting to get very interested in what's around him and trying to get to everything!

He is also starting to get weary of people he doesn't recognize. He will let them hold him but he looks around for Bill or I to make sure we're near.

I'm so in love with my baby boy!

A Day in the Life

Jen over at Stay At Home {Mom}ents challenged the Bump mommies to a Day in the Life blog post. I thought, why not? Let's give it a try! So here goes. (By the way, all pics are from my iPhone and not amazing)

5:45am My alarm goes off. I was already awake because Tommy woke up at 5:30 looking for his pacifier.

6:00am I drag myself out of bed and begin to pump and do a little lesson planning.

6:30am Tommy wakes up for the day.

I get him dressed and ready for the day.

Tommy had some morning Jumperoo time while I finish getting ready for work.

7:15am All of our bags are packed and ready to go, my pump, my work bag, my lunch, and Tommy's bottles and food for daycare.

I pack and start the car,

because it's a balmy 14 degrees outside with a windchill of 3. Brrr

7:20am We're all bundled up and ready to brave the cold.

7:25am We arrive at daycare which is located in a wing of another elementary school in my district.

It's for kids of employees only and I love it!

7:35am I'm off to work. I have a very typical morning, prep for the day, meeting with my grade level team, greet my class as they enter, and a small group reading lesson.

10:00am The kids are at their special (gym day) which means time for me to pump.

I pump in a small closet in the school. It's not cozy but it locks and has an outlet!

10:40am Back to teaching!

12:05pm Lunch which means it's time to pump again.

4:45pm My work day is finally over. I return home to my sister playing with Tommy! (Bill was able to pick Tommy up from daycare)

5:45pm I nurse Tommy then he takes a short nap while we snuggle. I missed him all day!

6:15pm Tommy wakes up and Auntie JoJo feeds him some pears. Mmm

Then we play for a while.

7:30pm PJ time then nursing again before bed.

8:00pm Tommy is asleep. I make up bottles for tomorrow.

8:15pm I make a bagel with E arth Balance for dinner since I' m not super hungry.

8:20pm A little bit of American Idol then bed.

So there it is! A day in the life on Longmeadow! Nothing glamorous but I love it!

Continuing to Breastfeed Pros & Cons

While pregnant I just assumed I would breastfeed my baby. I didn't have any clue how it would go and even though I went to a class, I had really no idea what I was getting myself into.

One week in, things were going ok but I was crazy emotional. When Tommy was 2 weeks old, I told Bill I would only nurse until he was 3 weeks old, then I was done. I hated it. At 3 weeks, I decided to stick it out 1 more week because I was afraid that if I stopped, Tommy would get his days and nights confused again (I read somewhere that BFing actually helps to get babies on the right schedule). When Tommy was 4 weeks old, I took him to the doctor for a clogged tear duct and mentioned to the nurse practitioner that I was thinking about stopping. She was very supportive. She said that if I wanted to stop, then I could, that I had given Tommy 4 solid weeks and it wasn't for everyone. She gave me a sample of formula and wished me luck.

I started giving Tommy 1 bottle of formula a day but it wasn't going well (wrote about it here, here, here, here, and here). Once I cut dairy out of my diet and realized what a difference it made in Tommy, I was determined to make it to 6 months.

So here we are now, 3 weeks from my goal and I can't decide if I want to continue or stop in February. I decided I need to make a pros and cons list and see if that helps.

Pros:
* Perfect food
* Contains antibodies that will (hopefully) keep Tommy healthier
* Is easy at home, just whip it out and feed
* Easy in the middle of the night when Tommy's hungry
* Is comforting for Tommy, especially in the middle of the night
* Free

Cons:
* Pumping in the morning means I have to get up 30 minutes early
* Pumping at work means giving up my planning period and not feeling fully prepared
* Not eating dairy is HARD
* Others can't feed him without me needing to pump
* Not convenient when we're out of the house, either have to find a place to nurse or make sure to be home in time.
* No sex drive, may be related to BFing

Hmmmmmmmm 6 points for each side. I don't know what to do. There are some moments where I'm so not ready to stop. Then there are others where I don't know if I can continue, I'm so done with it. Crap. I was hoping for a clear-cut winner...

Tommy's Tummy

My poor baby has a sensitive tummy. We found out at 8 weeks that he has a dairy sensitivity so I cut all dairy out of my diet. Then, right before he turned 4 months old, our pediatrician asked us to try rice cereal so we would know how he reacted before his 4 month appointment. After a few attempts, he liked it but it really upset his stomach. We decided that we were in no rush so we waited a month before trying again.

A month later, right after Christmas, we tried again and again, he had stomach pains. He was up at night crying in pain. I tried oatmeal after 2 nights of pain and it was even worse. He cried all day and then woke up at 10:30 screaming louder and with more force than I've ever heard from him. It was 15 minutes of inconsolable screaming. I was about to call the doctor when he just stopped. I kept him in the PNP next to my side of the bed because I was so freaked up.

Luckily, we had an appointment scheduled for the next day to re-check his breathing (back to normal!) after his chest cold so I knew I could discuss it with her then.

I told the pedi all about what happened and she was perplexed. She said that she wasn't thrilled that he reacted that way but it didn't seem like an allergy, just a sensitive belly. She suggested that we skip cereal for now and move on to veggies. As long as he tolerates veggies for a bit, we can try and mix in a tiny bit of cereal and see how he responds. She does want him on cereal for the iron content but isn't too worried about it until he's 6 months old.

So we skipped all solids yesterday and HE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!! Woohoo!!! I needed that after 3 straight nights of little sleep. Today, I fed him 4 little spoonfuls of sweet potatoes. I figure that if his tummy is sensitive, it's best to do a little at a time. He LOVED sweet potatoes! No tummy trouble so far. We'll see how he does tonight. If all goes well, I'll give him some more tomorrow. Fingers crossed that this goes over well.

Optimistically, I started making baby food today. I had no desire to make my own until I started looking at the pre-packaged stuff. Some brands have all kinds of other ingredients in them. Not something I want being put into my son, especially with his tummy. Then the organic kind is SO EXPENSIVE! We had some Babies R Us gift cards so I bought a Baby Brezza baby food maker and tried it out this morning. I'm in love! It makes it all so easy! I bought a package of carrots for $1.25 and made up 2 batches in less than an hour!

I put the puree in the BPA-free ice cube trays I have here and froze them and popped them into a freezer-safe ziplock bag. The most work for me was peeling and chopping. The Baby Brezza is awesome because you just put the food in, turn on the steam and blend and let it go. Tommy started crying and needed a nap while I was doing the second batch so I took him out of his highchair where he was playing and put him down for a nap. By the time I came back, it had finished steaming and blending and was just sitting there waiting for me!

I realized that I can probably use frozen veggies and prep time would be practically nothing! A bag of frozen carrots is $0.99 at my grocery store without any sales or coupons. Tons of baby food for $0.99 with no additives. Sounds good to me! Once spring rolls around, I can buy fresh, local produce at the farmers market! I'm excited to try other veggies and fruits. Hopefully Tommy's tummy will hold up!

So much to be thankful for

This week has been full of activity and excitement. Wednesday I was off of work so I spent my morning at my Grandmother's house helping her and my mom make Thanksgiving pies. We do this every year together and it's really a lot of fun. Thursday was Tommy's first Thanksgiving!
He did great! I was concerned since we wouldn't be home for his afternoon nap and though he didn't get a great nap in, he did sleep for about an hour and a few cat naps. The hardest part of the day was watching everyone eat all of the delicious, dairy-filled foods. I made stuffing with my Earth Balance butter substitute and mashed potatoes with Earth Balance and Coffee Rich, a lactose-free coffee creamer. I was able to eat turkey too of course! But no pie, no squash souffle, no candied sweet potatoes, no green bean casserole, etc. It's worth it, but days like this one are really hard.

Friday was Bill's 30th birthday! It also happened to be the day last year that Tommy was conceived ;) Unfortunately, Bill had to work and he had a long day. While he was at work, Tommy and I made him a sign to wish him a happy birthday.

(sorry it's so blurry)

While Bill was working, we went out to lunch with my friend Melissa who lives in DC but was in town for the holiday. It was so nice to introduce her to Tommy and catch up! We went to a pizza restaurant and I got Tomato Pie without the parmesan cheese and it was heavenly. I miss pizza! I made Bill his traditional birthday dinner of hot dogs, mac & cheese, and tater tots. It's the ultimate, kids meal that he loves because it makes him feel young!

Today was an exciting day since it was Tommy's baptism! We had the ceremony at the church where Bill and I were married and where I grew up. After, we had a party in the parish center of the church. We had a great time and it was so nice to celebrate our beautiful baby boy with our family.

(I'll add a picture when I get one!)

Sorry I've been MIA

It has been far too long since my last post. This is mostly due to the fact that life has definitely picked up! Work days consist of getting ready, going to work, picking up Tommy, cuddling/feeding Tommy, bottles and prep for the next day, bed, rinse, repeat. Weekends are filled with laundry, lesson planning, grocery shopping, and trying to see family and friends. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but it doesn't leave me much free time for things like blogging!

So a rundown:

Tommy is 3 months old!!!
He's still in size 1 diapers but will be graduating to size 2s once this box of 1s is used up.
He is wearing size 3 month clothes comfortably.
He is drinking 6oz bottles while at daycare and I'm almost pumping enough so that he can have all breastmilk.
He is taking at least one nice long nap a day as well as a few shorter naps.
HE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!! Last Friday night, he slept from 8pm-7am!!! Then Sunday night he slept from 7pm-5am, ate and went back down until 7. Last night he slept from 7:30-6:30 waking up once because he was all congested. Once I held him upright for a couple of minutes, he went right back to sleep.
He is consistently rolling from belly to back and is trying to go from back to belly.
He is smiling daily and babbling away.

An update on the dairy sensitivity, Tommy is a completely new baby! His gas has decreased considerably. He is much happier and is much more relaxed. I used to lay my hand on his belly and feel gas bubbles moving around. He would pull his legs up to his belly and wince in pain everyday, multiple times a day. This is completely gone! Now, he basically cries when he's hungry or tired.

Being a mom is very hard and giving up dairy is difficult but it's so worth it. I'm so in love with my little guy!

Feeding...again

So there have been two major issues that we've been dealing with so far: sleeping and eating. We have started to get the sleeping issue under control but the feeding issue has gotten worse. I wrote about it here, here, and here. I mentioned what was going on to the pediatrician at our appointment on Monday and she said that the reaction Tommy's skin had to the formula would make her think it was a milk protein allergy but since he didn't seem to have any problems with my breastmilk and the soy formula was going fine, then to keep doing what we were doing.

Of course that meant that on Tuesday he started rejecting the soy formula. Yesterday he started rejecting the breast. Well, rejecting is the wrong word. He would suck then pull of and cry, suck and pull off and cry, until he finally gave up. I called the doctor and they got us in this morning. They think Tommy is allergic to dairy. I should also mention that Tommy cries all the time. Like he's either sleeping, eating, or fussing. He rarely will entertain himself and even if we're holding him, he's usually fussing. I really thought this was just normal, that we just had a fussy baby but the allergy could be the cause of this.

The pediatrician said to eliminate all dairy from my diet for at least 3 weeks and when formula is needed, we should give him Nutramigen which is a hypoallergenic formula. They said it tastes terrible and we should mix it with breastmilk until he got used to the taste.

I am more than willing to cut dairy out of my diet but I'm nervous that it's going to be really hard. There is milk in a lot of things. I started looking at labels of things we have around the house and you wouldn't believe the weird things that have milk in it, like chewable vitamin C. I did find this website, The Fussy Baby Site and there is a page devoted to non-dairy diets and resources.

So here I am, cutting out dairy. I really hope it works. Poor Tommy has terrible gas and is so uncomfortable all the time. The doctor said I should have a new baby within 3 weeks. I hope she's right.