Friday Fill-ins!

1. I know its going to snow the next couple of days and I think its beautiful since I don't have to go anywhere!
2. This week might make February feel like the longest month.
3. You can't help but smile when you hear Jack's laughter or see his smile.
4. Winter storm is here; bring it on!
5. Where have you looked that shows you how wondrous God is?
6. Thank goodness, now that we've finished laundry, Jack's fleece PJ is now available. 7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to drinking hot cocoa and snuggling with my boys, tomorrow my plans include visiting with family and then having a Mommy-Night-Out with the girls and Sunday, I want to get some housework done before starting the work week again!

Is it Friday Yet?!

Wow... Why is it that Tuesday evening, it feels like I've already worked a full 5 day week (and then some). I'm not complaining, I'd rather be busy with things to do especially because I feel very lucky to have a job in this economy.

Yesterday started out with a surprise that myself and a coworker were going to be presenting on a project to the head of R&D the next day (which would be today). This is not something that is taken very lightly by my department head... I kind of feel that sometimes he is a bit too controlling. I guess its good because he tends to be aware of what is going on, but sometimes it is hard to allow your personality to show through in your work. So, we worked on our presentation for a couple of hours, reviewed it with some senior members of our group (my direct boss included), and then putting the finishing touches on it. We reviewed it again today the hour before our meeting/presentation was scheduled and one women gets an email on her Blackberry saying that meeting is cancelled for this week. ARGH... well, our presentation is just being pushed back so we're at least prepared for when the presentation will actually happen. I am grateful for the opportunity to present to senior management. I've been told essentially that my presence isn't known at the company, and that's some of what needs to happen for me to have a chance of promotion. We've also got a lot of prep going on for our global R&D conference on top of our project load, so things are just all around super busy.

I am excited for tomorrow evening, there is a group of younger women from work getting together to play a game, drink some wine, and eat some yummy food. The summer before I got pregnant with Jack I played sand volleyball with some coworkers. Getting that time outside of work is really helpful in not only networking but being able to do things at work together. Not to mention, getting a girls' night will be a much welcomed break.

Things on the breastfeeding end of motherhood have been slightly discouraging lately. My supply seems to be going down a bit and I can't quite figure out why. I know Jack is eating more solid foods, but I keep reading that he's still supposed to be getting most of the nourishment from formula or breastmilk. But it seems that even though on the weekend when I'm nursing him full-time and only giving him solids after nursing, my supply is still low. I guess I shouldn't assume that my supply is going bad, but when I pump I'm getting far less than I had been (we're talking 50%). I keep toying with the idea of weaning him, but I don't know that I'm quite ready. I know it sounds selfish but I enjoy the time we get and honestly, I enjoy saving money. Haha, yes I know I've got weird reasons, but my feelings are all over the map on this topic!

Well, in more exciting news... JACK IS CRAWLING! He took his first on all-fours "steps" on Sunday and he's getting better and better every day. He is still doing a lot of moving around in any which way he can. Involving hands, knees, feet, and butt to get to whatever he wants... pretty cute! Luckily he's not too fast yet but we need to work on baby-proofing our house better.

Well, I'm beat and seriously need to get better sleep than I have the past couple of nights!

Friday Fill-ins!

1. Wouldn't it be easy to forget all responsibility and just relax.
2. I am feeling better than ever!
3. I love the taste of warm soup on COLD days like today.
4. I am sitting on the computer in the living room.
5. The first thing we're going to do is take a vacation somewhere warm, as soon as we can find the time.
6. I hear a drip, drip, drip; then I realized I didn't shut off the shower all the way.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to dinner Friday with my boys and our friend Chris, tomorrow my plans include hanging out at home with Jack while Matt works and Sunday, I want to spend all day with my boys!

Halfway Through the [Work] Week!

I'm so glad we're halfway through the work week! The first couple of days have seemed VERY long for some unknown reason.

Update on baby food... Jack hated it. And we're not talking about him not liking but swallowing it anyway, it was full fledged disgust, spitting it out & practically saying "eww"! I am pretty sure it was the texture, which of the food I made was pretty thick and not a smooth puree like store bought baby food. I will definitely be trying again, but probably using the blender to get the food to a finer texture.

Today was our 2nd NFP class. We went over the charting we had been doing and the symptom side of the sympto-thermal method. Its very interesting to see the way different things affect what you may be seeing in charting but still being able to interpret them correctly. I feel that we are learning a lot, but that a lot of what is explained is pretty intuitive. I think its also very interesting learning about it from this end after going through pregnancy & having Jack.

Well, this is a short post but I hope to post more tomorrow or Friday for sure!

Uddercovers.com Discount!

I just got an email with the coupon/promo code "Expecting" to be used at www.uddercovers.com. You get a gift pack (nursing cover/wrap, 2 washable breast pads, and milk band for helping track nursing) for $5 plus shipping/handling! The gift packages usually sell for over $45... I've heard great things about this brand so I ordered one! The whole thing cost me less than $15!

Enjoy and pass along to any other mommies or mommies-to-be that choose to nurse!

Homemade Baby Food

WARNING: If baby food grosses you out, this contains pictures of baby food!

To start off, I must say this could not have been much easier. Here's what I did to make some homemade green beans for Jack:

1. Used "all natural" (read: no added salt, etc. the ingredients only said "green beans") frozen green beans in a microwave steam bag. I used the grocery store brand and it cost only $1.39. Cooked according to the directions (5 minutes on high) and let stand for a minute.

I also used a mini food processor (we don't have a full sized one). I would say that if Jack had not been getting to "2nd foods" (the more textured foods) this might not have done the job because it didn't get them very thin, but we do have a blender so maybe I'll try that next time to see how fine it gets the food.

2. I added cooked green beans until about 3/4 full and drained some of the water from the package in to help thin the food out. I only had the option of chop v. grind for levels of demolishing the food, so I went with grind. It took maybe 5-10 minutes and addition of a little more water (I used water from our Brita pitcher) before it seemed thin enough.


3. I scooped into these freezer trays, but you can use regular ice trays. I purchased these because they have really tight fitting lids.


4. I put the lid on and labeled with these really neat washable write-on labels I stumbled upon at the store (they wash off with water). By this point the food was pretty cool already, so I popped them into the freezer.Total time it took: maybe 20 minutes.
Cost: $1.39 + one time cost of food processor & food freezer trays if we didn't already have one
Servings it produced: Approximately 14 ounces.

Compare that to a 2-pack of Gerber 2nd foods that were on sale last week at my grocery store, total of 7 ounces, for $0.99. My price/ounce: just under $0.10 versus Gerber [on sale]: ~$0.14. I'm going to keep doing some price comparisons to see how much it might save over the course of a week... so to be continued on that topic.

Can't wait to do some more tomorrow evening! I will stick with veggies starting off because they are easy to cook in the microwave-steam bags, but will head to fruits next. I expect fruits to be easier because they have a higher water content to begin with so they'll probably puree better.

Friday Fill-ins!

1. You have a chance to show your appreciation and give someone you love a hug.
2. Seize the day right now!
3. There is a baby being born somewhere right now.
4. Wear now and pay later.
5. It's time to relax with my family.
6. You may think your plans are up in the air but sometimes I think its all in His plan.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing at home, tomorrow my plans include grocery shopping & visiting friends and Sunday, I want to relax with my baby boy!