New mommy necessities

I have several friends that are pregnant and since I have been there done that they keep asking me what they need beyond the diapers, whippies and onesies. I need to preface that each mom/child is different and I also did not formula feed so I have zero experience with brands etc. So here goes:

Diaper bag - doesn't have to be an actual diaper bag but needs several pockets and abundant amount of space. I would however strongly suggest something that zips and cross body helps when wrangling the child especially when they get older.

Nursing shawl - these are great because it loops around your neck and has a curved boning in the top that allows you to look down at the baby while nursing but still be completely covered. The one I had was by balboa baby and I really liked it however if I had it to do again I would have purchased it in a lighter color than black. I tried another brand that was lined with a soft furry material. The material was to heavy for the neck boning to stay up and it was extremely hot.

Travel system - I know that color is often a big seller for mom but do your research and find out how the seat did in car crashes etc. Also go to the store and play with the strollers. Make sure you can operate it for the most part one handed. The hubster and I had to leave one folded in the store because we couldn't get it unfolded. There were also a few that I could not get folded at all.

Diaper rash cream- sorry to say this but inevitably at some point you will need to treat diaper rash. There is a product called "Corona" no not the adult alcohol treat. This is a lanolin based product. It is in a yellow tube with a red lid. It does an amazing job at clearing there rash.

Nipple cream - I loved lansinoh lanolin. It is in a purple box and usually with the bottles and breast pads. I would highly recommend using this twice a day in your third trimester and continue using it after every feeding. I never cracked or bleed and I nursed for about a year.

Nursing pads - yet again I liked the lansinoh brand. They had two adhesive strips so they stayed in place better. They were also more form fitting and very absorbent.

Red lightbulb - wherever you plan on changing/nursing the baby at night place a lamp with a red light bulb in the area. The red light wont blind you the way white light does. It is also easier for the other parent to sleep through.

Arm chair pillow - I'm not really sure what their exact name is but it looks like the top of a chair with arms but is is a pillow. Anyways, these are nice to have by the bed for late night feedings because it provided a little more support than just a pillow and when you are still using a boppy the boppy can rest on the arms.

Sleep bra - yep those breast pads don't stay in place on there own. Sleep bras have a deep v cut that allows for easy access and are loose enough to expand when you are engorged.

Breast pump - I purchased the madela free style. It was what worked best for my situation. I didn't not have my own office at the time therefore I had to use various different private spaces at work. The free style has a battery which I had to have because there were times I didn't have access to an outlet.

Bottles - I would highly recommend having at least 8 bottles to pump into. That way your not having to wash bottles every night. Also my son would usually finish what I pumped the day before on the next day and I didn't waste a bag or dirty another bottle.

A little side note - there is typically no reason to pump more than the meals that your baby is missing from eating directly from the source. Pumping is very taxing and somewhat physically and emotionally demanding. I did pump about once a day or every other day when I was home with him for those first 6 weeks and froze it for a small stash for those growth spurt days so the baby sitter would have enough. I actually wound up throwing some away. Once I went back to work I pumped 3 times a day until he began to eat more solid food I then went to twice a day and when he ate even more table food I went to one and by about 9 months I wasn't pumping at work any more. I will say I had more milk at the beginning of the week after feeding my son all weekend and not as much come Friday. Ok I'm done now!

As for pasies my son wouldn't take one so I can't help you there.

Velcro straps - I found these really neat Velcro straps that you can attach one end to a sippy cup or toy and fasten the other to the stroller or highchair. They were adjustable so it would prevent it from hitting the floor. On a side note eventually the child does learn to undo them which then renders them useless but wonderful while they work.

Snack stack - The one I have is 5 tiered and can hold a wide variety of snack items while on the go. It also doesn't crush like a plastic bag.

Freezer cooking portioning

Goal in Life...

My current goal in life sounds so simple.  It is simply to simplify my life.  Not as simple as I thought it would be.  I wanted to be able to spend more time with my family and friends but still have home cooked meals on the table at dinner.  Sounds easy right?

Not as easy as I thought it would be.  My mom made it look so easy growing up.  She cooked dinner most every night and had time to spend with us kids.  One thing she had was that she was a stay at home mom.  She had the ability to prep wile we napped or when we were at school.  I on the other hand work full time and the hubster works full time with crazy shifts that are constantly changing.  So here I am wanting to make sure everyone gets a good meal and that I stay sane.

I had never heard of freezer cooking until I joined Pinterest.  Looking back my moms idea of freezer cooking was the occasional frozen pizza on those nights were we had to be somewhere in a hurry.  So when I found out there was a whole world of freezer cooking a lightbulb went off.

I can do that!  I said to myself.  This was going to be how I simplified part of my life.  I have started out small.  I made spaghetti one night and had a lot of sauce left over.  So I decided that would be my first freezer project but how to freeze it?

I had previously used freezer bags to freeze things but the problem with that is the portion is usually larger than what I want.  I had remembered a blog that I had read earlier how the lady froze her meat loaf in a silicon pan removed it and then placed the meatloaf in a freezer bag because the meatloaf would then be loaf pan size and she could defrost it in her pan bake it later.

I had an epiphany my mom had given me these silicone cupcake liners.  I made one set of cup cakes in them but they weren't eater friendly so I sat them in the back of the cabinet and figured I would one day find a use for them.  This was it!  I could freeze small portions of foods in them and then remove the food to freeze in one big bag.  Genius I know!

This came in handy today as my little man decided he would only eat noodles and sauce aka spaghetti for lunch today.  Lucky for me I had sauce in the freezer so all I had to do was boil some noodles for him.

This was the final result.  He was happy I was happy and a toddler temper tantrum was avoided all because I had some left over sauce.  Who knew?

Chicken Taco Soup

We had a cold front blow in the other day and I was so excited to finally get to cook soup! I wanted some form of either chicken tortilla or chicken taco soup. So I scoured the web for the perfect recipe. I didn't find one with exactly what I wanted. I'm a bit of a picky eater so I took the parts of each of the recipes I liked to form my own:

Chicken Taco Soup

8 oz cooked shredded chicken
1 can yellow corn
1 can pinto beans
1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies
1/2 c water
1/2 tsp corn starch
1 chicken bouillon cube
1/2 package taco seasoning
1/2 onion
1/2 bell pepper

1. Sauté the bell pepper and onion until tender
2. Add all ingredients to crock pot or large pot
3. Cook on low for 3-4 hours

Serve with cheese, sour cream and corn/tortilla chips.

If you like it spicy use pinto beans with jalapeños, hot tomatoes with green chilies, hot taco seasoning or some crushed red pepper.

Happy eating!

Getting started

So...

I decided to join the wonderful world of blogging as an outlet for my ideas.  Mainly I wanted to have a place to post things of my own to Pinterest.  Conceded I know, but if everyone else can do it why can't I right?

A little about me-

I love to cook...but hate to clean.  I have a full time job, I am an amazing wife and an incredible mother of one rough and tumble boy.  

I also love shoes, purses and fashion even though I have little time to shop these days.