Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Tip of the Week

Lets go through our wallets this week.  I'm game to see what receipts I no longer need.  Are you?  Now I didn't say go crazy and dump out your entire purse.  Lets save that for another rainy day.  Our wallets seem to start bursting at the seams the longer we put off this tiny small chore.  That person who gave you their business card in hopes you will call them might be stuck in there and it is probably never going to happen.  Now if your wallet has seen better days, I give you permission to find yourself a nice Fossil wallet.  Okay guilty as charged!  I'm a bit addicted to Fossil, BUT and here it comes...I have had my own Fossil wallet for about five years and its still in good shape.  There is no need for you to toss or replace something that is still useful just because you crave buying something new.  Anyway, if you are like me you become a bit attached to it and prefer to know where you usually put that coffee punch card.  Have fun getting rid of receipts and other useless items that you no longer need!

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Vitamin C packets as Juice?!?

Have you led your kids down the path of sugary sweetness that knows no bounds?  Are you amazed by them begging for the good stuff?  I, myself, never got juice as a child and I'm lucky that it was not a staple in our diet.  However, hubby's mom bought it for them all the time and he says he craves sugar as an adult as a result.  So is this true?  Will giving your kids what you think is an innocent drink of juice lead to problems later in life?  Our daughter loves water which I'm very happy to oblige.  I don't think kids get enough of just plain simple water.  I was watching a friend's little girl one day and another mom offered her some apple juice.  I regretted giving it to her and realized that sugar is in everything, but its up to us as adults whether or not we are going to give it to them.  As my hubby just stated "juice is soda without fizz."

My best advice is to not give into those darling little looks and smiles.  You don't have to buy it just because they want something off the grocery shelf.  My earliest memory in a grocery store about juice is my mother getting cranberry juice off the shelf and me begging her to not buy it.  I had a kidney infection I think and to this day I still am not a fan of cranberries.  Thanksgiving meals where they serve that glob of cranberry sauce was never very appealing to me.  Now my daughter loves dried cranberries  and that is fine with me.  Most cranberry juice though is filled with sugar and if you are looking to help your kidneys then you need to look closely at what you are buying.  Knudsen's has one that is called Pure Cranberry and wow that stuff is definitely something to desire.  Hubby drinks it just fine though.  I, on the otherhand, have to down it when I need some in my system.  It is literally that bitter and so if you have a nice glass of cranberry and it tastes yummy, it is probably loaded with added sugar.

Besides preventing colds, vitamin C though helps with your kidney and bladder system and to flush out
any impurities.  I drink one packet of emergen-c packet every morning and I think this helps me to have the most energy and if you are low on iron, vitamin C is your ticket.  It actually helps your body to absorb the iron your body needs.  People with anemia who are reading this could probably go into deep detail about iron and vitamin C and the absorption rates.  Anyway, these little packets give me enough vitamin C and yes I have been using them while I have been pregnant and it has helped with my energy level.  Now here is my warning about vitamin C though.  Of course there has to be one!  Please be careful about how much you are getting especially while you are pregnant.  Too much vitamin C can actually cause miscarriages from what I have read.  I think you have to be in the 3000-5000 mg scale though for this to occur.  Yes, sometimes you can have too much of a good thing.

Kids too have a recommended amount and yes we give our daughter some of the vitamin C packet and we do call it juice.  It is loaded with vitamins and she loves it.  We do dilute it more than what it calls for and it can take her a couple of days to finish just one packet.  The MAXIMUM dose you can give a toddler is 400 mg and so please be aware of how much you are giving your child.  Also you don't have to give it to them every day.  The safer recommendation is to use the kids version of emergen-c and so you know you are not overdosing your child.  If you are trying to switch your kids from sugar laden juices, maybe try the packets to see if your little one will take a liking to that instead.  It is worth a try!

The paleo world is all about not giving into sugar and processed foods and I think its rather genius for them to promote vitamin C as juice.  They are not setting up their kids for failure and a lifetime of craving for sugary drinks.  Now I would be a hypocrite if I didn't admit drinking soda as a child, but we didn't get it very often.  I think it was easier for me to quit them than my husband.  We tried the Atkin's diet about a decade ago and I was able to kill that habit for good.  Remember that diet?  Well it served at least one purpose and got me off the soda drinks.  Now I admit I have craved root beer in this pregnancy and have indulged here and there, but of course I have to buy the one that is all natural without any preservatives and is filled with spices and herbs.  Most root beer on the market has high fructose corn syrup, but Virgil's Root Beer does not.

The best part about about not buying juice or pop for your kids and yourself besides your health would be the extra money you will be saving each week.  How much money do you put down to buying that kind of stuff?  Say you buy two gallon apple juice containers for 4.50/piece each week at your local grocery store.  One month that is 36 dollars of pure sugar down the drain or even more frightening to think about it is 432 dollars a year.  Trust me I can find better use for that money than buying juice with it.  In comparison, the vitamin C packets cost about 8 dollars for a 30 day supply and that is if you are using it on a daily basis.  A year supply of vitamin C will cost you 96 dollars instead.  Doesn't that sound more of a win win situation for you, your budget, and your child?



Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Tip of the Week

I posted last week about how we make our daughter pick up the food she throws down on the floor.  Tip of the week comes from another savvy mommy that is a very good friend of mine.  I remember questioning her before I became a mom myself about how to keep up with the amount of food on the floor.  She told me to not give your child more food than you're willing to clean up.  Makes a lot of sense huh?

Well are you battling a whole table with a spilled glass of milk?  The simple solution is to cut it in half.  You might be pouring more milk or water for your child, but its better than cleaning up an entire glass in case they spill it.  Yesterday, we gave our little girl water and her glass was only about quarter of the way full.  After her third glass, she spilled it on the floor and was able to help hubby wipe it up.  So think small increments with your little tornado and yes thats about what you can call them when it comes to creating food disasters!  We all know they are highly skilled in these techniques.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

What happened to my floor? Oh that's right I have a toddler!

Are you tired of wiping up the floor after your toddler?  No pets to chow down on all the yumminess that a toddler finds interesting to throw down to that floor?  Well I wish I could claim that I came up with this moment of brilliance, but I can't.  I read where one mom was making their toddler pick up all the food that was thrown down to the floor and that it was a slow process, but that it worked.  I have to say that the amount of food getting thrown has diminished greatly since we started just a few days ago. She throws the food and we will immediately take her out and make her pick it up.  Yes you have to be diligent about it.  The first time she was not happy about it, but seemed to understand what we were making her do.  We even made her do it at a restaurant the other day because we don't want her thinking that any place is exempt from her behavior.

Kids are so smart that its not too early to start teaching your toddler these small techniques.  Now you still probably have to wipe up the floor since it won't be super clean.  Your toddler can help in that task as well and yes it will take more time with them helping, but that is how you teach them to do things right.  I might be a bad parent for starting my kids out so young, but I have seen teenagers who expect their Mom to clean and do everything for them.  I don't want to be THAT mom.  Do you?!?

Monday, April 8, 2013

When You Love Someone

If you have been reading my blog then you know I have been venting about complete strangers and the issues of being almost 9 months pregnant.  However, there is a tenderness I feel about the baby I am carrying I cannot even describe.  There's a song that I listen to almost nightly that says it best.  I listened to one when I was carrying my daughter and I don't know if you have a song you relate to when you are pregnant, but one pops up that I have to listen to often.

All other songs kind of either fade in the background for me or I find them to be irritating to listen to.  I would prefer silence over those songs any day.  This song makes me smile and I'm reminded how much in love I already am.  My husband told me he loved our daughter more and I replied, "well I hope so!"  I know he loves me, but our children have a hold on us that we sometimes can't define.  If a robber pulled a gun on you and your spouse and gave you the choice, you would have to have a moment to decide who was more important.  Its not like that when it comes to your child.  There would be no hesitation or choice who you would save.

So back to the song and yes I'm listening to it now.  It is by Bryan Adams "When You Love Someone."  I prefer the MTV unplugged version of it because it has a certain rawness that I just love.  

When you love someone 
You'll sacrifice 
You'd give it everything you got 
And you won't think twice 
You'd risk it all 
No matter what may come 
When you love someone 

Those are the lyrics that literally sing to me.  I'm not sure if its the universe aligning with you to fall in love with this little human being that you really haven't seen yet.  It is there for me that I would risk it all for my baby.  I will fight to make sure things are perfect for him or her.  Best part of this whole process is I am waiting to see if we have a little boy or girl.  Some people say will tell you it helped them to bond with their baby while waiting, but I have had no issue in not knowing.  Remember the joy as a child when you told someone something so good that they squealed in delight?  We have gotten away from little things like that and so I hope my friends and family will revel and delight in the fact that they might have guessed the baby's gender correctly.  My husband disagree this time with me what we are having and so I think there will be a touch of who was right teasing going on.  Soon so very soon we will have the reveal and trust me there will be lots of love in that room when our little one is born.

Enjoy another movie memory lane with this video!



Thursday, April 4, 2013

Random Thought of the Day

I had a mom yesterday tell me that if she got her kids fed, bathed, and down for naps then she was doing a good job.  I would have to agree.  I think we put too much emphasis on being that perfect Mom.  I hear about how other moms have all these hobbies and activities and I really don't envy them.  My battle is to keep up with the housework on a daily basis which by the way is sliding fast the closer I get to having this baby.  Do we like to brag about ourselves especially on our blogs and how seemingly perfect we are?  If we really looked at ourselves with a microscope, would we be happy with the results?  What dark secrets do we hide from even ourselves?  Sometimes its hard to admit we have faults and maybe that is why I write about mine.  Okay maybe not all the time!  ;)

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Tip of the Week

Are you battling a clogged toilet?  It is pretty easy to get too much toilet paper stuck into one especially if you have a very curious toddler.  I have taken the steps of keeping this door shut by the way.  Anyway, a very simple technique is to pour some dish cleanser into the bowl and add hot water.  Sometimes I don't even have to use the plunger to solve the problem.  Now word of caution I have heard that you can crack the bowl if you use too much hot water.  My best advice is to keep the water in the bowl to more of a warm level.  I have never had issues and the more difficult clogged toilets you can pour more soap in.  Pretty simple.