Domestic Affairs

I'm having an affair...with Corningware. I've already admitted my sins to my dad, but can't bring myself to tell my Fiesta. It all started a little over 4 years ago when Sean & I were on our honeymoon. There was some French White Corningware with lids in our timeshare. We were AMAZED by how well it warmed up our leftovers. They were as perfectly heated as they were in the restaurant.

Off and on over the past four years I've often thought of those dishes and how wonderfully they helped warm up leftovers. I had even mentioned it to dad about HLC coming up with some kind of lid to fit on some of their bowls. He said it wasn't possible because they allow for a 1/8 inch variation (EITHER WAY!) on all their dishes. So there would be no way to make the lid fit all dishes.

I haven't given up on my press for lids that fit my Fiesta, but I broke down and bought Sean a 20 oz French White cup with vented lid to warm up his lunch in. I just washed it and feel a little bad about my Made in China cup. But one little cup won't hurt. Right?

Repost from May 7, 2008

I used to have a blog on MySpace before I got my grown-up blog here. I'm going to repost some of my favorite posts on here since I don't plan on keeping that account open much longer.

I've been on an Oasis kick lately. I even requested all the Oasis CD's they had at the library since I only had one. Oasis is one of those bands that instantly takes me back in time. I can put it on and all of a sudden I'm 20 years old sitting in Molton Hall with my favorite soccer player listening to Oasis REALLY LOUD. Good times.

And when I think about that time during my life I think about the rest of my four years at Rio…and hanging out in the courtyard behind the president's office. It was so quiet back there. And of course there's the helicopter pad (whatever that was – they have a road that goes up there now) and the water tower.

I remember skipping class with Jason (Wells, not Bingman) and driving around Gallia County for hours…just getting lost and not really caring…listening to music (with Wells it was usually Bob Marley not Oasis – different crowd).

Then there was one of my favorite pastimes - skipping Grande Chorale practice to party…or just to nap (usually to just nap). Occasionally there was calling off work with Steve (Wasteir, not Bush). When we worked together we had to coordinate that – especially if we were using SNOW as an excuse.

It's funny because some of my more prominent memories are with people who were only in my life for very brief periods of time.

And despite the fact that I'm happy and content with my life right now, I still occasionally wish I could go back there and relive it – just for one day. Okay, maybe a whole weekend. I'm beyond glad that I had the opportunity to go to college. I'm also glad I chose Rio. A lot of people complain about it but I wouldn't change a thing. I feel like I was meant to go there; destined to meet the people I met and make the decisions I made that have led me to where I am today. You all know who you are…and I thank you for being there and for being you. I had a blast.

Life

An inspiring young lady I know passed away today. I didn't know her very well and was not prepared for how much her passing would affect me. I realize this is nothing compared to the loss her family and friends are feeling right now. I can't even pinpoint the source of these feelings.

Is it because she was so young? Is it because even though she spent most of her life very sick, she spent that time living life to the fullest and yet I complain about minor difficulties in my life?

Or is it because I view things differently now that I'm a mother myself? I can definitely say that I look at almost everything differently now that I'm a parent. When I hear things like this, I think about how I would feel if that were my child. Though, I'm fairly certain, that if she were my child, through the pain I'd be proud she was mine.

Having twins

Since the day we found out we were having twins, I've made a conscious effort to not let myself think about how my life would've been if I'd only had one baby. God blessed us with not one, but two babies. Why waste the mental energy thinking of a life that is not? But try as I might, these thoughts often creep into my mind.

These thoughts usually strike during moments of high stress - like when I'm home alone after a long day and Madeline is crying because she doesn't want to go to sleep and
then she wakes Emery. And all I want to do is take out my contacts and go to bed!

But they also strike at other times, like when I just want to sit and rock one baby but the other is fussing. Moms of singletons get to relish time with one baby without the added pressure of that other baby needing to be tended to (I realize it's only like with the first born but still!).

I know they say that the grass is always greener on the other side. And I wouldn't trade either of my babies for anything. And I know it will only get easier and that having twins can also be a lot of fun. But yet, I still wonder sometimes. And every time I wonder, I try to stop and thank God for both of my babies.

Body Image

How am I supposed to help my children develop a healthy body image when I don't have one myself? Granted, I'm sure mine is better than some. But isn't everything relative? Even at young age, I remember sitting on the rust colored velvety pews at church and being aware that my thighs were fatter than my sister Mandy's. I also recall her wearing "slims" while mom had to buy me the "pretty plus." And I wouldn't even say I was a chubby kid. I just wasn't skinny.

Moving on to middle school, I "blossomed" terrifyingly early at the ripe old age of 11. It was like I woke up one day in 5th or 6th grade and needed a bra. I skipped right past the training bras. Despite how traumatic this was at the time, I can't remember the precise year. Yet, I was very aware that there were only one or two other girls like me who needed to wear a bra. The others were blissfully unaware. I read the Judy Blume books about girls wanting breasts and thought they were crazy. I wore baggy shirts until 7th grade when I either came to terms with my body or was just distracted by other things...like boys.

By high school, I had come to terms with my body but definitely would've liked to have been about 3 inches taller and 20 pounds lighter. This amuses my 32 year old self since I know what my weight/measurements were back then. We got fitted for color guard uniforms my freshman year and I still have the piece of paper they wrote my measurements on: 34 - 23 - 35. Despite weighing 110, I never wore anything smaller than a size 6. I've never understood how some people could wear smaller sizes than me - even now. I always wonder, "where on earth do they shop that they can fit into (pick your size)." Now, I just ignore it. It is what it is. I don't care what size my clothes are, I just want them to make me look halfway decent - preferably 3 inches taller and 20 pounds lighter (or 40!).

I was just coming to terms with my body type and happy with it when I started driving a desk for a living in my mid-20's and started gaining weight. I'm not blind. I've seen my relatives and know what's hiding for me in my genes. I started exercising and eating better. It was a slow process but I was making progress. Then I had knee surgery followed by TWINS. Although I'm VERY close to my pre-pregnancy weight, the abdominal separation I have now frustrates me. And somehow my butt has disappeared. Oh, and I don't like my flabby arms. And last but not least, I'd still like to be 3 inches taller and 20 pounds lighter (or 40!). Yes, I know what I need to do to make this happen. Yes, I realize I just need to make it a priority. At least now, I'm smart enough to focus on loving my body as it is and being thankful that I'm healthy and that my body functions like it's supposed to (with the exception of an unhappy left knee and some minor foot pain - pregnancy does a number on your body). I just hope I can help my children learn that long before the age of 32.

I could go into the affects of the media on body image but that's a topic for another day!

Loving cloth!

I’m sure many of my readers are dying to know whether we decided to use cloth diapers or not (kidding). I decided that if anything might sway Sean to be supportive of CDing, it would be showing him how much we would save. I remember vividly the day I first brought up the subject with him. I was about six months pregnant and we were sitting at BW’3 because I was craving wings. I had found a website that had done all the math for me and had printed out some information along with calculations about how much we’d save – times two!

He barely even took the time to hear me out. He was very much against it and wasn’t interested in hearing anything more about it. We still had plenty of time before the babies were due so I just continued to read about them and research them online. A little closer to their due date, I broached the subject again. I talked about how we could get a starter kit of prefolds and covers and even if we only used them for a few weeks, we wouldn’t be out any money. I also suggested we wait a few weeks after the babies were born to start. As much as I wanted to do it, I wasn’t in any hurry either. I was nervous about whether we’d like it and if we could handle it.

When the babies were three weeks old I ordered two starter kits of prefolds, snappis and covers. Once we’d gone through all the diapers we came home from the hospital with and had to BUY some, AND Sean saw how quickly we went through them, he was MUCH more open to the idea. Not to mention, all those times when you put a brand new diaper on a newborn and in the pee in it WHILE you’re putting it on them, yeah, well that helped too.

It’s funny, after I’d done all this research about which diapers to start with, I was paralyzed with fear about washing them. I finally found a detergent I could wash them in, we prepped and started our journey. At first, we didn’t have enough to CD full-time. But after a couple weeks, we decided we were ready to do it full-time and ordered enough prefolds for a full day. I was really surprised by how easy it was and how into the whole process Sean was. Before I knew it, he was telling other people about how easy it was.

A month or so later, we did a trial of an assortment of cloth diapers. Even though I’d decided we wanted to use one size, I was interested in seeing what else was out there. I liked some of the diapers in our trial but also didn’t want to invest a lot of money. In the end, we only kept a Blueberry one-size cover and a Bum Genius 3.0 one size diaper from the trial. I came across some OS Fuzzibunz on Craigslist so I got four of those and one Happy Heiney’s OS in Silly Monkeys (I was dying to have a fun print). That HH is the most expensive diaper we own and it’s my least favorite. Granted, we’re rough on our diapers because we wash every day and dry on low.

I only buy BG’s on sale so I’ve never paid for more than around $15/diaper.

This is our stash:
BG’s – 10
FB OS – 4
Nubunz – 6
Monkey Snuggles – 3
SmartiPants – 1
Tot Bots – 1 (we got this free for being a tester)
Infant PF’s – 30+ (these STILL fit Madeline)
Regular PF’s – 18
Covers – 2 Flip, 1 Blueberry OS, 1

We like to send our pockets to the sitter and since we don’t have a lot, we do laundry every day. Our house is small so it’s very easy to do this throughout the evening while we go about our lives. Since our babies wear different sizes, we have 2 baskets on our changing table and we just keep them separated.

I tell everyone I can about cloth diapers. I would say the majority of people think of cloth diapers as they were 30 years ago. They’re always surprised by the pockets (even the prefolds and covers). They also think about dunking. People don’t realize that poo from an EBF baby is water soluble. Plus, they make diapers sprayers. We have one but and only really used it when the babies were first start solids. Now, we only use it occasionally.

Cloth is entirely too bulky to travel with with twins so we still use disposables when we travel. I hate doing it but it’s just not practical.

I could go ON and ON. And I probably will. I still need to talk about our routine, our awesome current sitter and our awesome soon-to-be sitter and how they fit into the mix. I LOVE to talk about cloth diapers so please don’t hesitate to ask question.

Kefir

Sometimes I find out new things in the most roundabout ways – at least it seems that way to me. I was browsing the archives of a blog I subscribe to and came across a post about kefir. I had seen it mentioned in recipes here and there so this post piqued my interested. Suddenly, I had to know what kefir was and I wanted to try some NOW. Here is the original blog post.

Kefir is a fermented milk drink. You can buy it or you can ferment your own with kefir grains. After you have a batch, you remove the grains (by straining) and start all over again. There’s much more to the process but who wants to read all about that? If you do, you can go here. Personally, I think kefir is like a liquidy yogurt. It has oodles of health benefits (probiotics, vitamins, etc) that I won’t list here. You’ll just have to trust me. There is a wealth of information online.

I decided to try kefir before I attempted to make my own so I got a premade bottle at one of my favorite stores, Health Foods Unlimited. I got a flavored kind and I really liked it. So I called around to find some grains. All I could find locally was a powder but I decided to try that before I ordered actual grains online. With the grains, you just add it to milk and let it ferment at room temperature. With the powder, you have heat the milk, cool it, mix the powder and then set it out for approx 24 hours. I did this a few times and actually prefer the stuff I made myself to what I bought in the store.

For ease of use, I’d really like to get some grains. I found a woman in Fayette, Ohio, who sells them. She seems very knowledgeable and helpful, should you have questions about the process. The only issue with getting my own grains is that it multiplies very quickly so I’d need people to give some to. I know of one person who would be interested so there could be more. This lady also buys them back. Not sure if that’d fit into my schedule but we’ll see.

So what do I do with it after I’ve made it? So far I’ve only made smoothies but I’ve seen other recipes that call for kefir. I just haven’t had a chance to make any yet. Kefir can be used as a substitute for buttermilk, sour cream and yogurt. I’ve even seen a banana nut bread that had kefir.

And now you know all about kefir. Well, sorta.