Friends with no Kids

Well all this point, I'm in the middle of the summer and most of my weekends are totally packed with awesome plans. And by awesome, I mean weddings, graduations, birthdays and other miscellaneous things I wish I didn't commit to. Don't get me wrong, I love a fun wedding every now and then, but I would love nothing more than to couch surf in my underwear for just one day.

That said, I feel like I've been letting my 'friends with no kids' fall to the bottom of the barrel. I do love them, and I'm lucky that most of them understand how busy life gets, but on the other hand I feel like a small portion of them think I'm lame now ...and their pretty damn close.

So this ones for you, friends with no kids.

Dear Friend,

It wasn't very long ago when we would hang out routinely. We would drink way too much, spend lots of money, stay out late and really pretty much have life by the balls. These days, a 6 month old has me by the balls.

All my money goes to daycare, cute baby gap dresses and other baby needs.

Having a few brewskis sounds pretty fun, but they don't really mix well when you need to wake up early and entertain a child all day long.

Oh and time. Yea, I have none of it. After my (working) weekday shuffle, I need to catch up on all the things I didn't get done during the week, on the weekend, plus all those damn weddings.

So friend, It's not that I don't love you and or don't want to hang out with you; I'm just trying to find that happy medium.

Love,
Your exhausted parent friend.

I'd also like to take this time and post a bunch of pictures of my young drunk careless self. You are gone, but never forgotten, self. We'll meet again someday...only you'll drunk off of a couple glasses of wine and not quite as dumb.

Something you want to tell your childless friends? Comment below!

The Weekday Struggle

Where my working moms at? Yea, I'm talking about the weekday routine. You know, where you're pretty much a robot Monday through Friday?

I've been back to work for about 3 months now and I always have people asking me "how is it?", "are you getting into a routine?". Shit, routine is my middle name. I feel like a robot on an assembly line on a daily basis. I must say, a lot of people think being a stay at home mom or a working mom has the eaisier job. But, I assure you, neither one of them is easy. Sometime I think maybe my house would be a little cleaner if I stayed home, or maybe the fridge might be fuller. But really, what's that in the grand scheme of things.....and maybe that might not even be the case.

I've been lucky enough that my boss lets me work at home on Monday's, but for the rest of the week, it's what I like to call 'The Big Rush Around'. Here is what my typical work day looks like;

5:30 - Wake up, Get ready, pump one boob
6:15 - Wake Baby up, feed baby on other boob
6:30 - Walk Dog
6:35 - Carry the shit ton of shit to car (Pump, baby food/bottles, purse, lunch, spare clothes for baby - potentionally my work laptop, diapers or wipes...oh yes and BABY!)
6:45 - Drive baby to my sisters and drive myself to work.
7:30 - 4:00p - Work
4:30 - Pick up baby
5:00 - 7:30 - Get home, make dinner, wash bottles and pump parts, feed humans, bath child.
8:00 - Give baby bottle and put her to sleep.
8:30 - Attempt to shower and pack everything up for the next day.
9:00 - Pump and finally go to bed.

Add Laundry and cleaning in there somewhere.

So yea... I'm a robot. Does your workday look like this?

Making Homemade Baby Food

Make your own baby food is super easy. You just need a food processor of any sort and fruits and vegetables. I have a very small food processor, but it gets the job done. It's not necessary to buy one of those huge systems with everything in it if you don't have the money. Heck, I had the money, but I'd rather have less junk in my house. All you really need to do is cook the fruits and veggies. Some need to be baked, some are boiled and some don't even need to be cooked at all. I simply just googled whatever fruit and you'll see how to prepare it. After you've ran the food through the processor, you can either put in nice little cube containers or an ice tray. If you're using a nice tray, cover the tray with saran wrap, freeze, then break the cubes out and store in ziplock bags. Fresh food is good in the fridge for about 3 days.

Here's all the food I made last night. Took me about an hour and I made 3 sweet potatoes, 4 peaches and 1/2 bag of peas (mixed with sweet potato, since my baby isn't the biggest fan).

So have you given making your own baby food a shot?

Never Pass Up Snuggles

Once you have a baby, you'll probably get sick of people saying "they grow so fast". I hear it at least twice a week. It's getting old, but it's totally true. I feel like it was just yesterday I was driving my fat pregnant ass to the hospital, but evidently that was really 5 months ago...and I'm sure 5 years will sneak up on me. 

Per usual, on the weekends my husband gets out of bed way earlier than any human should for plain shits and giggles. I sleep until the baby wakes up and then I get her and nurse her in bed with me. She usually falls asleep. I got out of bed to pump and came back to check on her. My plan was to get some laundry folded while she slept, but that didn't really happen. I looked at her sleeping on the bed and melted. There's nothing more heart warming than a sleeping baby. Quite often I look at her and think to myself she's so little, I want this moment to last forever, but I know after today she will never be X amount of days old. And each day she'll grow older and older. 

Anyways, instead of folding that laundry, I gently got back into bed and snuggled. Laundry will always be there, these morning snuggles won't be. Don't ever pass up on the snuggles.

What to Pack for the Hospital

I've seen so many 'what to pack' lists and I think most of them suck cause they have you over packing. Trust me, you're not going to want to spend one ounce of time un-packing and doing any laundry when you get home with your little bundle of joy. You could go to the hospital with nothing packed and be totally fine. Less is more! Believe me!

So here is my slim packing list;

For mom -
- Going home outfit. Between bleeding, breast feeding and doctors checking my uterus and other parts; no outfit from home was going to cut it, for the exception of a plain old hospital gown.
-Slipper socks and a bathrobe were handy for getting out of bed for a stroll.
- Extra hair elastic
- A little make-up (if you really want)
- Phone Charger
- Camera
- Smart Phone - I see a lot of items on lists that a smart phone can easily take place off. You don't need your laptop, iPad, paper, pen, pictures or radio. These days ALL of this stuff can easily be done on your phone. 

For Dad -
- One outfit
- PJs
- Slippers
- Change for vending machine

For Baby 
- Going home outfit
- Car Seat

Toiletries - soap, shampoo, condition, tooth brushes, toothpaste and whatever products you use daily.

Happy Packing!


 

Cheese Ball Recipe

If you're ever in a pinch and need something quick, cheap and easy to make, this is my 'go-to' recipe.

THE Cheese Ball

The ingredients sounds odd, but everyone loves it!

2 (8 oz) packages of cheese
1 (8 oz) can of crushed pineapple, drained very well
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup fine chopped bell pepper (any color)
1 teaspoon of season salt

Mix all ingredients together, form ball and refrigerate overnight in tin foil.

I bring this to a party with a box of crackers and a paper plate and I don't have to worry about getting my plate or whatever back. Enjoy!

Diapers & Washer Machines Don't Mix

Unless their cloth diapers, you obviously shouldn't be washing your disposable diapers. I was emptying my washer when I found all sorts of weird stuff in it, like jelly. Upon further research, I found a diaper full of it. Weird that it turns into gel! I guess this is also why you should buy those special swim diapers.

Anyways, take out what you can and toss the clothes in the dry. The gel will dissipate. I did end up running the clothes through a rinse cycle again cause I was freaked out, even though the gel did not have any odd odor.

The Breast Products

As you'll see here, I'm a huge pro breast feeder. I do think that breast is best but luckily if you're not able to, there is an alternative. Breast feeding can be difficult, but with support from others and good products you'll be golden!

Here are a list of products I would suggest;

Products for Mom

Nipple Creams - The first few weeks your nipples are going to take a beating. There are a few creams out there to help your nipples heal. The most commonly used cream is lanolin. Lansinoh makes one. You can also try earth momma, angel baby's nipple butter.

Soothie gel pads - These things are great! But they are pricey and only last 72 hours or something like that. Save these for when you're in dyer need.

Another good tip is to let them "air out". Yea, that's right, hang out toppless. All that moisture in your bra from leaky boobs doesn't let your nipples heal too quickly. So going toppless for a few hours is a great help. Leaving on a little expressed milk is even better. 

Breast Pads - until your body regulates, you will leak. So breast pads are essential. There's 2 different routes you go; disposable or re-useable/washable. Or like me, you can use both. The best re-useable ones you can get are Bamboobies. They are pricey, but worth every penny. They're cute, discrete and don't leak. The inside is soft on you and the outer layer won't let milk leak through. Their cheapest on amazon.com.

As for disposable, sometimes you'll go through so many that you'll just want the disposables. Or if your out in public and don't want to deal with stashing soggy used breast pads in your purse - use disposables. There is a wide variety of pads you can use. One good brand is lansinoh. Their individual wrapped, so don't need to open 2 at a time and their contoured so they don't look weird under your clothes, like some of the other brands. 

Nursing Bras & Tanks - Deffinately invest in some good bras and tanks. You'll be wearing them for quite some time. I'm not a pro in this department, but I do know that bravado is the leading brand. I do have a few of their products and am very happy with them. Best advice I can give anyone is to try and find a shop that let's you try on the bras. Unfortunately, your averge babies r us just has them in packages and you can't try them on, so you have to wing it. Not cool!

Nursing Pillows - get one! Most people will argue whether the Boppy or the Brest Friend is better, but truth is, they both do the same thing. If you're handy like me, you can actually nurse hands free. The trick is to set baby up and prop his/her head up with a burp cloth or folded up blanket. That means more hands to google things or play games on your iPad. Whatever pillow you decide on, buy an extra cover!

Nursing Cover - I know some woman don't care mind showing some skin, but some of us do. Nursing covers are pretty much a blanket that straps around your neck so you don't expose your breasts. I actually have a crafty friends who made one for me. I find it to be very helpful, especially with certain outfits that aren't 'nursing-friendly'.

Hope this helps! I'll save pumping gear for another day!

The Unspoken Struggle of Infertility

I'm sure we've all known someone in our life that has struggled with infertility and I don't think you truly understand how difficult it is until you've been there. It took me about a year to get pregnant and although that may only be a small amount of time compared to other woman; man does it go by slow. You're constantly waiting for the next cycle and each month good ol' aunt flow comes, you're a whole new level of pissed off each new month.

I was probably the first of my friends to try for a baby and within the time it took me to conceive, seven people I knew got pregnant. Each stupid Facebook accouncement drove me nuts, but the last announcement was the one that drove me to my breaking point. One of my best friends had just gotten married a few months prior and we went out for Mexican with a couple other friends. The 4 of us rode together and began having our usual gossip talk, what's new and other fun stuff. When we arrived at the restaurant one of our friends started badgering my good friend "have a drink? Why don't you have a drink? You love blue moon!" With a huge shit eating grin on her face. My friend burst out "I'm Pregnant!". I didn't even give myself a second to have a pity party for myself, I glance up to congratulate her, but before words come out of my mouth, I notice all 3 of them are staring at me, watching my reaction. I congratulate her and begun the 'how far along are you? What are you craving' talk and then I quickly begin to realize that I was the only person at the table who didn't know.


"Waiter? Please bring me your strongest margarita..."


We carried on with dinner, pregnancy talk, more gossip and how much my friend is going to miss drinking for the next 8 months or whatever. Other friend tells me "how scared she was to tell me" and I can't help but feel like I've been put on stage for everyone to gauge my emotions I hated that my emotions clouded my excitement for her. I truly was happy that she was pregnant, but I was more disappointed that my body was not doing what a woman's body should do.


I went home that night and cried to my husband and pretty much had my first panick attack. It got me thinking, how could this situation have been better for me? Was the end result going to be the same either way?

The best way to deal with someone who is having fertility struggles is to just talk to them. Make them feel special and have a one-on-one with them, maybe even lie and tell them you had to tell them "first". Deffinately don't avoid the conversation all together and let your ever growing belly do the talking. She might be fragile, but don't ever think she's too fragile to hear the news from you. And before you get all pissy pants that your sister-in-law or distant cousin didn't giving you the over the moon "congratulations!" ...stop and think that maybe she might be dealing with some infertility issues, herself. She might be acting cold right now, but she won't be once your precious baby makes their appearence.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I've been meaning to make laundry detergent for a while just to save money, but once I started reading into all the harmful chemicals in pretty much everything, I wanted to do it even more.

I looked at recipes and made my own using even safer products. A lot of them were made with borax, but after further research I found that it wasn't as safe as everyone thought it was. The EWG (www.ewg.org) actually gave it an "F". So as I search for a safer alternative, I came across a knock-off oxiclean that was both safer and cheaper! Below is my recipe!

1 box arm & hammer washing soda

3 lbs. baking soda

4 lbs (4 containers) LA's totally awesome power oxygen

3 bars Kirks Castile soap bars, grated (found in body soap isle)

Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container. Use up to 2 tablespoon per load.

Everything Gives You Cancer

I'm pretty sure we've all said this before. You're about to enjoy a nice diet coke when someone tells you how awful aspertame is and how it causes cancer. I usually respond with a 'yea I know, everything does' and then wonder if each sip is slowly killing me. Yea, thanks Buzz-Killington. That was the old me, before I had kids. Then I got pregnant and you start to worry about all the shit you put into your body that you don't want the baby to get. Well, I thought that feeling would go away, but when the baby came; I had this little epiphany. My usually self that didn't really care and knew someday, I would indeed die. But instead you see this new baby and think yourself that you don't want to miss a single beat and you'll do anything to ensure that.

OK, I'll stop drinking diet coke.

Let's fast forward a few months. I get invited to this 'Ava Anderson' Party. Like Pampered Chef, it's a new kind of home party. You call the ladies over, have some wine and buy some shit. Boy, was I in for a surprise with this one. They have this awesome marketing plan; it's called 'the scare the shit out of everyone and they will buy your non-toxic products' plan. Well played, Ava, well played. They give you a bunch of information about all sorts of chemicals in products that you use everyday, like shampoo, chapstick, lotion, obviously cleaning products and so much more. The most shocking information was all those "organic" products you buy, have all sorts of toxins in them. The label may say how organic and natrual it is, but the truth is in the ingridient list.

Anyways, I did end up buying a few products, after all those people best be coming to my tupperware party, amiright? But that's another point in my life when I decided educate myself on what I'm buying and how can I "go green", but also save money. So far the Ava products I have used are fabulous, but they can be a little pricey. I'll probably continue to buy their products for my baby, but now I'm very conscious of what I'm using. Stay Tuned; I'll be sharing some DIY recipes for everyday products. Save Money, Go Green! 

My First Post!

I may not be an expert on parenting by any means, but I am learning. I'll never tell you I'm a pro and that my way is right...maybe that's because I have no idea what I'm really doing. If you're a mom, you know that not everything goes as planned with kids. Did that birth plan go accordingly? But we move on. We adapt and figure out what works for us. When I first decided to start a blog, I thought for a few days on what to name it. I really wanted something that says 'we're all moms, but we all have one common goal'. How do I fit that into one simple name? Meh, I really couldn't, so mom code it was. Kind of like that show girlcode, but ya know...momcode. When you're trying to change a diaper in public and you realize you don't have one and another mom says "I gotcha, here's a size 2". That's mom code! I may judge from time to time, but we're just trying to do the best we can for our kids. Even if one just threw up on your favorite shoes and you want to put them in time-out for a lifetime.

Well that said, I'm sure some of you have a couple teenagers and think 'yea, she has a baby, she has no idea whats to come' and you're probably right, but I want to start early while all this baby talk is fresh in my mind. Here you can find posts about products, breastfeeding, family, working moms, mom struggles, birth, going green and a whole lot more. I hope you all tune in for what's to come!