Conversation Most Moms Wish To Avoid ~ But Here It Is

My daughter 6 months today. I don't keep track of her age in weeks, so when I hear other mother's say "my so in so is 32 weeks!" well I couldn't tell ya immediately how old that is and I would probably just nod in feigned amazement. So, in celebration of Mirabelle's 6th month of existence I thought I would do a "new mommy" breakdown of choices I've made, and where I am physically and mentally after all the hubbub has settled now that I've gotten the half-year old notch on the belt!

Background

I'm vegetarian and during my pregnancy I continued to adhere to my normal diet (with an addition of prenatal vitamins). My doctors were super supportive and because I didn't gain much weight throughout (a total of 25.6 lbs) they never questioned my exercise routine, and actually encouraged it well into my 8th month. The birth of my daughter was without complication, and she emerged vaginally at a whopping 8 lbs 10 ounces, much to the midwife's surprise. For anyone who had seen me in person at 39 weeks, I have a naturally small frame and my belly didn't extend much farther - so yea, almost 9 pounds of baby created the question "how did she even fit in there??" well, at least for me and my limited knowledge of the human anatomy haha

Bebe Choices Along the Way

Birth
I knew I wasn't going to breast feed long before I decided to have a child with my husband. I know there is a lot of controversy surrounding that decision, and I'm well aware of the research performed and released on both sides (bottle and breast) because, well, I read tons of material on this subject. My mother didn't breast feed my twin sister and I, nor did she breast feed our younger brother. We turned out strong, healthy, and from what I can tell, no issues with our mental capacity (though there are times I question how my brother can like plain Cheerios, but I guess I can't blame that on the formula...). While my mom didn't do much research regarding varying brands and types of formula, I did. I chose Baby's Only because it is the only organic formula out there without corn syrup form of sweetener and no palm oil! There are other benefits to using this brand above, say, Earth's Best, but I'll leave that for you to research ;>

So! Mirabelle started on the bottle with little complications, and actually started sleeping through the night around one month (perhaps one middle of the night feeding here and there until 2 months). She has hit all of her developmental milestones thus far. She is not under or over weight, and her growth chart is right on track. Our pediatrician was known (by a friend of mine) to push breast feeding fairly hard, but for some reason they didn't blink an eye at the choice my husband and I made. Perhaps it was because her first visit showed a strong, healthy baby? Or perhaps my conviction was apparent. Who knows.

At 6 months this little bean still enjoys her bottle, but has taken strongly to eating all sorts of organic fruit and vegetable purees! While August is National Breast Feeding month, and I've had the pleasure of reading and hearing all sorts of benefits to breastfeeding (which is great!), I will never regret the choice my husband and I made because it gave us the opportunity to share in her feeding and growing from the very first night - he and I would both get up and sit together as one of us fed her. We agreed that if we had to lose sleep that both of us would lose sleep together! And honestly, every father should experience the joy of a 3am feeding ;>

Routine 

Establishing a routine has been very important for us and the baby. It allows us the freedom to plan activities around her eating, napping, bedtime, etc. Seems simple, right? Sure, it is, if you stick to it! We know that when 7pm comes along it's time to start wrapping up whatever we are doing and get the baby fed and ready for bed, so that by 7:30 she is in the crib and comfy with her human heart "music" playing. Her feeding schedule isn't exact, but I make sure to watch for cues so that I know she's starting to get hungry, and prior to full on mental breakdown mode! Knowing your baby is important because everyone does it differently, so Rick and I decided in the end to do it our way ;>

The Physical Me

I'm hard on myself, and that's putting it lightly. I've struggled with weight on and off since high school. Up and down, up and down. I'm a little over 5'2 and my metabolism isn't the most speedy of bodily functions, so food and I have a bit of a love/hate relationship. I haven't eaten pizza in at least 10 years, I don't touch fried food, I never eat a burger, and I tend to avoid all forms of high-fat dairy. Yet I struggle to keep it all under control. My goal weight is between 105-110 lbs, and I almost reached that the summer of 2013 before I decided to have my little bambino. It's hard to put into words the frustration of exercising 4-5 days a week climbing stadium bleachers, running miles, and sprinting across soccer fields and not seeing the results I want.
That's where I need to step back and realize that I have achieved those results, I fit into my pre-pregnancy clothing, I'm toning, I eat healthy, I'm physically strong, I have ZERO stretch marks (not saying that's good or bad, I just know I could not mentally handle them, and why? oh because I'm weak when it comes to trying to obtain self-perfection), and my husband tells me every day just how beautiful I am...and just how horrible I am on myself. That's the saddest part of all this: my husband watching me drive my physical self-worth into the ground. I keep looking forward toward the end of the tunnel, that little light that when I reach it I will see what everyone else sees, that I will feel comfortable within my skin. I tell myself that it's when I'm 105 I will feel great and wonderful and beautiful, but I'm beginning to realize that my perception is skewed and that I need to change that FIRST before I focus on the physical aspects. *sigh*

The Mental Me

Oh boy! Hormones a-crazy! haha. Seriously though, babies sure do know how to take a lady's hormones and kick them into next Tuesday. I'm a little dark cloud on most days. I just float from day to day looking for a peak at the sunshine, a glimmer of light that will bring me out of my most moody of times. It happens daily, whether it's something the husband does, or my step-daughter, or especially Mirabelle, but I experience these happy moments through them that just make everything better and hopeful again. It's been a daily struggle for most of my 20s and now into my 30s, but after having a child everything seems to go a bit haywire for a while. Life, right??

In the end, I always remind myself how fortunate I am (cliche, I know). And I continually strive to accomplish something every day no matter how small! The moment I give up will be when I settle for that simplified, static idea of the "American Dream", you know, owning that boring old home in some dreary town in the middle of nowhere. When you settle for picking out curtains instead of looking for the next adventure (and don't get me wrong, I love me some curtains!). It's just when you center your evening around a television show and your weekends consist of shopping for this or that. BLEH! So, depressing right? I just know my husband and I have so much we want to teach and show our daughter, that it would be downright silly to gravitate toward that white picket fence existence. There's more to life than that fellow humans, and yea, I totally need to remind myself of this daily <3

Sunday Funday!

Sunday is one of the only full days our family has the opportunity to spend together. The step-daughter travels to her mother's home on Friday night-Sunday morning, while my husband works Saturday afternoons, which conflicts with my Monday through Friday schedule. All this being said, the 4 of us (baby Mirabelle included) try to do at least one activity together on Sunday, whether it be a walk, getting some ice cream, watching a movie, going out to breakfast, playing basketball, et cetera!

This previous Sunday my husband and I planned something pretty darn special. Friends of ours who live in Philadelphia own a studio, True Hand Society, and they were hosting a photographer who exclusively photographs his subject utilizing the tintype technique. Rick, Asa, and I were all super excited to enjoy this rare moment together and dress as traditional as possible, so to give off the air that we were born a century earlier. Unfortunately, Asa had a last minute summer-job obligation and had to forgo the trip. It was a real bummer, but in the end the experience was just as amazing, and I feel like the photographer truly captured our three person family, minus one, perfectly.

Because Asa was going to be excluded from the photo, I decided to make her a special breakfast of gluten free banana chocolate chip pancakes (she claims to enjoy the texture of gluten free cakes, pancakes, cookies, etc more than their wheat counterpart...who knew). She and my husband gobbled them into oblivion while I settled for an egg white omelette *yawn*

Later in the day, following our trip to Philadelphia, my husband and I knew that the baby was on her way to being irritable, especially because it was about 2 hours prior to bedtime...and anyone with children knows how that goes. So, we decided to go to one of our favorite little restaurants in our town, Bashful Banana. This place is perfect to take vegetarians and babies alike! All of their food items are made with fresh, mostly local ingredients. They don't smother their dishes in oil or unneeded creams/butter. Rick tends to opt for an appetizer or entree, while I stick to their now famous Banana Whip. A Banana Whip is a frozen banana that has been homogenized and turned into a custard like substance. It's only banana. Nothing else. Though I add their homemade whipped cream to my order. Oddly enough, I have the exact machine, but because this restaurant is not open all year, we like to get out and walk the boardwalk while also having the option for healthy, baby-friendly treat. And oh does Mirabelle love Banana Whips...

While Asa was working this past Sunday, and we couldn't spend it together, I still felt like it was a great end to the weekend :>

Gluten Free, Vegan Zucchini Cupcakes

My mother purchases fresh zucchini, tomatoes, and onions from whom she calls "the little old man down the street." Essentially, he's a rather small Italian man that has an equally small garden, which he tends with his tiny hands, and then sells his product out of a mini-garden stand. It's all very adorable, you see?

Anyway, my mother is his biggest customer and tends to over-purchase said zucchini, thus it ending up in my  home. Here's the catch: Rick (husband) and Asa (step-daughter) truly dislike zucchini, and while I dig it, I'm not a huge fan where I could consume mass amounts of the soft, semi-tasteless vegetable. Here's where the cupcakes come in: Operation Trick Spouse & Step-Daughter With Disguised Desserts.

It was a Sunday when I sort of lazily thought, why not just add zucchini to my already kinda awesome cupcake recipe and throw some cream cheese frosting on top? So, that's just what I did, and, it worked! *Applause*

Recipe Deets

Cupcakes
1 1/2 Gluten free flour
1 cup Shredded/chopped zicchini
1/2 tbsp Baking powder
Dash of cinnamon to taste
Dash of salt
1 Flax egg
2/3 cup Agave
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Set oven to 360°
- Combine all dry ingredients...stir
- Add all wet ingredients...stirrrrr
- Throw in a greased muffin pan and bake for approximately 15 minutes or until a toothpick pulls out clean, let cool on a wire rack before icing.

Icing
1/2 cup of Smart Balance butter or vegan butter of choice
6 ounces Tofutti cream cheese
2 cups confectioners sugar (eesh, right?)
2 tsp vanilla extract

- Blend until smooth and place in 'fridge until you're ready to apply to the cupcakes

Blam-o!

Smokey, Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Lately, my family has been on a sweet potato kick. Not only are they easy on the pocket, they're packed with Vitamin A and C, also some B's thrown in there for good measure, and a load of fiber - all around nutritious little sons of a...you get the idea.

This little recipe can be used as a snack, an appetizer, or as my family does it, with a fried egg making it a complete meal!

Recipe Deets

4 medium sweet potatoes (peeled and sliced into wedges)
dash of smoked paprika to taste
salt and pepper to taste
spray oil of choice

- Line a baking pan with tin foil and spray with cooking oil
- Heat oven to 425 degrees
- Spread your potato wedges on the pan, spray with oil, and sprinkle with seaosoning
- Bake for approximately 30-35 minutes until brown and crispy

Super good. Seriously.

First Foods: Apple Sauce

My 5 month old daughter is somewhat of a picky eater. Scratch that, she pretends she is a picky eater. Any new puree we introduce her to is met with a face of pure distaste and utter disgust, followed by an apparently uncontrollable tremor which erupts abruptly and travels throughout her body. It's suffice to say that she can be a tad bit dramatic.

In the beginning, oh about a month ago, I used to become quickly discouraged and sort of took her reaction as a fault of my own doing, as if I couldn't create for her the most amazing, tasty, stupendous baby puree on the planet! Two weeks pass, and I know the routine all too well. Drama-baby is always present on Day One of a new taste. Fine by me little Miss! I'm on to your tricks...

Now for the recipe! I ate hoards of apples during my pregnancy, one may say an entire apple grove was consumed over the course of 39 weeks, so what better homemade puree to create for my budding bambino than some applesauce??

Recipe Deets

5 apples of choice (peeled and cut, I used Golden Delicious)
1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice
a dash of cinnamon
1 cup water

- Throw your diced apple into a medium pot with about 1/2 cup of water and lemon juice.
- Cover and allow to come to a boil
- Reduce heat to medium high and continue to stir every so often until tender
- Add your cinnamon
- Use a food processor or hand blender to puree until smooth - continue to add water until mixture is safe for babies!

Easy Peasy!