KerryAndGabe.com

Something that makes me happy: Hearing my daughter say, “I lub you, Mommy” tonight when she was going to bed.

Something I’m thinking: Today, my parents have been married for 40 years.

Something I’m hoping: I’m hoping to pre-order my new iPhone this week. Yep, that’s right, we decided against the Droid Incredible with Verizon and now we’re going for iPhones. I’m excited.

Something happening around the house: I did some kitchen organizing with the pantry and spice cabinet. I still have a little more work to do, but I spent a lot of time on Saturday cleaning things out.

Something I’m reading: I’m almost finished with Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella for June’s book club meeting. I’m not sure what I’m going to read next. I’m having trouble getting motivated to read Devil in the White City (July’s book club book). I feel like I want to read lighter stuff, especially since my time and brainpower are limited.

Something I’m watching: We watched The Blind Side last night and really enjoyed it. I think since we don’t get much chance to go to the theatre these days, we’re going to try to make a point to watch movies at home with Netflix more often. Speaking of the theatre, I was able to sneak out on Friday night with a girl friend to see The Karate Kid. I really enjoyed it! I thought they did an excellent job of the remake. The movie was different enough from the first one to seem like a different movie yet stayed true to the basic story lines and had many references to the original.

Something tasty: Our first fresh corn on the cob (which I prefer off the cob) of the season.

Something Maddie is doing (27 months old): Maddie made some big strides in her potty training preparation. I call this phase, “potty awareness.” We’re not actively potty training, though I think that this will happen pretty soon. She has asked to go to the potty for almost all of her BMs this week. She’s so proud of herself. Her diapers are still often wet, though she will sometimes ask to do that on the potty, too. She is getting really good at dressing herself. Today, she got something on her shirt and wanted to change. She changed both her shirt and her shorts with no help from us. She went to the drawer, picked out her new clothes, took the old ones off and put the new ones on. She has been working on these skills for a while. This has been a big week for Maddie. In addition to her potty successes, she had another swimming lesson and continues to excel at puzzles. At her swimming lesson, she went completely under water for the first time and LOVED it. She has been a little timid in the water lately, so this was a big victory. She still seems nervous every time she gets into the pool, but she usually warms up and then has a great time after a few minutes. We bought Maddie some new puzzles this week, and I have to say that she is very impressive with the jigsaw puzzles! We bought 3 puzzles of varying difficulties – 12, 24, and 48 pieces. I was pretty sure the 48 piece puzzle was going to be too challenging. I thought that the 24 piece may also be too hard for her to put together by herself. We tried the 12 piece first. She put it together in less than 5 minutes, completely by herself. In fact, she was trying to teach me how to put together puzzles. First, she collected the corner pieces and told me about them. Next, she showed me one piece and one of the connecting pieces. “See the pink here? And the pink here?” Hilarious! I am very impressed by my little girl. She can put together the 24 piece puzzle without help from us (and does it over and over and over). We haven’t brought out the 48 piece puzzle yet, but I am thinking we’ll have to do that soon!

Something Cullen is doing (20 weeks old): We took Cullen to the doctor on Monday for reflux issues, and the doctor recommended that I cut dairy out of my diet as a first step. Well, I’ve been through this before!. I have been dairy free for almost a week, and I believe it has already made a difference. Cullen was spitting up often and was not taking good naps before the trial. He is spitting up rarely now, seems to be in a better mood, and has been napping better during the day. Now, if we can just get him to sleep at night for more than 2 hours at a time (and sleeping in the crib/bassinet would be good). I am still holding out hope that we’re in midst of the “4-month-regression”. Several of my mommy friends have indicated that their infant went through a regression around that time. Hopefully, it will just be a short phase and we’ll get back on track to making progress on sleeping through the night. Cullen went swimming for the first time this morning, and he seemed to love it! He’s so cute in his little swim trunks and rash guard. Cullen has been more interested in toys and has been happy playing on his tummy for greater lengths of time. He’s fascinated by the remote control, as Maddie was at this age.

Something I am struggling with: Food! Cutting out dairy isn’t as bad this time as it was the first time. Some of the substitutes are coming back to me. Pizza is something I miss the most as there really isn’t a reasonable substitute. Quesadillas are also tempting and without substitute.

Something I’m doing towards my goals: We bought tickets to see Jack Johnson later this summer! Seeing one of his concerts is on my goal list. His music is meaningful to our relationship, so we are excited to see him perform!

Something I’m looking forward to: A swim event for kids under 4 years old at work on Friday.

Something random: I almost forgot to take Cullen’s photo today! Good thing I still have a few more hours. Something tells me that this one isn’t going to be an awesome photo.

Something captured: The neighbors’ yard had a midnight makeover. Maddie’s response was profound: “it belongs in the potty.”

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

Madeline is 8 months old today, so it’s time for another letter to Maddie! I can’t believe how fast the time is passing. (more…)

Gabe and I will be celebrating our 2nd anniversary next Thursday, and Aunt Kristin has agreed to babysit Madeline for the evening. We are looking for some place interesting and new (to us). Most importantly, it does NOT have to be kid friendly. Hopefully, I do not have to worry about strict dairy free restrictions, just avoiding heavy dairy at the moment. Please leave comments with suggestions in the Triangle area! What are your favorite special occasion restaurants?

Last weekend, our neighborhood had the annual block party. This was the first time that we have been able to attend. The block party is held on our cul-de-sac which means we can set our deck furniture on our lawn and take in all the action. I think that the party is going to be fun for Maddie in the future as they have all these bouncy house type inflatable things, a dunking booth, and a make-your-own-sundae station. The main dishes of the event are catered, and they ask each family to bring a side or dessert to share. Since this was our first time, I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t think that everyone would be bringing bagged chips and such, and I didn’t want to be the only slacker neighbor. My mom suggested a chilled vegetable salad that has been a hit in the past with her dinner group. I made it last Thanksgiving, and it was pretty tasty! I thought that would be a perfect dish for the block party. Unfortunately, it turns out that most people just bring potato chips, crackers, and store-bought cupcakes and cookies. So, instead of being the lame neighbor who didn’t prepare a homemade dish, I was the lame neighbor who provided a not-so-kid-friendly side. Not very many people ate my fancy veggies. Oh well, next year I’ll save myself the trouble and bring a bag of chips! The recipe has been added to our small but growing recipe section.

Gabe and I recently took a trip to Whole Foods for one main purpose: to find non-dairy alternatives. You may find it surprising that the vast majority of commonly found “veggie” slices actually contain milk products. I’m avoiding dairy products since Maddie has a suspected dairy allergy (most likely she will grow out of this). The main issue with the dairy allergy is not lactose but with the milk proteins. The sneaky dairy found in many soy-based products is casein which accounts for the majority of proteins in milk and dairy. The milk proteins are not quickly digested, and remnants can stay in your system for weeks. This is why I’m not generally tempted by “just one piece of cheese.” I noticed some improvements in Maddie after several days of avoiding dairy with gradual improvements in the following weeks. It could potentially take weeks to recover from a dairy slip.

I was excited to try some vegan cheese alternatives. I had heard that some fake cheeses were pretty good! And I really miss cheese. I picked up two types – Galaxy Nutritional Foods’ Rice slices (Cheddar flavor – I meant to get American) and Vegan Rella’s Cheddar block cheese. I tried the Rice slices first, thinking if this is decent I could actually have grilled cheese! It was…OK at first, but it seemed to go downhill with the aftertaste and texture as I consumed the slice. Normally, I gobble up cheese slices and am ready for another, but I found it hard to find the will to continue after eating about half of the slice. Not horrible, but not good. Bad enough that I’d rather have no cheese-type product at all. I hoped that the Vegan Rella block would be better. I cut a small piece of it and gave it a try. YUCK! It was awful!

So the quest for fake cheese was a definite bust. I doubt that I will be willing to try any others unless I get a specific recommendation for a decent cheese alternative! More likely than not, I’ll just wait until I’m no longer nursing and then feast on cheese until my heart’s content. Some things just can’t be faked.

Now that we have the responsibility of raising a child, we are looking at our own habits to see what we need to improve. I thought that in addition to our Green Challenge, we could start a Healthier Living Challenge. I’m thinking that this can be a variety of things – eating healthier, introducing a new healthy recipe, or exercising, for example. The first challenge is something we’ve been doing for the past 2 months. We are no longer purchasing any groceries that contain high fructose corn syrup. Adding this to the dairy free restriction has definitely been a challenge. We carefully read just about every label before placing them in our shopping cart!

Here are a few foods that do not contain high fructose corn syrup or dairy (and I know that some of these products are not the healthiest or necessary, but that’s for another month):

Heinz Organic Ketchup: This is the only brand and type of ketchup in our local Harris Teeter store that does not contain high fructose corn syrup. The taste is a little different than normal ketchup. Surprisingly, it seems a little sweeter! I think it’s one of those things that you don’t notice the difference unless you’re comparing the tastes one after the other. We started using this in our Stuffed Bell Peppers recipe and now use it for all of our ketchuping needs.

Thomas’ Square Bagelbread: It’s a challenge to find bread that does not contain milk products or high fructose corn syrup! We have found the tasty Thomas’ Square Bagelbread and love the wheat and everything varieties. Neither contain dairy or high fructose corn syrup. They have been perfect for sandwiches, hamburgers, and breakfast or snacks (the wheat variety with a little non-dairy “butter” and cinnamon sugar, yum!).

Spicy Sweet Chili Doritoes: Snacking is one of our weaknesses. We will possibly address this in a future month, but for now our snack options are at least somewhat limited. I was disappointed to find that Wheat Thins (I love the Sundried Tomato variety) have high fructose corn syrup. I was surprised to find that all Doritos fit our new criteria! I was also excited to find that they have at least one non-dairy variety: Spicy Sweet Chili. As far as I know, this is the only one. This has been great for road trips as junk food seems to be a necessity when I’m driving… Many chips and crackers have high fructose corn syrup, so at least our snacking choices are somewhat healthier now.

Paul Newman Marinades: The majority of dressings and marinades contain high fructose corn syrup. We had to stop buying our favorite marinades and search for new ones. We found that all of the Paul Newman marinades were free of high fructose corn syrup. We haven’t checked the dressings, but I’m guessing that those may be free of it as well. The ones we have tried have been quite tasty so far!

The Immaculate Baking Company’s Better Bakes Ready-to-Bake Chocolate Chunk Cookie Dough: We found these in Harris Teeter one day before our avoidance of high fructose corn syrup. I’m not sure if other cookie brands contain hfcs, but the exciting thing about this particular cookie dough brand is that they are dairy free! I’m not sure if all of their varieties are dairy free, but I was excited and surprised to find a chocolate chip cookie that fit our restrictions. Yum!

Quaker Simple Harvest & Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bars: We have granola bars for snacks and breakfast-on-the-go all the time at our house. I was disappointed when I found out that the regular ones that we used to get not only contained dairy products but also high fructose corn syrup. We have since discovered Quaker Simple Harvest granola bars. They even have a chocolate chunk variety that does not contain dairy! We love these! The Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bars also have varieties that are both dairy and high fructose corn syrup free.

I wrote up this trip report just after returning from Gatlinburg in July. I was waiting to post it when I had my photos organized, but I’m still running way behind on photos. I’ll have to post the pictures separately when I get around to organizing them!

We just returned from our vacation in Gatlinburg, which was Maddie’s second trip (the first was Atlanta in April). Gabe’s Grandma, who lives in Las Vegas, has been visiting Gabe’s parents in Kentucky. We decided to meet in Gatlinburg for a few days to spend time with the family. We joined Gabe’s parents, Grandma, and nephew at a timeshare condo about 15 minutes from downtown Gatlinburg.

We left on Tuesday night after my very first Mothers & More meeting and arrived at my parents house fairly late, around 1am. Apparently Maddie screamed for the last hour of my meeting, so Gabe was a bit frazzled by the time he returned to pick me up on our way out of town. Maddie calmed down after feeding, and we hit the road. She fell asleep fairly quickly after we started, and slept for about an hour and a half. She then woke up quite mad, and we had to make a stop to calm her down and feed her again. She was ok for a little while, and then we had to stop a second time. I ended up riding the rest of the way in the back with her as she seemed calmer with me than with Gabe (might have just been coincidence).

We spent some time on Wednesday morning with my parents. Maddie showed them her baby tricks – rolling over, attempting to crawl, putting her toes in her mouth, and lots of smiles. She performed quite well for her grandparents! Once she was ready for her first nap, we got into the car and headed to Gatlinburg. The trip should take about 3.5 hours, but I believe it took a bit longer this time! Maddie was pretty good most of the way and slept a good portion of the trip. We had an amusing GPS moment as we looked for a grocery store “near our route” after our stop just past Asheville for food. The only one on our way that wasn’t a gas station was Freeman’s Grocery. We didn’t have a good feeling when our route took us on barely paved roads along the Nantahala River. We did find the place, but we decided to pass and go to the grocery store in Gatlinburg instead. I would have taken a photo of the place, but Mr. Freeman himself was sitting out on the porch. We made a U-turn and got the heck out of there.

We made a stop at the closest grocery store to our condo, about 15 minutes away. We stocked up on snacks, breakfast foods, stuffed peppers ingredients, and drinks. We finally arrived at the condo around 5pm, and the grandmas were very excited! Since we had packed half of our household, it took us a while to unload the car while the grandmas took turns holding the baby. After we settled into the condo, I offered to make the stuffed peppers for dinner. That went well, and everyone seemed to enjoy them! After Maddie went to bed, we played Set and TransAmerica with Dylan. We then went to bed earlier than Dylan would have liked, I’m sure!

We decided on Thursday to give Maddie her first experience “swimming” in a pool. Gabe and I each took turns with her in the water, and she seemed to enjoy it! We wished that we had taken her when she was in a better mood. She wasn’t upset, but she was getting tired and ready for a nap by the time we were done. We think she would have smiled quite a bit had she been in a better mood!

Dylan and Mick spent the day in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg playing miniature golf, riding go-karts, and shopping. They went to the pool when they returned while Maddie and I were taking a nice nap. We went to Gatlinburg for dinner at Calhoun’s with Gabe’s mom, his grandma, and Dylan. We were really surprised when we had to pay $10 for parking!!! Gatlinburg seems like an, um, interesting place. We were not very impressed. As we were warned, it’s very much like Myrtle Beach without the beach. The restaurant did not have any dairy-free entrees, but they did make me plain chicken fingers and plain broccoli. I was glad that they were accommodating, but we found the restaurant to be mediocre and overpriced. We did make an amusing to-go box for Mick with scraps from all of our meals since he had decided not to join us for dinner. We also had a decent box of leftovers for him that we hid in the other fridge. This probably amused all of us more than it amused Mick.

After dinner, we returned to the condo to play some games. We played Apples to Apples with everyone except Mick (he had fallen asleep on the couch before we got home). Everyone seemed to enjoy playing Apples to Apples!

Friday, we spent the day at the condo. We all played Pictionary together, which was fun! Dylan and Gabe’s Grandma played pool pretty much every day that we were there, and we joined them a few times. Maddie had her first pool (as in billiards) lesson. We also worked on the “impossible” jigsaw puzzle quite a bit. This led to some amusing moments with everyone acting like monkeys…ok, maybe not EVERYONE…but at least Dylan and me! We were determined to finish this puzzle, and we did! We were all thrilled with our accomplishment. In the evening, we had a wonderful dinner prepared mostly by Gabe’s Grandma and Mom.

We returned home on Saturday. The drive was long as we left around 11:30am and didn’t get home until after 7pm. We did make stops for lunch and dinner. We also had to make several Maddie stops. She was NOT happy!! The ride was difficult, and it didn’t get better when we ran into torrential downpours. We probably will want to stay close to home for a while!

All in all, we had a nice time with family, and it was great that Maddie could finally meet her Great Grandma and Grandpa! Gabe’s family was very excited to see Maddie and all her baby tricks.

During my pregnancy, I was sometimes frustrated by all the “rules” that I had to follow when it came to certain foods. Since this was my first pregnancy, I was very diligent about what I ate and especially what I didn’t eat. I was supposed to avoid hot dogs, deli meats, soft cheeses, honey, herbal teas, and sushi (this one was not a problem!). Certain fish was to be avoided entirely, and others were supposed to be consumed in moderation. I generally avoided caffeine, save for about one Diet Coke or two each week. Most of the time, all of this wasn’t too big of an issue, but sometimes it was difficult like when we went out to eat or food options were limited. When we went to a few football games, I really wished that I could get a hot dog…something about stadiums and ballparks makes me want to consume a tasty hog dog!

Avoiding all these foods seemed like a big deal at times, but I think it pales in comparison to my new dietary restriction. We deduced that Maddie has what is hopefully a temporary dairy allergy. Not to be confused with lactose intolerance, this is an allergy to the protein in cow’s milk (not her Mommy’s milk). Maddie’s symptoms included irritability/colic, excessive gas, and diaper issues (I’ll spare you the details for now). We noticed improvements when I completely cut dairy out of my diet. This means no milk, butter, cream, cheese, yogurt, and more. Most chocolate, most desserts, and many breads are off limits.

I’ve been very strict with my diet as the milk protein can stay in my system for 4-6 weeks and then in Maddie’s system for an additional week or two. Due to this fact, I’m hesitant to trial dairy too often or too soon. For the most part, if I’m unsure about the exact ingredients, then I will avoid the food. I have had to make some exceptions when my options are limited, but even then I absolutely avoid obvious sources. My will power has been historically weak when it comes to food. It helps that this is an avoidance issue versus a moderation issue, but I also find it easier to do it when I know it is best for my daughter.

Some foods that contain dairy may surprise you. Go Dairy Free has been an excellent resource for me and has a list of sneaky dairy sources. I have found most chocolate (even dark chocolate) and potato chips tend to contain milk products. I have encountered deli meats with dairy, and even my favorite Herby Turkey at Bruegger’s Bagels has dairy in both the turkey AND the sundried tomato spread. Almost all breaded chicken products tend to have dairy. Lactose free milk is not safe. Surprisingly, the “veggie slices” of cheese in the grocery still contains casein, a sneaky milk product. Many soups, aside from the obvious creamy ones, are not safe. Fake soy-based meats tend to contain dairy as well. Most breads and other bakery items contain milk. I have learned to read ingredients very carefully!

It’s an interesting challenge, but it is worth it for the health of my baby (and the sanity of her parents)! I feel that breastfeeding is the best thing for her, so it isn’t all that hard to make the sacrifices. Plus, as I mentioned in my previous breastfeeding post, avoiding dairy has its own benefits. I definitely feel that I have lost my baby weight faster by avoiding cheese, creams, and most desserts. Gabe and I have definitely been eating healthier at home as a result. The amount of time that I have to make these sacrifices is really insignificant. Even if I nurse Maddie beyond her first year, most babies outgrow the allergy by the end of their first year.

I plan to post more on this topic with my experiences with avoiding dairy. I intend to post restaurant recommendations, recipes, and food alternatives that we have discovered.

Maddie will be 6 months old tomorrow, and I’m happy to say that she has been exclusively breastfed her entire life (no formula supplements). I feel very lucky that I can provide this for my baby. Breastfeeding has been going quite well, and I plan to continue at least through her first year. We have done a little rice cereal, and we intend to start more solids soon, but her nutritional needs are being met pretty much solely by her mommy. Everyone knows that breast milk is best for the baby, but I have found some awesome, tangible benefits for me as well.

Losing that baby fat: I’m proud to report that I have lost all 55 pounds (yes, you read that correctly) that I gained while pregnant with Maddie. What have I done to lose this weight? I attribute pretty much 100% of my weight loss to breastfeeding. Nursing burns an average of 500 calories per day. How cool is that? I’m nursing Maddie generally twice during the day since her daycare is across the street from me. The distance to her daycare isn’t far, but I do feel like the extra walking makes a difference. And one more big factor in losing the weight has to do with my diet. We have strong suspicians that Maddie has a dairy allergy (that’s cow’s milk, not the same as human milk). We feel that she has benefited greatly from me cutting dairy from my diet. This was a huge adjustment, but as a result Gabe and I are both eating healthier. I’m positive that this has also contributed to my weight loss. I miss cheese sometimes, but the sacrifice is well worth it. I wouldn’t have had the willpower to make such drastic changes to my diet if I didn’t believe it had such huge benefits to my daughter.

Bonding with my baby: It didn’t take very long with round-the-clock feedings for me to bond with my daughter. I’m her Mommy, and there is no substitute. This can be frustrating at times (like when I wish that Gabe could comfort her), but it’s also the sweetest thing in the world. Maddie and I have an amazing bond, and our bond keeps getting better and better. It melts my heart when she spots me and gives me the biggest gummy grins as I come over to the daycare to nurse her during the day. She makes happy noises and starts crawling towards me. At night, she wants to be as close to me as possible. No matter how far apart we start, she finds a way to be right next to me, belly to belly. I feel like our bond is so much stronger due to breastfeeding.

Nursing room buddies: At Maddie’s daycare, they have a very nice, soothing nursing room with comfy seating, low lighting, and classical music. Though our schedules often vary, I frequently see the same moms in the nursing room. We don’t always know each other’s names, but we know all the babies by name! The nursing room is a place where we can talk about our problems and triumphs to other moms who understand. Gabe calls them my “boob buddies” as I relay their advice and stories to him. I know that I will miss this community when I’m no longer breastfeeding Maddie during the day. This is a benefit that is special to my workplace, but organizations such as La Leche League would provide similar benefits.

Saving time and money: As long as I’m with Maddie, I don’t have to worry about preparing bottles or other foods. I’m prepared to feed her no matter where we are or what time it is. This is just one less thing that we have to worry about when we’re running errands or visiting with friends. In the middle of the night, I don’t even have to get out of bed to prepare a bottle (even before we were co-sleeping, Gabe would bring her to me for feedings in the middle of the night). When Maddie is hungry, I can almost immediately see to her needs. As for the expense, I’ve seen estimates that claim that we are saving about $2000 in formula costs. Considering Maddie’s possible allergies, those savings could be even higher. I have seen that the low allergen formulas are even more expensive!

We’re slowly adding content to the Recipes section. The Stuffed Peppers recipe that I have been making so often has been posted. We like them well enough to make them about once every other week. We’re still looking for more recipes to add to our usual rotation, especially dairy free recipes. We’re getting a little tired of some of our old standbys!