High Maintenance Mom

I love my Nintendo Wii Fit. The yoga helps center me, the strength training, which I originally thought was too easy, is slowly increasing my strength, the aerobics exercises have become a workout, and the balance games continue to cause my kids to laugh uncontrollably. Who knew how much fun it would be for the kids to watch me being hit by one panda or shoe after another as I dodged the soccer balls by mistake. My favorite part is seeing family members on my runs or doing a step routine. The kids will call out, "hey look there's Granny" as I'm running. It feels like I'm running with all my friends and family, at 6:30 in the morning...

My friend has graciously allowed me to post the story of her son Cade for encouragement to others and to remind us all how precious life is. Here is Cade's story as told by his Mom.......

My son had a fever of 102 yesterday and I went into full sick mode with Motrin, humidifier, etc. He slept well and by morning was 100% fine. Then I get an email from a close friend whose son had been ill since birth. He will be OK but it has been very stressful for the baby and for his parents. I read her email and almost started to cry. I am so lucky and try to remind myself often. I will be posting my friend's story on the front page in the new few days.

I didnt think the first colds of the season would come this soon but I have a cold and so does my 3 year old. My son seems to be in the clear but his nose is making some crackling noises so I assume one is one the way. I love our cool mist humidifier, our vapor plug in and Motrin. The combination does help both kids to sleep through the night which is key...sleep! I hope this winter proves to be kinder to my daughter who was sick too much last winter, ear infections, stomach bug, etc.

Now that my son is too heavy for a front carrier and isn't walking just yet, we need another way to carry him around. The stroller is great for walking around the neighborhood but sometimes I need something that allows me to maneuver in smaller places and also handle my almost 3 year old daughter. Enter the backpack!...

Our son was born a healthy 9 pounds 7 months ago and in that time we learned a great deal about Gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD. Our son had what his pediatrician and I considered to be a mild case and in hindsight, our daughter, now 2 ½ may have had an even milder case. When my son was about 2 weeks old he began what I can only describe as grunting. I remembered my daughter doing it also but hers was slight and soon went away. My son’s grunting was loud and kept him awake at night.

The burpee is a classic exercise that works your whole body. It does not require a lot of space or time so it's great for those of us who want something quick and effective. There are several versions of the burpee but my favorite is the following...

I had gum surgery 10 days ago and am still recovering. In my quest to find things I can eat (drink?), I've been revisiting many of the foods we gave to our kids when they were younger. My favorite appliances, not including the TV/TiVo which provided entertainment for three days of icing my face, have been our Waring Bar Blender and Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender. I use each of them at least once a day. I started with smoothies and from there have been looking for additional nutrients in a blended form - much like I did for my kids. One of the challenges I face is that I can't digest dairy foods or handle lots of sugar. Many smoothies, puddings, and soft comfort foods contain a lot of sugar so I've had to work hard to find things that won't make me miserable. Below are a few of the foods I've been eating. The next post will cover other comfort items...

Ever since my kids have noticed other kids drinking sugary substances, I've been looking for low sugar alternatives. My ideal fluid comes in a bottle so the kids feel like they have an adult drink and it tastes a little sweet but without too much sugar. I thought I had engaged on an impossible quest until we found bot fortified waters. My kids love them, they have less than 10g of sugar per bottle, not per serving, and they are fortified with vitamin B. They are currently available from Whole Foods. Grape and berry are my kids' favorites flavors - I like the orange one too.

I am blessed to be able to breastfeed my 3 month old son and hope to continue to my 6 month goal (I nursed my daughter for 7 months) but understand that there are many mothers who do not have that option and need to feed their child formula from day 1. I reached for a popular formula brand when my daughter was 7 months old and felt OK with my decision. Now, it seems that between the new choice of organic formula and formulas with added DHD/ARA, they are new questions.