Wisdom Wednesday

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

~Eleanor Roosevelt

C-sections and Alternatives in Louisville KY

As a mother of two, my first birthing experience was less than ideal and resulted in a c-section.

When I became pregnant with my second child I desperately wanted to give birth vaginally. I encountered trouble finding good information on my options.

While I did plan for a vaginal birth my second child was also delivered via c-section.

If you are looking for alternatives in Louisville, KY I encourage you to read the article linked below and connect with the resources listed within it.

http://m.louisville.com/content/kentucky-limits-birthing-options-healthy-women-its-cesarean-rate-exceeds-national-average-fi

The desired outcome is always a healthy baby and mommy but it is also important to trust your body and make the choices best for you. The good news for me is that both of my children are healthy - and while my body still experiences c-section related oddities, I am also healthy.

Remember although your choices may be limited you do have choices and I encourage you to empower yourself with all the available information!

Wisdom Wednesday

"Confidence is contagious.  So is lack of confidence."

~Vince Lombardi

Word to the Wise

How many times have you been out with your children and distracted.  Distracted by one child yelling while the other is running away from you...

Not that your children generally misbehave but they are curious and adventurous - I completely understand and have been there many, many times.

The other day I was on my lunch break and unfortunately someone stole my wallet.  My driver's lisence, my credit cards, my health insurance cards, keepsakes...all gone in just moments.  Fortunately we are not responsible for the $4,000 the theives racked up in merely 45 minutes.  And it is fortuitous that my credit card company called me and we were able to shut all my cards down.

This experience was frustrating and overwhelming and this happened while I was not particularly distracted while I was dining.  As I have reflected on this experience over the past few days I have thought about how lucky I have been in the past.

There have been many occasions where I have been out with my children towing a diaper bag, purse - the children running in two different directions - distracted beyond belief and I have never been robbed.

I realize this could have happened to me any time or any where but I can't help feeling I should have been able to prevent this theft.  What I now realize is that I should recognize this as an opportunity.  I now have the opportunity to take greater precautions for the safety of my posessions, especially when I am out.  I also recognize this as an opportunity to scale back on what I carry around with me approaching things from a more minimalist perspective.

Take heed and consider minimalizing the things you "tow around".  And above all, keep yourself and your children safe!

Wisdom Wednesday

"It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one."

~George Washington

Lead by Example

I am a big believer in leading by example - in life and in parenting.

My children probably come by their stubbornness honestly - I can be very stubborn.  When something doesn't work for them or happen as easily as they think it should, my children can become very frustrated and have a temper tantrum meltdown.

I try to explain to them that it's not the end of the world and help them understand how to express their frustration healthily - understanding that 3 year olds and 15 month olds have a limited understanding of healthy frustration expression.

As we grow, unfortunately we are not able to completely eliminate frustration in our lives - so learning to handle frustration is an important life skill.  Since we are all human, even the best of us are unable to handle frustration healthily 100% of the time.

In addition, there are people in everyone's lives who don't handle frustration with the highest level of emotional intelligence.

I believe that children learn what they see and practice what they see most often.  Therefore, I try even harder to handle my frustration in a manner that I would want my children to emulate.

Some of the tactics I use to keep my cool in the face of frustrating moments include:  reminding myself that it is not likely that anyone will actually catch on fire if something doesn't work out, counting to 10, breathing deeply, asking myself if this is a battle worth fighting, and remembering what the important things in life are.  When something isn't working how I believe it should, I try to ask myself if the thing I am frustrated by will matter in 10 minutes, days, hours, months, years...if the answer is no then I am typically able to curb my frustration and look at the situation in a new light.

Am I able to succeed in modeling good habits for my children all the time?  No!  But I believe children learn from mistakes they see too.  And when my children see me trying to model healthy behavior, even when I am not a successful model, they see a mom who cares enough to try and that will ultimately give them the confidence they will need to take risks, experience successes and failures and face frustrating circumstances with the healthy tools they need.

Wisdom Wednesday

"Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children."

~Walt Disney

Homemade Infant Rice Cereal

This is a recipe I used for both of my children when it was time to begin supplementing their exclusive breast milk5 diet.

The biggest selling point to commercially produced Infant Rice Cereal is the added iron - a supply reserve that begins to drop when an infant is around 6 months of age.

To curb the concern around the iron added to commercially produced Infant Rice Cereal, I utilized Iron Fortified infant formula when making my cereal.  While this is a little bit of up front work - I highly recommend making your own Infant Rice Cereal for your baby!

Homemade Infant Rice Cereal

Ingredients:

2 Cups of Brown Rice (not instant)

10 2/3 Cups of Water

4 Cups of Breast Milk or Iron Fortified Infant Formula

Directions:

In a saucepan, mix the water and the brown rice.  Bring to a boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring continuously.  The rice should have thickened significantly.

Stir in breast or formula milk and continue to cook.  Stir continuously for an additional 10 minutes.  Add more milk if the mixture becomes too thick.

Remove from heat and let cool.  Place rice into blender (magic bullet) and puree until desired consistency.  

Pour into ice cube trays and cover with plastic wrap.  Place trays in the freezer.

Once frozen, remove cereal from trays and place in a freezer bag.  Label with date and contents.  

Thaw appropriate amount as needed for baby.  Add breast milk or formula or water to thin and create desired consistency/thickness.

I always made sure I used the rice cereal within 30 days to prevent spoiling.

Wisdom Wednesday

"It's kind of fun to do the impossible."

~Walt Disney

How many times have you gotten up, dressed and fed the kids, gotten the kids to school and yourself to work ... and the day just began? 

As working parents, we do the impossible everyday - we squeeze more into five minutes than we ever imagined.  Sometimes it's a challenge but worth every minute of it.

Keep doing the impossible!