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RAINY DAY CHOCO OATMEAL COOKIES

I'm finally off from work... and of course the forecast is RAIN 3/5 days and 70s ALL WEEK. So much for my beach plans! What better way to kick off the staycation than baking cookies on a rainy day! I had no eggs in the house, and I also wanted to sneak in some oatmeal into the cookies without actually tasting them... but I only had old fashioned rolled oats. Luckily rolled oats can be used for ANYTHING.

I ended up moving the mixer to the floor because we don't have enough counter space for my helper to be helpful!

RECIPE

1 cup of butter (2 sticks)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup boiling water

2 cups oat

1 bag of chocolate chips

- beat butter, sugars & vanilla until light and fluffy

- add flour, salt

- dissolve baking soda in boiling water and mix

- add oat and choco chips

- preheat to 350 and bake 10-12 minutes. (uncreased sheet- this recipe is basically all butter anyway!)

- cool before moving cookies

Always my #1 helper

Emilia is amazed at the kitchen-aid. Honestly, so am I!

Adding choco chips

eating cookie dough!! Benefits of eggless dough!

Soft, chewy chocolatey deliciousness!!

Spring Cleaning

It's been awhile since I've last posted. My longest break yet! It's been busy and I haven't had the energy after the kids went to sleep to post. I've had a few days off from work and Im almost re-energized! The weather in NYC has been HOT this week (over 90 degrees!!) and so spring may well be over, but not before some cleaning!! 

We took all our duplos, plastic kitchen foods, cars and mini figures- mostly paw patrol- and threw them into the bathtub. Henry had so much fun helping. Then we took our free and clear DISH SOAP and squeezed it into the tub. Henry mixed it all up with his hands! Even Emilia helped. Then I drained the tub, rinsed the toys and laid them out on towels to dry. 

SUPER EASY, SUPER CLEAN. and I'll feel a little less guilty when Emilia puts EVERYTHING in her mouth. 

Henry was so excited to throw all his toys in the tub

Henry mixing the soap with his hands

How to treat PLUGGED DUCTS

Ive been looking forward to throwing away my breast pump (or donating it) for 10 months!! I thought the day was ALMOST here.. until I got a plugged duct!!! TWICE in ONE WEEK!!! I didn't even know it was possible to get a plugged late 10 months into nursing. I had Mastitis when baby girl was 2 weeks old, so my BIGGEST FEAR was the plugged ducts progressing to MASTITIS.

• The first plugged duct involved the outer top quadrant, which has the most ducts and the most milk production. Im not exactly sure what caused the plugged duct. Most likely causes for me may be increased time between feedings/pump or lying on my stomach. Other causes include tight clothing, tight bra, trauma. 
• TREATMENT 1 : Hot showers, heat before nursing, pumping after nursing,  using electric toothbrush or clarisonic to break up clots, lecithin pills, hydration, motrin 600mg every 6 hours. Dangle nursing really helped as well. Changing the position of baby for each nursing session helped also.

5 days later..........

• plugged duct was in the inner top quadrant. I tried everything that I did before but nothing worked. My nipple was starting to hurt so I examined my nipple and saw a MILK BLEB (white bubble around an area where I can USUALLy express milk).
• TREATMENT 2 :  Pop the bleb! I washed a sharp tweezer with soap and hot water and popped the white bubble ( Doesn't hurt!) and milk just starting coming out. I washed my nipple with soap and water and then pumped to relieve my plugged duct.  Relief came RIGHT AWAY!!

I have a love/hate relationship with BREASTFEEDING. Clogged ducts can affect milk supply, so I guess this may be the road to weaning! *fingers crossed* but c'mon, How can I say NO to this sweet face???

DIY floral crown

Floral crowns are the biggest trend right now, and rightfully so!

I decided to try to make my own, and IF it came out really ugly, then I would just buy one from the local florist. 

Well, I have to say that I am surprised at how EASY it was to make this beautiful floral crown!!!

WHAT YOU NEED:

GLUE GUN

SILK FLOWERS and GREEN LEAVES 

FLORAL WIRE

FLORAL TAPE

I got everything I needed from Michaels!

The flowers and leaves came on one stem, and I just pulled it apart!

Step 1: OPTIONAL

I wrapped the floral wire with floral tape just to make it softer against my baby's head. You don't need to do this step, especially if the floral wire is already covered with soft fabric. I bent little loops into the end of the wire incase I decided to use ribbon to tie the headband on. 

STEP 2: Pull apart leaves and flowers!

STEP 3: Glue flowers and leaves onto wire! 

I measured out the flowers against the wire before I started gluing to make sure I had enough flowers at the center for the headband. Then I filled the ends in with the green leaves. 

Also, having the flowers all face the same direction keeps it looking uniform!

TADA! The almost finished crown! 

Easter treasure hunt!

Easter is so much fun! Easter egg hunts, chocolates, marshmallow peeps, easter bunny! Everywhere you go, theres an easter basket and an easter egg hunt. Henry LOVES treasures, so I thought he would LOVE to lead a treasure hunt.  I made a map of where I hid the treasures at the playground and  had my BIL, SIL and grandma put "treasures" at the sites on the map. 

Our treasures: bubble wand, chocolate, whistle and paper airplane. 

I drew a path between the different play areas to show where to go next, but Henry went in his own order. 

Henry cant wait to get started. The other 2 are just happy to be outside.

He is following the map to his treasures

His first treasure!

We also dyed eggs for the first time this weekend! 

Special "Henry" egg

My handsome Easter Bunny!

3 Breastfeeding NIGHTMARES!

I don't want to scare any of you mom's-to-be.. but ALL nursing moms say that no matter how difficult it was to nurse, or how much you struggled in the beginning, it was ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT. I learned that nursing is NOT SUPPOSED TO BE PAINFUL. Soreness is normal, but should go away in a week or so. If its pain, then there's something more.

I never really spoke about my breastfeeding journey. I nursed Henry and now am nursing Emilia, but it was not easy. It was really tough with Henry (latch and thrush). Breastfeeding Emilia was easier, but not without its challenges (mastitis). No one ever talks about the potential AWFUL things associated with breastfeeding & I wish I had known so I would have been more diligent to AVOID these things from happened.

• POOR LATCH-  Henry had an awful latch.  I learned that breastfeeding is NOT supposed to be painful. It should have hit me around week 2, that the pain I was feeling was not normal.  I spent countless hours going to a lactation consultant, breastfeeding support group, searching Dr. Sears and La Leche League website for help. It was SO painful for him to latch, and I felt that he was not efficiently drinking milk because of his poor latch. Eventually I figured out that in addition to poor latch and cracked nipples, I had thrush. At about 4-6 weeks, it just clicked. Thankfully the babies grow big enough where all of a sudden, they just get it.  I was supposed to go back to work after 7 weeks, and I had set the goal that if we did not get the hang of nursing by that time, I would be ok with formula feeding. Henry caught on at 6 weeks & thrush went away, right before my short maternity ended. It was worth the journey and I am happy I was able to nurse him until he was 15 months old. My advice is STICK IT OUT and get help! You and your baby will eventually figure it out.

• Nipple THRUSH- Unfortunately you are at higher risk for thrush if baby had antibiotics (Henry got some in the NICU) and/or you have cracked and sore nipples. Thrush is a yeast infection of the nipples, super painful and super annoying to get rid of. With thrush, you have sharp shooting pains during feedings/letdowns, pink tender nipples that hurt even when you are wearing a bra. I could only wear loose fit cotton nursing tanks. Even disposable nursing pads hurt, so I switched over to the bamboo reusable nursing pads (bamboobies). The super soft nursing pads were a lifesaver and I still use them today!! For treatment, I took grapefruit extract, probiotics, and a homemade version of Jack Newmans All Purpose Nipple Ointment - a mix of steroid, antifungal and antibiotic. (mix equal parts of: miconazole cream or clomitrazole cream, 2% bactroban ointment, betamethasone or hydrocortisone ointment). Henry ended up taking oral nystatin also. For more info: http://www.llli.org/faq/thrush.html

• MASTITIS - When an engorged duct is not relieved, it can quickly become mastitis. Mastitis is an infection of the milk duct, usually by Staph aureus, a bacteria that normally colonizes your skin. Emilia was an EXCELLENT nurser. Great latch from day 1 and very efficient at drinking her milk. Newborns nurse every 2-3 hours so your body produces milk in a pattern that is made for your baby. When Emilia was around 2 weeks old, my mom was helping us with the baby at nighttime and she let me get a full nights sleep in (6 hours). I woke up in pain and engorged. I tried feeding the baby, pumping all day, but to no avail. Around evening time, I started feeling dizzy, exhausted, got chills and a fever. I was basically bedridden.  My breast was engorged and super painful to touch. It was hot and red and NOTHING I did made it better. I called my OB in the morning and she prescribed me dicloxacillin. It took about 3 days of antiobiotcs and 1 week of rest before I felt normal again. . My advice is to continue night feeds! It sucks to have to wake up every 2-3 hours, but it really helps with your milk production & preventing engorgement. Think of it as baby bonding time, because it's not FOREVER!

Good luck!  Most of these issues are not a big concern once you hit the 6 month mark. YOU CAN MAKE IT THERE!!

All moms should strive to breastfeed and it should not be stressful. It should be nurturing and special time. It's a bond that ONLY a MOM and BABY  can develop. Don't get me wrong, both Henry and Emilia were supplemented with formula because of jaundice. and Henry had to undergo phototherapy in NICU for worsening breastmilk jaundice, So I know FED IS BEST. Fed is best, but Breast is More Best!