In case of emergency

Often in the midst of our greatest trials we learn our greatest lessons. It is in this light that I share something I have come to feel very passionate about. It's really a very simple thing, but something that I believe if followed could help save lives.

When my friend Julie was at my home and her son began to choke (if you remember, she was alone as I had just ran to get Lucy from dance and was away for about 5 minutes) she needed to call 9-1-1. She did so using her cell phone and when they asked her for the address, she didn't know it.

Would you? Do you know your best friend's address by heart? Your parents? Do they know your address? Could those you leave to watch your children tell others your address in the event of an emergency?

After I got back from the hospital after being with Julie after Jonah passed away, I was sharing with my Mom how awful I felt about a lot of things and one was that it had to happen when I wasn't there (of course I've come to trust that this was meant to be, but it doesn't mean I don't feel bad about it) and my Mom asked, "Well what could you have done?" I answered that I know I couldn't have done anything more, but I could have at least told Julie my address so she wouldn't have had to figure that out in such a stressful moment. I recognize in our situation, her knowing my address immediately really wouldn't have changed the outcome, but it still opened my eyes to this idea.

I thought about making a cute little sign with my address on it and putting it on my fridge for all to see and I thought about the fonts and colors I could use. Then as I pondered on why I wanted to do this I knew I needed to just do something. Fancy fonts and cute pictures could wait. I then took a scrap of orange paper out of the drawer and wrote my address on it and stuck it to the side of my fridge.  I point out that it is there whenever anyone is at my home.

It's nothing big, but I believe it could help. I also believe we could just make it a given that our address can always be found on our fridge. My thoughts for this campaign are very much in the infancy stage, but like the scrap of orange paper that hangs on the side of my fridge, I know it just needs to have a start.

So I challenge all of you to put your address on the side of your fridge. Those moments of not having to scramble to figure that out just might make all the difference . . .

Dry cracked heels?

Do not spend money on any other lotion than this. I have had a problem with dry skin (especially my heels) since I moved to Utah in 1995. I have tried EVERYTHING. I finally consulted a foot doctor who recommended this cream and it is heaven sent! I also use the sleep-n-heels and they make my heels softer than you know what. If you have problems with dry skin, GET THIS LOTION. You can thank me later.

Gingerbread Nativity

I saw how to make this here and it was so much fun and quite simple. Merry Christmas!

A great cause

My friend's fundraising raffle is up! Please help them bring their daughter home from Ecuador! You could win Ragedy Ann & Andy dolls made by Mom (she also made the cowboy booties and memory bear). Check it out and please help spread the word. All items can be shipped to wherever you are! Go HERE

Kids wake up too early?

This idea comes from my friend Christine and it is brilliant. When her son kept coming into her room around 6am she bought him a digital alarm clock and told him that if the first number was not a seven, it was still nighttime and he needed to stay in bed. We tried this with Lucy and it has been glorious!

$30 in free product

Just pay shipping. Go HERE for details. (I can't decide if I'm going to make a book or do Christmas cards)

eyelashes

I am not a very high maintenance girl (I don't dye my hair, I've never been tanning, I get my haircut every 4 months or so, etc) But boy have I found something worth spoiling myself with! Do you know about fake semi-permanent eyelashes? I love them. You get them on, they last 4 weeks and you look lovely. They are perfect for stay at home Moms. In the picture above, I have NO make-up on. You just wake up looking pretty. You get out of the shower looking pretty. You get done swimming and look pretty. Amazing. They are dyed so there is no need to put on mascara. They just always look lovely. (Oh and no raccoon eyes when you take off your make up.) I am totally loving it. They come in all sorts of lengths and thicknesses so you can find what works best for you. You will love it!

Ruffle headband

Want to make these super easy, super cute and super cheap headbands? Go here. They do not require any sewing or gluing. Just cutting and tying! They took me about 10 minutes a piece to make. Enjoy.

Taco Salad

Another delicious recipe from my friend. This one is also Vegan, cheap, easy and my husband frequently requests that  I make it:



Taco Salad:

Romaine lettuce (I use at least half of a large head, or a full small head)

1 tomato

1/2 can kidney beans

1/2 cup corn

2 corn tortillas

1/2 T. taco seasoning

salsa

• Cut, wash, and spin lettuce*

• Dice tomato

• Heat corn in microwave

• Pour the can of kidney beans (undrained) into a bowl, add taco seasoning. Mix, and heat in microwave. Pour half of the beans and liquid into salad.

• Cut corn tortillas into strips. Spread onto baking sheet and bake at 350° for 7-10 minutes (or until golden brown and crispy.)**

• Pour salsa on top, mix everything up, and enjoy!

*If you don't have fresh tomatoes, you can just put salsa on top.

Enchiladas

I've been making these weekly since I tried out my friend's recipe. It is: yummy, cheap, easy and VEGAN! Who knew all those things combined could be so wonderful? My husband loves them and requests that I make them. Also, the ingredients are easy ones to keep on hand so it can be an easy stand by meal as needed.




Enchiladas:
1 Onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 T. oil (I used veggie broth)
10 oz. can enchilada sauce
8 oz. can tomato sauce
small can of chopped olives
1/2-1 can green chillies
salt to taste
pepper to taste
8 corn tortillas
1 can ranch style or chili beans
1 can corn, drained and rinsed
1 can black or pinto beans, drained and rinsed

• Saute onion and garlic in water, veggie broth, or oil.
• Stir in enchilada sauce, tomato sauce, olives, and chillies.
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Mix beans and corn together in a bowl.
• Place 2 tortillas in bottom of slow cooker (crockpot). Layer 1/3 of sauce mixture, then 1/3 of bean mixture on top.
• Repeat above step two more times, and then top with 2 tortillas and any extra sauce.
• Cook on low 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4.

Thred Up

I just started doing this great program where you swap kids clothing online with other Moms.  (My sister has been doing it for about a year now).

How it works is you sign up for free and place a box of used clothing your kids don't use anymore and select a box of clothes you want. Each box you pick is $5 plus shipping and the box is sent directly to you. They will pick up the box you swapped from your home for free.

PLUS you get a $10 credit for signing up! I just bought my first box, it is full of winter clothes for David (about 12 items) for $5.95 total! 

Check it out

2 point weight watcher brownies

Black beans replace the oil and eggs in this brownie recipe. These brownies are perfect for a "straight from the pantry" dessert!

1 (19 oz) box brownie mix
1 (15 oz) can black beans



Rinse and drain the black beans. Then spoon the beans back into their can and fill the can with fresh water. Pour beans and water into a blender and puree until smooth. Add puree to the brownie mix and stir. Pour into a sprayed cake pan and follow the directions for baking as printed on the back of the brownie mix box.

Only 2 points per brownie for Weight Watchers!

The word on the street is that they are delicious. I plan to try them soon.

Lovely chandelier made from wax paper!

Find out how to make one here

Postpartum girdle

Do not have another baby without having this lovely invention handy, especially if you have a c-section. When I first got home, I could not comfortably sleep on either side. A friend told me about this product. I got one at Motherhood (they are on Amazon too) and I felt like someone had a placed a big brace around my injured tummy. I could immediately sleep on either side and I felt so much better. My friend who told me about this didn't even have a c-section and it still really helped her And it helps you get a flat tummy faster. I cannot say enough good. And they are only $25-worth every penny!

Best Sandwich

My husband and I had the best sandwich last night that I have ever had in my life (and I'd like to think I've lived a fairly cultured life). At any rate, it is at Station 22 on Center Street in Provo (22 West Center to be exact). If you live here, run and go there RIGHT NOW (you can thank me later). If you don't live here, put it on your vacation plans. Yum!

Cute hair flower

I made these flowers following a tutorial from here. To make them "poof" more, after I sewed them altogether I turned the flower upside down and gathered the bottom together in the center. It was super easy and I think they turned out way cute. You will want to use a fairly stiff fabric when you make them (even flannel worked well).

Pony tail holders

In my opinion, these (Goody ouchless) are by far the best pony tail holders for little girls' hair. They stay in place, don't stretch out and can be found at your local grocery store. Enjoy!

Personalized Mother's Day Cards

Get an adorable personalized Mother's Day Card here for only 99 cents (with free shipping). Enter the code: AFFMDAY (I just made mine-totally works!)

 

No-sew rolled fabric flowers

I just got done making some of these adorable roses for hair clips. They were super simple. Want to learn how? Go HERE

P.S.: I just used hot glue instead of fabric glue and it seemed to work just fine.

Tips for RSV

Unfortunately we had to deal with RSV last week. My friend Sandy was kind enough to share some tips from her experience. I thought I'd pass along the wisdom:

My biggest tip - get one of these - nosefrida.com It is quite possibly the nastiest thing you will ever buy as a parent, but the key to clearing out RSV is clearing out all that Elmer's Glue snot and this thing works WAY better than any bulb syringe ever could. I had to order mine, but I believe they sell them at Target and Babies R' Us, so you might have better luck locally if you wanted to get one (saline is helpful in loosening stuff, too). I didn't have one with the first baby and her nose was in pretty bad shape after constant bulb syringing for weeks - and even though I rock with a bulb syringe, wasn't doing the job very well. Got the nosefrida right after the second one got out of the hospital and couldn't believe the difference - its way less traumatic on their nose, works twice as well - and gives you a lot more control once you get used to it - and you can actually clean it out, which is very helpful :) Whatever you use, though, suction like a mad person - the more of that glue you get out, the easier it'll be for him to breathe and the less coughing he'll do.

For the cough, a cold mist humidifier (especially in a tent of some kind) is awesome. I can't remember how old your son is...probably pretty mobile...so sticking him a carseat with a sheet tent over him probably isn't an option :) He might like a chair/blanket tent, though! You want the mist pretty concentrated - not just like the humidifier blowing next to him - so whatever you can do to contain it around him will help.

You want him sleeping at some sort of angle, too - not flat so all the glue-snot doesn't drain down and get stuck.

I know you're already doing the neb treatments - if they gave you a mask to use (hopefully) instead of something to stick in his mouth, you can also put a little saline in there in between treatments and use that to make mist to breathe in and help loosen up the junk. Toddlers and neb treatments usually don't mix very well...good luck with that...hopefully he's taking to it better than my kids did! We had to do a lot of restraint and distraction to get the whole treatment done!

One last little thing -- we found that like 75% of the nurses and respitory therapists we encountered didn't have very accurate info on RSV (stuff like claiming that adults can't get RSV - which isn't true - and therefore can't transmit it to children - um...hello - Germs 101! A toilet can't get sick, but you can get germs from touching it!) and would not all agree on what constituted "breathing problems", etc. Many would just say if their skin was sucking in between their ribs or they were wheezing - like an asthma attack - that was a problem, nothing else indicated breathing issues. Neither of my RSV kids had that happen - even when one had like 70% oxygen saturation, her ribs didn't suck in and she didn't wheeze. For my kids, it was the skin around their collarbones (like at the dent at the bottom of their neck) would suck in or they'd breathe very quickly and shallow (like 80 breathes a minute) - I had to MAKE nurses check oxygen stats to prove I was right since they didn't view those things as normal breathing problem signs. My doc said that babies and small kids will often breathe shallowly to combat not being able to breathe well (thus the collarbone sucking in and the hyperventilating) rather than trying to breathe deeply, but not being able to. So, anyway - I know your husband is a doctor, so he probably knows all this already, but thought I'd throw that out there in case you had come across one of the "adults can't pass germs to kids" people, haha!

I think that's all I've got...I'll let you know if I think of anything else - hopefully there was something new to tweak or try in there, otherwise, I guess you're already doing anything I could recommend :)
Be prepared to keep an eye on him for a while after he's "better" - most kids with RSV have asthma-like problems for a while afterwards, so you might want to keep the nebulizer around just in case.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

We were craving tortillas last night so I tried out this recipe. It was my first attempt at making tortillas and they were yummy! At first I used oil in the pan, but then I just made them with no oil and just heated them on my frying pan-still great. Enjoy

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons lard
• 1 1/2 cups water

Directions

1. Whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a mixing bowl. Mix in the lard with your fingers until the flour resembles cornmeal. Add the water and mix until the dough comes together; place on a lightly floured surface and knead a few minutes until smooth and elastic. Divide the dough into 24 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball.
2. Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Use a well-floured rolling pin to roll a dough ball into a thin, round tortilla. Place into the hot skillet, and cook until bubbly and golden; flip and continue cooking until golden on the other side. Place the cooked tortilla in a tortilla warmer; continue rolling and cooking the remaining dough.   -allrecipes.com

Mobile for the nursery

I just ordered this for the nursery here and I cannot wait for it to come in the mail! I wanted so many of these mobiles (the owl one was a close second). Many of the mobiles can only be purchased in the US through this site (I kind of like to be unique). Enjoy taking a moment to enjoy the adorable little creations.

Bubble gum necklaces

What little girl wouldn't love these?

Cleaning Tips

Here are some tips that help me keep up on the demands of housework. Many are tips I've adopted from friends, family, TV shows and some I just learned through the school of hard knocks:

1) Set aside one day a week to do all of your laundry. I LOVE this tip! Before my friend told me this was how she did her laundry, I always felt like I could never keep on top of laundry and that it NEVER ended. Now when I see dirty laundry at my house, I know it will be cleaned on Monday and I don't think about it again.

2) Use Clorox wipes. I do not know how I would get by without these little helpers. It allows me to clean up a mess right away without having to pull out multiple materials. I also like them to do a quick wipe down of my bathroom cabinets and other surfaces just before guests arrive.

3) Each day (except The Sabbath) I clean something. For example, Mondays I do laundry, Tuesdays I dust, Wednesdays I clean the bathrooms, Thursdays I do the floors, Fridays I "deep" clean the kitchen, Saturdays I clean whatever I didn't quite get to during the week ;). This means I spend about 15-20 mins max a day cleaning so I don't really dread it.

4) Clean up as you go (but not while you're going). I make the beds when I first wake up. Then we play and create. I let the kids do what they want with their toys. They can make all the messes their little hearts desire. Then just before nap time (and bed time), we clean up. Often they help me clean a bit and I take a few minutes (literally) to finish putting things away once they're in bed.

5) Make sure everything has its place.  I love that our entertainment center has two big cupboards that can be filled with toys and SHUT when the children are not playing with them. This allows for plenty of toys to be easily accessible for the children and makes for easy and FAST clean up on our end.

6) If something doesn't have a place, figure out where it can go. If you can't find a place, get rid of stuff until everything you really need has a place in your home.

7) Take time about once a month to reorganize something (the hall closet, bedroom closets, pantry, kitchen and bathroom cupboards, etc) Again, by doing this about once a month (and only doing ONE thing) I am amazed how little time it takes me to organize something.

So there are a few ideas (or perhaps just a window into how very OCD I really am). At any rate, I hope something can be helpful.

ABC

I am so making this for the new baby's room. Learn how here.