Nurses Call the Shots

So, I feel like I've settled into a routine with my family...things are going well, a bit more relaxed as we continue to adjust our lives to accommodate our newest addition. I feel good about where my life stands and is heading on the home front. A part of my life that I feel a growing desire to expand in is my career. I want to focus on who I am as a nurse. Nursing has been a huge part of my adult life. I studied the art and science of nursing for four long tedious years in college ... I could not wait to get my foot in the door at THE Ohio State University Medical Center and experience the research and modern advances in medicine and surgery that happen around that place everyday. I looked forward to making a difference in someone's life everyday that I got out of bed and went to work...not just to make a difference, but to be an influence in a stranger's life...a positive influence. A stranger who is counting on me to be on my toes and take care of the life in my hands that happened to be theirs. I couldn't wait to love my career.

Well, here I am--I've been a nurse at the OSU Medical Center for 2 years now. I go to work, do my job, and come home-- stressed-out, run-down, mind-racing, and on-edge. It is a tough job... mentally, emotionally, & physically. My mind does not leave "nurse-mode" once my body enters my home... in fact I typically have dreams about what valuable information I may have forgotten to pass on to the next nurse during shift change or perhaps forgot to chart... a very uncomfortable feeling. It feels like nurses are tied on a lasso, flung around in the air a couple times, and let go--dizzy and discombobulated--and then expected to provide each of our patients with professional, timely, appropriate, thoughtful, and sincere care... all while trying to fix and convey our apologies for miscommunication or complete LACK of communication between physicians and ancillary departments... and don't forget the phone in your pocket is ringing off the hook because the patient in 5B is throwing up, 74B needs pain meds, and your patient is back from xray and the transporter is getting really angry that you haven't come to the room yet, or you have an admission on the way. WHEW!

After all this, I know nursing is the field for me. I want to re-focus my mind now on how to be that special influence in a stranger's life. People are the most vulnerable when they are in the hospital... the last thing they need is a crappy nurse :). Our problems aren't solved by complaining (although it does feel good to vent sometimes!) or with a poor attitude. Sometimes it helps to remind yourself that yes, this job is tough...and it takes a tough person to do the job, but you came into this profession for a reason! For the past year or so I have had other issues on my mind--marriage, baby-making, and being a new mom...but now I'm feeling better than ever about putting my mind and heart into nursing and becoming the most rockin' nurse I can be!!!! Hallelujah to all you Nurses out there ... Happy Nurses Week!!!

BTW, I posted some nursing links on my sidebar...check them out!! I love the nursing blog Code Blog--there are links to other nursing blogs on that site as well. Enjoy :)

New savings website. . .

I just added a new website to my sidebar called "It's Hip 2 Save!" Gooood website, check it out when you have time--I like it a lot! Thanks Sarah! =o)

Jackpot

I hit the jackpot with organic coupons! I found a site that listed a ton of organic websites that have printable coupons--I listed them on my blog under Organic Coupons Sites. I just briefly looked over each of them but haven't tried printing from these sites yet...I'm sure they work just fine since most of them are manufacturer websites.

My couponing has fallen by the wayside since our transition to mostly organic or at least all natural eating. I'm pretty excited about these coupon sites I found though. Every penny counts!

I'm also growing a garden this summer with my sister at our mom's house. I'm really looking forward to this!! My mom always has a huge amount of veggies from her garden every year--plenty to freeze & can. She makes the best tomato soup I've ever tasted! We're always asking her for more throughout the year--looks like I'll get my own stockpile now. ;) I'm also looking forward to learning the art of canning and freezing--yes, I think it is an art--and a fabulous way to eat fresh, naturally grown, pesticide-free vegetables all year 'round. I hope our garden produces enough to donate a good amount to our local food banks as well--I'm sure we'll have plenty! I am so attracted to the idea of using our earth in its purest form to feed and nourish our bodies. Man I sound like a hippie, but its so true ;) Better look out, I might buy a cow next and learn how to make my own yogurt from her milk...and I'll make cheese...and sour cream...and ice cream...and coffee creamer.... Ha! There we go, a cow in my backyard in suburban Dublin-and we thought Portia had big....nevermind, off topic! :) Stay tuned for updates on my first garden--let's hope I have a green thumb!

Happy 6 months Ava!

Happy 6 Months to My Lil Sunshine Baby!

She sits up for longer & longer periods everyday...she sat up just like this the entire time I took pictures of her... a couple minutes at least.


Ornery booger ... :) I was happy to be able to put this outfit on her before she grew out of it... this was the first outfit I bought for her the day after I found out we were having a girl ;) I love the light blue & pink together. . .


Smiley face ... I have to turn the flash off the camera nowadays because she closes her eyes for every shot!! Unfortunately, my camera does not take great pics without a flash ...


I don't think she could fit anotheer finger in her mouth ...


I love these 'baby legs' ... they're kind of like knee high socks without the foot part ... just there to keep her chubby baby legs warm & protect her knees from the carpet & hardwood floor. Too cute!


Outside on one of the gorgeous days we had this weekend! She loved going on walks ... I think we took three everyday it was nice!


Her left eye was really boogering up from the pollen, especially since it was so breezy this weekend. Darn tear duct ...


"Gimme those toes!"


I love these cheeks ... and those eyes cannot get any bluer ...


6 month pic 'milestone' pic ... I always seem to take these in the evening--right before her bath--and she always has the most disgruntled look on her face...like, "honestly mom, do you have to do that now? I'm tired and over this day."



My lil peanut at one-day old ... so tiny and fragile.




She snatched my phone out of my hands and ravenously gummed away at it!! She has a serious obsession with our cell phones ... we bought a play phone for her and she just flaps it in the air and flings it across the room ... it was a good attempt.


She loves her toes ... she's always been so long (and chubby) that she could barely reach them for the longest time--now we can't keep these things out of her mouth.


There she goes again ... :)



Well, we're half-way to the 1-year mark!! Half-way! Over the hump, as I like to think of it. Babies seem to get much more interesting it seems from 6 months on. Of course this is just my observation...we could be in for a real treat from here on out. ;)

Anyway, Ava seems to be growing and developing right on target. Where do I begin? I feel like a lot has happened in the last month.

*She eats about 5-6 oz every 3 hours...she also eats cereal or fruit in the morning and a veggie around 7pm. She has eaten peas, green beans, butternut squash, carrots (maybe once or twice, she threw up with those so I thought we'd hold off for a bit) & bananas--she doesn't care much for green beans, but loves peas, squash, and bananas. She only takes a couple teaspoon fulls at a time.

*She rolls all over the place--including in her crib--she'll get stuck in some position in the middle of the night and start wailing away for someone to come rescue her. She's gotten much better now though...she likes sleeping on her side or tummy. It used to be a reflex for her to roll right onto her tummy as soon as I laid her down for a nap and then she would get super mad that she couldn't get turned back over--I thought "girl, you've been rolling over from your tummy for months, just roll back over!" goofball. ;)

*She still takes naps every 2 hours...just like clockwork...a very predictable baby she is. I've been rocking her until she's quite drowsy and then laying her down in her crib. She'll startle awake most of the time but I walk out of her room and she talks herself to sleep ... sometimes whines herself to sleep, but rarely do I let her get into a full blown cry. Her morning nap is the easiest to do this with...as the day goes on she needs more help relaxing before her naps.

*As for bedtime... she still goes down like a peach. :) She is always ready for the craziness of the day to be over. It's never a struggle getting her to sleep...its that 4-5am wake-up call that we dread. It's only dreadful now that we're trying to get her to sleep completely til 7am without a bottle. I tried the baby whisperer technique, which is basically the same technique our pediatrician told us about, where you go in her room every couple minutes and try to soothe her with a pat on the belly and reassuring words, but I feel it is just as evil as letting her cry herself to sleep. My gosh this girl just SCREAMS...and screams...and screams...and my presence in her room every couple minutes only makes her scream louder! She thinks, "MOM what in the world are you doing to me!" Oh and trying to give her a binky just makes her ticked-off! Not just extra fussy...or a little more cranky... she gets absolutely TICKED! So, I'll forgo trying the binky again. I tried this two nights in a row, letting her scream (yes scream, not just cry and whimper) for 20 minutes with my intermittent "shh...shhh...shhhh" and a rub to her head and finally caved and gave her a two oz bottle. Nope, can't do this one ... I'll try reducing the amount of milk I give her ... we're down to 2 oz ... next week we'll go to 1 oz ... then eventually none. Hopefully this works better. However, there are occasions where she sleeps 8pm-7:00-7:30am without waking up for a bottle ... now how do I get that to happen every night? :)

*Whew, now that that's over ... She has an interesting curiousity in her toes... looves her toes, sucking them, chewing them, grabbing them & swinging them around ... its hilarious to watch.

*At her pediatrician appointment yesterday she weighed a healthy 18 lbs 8 oz and was 27 inches long. 95th percentile for both. I know, chunky monkey :) You gotta love those rolls, though. Her doctor said her growth will probably plateau at this point and she'll drop down into the 70th percentile range after awhile.

*Her tear duct is still clogged. It's getting better though so her pediatrician wants to hold off on referring her to an eye surgeon to see if it completely opens on its own.

*She looves Portia ... I just have to mention this because I am amazed at how much she loves to watch animals. She gets up in the morning and as we're walking downstairs she catches a glimpse of Portia and does not take her eyes off her! Thankfully, Portia is a sweetie to Ava :)

Hope you enjoyed the pics! I posted a lot this time ... just can't help myself ;)


Here are the shots I typically get from her ... darned flash!

Thoughts on Being a Mommy ...

Just a few of my recent thoughts on being a new mommy. Eric and I are having the time of our lives with our Ava-cakes!

*Stop analyzing her nighttime sleep habits, and just enjoy where she is with her nightly sleep schedule. She will eventually sleep through the night consistently when she's ready ... I've learned to stop losing sleep over why she's not sleeping and just go with the flow.

*On the other hand, let a sleeping baby lie! Sometimes I get antsy when she takes longer naps than usual. I've learned to enjoy those rare occasions when she feels like taking a 3 hour nap instead of obsessively checking on her ... and again, analyzing what is making her take such a long nap. If you hadn't noticed ... I'm an analyzer through and through. ;)

*Stop worrying about every little sniffle and sneeze she gets. It's good for her immune system to fight off a bug or two.

*I am far too concerned with the appearance, quantity, and quality of her poop! Enough said.

*I will never be able to satisfy every member of both of our families with the amount of time they get to spend with Ava. Of course everyone wants to love on her as much as possible! We have family spread across Ohio, so we'll do what we can to get her everywhere as much as possible and that's all we can do! I've vowed to stop stressing over this.

*I will rock my baby to sleep until she's physically too big to fit in my arms and rock her anymore. I don't know if you've ever read the childrens book "I'll Love You Forever", but this will be me ... rocking my six year old back and forth while singing, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be." This is my absolute favorite part of being a mommy. After she falls asleep I keep rocking her a few more minutes just looking at her sleeping sweet baby face and fathoming how much she has grown since I first laid eyes on her. I always take note of her soft fluffy baby hair and how it flows as I rock her...and how the weight of her chubby cheeks causes her plump little lips to slightly pucker.

*Ava's presence in my life leads me to be increasingly more spiritual with every passing day. I look at her and believe that the gift of a child is the ultimate reminder of how miraculous our Lord is. We share a bond as a family that I've never experienced before...and I'm loving every second of it.

*I no longer can get ready and be out the door in 1 hr flat. It takes me at least 3 hours to get myself and Ava ready for an outing...and hope that I'm on time. How will I ever add another child to the mix!? Oh my ...

*Speaking of time... my time is much more precious to me these days. I've always been a planner--now my planning and organization skills have heightened to make sure I get everything in that needs done for the day... which is a lot, and is still a work in progress.

*Dog hair... it covers my floors, no matter how often I vacuum and Ava happens to pass for a Swiffer broom every time she plays on the floor, blanket or not. It has taken me awhile, but the clean freak in me is accepting the fact that keeping dog hair off her is a pointless struggle--she will get herself into bigger messes in her life, I'm sure. The best is when she's been chewing on her fingers and the cat creeps past her nice and slow, giving Ava all the time in the world to rub her wet hands through the cat's seriously shedding fur coat. Eww.

*My personal hygiene used to be much more involved ... I intensely enjoy the days that I get time to pluck my eyebrows... shave my legs... put makeup on... shoot, taking a shower is even a luxury these days! oh my gosh, and these feet are really falling behind ... these toes need a polishing like the desert needs rain!!

*My social life has certainly changed! Or shall I say, the ways in which I hang out with my friends has changed. It is much easier and more enjoyable to meet for lunch or dinner than to spend the day at someone's house. The less packing up and hauling around that I have to do with Ava's bottles, baby food, toys, diapers, wipes, clothes, etc. , the better the experience for both of us! I really want to start a girls' night out where once a month we all get together and go out for dinner and a movie or something. Just for my sanity's sake. ;)

*I'm all about mommy-advice!! Getting together with other new moms is not only insightful, but also stress-relieving for me. It is something about gathering with those who know exactly the joys and tribulations of being a new mommy and the balancing act that it requires that brings me back to center. I love a refreshing mommy get together! :)

*Bringing a child into the world has given me the natural desire to provide her with the best that I can offer.... no matter the criticism I may receive.

*I've learned that every moment of our lives with an infant is not all sugared plums and butterflies...there are rougher days than others--babies are allowed to be crabby--and so are mommies and daddies. There are sleepless nights...there are frustrations... inconveniences ... disagreements ... BUT, there are also happy baby giggles ... joyful baby squeals ... silly baby faces ... sweet baby kisses ... chubby baby thighs (my personal favorite) ... and the most heart melting after-nap-sleepy-eyed biggest baby smiles that I would not trade for the world!

*My life as a mommy is more rewarding than I ever imagined it could be. This is my little slice of heaven on earth .... 0:)

Happy Earth Day!!

Happy Earth Day Everyone!! :o)

Organic Websites

A few organic baby-food related sites that I've checked out...if you're interested!

I spent some time just browsing through these websites and have book marked the most interesting ones to share. :)

The Organic Report
Organic Center
Horizon Organic: Dr. Greene's Corner
Horizon Organic: Raising Organic Kids
Stonyfield Farms: Have A Cow (This one cracks me up! I'm following Pumpkin ;)
Dr. Greene: 5 Ways to Buy Organic on a Budget (I was drawn to this one of course;)
Dr. Greene: Organic Central

Other Sites:
Mayo Clinic: Is organic baby food better than regular baby food?
USA Today: Parents with pesticide fears turn to organic baby food
Dr. Sears: Family nutrition

The more I read, the closer I get to "spring cleaning" my fridge & starting fresh. I believe there is a family lifestyle transformation in the works. ;) More on this later ...

Beautiful Spring Day!

Today was GORGEOUS outside! I think tomorrow is supposed to be just as nice...too bad I'm working. I tried to spend a lot of time outside with Ava today...just to get some fresh air and let her baby skin soak up some vitamin D. :) We went to lunch with a friend of mine and her little guy (he's right around 1 month old!). He was such a little peanut...only 6 lbs. :) Shoot, Ava was never that small outside of my belly! It was a great time hanging out with another mommy!:) Ava was a peach the whole time. She was content to sit in her car seat and listen to us converse while she sucked on a few toys. :) Easy to please!

Ava loved being outside today (and so did I!!) ... she especially liked kicking her little toes around in the grass while sitting in her bumbo! I shot a few pics... of course. Can't wait for spring & summer to get here in full bloom!



Heading to lunch with Mommy's friend!


"Whoa, what's this tickly stuff on my toesies!"


"This is my confused face. I make this face a lot."


Baby toes in the grass!!


She LOVES watching Portia!


Can't take her eyes off that big doggy!


Baby blues :)

For Andrea ... Memories :)

Boy, he was ornery ... they both were!


Now that's a bunch :)

Homemade Deliciousness :)

Ava's Favorite of the Week: Green Peas!

Here is the "recipe" from my homemade baby food book .... for those who are interested!

Prep: For fresh peas--wash and shell peas. Discard pods. For frozen peas--no prep necessary.
Cook: Place peas (2 to 3 10 ounce packages, or 1 & 3/4 fresh) and 2 Tbl of water into microwave safe dish. Cover with saran wrap. Cook 6-8 minutes. **I only used a 1 lb bag of peas so only microwaved about 5 minutes.** Let stand 5 minutes. Peas are done when they can be easily pierced with a fork.
Puree: Place peas and cooking juices in blender (or food processor) and puree. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water as needed to develop a smooth texture.
Pour: Spoon into Fresh Baby trays. **I use plain old ice cube trays. I also use some of those little cups with lids--Gerber Graduates or something similar.**
Freeze: 8-10 hours or overnight. Remove from trays, place in storage containers or freezer bags, and return immediately to freezer. **Makes perfect individual serving portions--at least for now. Ava's tummy is still tiny:) **

Something neat...
This book gives you ideas on veggie combos that peas would be good to serve with and certain herbs and spices that would be good to mix in as well, once she is a bit older--this book suggests around 8-10 months, but I like the idea of keeping it simple.

Frozen baby food will stay good in the freezer for months, but for the sake of freshness the earlier you use it the better!


Homemade peas compared to store bought peas... mmm mmmm which would you prefer!:)


I don't think you really realize it until the two are next to each other. The homemade peas are definitely more nutrient packed!


Green beans. I will add more water next time ... these are a little thick.


Butternut squash purees beautifully!


I couldn't help but taste this stuff while I was making it. :) The squash was definitely my favorite!

And the consensus is .......



Lip-smackin' good!! :)