Mercifully Easy Breakfast Idea

When you have a lack of time, sleep, and sanity it's nice to be able to put yourself on autopilot, especially in the morning. The only way anything can get done easily in life always pretty much boils down to preparation. I was inspired by my beautiful and fancy chef friend, Hazel, who posted about making Egg McMuffins for the week. Because I love McDonald's and I love eating, I thought I would try it.

You can absolutely make these as healthy or unhealthy as you'd like. Since it's a Saturday, I splurged and verged on the unhealthy. :) 

What you need:

• a lightly greased muffin pan
• 6 to a dozen eggs
• corresponding number of English muffins
• precooked sausage crumbles
• cheddar cheese
• hash browns (if you so choose)

Preheat your oven to 350°F, crack however many eggs you want to use in each cup. Don't worry about breaking the yokes, because the next step is to break each yoke with a fork! 

In my version, I sprinkled a few sausage crumbles directly into the cups with the eggs. If you want the traditional McDonald's way, you can fry up some sausage rounds separately, but I wanted to do everything all at once. Pop the tray in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the eggs look white and cooked.

Once the eggs are done, you can throw your hash browns in the oven and toast your English muffins in the toaster. Then you can butter them, slice up the cheese, build your sammie and tuck in!

Put your leftovers in containers to enjoy for the rest of the week. Yay for no-brainer breakfasts! Thanks Hazel P. xoxo

Mommy Time

Before Noah was born, I promised myself that I wouldn't forget about me. I knew that my love for him would be powerful and all-consuming, and I've seen mothers who just looked ravaged by motherhood. I did not want that. I still wanted to be able to do very basic things like shower and brush my teeth, but I also still wanted to be me. These are a few things that I said I would or wouldn't do, and I have pretty much stuck to it:

1. Don't leave the house wearing pajamas or yoga clothes (unless going to yoga).

2. Do your hair, even if it's a sleek pony or bun. But usually I blow dry it straight or wave it.

3. Always accessorize. When you do that, you look more put together and like you put some thought into your outfit, rather than looking like you ran out the door in a frazzled daze. (which is often the case!) It could be something as simple as throwing on a pretty necklace.

4. Never leave the house without makeup. I don't wear a ton of makeup, but I at least put on some BB cream and blush.

5. Pedicured toes. Don't you hate that intense, embarrassed feeling you get when you take your shoes off at someone's house and realize how gross your feet look? Yeah, I don't like that feeling.

6. Are you kidding?? Five things is enough! You need the rest of your brain cells to remember the 25 baby things you need to have and do before you leave the house.

Ok, so now that I've shared my "rules" with you, here are some shortcuts to making it happen:

1. Plan what you are going to wear the next day, the night before. Put it in a place that makes it easy to grab and put on.

2. Wash or do your hair the night before, but don't sleep right on it. If you're a back sleeper, it's easiest, because if you flip your hair back over your pillow, you don't get weird kinks in it, and it's kinda volumized in the morning! Also, dry shampoo is a mommy's best friend.

3. Have a few favourite, go-to accessories that you feel comfortable just throwing on. I kinda do it by weekly rotation, so I don't have to think too hard.

4. BB cream is awesome because it does everything you need in one smear. Moisturizer, sunscreen, primer, tint and bit of glow, all in one. Pat yourself down with some pressed powder, fluff some blush on and you look healthy and like you've slept well.

5. My sneaky trick is that when my polish chips, I just file it down or cut it off. This way, your toes don't look manky and sad. Mind you, this trick only works for about a month, but still, that buys you a lot of time.

Also, truly pamper yourself once in a while. Get your hair blown out, get a mani/pedi, or a nice massage. Us mamas deserve it!

*Disclaimer: I don't know if this works with more than one kid! :P

Lilibeth's Favourite Products:

Blowing Chunks

I am not sure how I am supposed to keep diligently persevering with this. Every single time I give Noah any solid food that isn't 100% pureed, he pukes all over the world. He's 7 and a half months old, so I don't think I'm rushing it, but I'm not a fan of the barfing anymore. Should I just stop trying and wait until he's a bit bigger? I don't even know, the last thing I want to do is to slow down his progress.

We absolutely live in a pasta eating kind of household, so I thought we'd try some cut up chicken ravioli. Each piece was even smaller than a pea, and it still made him gag, choke and vomit. I feel like I tricked the poor baby, because I ate some first, which made him excited to stuff it in his mouth. I got a dirty look as a reward for my adventurousness.

We've tried avocado too, mostly mashed up with a slight chunky texture. Oh man, forget it! Green pukey milk all over the table. Then, I bought some little organic puffs that are supposed to melt in the mouth. He got vomit all over himself, mommy, and the stroller. It was a projectile one too. I really regret that last one because now my beautiful stroller smells like sour milk.

I guess pureed food it is. For now anyway, until I can summon enough courage to try again. Maybe I'll make Brendan do it, I'm too scared.

The good news is, he thinks pureed food is the bees knees, and I'm so glad that we've got a plethora of delicious organic options for him to chow down on. Plum Organics and Ella's Kitchen come in handy packs, and he pretty much eats one a day. I try to vary it with half a more fruity one for lunch, and half a mostly veggie one for dinner. He's such a good boy, he always lets me know when he's full, by sticking his tongue out at me and blowing raspberries. :P

These were the offending puffs, which are delicious, by the way (to mommy). -A friend's baby also puked this out, so maybe they're actually just gross to babies, who knows:

The puffs weren't a total waste though. The small human decided he liked it better as a rolling rattle that he could chase around the apartment. 

Even an hour later it was still fun!

Cue The Teething

What a terrible time to choose to wean Noah off his pacifier. He's already got one tooth, which wasn't too bad coming in, a bit of fussiness and discomfort, but okay over all. I used baby Advil on those really bad nights, but we got through it and now he's got a cute little tooth on the bottom! I have no idea why I thought we were home free after one tooth. I'm just delusional I guess, since a full set of teeth consists of 20 teeth.

He turns into a different baby when teething.

I noticed the other night when he was eating his pureed zucchini, that he would chew the spoon and start screaming. So to an outsider, it kinda looked like I was force feeding my baby and he was under duress. He was so eager to eat, but his little baby gums were all swollen. THIS MEANS I WAS TORTURING THE POOR KID THE OTHER NIGHT. He probably wanted that pacifier more than ever, but mean mommy didn't get the hint.

This second tooth has produced more high pitched screeching fits, too. The kind that make me want to rip my ears off and send me running to the bathroom so I can lock myself in it. You have to really want motherhood in order to survive it, and even then it's really hard!

Aside from drugs, we've got a few teething solutions that he's into: 1. Mommy's arm 2. Mommy's fingers 3. His fingers

No seriously, I have actually built a small, but effective teething arsenal that offers a different gum relief sensation:

1. Chewbeads Mulberry Teether 

These are cute beaded rings that are made of silicone, with two big, flat rings attached. He loves this thing, which is good, because I told him he had to since I paid $16 for it. 

2. Sophie the Giraffe and Sophie Giraffe teething ring

Sophie is his best friend when he's in pain. It's really cute how he'll just clutch her and never let go. It is the only toy he has never thrown from his stroller!*

3. RazBaby Raz-Berry silicone teether

It's basically a giant texturized pacifier. We like to stick in the freezer. Sometimes he likes it cold but sometimes he doesn't, so he just puts it down and comes back to it later.

4. Peppa Doudou 

This is Noah's security blanket bunny that his Auntie Natalie gave him! It has a hunk of wool inside it that is designed to pick up the scents of home, like mommy and daddy's scents, or just of our house. It's supposed to be comforting, especially if we go on trips. The little knobbly hands are awesome for chewing too, and makes it so much easier for him to grab and hang to.


*I recently discovered that natural rubber was, in fact, latex and that latex allergies are brought about by repeated exposure to it. (!!!) I have a latex allergy, which was probably brought on by my numerous dentist and ortho appointments I had to endure. I feel like I should try to limit Noah's exposure, but you know what? I'm sure it's fine. He hasn't exhibited any propensity for allergic reactions so far, thank goodness. Sometimes you just gotta listen to your gut, and my gut tells me not to sweat this one.

See? Told you it was a small arsenal, but all effective for us. One of my mommy friends said she loves using cold spoons and big carrots! So we'll definitely have to try that tomorrow. (Never a carrot shortage in this house.) What are your baby teething solutions? I'd love to hear them, post a comment below! 

Small Human Gets Bigger

Since I was about five years old I knew I wanted to be a mommy. When I finally became one at the beginning of this year, I reveled in it to my heart's content, even though my 18 hour labour was awful and I ended up delivering via C-section. This child is the love of my life, and I squeeze him, zerbert and kiss him, and tell him I love him about 75,000 times a day cause I know that little boys don't let you do that for as long as mommy wants to! His first 7 months of life have gone by so quickly, and he seems to visibly grow each new morning he wakes up.

Watching daddy set up his new car seat.

This past weekend was a big one in the Wilson household because we installed his "big boy" convertible car seat. How I am going to put his infant car seat in storage is beyond me. I will probably for sure cry. He was kind of unsure about it at first, but I think he finally warmed up to it.

The car seat choosing process was a lengthy one. I wanted to find something that was a good value, the safest I could find, and that was relatively stylish. We also needed something that would fit in our car, which is a 2-door coupe. (Don't get me started on the incredible fun of having a baby and a 2-door car.)

After wavering between 2 brands, Britax and Peg Perego, we ended up with a Britax because they have consistently been the top brand for car seat safety, and we have a Britax B-Agile stroller that I am obsessed with, which just pushed the vote over the edge. This still didn't really narrow it down, because there are five convertible Britax car seats, at which point I just researched the best one for smaller cars. The winner ended up being the Britax Roundabout 55, which had great reviews across the board for safety and comfort, was competitively priced at $130, and was super adorable! We got the "Silverlake" colour, which is nice, clean and neutral.

If I'm going to be 100% honest, this review on Amazon is what really got my attention and clinched the deal, -I mean seriously, are you kidding?!

This car seat sucks, mommy.

Just kidding, mommy!

It fits perfectly in our car, yay! I love how clean and new it looks, soon it will be covered in spit up, drool, and barf, but I don't mind as long as he's safe. :) Oh, but the bonus about this seat is that the cover comes off completely and can be thrown in the wash. Score.

Itsy bitsy 8 day old Noah in his infant car seat.

Noah's Links:

The Problem With Pacis

Pacifier: a usually nipple-shaped device for babies to suck or bite on; a tranquilizer. 

Noah is 7 months old and addicted to his paci. He doesn't need it constantly throughout the day, although I do bring one everywhere we go just in case, -but he needs it to sleep. Today, I realized that he has started waking up in the middle of the night because he can't locate it, and today is the day I decided to quit the pacifier cold turkey. It is now 1:43am, and that decision is currently biting me in the ass. He's been waking up every 30 minutes, screaming like a banshee. At one point, I saw our sweet, little blind bunny, Toby, hightail it out of the nursery for dear life.

1 day old Noah

Every article I've read on pacifier weaning says that the earlier you do it, the better. I hadn't intended on using pacifiers in the first place, but I got sucked into it (pun intended) because: calm babies are awesome, happy babies. I feel like it's not really a huge deal to use one, but if he will end up sleeping better sooner without it, then oh yes please, bring it on. 

We started with his naps today, absolutely no pacis allowed. As a result, he was clingier and only napped for 30-45 minutes, compared to his usual 60-120 minutes. That is a huge difference, and it was torturous for everyone involved.

When we put him down for bed at 7:30, it seemed promising, but he woke up at 11, then 11:30, 12, and at 12:30 I gave him a bottle because I figured he was probably hungry at that point. He fell asleep at 1, but was up again at 1:30 and it is now 2 and he is starting to stir again. Maybe going cold turkey was a bad idea. No, no! I will not succumb!

Yeah ok, I might succumb. I'll let you know how it goes if I haven't died of sleep deprivation.

*UPDATE: It's 3:15am and I caved. I am exhausted, nauseous, and almost bought Frye ballet flats at full price out of delirium. Mommy out.

Noah last week.

Psycho Mommy, Qu'est-ce que Skincare

Fa fa fa fa... I know you were singing it in your head, -I was! Alright, while no one has ever actually called me a psycho mommy (to my face), I sometimes feel guilty of it. I guess I'm pretty middle of the road when it comes to baby germs. Like, I don't sweat it too much if Noah's pacifier falls on the ground. Then there's the fact that he crawls around on the same carpet that our rabbits run around on. I know some mommies who would barf at the idea that I let my son crawl around on my dirty rabbit carpets, I'm hoping this will just strengthen his immunity. *crossing fingers*

When it comes to baby skin products though, you can be sure that I will research the crap out of it, no matter how painstaking, until I find the best and healthiest choices for my little bean!

2 month old Noah

A friend of mine informed me of this awesome website that has helped out many a conscious mommy and sensitive skinned person, called Skin Deep (www.ewg.org/skindeep). You can essentially type in the name of any skincare product to find out its toxicity or non-toxicity score.

It's totally true too, I looked up a few lip balms I've used and have had to throw away, and it turns out that my lips seem to have an allergic reaction to anything that scores higher than a 1, which is considered very low hazard.

One day, I decided to look up every single thing in our house, and now anything I apply, lather on, or put in close proximity to Noah, is guaranteed, 100% safe. He hasn't displayed any signs of sensitivity to anything anyway, but why court danger, however mild, if I have the knowledge and power to prevent it right?

Some of the safe products we use on Small Human:

• All of The Honest Company's products that we use score either 0 or 1 on Skin Deep. Noah's been using their products pretty much from birth. The shampoo and body wash is great (but it would be better in pump form!) and smells delicious. We also use their sunscreen, Healing Balm, hand soap, hand sanitizer, travel wipes, sponges, stain remover, multi-surface cleaner, bathroom cleaner, dryer cloths, and of course, their super cute biodegradable diapers. I will be dedicating a post to diapering and will most likely be raving about Honest's awesome diapers in the days to come.

• Babo Botanicals sunscreen and their Calming Moisturizing Lotion. Not only do they have the cutest labels ever, (a cute little bunny rabbit!) but they're also a low hazard of 1, which is normal for lotion, but impressive for sunscreen. I love the sunscreen because it smells like green apples, and doesn't take a million years to rub into your squirmy child's skin. I found out that my Neutrogena SPF 55 I had been using, scored a whopping 7, so mommy and daddy now only use the unfortunately pricey La Roche-Posay Anthelios sunscreen, which is a 3.

• Mustela Products are also a favourite, ever since Noah's Auntie Natalie got him a gift basket full of them. Of the whole line though, we have repurchased the No-Rinse Cleansing Fluid about three times now cause we love it so much. It scores a 3 on Skin Deep, and an A+ in my book, because it makes my babe smell so nice and fresh between baths, and it has never irritated his skin anywhere on his little body.

Small Human, enjoying the wading pool. Hats are important!
Noah's is made of a sun protection fabric.

Noah's Links:

The Honest Co.