A Guilty Pleasure of the Dorky Kind

I just finished reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett and it was sooooo good. So while waiting for some of the books I have on hold at the library, I had no idea what to read next. Then one day when I was working, I saw this book in the teen section as I walked by. This book came out in 1990. I've always heard of it but never read it.

I was a big nerdy bookworm in childhood and read everything up until high school. I missed out on all the books that came out while I was in high school and college and I find myself as a mother in her 30s wanting to read all the books I missed. Actually, I find myself really enjoying young adult books a lot - sometimes more than the adult ones.

They say that being a stay-at-home mother takes points off your I.Q. I probably should be reading something more sophisticated but you know what? I just like to be entertained - and all this teen angst is *very* entertaining. Sometimes I feel like young adult books are like crack or a bad habit. I feel a little embarassed checking them out of the library and I use book covers if I read them in public. Pathetic, I know. Who the hell cares what someone reads anyway? Well I do. I look at what people are reading all the freaking time.

I can always use the I'm-a-Librarian excuse to myself I suppose. We're supposed to read as much as we can so we can recommend books.

Let's just say I love to read. Period. I don't want to think about my I.Q. right now...

What's YOUR Demographic?

In need of some cool shirts to wear or give as gifts?

My friends Shane and John are both graphic designers and have a clothing company called Demographic that makes really cool t-shirts. They decided to start this company because they felt their clothing didn't represent them personally.

Their design concepts represent a different group of people or "demographic". The shirts reveal more about the person wearing it and what ideas and issues are important to them, rather than the brand of clothing they wear.

Take for instance the shirt with the salt shaker. This shirt is called, "Superstitious" as I totally am. I love this shirt and I think it's great. It's unique and represents something about ME.

Another shirt I like is "Musicologist." Pretty cool, huh? It represents the British music invasion of North America for all those music lovers.

Their other shirts include: Activist, Allergic, Analytical, Bookworm, Concerned, Creative, Independent, Passionate, Survivor, and Vegetarian. You can see them all on their web site at www.wareyoufitin.com. I haven't seen shirts like these anywhere.

They're doing some street fairs in Chicago this year but currently their shirts are sold in the Lakeview and Bucktown Akira men's stores and online.

And for those who like to buy American, you'll be happy to know that these shirts are made in America and not by workers in sweatshops overseas.

I have a coupon code (4OFF4U ) for their website that takes $4 off your order.

Give them a look and see where you fit in.

Think You Had a Rough Childhood? Think Again. Push by Sapphire

About 5 of my neighborhood mommy friends and I decided to read the book Push which the movie, "Precious" is based upon. When everyone is done, we're going to meet at the local pub, have a few drinks and talk about the book - among the usual mommy/girlfriend talk.

The life of Precious is so awful - the worst I've ever imagined- had one baby from her dad at 12 that has Down Syndrome, and is now pregnant with her second baby by her dad also. Her mother molests her too and forces her to eat. If she doesn't eat when her mother wants her to, she gets beaten. That's why she's obese. Her mother also expects her to do the cooking and cleaning. She can't read and has been passed through the school system - nice!! But finally is put into an alternative school. This is where things start to turn around for her.

The book is under 200 pages and I devoured it in one sitting. I didn't even stop to use the bathroom (which probably contributed to the UTI I have right now - ugh). I haven't seen the movie, but I don't need to. I saw it all in my head and that was plenty.

This book is a great book discussion piece because it has many implications about the school system's failure and the role of parenting. Precious couldn't have been born to worse parents. Throughout the entire book, I kept thinking, 'what the hell kind of mother are you???" stupid woman for letting your daughter get raped every night by your husband, then beating her for it - that she took your man, molesting her yourself, and making her your domestic slave?? Not to mention the verbal abuse too. Such a sad fate.

The author worked with inner city kids for several years, not sure how many. I passed on my copy of the book to a mommy friend so I no longer have it. So you know that Precious is based on some of the kids she came in contact with.

I couldn't put the book down because I kept hoping for a happy ending. I don't want to spoil it for anyone so I won't say what happens in the end. But this is the most moving book I've read in a long time. Depressing. But it really makes you appreciate the childhood you did have.

I am now reading The Help which is really good so far.

Talking About Milk

Teddy is on whole milk now - completely. No more formula. He just turned a year old 2 weeks ago so it's time. In just a matter of days, I was able to get Teddy to take whole milk without having to mix it with formula. At first I thought I would do it gradually - and put 2 ounces of formula with 4 ounces of whole milk. He really liked it so I just went right to 100% whole milk.

Now I will probably spend about $6 or $7 dollars a week on milk rather than the $30 a week I was spending on a can of Enfamil each week. Mark is freelancing, but has not been able to find a permanent job - so this savings will be huge - roughly $28 for milk rather than $120 for formula a month! That's huge.

Ricky was nursed for 14 months. When I introduced whole milk, he hated it - and continued to not like white milk to this day. I wonder if not having formula at all contributed to this? He went right from breast milk to juice. That's all he would drink for almost the first year. So now he will drink chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry milk. So I just go with what he likes. He's a skinny guy, so the extra calories isn't really a concern for me.

Sleeping Well Again, Thanks to Richard Ferber!!

It took one entire year to for me to sleep 4 hours straight at night! I never thought it would happen - I cried out of sheer exhaustion many times. This is one of the many reasons why I stopped blogging last year. No energy to do one single thing.

My baby goes to sleep awake, in his crib at 7p.m. and gets up at 6a.m. He may get up 0 -3 times in the night and may need me or Mark to go in his room to comfort for him for a few minutes. But folks, this is GREAT!!!

I had been getting 3-5 hours of sleep each night - every night - for one whole year. With no naps during the day!

Teddy was a poor sleeper since we brought him home from the hospital. He was used to sleeping in his swing and now that he turned a year, he was way too big and it wasn't safe to put him there anymore. The last few months have been hard - getting up several times a night to rock him back to sleep. He used to need to be nursed back to sleep several times throughout the night - that turned into having a bottle to go back to sleep.

Utter hell for a girl who needs 9 hours a night. Since Ricky dropped his nap, I don't get a nap - so I would be operating on 3+ hours of sleep day after day. There were some days I didn't drive because it just wasn't a good idea. I was a total zombie.

I "Ferberized" Teddy and I really have to say that it saved my life. Now Mark and I are better rested and have more time for each other in the evening. It wasn't easy listening to Teddy cry but seriously, it only took 2 days and he was only crying for 5 minutes for a few more days - then no crying at all.

The book has a guide for how many minutes you should wait before going in the room each time. You can decide the minutes that you're comfortable with. The idea is to comfort your child, be consistent, and allow your child to be able to soothe himself to sleep.

I do the same thing for his naps too. I make him a small bottle, turn on his mobile (which has stars and moons that project onto the ceiling), and feed him the bottle in the glider. He lets me know when he's done and then I put him down in his crib - awake - and he soothes himself to sleep. I leave the room.

Ricky was a poor sleeper til he turned 10 months. Now he can sleep through a tornado. It's great. I'm hoping Teddy will follow suit. I guess Ferberizing has been controversial - some people think that letting a child cry it out causes emotional scars. I hated listening to Teddy cry - and it made me, my husband, and Teddy himself lose sleep for a year. Now after a few nights, Teddy has learned to sleep on his own, and the family is well-rested. No regrets!

The Me I Wanna Be

I always thought new year's resolutions were always cheesy - and you never stick to them. But since last year was kind of crappy - with the exception of Teddy's birth, I decided to make a few for myself and try to stick to them as long as I can. I decided that in order to make my goals realistic, I had to be realistic and not be too hard on myself. So here they are - not in any special order:

1. Exercise at least 3 times a week - we have a treadmill in the basement so I really have no excuse especially if Mark is home and can watch the kids for me.

2. Eat healthy - with more fruits and vegetables. Limit french fries to SIX. Do not eat anything past 7 p.m. And for god's sake, stop eating so much freaking chocolate!!!

3. Keep the house cleaner & less cluttered. Watch "Hoarders" on A&E if inspiration is needed. (it really works - especially the episode with the lady who had 2 cat corpses - in different rooms - under all her piles of crap)

4. Blog more instead of the once a month - or once every few months - as I had been doing. Really work on my other blog

My goal is to lose 10 pounds in the next few months. I didn't set a date because there are days when nobody can watch Teddy for me - so I don't get to exercise. I figure that changing my eating lifestyle will have an eventual impact on my weight - whether it be immediate or a few months from now. I used to be between 106 and 110 my entire life - until I moved in with Mark in 2000....happy pounds and 2 babies later - I have a lot of weight to lose. Right now fluctuate between 145 and 150 and this is not the place where I want to be.

I blew one and two over the weekend already when I drank a whole bottle of red wine by myself and eat a ton of nachos and chocolate at a friend's party....oh well you have to live a little I guess!!