Terrific Tuesday

Going to try to pick this up now!

Well, Tuesday wasn't exactly spectacular here, but it was enjoyable as always. John and I spent a lazy day hanging out and snuggling. He isn't quite feeling himself after having shots yesterday and another ear infection. That makes 7 in exactly 5 months!!! YIKES!! Luckily we had a consult with the ENT last week and John is getting tubes on June 18th. I am very grateful that he will not be suffering anymore but the whole idea is very scary!
John had his 15 month well child yesterday. He is 21 pounds (8th percentile), 30.25 inches (24th percentile), and his big ol' noggin was in the 74th percentile. Poor kid! The doc was not concerned at all, she said as long as he's eating well it's no big deal, that he probably shot up in height this time, next time it's likely to be opposite! She also said that we were okay with not drinking whole milk. John drink about a cup of 2% milk with about 1/3 cup strawberry pediasure once a day and he nurses 2-4 times a day. She said as long as he is getting calcium then he is fine (he also eats yogurt daily). We're also watching his teeth for a top lip frenulum issue, it appears that the large gap in his teeth is due to a shirt frenulum that wraps around his top gum, which it shouldn't do. If you lift up your top lip you'll see that a normal frenulum stops before the teeth. This would likely only cause cosmetic issues with his permanent teeth, which could be quite costly for mom and dad in the future. We are going to watch it for a few more months and talk about it further at the 18 month check up. So we'll see. Other than that she said he's pretty much perfect, but we already knew that!!! He did great with his shots, he didn't cry at all for the shots or the finger prick, he only cried when they tried to hold him still to stop the bleeding in his finger, that was fixed easily by letting him nurse while they messed with him. He could care less about what anyone is doing as long as he can nurse.
John has also started talking a lot more and doing a ton of new stuff! But that's a whole 'nother post!

We also had an ultrasound and baby checkup last week. The baby is doing GREAT! I am still feeling rather pregnant, but that's par for the course I suppose! We go back to the doctor on June 28th for our anatomy ultrasound and checkup. One thing I can say about this pregnancy in comparison to John is that it flies by when you are preoccupied with a toddler!!!

Hope to update more soon!!! ~Emily

Not very good at keeping up!

Well I admittedly started a blog at the worst possible time in life. Trying to take 12 online grad school hours, raise a one year old, work part time, be a wife AND look for a job keeps me a little busy. But I haven't forgotten my blog. I am working on a few posts that I have A LOT to say about and would like to take my time to say it as tastefully as possible. Two topics that have been on my mind lately are:

The war on fat America (yes I said it.....will explain more in a future post) and, as always:

Benefits of Breastfeeding and Babywearing and my response to a few new articles and studies that have recently been published.

As I said, I'm working on them. Keep in mind I am a health educator. My education is a reflection of my passion to create a healthier nation.

I am currently working on a few projects to finish up the next 3 weeks of school and then I should be back in action soon!

Green......snot :(

I promise I'll let the whole "green" thing go......tomorrow. It's just worked so well for me this week!

Back on subject, the green snot. Ugh. Every kid gets colds, right? But so many? I have to wonder what I'm doing wrong. John (my 13 month old) has had several colds/ear infections since December, including two severe double ear infections and RSV (non-severe). Also an ear infection that didn't respond to initial antibiotic therapy. I want to do the best for my son, without a doubt, so I of course had to do research on the use of antibiotic therapy for AOM (acute otitis media-ear infection). AAP has a pretty recent statement regarding the use.

I can't figure out for the life of me why this kid gets so many ear infections. I breastfeed him. I breastfed him exclusively for 6 months and then quite frequently after that and still do! He doesn't go to daycare, I keep my house clean, he does still have a paci, but I doubt that's the cause. I remember calling my mom and saying "But MOM I breastfeed him. He's not SUPPOSED to get ear infections." I love my mom, her response "Some unlucky kids just get them, sorry." Ugh really? Thanks Mom. (and in her defense, she breastfed my sister Mary exclusively and MJ had 13 infections her first year of life so she DOES feel my frustration).

After reading the AAP recommendations I do feel like I'm doing what I should do. I don't usually jump right away and take him to the doc. I let him go 24-48 with symptoms and see if it gets better on it's own.....just in case it's viral. So far that hasn't worked well for us. In February I was convinced it was viral and I was going to "let it ride out" since it had only be 3 weeks since he had ended antibiotic therapy for an infection (and yes we had him followed up and there was NO remaining infection). Only after 4 days when I took him, Dr. Erwin took a peek at his ears and literally said "Oh eewww, John, you poor thing no wonder you're grumpy." Great. Thanks, guess no mother of the year award here. I did give him tylenol for pain.....does that count? haha.

Anyway, he was dx with another one last Thursday (less than a month since those double infections....that had cleared up at follow up). He seemed to get better after 24 hours on the antibiotics for a few days and then last night I noticed him sticking his fingers in his ears and the green snot was back. Oh what to do?! We still have a few days left on the antibiotics and a follow up next week. I guess we'll keep playing it by ear!

In keeping with the green theme.....

It didn't occur to me when I started this blog that St. Patricks day was so close. I went to a breastfeeding support group this morning and the topic of discussion was Green Parenting! Well, to be honest, I've never considered myself "green" at all. Until today. The group leader was going through a list of ways to be a green parent (or some for just being a green person in general) and our family does almost every one! Yay for us! I am going to list some of these green things and talk about how they work for us in a minute, but I'd like to take a moment to talk about the "greenest" thing I've ever done. BREASTFEEDING. Our son is almost 13 months now and has never had a drop of formula. Am I bragging, yes. Am I proud, absolutely. It wasn't always easy or fun. But it was always the BEST choice for my Son and that was always reason enough for me to keep trying. Breastfeeding is overlooked when it comes to being green. Do you realize how much MONEY, WATER, TIME, PLASTIC, etc is saved by breastfeeding? I think they told us today that it would save the WIC office about 4 million dollars annually if every WIC recipient breastfed for at least one month! WHOA! You can calculate your personal money saved on formula at http://www.kellymom.com/bf/start/prepare/bfcostbenefits.html I saved my family about $2, 500 dollars in the last year by breastfeeding alone! (Honey, how do you feel about that Coach bag NOW?!?)

This doesn't even take into account water, time, bottles, etc. Breastfeeding is CHEAP. You will NEVER hear me say that it's easy, especially the first few weeks, but it does get easier with time! Okay, that's my breastfeeding soapbox, which I am usually standing on 24/7! HAHA

Moving on. Ways to be a green parent/person: And might I add that in addition to being better for the environment, each of these things has monetary and health benefits, it's a win-win all around!

1. Cloth diapers. They're EASY folks. There's an initial startup cost, but it's worth it in the end. They take very little water or detergent to wash and it's actually BETTER to dry them outside in the sun (the sun bleaches any visible stains). Causes less diaper rash and is more comfortable for baby...I mean really, do you want that diaper on YOUR butt?

2. Make your own baby food. You know exactly what's going into baby's food, it's CHEAP, it's easy and you can save big time on containers by using reusable containers to store the food!

3. Grow your own food!

4. Hang your clothes to dry.

5. Use natural cleaners. My favorite things to clean with are white vinegar and lemons. Do I use other cleaners? Of course, I didn't say I'm a 100% green crunchy tree hugger, but I do TRY!

6. Buy used! Um Once Upon a Child anyone?! I LOVE resale shops, yard sales, consignment sales, and of course the best......hand me downs! I'm all about saving a penny and the environment too!

Okay, I'm done for now. Of course these are just the things that WE to in our house to help with money, health and environment. What are some ways you and your family are being "green"?

Starting our blog...behind the name....

I've thought about starting a blog for some time now. People are always asking me one thing or another about being a breastfeeding mom, a couponer, and just being thrifty in general. Not to mention our life is fun. And I want to talk about it! :)

After deciding to start the blog, I decided I wanted to come up with a clever name, all the good one's were taken...so I thought. Then it hit me, when I was a teenager I used to LOVE the Tim McGraw song "Where the Green Grass Grows" and I used to dream about living out my life like the song. I started singing it to myself and my husband, George, looked at me and said "I love that song....it's kind of like our life." And so the title was born. We will watch our corn pop up in rows this summer, our rocking chairs do, in fact, point towards the west, and we will be raising our child(ren) where the good Lord's blessed. I hope you all find this blog interesting and I will try not to bore you too much with the mundane details of our life!