What Mommy Knows » Personal

Running Out of Fumes

Malika Risley — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 03:28:52 +0000

It was a decision long coming. I think moving from our house to a larger rental house finally pushed me over the edge. I have a crazy busy lifestyle as it is. I am a wife, a mother of two young children (4 year old and 20 month old), a full time worker, a part-time graduate student and now a landlord. Besides that, I have to make sure the house is clean, the laundry is done and the meal is cooked. I also try to squeeze in 15-20 minutes of workout every morning before work to the benefit of my children (don’t think they would like their mother crocking early from some heart disease or the lazy sedentary ass sindrome).
So, with that said, I am feeling like I am running low on battery most of the time, and no matter how hard I try, the to-do list just keeps getting longer and longer, and longer and longer….. But, dropping the ball on any of the above is not an option. Now I find myself exhausted mentally and physically, tired, moody, stressed out and never caught up with things that I have to get done. So what the heck??? I got to do something to keep functioning.
One, I decided to get a housecleaner for once every two weeks. I posted a listing on craigslist. The phone did not stop ringing for two days. I never knew about how people are desperate to clean houses! Thank goodness someone is starting soon, so I won’t have to scrub toilets and dust anymore. Now I wish I had enough money to hire someone to cook, pick up toys and do laundry for me. LOL, maybe someday when I’m reach or when the kids start school and instead of paying for their daycare, I can pay them to run some errands for me.
Two, I decided to start keeping a list of what I need to get done that I can access via both, my computer and my smartphone. My husband recommended Wunderline. I am yet to try it and will post an update once I do.
Three, I decided to quit all of the caffeinated beverages. I don’t feel like getting into the whys, there are plenty of enlightening blogs on the topic.
Four, I decided to eat better.

Daddy, Mommy

Malika Risley — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 02:03:53 +0000

Couple of days ago Nathan started saying “Daddy” to his daddy and today he started saying “Monni” to me!! He actually names us the right names, yay. He was transferred into a group up today at daycare and did well.

We started bringing our own snacks for him to daycare since he’s facing the tubes in his ears. Too many ear infections…

Elyana is still in the bunkers phase. She’s scared of the dark and sleeps by the door on the floor in her room with the lights on. Some nights she gets out and turns on all of the house lights and ends up falling asleep on the couch. Go figure…

I’m still working full time. I just got done with my Summer semester that went very very well. I have three more classes left and the graduation in 2012 looks very promising. Dave is working as usual for himself.

Nathan’s Walking

Malika Risley — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 03:04:45 +0000

I know it’s about 3 months late, but Nathan is walking! He made his first steps on April 21; his first three steps. His 14-month birthday came the day after on the 22 and on that same day he started walking for real! We were at my mother-in-law’s house, gathering for something, possibly Easter. We had Bryan and Joanna there and Dave’s grandparents. It was awesome, he’s such a show-off. He was so excited to walk to me, it seemed like at that moment his main motivation to walk was to get to me, his one and only mama. And he was so happy, with big smile he was reaching out to me with his tiny hands and moving his tiny feet along the carpet… This precious memory will be with me forever because that was one of the moments when I felt that being a mother is one of the greatest rewards of life.

How I Found Gypsum In My Bread

Malika Risley — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 11:38:14 +0000

So I’m in the bread isle looking for a loaf of healthy bread. Here is the ‘Health Nut’, ‘Healthy Multi-Grain’, ‘Heart Healthy’, and then some. Wow, awesome! I guess I pick the one that appeals to me the most — “Healthy Multi-Grain” with “No Artificial Colors, Flavors or Preservatives”. Why not? The name clearly states – healthy; it’s also multi-grain, which sounds even more healthy. And on top of that, it has no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives, sounds very, very healthy to me! I bought it.

After having a piece of my great-tasting healthy bread, I wanted to find out its caloric and fat info. It wasn’t bad at all, within healthy range. Then I noticed ingredients’ list beside it and it seemed quite long, and the longer I read it, the less familiar they sounded. Here they are:

whole wheat flour
water
sugar
wheat gluten
brown rice
cornmeal
oats
wheat bran
yeast
cellulose fiber
soybean oil
salt
molasses
cultured dextrose
maltodextrin
DATEM
mono- and diglycerides
calcium sulfate
citric acid
poppy seeds
grain vinegar
soy lecithin
nuts
whey
nonfat milk

Okay, so the first few ingredients I am very familiar with, I know their origin, what they look like, taste like and they sound okay-healthy to me. But as I’m going down the list, the names get more scientific and not nearly as familiar. I run into the unpronounceables! What are these ingredients? Still healthy?

Out of curiosity I decided to do a little research on my own to ensure that I am making a true “healthy” choice. Here is what I found so far translated into plain English.

Dextrose and maltodextrin are highly processed food additives derived from corn or wheat and come as a light, white tasteless powder. They mix well with liquids and have lower density than sugar. As far as I understand they are used instead of sugar for improved texture and flavor of the final product. According to Wikipedia they are commonly used for the production of natural sodas and candy such as SweetTarts. So why are they in my healthy bread?

DATEM is short for Diacetyl Tartaric (Acid) Ester, a mouth full, isn’t it? It’s used in baking as a softener. It is chemically produced and is generally recognized as safe by the Food and Drug Administration. Well, does safe by the FDA standards mean healthy for me? I’m yet to figure this one out…

Mono- and diglycerides are derived from vegetable oils or animal fats. They are the kind of fats that are solid at room temperature and are responsible for clogging up arteries. But on the other hand, they improve loaf volume, and create a smooth, soft crumb.

Next is calcium sulfate. Here is how Wikipedia states it: “Calcium sulfate is a common laboratory and industrial chemical”. What? How does the proud statement “No artificial colors, flavors or preservatives” fit in then? Calcium sulfate is a chemical name for gypsum, the material that’s found in drywall and cement. Yakes. What’s it doing in my healthy bread? I am assuming it is a preservative.

So here I have it — beautifully preserved, soft, flavorful, tasty, loaf of gorgeous looking bread. After doing my research I decided this this healthy bread isn’t healthy enough for me. I still finished the loaf, it’s just so good. But I sure won’t be buying it again!

After some looking around, I think I found my healthy bread! I now buy organic sprouted grains breads by Food for Life. This bread is kept in the freezer, since it’s free of preservatives. Here is its ingredients’ list:

organic sprouted wheat
filtered water
organic malted barley
organic sprouted rye
organic sprouted barley
organic sprouted oats
organic sprouted millet
organic sprouted corn
organic sprouted brown rice
fresh yeast
organic wheat gluten
sea salt

No unpronounceables here. This bread is about twice the cost of the other bread, but to me, it’s worth it.

I also make my own bread at times. Actually, my bread maker does, I just toss the familiar ingredients into it and press the ‘START’ button.

What is your favorite bread? Please share your experience.

Russia says genetically modified foods are harmful

Malika Risley — Thu, 27 May 2010 03:30:36 +0000

Source: Voice of Russia

Tag cloud: food problem, Russia, Health, Commentary, food, World

Russia has started the annual Days of Defence against Environmental Hazards from the 15th of April to the 5th of June with the announcement of sensational results of an independent work of research. Scientists have proved that Genetically Modified Organisms are harmful for mammals. The researchers discovered that animals that eat GM foodstuffs lose their ability to reproduce. Campbell hamsters that have a fast reproduction rate were fed for two years with ordinary soya beans, which are widely used in agriculture and those contain different percentages of GM organisms. Another group of hamsters, the control group, was fed with pure soya, which was found with great difficulty in Serbia because 95 percent of soya in the world is transgenic.

Concerning the experiment carried out jointly by the National Association for Gene Security and the Institute of Ecological and Evolutional Problems, Dr. Alexei Surov has this to say. “We selected several groups of hamsters, kept them in pairs in cells and gave them ordinary food as always,” says Alexei Surov. “We did not add anything for one group but the other was fed with soya that contained no GM components, while the third group with some content of Genetically Modified Organisms and the fourth one with increased amount of GMO. We monitored their behavior and how they gain weight and when they give birth to their cubs. Originally, everything went smoothly. However, we noticed quite a serious effect when we selected new pairs from their cubs and continued to feed them as before. These pairs’ growth rate was slower and reached their sexual maturity slowly. When we got some of their cubs we formed the new pairs of the third generation. We failed to get cubs from these pairs, which were fed with GM foodstuffs. It was proved that these pairs lost their ability to give birth to their cubs,” Dr. Alexei Surov said.

Another surprise was discovered by scientists in hamsters of the third generation. Hair grew in the mouth of the animals that took part in the experiment. It’s unclear why this happened. The researchers cannot understand why a programme of destruction is launched when animals take GMO foodstuffs. They say that this can be neutralized only by stopping to eat these foods. Consequently, scientists suggest imposing a ban on the use of GM foods until they are tested for their bio-security. The results of Russian scientists coincide with those of their colleagues from France and Austria. For one, when scientist proved that GM maize was harmful for mammals, France banned immediately its production and sale. The scientists who carried out the experiment say that it’s too early to make far-reaching conclusions about the health hazards of the GMO. They insist that there is a need to carry out comprehensive research. They suggest implementing the project, “Safety Gene Technology” at the innovation centre, “Skolkovo” which is being set up near Moscow.

Nathan is 2 Months Old

Malika Risley — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 03:45:30 +0000

From Nathan 2 months

On April 22 Nathan turned 2 months. I can’t believe how fast the time is going! Seems like just yesterday we brought him home from the hospital. He seems to be adjusting very well to his new life outside mommy’s tummy. Everything checked out great at his 2 month doctor’s check up. Apparently he is in the 96th percentile for height and 80th percentile for weight for his age group. No wonder he wants to eat all the time! This is completely opposite from my daughter. She always checks out in the 25th percentile.

Though he’s not sleeping through the night yet, he usually wakes up only once a night to eat. His going-into-the-night time fussiness has greatly subsided. For the first month and a half of his life, his daily crying fit would begin around dinner time and last until 10:30-11 at night. He would literally scream this whole time, unless he was being fed or held. Now he still cries, but it’s only for a few minutes at a time.

Elyana seems to be adjusting well to her baby brother. She can’t quite say his name yet, so she refers to him as baby or bother (brother that is). Even though she plays rough at times, he seems to enjoy her company for the most part. He loves the attention and lets off crooked teethless smiles as she touches or kisses or talks to him.

The three of us started to get more social after Nathan turned 6 weeks. We now routinely visit the library for Elyana’s toddler story time and the playground. We go for morning stroller walks two to three times a week. It’s a great exercise for me and an outing for the kiddies. I am now braving grocery shopping by myself with the two of them. Nathan is usually sound asleep and Elyana, well, she’s being Elyana, the typical toddler in her terrible twos. She does fine though, unless the check out line is too long. Then she tries to sneak a candy bar or two past me, though puts it back when I ask her to. She is definitely learning ‘the rights’ and ‘the wrongs’. When she does something wrong, she feels bad and tries to fix it. We’re taking her out of daycare that she attended part time for the past 3 months. I now got the routine going with the little one, and I feel confident that I can keep Ely busy without having her in daycare.

Today Elyana had her first shower. We went for a stroller walk right before dinner. I knew that I wasn’t going to fit her bath and my shower in separately before dinner, so I combined the two. We took a shower together and made it well before dinner time. She seemed to enjoy it!

Family Update

Malika Risley — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:33:31 +0000

Seems like I’ve been moving a mile a minute since Nathan was born seven weeks ago. Now the randomity of dealing with our new family member is wearing off, and the well-desired routine is settling in. A quick update is long overdue after taking a 7-week break from blogging.

Baby Nathan is now 7 weeks old and is doing well. Alas, last couple of nights I went to bed before midnight for the first time since he was born. Usually he needs attendance until 1-2 in the morning before going down for the night. I’m hoping that the pattern of him falling asleep at a normal time continues, since I have to be up for my oldest at 7:30.

He’s been smiling for couple of weeks already. Best time to catch him greening is in the mornings or while changing his diaper. He loves attention. His fussy time is at night, starting around dinner and ending with his last feeding for the day, at around 10. Often we have to move him to his crib during dinner for the sake of our sanity. Though having two-year old around kind of defeats the purpose.

Elyana is still going to daycare twice a week and seems to enjoy it. I enjoy a little break from her as well. She learns a lot there and constantly shows off new words and skills she learned there! Her language skills and awareness of her surroundings are improving a mile a minute. Just yesterday I missed a turn to the library and as soon as I did that, she yelled: “Mommy go where? Mommy go where?”. That caught my attention and I made a U-turn before I drove too far. Elyana is quite a dancer and a singer. She’s more likely going to be artistic and I can’t wait to get her into something that involves dancing or music of some sort.

I’m fully recovered from delivery and working at establishing a realistic exercise routine for myself. Breastfeeding is taking up a good chunk of my day, though it’s getting easier as the time passes by. Lack of sleep and possibly other things are starting to affect my ability to remember things. Sometimes I feel like a complete cluts! I’ve given up at keeping my house “perfect” and my face made-up, as I simply don’t have the time! As long as I manage to clean the kitchen, pick up loose toys around the house, brush my teeth, wash my face and conceal the dark circles under my eyes, I feel pretty good! At the end of the day, I’m not going to remember how clean my carpet was or whether I made up my bed.

On a different note, I’ve been accepted back into graduate school at USF for Masters in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering. I took a break after my daughter was born in December of ’07. Not sure if I will be attending this summer, since only couple of courses are offered by a different engineering department. Though it would be nice, since they are being offered online!

Pregnancy Update: Labor and Delivery

Malika Risley — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:28:01 +0000

Preparing For a New Baby Minimalista Way, The Not-So-Necessary Baby Equipment

Malika Risley — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:19:45 +0000

My other posts from this series:

Furnishing a Nursery

Choosing a Stroller and a Car Seat

Choosing a Jogging Stroller

Necessary Baby Equipment

In this post I will focus on articles that I found unnecessary either through my own experience or judgment. So here is my list:

Breast pump. I’m sure it depends on the type you get, but the one I got was not working for me at all. Since I knew that I was going to be staying home, I decided to settle for one of the cheapest automatic pumps out there. I would sit there for 15-30 minutes at the time, pumping and get only an ounce or two of breast milk from both of my breasts combined. I was even thinking that my body will get used to it within time and gave it a run of a month or two. The pump was designed to pump from both breasts at the same time, but one of the sides broke way before I gave up on it.

With this in mind, if you are seriously considering pumping, I would highly recommend renting a pump from a lactation professional. They will give you a hospital grade pump with good suction. It’s also recommended for women who happen to have low or no milk supply. The pumping action with correct suction is supposed to help stimulate breasts to get them going on producing milk. You can inquire about renting a pump at the hospital where you’ll be delivering or just look up a lactation specialist in yellow pages. When I inquired about it, the monthly cost of renting was about $40. Also, once you use the pump successfully, then you can buy one for yourself that is very similar to a professional grade either from the same lactation specialist, a store on online. They usually cost $200-300.

Baby carrier (6+ months). We happen to own one of the front facing baby carriers and I didn’t like it. I tried it at home, adjusted the stripes according to directions, put the baby in it and wore it for a few minutes. First, putting the baby in the carrier by myself while wearing it was a big challenge. The carrier itself felt like it kept sliding downwards under the baby’s weight. My back started killing me after just a few minutes. I just could not get comfortable! I gave it couple more tries and gave up on it.

Diaper disposal. I never owned one and don’t feel like I missed out. First, newborn’s poop doesn’t really smell until he starts eating real food. At that stage, while they go to the bathroom literally all the time, I kept a small trash can with a grocery bag liner inside next to the changing station. I emptied it couple of times a day and it worked out just fine. Once they start on solids, their poop definitely gets stinkier, but they don’t go nearly as much. By then I decided to get rid of the trash can in the nursery and started using our big trash can in the kitchen. Yea, I had to make a trip to the kitchen after every diaper change, but it wasn’t a big deal. Little exercise never hurts. If you feel disgusted by throwing a poopy diaper into the trash can, just put it into a grocery bag and it won’t smell. Not recycling plastic bags and using disposable diapers is not a very eco-friendly move (I’m not proud of it), but it works. I happen to rid of trash in the kitchen once per day and I’m not having any smell issues.

Couple more things to consider with using a diaper disposal. Depending on the manufacturer, you might have to purchase special bags for it, adding cost to the overall purchase. Another thing is, you still can’t completely avoid the dirty diaper stink experience. Can you imagine changing a liner every 2-3 days, with all the stinch coming out in your face while you’re doing it? I don’t care how deodorized they make the bag, a three-day old poop still stinks!

I am ending my post here, since I can’t think of other things at this point. I can’t possibly cover all of the baby paraphernalia, so please feel free to leave a comment with other baby equipment that you found not very useful or otherwise.

40 Weeks and 3 Days Pregnancy Update

Malika Risley — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 01:43:27 +0000

Today’s visit to my gyno was a little disappointing. My cervix is still completely closed, not even a hint of dilation or ripening. Before my visit I was pretty sure that something was happening, since I had quite a bit of cramping for two days in the row, just couple of days ago.

It’s pretty different from my first pregnancy. The first time around, my cervix was 1.5 centimeters dilated for 2-3 weeks prior due date. And sure enough I went into labor on the 5th day after my due date.

This time things seem to be moving much slower. The induction is scheduled for Monday, February 22, 6 days from now. I have another appointment in three days to see whether I dilate between now and then. If I’m not dilated, I will have to come to the hospital on the night prior my induction date and receive cervix softening medicine. It should work overnight before starting the induction medicine the next morning.

Oh well, even though things are happening a little slower than I would like, the longest we have to wait is 6 days! And there is always a chance to go in labor before then too.

Besides waiting, there is always plenty of stuff to do at home. Cleaning the house seems to be a constant chore, no matter how much or how often I do it. My 2-yr old daughter needs constant attention, and other life’s odds and ends never seem to stop coming my way!