Send some love this way...

Send some duas this way... DH is in the hospital again with the infamous undiagnosable respiratory illness. The new twist is that this time is he went in before pneumonia set in which is giving them a chance to see that yes, this is happening in the absence of infection. Apparently the infection sets in later because the lungs aren't functioning well and the fluid accumulates. So, we are looking at autoimmune disease... But which autoimmune disease is still a mystery.

Admitting the obvious…

Have you ever heard the joke about the guy trapped on his roof during a flood asking God for help? If you haven’t, here it is…

There is a man, a good believer, trapped on his roof during a flood. A man on a boat rows by and say’s, “Get in, the water is rising and you will drown up on that roof.” To which the man replies, “No thanks, I am a good believer, and I know God will save me.”

The waters kept rising, and a larger boat of national guardsmen reaches the man. “Sir, the water is rising. You need to come with us sir!” To which the man replies, “No thanks, I am a good believer, and I know God will save me.”

Finally, the man’s house is overcome by the flood and as he is being swept away by the rushing waters a helicopter drops a line with a rescue man reaching for him. He waves the man away thinking, “No thanks, I am a good believer, and I know God will save me.”

Finally the man drowns. All he can think of is why God refused to save such a strong believer. So when he meets God the first thing he asks is, “I lived to worship you. I am a good believer, why didn’t you save me!” To which God replies, “I tried! I sent you two boats and a helicopter!”

Why am I telling you this?

Because after thinking that I may have celiacs for some time I am getting more and more indications that I should stop wondering and admit it. First, my brother’s diagnosis. Then, I read an article about thyroid and autoimmune causes of hypothyroidism. It sounded like me. Then my mom’s hairdresser found that celiacs was the cause of her up and down thyroid levels (which are remarkably similar to mine). Then my son’s diagnosis. Now, I have a rash that has all the characteristics of a rash caused by gluten intolerance (everyone who has it has celiacs, but not everyone who has celiacs gets it). I told myself the first time I saw it that it was because I was pregnant. But now I am not pregnant and the rash is raging on my elbows and knees.

Now, comes the question, “do I need more proof?” Well, I guess so because I just asked the Dr to order a celaics panel for me ASAP.

Yeah, I know He tried.

Up early... For a change!

I am a chronic over-sleeper... I want to get up at 8, I get up at 9. But today, masha'Allah, I am up early, and am ready to go with gluten free muffins in the oven to feed the kiddos already. Yeah! Maybe I will actually make it to garage sales before everything is gone;)

You know your husband is Egyptian when...

Someone found me with that search, I just had to make a post of it!

You know your husband is Egyptian when...

he insists that if you don't wear slippers in the house you will catch cold.

you find yourself cooking fatah and stuffed grape leaves when you are happy with him.

you can't tell if he's yelling because he's mad or just yelling when he's talking to his family on the phone.

you think "insha'Allah" means "if I can."

the biggest threat he makes to the kids is "the slipper".

he has stories of his own parents and "the slipper".

every story from his youth involves someone named Mohammad.

he never eats fish when he has a cold.

he drinks tea upon waking, when getting ready, when working... Well, he just drinks lots of tea.

your closet contains a box of things from Egypt to use when you need a last minute gift for someone.

you have at least one cartouche in your jewelry collection.

he has a great sense of humor.

everyone says "I have always wanted to go there!" when you tell them where he is from.

he gets steamed up when all the American depictions of Egypt are the guys in Giza or upper Egypt wearing jilbab.

he never says Alexandria, always Alex.

you wear hegab in the masgid... not hijab in the masjid.

it isn't a meal if you don't offer your guest as much food and variety as the average American gets in a week.

almost everything you cook has cumin, coriander, onions, garlic, and bell pepper.

you have mastered the art of filo dough.

not only do you buy eggplant, you make more than one dish with it.

you know who Amr Diab is, and you actually have at least one CD.

you are truly loved by a man with a heart as big as the ocean;)

Wisdom from Dr. Seuss

Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don't.
Because sometimes you won't.

I'm sorry to say so
but, sadly, it's true
that Bang-ups
and Hang-ups
can happen to you.

You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You'll be left in a Lurch.

You'll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasent bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you'll be in a Slump.

And when you're in a Slump,
you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumpling yourself
is not easily done.

From: The Places You'll Go
Dr. Seuss

I know I've come a long way...

"Verily, after hardship, there is ease" Quran

OK, so when exactly is my ease coming? Lately, well for the last 5 years of my marriage anyway, I feel like a single mom. I have my days when I seriously consider divorcing because I'm not sure much about my situation would change if I did. Of course I would have to get a regular job... But I also wouldn't have to live wondering what the next thing I will do to set DH off will be.

I guess I just feel like the only thing I am gaining sometimes is financial support, and I want more than a banking arrangement. I am just dragging lately... And it shows in my house, my mothering, my life. I have tried to talk to DH about it only to have him tell me I have nothing to be upset about. I can afford to go and do whatever will make me happy he says but then I have to come back and work on one of his projects, like the daycare he wants to open.

I never thought I was marrying a man who expected so much. And truthfully, I guess I am afraid that if I can support me and the kids (which is what he wants so he can go look for another job) I won't have any reason to stay married. I love my DH, but I am not this person... I want to enjoy my life and my children, I'm not lazy or deluded... Money just doesn't rank that high in my life.

Save now so we don't have to work when we are older? Great, but what if I waste the now and I still have to work when I am older? I don't think I can take that.

Meme! from Amygdala

I am... a Muslim, a mother a wife, a creative but disorganized person.
I want... the world to be a safer place for my children, for my children to feel equally American and Egyptian but totally Muslim, and to have the gift of enduring iman.
I wish... I was a better housekeeper and a more organized person.
I hate... fighting with my DH.
I miss... being able to read a book in peace, and living close to friends.
I fear... never fulfilling my "purpose".
I hear... my children all around me.
I wonder... what my life will look like 10 years from now.
I regret... nothing.
I dance... to all the things I listened to in school, Depeche Mode, The Cure, The Violent Femmes, NIN...
I sing... all the musicals I was ever in or wanted to be in, because that used to be my big thing.
I cry... more than I would like to about tired subjects.
I am not always... as spacey as DH thinks I am.
I make with my hands... clothes, anything I can knit, food, poetry, and insha'Allah someday I will use them to make birth easier for my sisters.
I write... to have a voice, to be heard.
I confuse... most people.
I need... to be loved and feel secure.
I should... spend more time on things that mean the most to me and less time doing what my DH wants because I am afraid to say no.
I start... too many things to finish.
I finish... things that I am excited about.
I tag... no one;)

Lady Madonna, baby at your breast...

So, I wanted to post something in recognition of whoever managed to get here via a google search for breastfeeding Muslim wife. Now, I can only hope that said person as a good brother looking for info on supporting his wife during their child’s early years… Not some weirdo.

It is actually so odd that I have never posted anything about bfing considering how important advocacy is to me. So, I’d like to take the time to address the most common reasons Muslim women have given me for not bfing.

I Can’t BF When I’m Out
Many Muslim women seem to be under impression that wearing hijab means they can’t nurse in public (NIP). This is just wrong. It is based on the assumption that there is no way to maintain modesty while NIP. You can nurse a baby without exposing yourself. There is no reason that you have to stick it out (as dh would say) to nurse.

The awkward moment in the whole thing is getting the baby latched on. This can be accomplished in two ways, cover or turn so no one can see you. There are some really cool shawls that work well for covering and letting you peek in on baby. Or, a simple blanket will do… I use the end of the sling personally. And the other option, well I think you can figure that one out!LOL

The other factor in easy NIP is clothing. You will want to choose something that will allow access without leaving any other body parts exposed. That means a button down top, a loose jumper with side access, you get the picture! The last thing you want is to have a crying baby in your arms and realize the only way to nurse is to basically undress.

Which leads me to the next thing. Get the little one nursing before he starts wailing. A crying baby will draw attention and make it harder to get him nursing discreetly. Learn the early cues for hunger: Smacking or licking lips, opening and closing mouth, sucking on lips, or any other thing that makes it to his mouth. And then later, rooting around, trying to position himself to nurse, tugging at clothing. The very last one being crying.

I Want My Mother/Husband/Whoever To Be Able To Help Me
This is the worst one in my mind… Why does help always involve feeding? I know it’s not as fun, but cleaning, laundry, cooking and other things are just as helpful to a new mom. Enough said.

I Don’t Make Enough Milk
In rare cases this is true.

But, in other cases this is due to misunderstanding or poor management of bfing. Before you jump to that conclusion look at the whole picture of your bfing relationship. Sometimes women mistake increased nursing when a child is going through a growth spurt to mean they don’t have enough milk. Actually, more frequent nursing is the way a baby sends the signal to your body to make more milk! Another common one is as supply and demand get into sync the breast may seem less full. This softening is a normal change, and the leaking experienced in early bfing may subside as well.

There are 1000 reasons women might think they have low milk supply. And there are a few practices that tend to lead to diminished supply. The first one is supplementing. Remember the supply and demand thing? Well, the more you supplement the less milk your body thinks it needs to make. So, supplementing is a catch 22. The other reason may be not nursing the often enough This can happen because of pacifiers introduced too early, supplementing, sleepy baby, scheduling feedings… Whatever the reasons we go back to messing up the supply and demand system. Baby not being latched on well can cause problems too.

So, before you pronounce yourself incapable of producing an adequate amount of milk, enlist the help of a bfing counselor of some sort. But, beware of bad advice. Talk to other bfing moms and get a feel for what they think of her. And remember that as long as your baby is filling an adequate number of diapers and gaining weight you are fine.


So I’ll step down off my soapbox now. But let me leave you with this thought: I know your husband likes them, but there is another dare I say nobler reason Allah gave you those things. And subhan’Allah, it is an amazing system really. There couldn’t be a better way to feed your baby.

Nothing natural?????

So, as one astute reader noted... The long break is due to the fact that the new addition has arrived. A girl, Salmeh, born on Sunday the 4th, one day before her due date. Alhamdulilah.

Sleepy, yet supportive and wonderful DH was there the entire time... And I was attended by a rockin midwife who just got hospital privileges in December. As anyone who has read previous entry's about my plans knows... I have agonized over this birth and where and how it would take place. As much as I wanted to be at home, and even go unassisted... In the end I decided I was risking my marriage if I left DH out of the decision, and it was is baby too. So, I gave birth in a hospital... And I did have to hear about 1000 times how "risky" what I was doing was. I even had the doc on call give me a little lecture about how there was "nothing natural about a birth after two c-sections." But, when I got the phone call on Monday urdging me to schedule a c-section I was able to do my best Mandar(Dexter's Lab) Ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha!

The funny thing was that the nurses must have thought women in active labor lose their sense of hearing because I heard them at the nurses station every time they left my room after checking on me. "She says she doesn't want the monitor to be left on!" "She says she wants to walk around!" "She says she only wants a hep lock in case of emergency, not a regular IV!" "She's drinking!" Finally when the whole crew attending came in at once I said, "Look, you can think of me as your difficult patient for the day... But what I am doing is not crazy, and I wouldn't do anything that I thought would risk the health of my baby. If we get to a point where something is going wrong and I need all this, I will let you know. Until then, leave me alone." Or something close to that... I was in labor you know;)

But, in the time that it took the doctor to call the anesthesiologist (they wanted to have me set an epidural in place even if I got nothing through it) I went from a five to a nine, and the anesthesiologist refused to place anything. The progress was courtesy of me doing some serious labor dancing and squatting (at least I think). The hardest part of the whole labor came after my water was broken and they put in an internal monitor (one of those vile little things they put on the baby's scalp) and I was stuck in the bed. Now to be honest, even if I had the will to walk at that point I might not have been able to. It was all I could do to get to squatting position in the bed with the help of DH and the midwife.

I had the traditional I can't do this I want to go home moments during transition. I don't remember this much pain during transition with Layla. But, I think it just lasted longer this time. Finally, the midwife pushed the last bit of cervix out of the way and after a couple of contractions I got to experience the whole physiological pushing thing. It was amazing really. I felt my entire belly tightening up and since I was in a semi-squatting position I just felt this downward force... It was nothing like the coached pushing I did with Layla. If I can give a graphic comparison, it is like a normal bowel movement vs constipation. I don't know where the whole coaching the laboring woman to push thing started... But I will never do it again. I came out of the delivery with an intact pernium, masha'Allah and feeling great. I was able to spend an hour with the baby before they bugged me with the weighing and all that, which was great. I even felt well enough to go to the nursery with her while they cleaned her up and did all the newborn checks.

Natural childbirth rocks. It is worth the fight every time. Even DH who was skeptical about the whole thing (he tends to believe the OBs) has been converted. He just feels that the will to do it overcomes any obstacles along the way. Truly, I can't say I even believe that there is a big difference between women with c-sections and women without. As long as the scar is a bikini line cut, I see no reason that a vbac shouldn't be the default. And screw it is the doctors want to convince you otherwise. Read up and convince yourself. Even their own consent forms state the risk of uterine rupture at less than 1%, and all the bad things they talk about only happen if the uterus ruptures. Remind them of that if you have to.

I can't I can't I can't stand losing

So, in the middle of the changes that are going on in our life... It looks like DH might lose the contract that makes his business possible. Meaning the paper that controls everything is threatening to pull his distributorship. UGH. Not good timing.
Please keep him in your dua. He is now faced with considering all the other jobs that we have been talking about (his degrees are in EE) and leaning towards something in the oil industry. Insha'Allah that will be the direction he heads in. I would love to see him doing something he could feel great about, and the oil industry is that for him. If he gets a job like that it will truly be a blessing that he lost the distributorship.

The flip side is a man who is on the verge of losing his job is not in the mood to deal with other complications in life... And we are heading towards a time full of them with this new house and what we are planning for it. Allah give us patience.

Now in the immediate future... DH has invited my SIL for the weekend. Now, I try to refrain from just complaining about my somewhat crazy SIL... But why did he invite her when I am so close to having the baby? Sheesh. And you can guess from all I just said that I am in no position to tell him no or call the thought of having someone there 24 hours a day when I could go into labor at any time crazy. But seriously... I am a little upset about it. OHHHHHHHHH, can't I just say NO? Can't DH ask first?

Any day now....

So I have headed into that time where I start to wish I never told anyone my due date... I am ready to have this baby, and I am finding it harder to wait. And, everyone is calling me asking if I had the baby yet. No, still waiting.

I did go over with DS #1... So I have tried to prepare myself for the possibility... But I am getting antsy. I was just saying to DH last night that I have the feeling this baby is going to hang out a little longer. I guess only time will tell. The thing that is bugging me the most... The feeling like every time I leave the store I have to be ready for the possibility that I might not be back for a week or two. And I have the same feeling about the house. If I knew when it would happen I could get things ready and in order for that date; but right now I just try to keep things in order and keep the laundry done and DH's work clothes ready so I am ready if it happens tonight. It's a little overwhelming. And I prepare big batches of food only for DH to eat them and then I feel I have to fill the fridge again "just in case".

In some strange way I feel like since I am getting worn down and tired I will be less ready than I would be if I had the baby now. Every day I look at the things I have to do and I just can't drag myself to do them. I am more tired and less able to keep up every day it seems. Well, alhamdulilah, maybe the waiting will give me a chance to get over this chest cold I have.

Amityville?

Soooo, I was fine with the concept that we were buying an old building with 100's of unknowns... And for reasons kinda personal this was a unique opportunity to invest at a level we normally wouldn't invest at. But I expected to find out things like the wiring was old and not up to code... What I found out is slightly more disturbing.

The place was a mortuary before it was a church. Yikes. I am trying to be level headed about this... But I am getting more and more distressed about it. I am afraid that by the time we move I will be downright freaked out. Is that crazy? I am a grown adult, and I don't even believe in ghosts (as in disembodied human spirits) but I do believe quite strongly in menacing jinn. And doesn't a mortuary seem like a perfect place for bad jinn to hang? Now DH insists that the buildings years as a church must negate all that... But I don't know.

And in the realm of the known... I just called for the utility history from last year and the gas bill for the church and the house in the back combined was $750 on the colder months. Now keeping in mind that the church was empty at the time, that's a huge bill. Does home-ownership get easier?

Well, I'm going to try to research the history of the property a little more with public records here in town... Am I being obsessive about this? Should I just let sleeping dogs lie?

Madesh Habibi

Every time I tell my DH I can't sleep or complain of some other pregnancy related thing he tells me, "Madesh habibi, a few more days." Don't say that honey! I feel like a mad woman running around freaking out about things that need to be done before the baby comes. Yah Allah I need a normal delivery this time. I can't be down for the 1-2 weeks with a c-section. There is just too much going on with us, and DH is never home with his second job (did I mention DH took a second job?).

I am trying to catch up on things I have been putting off, but I am tired and have to take frequent breaks... I finally took the clothes I never wear and donated them, then stored things I won't wear while BFing. And all the baby stuff is in order aside from a shipment of diapers that should be here any day, insha'Allah. The real problem is with 5 people in the house you are never "finished". I can never stand in my living room and say, alhamdulilah, then sit back and enjoy a clean house for a few days.

We are moving, insha'Allah, in August or so depending on some work we are having done to our new place... And I am making one entire room a family closet. Insha'Allah this will help me because no more lugging laundry to rooms, no more putting off folding and hanging because someone is asleep, and now I can get dressed even if DH is asleep in our room, yeah! Now dedicating an entire room as a closet may seem extreme... But keep in mind that there will be 6 of us, insha'Allah. That's a lot of clothes. And everyone has a dresser, so that's eating lots of space from the bedrooms. Not to mention DH's dresser in the living room since he needs to get his clothes at hours when the rest of us are asleep. As much as I hate moving, I am looking forward to the things we are doing in the new place. I can't wait to have two kids rooms and an office for DH... And the closet thing... That is assuming all those things actually work out like I planned!LOL I just hope that once we move I can get things in order and finally convince DH to go though his papers... It should've been done years ago!LOL

Another vaccine???

Cervical Cancer Vaccine Article

Now to be fair, I am a little weary of vaccines in general. And I am no virologist. But, read a book or two on the subject and I'm sure you will be leery too. Not to say that I don't vaccinate my children at all... I have chosen to do so with certain restrictions and some of my own input into the age at which they receive them etc.

Anyway, this whole cervical cancer vaccine as me a little worried. Why are we vaccinating against something tat the immune system fights off an estimated 90% of the time? And, if you are adding the numbers... It only fights 4 of the almost 80 known strains of HPV. And two of those don't cause cancer, they cause genital warts (the ones that don't cause visible damage are the bad boys). So, of the 3-4 thousand women in the US who get cervical cancer each year about 70% of them have one of the two strains in the vaccine. And the vaccine is about 97% effective... So, not some statistics person may be able to correct me here... But doesn't that mean we want to vaccinate all young women (they are shooting to do ages 12-14) to prevent about 2,037-2,716 cases per year assuming the vaccine is really that effective in reality? Sorry kids... I am not buying it. Also, what if women just assume that since they are vaccinated they can forget about pap smears? Not to mention the whole tone of "Well we all know you can't trust young girls so let's vaccinate them all."

Why are we so flippant about what we are injecting into our bodies? What about building a healthy immune system? What about the side effects of vaccines? When are the pharmaceutical companies in this country going to stop convincing us we nee to fill ourselves with their chemicals? Take a look at all the things we "need" now. How many times have you seen a commercial for some medication to treat something which used to be considered something you just dealt with as you aged of encountered it in your life for whatever reason?

I just cringe every time I pick up a parenting magazine with an ad for these new super combined vaccines (they have been indicated in many vaccine reactions). Yes, shoot your poor little infant's developing immune system with the maximum number of viruses and chemicals all at the same time! Great idea! Humph.

I'm not saying vaccines have no place or use in our lives. I think some of them are worth the risk... But I wish the government would just step off already. If you can convince parents of the necessity and the safety and they comply, great. But making chicken pox mandatory... Please. It seems like now that we are targeting just any illness we can... And I wonder what kind of things we are unleashing from Pandora's box by doing that.

Family Fridays

We have instituted a new practice in our house... Fun Fridays. Every Friday we go out somewhere or do something fun as a family. Now the one thing that I was noticing today is that it is hard to find things to do here in Laramie. DH is working today, so we have to do something without him... Which basically cuts out anything in FT Collins. Now I am thinking where will I go just me and the kids tonight? The movies. Or, the movies.

The thing is none of the pizza places have games here (and why go then when DS can't eat the pizza in the first place?)... The bowling alley has too much drinking for me to want to be the only woman in hijab on a Fri night... The skating rink is a little too disco at that time... And there simply are no other options here in town. So, do I just go to the movies cough up my $22 and forget it???

Insha'Allah, next week we will have a little theme party at our house. We could rent a movie and try to do dinner and some games with the same theme... Of course I would like to say I will save $ by doing this, but I always go overboard with these things and end up spending just as much at the dollar store for decorations and stuff as I would for the movie!LOL

OK, now that I am done complaining about Laramie... Let me say what I wanted to say in the first place!LOL I think this family night is a great idea. I wanted to do it for so long, and was finally encouraged when DH suggested that we should try to make Fridays special so the kids would grow up with a good feeling about Fridays and associate it with family time and enjoyment. I think it is well worth it! The only change I would make is if we lived in a larger Muslim community I would like to include other Muslim families in our plans. I think that would make it more fun for everyone involved.

Girls and Modesty

Teaching DD modesty is important to me. I don't think you can just spring it on them when they are 12yo and expect them to understand. My goal is to slowly keep building the idea and the habits of dress so that once she is old enough to wear hijab all she will have to add is the scarf. Sooooo, here we are again this year with shorts being on the forefront of every clothing conversation we have... And to add to the trouble you can't just go shopping and let her choose things from the racks because 99.9% is not appropriate! It's like taking gluten free DS to a bakery... I just try to avoid it.

The funny thing is boys have more options in the modest dress arena than girls!
I can find things for the boys no trouble. Heck, if I wanted them to follow the no legs and no tight things guidelines that I have Layla following I would have no problem at all. I get all the bermudas and loose cotton button down shirts I need, usually on sale!LOL

When did this hoochie mama thing reach clear down into the smaller sizes? And when did it become so pervasive? I ask it this year, and I am sure again next year too. Looks like I will be trekking to the Hanna Anderson outlet and also making some things for her again this year. Alhamdulilah I have some great sewing stuff!

Must get ready....

Must get ready for new baby. Must get house in order. Must get baby stuff cleaned. Must make sure I have any newborn stuff left at all. UGH!!!!!!!!!

OK, all I really need is the sling and the Moses basket along with the new diapers and covers... Plus a few sack gowns... But I just don't feel ready. Last night I had a dream that my labor stalled because I kept thinking off all the things I needed to do before I gave birth. Crazy? No way. I think mental readiness plays a big part in birth.

So, I will be breaking into the storage locker this afternoon (they accidentally put an extra lock on it and want me to go get the key from them to get it off, but I will probably just cut it) and retrieving the Moses basket and any and all boxes that say newborn. But, like I say I think I gave it all away or sold it at the store... As Yousuf and Layla grew out of things I just got rid of them... And I gave away all the girl things once I had a boy... Well, what would I want with newborn stuff that had seen three kids and 6 years by now anyway? Not to mention half of it was very very second hand in the first place.

Now the question is do I save stuff for the new baby starting now? What I mean is it worth saving considering that it will be 4-6 years before he/she grows into what the older sibling grew out of? Any experience with this? I save from Aly to Yousuf, but that is only like a year. Hmmmm.

OK, enough boring baby stuff for now. I feel like the countdown has begun though... You know that stage where getting ready for the birth occupies your entire brain? Yeah, I'm there.

One of the things I love about Islam...

I was just thinking today that I never really get time to enjoy prayer... There is frequently something else I am thinking of like what I need to do now, the food I left on the stove, the work I have to do at the store... Not to mention three kids climbing on me all the time. Getting out the prayer rug is like a call to them from wherever they are to stop what they are doing and run to me.

But, since my DH started working a second job I have rediscovered the peace of salat. After the kids are in bed, while DH is still at work, I have a peaceful prayer time to really enjoy. No rush, no other people around... I can just pray. Now fajar is like this for some, but ever since I converted just waking up and making wudu is about it for me... So, to have a peaceful time at the end of the day is a real blessing.

Many people would view Islam's prayers as restrictive, rigid and formalized. I think nothing could be further from the truth. Like children need structure to really bloom I think we need structure in our spiritual lives as well. I'm not waiting for a revival, at the most unexpected moment one of the daily prayers can lead me to a feeling of inner peace and revive my iman. So, I guess I just wanted to share how I feel about salat... How I had forgotten how much I love it.

The terrible very bad horrible no good day

Have you ever noticed how people close to you can really cut you to the quick when they are mad? Yeah. DH laid into me with some nasty comments about my lack of capitalistic drive in regards to the store... And now I put a nice dent in the trunk of the van backing out of a parking space. UGH. He's really going to love to hear about that especially considering the theme of the day is "UmmLayla doesn't appreciate money".

Gluten Free Me

UmmLayla here reporting from my first week of gluten free kitchen duty.

Not as bad as I thought. I got a few books, and I tried to stay focused on things that just are gluten free by default. At least I hope... I mean no one is injecting fruit or meat with modified food starch, right? But I have had a few surprises while reading labels so I will never assume again. Home cooking will be the easy part... And gluten free baking while not perfect (especially the bread) is passable. I have burnt out two mixers finding this out. DH doesn't even know half the time that the cookies and whatnot are gluten free. And the sauces and soups, no one would know on those. I even managed gluten free mac and cheese with chicken nuggets one night. YEAH!

On other fronts I have become obsessed with knitting wool diaper covers for the new baby. The first one I finished I did a double take and checked my gauge like 15 times, then finally checked the finished measurements because it just looked soooo small! But yeah, newborns are small!LOL So I made peace and kept knitting. Now the rest of this won't make sense unless you are a diaper hound like me, but please bear with me. My one frustration is all my prefolds (which is what I use at that age) have gone to the rag pile and I need new ones. I want hemp, but it seems that the only way to use hemp under my wool covers is to pin it. Snappies (which are such a cool thing) don't work on hemp... And I am not investing in diaper covers with velcro again, I have had to buy new ones twice already because the velcro gives out... Besides my heart is set on wool and hemp now!LOL Maybe I'll have to bite the bullet and buy a few bummies whisper wraps or something. Well, I'm sure I'll figure it all out before the baby comes, insha'Allah.

Finally, I am heading into the part of the pregnancy where I want to sleep like 12 hours a night and I only manage maybe three in one continuous stretch. I am normally a very heavy sleeper. A dog once chased our cat into our house and past my bedroom door with my DH in pursuit and I slept through it. But not during the last weeks of a pregnancy, no. Grrr. It goes like this. DH snores, so I go to the couch. Oxygen machine (DH has breathing issues at night) by couch keeps me awake, or I can't stretch out enough to get comfortable. Go to recliner, decide now that I am in the family room I might as well watch TV. Dose for small stretches making Shows seem bizarre and unfollowable, not to mention waking up in front of movies I never intended to watch (yeah, late night cable). Then, DH wakes up for work, I talk with him for about an hour, and when he leaves I go to bed... Now I toss and turn and try to get a position that doesn't get the reflux going until 3-4 am. Then I sleep until the alarm goes at about 6:30. UGH. Now I know why I never feel sleep deprived when a new baby comes. All I have to do is nurse them and doze back off. And anything is better than this!LOL