Hittin' the half year mark with the July Mamas - Page 8

[JoyofBirth]

First, an update, we've got a fever back, but nothing else. A bath brought down a couple degrees and she is n ow sleeping in my lap.

[JoyofBirth]

Girls, I'm so freaking out. Tonight, when going to bed, dh found a letter on our dresser. I'm not sure where it came from. I think it's been there a while but I hadn't read it. I must have opened it and somebody needed me so I never got back to reading it. Here's the long story and then I'll get back to the letter.

Back in May, we got a letter that my dh won an int ernet co ntest of some sort. He gets on and plays poker a good bit. It was like $4 5, 0 0 0. So we're like whatever, it's probably a scam. Well, dh calls the 800 number on the letter to cla im his pr ize and they say the tax es have to be p ai d out of the wi nnings and they'll send us a che ck for the ta xes. When we send in the t ax es they'll se nd us the rest of our mo ney. They gave him the option to have it mailed or to get it instan tly de posi ted into our che cking ac co unt if he gave them all our info. So he opts for mail, obviously. And we figure we'll never see anything. So July 1st, we get a che ck in the mail for $2 1 8 0. Couldn't have come at a better time. I was in labor and our bills were behind. So dh takes it to our ba nk and asks the ca shie r if it's re al. She says it is and that it's a c ashi er's ch e ck. So we cash it. And we decide to keep it and pass on the remaining $40 some odd t housa nd. Then a few weeks later, our ac cou nt is $2 2 0 0 ove rdra wn. We contacted the b an k, they said the ch eck was c oun ter fe it and we owe them the money. Well, we've used it all. To pay bills, so it's not like we can return stuff. They have this l oa n thing they do to help when your acc ount is ov erdra wn. So I app ly for that. They say they can't give it to us because it's over 10 0 0 . SO my dh was dealing with the vi ce pr esid ent of the b an ks in this area to figure out how to fix the problem. For the next 3 or 4 weeks, we tried to resolve this and every penny of dh's checks were getting taken by the bank. So dh stopped his dir ect dep os it at work. We were trying to pa y a little to the bank here and there. But we were so far behind that we stopped for a little while. We figured it would go on our cr edit and we'd pa y it back when we could. The last time we picked up our mail from our old apartment was a few weeks ago. And I haven't gone through all of it. But dh finds this letter on the dresser. It says that if we do not pay the full balance by OC TO BER 5th, cri mi nal cha rges will be fi le d and we'll be included. So I'm freaking out. Because that de adli ne was 2 months ago and we didn't even know about it. I don't know what we are going to do. But I am not going to j a il and lo sing my k ids over this. So any of you Cana da or Me xi co moms wanna ha rb or a fu gi ti ve ? At this moment, I'm partially kidding about that. I'm gonna call a l awy er in the morning and I guess take it from there. Oh, I can't believe this. Why do these things keep happening to us? We're good, honest, hard-working people, trying to do the right thing? Hugh, I just wanna take my ki ds and ru n a wa y.

[ksjhwkr]

Ok, so I typed out a big long post and when I hit the send button, the server was too busy...now it's gone :
So...I'll try to remember what all I typed. Um, solids...yeah, I don't like them. They change the poops and then they are not the easy cloth diaper poops I started Emma and Seth both at 6 months on solids. Em really didn't mind them, but she didn't need them either. She loved applesauce and sweet potatoes (all mommy made) but not really rice cereal. Seth was a totally different story. Everything constipated him, and I mean everything! So, we started at 6 months but he didn't really start eating solids until about 8 months. Ironically it was right after he got his first teeth. I didn't know about the saliva enzymes not being able to break down solids until they have teeth. That is so interesting!! With Amelia..we'll wait. I really don't forsee me giving her solids until she is 8 months or so. I'm pretty lazy and would rather just have her nurse and fall asleep so I can : heehee!

Christmas card swap? Eh. I'd rather do an actual gift exchange..but since I wouldn't be able to afford the postage on either, I'll have to pass this year. You all do it though and have fun

Kimya - I still want one of your cd's, do you have any left? Sorry about your burn, that bites! I don't know what to do for it...WAIT! Yes, I do!! Last winter Seth got 2nd degree burns on both of his hands (touched my folks gas fireplace). They told us to put this antibiotic cream on it and keep them wrapped in gauze. So, I'd keep it clean and dry and put some guaze on it. You also want whatever blisters you have to stay as long as possible. They help to protect the burn.

Maria - :guh

Juice - your haiku made me laugh. That is how it was when we had cable...I love not having cable sometimes. But, I also miss the Food Network!

Cori - sounds like you're in a rough spot with your dcp. I am sorry. If I lived there I'd watch your little one in a heartbeat! I am also glad that your mil is ok. That is so scary! Thank heavens for airbags huh?

Sandrine - I am so glad that you all were able to get some help. I know how much even a little means.

Ok...now for my big story. Today we went to church. Church is 3 hours and Seth goes to nursery for the first 2. After the first meeting, I was really having a hard time missing Emma, so I found dh and said that I needed to go home. He took me and Amelia to the car and as we were driving away (we live 2 blocks from our church) I thought that we better get Seth too. I didn't want dh to really have to go back after we got home. So, he went in to get Seth. He went to the nursery room and no one was there, so he went into the room where the kids have singing time. Seth wasn't in there either. So, he looked some more and found him in the chapel up on the stand (luckily there were no sermons going on right then). No one knew he was missing, no one knew where he was!!!! Jeremy got him and brought him out the the car and we went home. He didn't tell me until dinner (about 5 hours later) because I just wasn't ready to hear that yet. I was FURIOUS when I heard this. There are 20 kids in the nursery, but 5 leaders!! You mean to tell me that between 5 leaders, they can't each take care of 4? Then, I found out later tonight that another kiddo took off with Seth!!!! So, they really lost 2 kids! I called and talked to one of the leaders tonight who was SO apologetic. I will now be going down and personally holding my child's hand when he goes to singing time. This is so irksome. Seriously, he could have gotten outside and been hit by a car. My other thought is this...did no one think that it was odd that this little 2 year old was just wandering around the church by himself??? :

That was my day. I hope tomorrow is better.

[ksjhwkr]

Oh my gosh Juice!! i am so sorry!!! Please let us know what the lawyer says. That just doesn't sound right. You're doing everything you can, the bank should understand that. You also asked if it was real, how can they tell you yes, cash it, then come back later saying it was counterfiet??? I am so sorry.
I hope Mattie gets feeling better quickly. That is all you need, to have a sick baby on top of everything else.

[JoyofBirth]

Thanks for the hugs. i'm so scared. i can't stop crying. I can't be away from my girls for more than a few hours. I'm so sorry about what happened at church. Dh and I take turns checking on Emma every 10 minutes or so. People think we're crazy. I've been thinking of you a lot lately with your Emma's b-day coming. I pray for you too. back to you.

[sarenka]

JessicaJoy - - no one's going to take your kids away. Just take it one breath at a time and leave it for the moment until you talk to a lawyer. The bank told you it was real. Their problem when it turned out not to be. You'll be OK.

As far as the party was concerned -

peaceful party
mother in law -
too many cakes!

The ILs just drew up and brought in loads and loads and loads of unasked for food, and piled it all on my nice simple table - concept, one big pot of chili, one b'day cake, one other cake, fruit. In it all came - salads, sandwiches, cakes, litres of Coke...(banned in our house) like dd's wedding had come a little early. FIL saying 'what do I do with it? What do I do with it?' MIL having already grabbed baby 'I'm holding the baby!' Me - er - take it all home again??? Nope, wrong answer, er - her nappy needs changing! Grab babe, retain some semblance of control. ILs then steadfastly refuse to eat or drink anything I offer. For them, normal behaviour.
For dd it was a success apart from when dh first brought the cake in with the lights still on, then actually started to cut it, thereby invalidating dd's wish, so she thought. She went screaming off into the bathroom. people following her yelling about causing shame and kids in Africa without b'day cake.
anyway she got over it after me chucking the helpful ones out and a moment of empathy - and everything else went well, party games etc, particularly apple bobbing (well, why not?!)

witt, lovely pics - I was just thinking before you posted I know there are some people here not covered by all this dh and marriage talk!

maria - great news about the car.

general guhs to all - oh and tanya - sounds horrendous - felled by a christmas deccie : kisses to liitle ones head - gotta go

[~pi]

Jessica, . I don't know if it is the same in the US, but here in Canada, you can work out a payment schedule. They just want the money back, even if it takes a little while and perhaps some lawyering. The letters about criminal proceedings, etc. are, in all likelihood, just to scare you into resuming payments. Creditors don't like it when you stop payment suddenly without telling them why. They don't want to see you kids taken away or jail time or anything like that that would make it harder for them to recoup their money. You will get through this.

I once had a mortgage payment bounce because there was a clerical error with my grad student funding. I wasn't paid for two months, and because it was all set up with direct deposit and withdrawal, I didn't even notice. It sucked to get it all sorted out, but we did.

Kim, and :guh. And that's HORRIBLE about what happened at the church with Seth.

witt, Nice to see you! I hope you are enjoying the summer. Gorgeous pics.

Tanya, sorry about the injury, but about the haiku.

Cori, :guh and : about the daycare.

[PancakeGoddess]

Originally Posted by gumby74

DS is about 17lbs and it's starting to get harder to carry him in it. Is this normal?

I think so! I'm sorry to be a broken record, but after about one week of practice getting a baby onto the back is pretty easy and SO much more comfortable. I like the sling for quick in and out and putting him to sleep in public, but around the house, back carries in the mei tai or ergo.

Originally Posted by Miss Juice

Sunday afternoon haiku

Football I hate you
You rob me of my husband
I can't do it all

:

What drives me nuts is that I DO want to watch a little football, just my one main team, but I can't ever get that much time in the afternoon without a bazillion interruptions and people needing their needs met every second. Sheesh.

Juice, do you have a DVR? Football games are an hour shorter when you skip commercials, halftime and a lot of the blah blah between plays. I don't know i fyour dh would go for that.

Originally Posted by Sandrine

Question: Does Anyone Want To Do A X-mas Card Swap???

I'd do gift or card. I like the idea of cards because I'm lousy at getting to the post office, but I'll do whatever.

Originally Posted by elsanne

Juice: I haikus. I especially your haiku. I just love the economy of words to express, eloquently and simply, a thought or feeling.

Me too - that series of haiku posts had me rolling.

Originally Posted by TanyaS

Will someone please tell my babe that if she doesn't sleep then I can't sew?

I feel so bad. : Baby was passed out cold, so I laid her on the couch and ran off to get a shower and hopefully sew some more. I didn't take a long shower, but it wasn't rushed either. When I turned the water off, I heard her crying across the house. Dh was outside fiddling with something in his car. She had such big tears and a freaked out look of "I thought you'd never come" when I picked her up. : I wish I'd have laid her in the bed.

Oh Tanya, hugs, I know how awful that feels. A couple weeks ago I forgot to check that the monitor was on, and by the time I realized he was in there crying he was a mess. : : :

If you manage to convince your baby you need to sew, will you send mine an email explaining my need to knit?

Originally Posted by kimya

I got a 2nd degree burn from a hot water bottle a few nights ago. The big blister on my leg popped last night at the show! It is soooo gross!!! Does anyone have burn wound advice?!

I'm pretty sure lanolin is the way to go - lansinoh or generic (much cheaper, btw)

Originally Posted by witt

ok that is hysterical - my link has come up with something totally bizarre - I'll try again
http://www.dropshots.com/witt

beautiful family, witt

joyofbirth, the money thing will work out. I hate that panicky feeling of having the financial rug pulled out, though. Scary.

[fenwickmama]

hi to everyone-can't stay and chat but wanted to say to witt-cute pics too-i was afraid we scared you away with all the talk last month!

[Miss Juice]

Hi witt!! Great to see you - beautiful family.

JessicaJoy, I am so sorry you were scammed. That is awful. Take a bunch of deep, deep breaths. Nobody's going to take your kids. It will work out. If it were me, I'd march to the bank with the letter and confront the problem head-on. They're more likely to work with you if they see you're making the effort.

Tanya, how's your girl today?

Kim, and I'd be livid about the church thing. Apologies are nice, but sadly ineffective here.

I would do a card thing. I couldn't do a gift thing. I'd love to, but I already don't know when and how I'm managing gifts for my family.

[Sandrine]

Originally Posted by elsanne

ps Sandrine, am I correct in my understanding that your Canadian husband teaches U.S. history?

He teaches mostly cdn and U.S. history and law/geography/politics.

Originally Posted by ~pi

We got some unexpected money recently -- enough so that we were able to replace our rustbucket of a car with something with airbags, tires with treads, and a relative degree of certainty that the brakes will work. We had actually been talking about going car-free again or joining AutoShare except that DH only got his license recently so that would mean I would have to do ALL the driving for the next three years. : Anyway, I'm just : to have a safe, reliable car for the first time in my life!

That's great. I'm sure your hubby is glad to be able to drive too.

I would be in for that. So we just PM you our address by Friday, you'll put them all together, and send us the list?

Yup, that's how i thought we could do it.

I also thought that we could just send one card to one person instead of 20 cards to everyone, to save everyone $ and this way ppl who don't have alot can also participate.

So, a recap: CARD SWAP: Send me your addy and i'll mix them up. You will get one name and addy to send a x-mas card. So everyone send one card and should receive one card.

DEADLINE: Friday

Originally Posted by JoyofBirth

So any of you Cana da or Me xi co moms wanna ha rb or a fu gi ti ve ? At this moment, I'm partially kidding about that. I'm gonna call a l awy er in the morning and I guess take it from there. Oh, I can't believe this. Why do these things keep happening to us? We're good, honest, hard-working people, trying to do the right thing? Hugh, I just wanna take my ki ds and ru n a wa y.

:guh if you do need a place, come on up. We have extra space that we don't use. I hope everything works out for you.

Originally Posted by ksjhwkr

Christmas card swap? Eh. I'd rather do an actual gift exchange..but since I wouldn't be able to afford the postage on either, I'll have to pass this year. You all do it though and have fun

PM coming your way.

Sandrine - I am so glad that you all were able to get some help. I know how much even a little means.

Thanks, It will for sure help alot. I so don't know what i want to do with it. I so want to just spend it on the girls. But the reasonable me, says to put it in debts. *sign*

Ok...now for my big story. Today we went to church. Church is 3 hours and Seth goes to nursery for the first 2. After the first meeting, I was really having a hard time missing Emma, so I found dh and said that I needed to go home. He took me and Amelia to the car and as we were driving away (we live 2 blocks from our church) I thought that we better get Seth too. I didn't want dh to really have to go back after we got home. So, he went in to get Seth. He went to the nursery room and no one was there, so he went into the room where the kids have singing time. Seth wasn't in there either. So, he looked some more and found him in the chapel up on the stand (luckily there were no sermons going on right then). No one knew he was missing, no one knew where he was!!!! Jeremy got him and brought him out the the car and we went home. He didn't tell me until dinner (about 5 hours later) because I just wasn't ready to hear that yet. I was FURIOUS when I heard this. There are 20 kids in the nursery, but 5 leaders!! You mean to tell me that between 5 leaders, they can't each take care of 4? Then, I found out later tonight that another kiddo took off with Seth!!!! So, they really lost 2 kids! I called and talked to one of the leaders tonight who was SO apologetic. I will now be going down and personally holding my child's hand when he goes to singing time. This is so irksome. Seriously, he could have gotten outside and been hit by a car. My other thought is this...did no one think that it was odd that this little 2 year old was just wandering around the church by himself??? :

That was my day. I hope tomorrow is better.

I'm so glad that he's ok.

[Sandrine]

:guh Kim for missing Emma.

I'm thinking of you during this time of missing her. I'm sure she would have been a wonderful child.

[Miss Juice]

OK my friends, I have a project and I need your help.

I am making a commitment to take better care of myself. I want to make some huge changes in my diet and sleep habits, and I know from experience that I can't just overhaul everything at the same time and expect it to work. So I am making small steps. I am committing to two things here today:

1. I will eat breakfast EVERY DAY. I will not rush off to work with only a cup of coffee in me.

2. I am giving up dairy products. I have to do it, because I am pretty sure that's what is causing this little spot of eczema on Ethan's face. I went dairy-free for most of last week and it got a lot better. Then we had pizza for dinner on Friday, and I was lax all weekend, and it's obviously worse now. So off the dairy I go. This is hard for me, what am I going to do without cheese??? I'm starting with the obvious ones, but if I have to I'll also cut out anything with casein or whey in it. (I really hope it doesn't come to that because that's just a PIA.)

So what I need from you all is some encouragement or commiseration. Ideas for quick healthy breakfasts. Thoughts on dairy-free-ness.

Today I made myself a banana, soymilk, rice protein powder and mango smoothie. Yum! See, now, that wasn't so hard was it?

[fenwickmama]

juice-smoothie sounds yumo!
how bout some yummy grainy bread or pita w/nut butter and jam or something along those lines and a fruit?
no dairy would suck for me, too-good luck w/that!

[gumby74]

Thanks for all the advice on the solids issue. To answer many of your questions....I don't think I was really excited to start solids, but because I had huge allergy issues as a child my pediatrician suggested that we start with rice cereal at 5.5 months. He told me that he recently read a study that suggests that children who are prone to allergies because of family history are more likely to delvelop a reaction to the food if they start before or after 6 months. So....he thinks it is a good idea to start at 5.5 months and then I will see him at 6 months and we can determine how well ds is doing. I just thought that maybe he would prefer the taste of oatmeal to rice, but wasn't sure how long I should stay with the rice.

I'm going to take the advice of the sling as well and try and turn DS around. I think that will make a huge difference!

[ksjhwkr]

Originally Posted by PancakeGoddess

If you manage to convince your baby you need to sew, will you send mine an email explaining my need to knit?

: She likes to play with the yarn or my cables while I knit. I don't mind until I need the yarn or the cables, then she throws a huge fit about it :

Originally Posted by Miss Juice

Kim, and I'd be livid about the church thing. Apologies are nice, but sadly ineffective here.

Yep, sadly ineffective is right. I will be watching him like a hawk now at church. Which is irritating, the whole reason they have the nursery is so that parents can leave their children and feel ok about it. :
There was another little boy who took off with Seth too. He is really loud, so is Seth. Jeremy and I thought it was interesting that the 2 loudest kids in the nursery were gone and no one noticed!!! I will be talking to his mom today and see what she thinks about all of this. :

[Sandrine]

Originally Posted by Miss Juice

OK my friends, I have a project and I need your help.

I am making a commitment to take better care of myself. I want to make some huge changes in my diet and sleep habits, and I know from experience that I can't just overhaul everything at the same time and expect it to work. So I am making small steps. I am committing to two things here today:

1. I will eat breakfast EVERY DAY. I will not rush off to work with only a cup of coffee in me.

2. I am giving up dairy products. I have to do it, because I am pretty sure that's what is causing this little spot of eczema on Ethan's face. I went dairy-free for most of last week and it got a lot better. Then we had pizza for dinner on Friday, and I was lax all weekend, and it's obviously worse now. So off the dairy I go. This is hard for me, what am I going to do without cheese??? I'm starting with the obvious ones, but if I have to I'll also cut out anything with casein or whey in it. (I really hope it doesn't come to that because that's just a PIA.)

So what I need from you all is some encouragement or commiseration. Ideas for quick healthy breakfasts. Thoughts on dairy-free-ness.

Today I made myself a banana, soymilk, rice protein powder and mango smoothie. Yum! See, now, that wasn't so hard was it?

That sounds like a great bkfast. i usually try ot eat bkfast with dd1 so that way i get time to eat. DD2 only wakes up later and this way dd1 eats faster.

As for dairy. I went 20mths without dairy while nursing dd2. It's hard but you can do it.

Do you have time to go to the HFS?? If so, the rice cheese is really good. Doesn't melt lots but still does a bit. The Toffiti spreads are very good too. Their spreads are like cream cheese and sour cream without cow's milk/dairy. I find that rice milk taste better than soy milk. I heard that almond milk taste good too and is a good alternative to cow's milk.

If i remember there is a few others in the group that are going thru this too. Maybe they have others ideas too.

Maybe you can plan your meals, so that it's easier to plan to cook without dairy?

[elsanne]

Originally Posted by witt

oh yeah and my routine during the day, right round like a blue as**ed fly all day meeting everyone's needs except my own, ahh sweet housewife heaven

Loved your description. : Are you the long-haired one? That's my guess! And your beautiful, bald baby is just adorable.

Originally Posted by JoyofBirth

Girls, I'm so freaking out. Tonight, when going to bed, dh found a letter on our dresser. I'm not sure where it came from.

First: I would like to give you hugs. It's all gonna be okay. Second: You have been a victim of FRAUD. Remember that: pursue your options! Sue the muthas if need be! Third: It's only $2,000ish dollars. That is NOT the end of the world, no matter how broke you are. You can do it, it will be okay. Your family will not go hungry or be without a home.

Again: you have been a victim of FRAUD!!! Get on those muthas! Get a copy of the check, get all the info you can--keep those letters, anything else document-like.

Originally Posted by ksjhwkr

I was FURIOUS when I heard this. There are 20 kids in the nursery, but 5 leaders!! You mean to tell me that between 5 leaders, they can't each take care of 4? Then, I found out later tonight that another kiddo took off with Seth!!!! So, they really lost 2 kids!

Egads! Good thing God's looking after all his little children. That would really have irked me too.

Originally Posted by Miss Juice

OK my friends, I have a project and I need your help.

Two breakfasts I can think of right away, quick, easy nutritious:

1- OATMEAL!!! This is my new fave for me and Sol. I whir the oats in the blender momentarily then throw them in water. Add maple syrup, and some ground flax I keep around. End of prep. Then serve with milk on top (or soy milk).

2- TOAST with yummy PB and jelly/honey/whatever. Proteiny goodness.

Just an aside, that smoothie you described is mega-yum. Here's my version of the same:

pineapple, bananas, parsley. Always have those 3 around. Cut up, put in blender.

Add-ins: All-One Vitamin powder (the best!), Ground flax, bee pollen, honey or apple juice, trace minerals, vit c powder, you get the idea. mix n match.

[TanyaS]

Whew! All I did was take ds to school and go to the post office! Let's see if I can catch up.

Originally Posted by kimya

[B]Does anyone have burn wound advice?!

I burned my hand bad when ds was 3 months old with bacon grease. Long, embarrassing story. I hardly ever cooked bacon back then, and let's just say I don't anymore. I had fluid filled blisters on my fingers raised an inch above my fingers, and several little ones all over. It's important to keep it moist. I used antibiotic ointment because it was so severe. I'm not sure what oils you could use in place of it, but just anything to keep it moist. Lansinoh would probably be fantastic on a burn. Then you need to keep it covered. Buy some Telfa dressing pads at the store. They won't stick to the wound. You'll also need some gauze and tape, or you could just tape the telfa dressing to your hand. I used an ace bandage over my dressing because it was over a large area. Ouch, it hurts just remembering that. I'll have to find my pic and share it with ya'll. Ew.

Originally Posted by ksjhwkr

No one knew he was missing, no one knew where he was!!!!

That is so scary. I would expect them to do more than apologize, too. I would talk to the pastor/priest/preacher or at the very least the preschool minister asap and ask them how they are going to prevent this in the future.

Originally Posted by PancakeGoddess

If you manage to convince your baby you need to sew, will you send mine an email explaining my need to knit?

I don't think they quite understand what a creative outlet it can be for us. If they only knew it helps make us better mommies.

Originally Posted by Miss Juice

JessicaJoy, I am so sorry you were scammed. That is awful. Take a bunch of deep, deep breaths. Nobody's going to take your kids. It will work out. If it were me, I'd march to the bank with the letter and confront the problem head-on. They're more likely to work with you if they see you're making the effort.

:

Originally Posted by Sandrine

:guh Kim for missing Emma.

Originally Posted by Miss Juice

So what I need from you all is some encouragement or commiseration. Ideas for quick healthy breakfasts. Thoughts on dairy-free-ness.

I have eczema issues myself and am a cheese addict. I don't know how to stop eating cheese. Milk I rarely drink. Yogurt I like. But cheese?

Try oatmeal for breakfast. We make ours with a little brown sugar, lots of cinnamon, flax seed (sometimes flax oil, too), and I usually add either chopped apples while cooking or blueberries that we picked last summer after it's cooked. I bet chopped pears would be good in it, too. It's just a way to change something as boring as oatmeal into .

Originally Posted by gumby74

Thanks for all the advice on the solids issue. To answer many of your questions....I don't think I was really excited to start solids, but because I had huge allergy issues as a child my pediatrician suggested that we start with rice cereal at 5.5 months. He told me that he recently read a study that suggests that children who are prone to allergies because of family history are more likely to delvelop a reaction to the food if they start before or after 6 months. So....he thinks it is a good idea to start at 5.5 months and then I will see him at 6 months and we can determine how well ds is doing. I just thought that maybe he would prefer the taste of oatmeal to rice, but wasn't sure how long I should stay with the rice.

Oh, I'm sorry! Your pediatrician is misinformed. The study he is talking about showing an increase in allergy was in a grand total of 16 children. That is NOT enough of a sample to draw a conclusion, and it goes against all the other studies available to us that show it is better to wait. I also do not believe that study was in exclusively breastfed children, either. That can make a significant impact.

Most allergy experts believe that babies who do not want to eat until later in the first year (like 9-12 months or sometimes longer) have a built in allergy protection that makes them want only breastmilk. Any family with a history of allergies should wait to start solids. I am so sorry that he gave you the information from that single study and ignored the rest of the evidence. Maybe you could ask him what his source of information is? I am positive it was this study that came out last year, I think? It caused quite a stir, and dontcha know the baby food companies were happy.

JJoy, I saw something on tv about that scam not too long ago. Apparently you aren't the only one they are taking advantage of. (I ended my sentence with a preposition ) It will be ok. They are just trying to scare you into contacting them.

witt, good to see you again. I tried to get your link to work last night, but I was too tired to wonder what was going on! Glad I caught that you fixed it this morning!

[PancakeGoddess]

Originally Posted by Miss Juice

Today I made myself a banana, soymilk, rice protein powder and mango smoothie. Yum! See, now, that wasn't so hard was it?

My non-dairyness got a LOT easier last week when I discovered 8th continent soy milk. wow, so so much better than other soymilk, which I normally think is pretty dang gross.

Originally Posted by ksjhwkr

: She likes to play with the yarn or my cables while I knit. I don't mind until I need the yarn or the cables, then she throws a huge fit about it :

K is just starting to grab at stuff, and his aim isn't so hot yet It's the toddler who likes my knitting.

Originally Posted by Sandrine

As for dairy. I went 20mths without dairy while nursing dd2.

Ugh... after 20 mos the baby seemed to do ok? I occasionally try some dairy and usually he's fussy after, but occasionally not. He goes through fussy periods *anyway* so I'm never sure if it's a coincidence. I hope he doesn't need to be dairy-free as an older kid. We did that for 7 years with my oldest and it is a huge pita!

Originally Posted by elsanne

Again: you have been a victim of FRAUD!!! Get on those muthas!

: Elsanne needs a new ddddc.

Elsanne
Queen Cut-To-The-Chase