Mother of the Year Award goes to...

Me!! Why? Well, now it turns out to be for two reasons.

The first one is a little, uuhhh, gross maybe...FYI

So, first, Maggie's ears. For the past several weeks, maybe even up to two months, Maggie has had yucky crusties behind her ears. I chalked it up to excessive moisture. Sounds reasonable. It never seemed to bother her. It washed away in the bath - only to reappear. I really never thought anything of it. A couple of friends had mentioned that it was probably cradle cap that was a little misdirected and got lost behind the ears. So, fast-forward to Maggie's 4 month checkup; I mentioned it to the ped who looked at it and then decided to take a culture - uummm, I thought it was just a little rash. So culture goes out and a phone call from our favorite pediatrician comes back. Not just a little freaky bacteria, not even a yeast infection which we thought might have been the culprit. No - staph!!!! Seriously, my baby had a staph infection! Okay, I don't know about you, but when I think staph - I think unsanitary...right? Well, come to find out 20-30% of the population actually carries staph! (Betcha didn't know that, now did ya!) So, who knows from where it originated. But the next complication to wait for was the possibility that it was MRSA. UGH. (MRSA is antibiotic resisitant staph, very contagious and difficult to treat). So, in the meantime we started with an antibiotic topical ointment, hoping that it would do the trick and as a result it would rule out MRSA. Low and behold - one single application of the medicine virtually wiped out the rash!!! YAY - not only is it cleared up, it's not MRSA. Yes, being an antibiotic, it's a 10-14 day stint, but it worked. whew.

Next up - if anyone had reason to doubt my qualifications as mother of the year - here's number two (significantly shorter - one word in fact): sunburn. Yeah, apparently shades and umbrellas don't do diddly.

Mother of the Year or the D-word???

Where to start...I guess in response to a prior comment, I'll start with the D-word (that is - diet...ssshhh, don't say it too loud). Ugh. Don't like that word. Why? Well, for a couple of reasons. First - call me crazy - but I feel it implies failure...failure to live life not on a diet while maintaining a healthy weight. Second, I feel it allows for only a short-term commitment. "I'm on a diet" leads one to believe that he/she will one day be off of it. Although wordier, I prefer "eating plan". That connotes a change, a plan for eating that is not temporary, but an overall change.

So, anyone who knows me, knows I thrive on bread, cereal, pasta, crackers, CARBS. Plain and simple...I could live off carbs. I never thought I could go without. But for 12 days now (okay not huge) I have gone without, and I have learned at least one reason why I ate so many carbs. They are easy!!! How much quicker and easier is it to pour a bowl of cereal opposed to cook some eggs! Grab a handful of crackers or chips instead of slicing some cucumbers. Carbs are easy. Unfortunately, they don't last - so you only feel hungry a minute later.

So what have I been eating instead? That's the question that I've been presented with. In no particular order, since I am not the type who has to eat breakfast food for breakfast if I eat breakfast at all. (Yes, that is a definite area in need of improvement). But this is what I eat: salad, alot of salad. I spend some time on Sunday, usually, preparing about 4 dishes of salad to put in the fridge - no carrots though. Often a second time during the week, I spend time making 3-4 more salads to replace the ones I've eaten for lunches and dinners. Hard-boiled eggs, maybe one a day; "scrambled eggs a la elizabeth": one whole egg in a pan, break the yolk, then add 2-3 more eggs - whites only! salt, pepper and onion powder (lots of that) and cook. oh yeah, spray with oil-spray-stuff. tunafish with lowfat mayo, which I have never minded, onions, celery and either chopped up cukes or sliced cukes as crackers. oh yeah - nuts! this is probably my new weakness...cashews, pistachios, peanut butter!!!! OMG. Yeah, my weakness. Any lean meat - steak, chicken breasts, pork, etc. Fish, seafood. Low-fat deli-meat and cheese. Green beans, green veggies in general.

The most challenging is the beverage selection - my personal selection is coffee (splenda) and water. UGH!!! Next week I'll add other sugar-free drinks.

Gotta cut it off here, life and kids are calling...more later