.mario cupcakes.

 

Okay. These have got to be the coolest cupcakes ever made... or at least the coolest ones I've ever made! Ha, ha! I have seen this idea done before, and thought I would give it a whirl! I used fondant to create all the designs by hand. It was a long process (3.5 hours!), but I love the end result!

I am quite impressed with my Mario especially. I was worried no one would know who it was supposed to be, but I think he is recognizable and delicious! My one regret: using a new recipe for the cupcakes. They turned out tasting more like muffins to me... Oh, well. At least they look mah-velous!

.what do you mean i can't eat during labor.

Should I say "I told you so?" Here is an article that states that a study in the UK concluded that eating during labor has no ill-effects on mother, baby, C-section rates, chances of vomiting, and so on, and so on.

It's no secret I have a passion for food in general. I love cooking it. I love eating it. It's necessary to eat good food to make our bodies healthy and allow us to have the energy to do the tasks that face us each day. Therefore, I found it odd to hear that during labor, a woman was not allowed to eat anything. Often, she is not even allowed water and is kept hydrated through an IV.

I had heard several reasons for this rationale: eating increases risk of vomiting, eating can complicate things if a C-section is required, eating will prolong labor, etc. To me, though, it seemed sort of... eh-hem... stupid to deprive your body of nutrients and energy during one of the most grueling physical challenges you are likely to ever face.

 Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that during labor you should have your hubby pick up a quarter-pounder with cheese and a large side of fries for you. As far as eating during labor goes, having been there and done that, I can tell you, a big, heavy meal was the furthest thing from my mind at the time. Some smaller (and easily digested) snacks, however, especially early on in labor, can be a godsend.

Now, I'm no doctor, but I've heard that complex carbs are a better choice for keeping your energy up than fatty or fried foods. Here are a few things that were suggested to me during my labor (notice a lot of these "foods" provide hydration, too - very critical to stay hydrated!):

• applesauce
• soups
• popsicles
• white grape juice
• apple juice
• Jell-o
• a spoonful of honey (gives a quick energy boost)
• crackers
• graham crackers
• bananas
• fruit (I loved peaches...)
• pasta
• toast
• warm broth
• cereal - hot or cold
• rice
• scrambled or hard-boiled eggs
• yogurt
• hard-candies to suck on (tasty and they keep your mouth feeling moist)

Anyway, I guess the point comes back around to my basic birth philosophy: women should be able to have options and choices in their birth experiences! If you're hungry, you should be allowed to eat a little something! If you are thirsty, you should be able to drink a little water or chew some ice chips (ice chips are a laboring woman's best friend, in my humble opinion).

Again, I'm not a medical professional. This all just my musings and thoughts, but the research does look like it's starting to back me up. ^_^ If you are preggers and delivering at a hospital or birth center, I would recommend checking to see if the facility you are delivering at allows women to eat/drink during labor. If they do, pack a few things to munch in your hospital bag, just in case. It can make a world of difference!

.digi-scraping challenges.

 As often as I scrapbook (which is not often at all), I digi-scrapbook about 10 times less. In fact, I am kind of just experimenting in the world of digi-scrapping. I found a fun site that not only has some free kits to download, but has challenges that you can try... usually with some reward attached for meeting the requirements. The site is called Crafty Scraps. All you do is click the challenges link and a whole list of digi-scrapbooking contests. I say contests, but most of them that I've seen do not have a clear "winner."

It's also a fun place to get ideas. Below I posted the pages I threw together last night for a couple of challenges. As my "prize," the site owner sent me a full digi-scrapping set via email. The pages I made were pretty simple, but it was fun. Plus, it gave me something to do in the late hours of the night last night when I couldn't sleep. :o)

.sushi night.

Earlier in the day, we were invited to go to sushi with Ben's brother, Brycen, and his wife, Amy (who is my good friend) tonight. We politely declined, due to lack of substantial funds to spend on raw fish yummy-ness. Then, a miracle! I got a call from my work saying that I had a check waiting there and that it had been sitting in the safe for nearly two weeks. Since I don't work often, I had no idea how much the check would be for, but I guessed it would be a whopping $40.00 or less.

To my surprise, and delight, it was nearly $250.00! We decided to find an sitter and go out for a night on the town. Ben called up Brycen and asked if the sushi invite still stood, which it did. My mom was kind enough to babysit on short notice and we headed over to Fuji Sushi.

Fuji Sushi is a small establishment in Centerville, a stones throw from when I grew up. I had never eaten there, but had heard good things, most especially from my mom and step-dad, who are true sushi lovers.

We sat down with Amy and Brycen and perused the menu. We opted for a Shrimp Tempura Roll, Spiderman Roll, and, of course, some Miso soup. As soon as we ordered, I started feeling a little uneasy...

Even though I have eaten sushi many a time, I get a little nervous when trying a new, unfamiliar roll. I think this is because, by strict sushi law, you have to put the whole piece in your mouth at once, which is usually a big mouthful.

Looking like a squirrel in public with a mouthful of raw fish is bad enough but worse still is that once it's in there, you're pretty much committed to eating it. So, if it turns out to be a nasty tasting mix of dead fish and seaweed, with an unsavory, slimy texture, too bad! You have to man up, chew it as quickly as you can without looking like wuss, and swallow it down past an overwhelming gag reflex.

The miso soup was predictably delicious and both the rolls we got were, thankfully, quite tasty as well. The only "negative" culinary aspect of the evening would have to be that the Spiderman roll was a tad spicy... like 'eating-liquid-hot-magma' spicy. Ha, ha!

All in all, it was a fantastic evening out. Good food, good company, and lots of raw seafood; what more could you ask for?

.sunflowers in january.

I made these cupcakes for a girl who works with my sister-in-law, Jenny. It was her birthday and Jenny wanted to take a cake or cupcakes to work for her. I had been dying to try these little sunflower cupcakes out, so I jumped at the opportunity! I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I think they turned out rather well, don't you? ^_^

 

.the all-knowing safety pin.

So apparently, I'm out of the loop. Tonight, my sister-in-law, Jenny,  asked if I had ever done "the paperclip trick" to determine how many kids I would have and what their genders would be.  I answered her question with another question: "Uh... what is the paperclip trick?" Jenny looked slightly shocked and told me to find a paperclip and a string... post-haste.

Evidently, if you tie a paperclip to the end of a piece of string and then have someone hold it perfectly still over your hand, it will magically begin to spin in circles. After "thinking" for a moment or two, it will either swing from right to left across your hand (meaning "girl") or back and forth (meaning "boy"). It will then begin to spin in circles again. Supposedly, it will repeat this cycle of circling and then "predicting" all the children in your future. When all your future offspring have been predicted, it will come to a stop.

It sounded a bit odd to me, but Jenny assured me that it was surprisingly accurate in her experience. She and her co-workers had spent time that day performing this "test" on each other and it seemed to spooky how well it worked. They had even done the test on several women who are done having children and it indicated correctly the children they already have. She also tested my other sister-in-law, who has a daughter already, but doesn't want more kids. The paperclip indicated a girl and then stopped abruptly.

Jenny said that she had two different people at work use this magical device to determine her procreative future and that both times the results were: girl, boy, girl. Seeing as she already has a little girl, the paperclip is already roughly 33% correct.
I was eager to see what the paperclip had to say on my behalf, but unfortunately... we had no paperclips or string in the house. I know, I know. Who doesn't have paperclips or, more shockingly, string in their house. Well, we don't, I guess. Ha, ha! I did, however, find a safety pin and some dental floss.  "Make it work!" as Tim Gunn would say (yes, I have been known to watch the occasional episode of Project Runway, much to my husbands dismay).

After putting the makeshift divination contraption together, Jenny held the string so the safety pin dangled perfectly still over my hand. Suddenly, it began to spin. After a couple minutes, it started to swing from side-to-side, meaning I would have a girl first... which, of course, is true (my sweet Livi). The safety pin began to circle again and then started to swing gently back and forth: a boy. It resumed its circling movements once more and then the safety pin began to swing back and forth with a surprising amount of energy. Apparently, the safety pin was quite sure about this one: another boy. Then, the safety pin just stopped, coming to a standstill over my palm.

As a control, we tested Jenny again and she got the same result as she had with her co-workers: a girl, a boy, and then another girl.

We laughed about how weird it was, and then my hubby asked if it worked for guys, too. Jenny wasn't sure, but we decided to give it a shot. I told him jokingly, but emphatically, that his result had better be the same as mine. 

What did the safety pin predict for Ben? A girl, a boy, and another boy! The funniest thing was that the first two results were with a gentle swaying motion, but when it came to the second "boy" result, that safety pin began swinging again with tremendous zeal, just like it had for me.

Granted, our results may not be entirely accurate seeing as there was a lack of proper construction, but it was an interesting experiment nonetheless. Even though I'm not sure if I put much stock into this old wives tale, I figured I should document the predictions of the all-knowing safety pin. It will be interesting to look back and see if the safety pin had it right all along...

.a small success.

Huzzah! Today, I do my happy dance. "Why?" you ask? I'll tell you. I just finished getting ready for my brother-in-laws wedding tonight and opted to wear a dress I bought for a friends wedding in November.

When I purchased said dress, it was quite form-fitting. Its pencil skirt hugged my hips tightly and the sleeves sqeezed my arms a little too much for my liking. It was almost to the point of being too small (*groan*), but I made it work... mostly because I couldn't bear to go up another size.

Today, however, I put the dress on and... it is almost too big!

Hallelujah! My faith has been restored! Cutting calories and being a Nazi about everything that enters my mouth has had an effect! Granted, it's a relatively small effect, but it's something.

This is the boost I needed to continue on my diet plan. There is a light at the end of the tunnel! Now all I have to worry about is wearing a baggy dress to the wedding...

.circumcision.

I remember, when I was pregnant, finding out our little "bean" was a little "she." I was so excited. There were so many things I started looking forward to: dressing her up in frilly clothes, doing her hair up in cute bows and pigtails, and not having to make the decision of whether or not to circumcise.

Honestly, before I got pregnant, I never really gave the issue much thought. If you had a baby boy, it was the "normal" thing to do, right? I didn't really have any strong feelings one way or the other.

Being "preggo" and anticipating being a mother definitely brought out the "mother bear" in me in every sense of the phrase. I was super protective of my little unborn baby and would have done anything to make life for her as wonderful and perfect as it could be.

This "mother bear" was the thing that pushed me to research, and ultimately opt for, a natural birth. This "mother bear" made it easy to change my less-than-healthy lifestyle to one of health and good nutrition. This "mother bear" forced me to take a step back and examine things I had never delved into before, including the issue of circumcision.

I dreaded having to make the decision for quite a while until we started taking Bradley classes. Our teacher was wonderful (Adrianna Costello-Martin, for anyone in the Salt Lake City area - she is fantastic!) and her lessons not only were informative, but thought-provoking as well. One class was on the things to expect after the hard work of labor and delivery were over. We discussed immunizations. We discussed breastfeeding. We discussed circumcision.

Adrianna's stance on the subject was that it should not be done routinely. She went into detail about why that was, siting dangers and ill-effects. We debated for awhile and afterward, Adrianna simply said that most parents aren't even with their babies when a circumcision is performed because it was too "upsetting" for them (imagine how "upsetting" it is for the baby). She emphatically drove  the point home saying that every parent had to make the choice for themselves, but that if the decision was made to circumcise, the parents should be there during the operation, not just for the baby's sake, but to actually see what goes on.  After hearing her impassioned speech, I determined to do some research.

Over the next few days, I read many articles and personal stories online. Finally, I made up my mind: If our baby was a boy, I would fight having him "snipped" tooth and nail.  It just didn't feel right to me. It sounds to me to be a painful and unnecessary procedure that is cosmetic in most cases ("I want him to look like his dad" or "I don't want him to be teased in the locker room"). True, there are probably medical reasons a "circ" should be done, but routinely cutting off a babies foreskin is a bit barbaric in my mind.

Plus, shouldn't that choice be left up to the individual who will have to live with its effects? The surgery can be done later in life if a person chooses to have it done. As for a child "not looking like" Dad/brothers/kids in the locker room, I offer up what a wise woman in our class said she would tell her sons (who are uncircumcised) when they asked. To paraphrase, she said, "I have no problem telling my boys that the reason they don't look like their dad down there is that we chose not to cut off part of their penis. I have no problem with that."

Click here to read an eye-opening article on the subject from an excellent blog called 'Woman, Uncensored.' Be sure to read the comments at the bottom of this entry; there are some interesting opinions from both sides of the arguement.

Here is an enlightening excerpt from one of my favorite birth-oriented sites, BirthingNaturally.org (click here to their fantastic full page of circumcision information):

Things to Consider

1. No medical organization in the world recommends routine infant circumcision.
2. Rates are dropping. "Everyone" is not doing it. In 2003 approximately 56% of newborn boys were circumcised and 44% were left intact. The rate has dropped quite a lot since you and your partner were born. Still concerned about the locker room? Read this.
3. Circumcision is not necessary for hygienic reasons. Circumcised males have to wash, too! It is easier to care for an intact infant rather than a circumcised one because the foreskin is attached at birth and all you need to do is wipe the outside. Once the foreskin is retractable a quick 3-second rinse in the shower is sufficient. It takes a lot more time and effort to clean an intact female. Circumcised boys have a wound that has to heal inside a diaper. After it heals, you must be vigilant about preventing adhesions (where the remaining foreskin tries to heal by reattaching to the glans).
4. The foreskin is not a birth defect. It has a purpose. It has sexual as well as health benefits. It is not a simple "flap of skin". For one it doesn't flap at all (it is attached during infancy much like a fingernail to the nail bed). For another it is densely innervated, highly erogenous tissue.
5. Your son won't care if his penis matches his dad's or not. Many intact American boys have circumcised fathers. It is not an issue that you need worry about. Many intact American boys have circumcised older brothers as well. Again, it's not something that should prevent you from letting your newborn son keep his foreskin. Each child is an individual. He will have unique physical and personality characteristics. There is a good argument that we should accept and love our babies as they are. If you don't want to circumcise, but your partner does please check out these articles.
6. Circumcision is not a simple snip. Circumcision removes what amounts in an adult to 15 square inches of erogenous tissue (the size of a 3 x 5 notecard), that's approximately 50% of the penile shaft skin. Here's a link to overviews of the various methods. Here is a video of the procedure.
7. Circumcision is painful and most babies do not receive any anesthesia. There is no pain relief that is 100% effective that is safe enough to use on fragile newborns. If you have studied pre- and peri-natal psychology you know that babies remember. You cannot brush off pain and trauma with a "he won't remember it, so it's ok". Your baby's experience of pain during circumcision is real and should not be treated lightly. Babies do not sleep through circumcisions. Some babies may appear to be asleep because they withdraw as a coping mechanism. When the baby is monitored for signs of stress and pain, medicated and "sleeping" babies have elevated levels, indicating that they do feel what is happening.
8. Circumcision has risks. Most of them are minor, but some are quite serious (including amputation or even death). One risk that is not commonly included is the risk that your son may not agree with your decision regarding circumcision. If you choose to circumcise and your son later decides that he would rather have his foreskin, there's nothing he can do. If you choose not to circumcise and your son later decides that he would rather be circumcised, he can have that done (with fully effective pain relief and fewer risks regarding too much/too little skin being removed).
9. Christians have no religious requirement to circumcise. If we did, we would have a religious ceremony attending it. During the Council at Jerusalem Peter, Paul, and the other leaders of the Church had to decide whether or not new gentile converts must first convert to Judaism prior to being baptized as followers of Christ. The Jews who became Christian wanted to continue following the Law of Moses, including circumcision, and wanted new converts to do the same. The Council at Jerusalem determined that Christ fulfilled the Law of Moses and circumcision no longer had any religious significance. Here is a well-written article on the Council at Jerusalem. Scriptural references against religious circumcision for Christians can be found in Acts 15:1 - 35, 1 Corinthians 7:19, Galatians 5:6, and Galatians 6:15. If you are a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), read Moroni 8:8 and D&C 74.
10. Another item to consider regarding religious circumcision is that the form done in Biblical times is not as severe as what is done today during modern hospital circumcisions.
11. Medicaid in Utah does not cover routine infant circumcision.

Here are some more resources:

Loads of good general info:

www.Circumcision.org

More good general info:

www.BirthNaturally.org/ConsumerInfo/Circumcision

Infants feel and remember pain from circumcision (research study):

http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/1f21e.htm

Doctors opposing circumcision:

www.DoctorsOpposingCircumcision.org

More mamas who feel how I do:

www.MothersAgainstCirc.org

Another article from 'Woman, Uncensored' (this one is heart-wrenching, I have to warn you):

www.WomanUncensored.blogspot.com/what-have-i-done-voices-of-circumcision