Huge breakthrough for Clare

So Clare has had a pack for 2 1/2 years of her life and loved EVERY SINGLE SECOND of it. For the past 5 months (since she turned two) I have been trying to hold a "only in the crib" rule with the paci. I enforced it most of the time, sometimes allowing it if we were on the couch watching a movie or tv show. However, no one else really did so it wasn't consistent.

Whenever she would get a paci out of her room I would make a big deal out of it, telling her the paci was only for bed time, that she was a big girl now that she was 2 and didn't need a paci. I think the fact that I made it a big deal helped and hindered at the same time. She would run to her room all of the time, get a paci, put it in her mouth then run and find me just to show me she had a paci outside her crib. She even learned to say, "couch?" When she wanted it outside the crib. 

Anyway, I started to notice that although she was running to her room and finding paci's on the floor she wasn't always putting them in her mouth, rather throwing them or hiding them places. I would find them everywhere... Or she would lol. 

So last night, 5/19/2016 we got home after celebrating my birthday with my parents and my husband was putting her to bed like he always does. (Clare has recently started requesting to be rocked for a little while before we put her down in her crib. I don't see the harm so we have been.) So after reading a book with her my husband turned out the light and sat down with her in the rocking chair. I heard from the bathroom Clare say, "I want mommy to sing me sunshine." (I don't think my husband was singing it the way I do lol) I ran in there as soon as I finished washing my hands and gladly took her from my husband. She loves her daddy so much she never wants me to put her to bed, so I jumped at the opportunity!

I sat down with her, snuggled her in and started singing You Are My Sunshine to her. (Rewind 12 hours: throughout the day I had been finding her paci's with huge holes and breaks in them and had thrown out all but one.) While I was singing to her she was chewing on a paci and I could hear there was clearly something wrong with it. I asked her for it and she gave it to me. Yup, another hole! I'm that moment I knew I couldn't give it back to her and I was freaking out because I knew I didn't have any left... So I made the decision that this was it... Paci's were done! I didn't care how he'd it was going to be, she was done. I had been dreading this moment for months and months! I knew she shouldn't still have it since she had a full mouth of teeth and god knows braces are expensive! 

After I sang to her a couple of times I got up, gave her a huge hug and kiss and put her down. I gave her pascal (her stuffed animal) and said goodnight. I walked out of the room and heard her whimper for a second about her paci but then she was out. I couldn't believe it. 

She slept until 5am before she woke up. I thought that the fact she couldn't find a paci was the reason she woke up, but when I walked in to her room I noticed it was because her sound machine had turned off. (Stupid munchkin thing, this is the 4th one we've put in her room and this one was only 4m old! But she doesn't like any other one. thank god Lucy doesn't have an opinion yet so I switched the sound machine in her room out with another one we had). Clare requested a bottle and didn't even finish it before she was passed back out until almost 9am this morning! I was shocked. 

She is now currently napping for the first time without a paci and this mommy is the happiest person on the planet!! 

Homemade baby wipes

If you would have asked me 2 years ago, "Would you ever make your own baby wipes?" I would have looked at you cross eyed and said, "How is that even possible??"

Well here I am, 2 years later ;) making my sweet Clare's baby wipes. I've never been happier to spend nap time making baby wipes! Normally I like to spend her nap time taking my own "nap", or cleaning up around the house, but when we are low on baby wipes I get excited to make them! 

Here is what you'll need. 

- canister to put the paper towel role into (I used the oxo good grip canister)

- a serrated knife (I use the bread knife)

- 1 1/2 cups distilled water (I use from fridge dispenser) (my mil told me if you use warm water the mixture mixes better together) 

- 1/2 a papertowel roll

- 1 tablespoon Castile soap

- 1 tablespoon fractionated coconut oil

- 2-3 drops each melaleuca 

- 2-3 drops lavender 

- Measure cup optional. You could just use a bowl to mix it in 

Cut papertowel in half (it's kind of a pain) 

Place 1/2 of the papertowel role into  canister of your choice (make sure the papertowel roll fits, I bought something and I had to SMASH the papertowel in to it.. It didn't work so well) 

Add liquids to the measuring cup. 

Then dump mixture over the papertowel dumping over the whole entire top. 

Seal the canister and let sit for an hour. Then turn it upside down and let it sit for another hour! Voilà! Homemade baby wipes!! 

MEATLOAF!

So I found a recipe for a turkey meatloaf on Pinterest like a year ago and have been religiously using it. We were at one point having it once a month, at least! 

I've decided that I'd like to start eating healthier so I added a couple things to it; shredded zucchini and shredded carrots. I only had to add one each and boy, did it come out moist! The ingredients are as follows:

2lbs turkey (I always use a pack from Costco and they come in four so I don't know how many pounds mine actually is... Maybe 1 1/3lb)

1 cup milk (I used organic tonight and didn't add quite a cup because of the zicchini and carrots, add moisture)

1 egg (I used cage free)

1 onion chopped fine (I did 1/2)

One zucchini (I did organic and left the skin on)

1 carrot (organic and they were the colorful ones, I used an orange one) 

1 1/4 cup bread crumbs (I use Panko and only added 2/3-1cup) 

Salt  (I used Himalayan) and pepper to taste (I hate this saying because you can't taste raw meat!!!)

The sauce on top is:

3 table spoons yellow mustard

3 table spoons brown sugar 

1/3 cup ketchup

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a bowl then form into a log on a baking pan (I'm sure you could use a loaf pan too, I just never have. It's easier to serve)

Once formed to your liking top with sauce. 

I also made little mini muffin cups for clare (17 months old) and at first she wanted nothing to do with them. But after I put them an adult dish and gave her an adult fork she ate pretty well! I was impressed. 

I have a pretty picky eater so I was thrilled and we cheered her on as she ate each bite. I hope this recipe can help your picky eater, no matter how big or small! My hubs wouldn't have even known that I added veggies if he couldn't see them! Said it tasted the same, except a more moist! 

Best flank steak marinade!

Sorry I've been so MIA lately. I have been so busy with work, sharing dōTERRA oils and, well with sweet Clare! It was my husband's 30th birthday in April, as well as my sister in laws birthday, we went to Florida the day after and then it was Mother's Day and my birthday along with my brother in law and father in law! We have a busy April and May over here!! I will write about our Florida trip soon as it was our first time flying with a child! Woooseerz!

Anyway, last night we decided to have fajitas, Yummmm my favorite. We are also trying to eat cleaner, which is happening one ingredient at a time 😆. So I was cruzing pinterest, where I get so many inspiration, and found one that looked delicious. I changed two ingredients to try and make it a tiny healthier. Below is a picture of the ingredients I used. 

Avocado oil was one ingredient I changed from the originally recipe and the other was ginger. Instead of using fresh ginger, which I didn't have, I used my ginger dōTERRA essential oil. Let me tell you, this steak came out AMAZING! I do have to give my husband some credit though because he is the one that cooked it. 

Another ingredient that I will change next time is the honey. I want to use raw organic honey but I just bought the honey pictured below, so I figured I should use that up first. The soy sauce can be replaced by coconut aminos to make it even cleaner. Coconut amino doesn't have soy bean in it. 

Anyway, the recipe is this:

1/4 cup soy sauce 

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 

1/2 cup oil (it called for vegetable oil, I used the avocado oil instead, but you could probably use coconut oil or olive oil)
1 tbls honey

2 drops dōTERRA ginger essential oil, if you don't have this you can use 2 tablespoons fresh ginger

4 cloves of garlic, I used two big cloves

It also called for 4 green onions chopped but I didn't have them so I omitted them. 

I mixed all of the ingredients in a gallon size ziplock bag and then added my 1.5lb flank steak. (You could probably use a skirt steak instead if that's all you have) 

After I put the flank steak in with the mixture I put it in the fridge and let it marinade for a good 3-4 hours. 

About 20 minutes before it was time to eat my husband put the steak on the grill and cooked that delicious piece of marinated meat! It was cooked to perfection. Pink in the middle but not rare. The extra juices were caught on the plate so once I cut the meat (make sure you let it rest for a good 5-10 minutes) I dumped the extra juice over it! 

If you're interested in learning more about dōTERRA essential oils and how I use them in my every day life please email me at Jamie.ditrapani@gmail.com. They have changed the way my family and I live. 

Stay tuned for my famous guacamole recipe! I know some of my friends who would probably pay to see that post! Lucky for you it's free! :) 

Some of my favorite things from Trader Joe's

I I have become obsessed with Trader Joes! I go there at least 1 time a month, if not more! My daughter loves their yogurt, their nutrigrain bars and many other products. My husband and I have been living off of some of their frozen meals lately! 

I wanted to share one of my shopping trips with you. I sadly don't have prices for all of the products but I can give you ball park for all! 

The best thing of all shopping at Trader Joe's?? If you don't like something the he'll return it for a FULL refund, no questions asked! 

This picture shows all of the items I purchased with my daughter in mind. Starting from the upper left:

-Trader Joes full fat greek yogurt $2.49 daughter loves this, I use it to make my blueberry muffins. 

-Trader Joes European style full fat yogurt  $3.69 daughter loves this yogurt! 

-Trader Joe's poptarts frosted and sprinkled with sugar pomegranate and cherry (I think they were around $2.50) daughter, husband and I enjoy these. They're an extremely healthier option than regular poptarts 

-on top of poptarts Trader Joe's multigrain crackers (approx $2.50) haven't opened yet 

-Trader Joe's organic mini cheese sandwich crackers (approx $3) these are delicious. Both my daughter and I love them. 

-Trader Joe's nutrigrain bars apple and strawberry ($1.99 each) 6 pack daughter loves the strawberry, haven't gotten her to try Apple yet. I wasn't a fan. Might return them. 

-Trader Joe's spinach tortellini (approx $1.99) daughter loves these with their maranaria sauce

-Trader Joe's fish sticks 24 pack (approx 3.99??) I tried these and they were very good! 

-Trader Joe's Sweet Potato gnocchi with butter and sage ($2-$3) DELICIOUS, I love them. Daughter are them dipped in yogurt. I plan to try again without yogurt.

-Trader Joe's shredded cheese ($3.99 approx) yummy, put on eggs, and in quesadillas

-Trader Joe's sliced cheese (approx $3.99) mostly for quesadillas haven't tried yet. 

-Apple Gate herb roasted turkey- daughter won't eat, I wasn't a fan either. Plan to return 

This picture shows mostly food that my husband and I eat for dinner, a couple are snacks.

From upper left to right:

-Trader Joe's cheese and chicken enchiladas ($1.99-$2.49 approx) haven't tried yet

-Trader Joe's white mushrooms ($2 approx a box)

-Trader Joe's lightly breaded eggplant and marinara sauce ($2.49 each item I sampled there and it was so yummy!

-Trader Joe's veggie fried rice ($1.99 approx) delicious! 

-Trader Joe's Gorgonzola Gnocchi ($2.49 approx) so yummy! I have added pine nuts, spinach, mushrooms and carmalized onions to this. You could also add chicken or shrimp to make a meal! 

-Trader Joe's Shiitake Mushroom meal with Edamame and green beans. (Approx $3-$4) it was pretty good. 

-Trader Joe's Double Creme Bree (approx $5 for the triangle) husband has enjoyed it. I haven't tried it yet. I love Bree 

-One serving bag (13 bags) of almonds. ($7.99 approx) delicious and a nice size serving 

- Trader Joe's Mandarine Orange Chicken ($4.99 approx) The most delicious frozen meal ever! I have baked the check in the oven and also pan fried in a little EVOO both ways was delicious! 

Top left to bottom right:

-Trader Joe's light Mac and Cheese. ($1.99-$2.50)

-Trader Joe's nutrigrain bars Fig $1.99

-Trader Joe's Cracker Assortment ($4.99?)

-Trader Joe's tarter Sauce ($1.99-$2.50?)

-Zucchini $3ish

-onions $0.49 -$0.89 each I believe 

-cucumbers $3.50? 

My totally bill was about $120! I also got a bag of cat food for $4.99. I was so happy. Normally if I go somewhere else I easily spend $200. 

What's your favorite thing to purchase from Trader Joe's? Happy shopping!

A little bit about everything! A blog about the past couple of weeks

Hi everyone! I am so sorry I have been offline for almost two weeks! I have been so busy!

 I am now a wellness advocate for dōTERRA essential oils and I have been busy sharing my stories!! If you haven't heard of them yet, you're missing out! Please email me at Jamie.ditrapani@gmail.com or find my group on Facebook and add yourself (https://m.facebook.com/groups/1628220600734451?ref=bookmark), if you're interested in changing your health care for a healthier solution. A healthier way to clean your house, rid your child(ren) of pain and discomfort, yourself of pain and discomfort, and just over all better health! Below is a picture of the kit I purchased! I'd love to tell you more about them! 

 

Clare has been so active! She is a feisty  almost 15 month old. She loves to play with everything but her toys! However, she does love her baby doll! She loves it like it is her own! I know she's ready to be a big sister when the time comes! She loves on her cousin like he belongs to her! Whenever we see him she kisses him and sings to him and comforts him (and cries with him). 

Oh, ya know just wearing my aunties nursing cover carrying my baby around in it. Time to get her her own Ergo! ;) 

Lovin' on her cousin!

She has also been eating a more foods! We went through a food strike there for a couple of months where is was a hot dog, Mac and cheese, quesadillas, cheese (Babybel) and yogurt. Cheese and yogurt are are our go to foods! I need her/want her to eat something I will either dip it in yogurt, add it to yogurt or slather it in cheese!

We have graduated to homemade Mac and cheese with peas and carrots! She has started to love strawberries with a tiny bit of sugar. She has tried salmon and loved it, but the next time I fed it to her she wouldn't eat it...Fathom that!! 

I am still on my pumping journey, pumping one time per day. Weaning has been an extremely emotional journey. I am ready to be done but I'm holding on to my last pump for dear life! I pump after Clare goes to bed and that is her bottle for the next morning. Other than that she gets two bottles of frozen breastmilk a day, sometimes only one. I'm almost 15 months pp. for all you mama's out there who breastfeed or pump, what an amazing journey it is and a huge sacrifice you make! 

Spring is finally starting to show it's self around here. There were a couple of nice days this past weekend and my husband and I took Clare to the zoo! She had a blast! She LOVES walking around. Needless to say she slept for 3 hours! 

Yesterday, March 19th my husband and I celebrated 12 years being together. It's crazy to think that 12 years ago he asked me to be his girlfriend. Now we are married, with an amazing little family! I'm so excited to see what the future has in store for us! He surprised me last night and brought me flowers!!

I hope I can continue to share my life's journey with all of you! I'm so sorry I have been MIA and am going to try really hard to post every day or every other Day! 

Let the real weaning begin

Starting Friday March 6th I decided it was time to drop to 1ppd and finally end my pumping journey. My emotions are running wild, I am having major mood swings, (it doesn't help that aunt Fllow is on her way) and I am having crying bouts... I am an emotional mess. 

I never, ever thought weaning from a pump would be this hard. It is a machcine.. It is not a human.. It's not like it has talked to me and made me feel good by any means. But if you think about it metaphorically it has done all of those things. It has made me feel like an AMAZING mommy... It has helped me produce milk not only for my beautifully strong daughter but for 13 other babies! Although it didn't physically talk to my, it has cheered me on through bad days, "Never quit on a bad day!" If you mama's reading this right now take one thing from my blog I hope that it is that! Don't ever decided you're going to quit if you're having a bad day. I can't stress that enough. The next day could get a lot better! 

Sometimes I looked forward to my time with my pump... The fact that it didn't talk back at me, didn't judge me... It didn't criticize me or tell me I was doing something wrong. It sang the same tune every single time I plugged it in and turned it on for the 20-45 minutes I sat with it. "Your an amazing mama," is what I always thought it was saying. :)

It has become a part of my daily routine. It has become a part of me... 

I know that the real reason I am having such a hard time quitting is because I hate change. I have a horrible time dealing with it. I like my same shit different day routine. I don't like anything to change or I freak out internally and mentally. 

That's why when we go to a restaurant I always tend to order the same exact thing.. The fear of disappointment and being let down by a bad dish scares me.. I love food... So if I am going out to eat and don't like something, man what a horrible let down! 

Anyway... Weaning sucks.. Today is my third day of trying this out. My new schedule, for now will be pumping twice one day and once the next. I cannot physically go 24 hours.. Well I haven't tried. When I decided I would try to drop to one pump I made it 18 and 1/2 hours. By 18 hours my breasts were pretty full, my bra was digging into me... And maybe I just physiced myself in to thinking I couldn't go any longer. Personally the thought of a clog or mastitis is enough to scare anyone. 

Now, to give some advice, I wouldn't exactly recommend dropping to one pump cold turkey. You could end up with major clogs or mastitis. I know my body. I know that it can hold up to 23 oz between my two breasts. So I probably could go 24 hours easily as I am only pumping 10-12oz between two pumps. I've always just dropped a pump. I never added a 1/2 hour or an hour between until that pump was just gone. I am an all or nothing kind of person and deal with the consequences later. 

Last night I slept horrible. A combination between not pumping before bed, Clare waking up at 2:30am because her teeth were bothering her, the time change and it's Monday so back to work. I didn't fall back asleep until almost 5am. :(

I will keep you ladies updated on my progress with weaning. How I am feeling, how things contined to get better... Hopefully. It always takes me a good couple of days to get used to change. But once I do change and accept it things do get better. 

I am looking forward to sleeping in a little longer, having my nights back so I can spend more time with Anthony and Clare. Not worry about pumping on our vacation to Florida coming up!! That trip is what is really helping me wean. I do not want to drag my pump down there. 

Thanks for your continued support by reading my blog. My reason for writing this blog to to share my experiences as a mother. If I only touch one mommy out there my mission is complete. I guess it's the teacher in me. :)

The reason I have pumped for 14+ months