Of braids, Lil Mr.Cole,photoshoppin' skillz ,and other stuff

I should be writing this- but I am sooo lazy lately. I don't feel like doing anything. It is a good thing for you I am too lazy to drag any more pics into photoshop right now, and there is nothing good on-
Some pics of Rory helping me clean Wednesday:






Yeah, I put her to work. She decided she likes to wear her hair in braids. Tuesday she wore one braid, and asked me to do pigtail braids next time.

Ri let me sleep in most the day Thursday which was beyond needed. I was a total zombie. I slept so hard I woke up sore. Lissy had been calling all morning telling RI to hurry up and bring me over to see Nickolai -but Ri wasn't about to wake me up. We started getting dressed and making a list when I finally got up late afternoon.
We had Rory pick some flowers while we sat out front and wrote a list.


Can you believe I took her braids down, and brushed it out only for her to tell me to put them back in?? Well, at least I am getting a little better at french braiding(which I am terrible at)

Ri drove the backway into the neighborhood Lissy lives in, and I couldn't remember exactly where Lissy lived- until he drove past it- and I knew. We turned around and found it.. RI wasn't sure that was her house, but her cat in the window gave it away.


Lissy gave us the tour- it is smaller than I thought.- small rooms, but A decent size place- they are working on much of the house , and have turned one finished room into what they call "the apartment" .
OH- about that fish tank... when Boo got there he and Ri were talking while I cuddled the baby .. I didn't hear them say one of the fish got caught on the suction pipe and died , or that they flushed it until Rory told me. I thought she was telling me a story- until I repeated it to RI and Boo and they said it was true. I missed the fishy funeral. Rory was ok with it though.

Aww! I got to cuddle my nephew and take loads of pics-
He likes to be swaddled up tight like a little bean, Rory didn't like that after her 1st day, it is sooo cute- but don't let him get a foot out there will be hell to pay



he had his circ a few days ago and is healing really well-I am glad they were stl in hosp when he got that done- but I am really glad we didn't have to make decisions like that with Rory-

she held him for awhile too...



then she ran off because she found out aunt Lissy had chips
- but you know I had to keep getting pics



He is starting to look more babyish- instead of squishy newborny- Mom told me that before I went. Ri said the same thing as well.

Aww, check out those looong fingers, he has Lissy's hands.




Not sure what nickname is gonna stick for Nickolai ,yet.Plenty to choose from. They like Cole(or Coal, or kole - not sure they agreed on how they want is spelled yet)- I told her it should be Cole like Mr.Cole 12 monkeys style :) little Bruce Wllis nod,because we all know Lissy worships him ;)
I think I may need to call him Lil Mr Cole for just that reason. Lissy says some have taken to call him Bourgie like BooJr. And Wes(his godfather) wants to call him Cola- Lissy said that was one of the factors in adding the k to Nickolai , to NOT have Cola in his name, which is why Wes decided he loved it.

I dunno why my hair looks nappy- I think over washing, forgive that.


We even got to watch a boy style diaper change, compleate pee accident style diaper change- where he soaked the bed! hehe.
We had planned on going to the park right next to their house, but we got there so late-my fault- that we didn't have time. We will have to plan for that another time.

Lissy's IV bruise- ouch

We were getting ready to go to the store, Rory did NOT want to leave, Boo tried to joke "If you stay here I will put you to work on the house" - fail.. she was all for that.

So he gave her a hammer and nail to work on the bedroom floor ,
She was like " I have to stay now mommy!"


The store with an overtired hungery child was no treat- and included me taking her to the car while Ri checked out. Sigh. 4 yr olds are hard work, she has been more stressful than need be and hard to handle.
I should have been cleaning Friday- but instead I did the kitchen and played online or in Photoshop- but I learned some nice Photoshop tricks-

Hey Lissy , do you like your make over??


The PS techniche tutorial I followed to get this pic - told me the next step for a dreamy baby pic was to make it black and white- How could I not show that beautiful blonde baby fuzz though???
Ri's mom stopped in unannounced - seeing my messy house, but she didn't stay long and it was an alright visit.She has been talking to Sari(sis in law) again and they seem to be getting along, so that is great news.

Oh- and while cruising the net I found a pretty good site on the on going drama involving the local missing 5 yr old Haleigh Cummings ,so if you did come here by googling my typo in search of updates - worth checking for updates , and can give you more links to more info- if you feel like adding such stress to your life, that is. Please, keep praying or sending good thoughts to that family.

Today, I woke up to a sweltering house , the digi thermostat wouldn't work! changed the batteries and mashed the reset button- the damn thing read "no" before going blank again! NO! I need air! Ri said he noticed it when he left, but he didn't open the windows- :( house was on fire! Muggy and trying to hail out.ugh. I called mom and she decided to stop in here with JJ. JJ touched the thing and it started working. WOOHOO- but wth?
Yay- at least I have ac.. and yes I left it on through "earth hour"
Rory has been sleepy and fussy since she woke up- dunno why she got up then, but oh well, maybe I can coax her to a decent bedtime hour, Fingers crossed, right?

wow- feels like this week/month is flying past.
Well,
I am off to pretend to clean the living room.
PEACE AND TOFU CHICkEN GREASE,
BABYHELLFIRE

Dr.Rory's sing-a-long blog,and some of our weirdo recipes

A quick little fun (well,hopefully) blog post
...I will try to write lively in fun while enduring the screams of a way overtired frustrated Rory up at dawn. ..

-ANYWAY , have you seen Dr.Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog ?? You should!
If you are a fan you will like this:
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(forgive the edit and quality- two vids mashed together- sound from the 1st. She found a tiny bit dirt on her foot and got distracted in the 1st- and the second one the webcam messed up.-)

You have to love the way she emotes, so much drama.Always.


Soooo, recipes:

Protein bars- or Lactation bars-


I modified this recipe from a few different rawfoody dehydrator oatmeal rasin cookies I found. When I made the little oatmeal raisin cookies my very first thought was "these are protein bars"
Now, I suck at recipes. I don't write them down, the only ones that I go exactly by the book on are other peoples tried and true recipes that I follow to the letter, with something like this, I just add ,and adjust until I think "about right" to my own preference..
The 1st batch of protein bars turned out awesome, I tweaked this recipe a lot to make it more of a lactation bar for Lissy,and it STILL worked awesome.


You need:

• 2 cups ground oat(I used 1 for the 1st recipe I wanted to amp this one up and make a bigger batch.)
  
• 1 cup or so ground sunflowers.
• 1 cup of ground flax(I used much less of that last time too- but again amped up for this batch for the breast milk omega flax benefit)
  
• 1 cup or so applesauce,- I start with little less than half cup and add as needed for moisture
  
• 4 tb peanut butter (- I know a lot of people do not do PB during lactation for allergy reasons, but I am pretty sure Lissy is- and did through pregnancy. Feel free to omit that completely, maybe add a little oil just for more moisture- it also isn't raw if you were going for that.- really there are plenty of ways I have found to play with this recipe so have at it :) )
  
• sweeten with a couple tablespoons of honey or maple syrup as desired. I toned down the sweet on this, I with all the sauce and PB,but I used a little of BOTH syrup and honey.
• For the spices/flavoring in THIS batch I went for a spice cake type thing- because I wanted to use this curry spice because it is chockfull of fenugreek(another lactation aid)-so, some curry spice,cinnamon,vanilla extract, and pinch of salt- , to taste. I really wanted brewers yeast to add for lactation benefits but couldn't find any locally.
  

Toss it in the mixer until you get a pasty dough- not tooo wet.

and form into bars, or cookies. That is the hardest part, won't lie.

-note-make them thicker they hold up better.

I put mine in my superswell dehydrator on a little above low (125 for a little while and then turn a little under ) , on a nonstick sheet, until they get right.

..but if you don't have one I am sure you could use your oven not to high checking often.

Texture is up to you and how long you cook them. I've read you can leave them(well,the similar rawcookie recipes ) on a bit higher temp for a long time and they will get crisper- I prefer chewy bars. So, I do them until they are solid but flexible. I flip them at some point, and when they seem close- I take them off the nonstick sheet and move them to the dehydrator sheet thing.
Until they look like this... and the middle feels firm.

I dipped half of this batch in melted semisweet chocolate chips....(yeah, sooo not a raw recipe any more)



Into the freezer on the nonstick sheet until nice and frozy..actually- I love these more frozen,So yummy with a hard chocolate bottom!
Its easy, I swear!!
I am sure many tweaks could be done- and it would be fine, the seeds and oats hold it together and then you just need some moisture, so have fun playing with it !
I think I will make them all the time... Now, to force myself away from this batch for Lissy.
Rory loves them, but I made the mistake of saying they will help Lissy lactate , so now every time I hand her one I must assure her they will not make her make milk.
Ri loves them too- AND I gave 13 yr old nephew Jade some and he loved them.. he was like "I thought you said you couldn't cook , those are pretty good."


One more recipe , before I wrap up this blog I keep procrastinating, between watching news online, and trying to help the overtired child who is pulling out all the stops to stay awake.

A few months ago I said this in another blog post:
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...For dinner Ri made those Setain hot wings again.

he modifies this ribz recipe



They were sooo good, with some HVRanch dip. We had corn on the cob and mashed potatoes with them. He also made some with no hot sauce for Rory, She LOVED them(and her whole dinner,
they were almost like chik'n nuggets-which Ri is talking about making next with some breading! Mmmmm. They are really good, and MUCH MUCH cheaper than boxed faux chic'n stuff.

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We made the yummy little faux vegan hot wings again the other night , and I thought I should really post our mods to the vegan ribz recipe



Seitan Hot wingz-

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten
• 2 t. onion powder
• 1 t. garlic powder
• 1 cup water or vegetable stock
• 2 tb tahini , or Peanut butter, or other nut butter- (another recipe we found called for it so we decided to stick with it, if only for the added protein)
• oil,- (we use olive recipe calls for safflower , but who has that?) for oiling pan
  

then we pretty much follow the same prep:
"In a medium bowl, place the vital wheat gluten, , onion powder, and garlic powder, and stir well to combine. Using your hands, mix the water, and nut butter, into the dry ingredients, and work into a soft dough that will feel very moist to the touch. Using a little oil, lightly oil (or lightly mist) a 9-inch square baking pan. Transfer the dough to the prepared pan, and using your hands, flatten the dough to evenly cover the bottom of the pan. "
-except we usually just cut it until after its out, sometimes we just tear it apart into nuggety sizes.
"Bake the seitan for 20 minutes at 350 degrees."

..and obviously, instead of bbq sauce Ri melts butter(or margerine) in with honey and hot sauce, for us but not Rory.
and makes ranch dressing( well, a Hidden valley ranch packet with light , or vegan sour cream- OR just a store bought jar of the good stuff from the produce section :) ) .

I know, most my readers aren't veg, so they may not care-- but these are awesome. Great texture, and hey no bones ! YUM.


Anyway, that's all I got for today, Rory is still awake ,and here comes the sun- and noisy spring birds.
Spent most the day(yesterday, sigh) cleaning and lazing, didn't get to go to Lissy's :( but we will Thursday.

Oh, and my entire house smells INSANELY strongly of orange blossoms - yay spring!

---OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH yeah,
I wanted to add if you came here by googling for info on "Heleigh Cummings"- You spelled her name wrong and so did I. The local missing 5 yr olds name is Haleigh Cummings..
You can find info soon on this website

http://haleighbug.com/

and here or any other news site .


PEACE AND TOFU CHICkEN GREASE,
BABYHELLFIRE

Shehadababyitsaboy!

HEY!!! As you can probably guess my lil sis Lissy had her baby-- but you must wait for all that just like we did ,and hear the whole story, in my fatigued, poorly typed , and badly punctuated blogging style .


hey!,
..hey where are you going?! No scrolling! You will get to the pics soon enough :p

My last blog ended with me headed for some benadryl and sleep- car seat in the living room , just in case we needed to ride to see Lissy while Ri worked, and just waiting on a phone call from Lissy.I guess that means I should have thought to put my phone near my bed.
Instead, I woke up to someone banging on the door, it was Val, Ri had sent her to wake me when everyone tried to contact him because they couldn't reach me. Lissy had started having regular contractions and was on her way to the birthing center! Val only popped in to wake me up and headed out(she was on her way to palatka, and I can't thank her enough for stopping in for me) , leaving me frantically search for my cell(which was buried in the couch cushions ,right under Rory's sleeping head.) .

I tried to call back all the people that had called me,trying to get ahold of Lissy figure out what was going on.
I got up and dressed and waited for info, trying to figure out if Ri should leave work to take me to the birth center. Got a hold of Lissy for a sec she said they were sending her home hoping she would dilate more and telling her to come back later.
So I went back to bed...phone in hand.
I spent the day editing my myspace profile while Rory ran around the house playing with her little pets.She helped me make the most simple blueberry cobbler recipe.(which Ri thought was AWESOME)

Got ahold of Bo and Lissy in the afternoon, to see if I should make Ri ditch his night job, but said they were once again coming back home from the birth center.
I guess they DID end up staying though, until later that night- to the point I took a shower with the kid and restarted getting ready to go so we could load the car and go once Ri got home..but no, they sent her home again.Telling her it would be soon, get some rest , come back. Mom stayed the night with her. She said she was up most the night contracting , trying not to wake Mom or Boo.
I was starting to fear she would birth in the car.lol

When RI got home we had a super quick small dinner-I was up till 5 am with Rory, long after he passed out on the couch.

I barely slept... I am not even sure why not. Stress and allergies mostly, I was worried about Lissy too , tbh, not quite sure what was going on or if I should be around or not.

Ri was off Saturday morning - but he was scheduled to work his night job.Boo called in the afternoon to tell me they had been at the birthing center all morning, and that Lissy was progressing quicker now- but that were going to move to the hospital because the midwife was there caring for another mother( I do not want to imagine how much that must have stressed Lissy- that really sucks).

I wasn't sure what to do.. should I go, with Rory and all, or stay home awhile longer, or not? Lissy had been adamant she wanted me there, but much had changed since the water birth she had planned, and Boo seemed to be encouraging me to wait till it was later- as much, just in case it would still be a much longer time.
Ri was just like "screw it, get dressed, we can get Indian food while we are in the city"
So we headed out. Stopped to let Rory buy a little pet from the dollar store with money she had saved up, it entertained her for the longest time in the car, and later the waiting room so it was a good idea.
-Dang, that was a long drive, I felt bad for the thought of laboring Lissy traveling there. Rory slept most the way. Woke up when we got there and got incredibly lost trying to find Labor&delivery in the huge labyrinth hospital.
Boo had to come out and find us. The nurses started to stop us because children under 12 besides siblings aren't allowed in the L&D rooms, but Rory introduced herself and batted her eyelashes and all the nurses said- "we didn't see you".
We chatted for a little, watched Lissy breath through some contractions,but she was pretty much still stuck at 5 cm.
We made sure they had our numbers to call us- about EVERYTHING pls. and headed out.
Hungry in search of indian... which included some faulty info from our outdated GPS. We went to this cute restaurant that Ri had heard was both voted the best in Jax, and the "worst indian I have ever had" by different people. I think Rory loved the place, it was painted pink inside with beautiful art on the walls- she batted her eyes at the waiter when he told her Arora is a common indian name and that he liked it.-she liked the waiter she smiled everytime he passed it was very cute. Place was empty when we got there and ordered. it filled up fast- and the food was awesome! Rory tasted everything and ate really well (between flirting with our older Indian gentleman waiter , and playing with her new littlepetshop toy).

We called and checked - but Bo said not much more was happening yet.More contractions, harder. We went on to the mall.Let Rory run a muck walking in a few stores, begged Rory to behave and stop demanding things.ugh. We finally got her to behave with offers of a cookie when we left. She both behaved and was eager to leave when we finally decided to head out.
When we called after the mall Boo said it seemed like Lissy was progressing more, baby was close effaced , but Lissy just wasn't dilating more. - he said Stef and Wes were also in the waiting room waiting. I told him we would stop and grab a pizza for him and mom and head there.


We waited in freezing little room for HOURS- the whole night- With Stef and Wes.. watching bad tv. WHY, WHY , did I not bring the laptop?!?! jeeeez. Mom did pop out and have the tiniest bit of bread stick that Rory forced on her. Every couple of hours I would call Boo, he told me they had given her Pitocin to try and get her to dilate more, she was refusing pain killers along with it-brave girl.

Rory played with more energy than she should have had before finally cuddled Stef-



and fell asleep.
Me and Ri decided to sneak downstairs- and all the way past the smoke free parking lot for a smoke, letting Stef watch Rory . -Found a much needed throw sized blankey in the car too- sweet!
We came back up- I read the book I brought, watched bad tv, chatted some more- pretended we could sleep on the slippery hard cold chairs, and started to wonder if we would need to take Rory home and leave before the baby came :( .
Ri had to work in the morn and it was getting well past midnight.
FINALLY,Boo came rushing out to tell us he was finally there, he showed us a picture - Nickolai Orion Solana was born at 1:19 am March 22, weighing 8lbs 5oz and 22 inches long(yeah , I bet Lissy was really glad he wasn't the almost 10 lbs they had predicted).- here is a pic Boo took


They had to take him to the nursery immediately because both he and Lissy were running fevers, - though then she knew at least , that with the fever she would have had ended up going to the hospital (instead of the birthing center) either way .. She did get a tear- 3 stitches. :(
She said they were telling her for soo long not to push- even though he was effaced and bearing down and she felt the urge she wasn't fully dilated,or dilating.she said that was the worst and made her scream worse than the contractions. Eventually her midwife told her go ahead and push if you have to, and it was only a few pushes.Boo said he actually jumped up and down when he was finally born.

Lissy was upset she didn't have him when we went in, they said they were going to take him for an hour to check him out and monitor him and stuff. They brought her a picture of him, stef recorded some vids-


Ri ran out to get food for everyone-
- he was back before Nickolai was.They said it was the best burger ever(whataburger), but i do think starvation was a factor.
Rory again got past the nurses with cuteness.and "not really being there". All of the nurses there were so nice and chatted with all of us, a million convos, and laughs I can barely remember..

They finally brought him back and the nurse(maybe Lc?) started to shoo everyone out of the room to help Lissy breastfeed him the 1st time- but Lissy was like "No, they are staying if they don't like it they will look away!", :) and just got ready to nurse him without a bit of modesty about it AWESOME , and Nickolai latched right on like he had been doing it for months, - I have never seen a newborn nurse like that- he even stayed on that side for awhile, burped switched sides and nursed even more-


Yes, Lissy was right he has very blond hair.

Looking at his long long fingers

There was no getting him to let go once he got to eat.
Rory says she loves him and he is sooo cute!

Stef rubbing his head .

After he finally finished nursing their nurse Edith (who was adorable and hilarious and I failed to get a decent pic of)- tried to help Boo wrap him up... but he did not like his blanket being messed with.OOOooo he has a temper.







Boo only got to hold him a second before Mommy stole him,and helped Rory hold him.



Mom said even while they were holding him he started sticking his tongue out again to nurse!



-We were hiding out behind the curtain while the took Lissy to pee


While,Rory was practicing making baby burritos with Boo and Grammy.


- and then Nickola got right back on the boobie-
She looks TIRED
I know you are thinking, I am some huge breastfeeding advocate so I made this all about the boob- but no,as proud as I am of Lissy I really tried to get some pics where he wasn't nursing, and only got a couple. That boy is all about the boob. I hope they continue to have that much luck ,and a smooth road. Breastfeeding can be sooo tricky for something so natural.
We left after that, we took mommy to her car at Lissy's house too- all that long way home. Mom and Rory slept in the back while me and poor Ri tried to stay awake.

I knew Rory would be up all night-er day- after managing to fit in so many naps through out the crazy long day-but after getting home,playing a little bit and munching on mangoes she passed out, and I followed... happily, despite the way going to bed at 6 am is usually hard for me.

I woke early that afternoon to her yelling from the bathroom, she needed her butt wiped. I was sleeping crazy hard to not have heard her call for me the 1st few times... and not even know she up. Ri had left for work much earlier, after getting just enough sleep to make him more groggy.He spent the day downing energy drinks to get by.

I woke up and zombied about the house for a few hours- I think I half heartdly made Rory cereal - and stared into the simpson dvd before I finally moved made coffee and had grilled cheese.
Got my hair did at Rory's barbershop- put claymation, and paper costumes on Little pets watched some tv, cleaned the kitchen made laundry soap... I had a lot to do today and I barely put a dent in it.

I talked to Ri's mom and told her all the good news... and chatted about news stories. Talked to mom some- had to tell her how well the pro-pest control stuff worked.

I also got to talk to Lissy for awhile.She said everything is going well , he was a bit sleepier today- she was able to get some naps in, but she also had to wake him to feed him a few times.

Rory started getting way way way over tired and irritated frustrated by it from 9 on. I put her in a time out a few times. I took away two thrown toys.. I told her I was on the phone with aunt Lissy who has an actual baby that was less fussy than her.. and wound up swaddling her like a baby burrito and laying her in her bed to watch jungle book. She didn't crash though, instead she asked me to make her oatmeal. She felt better after she ate... even better after Ri came home and we made setain hotwings, and a bunch of frozen veggies(which I WILL post about along with lactation bar recipe one of these days . ) . Rory ate really good- and got past fussy tired, into the over tired ,goofy giggly hyper active tired.. that lasted until well after Ri fell asleep on the couch.
-She has been asleep a LONG time now...but I dunno why I am up.Sigh.

Well anyway.. Boo said Lissy should be able to come home sometime Tuesday- I can't wait to see her, and hold Nickolai, and get loads of pics of him.Rory either, I think she has asked about him every 10 mins since we left the room.
Forgive me if this post is long and rambly- night all... or um Good morning

PEACE AND TOFU CHICkEN GREASE,
BABYHELLFIRE