Something strange is going on around here…
Changes are taking place in our apartment…
“Things” are happening…
Our apartment is not our own anymore!
Basic, everyday functions have been hampered…
We. are. baby-proofing! And all because of this guy:
It’s up to us to protect him from himself 
Apparently, writing a post at the end of the day after a glass of wine and a busy couple of hours in the Emergency Room isn’t always the best idea. Or maybe it is. I don’t know, but I feel the need to clarify, and that’s probably my fault.
When I said that I didn’t love New Zealand, I did not mean that I hate New Zealand. I love a lot of things about New Zealand. Blog posts, like other forms of communication, should always be taken in context. I believe that the full context of my blog has shown that I’m enjoying our life here. I have moments where I’m homesick and I have moments where I’m loving life in Aotearoa, but usually, my time is spent between those two poles. Most days, I thank God for our blessings and the many gifts that have been given to us, including the gift of living overseas and meeting so many wonderful people.
I don’t think that I’m being incongruous by saying that while I’m not “in love” with living in New Zealand, I still love many things about the country. I was planning to save this for another “Living in New Zealand” post, but perhaps I should share it now. Here are just a few of the many things that I love about New Zealand:
Okay, so maybe I do love New Zealand just a small, tiny bit. It’s growing on me
I sometimes forget that not everyone who reads this blog has followed it from the beginning. As a result, there are probably a few of you who wonder what made us decide to pick up and move across the globe to New Zealand.
We moved here for a pretty straightforward reason – Chris, my husband, was offered a job here. It was (and is) a great job. We talked about it, he came over for an interview, and when they offered him the position, we agreed to move here.
At the time, I said that we would live here for 3 years. Kiwis and other expats laughed and said, “You say that now, but after a year you’ll never want to leave”. These were the expats who purposely looked for a job outside of America, who wanted to leave the country.
That wasn’t us. I was content to live the US. I loved being close to family and the familiarity of it all. When I was feeling the wanderlust, I’d take a vacation. I didn’t feel the desire or pull that so many fellow expats have to move overseas, and yet I found myself boarding a plane, headed for New Zealand.
Why?
For me, it was more than a job. It boiled down to one of the strongest motivators there is: love.
I moved here because I love Chris. The job isn’t that important to me, though I’m glad that he has it and that he loves it so much. I’m not in love with New Zealand (I like it a lot and there are many things that I love about it, but I’m not “in love” with NZ). But I do love Chris, and I know how important his job is to him. My feelings to NZ may change at some point, and perhaps a year from now I’ll find myself shaking my head while re-reading this post, laughing at how silly I was being, but this is where I’m at for now.
Will we always live here? Again, to be honest… I don’t think so, but then again, I don’t know. I’m enjoying it for the time being, but I miss our extended families.
We both made sacrifices in moving to New Zealand: I moved here, and Chris agreed to an apartment that was nicer than one he’d have picked out were the decision solely his. Chris works at a job he loves, and I have the freedom to work a bit less while pursuing other interests and other things {granted, my “other thing” these days is taking care of Joe!}.
I wish that I had a more glamorous reason for why we moved here, but that’s all there is to it. I’m sorry to disappoint you if you thought that that we were globe-trotters or jet-setters. As my blog-friend Sarah said, “The facade has been lifted!” We’re just regular people dealing with regular, everyday life issues that couples face regardless of whether they live in their home country or somewhere else
I tried a new recipe tonight.
And you know what? It was sooooo good.
Healthy, too. And yes, it was pizza. And I love pizza.
You should try it. It’s pretty easy. And the crust? There’s no grains in there – it’s made from cauliflower.
Cauliflower.
Check it out. This is what fresh cauliflower looks like once it’s been riced {using either a food processor or a cheese grater}:
Chris loved it, too. So much so that he ate about half of a pizza by himself, then quickly got up, and packed the rest for his lunch the following day.
If you’re crazy for deep-dish, thick-crusted pizza, then this likely isn’t for you. But if, like us, you enjoy a thin crust pizza packed with veggies, then make this pizza. Yes, you’ll likely need to eat the pizza with a fork, but that’s a small price to pay.
Cauliflower Pizza
Preheat oven to 450F/230C.
To rice the caulifower, remove stems and leaves and either put it in a food processor or do what I did: grate it using a cheese grater till you have 1 C. Put into a bowl and microwave on high for 6 – 8 minutes till soft (I did 8 minutes). Add beaten egg, cheese, spices, and garlic. Stir till well combined. Spread out onto a greased baking sheet using your hands, forming into a circle. Brush with olive oil and bake for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven, top with toppings of your choice, and broil for 5 minutes or till cheese is melted. Serve, and enjoy!
Yield: 1 pizza {9 inches}
Notes
I found that half of a cauliflower head gave me 2 C of riced cauliflower. This was great, because I wanted to make one pizza with my preferred toppings and one with Chris’ preferred toppings.
Make sure that your toppings are already cooked. I put raw veggies on ours and it was fine, but if you put raw meat and think it’ll be cooked in 5 minutes under the broiler, think again!
I love that Joe loves to eat. It’s wonderful, but it’s also a lot of work. There have been times where I’ve missed the ease of a solely breastfed baby, but I’m also appreciating the bit of freedom that it’s given me.
I try to keep his meals as simple and economical as possible. My basic tools are a hand blender, stove top {hob, as it’s referred to in NZ}, and oven. Oh, and freezer. Otherwise, it’s just the usual utensils, pots, and pans. Joe generally eats a less-spicy version of our meals, but there are a few things that I make just for him. It’s great to have something to pull from the freezer when I’m rushed, headed out the door, or don’t have anything else ready. One particular food that Joe enjoys are my Banana Sweet Potato Bites, or Banana Kumara Bites {NZ style, yeah!}
I modified these from a recipe that I saw elsewhere and gave what I consider to be a more appropriate name. They’re easy to make, don’t require any added sugar, and have only 5 ingredients:
Preheat oven to 500 F (260 C). Put the diced, unpeeled sweet potato in a microwave safe bowl. Add a small amount of water, cover with a plate, and microwave on high for 15 minutes. If you don’t want to use the microwave, just steam them on the stove top. You can boil them if you want to, but you’ll lose some of the nutrients when you drain the water.
When potato is soft and mushy, add 2 ripe bananas, cut into sections. Blend with hand blender or in regular blender till smooth.
Meanwhile…
Put oil, eggs, and milk in a bowl. Whisk together with a fork till well-combined, then fold into sweet potato mixture.
Drop by heaping 1/2 tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet.
Bake in preheated oven till lightly browned and somewhat firm (they shouldn’t smush when you press on them). I did 2 pans at once, which required more time in the oven (about 30 minutes). If you do 1 pan at a time, try 12 minutes for starters and see how you go. Regardless, keep checking them – you may need to loosely cover with foil at one point to prevent the tops from burning. I should have done this, but was in the middle of nursing Joe and forgot to look.
Allow to cool, then place on a plate/tray and freeze. When frozen, put them all into a Ziploc bag for easy storage. Make sure you take a few out and let your resident taste-tester sample them:
A Few Notes About This Recipe:
#1 – The original recipe can be found here. They called them sweet potato puffs, but these almost seemed like pancake cookies to me – soft and fluffy. It may be because I decided to substitute the butter for oil, or it may be because I added the eggs all at once rather than separating them (whoops). Who knows. If you want to try the original recipe, feel free and let me know what you think!
#2 – Do NOT give your baby tastes of the batter. It can be especially tempting when they’re fussy and on your hip and desperately stretching their grabby little fingers for the bowl {ahem, Joe!} but remember that these have raw egg in them. Not so good for baby’s tummy!
#3 – The cooking time varies. The original recipe said to preheat the oven to 500 F, but my oven will only go up to 250 C (482 F). That probably made a big difference, but I can only work with what I’ve got. My advice: keep an eye on them and find the time that works best for your oven.
#4 – If you want, you can add some nutmeg or cinnamon. I’ll probably do that the next time around, but they taste great without either of these spices. I was strongly tempted to munch away on these during Joe’s nap, but was able to resist!
Today was a rough day. Joe has been fussy and out-of-sorts since Friday. No fever today, but definitely disgruntled and can now add “diffuse facial rash” to his list of complaints. Our normal daytime walks have been greatly abbreviated. I expected today’s walk to be no different but, thankfully, a little bit of grace came our way. Joe fell asleep within 10 minutes and I was able to walk nearly 6km. At one point, I stopped to appreciate the view:
A sleeping baby, a view overlooking the treetops, and gorgeous water in the background. Most important – a little bit of time to breathe, take it all in, and appreciate my blessings
I’ve decided to start doing a weekly “Living in New Zealand” post. I’m hoping that it’ll give a bit more structure to my blogging while also providing useful information for potential expats. This week, I’m going to write about – what else – the cost of living in New Zealand!
One of the things that I think many people struggle with when they move here is how much stuff costs. Let me point out that you don’t move to New Zealand because you’re looking for a cheap place to live. You move here because you want the whole “New Zealand” package – the scenery, the culture, and the lifestyle. All of that comes at a cost, of course, and it’s so important that you keep that in mind.
Last year, we met a wonderful expat couple through my blog. They’d emailed me with questions a few weeks before moving from the States, and like a broken record I cautioned them to be aware of the high prices here. These are two smart, hard-working, do-it-yourself kind of people. They’re the salt of the earth and they’re not afraid of digging their heels in and making sacrifices. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond their control, their wages were curtailed and they realized that what they could earn here wasn’t quite enough to keep them in New Zealand. They’ve been in the country for less than a year, and already are looking for plane tickets to go home. It’s sad, but understandable. To be honest, there was a part of me that wished we were moving back to the States, too.
The high costs here are one of the things that I struggle with. I go back and forth on it – I regret how expensive stuff is and I growl and grumble about the lack of sites like Amazon.com and reasonably priced milk and housing that doesn’t cost an arm, leg, and foot {not to mention reliable internet – curses!}. Then, I have moments where I appreciate it – I appreciate how it’s taught me to save up for things. It forces me to take time and consider whether I really want something or if I can make do with what I’ve got. It’s that weird little sense of satisfaction I get from practicing delayed gratification and from budgeting. If you’re able to do likewise and can find steady employment, then odds are that you’ll be able to make a success of living in New Zealand, thought it might mean making sacrifices. You just need to ask yourself if they’re sacrifices you’re willing to make, and unfortunately, you may not be able to completely answer that question till you’re here. That’s why it’s a good idea, if possible, to come to New Zealand on a “try it before you buy it” visit prior to moving here lock, stock, and barrel. If you can’t do that, then ask questions! Email expat bloggers (such as myself) and read up on expat websites.
If you’d like a bit more information about costs in New Zealand, then I’d encourage you to check out my post where I do a random survey of prices in New Zealand. Hopefully it’ll provide you with some useful background information As always, feel free to email me at mrs(dot)practicallyperfect(at)gmail(dot)come with any questions.
I had a “bad mama moment” today. I took Joe to boot camp, completely unaware that he had quite a high fever. He’d been fussy and not sleeping well, but then again he’d been like that for the past 2 days. I didn’t read much into it and decided to go ahead, catch the bus, and head to the park to work out with the other mums.
We got there a few minutes early. Joe seemed to be doing OK, albeit a bit subdued.
*****I’ve been slowly introducing Joe to water in a sippy cup. He never gets much out – maybe only a few mLs at a time – but we’re working on it. I still want the majority of his fluids to come from breast milk*****
Joe enjoyed sitting with the other babies. It’s fun to see how he compares – he’s the oldest one of the bunch.
It didn’t take long for me to realize that I wasn’t going to get much of a workout. At one point, I was doing walking-lunges with Joe in my arms, hoping that this might keep him happy. Eventually, we’d both had enough. I packed it in and headed to the bus stop; we got on board and sat next to a rather interesting, elderly German woman who was full of stories about her marriage, her 3 children, her daughter’s eye surgery at the age of 9, her complications with gall stones, the fact that her husband was currently hospitalized – it was quite an informative journey and Joe seemed interested in everything she had to say.
Joe and I eventually got home and I was finally able to take his temperature: 39.6C {about 103.4F}. He took some paracetamol {similar to acetaminophen} and slept for nearly 3 hours. Once he woke up, we cuddled, read, and played, but it was obvious {to me} that he still wasn’t his usual self.
“Reading” a book, of course!
I tried a few other tricks before giving more paracetamol: cool bath, lots of nursing, giving him cool applesauce, and wiping him down with a cool cloth. I took his temp a little while later, and it had gone up a smidgen more {39.7C}. So, another lot of paracetamol, more nursing, more cool cloths, and eventually bed in his t-shirt and sleeveless summer-weight sleeping bag.
I felt badly for taking him out when he was ill. Sometimes it’s hard to tell, and I hesitate to whip out the thermometer and do a rectal temp at the slightest appearance of a flush. I know that I can get paranoid, and I suppose that this was a consequence of trying to avoid that.
Hopefully he’ll be feeling better tomorrow morning and, next week, we’ll be able to do the full boot camp workout
Chris and I went on a date this Friday – our 2nd date since Joe was born!
I know what some of you are thinking: “Wow – only 2 dates in 8 months? How sad.”
And then the mothers out there are thinking, “Wow – 2 dates in 8 months? How awesome!”
We think more like that second group – it’s pretty awesome that we’ve been able to go on 2 dates, especially considering that none of our family live nearby and most of our friends either (a) have children themselves and aren’t able to come stay with Joe in the evening or (b) work really busy jobs or are going through major life changes.
This time around we left Joe in the capable hands of our friend, Priscilla. Priscilla does work a busy job and even lives a good bit away from us, but she was willing to babysit anyway – bless her! We put Joe down for bed at 7pm {his usual bedtime} and headed out shortly thereafter.
Sad to say, but this is the best photo of the two of us that I could find:
I’m not looking at the camera. Chris is making a weird face. In other words, a typical picture of the two of us! It could be worse. This was my other option:
Now we’re both making weird faces! I did get one of just me, sans sunglasses.
We had a good time. We ate dinner at a little downtown place called “Agents & Merchants”, or just “A&M” for central city dwellers. If you’re thinking about going there, I’d recommend getting a reservation. We did that, and as it turns out it was a good thing. All of the tables were full, and the server actually had to ask a couple at one of the tables to get up so that we could sit down. Awkward! By the time we finished, there were 3 couples loitering nearby and as soon as I stood up, one of the women moved in and took my chair. I guess that’s a good sign, though – people really want to eat there!
I ordered an Amstel Light {first time I’ve had one of those in over 2 years – they’re just not that common in NZ} and Chris decided to get some caffeine with a kick: espresso + Bailey’s. We split 3 of the tapas plates: chips {fries} + aioli, bread + dipping sauces, and grilled Eggplant Parmesan. All three were delicious, though Chris enjoyed the eggplant more than me. Something about the sauce didn’t sit quite right with my palate, so he finished it while I drank the rest of my Amstel Light. All in all, it was a good dining out experience. We had good food, nice drinks, and fast service. The only drawback was the noise – very loud music – and the smoke. We were seated outdoors, though, so you kind of have to expect that.
Afterwards, we decided to walk back up Queen Street towards the movie theater rather than catching the free CityLINK bus. Chris was keen to check out the newly opened New World supermarket on Queen.
That’s right – our 2nd date, and we spent part of it visiting a new supermarket. We were curious! And besides, we wanted to buy a few snacks for the movie, so why not kill 2 birds with 1 stone?
We finally headed out for the last half of our date, arriving at the movies with about 5 minutes to spare. We took our assigned seats {yes, our movie theater has assigned seating – some people prefer this because you can book online and choose your seats, but I have to go in person to buy my tickets, anyway, in order to get my employee discount and avoid paying $16 per ticket} and watched “Moneyball” with Brad Pitt. Chris liked it. I wasn’t over-the-moon about it, but I won’t spoil it for any of you who might be considering going to see it.
We got back home just before 11:30pm. Joe slept the whole time and Priscilla had enjoyed a relaxing, albeit slightly boring, Friday night in our apartment
I’m hoping to make these date nights into a regular thing. It’s important for us to spend time together without Joe and focus on keeping our relationship healthy. I don’t see date night turning into a bi-weekly or even monthly sort of thing, but bi-monthly would be great!
**********
How about you parents out there? Are you able to do regular date nights? Is it something that you’d like to do but haven’t found the time for yet? Are you, like us, living far from family and don’t have a lot of people that you can rely on to watch your little ones? What sorts of things do you do instead to keep your relationship strong and stay in touch with each other’s lives? Have you thought about teaming up with some other new parents, perhaps creating a babysitting schedule where you rotate and take turns so that you’re all able to have the occassional night out? Do tell!
This is such a sweet, moving message from a dad to his daughter. Even though we have a son, I found it sweet, touching, and it brought tears to my eyes.
I was recently asked to review the latest cereal offering by “Be Natural”:
Manuka Honey & Spice Clusters with Flakes
I’ve seen the “Be Natural” range of cereals in our local grocery but since Chris is the primary cereal eater, I usually go off what he suggests rather than picking other options. I was keen to try this box and to see what his take was on it as well.
I was impressed with the ingredients list – lots of fibre, lots of whole grains, and no processed sugars that I could see. Here’s an up-close view of my bowl, shortly before digging in:
If you look closely, you can actually see the cardamon pods.
And here’s what my bowl looked like about, oh, 3 minutes later:
Delicious. It reminded me somewhat of gingerbread and chai tea, only in a cereal bowl. I’d even consider giving it to Joe once his digestive system is able to handle honey.
Naturally, I had to get Chris’ opinion as well. Here is he mulling over the flavours:
It didn’t take long for him to decide that the Manuka Honey & Spice Clusters combined to make one yummy bowl of cereal!
His exact words were that it “seems healthy” and had a “good blend of textures”. He also praised the fact that it “doesn’t disintegrate in milk”. His only bit of constructive criticism was that it “could be a little sweeter”. Of course, this is coming from a man who will occasionally eat chocolate for breakfast, so I wouldn’t put too much stock in that last comment 
Overall, I’d recommend this cereal. It’s healthy, tastes great, and as Chris says, “doesn’t disintegrate in milk”. What more could you want from breakfast food?
**********
Please note that I was provided with a box of “Manuka Honey & Spice Clusters with Flakes” + three $1.00 off coupons for the same by the “Be Natural” cereals & snacks company. However, I would never write something that I didn’t agree with. If this cereal tasted bad, then I’d tell you. All opinions in this post are honest and our own.
This weekend, I did something that I’ve been wanting to do for awhile. I signed up for a photography class!
It’s a one-day course {6 1/2 hours} next month at a local school. I’m really looking forward to it. I think that at this stage, as a beginner, I need to do an in-person class rather than an online one. I don’t do well asking questions via chat!
Why did it take me so long to sign up for a class? I had all sorts of reasons – not a nice enough camera, not enough time, blah-blah-blah. At the end of the day, I realized that I was being ridiculous. I got a new, nicer camera for Christmas, so that took away one of my roadblocks. I now have a baby, which added a roadblock and made me have even less time. Life isn’t going to get simpler or easier or less busy anytime soon. I’m really glad that I signed up. A little nervous, but definitely excited
Dear Joe,
You turned 8 months old this week. As I mentioned on Facebook, how on earth did that happen?! It seems like just a short while ago we were remarking on the cute, hours-old newborn noises that you were making in the car on the trip from the hospital to Birthcare.
Less than 24 hours old
Nowadays, you are all over the place and such a joy to be around. As I told your daddy, “He’s the kind of baby that makes me want to have another baby”. I’m glad you’re such a happy little guy!
Movement
You have been working on your crawling every day. You do the “army man crawl”, where you hoist yourself up on your arms and scoot your tummy across the floor. This works quite well for you, actually. The other day, I put you in the lounge and went to the other end to make myself a cup of tea. By the time I’d poured myself the tea and turned around, you’d moved across the carpet and were reaching for the DVDs. I have a feeling that it’s time to start baby-proofing things!
Of course, crawling isn’t the only thing that you’re keen to try. You also love to stand and “walk” with our assistance. In fact, you’d rather be standing than sitting. The last time we were at Wriggle & Rhyme, I had to hold you up on your feet for most of the session. Whenever I tried to put you in my lap, you’d cry, but as soon as you were standing you’d begin to coo, babble, and smile at the baby next to you. You’ve gotten to be so good at standing that I’ll even leave you unassisted for a few minutes while I’m doing something else in the room. You don’t mind.
Eating
We started you on 3 mini-meals just yesterday. Right now, it’s probably 55/45 breastfeeding/solids. You eat many of the same things that we eat, just without any added salt and making sure that it’s not too spicy. I’ll usually pulse it once or twice with the hand-blender if it’s too much for you to chew {still no teeth yet!}. Here’s an idea of what you might eat:
One of the cutest things about this new phase of solid food? You, sitting in the high chair, with your foot propped up on the tray. You do this all the time and it’s so adorable!
You’ve gotten to be pretty good about that fine finger grasp and picking up food. You make a mess sometimes, but it’s all part of the learning process
Talking
No words yet, but you definitely have your own language and know how to use it. You love to say “ba-ba-ba”, “da-da-da”, “brrrrr”, “tsh-tsh-tsh”, and sometimes just shriek for joy {or in irritation!}. You’ve also recently started this thing where you get so excited that you sound as though you’re hyperventilating. We can copy your noises, then you copy them back to us, and we copy them back to you… it’s pretty fun to interact with you in this way!
Sleep
You take a nap in the morning and a nap in the afternoon. The morning nap is about an hour, hour and a half. The afternoon nap is around 2 – 2 1/2 hours. Come 7pm, you are ready for bed and then generally sleep straight through till 6/6:30am! I kind of love that you’re an early bird. It makes me get up and get going in the morning rather than sleeping in.
Other Bits and Pieces
This last month had a period of about 5 days where it was just you and me, little guy! I was a bit nervous how it would play out, me being the sole care provider 24/7, but it went really well. I had been praying that I would have an extra measure of patience for that time, and I did, thank the Lord. We only had one “major” rough patch – it was a particularly hot day and you hadn’t slept well the night before or during your nap times – but overall, it made me more confident in my ability to care for you.
You’ve also had some more time with your daddy, as I’ve been working a bit longer at the hospital. I’m still just doing odd shifts here and there. You love hanging out with him. As a matter of fact, today while I was at work the two of you caught the bus to the beach at Mission Bay. This was your first time to sit in the sand at the beach {rather than just being walked on the beach in your pram} and you couldn’t get enough of it. Your daddy had quite the time trying to keep an eye on you, the picnic rug, the video camera, and make sure that you weren’t eating too much sand. I’m glad that he and you are able to hang out like that
And because you can only see so much in pictures, here’s a little video of you {about 2 minutes} showing how well you do at standing, pulling yourself up, and talking.
I love you, sweet baby boy!
I made these for dinner tonight:
So delicious! If you’d like to give them a try, just follow the recipe below:
Brush 1 side of each tortilla with olive oil. Place oiled side down on a work-space, and layer half of each tortilla with Mozzarella, spinach, onion, black beans, tomatoes, capsicum, feta, and a bit more Mozzarella. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes. Fold tortilla over, forming a semi-circle, and cook in a skillet coated with non-stick spray. Flip after a few minutes, till both sides are golden-brown and cheeses are melted. Cut each semi-circle into wedges.
Enjoy!
Modified from this recipe.
PS – If you’re thinking that oven-roasted tomatoes and capsicum are too hard, think again! All you do is take a pint of cherry tomatoes, slice them in half, toss them in 2 – 3 T of olive oil with some sea salt sprinkled on top. Spread them on a baking sheet and broil for 15 minutes. For the capsicum, just cut it in half, scoop out the insides, place the halves with cut-sides down and press them flat with your hands. Brush with olive oil and broil for 15 minutes. Once finished, peel skins off the capsicum. If you want, put tomatoes and capsicum on the same baking pan and broil together to save on time!
Joe and I have been home alone for the past several days while Chris traveled to… Virginia!
Yes, we were just in the States but Chris headed back over there for work-related travels.
We really missed him! Having him gone made me realize a few things, probably the least-important of which was this:
Chris is – gasp – not the one who does this to the tube of toothpaste!
It’s true – we’ve been married for over 7 years and I’ve always assumed that Chris was the one who left the big gob of blue goop on the tube. No, my friends – it’s me. The tube was cleaned off on the morning of the day that he left, and this is what it looked like when he returned.
Oh well. Learned something new about myself
Seriously, though – it’s great to have him back. Our family isn’t complete without him here!
I’ve updated my “About Me” page to include my real, full name. My blog life and personal life are overlapping so much that it no longer makes a whole lot of sense to keep the two separate. If you’d like, you can find me on Facebook as well. Either way, it’s nice to have it out there and finally introduce myself to all of you for real
It’s February, which means summer, which means hot. Like many places over here, we don’t have any air-conditioning in our apartment. That means Joe spends a lot of the day like this:
If only it were permissible for adults to go around dressed in the same fashion! It might help cool some of the tempers that have been simmering in NZ these days surrounding the whole “breast vs. formula-feeding” issue.
It’s not a new issue, really. The “breast vs. formula” debate has been going on ever since formula became a popular alternative. This latest flare-up surrounds a brief, seconds-long clip of Piri Weepu {famous NZ rugby player} feeding his baby girl with a bottle while appearing in an anti-smoking PSA. The local La Leche League expressed concern that this was undermining the “breast milk is best” position of the NZ government {who was running the anti-smoking PSA}, and the clip was pulled.
Naturally, this was cause for a revolt. It’s ridiculous, really. In one camp, you have LLL who’s aim is to promote breastfeeding while providing support and education. In another camp, you have parents who feel targeted for using formula. There’s likely a 3rd camp out there as well, but for the purposes of this post, I’m only going to focus on those two.
I think that most people in Western culture have heard at some point that “breast is best” and know that breast milk is the ideal, the same way that most people realize that drinking during pregnancy is a bad idea and that smoking around children should be avoided. However, as someone who almost exclusively breast-feeds {I do occasionally give Joe expressed milk in a bottle and we’ve started to introduce solids}, I get irked when people are staunchly for or against one side or the other.
I believe that God created a perfect world, and that we as women were designed to be able to breastfeed. Unfortunately, that perfect world and that perfect design were mucked up. The end result is that things don’t always work as they were originally intended. We have problems like complicated births, c-sections, failure to thrive, prematurity, food allergies, and a whole host of other issues that can affect both a woman’s ability to produce milk and a baby’s ability to ingest it. That doesn’t even begin to factor in things like needing to return to work in order to help support your family, a situation which can be so stressful that your milk supply dries up entirely.
Do I think that women and society should strive to support breastfeeding? Yes – absolutely. It’s the perfect food for our babies in an ideal world. But like I said, that ideal, perfect world no longer exists. That’s not an excuse to throw up our hands and say, “Oh well!” You should ask questions. Go to a local LLL meeting. Call up a lactation consultant. Educate yourself. Talk to your doctor or midwife. Most women that I know who have used or are using formula aren’t doing it solely for convenience’s sake – they’re doing it because they attempted to breastfeed and for a variety of reasons found that they were unable to do so. And unfortunately, at some point or another, these women feel shame or guilt as a result.
You are not a bad parent because of feeding your child formula. It would be far, far worse to choose not to feed your child. I’d even say that it would be far, far worse to work yourself into exhaustion while trying everything in the book to breastfeed, leaving you stressed, miserable, and unable to cope with and enjoy your new baby. Anyone who says, “Tsk, well if you’d only tried X, Y, and Z, then you’d be able to breastfeed successfully” is presenting an incredibly simplistic answer to a very complicated problem. It’s not always that easy.
So, feed your baby. Love them. Listen to what experts tell you. Try your best. Then move on. If someone criticizes your choice {which to me, the idea of a stranger coming up to you and shaking their finger at how you feed your child is just bizarre} then give them the attention they deserve: none.
I thought that I would share what a day in our life looks like. Please join me for a photo tour!
1:50am – Bad start to morning – woke up with a terrible headache, ended up getting out of bed, being sick, taking Panadol (Tylenol) and drinking some water
2:30am – Back to sleep
6:30am – Awake with Joe. Decide to nurse him in bed because of being so tired. Chris has already left for work, so it’s just him and me.
6:50am – Get dressed, make bed, and check email
7am – Start laundry, fold cloth nappies, drink a big glass of water
7:30am – Empty dishwasher, re-load dishwasher, and clean up the kitchen
In case you were wondering what was going on with Joe all this time, he was playing in the lounge, “reading” books, and listening to his records
7:40am – Start the kettle, pump a bottle for Joe, read to Joe, and pour myself a cup of tea
8am – Joe starts to have a meltdown – time for his “second breakfast”!
I was watching a documentary on NASA while nursing him. The photo below makes it look like it was some cheesy B-movie about space invaders, but I promise it was scientific!
8:15am – Hang some of the laundry, play & sing with Joe, change him, and dance around to “Hokey Pokey. What? Don’t you dance to the “Hokey Pokey” in the morning? You should.
Put Joe in his Jolly Jumper for a few minutes while finishing the laundry…
9am – Read “Where is the Green Sheep?” to Joe, nurse him one more time, and put him down for his morning nap
9:10am – Run on treadmill
9:55am – Shower, start 2nd load of laundry, called and texted with friend who was in labor, put together a quick grocery list, checked email, collected library books/CDs to return, and took out a chicken to thaw.
10:30am – Joe is awake!
Take him into the lounge and quickly finish hanging the laundry and put away any dry items while he’s still smiling and happy Play with him once everything is up on the rack.
10:50am – Sunblock application in preparation for our walk outside later. Got to put it on at least 15 minutes before going into the sun.
11am – Nurse Joe.
11:15am – Head out on errands to library, cleaners, and grocery. First, have to get all of this…
Down these…
Just imagine what it’s like on the way back up, when I’m bearing groceries and a shirt from the cleaners! Thankfully, it’s only this 1 flight of stairs before reaching the lift, and then down to ground level.
Ready to go!
Joe had fun at the library, though you wouldn’t know it from this photo:
12:30pm – Get home; burning up from carrying Joe + pram + nappy bag + groceries + library books + everything else but the kitchen sink up those stairs. Rue decision to wear jeans in summer.
12:40pm – Nurse Joe, then feed him some solid foods.
This is what he was eating. Looks gross, but it tasted so good that I wanted to eat a bowl of it myself!
Joe’s food was a meal that we’d had for dinner last night. I just pulsed it once or twice with the hand blender so that it was a thick, lumpy mash, added some cottage cheese, and about 1/8 – 1/4 of a tsp of spirulina powder.
This is what Joe looked like when he realized that he had eaten all of his food and none was left in the bowl:
What a face!
1:00pm – Joe has some play-time while I try to eat lunch. I get about 2 bites in before Joe sees what I’m doing, lunges for my fork, then bursts into tears because he can’t have any of my spicy homemade chicken. Sorry, Joe. I end up putting away the food and playing with Joe on the nursery floor. Let’s just say that I’m glad that I have a cheap cell phone, because Joe loves to bang it on the floor!
Working on crawling…
1:50pm – Put Joe down for nap and work on Bible study
2:30 – 2:45pm – Eat a not-so-healthy lunch of corn tortilla chips; have a spoonful of Nutella for dessert
Side Note: In the 8+ years that I’ve known Chris, he’s been telling me about how great Nutella is and that I should try some. I finally tried some this week after being given homemade chocolate hazelnut spread. Wow – so good! And so bad!
2:45pm – Napped {normally don’t do this, but pretty tired from waking up in the wee hours of the morning and being sick}
4pm – Joe is awake, and so am I! I change him, nurse him, put away the remainder of the laundry, put a chicken in a pot of water to boil, and play with Joe.
4:30pm – Chris home – we chat about our days while he plays with Joe as a I check on the chicken.
5pm – Fed Joe more solid foods; ended up rearranging freezer while pulling out some things for him so that I could fit my 16 C of homemade chicken broth in there. We don’t have a big freezer, so I’m constantly rearranging things:
Bottom drawer w/ homemade chicken broth and applesauce, fruits + veggies, and bottles
This is the top drawer, pre-organization…
And here it is after…
Chris ate his dinner during this time, too.
6:00pm – Bath time for Joe!
This was also when I ate my dinner. Chris finished Joe’s bath time responsibilities by drying him off and changing him. I scurried into the kitchen to try out a new recipe – hummus melts. Unfortunately, I was in such a hurry that I made two mistakes. Can you guess what they are?
Mistake #1 – this was supposed to have hummus, then spinach, and then cheese. Mistake #2 – was supposed to use mozzarella cheese, not cheddar/tasty cheese. Whoops. It was good, but too cheesy and not quite as healthy as it should have been.
6:30pm – Story time and nursing Joe once more before he goes to bed.
7pm – Joe is asleep! Hurriedly pick up the lounge, then finish the chicken, de-bone it, chop it, and measure it into 2 C servings in Ziploc baggies for the freezer. Decide that I want something sweet, so I make no-bake chocolate peanut butter cookies.
Throughout the chicken de-boning/chopping process, Chris was like this:
However, within a few minutes of starting to mix up the peanut butter and chocolate, he says, “Whatcha doin’?” and ambled on over. Hmm.
About the cookies – these are always hit-or-miss for me. Last time I made them, they were great. The time before, they were soupy. This time, I got to the last cup of oatmeal and thought, “Wait… did I already add all of the oatmeal?” Decided that I did, then second-guessed myself and added a 1/2 C just to be safe. Turns out that I hadn’t added all of the oatmeal, so they were a bit runny, hence storing them in the fridge!
8:15pm – Write a post, play around with HTML on blog, upload pictures and videos while watching “NCIS” on DVD with Chris
10:00pm – Start dishwasher, head to bed!
Thanks for joining us! I’d love to see what a day in your life looks like, too
My February post for ExpatFocus.com is up! Click on over to read my suggestions for avoiding isolation and making friends when moving to a new country.
If you’d like to read my other articles, then click on my columnist page. I was shocked to see that my last article had over 800 reads – whoa!
