I am alarmed. Cancer really scares me. And now there is a report that some baby shampoos and lotions contain trace amounts of carcinogens. Some of the biggest brands on the market, like Johnson & Johnson and Maby Magic Lotion, tested positive for two chemicals that are believed to cause cancer. The chemicals are not said to be intentionally added to the products and are not listed among ingredients on labels. Instead, they appear to be “byproducts of the manufacturing process”.

Of the 48 products tested (bubble baths, shampoos, lotions, etc.), 32 (gasp!) contained trace amounts of 1 chemical, 23 (gasp!) contained trace amounts of the other chemical, and 17 (gasp, gasp!) tested positive for both chemicals. When I first read the report, I thought, “Oh, that sucks. But there is no way that MY sons products are on that list. I did my research long ago.”. WRONG. Here is the list. I bet you’ll have the same reaction I did.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics says they do not intend to “alarm” parents by releasing the results of their study. Mission not accomplished. I have so many questions that need to be answered…Should I throw all of our products away? What exactly does “trace amounts” mean? Where is the complete list of safe products?

Will someone from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics PLEASE call me at 210-255-1097. I. Am. Alarmed!!

-Victoria

There are many things I said “I would never do as a parent” that I am now doing. When my older sister had her first child seven years ago I remember thinking that her chosen sleep method was SO out of touch with modern pediatrics. She went with the co-sleep method and I just couldn’t understand how and why she wouldn’t just let Frankie, her first child, cry himself to sleep. Had she never heard of the “Ferber Method”?! Fast forward to six years later and look at me now. “Ferber” is a foreign word to me and the thought of letting Ilan cry and cry and cry and cry until he falls asleep just does not sit well with me. I couldn’t do it. And although I said I would never rock my child to sleep, that’s what I did.

I also said I would not let my child watch TV. The television corrupts the brain. We would read books, do arts and crafts, dance, learn Spanish, play outside, go for walks. There would be no time for TV! Fast forward to six years later and look at me now. TV is the ONLY thing that entertains hims long enough to allow me to take a shower and get dressed each morning. The TV, specifically, Sesame Street, is fabulous. It gives me short-lived freedom. And if it weren’t for the TV Ilan would never, and I mean never, have on a clean diaper. Diaper changes are a full-on battle between the two of us unless I turn on Sesame Street. I still don’t think TV is good for children, but I use it when necessary. And for me, diaper changes, showers, and some “down time” every now and then happen to be necessary.

There are many more examples of what I said I would never do but am now doing. I could write for days about it. But let me cut to the chase. Becoming a mother has taught me two very important lessons:

1) Never say never, and

2) Never judge others parenting styles.

Do so, and in seven years (or seven months, even) you will be saying the same thing I am tonight…”Look at me now!”.

-Victoria

I am a self-proclaimed “mouse mom”. What is a “mouse mom”? A mom that jumps on the computer any chance she can get to surf the web. I am now a master of the mouse and surfing the web. It’s my way of communicating (although it is one-way communication) with the world outside of my house. Since Ilan was born and I became a stay-at-home mom I have become a wee-bit out of touch with society and world happenings. I start every web surf attempting to read the local newspaper, New York Times, or Washington Post, get wwwaaaayyyyyy sidetracked and end up on some mom blog or small business website just poking around and getting lost.

Today I found my way to the Austin-based business, Casserole Queens (www.casserolequeens.com). Sandy Pollock and Crystal Cook are the Casserole Queens and they specialize in making pre-made foods/casseroles and delivering them to your doorstep. I have never tasted one of their meals but they sure sound delicious and perhaps best of all, each meal has the nutritional information available on the website. Aside from the delicious sounding meals they offer there is also a section on their website that lists great kitchen tips. Trust me on this one, you want to read every single one of these. They are great!

Casserole Queens Kitchy Kitchen Tips:

1. Tired of spaghetti sauce-stained plastic containers? Spray them with nonstick cooking spray first to prevent this food stain faux pas.
2. Garlic fingers be gone! Zap garlic cloves in the microwave for 15 seconds and the peels will slide right off.
3. Coat your measuring spoons with cooking spray first, to avoid ingredients sticking. (Unless you prefer to lick them clean.)
4. Raise a rubber glove if you’re tired of cleaning stubborn skillets. Remove the burned on food easily by adding a drop or two of dish soap, enough water to cover the bottom of the skillet, then bring to a boil. Life just got easier.
5. Soften up hard crumbly brown sugar by placing a piece of bread in the bag.
6. Good egg or bad egg: If the egg sinks in a pan of cool, salted water, it’s fresh. If it rises to the surface, get the stinker out of your kitchen!
7. The root of the onion lasts longer, so save that leftover half for another meal.
8. If washing your plastic containers still isn’t getting rid of that odor, crumple a piece of newspaper inside and the smell should be gone like yesterday’s news.
9. The perfectionist pancake-maker uses a meat baster every time.
10. Boil-overs are no fun. To prevent this messy mishap, just apply a thin coat of cooking oil around the top of the inside of pots.

Baby Besos Kitchen Tip*:

1. Tired of the foil/wax paper/cling wrap roll rolling out of the container every time you try to tear a piece off? On the edge of each long side of the box are two little push points labeled “Push Here”. Push those tabs in and the tab locks the roll into place! You’ll never have to fuss with a run-away roll again.

*Tip. Singular. One tip is all I have. Sorry, but I wish I knew more about my way around the kitchen.

-Victoria

Up until 5 minutes ago I didn’t believe in pregnancy cravings. I didn’t have them with my first pregnancy and made it 20 weeks through this one before they hit me. Or should I say, before I gave in. Sometimes I think some women use pregnancy as a “free for all” when it comes to food. Luckily for them, most of the free-for-all-preggos I know made it back to their pre-pregnancy weight just a few short months after giving birth. Darn them! Unfortunately, I don’t have that kind of body, metabolism, or luck, so I would always talk myself out of “cravings”. But even after talking myself out of free-for-alling I still gain too much weight with my pregnancies and can’t lose it post-birth. Darn me!

(Fast forward…weight gain…blah…during pregnancy…blah…fat mom…blah blah blah.) Anyway, call me crazy, but I think I just had a true pregnancy craving. AND I gave in. The End.

Sorry to end so abruptly but I’m cutting this post short so I can enjoy my pickles, carrots, and ranch dressing. Mmmm. Makes my mouth water just typing it.

-Victoria

Sticks and stones might break my bones…but a little dirt won’t really hurt me. We can all agree that times have changed from when our parents raised us. Everything from taking prenatal vitamins to the way our babies sleep has changed. But one thing that hasn’t changed is the need to wash our child’s hands as often as possible to avoid the spread of germs and prevent illnesses. Or has it?

There is a fairly new “hypothesis” out there that raised my eyebrows. The hygiene hypothesis suggests that organisms that enter the body along with “dirt” spur the development of a healthy immune system. Furthermore, continuing studies suggest that WORMS may help to redirect an immune system that has gone awry and resulted in autoimmune disorders, allergies, and asthma. Huh? I spent the first whole year of Ilan’s life hovering down his neck ready to snatch anything and everything that he attempted to put in his mouth. I wasn’t always as fast at my “hovering” as I should have been. This is confirmed by the hospital bills we are STILL paying for. Ilan was in the hospital twice in 3 months. The first time because he caught a virus somehow. Hmmmm! And the second time because he got Salmonella poisoning somehow. Hmmmm! Could it have been that he put something in his mouth that had the germs, virus, or bacteria that resulted in our admittance into the hospital? I think so.

Read more about the Hygiene Hypothesis here. This is actually a really interesting article. I buy it. But my husband, Jorge, doesn’t. Until we can agree, the only “dirt” and “worms” Ilan will be eating will look like this…

Mmmmm! not Hmmmm!

-Victoria

Years ago the doctors said that a glass of wine a day is good for the heart. I didn’t need any further studies or results to determine that those doctors were right on target. I heard the headline on the news and went with it. Wine = Good Heart. So because I am an advocate of good heart health I listened to these doctors, and for my heart’s sake, learned to love a glass of wine as often as I could.

The day I found out I was pregnant with baby #2, my “wine = good heart” kick came to an end. Only every now and then do I wish I could have a nice glass of wine with my meal. Ok, maybe a little more often than every now and then do I wish I could have a glass or two. But that’s not the point. My point is…I found this recipe for Wine-Free Sangria. I know, you are thinking “Wine-free sangria? Doesn’t the translation for Sangria mean Wine? What’s the point?”.

Well, I gave the recipe a try and it’s not that bad! I highly recommend this alcohol-free recipe to those who are pregnant and/or to those who have seen the most recent studies linking alcohol to some cancers in women. Scary studies. (I will let you read them for yourself. Click here for just one of many articles)

Wine-Free Sangria
Ingredients:
4 cups white grape juice
1 cup pink grapefruit juice
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 bottle club soda (750 milliliters)
Pink grapefruit slices

Preparation:
In a large pitcher, combine all three juices. Refrigerate. Just before serving, add the soda water and grapefruit slices (and other fruit, if you’d like). Makes about 12 servings.

Salud!
-Victoria

It’s a fertility clinic, not McDonald’s! McDonald’s owns the slogan, “what you want is what you get”. This same slogan should not, I repeat, should not be used at a fertility clinic. I just don’t get it. Reports surfaced yesterday of fertility clinics over seas and in the US that will soon offer custom-made babies. Custom-made babies. Ugh!

We have long passed the advanced reproductive technologies that allow parents to choose the gender of their baby and have moved on to bigger (but not better, as far as I am concerned) things. This technology allows couples to choose certain physical traits of their babies. Imagine if you could choose your babies traits, like hair color, hair texture, eye color, etc. the way you choose options when you buy a car. Power windows would translate to powerful athletic abilities. Metallic blue exterior with tinted windows would translate to blue eyes and nicely tanned skin color. I don’t know what upsets me more: a) The fact that some people could be so vein and actually want to choose their child’s eye color, or b) that this is even an issue when you have so many couples out there that long for a baby, any baby, yet can’t reproduce. Am I the only one that thinks this is both frightening and absurd?! (Read more about the controversy here)

The way I see it: You get what you get…and you love what you get. And actually, you end up loving what you get even more than you thought you could ever love what you got. Da da da da daaaa…

-Victoria

The first question out of her mouth was “Do you want to know the gender of the baby?”. And then there was silence. Jorge and I were both waiting for the other to make and vocalize the decision and answer the question. Finally, I said “yes”. After 30 minutes of trying to get the baby to turn over and un-tuck its legs from the “private” area, the sonographer was about to give up. We had resolved to the fact that this baby wanted us to wait to find out its gender. There. Someone else made the tough decision for us. Whew.

Then it moved! It moved just enough to give us a peak. And now we know…it’s a girl!!

-Victoria

Only one short week from today we have to decide if we want to know the gender of baby #2. I am still torn. My heart says “You don’t need to know” and my mind says “Yes, why wouldn’t you!”. All this back and forth in my mind and heart got me thinking about past generations. Our parents and grandparents didn’t have any way to tell what they were having. They did it the old fashioned way and waited it out…AND (this is a big AND) they came up with their own theories on how to tell the gender of the baby.

So this past weekend I began my own research, just like they did in the good-ole-days. Below are some of my favorite “Old Wives Tales” on how to tell the gender of your baby, and the results of my studies. Drum roll please….

If your face looks rounder, the baby will be a girl.  If you gain weight on your rear end, the baby will be a boy. Result: I am having 2 girls AND a boy! I estimate my face has more than doubled in size and my rear end (mainly hip area that now spills over into the rear end area) has expanded. Therefore, I have concluded that based on the actual size and spillage area I am having not 1, but 3 babies.

Tie a red string to the mother’s wedding band and suspend it above her belly. If the ring goes around in circles, the baby will be a girl. If it sways from side to side, the baby will be a boy. Results: It’s a he-she! First the ring swayed from side to side. Then it abruptly stopped swaying from side to side and started going in a circle. Eek!

If your linea nigra is straight, the baby will be a boy. If the linea nigra is curvy, the baby will be a girl. Results: Inconclusive. I don’t have a linea nigra yet so I have to wait this one out a little. If you are pregnant or know someone who is, PLEASE ask them about their linea nigra for me and don’t forget to post the results. This is one “Old Wives Tale” that I am itching to know more about.

-Victoria

I am stuck and don’t know what to do. Ilan used to be a great eater. He would eat everything, literally. And he loved what he was eating too! We used to joke that he was going to be a food critic when he grew up because of all the food he ate. Actually, we said he would be a very BAD food critic because he thought EVERYTHING was good! Needless to say, it made things easy for me. Over the last two months he has turned into not such a great eater. He is picky and refuses almost everything we give him. I always said I was never going to be “that” mother that made different meals each night to appease the different palates of her children. “You eat what is put in front of you” was my motto.

To avoid making a liar of myself (I can sometimes be a teensy bit stubborn) I realized that he WILL eat what I put in front of him just as long as what I put in front of his is what he likes. Easy, right? That would be true if he were the only one in the house. But he’s not. Jorge and I are kind of getting tired of eating Macaroni, Peas, and Chicken Nuggets for dinner.  Anyway, I found these Food Faces plates made by Fred.

My first reaction when I saw them was, “oh, give me a break!” and I continued surfing the web. Now, two days later I still think about these plates. Although I know using these plates would be sending a message to Ilan that meal time is play time, I can’t help but wonder if they would keep him entertained long enough for him to actually TRY the food we are offering him. Should I buy one and try it out?

-Victoria