Wednesday Weekly

What book are you reading right now?

Sugar & Spice Mama's To Be

I was just wondering who our pregnant Sugar & Spice Mama's are right now. When are you due? Do you know if you are having a boy or girl?

Wednesday Weekly

Do you have any Halloween costumes ready for your family yet? Are you creating any on your own?

Happy Fall!

I'm making Pumpkin Bars tonight!!!!

It's time!

It's 78 degrees outside and humid but I don't care!

It's still time!

Hooray for Fall!

Do you have any recipes that just scream crunchy-leaf-crisp-air-Halloween-goodness???

Share!!

Overweight and 3

My daughter, V, just turned 3. Sometime between 2 1/2 and 3, she gained a considerable amount of weight. She has also always been 95-100th percentile for her height. Basically she looks like she should maybe be in Kindergarten.

Within those 6 months, I started to not be able to put her in jeans, or any bottom that had a button. They wouldn't button. By mid-summer I started becoming really concerned. Is it really possible to worry about weight at such a young age? And when/how did this happen? I spent the first half of her life worrying if she was eating enough, now do I need to worry about the opposite?

I waited until her 3 year well-visit to get the straight up reality check that I was expecting. She is at the very top of the overweight scale in terms of her BMI. Any higher, and she is obese. Gulp.

I have felt frustrated. I feed my family healthy foods, always have. I see other families with their Doritos and Hostess cupcakes and their teeny tiny children. Then I look at my big kids with their apples and string cheese and think, what?! I know we all have different genetics, but I still feel sad that I have an overweight 3 year old who probably eats healthier foods than many other children.

But, what's the point in being frustrated, I've had to take at least some kind of action. My pediatrician recommended considering portion sizes, eating about 5% less foods. He said only skim milk, no juice, fruit snacks, etc. That's easy. I was almost already at that point. He gave me a goal BMI for when she turns four. I will periodically track it. The goal is not for her to lose weight, but to gain more slowly. I still can't believe that this is happening so young, but I'm hoping it will make a positive difference for the rest of her life.

Other things I've done: Well we've always been a whole-grain family, but have hung on to white rice so we've switched to brown. A treat used to follow every dinner. Now it's just a weekend thing. I keep my kids physically active, but I think there was a time during my first trimester of pregnancy this summer and through the end of winter when we were pretty sedentary. Now at least an hour of exercise is a huge prioirty each day. This usually includes bike riding, running games, and playgrounds. I enjoyed the convenience of juice boxes this summer, but I no longer buy them. My kids don't ask for them, nor for sweets. They've always loved their healthy foods. It's really just been about me making better choices of what I buy. Communicating with my husband about this pretty regularly has also been very helpful and necessary. I do not want to rub my worries off on my children and give them a complex about weight. I want these healthy choices to be a natural part of our lifestyle. I still want my children to enjoy treats and to enjoy the fun things in life but all in balance.

I'm kind of just venting here. Just wanted to tell my story to other Moms.

General Conference packet

The church's curriculum department put out a general conference activity packet for conf. this year. I know there are a lot of others out there, but I thought it was cool this is actually from the church. There's really not much to it, but could be used in addition to other packets. It can be found here

Coloring at FHE

This activity worked well for us recently at FHE: We talked about the gospel principle and scripture on this coloring page and then colored as a family. You can copy it from the Friend magazine or print it out at www.friend.lds.org. There is a new one every month.

Maternity clothes

How long do you wait until you start wearing maternity clothes?

Being on the Other Side of the Insurance Fence

I used to work in healthcare as a provider.

We had great insurance and our first baby cost us a $20 copay. (which is amazing considering the fact that we had upwards of 15 ultrasounds and weekly non-stress testing the last ten weeks!)

When we moved to Utah, I didn't have insurance at my job and so we went on my husband's for the first time. It cost more, and I had to go downtown for healthcare rather than to the hospital two blocks away. Our second baby cost $2000. But we still felt lucky, especially when we averaged out the two births.

Then we had to quit that job and come to Arkansas. My husband has a good job and is going to school but since we moved the week of the Lehman Brother's collapse, the best job he could find at the time was a temp job. His job wants to keep him forever but they're like everyone else and are on a hiring freeze but they can keep him as a temp. So we're stuck! I work part time which means no insurance in this state (apparently what we had in Minnesota was a rarity?)

We pay an exorbitant amount each month for health insurance and our girls are on Medicaid. We have thought about us going without for a time but I have a tricky medical history so that's not smart with someone like me.

It's so strange being on the other side of the fence. I used to provide healthcare and now I don't have easy access to it. Even as a provider, I could see the obvious problems. I would have a high income family come in with insurance and not pay a dime for my services. Then a no-insurance family would come in be charged a huge fee for the same services which they usually couldn't pay for! It is so backward! I never understood why that family couldn't pay the medicare writeoff rather than what we actually charged the insurance (a huge difference!)

My cousin yesterday was complaining that she didn't want to pay for everyone else's insurance in a government plan and they should all just go out and get jobs. I don't think she had a clue how insulting and harsh she sounded to me and probably others out there. She pays taxes and therefore for education when she doesn't have kids, doesn't she?

I don't know the solution.

I have tried to educate myself but I get very lost and confused.

I know there is a huge problem with healthcare.

I know we need a solution.

I wish change came easier but it just doesn't!

Giveaway on my Photo Blog!

Enter now on my photo blog for a chance to win a custom designed photo card (holiday card maybe? Ü) and a $25 gift certificate. Even if you live out of town, this is a great prize as the gift certificate can be used to print the custom designed card, and the card can be designed using any photo you own the rights to! Hurry over and leave a comment for your chance to win.

Enter HERE!

Wednesday Weekly

What weekly task do you kind of dread/dislike?

Wednesday Weekly

Are you happy or sad to see the summer draw to a close?

Balance

After three years of having a child, I really thought I had this down, especially when I only have one! But lately my daughter has been especially demanding of my time. I attribute it to the fact that she has no siblings for playmates (trust me, I wish that weren't the case.) But maybe that's not it. Anyway, she used to be pretty good at playing independently while I got things done around the house. Lately she wants me playing with her CONSTANTLY. If she's in her room, I have to be with her. She'll come find me in the kitchen and drag me by the hand. Just now we were outside and I thought I'd browse through the Ensign right next to her playhouse, and she pitched the world's largest tantrum because she wanted me INSIDE the playhouse. She literally threw my magazine across the yard. On the way into the house for a timeout, I struggled with myself, wondering if I was being selfish by wanting to read the Ensign instead of playing with her. But I do play with her. I make sure to set aside time every day that we play dolls together, board games, etc. However, I have to get things done around the house too, and I think it's good for her to be able to entertain herself a little bit. How do I accomplish this? Get things done, yet play with her enough, while not giving into her too much. Am I being selfish, or is my daughter turning into a spoiled "queen of the house?" Any tips to finding the balance?

Number 19 on the Way!

So I should preface this by admitting that I'm from Arkansas. Not sure that matters but there you go. But what do you think about this????