Cheesy Egg Casserole

October 17th, 2009

For breakfast, for holidays, for a crowd, for leftovers.  It’s all good.  This cheesy sausage egg casserole is so yummy.  As Matt said, it’s like the ultimate breakfast sandwich all mixed into one.

Ingredients

• 1 pound cheddar cheese – shredded
• 10 eggs – beaten
• 2 cups milk
• 2 pounds ground sausage
• 10 slices of sandwich bread
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard (can substitue 1 tablespoon of regular mustard)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Brown and drain sausage.  Cut bread into 1/2 inch cubes.  Mix all ingredients in large bowl.  Spray 9×13 pan with cooking spray and pour mixture into pan.  Bake uncovered for 45 minutes. 

Notes:  Sometimes we mix different kinds of cheeses (we used half mozzarella and half sharp cheddar this morning) and sometimes we use a little more than a pound.  My kids LOVE this and I love that they’re eating something substantial.

Happy eating!

The Birth Story of LittleBuddy (Child number 5)

October 14th, 2009

As you already know, my honey live-blogged TheFinalist’s birth.  It was one heck of a party with a smashing total of 56 comments!  While y’all were partying in one way, I was partying in quite another!

Here I was the day before.

What stands out to me at this point is how much pain I was in.  We were stir crazy enough that Matt took us to Subway to kill time after that whole to-do list was completed.  I sat on the porch that evening crying, praying and visiting with Matt to keep my fears at bay and my sanity intact.  We talked about how pretty the sky was that evening and about the impending storms of two different kinds.  We talked of the beautiful clouds and about how we still couldn’t see past our apprehensions and doctor’s orders of the next day to the joy that would be our newest blessing.  As I sat crying about IVs, epidurals, and catheters he asked me, in complete seriousness if I was having a Garden of Gethsemene moment.  I knew to receive my blessing I would not be able to avoid my cup.  We dwelt on the verses 2 friends gave to us:  Be still and know that He is God.  And to remember that He does not give to us a spirit of timidity, but of power, of love, and of self-discipline.  He pointed to the time and suggested we try to remember the 5 o’clock hour of this day when were looking at another clock with the same time 24 hours from then.    And to try to envision the child we would be holding.

After not sleeping well in the night, I gave up and got out of bed at 3 something.  Which wasn’t as terrible as it sounds since our alarm was set for 4am anyway.  We dressed little people, grabbed granola bars for them, and headed out into the quiet, dark pre-dawn.  As I was buckling BigMan I realized I was standing in a fire ant hill.  Matt rescued me, buckled BigMan, got his own bites, and then we both fought off ants in the van.  We arrived at Nana and Papa’s house – a welcome port in the still-building storms.  The only home along that road with lights on, coffee brewing, toys waiting, and smiles at the ready.  We kissed heads, hugged necks, left instructions, diapers, and parts of our hearts behind and drove down the road ahead of us.

The car was palpably quiet as we drove away.  And we embraced it for a few minutes.  As we neared the city, the rains began.  They quickly became so heavy our focus shifted from the child ahead and the children behind to the storm in between.  There was little talking during this time.  I was thankful as we took our hospital’s exit that the trip had been a safe one.  At which point, the minor sporadic false contractions gave way to the intense undeniably real ones.  It was more back labor than I had ever had before and with the pain came nausea.  We parked, gathered our necessities, and Matt asked while helping me out of the car, “Is this the big one Elizabeth?”    We reached our floor and were met  by smiling nurses who expected a quiet induced shift change.  They had read my file, knew my history, and listened to my every word.  Without hesitation she dropped protocol, delayed the questioning, readied my antibiotic IV (which went over with less pain than I’ve ever had before) while I changed and prepared to check me.  Three centimeters and 90% effaced is where we started at 6:15am.  With the four previous pregnancies it took several hours to get to 4 centimeters, once there, however, it took approximately 20 minutes to be complete.  I’ve never heard the words “You’re five centimeters now.”  The next words spoken have always been, “Try not to push until the doctor gets here.”  Knowing this, the nurse ordered an epidural right away, began the baby warmer, asked me questions, and completed her shift change all at once.  We noticed right away that the baby’s heartbeat was dropping after the contractions.  She gave me oxygen, changed my position, and reassured us.   

Before the epidural

The anesthesiologist arrived.  He explained that my spine was just off-center and that could account for my previous epidural attempts having failed several times before getting it right.  We prayed for one try.  I didn’t think I had it in me to try more than once.  The delivery versus several epidural tries are a tie for me.  One try and in.  However, it only took on one side of my body.  Which was still enough of a relief that I could ask questions about the blog and care about what Matt was reading to me.  When the dust settled, I had met my new nurse, one antibiotic bag was in, and all was quiet.  As the nurse walked out she looked at the clock, smiled broadly, if a little mischievously, and said, “You get the second IV bag at 10:30a.  If you can make it that long.  See what you can do about that, okay?” 

Epidural Relief

And then we waited.  My parents arrived.  My husband blogged and read to me all your sweet and funny comments.  The baby’s heart rate settled into an overall more calming pattern.  My doctor came, checked me (still at a 3), broke my water, started a little pitocin, and reassured me by letting me know that he’d already done his rounds at the other hospital since I “go so fast” and that he’d be around the rest of the day.  Leaving me with a smile and, “Just give me about 10 minutes to be here, okay?”  Awhile later I remember looking at the clock at about 10a and saying, “I really hope we can get that second bag in the IV and then, really, I’m okay with being done.  Let’s do this already.”  At 10:30 she changed the antibiotic bag and we breathed a sigh of relief.  Matt and I discussed that the day before we were hoping to have had the baby by 3ish or 5ish so that we could go home on Saturday.  The nurse smiled and said she still thought there would be no problem making the 3:00 deadline we had hoped for.  She left the room saying, she’d be back to check me in a few and that she would bring the anesthesiologist to give me one last bigger dose in the epidural before the birth. 

Steady as they come

Within10 minutes of the last of the antibiotic bag dripping out, my contractions changed again.  I noticed my blood pressure was dropping.  Matt was concerned and asked if we should tell someone.  “Eh, wait.”  I said.  “We’ll see how the next one goes.”  With the next one, my moans turned to a near scream.  But when it subsided, I still asked Matt to “Maybe wait, maybe it’s just the epidural, the anesthesiologist is, afterall, on his way.”  On the third one, I asked him to get the nurse.  He stepped to the door to get her.  On the fourth one I told him, not so calmly or quietly, that I had to push.  Once again, they listened.  This part gets hazy for me.  It’s that otherworldly place you go when you have no epidural or the one you have is no longer working.  It’s that place where you’re vaguely aware that there are other people on the planet and that they might possibly be telling you to do something, but you can’t really hear them.  Or care to.  It’s the place where you hope they get the doctor, but even that is barely considered as all you can think about is bearing down with all you have.  Regardless of what they tell you.  I was somewhat aware that there were lots of people in the room.  Missing from the room were my nurse and my doctor.  Matt was to my left holding my hand.  The anesthesiologist, who didn’t get the medicine in time, was sitting on the edge of my bed to my left saying something reassuring like, “Even if your doctor doesn’t get here in time, there are lots of us here, and we can all catch a baby.”  My nurse made it just before the doctor, she checked me, and calmly announced to everyone, no one, anyone but me, because I didn’t really have to be told, “She’s complete.”  Followed by, “Can you breathe like this?”  I tried, but didn’t really care, because I had pushing to do.  And didn’t care who was in attendance.  I’m not sure how loudly I was yelling.  When I asked Matt about it later he smiled and simply said, “You did great, little lady.”  “But how loud was I?  Because I was loud, wasn’t I?  I was screaming, wasn’t I?”  He smiled and said, “You might’ve been a little loud.  But you did so great.  I was so proud of you.”  In the midst of the pushing, my doctor came in, put on gloves and watched as I finished what was begun.  When Matt cut the cord he was shaking so much it was endearing.  He was so overcome with adrenaline and emotion.  It never changes.  Even when there’ve been 5 of them. 

Relief

And then I held him.  And all the fears, pain, and apprehensions that had clouded my ability to think of him clearly fell away.  He was beautiful.  And here.  In my arms.  And nothing else mattered.  Matt kissed my mouth, held my hand, and looked at this beautiful baby with me.  They weighed him, took those precious prints, and gave him back.  And, thus, started a whole new chapter in the Parker Fairytale.

Baby Gear

This was originally posted in November of 2007 – you can read it here with all 18 comments that it illicited at the time.  I saw several of my friends were linking up with this Show Us Your Life BlogHop from Kelly’s Korner  (jump over there and check out what all the other moms say!) and I thought, “Wow, what timing!”  I just pulled this post out the other day to make my list for this new one.  So here it is all over again!

this is for david and jennifer!  they are having their first baby (everyone get ready to welcome anna!) and asked for suggestions here a while back.  hope this helps and feel free to put me on speed dial for middle of the night questions!

this has changed greatly for me since the first baby.  you might say i’ve learned a thing or two.  there are necessities and luxuries.  and i’m learning that much much less actually falls into the necessity category than you would think.  but most people are not quite as overboard about this as i am so i’ll include and review the others as well.

starting with your pack for the hospital bag:

the reality is the hospital is going to supply just about everything you need.  other than the carseat.  everything else is icing.  and having your first child you’ll want some of that icing!

i always carried a paci to the hospital.  (they usually put one in their bassinet) it’s your preference and then eventually theirs.  my first started with nuks and never wavered.  my 2nd wouldn’t take anything as much as i begged him.  my 3rd started with mams (i liked that they didn’t have to get them in the right way – they were always upright) but then she took any kind.  still does.  absolutely does not matter.  my 4th only takes mams.  it never affected my nursing from the first day forward.  i’m sure there are some that it has – it just didn’t mine.

onesies – just go on and buy a million of them.  the actual onesie brands stretch pretty badly, but the child of mine (called body suits) retain their shape pretty well.  (they wrap them in little hospital shirts that you can take home) take with you a special outfit that you want to take them home in.  it needs to be much smaller than you think.  even big babies are tinier than you can imagine the first time.

diapers  – (the hospital supplies you with a whole pack that you get to take home) my favs for newborns arepampers swaddlers.  so soft.  stretchy tabs.  soft tabs that don’t “rub” their belly.  even in our brokest these were my first choice.  after about 2 or 3 months i moved to the cheapest i could get.

bath wash – i have my favorite – off-brand yellow bottle head-to-toe - but that’s entirely up to you.  i do like the pump bottles because you only need one hand to get the soap out and you can keep one hand on the baby.  i loved the soapy cloths when they were first born but definitely a luxury.

lotion – luxury.  but one i still indulge in.  i like the off-brand pink kind.  again, just my preference.

nasal bulb – the best you can find come from the hospital.  they just work better than any on the market.  keep it and wash it.  you’ll use it for a long time to come.

gas drops (mylicon) - have them in your bag from day one.  if it’s not colic and it really is gas – then these are a miracle and you can safely use them from day one.  get the equate.  same stuff, much cheaper.

infant tylenol (not ibuprofen) – also put in your bag from the very beginning.  they’ll tell you to give them to them when they have their first shots.  again, buy equate.

wet wipes – (there are some at the hospital – they’ll let you take them home) my favs for newborns are thenewborn kind.  they really are softer.  and it really does matter early on.  then i moved to the cheapest.  my favorites are still the “pop-up” kind and you can now get the off-brand kind at target in bulk.  my oldest had such sensitive skin that any kind made his rash worse and for a while i made my own out of bounty papertowels and either plain water or water mixed with a little of his baby wash.

wet wipe containers – didn’t really use the warmer we got.  it dried them out and was just more trouble than it was worth.  and, really, a little cold to the bottom isn’t killing anybody.  carry containers – i never could keep up with them and they dried out my wipes in the summer time.  i always use gallon sized ziplocks.  throw in a whole refill pack and you’re good to go for quite a while.

diaper rash creams – as i said before my oldest had such sensitive skin that he would end up bleeding with a rash in no time.  all the time.  we used prescription.  until i found lantiseptic.  miracle.  and one tub will last for ever.  i bought one with my first and i’m still using it 4 babies later.  i only use it when the rash is severe.  or on its way to severe.  the other stuff i just didn’t find effective.  and i liked the lanolin base of lantiseptic.

a hat – they’ll give you one, but you can bring a matching one if you like.

shoes aren’t really necessary until they walk.  my youngest is 8 months old and i just started putting the one pair we have on him.  for looks.  as they get bigger they’ll just kick off socks and shoes and you’ll find yourself increasingly frustrated.  just opt for footed jammies.  if it’s really cold put socks on under the jammies.  i will say, i have heard that bobux (that you can now find at target) are great.  i’ve asked for some for christmas and i’ll review them when we start using them.

you don’t really need a changing table – but if you’re going for the whole nursery thing at least get a good mat (we loved our curved changing table mat) for the top of a dresser.  we just use the bed most of the time.  but when we had one baby and an adorable nursery we used ours always.  it is great for the back when your fresh from the hospital.

diaper genie – we had one with our first.  and we had the newer version this time.  they’re pretty great at first when the poopie stink isn’t so strong.  but they get expensive.  they’re a pain to clean.  and eventually you want that stink to not be there.  every mom i know that’s been around the block says skip on this one, but it’s up to you.  if you think you really want one – borrow or buy from a garage sale – you won’t be out much if you discard it later.

we’ve always loved our pack-n-play.  enough so that when ours broke after 3 children just before the last one was born we went and bought a brand new one.  i used the changing table bassinet combo for all of them. and then still used the playpen for almost 2 years  with each.  we got the eddie bauer this time and a really cheapie graco the first time.  both served their purpose.  but the cheaper was harder to pack up.  so my advice on this one – if you’re going to use it like we do – everyday for 2 years – go large.  buy expensive – you won’t regret it later.

highchair or booster seat.  you’ll need this as they near 6 months.  i’ve used a million different versions and they all were fine.  i’m just not picky on this one.  my favorite was the least changeable.  i loved my wooden old fashioned high-chair.  didn’t recline, didn’t change positions didn’t do anything other than hold baby at the table.  but it sure did look cool.  and when baby furniture becomes part of your decor – your going to want it to blend or be able to get out of the way easily.  and the those big monster ones just didn’t do either.

ergo – absolutely.  can’t say this enough.  i don’t care how much money you don’t have – beg, borrow, steal.  i wish i’d had it from the first child.  and i had baby bjorn.  not the same.  must get the real deal.  today.  do not delay.  i even put my 4 year old in it the other day at the zoo just for kicks and to see if you really could carry what they say you can carry in it.  indeed, you can.  i laughed hysterically, but it is possible.  have more than gotten my money out of it. and still don’t go anywhere without it.

just a couple infant toys.  they won’t care until they’re close to 6 months.  the rattlers are too hard when they don’t have hand control and they’ll just bonk themselves.  a couple of mine teethed so early that they couldn’t hold their own teethers so they were useless.  i just gave them my fingers.  i did always like thosesoft mirrors made for babies.  i haven’t seen a baby yet that hasn’t loved it.

blankets.  my favs were from the hospital.  just the right thickness.  big enough to actually swaddle them. and my friend swears by this swaddler blanket.  if i’d known about it in time, i’d definitely have tried it.

a large waterproof mat.  you’ll use it into the toddler years.  and you’ll wish every surface of your home was covered in this.

strollers – you don’t really need the big combo thing.  use the ergo and you’ll love life so much more.  when they can sit up i love my umbrella stroller.  i got one like this for 5 bucks at a garage sale.  love it.  love how it covers them.  has a basket.  folds.  is easy to push and fits through small spaces, like when you go mall shopping.

a medicine dropper.

a thermometer – i’ve tried most out there.  don’t go glass – the small chance it could break and it’s just plain hard to read in the middle of the night.  tried an ear one.  wasn’t nearly as reliable or easy as the plain old battery ones.  get one with a lighted screen for those middle of the night checks.

the play mats are good, but luxuries.  i wanted a bumbo this time around, but didn’t get one, so obviously a luxury, but one i wanted nonetheless!  the one item i didn’t have this time that i regret and would recommend time and again is the exersaucer.  indispensible.  you can use them from about 4 months to about nine months.  i used mine with the first 3 for longer than that.  much longer.  and even when they could walk they loved to play with it from the outside.  gives you the break you’ll need when you have to run the trash out, do dishes, get a shower, cook, and on and on.

a baby bath -  go as big or as cheap as you like.  i had one that was given to me while i was pregnant with my first and used it all the way through.  when they weren’t big enough to control their movement i put a folded towel in it to soften and mold to their bodies.  but now they have things made just for that.  it’s up to you.

get q-tips and alcohol for that belly-button cord.

get lansinoh lanolin and lansinoh nursing pads – if you plan to nurse (which you should unless you medically can’t!  ;)  )  these were my favs.  (the hospital will give you lanolin usually.)  get a pump.  a hand-held one if you don’t plan to work – get this if you do.  i had one because i had major issues with my second and was determined to nurse through them.  get some good bottles – i have nothing to offer on this.  i never used them.  anyone?  anyone?  you are going to want the hand-held pump even if you don’t pump to bottle feed.  you will get engorged.  you will want comfort.  anyone on the brand?  anyone?  also, call your hospital ahead of time and ask if they have hydra-gels.  if they don’t, go to little rock to expressly for you at baptist and get some.  go to the this part of the site and scroll down to ameda comfort gel pads.  the hospital used them for burn patients and discovered that they ease the pain of early nursing greatly and if you happen to have open sores from early difficulty with nursing they heal them in half the time.  get them.  track them down.  you’ll love them.  also, get a nursing sleep bra like the fancee free one at the store site.  expressly for you has them.  i loved the cotton ones.  buy at least 2 and take them with you to the hospital.  you’ll never want to go back to real bras!

i’m sure i’ll remember more later.  and i’ll follow up with a post about when i did what with what product.  i love to answer questions of just how we do it.  so please ask.  and i love even more, getting good tips from those who’ve been there.  so please offer up!

so to recap:  you need lots of love, a little soap, mega amounts of patience (or at least the desire for it), some sort of diapers, each other, a car seat, a little bit of mercy on yourself and well-meaning others, a lot for grace for one another, a way to feed her, and a mentor you can rely on.