View from the Prairie Box

Gail Buckner hits the nail on the head with this article about how possessions actually can’t buy you happiness. The line that drew me in? “Once the gifts have been torn open, are you left with an emotional hangover, a sense that, despite all your careful preparations, there’s still something missing.” Um, sometimes, yeah. It’s a good reminder to focus on keeping the important things important.

I’ve been ruminating on this gift list for some time, considering the gifts that have been tremendous blessings to Jeremy, Livia and me. Today I was spurred on to compose the list by an exciting announcement on Moot Thoughts and Musings (congrats, again!).

Pottery Barn Kids Chamois Blanket
Thanks to my friend Kara for giving this fabulous blanket to Livia. It’s incredibly soft, nice and warm, and has her name embroidered on it so no one in the Zion Church nursery can claim it. Hee hee.

Baby Spoons and Disposable Bowls with Lids
A church friend gave us a sweet gift bag with three disposable baby food bowls with lids, and an entire set of baby spoons—all of which came in handy during Livia’s fifth month. I recently purchased a set of miniature round Gladware containers, perfectly sized for a one-two ounce portion of baby food.

Baby Food
If you want to go even further with the baby food idea, fill a basket with a few jars of stage 1 or 2 Gerber foods, little spoons, disposable containers and a copy of Mommy-Made by Martha Kimmel. If you really want to go the extra mile, toss in an ice cube tray for a new mom who wants to puree and freeze her own baby foods.

Diapers and Wipes
Another church friend gave us a large package of disposable diapers and a huge box of baby wipes at Livia’s shower. This was perhaps the smartest gift we received. Even moms who use cloth diapers will benefit from this gift and thank you for saving them time and money in diaper expenses!

Standard Socks of All Sizes
For some reason I think Livia should still be able to fit into her teeny newborn socks, but the telltale rubber band marks on her ankles after she wears them make me think differently. I’m all the time digging for new socks and hoping I don’t have to buy more. Socks are good.

Onesies for Future Days
Babies grow SO FAST. Before you know it, a 7lb, 8oz babe is 14lb, 9oz and can no longer fit the 0–3 month onesies. And onesies are so stinkin’ practical… Livia lived in them all summer long and now they add an extra layer of warmth to her winter dress. We couldn’t get along without the ol’ onesies. A fun gift would be onesies of the same color for an entire year.

Books
My best girlfriends threw us a book shower last July and it was a wonderful idea. We got this book and this one, this one and someday (when Charity remembers to give it to Liv) this one, which is lots of fun. I want to encourage my kid to be a reader so books are a must-have!

Baby Einstein Play Gym
Auntie Bean gave this play gym to Livia and it has fascinated her since day one. Another great play gym we enjoy is on loan from Mr. Calvin Baker. I’m not sure which kind it is, but it fold up really nicely and can be seen in this blog post.

Before she was convicted, Martha Stewart received my sympathies. Though I’m all for justice, I felt weird about this domestic diva serving a prison sentence—and today it seems even weirder that she’s actually in jail. Don’t get me wrong, I believe she was guilty of a crime and is rightfully paying the due penalty. I can’t help, though, but be impressed by her straightforward approach to serving her time and regaining her freedom. I actually think she’ll be just as popular and successful as ever once her incarceration is over.

Jeremy and I have been watching a lot of movies lately. It’s that time of year where it’s too cold to go outside at night for walks around the neighborhood or for gardening in the backyard. Also, the sun goes down around 5:30pm, turning our living room into a cozy haven of warmth and light which we don’t enjoy leaving for more than a few minutes to run to Blockbuster (and maybe to get some ice cream). Jeremy’s into a good book right now, but I’m not, plus movies are something fun we can enjoy together. Unlike someone else I know, I am most definitely not a movie reviewer… But here’s what I think about what we’ve seen recently:

Super Size Me
Did you know most fast-food hamburger patties are composed of the meat of thousands of cattle? This tidbit comes from a special feature on Super Size Me where Morgan Spurlock (director, writer and experiment-conductor) sits down with Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, and just so you know, I find this piece of information very gross. I will credit this documentary with helping to knock me off my fast food habit, the one where I absolutely crave McDonalds and can’t be satisfied with any other hamburger. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for this restaurant… I have fond memories of dining in Ronald McDonald land as a kid, sitting on a fake stump under a fake tree, eating the hamburger patty solo when I didn’t like the buns. Oddly enough, its greasy food has always been desirable to me even when all other foods caused nausea; I ate a cheeseburger All-American meal on my wedding day when my tummy was rocking crazily with anxiety. But, supposedly, all good things come to an end, so I thank Mr. Spurlock for pushing me over the edge. And when I begin to crave the golden arches again? Then I’ll read Mr. Schlosser’s work.

The Terminal
This movie got knocked by several critics and called slow and unimpressive by others, so we skipped watching it until now. But really, I thought it was great. Tom Hanks was fun to watch and the plot was interesting enough to keep me engaged. My favorite moment during the film? When Jeremy says, “Hey, that looks like that one actress!” Me: “Catherine Zeta-Jones?” Jeremy: “Yeah.” Me: “It is Catherine Zeta-Jones.” Jeremy: “Oh.” I think her bangs threw him off.

The Last Castle
Brook keeps adding to her DVD collection and every so often we enjoy a free movie, so this is one of her recommendations. I can’t say I would purchase it (though I’m glad YOU did, Brook!) but it was enjoyable to watch. For the past few years I’ve been really interested in the military, so the notion of a military prison, and a three star general who was sent there, intrigued me. Robert Redford and James Gandolfini were okay in their roles. I really like Mark Ruffalo, though, and imagine I’d watch him in just about anything.

Cheaper by the Dozen
No, I haven’t seen the original movie, and no, I’ve never read the book. I went into this flick (a recent Blockbuster purchase) with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. It made me laugh. It made me think with fondness about family. It made me appreciate Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt for their comedic abilities. It was fun! This is the kind of movie a diverse audience can watch, which make it a decent addition to our DVD library.

Pieces of April
This film has been added to my Top Ten favorite movies. I’m not sure what the other nine are but give me some time and I could name a few. I love this movie. I love the pacing. I love the storyline. I love the yellowed camera shots and the sometimes crooked camera angles. I especially love the acting. Patricia Clarkson and Oliver Platt give standout performances and Katie Holmes partially redeems herself for all those years of Dawson’s Creek. If you want to know what kind of movie I like, well… this is it. Good stuff.

Green beans? Check.
Cranberries? Check.
Sweetened condensed milk? Check.
Canned pumpkin? Check.
Sweet potatoes? Check.
Butter? Sugar? Flour? Check. Check. Check.

I’m in the holiday spirit! Christmas lists are ready to go. I’m picking up my tree tomorrow. Livia and I sang along to Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas after we finished grocery shopping this morning.

I love this time of year.

“If I were a buoy, where would I be?” Uttered upon arrival at a “Detour” task by one, now eliminated, teammate.

“It’s so cold my implants are frozen!” I think the Hollywood chicky said this. And yes, I was surprised she said that on national television.

“I’d rather put that in a martini.” Endearingly said after Grandpa of the grandma/grandpa team climbed an ice wall with pick axes and ice shoes.

Though I’m glad the father/daugher combo stayed in the race, I was sad to see the guys from Brooklyn eliminated on the first leg. They were funny and kinda sweet—and goodness knows funniness and sweetness is needed in this game because we’re stuck with the asinine behaviors of Jonathan (how Victoria remains married to him, I do not know) and Lori the Professional Wrestler. Sigh. Boo hiss to Rebecca’s lack of knowledge of T.A.R. history—you ALWAYS check to see if your car takes diesel or regular gasoline! Hello?! She and Hellboy are lucky to still be in the game. And whichever guy that was that waved the college roommates in the wrong direction (some of the guys look alike at this stage in the race), you’re a jerk who should’ve kept his hand in the car… Poor college roommate girls. Thumbs up to the grandparents who climbed the ice wall and kept up with their competition and a bigger thumbs up to all the teams who maintained positive outlooks and enjoyed the natural beauty all around while still racing. I think T.A.R. teaches a lot of “life lessons”. But that’s another post for another day.

Considering the fact that Thanksgiving is a mere 6 days away, I need to clarify some issues related to diabetes and food.

Type 1 diabetes is what I have. It will not go away without a cure (or a pancreatic transplant) and the only method of treatment is insulin. Type II diabetes is probably what many of our grandparents and parents have. [Another pseudo science lesson…] Over time the pancreas can become fatigued, by weight or old age or weight AND old age, and it decreases its insulin output. At this point one will usually be diagnosed with Type II diabetes and put on a diet, pills, and perhaps insulin. Sometimes Type II can be completely avoided by weight loss and diet, sometimes it cannot.

What I’m trying to say is, be kind to your Grandma this Thanksgiving. If she is Type II, she might be incredibly tempted to eat that sweetened cranberry sauce, a few handfuls of sugar-coated pecans, a piece of pumpkin pie after the meal and a piece of spice cake for a snack. Here’s how you can help… Prepare a recipe using Splenda or Equal. Honor that Type II (and encourage a Type I) by making a sugar-free gelatin/fruit salad, a sugar-free pumpkin pie, or sugar-free cranberry sauce.

As a newly diagnosed diabetic, and as a lifelong sweet tooth, I found my first holiday season to be really tough. (Remember, at that point I was on a strict diet.) One of the most gracious, most loving acts anyone did for me was to bake several batches of sugar-free Christmas cookies. God bless Diane Downing for blessing me that way. Her kindness still brings tears to my eyes.

When she was about 5.5 months old we introduced Livia to solid foods. We decided to wait a little longer to start this process because 1) I wasn’t really ready for it and 2) it may prove to be a wise move when it comes to food allergies. Like I said in Livia’s sixth month letter, she loved the rice cereal and instantly was a good eater. So I mixed in a little apple/prune juice—and how could she not love that? I’ve been reading this book called Mommy-Made about making your baby’s food, so my next move was homemade sweet potato puree. (It’s so simple to do this and I’m happy knowing Livia’s eating fresh food with no preservatives.) So one night found me slaving away in the kitchen—microwaving, blending and mashing through a sieve this gigantic sweet potato. I then froze little dobs of it in an ice tray for convenient storage and packaging. And Livia? She loved the sweet potatoes… for two days. Day three saw instant rejection. What you see on her face in these photos is acorn squash. Again, a mommy-made specialty. And again, a baby-rejected mommy-made specialty. The kid gagged her little heart out with the acorn squash. So for now I’m trying to fool her by mixing the veggies in with cereal—and so far it’s working.

Motherhood is fun.