Ahh, marketing

There is a commercial on television for Nutella, a chocolate hazelnut spread that is quite possibly the most delicious thing you consider a condiment.  What cracks me up about this commercial is how they spin it to make Nutella a healthy food.  Mom is running around, busy, trying to get her kids out the door complaining about how difficult it can be to get them to eat a healthy breakfast.  She goes on to say that she is grateful for Nutella because now she can get her kids the healthy start to the day they need.  By spreading Nutella on whole grain bread.  The kids gobble it up.

Of course they do.  I would eat Nutella spread on a piece of cardboard.  Or shoe leather.  Or a rice cake.  I just wouldn't then turn around and say it is healthy.  Would the same mother allow the kids to put frosting on their bread?  What about melted chocolate?  This commercial drives me so crazy that I looked up the nutrition information for Nutella as well as some other foods.  Allow me to compare.

Nutella has 200 calories and 21 grams of sugar for each serving of 2 tablespoons.

2 tablespoons of chocolate chips has 110 calories and 9 grams of sugar.
2 tablespoons of canned chocolate frosting has 140 calories and 16 grams of sugar.

Now, I fully understand that calories alone don't determine if a food is healthy or not.  Usually I consider fat, protein, fiber and vitamins as well.

Nutella has 11 grams of fat, 3 grams of protein, 1gram of fiber, 4% of your daily requirements of calcium and iron.

Chocolate chips have 5 grams of fat, 1 gram of protein, 1 gram of fiber and 4% daily requirement of iron and 2% calcium.

The frosting has 8 grams of fat, 1 gram of protein, 1 gram of fiber and 4% daily requirement of iron.

After comparing the numbers, I would probably go with the chocolate chips for overall health because of the low fat and calorie count.  I wonder if Nestle should consider marketing chocolate chips as health food.  All they have to do is put them on whole grain bread.

Three songs I really hate

"If I Die Young" by The Band Perry.  Favorite line:  A penny for my thoughts, oh no, I'll sell them for a dollar.  They're worth so much more after I'm a goner.

"Don't Take the Girl" by Tim McGraw.  Quite possibly the whiniest song ever performed.

"Stuck Like Glue" by Sugarland.  Why does she rap?

Too much at once!

At Camille's four month appointment the doctor told us that we should be moving her to her crib and we should stop swaddling her.  Since she was tiny, our experience has been that if she is swaddled, she will sleep longer.  Part of this was probably that they told us to do it in the hospital, Camille is a preemie, and we felt that developmentally, she needed the comfort of the tight swaddle to sleep.  Now, at 12.5 pounds and four months, we are supposed to stop the swaddle so she can comfortably and safely move at night.

We knew that changing her routine so drastically on the night she had her shots was a bad idea, so Bill and I put Camille to bed in her normal routine (swaddle and bassinet) and figured we'd start with the crib tomorrow, get her used to that and then remove the swaddle.

Unfortunately Camille was super fussy last night, woke up early (ironically, she was out of her swaddle for the first time ever) and fussed during her late night feeding.  I made a judgement call and put her in a Halo sleepsack but feared that she would be too cold.  We swapped it for a long-sleeved, fleece sleep blanket and I just put her down so I could pump.

The temperature thing is a problem because Bill and I sleep much better when cool.  I'm afraid without the swaddle she is going to be too cold in just a sleep sack (Halo's are sleeveless).  When we move her out of the crib we can close the heat vent in our room and that might help.

Not sure why I started this blog so early in the morning.  Wish us luck on the sleep-front.  Well, mainly me since I'm the one who suffers if she doesn't sleep well.

'Tis the season!

I've commented before about how stores start putting out Christmas decorations as soon as the month ends in "ber" but once Halloween has passed, nothing is holding stores back from displaying fake trees, ornaments and ads that whip kiddos into a frenzy over the next "it" toy. While I still think it is a little premature to start shopping for holiday decorations, it is not to early to start preparing your holiday cards. Bill and I sent out Christmas cards once with Polly and once with Teddy. Now that we have our little darling, Holiday cards are a must! I love hanging cards on our front door, especially the photo cards, and I want my baby's adorable face to be smiling at all our friends and family this holiday season.

I read about this fabulous offer on one of the blogs I read and am super excited to participate as well. First, because I love free things, and second because I really love Shutterfly. I've ordered photobooks from Shutterfly before and am so happy with them. As a non-scrapbooker, this site is really for me. It is easy to use, produces beautiful results, and takes all the annoying scrapbookiness out of making memory books for Camille. Yay!

Now that we have a baby, we're finding that photo gifts are such a great thing, especially for grandparents. I made photobooks for Camille's baptism for Grandma Micki, Grannie and Grandpa and it was a big hit! There are so many different ways to do it and it is so easy. Be sure to check out some of these cool designs.

While getting this post together, I enjoyed looking through their holiday card collection. (Click that link to see what I'm talking about!)

This was one of my favorites:

I like the classic design and the reference to one of my favorite carols.

For a folded card option, this design caught my eye:

I like how simple it is and non-traditional.

I'm considering using their site for gifts as well and think these calendars will make lovely gifts for family. For the family that reads my blog, try to act surprised! I love that you can print important dates into the calendars, which is helpful for remembering birthdays and other events.

When all your cards and gifts are ready for mailing, print out fun photo labels here. It is so nice to add that personal touch to a card and there are so many creative designs. This was one of my favorites:

For my blogger friends, think about taking advantage of this offer! It is an amazing deal and so easy, promoting a site I love!

So start shopping because those cards need to get in the mail!

Shades of blue

Even though I have 3 months left of maternity leave, I've started thinking about when I go back and what it will mean for everyone - for me, for Bill, for Camille.  I am overwhelmed with the feeling that going back to work is just...wrong.  Camille is so tiny and darn it, she needs me.  Of course she will be well taken care of with Bill, and what a lucky little girl to have her Daddy take care of her for 3 months.  But we're still nursing and the thought of being at work when my little girl needs to eat makes my stomach ache.  I'll be pumping of course, which sets up a whole new pile of anxieties.  Being a working, nursing mom isn't easy for anyone, but being a teacher puts a whole other layer on top of the challenges.  It is recommended that I pump twice while at work.  The only way I can see to do this is to pump during my lunch and during my planning period.  At the moment, these two times are scheduled right next to each other during the day so that won't work.  I'm going to request that my schedule be changed to an early lunch and a late prep and hope for the best.  This morning I pumped for almost 25 minutes.  I have a 30 minute lunch and a 50 minute prep.  I'm taking over Bill's role as team leader while he is on paternity leave because we didn't want to lose the stipend.  That means I have 25 minutes during the day to do all the teacher things I need to do and be team leader.  I really don't see how this is going to work in a way that doesn't leave me a ragged, stressed out mess.  I was never much for staying late at work and that was before I had a beautiful baby waiting for me at home.  Ugh.  I need to push it out of my mind because I have 3 months left with her and I don't want to spend them worried and sick.  

I know millions of moms have done this and it is fine.  I know I will have lots of support from Bill.  I know I'm not the first teacher mom to go back to work while nursing.

But it still sucks.