On Films

Since joining the ranks of parenthood hubby and I have watched more movies than i can count or remember the titles of...
Here are a few of them

Some Good Movies................................. Some Bad Movies
1. Half Nelson...................................................... 1. Art School Confidential
2. Babel ................................................................2. Larry the Cable Guy* not my thing- Gav liked it
3. Little Miss Sunshine.......................................3. Brick
4. Missing in America ........................................4. I love your work
5. Water............................................................... 5. The DaVinci Code
6. The Devil Wears Prada (sort of good/bad) 6. Failure to Launch
7. Running with Scissors.................................... 7. The Family Stone
8. RV

Movies I have seen with the little guy
Good.........................................Not so good
1. Happy Feet.....................................The Illusionist
2. Because I said so............................The Prestige
3. 007 Casino Royale.........................The Departed
4. You me and Dupree.......................The Breakup
5. Dreamgirls.......................................The Guardian
6. The Holiday
7. Step Up
8. Stranger than Fiction

Stolen from Jill. Just to show how "well read" i am (insert eye rolling here)
1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee) READ IT
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery) READ IT
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry) READ IT
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling) READ IT
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling) READ IT 14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving) READ IT
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden) READ IT
16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Rowling) READ IT
17. Fall on Your Knees(Ann-Marie MacDonald) READ IT (WELL 1/2 OF IT)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling) READ IT
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien) READ IT
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold) READ IT
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams) TRIED TO READ IT
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom) READ IT
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett) READ IT
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay) READ IT
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb) READ IT
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant) READ IT
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini) READ IT
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella) READ IT
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom) READ IT
45. The Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt) READ IT
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb) READ IT
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver) READ IT
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald) READ IT
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling) READ IT
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough) READ IT
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood) READ IT
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolsoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje) READ IT
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. Tigana (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving) READ IT
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer) READ IT
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)READ IT
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield) READ IT
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

On Breastfeeding

Before my son was born I was sure I wanted to breastfeed. I was convinced about the positive aspects of nursing and was not going to pollute my son's body with nasty formula. Then the birth happened. My first attempt at nursing him was not a success. He just wouldn't latch and I wasn't producing any milk yet. I was very upset, angry and frustrated. The nurses at the hospital were not very helpful. One nurse instructed me to do this, the other said do that and yet another said "now this is the right way to do it". A good friend, and hardcore breastfeeding advocate came to the hospital and made many attempts at assisting me to get it right. We tried tube feeding, taping a tube to my nipple and putting Elie on my breast this way, NOTHING, we tried feeding him with a syringe and still nothing. Another friend, who is a registered nurse, tried to help me over the phone. It was very hard, and very very painful. I was becoming discouraged and the hospital was very quick to hand me bottles of formula, which they informed me i needed to give my little boy as he would become dehydrated and lose too much weight. Reluctantly I succumbed to their nudges. After 3 days at the hospital they discharged us and sent us away with a box of formula, bottles, a few nipples and absolutely no knowledge on how to properly breastfeed. I was devastated. My husband being the great man that he is, found as much information as he could find on breastfeeding clinics and lactation consultants, then called them all until he found someone to come over to our house ASAP. Since I had had a c-section it was impossible for me to go to one of the free clinics and it also appeared that there was a long wait to see anyone there...we paid the fairly high price for the most wonderful LC to come and help me. She did a fantastic job and I have referred her to several new moms as I am now a keen advocate of breastfeeding too. It was worth every cent to have her come to our assistance. During the process of learning what techniques worked for me and my baby and talking with Timea the LC, I was told that formula should only be given to moms by prescription. I thought that was a little harsh and fanatical but now after almost 9 months of breastfeeding I believe this is true.
Of course there are days when I feel like a dairy cow and wish that I could stop breastfeeding but I know that I am giving my son the absolute best start in life and there is no way powder manufactured in a factory can be as healthy and nutritious as milk produced by my body made for my baby.
What started out as a terrible nightmare has become one of the most positive experiences for me as a mother. In the beginning I thought my nipples would come right off they were in so much pain but using the breathing techniques I learned at prenatal class helped me though it. I was sure I was going to have a nervous breakdown due to being so torn on what to do about feeding my son. I wanted to breastfeed him so badly but it wasn't coming naturally and it seemed like the hospital had some sort of conspiracy with the formula companies so that new moms would feel like formula is easier than feeding the natural way. Through persistence, and lots of help from friends and a great LC I was able to grant myself the wish to breastfeed. I just wish more new moms out there did the same as me.
Remember Breast really is Best!!!

good stuff about me, not so good stuff about me..

Inspired by Jill's posting I thought I'd try to think of 10 things in total (not so sure I could come up with 10 of each today-feeling really crappy)

5 good things about me

1. I make friends easily
2. I am a good money manager- i can save better than many people i know
3. I am a good cook and like to cook for others
4. I have an amazing memory- if you tell me something once I will usually remember it-so be careful!!!
5. my husband and my baby are the most important things in the world to me- iwould walk to the ends of the earth for either of them

5 not so good things about me

1. I am a little lazy
2. my house is never as clean as I think it should be
3. I can be a little cheap- i like to save money and worry that money will run out so i don't spend it easily
4. I am too sensitive and take things way too personally at times
5. I am a terrible sick person- if i'm not feeling well you'll all know about it!!

food meme

1. What's your #1 comfort food? any type of soup. My new favourite is sweet potatoe and carrot soup
2. If you were on a deserted island, what one food would you want to have with you? carrots- i can eat them day in a day out and they are soo filling and yummy raw!
3. What is/are your signature dishes? (What dishes are you 'known' for?) well i make amazing zuccini muffins, excellent tillapia and this nice couscous dish with dried cranberries
4. It's Friday night, you don't know what to cook. You opt for...stir fry with sweet and sour sauce
5. What's your biggest weakness when it comes to food? carbs- i love bread and crackers
6. What food can you absolutely not eat? caviar- i have tried but just don't like it
7. You need a drink. You grab a-diet coke or a coffee
8. What's the most decadent dish you've had? seafood lasagna with bechemal sauce-DELISH!!
9. What's your favorite type of food? Korean or a close second is sushi
10. Favorite dish? Soon tubo chigae (tofu stew-very spicy and yummy
11. If your partner could take you to any restaurant you wanted, which one would it be? Tavern on the green in NYC...just because it's so famous
12. Are you a soup or salad person? definitely love making and eating soup, but do like nice crispy salad too
13. Buffet, take-out or sit-down restaurant? depends on my mood but usually sit-down as I always overeat at buffets-but i do like the fact that you can taste a little of everything
14. What's the most impressive dinner you've ever made? let's start with dessert- chocolate covered strawberries, sole with yogurt dill sauce, carrot califlower soup and moroccan couscous
15. Do you consider yourself a good cook? pretty good but i have to be in the mood to cook
16. Do you know what vichyssoise is? of course- soo yummy in the summer when it's really hot and you don't want hot soup
17. Who's your favorite TV cook? i don't have one
18. Can you name at least three TV cooking personalities? Rachael Ray (her annoying big mouth makes me cringe) Emeril ( i know he's passe but BAM I still like him) and Bobby Flay
19. Homemade or homemade from a box? Homemade no doubt
20. Name 3 or more other foodies you are going to tag. Danielle, Karen and anyone else who wants to do this silly meme :)