A must-share recipe

I confess I am a health nut now. So, whenever I discover a recipe that is healthy and as yummy as dessert, I do a little happy dance. I am so ecstatic over this recipe, I decided you have to know about it too. This morning I made whole wheat pumpkin muffins, and boy howdy, did my family enjoy them.  Notice how we already ate half of them (there's a reason why this pic is cropped)?
So, why is this recipe a good fit for our family? Well, other than the obvious good taste factor, we don't eat white-flour products anymore since the body processes white flour like sugar. Also, the use of truvia allows something to taste sugary without actually using sugar.
And while pumpkin has natural sugars, I am able to offset the rise in blood sugar that would occur naturally with this fruit by adding walnuts (the oil and eggs also help with this). 

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Walnut Muffins (yields 12 large muffins):

1&1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 15 oz. can organic pumpkin
1/3 cup canola oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup truvia
2&1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with muffin cups.
In a medium sized bowl, combine wheat flour and baking powder. Stir and set aside.
In a large bowl combine pumpkin, oil, eggs, truvia, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Stir together and then add dry ingredients, a third at a time. After all is mixed together, fold in walnuts. Fill up muffin cups 3/4 of the way. Bake for 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Top momma diva and baby divo products: Part 2 of many

I can't believe I forgot to mention this on part 1 of this series, but this next product was instrumental to my sanity in the first several months of Noah's life.  The Happiest Baby on the Block - The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Baby Sleep Longer (DVD) was a gift from a friend who also happens to be a nurse and the most incredibly patient mother in the world.  This gift to me was such a blessing and gave me the tools I needed as a first time momma to calm my seemingly inconsolable baby down.  Please, please, please take my word that this is a "must buy" for new mommas or at least a "must borrow".
The next item was Noah's favorite for the first 6 months of his life.  The Fisher-Price Rainforest Melodies & Lights Deluxe Gym was a great tool in Noah's physical development.  Noah had a physical therapist come to our home when he came out of the hospital and said this was a great toy to develop fine and gross motor skills.  I am sure there are other great jungle gyms, I just know that Noah loved, loved, loved this toy and had great success with it.  You should check it out if #1 is on the way.  Does your little one have a specific jungle gym that he/she just adores?
The last product I will mention today is not anything new or exciting.  Moms have been using this stuff for decades, but the results don't lie. For Noah's red bottom days, I use Desitin Diaper Rash Ointment Tube - 4 oz.  Because Noah was in the hospital for so long after birth, I was able to use all the hospital's  different diaper rash creams on him and test them out to see what worked best.  I am sure my tests were not exhaustive of all the millions of products out there.  But, for Noah, just the plain old original strength rash ointment did the trick (and still does).  I am sure other moms have found different products work best for their baby's behind, so I'd love to hear what products (or home remedies) you use and why for the sake of my soon-to-be mommy friends.            
 Are there any products that you are curious about and would like me to review?  Let me know.  

Top momma diva and baby divo products: Part 1 of many

Keeping in mind that I am a diva, here are a few baby products that I recommend to the new mom just starting out and making her way through the overwhelming amount of junk baby products one needs for your soon-to-enter baby divo/a.  My first bit of advice is to make a registry at Babies R' Us or Amazon: make other people buy useful items instead of endless arrays of 0-3 month clothing. 
Alright, now that we know you're not footing the bill, you should buy the most expensive items out there, right?  Well, in my experience, the answer is "kind of."  There is a price point that generally reflects ill-made equipment and then there is a price range that reflects quality.  If this is going to be your only child, perhaps you can get away with being el cheapo/la cheapa (my husband is a Spanish teacher, can you tell?), but if you are planning on having more than one baby, I would recommend looking at higher quality as to save yourself money in the long run.  Of course, I am a huge advocate of hand-me-downs, but just be aware that there are certain baby items that should not be handed down due to safety considerations.  Be frugal but protect your baby first!
My first recommendation is a smaller item, but a life saver for breast-feeding Mommas.  Lansinoh Lanolin nursing cream is an absolute must-have if you plan on breast-feeding your baby.  Sorry Ladies, I guess your mom forgot to tell you that breast feeding hurts sometimes.  This is true especially at the beginning and especially if you give birth to a chunky monkey like my Noah who likes to eat and eat.  This cream literally made the difference between me crying and nearly switching to formula to being cheerful and proud to feed my son.  Bring it to the hospital with you and keep it by your bedside.  This will also help breast-pumping moms. 

My next recommendation is a slightly larger purchase: a stroller travel system.  This means a heavy-duty stroller (umbrella strollers = pain n' neck) and a car seat.  I strongly urge you to consider Graco's line of Quattro Travel Systems.   I prefer these systems because the car seats are hard-core and will hold babies rear-facing until they are 30 lbs. while most only hold up to 22 lbs.  My son still fits in his rear facing car seat and he is nearly 17 months (and a big boy for his age).  Also, the stroller is made of remarkable quality and easy to push in all sorts of terrain.  You can certainly purchase a much, much pricier stroller system than this, but my recommendation is to go middle of the road with this item- not too cheap, not too (unnecessarily) expensive.
My last recommendation is an obvious one, but I think important to mention.  Noah is a Pampers baby (no, hippie friends, I did not attempt cloth).  At birth, I had all sorts of diapers given to me for testing.  I tried Luvs, Huggies, generic Walmart brands, and Pampers.  Pampers won hands down, no questions asked.  I admit, they are more expensive.  But, I didn't have to change his clothes when he had a poop explosion and I didn't have to worry about leaks.  Furthermore, I could leave Pampers on him longer because they were more absorbent and thus he used less of them.  If you register for diapers, don't get a huge box of newborns, as your little one most likely grow out of them pretty quickly (unless baby is premature).  I would, however, recommend registering for one large box each of sizes 1-3 to start and then asking for more as presents because, trust me, you will use them.     
I know a lot of you may disagree with what I have recommended, but I am sure my soon-to-be first time mommy readers would love to hear your recommendations.  What diapers do your children use?  What kind of strollers and/or car seats do you recommend?

Who is your CEO?

However offensive the message may seem today, the Bible is clear: women are to be workers in the home.Titus 2:3-5 Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.
Certainly, there are many caveats to these verses, but I hope we can all be mature and I realize that I am not going to address that exhaustive list of exceptions.  The Word of God is clear.
Many young women of my generation feel the pressure of society to ignore God's command to us.  We young ladies were taught in school that we are the same as boys: we can think just like them, act just like them, and at the end of the day we are actually smarter and better than them.
Then, we come to this age where we suddenly discover the reason why we were playing with dolls and/or chasing after boys in the playground: we want to have children.  Even if we hate other people's bratty children, we want our own children.
Then, we begin to realize that the educational system had duped us all along.  Sure, we still deeply believe that we are smarter and more motivated than men, but we also have this annoying nag at our heart-strings as we weigh the advantages versus the disadvantages of day care, breast feeding vs. formula, stretch marks vs. getting a puppy, etc..
When we have weighed these possibilities, that is when we have the wool pulled away from our eyes and we realize we were taught falsely that we can have our cake and eat it too.  We are women and not men.  We are different.  We think differently and we act differently.  We may find a way to manipulate the system so that we can have the cake and eat the cake, but that cake will certainly be store-bought and never made from scratch.
There are reasons why women must work while their child is growing up, but there are, in my opinion, many more reasons why women choose to work unnecessarily.  In my estimation, the most common reason for both types of women comes down to money.  Money is needed to live.  If you don't have any money, certainly you must attain some by working in order for you and your children to survive.  However, many underestimate the net-worth of the stay-at-home mom.  We also greatly devalue obedience to God's word and the calling of raising our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.
You may be saying to yourself, "Well, I can't afford to stay at home with my children."  My question to you is, are you sure you can afford not to stay at home?  In a household where both spouses work, there are many costs that are not associated with a single person worker.  Daycare is the most obvious financial argument for staying at home.  Daycare can range anywhere from $150-$300 a week per child.  Or if you have multiple children and are looking for a Nanny, you are looking at a bear minimum of $300 per week.  So, if you make $7/hour at your employment, you are actually spending more than you bring in.  Or if you make $14/hour (a very typical salary for an American), you are putting about half your income towards childcare.
But childcare is not the only expense to take into account.  Working moms have to pay for work clothing, reliable automobile transportation, restaurant expenses (you're not going to want/have time to cook as often after working all day), professional development, and don't forget that the more money you make the more taxes you will pay (and the more you are supposed to tithe).  At the end of the day, if your family is not bringing in over $100,000/year you may as well take the kids out of childcare and live off one income (as long as that one income is a living wage of course).
As important as the financial reasons for staying at home vs. working full-time can be, this is not the most crucial factor for one's determination.  Obeying God, as impossible as it may seem at times, is always the most important reason for doing or not doing anything.  The Bible is clear that a married woman's calling in life is to love God, love, care for, and obey her husband, and love and care for her children.  Of course, depending on the situation God has placed the specific woman, this love and care will have different manifestations.  However, generally speaking, this manifestation should look like the woman staying at home with her children and being a homemaker.  So, what sacrifices do you have to make to obey God and make the home your priority?  Do you need to sell your house and start renting again?  Certainly that would be humiliating for you, but would this choice be honoring to God?  Luke 9:23 Then he [Jesus] said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
What if this means walking away from a lucrative an powerful career?  Whom do you serve, your God or mammon?
Do you want to raise your children and teach them the statutes and ordinances of the Lord or would you rather ship them off to a nameless worker who will teach them nothing about our God?  Whom does God say is responsible for teaching your children about Him?  Deuteronomy 6:7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 
Remember, your children have souls and one day, when their Maker has called them home, they will enter the gates of glory or be sent down to the pit.  Did you do all you could to raise them to know whom will save them at the gate?  Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.  

Tell me about your story.  Why do you stay at home with your kids?  Do you feel pressure from the world to go back to work?  What did God ask you to sacrifice for the benefit of your children?