Ten reasons why moms should never have to be sick

Ten grossly under-represents the reasons why moms should never be sick, but for the sake of brevity, we'll go with it. And we'll do it Letterman style.

10. There is nobody to take care of you. When dad is sick, you baby and pamper and wait on him. When you're sick, dad has to work -- and somehow, babying and pampering and waiting on yourself just doesn't seem to have the same effect.

9. Even though it feels like the world should stop and wait for you to catch up ... it doesn't. And it won't. And in the weeks after your recovery, you'll still struggle to get back to "normal" (whatever the heck that is).

8. Mom's tend to feel like they're not doing a great job even when they're in prime, tip-top condition. Factor in a dash of sickness and stir it up with motherly insecurities and you've got a big ol' pot of crazy about to boil over.

7. There are no magical nymphs to help you with the cleaning while you're sick. The magical nymphs that you wish would do all the cleaning on your sick days have a tendency to take the same days off.

6. The words, "I'm sick," mean one thing to your toddler: Mommy obviously needs more hugs and kisses. Which is really cute, except when said toddler jumps on top of your aching stomach to give you a big smooch on your pounding head.

5. A mom's dues should be considered "paid" whenever her kiddos are sick. You already get to clean up everyone else's bodily expulsions.

4. Your infant will do everything in his or her power to make sure you are never without a friend to commiserate with -- even at all hours of the night.

3. Barney may help with the babysitting, but after a couple days, it feels like Barney has sat on your brain. And squished it.

2. Your children will blow-out of their diapers Every. Single. Time. Why? Because you're sick. Even if they're not.

1. You will never, EVER, be able to find a good enough excuse for your toddler to explain why you're lying on the floor and not playing toys. Said toddler will have cures for every ailment, refutes for every excuse, and if those fail, said toddler will sit on your head. And pinch you. While yelling, "MOMMY WAKE UP!"

In case you couldn't guess ... I was sick last week. Oh, what fun it was!

Not.

But you know what? I still love being a mom ... even if it's significantly less enjoyable when I'm sick, it's still the best job in the world. And I wouldn't trade it. Ever.

Now, for your viewing pleasure:

Peyton LOVES playing "mato" (I think he confuses potato and tomato).

My little cutie. 

Brad LOVES his big brother. And Peyton loves Brad, too. 

Oh, yeah ... I got straight bangs. And I love 'em. 

Me and my cute boy #2. 

Chipotle black bean burgers with cilantro-lime mayo

I tweaked this recipe a little to make it more "us." I also added in the most amazing mayo recipe ever from here (P.S., I absolutely LOVE Our Best Bites' Southwest Burger recipe [referenced in the previous link]. Eat it. It's good. It's meaty. It's amazing). Enjoy!

Chipotle black bean burgers:

• 1 15 oz can reduced sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into 2" chunks
• 1/2 onion, cut into 4 wedges
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 egg
• 1 T chili powder
• 1 T cumin
• 1 chipotle pepper canned in adobo sauce 
• 3/4 C plain bread crumbs
• 8 whole wheat hamburger buns
• 3 avocados, mashed

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Mash beans in a bowl with a fork until thick and pasty. 

Blend bell pepper, onion, garlic, egg, cumin, chili powder and chipotle pepper in a blender or food processor. Stir blended mixture into beans. Add bread crumbs as needed until the mixture holds together. Shape into 8 patties. Place on baking sheet and cook for 11 minutes on each side. 

Serve on buns with avocado and cilantro-lime mayo (two "musts"), tomato, pepper jack cheese, and whatever else your heart desires! 

Mayo:

• 1/4 C mayonnaise
• 1 t lime juice
• 3/4 t adobo sauce (from canned chipotle peppers)
• 1 T fresh cilantro, finely chopped

Combine ingredients in a small bowl and stir. Store in the fridge until your burgers are ready for consumption.  

Nutrition information includes the hamburger buns, mashed avocado and cilantro-lime mayo.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 208 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 356 Calories from Fat 154

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 17.1g 26%

Saturated Fat 2.7g 13%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 23mg 8%

Sodium 315mg 13%

Total Carbohydrates 44.5g 15%

Dietary Fiber 11.5g 46%

Sugars 5.6g

Protein 10.5g

Vitamin A 14% • Vitamin C 31% Calcium 11% • Iron 19%

Nutrition Grade A-

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• Low in cholesterol
• High in dietary fiber

Whole wheat pancakes with mashed berries

Another Whitney original!

Whole wheat pancakes with mashed berries:

Makes 10 pancakes

• 1 1/4 C whole wheat flour
• 2 t baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 C milk, 1%
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1 1/2 T sugar
• 1 1/2 t vanilla
• 2 C frozen berries, thawed and mashed

Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk until blended. Mix in the egg, milk and vanilla and stir until combined. Cook on a griddle at medium heat (about 350 degrees). Serve topped with the mashed berries. 

FYI, the nutritional info below is calculated on a per-pancake basis. I wanted to know how many calories each pancake was giving me, rather than a tricky division of portions. The second set of nutrition facts is for the pancakes AND the berries, combined. With the topping, each pancake only sets you back ~100 calories. Awesome! 

I would love some ideas for adding more fiber to the pancake batter. Feel free to leave comments with suggestions any time! I'm always looking for healthy, delicious tweaks to recipes.

Pancakes:

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 49 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 84 Calories from Fat 7

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 0.8g 1%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 18mg 6%

Sodium 134mg 6%

Total Carbohydrates 15.9g 5%

Dietary Fiber 0.6g 3%

Sugars 3.3g

Protein 3.0g

Vitamin A 1% • Vitamin C 0% Calcium 8% • Iron 5%

Nutrition Grade C+

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• Low in saturated fat
• High in phosphorus
• High in selenium

Pancakes with berries:

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 76 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 98 Calories from Fat 8

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 0.9g 1%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 18mg 6%

Sodium 134mg 6%

Total Carbohydrates 19.3g 6%

Dietary Fiber 1.6g 7%

Sugars 5.3g

Protein 3.2g

Vitamin A 2% • Vitamin C 10% Calcium 8% • Iron 6%

Nutrition Grade B-

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• Low in saturated fat
• High in phosphorus
• High in selenium

Bad points

• High in sugar

First things first: Christmas Happenings

I have a couple updates to make on here, but I'll start with all the Christmas cheer. I know it's hard to believe I'm still here and blogging after my extended vacay from the aforementioned, but I haven't given up on my renewed enthusiasm for keeping this thing updated. Yet.

We headed up to Kansas City to visit my family in mid-December. We missed the last of the Texas warmth while we were there, but it was well worth it. 

It was good to hang out with the sibs and the mom (and for Peyton, the dog). Even though they had school and work (other than Brady, but given his wisdom teethlessness, he was unnaturally subdued), we still had a lot of fun! Peyton enjoyed his first snow experience while my love for Texas was simultaneously renewed. I'm much more content to TRAVEL to the snow. I don't like when it travels to ME. Yes, I have taken to Texas quite nicely. 

Brad meets Great Grandpa Felshaw.

Usually Brady had the blanket OVER his head. Perhaps he did so to prevent photographs such as this? 

It's Shadow!!

Brad did NOT appreciate Peyton's snow-frozen hands on his face. At all. 

Sweet little content Brad. 

Santa Grandpa! 

Santa Baby and Santa Old Man. ;-)

Bridging the generational gap. 

The flights there and back were easy for me (I had Brad, who slept the whole time), and hard for Dan (he had Peyton, who missed naps and definitely didn't sleep on the plane). 

We got back in time for me to sing in the ward Christmas program. Dan's parents and Seth arrived the same day as we did. On Christmas Eve, we headed up to Nicole and David's house and had a very enjoyable time there, too. Peyton was in present heaven and was so overwhelmed with the awesomeness of all his gifts, that he felt the need to spread it out over a week. He literally opened 2-3 presents a day for about 4 days (his grandparents were very accommodating in the present department). Brad was his awesome chill self the whole time. Peyton his rambunctious, never-sitting-still-self. It was nice to be able to spread out through a nice big house instead of cooped up in a tiny apartment. 

While we were at Nicole and David's we enjoyed some football (to Peyton and Dan's delight), played lots of games, ate waaaaay too much food, and saw Les Miserables. Dan, Seth and their dad went to a Mavs game. I went shopping. And really, we did a lot of relaxing ... which was ... relaxing. And awesome. 

Merry Christmas! 

Seth stayed in that pink blanket the whole week. 

I sure do love my boys. 

Grandma and Grandpa. 

Grandma and her grandsons! 

So ... maybe I had a little more fun with Peyton's train set than he did. And so what if I waited until he was napping to play with them? 

Peyton: "I share with Bradley!"
Such a good big brother. 

Who'da thunk we'd have a white Christmas in Texas? Not me! 

That about sums up the festivities. 

Oh yeah, New Year's Eve. Didn't make.it. Dan was in bed by 10 p.m., me by 11. I did drink some  Martinelli's (the REAL amber elixir, no matter what my family says about Dr. Pepper). And I won at Crazy Rook. 

Now back to real life! The end.