O-R-E-O

Did you know Oreo cookies are dairy free? Well, now you know. I am not a fan of Oreos but when you learn that your diet has to be restricted, you sorta learn to like things you never liked before simply because you can eat them. So I have begun eating Oreos when I want something chocolately, since chocolate has milk in it. I'm actually becoming a fan of Oreos.

I also like coconut milk on my cereal. I buy the vanilla sweetened flavor and I really like it. I think it adds a sweetness to cereal. It's kinda nice.

Maybe I should try the two together? Oreos pair great with milk!

I know I can eat bread!

I'm a carb lover. That's no secret. I love to bake. I love homemade bread. I love cookies. They're just so easy to eat! Not only because they're delicious, but also because they are easy to eat with one hand. Which is pretty much a requirement for my meals. But my newest challenge is that Mr.T likes to be held, and mealtime is his favorite cuddle time.

Mmmmmm cookies!

Galactagogue cookies

Mr. T has been reaching for my food when I'm holding him, not because he wants food, but I think because it's bright and we seem to enjoy it.  I think I will be getting the highchair ready for him very soon. I found a lovely highchair in great condition at an antique store that I plan on sanding and staining or painting. And I found a great idea on Pinterest today. It is one of those, "Why the heck didn't I think of that?!" ideas. It's a momsicle....a breastmilk popsicle. What a great idea. I better get to pumping.

Anyway, since I can't have dairy, but I'm able to have bread, I'm going to keep eating it. Here's a picture of the hamburger buns I made a last night. Easy! They were soft and moist and delicious! They actually had flavor--something I think store bought buns lack. Next time I make them I think I'll add whole wheat flour.

Realizations

Today I realized a few things:

1. My body wash has "hydrolyzed milk protein" in it--I'm not sure if it would affect Mr. T, but I'm not taking any chances. And I want to reduce my chemical use, so that is going to go.  There's all kinds of junk in it I don't really want to use anyhow. 
2. I cannot have pizza until I find cheese that works. We avoid soy, so this could be very tricky.
3. I cannot eat Nutella. I'm not a big Nutella eater anyway, but when I wanted something chocolaty in the past, I turned to Nutella.
4. I have to alter my S'mores ingredients. Not a huge deal as I purchased two cases of semi-sweet (I think) chocolate from Brown and Haley's two years ago. Wouldn't you know, I am still working my way through the 48 bags of chocolate. Although the bags have no ingredients list, so I need to be very careful when I do eat the mystery chocolate.
5. No milkshakes.
6. No frozen yogurt.    

Mr. T rolled over for the second time today. But he was much more purposeful in his movements than the last time. I think we may have a mover very quickly!

Here he is in one of my favorite tees for him, from his aunt Joanna. Funny thing is, I think he was out of room at about 6 months gestation.

Why a Rogue lifestyle?

Tarver Rogue arrived on January 22, 2012. I expected him to change my life, just not so dramatically. When he was about 3 months old, I discovered with the help of my IBCLC sister Brooke, that he had a milk allergy. And by allergy, I mean ALLERGY! His diapers were nasty--mucous filled and sometimes tinged with blood. If "mucousy" doesn't describe it well enough, imagine a snot monster attacked your baby's diaper. Or remember that scene in Ghostbusters where the guy gets slimed with ectoplasm? It looks a lot like that. As a third time mom, I had never seen a diaper like this in my kids. So I was alarmed.

WARNING!!!! GRAPHIC PHOTO OF POOP FOLLOWS!!!!

There. No more poop picture (If you've scrolled properly.)

I'm a breastfeeding, baby-wearing, co-sleeping mama. So my life is now dramatically different. I'm not a milk "drinker" but I do love pizza, ice cream, whipped cream, butter, cereal (with milk), cream cheese, baked goods, and butter. Oh how I love butter. Now, I can't have any of it. NONE of it. No butter. No cheese filled danishes. No whipped cream squeezed into my mouth while hiding behind the fridge door. At least not traditional dairy laden whipped cream. No dairy butter. How am I going to survive!?

When we went to our favorite restaurant Rancho Viejo, a couple weeks ago, I ate something bad. Very bad. I had one of those delicious deep fried tortilla chips sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, drizzled with honey, with a dollop of whipped cream and a raspberry coulee drizzled on top to make it extra enticing. Oh gosh golly darn it all! I forgot about the whipped cream! John reminded me as I had a huge mouthful of delicious Mexican after dinner treat, that whipped cream was in fact dairy! Well, it was too late at that point unless I wanted to gag myself and waste a lovely dinner. So poor Tarver suffered through three or so days of nasty, mucousy poop again. And along with the poop came tummy aches. Poor baby.

Then one day when rushed and hurried and running around like a deep-fried-in-butter-chicken-with-her-head-cut-off, I went to Dairy Queen. Why would any clear thinking, breastfeeding mama with a baby with a dairy allergy go to Dairy Queen? Well I don't know. I'm obviously not a thinker. Anyway, I went through the DQ drive-thru and ordered the delicious fried in fat (not butter) chicken strip basket. Well, I can't have fried chicken without gravy, so I ordered gravy to go with it.  Oh gosh golly darn it all! I forgot once again and ate dairy. The gravy (which probably comes through the back door of DQ in powdered form) is most likely a dairy base. I realized that as I contemplated licking the little Styrofoam chalice that once held my gravy.

So I'm going to blog about Tarver's journey with me in our dairy free lifestyle. I'll include photos of my adorable little man. I'll review products and share recipes.

Welcome to the Rogue Lifestyle!