Taco Dorados

One of my husband's favorite childhood meals in called Taco dorados. For all you english speaking folk out there, this means fried tacos.  Now, lets not get it twisted, I am no mexican cook. I don't cook great authentic mexican food, after all I am just a simple girl from Maine. However, I cook a MEAN taco dorados. Follow this recipe and you too shall pass as an authentic mexican woman for a slight second of your life.

PS. Don't judge this until you try it. The ingredients all seem a bit strange for a taco. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Ingredients:
5 potatoes
2 medium sized red onion
10 limes
1 T crushed red pepper
1 t salt
2 cooked chicken breast (shredded)
1/2 cup milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
20 corn tortillas (about)
2 cups vegetable oil
Siracha sauce (to liking)


For the marinated onions to top tacos
Slice both red onions as thin as you can get them. Place onions in bowl or large ziplock bag. Squeeze each lime onto onions until onions are swimming in lime juice. Add salt and crushed peppers. Let mixture marinate in refrigerator all dat long or about 8 hours until they become soft.

Tacos
Preheat oven to lowest oven temp (mine is 170) Cut potatoes into fourths and boil until soft. Once soft, mash up with milk. Once fully mashed, add in shredded chicken and mix well.

Heat oil in large skillet. Once hot, add corn tortilla and immediately fill with chicken mixture topped in 1 T cheese per taco.  Fold over each taco.

Let taco fry in oil for about 2-3 mins per side or until golden brown. Flip for another 2-3 min on other side. Once each side is golden brown, place taco on baking sheet in pre heated oven to keep warm.

(Please note: in the below picture I am in full work uniform, as I never seem to change out of it until bed time- and I am holding my hair up with a chip bag clamp. Judge me later please)

Repeat until all mixture is used. Now it's time to get serious. To serve taco: top with marinated onion mixture and Siracha sauce to your liking.

Enjoy this Velazquez family favorite recipe! Do you feel Mexican yet? I know always feel a little mexican when I make it.

What's your favorite childhood recipe? I LOVE getting new recipes!

How to make your house appear clutter free

There is a few things I HATE in this life. I don't use the word hate often, but with these cases I do.

1. When I run out of shampoo and forget to restock and I realize it when I am already in the shower
2. Tripe
3. Clutter
4. Sunglasses at night

Lets take a moment to chat about clutter. I hate it, I despise it, but somehow every house seems to have some of it. When you have a family, way too many toys, and bills for that fact, clutter is inevitable. No matter what, things just seem to pile up don't they? You clear the counter where everyone seems to put their crap and BADABING BADABOOM, more crap is back. Below is what I do to contain the clutter the best I can:

• Make woven baskets your friends. You can place baskets in an area where no storage exist and there you have it, instant storage! The cheapest baskets I have found are at TJ Maxx. I use baskets to hide the following: misc electrical cords that i have no idea what they belong to, books, games, movies, toys and more toys. Baskets just look classier than other storage options. 

• Put all of your bills in one place. This way you know where they are at all times when you decide to go pay em all. This eliminates bills piled on your kitchen table, on your counter, in your room, on your bathroom sink etc. etc. The only downside to this is that your bills will stare at you in the face. I hate when bills stare at me in the face, I get all uncomfortable and feel the need to pay them pronto.  See pic below. I have all my bills in one cute little . .you guessed it, woven basket. I also put all the junk here that I don't know where else to put it. You will see a dog brush, head lamp, KFC coupon, and nail file all in one handy spot. 

• Have a coat/hat rack. I really dislike the look of coats/sweaters stacked high on the backs of chairs or on the part of the couch that no one sits on. I also hate finding hats stacked all over my house. Javy has a hat on the bathroom sink right now. I am seeing how long it takes him to put it where it really belongs. It's been awhile, I don't think he gets my point. I like them all to be in one place. This makes a house look SO much more neat!!!

• Put shoes where they belong. Have a designated spot for shoes. Don't leave your shoes piled in your entry way, this just looks messy. No one needs to see your dirty smelly shoes anyway right? You will not believe how pleasant your entryway will look with NO shoes in the way! PS. Trust me I tried to use a woven basket as my shoe bin. This was not a success. The shoes ended up breaking right through it.

• Have a designated key spot. This is one tip that I do not practice what i preach. I ask my husband where my keys are at least 3 times per week. He never does know where they are but I always feel the need to ask him. 9 out of 10 times they are lost in my diaper bag/purse. However, It's a great idea to have a designated spot for keys. A counter looks like it has so much more clutter when there are keys lying around. Please disregard Venom and Spiderman hanging from my key rack. Welcome to the home of a 4 year old.

• Organize your bathroom drawers. Come on, we all know that when you go to someones house you look in their bathroom drawers/cabinets and see what kind of good stuff they have . .right? Please tell me it's not just me who does that. I'm not the only creeper right? Right?! I use plastic dollar store bins and of course woven baskets to organize mine. This way no one can snoop through my drawers and say to themselves "OMG Tracy's house is neat but her drawers are a hot mess" PS. don't judge me by the massive amounts of toothpaste I have. Don't ask. I don't have an answer.

• Make your kids put away toys when they are done using them. Have a toy box big enough to store all of their toys. If you don't, it's probably time to get rid of some. Have a spot for every toy. No one wants to be tripping over Thomas the train or My little Pony right?

• Just throw things away! If you don't need it, or if you haven't used it in at least 30 days, get rid of it. You will forget you threw it away in about 30 seconds.  I am the opposite of a hoarder. I LOVE throwing things away. This also gives me an excuse to buy something new. Ohhh bummer, my oven mitt got spaghetti sauce on it? Darn, I guess it's time to go to Homegoods and find a new one. 

These are just a few of my clutter free tips. Do you have any that work for you? What are they, I'd love to hear! Do they involve woven baskets?  . . . .Yeeaahhh I thought so!!

Nutella cookies

Javy came home from hunting 1 day early.While both kids were napping Javy asked me to help him unpack the cooler. He put the cooler in the middle of the kitchen so it would annoy me and I would unpack quickly instead of letting everything rot in the garage. (I did that last time)

Now look at this picture of the inside of the cooler. What do you notice first? Was it the Nutella? Yeah me too. I was instantly like a dog who saw a squirrel. I was completely distracted by a container of Nutella. I had to eat it. First I made a Nutella sandwich, then I decided to make cookies.

For these cookies you will need:

• 1 cup Nutella
• 1 cup flour
• 1 egg

Can this be any easier? Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix together all ingredients

Once mixed roll dough into 1 inch round balls and place on greased cookie sheet

Flatten balls using the bottom of a glass into the cookie sheet

Place these bad boys in your pre heated oven for 6-8 minutes (I did 8 minutes). Let cool. 

Now it's time to enjoy this easy, tasty treat!

Lessons of being a temporary single mom

When my husband told me he was taking time off from work to drive 10 hours south to the great forests of southern Colorado for 5 days, my heart sank. Really, 5 days? He couldn't possibly want to sleep in a tent and have no shower for that long? I have never been away from him for more than 3 days in the 8 years we have been together. Add 2 kids, a house, a dog and a full time job into the mix . .I was picturing my slow demise in those 5 days.

Wait it gets worse . . .Javy abruptly changed his mind and decided he would be gone 7 days in the dark, cold woods. That was it. Those 7 days would get the best of me. Javy would absolutely be coming home to a completely mentally unstable wife. Here are the lessons I learned while being a single mom for 1 week.

• My patience is thin to begin with. I ONLY have patience for my kids in this life . .nothing else. HOWEVER, all changes if you put me alone in a house with 2 kids, I now have NO patience at all.
• Javy is much better at playing super heroes than me. He really gets into it, speaking with all sorts of cool voices, and really playing into these crazy story lines with Xavier. I find myself just holding Spiderman in place while telling Hulk to be nice. Xavier doesn't particularly like this. He repeatedly asks me when daddy is coming home. What am I? Chopped liver?
• I cook MUCH better with Javy around- every night is gourmet. When Javy is gone I cook the polar opposite of gourmet: Mac and cheese, quesadillas, ham sandwiches, left over pizza, frozen pizza, or corn dogs. This goes back to patience. I have no patience to cook a legit meal with 2 kids pulling on my legs

• Being alone at night is absolutely terrifying. I had many sleepiness nights due to the following thoughts: could that sound on Charlotte's monitor be an alien invasion? Did I lock all the doors? Is that car blaring the music driving by stopping by my house to break in? Is that the AC or someone knocking on my door? Where's the gun? I need a beer. Could someone be under my bed? Is Javy ok? I'm hungry. Aliens? . . .none of these thoughts are exaggerated
• When Javy is here I cook, I clean, I do baths and normally I put both kids to bed. When he is not here doing all these tasks is suddenly EXHAUSTING. By the end of the night a beer is no longer a want, it is a need. It sure is nice just passing Charlotte off to Javy so I can spend the extra minute getting the layers of dirt off of Xavier's knees. I can barely keep my eyes open past 8pm. I need to be on the lookout for a possible alien invasion, so I force myself to stay up.
• My lawn is a HOT MESS without a husband. I will never mow the lawn . . ever . .ever. I basically have a jungle in my front yard. The HOA loves us.

• The trash can sure can hold a lot of trash. I keep pushing the current trash down further and further, there really is no more room for anymore of my trash. Javy is gonna kill me when he sees it. However, I really don't like taking out the trash. Taking out the trash is a mans job.
• I am extremely lonely. I have no one to talk to about my days crazy events (As a community manager of an apartment community, you get some crazy daily events) I have no one to call on my ride to work to tell silly stories about the kids to. I have no one to call 15 times throughout the day to tell about the new lipstick I got, or the great find I got at TJ Maxx. I have no one to talk me through what superhero is better to buy Xavier "Silver Samurai, or Rhino." 

I want to give all of you a single moms out there a hand! I gotta give it to you, being alone, taking care of kids and yourself is not easy work. I commend you for doing it, you are a stronger woman than I could ever be. 

 I have realized that Javy and I really do make a great team. He makes me a better mom, I couldn't do this whole mommy thing to the best of my ability without his support.

The morale of the story? He can never leave again. Next time I really will go nuts.

How to feed a family on $400 per month!

When Javy and I were dating we could spend our money on anything and everything without one care. There was no mortgage to pay, no doctor bills to figure out, no HOA dues. Oh man, weren't those the days? I specifically remember spending $400 on one trip the grocery store for 2 of us. I am pretty sure we bought corn dogs, frozen pizzas, pizza pockets, bagel bites and a bunch of other crap that wasn't good for us or our wallets.

 We have grown up since then. We work hard for our money and I refuse to throw it down the drain on crappy food. I made a family budget about 2 years back and have really stuck to it every since. One of the things on that budget? Spending $100/week on groceries. With this $100 I need to buy meals for a week for 2 little hungry munchkins and a husband who loves his home cooked meals. We need toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, toothpaste . .we are not just talking about food. I need to figure out how to buy all of my households needs with only $100 measly dollars.

 It actually gets kind of fun figuring what I can make for cheap and how I can save I don't have time or patience to gather coupons, here are some tips and cheap meals I have found throughout the years:

1. Figure out how much you can afford to spend each week- stick to that budget!!! Make it a focus to stay in that budget. I get such a feeling of accomplishment when I stay below my budget (this must be the community manager side of me)
2. Buy store brand name foods. 99.9% of the time the store brand name foods taste the same., especially your canned goods. Just suck up your pride and buy whats cheap, not whats "name brand". You will thank me later. 
3. Plan out your weekly dinners ahead of time! This one tip has saved me loads of cash. I no longer buy what I think I may possibly cook with. When I did do this I wasted more veggies and meat than I care to talk about. What I do now is look through recipes on Saturdays, I go through all the ingredients and make a shopping list from there. This way I only buy what I really need and will use. 
4. Don't buy a bunch of junky nasty crap. I buy 1 snack for me, 1 for Javy (he hates my healthy snacks) and one for Xavier. That's it, nothing more. Junk food runs up the grocery bill quick. PS. when did a bag or doritos become $3.99. That's redic.
5. Walmart has some of the cheapest prices on food. Walmart produce is NOT good. Walmart lines are hell, Walmart customer service needs some love, and some of the people that like to shop at Walmart . .well you know where I'm going with this. Shop where you are comfortable. I shop at Target and the prices are actually rather comparable but the produce is MUCH better. PLUS I get to shop through racks of baby clothes when I am done with my groceries and have $10 to spare. What better to spend that $10 than baby headbands?
6. Do not take your husband or kids grocery shopping with you. Everytime I make this mistake I regret it for days, and I end up going way over budget. I buy crap like double stuffed oreos, cheese sticks, super hero fruit snacks, super hero juice, and superhero mac and cheese. Just go grocery shopping yourself, make it quick and leave the family at home. They will be fine without you for 1 hour. 
7. Don't give into the temptation or give into the sales at the end caps of the aisle (Target). Stick to your list and your list only. If something isn't on my list . .well it doesn't get put in the cart.  Sorry husband of mine, screaming "don't forget the chicken wings!" As I walk out the door does not make it on my list. I will not buy it. Done

Here are a few recipes to brighten for day and family budget. You should be able to get ingredients for these meals for under $10:

Slow cooker BBQ chicken

calzone rolls

Easy meatloaf

Chicken Curry

Meatball subs

Lasagna roll ups

Sloppy joes

Lasagna Soup

Italian layer bake
Cream cheese chicken chill
Philly cheesesteak sloppy joes
pesto chicken stuffed shells
shepards pie

As I started to post these, I realized that almost everything I cook is budget friendly. For more recipes check out my Pinterest page. I have made just about everything on my "recipes to try" board.

Family must do's this fall

A day off from work . .so relaxing . .NOT. I hate relaxing and doing nothing on my weekends. I have been this way since I was a kid. I was the first one awake on weekends skipping around the block, knocking on doors to see which friend was awake to come out and play. I would like to apologize to those friends now, I never meant to ruin your 2 days a week when you may have wanted to sleep in.

 If I have a day off with my family, you bet we are out doing something fun. I want to create special, unforgettable memories for my kids. My parents did a great job at instilling special traditions in me. I hope I can do the same for my kids.

 Below are some ideas on what to do with your family on those crisp fall weekends.

• Apple Picking. This is a big tradition on the east coast. It seems these mid west folk don't do much of it. Get outside with your family, grab a barrel and pick some of your own apples. Most apple picking farms have hay rides and cider at the end. This year we are going here : Yaya Farm. A lot of time you need reservations WAY ahead of time to get your spot. One time I called in August for an October booking and I was too late. I may have cried, I was also pregnant and I cried over everything. Stop reading this blog and call someplace now to book!

• Pick your own pumpkins at the pumpkin patch. I love bringing Xavier to the pumpkin patch and let him run wild to find his pumpkin.  . .until he trips over the pumpkin vines (that part is not fun) But besides that.  . .We always pick pumpkins for everyone in our family. Javy gets the biggest one, Charlotte gets a small one. I get such a feeling of self satisfaction when I find that HUGE, round bright orange pumpkin. It doesn't get much better than this! We place our desired pumpkins outside on my patio next to my corny fall harvest decorations.  We always go here Rock Creek Farm

 
• Make a huge leaf pile and let your kids spend a whole day playing in it. Don't you remember doing this as a kid? I use to love it. I love not caring how dirty Xavier gets, he is having fun, that's all that matters right? I suggest saving your leafs in your yard for awhile. Wait until you get approximately a full tree worth of leafs on the ground. The bigger the leaf pile the bettah. Your HOA may not like it, but they aren't the ones jumping in it.

• Take a drive (for me it's into the mountains) and see the fall foliage. I vividly remember doing this as a kid in Maine, it was so mesmorizing. We have driven up to Golden Gate Canyon the past 2 years to see the gorgeous Colorado rockies and foliage. Really take a sec and enjoy the Fall nature. This truly makes living in Colorado and having 4 seasons worth the San Diego sacrifice ANYDAY.

• This one is for all you Coloradians. Drive up to Estes Park and see the elk. I have yet to really go to Estes Park during prime elk time. I am sure there is some technical reason they come down into the city of Estes Park, but I hear its pretty cool to see these giant beast up close. This year we are going for sure. Javy will not be allowed to hunt one at this time. This will be exceptionally difficult for him to be so close and not try to fill his tag. I went here with my brother and sister in law one year at the end of the official Elk season. We saw a heard running right across from us. We chased them all up the mountain to see where they were going. Bad idea. A male elk does not want anyone chasing his girls. I thought I was going to die when that male elk saw us way too close to him.

• Carve Pumpkins. Just block out the vision of all of the mess this will make in your house and all the pumpkin pulp you will have on your clothes and between  your fingers and think of how fun it is to carve pumpkins. If you have a 4 year old kid, prepare yourself for the following: they will carve the pumpkin themselves for about 10 minutes. They will insist on carving the most difficult design. You will tell them to do something easy. They will win this battle, and get eventually get sick of carving when they realize how hard it is. Take over, carve it and you will find yourself addicted to making that darn pumpkin perfect. 

• Do a corn maze. We complete our corn maze at Rock Creek farm. The directions they give you are crap. One year we had to use our phone GPS to find our way back. Here is a quick thought: It is not fun getting lost on the way to Target. It is fun getting lost in a bunch of corn with your family running around like wild panthers on the amazon. Interesting.

• Let your lil ones do their own "small kid" corn maze. Why? It's just fun for them to figure out their way through something without a GPS and without their parents thinking they are both the right ones trying give directions to one another.

• Take a fall hike. The fall season smells and feels so good. Take your family outdoors, spend a second smelling the fresh air, enjoy the newly cool weather, and see the scenery. Golden Gate State Park has some great kid friendly hikes.

I hope you and your family have a memorable fall. Get out and do something!

Successful, happy marriage? Who knew!

I have had a lot of people ask me how my husband and I can be so happy? We both work full time, are trying our best to raise 2 kids, have stress, different hobbies, different opinions, but at the end I think we have almost figured out this marriage thing nicely. My husband Javy is laid back, care free, and very quiet. I am uptight, always stressed, loud and sometime obnoxious. How do we manage to get along?

Here are some ideas that work for us and our family.

• I will preach this until my face is blue. A family that eats together stays together. My family eats together EVERY single night. Not on the couch, not on the floor, not anywhere but at the kitchen table. We talk about our days events, laugh, dance, sing etc. I will make my family do this until the day I die. I feel like it really keeps us connected and strengthens that sense of "family" among us. PS. don't start eating until everyone is sitting down. This is just polite.
• Be on the same page with parenting.  Kids can make or break a couple- let it make you stronger and better people! In order to effectively co-parent our kids together, we are always each others biggest supporter. I will never say "Yes" when daddy says "No" He will never tell me (in front of the kids) that I am being too nice or too mean. We are  in it together, we talk to each other about what to do in trying, desperate, melt down times. Javy is teaching our children to respect their mother 100%, he doesn't even let Xavier tell me no or treat me with an ounce of disrespect. I love this, my husband really does have my back!

• Communicate. Need I say more? This is a must. You must talk to each other, keep each other in the loop on things, make decisions together, and talk through thoughts. If you can't talk to each other about things, what can you do? Talking is so easy!!

• Listen. Sounds easy, but not so much . .Don't just hear what the other person says, but truly listen. Remember what they are telling you. Even if you don't care. Just do it, it shows you care. Do I care about what kind of hunting bow my husband has or wants? Nope, not at all. But I am going to listen to him talk about it because it means a lot to him.
• Have the same priorities. This is a hard one. As you get older in a marriage you both change. Sometimes for the worst, sometimes for the better. You get new hobbies, you get bored of old hobbies, your priorities change. Make sure your priorities always stay in check. To me, they are: My children, my husband, my career. As my kids get older and don't depend on me as much I suspect my husband will come first. I don't think Javy's career is on his top 3 priority list, but I think our top 2 match up.   
• Don't be selfish. This one is what it is, but it's hard to put other people before yourself! Guess what I don't feel like cooking . .well, ever. But I do it because I know my family needs a good hearty meal each night. Their needs come first, not mine. Javy will drop anything at any given moment if I ask him for something, he will always put my needs first before his own. 
• Be each other biggest supporter.. No matter what I choose to do, Javy is always on the sideline cheering me on. From making a career move to loosing weight, he was there to pick me up when I was down. 
• Be honest. If something is bothering you, be vocal and honest about your concerns. Never ever tell a lie. Lying is a recipe for disaster in a relationship. It starts with small white lies, and builds from there until you are actually lying to yourself. I bet sometimes Javy wishes I would just shut up, because I will tell him everything that is bothering me. 
• Be friends. When I say be friends, I mean; get along,hug, have fun together, like hanging out, make each other laugh, and smile. Javy and I really do everything together as a family. We look forward to our days off to we can all hang out. I can honestly say that Javy is my best friend. I would rather hang out with him than anyone else. 
• 

A relationship and marriage is work folks. Hard, grueling work. Don't get me wrong, Javy and I have had our fair share of ups and downs. The key is to not let the downs keep you down. Make it better. But making it better takes work from both sides- remember that! The pay off for that work is well worth it. What can be better than spending your life with someone you love and have fun with, and having your kids see the meaning of love everyday. 

I love sitting back and thinking of where Javy and I came from. 2 young kids working to have fun, not a care in the world, and both NEVER wanting to be married. To today: Two young adults, who have worked hard, played hard and loved hard. Blessed with 2 children, and a beautiful life together.

We are in this life together, we are a team. I couldn't ask for a better person to grow old with and share all my memories with. 

A birth story

I wanted to share the story of my daughter Charlotte's birth to hopefully inspire any mom out there to give birth naturally even when she thinks she can't.

I had my son naturally 3 years ago. This involved a lot of screaming, hand squeezing, more screaming and 12 hours of hard labor. I am pretty sure that I begged for a C section half way through labor. It is true though, you immediately forget the pain once that tiny healthy baby comes out. I knew that I would go natural with all of my children. It just felt right, especially after seeing the documentary made by Ricki Lake on natural labor, The Business of being born

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8h0SkPcs2U (watch a preview here)

I became pregnant with Charlotte and had problem after problem from the beginning of this pregnancy. The final problem, pre eclampia. I knew that this meant I would need to be induced with pitcoin at 37 weeks. Sure enough, I was. If anyone doesn't know what pitocin is, let me tell you. It's the drug that any soon to be mom having a natural labor dreads. It artificially puts your body into labor while contractions EXTREMELY painful. 

Foley Catheter

I had done my research and new natural labor was going to be tough. I went into the hospital on November 30th to be induced. That night they inserted a foley catheter (pic to left). This a technical word for balloon that get blown up to help you dilate. This bad boy was uncomfortable, but really didn't hurt at all going in like I was anticipating. Mild contractions started within an hour of it in me, and only got stronger throughout the night. I was given Ambien to help me sleep, I dreamt about trolls taking over the hospital and before I knew it it was about 5am and I had to pee.

Once I got up the courage to actually go pee, my water eventually broke, and I was screaming on the toilet for Javy to come tell me why the hell there is all this fluid coming out of me. Javy called the nurse, the nurse confirmed my water broke.

I was dilated to about 5cm by 6am on Dec. 1st. My pitocin drip was scheduled to start at 7am. The contractions were already getting tough to manage through, but I knew I had to stay calm.I refused food (that's a first) as I was too busy putting my energy into breathing through contractions. 

The piton started and I swear to this day THE ONLY PAIN I REMEMBER FROM BIRTH IS THE PAIN OF THE IV GOING IN. I hate needles, I hate IV's, I hate blood, and I hate seeing a needle in me. I didn't want and IV but they had to get piton in me somehow. Instantly the contractions came on stronger than I had ever experienced before.

Labor pains and contractions is all mind over matter. We as woman were made to do this, our bodies were made to have babies, we can handle any pain that comes our way- if we know how to control it. Women have been having babies for centuries with no pain meds, why do we need them now? I knew I just had to breathe and stay focused. That's what I did.However, the contractions got the best of me. After fighting back and fourth with myself and even crying over my decision, I decided I needed an epidural. I couldn't take the pain. 

After consulting with my mid wives and husband about it, they called the  "pain man" to come and stick that needle up my back and make me pain free. That day there happen to be a large snow storm and the pain man was stuck in traffic trying to get to work that day- I was at least a few hours out from him arriving to my bed side.

The midwife checked me again to see how far dilated I was. I was 9cm dilated! I requested the pitocin be turned off and to cancel the epidural. I changed my mind and knew I could make it that last cm epidural free.

Sure enough, after about another 45 mins of CRAZY HARD INTENSE contractions and 15 mins of pushing, my 6 lb 4 oz baby girl entered the whorl at 1pm. About 6 hours of labor- that's it!

I did it, epidural free, completely natural. It really was mind over matter. You can do anything you push your body to do!

If you are looking into a natural labor, I have 1 piece of advice for you. You must go into labor 100% confident and positive that you want a natural labor. People will try to talk you out of it and nurses may ask if you want an epidural- know that you will be tempted but also know that you can do it without any pain management!! It will be painful, but you truly forget the pain in the end. If you know in your heart that you want it- then you will be able to have that baby epidural free!

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