I love hate you

Yes, you!

You there, piling up in my diaper pail!

Yeah, I'm talking to you!

I love hate you, cloth diapers.

I love you because you save me money. I love having you around because you are made new with just one wash cycle. You are very versatile... I can use you as a diaper or a burp cloth or snot rag or a my-son-just-peed-on-the-floor-and-I-need-something-to-clean-it-up-with cloth. You are soft and fluffy. You look adorable on my baby and with all the colors you come in I can coordinate you quite nicely with outfits (not that my son cares).

But, dear cloth diaper, you cause me such grief.

Honestly, you make me want to scream sometimes.

Not because you are more work... it's really no problem to throw you in the washing machine. Not because the Daddy of the house is less excited about changing you... I'm faster anyway (no offence to Steven, I just have more experience since I'm home with John) and I don't mind that much. Not because you stain sometimes... nothing a little sun, oxyclean or bleach can't handle. Not because you wear out with use... really nothing last forever and I've definitely already earn my money's worth out of you.

Why you ask? Why?

But because I can NOT, for the life of me, figure out your yeasty ways.

I can't figure out if you are the problem or if I'm the problem or if my son is the problem. I've tried everything... from bleaching the living day lights out of you to using gentle soaps and grapefruit seed extract. John eats yogurt and probably has the healthiest diet of the house (at least the least amount of sugar for sure). I'm sure I'm washing you correctly because we never have stink problems or absorbancy issues. If it's not him or me it has to be you!

When John wears you he inflames with yeast after only three or four days. If he wears your arch enemy, Mr. Disposable, then his yeast clears up (even without creams). But if I even think about switching back to you, yeast flares us again. Why is that?

I can't bring myself to throw you out because of the start up cost if I decided to start again. However, I have literally committed you the Lord about once a month since John was five months old and I'm just so mad at you!

I don't understand.

I am frustrated.

And you will sit in the corner for the next month

... or until I figure out how to deal with you.

Easter

After much discussion about bunnies, eggs, peeps & Jesus, we decided it's okay for John to participate in most of the culturally accepted things to do when it comes to Easter (like egg hunts, gift giving and indulging in sweets :) ). Now I'd rather not go into all the arguments about what we shouldn't and should tell John about Easter, but then general guideline we are going by is that we want him to associate Jesus' Resurrection with Easter and that it's fine if he hunts eggs and gives/receives gifts as part of the celebration.

Personally, I think some of the more culturally accepted things to do (like gifts and eggs) provide a great opportunity for sharing the gospel. And as long as Steven and I do a good job of telling John about Jesus then he will have the ability to 'deal' with the Easter Bunny. We hope to spend more time building into his little character than telling him whether on not the Easter Bunny exist.

On a lighter note...

Our friends were planning an egg hunt and I thought it would be fun if John participated too. We set him up...



And this is what happened...




The other kids were having too much fun looking for eggs so I decided not to push it. Maybe next year I'll get a better photo.

At least he was pretty studly for church!



Steven Mom gave John some Easter candy and I thought I would humor her with a series of pictures. I'm pretty sure Jelly Beans are the sweetest thing John has ever had, and some of his faces crack me up! Here's a slide show!

I hope you had a wonderful time celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus this past weekend!

Baby/Toddler Food

With John’s birthday coming up I find myself in amazement of how fast it has gone by. We were giving him some food last night and I thought to myself, “I can’t believe he’s eating table food already. Wasn’t I just pureeing and freezing ice cubes of squash & green beans yesterday?”

Five months ago isn’t yesterday, but it isn’t that long either. I didn’t realize how quickly they go from Momma-waiting-for-an-open-mouth-to-put-plain-puree-in-so-they-can-spit-it-out to self-feeding-finger-food-loving-happy-almost-toddler-with-a-very-messy-high-chair.

Honestly, I’m kinda glad it went by quickly because I really like where we are now. Purees are a lot of work and feeding John now is simple & a lot quicker. With our next baby I may lean more toward the Baby Led Weaning method mentioned by Mackenzie. I’m not sure yet, but I like the idea of semi-skipping the puree stage.

So where are we now?

Steamed Vegetables, Some Fruits, Rice Patties, Pasta Creations, Pancakes/Breads and lightly sweetened cookies.

Seems like a lot of work, but I promise it’s not...

Steamed Veggies:
John is a great veggie eater… and I’m thankful! As long as the pieces are big enough he will try it (He has a hard time picking up peas & black beans and ends up smearing them all over his tray). I’m not sure if the good-veggie-eating-trend will continue as he grows into toddler-hood, but I’m planning on continuing to offer a wide variety of food. As of last month I started adding seasoning to his steamed veggies… simple stuff like dried herbs, garlic powder and cinnamon and a little olive oil to help it stick on and give him some healthy fat. I like to take the help from the frozen food aisle here and I pick up frozen broccoli & green beans for John all the time. However, raw cubed squash, sweet potatoes and carrots freeze nicely so I stock up when they go on sale in the produce aisle.

Some Fruit:
Fruit is actually a little bit of a struggle for us. I’m not too worried about it because I don’t know many people that hate fruit. From the beginning John hasn’t been that big on bananas, but he does love apple/pear type things. I used to feed him applesauce as a treat, but he doesn’t let me feed it to him anymore so now he eats really ripe pears. He loves pears! I tried strawberries & watermelon recently but I don’t think he understood that it was food… I was even showing him that I was eating it too. Honestly, I think fruit is too slippery for him. He very independent when it comes to solids and I think if he has to fight it, he just doesn’t. Maybe when he figures out how to use a spoon he will discover a world of fruit.

Rice Patties:
These are fun. Two of my friends make these for their toddlers and I had to try it. I tweaked the recipe a bit (no cheese or meat) because John can’t have dairy till he is one and he really doesn’t need meat… he’s growing at a great rate (although we do give him cubed chicken occasionally). I substituted cooked black beans in for a protein source. I was a little nervous about the egg, but we are so close to being a year old and John hasn’t shown any signs of any allergies so I decided it was okay. Mine turn out pretty green because of the spinach/broccoli puree, but John loves them. They freeze well too. I always taste them as a rule of thumb… I don’t want to feed him something super disgusting. This is a little extra work and not something I normally cook for us, but making a large batch that last us a couple of weeks isn’t that hard.

Pasta Creation:
This kid is his Dad’s son. He loves it when pasta hits his tray. I like to use the whole wheat rigatoni. It’s easy for him to grab and the little swirls hold extra sauce. For sauce I started using tomato, but with John’s yeast problems he couldn’t handle much of that. Recently I tried carrot puree… I just seasoned it like it was tomato puree (Italian herbs, garlic powder, onion powder, etc) and John liked it. I need to add in some veggies (like zucchini or broccoli), but I forgot to that this last time. He gets extra messy when eating this, but if we are at home and don’t have much on the agenda I don’t mind.

Pancakes/Breads:
I first started John with pancakes for breakfast but I haven’t made those in a while… however, they are still a hit (all around… we like those too). And when we have bread at dinner, John loves to sample. And he gets really excited if he sees a tortilla. I gave him some for dinner once with a rice patty and he ate the tortilla and absolutely rejected the rice patty… now we give him his veggie first and then his carbs.

Lightly Sweetened Cookies:
When I was running low on baby friendly options at the house I gave John some of his Dad’s Animals Crackers. Of course he loved them like every other baby out there, so they became a semi-staple in his diet. Animal Crackers, Buddy Grahams, Cheerios, Puffs, etc. They are great if we are out and John is having a particularly crabby day… but I try not to rely on them for that. And they are also wonderful if I need a quick meal for John that doesn’t require the much clean up.



I’m not the strictest parent when it comes to sugar/salt, but I did want a better option for all the animal-cracker-type things he eats. I found this recipe on Wholesomebabyfood.com and decided to try it. It made like 3 dozen teething cookie size sticks…. but I think John at five of them in one sitting. I also used carrot puree because I didn’t have any bananas on hand. They are softer than teething cookies but a good alternate to cookies/cracker type things. They are a bit messy so I may still use cheerios/animal crackers when we are out… but there are a lot of recipes on the wholesome baby food website so I’m sure with more experimenting I’ll find a cleaner alternative.

Here is our (wheat, dairy & egg free) cookie recipe.

Ingredients
1 c quick oats
1 c ground oats (grind oats and make a coarse oat flour)
1/4 t salt
1/4 t cinnamon or ginger or cardamom
1/4 t nutmeg
1 t baking powder
1 c (~2) overripe bananas, mashed
1 t vanilla extract
3 T oil of choice

Directions:
Mix all ingredients and put into a pastry bag (I used a large zip lock bag). Cut opening and pipe mixture onto parchment paper or a greased cookie sheet. Bake 12-15 min at 350.


I really wish I would have tried this sooner. I was hesitant to try it because I thought it would be a choking hazard, but they turned out quite soft and I would be comfortable giving this to a 6 or 7 month old… and it’s great because it doesn’t have wheat, dairy or egg in it.

Anyway, that is a pretty good summary of where we are when it comes to baby food now. I hope I gave you some good ideas. And hopefully I can find this post again when our next baby is 6 months old! :)

Getting The Gardens Going

I'm so excited about our yard/gardens this year. I think I'm most excited because I'm not going to be pregnant or have a newborn this year so I will be able to do more in it. And of course we have big plans!

I use our Producers Co-op schedule for planting, and just browsing it you can pretty much be growing something year round down here. March is pretty active on the schedule so we jumped into gear and grabbed a few plants from the Co-op. Then with a little 'trading/exchanging' with some friends we ended up we a good garden this year.

Here is a video I took the weekend we planted everything. I've decided that videos are a great way to document our yard... I'll have another update later on this summer with the progress.



Since the video I've done a bit more planting. AND this weekend we were blessed with FREE t-post to stake our tomatoes. I prefer cages, but since I'm at home more I'll have the time to tie up our tomatoes. I've read that if you keep the sucker shoots trimmed on your tomatoes the plant will grow bigger tomatoes... I will test that theory this year.

Here's a picture (that I drew in five minutes) of our yard and a list of what we've got (or hope to get) growing this year.



Front of House
-pansies (soon to be done)
-day lilies (just emerging)
-perennial grass
-dwarf dahlias?

The Pansies and Perennial grass was purchased with fun money (gift card from Christmas). However the Day Lilies were planted last year. They didn't establish as well as I would like so I might fill in with Dwarf Dahlias.

Deck Area
-obedient plant (invasive)
-gerber daisies
-dwarf dahlias?
-honey suckle

The goal for the deck is shade & pretty color. Steven found honey suckle on sale last year and we have been training them to grow up to cover the deck. They are native to this area so they are doing great. Along the path from the gate to the back yard are some transplants I planted last year. I planted just a few (6-7) and watered semi-regularly and they TOOK off. If you are looking for a good tall invasive plant, Obedient Plant is the one for you! And finally I have some very faithful Gerber Daisies that I think I got three years ago. They continue to come back and I continue to welcome them. I've had trouble with other plants in this area so I'll probably throw in some dwarf dahlias to fill in around the Gerber Daisies.

'Pepper Garden'
-peppers
-easter lilies
-zinnias

We call this area our pepper garden because it's where our peppers have lived the last few years. I need to rotate something else there, but was lazy this year. The Easter Lilies are established next to the AC... courtesy of Steven's family and their church! Like I said in the video it's a deep bed so it's hard to weed in the back. I planted zinnias this weekend to fill in. Zinnias are annuals (have to be planted every year) but like the Gerber Daisies if you crush the spent flowers and leave them in the bed they will come back year after year. I hope to get Zinnias going really well in the Pepper Garden.

Free Rangin' Yard Plants
-sunflowers
-purple hauled peas
-bush beans
-squash
-watermelon/pumpkin

Some things I can grow right in the grass; sunflowers, squash & pumpkins for sure. And some things I'm not sure if I can grow in the grass, but I have seed (which are inexpensive) and I don't mind experimenting. I think the real key with "free rangin' yard plants" is lots of water... and no needy plants (like say corn that needs lots of nitrogen & tomatoes which can be high maintenance). I haven't done watermelon in the grass and have a feeling it won't do well, but I'm still going to try because I simply don't have room to do it any where else. Hopefully my water theory will come through for me on this. The Peas & Beans are legumes (take nitrogen from the air) so it should work out well... provided I keep up with watering. Watering is HUGE for Texas.

Box Garden
-spinach (almost done)
-tomatoes
-carrots
-radishes
-eggplant
-cucumber

And my beloved box garden. If you don't have at least one raised bed you should... unless you have enough land to till up the soil in mounds... I can't wait till we can do that! I love to grow spinach. I think I counted like 9 plants for this year and we still can eat it as fast as it grows! Sadly I had to pull out two plants this past weekend due to flowers forming... sad sad day... but September will be here soon and we can plant more spinach! The tomatoes & eggplant are doing well. Last year I had the eggplant over with the pepper and kinda forgot about it till the fall... we had a great fall eggplant harvest, though. The tomatoes are slightly rotated... but only slightly because we just don't have that much room. The carrots are just for fun, so I'm not really upset that Miss M & Zuzu went through them while in the back yard. :) The radishes are also for fun. I don't like radishes, but they grow quickly and are fun... they are like the instant gratification of gardening. And cucumbers are kinda an experiment. I think two years ago I tired cucumbers and failed. I got close, but failed in the end. I'm growing them from seed so the failure won't hurt as much.

I love gardening! Can you tell? But seriously, as soon as you get used to fresh home grown tomatoes it is too hard to eat over priced bad tomatoes from the grocery store. I also love gardening because it just helps me feel closer to God. We have such great bonding moments in the yard. It's quite and a great time for me to think/meditate. And of all the times I've heard God speak directly to me it happens most while I'm working in the gardens. And with all the agricultural references in the Bible I have a lot to think & meditate on.

Happy Gardening!

Baked Oatmeal

I follow this blog called "eat real." I started following it about a year ago when I was dabbling in making everything from scratch. And while I do still enjoy making most things from the basics, I have come to realize that it's more important to get dinner on the table... so every once and a while I grab that can of cream 'o' fill-in-the-blank soup and get dinner done.

I have still found my 'from the basics' blog useful. I find that she has creative ways to get a wider variety of food in your family's diet... even if they are strange at times. Last week she posted a recipe for Baked Oatmeal. I was intrigued. So I mixed up some for breakfast for Saturday morning.

It was DELICIOUS!!! I loved the texture! 'Soft not gloppy' just like she says on her blog! I'm an oatmeal fan, but a bowl of the mushy porridge doesn't always make my appetite do a back flip. However the baked version was like happiness in my mouth. The top is kinda like a soft granola and the inside is warm, soft and moist like an oatmeal cinnamon brownie. Delightful!

We put 'cream' (well, half & half because it's what we had) on top of it like the website called for, but it didn't really add much to the dish.

The recipe made about four servings... really 3 if you have a large husband... but needless to say we had left overs. So I thought it would be a good experiment to see how well it re-heated.

The next day (today) I reheated the oatmeal (~1.5 minutes in the microwave)... and 'Oh My!' still happiness in my mouth! I was SHOCKED that it reheated as well as she said it would. Even better we spotted some yogurt in the back of the fridge and dolloped some onto our spilt left over serving of baked oatmeal. AMAZINGNESS!!!!

YOU HAVE TO TRY THIS RECIPE!!!

I'm planning on making some to store for the weekdays. This will give us another option instead of the whole wheat apple muffins... which get old after a while. So excited!

Eat Real is the website where I found honey-butter popcorn. Really similar to kettle corn. I made this for homegroup once and we decided that honey and butter were made for each other. God created honey and said, “It is not good for honey to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” (p.s. God didn't really say that)

However, eat real is also where I discovered Kale Chip. I've tried and tried to like Kale to a no avail. I've since given up on kale and decided that spinach is good enough.

Happy Experimenting in the Kitchen!

Knit Socks

I just finished my first pair of knit socks!

(Warning: if you are not a knitter you may find this post extremely confusing)

I've heard that hand knit socks are lovely and make great gifts so I thought I would get into it. Last Saturday I bought a skein of this crazy soft (and super fine) Mohair yarn from Lone Star Quiltworks (it's hand wash only, but I just couldn't resist the softness). And size 5 double pointed needles. I started to make a sock but the mohair yarn left no room for mistakes... yanking out yarn was extremely hard. I decided to scratch that and start with something more forgiving. I grabbed fatter yarn and fatter needles (the key to knitting anything quickly).

The world of sock knitting is quite intense. I didn't know so much went into knitting socks and in the midst of construction I was wondering to myself why anyone even bothered. However, after slipping on my 'quick knit' socks I completely understood.

I really liked the idea of knitting two socks at once. It's quite involved making just one sock. Then after you complete that one you have to start all over with the next one... I feel it's kinda discouraging. I wasn't sure whether to go the double pointed or circular route... a friend suggested double pointed because it's what she likes... however you have to buy two sets of needles for that. I was too cheap for that and decided I would just do it the original way... one sock at a time. Well, with a gauge of 8-10 to an inch I got very discouraged.

I had heard of a "magic loop" method of knitting socks on long circular needles... and as a added bonus you can do multiple socks at once without buying a second set of needles. After sufficiently frustrating myself with the Mohair I decided I definitely needed to learn this "magic loop" method.

I found a great website that had several videos for this very thing (She also has videos for the regular double pointed method). The 'quick sock' pattern I had found (for free) was a very similar gauge & pattern to the sock she knits, so it was just prefect!

The verdict? I LOVE magic loop! This is a great method. I mean... with ONE pair of circular needles I could possibly knit an entire sweater... with seamless sleeves & everything! So, I've finally decided to start saving up for an interchangeable circular needle set. I've been eyeing sets for a long time but didn't really know the true versatility of it... now I understand and don't think $200 is too much to pay for one. And I definitely want it in bamboo... I just need to make sure the wires are flexible enough.

And that mohair?... Well, I didn't toss it out. It was a great price & like I said ridiculously soft. And while I don't have the money to invest in an interchangeable set yet I'll probably just buy some small sized circular needles to make one of the several patterns I've found on Raverly. And after that I might venture into socks for Christmas gifts.

Whatever I decide I'll keep you posted!

A post about a quote I thought was great...

Hahaha... I should have probably thought of a better title...

Anyway.

I read a ton of blogs.

Well, I don't actually "read" all blogs I subscribe to. With the exception of people I actually know, I usually skim the pictures, titles & subtitles and then decide if I want to read it. It's how I navigate the 71 blogs I am subscribed to in Google Reader.

I found a new food blog a couple of days ago... I was probably looking for a recipe for dinner or something when I came across it. The writer lives in New York and has a little boy who started solids around the time John was born. The main site is called Smitten Kitchen. What intrigued me was her "side blog" on baby food called Smitten Kitchen Baby. I really like her attitude when it comes to feeding her little boy. Not only does she believe in very little tools (a food processor and some ice cube trays) and she strives to get her kiddo to eat what her and her husband eat, but this was on her about page:


“You’re doing it wrong!” Sad but true, sharing bits of parenting on the Internet doesn’t always bring out the most supportive community responses. “But my doctor said that if you introduce fruit before vegetables, baby will get a sweet tooth and become obese!” “This book says that if you feed your child eggs before they’re one year old, they will never get into Harvard!” and the all-encompassing, “I can’t believe you would feed your baby that! We wouldn’t feed it to our dog!”

People, I’ve heard it all and so I can nip any of this in the bud before we begin: It’s okay. You’re okay. I am not here to tell you how to feed your kid, nor do I have any desire to impart judgment. All I will be sharing here is how we started our little guy on the path that we hope will lead to him enjoying the variety of foods that we do. Also? I think you’re doing a great job.

That said, I’m a realist and fully understand that it will not matter how many hours we spend cooking down seasonal, organic, local Greenmarket produce and how delighted our little snowflakes are to slurp it up, they will eventually come into contact with a Chicken McNugget and they will find it to be delicious. And we will be doing no less of a good job because of it.

Shall we continue?


A side note: I have tried the granola bars and they were great! (so great I almost wrote a post about it, but decided this counted instead). I'm going to try the lemon cranberry scones and the apple muffins next (can you tell I'm looking for some fast breakfast options for around here?). Also, I would LOVE for someone to make this cake for me someday! And finally she does have a "tips" blog as well.

back on track... Thanksgiving!!!

Okay, okay, I admit it... I jumped the gun. Can you blame me? The day after Halloween I went grocery shopping and saw employees stocking Christmas merchandise. And I can't count on two hands the number of Christmas commercials I've already seen. HOWEVER, I promise I haven't forgotten about Thanksgiving.

For me, Thanksgiving is up there in my top three favorite holidays. I think I enjoy it because it's a time of year when everyone is "counting their blessings." Have you counted your blessings lately? Doesn't it put you in a ridiculously good mood? A thankful heart is a very enjoyable heart to be around.

More than teaching John about the Pilgrims or the Indians (which are an important parts of Thanksgiving) I want him to learn to give thanks to God for all he has. And, of course, I have a couple of ideas for this season... again, we'll see if they pan out as well as they came together in my head.

All of my ideas center around writing down our Thanks. The funny thing is that this week's MOPs was about "counting your blessing" and we made a craft to help us do just that. I promise I wrote this post first... but more on that later..

I like the idea of doing a Thankful Tree for when John is a bit older. You make a tree out of craft paper to put on your wall (or a door). Then each kiddo gets a different color of paper to make their leaves (they can trace their hand to make a leaf). On each leaf, the kids write/draw what they are thankful for and puts it on the tree. The parents write their thanks on the trunk of the tree... I like the symbolism behind that. On Thanksgiving you can take the leaves down one by one reviewing each thanksgiving.

A couple of days ago I heard a similar idea on the radio, maybe better for older kids. All through the month of November you write what you are thankful for on a piece of paper and place it in a festive storage container. On Thanksgiving you go through the pieces of paper and share your thanksgiving with everyone. Of course, I have the perfect pumpkin in mind! We could use that wonderful pumpkin now for Steven and I. Later we can store the construction paper hand print cut outs in it for when John wants to do the tree.

Well, the people at Mops must listen to KSBJ because that is pretty much what we did this Thursday. They provided the boxes and we decorated them. I really like the way the top of my box turned out so I think we will be using this until we can finance a beautiful Jim Shore Pumpkin. The speaker was great and I definitely came back feeling refreshed. I really like MOPS.






On the decorating front, I need to make a banner/wall hanging to display Colossians 2:7,

"Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all He has done."

My decorating style tends to lean toward the traditional side... I do prefer simple lines, but in general I can thoroughly appreciate the traditional style. I LOVE the idea of rotating quilted wall hanging. The only problem is that I need to get on the ball when it comes to making said wall hanging... sigh. When I do get around to it, I hope to design a Thanksgiving one around Colossians 2:7.

Lots, lots to do! Happy Thanksgiving!

Thinking about Advent. Yep, already!

Thanksgiving is on it's way and that only means that Christmas is right on our heals. Halloween may have stumped us, but for Christmas I'm just oozing with ideas for traditions for our little family. My favorite idea is the Jesse Tree! This seems like such a great way to teach our children about advent. I love the season of preparing our hearts to receive Christ.

For a Jesse Tree you read an Old Testament story every day of December building up to Christmas. Each story leads up to the birth of Christ and has a corresponding ornament you place on the tree. The "tree" idea comes from Isiah 11:1, "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit."

The hope is that our kids will look forward to the excitement of placing a new ornament on the tree each night, and Steven and I will look forward to sharing with our children all that God did to prepare the world for the best gift of all!

The are soooo soooo many ideas online for setting up a Jesse Tree. Here are just a few.

First, here is a pretty detailed explanation of the Jesse Tree and a chart (at the bottom of the page) of the readings and symbols. This is a great reference for establishing the tradition.

This blog is my favorite so far. It seems like last year she was almost done perfecting her tree, so maybe this year she will have some more ideas. Her ornaments are really nice and coordinate well. I also LOVE the idea of the bags under the tree, just like little presents. This is kinda my "goal."

This blog is less matchy-matchy, but still quite solid. She reads from the Big Picture Story Bible for their daily reading... convenient, we already read out of that book!

I don't quite have time to get everything together for a well coordinated tree. I think for this year it may be some paper symbols I print on card stock, color and string up on a ribbon. John won't have a memory of the ornaments so I still have some grace time.

I'm kinda undecided whether I'll buy (and slightly modify) the ornament or make them. All I know is that I want them to coordinate and look nice. And of course they have to be durable because we have a little boy who will be doing the "placing" of the ornaments. If I decide to buy them, I'll hit up some after Christmas sales to find the nicer ornaments. I will just swap out the paper copies as I find or make better replacements.

I'll probably start with this website. They have good printable symbols, but I don't think John will get much out of the devotions, yet. So, we will probably use this website as our reading guide. I'm thinking we will read the story out of The Big Picture for John, place the ornament and put him in bed. After he's down, Steven and I can go back and read the parental devotion. I hope it works out that easy...

Anyway, there are, of course, a plethora of ideas on the world wide web... and now it's just a matter of deciding on a permanent option and establishing a tradition. My goal for this month is to get the symbols printed and colored. And to print out all devotions to read. That should be a good enough start for this year.

Happy Tradition Making!

Halloween

I meant to do this before our camping trip, but I didn't have time so... I rushed to find a pumpkin as soon as we got back! I didn't want to forget!



We had a hard time finding one because most places had sold out. When we finally decided to go check HEB, John looked like this.



We actually had a little drama at HEB. Sometime during the process of trying to decide if the pumpkin was going to big enough to fit him, we dropped Steven's wallet. With the help of the super nice HEB staff we found it again. I love the people at HEB.

Once at home, we headed to the back yard. Pumpkin carving is my FAVORITE part of Halloween.

















I knew the pumpkin had been at HEB a while because one of the seeds had actually sprouted! Kinda fun.


After we cleaned it out we tried if first without making holes for the legs. It was kinda difficult to try to explain to a 5 1/2 month old to sit with his legs crossed. It took a while, but I got him situated.





I love this face!


We tried it with the hat... John just wanted to chew on it so it didn't last long as a hat.









I let him explore the pumpkin lid while I cut out the holes...



Back in for what turned out to be my favorite picture. However, there were a lot of not so great pictures because he was a little upset that I took away his new toy.



"Come on, Mom, get me outta this thing."



We didn't want to waste the pumpkin when we were done so we tried to put the leg holes back in and carved something simple.



I love my Hubby!



I got to work on what makes pumpkin carving my favorite part of Halloween!



Steven got some "treats" set up for any visitors.



Which brings me to an interesting topic.

How to celebrate Halloween.

This was our third year to go camping on Halloween, and I really like that tradition. Here in Texas the weather is just perfect for camping around Halloween so it's very hard to pass up a camping trip when just about every family in our church goes. We both hope to continue the tradition, and this year we took some time to discuss Halloween... having John kinda made me want to pin down something.

We both get a little stumped when it comes to this holiday. It's not that we are totally against Halloween (obviously) but we aren't a fan of the evil stuff that goes along with it. It's easy to see how it developed into vampires, witches and other scary things. It was originally a holiday to celebrate the end of summer... harvest was over and longer, darker nights were ahead. The Celtics believed that the boundary between the death and living blurred and made a holiday around it. Later, with the spread of Christianity, Catholics started celebrating saints and martyrs to replace the Celtic holiday.

When discussing this with our friends this weekend, someone brought up this passage in the bible. Paul was explaining that you aren't going to be better or worse from eating or not eating food sacrificed to idols... but that you should exercise caution so that you didn't cause another brother to stumble. So, we have grace to participate... but we don't want to cause anyone to stumble.

I always like the idea of turning something bad into something good... so we took advantage of the four trick-or-treaters at our house and gave out tracts with our candy. I think we will kinda continue that attitude with our developing traditions as John gets older. My Mops table leader emailed me this prayer to do while carving pumpkins... but John was a little young for it this year.

We don't have a solid idea of what Halloween will look like for our family, but I don't want to shelter our kids from the world. So, we hope to take opportunities like these to teach our children to honor our Lord Jesus in all we do.

Nursing

Our nursing story was less than ideal… in fact, it was a disaster! However, I’m going to go through the details so that I will remember it with the next one. I figured posting it here is a good idea because I also plan on posting about John’s tongue soon and it will be a good back ground for everyone.

I was so heartbroken that we weren’t able to nurse! I thought that I would have a baby and nurse him… case closed… no biggie… after all I had seen tons of women do this, so why would it be a problem for me? I had a rude realization awaiting me.

The problem we had was a supply. I would nurse John for 40 minutes to an hour and then expect him to go to sleep at least for 45 minutes or so. John never did that. After nursing he would sleep for maybe 15 minutes and then cry again or start rooting around on whoever was holding him. I was so confused. Even more confused when he wasn’t gaining weight and they told me to nurse more frequently. More frequently? Really? I mean, do you want him to become part of my body again? And when am I suppose to sleep… or eat… or use the restroom?

When we were trying to make it work I was taking herbs (fenugreek & blessed thistle) and a prescription but neither increased my supply. I’m often asked how I know if my supply increase. The major reason was because John was never satisfied after nursing… the other reason was that I was pumping in between nursing to try and increase my supply, but I was hardly making any milk. We measured it over a 24 hour period and I made 6 oz… hardly enough to sustain a boy that could easily knock out 20 oz of formula in one day.

I had issues with doing both the formula and nursing thing because the formula would keep him so full that he didn’t want to nurse and nursing wasn’t nourishing him so we had to use formula. It’s a crazy cycle that drove me NUTS… and I was already going crazy because I wasn’t sleeping. What usually happened was that I pumped in between feedings to empty everything and keep my production up during the day. The idea of pumping every hour drove me crazy and was not a long term solution.

Looking back I definitely could have made changes to make things easier. Next time around my top priority is to figure out how to nurse and sleep. A good night sleep does wonders for my attitude and mental state. Second, I plan to not freak out and worry about my supply so much. That sounds like something quite easy… but for a seriously sleep deprived new mother, it’s asking a lot! I was really terrified when doctors started telling me to supplement. Not because I think formula is bad for my baby or that I didn’t want him to have “those crazy chemicals” but because it wasn’t what I planned. The major lesson I learned was too just be a lot more flexible. Formula is not going to kill your baby, in fact, it may be needed and it doesn’t make you a “bad” mother.

From various conversations I’ve had I think I can confidently blame up my low milk supply to PCOS. I’ve had issues (whether identified or unidentified) since I was a teen. The lactation consultant I talked to said it was due to lack of glandular tissue, which develops in those early teen years. I’m pretty confident that it was that (or maybe this tongue thing I’m going to post later) because I did everything that the doctor, lactation consultant and LLL leader suggested and my supply didn’t increase. It definitely wasn’t that we weren’t trying.

I am very sad that I wasn’t able to nurse, but I much more open to supplementing long term the next time around. Formula is expensive! And my kid has quite an appetite. Even if I can only produce 6 oz a day that is 6 oz less I will have to buy. When we were making the decision on what to do about John’s eating situation we weren’t concerned about money, we just wanted our kid to eat and gain weight at a normal rate. I guess that is why they say “you live, you learn!”

Baby Clothes

Isn't this outfit cute!?!

Yeah it is... and he is! but I totally do not get baby clothes sizes and get really confused at the store.

I thought when you buy a 12 months outfit it is suppose to fit a kid around 12 months. I'm not asking for exactness... but at least a semi-accurate range. When I go to the 3-6 months baby clothing section I expect to find at least one thing that will fit my almost five month old.

Before John was born I thought I had a gold mine of clothes (thank you, everyone, for the gifts... sorry my kid is a growing machine and only wore your outfit once or twice) and that I wouldn't have to shop for at least a year! Boy was I wrong.

My current favorite store is called "Once Upon A Child." They have good stuff... most things I've found were close to new, and priced decently (better than Kohl's, at least... which is another store I'm addicted to). Around John's three month birthday I started to notice that we were running low on clothes that would fit... he was already in 9 month outfits according to how "they" size them. And we needed sleepers because he was done with swaddling.

Currently he is in 9-12 month clothes, but we are beginning to start pulling out the 9-month outfits for storage until a little brother comes along (his little sister will be wearing bows and dresses and John doesn't own any of those). We have a good amount of outfits for now so I'm trying to convince him to maintain his current size... but every time I look at him I think he has grown.

The only outfits that aren't in danger of storage for the future are an 18 month onesie and a few pairs of overalls that I think will fit him around Christmas.

Now, I'm not complaining... it's kinda fun to shop for John. He's so cute and I definitely like the bigger boy clothes better than little onesies. I'm just asking for a little help navigating the store.

A friend of mine was watching John while I ran some errands. I went to Once Upon A Child for a Fall-ish outfit. I didn't have him with me so I just held up things to get a feel for what I thought might fit. I picked out some dark blue jeans and a button up shirt (like Dad has).

After I got them home and washed, I noticed that the top said 6-12 months. Understandable... John wears 12 months clothes now, and I was shopping in the 12 month section. But the pants said newborn!

Newborn? Really. I mean, he's wearing a cloth diaper under those blue jeans and they don't look snug at all.

I guess I just want some consistency.

Oh, well. I'll be done ranting now...

Let's just look at pictures of my cute kid!



I think overall, John was just excited to see how his new outfit tasted...

Zucchini and Popcorn

Let me just say, I promise I'm not pregnant again... it's way to soon for our next one. However...

I was thinking tonight that there ought to be a restaurant that where you could go and order whatever you wanted... even if it was the most random combination. Something like Zucchini and Popcorn... or Strawberry Puree and Chicken Pot Pie... or Spaghetti with Cream Cheese and Falafel without the Pita. And even if no one in your family ordered the same thing you still would be able to all get what you wanted. You could just request it and they serve it.... especially great for pregnant women who don't like the smell of what they are cooking, but are hungry.

Wouldn't that be great!

Now, I know that is the most unrealistic thing anyone could ever imagine. I mean, think of the stock of food they would have to keep on hand. And your wait time might be forever because they had to prepare something that they don't know how to... they would have to look up a recipe and figure out which one is the best and so on and so forth. And then there is the problem that nothing would really taste great because they do everything... kinda like a buffet (I hate buffets... Steven thinks they are the greatest things since slice bread).

This whole chain of thoughts occurred because for dinner I had... yes, my friends, Zucchini and Popcorn! It was delicious! And exactly what I wanted!

I think it I may make it a personal habit of mine to have whatever I want to eat on Sunday night. I usually want to rest on Sunday (being our "Sabbath" and all) and I highly encourage Steven to cook because I know I've got a week of cooking ahead of me. I feel like I deserve what I want... even if it is Zucchini and Popcorn.

Okay, that is enough of that... I just wanted to share my thoughts... that is actually what my blog is for, even though it seems like John land right now.

I think I can?...

I'm thinking of starting an Esty shop. I would really like to pay off my student loans as soon as possible. I try to help out by using cloth diapers on John and making sure we have something to eat in the fridge (avoiding eating out and over spending)... but I think I can make some money with my crafts. Here are two recent projects that didn't take long, but turned out adorable!









I think I may also sell these bibs. I'm confident my stuff is cute enough, and I have employed the most adorable model... so surely they would sell, right? I'm not sure if I can make enough to contribute to my loan payments, but I figure I should at least try.

I wanted to make the name kinda general in case I decide to venture out and make something other than baby apparel. I think I've decided on "31-24" It's based on the verse

"She makes linen garments and sells them,

and supplies the merchants with sashes."

-Proverbs 31:24.

I'm probably not going to make linen garments or sashes, but the idea was that the Proverbs 31 women helped her family by using her skills to bring in extra income. That is what I want to do. The name still feels a little silly to me (it's not particularly catchy and it's kinda long when said out loud), but it fits for what I want to do so I will probably keep it. I thought about naming it linen and sashes... but that seemed like it might mislead someone to think that the baby beanies were made out of linen or something. I don't know, what do you think? Unless something else comes to mind I will probably go with 31-24. It's just an Etsy shop after all.

I've been reading seller testimonials on the Etsy blog. They talk about what has worked to make them successful and what has been some of their regrets. Right now I'm trying to think things through and make a plan. If I do it I need to be organized because my number one priority during the day is the baby and the house. Since naps are going so well right now I have about 6 free hours from babies duties... if you calculate in the time to do house hold chores (and me being super productive!) then I only have about 4 hours that I could dedicate to my crafts & managing my shop.

I think I may try in September and see how it goes. I'll probably start with a small inventory and see if my things even sell. I will decide if it is worth maintaining after that. If it works, it could be beautiful!... but I just don't know.

We will see!

From struggle to triumph!

Every new Mom has an adjustment period. I was expecting about 6 weeks until John and I got the hang of things. It took us a little longer, but now we have a good rhythm.

The struggle with nursing was draining and flood of new information was overwhelming. I naively thought I knew what to expect because I have a decent amount of experience with kids… kids… not newborns.

The biggest thing for me was the lack of sleep. I heard you get less sleep, and I believed it… but I’m convinced that nothing can really prepare you for the challenges that come with lack of sleep. You just have to get in there and do it… and pray you are adaptable.

I hate this, but I have a hard time adapting. I can do it when forced… but it’s usually not my most graceful moments. I want definite answers and I want to know EXACTLY how things are going to go to be… I’m an engineer at heart.

I like knowing what to expect and thankfully, God gave me a child that does too. Around week five, I decided to see how John would do on a “schedule.” This was greatly looked down upon on in a few books I read… but luckily with books (except the Bible) you can pick and choose.

Turns out John does great with a regular routine! I was so thrilled. I started feeding him every three hours in the day and when he wanted it at night. The theory was that he would learn that night time was for sleeping and day time was for eating… and playing.

At about 6.5 weeks he started sleeping 8 hours at night. Ahhhh… slowly my sanity came back! I thought it was totally normal for babies to sleep through the night at that age, so initially I wasn’t too impressed… my attitude was more like, “it’s about time, kiddo!” I’ve since learned that most babies start sleeping through the night around 3 months.

I functioned at lot better on 8 hours of sleep but John didn’t like to be put down for nap during the day. That was a bummer because I needed to get some simple things like feeding myself, laundry, dinner and dishes done each day. The baby swing helped out a lot, but if he didn’t have it or close contact with a human he would go crazy.

I did notice that John had a little routine… eat, play, get fussy, sleep. Usually I took the “get fussy” part as a cue to help him get settled. I used my Moby wrap or the baby swing with swaddling to help him fall asleep. I experimented with putting him in his crib for nap time, but he hated it… he cried like he was going to die so I didn’t push it.

For the fourth of July we headed off to Oklahoma. I decided to practice being “adaptable.” I didn’t have household responsibilities to worry about so I could hold him if he wanted to sleep. We would work on nap time after vacation.

During our trip John started showing signs of giving up his 6th feeding every day. He would push away the bottle and cry if I tried to put it in his mouth. So one night (I was feeling exceptionally rested with all the cousins offering to help with John) I decided to see how long he would sleep. He slept for 9 hours.

When we got home he eventually gave up the feeding and now sleeps 11 hours at night. His last feeding is at 8pm and he is in bed by 9pm. Then he sleeps till 8am… sometimes he wakes up when he gets out of his swaddle… I re-swaddle him and he is off to dream land. This morning I actually had to wake him up to feed him. I can’t believe my 2 month old is sleeping through the night so well!

At his two month check up I asked my doctor about the “cry it out” theory because I wanted to be able to put John down for a nap during the day. Our doctor said it was fine because his weight gain was in the normal range. I wasn’t looking forward to it, but I was going to give it a try.

So I fed John… then we played… then he got fussy. I swaddled him, placed him in his crib, kissed his forehead and walked out of the room. I started to do something (I don’t remember what) but I realized later, “He’s not crying? What’s wrong with him?”

I did the same thing the rest of the day and he didn’t cry! I was so proud of him… such a good baby. The next day he did cry a little, but with some comforting he got back into the swing of things. We’ve been on the same routine/schedule for about a week now and he still does great!

All this to say that we have come such a long way! In the beginning I had a hard time bonding with John. I loved him in the hospital, but with all the trials we faced at home it really put a damper on our relationship. I felt so bad because it wasn’t his fault… it was my hormones and inability to adapt.

Now during our play time (which used to be me talking to an unresponsive baby) he loves to look at me and smile. Steven got a little jealous at first because it seemed like John only smiled at me… he has since warmed up to Dad and other faces, but I can always get a good smile out him. It’s so good for my heart.

Faces keep his attention the longest. He will do well on a blanket next to the sliding glass doors or looking at the decorative cross on the wall, but he doesn’t stop kicking his feet unless there is a face to gaze at. When he spot someone his whole body will slow down and he just studies… then he will smile and kinda giggle and open his mouth really big. It’s so fun.

I’ve also been giving him more tummy time. It’s funny because tummy time is for working on lifting his head; instead he searches for his hands and tries to get that thumb in his mouth. He is getting quite good at it because I have caught him with it in his mouth when he is on his back. We call him our “little sucker” because he has a strong desire to suck.

A highlight of my day is waking him up from a nap. I know some say never wake a sleeping baby, but I like to stay on schedule and John does well with it so I’m not worried. I’ve had a break from baby duties and I’m usually missing him by the time the next feeding rolls around. I pick him up and he stretches and wiggles and makes the best faces. He’s so warm and snuggly... I just hold him to my face and kiss him all over!

I do put him in my wrap still if he needs it during church or if we are out and he is being particularly fussy. I love it when he looks up at me as he is falling asleep. It’s like he is saying, “Thanks Mom.”

I love him… and I’m glad he’s here!

John is here!

We had a baby. It's kinda crazy... I felt like I was "stuck" being pregnant... then... BOOM... your water breaks and here's your baby! It was crazy and fast. I'm glad it's all over and I can't wait to start talking about the great adventures we are having a family.

However, Motherhood is tough. We had a difficult delivery and are having an even more difficult time nursing. As a result I will probably be taking a break from blogging. First I can give some details... as the baby is still sleeping right now.

My water broke on 5/4 and we labored at home for about 6 hours. Once in the hospital we another 4 hours without pitocin. I was stuck at 3 cm and 50% since my 37 week appointment (my water broke after my 39 week appointment). Once I received pitocin I jumped to 6 cm. We were excited. However, the baby still wouldn't drop and engage and the doctor told us to prepare ourselves for a possible c-section (she knew our intentions of trying to do it naturally). Around 10am on 5/5 the contractions were too much and I had an epidural... about 3 minutes later (not really that fast, but it felt like it) the decision was made to do a c-section. As I was being prepped the baby was in distress, but the doctor got to him out. The cord was around his neck twice and he didn't have enough slack to come down the birth canal.

It happened differently than expected, however, walking home with a healthy baby in our arms was goal number one. I have since talked to mid-wives and they have reassured me that I and or John would have lost our lives. We did everything we could have and I'm not sorry we had c-section... I'm thankful that our doctor could see the situation and get him out before he was in too much distress.

He came out at 11:29pm on 5/5/2010 weighing 7.5 lbs and 21.5 inches long. We absolutely love him! Here are some pictures to enjoy.

How babies get outies

Last night at our Bradley class we were talking about what to pack in the bag that you bring to the hospital. Some of the things we "need" are a basin and a puddle pad for the car ride... in case you have the baby in the car. I don't think this will be a problem for us because we are only 15 minutes from our hospital and there is a different hospital across the street from our house.... and yet another ER on the way. So we are set.

Steven always gets really excited when we talk about having the baby in inopportune places. He gets so excited because, of coarse, he will be the one doing the catching. The idea of him "catching" the baby worries me a little. They seem to be pretty slippery when the come out... and doctors/midwives are trained in "catching." Maybe on our second time around.

After sharing this, someone said, "It's okay, you (Steven) can catch him (John) by the umbilical cord if he slips!"

And I said, "And then we can tell him (John) that that is why he has an outie!"

It was funny (and kinda made my belly button hurt a bit), but in all seriousness I totally trust Steven with our delivery. He has been very involved and such a great coach already. However, I'm not sure if I'm just being naive but I really think our birth isn't going to be that dramatic. Tons of people have babies every day... and you only occasionally here crazy stories... and if you do here them often, they are probably repeats. Our plan is to stay calm and take it one contraction at a time.

Bradley Class

We had our first Bradley class this week and it was very exciting. If you aren't aware of the Bradley method it's a birthing technique that teaches relaxation (and many many other things) in order to achieve an unmediated birth. See this website for more information.

This has been my desire for a long time... even before I got married. Steven heard about it through me and has been very supportive. I chose this method because I know women have been giving birth without medicine for a long time (some even in my family) and I want to see if I can do it too! I love how Bradley encourages the husband's involvement and educates you on the entire process. I feel like I'm going to be prepared... and I really like that.

There is always a chance that we will need medication or possibly a cesarean, so we are preparing our hearts for that if it happens. I'm not so set on an unmediated birth that I'm going to ignore the concerns of our doctor... however, we both really want this for our family and so we are doing everything we can to be successful.

Back to the class... we both really like the instructor. She has nine kids... two were adopted, but she birthed seven of them. All of her children are very well behaved and polite... we were very impressed. In addition to having a ton of personal experiences, she has taught the Bradley method for 17 years! Instructors are required to get and maintain a certification so there is some degree of accountability. Steven was very impressed with these things and quickly put his confidence in her.

The thing I most liked was that she works with what we want. For safety reasons we plan to give birth in a hospital and because we have insurance through Steven's work, it would be more expensive to have a mid wife. There are couples in the class that have chose to have a midwife and those who have not. I was very relieved... as silly as it sounds, I had fears that we would be sat in the center of the room and sternly instructed to get a midwife. There is a lot less pressure than I expected.... it's more like educating you so that YOU can make a decision.

We practiced some exercises and relaxation techniques during the first class. I have full confidence in Steven. Because I have had such a hard time sleeping he has become really good at helping me get comfortable. He sets ups and adjust up to seven pillows for me every night. I know, seven pillows sound ridiculous but some nights it is really hard to get comfortable... I can't just flip over like I used to be able to do. He also has had a TON of practice massaging my sore back. So the relaxation part of the class was very easy.

The exercising portion was a little more educational. Because a few of my friend have also done this method I had already begun some of the exercises. However, I was definitely doing one of them incorrectly... contributing to some lower back issues I was having. Some nights I could barely crawl into bed because of a dull pain in my back. The instructor helped me correct things and I've have almost no back pain since.

We are both excited and feel more bonded with our child than before. We need so much prayer, because a lot of things have to go well in order for this to happen the way we desire. Conception, pregnancy and birth are all such a miracle... I'm amazed anyone is able to have children.

What we've been up to...

Tuesday of this week was the first day of a new semester for many of my friends... but not me!!! wahooo!!! Steven was off work and we had a good time hanging out.

He actually had a four day weekend and it was very relaxing. We first helped friends move out of their apartment. It was fun, but I will really miss the couple. To cheer up afterwards we went to Brenham (with a different couple) and sampled some Blue Bell at the creamery... so yummy. My new favorite is Banana Pudding!

The rest of the weekend was spent playing Catan and hunting down lumber for our crib. Due to some information collected we will have to re-design our crib a bit... it shouldn't take long, though. We plan on getting started on construction in a two/three weeks, depending on what comes up. Once we start it should only take about four weekends to complete... so baby crib will hopefully be here around month 7... I hope that isn't too late.

I've turned in some paperwork to begin working part time until the baby comes... but as of right now I'm mainly cleaning and crafting. I couldn't ask for a better life! We have rearranged the entire house (minus the bathroom... things are kinda fixed in that room... lol). Steven loves making the arrangement just perfect and I like de-cluttering!

My biggest project is our wedding scrapbook. I've got all the pages planned out and organized. I got a great deal on prints through shutterfly and am currently waiting on their delivery. I'm also waiting on paper to go on sale so that I can save some money on scrapping supplies! So in the mean time I've been crafting gifts for friends. It's too bad I can't post pictures... they are turning out really great.

As soon as the crib gets started I will begin making the bedding. By bedding I mean bed skirt, bumper pad and possibly crib sheets. I was hoping to register/purchase sheets, but I can't find any colors that I like. The nursery colors are going to be cinnamon red, sage green, beige & dark brown (funny enough... it's the colors in my blog background... I laugh to myself when I realized that). Crib sheets I've seen so far don't have those color combinations or are too pale. We know this room is for a baby, but I really want colors that I like. I seriously doubt John will remember his nursery colors. I will focus more on colors for him when I do his quilt... which does not have to match the room.

The theme of our nursery is this really vague concept of reminding Steven and I that this child is a gift from God who we plan to raise to be a God honoring young man. More than colors or matching crib sheets I want this room to scream that. I hope to frame some good verses (on pretty paper of coarse) that I can pray over him while I'm doing nursery type things... changing diapers, folding clothes, nursing, etc.

Well... that is basically what we've been up to. It's pretty simple right now and I like that. The quiet before the storm coming in May! Lol!!!

National Parks

So tonight, while doing homework, I was watching a Ken Burns Series called "The National Parks: America's Best Idea" on PBS. I really enjoyed the history... but something kinda bothered me.

Most of our National Park were established by Teddy Roosevelt. At that time the idea of a National Park was a very new idea to our country. There were no laws or rules about how to create them. What bothered me was how Roosevelt would just declare the land as a National Park or National Monument because he was the president.

Now, for the record, I think National Parks and Monuments are a good idea... I just get a little worried when one human man has so much power and can "declare" something because he holds a certain position. I'm not a historian and I was listening in between trying to get the ideal gas law to work for my homework problem so I could be very wrong. But I would get very upset if our current presidents starts declaring things just because the majority of the citizens elected him to the presidency.

Anyway. That's just my opinion.