Olive Sprouts

Christmas Came Early

2011-12-16T14:37:00.000-08:00

Source: crazycraftbugs.blogspot.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Guess what is sitting in my kitchen?

That I've never had before?

I'll give you a little hint... this is what I've been researching today. <----

I'd love to hear from you on what you use, have tried, have not found success with as far as dishwasher detergents go. We have extremely hard water, so I am a little concerned that the DIY versions may not work for us. I've also been pricing dishwasher detergent on Amazon - Missy strongly advised me to go with the Finish Tabs since they're really effective, but I've also heard good things about the Seventh Generation.

I'm so so so excited about this new household helper... totally kissed it after we started it last night! Micah's family replaced their rolling unit with a built in, to save on space, so they gave us their rolling dishwasher. SO THANKFUL. :)

In an attempt to maximize productivity, I started the washer and dryer last night as soon as the dishwasher was started, intending to go to bed with all three of my favorite household servants hard at work... but apparently, dishwashers like water pressure. Who knew, right? Oops. I had to laugh at myself, though, since that pleasant feeling of being productive while not actually doing anything is so nice. ;)

pssst...

2011-11-18T06:30:00.000-08:00

Hey, guys... if you're skimming through your reader, pop over and see the pretty new layout! :) Naomi was so, so sweet to put it together for me...I just love it! (Thank you again, Naomi!)

See the lovely little buttons on the sidebar? Now you can ~~stalk~~ follow me all over the internetz with ease. ;)

Now that it's all pretty (and did you notice? I have a new name and address! OliveSprouts.com!), I feel very inspired to blog. I do. Unfortunately, things (translation = life) keep getting in the way... but I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things soon!

In the meantime, I hope you are all enjoying fall and have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I bought sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce at the grocery store this week... what Thanksgiving sides are your favorites? :)

moments

2011-11-08T09:08:00.001-08:00

Little drops of water, Little grains of sand, Make the mighty ocean And the pleasant land.

Thus the little minutes, Humble though they be, Make the mighty ages Of eternity.
- Ebenezer Brewer

Miriam just came up and asked me to help her snap her jeans, but they were on backwards. So was her shirt. She dressed herself, though, so that's pretty cool. She does that about five times a day and comes up with some very...unique outfits. My favorite was when she changed out of a sparkly fairy dress and came back wearing camo pants and a "I'm a big brother" t-shirt. She's not picky what drawer of the dresser she dresses from. ;)

Levi is sitting! and scooting backwards! and getting up on hands and knees! Six months, gone so fast. So fast.

Fall

2011-10-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

ource: xycolsen.blogspot.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Can you keep a secret, fall?

Don't tell the other seasons, but you're my favorite.

It isn't just the colors, rosy leaves and orange tinged branches.

Not just the nip in the air that invigorates me through and through and makes me want to race across the yard and leap into a pile of leaves.

Fall is the magic of pumpkins and candy corn, of cozy hoodies and leggings and boots, the spell of rain on the windows and Lady Grey with cream and sugar in my mug. Vanilla candles and baking muffins and steaming pots full of soup.

Autumn is wanderlust and homecoming, homesickness and rootedness, jazz and jolly melancholy.

Fall is for guitars and saxaphones. Fall is for chili and cornbread. Fall is for bricks and boots and books.

Source: seasonal-love.tumblr.com via Natalie on Pinterest

What's your favorite thing about fall? :)

(ALSO! Corn in chili... yay or nay?)

My Dear...

2011-09-30T16:15:00.000-07:00

So, I was cleaning out my Yahoo and Hotmail accounts today (I deleted over 1000 messages. It felt good.) and came across this gem of an email. Thought I would share it since it made me giggle...

My Dear, (a bit presumptuous for a scammer, no?)
Be informed that We have concluded to effect your payment (2.1M USD) Two Million One Hundred Thousand Dollars through Western Union Money Transfer. But the maximum amount you will be receiving daily starting from tomorrow onward is 5,100.00USD until the funds is completely paid out to you.
Now, contact Western Union Agent: Eric Gomez with your : Full Names , address, Telephone number. (What, you don't want my social security number, birthdate, and credit card number too?)
E-mail him at :----- Though, 5,100.00 USD has been sent in your name today so contact Mr.Eric Gomez and tell him to give you the MTCN, Sender Name, Question/Answer to pick the 5,100.00 USD. Please let me know as soon as you received all your funds (2.1M USD) Two Million One Hundred Thousand Dollars.
Thank you.
David Martin (yay! I am rich! Wait...)

Happy weekend, all! Hope you have a chance to sleep in, get things done, and enjoy the beautiful fall weather. We have a birthday this weekend, so a special breakfast is on the menu (I'm thinking baked french toast, bacon, and orange juice), as well as the obligatory chocolate cake - in this case a peppermint chocolate cake. :)

Imagination is GO

2011-09-26T13:37:00.000-07:00

There are monsters down the dark hallway at Grandpa and Grandma's house, the badger that lives down the road (and was seen one late night driving home) is a topic of much conversation when walking in from the driveway at night, and and sometime small hoodie'd dragons race through the living room.

A sweet friend passed down a sparkly, tulle-petal'd, satin 2T dress up dress. My girly girl is SO happy! And I loved letting her wear it to the grocery store and library... she looked adorable sitting in the cart surrounded by tulle. I think she also enjoyed that it drew the attention of the older ladies that usually are adoring Levi's baby chub. ;)

"...and I was in my cocoon and I came out and I was a beautiful butterfly and I shoot them with my guns!" - Nathan, 3 years, 5 months

Rainy day. Boots obviously required!

"...your feet are getting old and they're going to die and you'll be in Heaven..." - Nathan*

And Levi and I watch wide eyed as they juggle ideas and jostle each other, racing to decode this funny world.

_____________________________
* (Yes, I need to carve out time to exfoliate and moisturize. Until then, my neglected feet serve as a reminder of my mortality, apparently.)

Friday Phone Dump

2011-09-09T07:00:00.000-07:00

Pin Tuesday

2011-09-07T13:33:00.000-07:00

Why am I such a pack rat? {Self, you do not need to save every Martha Stewart Living magazine you've ever received!} Happily, I now have Pinterest to organize and enjoy all those clever and creative ideas {I will do someday when I have longer than twenty minute stretches of free time to be creative!} - and some nights stay up after I should be in bed with a hot cup of tea and enjoy some relaxation, calm, and total silence. Therefore, all the stacks of magazines went into the garage sale pile and are now out of the house.

Anyway...

Source: lanternpress.com via Natalie on Pinterest

We went to the Outer Banks on our honeymoon four years ago, and climbed this beautiful lighthouse. I have a photo of it hanging up in our office (well, not right now, actually, it got taken down to paint!), but I ADORE this vintage poster. So fun!

Source: weheartit.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Yeah. Sadly true. I've never been super fit and three babies in four years hasn't changed that. Taking baby steps to work on it, though. (Side note: exercise videos are hilarious.)

Source: realsimple.com via Natalie on Pinterest

I was super excited to see this as our blender pitcher has cracked and started leaking. I really didn't want to buy one right now.. now I don't have to give up my smoothies... YAY! :) Kristen warned me not to use a mayo jar in place of the mason jar, since the mayo jar would not be tempered. Good to know!

This morning had a little bit of a nip to it... so happy to see the beginning of fall! Now, where did I stash the box of sweaters...

p.s. Yes, I know it's Wednesday... yesterday I ~~got hit by a truck~~ came down with the fever and chills, aches and pain of a lightning fast case of mastitis, so I've been laying low and trying to fight it off. My temperature is down, so my hopes are high of recovery without antibiotics this time. :) But I had this all ready to go so I decided to post it anyway!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-07T05:00:00.000-07:00

(Summer wedding! Congrats, Erik and Amber!)

PinTuesday

2011-08-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

Source: design-seeds.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Source: tipjunkie.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Source: jonathanadler.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Some days, this seems like the best option. At least temporarily.

Source: blogs.babble.com via Natalie on Pinterest

We're working on a lot of home projects...

we've painted the office and the bathroom,

and I think the pink stairs we inherited when we bought the house

(and discovered after removing horrific teal carpet)

should be next on the hit list.
Thinking grey treads and white risers?

Source: oprah.com via Natalie on Pinterest

I'm ready for fall and hot dinners in the crock pot!

I've never tried doing noodle dishes in a crockpot, but I think it's worth a try! :)

Source: garden-photos-com.photoshelter.com via Natalie on Pinterest

How fun is this! File it in the "dream house someday" category.

Source: polyvore.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Fall is on the way! Can't wait to need sweaters again and for "warming up the kitchen" to be a positive to baking, not a drawback! ;)

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

Wordless {ish} Wednesday

2011-08-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

I looked at the giraffe, and he looked at me...

until it became awkward, and then I looked away...

(Guess who is THREE MONTHS already?! How is that possible?)

I'm Still in Love With Turquoise

2011-08-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

I may have run out of turquoise spray paint, but I'm still in love with turquoise, as is evidenced by the following...

Source: polyvore.com via Natalie on Pinterest

(Except I'd wear grey Toms instead of sandals, and I probably wouldn't have the courage to wear polka dots. So not the sweater. Especially since it has a bow, which isn't really "me".)

.
.

Beth at Babyette is gorgeous, as is this lovely sling!

Source: thediydish.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Source: nattybydesign.blogspot.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Ok, maybe this (and the next one?) is blue. Whatever. I love it anyway.

Source: etsy.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Source: polyvore.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Source: insidetheloop.tumblr.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Natalie on Pinterest

I have a necklace by this etsy seller with dark brown beads, and I love it. It's really sturdy, AND when a bead broke (our fault all the way) the seller was a total dream to work with and fixed it at no extra charge.

So... turquoise. Just seems like summer to me! :) What colors are you loving right now? Gray seems to be making a big splash right now, especially with yellow...

Summer = Smoothies

2011-08-04T10:47:00.001-07:00

Hearty Corn Muffins

2011-07-29T07:21:00.000-07:00

Basic Corn Bread recipe (my version of the Joy of Cooking's recipe):
Grease pan, preheat oven to 425*, and combine:
1 c. flour
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 c. corn meal

Combine in separate bowl:
2 eggs (beaten), then beat in
6 T melted butter
2 1/4 c. milk
2 T honey

Pour liquid into the dry ingredients, combine with a few rapid strokes. Bake about 25 minutes. (Muffins take less... I can't remember so maybe start checking them at 10 minutes?)

I took this cornbread batter and added browned ground beef, diced onions, corn, & cheese. It was really good! Next time I'll add more of all of them, and maybe some sour cream, to boost the protein so it can stand alone.

Also, I'll try not to leave them in the oven so long after the timer goes ("just finish changing this diaper, and then... oh, yes, wipe that kiddo's bottom too...") because some of them were a little dry (made three pans, so half a dozen are in the freezer now!). :)

Pinterest-ing

2011-07-15T08:55:00.000-07:00

Home inspiration board...

Style inspiration board...

I've been enjoying Pinterest... such a fun way to collect inspiration pictures and ideas! :) You can see my boards here. I can't decide whether I need to have lots of specific boards - individual rooms of the house, for example - or just big boards of broader things, but either way it's working and I've found some really fun ideas to inspire future projects. If anyone needs an invite you can email me or leave your email in a comment!

Also, Micah says I can paint our piano. Yesssssss. But what color?

life with three

2011-05-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

In short - never a dull moment (at least not very many, as you can tell by my lack of posting!)

Levi sleeping through bathtime.

Miriam loves 'holding' him. She'll sit down and hold out her arms, "Have him?"


Somehow, no matter how crazy things get, Levi manages to sleep through a good portion of every 24 hours.

p.s. Loving 'Organized Simplicity' by Tsh Oxenreider!

Introducing... Levi!

2011-05-07T20:08:00.000-07:00

Levi arrived, healthy and happy, at 1.15AM Saturday morning! He weighed in at 8lbs8oz, and was 21.5in long, with a head circumference of 14in. We are all doing well and are enjoying getting to know this new little person!

41 Weeks

2011-05-05T21:38:00.000-07:00

Accessories are vital to balance the belly! ;)

Well, I've done it again. Our estimated due date has come and gone and I'm still gestating away over here. Last pregnancy I went a full two weeks past our estimated due date (which apparently was wrong, based on Miriam's newborn assessment, she looked closer to 39 weeks than 42), and although I'm hoping not to do the same or further this time I'm getting pretty close. Sunday will mark 42 weeks!

A few people have asked "How long will 'they' let you go?" or "When will you need to induce?" Happily, in our case those kinds of decisions can be based solely on how baby and I are doing, not our due date or official policies. In some states midwives' licensing requirements do not allow them to attend births past 42 weeks. If that were the case I would be more concerned about going to 42 weeks, but thankfully we don't need to worry about that, only about how well mama and baby are doing.

Going by what last time looked like, I'm guessing that at 42 weeks we'll set up an appointment for an ultrasound, have some tests done, and evaluate any concerns that come up. Last time we went into labor the day before setting up the appointment, so I am not entirely sure what all would be entailed if we did make it to that point.

So, barring any complications, I'll just continue daily life, and keep bouncing on the exercise ball, nursing the toddler, and drinking red raspberry leaf tea. (I may also eat pineapple in ridiculous quantities, take evening primrose capsules daily, start making spicy meals, scrub my floors on hands and knees, take daily long walks, and resign myself to being pregnant forever.)

I was reading this tonight, though, and feeling encouraged about the value of waiting for labor to start on it's own...

"In the last weeks of pregnancy, maternal antibodies are passed to the baby—antibodies that will help fight infections in the first days and weeks of life. The baby gains weight and strength, stores iron, and develops more coordinated sucking and swallowing abilities. His lungs mature, and he stores brown fat that will help him maintain body temperature in the first days and weeks following birth. The maturing baby and the aging placenta trigger a prostaglandin increase that softens the cervix in readiness for effacement and dilatation. A rise in estrogen and a decrease in progesterone increase the uterine sensitivity to oxytocin. The baby moves down into the pelvis. Contractions in the last weeks may start the effacement and dilation of the cervix. A burst of energy helps pregnant women make final preparations, and insomnia prepares them for the start of round-the-clock parenting.
The watchful waiting and the intense wanting of the big day to arrive are all part of nature's plan. When the baby, uterus, placenta, and hormones are ready, labor will start. Additionally, all that preparation sets the stage for an easier labor and a fully mature baby who is physiologically stable and able to breastfeed well right from the start." - from 'Saying “No” to Induction', by Judith A. Lothian

On the plus side, I've been finishing up some loose ends in the last few weeks... like this half completed maternity skirt that has been sitting in a box of projects, forgotten, for months. Oops. It was very simple to make once I sat down and did it... I took the waistband from a worn out pair of favorite maternity pants, then cut out a simple skirt and stitched them together and hemmed. Very easy! And pretty nice to have something "new" to wear at this point. ;)

Also, I'm enjoying some lovely maternity photos that my awesome sister in law took. That is a first this pregnancy and I'm so glad that it worked out to have them done!

I think this one is my favorite. :)

Now, I'd better get to bed. Just in case I (hopefully!) go into labor in the middle of the night.

Our Crazy "Not a Birth" Story

2011-04-25T07:01:00.000-07:00

Today is my "due date" so to celebrate I'm posting this story from a few weeks ago that I finally got written up. Hopefully I'll have an actual birth story eventually... ;)

So, a week ago last Wednesday morning, Nathan woke up at midnight throwing up and Micah went to check on him while I got up to grab towels. Only, I got up & had a big gush of water... Micah heard it from Nathan's bedside and said, "What was that?" Half awake and in shock, I informed him my water had broken. I think his response was something like, "Are you serious?!" ;) At 38 weeks, we had been assuming we had at the very least another week!

After our midwife came, we found that baby was transverse. We weren't able to get a positive reading on the amnio swab at first, but we did end up getting a positive reading from the puddle, so with the risk of cord prolapse, and with water broken so that obviously baby couldn't turn, we transferred for a c-section.

It took us a short while to coordinate child care, grab the infant carseat out of storage, and pack a few essentials (as I supervised from lying on the couch), then we were on the road for the hospital. It felt totally surreal... up in the middle of the night, leaving my poor sick kiddo in the capable hands of his aunts, and suddenly having a totally different birth before us. As we drove we talked about what we'd ask for as far as c-section preferences... I knew that I wanted double layer suturing, skin to skin in the OR (ideally, on my chest right away, if not, skin to skin with daddy), no immediate swaddling or avoidable mama baby separation. It was all surreal to think about and talk about.

We're about the same distance from three different hospitals, and I assumed initially we'd transfer to one of the two bigger ones, but we ended up heading to the small town hospital instead. They have a ridiculously high c/s rate (usually that would be a red flag, but it was what we were transferring for!), are a small hospital (nurses and doctors more laid back and likely to go along with our requests) and they handle a lot of the local Mennonite's hospital births so they're a little more used to natural birth moms and how they think and what they'll prefer.

Since our midwife knew many of the staff, she called ahead and let them know we were coming in, so we skipped the ER & went directly up to L&D. The nurse we had was nice and was even sympathetic about us possibly winding up with a csection instead of our planned homebirth. She got us settled into our room, directed me to put on the hospital gown, then strapped me into bed on the monitors. This was all completely new to me, since I'd only even been in a L&D ward once, when visiting friends who had just had a baby. (And can I just say that bed was the least comfortable bed EVER?)

This is when we got our first inkling that we weren't going to have a c-section. The nurse palpated and frowned thoughtfully and said it certainly felt like a head down baby to her. We all gaped at her, because both our experienced midwife and Micah and I (who, while not exactly trained in the art of midwifery, are on our third baby and can tell the difference between a baby that is up and down and one who is sideways!) knew that baby had without a doubt been transverse before transporting. The nurse got amnio strips to test for broken water, and both of them came up negative. She suggested that I'd had a "fore-bag" break and that although we'd have to wait for the ultrasound and the doctor to see us, we could probably go home if we wanted to and if baby was head down.

The ultrasound tech wouldn't be there for a few hours, so we tried to relax and process everything. Mostly I played Words With Friends on my phone and distracted myself. Our main concern at that point was that baby would actually be breech and that they would not discharge us or allow a trial of labor. I was hopeful, though that even with a breech baby if I did not appear to actually be in labor or have ruptured membranes that they would let us go home.

Finally, the ultrasound technician wheeled in her cart and we got our first peek at our third little one... head down just like we were hoping! Chubby cheeks, tiny fingers and toes, and measurements matching right up with our dates! Although we had an overall good experience at the hospital, that was really the bright spot of the whole thing.

We waited a while longer to see the doctor on call. She agreed with the nurses guess about it merely being a fore-bag break, and said that they really didn't consider that my membranes were ruptured, so we shouldn't consider ourselves "on the clock" as far as labor went. She was fantastic and basically told us to go home and have a nice birth!

Still reeling, we checked out and headed to Walmart to grab an exercise ball (if labor did start, I knew I'd want it, but even if not I wanted it for good baby positioning) and other necessities, like ~~fudge cookies and~~ a mocha protein shake. Our midwife went to take a nap, since we'd kept her up most of the night, telling us to let her know if anything happened labor wise. We headed home and cuddled sick toddlers. It was all very anticlimactic! We were relieved and in shock and going home with an empty carseat and right back to wondering if we'd have a baby in a day or a week or two. I'm so glad that we didn't end up with a c-section, but it’s hard going from thinking you're going to have a baby in your arms that day to going back to patiently waiting again!

On the plus side, you wouldn't believe how much of the "to do before baby" list we got knocked out that day! ;)

Lasagna PSA...

2011-03-10T10:03:00.000-08:00

If you discover right before popping dinner in the oven that you have no aluminum foil, and you happen to have made lasagna...

... you may find yourself thinking the top layer is like a cheese marshmallow that has been just a tiny bit overexposed to the fire! On the other hand, I did actually like the crispy crunch, even if it was a bit too much. Next time hopefully I'll have some foil on hand... but maybe take it off for longer at the end to get a little bit of this same effect.

Lovely Lemon Pound Cake

2011-01-25T10:35:00.000-08:00

I started with what I consider the perfect pound cake recipe - moist and dense with crunchy edges, and perfect with a glass of milk or cup of coffee. The original suggested 1tsp of almond extract, but although yummy I decided to experiment with alternatives.

I think it is important to note that substituting lemon juice for lemon here will not get the same results. I tried lemon juice first, and although I'm sure you could add more than I did and get a stronger lemon flavor, I don't think that you can reproduce the well rounded, strong-but-not-overwhelming lemon taste with lemon juice alone. You need one entire well scrubbed lemon, minus of course the seeds. Oh, and I use my KitchenAid and my food processor. I'm sure you can do it without those, but I'm just going to write it like I make it! :)

Lovely Lemon Pound Cake
1 lb butter, softened
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
4 cups flour
3/4 cup milk
1 lemon, scrubbed well, sliced and de-seeded

Cream butter, gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Transfer butter/sugar mixture to food processor, process with lemon slices. Scrape down with spatula and continue until lemon and peel are completely mixed and no pieces are larger than would be if you had finely grated "zest" instead. Add eggs, beating after each. Add flour, alternating with milk, ending with flour. Pour batter into a greased and floured bundt pan and smooth with spatula. Bake at 300* for 1 hour and 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 - 15 minutes at least (sometimes I don't get to it right away), remove to plate or wire rack. Let cool.

cute face-making helpers optional

the key is real lemon!

pan ready to go!

And there you have it! Lovely Lemon Pound Cake. No guarantees, but my husband took a bite and said "Wow!", and made sure that the leftover slices made it into his lunch! ;) Let me know if you make it!

Now, all done except for the dishes...

Ah well.

"Loving the Little Years"

2010-12-27T10:29:00.000-08:00

If you have small children and need encouragement, you need this book! I read it cover to cover Christmas day after unwrapping it and I am sure it will become the kind of book that I'm regularly picking up for good reminders, wise words, and good encouragement.

This is not some abstract tome on how important little ones are... or some nostalgic musings of a grandmother looking back at her precious little ones (and forgetting all the rough days.) No - Rachel Jankovic has 5 kids, 5 and under, including 2 year old twins. She's not looking back to when she had lots of littles, she does right now, and is in the trenches... and giving encouragement to others.

She is one of the co-bloggers over at Femina, as well, if you aren't already a reader over there. :)

(Full disclosure: Amazon link is an affiliate link. But I'm telling you about the book because I genuinely love it.)

Tis the Week Before Christmas...

2010-12-22T14:27:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas cards this year!

Paperspring generously sent me a gift certificate and we loved this simple and classy design.

...and this is the closest I'm going to get to a blog post, since I'm up to my elbows in sugar cookie dough, fudge making, and wrapping paper!

.
A very Merry Christmas to all of you!

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,

   because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
   in the house of his servant David
(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
salvation from our enemies
   and from the hand of all who hate us—
to show mercy to our ancestors
   and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
   and to enable us to serve him without fear
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days."

~ Luke 1

Home Again

2010-11-18T07:29:00.000-08:00

We went to a glorious wedding this past weekend. Here I am with the Best Man, our 2 1/2 year old, our 18 month old flower girl, and an obvious bump! #3 is much more obvious now at 17 weeks, I feel like I really "popped" these last few weeks.

The wedding was beautiful and the reception was a lot of fun! Lots of dancing, eating, and catching up with people I hadn't seen in a long time. Of course, there is never enough time to spend with each person so I got home wishing I'd had more time with them all, but it was still wonderful to see them.


Nathan likes weddings. Especially weddings with cake.

Of course, babywearing was a big help while on the go. Here we are at the mall... Nathan was going to walk but when he saw Miriam on my back he wanted to be worn too! :) That ended up being better anyway since we were navigating escalators and went down a large staircase as well. We attracted a lot of double takes (maybe because we were both wearing?) and had three different people come up and ask us about our carriers!

On the way home, we hit Ikea! It was amazing, even though we only had time (and energy!) for one floor. But that is a whole post of it's own... ;)

Today I'm printing out Martha's Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe, reading The Nester's post on Pottery Barn Hacks for Thanksgiving, and washing curtains, cleaning ceiling fans, etc, before decorating for Fall. I'm behind, I know, and I thought about just skipping it entirely (like all the stores seem to have done!) and decorating for Christmas... but I love fall decor and even though I'm not hosting Thanksgiving this year (whew!) I still want to have the house feel like fall. So I'll be burning my pumpkin pie spice candle and hot gluing fall leaves to everything today! ;)

Rains and it pours...

2010-10-31T16:32:00.000-07:00

My camera died first. Now the computer is in the shop. Since my main blog content lately appears to be pictures, the first hampered my blogging quite a bit. Obviously the computer being out of commission too is the big preventative, though...

But I have a busy week coming up with preparing for some travel, a wedding (!), and I'm trying to think ahead and work on handmade Christmas presents. I want to make the kiddos some puppets, as well as making Miriam a stocking... any tutorial links or tips on the puppets much appreciated! :)

Calling all Babywearers

2010-10-04T07:55:00.000-07:00

Every family has a story, and babywearing is part of ours. After Nathan was born, babywearing entered our lives, and we are profoundly grateful for the connection, bonding, and ease of the babywearing way of life. From chasing cows to coping with a child in the hospital, babywearing is an integral part of how we parent.

Nathan's now 2 1/2, and most of the time much happier to be on his own two feet (which is fine, since he's also 30 pounds now), so he isn't being worn any more...but I cherish all the memories of kissing his sweet head while he was snuggled up securely in his sling or mei tai.

By the time Miriam came along, I'd found my babywearing groove, and was excited to be able to wear her a lot more than her brother.   Tandem babywearing made our year of 2 under 2 much, much easier. When she was born, Nathan had been walking for a week. There was no way he could toddle all the way across a parking lot, far less walk through a store. And if you've ever tried to navigate a stroller through a crowded, treasure laden thrift store (start by getting in, the doors aren't automatic!), you'll understand why strapping 35 pounds of baby to your torso is comparatively easy.

I didn't want to be home-bound just because I had two very small children, and thanks in large part to babywearing, I wasn't. And I not only shed the baby weight pretty quickly (try squatting down to get a can on a bottom shelf at the discount grocery with 35 pounds of extra weight and you'll see why!), I enjoyed making fun memories with them at the same time.

When we found out #3 will arrive next spring, one of the wonderful things we started looking forward to was wearing a snuggly little newborn again! My husband laughed at me when I said that... and then later said he's really looking forward to getting to babywear a newborn too! He loved the Moby wrap, and this time around I'm trading another carrier for a pretty indigo Moby. Can't wait!

I know I've been rather silent around here, between morning sickness, a horrific cold *achoo!*, and a broken camera, so you might be wondering what brought me out of the woodwork.

Babywearing is in crisis, and just as babywearing helped us, we need to turn around and help the babywearing industry stay beautiful, vibrant, and diverse.
While I've made many of my own carriers, not every mama can, and we need a variety of big and small babywearing businesses that can provide those families with the tools they need. When I'm stopped on the street and asked about my carriers, frequently I say, "I made this one, but you can buy a similar one from (fill in the blank depending on the type.)" Often that person will write it down or take one of my babywearing cards with more information.

Losing those businesses due to expensive testing, prohibitive regulation, or sheer bureaucracy is not acceptable.

What if I can't refer them to somewhere they can buy a similar carrier anymore? Or if eventually even sharing patterns and tutorials for DIY carriers is curtailed because of regulation? How will that harm babywearing? I don't know and I don't want to find out.

The CPSC is trying to regulate the babywearing industry, and there's a risk more of our favorite carriers will disappear, like Hotslings. Babywearing is a parenting choice, and by restricting our access to carriers, the CPSC is going to limit our ability as parents to choose what we feel is best for our babies. This is totally unacceptable.

Please go connect with the Baby Carrier Industry Alliance on Facebook to stay updated. A recall of a major baby carrier (at the moment unnamed) is being forced through this week. The Baby Carrier Industry Alliance states that this is a safe carrier and the CPSC is very much in the wrong to be forcing a recall. More details here, please take the time to read and act. If this can happen to one carrier, it can happen to them all. All our carriers are in jeopardy.

If you are represented by any one of the legislators listed here, PLEASE call and write them!

Also, if you're a blogger, the Baby Carrier Industry Alliance needs you... please go here and read their call to action!  We need to be vocal right now about how important babywearing is to us! If you write a post, be sure to post it on the BCIA Facebook page AND add to the linky over at Adventures in Babywearing... one linky participant will win a Sakura Bloom ring sling!   And if you share your babywearing story and link up at the Wrapsody Baby blog you'll be entered to win a Gypsy Mama microfleece wrap (perfect for fall!)

Whether you wore your babies, would have wanted to, are a current babywearer, want to babywear someday, or just plain care about people having the right to make their own parenting choices without heavy handed government intervention, please take the time to act. For the small businesses. For the parent's who need their hands back. And for the babies... and their babies.

High Fashion

2010-09-14T10:29:00.000-07:00

All Nathan!

Still in his jammies, Nathan found his suspenders! He was thrilled. Pardon the breakfast yogurt on his shirt!

Extended Rear Facing

2010-09-10T08:30:00.000-07:00

The minimum age that a child's car seat is supposed to be changed from rear facing to front facing is one year and twenty pounds. However, rear facing past that point is still safer. Just think about this for a moment...

When a child is in a forward-facing seat, [in an accident] there is tremendous stress put on the child's neck, which must hold the large head back. The mass of the head of a small child is about 25% of the body mass whereas the mass of the adult head is only 6%! A small child's neck sustains massive amounts of force in a crash. The body is held back by the straps while the head is thrown forward - stressing, stretching or even breaking the spinal cord. The child's head is at greater risk in a forward-facing seat as well. In a crash, the head is thrown outside the confines of the seat and can make dangerous contact with other occupants, vehicle structures, and even intruding objects, like trees or other vehicles.
Rear-facing seats do a phenomenal job of protecting children because there is little or no force applied to the head, neck and spine. When a child is in a rear-facing seat, the head, neck and spine are all kept fully aligned and the child is allowed to "ride down" the crash while the back of the child restraint absorbs the bulk of the crash force. The head is contained within the restraint, and the child is much less likely to come into contact with anything that might cause head injury.-" (source)(emphasis added)

Nathan's current seat

It is safer not to turn your child's carseat forward facing until you reach the rear facing weight limit on the carseat itself, which on a convertible carseat is usually around 30 pounds.

Both of ours, The First Years True Fit and the Cosco Scenera, go to 35 pounds rear facing, so both Nathan (29 months) and Miriam (16 months) are rear facing. There are even some carseats, such as the Graco My Ride 65 Car Seat, Safety 1st Complete Air that can rear face until 40 pounds, and the Sunshine Kids Radian80SL goes to 45 pounds rear facing.

Some people think that you have to turn them around when their feet touch the back of the seat, but that isn't true. We've found that Nathan is quite comfortable crossing his legs. Occasionally the objection is made that a child might be at increased risk of broken legs if rear facing. I am ok with that, if true, because in the event of a severe accident in which my child was likely to suffer an injury of that magnitude rear facing he would be at higher risk forward facing. There's a little saying that goes "Broken leg? Cast it. Broken neck? Casket."

Basically, the longer a child can ride rear-facing, the better protected his or her spinal cord is in the event of a collision. - Joe Colella, Former Child Passenger Safety Training Manager for the National SAFE KIDS Campaign

"The most common misunderstanding is that a child is ready to travel facing forward when his neck muscles are strong enough to support and control his head. However, when a car hits something at 25 to 30 mph, it will come to a stop at a negative acceleration rate of from 20 to 30 G. Because of the time lag between when the vehicle stops and an occupant stops, and the fact that the head of a forward-facing adult or child is still free to move relative to the restrained torso, the head may experience as much as 60 or 70 Gs acceleration for a brief moment. Even the strong neck muscles of military volunteers cannot counteract such forces. Instead, the rigidity of the bones in the neck and strength of the connecting ligaments (not the muscles) hold the adult spine together and keep the spinal cord intact within the confines of the vertebral column.
Very young children, however, have immature vertebrae that are still partly made of cartilage. These are soft and will deform and/or separate under tension, leaving just the spinal cord as the last link between the head and the torso. According to documented research, autopsy specimens of infant spines and ligaments allow for spinal column elongation of up to two inches, but the spinal cord ruptures if stretched more than 1/4 inch. Real-world experience has shown that a young child's skull can be literally ripped from her spine by the force of a crash."- from Carseat.org, here

And just one more quote, this one from a post on the subject:

"toddlers between the ages of 12 & 23 months who ride rear facing are 5 times safer and 75% less likely to experience serious injury or die than their forward-facing peers."

I'm not a safety expert, a car seat technician, or a crash test expert. I'm 'just' a mama. I know that I can't protect my children from all harm, but considering that motor vehicle injuries are the leading cause of death among children in the U.S it is definitely worth a little bit of thought and research to consider how we can best keep our children safe while traveling. Because it doesn't matter how safe a driver you are - you cannot control other drivers and you cannot predict whether a drunk driver is going to come flying through red light at a seemingly empty intersection. You can only take steps to keep your child as safe as you can. Keeping your little one rear facing is an easy way to make them safer.

We haven't found rear facing past a year to be inconvenient or a hassle at all... it's a really simple way of making our kids a little safer in the car!

Are your little ones rear facing still?

Did you know that it was still safer, even past the age of one?

What are some good safety resources you've found?

_____________________________________________________

Update: As of April 2011 "the American Academy of Pediatrics now advises parents to keep toddlers in rear-facing car seats until age 2, or until they exceed the height or weight limit for the car seat, which can be found on the back of the seat. Previously, the AAP advised parents to keep kids rear-facing as long as possible, up to the maximum limit of the car seat, and this has not changed. But it also cited one year and 20 pounds as the minimum for flipping the seat, which many parents and pediatricians interpreted as conventional wisdom on the best time to make the switch. The new policy clarifies the AAP's recommendation, making age 2 the new guideline -- a real game-changer for parents of toddlers.

A 2007 study in the journal Injury Prevention found that children under age 2 are 75 percent less likely to die or to be severely injured in a crash if they are rear-facing. Another study found riding rear-facing to be five times safer than forward-facing." -CNN, AAP: Toddlers in rear-facing seat until 2

We are still rear facing two carseats, with an almost 3 and almost 2 year old. Nathan is getting very close to the weight limit, so he will probably need to forward face soon after 3, however.

Three

2010-09-07T06:15:00.001-07:00

Three means... the small people will outnumber the big people.

Three means... Miriam won't be the "baby" anymore.

Three means... a whole new adventure.

Three means... getting to babywear a newborn again, (and give EC another try.)

Three means... a baby!

Expected next May!

Please pray for a healthy pregnancy... and feel free to leave your best morning sickness coping tips, as I'm already having trouble keeping things down.

Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil Review

2010-09-03T08:09:00.000-07:00

In our home, we try to keep things deliberate and simple. That approach gets a bit more complicated when we add in budgeting, like for our food purchases, but basically our food approach is pretty simple.

1. Life is too short to eat things that taste yucky.
2. Life is too short to obsess over what we eat, after all, we're going to die anyway. Our efforts can be better used on things that will last eternally.
3. Life is too short to further shorten it by willy nilly consumption of unhealthy industrialized food, and we have a responsibility to our children, and to God, to try to leave things better than we found them.

So basically, we try to eat healthy - real foods, local foods, sustainable foods - we try to eat frugally - home made foods, from scratch foods, bulk foods - and we try to eat practically - simple foods, nutritionally dense foods.

Nathan approves.

One simple way that we try to be healthy is by making sure that the fats in our kitchen are good fats. We avoid all vegetable oils and shortenings, and prefer butter, olive oil, and lard. And, we've been exploring coconut oil as well!

Tropical Traditions was kind enough to send us some of their delicious coconut oil for review purposes. We LOVED it. If they had sent us five gallons instead, we would have eaten it all and died of happiness... so I guess it's a good thing they didn't or we wouldn't still be around to share how good it is! ;)

As a nursing mama, I've noticed that my energy levels are better when I make a point of having plenty of good fats in my diet. I know a mama whose midwife specifically recommended to her to take a tablespoon of coconut oil every day to make sure that she was getting enough good fat in her diet! I know that personally, I would much rather take that tablespoon in fudge, but either way coconut oil is a great fat to be consuming and I have felt that for me personally it was an energy booster.

grilled cheese sandwich with coconut oil... yum!

We still need to sit down and do the math to see just how large a place coconut oil will have in our pantry and diet.

But, as this very tasty jar of Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil confirmed for us, coconut oil definitely will be a pantry staple from now on around here!

Ways to enjoy Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil:

on bread!
in fudge!
use for popcorn - this is particularly amazing & Micah's favorite oil to use for popcorn now
in baked items - just substitute for butter or other oils
use on a grilled cheese sandwich

Is there any coconut oil in your pantry? :)

_________________________________________________
Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it unless I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product. I am not a nutritionist or medical professional and any opinions in this post are merely my own opinions and are not to be construed as medical or nutritional advice.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

Loving Right Now

2010-09-01T11:42:00.000-07:00

The rainy day today, grey and drizzly, and the contented rumble of the thunder in the distance. Maybe it has to do with being raised in a desert, but rain always makes me happy. It is making me especially happy today because the grass has been getting crunchy and yesterday was pretty warm, so the rain has cooled things down and the grass will green back up again.

Anticipating fall. I love fall. Pumpkins, cozy sweaters, scarves, and the changing colors... as well as the crisp, cool weather, which pretty much requires a big chunky mug filled with some hot substance. Also, jewel tones, especially dark red. And bronze. And that smell, that really organic, leafy smell, of everything settling in for the winter.

My Lisa Leonard necklace* which reads ". and like olive plants thy children . " It's part of Psalm 128 (the version in the Book of Psalms for singing, which I first memorised). Here is the complete Psalm (KJV) -

Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways.

For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.

Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.

Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD.

The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.

Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel.

The Graphic's Fairy, and this sweet fairy she just shared.

She has lovely vintage images that she shares. Great source, especially since she tags them well and it makes it easy to find what you're looking for if you're working on a specific project.

Our current favorite Pandora station. Start with some Raffi, mix in some Elizabeth Mitchell, and enjoy!

Summer flowers

Annnnnd...

This FACE!

What are you loving right now? :)

___________________________________________________
* (partially paid for with a gift card to Lisa Leonard, thanks again Lisa Leonard, MomSelect, and Mom Magazine)

The Tube is Gone

2010-08-26T07:45:00.000-07:00

The dialysis tube is gone!

In two weeks he can go swimming and take baths again!

Monday we spent most of the day at the hospital... including of course monkey.

Miriam went to get lunch with Daddy and returned sound asleep! I wolfed half my lunch in the hall and then ate the rest later. We couldn't eat around Nathan as he was beginning to get quite hungry but couldn't have anything of course before surgery at 1pm.

He had a lot of fun playing with this VERY noisy truck. The surgeon observed that he would not want to have that toy at his house, and I totally agreed. It had buttons for hammers, jack hammers, and other noisy tools, and was loud.

Surgery went smoothly, we were able to come home Monday night, and he has been recovering great. The biggest challenge has been keeping him quiet. I have no idea how they expect a healthy, energetic two year old to take it easy for a few days. If they really wanted him to stop climbing things and running around and all that they should have sent me home with a sedative for him!

Today we met with his wonderful kidney specialist... who said that he is doing great and that we don't need to see him again for six months. I was surprised since we'd been on monthly meetings. That's a big jump! But obviously it shows how well he is doing! :)

paint it turquoise! paint it turquoise!

2010-08-17T06:58:00.000-07:00

It wouldn't be fair to Martha to blame her for my recent spray painting spree, but I do just love this cover and since it has turquoise in it it seemed a fitting photo to kick off this post!

My husband recently bought me two cans of turquoise spray paint. So far I have painted two lamps, two dinner plates, a glass bottle and lid, a few clothespins, a disposable diaper box with the flaps cut out (they make great storage bins, they even have handles!) and the lid to a kitchen canister. :)

I had forgotten how relaxing it is to watch something transform with paint.

How refreshing it is to create something that will stay that way... unlike the good dinner or carefully made bed or folded laundry or clean dishes, all stacked in place.

Those things all have their own unique sense of satisfaction and accomplishment, but there is an added satisfaction, for me, in knowing that unlike many of my tasks which are done over and over and over, this will stay and look good (hopefully) and not revert to it's previous state.

Although sometimes an undo button might not be such a bad thing, like when I accidentally did not cover quite enough of the sidewalk while painting the second lamp. A friend suggested I spray paint it grey over the turquoise, but my husband objected that it might look as if I had covered up graffiti on our sidewalk. I refrained from saying that technically he would be within reason to consider my spraying the sidewalk turquoise as graffiti, but I think he has enough reason to roll his eyes at my liberal use of spray paint without that, thankyouverymuch.

Anyway. Without further ado, here is one of my projects that I'm particularly pleased with. I purchased a set of two of these lamps at a garage sale for $3 quite a while ago, and we've been using one as our office lamp. I didn't like it, though, and I had originally planned on spray painting it all white... but then I had the turquoise... and I thought it would be really cheery and fun with it.

I have a quick tip for you if you're spray painting a lamp... if you have a dead light bulb (the one in our office lamp was dead - thank you procrastination!), then put it in/leave it in before painting. It will save you the trouble of masking the round hole there to keep from gunking up the light bulb socket! I saved the turquoise bulb from the first lamp and used it on the second.

I love it. :) It makes me smile to see it, especially since I switched out the (rather staid) shade that had been on it with this funky one. It seems to fit with the turquoise better.

Have you revamped anything lately? :) Do you think one can ever have too much turquoise? And do you know of anything that needs sprayed turquoise?

'Cause I'm looking around my house persuading myself that everything I see does not need to be turquoise... or does it...

Also, if you haven't seen House of Turquoise... :)

Driving Already?

2010-08-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

Everyone tells you that your babies will be grown up in no time flat, but I did not expect Nathan and Miriam to start driving this summer, just the same. Call it new mama naivety. Be that as it may, though, so far they're doing very well.

Miriam- "I'm driving!"

Except for the whole rollover incident, where Miriam was unbuckled (duh, there aren't any) and miraculously survived a rollover where she went through the windshield (well, where the windshield would be, anyway) with only a little dirt on her face. She was unfazed. I guess that she just expected something to happen when Nathan started pushing her around the yard. I was surprised, though, as our yard, while not exactly a putting green, isn't hilly enough that I would have expected him to hit a bump and cause the car to roll. Oops. Apparently the Cozy Coupe has a very high center of gravity.

Nathan- "Smile at the camera, Miriam!"

"Bye!"

They have been having an absolute blast playing with this, and I love it. I'm not usually into plastic toys, but isn't this practically a classic anyway? It was on my garage sale watch list last year, with no success, and this year I haven't made it to hardly any, but a sweet, sweet friend heard I was on the hunt for one... and dropped this one off in my yard since her kids are mostly too old for it anymore. :)

Miriam - "uhmm, Nathan, the door is over here...?"

She also dropped off a slide and a little picnic table, so our newly picket fenced yard looks just as kid friendly and fun as it is! Now I'm daydreaming about a kiddie pool, since I know that both my kidlets would just love one, and as hot as it is, so would I. Plus, it would give Nathan a chance to wear his new life jacket correctly for once. (Thank you, Stearns Flotation and MOM Magazine! Cannot wait to try it!)

this is NOT how it's designed to be worn!

Of course,we have to wait for surgery to remove his tube first... but after that? Squirt guns and sprinklers and hitting the pool! :) I can't wait...

--------------------
I received the Stearns Personal Flotation Device at no charge from them and from MOM magazine through my relationship with BSM Media/MomSelect. I was not obligated to write about it and any opinions I express are solely my own. Also, links are affiliate links. Also, don't let your child put a life jacket strap around their necks... in the immortal words, don't try this at home, kids. Am I done with the small print yet? I think so...

Enjoying Summer

2010-08-04T09:12:00.000-07:00

Kicking off the flip flops...

Enjoying the crisp snip-snip-snip of the mower.

and soaking up the summer... that's what we've been up to lately. :)

Nathan is doing wonderfully, and we have his surgery to remove his peritoneal dialysis catheter scheduled about three weeks from now. Then I think I'll feel more like we're back to normal! Especially since we'll probably be able to start working him off his blood pressure medications at about the same time. We don't have any doctor appointments for this week or next week, though, so at least we're getting back to normal. :)

Home Again

2010-07-23T08:51:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for your comments and prayers during Nathan's hospital stay. We are HOME! And he is doing very well. We are still adjusting into a new routine of weighing him daily, checking his blood pressure, and giving him (only one!) medication twice a day, as well as needing to go to regular pediatrician and monthly kidney specialist visits. His wonderful pediatric kidney specialist has repeatedly assured us that he is extremely happy with Nathan's progress, that he thinks that he will have no lasting damage, and that he is recovering quickly. We are going to have to have his peritoneal dialysis tube removal surgery in a few weeks, and then I know that I will feel like we're getting back to normal.

Nathan is understandably a bit emotional, and swings quickly from extremely happy and giggly to tears. This is not normal for our even keeled, cheerful boy, but obviously a small child who has been very sick, stuck with countless needles, catheterized (with two failed attempts by the PICU nurses before they called the stat nurse), gone through minor surgery, and gone through temporary cold turkey weaning is going to be scared and confused and feel less secure for a while.

But he is still generally a happy little guy, and is getting his energy and strength back very quickly. He is blossoming verbally in the last few weeks, labeling everything by color (usually correctly!), spontaneously reciting animal noises-

"Cow say MOOOO. Pig say *snort snort*. Chicken say BUK BUK BUK."

- and greeting us all by name in the middle of dinner ("Hi, Miriam. Hi, Mama. Hi, Daddy."). He is also enjoying some new books he was given, including a new favorite, Fifteen Animals!, and an old favorite that I remembered reading to my brothers but that we didn't have, Guess How Much I Love You.

Also home is Monkey, who was given to Nathan by some kind friends who visited us in the hospital. Monkey was 'listened to' by countless nurses, bravely took tylenol first to show Nathan it tasted good, donned a face mask along with Nathan whenever the dialysis nurses needed to change his dressing or hook or unhook his tube from the machine, and even wore a blue cap and accompanied him into surgery. Monkey's given name on his tag was Bongo, but Nathan told every nurse who asked that his name was Monkey, so we're going with that. ;)

We are all soaking in the summer with renewed enthusiasm... eating popsicles with all four of us piled in the hammock we bought on our honeymoon (and hung this week... why did we wait so long?!), wearing our "flips flops", as Nathan says, drinking pink lemon aid, and generally reveling in being home and being together. God is good and has been gracious, and we are full of joy.

Nathan Update

2010-07-14T19:33:00.000-07:00

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth many many more, right? Here is Nathan this afternoon. Off dialysis (for today and tonight... praying that his levels will have continued to improve by tomorrow so that we can stay off altogether!), unhooked from all the wires (for at least part of the day) and able to get up and play! He is a bit wobbly and needs close attention (he thinks he can do everything, but he's still a bit weak and his balance is a bit off. Anyway... here is some amazing Nathan cuteness. Thank you so so so much for your prayers.

We are hopeful that if he continues to improve at this rate that we may be able to go home soon.

Please pray that...

his blood pressure would stay within the normal range so we can stop the blood pressure medication
his body would be able to heal itself from this point, and his kidneys would be able to handle things from here on out without the help of dialysis.
that his anemia would go away without another transfusion (we've had 4 so far)
that there would be no long term damage to his kidneys or his health
that we would be able to go home soon!
that we would be able to find a good doctor to have follow up/monitoring visits with, and that we would be able to establish a good relationship with them.

Thank you so much!

Share

Pray for Nathan

2010-07-12T21:11:00.000-07:00

Tuesday evening we took Nathan to the ER at a small local hospital, because he had been vomiting and having bloody diarrhea. They gave him an IV, took his blood, and admitted us, because the staff pediatrician was not on call until the next morning. When she came in she did more blood tests, because she didn't like what she saw. She told us she was afraid Nathan had Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). The tests showed the levels of certain chemicals controlled by the kidneys, so if there was a trend of those chemicals not going the right direction, he probably had it.

Since that small hospital was not equipped to do anything further in our care, we were sent via ambulance to a larger one an hour away, where we had excellent care and were given lots of information on HUS. They continued to monitor his blood levels, and warned us of the possibility of transferring for dialysis, since they were not equipped to do pediatric dialysis. Thursday night we were transferred three hours away in case Nathan ended up needing dialysis. His levels had made two jumps in the wrong direction, so we anticipated that it would be likely.

Nathan and I got here around 1AM, and Miriam and Micah arrived shortly after. We had a fairly uneventful but mostly sleepless (for adults) night. Thursday Nathan's levels were closely monitored, and a catheter was inserted. Although his levels of creatinine and BUN did get higher, unfortunately, they did not take a big leap. His potassium was still too high, and he was given a medication to help him eliminate that. The decision was made that we would plan on putting in a peritoneal dialysis catheter in Friday morning, and put in a central line as well (which will be used for blood draws, etc, and prevent him from getting even more needle pokes.

The surgery went well, and pretty soon they hooked him up to dialysis. Peritoneal dialysis pumps a liquid into his belly, which absorbs toxins via some sort of osmosis, and then pumps it back out. Then it does it again, and keeps pumping and absorbing, and draining, until they decide he's better.

Nathan was understandably tired Saturday, but he really enjoyed seeing a bunch of his aunts and uncles and both grandpas who all drove up to see him. They got his first giggle out him since the whole things started. Sunday showed huge improvements in energy, alertness, and attitude. He smiled, giggled, and ate more than he had all week. Monday he giggled, playfully threw his monkey off the bed (to be retrieved and immediately thrown again, with an impish grin!), and wanted to eat a few bites of my cheesecake and pizza!

His blood tests have begun coming back with minor improvements. This is of course a huge improvement to us, because they aren't drastic declines anymore. We don't know how long it will take for him to get better enough for them to send us home. Some patients make fairly quick recoveries, and some take a while. But overall the prognosis is hopeful. This afternoon we moved out of the PICU and out onto "the floor" as the hospital lingo goes.

Our sweet boy Sunday (left) and a few weeks ago with Miriam (right).

And Friday... before surgery, before the dialysis, when his levels were at their worst and he was his most lethargic and weak.

The dialysis will take strain off his kidneys, so they can recover and get back to their job. Please pray that the dialysis continues to go well, that he continues to heal, and heals quickly so we can go home, that we continue to have skilled, attentive nurses and doctors, that my milk supply would stay up (I am pumping for him since the kidney doctor needs to know exactly how much liquid he's getting) and that he would not have any long term damage from this.

Also, thank you so much to those who have visited, sent cards or gifts, or have called or emailed us. It has been such an encouragement to us not to feel alone. To have the love of God made tangible and visible by His people. Such a blessing.

I will try to have an update in the next few days. In the meantime, please pray!

Share

Babywearing

2010-06-30T08:10:00.000-07:00

If you know me, you know that I frequently have a baby on my back.

That's how we roll - babywearing makes it easier to snuggle with my babies and get things done.

It was a lifesaver about a year ago when the cows got out into the road and we had to get them back in unassisted and I had to go in and out of ditches and open gates and move quickly, oh, yes, and the baby was hungry, too. Babywearing means I could burn calories marching all over chasing cows, while breastfeeding at the same time. ;) What's not to like? Oh, yeah, the cows were out...

Babywearing isn't just for mamas, though. Micah babywears- one of the many things about him that makes me all weak at the knees. ;)

I think a stretchy wrap is the best newborn carrier of my stash. There is a bit of a learning curve, but the incredible comfort is worth the effort. A friend gave me a Moby wrap for Miriam and I loved it! My second recommendation would be a ring sling. They're great for shorter chunks of time when you don't want to put on the wrap. Plus you can use it well into toddler hood for a hip carry! You can make one (my mom made me my two), or buy one. I also love our mei tai and podaegi, and want to experiment with woven wraps.

Miriam loves being worn... and wearing, too! ;) Here she is with her baby in a doll sling. :)

This post was written for the Babywearing Carnival hosted by Jami of Babywearing Videos. Thanks, Jami!

Share

Around the house...

2010-06-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

Earth Mama Angel Baby Milkmaid Tea Review

2010-06-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

I recently received some Earth Mama Angel Baby Milkmaid Tea for review.*

Milkmaid Tea contains herbal galactagogues like fennel, fenugreek, anis seed, and caraway seed.

I haven't had trouble with milk supply (except during pregnancy, and Milkmaid Tea is not intended for use during pregnancy), but tandem nursing means I am producing a lot of milk (moo!) and so sometimes it is nice to give my milk production a little herbal support. If you're struggling with milk production, start with this page from Kellymom on how milk production works, and then check out this page with things you can do for your supply.

The day that my tea arrived, it was pretty warm, and the idea of a hot cup of tea was just not my cup of tea. ;) But on the back of the box it suggested that it was good iced or hot, so I made some iced tea with it. It was great! It has a nice, mild herbal flavor. Compared to the Traditional Medicinals Organic Mother's Milk Herbal Tea I felt that the Milkmaid Tea had a milder flavor. I think Mother's Milk tea has a stronger, more licorice like flavor. I like licorice, so I don't mind it, but I know some people don't like licorice...

The next morning it was cooler and I had a hot cup of Milkmaid Tea instead. It was tasty, but I felt that it was a bit weak tasting, which surprised me since I had used one tea bag in a standard sized mug and made sure to steep it for 10 minutes (the box suggests 5-10). However, I didn't squeeze the tea bag at all, like I always do with the Mother's Milk Tea (it says to in the instructions for MMT), so perhaps that was part of it. The next time I made a hot cup I made sure to squeeze the tea bag instead and I think it seemed stronger.

And because this is a truthful review - Micah didn't realize what kind of iced tea I was drinking and took a drink. He did NOT like it, and refused to believe that it didn't contain his childhood nemesis, Slippery Elm Bark, until I read him the ingredients list out loud, at which point he began talking about the need for an ingredient audit! So, *I* think it tastes fine, but just for full disclosure, that is obviously not a universal belief!

Thanks, Earth Mama Angel Baby!

______________________________________________________________________________
*I was sent a box of Milkmaid tea to review. I was not compensated in any way for this post. All opinions expressed are my own. All links are Amazon affiliate links, so if you buy through them I have a few more pennies of play money.

Playdough!

2010-06-10T14:46:00.000-07:00

We used this recipe and made some homemade playdough today! Nathan had never played with playdough, so I was a little apprehensive that he'd have trouble understanding that it wasn't food, but he did great and had a lot of fun with it! :)

Do your kiddos like playdough? Have you ever made playdough?

Share on Facebook

Simple Granola

2010-06-08T07:25:00.000-07:00

From the More with Less Cookbook (with a few minor alterations)

Makes 2 1/2-3 quts.
250*
1 hour

Preheat oven to 250*. Combine in large mixing bowl:
2 c. whole wheat flour
7 1/2 c. rolled oats

Blend together separately
1/2 c water
1 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 cup honey
2 t vanilla
1 T salt
(Sometimes I like to add a big dollop of peanut butter! And it tastes great with brown sugar instead of honey, just add a little extra water.)

Add blended liquids to dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Spread out on 2 greased cookie sheets and bake 1 hour, or until dry and golden. Store in covered containers. (I like reusing empty oatmeal containers.)

Share on Facebook

3

2010-06-02T12:44:00.000-07:00

3 years.

honeymooning

2 children.

1 marriage.

Blessed.

Share on Facebook

Tick Tock, Chickenpox

2010-05-19T10:56:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I just need to lose the household clock. Some days I scale back the 'to do list' to include

- change diapers
- feed everyone
- make dinner

... and "nothing" else. "Nothing", of course, opens hours quickly filled. Filled not with catching up on laundry or cleaning out the fridge (worthwhile tasks, of course, and in ~~dire~~ need of happening), but with snuggles, one on one, and good stories.

And also, in our particular circumstances at the moment, calamine lotion, oatmeal baths, and lots of diaper free time, since the chickenpox seem to have hit his lower back particularly badly and I think the diaper makes it worse.

But his fever is gone, and his spots are scabbing over, and I know that soon, soon, we'll be back to our usual activities...

... and that beautiful soft smooth skin will be back, too!

Little Helpers

2010-05-11T16:10:00.000-07:00

Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking has a new post on including kiddos in household work. That is something that I really try to do with Nathan (and need to start doing more with Miriam), so I loved reading about ways she tries to do that in their home.

I especially loved this...

"Including your children in your various household tasks may require more time and effort on your part to teach and instruct them, and there very well may be a bigger mess afterward…but what is more important? Investing in your relationship and teaching valuable skills in the process or sending them away and getting the job done quicker while losing out on this important opportunity?"

And here is my comment on her post...

My two year old "washes" dishes with me every morning. He has also started putting things in the dryer as I unload the washer, getting specific items out of the fridge for me while I'm cooking, and throwing things away when I ask him to. Yes, it takes longer, yes, sometimes the clean clothes end up on the floor before they make it to the dryer, and yes, we've broken a lot of glasses while washing dishes... but he is learning, he is trying to help, and we are enjoying working together!

Long Stemmed Dandelions

2010-04-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

My yard is full of dandelions. I remember the dandelions of my childhood as short, squatty, grubby little things. My dandelions now are not like that, either because my memory is bad or my dandelions are different.

These dandelions are tall, graceful, sprightly things, leaping up towards the sky, defying the lawn mower and enticing the toddlers. These dandelions have stems that you can braid together. Stems that are easily six inches long, towering far above the lowly leaves and the grass.

These dandelions wink knowingly, forecasting lemonade and fireflies, nodding towards the porch swing and whispering of guitars and margaritas, of ice cream cones and barbecue, of squirt gun wars and bubble wands. They glow, fluorescent yellow, and if you pluck their glorious crowns, twisting fluff in fingertips, the sunshine spreads to your fingertips as well. Dandelions shorn, their locks sit in a bowl on tabletop, then I bake them into cookies to fill bellies and fatten joyful souls.

Now that crop are all grey headed grannies, bobbing in the breeze. We pluck them and initiate our little ones into the summer ritual. Dandelion seeds float through the breeze. Did God design dandelions to be irresistible as part of their protection against eradication? Our crop will be mighty and plentiful next year, that much I know.

my loves

2010-04-20T13:33:00.000-07:00

The Night Shift

2010-04-12T07:16:00.001-07:00

Love this! :) Happy Monday!

Signing

2010-04-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

We haven't ever done a whole lot of baby signing, but we've used some basics consistently...

milk (for nursing)
more
all done
thank you
please
sit down

I think it is incredibly helpful for the pre-verbal toddler to be able to express whether they're all done eating, or want more - and I think it cuts down on fussing, too! We signed to Nathan for months and months before he started signing back (at around 14 months or so? I think?), but I know that he was understanding what we were signing to him long before he signed back.

I don't know whether we'll keep growing our vocabulary or not now that Nathan is starting to talk so much more, but I'd like too. :)

There are lots of online resources for signing... including youtube! I've found lots of videos demonstrating signs, which is so much easier for me to copy than an instruction book.

Do you sign at all with your little ones?

Milestones

2010-04-08T12:48:00.000-07:00

Someone had a birthday.

He is now two.

There were bubbles involved. And cake. And a hair cut... those curls peeking out in the photo above are now no more... and my baby boy now looks like the big boy that he is! We gave him a big set of thrifted mega blocks, too - which, by the way, I washed in the washer. They had a distinctly funky smell, but there were SO many that I quailed a bit at washing them by hand, so I dumped them all in and I put them through a series of rinse cycles with just water, then bleach, then just water, then vinegar. A few of them, I've noticed, still have a bit of a musty smell, but I know for a fact that they are CLEAN, so I'm ignoring it. ;)

Some milestones he's reached recently include showing an interest in coloring (versus eating the crayons), blowing bubbles, stacking blocks well, saying thank you (instead of just signing it), saying lots of new words, including plane, train, eat, food, hurt, done, wagon, stinky, shirt ("sooot"), pants, jeans, yum, and on and on.

And then we had Easter... you can't see much of Miss M's adorable outfit, but you can enjoy the boyish, fresh look Nathan sported.

Speaking of Miss M, she is walking well and steadily and everywhere, saying Mama, Dadda, uh-oh, touch, and tree, waving bye-bye to people, trying to climb things, following her brother everywhere... and generally being achingly, amazingly cute...

It has been so fun watching them both have verbal explosions in the past few months! I'm sure that they'll really be talking by the end of the summer...

Spring flower...

2010-04-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

Our daffodils are up and blooming! :)

Finally...

2010-03-29T10:41:00.000-07:00

... I figured out that the cord wasn't working, and used a different cord, so these lovelies aren't trapped on my memory card anymore!

Helping... that is a child's rolling pin in his right hand, and hammer in his left. Yup. He's a boy.

Miriam woke up in the middle of getting the bread into pans, so she cuddled on my back in the podaegi while Nathan ~~ate bread dough~~ helped me.

The finished product...

Miriam has mastered pointing, and loves to point with both hands when excited... and I finally captured it!

And this handsome munchkin has a birthday this week... and a date with some scissors. Those darling blond curls have never even had a trim, but he's getting pretty fuzzy, so that is scheduled for his birthday. Hopefully he doesn't hate it...

We just got this loaned out mei tai back from a friend, and we're enjoying having an old favorite back to play with! :) It is a minty, cheerful green... so perfect for spring, which seems to have actually (finally!) arrived.

The daffodils have bloomed, the grass is greening up, and it has been warm enough for some evening walks. I'm really looking forward to the kiddos getting to play outside more this week... it isn't any fun for anybody being cooped up! Hope you're all having a great Monday so far...

Saint Patrick by Jonathan Rogers

2010-03-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

I've heard lectures on Patrick, but hadn't read a biography before. Rogers gives an overview of the political and historical situation, looking at everything we know about Patrick's life, and interpreting it in light of what we know about Patrick's world. He also analyzes Patrick's surviving writings, his Confession, and a letter he wrote his superiors.

On the whole I enjoyed his look at the historical context, and the Patrick legends he retells. Also, I love that while the Confession is available on the web, it (as well as the text of a letter written by Patrick) is in the book for easy reference!

While I mostly liked this book, I disliked his his characterization of Patrick as an "antiauthoritarian" "renegade". Also, Rogers suggests Patrick may reveal "his own prejudices" by referring to the Picts as "blood-thirsty", "wicked, abandoned, and apostate." Puzzlingly, he interprets this as Patrick dismissing them as hopeless despite having seen the Irish convert. I disagree. He isn't calling them unsaveable, he's stating the obvious- these are violent barbarians. They need Christ, just like the Irish did. As do we all.

(Thomas Nelson provided me with a complimentary copy of Saint Patrick to review via Booksneeze.)

(Oh, and there's an Online Reader's Guide available, too.)

Coconut Oil Fudge

2010-03-11T11:48:00.000-08:00

I tried Lindsay's coconut oil fudge recipe recently... it is such a simple recipe that even though I've never made fudge I thought I'd give it a try.

Honey, coconut oil, and cocoa powder in the blender...

The first time I made it I used the inexpensive coconut oil that we had on hand. I liked it ok, although I felt that it was more "fudgy" in texture when frozen. Micah felt that it had the texture of shortening and disliked the honey flavor. Only he said it more tactfully than that. ;)

Undaunted, I tried it again, this time with Tropical Traditions coconut oil*.

I also melted two squares of baking chocolate in the melting coconut oil.

Yes, only one is pictured, ignore the discrepancy! ;)

The fudge in the pan, before being cooled down...

I stored it in the fridge, but didn't have to freeze this batch for a good fudgy consistency. The flavor was so much better... probably partly because of the difference in coconut oil, and partly because I added the baking chocolate. Either way, that batch was approved by all. Yay!

Another perk of this recipe? No eggs, so I have no qualms about letting Nathan perform the very important job of taste tester! He approved. ;)

____________________________________________________________________
* I will be reviewing Tropical Traditions coconut oil in a separate post.
I will be repeating this disclaimer then but thought I would tag it onto this post as well for full disclosure.

Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Monday miscellany

2010-03-08T20:08:00.000-08:00

Spring is in the air. We've been getting outside and taking walks in the evenings sometimes, and playing outside some afternoons. I am ready for spring!

And with spring, of course, comes spring cleaning! I stripped all the couch cushions of their covers,

leaving a pile in the middle of the living room like a deflated couch, and hauled the living room rug off to the clothesline.Then all those covers went into the washer, and from there onto the line for some sunbleaching and fresh air.

Of course, there were plenty of interesting things under the couch cushions. A spoon. Multiple clean socks (I regularly fold laundry on the couch). A small toy car. And debris, which you must promise to ignore before viewing the following picture, shared for the exceptional cuteness of the serious small helper...

Love those wispy curls. He is slated to get his First Haircut Ever on his 2nd birthday in a few weeks. He's never even had a trim. Yes, he was a very hairless baby!

One week old... Five months old...

Seven months old. Check out the double chin!

Photo taken by our friend Clay.

I digress. Good thing I labelled this miscellany, right? ;)

Now one more picture of cuteness to close... Miriam looooooooves peekaboo.

Speaking of Podaegis

2010-03-05T15:38:00.000-08:00

I'm guest posting over at Creative Madness today... hop over there to see a picture of the second podeagi that I made! I promise it shows more podaegi than the one of Miriam in the podaegi above! ;)

Spring IS on the way!

2010-03-01T07:23:00.000-08:00

It was warm enough last week to take the kiddos outside without spending hours bundling everyone up to go out and freeze for ten minutes, so we went out and enjoyed the sunshine!

Nathan started out holding my hand and walking sedately.

Then the wild grassy spaces intoxicated his boyish soul,

and he was off, trotting in erratic circles in the still brown grass,

exploring the daffodils that are peeking out.

And Miriam and I traipsed along behind,

(she is in the new podaegi I made, which I love)

(post planned on that on Friday)

enjoying the sunshine and fresh air

and chasing the small explorer with camera in hand.

My caption for this one-

"Mama, haven't you taken enough pictures?"

"I have to go explore tree bark, and sticks, and fallen walnuts,

and then I have to throw them for the dog, and throw them at the tree,

and wave and say 'bye!' to every truck or car that goes by on the road..."

Reflections in the Dishwater

2010-02-23T10:19:00.000-08:00

"Christian women must reject any distorted view of the modern housewife- whether it be the miserable household drudge; the fanatical, sock-matching wonder-woman; the child-centered, worn out soccer mom; or the deceptive, apron wearing vixen. When we consistently renew our minds by absorbing Scripture and by passionately embracing the sacred calling God has truly given us as women, we will refute the perverted image of the desperate housewife by believing His promises and showing the world there is something better for which we can truly be passionate!"
- Passionate Housewives Desperate for God

This book came in the mail yesterday afternoon, and I've already read it all. It was a breath of fresh air and encouragement. I was blessed with some rare quiet time this morning, since I got up around 5, and was able to finish it and then turn to the dishes and watch the sunrise while thinking over what I'd been reading.

"If the world can convince us to acquire a taste for the futile blandness found in a self centered marriage, to be content with recreational motherhood, and to prefer a sterile, disposable version of home "economics," then we will miss the beauty and poetry that is ours in the heavenly magnum opus of a God-glorifying, well-ordered home."
- Passionate Housewives Desperate for God (bold added)

Today I'm thankful for the beauty of clean dishes, of sunlight coming through windows, of my dishsoap in a pretty recycled vinegar bottle, and watching the sunrise as I wash away, wearing my beloved gloves...

"What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God.

We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred

and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work,

but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow."

- Martin Luther

Celebrating the beauty of biscuits...

yummy flaky biscuits...

and leftover biscuits so I can have them with breakfast

...and for the peace to take pictures of the reflections in my dishwater, and to share my reflections with you. :)

Learning Together

2010-02-18T10:14:00.000-08:00

We mixed up some home made "Bisquick" yesterday... perfect for quick biscuits and more. :)

Stirring things is hard work.

But working with mama is fun.

Especially when it's messy.

And we don't worry too much about flour flying, or dropped spoons.

We just enjoy the time together and the big picture,

loving every minute of the soul work we have today.

(Love that phrase!)

He learns to help.

I learn to let go of efficiency and let him help.

I'm not sure which of us is learning more here... but it is good all around.

___________________________________________

Bonus cute...

Someone is walking! :)

New Header :)

2010-02-17T08:08:00.000-08:00

If you're reading via RSS feed, you should hop over... I've got a cute new header! :)

Butter, Cont'd

2010-02-15T07:22:00.000-08:00

In my email this morning...

Not sure how Amazon figured out that butter is a theme around here, but they are right that we need a replacement butter dish.

They suggested this snazzy little number:

While it migh match my beloved (and yes, despite my misadventures, still alive!) Kitchenaid (although from the pictures it looks like they might just clash catastrophically), my dishes are actually white... so I was leaning towards replacing my white butter dish with another white one. You know, when I actually dare to replace it and risk repeating the whole scenario. As it is, the bottom, dish part technically is fine, it was the lid part that broke into the neighborhood of five pieces, so we can just keep using it for a while.

As an aside, I love how that last sentence makes it look like we have a tough, possibly mafia involved butter dish going around breaking into entire neighborhoods. No small timer here. On that note, beware, y'all, we're not a family to be messed with... apparently even our butter dish has a criminal record!

With that bit of silliness, I'll close... hope your Monday is off to a good start... :)

Podaegi!

2010-02-12T14:54:00.000-08:00

I made my first podaegi recently. What is a podaegi, or podeagi (or "pod" for short)? It is a traditional Asian carrier that is similar to a mei tai. Pictured podaegi, below, is from Etsy, here.

Sew She Sews has a very cute one pattern to make a podaegi here, and Jan Andrea has one here. Mine was pretty close to that first pattern, but I chose not to use multiple fabrics for the outside. I used a pretty decorator fabric for the exterior of the body, and lighter fabric for the inside. I used duck cloth for the straps. After it was finished, I was excited to play around with it, as I'd never tried one before. At first I had trouble getting it right... the decorator fabric seemed too stiff, and the blanket seemed too narrow. Once I got the hang of it, it worked well, though. It seemed even easier than a mei tai! Sadly, I didn't get any pictures before I loaned it out, but I have another one in the works... this one will have a wider body. Not a really really wide one like the Jan Andrea pod, but definitely wider than the one from Etsy pictured. I think the narrow body design was harder to wear correctly... I am very comfortable doing a back carry with my mei tai, but it was a hassle getting the pod spread out when the body was so small. Also, my understanding is that the blanket part of a podaegi isn't weight bearing, so it can be blanket type fabric, so I'll use lighter weight fabric which I think will be easier to manage. Plus I'll be able to use fabric from my stash, instead of having to wait to buy some! ;)

Here is a YouTube video of a back carry with one...

And here is a front carry, although I have to note that she ties the straps in a bow, I would much prefer a square knot for safety.

(Related posts from Babywearing it Up!: pod sew along on TBW
and Wrap pod tutorial.)

Valentine's Hearts

2010-02-10T07:52:00.000-08:00

I am not very good at crafts, but I did a very simple one recently, and it turned out, so I'm excited to share it with you all! :)

I basically did this, but punched two holes instead. The salt dough is easy- just 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup warm water, 1 cup flour, then mix (I added red food coloring!) and bake at 250 for around two hours (until hard.)

Here ~~is the proof~~ are the pictures...

The baked hearts...

My beloved ball of twine... perfect for so many things, and cheap, to boot!

That funky looking heart there was what I did with the leftover dough. :)

I threaded the twine through the holes of the hearts...

I made those with a straw, and it was easy since the dough stuck in the straw and it punched it out nicely.

Then pull it through the other side, and take a picture of your feet. This step is essential. ;)

Decide how long you want your hanging loop to be. Then tie it, trim your ends...

... and hang it somewhere fun!

Or quirky... ;)

Happy Valentine's Day (a little early...)!

Squeaky Clean!

2010-02-08T07:30:00.000-08:00

My hands were getting dry,

and I had a painful crack on my finger...

so I decided I needed some

rubber gloves for dish washing!

I told my husband to look for something

besides the normal, boring yellow gloves...

and this is what he brought me! :)

Aren't they just so perfect for right before Valentine's Day?

Now, I just need to get into the habit of putting on some hand lotion

and my pretty new gloves before washing dishes. :)

I love this cookie cutter... and I'm planning a post about something I did with it, so stay tuned for that later in the week! :)

Lets Talk About Cloth Diapers! :)

2010-02-05T08:30:00.000-08:00

Recently I've talked to several different people about cloth diapers, so I thought I'd turn those thoughts and explanations about how I cloth diaper into a post. :)

Now, here is a disclaimer to start off with- I'm not a diehard. I don't cloth diaper at night, because I *hate* waking up snuggled next to my baby... in a puddle. I also generally don't cloth diaper on Sundays because we're away from home for most of the day, and because that makes it more of a day of rest for me.

However, I do usually cloth diaper at home, and this is how I do it...

My Fuzzi Bunz are what I grab first out of the diaper drawer. I have 6 smalls (which Nathan outgrew before 6 months, but Miriam is still fitting into at 9 months), 12 sage mediums (which fit both my 9 month old and my 22 month old), and 6-10 large sized Fuzzi Bunz.

I think this is a pretty nice stash, but I only had to purchase the mediums, and we got a pretty good deal on Ebay. The others were handmedowns from another mom (a huge blessing! Thanks Mrs. B!) and had already been through several kiddos. I do not think that some of the larges will make it through another little one without having new elastic put in, but I may decide that is worth the investment as that would be less expensive than purchasing new. On the other hand, Fuzzi Bunz now come in one size that has adjustable elastic so it can grow with the baby. That would be nice so I may try out a few of those when these large ones finally kick the bucket.

Sometimes I run out of Fuzzi Bunz that fit Miriam before the dirty diapers are washed and dry again. When that happens, I use prefolds with a Snappi , which I love. So much easier than pins, and faster, too. I started out using pins and plastic pants, and honestly I don't like either. I much prefer the Snappi and my two Thirsties covers. Thirsties are much easier when you have a dirty diaper, since plastic pants have to be pulled off, and Thirsties are really adjustable, which I like. Also, they have leg gussets, which REALLY cuts down on leaks! I have the medium size, and I think it will last Miriam for several more months. They are a lot cheaper than Fuzzi Bunz, for sure, and if I had known how easy to use they were, especially with the Snappi, I might have just purchased them instead. Plus, they're cute! :) I have the sky blue pictured here, and a lovely aqua as well (decided against girly colors so whenever #3 comes along I won't need to purchase more, either way)...

As far as washing, it is really simple. I'll shake dirty toddler diapers out into the toilet, but baby diapers and wet diapers just go straight into a dry pail. When I'm ready to wash, I shake the liners out of the diapers, and fold the velcro over on the Thirsties. Then I run a cold rinse, and a warm or hot wash with either soap nuts (not the best deal on them, but if you want to try them out the little starter pack is a low investment way to do it) or laundry detergent (usually this or this) if I'm out of soap nuts, as I am right now. Sometimes if some of the diapers have been sitting a little too long, or were especially dirty, I'll run two cold rinses and then a warm wash, or a cold rinse/cold wash/warm wash. Then I hang the outside part of the Fuzzi Bunz, and the Thirsties covers, either outside on the clothesline, or inside on a line I strung across our utility room. I throw the prefolds and the inserts in the dryer, usually, unless it is a very sunshiny day in which case they do dry fairly quickly on the line.

Nathan, being adorable in the medium sage Fuzzibunz, last summer :)

So... any questions? If you cloth diaper, what are your favorite diapers? Did you start out using them or did you change to them?

What I'm Up to Today...

2010-02-02T09:59:00.000-08:00

Rendering lard. Yep. Like this. Except our pig had a lot less fat than that since we prefer leaner meat for a better flavor... plus we prefer feeding a variety of different foods (all the table scraps we can, plus any milk we have extra) to our pigs for best flavor. I've never done this before... new territory! But I don't want to waste, and we're buying lard right now, so we might as well see if we can get some from our own piggy. I have to say, though, this really stinks. Like, put a "Do not open!" sign on the roaster oven, stinks. I'm about to go tie a bandana over my nose and pour the liquid, oil like stuff out of the roaster, through a strainer. I think I'll put a drop of essential oil on the bandana, too... the smell is pretty strong, discernible even with the lid on the roaster oven. Next time, I'm going to do it on the porch or something. Not the kitchen!

We butchered last Saturday, with a lot of help from family, thankfully. I mostly labeled bags, and ran around getting things. And sewed while we were waiting for the meat to come in. :) Once in, it needed cut into the cuts. I am thrilled with all the beautiful sirloin chops we ended up with! And some nice roasts as well.

Yesterday Micah made some breaded pork for dinner. It needed some sweet and sour sauce to be perfect, but was very, very yummy!

Nathan and Butter

2010-02-01T08:30:00.000-08:00

In my last post I referenced Nathan and butter, and then I realized I had only shared one (1!) of the many notable butter incidents of his lifetime. I don't know why. Maybe because it might make me look like a bad parent? Anyway.

Nathan, about a year

But the humor value is too high to keep these to myself. Besides, if I chronicle them here someday perhaps I can compile them and print them out and ~~embarrass my children when they're teenagers~~ fondly recall the ~~unpredictability of life with small children~~ funny things my kiddos did.

Butter incidents 1 through [approximately] 247: In the early days of having two, when Nathan was 14 months and felt that every obstacle in his path was put there as a challenge to his climbing skills, and Miriam was nursing a lot, and Mama was too forgetful to put the butter in the cupboard after meals, Nathan was found on the table many times, sitting next to the butter dish, with butter smeared all over the table, himself, and the butter dish, naturally. It was spring/summertime, so the warmth was very conducive to smearable butter!

Nathan, about 14 months

wow, this picture is making me crave summer!

Butter incident 248: Recently on the way to church we thought he was quiet in the back seat because he was asleep. Not so. Halfway there, I twisted myself around in my seat to discover that he was quiet because he had reached the stick of butter intended for the potluck food, unwrapped it, broken it in two, smeared it on his coat, pants, hands, face, and carseat, and eaten about 1/8 of it. Thankfully, I am a chronic overpacker, and had two choices of spare pants, sweats and dress pants, and we took the jacket off him in the parking lot, so we managed to appear nearly as presentable as usual. Except I can't remember if that is the week we forgot his shoes and he wore only socks all day? Possibly. I think maybe it was but I was so relieved at finding the spare dress pants in the bottom of the bag that trivialities like shoes were no big deal to me. I don't know why they would be anyway, but the butter threw things into perspective that morning for me!

Nathan sleeping (about 15 months) :)

Adventure, right? :)

Monday stickies...

2010-02-01T07:15:00.000-08:00

And...
drink tea,
dance with toddler,
sew a podeagi,
have a cozy, catch-up-and-breathe type Monday?

I hope so! :) Happy Monday!

Yesterday

2010-01-29T07:00:00.000-08:00

At 8.30 AM, we kicked things off by breaking the lid to the butter dish. Butter is a theme in Nathan's life, so he did the honors.

Shortly after, I shut the oven and the outer part of the oven door fell right off onto the floor. I kid you not.

Then I changed two poopy diapers. Breakfast happened at some point. And it wasn't very healthy.

And then my favorite hair clip broke. And the guard gate.

Thankfully by that time it was time for lunch and then naps, so the crazy level went down considerably. :)

And stayed mostly down for the rest of the day.

Micah got home earlier than usual, fixed the oven door, then blessed me and made dinner (!) and then hung out with Nathan so I could do some writing. Very relaxing, especially since it challenges me in a very different way than broken butter dishes do! :)

Some Favorite Children's Books

2010-01-28T10:31:00.000-08:00

Scuffy the Tugboat and His Adventures Down the River

I LOVE Scuffy. It has been one of my favorite read aloud books for many, many years... our copy is one I gave to one of my brothers many Christmases ago, and he passed it on to our little ones so it could give more enjoyment. I love the storyline - Scuffy is discontent where he is, so he sails off to find adventure, and then realizes that he really does need the man with the polka dot tie and his son, and wishes that he were back with them... and just as he is entering the ocean, which has no beginning or end, the man and his son scoop him up and he is safe again.

One of our board book favorites is Barnyard Dance! It was a gift to Nathan when he was born, and we've loved it ever since. It has a fun rhythm and shows all the different farm animals dancing. It has a lot of "moo" and other animal noises, which makes it a toddler favorite, and the fun pictures also make it a good book to entertain the baby during church.

"Bounce with the bunny. Strut with the duck. Spin with the chickens now- CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK!"

We also have another board book by Sandra Boynton called The Going-To-Bed Book- it is fun and is our current diaper bag book, for distracting and calming a wiggly little one in church or elsewhere. :)

It has a really fun cadence to it as well...

"And down once more, but not so fast, they're on their way to bed at last.
The day is done. They say good night, and somebody turns off the light."

And of course, we love the classic kid books...
- Green Eggs and Ham, Bears On Wheels, Make Way for Ducklings, The Little Engine That Could, Corduroy

As you can see, we're bookworms, and it seems to be passing on to the next generation! I think we better get some more bookcases soon, because these are all full already... are any of these your favorite stories too? Have any others we should put on our library/wish list? :)

Wednesday reading...

2010-01-27T09:55:00.000-08:00

I haven't really written at all about tandem nursing, but it has been a huge part of my experience mothering two, so I'm glad to be working on getting some of that down on paper this week.

So today, giant mug of tea and peanut butter toast by my side, I'm reading, skimming through looking for good quotes, and trying to pull all my thoughts and experiences together into one coherent stream. Kind of like trying to braid tangled hair at this point, but I'm slowly detangling one thought at a time. I think it has been too long since I could whip out a good paper in an afternoon and late night back in high school...plus of course at that point I could go into a room and lock the door and have no distractions. I have two cute ones now! Yesterday I was curled up with the above books and Nathan brought me a book of nursery rhymes. :) After we read that we read Bears on Wheels, and then he was satisfied and ran off to play, and I got back to it... and I should get back to it now, since they're both playing happily at the moment!

Embedded Comments issue...

2010-01-25T08:19:00.000-08:00

For some reason, I can't comment on any blogger site that has embedded comments! I did a few Swagbucks searches, and it seems like I'm not the only one having this problem. I can comment on blogs that have their comments set to pop up, or to full page (which is what I have), but not embedded. Hmmmm... : /
Anybody else have this issue?

Comment Form Placement
Full page
Pop-up window
Embedded below post
The embedded comment form can not be used if you have Post Pages disabled.

Some Favorite Birth Books

2010-01-22T09:03:00.000-08:00

The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth, by Henci Goer

I love how Henci Goer looks at specific interventions, specific research, specific risks... and gives you information to help you decide whether you're willing to consent to having your water broken during labor, for example. During my pregnancy with Nathan, I read most of the book, but I read and reread the section on breech birth... the risks, the pros and cons of a vaginal delivery vs. a c-section, and the importance of an experienced care provider. It really helped as we pondered our options. I knew that I didn't want a c-section, and her helpful comparison of the risks showed that with an experienced care provider scheduling a c-section wasn't mandatory at all. Thankfully he did turn before birth so we did not end up having to change our birth plans (our wonderful midwife wasn't comfortable doing a planned breech homebirth, although she encouraged a vaginal breech delivery if that was what we wanted), and he was born, head down, at home.

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth

The person who loaned me this book (I have my own copy now, since I liked it) felt the need to give the same caveat I'm about to give- some of these birth stories are a tad odd. You may not (I certainly didn't!) plan to give birth in a camper trailer with your children, spouse, and multiple midwives present. You may not look at birth as an opportunity to bond with a bunch of other women over the shared experience of childbirth. However. I found it very encouraging and helpful to read the many different birth stories in this book, which all affirm that women are meant to do this. Our bodies were in fact designed to give birth, and when allowed to do that in their own timing they usually do a very good job. I also found it helpful to read them because it reinforces that labor is not the same for every woman. It was especially helpful to me as I prepared for my first labor to read a variety of birth stories and know that there were lots of different labor patterns that were all within the range of a normal, healthy labor.

Emergency Childbirth

Written for police officers, firefighters, and others who might be called on to assist a woman giving birth, this book has very clear, simple directions on what to do and what not to do to assist the birth process. I liked having this book around especially before our first, in case for some reason the midwife wasn't able to make it in time.

and not a birth book but on birth and I watched it recently... I enjoyed it and found it very interesting, but I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. Much of it isn't really very husband friendly, in my opinion, due to some of the footage of women laboring and birthing, however.
The Business of Being Born
and not a birth book, but I love it and it is on a related topic...
The Nursing Mother's Companion (Kathleen Huggins, R.N.)

FYI: I'm an Amazon affiliate now, so all these links are affiliate links. I had been meaning to work on updating the book list on my sidebar and adding links to it anyway and decided to go through it and categorize them and post them in separate posts that I can link to from the sidebar.

What are your favorite birth books? :)

Edited to add... I ran across this today and thought I'd add this in here since it is about labor:

"Since the evidence shows no benefits or harms, there is no
justification for the restriction of fluids and food in labour for
women at low risk of complications. No studies looked specifically at
women at increased risk of complications, hence there is no evidence to
support restrictions in this group of women."

Nice! With a 25 hour labor with Nathan, I can't imagine having to push at the end without having eaten in 25 hours. I'm so glad I was encouraged to eat as I wanted, and stay hydrated.

Shiny New Button!

2010-01-20T08:17:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the help of my sweet husband, who rescued me when I was ~~banging my head against the keyboard~~ thoroughly puzzled as to why, why, why, the image wasn't showing (double quotation marks!), and fixed the code so the image wasn't waaaaaay bigger than my sidebar, I now have my very own shiny new blog button! I must say, having a button of my own makes me feel very cool. ;) I said as much to my husband, and then we went and worked out and I felt like a very wimpy person, instead... but anyway... here it is! Feel free to snag it and put it up! :)

Lewis quote

2010-01-20T08:12:00.000-08:00

"He who surrenders himself without reservation to the temporal claims of a nation, or a party, or a class is rendering to Caesar that which, of all things, most emphatically belongs to God: himself." C.S. Lewis

Some of my favorite Lewis books...

and...
... and I better just stop myself since I could go on!

Tortillas!

2010-01-18T11:36:00.000-08:00

Combine in mixing bowl:
2 c. unsifted flour
1 t. salt
Cut in with pastry blender:
1/4 c. lard or shortening
When particles are fine, add gradually:
1/2 c. lukewarm water

Toss with fork to make a stiff dough. Form into a ball and kneed thoroughly... To make dough easier to handle, grease surfacce, cover tightly, and refridgerate 4-24 hours before using. Let dough return to room temperature before rolling out...
Roll as thin as possible on a lightly floured board, or between sheets of waxed paper (I like parchment paper for this step.) Drop onto a very hot ungreased griddle. (I just use a frying pan). Bake until freckled on one side, turn.

Enjoy!

Recipe from the 1983 printing of the More with Less Cookbook, which I am borrowing from my mother.

Mrs. Peterson, babywearing back in 1963!

2010-01-18T07:45:00.000-08:00

Love this!

"Why are you so interested in baby toting?" asks host Anna Cameron in this 1963 clip from CBC-TV's Telescope. Her guest, Mrs. Peterson, has a simple answer: she was looking for a way to keep her babies close to her while still having her hands free to do the housework. She began to research baby carriers around the world, and found a variety of innovative contraptions. She also found an added benefit to carrying your baby this way — the motion puts the little one to sleep!

Watch it here. Very fun to see babywearing being explained as the reasonable solution to having a baby and getting things done! :)

Baby Cuddles!

2010-01-15T09:44:00.000-08:00

Leigh at Marvelous Kiddo has a beautiful post here full of baby photos, including this one that I sent her. Thanks for including us, Leigh!

Routines...

2010-01-13T08:03:00.000-08:00

We have been discovering that by changing our nap routine (one midday nap, and no napping past 4pm) the toddler goes to bed earlier and more easily.

On the other hand, this discovery went hand in hand with the discovery that if he goes to bed earlier, he doesn't need two daytime naps. This I was ~~horrified at~~ not thrilled about. I know I'm totally spoiled having an almost two year old who has been taking at least two (1 hour +) naps a day for the past six months, and three a day before that, but still!

Naptimes are times when I don't have to pop into the living room every five minutes just to check that the toddler isn't climbing the piano, make sure nobody is unrolling/eating/strangling their sibling in a ball of yarn, the baby isn't eating the toddler's snack, the toddler isn't trying to pick up the baby, the baby isn't eating a magazine, the toddler isn't unzipping the baby's outfit, etc. Y'know. I can power through laundry without interruptions, go to the bathroom without wondering what they're up to, or sit down with a cup of tea and concentrate on some reading. So naptime is of course precious, and losing one? Well, I'm going to have to get a lot more organized and incorporate the toddler into more of my housework while the baby is napping, I think!

So we've been pulling out puzzles and blocks and generally having fun figuring out a new normal, which has fit in nicely with the fact that he is ready for more "preschool" looking activities. I'm planning on making him some playdough for his birthday, which I am really excited about. We gave him eight pieces out of the giant bag of Duplo blocks I have stashed away for his birthday (shhhhh!) as an Epiphany gift, and he has been playing with them and really understanding how to pull them apart and put them back together. Seeing him enjoy them so much is making it really hard to wait until his birthday to give him the rest of them! :)

Now that I've been thinking about this, and reading this post and this post... I'm actually excited about this new opportunity for finding a new rhythm for our days! :)

Also, I'm wanting to start getting up earlier and working out while they're asleep... even if it is just a few minutes! I think that will help me hit the day running... well, that and having a cuppa tea in my system before they wake up... ;-)

What do your days look like?

On a Cold Afternoon

2010-01-07T16:45:00.000-08:00

Things that make me happy right now: babbling baby sitting on the floor clapping her hand on a measuring cup. Toddler playing with a mandolin. Freshly vaccuumed (as in, before naptime) office floor. Hot cup of tea by my side. The whiteboard I just hung on the wall, and especially the big ornate frame I hung over it that had just been kicking around waiting for a new home. The fact that I quit procrastinating and got the diapers through the wash. Fish thawing for dinner. Beautiful, beautiful snow carpeting our beautiful view. I'll have to see if I can dig out my camera cable sometime in the next few days and share some of the snowy goodness with you.

Also making me happy....

Autumn Fallin, by Jaymay. The embedding is disabled, so you'll have to pop over to YouTube to see it.

"Gotta Have You" - The Weepies

"Boats and Birds" by Gregory and the Hawk is the background music to this cute video, which is where I first heard the song...
Also, the very fun handmade, all-natural, rhino teether by Little Alouette being given away over at Marvelous Kiddo. See- isn't that adorable?!

Slowing Down and Reading Aloud

2010-01-05T06:39:00.000-08:00

Normally, I read fast. If a story grips me, barring interruption, two to four hours later, the book is done. I find a good story very addictive, and a good plot can induce me to forgo sleep, food, showering, and other basics of civilized existence.

However, I'm discovering that there are other ways to enjoy a good story than by snarfing it down as quickly as possible. Micah read 100 Cupboards and Dandelion Fire aloud, and I really enjoyed it. It is forcing me to slow down and enjoy each part of the story, instead of rushing to the end to find out what happens. Which is definitely the fate these books would have had, since I can't wait to find out what comes next! And I can't wait until we start The Chestnut King!

Christmas Adam

2009-12-23T16:35:00.000-08:00

The day before Christmas Eve... ;-)

8 cards are in the mailbox... I was actually not planning on sending any out until after Christmas, but had some extra time this morning and sent outa few. I accidentally put larger sized pictures in some of those, that I was planning on framing, but didn't realize it until I had the envelope sealed, addressed and stamped. Oh well. Guess they just get a bigger version of our smiling faces! At least, of Micah and my smiling faces... although we have very happy, smiley children, getting them to smile at 9pm or later on Thanksgiving after a huge day was a fail. See?

Merry Christmas from

Micah Natalie

Nathan

& Miriam

p.s. I baked and frosted seven plates of sugar cookies over the past twos, and this recipe has my full and complete approval! Amazing! I have never had sugar cookies turn out well enough to deserve frosting before, and I am SO happy to have a good reliable recipe for them now!