Going Organic-The Start

We are taking the plunge and going to start buying only organic or non-GMO food. I have personally known about a lot of the negatives of GMO's for a long time but for some reason never really thought about it too much and just tried to eat "healhty" lots of fresh veggies/fruits and meats. Well 2 days ago I watched the documentary "Bought". About 10 mins in to the film I knew my grocery list would never look the same. I couldn't ignore the knowledge this time for some reason. I highly recommend watching the movie or reading the book (both of which I purchased if you know me and want to borrow). Couple things I really pulled from the film were that we for some reason have this idea that our food should be cheap, leaving money left over for big screen TV's, fancy phones, pricey clothes etc. We really are what we eat (on a cellular level that is), and after learning about GMO's and how truly untested they are and how they are treated (banned or required to be labeled) around the globe. So thus begins my journey. We have lots and lots of non organic GMO foods in our house and we will use them, but will not continue to buy any more. I plan to buy organic when available and stick to the dirty dozen/clean fifteen list. What we eat is going to change. We probably won't eat as much what we want and more of what is available and affordable/on sale. I have always had a garden (except last year) and plan to grow a large organic garden this spring/summer to help save money. I just placed my first order through Azure. I am excited and overwhelmed by this journey that just begun. I would love to trade in all my current food for GMO free & organic food. But that won't happen. So my journey begins one step at a time. I can't change the past or what I bought last week, I can change what I buy today and tomorrow.

Babywearing....aka baby snuggles

Let's start out with probably the biggest question-why wear my baby?
It's a great way to get stuff done while having your baby close by.
Great way to get them to nap while on the go.
It's very calming for them, and they feel safe.
The carriers are pretty and cute  and come on who doesn't love baby snuggles :)



My personal babywearing (yes that is really what it is called) journey began before my son was born. Before he was born I had a simple infantino carrier on my registry, thankfully I changed my mind before he was born and invested in a Ergo carrier. I had no idea that one was better than the other for myself or baby. Sadly I knew very little about babywearing, and only wore my son a handful of time in the first 20 months of his life. I just didn't think of it and I didn't really know how to us the Ergo well. I lugged him around in his carseat or had him sit in the cart etc. Well, things all changed when baby number 2 came along. My son was too young to follow me around stores really well so he had to sit in the cart still. Where was I going to put the baby? The simple answer I came to was use my Ergo more. The Ergo I had was simple, black and tan. AKA boring. I started off my journey of motherhood very boring. My first cloth diaper shells were waaayyyy boring, lol. Now I am all about prints and animals. Things change. So before baby #2 even arrived I sold my Ergo and bought a Boba 3G carrier. The reason I did this was stupid, but hey it worked. The Boba was camo print. Those of you who know me well know I have a HUGE weakness for camo anything. :) I was very excited for baby #2 to come and when she arrived and started wearing her right away. I wore her in the Boba when she was a mere 3 days old. Hubby had a softball game to play in and I had to watch both kids at the ball field. Only way to do that was to wear her. Soon after my daughter was born I convinced my hubby that I needed a second Boba, so I could have one in each car. I forgot it one time and it was hugely inconvenient. So I used my birthday money and purchased another Boba I found on craigslist. One for each car perfect. I loved (still do) my Boba carriers, they allowed me to easily go shopping with both kids by myself. It also helped keep strange hands away from baby. :) Here is where I warn you. After purchasing the 2nd Boba it kind of became an addiction. I joined a couple groups on fb and my eyes were opened to all the options for babywearing. WOW! I had no idea about wraps etc. I was dumb founded. I couldn't understand the stash shots, why would one person have several wraps? LOL

Fast forward to now, I have a stash that contains several wraps, a ring sling, several SSC (soft structured carriers), and a wrap conversion. I have churned (bought, tried for awhile and sold) a lot of stuff. So here is what I have learned.

There isn't a wrong way to carry your baby, just different ways. Personally I stay away from narrow based carries like bjorn or infantino for a couple reasons. They aren't nearly as comfortable for you or baby. Studies suggest that they can make any hip issues baby has worse. They are a great "gatweay" or "starter" carrier, but not at all what I would recommend.

If I had to recommend one carrier to someone it would be the Boba 3G-no infant insert needed, much more comfortable than Ergo, works from newborn to toddler, simple and gets the job done. :)

The options for babywearing a huge, here are the basics-

SSC-(soft structured carriers) I personally have tried Ergo, Boba, Tula, Kinderpack, Bamberoo, Lillebaby, & Infantino Union (ergonomic). Tula and Kinderpack hold their value the best by far. Nothing wrong with them at all over the Boba, I just think for the money Boba works just as well. For toddlers I recommend either Tula or Kinderpack carriers in toddler size.

Wraps-yes those "hippy" things. ;) A wrap is a woven length of fabric that is about 30'' wide and varies in length depending on what size it is. They also vary in weave type and fiber type. Wraps come in size 2-8 usually. They are available in MANY different prints/colors and brands. They come in many fiber types, linen, linen & cotton blend, hemp and cotton blend, silk blends, wool blends, all cotton etc. There are many things to consider before buying a wrap. Biggest being what time of year (aka what will the temperature be) will you be using it in? Hemp blends are amazing, so soft when broken in and wrap amazing, but they do tend to hold the heat in, so not great for summer. Linen blends are better for summer, but do take a lot of breaking in to make soft. Wool, silk and bamboo require more delicate care as far as washing and drying. Silk and bamboo do make wraps amazingly soft though.  The next thing to consider is what size of baby will you be carrying with it? Wraps that contain hemp or linen are better for carrying bigger children, not that you can't with other wraps, but unless you do a multiple pass carry, wraps that contain bamboo or all cotton can be very uncomfortable or possibly (rare) even damage the wrap by wearing too large of a child in them. Then consider size of the wrap. I recommend a size 6 to start with. It's a great base size that you can do tons of carries with. I have used everything from size 3 to size 7. I currently only own size 6 wraps. Size 7 is just a little long and size 5 is just a little short. I was never able to find the "shorty love" as they say for the size 3. Also remember wrapping does take some learning where as using a SSC is very simple. It's a fun journey though. Wrapping isn't for everyone, but I really enjoy it.

Ring Slings- I have a wrap conversion ring sling and really like it. I had tried a plain fabric ring sling before my wrap conversion one and it was so hard to adjust and very diggy. For that reason I recommend a wrap conversion ring sling. Much more comfortable and easily adjusts. The ring sling is great for quick ups and downs around the house. I don't love them for long amounts of time because I feel like my one shoulder is restrained a bit.

Mei Tai's- I have a simple Infantino mei tai that I do like and is similar to a SSC but no buckles. Great for someone who finds the buckles on a SSC annoying.You can get very fancy mei tais made from wraps as well.

If well taken care of most baby wearing devices (not bjorn's or non ergonomic carriers) hold their value really well. They are only young enough to wear for so long, so enjoy it. Also remember that most kiddos go through stages of not wanting to be worn, don't lose hope, soon they will enjoy it again :)

If you can find what you want used (groups on fb) I recommend buying used, as you can save a little money and help another momma out. If you aren't sure what you want see if you have a local babywearing group with a lending library, or see if someone will let you try what they have. :)

Happy Babywearing :)

Shanda

Babies Continued...

Yet even more people I know are having babies now!!  :) Love me some newborn baby snuggles. Ok so this post I will cover the topic of baby's first food.

Baby's First Foods-

Ok let me just start out with this is just how I do it, doesn't make it right, doesn't make you wrong. The purpose of my blog isn't to make you feel bad about how you are doing things, it's just to give you a small glimpse into my little boring life of how I do things :)

If at all possible I recommend breast feeding your baby, a lactation consultant can be a lifesaver and well worth the money. Before I had kids I knew I would breast feed, I was annoyed at the number of women who never even tried it or gave up way too soon. Well then I had my first child. He was tongue tied and within two weeks I totally understood why women quit breastfeeding. This little child was totally dependent on me to sustain his life. I couldn't tell for sure how much he was consuming and I was having tons of pain, mainly due to the fact he was tongue tied. During this time I was so thankful for the support of my husband, I needed him to be there for me, I needed a shoulder to cry on. I had envisioned how breastfeeding my children would go and this was not it. It was painful and he wasn't getting it, it took sooooo long for him to eat. Was he even getting enough to live? Take heart momma's it got better. The pain eventually got better as he learned how to work his now clipped tongue. He eventually got faster at it, and by 3 months old I was enjoying breastfeeding a lot. It is so bonding and it's a time to snuggle and love on your baby. I remember just rocking with my son feeding him and he would take his little hand (now chubby) and stroke his head/hair. I treasure those memories so much. Because believe it or not the time you get to breastfeed goes very quickly. Then it's over and they have no interest in that special snuggle time you used to share. As far as how long to breastfeed that is a very personal decision, it's between you, your hubby and your baby. Yes I just said your hubby, and I specifically put that before the baby. Your husband should ALWAYS come before your children. He is and always should remain number one in your life right behind Jesus. Children will grow up and move on in their own life. Your husband is your life, you had children with him because you love him, not to replace him. DO NOT let your husband feel replaced. He and you are a team, raising kids isn't easy. You need him on your team, make sure that he is apart of your team not on his own team while you put the kids needs above his. Not always easy and there are times when you have to spend the night snuggling with a sick feverish child, but that is life. Make sure you put your husband first before your children. The BEST GIFT you can give your children is a healthy marriage. Make that a priority.

So when to introduce solids. Ahh that is a great question. Again it depends. I had visions of strictly breastfeeding for 1 year. Well at 6 months my supply was not enough to keep up with the demands of my son. He was hungry all the time, screaming because he was hungry. So I had to start solids sooner than I really wanted to. When I did start him I started with veggies and butter. You don't have to teach kids to like sweets like fruits. I refuse to let my children be picky eaters so until they ate veggies really well and liked them no fruits. Then I slowly introduced fruits, making sure they would continue to eat veggies and proteins as their main source of fuel. I avoided any and all grains and starches until at least 12 months old. There is studies that suggest babies under 12 months produce little to no amylase, which is needed to digest grains. So the theory is feeding them any before 12 months can increase the possibility of a gluten allergy. Behind milk gluten is the #2 food allergy in the US. Anything I can do to decrease the chances of that allergy I was willing to do. Yes it is more work. It's difficult to find any finger foods that don't contain grains or starches. Cheese sticks broken into pieces become a great on the go food :) I didn't give my son any grains or starches until he was over 15 months old and he so far has no food allergies of any sort.  My now 8 month old daughter has never had a grains or starches either, and won't until at least 12 months old. It is tempting when out to eat to throw french fries at them etc, but it is worth it to me to specifically request veggies instead of fries so I can feed them to my kiddo's. Steamed veggies mush up very easily. Some of you may have heard of baby led weaning, the idea of no purees and only feeding your baby soft whole foods. I do a mixture of both. In my experience my children do get some chunks of soft foods to eat but also get pureed food. I do this for two reasons. One it is very important to me for them to get lots of healthy fats like butter in their diet. The easiest way to add this to their diet is to put the butter in the warm veggies before blending them up. Yes you may have guessed by now, but I make my own baby food. I rarely feed my children the pre made baby food. Two reasons for this. It's hard to find a veggie based one that doesn't contain grains or starches, and secondly it's cheaper and healthier :). The second reason I do a mixture of purees and baby led weaning is to help fill them up. This way they can learn to feed themselves chunks of food and still get plenty of nourishment. I let them eat chunks and then top them off with pureed foods. I also continue to breastfeed during this time. They still need that nourishment until around a year old. By the time they are a year old they may not be nursing much and that is fine. Just be sure they are getting plenty of healthy fats in their diet, as before they were getting that in breast milk.

Shanda

Babies!

Seems like everyone I know is having babies or going to be soon. So I thought I would share some stuff I have learned about babies. This post will focus diapering :)

I was cloth diapered as an infant so I have always known I would do the same. Let's just say the options have changed just a bit in the past 20 years. SO many options these days. So when I was about 20 weeks pregnant with our first I asked a friend who had used several kinds what her favorite was. She recommended Best Bottoms. I am so glad she did. I am so in love with these diapers it is a little crazy. I own pretty much every shell they make (yes even the discontinued ones too). So here is what I use and recommend.

Best Bottom Snap Shells- I prefer snaps over velrco or aplix because they last way longer.-http://www.nickisdiapers.com/best-bottom-diapers.html
Use the promo code five for 5% off. Also if you sign up you get rewards points you can redeem for gift cards to use at Nicki's. :)

Best Bottom Hemp/Cotton Liners-more natural fibers than microfiber, absorbs more and much more compact than microfiber.-http://www.nickisdiapers.com/Best-Bottom-diaper-inserts.html

Planet Wise Wetbags-will actually hold water they are so awesome. No leaching of the "contents" into the diaper bag etc. I only use wet bags on the go.-http://www.nickisdiapers.com/wet-bags.html

Step Trash Cans with handles on the removable pails-I keep one of these by the changing pad and the toilet to toss dirty diapers into.-http://www.target.com/p/honey-can-do-3-gallon-step-can/-/A-12836973#prodSlot=medium_1_19&term=step%20trash%20can

Diaper Sprayer- this is a MUST. As a mom I touch enough bodily fluids throughout my day without dunking a poo covered liner. WELL worth the $$.-http://www.nickisdiapers.com/diaper-sprayers.html

So when my babies are born for the first 24 to 48 hours I use disposables (http://www.amazon.com/Seventh-Generation-Diapers-Chlorine-Newborn/dp/B0088HV24U/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1388696479&sr=8-6&keywords=seventh+generation+diapers) you don't really want to get the meconium on your cloth as it will stain them badly. Once this is through their system I switch to cloth. :) Depending on the size of your baby the Best Bottom shells may be too big at first. For the first couple week (4-6) I use Rumparooz newborn size covers (http://www.nickisdiapers.com/rumparooz-newborn-size-diaper-cover.html) with the size small Best Bottom liners.

As soon as the Best Bottom shells fit how I want them to I switch over to those. With the Hemp/Cotton liners I only have to change the diaper every 3-4 hrs, when it's consistently needing changed more frequently I go up to the medium size and so forth.

I used Best Bottom with my first (now potty trained) and I am currently using it with my second (6 months old). They last for more than one child, have amazing resale value and are WAY cheaper than disposables.

So what's wrong with other diapers? Nothing really they just don't work as easily and leak free for me in my experience. I have used pockets and have not been impressed. I do not especially like unstuffing and restuffing diapers. I also hate how they entire diaper must be changed every time. That is a lot of space in the diaper pale and in my diaper bag.  I also do not like how many other diapers only have one gusset. Two gussets is essential to me, remember the trying to avoid bodily fluids part? Yeah not a big fan of pee or poo leaking out onto who knows what.  :)

I also use cloth wipes, I bought my wipes online but you can make some easily by just cutting up a sheet into 8x8 or larger squares. I put my wipes in a Prince Lionhart wipes warmer, they have a foam pad in the bottom that you get wet and I drop several drops of tea tree oil (just use the cheap stuff from walmart) onto this to prevent any bacteria growth, then put my wet wipes on top of this.

For me the Best Bottom system is simple and easy to stick with even on the go. I much prefer using cloth over disposables. For me Best Bottoms are convenient and easy and super cute to boot!

Best Bottom diapers can be bought anywhere I just usually get mine from Nicki's :) I am in no way associated with Nicki's Diapers.


Shanda

Castile Soap

Recently got together with some friends to make some soap. Yet another avenue to being more natural. We don't (and haven't for some time) even have store bought bar soap in the house. All we use is the Castile soap bars I make. It is fun to experiment with putting stuff in the soap, I have added coffee ground, millet & calendula petals. I have made several different scents, mango, peach, coffee, cucumber melon, tea tree and lavender, lavender and lemon, peppermint & apple. So experiment away! Soap makes a great gift too.


Castile Soap

74 oz of olive oil (by weight)
14 oz of coconut oil (by weight)
24 oz cold water (by weight)
12 oz of lye crystals (by weight)

Measure the lye into a glass container (no plastic or metal!!!) add the water to this. Do this outside!!! Vinegar neutralizes lye if you get any on you wash with vinegar asap. Stir with a wooden spoon. The lye will destroy anything it touches over time, so use a spoon you don't like. Once you combine these two it will get very hot. You want to bring the temp down to 120-110. I do this by bringing it inside and placing it in a sink of cold water.

At the same time combine the oils (I use the cheapest quality oils available) heat them to 110-120 degrees as well. The trick is getting them both at the same temp at the same time. The oil will heat up fairly quickly, but takes forever to cool down, will continue to get hotter ever after the heat is turned off as well. The lye you cannot reheat. So that is the one you watch closer. If it starts getting close to the desired temp. Pull it out of the cold water and let it sit on the counter until the oil is at the right temp. Combine. Using a stick blender (if plastic never use on food again, if metal it will be ok) only use the actual power on the stick blender for about 5-10 seconds with a 30 second break in between or you will burn out the motor. In between just use the stick blender like a stirring spoon. Do this until it gets thicker and when you pull the blender up the drippings stay on top. Make sense? at this point add any herbs, scents, and or colors you like. Immediately pour into molds. If you use crayons as color add those to the oils when heating them. The color will change as it drys. Let it sit in the molds for about 24 hours then pop in the freezer and pop out of the mold. Let sit and cure for at least 6 weeks. The longer it cures the longer it will last and the harder the soap will be.

Shanda

Chia Drinks For Summer

I have had chia seeds in my cupboard for a long long time, I know they are super good for you etc. But other than tossing them in a smoothie I never really used them much. Well that changed a while back when I stumbled upon a recipe for a drink with chia seeds in it. Sounded interesting so I gave it a try and perfected my own recipe. It's very similar to the drink you can buy Mamma Chia, which is like $4+ for a 10oz bottle. My recipe is like maybe a dollar for 32oz. :)

 Chia Drink Recipe
1/3 cup of chia seeds
2 cups of filtered water

place in a 1 quart jar and put lid on tightly, place in fridge for 12 hours or overnight. In the morning or whenever you decide to use it fill the jar the rest of the way with the juice of your choice.  :)

Something interesting I have also uncovered is chia seeds should really only be consumed when re-hydrated, even in smoothies etc. When consumed dry they are very dehydrating to the body.

This drink tastes great any time, but is best consumed on a hot day while relaxing on the deck :)

 

Shanda

Coffee Creamer, Lemon Juice, Limoncello & Apple Sauce

I am not by any means addicted to coffee, I have probably 3-5 cups per week on a good week. Some weeks I don't get any. Anyways, I am not a black coffee drinker. I am a sissy when it comes to coffee I guess. I enjoy  a healthy dose of half and half with some stevia or sugar. If I am really getting spoiled I enjoy a store bought creamer. Usually avoid these as I don't like the ingredients in them, although you can buy ones with pretty clean ingredients, most are full of hydrogenated oils (future post on that I promise). Ok so I decided the other day to make my own coffee creamer. My favorite store bought creamer flavor is of course a seasonal one as well, Peppermint Mocha. It is heavenly tasting. So I made my own the other day and it is so good!

Peppermint Mocha Coffee Creamer

2 cups of half and half
6 Tbsp of sugar (I used pure can sugar, you can also use pure maple syrup)
3 Tbsp of cocoa powder (unsweetened for baking)
3-5 drops of peppermint essential oil (make sure it is one that is safe for consumption. Most are not. I used Young Living brand, if you want more info about their oils etc message me). If you want you can try using 1 tsp of peppermint extract, I just prefer the purity of just 5 drops of essential oil.

Over medium heat combine first 3 ingredients and blend together well and dissolve sugar. Turn off heat add the essential oil and put in a jar or container of some sort and put it in the fridge. It is really that easy.  :)

This recipe of course can be messed with and made tons of different ways. If you don't like peppermint mocha try removing the cocoa powder and peppermint essential oil and add some vanilla.

On my grocery trip run to get half and half (to make coffee creamer), I got a bunch of lemons for super cheap (15 cents each!). Well upon returning home with them I realized when going to put them in the fridge I have some sort of lemon addiction I guess, there were already like some 15-20 lemons in my fridge. :) So I decided I would zest and juice 20 or so of them to prevent them from going to waste. I zest them and keep the zest in the freezer (labeled of course) for all sorts of uses, mainly a super yummy lemon cheesecake I make that my family and friends love. The juice I use in cooking etc. I recently learned that store bought lemon juice is not really pure lemon juice, mostly water. So I just juice my own and put it in a jar, lasts a long time. It also makes great lemonade. So I got all the lemons zested and juiced, and I had of ton of each. I ended up freezing 2/3 of the lemon juice, and half of the lemon zest. and had so much lemon zest left I decided to make Limoncello, something I have been wanting to make for some time now. The recipe I used is-http://allrecipes.com/recipe/limoncello/

My next adventure was discovering all the apples in the crisper with the lemons, they had been there awhile so I decided it was time to use them. I decided after some debating with myself to make applesauce. I peeled and cored about 20 apples and threw them in a big pot with a little water, let it simmer for about 30 mins then stuck my stick blender in it and blended them until smooth. I didn't add anything to the apples except maybe 1/2 cup of water and that was just to keep them from burning while they got soft. It is so yummy.

Both of these are ways to use up fruit that is on the down hill slope. I hate throwing food away and rarely do, as I either dehydrate it or use it in another way.

Shanda