So....one post a month is good enough, right??

Where have we been? Well.....

1) Amber (Matt's sister) got married

2) We had 6 snow days
3) Bailey had a birthday

3) We got a puppy

4) We were busy every weekend from the end of January to the beginning of April. Seriously, coffee houses, baby showers, weddings, fake-store parties, birthdays, (yes, all of those are plural), you name it, we've done it in the last 2 months. Well, except sleep.
So there wasn't a lot of this going on. Also, Matt got a hair cut.

And this doesn't really explain the lack of posting so much as it's an excuse for the lack of posting. Also, Bailey doesn't really take a bottle in the same way anymore, and I'm not sure what that means for this site. I still like the idea of "Tips on Tuesday" and I'm still happy to talk about bottles at any time, but my ba-ba days are coming to a close :(

Anyway, I'm still here--I haven't really figured out how to type a blog, be a full time working mom, and do all the other things I want to do (garden, make jewelry, date my husband, cook, etc), but if you stay with me, I'll get there :)

Points of interest from the last few months:
Our stove broke. We're considering not replacing it.
We found a local farm that sells organic beef, pork, chicken, fruits & veggies.
Matt took over paying the electric & gas bills.
Matt now turns off lights when he leaves a room and wants to sleep downstairs when it's hot.
Bailey is not talking.
Jackson has fallen in love with baseball.
We gave up on cage-training our puppy.
Matt is experimenting with leading worship at churches that are not our home church.
LOST is back!
Bailey's hair is long enough for real pigtails.
We're starting to slightly question where we live.
I've decided to work 8 days this summer. It's going to be rough :)
My school year got pushed back into June.
We still haven't found a pre-school for Jack.
I'm not totally sold on the idea of pre-school for 3 year-olds.
Sue came to visit us as a surprise. It was awesome.
I re-connected with an old friend. Also awesome.
We're planting a garden.
By we, I mean me.
Matt built me a box for our garden.
Bailey is the grossest kid ever.
Bailey will eat anything, including leaf spinach & raw zucchini.
I hid all the Easter candy so that I would stop eating it.
As a result, no one is eating Easter candy.
Jack will eat nothing but hot dogs.
Jack dances the hot dog dance more often than he eats hot dogs.
I may or may not have had a Dove truffle egg for breakfast.

I'm off today because my sitter has a sick kid. So far, we've been to the "special" park, had lunch together, and now the kids are down for a nap. I try NOT to take joy in other people's hardships, but this is shaping up to be one fantastic day. Feel better, Jonah!

Tips on Tuesdays--Diaper Rash

Our beloved Boo girl has been experiencing what can only be described as "wicked bad diaper rash." Seriously. I've had to tell the people in the nursery at church to come get me if she needs changed for fear that if they saw it, they'd report me to CPS. And this has been going on for MONTHS.

I've managed to cope with it using the usual methods--switching brands of diapers & wipes, using several different types of creams, and, when it finally "got away from me," a prescription from my doctor. No I didn't try cloth, and no, I didn't try seventh generation (or similar) because they don't sell those at a store near my house. And I'm not driving all over the world for diapers, people. In case you didn't notice, I work full time, have 2 kids and a husband, a house to maintain, and this blog doesn't write itself :) Anyway, we tried a lot of stuff and we managed to keep the diaper rash at bay, but it was never really gone.

So, after many, many conversations with many, many people, we finally have a system that seems to be working. I no longer feel like we're moments away from a "wicked bad" breakout at any time. When looking for a "cure" I wanted a couple of things:
1) Simple--I didn't want something that was going to be complicated for me, my sitter, or a Nana to do every time we changed a diaper
2) Portable--I take my kids with me pretty much every where I go, I wanted something that would be easy to take with me
3) Inexpensive--I'm not made of money, people
4) Green for my baby--I hate, hate putting chemicals on my baby. Every time I put that steroid on her I thought, "Honey I hope mommy isn't making you sterile doing this, but I don't know what else to do"
5) Green for the environment--I am a closet-environmentalist, you know. Something disposable (other than the diapers and wipes) would go against my nature...sort of.

Anyway, here's what I've come up with:
1) Drying--after each clean-up, I dry Bailey's bottom.
2) Norwex--I dry Bailey's bottom with a cloth from the Norwex company. My sister-in-law, Jen, sells Norwex products & I love them. They are self-cleaning, reusable cloths. I have 3 for Boo, and I switch them out every Saturday. They never smell, even with what they're put through each week.
3) Bourdeaux Butt Paste--I hate the name of this product, but I like what it does for my daughter. After she's good & dry, I apply this cream to her bottom. It is a yucky color of brownish-tan, which tells me that no chemicals have been put in it to make it that sterile "white" color. It smells a little like cinnamon & works pretty well.
4) Yogurt--I started feeding Bailey yogurt for it's probiotics. I feed her a little bit of Stoneyfield Farm's Plain Organic yogurt every day. This also seems to be helping.
5) White Diapers--She breaks out as bad with Huggies Organics as she does with the Parent's Choice brand from Wal-Mart. In fact, the Parent's Choice is what we've switched to officially because it doesn't have any dye in the, for lack of a better term, crotch area. I think all those cute baby Mickeys & Minnies were making it worse. The plain white seem to work a little better.

So, there you have it--a lot of little things that add up to..........some what better results for Bailey. Maybe I'll try 7th Generation after all. God is good all the time and I got a week or so's worth from my church recently for free.

How long on bottles?

How long should my baby stay on formula/bottles?
Well, first and foremost, you should ask your doctor. Generally speaking, though, by one year of age, most babies will be ready to give up formula. My doctor, being the kind man that he is, lets me keep my babies on the bottle--not the formula--for an additional two months. This lets me get them used to drinking whole milk instead of formula before taking away what has been their comfort & food source their entire lives.

This, in my most humble of opinions, is a major benefit to bottle feeding: You can ease your child off first his type of food, and then his method of getting food gradually over time instead the all-or-nothing approach. No matter how thin you slice it, you can't give your child whole milk through breastfeeding--but I can put whole milk in my baby's bottle.

Sorry if this irks you. Occasionally, I have to take a small victory when I can. Two babies and almost 4,500 bottles later, it can STILL be a tough world out there for a bottle feeder.

Making your own baby food--Green Beans

I'm a cheater. I readily admit it. Okay, so I don't really cheat, but I will make some adjustments to my usual baby-food-making-methods in order to make things as efficient as possible.

So......you know those "steam-in-the-bag" veggies that you can buy at the store?? I buy them, I cook them, I puree them, I freeze them, I re-heat them, and I serve them to Boo.
And you know, she's never once said to me, "No thanks, Mama, those aren't home grown 100% organic green beans." Although she does occasionally say, "Here, Mama, let ME do the spoon."

I haven't tried it, but I bet this would work with peas & other veggies that come in those bags, too! Best of luck!

Good bye, Grandma Trusty

Matt's great-grandmother passed away last week. Her funeral is today and I thought I would take a moment to pause and reflect on this 90 year life. During that time, her most significant accomplishments were those of a wife and mother. One of her children had special needs and a large portion of her life was dedicated to caring for this child. I rejoice in her passing, for she is a child of God. May her life be a reminder to all of us of the bittersweet transition from life to death--though the sorrow may last for a night, His joy comes with the morning. Welcome home, Grandma.

2 hands, separated by 5 generations

Making your own baby food--Step Three

We've mastered bananas & pears, and you've probably figured out by now that the fruits are easy. Basically, you peal, dice & puree. That'll get you pears, apricots, peaches.........pretty much you name it, you can puree it. Except for apples. Here's how you make baby apples:

Seriously. Save the money. Buy a jar of applesauce. If you're concerned about diluting it, throw in a little baby oatmeal and some water.

Tips on Tuesday--Toy Cycle

My friend, Molly's house always looks amazing. The last time I was there (which was waaaaay too long ago, Molly) I looked around and thought "Why can't my house look like this?"

I'll tell you why: Molly's house isn't full of a bunch of crap.

Nice work, Molly.

My house, however, is, at times, full of a bunch of crap. Way too many toys, way too much laundry, way too much paper.....I'm getting away from myself, we're here to talk about toys.

Jack & Bailey have very generous parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents, adopted grandparents, second-cousins-once-removed, friends....you get the idea. They also have more toys than 10 kids could play with in during the average baby/childhood.Now, some people would say, just get rid of extra toys that you don't want/need. But honestly, how could I do that? How could I choose between the doll Matt & I got Bailey for Christmas and the one her grandmother got her?? How could I make Jack choose between the sorting set he bought with his very own allowance money when he was all of 9 months old and the wooden one his Popsy bought him special for his first birthday?? I can't--maybe you can. Good for you!

So I invented the "toy cycle" or, rather, my mother invented it 20-some-odd years ago. Anyway, I gave each toy a partner--a toy of a similar use, purpose and approximate size--and put half of the "partners" away.

So, what I have gained is:
1) Space in my cabinets
2) "Brand new" toys that I can get out (trade out) on a rainy or snowy day
3) The ability to hang on to--and use--some of these generous gifts

There's something precious about a child's toys--and if you don't believe me, then YOU watch Toy Story (1, 2 or 3) and try not to cry!

P.S. For the record, I have been eying the "baby" toys and making a mental list of ones we're officially ready to pass on to another family. See, I'm not all sentimental!!