What Up?

Have you ever felt that telling someone you'll be doing something is the surest way to ensure you won't do it? I think I've got this accountability thing backwards. I'm pretty sure I told everyone they could expect updates by checking this blog right before I stopped blogging.
So the last three months in a nutshell:
Vacation.
Baby.
Studying.
Socializing. (Shocker)
Baking.
It seems like all the single males in our family have gotten or will be married by the end of the summer. All at various locations stateside and over seas. Congrats! Then of course was my high school reunion...I still don't feel grown up enough to have graduated 10 years ago. Whoa. How random all this goes down the summer I give birth. Really, if I were prone to conspiracy theories this would be begging for some explanation. Luckily I'm not that paranoid. :)
Our newest addition, Marcus, is definitely not at fault for my lack of attention to...well, anything really. I'm convinced he is the easiest newborn ever. He is completely agreeable, amazingly portable (and not just because he's tiny *sigh*), and absolutely adored by his big brother. Even as I'm typing this I feel the sudden urge to pinch myself. Of course there was a serious adjustment period for me. The transition from meeting one child's needs to meeting two children's needs was terrifying. I had a couple rough days after mom left but it was all in my head, as usual. I do realize how much I love sleeping longer than two hour intervals. Luckily Marcus is already sleeping six hours a night. Of course there is a lot more to our newly expanded family dynamics than that but this was supposed to be a quick update since I logged on and promptly lost myself in food blogs for, ahem, too long.
During all this change we've been building our food storage which in turn is leading up to Bryan building something for us to store all the buckets now populating various parts of our house. Another random coincidence all these orders went out and were delivered right at baby time. Since food has been on my mind so much I decided to finally take the plunge and actually do what we've been casually tossing about the past year. We're eliminating processed foods from our diets. There, its out there. I'm now waiting for the urge to go and buy every box of macaroni and cheese on the shelves of my local market...nothing yet...I'll keep you posted.
Now I'm definitely not planning to go cold turkey. I still have an amazing stockpile of pasta from one of my coupon trips and I'm not going to buy bushels of tomatoes to produce my own sauces. I'll be using up what we have and not getting more. Except the tomato sauce. That will have to do until I can get a bumper crop of my own tomatoes grown which is not looking promising for this season at our community garden.
(Ah, but we laughed. Right?)
Anyhoo, I've known making the switch would be better for us but I lacked the confidence I could manage to produce home cooked everything while juggling my boys, school, and my daytime charge who returns next week. The good news is I forgot how much I loved to cook. Ok, the fact I forgot that isn't the good news. The good part is that I  LOVE to cook and making dinner has actually been more of a chore because I've been using processed stuff. As I've started to do less and less prepackaged goods I've had more and more fun. I know, everything about me is counter-intuitive. Derek asked for macaroni and cheese and I made it from scratch in time for dinner without even breaking a sweat. And it tasted waaay better than Kraft, thank you very much.
My big stumbling block has been baking. I have tried three batches of  fresh ground whole wheat bread and still have not had a success. Since I fancy myself a better than average cook and I'm terribly over dramatic, the less the perfect outcome of any dish is devastating. There are simply no words for complete failure.
So the past week I've put on my absolutely adorable apron and got busy getting flour on my nose. And baking. So far I've managed to produce delicious banana bread, chewy bagels (another Derek request), and light and fluffy crescent rolls. The last has even convinced Bryan, who is was a devotee to bread from a tube.
Okay, so one paragraph on new baby and like five on food. I have issues. Pictures will follow...I mean of the food, of course :)

ISR

Last Friday Derek graduated from his swimming class. It took five days a week for five weeks (minus snow days...I mean what is with the weather this year?) Which was pretty intense for all of us. The lessons were through a program called Infant Swimming Resource. The program focuses on water survival skills for infants and toddlers from 6 months through 4 years.
Instead of learning specific swim strokes Derek learned how to roll over in the water and float on his back when he needs to breath and then to turn over and swim to an exit or wall if one is available. Our stubborn boy cried in almost every single lesson. I was starting to worry we were creating a serious water complex but then, miraculously, one day toward the end of his lessons Derek took a cup and dumped water over his head in the bathtub!
I know, this doesn't seem significant, unless you understand that Derek never sat in the bathtub. He never splashed. He screamed when you had to rinse his hair, no matter how much you tried to keep water out of his face. He just didn't care for water unless it was in his drinking cup. Bryan and I stared at each other in awe on this momentous bath-time occasion. As Derek poured and giggled we sighed with new confidence that maybe Derek wouldn't hate us for the rest of his life.
The last week of the lessons Derek wore his clothes in the pool, including cloth diaper and shoes. One day he wore a summer outfit, another fall, and finally a winter outfit with a coat. I was terrified that the coat would sink him but he did amazingly well and even stopped crying for once. Wow. Unfortunately we only took video on the fall clothing day when he was still crying.
On the last day I got in the pool with him and we just had fun. He didn't cry and was thrilled to play with me in the water. He was actually yelling "Go, go!" when we didn't launch him into his swim fast enough. Bryan had to go to work right after the lesson so he didn't get to come in with us. Now I'm really looking forward to swimming weather so we can all jump in the pool together.
On a side note...we used cloth swim diapers. Surprise, huh? Just so you know they are absolutely amazing! Not squishy and disgusting like disposable diapers...I still shiver when I think about the disposable Derek wore last summer at Mud Island (gag). He and I both had a bath when we got home. Anyway, the cloth swim diapers were a dream and I'm looking forward to having those this summer as well. It only makes it better that when Derek grows out of them his little brother will be growing into them, no extra cost.Sweeeeet.

Derek

In just two short months Derek will turn 2 years old. It hardly seems real. Just a few months ago I thought he would never start talking and now he comes up with new words every day. Watch what you say in front of him.
He's been amazing us with how quickly he's learning things. The other day he was playing with magnets on our refrigerator and he started counting them. There were five. I just sat at the kitchen table with my mouth hanging open. Who taught him that? Are there counting elves coming in at night and tutoring him? It doesn't make sense to me that the interactions we have are that educational.
Furthering my bewilderment, we were playing with his Fisher Price ABC learning zoo...courtesy of Grammy...and he started picking up animals and reading the letters off their chests. Out of the 26 animals he got 21 letters right. I'm wondering if I should give him credit for the vulture that he had turned upside down and therefore called the V an A and the D that sounded suspiciously like a B to me but not to the other judges present. That aside, holy cow. He's brilliant. I mean a real toddler Einstein. I'm not even saying he's smarter than other kids his age. I'm just in awe about how much he knows when it seems like just yesterday he wasn't doing anything besides babbling.
His progress is a huge blessing to me because I've been seriously stressing about homeschooling. I know, I know...he isn't even 2 yet. I have several friends that are doing a round robin home preschool for their 3 year olds so I've already started thinking about all the work I'm going to have to put in keeping Derek home. I'm feeling the burden of being responsible for making sure he gains the knowledge he needs when he needs it. Part of me is sure that I'm making a huge deal out of nothing but I'm not the parent who was homeschooled. And the unknown is seriously terrifying for me. And since I'm baffled by how much he knows already I don't even know what I'm doing right.How I wish I'd kept my human development textbook...all I remember is nature vs nurture theories. *sigh*

I made $2.00 on diapers and wipes!

This is a glorious day of celebration! They have just opened a CVS in my general vicinity and I am already in love. Remember the diaper dilemma? Since Derek can't wear Luvs any more I'm buying Pampers Cruisers (gratefully he's just about healed from the evil diaper rash that has possessed his poor little tush for almost a month now and we're transitioning back into blessed cloth as well). Pampers are crazy expensive but I hate...hold on, I mean HATE Huggies. They didn't insult my mom or anything but I don't like how they are cut and we've invariably had leaks when I've bought them at sales. So I refuse to use them anymore.
What does this have to do with CVS? Well they had Pampers on sale a couple weeks back for 21.99 with 10 extra care bucks. If you're not familiar with that terminology it basically means they give you a 10 gift certificate to their store. So you buy something and end up getting a printed coupon for money off your next purchase. Check out this link if you want a more detailed explanation. Well when I went the first time they were out of the size I needed so I got a rain check. Armed with that magnificent little piece of paper this is how I did it:

bought 1 box size 4 Pampers Cruisers 64 count rain check sales price $21.99
used 1  $4.00 off purchase of $20.00 or more at CVS (I was emailed this after I signed up for an extracare card in store and went on line to give them my email address)
used 1 $3.00 off any Pampers I received with a sample from Vocalpoint
used 1 free wipes 72 count or less with purchase of Pampers diapers from recent Sunday coupon insert
used 1 $2.00 extra care bucks reward that printed out when I scanned my card at the in store kiosk
used 1 $4.99 extra care bucks reward from previous shopping trip (where I got free Kotex, thanks very much)
Total paid: $8.00 plus tax
Total earned: $10 extra care bucks

So I ended up making $2 on the whole transaction and that was with brand name dipes and wipes! I did a little jig. It doesn't beat the box of 182 Luvs I got completely free thanks to Swagbucks (diapers half of which I can no longer use, but I'm not bitter) but it is definitely a start.

The Transformation and Other Life Lessons

It started with a fever that reached temperatures of 102.8. Our little man became a little furnace. Of course this fever was hotly debated among the family experts. Some wizened and gray haired simply nodded and stroked their chins. "Teething," they whispered amongst themselves. Completely satisfied that the eight teeth Derek is getting right now (doubling the over all total) was the cause of the heat emanating from my 14 month old.
Another faction of sage elders tsk-ed such quick dismissal shaking their heads. They believed his temperature was too high for teething and secretly I agreed.
We sought advice from the medicine man, or um, his...well...nurse who told us to to administer the grape elixir for fever and be watchful for further symptoms. The weekend passed and the heat subsided. It seemed the teeth elders had been correct. But then, we all know the story doesn't end there, don't we? Sure the temperature passed but then new symptoms started to appear one by one. I noticed the spots on day 3. We had already been battling the spots of a yeast infection in our poor hero's diaper area and so when these other sinister markings started appearing on his face, then torso, then arms and legs I assumed they were all of the same nature. You could say, I connected the dots.
Said dots were plentiful and the village elders were sent into a frenzy of new possibilities. One former teething elder seamlessly transitioned to pox. I had a flash of Monty Python driving a handcart down the street.  I kept my conclusions, on the other hand, much more realistic. I reasoned simply that Derek had yeast, the infection had merely spread and become systemic, and this would probably be the cause of his untimely demise. Okay, so I maybe was being a little melodramatic.
Thankfully the medicine man was in. The wise elders (and completely clueless parents) waited with bated breath for his revelation. You know what he said? "Sounds like Roseola."
What the heck is Roseola? Do you remember growing up and having a random spotted disease? In my book the only time you get spots is with chicken pox. I think this must be a new something made just for our children. Good news is with this particular virus the fever is usually the worst part and the rash doesn't even itch. It just made us all think that Derek was undergoing some kind of Kafkaesque transformation. Thankfully he has maintained his mostly human form.
Now if we could just get rid of his diaper rash from Hades all would be well. On that front the persistence of irritation has caused diaper dermatitis. Yay. That means no more Luvs. *sniffle, sniffle* I guess I should just be grateful that I got my last box of 182 diapers for free. And, by some miracle, that Pampers actually has sent me coupons during a time their diapers are on sale. I feel like the planets have finally aligned. I never imagined such a thing in my wildest couponing dreams. I curse the dreaded yeast and heat for my diaper budget misfortune but Bryan maintains it must be Luv's fault for manufacturing Cryptonite into their products. He took the revelation in stride, happy to know that SuperBaby would be back to full strength once the toxins were removed.

Well it's almost finished...I think...

I keep thinking I'm going to finish the quiet book the next time I work on it and then I keep realizing there is a lot more to do than I thought...or that something I thought would be simple is more complicated. I'm sorely tempted to say that the pages are all put together and just have to be attached in some fashion to make it an actual book but then I'll probably find something else to sew. And there is the matter of sewing about a thousand button holes to attach the pages to...shower curtain hangers maybe? Or metal rings. And then I have to remember to get a fabric marker to write all the cute little sayings on the pages.
Not to mention the finger puppets on Noah's ark...how fun! I think I'll be making new ones just because their cute. Anyway here are the pages:

Pocket Diapers

Remember that cloth diaper series I threatened to do? Well I'm finally going to take a stab at it. I just got a great deal on some new pocket diapers so that is as good a place as any to start.

*sigh* Look at them. Aren't they beautiful? I am enamored of the pretty colors. My other pocket diapers are white which is fine but these are fun. Notice the little man trying to get in on the photo op. On the right the funny looking plastic thing is called a snappi. It came in the same shipment so it is in the picture. I'll give you more info on this ingenious device when I do a post on diapers you would use it with.

I bought these from Cotton Babies. FYI if you sign up for their newsletter you'll get a savings code and they send you emails when they have a sale. Also if you haven't discovered this coupon code site you need to check it out for all your online shopping, including any cloth diapers you might purchase. Unfortunately, to my knowledge Cotton babies is not on a rebate site. We can hope for one day. Why am I telling you all this? For when you see how cool they are and you decide to buy them, of course!

These particular pocket diapers are "one-size" as in "one size fits all" at least babies from 8-35 pounds. The above picture shows the biggest size at the top and the smallest size at the bottom. There are snaps on the front of the diaper that adjust the diaper down to the appropriate size. "All in one" or "AIO" diapers are another option instead of one-size you would buy a stash of different sizes as your baby grows. They have weight based sizes just like disposables. Notice the velcro tabs that makes these so much like disposables. You can also get these with snaps instead of velcro which can help keep older babies from pulling off their diapers.
*Keep in mind there are all sorts of pocket diapers out there. These just happen to be the ones I have so I'll talk specifically about them and it will give you an idea of the class all together.

So you're probably wondering what exactly is a pocket diaper. Well you see the space in the back of the diaper there? It is a pocket that runs the entire length of the diaper. You put something absorbent in the pocket and when baby wets or dirtys the diaper you simply pull out the insert and drop it and the diaper in your diaper pail. There are disposable inserts out there ( maybe you've heard of gDiapers ) that you can throw away, flush, or even compost but my motivation for starting the cloth diaper adventure was to save money and disposable inserts can get pricey.
Great news, if you're worried about the solids for older babies you can just shake them out in the commode....I do not, repeat, do NOT swish my diapers in the toilet. Some people do and power to them. There is even a diaper sprayer I've had my eye on similar to the sprayer on your kitchen sink. It attaches directly to your bathroom plumbing and can help spray out your diapers, potty chairs, and apparently there is even a gentle spray setting for post delivery self cleansing. When I get one I'll let you know what I think.

Finally, these are inserts. The longer insert with snaps is called a "soaker." It came with the diaper and is adjustable to fit in it at all three different sizes. The smaller insert is the newborn insert but it can also be used as a "doubler" which is just an additional insert to absorb more. Some people use these at night to make sure baby stays dry for the duration. The diaper in the picture is actually currently stuffed with a prefold diaper (you know what I mean, the thing you probably use as a burp cloth) so there are a lot of options as to what to stuff in the pocket. You don't necessarily have to buy fancy inserts, these diapers just came with them.

The only thing I'm missing is a picture of these diapers in action. The little man is asleep so you'll have to tune in later to see that one. One of the best things about these is that they aren't as bulky as some other types of cloth diapers can be. That means I can put Derek in one and he doesn't end up having a ghetto booty. They are also super easy to change, just like a disposable in application. Bryan doesn't do cloth diapers but he can handle these because they are one step, no worrying about putting on a diaper and then a cover and I even let him throw them in the pail and I pull out the inserts and make sure the velcro tabs are on the laundry tabs when I throw them in to wash.

Washing is something you might like to know about. You have to wash cloth diapers twice. Once on cold to get all the...you know...stuff out. Once on hot to kill the germs and then a double rinse. These pocket diapers have to line dry but the inserts can be put in the dryer. You need to use additive free detergent to make sure the diapers keep their absorbency. That means you have to skip on the smelly, stain fighting, bleachy suds and stick with the basics. If you get stains the sun can actually bleach them out. Crazy, huh? If that doesn't make you feel "green" I don't know what will. Also if your little one happens to have a diaper rash you can't use ointment with cloth diapers, again it can effect the absorbency of the diaper, so switch to disposable while the rash heals up.
Will your little one get a rash from cloth diapers? Derek has had two and I'm sad to say they were both my fault. It seems like with disposables I can smell a dirty diaper from a mile away but with cloth diapers, though they do get smelly when soiled, I have to be right next to Derek to notice the smell. So both his rashes resulted from me not checking his diaper soon enough. : ( I felt uber bad. Now I do checks regularly and he's kinda on a number 2 schedule so I am extra vigilant at that time.
Since I last posted about cloth diapers I have gone almost exclusive except for nights and occasional long outings. I'm not saying there will never be a day I do disposables only. I just like cloth that much.

Let me know what you think. I'm bubbling over with ideas and to-do's today so I'm sorry if things seemed a little jumbled. I'm happy to elaborate/clarify if needed.
Happy Friday!

This ain't your mama's cloth diaper

 

I love cloth diapers. I'm not ashamed to say it.
We tried them first when Derek was only a few months old and I'll admit I got a little discouraged. I invested in more diapers and now I'm proud to say we cloth diaper regularly. I have not completely stopped using disposable diapers. I guess you could say I am an equal opportunity diaperer.
I mostly use cloth during the day when I'm home or out on short outings. When we go out for extended outings, on weekends, and just when I'm feeling a little less ambitious I use disposables. I like to think of it as the no pressure approach. Every cloth diaper I wrap my little guy in is another deposit in the piggy bank. If you play your cards right you can get diapers at great discounts and they pay for themselves lickety split. (I just felt like writing that, I mean who uses lickety split anymore?!)

I know that when most people think of cloth diapers they remember those prefolds that most people now use as burp cloths and noisy plastic pants with elastic legs. At least I did. I think I'm having a flash back to the toddlerdome of one of my nephews...swish, swish, swish. In some ways I'm thinking that those pants are an awesome early warning system to keep track of those sneaky toddlers.
Well you might be surprised to know that there are all kinds of diapers out there. Sure you could still use prefolds and diaper pins and be super ultra saver person but there are tons of options.
So how do you know where to start if you're kind of interested? Well I admit that it is quite an investment if you aren't committed so I would suggest a cloth diaper trial. What? Yes, there is actually a company out there that would love for you to try all different types of cloth diapers to get a feel for what there is to offer.

You can even get patterns to make your own diapers. Better still if you are the sewing type but you want some diaper direction you can buy pre-cut kits and, if you'd like, a sewn diaper to go with it so you can see what the finished product looks like. If that sounds like your cup of tea check this out. This is a mom owned and run business and Amber is amazingly talented and great at customer service.

I was lucky enough to have a friend that got me started on the right foot. I'm going to try one of those blogging series where I tell you all about my experience over several posts. I want to build suspense.
Really the small amount of knowledge I've gathered is still quite a lot to write down all at once. And I have to take pictures. So roll that around in your minds for a bit. No matter what your current opinion of cloth diapers is I challenge you to take a new look at what's out there.

Road Trip Revisited

So we made it. St. Louis, Chicago, and home in one piece. I'm suddenly and terribly disappointed I didn't think to write "_destination_ or bust" somewhere on our vehicle.

We took most of our food and snacks and you know what I discovered? We didn't eat as much as we have on other trips. My current theory of this phenomenon is along the lines of supply and demand. We had plenty to eat and therefore we chose not to eat. Go figure. I way over-packed in the food department and ended up bringing most of it back home with us. I over-pack in general so this did not come as a surprise. We did spend more than I had planned the last day of our trip because we were lazy. That and we happened to pass a White Castle and decided we would give it a try. All in all I would say the food was a huge success. My challenge for our next trip is packing food for one way since we'll be flying home. I'm thinking disposable cooler? I'll get back to you on that one.

Derek was amazing on the trip. Bryan and I were both pleasantly surprised at how well he handled the hours and hours of being strapped in his car seat. When we did stop we made sure to change him and let him walk around for several minutes. I would say this increased our trip length by about 20 minutes at each stop. Not a small increase in total but well worth his happiness and comfort. We found a nursery rhyme book that played music and lit up and took that with us. It and another musical toy seemed to be enough entertainment. I had finger friendly food for him to munch on and I kept extra bottles of milk in the car. Since driving at night wasn't an option we tried to make sure we were on the road during his normal nap times to help the time pass more quickly for him and also to try to keep some kind of routine even though we were on the road. For longer trips I think driving at night would be brilliant. Definitely something to think about when we head to Arizona.

Hotels. Geez. I made some major mistakes in this arena. I was all about saving a buck and I realized that I am seriously too germaphobic to handle that approach. The first hotel we stayed at somehow we ended up in a smoking room. It had that ashtray smell that was particularly powerful because we are never around smokers. It also had that brown coloring typical of being closed up while said smoking took place. Nothing against smokers...I just don't want to be one. Thankfully the desk attendant was AMAZING and found us another option. A  non-smoking room with no bathroom door. Beggars can't be choosers. The room wasn't clean. There was hair on the floor and on the sheets that did not match any of those actually staying in the room...well not me anyway. The other two occupants didn't have much hair to speak of :). And the dishes and tables had not been wiped down. Yikes! I didn't dare walk around without my shoes, I washed everything before we touched it, and I slept wrapped completely in a sheet we'd brought from home. I mean eww. Luckily our next stop we met up with more discerning friends and stayed at a hotel that looked like it came straight from HGTV. I mean there were granite counter tops in the bathroom. Talk about serious upgrade.
What did I learn?
We almost doubled the cost of one night stay by upgrading and it was worth it. I'm not so interested in saving a buck that I'm willing to sacrifice my comfort. And actually I'm impressed that we went from a doorless bathroom to granite counter tops for $35. Really there is no comparison if you count the fact that our second hotel had complimentary breakfast, a swimming pool, a business center, free WiFi, a workout room, and a laundry facility. Next time we travel we will not be skimping on accommodations. There is a line not to be crossed, even in frugal living.

I have a 1 year-old.

Saying "I have a baby" is something that felt natural from the beginning. I mean you earn your stripes with childbirth so you should have something to show for your work. It is kind of like carrying around the diploma of motherhood on your hip. Well that little bundle of joy just kept getting bigger (I've thought about keeping him in one size smaller clothes just to see if it would slow things down a bit). He started walking more than two or three steps at a time two weeks ago and now he climbs. I mean, give a mom a second to get her bearings!
Everyone keeps telling me I should be scared/worried because the easy stuff is over. I'm wondering when the easy stuff started? If there is an easy period between newborn sleepless nights and toddler walking I think I missed it.
Saying "my son" is something that I still have to work on saying. I have often cheated by saying "my baby boy." Again the second one feels more natural, "my son" is something my mom says. I'm not nearly as cool as my mom yet. I do, however, have hope for the future.
I'm not sure when I was supposed to have grown up. I sure thought I knew everything by the age of 12. I was seriously impressive when I got my driver's license at 17 and when I graduated high school I really thought I had arrived. Then I did something stupid. "Just one thing?" you ask. Well for our purposes, yes, one stupid thing. Namely I moved to New York. Well if you think your big stuff where you live then one way to knock yourself down a peg or too is to move to a really big place with lots of other transplanted big stuffers. Then you can talk yourself silly comparing notes about how important you used to be. After I bandaged my ego it was a lot of fun but I left the experience humbled.
Then there was my first apartment. I'd like to say that was a lot of responsibility but it was really just rent and utilities. If you pay them you have a place to sleep and you have heat. If you don't...well...back to bunking at mom's house. Hardly life and death. Marriage on the other hand can absolutely be life threatening. Lucky for me I picked a very patient husband. I can honestly say he hardly ever wants to strangle me.
Then me and my honey one day decide to try the club membership and baby makes three. Do you remember that moment when you realized that this is it? From now on no midnight runs to Wal-mart hand in hand or spontaneous romantic get-aways without a diaper bag in tow. I remember that moment. I laid in the hospital bed and fleetingly imagined calmly disconnecting myself from cords and tubes and running away to Fernando's Hideaway to do the tango.
Saying I have a 1 year-old has made me unexpectedly serious and weepy. I who have scoffed at so much sentiment. I who have still not figured out when I was supposed to have "grown up" have a little boy. Daily he loses a bit more of those baby chubby cheeks, he walks a little faster, he learns volumes more. And he stops and smiles at me. He reaches for me to hold him. He lets me kiss his boo boos. And I wonder how my own mother can look at me now without seeing the frizzy headed little girl that reached for her back then and being just a little bit sad.
Today is bittersweet.

Happy Birthday Derek.

Yesterday was Friday

At least that is how it feels. I can't believe how fast this weekend went by. I was wondering where the time went and talking to my mom about what I did this weekend when she mentioned how impressed she was with what I'd accomplished. That made me stop and think. The weekend flew by because we were so busy.
Have you noticed that the more you do the faster time goes by?
I was so excited to watch my church's conference at home. This seemed to occupy a large chunk of time. There are a total of 8 hours (10 if you're a dude) of the conference over two days. I was thrilled that a lot of the speakers talked about parenting. It was nice to be reminded that there is one Exemplar in all things. I compartmentalize too much.
I finally straightened out my food storage closet. I should have taken before and after pictures. It was a nightmare. There had been an avalanche in there a couple months back and I just never took the time to fix it...though I did pile on more and more. So Saturday I neatly re-stacked everything. I'm going to have to give up and build shelves in there. How I long for a decent pantry. Or a basement. Actually both. When my yearly food storage order arrives from Walton Feed I'm going to be in serious space crunch trouble. Here I feel it is appropriate to give a shout out to mom for the packing skills she taught me. Without them I would not have the ability to store as much as I do.
I hit a sale at Michael's early Saturday as well. I bought some supplies for a church craft and then some yarn for a woolie pattern I'm totally excited about making. Since I finally finished cutting out all the pieces of Derek's quiet book and sewing is imminent (cross your fingers!) I'll need another project lined up for when I'm done. Our camera is dead for the moment but when I get it back I'll post pictures. I was worried about my lack of artistic skills when I started creating my patterns but all in all I am really pleased with how things turned out. If I can manage to keep from destroying my handiwork with sewing mishaps I think we have a decent chance to have an entertaining book for little guy.
Strawberries are here and I have been buying them up like they were going out of style. Last year I ordered a box...from a farm that sent them cored and frozen but I really think I paid too much. This year I've already managed to get Strawberries as low as .99 cents a pound and I'm freezing them myself. There is nothing so delicious on a hot day as a frozen strawberry and grape juice smoothie freshly blended. My mouth waters. I've also invested in my first whole pineapple. I love pineapple but I bought this bad boy specifically for the challenge of learning how to cut it up. My trigger finger is getting itchy...today might be his last day to live...mwahahaha.
Ahem. The main excitement of the weekend was, of course, Easter. Derek's cousins "hid" (laid on the top of the grass) colorful plastic eggs for him to find. To my surprise and pleasure Derek picked them up and dropped them in his bucket. Well, at least he did after he got over the idea that he had to touch the grass...maybe he didn't like the texture? It was so cute.
Today I am back to couponing and trying to figure out a new schedule adding a morning jog back into the routine. I swear it throws our whole day into chaos trying to change one thing. I hope we'll continue like this morning where Derek happily napped in the jogging stroller as I ran. It was just so much easier when he was teeny. I hope once things settle down I'll be back to blogging more regularly. We've got some trips, Derek's birthday (a homemade pinata is in the offing for that), and a murder mystery party planned in the next couple months and I'm excited to share.
Hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend!

Homemade Baby Food

One sweet potato, two sweet potato, three sweet potato, four...

I made a ton of baby food before my mom left. This round was peaches, sweet potatoes, acorn squash, carrots, and zucchini. Super simple stuff! I baked the peaches and sweet potatoes and microwaved each of the rest with a couple of table spoons of water and it was much easier than last time. Though there are some things I will always bake. Like the butternut squash and sweet potatoes.
The Magic Bullet Bryan bought me for my birthday is a dream to grind all the food up and then I just pour it into ice cube trays until frozen and then pop out my baby foodsicles into Ziploc freezer bags. This time I didn't puree everything, I left some chunks since little man is getting more advanced with his chewing skills.
I've saved tons of money making my own food. Though I'll admit I got some baby food jars from my sister and I bought some of the fruit to see how Derek tolerated it before I attempted to make it on my own. Fruit is much more time consuming to prepare.
At the recommendation of our pediatrician I started Derek alternating fruits and veggies after he mastered rice cereal. At 4 months he was eating sweet potatoes, butternut squash, peas, apple sauce, peaches, and pears
I bought two three pound bags of sweet potatoes for $0.69 each and got two gallon freezer bags worth of baby food from them. That is less than the cost of four servings of jarred sweet potatoes!
Butternut Squash is a splurge. So far the cheapest I've found is a dollar a pound and those guys are heavy. Good news is that the squash makes a lot of baby food cubes. I bought 2 squash totaling 6 pounds paid $6.00 and got 15 servings of baby food. That is actually after I cooked half of one of those for the grown ups to eat. Yum! Though it is a more expensive purchase it works out to be less than prepackaged baby food.
I buy all natural applesauce in a big jar from the store. I usually pay about $1.40 for 3lbs. 2oz. which is cheaper than I can make it at home.
I watch for sales on frozen veggies and get the peas for free. Watch for veggie online coupons and print your limit and when they go on sale at your local store (we have Schnuck's and Kroger here and they often have sales when they do 10 items for $10 or $1 each) stock up. I mean, you can't be free.
I went in with a local group and bought frozen peaches from a farm that was delivered to us the beginning of October. I split the ten pound box with my mother in law and paid about $14.00.
Lastly are the pears which are a bit trickier. We have some local orchards that you can go and pay to pick but I missed out on the opportunity this year. So far this is the only baby food I buy prepackaged though he doesn't eat it much anymore since I can make other foods for less. So far the best deal I've gotten is $0.69 a serving.