Beaba Babycook

One of my favorite things I did with Cale when he was younger was make his babyfood. Of course going to the store and buying Gerber baby food jars is convienant, but let me tell you a couple reasons why homemade is better.

1) Cost
Each jar of baby food ranges between $0.65 and $1.29. This depends what "stage" of food you need (stage 1-3 or graduates, depending on the age of your baby, and also organic is more expensive.) Do you really think it costs $1 for that tiny amount of food? I don't think so. For example, if you made your own baby food using just 1 sweet potato (about $1.25 for a large sweet potato) it will yield about 3 times as much as you get for the same price in the store. (And this is an expensive example. Apples, pears, and many vegetables are even cheaper.)

2) Health
Making your own organic babyfood means you know where your food is coming from! Jarred babyfoods (even the "organic" ones)are sealed with preservatives that are not healthy. Also, to kill bacteria and prepare the jar for a long shelf life, manufacturers cook the foods at VERY high temperatures, which cooks out many of the vitamins, nutrients, and taste of the foods.

Making your own can be fun! You get to choose what your baby eats, and in fact, most of the time you can just puree what the rest of your family is eating and feed it to the baby. Your baby will have a much higher varitety of foods this way.

SO! How do you make it? When I made food for Cale I steamed the food on the stove and then mashed them by hand, and froze them in covered ice cube trays. Each ice cube was about 1oz of food, and it was so easy just to thaw out 1 or 2 cubes before mealtime. This also helps with waste, because once a jar of food is opened and used, you cannot save the rest later. It must be trashed.

When our new baby is born in June I am going to take the easier route and purchase the Beaba Babycook. (sold on Amazon, Babies R Us, and here: http://www.beabausa.com/product-babycook.cfm)

The Beaba Babycook does all the steps for you! First you slice up your food, put it in the steamer and let it steam. After a short period of time, the food is soft and ready to puree, which the Babycook will also do for you! What a time saver.
I cannot wait to purchase it!

Anyway, I hope some of you rethink how you will feed your babies! There are so many healthier options out there if you just take the time to research it.

Thank you to my friend Tahnee who is pregnant with her first, for recommending that I blog about my favorite baby methods!

Cloth Diapering - Just call me Crunchy.

I've found a new passion recently and I'm loving every minute of it. I find myself becoming "crunchier" by the moment. (Crunchy = parenting and lifestyle choices that are more natural and organic as opposed to popular and convenient.)

Some of my most crunchy decisions have been extended breastfeeding (age 2 is my goal and we're almost there,) making my own organic baby food, using home-made, organic household products, lots of DIY money saving projects around the house, and now CLOTH DIAPERING!


But cloth diapering is from the 80's, right? No! Well, yes, but boy has it developed since then. There are so many options it's honestly overwhelming, but I think I've got it down to a science.

Let me start with my REASONS for cloth diapering, and we'll see if you are convinced.

#1 - Cost!
With Cale we spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $2,000-$3,000 in the span of his diapering years. Newborns alone go through up to 15 diapers a day! That is a TON of money. Cloth diapering is a very cheap alternative that will save thousands, and let's face it. I want to be a stay-at-home mother very soon, and this is significantly helping with that goal.

#2 - Style & Comfort.
Disposable diapers are hideous. Not to mention made out of paper and plastic. Would YOU rather wear cotton underwear or plastic? (No need to answer, I'm confident of your answer.) Cloth diapers are ADORABLE. They come in many different designs, colors, shapes and sizes, and it's just about the cutest thing in the world.

#3 - It's healthier.
Until you've diapered your own baby, you cannot imagine the heartache you will feel when your baby has a terrible diaper rash. They scream when they use the restroom because the acid hurts their burning bum. They scream harder when you try to wipe it off, and stubborn diaper rashes can last for weeks. Sometimes they blister and bleed. Sometimes they get a yeast rash which is so nasty it requires antibiotics to treat. Disposable diapers are responsible for the majority of this. They are made with nasty chemicals that are released onto your baby's skin. Most diapers are even made with chemicals that are known carcinogens (cancer causing agents.)
^If that doesn't convince you, I don't know what will.

#4 - and finally, environmental benefits.
One disposable diaper will sit in a landfill for 550 years before decomposing. YES, FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS! If your baby goes through 5,000 diapers through their diapering years (per child!) that is a significant impact to our environment. No thanks.

A part of me feels guilty that I didn't dive into CDing (cloth diapering acronym) from the beginning. I wanted to, but I was nervous to start something that I wasn't sure about. Especially being a first time mother, I really just wanted it to be easy. (Little did I know that CDing IS EASY, and combined with all of the other benefits, there really is no other option in my mind.)

Let's move on.

**Please note, there are about 20 different styles of cloth diapering, and I am only listing what works for us. All the information out there can be overwhelming, but feeding through it slowly will help you decide what system works best for you.**

Our newborn diapering system:

When baby girl is born in a few months we will use the simple prefold and cover system. The reason for this is that newborns grow SO quickly that they can grow out of diapers quickly and it can be costly if you buy the most expensive diapers right away. (There are one size diapers, but they can be a bit big and bulky on a new baby.)

Prefolds -- you'll need a minimum of 25 prefolds, and Green Mountain Diapers sell the best ones. They are about $2 each. (http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/diapers.htm)

Covers -- you only need 2 or 3 since they are just a cover and don't get messy too easily. Thirsties work GREAT with prefolds and they are about $12 each. (http://www.thirstiesbaby.com/products/cloth-diapers/duo-wrap/)


That's all you need! (Besides the CD basics, which include a diaper sprayer, CD detergent, laundry bin and liners.)

All together this means you can cloth diaper your newborn for about $100! I went through $100 in newborn diapers just in the first MONTH with Cale. I shudder at the savings I missed out on.

Anyway, this post is plenty long! I will update frequently with other tips, especially with older babies. For now, this will do.

Hope some of this helps!

Good Friends, Good Food!

Nate and I have an obsession with finding the "good" food in our city. Usually the best, authentic foods are in hole-in-the-wall restaurants in the arm pit of Denver. There's this place called "Burbon Grill" that is probably the best food I've had in my life, but it's not even a sit down restaurant. It's literally a little window that you walk up to on Colfax and take the food home. But, man, it is awesome.

Last night we decided we wanted to spend some time with friends so we took them to one of our favorites: "Absynnia," which is an authentic Ethopian restaurant. The restaurant was busier than we've ever seen it, so it took over an hour before we were seated and had food. But as always it was worth the wait!

For those who have never had Ethopian food, you sit around this tiny little table and everyone's food comes out on the same tray. You eat with your hands by picking up your food with little pieces of their homemade bread, "Anjura."

The spices they use to make their food is DIVINE.

We had sucha good night and it was nice to get a break from Cale. He has been driving me a little batty.

The worst day of motherhood...

Are you ready for this? Today I have seriously had the absolute worst day of motherhood I've ever had. It probably doesn't help that I'm pregnant and easily irritated as it is, but things just got out of control today and I've spent the majority of my evening in tears.

Let me begin by explaining that Cale turns 2 in March and is well into his "terrible twos." He loves to hit, head butt, throw books and toys at me, and arch his back and fall to the ground. It's probably my least favorite thing in the world.

Today when I got off work I decided to have a fun day, so I took Cale and my niece Cheyna to the local indoor kids play place and they had so much fun. The terror started when we got home.

Cale spilled juice and soda all over the entertainment center (where the PS2, Wii, DVD player, and dish reciever are...) and thought it was hilarious. When I cleaned it up, he got another glass and did it again.

Soon after that, I smelled that he had a dirty diaper but he refused to let me change it. So he sat in it for a while, until he came up to me with a handful of poop. (I am pregnant and the smell of his poop is the WORST. I nearly puke every time I smell it.) Nate was at work and I was the only one who could clean it up. It was horiffic.

After that he continued with his hitting, throwing, head butting etc, until it was time to meet Nate for dinner. I thought getting him out of the house would help his attitude. WRONG! He was a complete terror in the restaurant, throwing himself on the floor, climbing out of his high chair, not listening to a word I said, and screaming bloody murder if I tried to control him. So I left Nate at the restaurant and took Cale home before either of us finished eating.

The whole way home I bawled my eyes out. I honestly have never felt hatred toward motherhood the way I did tonight. I felt like my child hates me and didn't know why we were going through it.

Lucky for me it was Cale's bedtime when we got home. But of course it turned into a nightmare.

I laid Cale on the floor in his room and tried to get him ready for bed. OF COURSE he had a sick crappy diaper again, so as I'm changing him the smell is getting to me and I instantly (no warning whatsoever) blow CHUNKS everywhere! -- It was ALL over me (my hair, my clothes, my legs...) ALL over Cale, all over the rug in his room, and worst of all, all over "NyNy," his security blanket which goes everywhere with him. There was NO way he was going to bed without that blanket but I had no choice but to throw it in the washer. He threw a bloody fit while it washed, and in the meantime I am still bawling and trying to wipe the puke off of us.

Cale finally went to sleep, I think we were both drained.

But I am a wreck. I'm laying in bed, smelling of dried vomit, with absolutely no energy in the world to take a shower. Cale's bedroom reeks of puke. It's a wonder he can even sleep in there. My hair is crispy from the barf. I have the headache from hell. I'm feeling all of the worst emotions in the world, and hoping that typing this will make it better. Who knows. For now, it just makes me feel guilty. I feel like an awful mother. Punishing him does nothing except make me feel like the bad guy. I yelled at a toddler. Who gave me that right?

Sometimes I wonder why I chose the responsibility of parenthood. I'm failing miserably.

The Fetus.

About 2 weeks ago we found out our little fetus is a GIRL! We are super excited that we get to have a girl and a boy now! We have had 3 ultrasounds so far and it is so much fun to see her grow. The first ultrasound was just to determine her due date which will be June 27, 2012. The second was the NT Scan, which determines the risk of genetic abnormalities and birth defects (she passed with flying colors, YAY!) and then a couple weeks ago we had an elective 3D/4D scan to determine the sex of the baby. She's all girl and we couldn't be happier.

During the ultrasound, the tech said, "Well, here's three lines, so it's a girl!" and immediately Cale looked up and said "Ohhhhhhh NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" We all died of laughter. He knows what he's in for with a baby sissy.

..."Sissy" is her name for now. Not because we don't have a name - we do, but we aren't telling! I hated all the crappy opinions we got when we told everyone about Cale's name so this time they aren't getting the priveledge of knowing the name until she arrives. Maybe that'll teach them to insult a pregnant lady! Ugh.

(For example...the other night after we found out she was a girl, we all went out to dinner and I told my mom what we were going to name the baby if it was a boy, which was Cohen. She said it was awful and gave Nate a high-five for making a girl so we couldn't use that name...FML. I didn't let her see, but that comment made me cry. She should understand that comments like THAT are why she's not in the 'know' this time. And she wasn't the only one that gave comments like that when I was pregnant with Cale.)

Anyway, moving on...

This pregnancy has been a dream compared to Cale's. With Cale I was so sick that I lost 11 lbs in first trimester, and my heartburn was of the devil. This little girl is very sweet to mommy. She doesn't make me sick hardly at all, and I've been lucky to avoid the heartburn. I hope she's as sweet to me in her terrible two's as she is right now.

I'm 17.5 weeks pregnant right now and I'm excited to approach the half way mark in a couple weeks. On February 13th we will go for the anatomy ultrasound where they check all her bones and organs to make sure she's developing properly. I'm nervous but mostly excited to see how she's growing!

Here are a couple more pictures of her:

Cale has an Announcement!

Yep, we are so excited to be having Baby #2! Our first ultrasound is tomorrow, and we'll get an exact due date then, but for now I think I'm due sometime between June 25-July 2, 2012.

Exhaustion is my main grievance so far, and Cale takes what little energy I can muster up. I'm queasy sometimes but my morning sickness hasn't really set in too bad yet. I can't wait to see my little babe on the monitor tomorrow and hear that beautiful heartbeat :)

This time around we are keeping some things a secret! We can't decide if we are going to tell people the gender of the baby or not, but if we do then we are definitely keeping the name a secret until (s)he's born. Some surprises are good. :)

If you don't want to hear about my "lady parts" --- stop reading!

The title says it all. This post is going to be about my lady parts. Consider yourself warned.

I'd like to begin by saying that I've had a little miracle this month. That miracle was in the form of removing my IUD. Now don't get me wrong, my IUD was my bestie for 17 months...but it was the kind of bestie that stabs you in the back.

Lemme "esplain" -- I had an IUD placed 6 weeks after having Cale and it was UH-MAZING. No periods? Yes please! I literally had no spotting, bleeding, nada, for a year and a half. I would have kissed my IUD if I could have. It.was.blissful.

Not so blissful was my 100% disinterest in being intimate with my husband since having Cale. And not even just disinterest. It was almost to the point of disgust. I'm so sad to say that, because I love Nate! He's amazing! But something was happening with me and my body, and I was NOT interested...Nothing was working and it was a big source of contention for us. Even a trip to my Gyno and a prescription medication didn't fix the issue. I was made to believe that hormones caused by breastfeeding were causing my body to be out of whack, causing the issue with being intimate. Since I still breastfeed and nothing else seemed to be a good explaination, I eventually believed it.

I finally accepted that until I was ready to wean Cale that I just would have to make a huge effort to seem interested in sex. Ugh. And it really wasn't working. Poor Nate.

Anyway, fast forward to 2 weeks ago. I finally told Nate that I really believed my IUD was causing this problem. He agreed that I should take the IUD out since we want to concieve soon anyway, so about 2 weeks ago I went to the doctor and had it removed. (Side note -- OUCH! It hurt worse coming out than putting it in, geesh!) Anyway, I felt an IMMEDIATE difference in my body. I don't know how to explain it other than that it felt like a foreign object that my body was rejecting for 18 months was finally gone. I was in a good mood, I felt instantly better about myself, I even felt lighter (literally, like I lost 10 lbs in 5 minutes) It was crazy!

Over the last two weeks things have gotten so good. (I don't need to mention that having an IUD removed causes two weeks of HORRIBLE bleeding/clotting/all that nasty stuff) but it's gone now and I am better than ever! I feel like a new woman and I can confidently say that my intimate relationship is back on the fast track. Nate (and I) couldn't be more thrilled.

As happy as I am that removing my IUD fixed my problem, I am sad that the IUD had such an effect on me. It really was the best birth control I had ever used and I'm sad that I'll probably never be able to use it again.

Use my experience as proof that miracles DO happen, and if they can happen to my lady parts then they can happen to YOU!