Can you call it canning if you only had enough fruit for two cans? I guess so.
I pulled out the nectarines tonight intending to just dehydrate some of them. It was so hot today the idea of canning was not appealing. But I realized most of them were not looking great so I just had to do it, even though it was getting a bit late.
My first experience canning was pretty fun for the most part. Thanks to a friend letting me watch her can last night (thanks Em!) I felt pretty confident that I knew what I was doing. I was pretty sad by all the very bruised and even rotten fruit I had to throw out - Gabe & Elena were definitely adding fruit off the ground into the bucket when I wasn't looking. But I managed to get enough for two cans and one tray on my *new* dehydrator (garage sale find!). I've also got a tray of blueberries in the dehydrator and now that it's after midnight and I'm finally done, I'm off to bed. :)
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
Picking peachers (errr nectarines)
Today we had a grand adventure, at least a grand adventure for us since we've never attempted picking fruit before. We had planned on picking peaches but decided to go for the nectarines once we were there. I wish I had pictures to share but I didn't have enough hands for my camera too.
I could write out our experience in long paragraphs but I thought I'd just give it to you in bullet points. ;)
I could write out our experience in long paragraphs but I thought I'd just give it to you in bullet points. ;)
- Picking fruit with 3 small children in tow (mine + the one I babsit) is a lot of fun. It is also very exhausting.
- If you bring a child under the age of 2, you should bring a backpack carrier - NOT a stroller. Though the child leash does work in a pinch. ;)
- Said 15 month old child will probably try to eat a lot of rotten fruit off the ground. If you keep handing her ripe fruit to eat this helps.
- Even if it's cold outside when you leave the house, put cooler layers underneath or you will have two kids in microfleece pants and long sleeve shirts sweating in the heat.
- They should make push carts with buckets for moms with poor upper body strength + kids that aren't strong enough to help.
- Having older kids who offer to push the stroller you stupidly decided to bring is a ton of help!
- It's really cute watching the kids run around trying to find the ripe fruit on the trees.
- Having other moms and their kids with you makes the experience so much fun.
- When we finished picking and I was packing the fruit into boxes I discovered that the 15 month old and 2 year old were more than likely adding fruit off the ground into the bucket behind my back, given the large number of nectarines that had worm holes and were very very bruised. It did seem like one minute the bucket was empty and then it was full. ;)
- McDonald's happy meals can save the day when you completely forget to pack a lunch for the kids and they are starving on the way home.
- Cloth diapers last a surprisingly long time when you forget to change them...
- I am definitely doing this again, now that I've learned what I should and shouldn't bring with me.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Baby-Led Elena
Lately I've had a few friends and family comment on what a great eater Elena is. And she is. Gabe is quite picky and let me tell you it's pretty stressful at times. Elena on the other hand will eat just about anything you put in front of her. Not that she doesn't have preferences but for the most part she loves all the different food groups.
Now most of this I attribute to personality. Elena is just so much more laid back than Gabe in this area. But I think part of it is how I chose to feed her. After dealing with purees for 15 months with Gabe I was downright sick of them. I didn't want to look at another puree. I had heard of a parenting 'fad' called baby-led weaning and a couple friends that tried it swore up and down that their kids were the best eaters. At the time I thought they were a bit insane. I don't like parenting fads at all. But now faced with feeding another kid, and pretty terrified of having another picky eater, I thought it might be worth looking into. I read up on it and a friend sent me her copy of the book Baby-Led Weaning by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett. I read the book and it made a lot of sense to me. I won't sit here and explain every detail involved with Baby-Led Weaning (or a better title would be Baby-Led Solids), you can read the book if you want or checkout the website http://www.babyledweaning.com/.
For the record, I have nothing against purees. Moms have fed their babies purees for many years and it's worked for them. I just didn't like our puree experience and I didn't want to repeat it. Gabe hated most of what I tried to feed him and it was always a crazy game of trying to figure out how to sneak it in his mouth. This was usually done while my own dinner got cold and for well over a year I couldn't remember the last time I ate a warm meal.
The basics of baby-led weaning are pretty simple - wait until baby is 6 months old + can sit up on their own and skip the purees. Purees were first introduced when our parents were babies and it was a common recommendation then to start feeding babies solids by the time they were 2 months old. You can't get solid food into a 2 month old so they had to puree it up. Before this time a lot of parents followed 'baby-led weaning' before it had a name, it was just a natural way of introducing table foods to babies when they were ready for them. By the time babies are 6 months old and can sit up on their own, they can grip food and bring it to their mouth (and in many cases, rip it right off our plates while we are holding them!). So long as it is is given in reasonable sized portions and easy textures for them, they can learn to feed themselves.
Elena took to eating this way beautifully. At first she did a lot of 'munching' on foods and learning how to move them around her mouth. She still ate a decent portion from probably our 3rd time offering her food, but she didn't really start eating 'meals' until she was about 8 months.
Here are some pictures of Elena learning to feed herself. Did I mention that baby-led weaning is quite messy? If you are a parent who is afraid of mess, you might not want to do this. Actually, if you are a parent afraid of mess, I'm not sure why you are a parent. ;)
One of Elena's very first foods, a banana
Elena gagging on the banana. Gagging in the beginning is really normal as they learn to manipulate food in their mouth. I had to remind myself - repeatedly - that she was not choking and to let her handle it. She did wonderfully of course.
This is either a banana or an apple slice...I can't tell!
Figuring out a straw sippy. Not food but Elena learned this skill pretty quickly.
A pork chop. She ate nearly that whole piece
Turkey bacon. Yes turkey bacon. She ate a couple of those apple slices on the table too, so I'm not *too* horrible of a parent am I?
Patiently waiting for food while Gabe plays with his
Realizing that Gabe has food on his tray...
She grabbed his tray and pulled him closer to her so she could reach his fork
And success!
Pizza crust (I swear we fed her healthy food too, I guess I didn't think those were picture worthy...)
This is what she thought of the puree I attempted to feed her when I didn't feel like preparing any food
Toast and peaches and shredded cheese
Cinnamon-raisin toast with cream cheese and sliced cucumber. She likes veggies but if you put veggies and carbs in front of her at the same time, carbs win every time...
A quisidilla and steamed bell pepper slices
Chicken and cut up peaches. By this point Elena started wanting most of her food in small cut up pieces.
A steamed carrot. Not sure what the rest of it was!
Learning how to use a spoon
Which did not last long
Spaghetti. Ummm...did I mention that baby-led weaning is messy?
Now Elena is 15 months and she's my great eater. And as if baby-led weaning wasn't fun enough on it's own, I never had to buy a single jar of baby food for Elena which I'd say is pretty cost effective. I also never had to puree up any of my own baby foods (I did with Gabe eventually to save money) which saved me a lot of extra time in the kitchen. I'm looking forward to doing the same thing with this next baby, hopefully he or she likes it just as much.
Now most of this I attribute to personality. Elena is just so much more laid back than Gabe in this area. But I think part of it is how I chose to feed her. After dealing with purees for 15 months with Gabe I was downright sick of them. I didn't want to look at another puree. I had heard of a parenting 'fad' called baby-led weaning and a couple friends that tried it swore up and down that their kids were the best eaters. At the time I thought they were a bit insane. I don't like parenting fads at all. But now faced with feeding another kid, and pretty terrified of having another picky eater, I thought it might be worth looking into. I read up on it and a friend sent me her copy of the book Baby-Led Weaning by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett. I read the book and it made a lot of sense to me. I won't sit here and explain every detail involved with Baby-Led Weaning (or a better title would be Baby-Led Solids), you can read the book if you want or checkout the website http://www.babyledweaning.com/.
For the record, I have nothing against purees. Moms have fed their babies purees for many years and it's worked for them. I just didn't like our puree experience and I didn't want to repeat it. Gabe hated most of what I tried to feed him and it was always a crazy game of trying to figure out how to sneak it in his mouth. This was usually done while my own dinner got cold and for well over a year I couldn't remember the last time I ate a warm meal.
The basics of baby-led weaning are pretty simple - wait until baby is 6 months old + can sit up on their own and skip the purees. Purees were first introduced when our parents were babies and it was a common recommendation then to start feeding babies solids by the time they were 2 months old. You can't get solid food into a 2 month old so they had to puree it up. Before this time a lot of parents followed 'baby-led weaning' before it had a name, it was just a natural way of introducing table foods to babies when they were ready for them. By the time babies are 6 months old and can sit up on their own, they can grip food and bring it to their mouth (and in many cases, rip it right off our plates while we are holding them!). So long as it is is given in reasonable sized portions and easy textures for them, they can learn to feed themselves.
Elena took to eating this way beautifully. At first she did a lot of 'munching' on foods and learning how to move them around her mouth. She still ate a decent portion from probably our 3rd time offering her food, but she didn't really start eating 'meals' until she was about 8 months.
Here are some pictures of Elena learning to feed herself. Did I mention that baby-led weaning is quite messy? If you are a parent who is afraid of mess, you might not want to do this. Actually, if you are a parent afraid of mess, I'm not sure why you are a parent. ;)
One of Elena's very first foods, a banana
Elena gagging on the banana. Gagging in the beginning is really normal as they learn to manipulate food in their mouth. I had to remind myself - repeatedly - that she was not choking and to let her handle it. She did wonderfully of course.
This is either a banana or an apple slice...I can't tell!
Figuring out a straw sippy. Not food but Elena learned this skill pretty quickly.
A pork chop. She ate nearly that whole piece
Turkey bacon. Yes turkey bacon. She ate a couple of those apple slices on the table too, so I'm not *too* horrible of a parent am I?
Patiently waiting for food while Gabe plays with his
Realizing that Gabe has food on his tray...
She grabbed his tray and pulled him closer to her so she could reach his fork
And success!
Pizza crust (I swear we fed her healthy food too, I guess I didn't think those were picture worthy...)
This is what she thought of the puree I attempted to feed her when I didn't feel like preparing any food
Toast and peaches and shredded cheese
Cinnamon-raisin toast with cream cheese and sliced cucumber. She likes veggies but if you put veggies and carbs in front of her at the same time, carbs win every time...
A quisidilla and steamed bell pepper slices
Chicken and cut up peaches. By this point Elena started wanting most of her food in small cut up pieces.
A steamed carrot. Not sure what the rest of it was!
Learning how to use a spoon
Which did not last long
Spaghetti. Ummm...did I mention that baby-led weaning is messy?
Now Elena is 15 months and she's my great eater. And as if baby-led weaning wasn't fun enough on it's own, I never had to buy a single jar of baby food for Elena which I'd say is pretty cost effective. I also never had to puree up any of my own baby foods (I did with Gabe eventually to save money) which saved me a lot of extra time in the kitchen. I'm looking forward to doing the same thing with this next baby, hopefully he or she likes it just as much.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Commenting
I was told by a friend who follows my blog that she's having issues commenting. I've changed some settings so hopefully it will work now...
Friday, August 12, 2011
Newborn cloth
I have to admit that within just a couple days of finding out I was pregnant I started considering the cloth diapering possibilities.
Yes, please, go ahead and laugh at me. This blog is titled The Cloth Addict for a reason.
While most of our one-size diapers say they will fit from 8 lbs and up I know the reality is that most won't fit until baby is 10 - 12 lbs. Both my kids didn't hit this weight until they were 1.5 - 2 months old. If I want to do cloth I need newborn diapers until baby can fit into our one-size diapers. Since cost is our #1 reason for cloth diapering I had to sit down and do the cost comparison of disposables vs cloth for the first two months. I could bore you to tears by showing you all my math, but the end result I got was that disposables will cost approximately $200 - $220 during that time. Which is actually cheaper than cloth diapering - depending on how you go. Prefolds + covers are cheaper by a good $40 - 60. Just about everything else is more expensive - if you don't consider resale value. A newborn diaper can typically be re-sold for anywhere from 50 - 80% of the retail value (and more often than not closer to 80% because they are often in like new condition after only being used such a short time).
Even with resale value considered I wanted my goal to be to spend less money outright than what I would have spent on disposables. I could just go the disposable route but I love the idea of putting my newborn in fluffy cloth diapers and I am determined to figure out how to do it as cheaply as possible - without using only prefolds and covers. As economical as they are I just don't think I want to use them full time.
I considered for awhile using a newborn rental - up front cost is $225, you get the diapers for 3 months, and then when you return them you get $100 back or $110 for store credit. But one of their rules is that you can only use cloth diaper safe detergent. Since the only thing that has ever worked for me is Tide I'd rather just buy my own.
So far I'm very happy with my purchase decisions. I have spent a little less than 2/3 of my budget and I have nearly all the diapers I need. So far I have:
10 BumGenius XS AIOs
1 FuzziBunz XS pocket with velcro
5 Kissaluvs Size 0 fitteds
1 WAHM (work at home mom) fitted (no link she doesn't have a website)
7 Thirsties XS fitteds (these are discontinued, so no link)
1 Bummis XS cover
1 Small cover (unsure of brand)
All of them were bought on sale or used, some for an absolute steal.
All I have left to buy are half a dozen prefolds (I do want to try them, I just don't want a whole stash of them) and more covers.
My newborn cloth diaper stash so far:
Yes, please, go ahead and laugh at me. This blog is titled The Cloth Addict for a reason.
While most of our one-size diapers say they will fit from 8 lbs and up I know the reality is that most won't fit until baby is 10 - 12 lbs. Both my kids didn't hit this weight until they were 1.5 - 2 months old. If I want to do cloth I need newborn diapers until baby can fit into our one-size diapers. Since cost is our #1 reason for cloth diapering I had to sit down and do the cost comparison of disposables vs cloth for the first two months. I could bore you to tears by showing you all my math, but the end result I got was that disposables will cost approximately $200 - $220 during that time. Which is actually cheaper than cloth diapering - depending on how you go. Prefolds + covers are cheaper by a good $40 - 60. Just about everything else is more expensive - if you don't consider resale value. A newborn diaper can typically be re-sold for anywhere from 50 - 80% of the retail value (and more often than not closer to 80% because they are often in like new condition after only being used such a short time).
Even with resale value considered I wanted my goal to be to spend less money outright than what I would have spent on disposables. I could just go the disposable route but I love the idea of putting my newborn in fluffy cloth diapers and I am determined to figure out how to do it as cheaply as possible - without using only prefolds and covers. As economical as they are I just don't think I want to use them full time.
I considered for awhile using a newborn rental - up front cost is $225, you get the diapers for 3 months, and then when you return them you get $100 back or $110 for store credit. But one of their rules is that you can only use cloth diaper safe detergent. Since the only thing that has ever worked for me is Tide I'd rather just buy my own.
So far I'm very happy with my purchase decisions. I have spent a little less than 2/3 of my budget and I have nearly all the diapers I need. So far I have:
10 BumGenius XS AIOs
1 FuzziBunz XS pocket with velcro
5 Kissaluvs Size 0 fitteds
1 WAHM (work at home mom) fitted (no link she doesn't have a website)
7 Thirsties XS fitteds (these are discontinued, so no link)
1 Bummis XS cover
1 Small cover (unsure of brand)
All of them were bought on sale or used, some for an absolute steal.
All I have left to buy are half a dozen prefolds (I do want to try them, I just don't want a whole stash of them) and more covers.
My newborn cloth diaper stash so far:
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Tubes & Talking
This blog has been a month in the making but finding the time to sit down and write it has been hard.
A month ago, on July 7th, Gabe had ear tubes put in to help solve his his issues associated with recurrent ear infections. Watching my boy in pain and needing antibiotics just about every 2 - 3 weeks was rough. I missed seeing the happy boy that I knew was in there. In addition to the never ending fussiness I wondered if a large part of Gabe's delay in speaking well had something to do with the constant fluid in his ears.
Gabe's tube surgery went very well. It was over quickly and he recovered so well. He didn't do that great waking up from the anesthesia but I expected it, thanks to a wonderful friend who warned me that he might become very combative and hard to control. He did, but he did calm down very quickly. After we were discharged he fell asleep in the car on his way home and by the next day he was back to his normal self again. More than that - he was happy. Since his tube surgery we have had maybe two or three major screaming toddler meltdowns. Before the surgery we were seeing those meltdowns several times a day.
Three days after his surgery I heard him running around the house saying, "Nonny! Nonny!" At first I was confused, but then realized that he was referring to - ME! He had always said 'mommy' with a bit of an N sound. It was never clear though, it always sounded slurred, just like every other word he said before the surgery. My attempts to teach him to say Mommy correctly hadn't worked. So I sat him down on the couch and told him, "No Gabe, I'm Mommy, not Nonny." He gave me a huge grin and said, "Mommy!" and my heart just melted. It sure is something when your 2 year old finally calls you Mommy (correctly!) for the first time.
Since then I've seen slow but steady improvement in his speech and it just blows me away all the time. He's learning new word and finally starting to say words he all ready knew correctly. He didn't suddenly start spitting out full sentences overnight but I didn't expect that. We continually work on his speech and he's getting better every day. He has a whole vocabulary of words now. I haven't tried to count them but I know it's a lot. Before his surgery I could count his vocabulary on two hands and now it's exploded. I am so proud of him and I am so happy we had tubes put in his ears. He hasn't had an ear infection since. His 1 month checkup with the ENT is tomorrow so we'll find out how his ears look inside and how everything is healing.
Yesterday Gabe was playing with Elena and she started trying to poke him in the eye (ahhhh siblings!). Gabe got all excited and told Elena, "It's an eye!" Excuse me while I tear up a bit. He said a full sentence and was also trying to teach Elena. Since then I've seen him doing such wonderful 'big brother' things with her. He shows her how to use toys and he's trying to teach her words. I can't believe it. My baby boy is growing up.
A month ago, on July 7th, Gabe had ear tubes put in to help solve his his issues associated with recurrent ear infections. Watching my boy in pain and needing antibiotics just about every 2 - 3 weeks was rough. I missed seeing the happy boy that I knew was in there. In addition to the never ending fussiness I wondered if a large part of Gabe's delay in speaking well had something to do with the constant fluid in his ears.
Gabe's tube surgery went very well. It was over quickly and he recovered so well. He didn't do that great waking up from the anesthesia but I expected it, thanks to a wonderful friend who warned me that he might become very combative and hard to control. He did, but he did calm down very quickly. After we were discharged he fell asleep in the car on his way home and by the next day he was back to his normal self again. More than that - he was happy. Since his tube surgery we have had maybe two or three major screaming toddler meltdowns. Before the surgery we were seeing those meltdowns several times a day.
Three days after his surgery I heard him running around the house saying, "Nonny! Nonny!" At first I was confused, but then realized that he was referring to - ME! He had always said 'mommy' with a bit of an N sound. It was never clear though, it always sounded slurred, just like every other word he said before the surgery. My attempts to teach him to say Mommy correctly hadn't worked. So I sat him down on the couch and told him, "No Gabe, I'm Mommy, not Nonny." He gave me a huge grin and said, "Mommy!" and my heart just melted. It sure is something when your 2 year old finally calls you Mommy (correctly!) for the first time.
Since then I've seen slow but steady improvement in his speech and it just blows me away all the time. He's learning new word and finally starting to say words he all ready knew correctly. He didn't suddenly start spitting out full sentences overnight but I didn't expect that. We continually work on his speech and he's getting better every day. He has a whole vocabulary of words now. I haven't tried to count them but I know it's a lot. Before his surgery I could count his vocabulary on two hands and now it's exploded. I am so proud of him and I am so happy we had tubes put in his ears. He hasn't had an ear infection since. His 1 month checkup with the ENT is tomorrow so we'll find out how his ears look inside and how everything is healing.
Yesterday Gabe was playing with Elena and she started trying to poke him in the eye (ahhhh siblings!). Gabe got all excited and told Elena, "It's an eye!" Excuse me while I tear up a bit. He said a full sentence and was also trying to teach Elena. Since then I've seen him doing such wonderful 'big brother' things with her. He shows her how to use toys and he's trying to teach her words. I can't believe it. My baby boy is growing up.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
A new addition
Not much of a blog update, but the picture about sums it up. ;) We are expecting our third child in February and we couldn't be more thrilled.
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