First Days and Nine Months

 Back to school has come and gone, and now school is routine, but I still wanted to share our pictures.  LMM is THRILLED to go this year, unlike last year where he cried and clung to my leg for, oh, the first 6 months.  No longer!  I barely get a "goodbye".

 There are tears though, I assure you.  Instead of LMM clinging to me sobbing that he wants to go home...I have Rosebud clinging to the art table or whatever furniture she can get her sticky-from-breakfast hands on screaming that she wants to stay.  She'd give up something pink and sparkly to be at school.  She has the back-to-school-bug bad.

 MMMM.  I could eat this one up.  She is a mama's girl for sure, and I am loving it.  I'll admit most days it is hard to have her wanting me ALL THE TIME, but as she gets older...I'm learning to cherish it.  Her baby days are numbered.  Everything is new and exciting and she loves to explore anything she can get her hands on.

 And then she eats it.  Cause that's what you do at nine months.

 I have zero new growth to report this month.  She is not even registered on the charts for weight (14 lbs 9 oz...still not as big as Rosebud was at 6 months) and is in the 10th % for length (26.5").  http://www.babycenter.com/baby-child-growth-percentile-calculator

However...she is developing GREAT!  She is taking steps along the furniture, exploring standing unassisted, learning to open/get into/crawl around everything in her way.  She feeds herself gluten free cereal, nurses often and well (finally sleeps 4 hours at a time most nights and is transitioning to her crib more than cosleeping) and eats baby food.  While she'll eat my homemade rice cereal and advacado, she has a bad gag reflex with homemade pureed veggies and fruits.  She is doing better on jar first foods, so I have been buying 2-3 of those a week as well.  Three jars doesn't kill anything but my pride.

 Snug Snug Snug.  I can't believe my preemie is in first grade.  He is not as excited about school this year as last.  I second guess my decision to put him in school daily.  I am trusting I did the right thing, but it has been hard.

He's already had his taste of bullying, but his teacher handled it well.  Not ready to tell that story yet, but I may in the future.  It for sure upped my opinion of the teacher though.  He is a little bored as the work comes easily to him, but new things should be introduced soon.  He also started swim lessons yesterday.  We found really reasonably priced ones at the YMCA a short distance from us.  He loves the water and we hope this opportunity will not only teach him swimming skills, but also boost his self-confidence (something he has very little of at school despite knowing all the required work) and social skills.

I have so much I want to/need to post and am working it into my daily schedule.  Er...weekly schedule.  After my last post I really missed blogging and need to make more time for it.

As it is September 11th I have a story to share.

A few weeks ago our family added a new activity (cause really we have nothing to do, totally bored).  We started Letterboxing.  I read about it in Parent's Magazine (or was it Family Fun?).  We've only done it a few times, but MAN is it fun, and has proved to be educational for the boys and a great way to get some exercise and spend time together as a family.

We went to our local 9-11 memorial for our very first try (we either failed, or the box was missing).  While there we took the time to examine the monument which is constructed from some of the Twin Towers building material  .  We talked a little bit with the boys about why it was there.  We kept it very basic.

Fast forward two weeks to this past weekend.  We're at #1's softball tournament (where his team did FABULOUS, knocking out the #1 ranked East Coast team in Police Softball shocking everyone including themselves).  LMM and I are watching the other team warm up and he asked if "thems is cops".  I told him yes, everyone here is a cop...it is Police League Softball!  Then he said they were bad cops.

More than concerned, I asked why on EARTH he would say a thing like that.  He proceeded to tell me that they were bad because they flew airplanes into buildings.  Heavens.  I don't think he got one thing right about 9-11.  I patiently tried to re-tell him and correct what he was way off base on.

I also informed him that his daddy is a cop (which he doesn't believe anymore now that #1 is a detective and doesn't wear traditional uniform...my boys think that is quite the disappointment these days!) and he knows daddy helps people at work.  He had to think on that for awhile, but I HOPE he understands at least the part that the police officers (and firefighters and all first responders) were the GOOD GUYS in history.

Have you told your kids about 9-11?  Any tips?

Snug is 6...Sweet Pea is 8 months!

Wow.  Six years goes by fast.  Snug had his sixth birthday and we celebrated over the weekend.  He had a LEGO theme.  

 Thank you Pinterest for easy decorating ideas!

 His cake was the easiest one I've made in years.  I wanted to make it look like a Lego brick.  The dots are 1/2 of the GIANT marshmallows they sell (I think they are called 'roasters').

 I took cardstock and made circles on them to look like LEGO bricks down the center of the table...can't really tell in my picture though.

 I do believe she is yelling "CAKE"!

 He was thrilled.  The yellow "Legos" are gluten free cupcakes that have 1/2 a regular marshmallow on them.  The only thing I hated was how much food coloring I used.  I'm not into artificial colors, but this was the look I wanted.  I guess they really don't get them often.

 Opening presents.

 This was Snug's gift from #1's parents.  I had to include this picture of LMM as he went whizzing by.

 Snug caught on right away.  I was both surprised and pleased.

 He looked so old.  You know, minus the Diego knee and elbow pads  :o)

 Just being silly.

 We gave Snug a bike.  He can't ride it, and might not be able to until next summer...it is even a little too big along with not having training wheels.  That's ok, he can grow into it.  He is growing so fast we were afraid that he'd outgrow an 18" before he learned to ride it.

 This past weekend Sweet Pea turned eight months old.  She got her first solids unexpectedly at a wedding when we were trying to keep her quiet during the toasts.  I gave her tiny pieces of melon (not our traditional first food for sure) and it indeed kept her quiet.  She was so excited I decided the time has probably come.

 Being in the high chair is not her favorite thing for sure.

 And she wasn't so sure about having a spoon shoved in her mouth.

 She wasn't sure at first about the advacado (our first choice in introductory food).

 The next bite was eagerly accepted.

 After that she fought daddy for not only the next bite but also for control of the spoon.

 She won.  We gave her the spoon and let her go at it.  She only got maybe 1.5 tablespoons.  We'll keep her intake very low so that her milk intake doesn't decrease.

Yup, this eating thing agrees with her. I've made lots of baby food and it is in cubes awaiting her in the freezer.  As organic produce comes on sale at the grocery (or ripe in our garden!) I puree it, freeze it in ice cube trays, and then freeze it.

At six years old Snug is 48" tall and weighs 50 lbs.
At eight months Sweet Pea is 26.5" and weighs 14 lbs 10 oz

...But I Didn't...(and lots about cloth diapering)

I was going to take a picture and show you all the applesauce I canned (the night before our Realtor was coming, cause that was smart and sticky), but I didn't.

I was going to take a picture and show you the FOR SALE sign in our front yard that went up today. But I didn't.

I was going to take a picture of the old diaper that died on me and how I had it resurrect four others. But I didn't.

Sorry.


I did get apples at 50 cents/lb this week at Aldi and I managed to can several quarts of applesauce. My original goal (since I don't put sugar in it, some do have cinnamon) was to get it canned for the new baby. Then I realized half way through that he/she won't even be eating solids till next year at this time, and we never ever start with fruits. Oops. I'm pretty sure I'll be canning again next fall. At that point I started adding cinnamon. Good Christmas presents for the neighbors (if we still live here).

If we don't live here at Christmas I can give it to new neighbors. Then they too can know that I am quirky and still can stuff. People think I am crazy to can. I love it! I'll ease them into the whole using environmentally safe cleaners, cloth diapers, and recycling. Too much crazy at once and I'll have no new friends.

Our realtor also came today, and she really like what we have done with the place. Well, us and everyone who has helped us (thanks!). It is officially on the market, and a photographer will be here later this week to take pictures. I probably won't be sharing those online though because of privacy issues. Perhaps (don't hold your breath) I will take some of my own! It was such a relief to have her walk in and be happy with it. I am very convinced as a sales person that you do a better job selling something if you like the product, no matter what your commission.

Ok, about the cloth diaper episode, I REALLY should have taken pictures because I am thrilled with the results. I was not thrilled with the process as Baby J (who REALLY needs a new online name here soon) was less than helpful, but more than curious.

One of my Haute diapers (not endorsing that particular website, just had lots of info.) that I had gotten second hand was leaking like crazy. When I turned it inside out, I realized that the PUL was missing in many places, and sparse in others. None of the other diapers I bought used at the same time has that problem, so I'm not sure what happened. No matter, it had a nice long life. I mean it was worn 3-4 times a week for probably 6 months at my house alone (not sure how long with the previous owner). What disposable can say that?

I really didn't want to throw it away, and I wasn't sure how to recycle it. I bought 3 WAHM diapers off of E-Bay a few weeks ago, and was less than thrilled with them. They work "ok" for Baby J, and I was just glad to throw 3 more pockets* into our rotation. They were also really cheap. With those three in rotation, we only use flats/covers about two times a week. The only problem with these diapers is that the snaps were not in the right place. Although they could be snapped down to fit a 2-4 month old on up, around Baby J is the smallest they'd go. Not gonna work for Baby #3.

I carefully used a thread puller and took out the fleece "pocket" part of the diaper and then even more carefully cut off all the snaps with as much material around each as I could. I then sewed the snaps from the old diaper into the other 3 where I wanted them. Presto! My diapers are MUCH more functional.

I still had the fleece insides, and hated to get rid of that either. Because we are not using flats/covers very often I have about 3 Thirsties covers that are not getting used. I sewed the fleece pocket into my orange cover and PRESTO! I have another pocket diaper! YEAH! So in the process of losing one, I gained one and fixed three. Yeah!


*pocket diapers are so very very like disposables, they are so easy. It is very hard to go back to folding and using a Snappi/cover once you have a few in your stash. Pocket diapers get "stuffed" with inserts (fleece, hemp, whatever) and then just snap on. EASY :o) However, when we first started cloth diapering, all we could afford was simple flats, covers, and snappis. That is the cheapest way to start off unless you have money saved up or are registering for them. As we budget them in, we pick up a few here and there. We maybe spend $15-$20 a month on diapers (many months we spend nothing), and they will be used again on our next baby. Nice, huh?

Attention Baby Food Making Moms!

I have a product review for you today! My friend bought me a Reynolds Handi-Vac and gave it to me as a present last night because she knows I make Baby J's baby food and lots of things from scratch. This thing is pretty cool!
So the thing on top sucks the air out of the bags so that things don't get freezer burned or frost on them. Take these carrots for example. They are not freezer burned...yet, but they have a lovely coating of frost on them from each time I open them and then try to re close the bags (yes, double bagged with Ziploc freezer bags) with no air. Before I was using a straw and sucking the air out the best I could.

I rinsed each cube and dried it on a clean towel and then used the Handi-Vac...looks much better and every time I remove some cubes I can just suck the air out in like 5 seconds and move on. I have NO idea if it will really work, but I'll let you know. Getting the air out was a breeze though!

I don't like using lots of plastics because of BPA, but after perusing some BPA sites, they say that hard plastics are the biggest offenders and one researcher from U of Missouri (Vom Saal) said that "heat acid, alcohol, harsh detergents, age and microwaving" are what speed up the release of and release the most BPA. I will hand wash my bags with Melaleuca dish detergent and hopefully not be contaminating too much food!

Moving on...CF Mama had mentioned in a comment recently she'd have to check into my Superporridge. Well, it isn't mine, at least not the concept or the name. Those are from "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron. However, his particular blend is made by me!

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Caution: Do not use unless your doctor thinks you need to. It is about 29% of the calories the average 11-13 month old needs in a day...and only makes 1/2 cup. HOWEVER, if you want to try it use breastmilk or 'regular' formula (instead of PediaSure) The University of Michigan Health System (C.S. Mott Children's Hospital site) says that the average 'regular' formula and the average woman's breastmilk is 20 calories/oz. That would knock this superporridge from 251 cal down to 231 cal. Making it more like 26% of their calories for the day. OR make it with water and that makes it 191 cal (21%).

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Of course your doctor can tell you what your child needs to grow, I have no idea (I only know my kid!). I just know that on average, a child 11-13 months consumes 900 calories/day. Baby J needs 1,250 to grow right now...that will go up when he starts walking. Which is only like 350 more (but our dietitian says kids eat too much in general...so the 900 may be too high) I try to keep him right at 1,250. Anyway, all I am saying is be careful because that is 26% of what most kids would need, even if made with breastmilk and that is only one meal...you have got at least 2 more meals, a snack or so, and bottles/consumption of milk/formula to consider on top of that. Don't forget that kids in this age range need around 24 oz (480 cal) a day. Again, I'm not a doctor, I just have done lots of asking questions of Baby J's dietitian and online. Ok, I shouldn't get sued now that I got all of that out of the way. If you click where your mouse turns into a hand, there were different things above you could click on to see where I got some of my information. Sorry, I can't video tape our dietitian and put her on here...something about privacy...

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MOVING ON! For those of you who made it through that rambling, here is the recipe for the 251 calorie Superporridge.

1/8 c. instant rice cereal (I make it also...but a friend gave me 3-4 boxes of organic rice cereal and I'm not complaining!)

2 Tbs avocado, pureed

1/2 tsp. moringa (if you don't have this, don't worry about it...great stuff though!)

1 Tbs. tahini

1/4 c. PediaSure (strawberry flavored takes the edge off the tahini)

1 tsp. ground flaxseed (grind fresh daily or grind and freeze)

1 tsp. wheat germ

liquid vitamins

Mix well

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You can make 2 days worth at a time, just make sure it is covered and refrigerated. The second day it may have some brown streaks in it because avocado turns brown when exposed to air (normal). When you make avocado puree, keep the extra covered tightly and either freeze or refrigerate and use within a few days. It gets nasty if you try to make more than 2 servings...turns all brown and runny and smelly. Trust me :o)

Let me know if it works for you!

11 Months

Couldn't make this a Wordless Wednesday...too much to say. I should have kept my update from yesterday until today...didn't even think of it actually. On his 11 month birthday, Baby J got his first taste of waffle. I gave him 1/2 and I think he would have gone for a whole but he had his super porridge to eat first. Besides, it was just a treat.

I am still making his food for the most part, but he is getting some finger foods too. Most of the food he is eating is high fat (the good kinds, not saturated) and calories. He is taking a 40/60 mix of breastmilk (thanks to my cousin Melissa) and PediaSure. It used to be a 25/75 mix but he is growing and I keep a close eye on his weight.

I have written about super porridge in awhile...probably because he wasn't allowed to eat it and then he wouldn't eat it. I had a hard time getting him to eat anything but Cheerios for awhile and fruits/veggies were not going in. I had no idea baby lips could be so tight! Anyway, after much coaxing (and waiting until he was starved) he is now on a steady diet of healthy foods. The GI doctor didn't want him having hardly any fruits or veggies...mostly cereal and pastas or potatoes. Couldn't do it. Although I'd love someone to put me on that diet, I can't see that it would be good for him in the long run.

Now, I am well aware he needs to have foods that will keep him growing because as he eats more food he will drink less Pedia Sure (30 cal/oz). At this point I think his metabolism is slowing down a bit, but he still needs tons of calories. He gets two main things in addition to Cheerios and his breastmilk/PediaSure feed.

1. Super porridge
2. Tofu/Veggie/Cereal

His super porridge is advacado, rice cereal, tahini (18 g. fat/2 Tbs), vitamins, moringa, flax seed powder, and PediaSure. If you want my exact measurements, let me know. It is actually a super healthy breakfast for any baby. You can also make it with oatmeal and most certainly with another formula or breastmilk. At first it was hard to get him to eat...and I can't say the pea soup color is appealing to me...but now when he sees it coming his feet are a kicking!

The second thing, that he has for most lunches/dinners, is as it sounds...tofu mixed with a veggie and some rice cereal. He's only getting like 1 TBS of tofu total in a day, don't worry. I also throw a little of whatever baby appropriate food our family is eating onto his tray after his food and bottle are gone. Usually it just serves to entertain him, not nourish him.

I get questions about making my baby food all the time. Pretty soon I won't even be needing to make it...so if you have questions ask now before I completely forget what I did. Oh, and get the book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. Great source!

Dr. Appointment

Please stop right here and take a few minutes to pray for baby Stellan. As we were leaving Dr. K's office I started getting the Tweets that he was doing very poorly, and is in was in V-Tach (just got the tweet that he is now out). I am sorry to anyone who gets my tweets and got them in reverse order like my sister-in-law did...because the last one I sent said "he may die" which was referring to Stellan NOT Baby J. However, even though most of us do not know him, he still needs prayers.

But you know what? Baby J will die. All of us will, and we don't know when or how...but we will all die. We know why we will die. We will die because sin separates us from God, and because of sin in the world our bodies are not perfect, they deteriorate and we pass away or accidents happen etc. But sin is the reason we die. We can't control or change or know when we will die...but we know what happens to us after we die. God has made a way for us to spend eternity with him. Each of us has a choice. We either choose to accept His free gift of salvation, through Jesus, or we can choose to ignore Him and thus go to Hell.

I believe Hell is a very real place. It isn't where a cute little devil with a pointy red tail runs around with a pitchfork. You don't got meet 'your buddies' there and have a good ol' time because heaven would just be boring. The Bible says in Revelation 20:10, 15 "And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever. vs 15 If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."

Anyone who has not made a personal decision to follow Christ (Romans 3:23-all have sinned), will die and go to Hell, but anyone who believes in Jesus (Romans 6:23), can have eternal life (John 3:16). How can you do that? Romans 10:9-11 "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead , you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."

I almost wrote "I'm sorry I got off topic and went on that tangent" but I deleted it. I'm not sorry. It is the truth, and I felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to put it in. Because it is true...no matter what doctors can do for Baby J, or Stellan, or you or me...we are all going to die. We of course must live healthy and be responsible (ex, taking my sick baby to the specialist) but in the end, God gives us the time here on earth, and we don't know when it ends...but we can know how it ends. And Hell is forever, but so is Heaven...an eternal life spent in God's presence. No fear, no pain, no crying. Have you made that choice? Please think long and hard about it if you are not sure, and PLEASE feel free to ask me questions if you have any. You can leave a comment, or contact me personally.

Today we went back to Dr. K for Baby J's checkup. My friend Mindy graciously watched Snug for me so I didn't have 100 distractions with me in the office, and Mother Hen went with me. She is a great entertainer for Baby J in waiting rooms, etc.

Baby J weighs 14 lbs, 14 oz...the same as the day we left the hospital almost a week ago so no growth since then. However, he was 13 lbs, 12 oz when we were at our initial appointment almost 2 weeks ago...so he's had over a pound of gain! PRAISE GOD he has grown at all! We hadn't seen any significant weight gain since November...in fact he was smaller than he was in November (14 lbs 13 oz). Right now he is an ounce over that. He is the exact size they expect to see in a 4 month old, both length and weight. He will be 9 months old on Friday. That is just heartbreaking to hear. In truth, all of this has been extremely hard. I hate it.

Back to the positive! They think he has grown almost 1/4 centimeter. It is really really hard to tell because it so depends on how they wiggle...but based on the fact we see him tippy toeing the exersaucer...they are racking it up as growth. That puts him in the 4.5th percentile for height on a 8 month old. He still counts as 8 months until Friday...at which point he goes dropping back off the scale, but we're looking at the positive, remember? Still not close to being on the growth scale for weight.

SO, because he hasn't lost any weight he gets to start solids again! YEAH! During our visit we had our first appointment with the nutritionist. I was just praising God we were seeing her on how to introduce more foods rather than how to deal with Celiac disease. That in itself is a HUGE miracle. He will get 2Tbs of rice cereal made with PediaSure twice a day. I get to make baby food again! HURRAY! The nutritionist and the doctor are totally fine with Baby J getting donated milk. They still agree he needs breasmilk for all the benefits...but is at a 75/25 ratio (75 being PediaSure). Another praise, my milk supply seems to be going up about 1/8 oz a day. Not much, but I will SO TAKE IT :o)

THANK YOU FOR PRAYING. We are not out of the dark yet...our next appointment is in 3 weeks. The doctor is going out of town for that period, but says as long as he continues to eat drink as much as he has been and I watch for signs of something being wrong, he can be home and be normal. There is backup there should I need it.

Now if you will excuse me, I am going to look at E-bay for a baby scale...because 3 weeks would be torturous!

Homemade Baby Food

I've gotten a few questions in e-mail lately about how I make my baby food. I have asked SO SO many myself, so I hope this is helpful...

I read "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron. It is a GREAT book, I love it. I also got it on Amazon.com used (could hardly tell) for much less than the price new. I learned about the book from MckMama's blog. Also, if you click on my blog on "homemade baby food" label on the right sidebar of my blog you can see some things I have done.
I will tell you for example that I bought organic carrots (5lbs) for $2.99 and made $28.98 worth of baby food from it last night. I think it is worth the time, don't you?
I use three things to make my baby food. They are also useful in my day to day cooking, so they were worth the money.
1. An attachment to my kitchenaid mixer, it is a fruit/veggie processor. I got mine on Craigslist for $70 I use it for large batches of fruits and carrots.
2. A Black and Decker coffee grinder. I got it at Wal-Mart for $15. I use it for steel cut oats and whole brown long grain rice (used for his superporridge) I use it for my family for flaxseed...Baby J can have that in a month too
3. A Hamilton beach food processor. It makes about a cup of stuff at a time. I got it for $15 at Wal-Mart I use it for making his eggs pureed, tofu, cooked asparagus, raw fruits like peaches, and advacado...other stuff too.

I make large batches of fruits/veggies once a week, on the day I grocery shop. I make superporridge daily, and then I make other stuff sometimes on the side (I never freeze advacado, so this is always made fresh before he eats it). This week I bought carrots, kiwi, and squash. I won't have to buy those probably for another month. I buy 2-3 fruits/veggies a week and freeze them. It doesn't cost much because you are only introducing 1-2 new things a week and then replacing maybe one or two things you've made previously. Buying in bulk is always cheaper anyway. You do run the risk that if they don't tolerate something you will end up with a bunch, but if you follow Ruth Yaron's guide to what foods when you really should be ok.

I freeze most of his food until it is used, but I also make small batches (like advacado) and just serve it until it is gone. I also canned all of his applesauce and pearsauce for the year. I canned a TON. I was very lucky to have a friend with a pear tree that she didn't have any use of...so I harvested all her pears. I bought apples on sale this fall.

You cannot can veggies for babies though because there is a huge risk of food poisoning. When I freeze the cubes I double bag them to prevent any freezer burn. I try to store most things in glass, less chemicals than plastics. I never ever ever microwave with plastics.

My friend Carrie told me a great way to have food ready for the entire day. When she made the porridge in the morning, she poured the hot cereal over whatever cubes of food her daughter was going to have (3 bowls for 3 meals...each had what cubes she'd eat already in it). Then the hot cereal would cool quickly for breakfast, and the cubes would defrost. To heat up the other 2 meals of the day she would microwave water in a bowl and then set the food dish into it. Then you never even have to microwave your baby's food.

Do you have any suggestions for me? Any other questions?

Moringa!

I will place bets that 90% of you (Ok, I know about 10 people read my posts, and my mom knows what this is-so she will be the one who knows...) do not know what this plant is. Until I visited ECHO in Florida a few years ago, I didn't know either. My sister-in-law now works for ECHO and mailed me some dried leaves from her personal plant today. I was so excited to get them! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT???? Oh yeah...what it is. It is a Moringa tree. The leaves on it are highly nutritious and used in third world countries to help nourish people in poverty.

I happen to know it is super good for babies, and asked my sister-in-law to mail me some. #1 thinks it looks like pot. Especially since I got it in a baggie :o) So I ground it all down...

Then it was reduced to just a powder...and not much of it! Oh well. Baby J will be getting 1/2 tsp. every morning in his superporridge. Tonight though, I had to try it out so I put it in his sweet potato/tofu meal.

Oh, and it was so well recieved by one small boy. Even if it did make for a green sweet potato meal. I have done a little research on it and found that it helps with weight gain (yeah!), and increases milk supply in animals by 42-55% (yeah!). I know I'm not an "animal" in a crude scientific term that dehumanizes humans, but I am a mammal and trust me, I can use all the help I can get! So I will be rationing it out between the two of us...and plotting how I can grow my own plant here at home. THANK YOU Danielle for the 'pot', we will use every last bit...even the little bit you could see that spilled onto my stove in the picture got used.

Blah Blah Blagging Blogging-One of Those Long Posts

Ahhh, the dinner dishes are done in the sink, the boys are bathed and in bed, the dogs are sniffing around eating things off the carpet, and my laundry is caught up 90% done. I can blog and not get that nagging feeling that there is something else I should be doing. As I rocked the boys in fuzzy footie pajamas tonight I kept thanking God for my little guys. I love to rock and smell their hair and sing. Just one of my favorite things about being a mom.
So far I only have 2 guesses on my EYE SPY contest post which means I either have a really lame contest (probably true) or no one else was really digging my EYE SPY posts either, which is part of the reason why I am discontinuing them. Or a combo deal of both. I will be ending the contest Friday evening.

We've been trying to stay busy and sane during this cold spell. After a week off last week because of snow days, the kids have been excited to see each other, but also testy with each other at the same time. I've been trying to invent some fun along with letting them work through problems themselves. One of their favorite activities is to spread a king size sheet between our four dining room chairs (we keep it on with #1's carpentry-type clamps). They like to read, play games, and relax.
No, they are not eating in their tent/fort/castle (depending on who you ask), they are playing with an Oreo cookie matching game my mom gave us. It doubles as a fake snack in case you were to get hungry for BPA.

I am putting the label "Baby J's growth" on this post...not because I actually know how much he weighs or anything, but because I am including pictures of some big milestones he met this week. A 'label' is a way to track similar posts. They (on my blog) are located on the right sidebar. So say you are reading my blog and you think "man, that is just so interesting...I would love to know more about how that lady feels about that topic" then you can go to the label, click on it, and read everything I've written about that topic. Or, more accurately, I put them on so I can track what I have written about and have some sort of a filing system when I go back to look things up. Yeah, that would my real reason for labeling things, but I can always pretend like you all are riveted and hanging on my every word. Not. Ok, so back to growth!

Look who is sitting up on his own! This started on Wednesday. We have to kinda arrange him, and he does fall over after awhile, but overall, we are pretty excited about this milestone :o) Mom, I know what you are thinking...this is going to be your new screen saver...but wait, there is more! There has also been some serious cat-baby bonding going on. Our cat is an outdoor cat, but it has been pretty cold so he gets to come inside and hang out in the afternoons after the Draycare kids are gone.
We are going to have to learn some kitty etiquette here soon though...pulling tails isn't nice or a good idea. To Baby J it is just something convenient to hang on to. Speaking of etiquette...one of the things we have been doing lately is discussing tub etiquette. There are things we have to set straight.
1. Thou shall not take thy brother's tub toys out of his hands.
2. Thou shall not dump cups of water over thy brother's head.
3. Thou shall not stand in thy tub for any reason.
4. Thou shall not go potty in the tub-ever.
5. Thou shall not pull the shower stop while the tub is filling (unless you want a BIG surprise)
6. Thou shall not drink the tub water.
7. Thou shall not get out of the tub while mama is drying your brother off
8. Thou shall not pour water out of the tub
Feel free to instate these commandments into thy your house.

Another milestone happened tonight. Baby J started eating teething biscuits. He loved it!

These biscuits...

Are really...

Serious.

Here is a little tidbit I will share with all you moms out there. We are giving Baby J "Earth's Best" teething biscuits instead of the Gerber Graduates that we gave Snug. We started really reading labels last summer.
I make almost all of Baby J's baby food, and we are saving quite a bit of money, but there are some things I can't/choose not to make. I'm on a tangent here, but hear me out. I have not discovered a great way to make peas or teething biscuits. I have a brand spankin new box of Graduates Zwieback Toast, but I really doubt Baby J will get it before he is a year old-or ever. The second ingredient is High Fructose Corn Syrup (which we are trying to get completely out of the house for the adults, let alone the 7 month old) and the fourth ingredient is sugar, and the sixth is corn syrup. Other than that it is completely wholesome full of refined flour, salt, and things I can't pronounce. Earth's Best isn't the best food Baby J will eat, but it is made with whole grains, and flavored with natural, unprocessed cane juice. It is still just a treat.
Two more things Snug got consistently that Baby J won't be were yogurt melts (FULL of sugar) and the little puff things (high fructose corn syrup city). I was so shocked when I started reading what was in that stuff. I figured if it was made by Gerber and labeled for babies it was good for them. One thing I was really happy about was that the dried fruit is actually freeze dried fruit! No additives or preservatives...just fruit! Yeah!

Feeding Frenzy

Anyone want to guess how this happened? Anyone want to guess what I made him for lunch? Anyone want to guess what is going through his mind?

Anyone want to guess how much I love these two?

My Husband Did NOT flush Elmo Down The Potty

Ok, here is #1's Not Me. Snug has had a few mishaps in the potty area in the last few days. It could have something to do with the fact that the bathroom was all tore up...that at one point there was no toilet, or that life has just been so, well, exciting he doesn't want to take the time to go. Anyway, he had a 'not urine' in the underwear yesterday and #1 was using the spatula to do the thing that spatula does. After a few minutes my mom and I heard "uh...that's not good" coming from the bathroom. One small pair of Elmo underoos went slip sliding down the toilet into the city sewer system. Goodbye "Melmo".

On a happier note, here is what the tub box has been used for today. Hours of fun were had by all, and when nap time is over, hours of clean up will have to happen because every toy from the upstairs is currently residing in this box.

No paint and no trim yet, but the blue paint I picked is close to this blue, so you can use your imagination :o)

I LOVE our new flooring. I think it is what I am most excited about...and I really thought the tub was what I would be most excited about. Again, no trim or paint...but I will do it ASAP.

So, there is a story behind this...scene. My parents don't normally hang out in my bathroom like this. However, when the toilet went back in, it wouldn't sit flat on the wax ring (if you don't know what I am talking about, hope you never will). SO, I laid on the floor with my hairdryer trying to melt it a bit, and my dad and mom sat like this and eventually the toilet sank back down to where it belonged.

Laying the floor...

Ok, this picture is for my mom, because we both really enjoyed seeing how it looks under the toilet. REALLY gross. This picture also gives you an idea of how bad our flooring was. This was under the carpet (not a good idea with small children in your house) and it was so bad looking and so hard to clean. It always looked dirty because of the holes and glue marks from the carpeting.

Just a cute Baby J picture. Notice how he is gaunt and fatigued looking due to the weight issue...I am still going between worrying about him and his progress to being totally disgusted with the whole thing because I know he feels fine and is eating and that Snug went though the same thing. I need to just not worry at all and give it to God.

This is Baby J smiling because his mommy is making him homemade yogurt for supper! He is saying "my mommy didn't burn it!" if you want to know the truth! I will see how it turns out, and if it does, I will walk all of you out there through how to do it. OR you can buy Ruth Yaron's "Super Baby Food" book and do it yourself with about 100 other things!

I had my mom take this picture for me to show you another way I am using this sling. I like him better on my back, but it is hard to get him up there tight without a spotter. He really likes being up and seeing what is going on.

And last, but not least, here is a video of the tub box being enjoyed by all. It will go out to the recycle next week, but until then, let the good times roll!