parenting

Ups and Downs

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Nursing Small Fry hasn’t been as easy as it was with his brothers. I didn’t gain any weight when I was pregnant (none!), and my doctor said that when women don’t gain, it can take longer for their milk to come in. That was the case for me. We had to supplement with formula for the first two months, which was hard for me. I felt like I wasn’t providing properly for him. I know that’s ridiculous because formula is a perfectly acceptable form of infant nutrition. But it wasn’t acceptable to me. Feeding him formula felt like giving up on some level.

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I write about that today because he and I experienced something similar yesterday. He was sick.

But not really.

He’s 10 1/2 months now, and still nursing several times a day. I love spending that time with him, especially at naptime or at the end of the day when his eyes are droopy and he’s still. Yesterday, he would throw up violently every time he nursed. He was able to keep solids down and was happy as a clam all day. But there was that pesky vomiting that lasted about 20 hours.

I know in my head that it wasn’t my fault; he probably just had a tummy bug. But having him be unable to stomach the milk felt like a throwback to his early weeks when “I couldn’t provide fully” for him.

Fortunately, he was fine this morning and didn’t lose his morning “meal.” Mama feels better that way too.

–Wendy

This is What Happens…

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when Mommy gets distracted:

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Doesn’t he look guilty?

I was sweeping the living room yesterday and forgot that Small Fry is officially a crawler now. Munchkin had left his ink pad out on the floor of the dining room (adjacent to the living room), which I didn’t notice in time. Loose ink pad + crawling baby + distracted mom = disaster waiting to happen!

Fortunately the ink came off the floor and the baby with just water and a rag. It’s still underneath his fingernails a little, but it’ll eventually wear off. I hope.

A Trip to Fort Vancouver

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We didn’t really know what we wanted to do on Saturday other than have a Family Day. So we got in the car and hubby started driving. We ended up in Fort Vancouver. Neither hubby nor I had been there in years, so it was a fun experience for all of us.

The day we were there was a great day to have gone; almost all of the attractions were open and staffed by volunteers in period clothing from the 1840s.

The kids loved seeing real (though no longer functional) cannons. We studied the Revolutionary War earlier this school year and are studying the Civil War now – plus they’re boys – so cannons are fascinating to them.

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Both Seahawk and Munchkin reminded me as I was taking their pictures, “Don’t ever do this!”

Munchkin was fascinated by the old-fashioned wheelbarrow.

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At one point in history, John McLoughlin lived at the fort. His house has been recreated for people to look at. The dishes behind the rope (so the ones in the photograph) are the real ones from the time; the ones the volunteers use (not pictured) are replicas.

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Here’s the bastion. This is what I always picture when I think of an old military fort, but I now know there’s much more to it than this! We were actually able to go inside the bastion. It’s a 3-story building that’s empty except for the top floor, which you can tell from picture is much bigger than the bottom floors – the top houses several cannons.

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I didn’t take pictures inside the two main “lessons” we had, but we learned all about 1840s medicine and the fur trade in the area at the time. The military fort was actually built to protect the assets – the furs. It turns out it was never needed; they were never challenged.

Just outside the fort was an amazing garden. They had loads of flowers, vegetables, and herbs growing. These are used for a summer camp they host: for a fee, people (kids and adults) can come to the fort and learn about the time, eat period food, wear period costumes, and stay the night.

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Outside, there was a huge anchor that was drawn out of the Columbia River. They don’t know much about it except that it was made sometime between 1815 & 1850 and it is so huge it was from a ship likely weighing around 1,000 tons. What they don’t know was whether this ship was a freighter, a passenger liner, or something else.

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To end the day, I bought a triangle that was actually made on the grounds by a real blacksmith (as opposed to a fictional one :p). I love that it’s made from completely natural materials – cast iron with a leather strap – and not plastic. I plan to use it to call the kids in from outside when they’re playing, like a dinner bell. It’ll be a real voice saver!

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–Wendy

The Best Things in Life Aren’t Things

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I hope all you mothers had a wonderful Mother’s Day with your children and mothers! My kids were super excited to wake up early and give me the gifts that our neighbor helped them make: little clay magnets

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And they each painted a terra cotta pot and planted a flower.

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Then, at church, their teacher had all the kids make paper flower bouquets for their moms.

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Mine are now proudly hanging the sewing room :).

After church, hubby took us all out for lunch and then to JoAnn’s where he bought me a new sewing machine :D. Mine quit working about a month ago, and since there are no Singer authorized repair shops in my state, our only real option was replacement (which accomplishes one of my May goals). The no-waste side of me hates that it came to that, but on the other hand, it was only $100 and lasted through pretty heavy use for over 4 years. I’ll donate it to someone who can fix it if I’m amble to find such a person.

Anyway, here’s the new one:

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The excitement of my kids and hubby in blessing me in such huge ways was worth way more than the things themselves. They (my family) are truly the best things in my life…

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…even when they (*ahem* Small Fry *ahem*) aren’t totally happy.

–Wendy

Sleeping All Night

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I’ve always been a big softy when it comes to my kids. I know in some cases it’s not healthy for them or me, but it’s hard to change…

The most recent instance of this is the fact that Small Fry, even though he’s 9 months old now, still hasn’t been sleeping through the night. And let me tell you, 9 months of not getting a full night’s sleep is hard on the mama!

Our old apartment was only a 2 bedroom, so we put him in our room when he was born; when we moved, we kept him with us even though we have more bedrooms now. Hubby felt it was more important for me to have a sewing room than for baby to have his own room. What that meant for me was that I got up with Small Fry every time he fussed all night long because I didn’t want hubby’s sleep to be (too) interrupted. Having a baby scream for even 15 minutes in the middle of the night wouldn’t be pleasant for him. Of course, it wasn’t pleasant for me, either, but I didn’t have to work during the days. What I didn’t take into account was that to be an effective teacher for Seahawk and Munchkin, I needed sleep too.

Well, yesterday, hubby had had enough. He was tired (no pun intended) of having a cranky wife in the mornings. So he dropped the mattress in the crib and moved it to the living room. It’s just there temporarily while we train Small Fry to put himself back to sleep instead of nursing throughout the night.

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Last night was the first time we made him “cry it out,” and it was a raging success. He cried for about 10 minutes around 1 a.m. and (apparently) for under a minute a couple of other times. I was blissfully unaware of those other times :).

Here’s hoping the rest of the week is a smooth as last night and all he needed was for me to leave him alone during the night.

–Wendy

Homemade Baby Food

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Hello everyone! Today I have something that may or may not apply to you, but it’s what I’ve got :).

About five months ago, when we moved out of the apartment and into the house, I started reading more blogs, and with the information I’ve gleaned from sites like this, this, and this, I decided to really embrace my housewife/stay-at-home-mom status. Seahawk is 9 now, and I’ve spent most of his life as a non-working mom. The difference between that and a stay at home mom is the amount of time spent on the house and kids. I’m sorry to say that I was quite selfish for a while, especially during my 2-year writing stint. It doesn’t do any good to dwell on the past, so I’m not going to. Instead, I’m going to look to the future and continue to be the wife and mom God intends me to be.

What does that mean for today’s post? I’m glad you asked :). Part of being a better mom (to me) means providing a healthier existence for my family, from homemade laundry soap (to avoid chemicals) and cloth diapers (to save the family money, as well as being environmentally friendly), to homemade baby food for Small Fry. The latter is what I’m going to talk about today (duh).

It’s really easy to make baby food, and less expensive than the jars or plastic tubs. Not to mention, there’s virtually no garbage associated with it. That last item alone is worth it to me. Well, that and the fact that I can use organic fruits and vegetables and control the ingredients used.

So, here’s what you do. First, peel (if necessary) your fruit or vegetable:

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I made this on Monday and was using organic sweet potatoes (or yams, I’m not sure; I don’t like either, so I don’t usually buy them). After peeling them, I was left with a nice pile for our compost :).

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Next, cut it into smallish chunks and place in your steamer basket. Add enough water that it won’t all boil off and burn during the cooking process – I speak from experience on this!

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Steam the food until it’s fork-tender. These sweet potatoes took about 15 minutes. You can kind of tell from the picture that they changed color from a dull orange to a nice bright one:

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In stages, so as not to overwhelm your blender (unless yours is better than mine and can handle it), puree the chunks until they’re the consistency you want. If you need to add liquid, use what’s left from your steamer; that way, you’re adding any nutrients that were lost in the cooking process back in. One word of advice, though: make the baby food thicker than you think you’ll need. You can always thin it out by adding breast milk, formula, or water when you feed it to your baby. By leaving it thicker, you’re prepared in case your baby advances to ‘heavier’ foods while this is frozen.

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When it’s all pureed, put it into ice cube trays and freeze.

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My three potatoes made more than enough to fill the two trays I have designated for baby food, so I just put the leftovers into Small Fry’s normal feeding jar and didn’t have to worry about thawing food for two days.

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That’s it! Well, actually, there is one more step, but I forgot to take a picture, and that is to move the cubes to a ziploc freezer bag once they’re frozen. Thaw the food as needed for feeding your baby. A really young baby will probably only need one cube per feeding; Small Fry will be 9 months tomorrow and he’s up to 2, sometimes 3.

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Calming a Cranky Baby

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Every baby is different. There’s no doubt about that. Small Fry is not the same as either of his brothers were. Or maybe it’s just that hubby and I are different people since he’s a bit of a gap baby. Who knows?

In general, he’s a pretty happy baby, but like all of us, he has his moments – usually when he’s not had a good nap. There are times during those tantrums (for lack of a better word) that I’m not available to comfort him. Since I’m still his favorite person, this can pose a problem for the rest of the family. So we’ve found something that’s almost as good as me: this song.

9 times out of 10, this will calm him down. It’s not strictly limited to this particular song; anything Leigh Nash sings has a calming effect on him. I think he has a baby crush on her ;). But this one definitely seems to be his favorite.