Marshmallow Gun War

you read that right: marshmallow. gun. war.  We went over to the Weathersby's this weekend for a roaring good time shooting miniature marshmallows at each other with home-made marshmallow guns.  

prepare to die!!

 future marshmallow sniper:

Well- Rowen and I never actually got to fire one as I was on baby duty and Matt was having too much fun to share. haha.  But Rowen and I had a super time enjoying the weather and the watermelon! 

 

And lastly: Matt demonstrates how to enjoy delicious pot-luck goodies while holding a baby.

  

CSA Harvest Box: week 3

boy, this week was some what of a blur!  I didn't take any pictures except this one- and it was kind of an odd week as far as our schedule goes so I didn't cook dinner as often as usual/ or it was super-fast meals.  But that's life, right? Well in this week's "box" (it really comes in a reusable cloth bag) we got lettuce, cabbage, broccoli,a sample of the first of the summer squash, edible pea pods, rhubarb, purple or orange carrots, and an herb plant.  Our herb plant happened to be Moroccan mint, otherwise known as spearmint, which I actually despise.  I unintentionally left it on the back patio without watering it all week- so, if anyone likes Moroccan mint tea, the leaves are already nice and dry! hahaha.  I didn't realize there would be different potted herbs until I got home and got my email from the farm saying that there were various potted herbs in each share.  I was bummed I got the mint plant.  Oh well! :o)  Anywho- as far as what I used this week....  the lettuce of course made a delicious salad, the broccoli and zucchini I just used as normal (we eat those all the time)  and the rhubarb made it into round two of the rhubarb custard pie.  Which turned out really yummy this time, I might say.  Way less sugar than the recipe called for.  We haven't used the fantastic looking purple carrots yet, or the pea pods- I'm planning on sauteing those bad boys up for lunch today!  If you do get fresh carrots from the farm,  make sure you cut the stems off right away.  They make the carrots go bad much faster.  I used half the cabbage with last week's dried beans in the crock pot since we had some nice cool weather.  It was super good. Here's the recipe if you're interested!  I'd post the original recipe from allrecipes.com, but I changed it so much it's really just the "sauce" that's the same. :o)

Sweet Sausage 'n' Beans

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup thinly sliced carrots (used one of the big farm carrots)
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 4 cups mixed beans (picked over, rinsed, soaked over night, and drained)
• 1/2 head cabbage, chopped
• 1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage, crumbled
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
• 
  

• DIRECTIONS

  1. In a slow cooker, layer carrots, onion, beans, green beans, and sausage. Combine ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar and mustard; pour over beans. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or until vegetables are tender. Stir in the cabbage for the last half hour or so before serving.
     

Homemade Yogurt

Yogurt is so good for you, and a great snack to enjoy every day!  However, most commercially prepared yogurt is packed full of sugar & additives.  For a long time now, we've been mixing flavored yogurt 1/2 and 1/2 with non-fat plain yogurt.  Saves us on calories & sugar (and money) and tastes just right!  A while back I got the crazy idea to make my own plain yogurt to mix in with the flavored stuff.  (which saves us even more money, and there's no extra "stuff" in it. Just milk and wonderful bacteria.) :o)

So in case you're interested in trying this at home, you'll need:

one quart of milk, three tablespoons of "starter" (plain yogurt), a pot, a quart sized container, a thermometer (not necessary, but nice), a box w/ a lid, a heating pad, and a few towels.  I'm making four quarts of yogurt here, three non fat for us and one quart hormone free whole milk yogurt for Rowen.  You can freeze your store-bought plain yogurt in ice cube trays and then you have nice little starter cubes for each time you want to make yogurt!

So, step one:

heat your milk up so that it's just warm- about 90 degrees Fahrenheit.  Don't scald it.

step two: remove from heat and stir in your "starter."

step three: pour into your containers (you could do several small containers if you like.)  Put the heating pad in the bottom of the box and turn it on low. Put your jars (or whatever) in the box, and wrap towels around them. Fill the box with towels & put on the lid.  I'm new at this so I also put my thermometer in there so I can monitor the temperature- it needs to stay between 90 and 110 degrees.  I had my heating pad on medium low the first time, and it was too hot.  I killed all my poor little bacterias and had a jar full of whey and like.... cheese.... on the bottom. haha!

step four: don't touch the box for about 5 hours.  The longer it sits, the thicker and tart-er it will get.  i think it's safe for something like 8-10 hours, but I've been doing 5-6 and it's been good.  So- when it's done- remove your jars, and enjoy or refrigerate!  It's so good with a sliced up peach and a sprinkling of sugar or honey.  Mmmm... let me know if you try it out and how it goes!

oh, and word of warning, homemade yogurt is pretty thin because you're not adding stabilizers and thickeners like commercially prepared yogurt.  It's more like "drinkable" yogurt- but it doesn't bother me! It tastes GREAT!

Bread Baking 102

My adventures in bread making have continued, much to the delight of my stomach!  I can't believe how easy it is and how yummy and cheap breads can be.  Of course, this is not really a health-conscious move, making bread all the time- but, oh well. Here's my latest projects:

Naan - indian flat bread

No-knead Artisan Loaf (I discovered, rather accidentally, that if I leave the lid off the dutch oven as it preheats, I get a much thinner crust, which we like!

And Jamie's sandwich bread, which came out better this time than the first time, though I still have some perfecting to do in my technique!  

Tomorrow I'll try my hand at hamburger buns. Exciting!

Changing the World of Cloth Diapering

On Friday, Matt, Rowen and I went down to Mother Nature's, our favorite little baby store. We had to purchase a set of "premium" sized diapers, as our teeny baby is not so teeny any more and has grown out of the "infant" sized diapers. I was in denial, but Matt convinced me. It WAS getting difficult to get the snappi on! But LOOK how much bigger the new diapers are! AFTER washing & drying four times! The new, premium diaper is underneath the green-edged infant diaper. So sad that he'll never be that little again, but so exciting to watch him grow and do new things every day!
Well- while we were at Mother Nature's, we decided to buy the much debated "diaper sprayer." We've been debating whether or not to get it from the time we first registered. (a year ago!) Will it work? Is it silly? Haven't people been just fine with the "dunk and swirl" for centuries? Then we heard good things about the sprayer from a fellow cloth diapering friend, so we made the big splurge. It's kind of spendy- $45- but hey, that's just a pack of 'sposies at Costco, right? So we figure, we've saved enough money with the cloth to have "earned" it. When we were checking out, I confessed our wishey-washyness about the sprayer to the gal at the counter who quickly told me that it was changing the world of cloth diapering! hehe- that made me feel happy about our purchase. If anyone knows about the little perks in cloth diapering, it's these gals. So- we got home and I started washing and drying the new diapers while Matt hooked up the sprayer. And let me tell you, it is ALL it's cracked up to be. (Hence the blog post about something attached to a toilet meant to help clean poop.) It blasts the "solids" right off, and at this point they're still super sticky, so I'm impressed. Even after several hours of hanging out in the diaper bag while we romped about town. It's awesome. So if you cloth diaper, I recommend it! Say goodbye forever to the dunk and swirl!

A soggy saga...

In retrospect, none of this is as terrifying and dramatic as it was at the time. And with my delightful experiment this morning, I must tell the whole story. And now, of course, I can use a bit of humor as I tell the world about something maybe only new moms care about: milk! If that's enough to turn you away, please, stop reading. More bodily fluids and grossness follow. But this is my blog, so I'll tell of all the details.
A little while back, I lost my milk supply. I'm not sure where it went- a vacation to Thailand, perhaps? A little siesta? Who knows. But I was mortified. Oh, I felt like a failure as a woman and mother! Here I had TONS of milk for a couple months, stock piling it in special little BPA-free baggies, (so proud of my frozen stash) and then one morning I woke up after not nursing one side for around 16 hours and I was flat as can be. I freaked. After nursing the baby, I offered him a two ounce bottle of defrosted milk. He loved it. After nursing him a couple hours later, I offered him a four ounce bottle. Oh, the JOY in that little plastic package! Devastated, I sat in the living room with my son in my lap, bawling. "I'm starving my baby!!!" I wailed. What's wrong with me? What happened? I used to pump once or twice a day because I was "full" and when was the last time I did that? Two weeks ago? Three? And when was the last time I full anyway? No leaking here... What has changed? Oh.... January first... the hunt for my old waistline. (I knew it was under there SOMEwhere...) Watching what I was eating, cutting out all junk, exercising every day, taking care of two babies and not myself - I took lactation for granted and didn't even realize poor Rowen was on a diet too. So I offered him a bottle after every feeding and he drank about four ounces each time. That was a Friday. I began the love affair with my hand-held Medela that day. Nurse, bottle, pump, wash, repeat. All weekend long. Monday finally came so I could take him to the doc and have him weighed. Sure enough, all my greatest fears were realized on that little scale- he'd dropped from the 25th percentile in weight down to the 10th. (More bawling.) The nurse helped me set up an appointment with the lactation specialist for later that week. So, being the internet information junkie I am, I looked up everything I could do to increase my milk supply. I ate beets, barley, beer, brown rice, oats, and even milk shakes made out of raw kale, pineapple juice, and bananas. Oh yeah, baby. I started taking copious amounts of fenugreek. After a day of that I started smelling pancakes everywhere I went. Especially when I peed. I shortly realized it was ME that smelled of maple syrup. The smell was wafting off my skin like I couldn't finish my breakfast at IHOP and decided to take the rest home with my in my pocket. Of course, it's not the worst smell in the world so I continued taking the lactation wonder-herb. (Do you smell maple syrup? Oh no, that's just Brianne.) By Friday, I wanted to fill my pump with gasoline and light it on fire. A full week of nurse, bottle, pump, wash, repeat had me at my wits end. Desperately afraid that I'd stunted my baby's growth for life, I made it to my lactation appointment that day feeling like my supply was on it's way back and we were doing okay.
Praise the Lord, it was. The lactation specialist thought Rowen looked great. She weighed him before and after a feeding and he guzzled three ounces in a -very- distracted five minute feeding. She was very sweet in the way she told me that I was being a rather silly first time mom, and gently pointed out all the fat on Rowen's naked little body. She also told me that breastfed babies often drop in weight percentiles around 3 or 4 months- and that's their NORMAL growth curve. The charts are based on formula fed babies, who typically gain weight faster that breastfed babies. (Which, if breasted is what's natural, shouldn't the charts be based on THAT? just my opinion...) So, okay, okay, I'll stop panicking.
It's been a couple weeks and I'm still trying to pump daily to keep my supply up, and still taking one fenugreek capsule with each meal because, well, I'm a freak. (who doesn't like maple syrup, anyway?) Well, feeling a little "flat" on Wednesday made my relaxation about nursing fall to the way-side and I start to panic again, feeling like this may become an ongoing battle with my breasts. Come ON! So, more kale shakes for me and back to two fenugreek capsules with each meal, and of course: more PUMPING! Ahh, love-hate.
This morning, I realized I'm down to my last three capsules of fenugreek. It's just ground up fenugreek seed in there- and freddies sells fenugreek seed in bulk, so I'm thinking I can save money by buying the seed, grinding it, and taking it every day that way. (I'm so cheap.) So, to test my theory (thank heavens I did) I take a capsule apart and pour it into a bowl to measure how much it is, and then try it out. One capsule is 1/4 tsp. I pour it on top of a spoon full of cottage cheese and gulp it down. (My plan was yogurt, but I had a bowl of cottage cheese out for breakfast, I figured it would be about the same.)

and then....

OH MAN!!! IT'S STUCK!!! To my teeth, to the roof of my mouth, STUCK like GLUE. Thick, slimy, horrible tasting glue. And no, it doesn't TASTE like maple syrup at all. I'm running around the kitchen like an idiot while gagging uncontrollably, trying to find something to GET IT OFF!! Cold water, nope. More cottage cheese, nope. Swishing water around, Oh gosh. Gag, gag, gag, ack! I heat up a little water hoping hot water will melt it away, (standing in front of the microwave for 40 seconds gagging with my mouth open and holding my nose- what a sight!) I swish that around, burning my tongue, and nope, that doesn't work either. So I SCRAPE it off with my fingernail, alternatively gagging and swishing around scalding hot water. (Are you laughing yet? Because this is really funny. I was laughing at myself!) Phew- it's mostly gone. So what do I do?
"hm... maybe if I mix it in better instead of sprinkling it on top, it wont stick to my mouth. That was gross." (read: I am SO cheap.) So I mix the contents of another capsule in with a spoonful of cottage cheese. This time it doesn't stick so bad, but I'm gagging so hard I
PUKE
IN
THE
SINK.
And who wants to see cottage cheese twice? Really.

So I think I'll be spending the $8.99 on a another bottle of fenugreek in the breakfast-saving capsules.

Hooray for milk!I don't know where I found this, so I cannot give credit where credit is due. But, here you go:

Increase Milk Supply Shake

1. The next time you're at the grocery store, stock up on bananas and kale. The kale should be dark green in color and not wilted. The riper the bananas, the better, and try to buy organic.
2. Wash the kale and tear the leaves from the stems. Toss the leaves into a seal-able freezer bag and push out any excess air before freezing.
3. Peel and chop the bananas in fourths, place into a seal-able freezer bag and push out any excess air before freezing.

This might sound time consuming, but it really doesn't take much time at all, and if you have a baby sling, your baby may enjoy helping you in the kitchen.

Recipe:

1/2 cup pineapple or pineapple-coconut juice
1/2 cup soy, rice, almond, coconut, or any variety of milk (or skip the milk and add more juice)
4 chunks (the equivalent of 1 whole) frozen banana
1 large handful frozen kale leaves


Blend all ingredients until smooth. Serves two. This shake is also great during pregnancy and for kids who won't eat their vegetables. It really does taste good!

Parmesan Focaccia

After several requests, here it is!
From The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

Makes one 12 by 18 inch flatbread
prep time: 10 minutes
total time: 3 hours plus cooling time

For the best flavor, use good-quality extra-virgin olive oil

1 russet potato (8 oz), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
3 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 1/4 t table salt
1 C water, warm
1/4 C extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for the baking sheet
3/4 C parmesan cheese

1. Cover the potato with water in a small saucepan and simmer until completely cooked and easily pierced with a knife, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and, when the potato is cool enough to handle, grate it on the large holes of a box grater. Reserve 1 1/3 C lightly packed potato.

2. Mix 3 1/4 C of flour, yeast, and table salt together in a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook. With the mixer on low speed, add the grated potato, water, and 2 T of the oil until the dough comes together, about 1 min. (Alternatively, stir together with a rubber spatula until the dough looks shaggy)

3. Increase the speed to medium-low and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 min. (If, after 5 min, more flour is needed, add the remaining 1/4 C, 1 T at a time, until the dough clears the side of the bowl but sticks to the bottom.) (alternatively, knead by hand 10-15 minutes.)

4. Turn the dough out onto a clean counter and knead by hand to form a smooth, round ball, about 1 min. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

5. Press the dough into a well-oiled 12x18" rimmed baking sheet. Wrap loosely in lightly greased plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until it has nearly doubled in size and springs back slowly when indented with a finger, 45 to 60 min.

6. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 425 degrees. Press the dough with your fingertips to dimple it evenly throughout. Drizzle with remaining 2 T olive oil and sprinkle evenly with Parmesan. Bake until the focaccia bottom is golden and crisp, 20-25 min.

7. Slide the fococcia onto a wire rack and let cool slightly before cutting into squares.

Bread Baking 101

I'm not sure what's gotten into me, but how fun it is to make bread! Yesterday, on a whim, I decided to make some focaccia. I haven't made a lot of yeast breads in my time- a half dozen batches of cinnamon rolls, french bread once in college I think... and that's about it. So I had the ingredients in my kitchen for a Parmesan focaccia and I gave it a whirl! This is all that's left- it turned out pretty good! The bottom was a little more crispy that I'd like, and it could have used some more interesting flavors, but not bad for a first try. Tonight I'm making lentil soup for dinner so I thought a hearty, rustic white bread would be fantastic. I didn't have any bread flour, but my cookbook said I could just use all purpose flour and the crumb would not have the same chew but it would work. So, again, I gave it a whirl. Of course, as everything was in the works, I ran out of flour entirely. Not being much of a baker, there's only so much that fits in my little canister and I used it all up between yesterday and today! If only I remembered that i had whole wheat flour in the fridge- I *just* remembered that right now. What an idiot!! I decided to go ahead and finish the loaf as best I could with it being a little sticky. (see here, the dough is supposed to be tight and smooth.) I figured it would be okay. The finished product: kinda flat and way too brown. Disappointed novice baker:
'Til next time!

Credit Unions Rock

Okay, so this is a bit of advertising, but I wish I'd known about it years ago, so here's a tip for all our friends and family.
Last month, we finally made the switch from Washington Mutual over to Rivermark Community Credit Union. We checked out all the local credit unions, and this one seemed to be the best for what we were looking for. Anyone can join, there's no fees, you can use almost any credit union or 7-11 ATMs for transactions, thanks to the "shared branching network" - It's just like the bank, except get this:
we just got paid nearly $40.00 in dividends for banking with them. That's for December, not for the year.
So why do you still use a big Bank?

Dirty Drip Pans?

This housewife gets excited about the silliest things.....
I was making turkey stock and of course it boiled over a bit in the hours it was on the stove- leading to nasty burnt on crud in the drip pans. So I thought it would be an opportunity to share with you all this super nifty trick we learned not too long ago.
Nasty pans + baking soda + a little water + elbow grease (and not much!) =
Sparklingly beautiful pans!
That's right, just your plain ol' arm 'n' hammer.
I love when natural things clean better than chemical ones. Awesome.

FREE PHOTO BOOK!

From Jessica Harris' blog ...THANKS JESS!

"I don't watch Oprah but my mom told me about a show she did yesterday...something about getting organized...anyway, I guess they were cleaning out someone's house and they took all the artwork from the kids, took digital photos and turned it into a coffee table book. Pretty cool idea - I know I need to do SOMETHING with all the artwork we have and I can't stand the thought of getting rid of it! What a great idea, turning it into a book!
So, want a free photo book??? Go to Oprah.com and click on "get your free gift from Snapfish" You MUST log in and get your credit by this Friday and you MUST create and order it by SUNDAY. Quick, but totally free hardcover photo book.
http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprahshow/20081029_tows_messyhouse/7


I just made one and ordered it- so easy- I can't wait to get it!! The shipping is $6.99, but that's a steal of a deal! You have to do it today so hurry up!

on Deciding to Breastfeed

As many people have told me they love hearing the crazy things I've learned through this pregnancy, I feel it's almost a duty to write a little something about breast milk vs. formula. Only because this time last year I had no clue, really. And being a part of the child care industry, fairly well informed about things that matter most to young children, I find myself now rather shocked at the lack of information I had. Seriously.
Let me first tell you that formula is a God-send for many women and babies, and it's a solution when breastfeeding becomes impossible for whatever reason. I think every mommy out there wants the absolute best for her babies and would do the best thing if she was able, or aware of it. I'm not out to make anyone feel guilty, and I know this can be a very touchy subject. If your baby is a formula baby, for whatever reason, I'm not talking to you. Er- I'm not aiming any of my words at you. I'll still talk to you :) haha. I know so many moms who use formula and they are GREAT mothers. Don't misread my heart, here. This is for those of my readers who have yet to make this decision, and like me, don't know any better. I'm not citing any sources either, so take what I have to say for what it is: just advice from a friend. Do your own research. This is a BIG topic and I think every mom should be as informed as she can to make the right decision. Currently, only 54% of U.S. babies are breast-fed; the rest are fed infant formulas. That tells me that there is a serious lack of information out there.
My first thought about feeding when becoming pregnant was of course to breastfeed- since I'm a bit of an under-cover hippie and just like things the natural way. Also because it's free- and formula is so expensive. A year of formula and bottles can cost somewhere around $1000 & $1500, and that's not including the extra cost of more doctor visits. It's also time consuming- working with babies, I've made a LOT of bottles. And washed a lot of bottles. And sanitized a lot of bottles. Oiy. And..... not that this really matters much.... it's stinky. Formula is way stinkier than breast milk. And not just when it goes in, either. Phew!
So then, being the information junkie that I can be, I started doing some research a while back and reading things in baby books here and there. Much of it, I'm surprised to say, was new information. I read an article early on that really threw me for a loop about the marketing and language of formula. First of all, we are a way-over-marketed-to society. Formula is part of some BIG companies, with lots of advertising dollars. No one is marketing breast milk. So take that into consideration for the lack of real information out there. Then consider the language. We've all heard that "breast milk is best" and "breastfed babies have lower risk of illness and infection" and "breastfed babies have higher IQ" and it all sounds nice and idealistic. But what happens when you turn those sentences around? "Artificially fed babies have increased risk for illness and infection," "artificially fed babies have lower IQ" etc. It sits with us differently. Not many of us feel we need perfection; second best if perfectly acceptable. But when we hear it the other way around, it's hard to think of it as "second best." Here are some more:
Artificially fed babies have an increase in hospital admissions, allergies, asthma, rashes, and ear infections, etc.
Artificially fed babies have increased occurrences of diarrhea, constipation, and other digestive problems
Artificially fed babies, as adults, have higher incidences of obesity, illness, and depression.
And the scariest one that I can't believe I'd never read before: Artificially fed babies in the US have a death rate 21% higher than breastfed babies.
That last one I read just last weekend, and it's why I decided I should write a blog on it. That's huge. 21%? Obviously, there's got to be more to it than the formula alone, considering education levels and socioeconomic status can reflect use of formula, but seriously. That's a high number.
I'm feeling really negative- let's turn this back around for a bit.
Breastfed babies are smarter! The components found in human milk are not found in any other mammals' milk and can't be artificially reproduced yet. And it's cumulative. So the longer your breastfeed, the smarter and healthier the kid.
Breast milk finishes the development of the digestive tract, which isn't adequate to handle any foreign food until 6 months. (formula, cereal, etc.)
Breast milk is so cool. God knew what He was doing, and it's amazing to me! Breast milk's composition changes with the age & nutritional needs of your child. And not just from colostrum (the first milk that's not really "milk" yet- but a high protein substance that's full of antibodies and things they need to get life started on the right track for the first few days) to "milk." 3 month breast milk is different from 6 month breast milk is different from 12 month breast milk. I don't know why, but that is so incredible to me! Just another reason to be in awe of our Creator.
Breast milk contains at least 100 ingredients that aren't found in formula. It's composition is still unknown to scientists, and therefore unable to duplicate. It's also living- that sounds kinda gross- but it's important in the way the baby gets the nutrients and fights germs. It's incredible, really.
Oh, there is so much more, but this is getting beyond long. Let me also mention quickly that it's great for mom too- women who breastfed have lower risk for breast cancer, loose weight quickly, and baby and mom produce happy hormones that they pass to each other through breastfeeding.
Crazy!
So again, I hope I didn't hurt anyone's feelings- I just felt that I needed to share a little about what I've found in the past nine months. Best of everything to all you mommies and perspective mommies out there!

"Hooter Hider"

Yay for craftiness! Sold in baby & maternity boutiques all around, this is my attempt at a knock off of the "hooter hider" or "bebe au lait" nursing cover. (Grandma Norma suggested I call mine the "Boob Blanket" haha) They hang around your neck so you don't have to hope it stays draped over your shoulder, and the neck pouches out so you can see your little one nurse. :) These babies are so nifty- I mean, I have yet to use one because obviously I've never nursed before- but they seem like such a great idea! So I have to give credit where credit is due. However worthy of credit, I simply cannot give them the CASH for such a simple piece! These cost around $35 - and I spent - well, way less than that. It was fabric I already had, so go figure. Maybe 10 bucks if I had bought the fabric for it? Maybe? The only things I had to buy were some boning, and a couple D rings which was like 2 or 3 dollars. (and of course I bought twice what I needed, so I can easily make a second one later!) I didn't have the camera when I whipped it up, so no tutorial today, but let me know if you're interested and I can tell you my secrets! ;) Or if you want me to make one for you, I'll do it on the cheap!

Another Diaper Post :)

Not interested? Read no further ;)




I finished my cloth wipes!! I've been making a few here and there- I now have three dozen which should be beyond enough- so I've decided I'm done! I still have so much left over fabric all cut out- but I can always make more later on if I decide I need them. I've read I'll only need 1-2 doz so I'm sure I'm good to go. Thanks to advice from Jamie, I just cut up an old flannel sheet. The measurements I found online were 4"x8" so I just went to town and cut up the whole thing in nice long strips, and then into rectangles. Easy peasy!
To make them extra absorbent, I decided a double layer would be nice. So I just put them back to back and zig-zag stitched around all the edges so they wont fray (using up random spools of thread! bonus!) and then threw them in the wash so they're all ready to go! Exciting, huh?
I've heard that all you need is water to make them moist, but I found a whole bunch of yummy wipe solution "recipes" that I'm just going to have to try. Here are some of them:

Castile Solution
Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap comes in several yummy scents!
1 tablespoon almond, apricot, or other oil
1 tablespoon Dr Bronner's Liquid Castile Soap
2 drops tea tree oil
1 drop lavender oil
1 cup water

Chamomile 'n' Honey
Brew the tea, add the honey, and drink any leftovers!
1 chamomile tea bag
1 teaspoon honey
1 cup boiling water

Fruit 'n' Veggie
1 teaspoon fruit or vegetable-based oil (apricot, olive, grapeseed, etc)
1 tablespoon vegetable-based soap (like Dr. Bronner's liquid castile)
1 teaspoon 100% aloe vera gel
1 cup water

Just One
1 chamomile tea bag
1 teaspoon oil
1 teaspoon baby bath or shampoo
1 drop lavender oil
1 cup hot water

Lotion Potion
Baby lotion adds more softening power to this solution.
1 tablespoon baby oil
1 tablespoon baby soap
1 tablespoon baby lotion
1 cup water

Zany Apricot Solution
1 tablespoon apricot oil
1 tablespoon unscented baby wash
3 cups water

Zany Lavender Solution
1 tablespoon baby oil
1 tablespoon lavender scented baby wash
2-3 drops lavender oil
3 cups water

And a side note- I found these fabric bins at Target and I'm so excited about them because they fit PERFECTLY under the changing table like they were MEANT to go there! Even with the little laundry basket that I already had (from college!) Isn't that the coolest? Okay, okay, I know I'm a nerd... (come on- they're PERFECT!!) I can't wait to fill them with cloth diapers, covers, pins & snappies, lotion, powder, wipes, liners, doublers, onsies.... :)

ants!

Okay- so I'm putting up a poll. What's with these little invading critters? We got home last night and there they were- all marching in line across my new kitchen unit in search of the dog's bowl. Eewww....
Honestly, they don't bother me nearly as much as Matt. Why? Because ants just happen. To everyone. Or so I thought. Apparently, Matt's never gotten ants. Not since me, anyway. hahaha-
I remember as a kid that every year the ants find their way in. You take care of them, end of story. No big deal. Kind of yucky- but not like spiders or fleas or mosquitoes or something nasty that bites or even flies which have so many nasty germs- they're just harmless little sugar ants.
So- the poll. Is it just me? Or does Matt just not REMEMBER having ants as a kid? Do you get them yearly? Twice yearly when the seasons change? So often that you've begun naming them and giving them treats like family pets? Or is it really just me and no one else gets ants? We'll find out. ;)
I did discover a cool trick at the condo, however: plain ol' white vinegar. They aren't a fan of it. (who is? it stinks! but just for a minute until it dries.) Just spray it where their trail is and they wont bother going that way again. In this apartment, it seems it takes a few applications, but then they'll leave us alone. Matt wants to go out and buy ant traps right away (expensive, toxic ant traps- to put right there with the food) which to me is even worse than the ants, but hey, if the vinegar doesn't work this time, we'll resort to traps.

Update: it's Monday and we haven't seen the little suckers since! Yay for vinegar again!

Fertilizer #1

Who knows how true it is, but I read that tomato plants love a little egg-shell fertilizer. The calcium is supposed to help prevent blossom end rot, and makes them taste fabulous by helping the plants handle un-even watering. Well- we'll see!

To make your own egg-shell fertilizer:

1. Dry out several egg shells for a few days.
2. grind them up in a blender or food processor
to a fine powdery dust!

3. clean up the mess you made in the kitchen from the flying egg shells... don't forget to clean out the dog's bowl. (sorry, Rusty!)



4. Spoon a little around the base of the plant
5. dig it into the soil a bit
6. and water your sweet little tomato!

I have two cherry tomato varieties. I don't remember what they are right now- but I guess I will when they start producing fruit. I got them pretty late in the season (just last week!) so hopefully they'll do okay and we'll have a few juicy fruits for salads and such. Someday I'd love to have a big old vegetable garden with tons of big tomato plants, but for now, this will have to do on my little apartment porch :)

Financial Peace University

So, we've become big Dave Ramsey fans in the past couple months. We were hoping to attend FPU but all the classes are Wednesday nights, Sunday nights, in Vancouver or Newberg or beginning in SEPTEMBER which is not very timely for us considering the impending birth of our first child. Well, just for the heck of it I was on daveramsey.com just a bit ago and there's a new class available on Tuesday nights at 7:00pm starting July 1st (next week!) and going to September 23rd (one week from our due date!) in Aloha of all places! (it's probably less than 5 miles from us.) Then I noticed that the FPU lifetime membership kit is on sale for $109.00- that's $90 bucks off- so I emailed Matt and he said let's do it so we are all signed up! I'm excited. What a strange thing to be excited about- financial classes- but I'm stoked we'll be able to go through it (or most of it) before the baby gets here. What a surprise blessing for an otherwise blah Thursday! If anyone is interested in taking it with us that would be fun :)

If you have no clue what I'm talking about, here's a little diddy on FPU from dave's website. He's a Christian financial adviser who uses Biblical principals to teach people about how to handle money. He says he gives the same advice our grandmothers would give us except he keeps his teeth in. ;) We've been listening to his radio program- it's national but it plays pre-recorded on 1190KEX from 7-10pm on weeknights. He's pretty entertaining! People call in with the craziest situations... anywho- Dave is highly recommended entertainment and advice from the Happels :)

If you're bored, check out this video on car payments.

news & weather

Have you seen the forecast? I can't believe it! We're actually going to have a little bit of spring before summer hits! I'm completely thrilled :) I'm so excited I had to tell someone, and Rusty doesn't really care- so I thought I'd say it here! (I know, I'm a nerd.) I'm so tired of the 50's and 60's and allllll the clouds and drizzly drizzle- ugh! The sun surprised me yesterday by coming out from wherever it's been hiding- I'm so happy that's its around to stay for a bit!

In other recent news, today is my last day of work. I'm excited & nervous to begin by career as housewife & soon to be StayAtHomeMom- will I enjoy it? Will I be good at it? Will I drive myself crazy talking to the dog? ;)
God's Word proclaims blessings for a woman who puts her husband, her children, and her home above the things of this world world and so I'm choosing to believe Him and going for it! I just pray that my presence at home will be such a blessing to Matt that he'll never think twice about having to be the sole provider. That what I accomplish here will make him so happy and complete that the stresses of this world wont follow him through the doors. That I will be able to make our home a place of refuge and a center of peace & calm- well, at least until baby Ro gets here and kicks up a storm for a little while- and then back to the peace and calm later. ;) We must be realistic, after all!!

Diapers!

It's probably too early to start thinking of all this- but it has become sort of an obsession recently. I decided a while back that I would use cloth diapers for several reasons. So now that I'm preggo I've started researching what's out there. What's the best. What's the most convenient, what's the most economical- and holy COW I didn't know what was out there! I knew cloth diapers had come a long way since even our parent's generation- but I had no idea.
Seriously my head has been spinning!

So to address those of you who are already thinking: "what on earth is she thinking? seriously? cloth diapering? Eww!" Here are my top five reasons:

1-Environmental Impact

I got started thinking about cloth in the first place from working in a day care and seeing how many trash cans of diapers we filled up every day. If you look up the stats, they're scary:
*The average baby will use 6,000-10,000 'sposies before they're potty trained - each diaper takes 2-500 years to decompose. That's one Ton of garbage per baby. Literally.
*It takes a cup full of crude oil to produce the plastic for one disposable diaper.
*One billion trees per year are destroyed to make disposable diapers---approximately 4.5 for each baby who uses them.
*disposable diapers consume 70 percent more energy than the average reusable diaper per diaper change. The extra water required to wash cloth diapers is actually less than the amount of water it takes to produce disposable diapers.

2- Expenses!

Holy cow, save your moooola!
* the average family spends $2800-3000 in disposable diapers over 3 years for one child. (crap!)
*the average cloth diapering family spends $615 on diapers over a 2.5 year period (they potty train faster) $225 for enough diapers, covers, and fasteners to wash only two to three times per week, plus $390 in washing and drying cloth diapers (270 loads of 24 diapers at $1.45 per load).
That's a savings of over $2000. And then you can use them again on child number two. And three. And then as cleaning rags around the house. Yipee!


3- A Healthy Baby Bum!

These facts may scare the crap out of you. (haha)
*Disposable diapers contain many chemicals, poisons (TBT tributyl tin), dioxins (which has been shown to cause cancer, birth defects, miscarriage, genetic damage, liver damage, and skin diseases) and even perfumes and dyes that are all harmful to your baby and lead to diaper rash. The gel that is used in disposables to absorb and hold in moisture is Sodium Polyacrylate. This substance has been found in the urinary tract of babies and may cause severe diaper rash, chemical burns, and bleeding in the perineum and scrotal tissue. Sodium Polyacrylate was removed from tampons because of its link to Toxic Shock Syndrome. There are also many studies that have been done to show a direct link between using disposable diapers and childhood asthma as well as an increase in infertility in boys.
*In 1955, 100 percent of American babies wore cloth diapers, and only seven percent experienced diaper rash. In 1991, 10 percent of American babies wore cloth diapers, 90 percent wore disposables, and 78 percent experienced diaper rash. Ouch.
*While the liner of disposable diapers is designed to keep moisture away from baby's skin, the bacteria and acids still hang around. The extended wear time allows the bacteria to multiply.
*Cloth diapers allow for the circulation of air, while disposables don't. This is important for baby's comfort and his or her developing reproductive organs-especially in boys, whose testicles are located outside their body for the precise reason of keeping them cool. A few studies have actually linked disposable diaper use with the recent worldwide decline in sperm count.
*Would you like to wear paper underwear all day? Why would you think your baby thinks any differently? Soft cotton next to a babies tender skin is much more comfortable than paper and plastic.

4- potty training!

*Babies who wear cloth feel the sensation of a wet diaper as soon as they pee, so they're more aware of their body functions. On average, a cloth-diapered baby potty trains one year sooner than her disposable-diapered counterpart, which is better for everyone!

5- look how cute they are!

homemade dishwashing detergent!

I learned another cool trick from the internet. How to make your own (cheap!) detergent for the dishwasher! It's just one part borax to one part baking soda! 1-2 Tbsp per load and your good to go! We've been using it all week and so far- it works great! Neat, huh?

Ooh, and the best part is that it's also completely natural and good for the environment (and my developing baby!)

:)