Saturday, June 25, 2011

Wisconsin Pride



I am a good dairy cow! 

With each baby I have had a surplus of milk.
When Erik was about 6 weeks old I saw a news clip 

Since then I have pumped once a day (when nursing my own babies of course)
with the intent to donate my extra milk. 

The first and third times I have donated to IBMP.  
The second time I donated to a milk bank in North Carolina.
From the first two babies I was able to donate 1600 ounces each time (3200 total). 

This time I will probably top that as 3 months post-delivery I have 
about 800 ounces waiting to be shipped.

I know this is an odd topic but I really think it is a valuable gift
that is easy to give and hopefully benefits not only the orphans in
Africa but also the tiny preemies in our NICU! 

I challenge any of my friends who are currently nursing or will be 
sometime in the future to consider donating your extra milk. 

It's free to you, easy to set up, and only adds about 10 minutes to your day.
If you have any questions let me know!  

The kids and I are off to the dairy state this afternoon! 
Hopefully, they will let us past the border even if the 3 kids 
go crazy on the flight!  
Wish me luck!  


P.S.  I know not everyone is "lucky" enough to have an abundant supply of milk so this is not possible for all nursing moms to consider!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Garden Mystery Solved

I mentioned in this POST that our garden was a little sketchy this year due to planting it 2 weeks post-partum in the dusk with a 3 year old helper.  At that time it seemed as though I had tons of tomato plants growing throughout the garden.  I weeded out most of these "tomatoes" leaving behind a row of 5-6 plants.

Well, as these plants got bigger it became clear that my tomato plants were actually....


Now, you may like sunflowers and I will agree that they are very pretty.  That being said in a small raised bed they are overwhelming and their large roots choke out other plants (my peas didn't grow at all this year)!

So, this year I specifically did NOT plant a single sunflower.  I didn't even take the sunflower packet out of the bag.  Plus, sunflower seeds are big so I knew I didn't accidentally plant them.

I couldn't figure out how they got in my garden until my neighbor Lauren mentioned that wild grass grows under their bird feeder.  Well, for about a week after building the garden we hung the birdfeeder on a pole that was adjacent to the raised bed.

Mystery solved!

I still managed to harvest some broccoli, lettuce, peppers (1), green beans, and carrots but hope to have a higher seed to produce ratio next year.  For now I'll stick to growing these....


Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Videos of the Kids

Lainey sliding

Erik the Spider Fighter

-I have hit the 3 month post partum fatigue (not sleeping for more than 4 hours in a row gets old after a while) so I have been taking naps some days.  Erik didn't sleep this afternoon and got out of his room while I was asleep (he isn't supposed to do this). 

Lainey's sweet little voice

Lainey has a sweet little voice that I don't want to forget.  This video is just trying to capture her talking on the camera. 

A little of Carson too


Enjoy!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Lainey is Two!

We celebrated Lainey's birthday this year at the zoo! It's quite a drive but the kids love it and the weather was perfect so it was a fun day!  So far, Victor has always been able to take a day off of work for the kids birthdays and we try to do something fun as a family.  I'm not sure what we will do once the kids are in school but for now it's a fun tradition!



What is Lainey like at two?!


1)Sleeping:
          Sleeps pretty well.  She sleeps from approximately 8 PM to 6AM and then takes a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.  We transitioned her out of the crib at 19 months of age.
            
2) Eating:
          Lainey was an extremely picky eater from around 6 months to 18 months.  She seems to have figured things out now and rarely complains about what I serve her.  She still is drinking rice or almond milk as cows milk gives her diarrhea.  She has a sweet tooth and begs for cake/cookies if she knows they are in the house! She also loves diet coke.  We of course don't give it to her but she will try to find way to sneak mine (I drink 1 can a day)! She still loves fruit a lot (except cantaloupe).

3) Likes:
         -Lainey has strong opinions and therefore is more vocal about her likes and dislikes.  I find this pretty cute! 
         -She LOVES her flower blanket and won't sleep without it. 
         -Gymnastics
          -Climbing
         -Playing chase
         -Her baby dolls
         -Swimming (jumping in!)
         -Buckling carseat straps
         -The book HOP ON POP (she has this almost completely memorized)

          -Her daddy
Look at those amazing arm muscles!

Lainey loves the swing!

4) Dislikes:
         - Missing out on anything
         -Having someone take something from her
         - There are others I just can't think at the moment
    
5) Development:
          I am amazed at how much Lainey has changed over the year.  She is definitely not a baby anymore.  She talks in complete sentences and has a funny sense of humor.  She runs and jumps well.  She is starting to recognize shapes and colors correctly.  She counts to 3 correctly and can fill in other numbers on the way up to 10 but I don't think she knows what it means.  She loves playing with Erik and seems to be more interactive then he was at this age (with him, not other kids yet).  She loves puzzles, Dr. Suess books, climbing/being active, and baby dolls.  She likes to feed, nurse, rock, burp, and put her dolls in time out.  She sometimes brings her dolls to me and asks me to nurse them for her. She is fearless and independent.  At the same time she can be quite reserved and often observes for quite a while in a new situation.  She doesn't cling to me but doesn't engage fully until comfortable.  She has been potty trained for about 4 months now.  She still has occasional accidents (1x/week or so) but never wears diapers/pull-ups except for sleeping.  Quite impressive!

Lainey is around 25 pounds and 34.5 inches but she hasn't had her official 2 year check up yet!
Dolls in timeout

6) Personality:

Lainey is a delightful little girl!  She has a wonderful sense of humor and is really playful.  She loves being the center of attention (in comfortable situations) and often tells me, "Look at me Mommy!" when doing something she wants me to notice. 

Lainey really wasn't the happiest baby or toddler but this has improved significantly during the past few months.  (Yay!)  I am not sure if it is because she is so verbal now that she is less frustrated or if it is because she feels better after getting the ear tubes?! Either I am happy my little girl isn't such a grump anymore. :)

Lainey has a sweet little voice that I hope I never forget.  It is so sweet and cute.  Here are some phrases we hear frequently from Lainey that makes me smile.... 

       - While in the car, "Where are we Mommy? Are we lost?!"

       - "Look at ME mommy!"

       - "My turn!"  "I do it!"

       -"Iwuvu"


Today, Lainey was playing with a cup and washcloth.  She got the hand held food chopper out and starting chopping.  When Victor asked her what she was doing she said, "I pack Daddy's lunch!"  

Lainey has a funny sense of humor.  One thing she has found particularly funny at the moment is the word poop.  She (and Erik) will shout this out and the giggle like it is the funniest thing ever. 

Best of Friends aka Double Trouble!
Lainey LOVES Erik and they will play together for a long time.  I love watching this relationship develop.

Lainey is feisty and willing to break rules more than Erik has has been.  Erik seems to understand this so he has started using her to do "naughty" things.  If he knows they shouldn't be doing something but thinks it would be fun he will whisper the plan to Lainey.  She is almost always happy to participate.  Luckily for Lainey, Erik isn't very sly yet so I always know when her has sent her on a mission!

Lainey loves baby Carson and often wants to share her beloved blanket with him.  She frequently requests to hold him and kiss him. 
Sharing her blanket with Carson


We love you a lot Lainey and can't imagine life without you! 
You add a lot of joy and laughter to our home!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Besties



Erik and Lainey are best friends.  It has been so fun to watch this relationship grow.  Lainey most definitely has lost the baby role and LOVES being able to play, giggle, and scheme with her brother.  Erik has really been delving into the pretend world a lot recently.  Lainey happily fulfills whatever role he assigns to her.  So cute!  They make me smile!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Sweets For My Sweet Pea!

Lainey turns 2 tomorrow!  She knows her birthday is coming and is excited about it!  So cute!

I made the cake yesterday and had Erik help me decorate it today while Lainey napped. 


It might be hard to wait 24 hours before cutting into this cake!

Erik was a good helper but can't quite skip naps so he crashed later this afternoon.  Cute boy!

I'll do an official 2 year old/birthday update for Lainey later but tomorrow promises to be busy so I thought I'd post this now!  We love our sweet little girl! 

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Carson - 3 months old!

My sweet, little BIG baby has had a great month.  Carson has always been an easy, enjoyable baby and it just keeps getting better.  He is SO smiley.  It seems like he just waits for someone to look at him so he can flash you a big, dimpled grin.  It is very tough to be crabby around this happy boy. 



Highlights from the month....

Sleep:

Still sleeping in his "bouncy" chair.  We did move him into his own room now though.  He usually gets up once a night around 3 AM.  He goes to sleep between 9 and 10 pm.  He is swaddled still.

As a third child he is out and about a lot.  He tends to cat nap off and on during the morning (stroller, car seat, ergo carrier).  We are always home by noon or so.  He usually takes a 3 hour nap in the afternoon and then a short catnap in the evening again.


Eating:

He is an excellent nurser and growing fast!  He is a very chunky little boy now! :) He is still on Zantac for his reflux and doing pretty well.  We tried switching him to Prevacid but he always gagged on it and threw it up.  Once the brochiolitis resolved his reflux was okay again with Zantac.

Development:

-Carson found his hands this month.  He occasionally gets them in his mouth.
-Can control his head fairly well
-Can roll from stomach to back on occasion
-Smiles, laughs, and coos all day long
-When he cries (this is rare) he makes a maa,maa,maa sound
-Drools and spits bubbles.  

Likes:

-People.  He is a really social baby and wants to be able to see whatever is going on around him.
-Nursing


Dislikes:

-Carson can not stand "belly time" and cries within 30 seconds of being placed on his tummy

-Bottles and pacifiers.  He strictly likes to nurse and actively tries to spit out anything else that is put in his mouth.  I will be gone from him for the first time for about 8 hours on Saturday.  Hopefully Victor (and Carson) will survive! :) I hope he gets over this dislike because I am hoping to spend a night away from the kids with Victor before he is weaned.  We'll see! 

Carson is such a joyful baby!  I am so thankful to be his mom!

What Am I?

Answer: Store bought  Whole Wheat Tortillas

I try to feed my kids healthy, wholesome foods most of the time leaving room for some "fun" stuff.  It drives me crazy when even "healthy" food is full of chemicals/preservatives. 

Inspired by my friend Kristal I decided to make my own whole wheat tortillas.  They turned out well, although were a lot of work. The ingredient list is MUCH better though.  Erik declared that they were the best tortillas ever.

Recipe I used...

1 1/2 c each all-purpose and whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup + 2 T olive oil
1 cup water

Mix dry first, then add oil, then water. Knead. Roll out and cook on hot, dry skillet a minute or two each side. Makes 12.

Addictive Sweet Potato Burritos

Sunday, June 5, 2011

What Am I??

Can you guess the item this ingredient list is describing??

1- Whole wheat flour
2-Water
3-Shortening
4-Sugar
5-Glycerine
6-Salt
7-Baking Powder
8-Corn Starch
9-Guar Gum
10-Xanthan gum
11-Monoglycerides
12-Fumaric Acid
13-Potassium Sorbate
14-Calcium proprionate
15- Ascorbic Acid
16-Sodium Metabisulfite

Take a guess!! 
I'll reveal the answer in a couple of days!  
It is edible, in case you were wondering after reading the ingredient list.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Brothers

Carson loves people!  
His carseat is next to Erik's.
He talks and coos and smiles at Erik if awake while we are out and about.  
It is so so sweet!