Our Weekend....

We were very lucky to have a mostly non-rainy weekend, and my family managed to squeeze in a lot of productive time, as well as a lot of fun.

We did a lot of work in the garden digging up old bulbs, planting potatoes, dividing some bee balm.
I also threw together a fence (made from sticks and hemp) as we have had some folks who have been letting their dogs walk into our yard, and onto our planting beds to pee. I have dogs myself, so it's not the dog aspect that bothers me, just the fact that my tiny seedlings may get smashed. And, this fence obviously is not going to actually keep anyone out, I just figured that it subtly sent the message to please keep your pets off of our yard! I hope so anyways.....

We (OK, mostly Todd) also built Finn his very own raised bed in our driveway for him to plant whatever he pleases. We got a wagon full of free dirt from a house down the road, but still have to get a few more loads before it can be planted in.

On Saturday morning, the family (dogs included) headed to nearby Sauvie's Island for a morning of fresh air, napping for some, playing in the sand for others, and Finn's first run at flying a kite! There was just enough wind to get it launched a couple of times....

 After Sauvie's Island we made it to the Farmers Market for some lunch and to grab some produce for dinner. Pickings were sort of slim, as it is still early in the season, but being there made me so excited for the local abundance that will be here soon! And we saw the largest parsnips I have ever seen!

We spent the rest of the weekend doing a HUGE spring organizing of our home and garage (which we use for storage). We put together a carload full of stuff that we no longer need that will be donating, and I spent a lot of time organizing baby clothes and reorganizing the art supply shelf. Not the most exciting of tasks, but it sure feels good to downsize and to feel like our tiny house is a bit more in order.
Now if I can just fit in a little sewing before I fall asleep.... Pin It Now!

This Moment...

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 
Inspired by Soulemama                        

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Life After Baby... Back to Diapers!

Finn has so far been a phenomenal big brother. He is helpful, understanding, and so so sweet with Phoebe. However, we have had a little problem with pee. Yup, my 3.5 year old who has been potty trained for some time now is constantly having accidents in his pants. So much so that we have reverted back to diapers on days when he is not at home and can't be reminded to use the potty every hour. And we aren't even using our cloth diapers, or even natural ones at that. We are using pull-ups, with Toy Story characters none-the-less, so that Finn can still use the potty on his own when reminded. And, they now make these 'magical' pull-ups that have a design on them that disappears when it gets wet (see the rockets and stars on diapers above)... which means that I can tell if he has peed or not. This has actually come in very handy, as we are back to bribing him to use the potty. He gets a treat after dinner if he hasn't had any accidents all day, and if he ever again goes a week straight without an accident, he gets to chose some new art materials. Before I became I parent I swore I would never use bribery for anything. Boy, have I ever failed myself on that!
This has been pretty stressful for me, as I feel like I have done something wrong or am not giving him the attention he needs, but the worst part is that I can tell he is really sad about it too. So, I am trying to not make it into too much of a big deal, while still trying to fix this problem ASAP. Although Finn is only 3.5, he is the size of a 4.5-5 year old and I am not sure how much longer diapers are going to fit him!
He is cooperative, and uses the potty when I ask, but as soon as I forget to remind him for a couple of hours he will have an accident. I am sure this is just a "phase" and part of adding a new sibling, but how long is this going to last?
Have you ever been in a similar situation? How long did it last? Any advice on how to remedy this? For now I am resorting to magic diapers, bribery, and a whole lot of patience. Pin It Now!

Scrumptious Applesauce Muffins

Yesterday I was craving apple muffins, but didn't have a recipe that I was totally in love with. And, some perusing online resulted in many recipes, most of which I couldn't make because I didn't have an ingredient (like sour scream), hadn't set butter out to soften, or they just didn't sound that great. So, I sort of amalgamated several recipes into one of my own, and the muffins turned out to be delicious! I thought I would share the recipe with you:

What You Need:

• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce (I used some chunky applesauce that I made last fall. It had a lot of cinnamon in it.... if you use plain applesauce, add 1-2 teaspoons of cinnamon to this recipe as well)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• Cinnamon and sugar for dusting

What You Do:

• Preheat oven to 375 F
• Beat oil, eggs and sugar until smooth.
• Add applesauce and vanilla
• Blend in flour, baking powder and baking soda
• Pour into greased muffins tins
• Add a sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar to the top of each muffin
• Bake for about 20 minutes

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The Family Bed

I know the whole idea of co-sleeping, or sharing your bed with your baby, is pretty controversial in our society. Many doctors will report that it is unsafe and others will say that it fosters an unhealthy attachment. Other parents I have talked to say that they wouldn't sleep well with their baby in their bed because they would hear the baby all night long.
I do understand this reasoning and I do realize that every family's situation is different. But, man... especially during the early weeks with a new baby, I couldn't imagine NOT sharing my bed. I love that I can roll over to nurse in the middle of the night, and that neither one of us fully wakes from sleep during this time. I love that if I wake up in a panic I can reach my hand over and feel her chest rise and fall with each breath. I give props to all of the nursing mamas out there who can actually pull their butt out of bed, get their baby out of the crib, and nurse them back to sleep before they can go lay down in their own bed. That takes some serious dedication and middle of the night motivation, neither of which I have.
I think more families co-sleep than will admit it, even if it is only for the first weeks or months after the baby comes. And many families choose to sleep using a co-sleeper attached to the bed so that baby has its own space, but is still a part of the family bed. It is seriously convenient, especially for mamas who nurse, and honestly, I am so paranoid those first few weeks when they are so tiny and fragile, that I couldn't imagine putting a new baby to sleep all the way across the house.
However, co-sleeping doesn't work for every family. First off, you need a bed big enough for 3... we are lucky to have a king size bed. You also need to feel confident that you are not such a sound sleeper that you will roll over and smother your child while you are sleeping. I have always slept soundly while co-sleeping, but yet seem to have a continual awareness of where I am in relation to the baby. And I never really change positions at all while I am co-sleeping. Co-sleeping would not be a good idea if you take sleeping pills or consume large quantities of alcohol, because you could actually smother your baby! Todd was pretty nervous about this when we first started co-sleeping with Finn, but I kept the baby closer to my side and we never had any issues. The only other sort of annoying thing is the blanket issue. You need to make sure your covers don't go over the baby face and suffocate them. Which for us means that Todd and I each use our own blanket, and I have to be careful that my blanket is kept well below the level of Phoebe's head. I do miss our big ol' king size comforter that I could just cozy down under, but I am willing to sacrifice that for the added convenience of the family bed.
Finn slept in our bed for a long time. By the time we were motivated to put him to bed in his own room he was waking us up all night by smacking us in the face and kicking us (he is a wild man in his sleep). But by that time, Finn was really accustomed to sleeping with us, and it took a very, very, very long time to get him to fall asleep on his own in his own bed. Much too long.
So although we are going to co-sleep again with Phoebe, we are going to work on transitioning her out of our bed before she is taking over it. Which is going to be a challenge as we don't really have anywhere to transition her too. Our bedroom is too small for a crib, and Finn's room (our only other bedroom or possible space for a crib since we live in an 800 square foot house, would need a serious make-over before we could fit a crib in there). Our current plan is to keep her in our bed until we are ready, and then transition her to sleeping in a co-sleeper attached to our bed (which is currently used for nap times and a storage area for night time baby needs!). Then, at some point, things will need to get rearranged in Finn's room and Phoebe will share his space. But, until then, I am going to enjoy these nights of snuggling with my new baby, lazy nursing in the middle of the night, and hearing her tiny breath go in and out and she sleeps.
Do you co-sleep? When did you move your child to their own bed? Any tips or tactics for a mama hoping to make an easier transition the second time around? Pin It Now!

A Weekend of Ewwwwwww....

On Friday afternoon, I got the unfortunate news that Finn had lice. Ewww. This was a first for our family, although probably not the last, as I have heard it is fairly common in the Portland school system. One of the downsides of sending Finn to preschool I suppose. The whole idea of lice sort of just creeped me out. I felt like we were dirty and I also felt overwhelmed by the night (and subsequent days) full of lice-removal that laid ahead of me. Little was I to know that I also had lice, although not nearly as bad as Finn did.
Throughout Friday night and Saturday, I did quite a bit of research about lice (and lice removal) and thought I would share some of what I found here, as I am guessing that some of you have gone or will go through this problem with your children at some point. The pharmacy lice removal kits that are conventionally used to get rid of lice are full of harsh chemicals that are essentially pesticides that you apply to your head. Gross. Grosser than lice? Not sure about that, but definitely still gross. These are NOT safe if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, and I definitely would not want to use one of these on a young child.... and probably no one should use these. When I first found lice on my head, my first urge was to go get as many chemicals as possible to dump on my head and kill those little bastards. But since I am breastfeeding, this wasn't an option, and some further research made me realize that there really is no point to these store bought lice treatments.
First off, over time, lice have developed a resistance to these chemicals and so now more and more of them need to be used to be effective. Many people have reported that if you don't leave the chemicals on for twice the time stated by the package (against warnings, mind you), they won't work at all. Also, usually these chemicals often have to be applied several times over the course of 1-2 weeks. I am sure sensitive people would have a tough time with harsh chemicals on their skin, especially with repeat treatments. The other silly thing about these chemical treatments is that they are only able to kill the live lice. Eggs don't seem to be killed by anything, and so the only way to remove them is actually combing through the hair and picking them out. Time consuming and sucky. However, that means that the conventional remedies are having you dump harsh chemicals on your head and you STILL have to do the comb and pick thing.
I chose to use the olive oil method to kill the live lice, which basically entails covering your head in olive oil, putting a shower cap on and leaving it for several hours. Finn and I left our shower caps on overnight, which ended up being really messy and olive oil leaked onto our pillows and sheets as we slept. Next time I do this (which will be within the next few days!) I am going to do it in the evening and leave it on for the minimum of 3 hours. The olive oil, when left on for at least several hours, smothers all of the live lice, basically drowning them, and then they can be combed out with a metal lice comb. So the olive oil does the same exact thing as the chemicals except it doesn't burn your head, irritate your scalp or cause cancer. And it's much cheaper. The olive oil is not killing the lice by poison, but kills them by smothering, so it has no side effects on the human. Plus, it is said to actually be much more effective because you are not dealing with the issue of pesticide resistance. Just like the chemicals, however, you need to do a repeat treatment within 5-7 days to kill any eggs that have been missed by the combing (that have now hatched).  So, either way you have to comb and pick the eggs, but you can choose to kill live lice with poisons or with olive oil. I say that olive oil is the way to go.
The other method that works well and is proven safe is the method we chose for Finn on Saturday afternoon. Although the olive oil had worked to kill the live lice, he had lots and lots of eggs in his hair, and I just really wasn't up for the hours of work that it was going to take to get them all out. Plus, I was afraid that we would miss some, our house would get re-infested, and we would never get rid of these critters. So, with a little convincing, Finn agreed to try the Buzz Method (see below for a description):

Although it's not my favorite look for him, he still looks cute and at least we know he no longer has any lice. Sadly, however, I am too vain to chose that look for myself, so I have been combing several times a day and will be doing another olive oil treatment soon.
I don't wish this upon anyone, but at least know that you don't have to use harsh chemicals to get rid of these things. You just have to spend lots and lots of time...... Here's to hoping we don't get lice again. Ewwwwwww.
Have you dealt with lice in your home? How did you get rid of it? Pin It Now!

This Moment...

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 
Inspired by Soulemama 

Pin It Now!