Not Your Average Hippy

I am a well-educated woman. I am a voracious reader and (as dorky as it is to admit) I adore researching, for the most part. I am also a devoted mother.

What irritates me is when people just assume that I am making some parenting & lifestyle choices out of ignorance. That I am just following some trends or whatnot instead of actually making informed decisions about the wellness & safety of my children.

I wasn't always the way I am now. I wasn't always brave enough to step out and do something "different". But as more & more articles falls into my lap and research is more readily available via the internet, I would be remissed if I just ignored it & continued putting my children in harm's way.

I've heard MANY times over about how plenty of people from my generation were raised up on Gerber baby food, formula and spent their days tumbling around in disposable diapers while getting vaccinated & that despite all that, we turned out just fine.

First of all, define "fine" for me. Cancer rates are skyrocketing. Autism, ADD, ADHD, depression, obesity, mental & neurological disorders are affecting millions of people today.

Is that what you meant by "fine"? If so, awesome! You're right. We turned out perfectly fine! ;-)

Call me crazy, weird, a hippy (LOL), lazy, misinformed, ignorant, stupid, paranoid.....call me whatever the hell you'd like.

But the people that matter the most to me in this world call me "Mommy" & I will do everything that I can to protect them.

They are the reason that I am so passionate about the choices I make. They are the driving force behind my homeschooling, babywearing, co-sleeping, using natural remedies, questioning the safety of vaccinations, buying organic baby food and getting ready to start cloth diapering.

What's YOUR passion?

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I Did It!! (And You're Not Going To Believe What I Might Be Doing Next....)

Quick! Look out your window!! Do you see them? Look again because they must be there. Hurry! Do you see the flying pigs?! Hahahaha! Ok, yeah, that was lame. But what do you expect? It's late, I'm tired but my brain is running full speed ahead...with only half of the cylinders working... LOL

Anyway, do you know what I just did?? Come on, give it a guess! Okay, I guess I'll just tell you because you're probably thinking I'm the biggest dork imaginable right now. (oh why did I drink that 2nd glass of Pepsi before bed? Now I can't just shut the heck up...) Let's just cut to the point...err...make that *let's just get to the point*...damn you caffeine & adrenaline & sleep deprivation!!! I miss thinking clearly!!

Anyhooo....I ordered cloth diapers!!!! YES!! Well, sort-of. LOL I ordered the cloth diaper covers. Which is a ginormous step in the right direction! I ordered 4 Flip covers: Butternut (yellow), Moonbeam (blue), Ribbit (green) & Clementine (orange). I only had the funds to buy 4 covers....nothing to go inside them yet.

I was planning on using them with prefolds but then I got a great idea. One that will possibly, more-than-likely save me money! What if I make my own inserts?! Inserts are just like what they sound like: you *insert* them into the cover to absorb....stuff. ;-) On cloth diaper websites, these inserts cost a couple dollars each (minimum) but making my own, I imagine, would save me some major dough. I have been researching how to make inserts & it seems really easy. It would probably be even easier if my husband hadn't thrown out my sewing machine when we moved. ::sigh::

I can also make "socks", which are basically these mini pillow case looking things made out of suedecloth. You then put your microfleece or hemp (very absorbant stuff, hemp) inserts into the sock, place the whole little bundle into your diaper cover & voilá! You have a stay-dry diaper!! (baby's bum stays dry due to the suedecloth while liquids are absorbed into the insert! How awesome is that?!!) You can even put a prefold diaper in the sock for extra absorbancy!

I am so very excited about all of this, I gotta tell you.

But now I am getting tired at the prospect of Austin waking up to nurse multiple times tonight & still managing to wake up all chipper at 6 am. ::groan::

So what about you all? What kind of fluff do you use on your baby's bum? :-)

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Slowly but surely....

Okay, okay, so I am not exactly where I was hoping to be right now. Austin is still in disposable diapers & I haven't made any of my own baby food since that avocado fiasco.

But I have made *some* progress! We have made the transition to organic baby food! Our local Walmart where we do our regular shopping carries a super limited amount of organic baby food & the variety is paltry. So I went to Babies R Us this past weekend to check out their selection & was really impressed! We bought a week's worth of Earth's Best, which comes out to 4 jars a day. It was pricier than Walmart's offerings of Earth's Best, but we feel that the extra spending is more than worth it! The flavors sound awesome, too: Carrot Tomato, Sweet Potato & Apricot, Sweet Peas & Brown Rice, Green Bean Casserole....the list goes on & on! They use onion & garlic in their foods, too, to add enriched flavors. This stuff rocks!

I have also been stalking Craigslist to find great diaper deals, but haven't had much luck. There is a company called Just Simply Baby which sells really cute diapers at reasonable prices ($11-$12/each) & each diaper comes with 2 inserts. Compare that to Fuzzibunz's or Blueberry diapers which are closer to $20 & it looks like you've found yourself a great deal! Plus JSB has a 30 Day Return Policy where you can return the USED diapers if you don't absolutely love them!

I was also considering becoming a Diaper Party consultant, in which I help moms have a diaper party (similar to a Mary Kay party or Pampered Chef), where I either go to the party myself with a variety of different brands of cloth diapers & show other moms what options there are available & find the perfect one(s) for her little one!

Well, so that's what I've been up to lately. What've you been up to?

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Mission Impossible? Am I failing?

**Caution! This contains booby talk of a non-sexual nature! It may be considered TMI to some of you!**

Austin is 7 and a half months old & we are still breastfeeding. I have no clue when I want to stop. I don't see myself still nursing him when he's, say, 5, but as of right now, I have no plans of stopping anytime soon. Originally, I thought it'd be difficult to "stick with it" for a year, but his first birthday is rapidly approaching & I'm still as gung-ho about it as I was when we first started. Maybe more so now that my milk supply is established (for the most part, but I'll get to that in a minute), my breasts are no longer super engorged, my nipples are no longer constantly cracked & I don't have the problems with leaking that I used to.

Sure, I miss my sleep. I had completely forgotten how a breastfed baby doesn't really start sleeping through the night like a formula-fed baby. At least not consistently. I might have a reprieve every so often, but so far it hasn't been a regular occurance. It would also be nice to be able to just give him a bottle when we're driving down the road, instead of having to find a parking spot & get him out of his carseat so I can nurse him. (I have pretty much been a breastfeeding "purist" so far, and have never pumped a bottle for him)

On the other hand, I have never had to wake up to his cry in the middle of the night & have to stumble blindly down the hallway to the kitchen to fix him a bottle. For the most part, once I nurse him in the middle of the night, he goes right back to sleep without an issue. As for feedings on the go, I don't have to worry about giving him a cold bottle to drink, worry about warming up a bottle, worry about forgetting the formula at home. Nothing. No worries. Just perfectly warmed super healthy milk ready for him instantly! Woohoo! LOL

But I do have a problem. See, about 10 years ago I had to have a lumpectomy on one of my breasts. What that means, is I had a very large lump in my breast & given my family history of breast cancer, they wanted it (the lump) removed immediately. I quit breastfeeding my daughter at this time. She was 6 months old. When I was pregnant with my first son, that breast got an abcess on it, right on the scar from the surgery. The doctor said that what might have happened was that the scar tissue could be blocking some of my milk ducts. Anyone who has ever breastfed knows that milk doesn't come out of just one hole in your nipple, but rather from out of a multitude of tiny holes. Apparently some of my holes are out-of-service, so to speak. This angers my little guy. (I did not breastfeed my older son) So he has always favored my other breast. The land of milk & honey ;-). Who can blame him? I'm gonna always choose the shower head with the awesome strong water pressure, ya know? Who wants a piddly drizzle?

That's where my trouble begins. Because he hates the "slow flow" one, he fusses whenever I settle him down to nurse on that side. He won't do it. You can lead a baby to the nipple, but you can't make him drink! But now that breast has realized that it's....less desirable. (to the baby! My husband & I like it just fine!) But the milk supply in that side has dropped considerably. I need to boost the milk production in it, despite what I have been told that it will be a fruitless effort. I've been told that this is the beginning of the end (& that breast will soon just stop producing milk). Apparently, when a breast's milk supply starts to go down, the sodium level rises, making the milk taste saltier. And who wants to drink salty milk? So the baby really starts to hate that breast, which in turn leads to the milk drying up completely.

But I refuse to give up. Here is my plan: I have begun drinking Milkmaid tea (by Earth Mama Angel Baby), which has been proven to raise milk levels. After just a couple of days of drinking it, I have noticed that Austin has been nursing on that side longer! I am thinking that if I began also pumping on that side, in addition to drinking the tea, I could bring milk production in that breast back up to normal! Wouldn't that be great?!

What do you think? Does it sound like an impossible feat? What about your little breastfeeder? Does he or she prefer one breast over the other?

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Avocado? More like Avo-crap-o! (My First Try At Making Baby Food)

Today I attempted to make Austin homemade baby food for lunch. I had bought two avocados at the Farmers Market for the specific purpose to mash it up for one of his first homemade baby foods. After all, the avocado farmers are raving about how it makes a great first food for babies. I figured, hey, let's give it a go!

Well, first off, I have NO CLUE if I was supposed to steam it first. I just thought that steaming fruits & veggies for baby food was just to make it soft enough to mash up. This avo was just perfect to mash without needing steamed. So I just scooped it out of its.....shell?....into a bowl & went to town on smooshing it. It was of the consistency of guacamole, more or less, so I figured it was go time!

With great ceremony, I brought Austin into the kitchen & got him all settled into his high chair. I made a big show of continuing to moosh the avocado in front of him. Hey, I wanted him to know that THIS was the start of something special: a great culinary journey that I would deliciously guide him on. I had visions of being the Julia Childs of baby gourmet. Every baby would beg to eat my offerings of pureed goodness.

I looked Austin in the eye & told him what the Lunch du Jour was. His eyes grew wide. I'd like to think he was extremely impressed at my dedication to being World's Best Mommy.

The rest was like a scene from a horror movie. In what I can only describe as cinematic slow motion, he opened his tiny mouth. He trusted me completely. And what did Mommy of the Year do? I VIOLATED his teeny taste buds with the most vile substance known to man! I mean, this kid thinks its hilarious when our Rat Terrier sticks her nasty tongue in his mouth. He's not picky, ya know?

But this?!

He made the most horrified face & promptly started gagging. It was like his stomach was trying to escape via his mouth. He was gagging & had smooshed avocado running down his chin. I dropped the spoon & began wiping his mouth out with a paper towel. I felt horrible! What had I done?!

So I did the only thing any normal parent would do: I put another spoonful into his mouth. I figured that first bite was a fluke. It couldn't be that horrid. Let's give it another shot.

And you know what?

Apparently it WAS that horrid because he did the same horrified-face-gaggy-mouth thing all over again.

So I dumped the contents of the bowl into the trash. I opened my cupboard door, defeated, and took out a jar of Sweet Corn Casserole baby food & settled down on the chair next to him.

God bless my little chick: he opened his mouth right up. No suspicions or grudges. My transgression had been, not only forgiven, but also forgotten.

Moral of the story: I think that I'm going to research this whole homemade baby food thing a bit more before trying it again! LOL

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