Some things are hard to come by, or expensive - or both. Others, luckily, are not so elusive... like organic, corn-free vanilla extract for example. Read on.
In case any of you haven't heard yet, the baby has an issue with corn. A big gassy screaming issue. So corn, along with dairy, is out. Clearly popcorn and corn chips are out, but so is nearly every processed food you can imagine. Even store bought tomato sauce contains citric acid, which most often is made from corn. And if it's not in the food, it might be on the food. For example, some cheese is packaged in plastic that has been coated with corn starch to prevent it from sticking. Likewise deli meat can be coated in starch too. So, everything becomes suspect and you have to cook from scratch. No big deal, right? Well, have you ever read the ingredients on your bottle of baking powder or your so-called "pure" vanilla extract? Not so pure afterall.
A quick blog search lead me to the organic vanilla bean company. I ordered 20 organic beans for $12. Len picked up a bottle of vodka for $6. The beans are enough to make 3.5 cups of extract! The only catch is that they have to steep in the vodka for 2 months. Ugh. But, after that I'll have enough vanilla for the rest of my life - and all for $18. Not a bad deal!
All my relatives are probably getting one of these for Christmas! Dryer lint :-) I love other peoples' good ideas!
http://littlehouseinthesuburbs.com/2009/1
Somehow the kids and I survived the week and are beginning this one in good spirits. They've been hiding Easter eggs all over the house for each other to find. They are even filled with candy from a summer birthday party the kids went to, but they're not eating it - really! Wierdos!! (I admit to stealing a few myself!) Abby's new "thing" is a Sesame Street movie with some of the musicians from Stomp, the group that uses anything and everything to make music. Maya used to watch it too, but she wasn't quite as enthusiastic as Abby is about it. So, inspired by Stomp, the girls had a rattly-bang session in the upstairs hallway tonight (after practing piano and cello) with pot lids and Easter buckets and wooden spoons. Yes, Easter again - I don't know why!
Then tonight they all decided to switch bedrooms again. Just when I thought the rooms were nicely decorated and everyone was happy. Throw my hands up to the sky over that one... whatever! Abby is in Maya's bed, Maya eagerly gave up the biggest bedroom she had all to herself for the smallest one without a closet, and Sadie is sleeping on a mattress on the floor next to Abby - even though no one is in her old bed. Hmmm. Just go to sleep!
And Daniel, poor screaming Daniel, is finally quieting down. I'm still not convinced we've determined all his dietary sensitivities or if in fact he really has any, but we have determined that chiropractic is doing him a world of good (and consequently the rest of us too). He's had 3 adjustments so far, and today he was very calm during it. He is still waking up from a sound sleep just from the rumblies in his tumbly, but unlike the past few weeks where that resulted in hours of crying and failed nursing attempts, now he just toots and goes back to sleep. He actually went a full 3 hours between nursing today. Right now he's 2 hours into another long stretch of sleep (even with the girls' rattly-bang session!). I'm so relieved to have a free minute, let alone 5 hours in one day! The first week or so after he was born he would take long naps like that, but not since. It's been all I could do to make myself lunch, let alone eat it without nursing at the same time (and helping Abby with a puzzle, etc.). So, I'm grateful to our wonderful chiropractor (who doesn't even charge for children under 6) for his services and his encouragement.
What a can of worms (and mostly uk sites) that lead to!! After looking at many pencil cases and deciding that my kids would certainly prefer hot pink nylon to recycled car tires, I gave up on the pencil case idea. Back to looking for just pencils - from a sustainable forest or scrap wood, please! Forget it - I feel like the Grinch already. (Remember he was green too...)
So, even though I didn't find "green" personalized pencils for Christmas yet (hey girls, want a journal made from Sri Lankan elephant dung paper?), I did find some sites worth shopping at. After all my looking, I thought I'd share a few faves:
http://planetonegifts.com/ga.html
http://planetonegifts.com/scrunchies.htm
http://www.originalgood.com
Merry Christmas!
We woke up early this morning and noticed an unexpected frost (Len even checked the forecast last night). He ran outside to pick the garden clean - canteloupes, watermelons, a hundred more cukes, a thousand butternuts, and a few other misc veggies. He guesses 50# or more total. Wow - and to think yesterday I was having a mental crisis about food again.
Did you know the USDA used to consider soy protein an industrial waste product and not a food? Google something about soy, healthy or harmful, and you'll be surprised at how much anti-soy research there is. Hopefully the soymilk in my fridge won't make Daniel turn female or anything :-) And to think I was trying to do the poor kid a favor by leaving regular milk behind. Anyway, he's been pretty gassy and miserable again recently, so I was starting to rethink the switch to soy already. Not to mention that the kids' grilled cheese looked pretty good at lunch today...
But, I have willpower - lots of it. We even went out for dinner tonight and I had a dairy free meal. And for dessert? Well, nothing on the menu was DF, but I was prepared. Dessert was ready when we got home because earlier this afternoon I had made these (and they're good!):
No bake brownies
1/3 C cocoa powder
1/2 C vanilla hemp milk (or whatever milk, but you'll have to add vanilla if your milk doesn't already have it)
1/2 C peanut butter (or sunbutter)
1/3 C coconut oil (or butter)
2 C sugar (Ooh la la, I said good, not healthy!)
3 C oats (or quinoa flakes)
Boil it all except the oats for 1 minute. Stir in the oats and mix well. Pour it into a parchment-lined 8x8 pan. Refridgerate until firm. Lift out the paper and lay it on a cutting board and cut into squares. Store in the fridge - or eat them up!
The other thing I rediscovered today is Bubble-B-Gone, herbal drops that you give to babies to get rid of gas. Better than simethicone which only works on stomach gas and not intestinal gas (if it works at all), this stuff is amazing. A mom I didn't know gave me some for Abby at a dance class dress rehearsal 2 years ago. It worked a miracle there so I decided to try it on Daniel. Len balked at the $7 price tag, but I'd pay $7 for just an hour of respite from a fussy baby, wouldn't you? Well, I tried it on him tonight and he's been content for about 4 hours now. For the first time he's just awake and quiet and looking around at things. That's pretty great. Len was amazed too, and even the girls noticed he was happy tonight. And we've only used 3 drops. I think that $7 will go pretty far!
Now if they would just make an anti tantrum tincture for 2 year olds...
roasted roots (from the CSA, our garden, and the store)
the things you can hide in a meatloaf :-)
crock pot apple butterChocolate and milk seem like a great combo, but they have nothing to do with each other in this post. We have 2 problems here lately. One is Abby - chocolate, and the other is Daniel - milk. (I knew that picture was an omen!)
Abby is beside herself with grief over the fact that Daniel gets to sleep in my bed every night and she gets only an occasional visit. Luckily she's not concerned about the nursing part. Every night she comes to visit around 12, then around 1, and maybe even again at 2. Each time usually results in a epic battle between her and Len. Worst is when she says she has to pee but won't get on the potty unless I help her. She screams if Len tries to help. I try not to get up because the baby, if not actualy attached to me, is usually touching me somewhere, and I don't want to wake him. Last night was really bad, and I finally did get up because I could tell things were exploding worse than usual. After knocking over the bathroom trash can, breaking (accidentally in a tantrum) the drying rack, and wearing Len down to the very last straw, Abby had to be sent back to bed, pee or no pee. Sometimes when she goes back without using the potty first there are accidents - but sometimes not, so it's always a tough call (and good luck trying to wrestle a diaper onto her these days, assuming you can find one big enough!!). So - we needed a plan for tonight. A good plan. A chocolate plan. Now, after a day of indoctrination, if you ask Abby what she will get if she stays in her bed all night and doesn't come visiting until the sun is awake, she will answer with a smile of her face,
"A chocolate!"
The other problem? Daniel seems to be sensitive to dairy. After cleaning up more spilled milk than I care to produce and listening to him wake up crying and arching his back, I thought back to my other babies and decided that it wasn't normal. Not as bad as Maya, but not normal either. So, knowing dairy is the most common culprit, I cut out milk and butter to start. After a few days he seemed maybe a bit better, but hard to tell. The next day I had parmesean on my noodles and milk in my coffee and then, the biggest reaction yet. I called Len in from outside for a "cleanup in aisle 5" - it was everywhere! That did it - no more dairy, period. So far the results are good as far as Daniel is concerned, but I'm not so happy! Len accidently put milk in my coffee this morning so I went without. I couldn't eat most of the food at church and then we forgot our snack bag for soccer, so I was starving my lunch. But I'll get over it, and I'll have a happy baby and a lot less laundry to do!
He's an epic sleeper but definately not a candidate for SIDS spokesperson. This guy is all about tummy sleep!
He's pretty great awake too :-)
"Can I hold him now? How about now? How about NOW?" 
Believe it or not, life is not just about babies here. Maya is playing soccer for the first time this season - she's fast!
Before and after the pressure washing. All I can say is WOW!
The new shed, um, chicken coop, um, garage, um - what is this thing?
Am I in trouble or what?!This woman makes great food!!!!!! Go check her out! This is from her email:
THIS Saturday, September 19th, Sample Saturday returns to Wildflours. We will be snacking our way through the day; trying out mixes we've been wondering about, those we know we love, new products and of course oodles of our own baked goods.
There will be three drawings throughout the day for Wildflours' gift certificates; perfect for indulging in whoopie pies, homemade bagels or for ordering those holiday pies.
We are open on Saturday from 9am until 4pm and look forward to seeing you!
Kelley
Kelley Hughes
Wildflours
Gluten-Free Market and Bakery
1 Mason Street
Brunswick, Maine 04011
725-7973
Open T, W, Th 9-6
Fri, Sat. 9-4
Daniel Reed - 9 lbs, 20.75 in. Born after 3.5 hours at 2:16 AM Sept. 8, 2009. Apgar scores were 10, 10. Absolutely perfect =)
No, he's not part elf!
Had to post this link because I do have a boy now - and because princesses need super powers too!
http://thetobyshow.typepad.com/the_toby_
http://thetobyshow.typepad.com/the_toby_
Since I haven't blogged in a while you might be tempted to think I had a baby or something. Well, I haven't. In fact I just feel so utterly bored with waiting that I haven't come up with anything interesting to say in over a week! Really. It's been ugly. And technically I still have five more days to go. More ugliness.
But in the meantime, new things have actually been transpiring at my house, and today I've had enough exciting contractions to think the end is near so I've come back to life a bit. Over this past week the girls have been in school full time - their first 5 day week. Although it's only Thursday I'd say they're holding up pretty well. The schedule is a big shift for them (and their mom!). It's new to fit in all the non-big-kid stuff in the early part of the day and then have all the kid time crammed up close to supper. It's much easier to spend time with your kids when they're actually there and you're not too busy, you know? How you're supposed to have quality time with tired kids while cooking dinner takes a bit of imagination, to say the least.
So, to get more done during the day I've had to enlist help.
And don't think for a minute that a 2 year old can't unload an entire dishwasher by herself (3 days in a row) and put everything away in the right places.
All you need is a non-slip step stool and custom designed kitchen drawers from none other then Len's Dad, Grampy Beaus. Those oversized, kid-level drawers are amazing!
She's not bad at hanging wet laundry on the drying racks either, I might add. Folding doesn't go so well yet, but give her time :-)
And how do I pay this little housekeeper?
That way when the other two do get off the "big yellow banana" we all get to play for a while before dinner.
What are your tricks for fitting it all in so the good parts of life together don't get squeezed out?
Sadie began school Tuesday and Maya started today. Both girls returned home happy and excited for another day. This year feels very peaceful compared to our last try at school. I couldn't be more relieved!
organic Maine blueberries :-)Instead of chickens and ducks, we've decided to stick with chickens (which are much easier) and plants. Blueberries need water, but not nearly as much as ducks! Strawberry plants need shavings, but not truckloads of them! Had we still needed duck eggs for Maya's allergies we would have surely kept at it, but seeing how we don't need hem anymore, it was a lot of effort for no apparent reason.
So, goodbye ducks and good luck. I hope they enjoy their new farm. They will have 17 new chicken sisters, along with turkeys, a cow and a horse. The should be in good hands. I hope so, because Len was having a hard time letting those little girls go! Gee, what a week of letting go!
- Heinrich Heine
But what's a mom to do? I think there are parts of school they will love. I can't see myself being everything for them all this year, and I think, I trust, that there will be more positives to school then negatives this time around.
They'll be armed with new dresses from grandmothers, new sneakers tied in double knots, trash-free healthy "green" lunches, and all the kisses we can smother them with. But it's all up to them once the big yellow bus rounds the corner at the top of the street. All the inner strength I hope they have stored up, all the courage they can muster, all the lessons they've learned from growing up here will have to come together to help them through the sea of new faces, new rules, new expectations, new norms.
I hope the days of making dolls out of mismatched socks aren't over. I hope the days of wearing red plaid dresses with pink flowered tights don't fade away too quickly. Sigh, my biggest hope? I hope they're more ready for all this than I am!!!
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