all the changes we've implemented this month are coming along nicely (posted about them here and here). there are some changes we're waiting to make until products we currently use run out to not create a bunch of waste out of this transition to healthier, safer, greener, more frugal consumption. the next trends are mostly personal care transitions we'd like to make:
-cloth diapering: they are ordered! there will surely be many an update on our transition for petey and his sister....now that i've decided on a product i am much less scared and overwhelmed and feel confident i can do it.
-putting up a clothes line: this is particularly important for our shift to cloth diapering. we already hang a lot of clothes to dry but they sit for a day on hangers in doorways and over shower bars, etc. we need a better, outdoor option once we add diapers to the mix.
-make your own toothpaste: we are going to give this a whirl, especially with petey learning to brush his teeth and essentially sucking the toothpaste off the toothbrush twice a day. i'll feel better knowing what he's actually ingesting - and this looks really really easy. thanks rebecca at lusaorganics for the info about your non-plastic storage bottles.
-make your own cloth wipes solution: another easy option - already have some cloth wipes coming that were part of a cloth diapering package i bought, but i know that i can easily make more wipes. this solution is a vital part of the 'get baby clean' process and again, i'll feel better knowing that what i'm using to wipe them clean is safe for their skin.
-go shampoo free: my friend shannon arrives may 14th. we are going to embark on this experiment together. am so excited to have a partner in crime for some of my personal care experiments. i may see if i can convince her to try diy deoderant with me too (who am i kidding, she is always up for anything!). i have never to this day found a deoderant i loved or was happy with - and knowing there is a lot of bad stuff in there that i am rubbing on my body sometimes multiple times a day, especially in the vacinity of some VERY important body parts, i am excited to try a safer more natural option. woo!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
getting ready: part II
i think big brother is starting to realize something is happening around here. his old toys keep popping up. and other new exciting baby things keep magically appearing. we went into baby's room today to fold the last little bits of newborn laundry and his eyes got SO wide when he spied his old mobile dangling above the crib. there was undoubtably recognition in his eyes - he remembered that thing and knew exactly what it did and climbed up on the crib to get a closer look and see it in action. i think he wants me to put it in HIS crib. :) i can only imagine how much time he'll spend up there looking in at his little sister once she is snuggled up and asleep.
the baby's room is almost done - just a little bit more love to decorate the walls. the closet is full of lovely little girlie outfits from all of the baby's wonderful family and friends.....thanks to all of you she will look appropriately girlie, although i have already brought out some hand-me-downs from big brother that reid and i voted neutral enough for her to wear. its just written into my dna to be ok with my girl wearing some non filly, non pink stuff from time to time. and i can't imagine its easy to learn to crawl in dresses, right? so i'm not vetoing the girliness, just trying to balance it with some more practical options. as long as there is a ribbon in her hair, she can totally wear a cute little cubs outfit that her brother wore when he was little, the way i see it.
we put pete's little chair next to the rocker with (naive) hopes that he'll sit there next to me playing with the basket of books and toys tucked behind the rocker while his sister nurses. in reality, he'll likely be crammed onto my lap somehow NEXT to his sister while she nurses. this is going to really get interesting.
and lastly......we've pronounced a winner on the cloth diapering search: FuzziBunz! trying to explain to my mom how these cuties work, i found a video that shows all the magic to them - so check it out here and prepare to be amazed!
(image from FuzziBunz.com)
tomorrow i am going to scour the internet for the best possible deal and make the purchase. i'm so excited. and i'm actually considering contacting some of the online boutiques to see if they will give me a discount or sponsor me some free supplies for me to write about from start to "finish" my experience with embarking on the cloth diapering train. wouldn't that be grand??? fingers crossed!
tomorrow i am going to scour the internet for the best possible deal and make the purchase. i'm so excited. and i'm actually considering contacting some of the online boutiques to see if they will give me a discount or sponsor me some free supplies for me to write about from start to "finish" my experience with embarking on the cloth diapering train. wouldn't that be grand??? fingers crossed!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
getting ready
well all the newborn baby stage stuff is just about ready to see action. most of it is washed, (re)assembled, organized and staged. a few more things to prep and we are ready to welcome baby girl into our home. this weekend marks 37 weeks meaning we are technically considered full term and are able to go to the birth center on her birth-day. obviously with reid's upcoming schedule in may we're hoping she makes her debut earlier than later. anyway, yesterday we got the infant carrier out and rewashed all the padding and tried to assemble it this morning. as soon as pete saw it you could see the recognition of it on his face and he waltzed right over and hopped in as though he'd be riding in that thing his entire life. he did not want to get out of it. and was not happy when we put the baby doll into it to show him that it was for baby now. he did, however, decide it was ok if BOTH of them rode in it together. these first few months of transitioning to two could be quite interesting with my insistent little boy being momma's grand helper. am positive he will want to be orchestrating or at least involved in much of the care of his baby sister. can you train a 17 month old to change diapers????
Monday, April 26, 2010
healthy rhubarb bread recipe
its been a goal of mine to make something with rhubarb.....keeps ending up on my random 'want to do' lists.....and i've finally done it. while wandering the bernardo farmers' market last week with emily and our littles i came across a sweet old gal selling rhubarb. she was surprised that a young lady like me knew what rhubarb was. ahem. i've been eating rhubarb sauce and rhubarb bread and strawberry rhubarb crisp my whole life - that tart yummy red ingredient that makes everything taste like home. so i grabbed some, not knowing how to use it or what to make out of it.....but knowing i'd figure it out. and i did - found this great rhubarb bread recipe at bellybytes.com. its super moist and delicious....we enjoyed a little taste of it in the mornings with our breakfast all week long!
Ingredients:
2-1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
2 eggs
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups finely chopped rhubarb
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
TOPPING:
2 teaspoons butter
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat two standard-size loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
Combine the all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice in a bowl and set aside.
In another bowl, beat the eggs, buttermilk, brown sugar, applesauce and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients all at once, and stir until just moistened. Do not over mix. Stir in the rhubarb and walnuts. Spoon the batter into the prepared pans.
To make the topping, mix together the butter, walnuts and brown sugar. Spread evenly over the top of both loaves. Bake in the preheated oven for about 50 minutes, or until a sharp knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
Recipe makes 24 servings.
Each serving contains approximately:
126 calories, 3 grams fat, 17 milligrams cholesterol, 140 milligrams sodium, 23 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams protein and 1 gram fiber.
Ingredients:
2-1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
2 eggs
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups finely chopped rhubarb
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
TOPPING:
2 teaspoons butter
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat two standard-size loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
Combine the all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice in a bowl and set aside.
In another bowl, beat the eggs, buttermilk, brown sugar, applesauce and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients all at once, and stir until just moistened. Do not over mix. Stir in the rhubarb and walnuts. Spoon the batter into the prepared pans.
To make the topping, mix together the butter, walnuts and brown sugar. Spread evenly over the top of both loaves. Bake in the preheated oven for about 50 minutes, or until a sharp knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
Recipe makes 24 servings.
Each serving contains approximately:
126 calories, 3 grams fat, 17 milligrams cholesterol, 140 milligrams sodium, 23 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams protein and 1 gram fiber.
ba-bye bumpah!
we had a great week with my dad visiting, mesmerizing petey with his bird call tricks and whittling away at my ever-expanding to-do list. we miss him already this morning and can't wait for his next visit!
petey was wearing bumpah's case ih hat around the house this morning, so sweet of my dad to leave it here for him. :)
a poem my dad wrote for petey after he went home:
a poem my dad wrote for petey after he went home:
my day
was very empty.
it did not begin with
a special look
from a sparkling
set of big bright eyes,
and a special
"good morning" bum-pa greeting
from my little grandson.
i miss his insistence
on smelling the coffee
as i opened the bag
to spoon some in
the mr coffee machine,
and the sweet,
sticky
post breakfast hug
he gives after exiting his highchair.
as I sat at my desk
with a coffee at 9
eyeing the endless e-mails
and considering the long list of to-do's,
a smile snuck in
where a frown had been
as i remembered his help
in cooling my morning coffee.
his baxter hugs,
scampers across the yard,
mimicking the crows,
and endless energy
till lights finally
go out,
fill my heart
with joy
and love.
Bum-pa loves you Petey!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
red devil hail and farewell
bum-pah babysat overnight last night for petey so we could have a downtown san diego getaway for two. we enjoyed a hail and farewell with our squadron friends downtown and a snuggly, relaxing morning in a king sized bed at the hyatt with room service to top it all off. i really cherish these times away with my wonderful man!
the 5 PREGGO red devil ladies at varying stages of pregnancy. this winter's homecoming for the daddy's is going to be might special with most of them meeting their babies for the first time!
reid and i out on the town - 36 weeks pregnant and smiling
some of the red devil ladies
Friday, April 23, 2010
pete's 3rd haircut
he's still not a fan of getting his haircut. i thought after seeing grandpa get a haircut he'd maybe think it was ok afterall, but nope. not a fan. at all. ..... but dad loves the haircut sal gave him! and being the sweet, chatty guy that my dad is, he found out all of sal's history - he's 72 years young from new jersey, his wife is from san diego.....he was an opening act for BIG names back in the good old days.....he knows a lot of famous singers. basically, he's a really big deal. :) and he gives a great haircut, according to my dad, who has super high standards. so when you come for a visit, you'll have to check him out.
(you can see sal there in the background....this is pete fussing already just after having his hair sprayed with water....he knows what's coming!)
and after, happy as a clam and half naked. his shirt was SO covered with hair we just took it off, there was no way it was going to get clean enough. seems like if he had his way, my pete would walk around shirtless all the time anyway! thanks, grandpa, for holding a screaming petey for 10 minutes for a sweet little haircut. hoping this will get easier with time.
wanesta garden project: phase 2
with my dad here visiting, i've been blessed to have a master-of-all-things around and i've been keeping him busy. we've particularly been busy getting that garden going and i've been SO grateful for his help, manual labor and sharing of knowledge on success with my compost bin and my garden growing.
we got some excellent treated wood for free from friends who just bought a house and found this in their side yard and it worked out perfectly for our raised bed needs.
so, like the super-hero-guy-who-knows-everything-about-most-everything that my dad is, he whipped this bunch of boards into a rad raised garden bed for me. viola! he's awesome.
we've got a huge space for a garden to go but we decided to start small-ish and see how things grow there with the soil and the partial shade half of the day before putting in more. i'm pleased as punch with the way it all turned out. so here comes the soil....a good mix of garden soil and top soil and dad added some blood meal to get some good nitrogen into the mix. we also added that to the compost bin to get some good activity going in there. ah, the priceless tidbits i've learned this week. love it and my dad so much!
the next blustery somewhat rainy morning we headed to the nursery to pick up some wonderful plants. we got two each of two different tomato plants to try out, two each of two different pepper plants, some green beans seeds and some yellow summer squash seed. we also grabbed some cilantro, basil and italian parsley because why not? and to jazz the place up i'll probably add some pretty ground cover in the back and along the fence and perhaps a few other low-water consuming varieties that grow beautifully with little to no attention at all. :)
next step is planting. seems like it would generally be an easy concept. make a hole, put the plant in, fill in the gaps and done. well i also learned how to correctly separate out the two separate plans in the containers, fan out their roots a bit, learned how to study the planting depth and distance of separation required, how to account for the height of the full-grown plants in relation to the sun to be sure the taller plants didn't shade out the shorter ones, how to water as you plant and even the different ways of seed planting. its not that any of its tricky, its just a bit more delicate of a situation than i would have known and i certainly appreciate receiving the gift of years of study and trial-and-error-gained knowledge my dad shared. it feels good to be a little less clueless in this new gardening world i'm dabbling in.
(i may have to bring the laptop out and skype with my dad when i put in my fall garden...having his watchful eye there to help me out made me feel good about the fact that i was doing the right thing with these little babies...kind of felt like he was my wise gardening doula and this little garden is my nature baby)
putting in my bean seeds. i thought it was interesting to see what the seeds looked like - guess i had never given it any thought as to what the seeds would look like. i seriously feel like a more complete person knowing this information. i know that sounds dramatic but its true! can't wait to teach petey all about this stuff, perhaps he'll better understand the words 'delicate' and 'gentle' by the time the fall garden planting happens and he can join me at the task.
this is what my little nature-baby looked like on earth day, april 22, 2010. we'll see what transformations happen from here. i'm excited about all that this little baby is going to teach me! and a big thank you to my hero, my daddy, for helping me make this happen! love you!!!!
we got some excellent treated wood for free from friends who just bought a house and found this in their side yard and it worked out perfectly for our raised bed needs.
more fun with grandpa
well petey and grandpa are about to have a parents-free sleepover party tonight! thank you to grandpa for overnight babysitting services (and so much more you've done for us this week) - we are grateful for the opportunity to get away and enjoy some time together before may arrives.
watching the rain fall with grandpa. i remember sitting on my patio as a little one watching storms come in with my daddy, listening to him tell me all about the clouds and the way the weather works.
getting a ride from grandpa in the back yard
story time with grandpa - a super wiggly petey still interested in grandpa's stories (and yes, baxter definitely remembers dad....i am pretty sure he's baxter's favorite human).
playing on his new jungle gym, grandpa
playing on his new jungle gym, grandpa
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
making a change * update *
here's an update on this post: making a change discussing my goals for making my house less disposable, more green and safe from toxins and chemicals for the people and pup who live here. its sort of a way for me to look at what we've been able to accomplish and hopefully fuel my energy for the possibility of making changes.....and to remind myself at how easy most of the transitions have been. but perhaps it'll encourage a few of you to make even one of these changes down the baby steps road to saving money, helping mother earth and protecting yourself and family from the things we don't even realize are in our daily use products. until i started paying more attention to this stuff, i took it for granted that some government run health fairy agency was sending its employees out there to ensure that nothing harmful was being put into the products we all use and love. surprise.....
going paper towel-less: this is a huge change that is so much easier than expected. i think we've used 2 paper towels in 14 days - for cleanup involving some serious wood working glue. we used to go through at least 2 per meal and additional paper towels for cooking cleanup. the system of having 3 on-duty kitchen wash rags of different color is working great. there is one for dish washing, one for mess/countertop cleanup and one for wiping up petey after meals. (EASY!-we still have paper towels around if we ever declare a state of emergency in the house and NEED them....but don't plan on buying them in mass quantities ever again.)
de-plasticizing: i inspected the sad condition of my rubbermade storage containers and was amazed just how destroyed they were due to microwaving, cutting and general use. they're now all in the garage waiting to be taken to a local recycling spot that accepts number 5 plastics. they've been replaced with a wide variety of glass storage containers of varying sizes (large and small mason jars and a plethora of pyrex), a wonderful early mother's day gift from my boys. i love being able to see the contents of those containers in the fridge instead of wondering what is inside that murky-non-see-through plastic we used to use. reid's using them for toting his lunches too, they are a bit bulkier and heavier than the rubbermade so i am looking for a new lunch satchel to send his goodies in, for now its reusing a kohl's shopping bag for him. we also purchased some klean kanteen's for toting beverages around and i am IN LOVE with this product and their fun colorful line of stainless steel bottles. ***i was totally pleased to see that all of their packaging is fully recyclable paper and non-plastic in nature - and the bags the bottles came in are now in my compost. i appreciate these great details*** as for ziplock, we're making great strides. now our on-the-go snacks for petey go in jelly jar sized mason jars (pretzels, grapes, etc) and we've been washing and reusing the remaining snack size and sandwich size bags. when those run out, we've got another product being shipped as we type from ecolunchgear.com, cloth sandwich and snack bags made by an awesome momma who carefully selects everything that goes into her product, work environment and shipping packaging for sustainability, recycling ability and toxin-free status. hip hip! can't wait to get them and then i'll really be in business for lunch making and snack taking! and for the month of april she's doing lots of great giveaways with each purchase to celebrate earth day. (EASY, a process to procure the plastic substitutes and find a place that accepts #5 plastics that your rubbermade/tupperware is likely made of - or repurposing those old storage containers for things like nails in the garage, puzzle pieces, etc).
doggie dumping: this one gives me huge amounts of satsifaction and grosses me out a little but is worth it. because i dump all of baxter's doo in the toilet and flush it away each time our outside trash can doesn't knock you over with the stench of feces when you open it. that is a BIG plus. that and knowing that there isn't going to be my pet's petrified poo in landfills inside plastic bags for eons = awesome. once we run out of the current plastic bags we're using to pick up his business i've got a new stash of a great product from flushdoggy.com - water soluble, flushable doggy bags. i bought them in bulk to save on price. its the best solution i have for now since the current sans-poo bags are being put in the trash once the doo is flushed. (easy, a little gross at first but WAY less gross in the long run)
grow your own/buy local: the garden is in the works. by the weekend i'm hoping to have some plants in the soil and thus begins my biggest experiment yet. in the meantime, i've been buying 90% of my produce from the poway farmers' market and have been blown away by the absolute difference in taste that these organically grown, probably picked the day before produce i get there. hands down, i've never had carrots that taste so good! its totally worth it. i've also found hilliker's eggs that are laid in lakeside (14 miles from our house) and fed a carefully calculated vegetarian (and non-corn) diet. they are caged for a special technique they use to control their waste but after watching food, inc. and seeing how the so-called 'free range' chickens live that the bigger companies tout (thousands of them smashed together in a big, dark coop with "access" to an outdoor garden that they choose not to visit because the food is inside), i'm ok with that. they've been in business since 1942 and are true to their animal husbandry ways. still working on local meat sources, i'm considering joining a chicken csa but 'local' takes on a different meaning when getting meat where i live - its call coming from pretty far away (although still relatively close sources when you consider how far our meat current comes from). (EASY living in southern san diego where we have a year round growing season and lots of local farmers, it'll require more effort where you live - check here to see if there is a CSA in your area that can provide you locally grown, in-season produceif you aren't lucky enough to live in a place where there are farmers markets year round, every day of the week, somewhere nearby).
make your own/buy products with real ingredients you can identify: i've been going to buy as little processed (or as lightly processed) food as possible. i'm opting to make my own whenever possible (like my homemade spaghetti sauce) and buying products with identifiable ingredients when i do buy pre-made stuff at the store (the fewer ingredients the better and i want to be able to identify all the ingredients on the list....if it looks like a recipe, its ok with me!). its sad that buying real food comes at a cost but its worth it - and i think that the other areas we're saving money makes up for the often small extra expense of buying a jar of smashed peanuts for a pbj instead of a car of hydrogenized oils and chemicals and sugars. and so far, all the new products we've tried have been great - vegenaise and laura scudder's peanut butter, for example, are great.
composting: after my awesome hubby made my compost bin i've been collecting all of our fruit and veggie/compostable kitchen waste and have been quite amazed by just how much of that stuff we used to throw in the trash. the only challenge i've faced with this is finding a source of yard waste to offset the kitchen waste in the compost recipe. we've got a steady but small supply of leaves and some other yard waste from some work we did cutting out some dead bushes but nothing steady (since we have fake grass in the back and rock in the front due to bigtime watering restrictions and heavy heat in our community) but a few of our neighbors still mow their yards on a regular basis and i've gotten permission to steal their clippings on fridays when they put them out for the yard waste removal guys (i figured they wouldn't care but didn't want them wondering what the crazy pregnant lady was doing stealing their grass clippings at 10 pm at night). so far no smell or bug problem which was hubby's main concern.....looking forward to seeing the fruits of our labors months from now with some rich humus for my winter garden, perhaps!
cable-free: again, this has been such an effortless transition which was quite unexpected. we shut our cable down almost 3 months ago, beginning february 1. and honestly, we didn't watch much daytime tv anyway. it was usually evenings and weekends when reid and i had time to share together and petey was asleep. and this is sort of a hoax because while we've been saving $100 a month, we still have internet and still watch all the shows we actually care about for FREE at hulu.com or at the networks websites with less commercials, would you believe, than what you see on cable tv. and we don't spend time watching other shows that we don't care about, the mindless watching of tv just because its there. i'm thrilled about this change in our lives and our monthly budget! hubby has even been able to watch live baseball games on espn.com or espn2.com....actually more coverage of games he wanted to see than what we could see on tv when we did have cable!
cloth diapering: still determined to go this route but not quite ready to purchase yet. i found a website with 45 day money back guarantee on the product i want to use so i want to want and buy them when the baby arrives so i have those full 45 days to decide if i love the product. and i'm still using up the disposable diapers we have for petey. so this is a coming attraction. admitably this is the most terrifying change of all to me for some reason, but i am committed to doing it and will be sure to report how it goes after i've gotten into the swing of things.
and the list will continue to develop.....lots more to come as i run out of personal care products and create my own (looking forward to trying the oil cleansing method when my facial cleanser runs out and trying the shampoo free method of hair washing hen my shampoo is gone). what is in your favorite personal care product? check it out - you can search by product name here - i've been amazed at the contents of some of my favorites - is it really possible that its legal to sell us this stuff to rub all over our bodies?
going paper towel-less: this is a huge change that is so much easier than expected. i think we've used 2 paper towels in 14 days - for cleanup involving some serious wood working glue. we used to go through at least 2 per meal and additional paper towels for cooking cleanup. the system of having 3 on-duty kitchen wash rags of different color is working great. there is one for dish washing, one for mess/countertop cleanup and one for wiping up petey after meals. (EASY!-we still have paper towels around if we ever declare a state of emergency in the house and NEED them....but don't plan on buying them in mass quantities ever again.)
de-plasticizing: i inspected the sad condition of my rubbermade storage containers and was amazed just how destroyed they were due to microwaving, cutting and general use. they're now all in the garage waiting to be taken to a local recycling spot that accepts number 5 plastics. they've been replaced with a wide variety of glass storage containers of varying sizes (large and small mason jars and a plethora of pyrex), a wonderful early mother's day gift from my boys. i love being able to see the contents of those containers in the fridge instead of wondering what is inside that murky-non-see-through plastic we used to use. reid's using them for toting his lunches too, they are a bit bulkier and heavier than the rubbermade so i am looking for a new lunch satchel to send his goodies in, for now its reusing a kohl's shopping bag for him. we also purchased some klean kanteen's for toting beverages around and i am IN LOVE with this product and their fun colorful line of stainless steel bottles. ***i was totally pleased to see that all of their packaging is fully recyclable paper and non-plastic in nature - and the bags the bottles came in are now in my compost. i appreciate these great details*** as for ziplock, we're making great strides. now our on-the-go snacks for petey go in jelly jar sized mason jars (pretzels, grapes, etc) and we've been washing and reusing the remaining snack size and sandwich size bags. when those run out, we've got another product being shipped as we type from ecolunchgear.com, cloth sandwich and snack bags made by an awesome momma who carefully selects everything that goes into her product, work environment and shipping packaging for sustainability, recycling ability and toxin-free status. hip hip! can't wait to get them and then i'll really be in business for lunch making and snack taking! and for the month of april she's doing lots of great giveaways with each purchase to celebrate earth day. (EASY, a process to procure the plastic substitutes and find a place that accepts #5 plastics that your rubbermade/tupperware is likely made of - or repurposing those old storage containers for things like nails in the garage, puzzle pieces, etc).
doggie dumping: this one gives me huge amounts of satsifaction and grosses me out a little but is worth it. because i dump all of baxter's doo in the toilet and flush it away each time our outside trash can doesn't knock you over with the stench of feces when you open it. that is a BIG plus. that and knowing that there isn't going to be my pet's petrified poo in landfills inside plastic bags for eons = awesome. once we run out of the current plastic bags we're using to pick up his business i've got a new stash of a great product from flushdoggy.com - water soluble, flushable doggy bags. i bought them in bulk to save on price. its the best solution i have for now since the current sans-poo bags are being put in the trash once the doo is flushed. (easy, a little gross at first but WAY less gross in the long run)
grow your own/buy local: the garden is in the works. by the weekend i'm hoping to have some plants in the soil and thus begins my biggest experiment yet. in the meantime, i've been buying 90% of my produce from the poway farmers' market and have been blown away by the absolute difference in taste that these organically grown, probably picked the day before produce i get there. hands down, i've never had carrots that taste so good! its totally worth it. i've also found hilliker's eggs that are laid in lakeside (14 miles from our house) and fed a carefully calculated vegetarian (and non-corn) diet. they are caged for a special technique they use to control their waste but after watching food, inc. and seeing how the so-called 'free range' chickens live that the bigger companies tout (thousands of them smashed together in a big, dark coop with "access" to an outdoor garden that they choose not to visit because the food is inside), i'm ok with that. they've been in business since 1942 and are true to their animal husbandry ways. still working on local meat sources, i'm considering joining a chicken csa but 'local' takes on a different meaning when getting meat where i live - its call coming from pretty far away (although still relatively close sources when you consider how far our meat current comes from). (EASY living in southern san diego where we have a year round growing season and lots of local farmers, it'll require more effort where you live - check here to see if there is a CSA in your area that can provide you locally grown, in-season produceif you aren't lucky enough to live in a place where there are farmers markets year round, every day of the week, somewhere nearby).
make your own/buy products with real ingredients you can identify: i've been going to buy as little processed (or as lightly processed) food as possible. i'm opting to make my own whenever possible (like my homemade spaghetti sauce) and buying products with identifiable ingredients when i do buy pre-made stuff at the store (the fewer ingredients the better and i want to be able to identify all the ingredients on the list....if it looks like a recipe, its ok with me!). its sad that buying real food comes at a cost but its worth it - and i think that the other areas we're saving money makes up for the often small extra expense of buying a jar of smashed peanuts for a pbj instead of a car of hydrogenized oils and chemicals and sugars. and so far, all the new products we've tried have been great - vegenaise and laura scudder's peanut butter, for example, are great.
composting: after my awesome hubby made my compost bin i've been collecting all of our fruit and veggie/compostable kitchen waste and have been quite amazed by just how much of that stuff we used to throw in the trash. the only challenge i've faced with this is finding a source of yard waste to offset the kitchen waste in the compost recipe. we've got a steady but small supply of leaves and some other yard waste from some work we did cutting out some dead bushes but nothing steady (since we have fake grass in the back and rock in the front due to bigtime watering restrictions and heavy heat in our community) but a few of our neighbors still mow their yards on a regular basis and i've gotten permission to steal their clippings on fridays when they put them out for the yard waste removal guys (i figured they wouldn't care but didn't want them wondering what the crazy pregnant lady was doing stealing their grass clippings at 10 pm at night). so far no smell or bug problem which was hubby's main concern.....looking forward to seeing the fruits of our labors months from now with some rich humus for my winter garden, perhaps!
cable-free: again, this has been such an effortless transition which was quite unexpected. we shut our cable down almost 3 months ago, beginning february 1. and honestly, we didn't watch much daytime tv anyway. it was usually evenings and weekends when reid and i had time to share together and petey was asleep. and this is sort of a hoax because while we've been saving $100 a month, we still have internet and still watch all the shows we actually care about for FREE at hulu.com or at the networks websites with less commercials, would you believe, than what you see on cable tv. and we don't spend time watching other shows that we don't care about, the mindless watching of tv just because its there. i'm thrilled about this change in our lives and our monthly budget! hubby has even been able to watch live baseball games on espn.com or espn2.com....actually more coverage of games he wanted to see than what we could see on tv when we did have cable!
cloth diapering: still determined to go this route but not quite ready to purchase yet. i found a website with 45 day money back guarantee on the product i want to use so i want to want and buy them when the baby arrives so i have those full 45 days to decide if i love the product. and i'm still using up the disposable diapers we have for petey. so this is a coming attraction. admitably this is the most terrifying change of all to me for some reason, but i am committed to doing it and will be sure to report how it goes after i've gotten into the swing of things.
and the list will continue to develop.....lots more to come as i run out of personal care products and create my own (looking forward to trying the oil cleansing method when my facial cleanser runs out and trying the shampoo free method of hair washing hen my shampoo is gone). what is in your favorite personal care product? check it out - you can search by product name here - i've been amazed at the contents of some of my favorites - is it really possible that its legal to sell us this stuff to rub all over our bodies?
bum-pah is here!
petey is in love with his grandpa. that's the first word he said this morning; "bum-pah?" they are basically best pals. looking forward to all the fun they'll have together this week. :) yesterday we headed to carlsbad in the morning to get bum-pah his fix of fish tacos and get some good fresh ocean air in our lungs. in the afternoon we played and bum-pah started working a little on helping me with my garden project. there is rain forecast for most of the week - but in san diego that doesn't generally mean all day every day non-stop so we'll surely get some more good outside play time in. luckily for bum-pah he yesterday took a siesta on the patio during petey's nap that involved lots of sunning himself....
calling grandma simpson to rub in the fact that they were at the beach and had just had fish tacos. stinkers :)
checking out the boats on the horizons and the airplanes going by over head.
Monday, April 19, 2010
growing vocabulary and understanding each other
petey has two new words! he can now say "ball" and proclaims most anything round a ball. at the grocery store today, both cantaloupe and watermelons were both balls. the football is his most favorite of all. he carries it up into his treehouse and throws it out the window over and over (a trick his daddy taught him). he can now also say "juice" wich much precision. we call his sippy full of water juice because its an easier 1 syllable word to learn than water. but hip hip for asking for something by name!
so now at 16 months his word count is up to this:
hi (and waves)
bye bye (and waves)
uh-oh!
baxter (there is a new version of this every week or so)
woof woof
caw caw
moo (he actually moo'd today at a cow in a book!)
bok bok (chicken)
quack quack
ribbit ribbit (his own version of it)
choo-choo (when pushing his trains)
brrrrrrrrrrrr (when pushing trucks and cars)
nigh-night (good night)
milk (sign language only)
woo-hoo
yay!!!! (and claps his hands)
momma (hardly ever says it but understands who i am)
dadda (says this a little more often and definitely understands who he is)
juice
ball
more (sign language only plus the same little squeak)
all done (sign language and sometimes verbalized)
*i am pretty sure he pointed at baxter and said "sit" today right after I told baxter to sit*
in addition to all of this, he is chattering up a storm constantly updating me on the status of something, and using good gesticulation as well which makes me happy to see! he is quite the animated little guy and i am so excited to hear him learning more words....oh the things this little boy must be thinking and waiting to tell me about!
you can tell he is trying to learn words for things - pointing and making his little squeaks to tell me what he sees and every time he does i say the word for that thing over and over and he is definitely watching my mouth and storing up all the info and one day it'll come spilling out. he is also really good at following instructions. reid was in peter's room and told him to bring something to momma and petey ran straight out of the room and straight up to me and handed the item to me squeaking to announce that i should take it. i hand petey baxter's treats now and say "give it to baxter" and he walks right over to baxter and gives it to him. he'll go get his shoes and bring them to you when he wants to go outside. if you say "let's go change your diaper" he runs to his room where the diapering supplies are. he can point to his nose and mommy's nose. he can point to his belly button and mommy's belly button (he is confused why daddy's doesn't stick out like his pregnant mommy's belly button does). its fascinating to watch him in action! my most favorite "big boy" moment this week was when petey grabbed his little watering can in the back yard, opened the screen door on his own and walked over to the kitchen sink and made a noise like water "pppsssssshhhhhhhhhhh" with his mouth while holding the can up next to the sink to tell me that he wanted me to put water in the watering can. amazing. this is so fun!
so now at 16 months his word count is up to this:
hi (and waves)
bye bye (and waves)
uh-oh!
baxter (there is a new version of this every week or so)
woof woof
caw caw
moo (he actually moo'd today at a cow in a book!)
bok bok (chicken)
quack quack
ribbit ribbit (his own version of it)
choo-choo (when pushing his trains)
brrrrrrrrrrrr (when pushing trucks and cars)
nigh-night (good night)
milk (sign language only)
woo-hoo
yay!!!! (and claps his hands)
momma (hardly ever says it but understands who i am)
dadda (says this a little more often and definitely understands who he is)
juice
ball
more (sign language only plus the same little squeak)
all done (sign language and sometimes verbalized)
*i am pretty sure he pointed at baxter and said "sit" today right after I told baxter to sit*
in addition to all of this, he is chattering up a storm constantly updating me on the status of something, and using good gesticulation as well which makes me happy to see! he is quite the animated little guy and i am so excited to hear him learning more words....oh the things this little boy must be thinking and waiting to tell me about!
you can tell he is trying to learn words for things - pointing and making his little squeaks to tell me what he sees and every time he does i say the word for that thing over and over and he is definitely watching my mouth and storing up all the info and one day it'll come spilling out. he is also really good at following instructions. reid was in peter's room and told him to bring something to momma and petey ran straight out of the room and straight up to me and handed the item to me squeaking to announce that i should take it. i hand petey baxter's treats now and say "give it to baxter" and he walks right over to baxter and gives it to him. he'll go get his shoes and bring them to you when he wants to go outside. if you say "let's go change your diaper" he runs to his room where the diapering supplies are. he can point to his nose and mommy's nose. he can point to his belly button and mommy's belly button (he is confused why daddy's doesn't stick out like his pregnant mommy's belly button does). its fascinating to watch him in action! my most favorite "big boy" moment this week was when petey grabbed his little watering can in the back yard, opened the screen door on his own and walked over to the kitchen sink and made a noise like water "pppsssssshhhhhhhhhhh" with his mouth while holding the can up next to the sink to tell me that he wanted me to put water in the watering can. amazing. this is so fun!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
beach sunday
petey took me on a date to del mar beach this morning. it was gorgeously sunny but cool. we walked up the beach and waved to dogs, inspected (from a distance) the water coming up on the shore, made piles of rocks and drove a truck around on the sand together. a lovely way to spend the day with this most adorable son of mine. :)
Saturday, April 17, 2010
saturday market and park party
i love saturday mornings. better when reid is here - but even when he is away they are just the best. there is something special about the weekend, don't you think? an invitation to ignore some of the tasks to do and take in the sunshine and have some fun.
we got up bright and early to do the morning routine and then our friend james stopped by while his mommy set up the park for james' big brother's birthday party. i took both the boys to the park a bit early to stop by our favorite farmers' market which happens to be at the exact same park. it was so fun pulling the boys in the wagon. those two cuties stopped quite a few old ladies in their tracks who couldn't help but proclaim them the cutest boys on the planet, thank you very much. several asked if they were twins and i think most saw this crazy-huge-preggo lady pulling a wagon with two children so close in age and thought i was probably on my way to the looney bin. well, those two little dudes were perfect at the market. waving hello and smiling as they went. they met a big parrot, sampled a delicious 'hummingbird' cupcake and both got silly lemons from our favorite, farmer steve. after the market we enjoyed spending the rest of the morning in the grassy shade of the perfect party spot with our buddies. it was great to just watch the kids run around together, enjoying the fresh air and the open space. it was the perfect kind of fun to watch - just kids being kids, laughing and running and climbing and having a ball. thanks emily and doug for a great party and happy fourth birthday to your oldest!
we got up bright and early to do the morning routine and then our friend james stopped by while his mommy set up the park for james' big brother's birthday party. i took both the boys to the park a bit early to stop by our favorite farmers' market which happens to be at the exact same park. it was so fun pulling the boys in the wagon. those two cuties stopped quite a few old ladies in their tracks who couldn't help but proclaim them the cutest boys on the planet, thank you very much. several asked if they were twins and i think most saw this crazy-huge-preggo lady pulling a wagon with two children so close in age and thought i was probably on my way to the looney bin. well, those two little dudes were perfect at the market. waving hello and smiling as they went. they met a big parrot, sampled a delicious 'hummingbird' cupcake and both got silly lemons from our favorite, farmer steve. after the market we enjoyed spending the rest of the morning in the grassy shade of the perfect party spot with our buddies. it was great to just watch the kids run around together, enjoying the fresh air and the open space. it was the perfect kind of fun to watch - just kids being kids, laughing and running and climbing and having a ball. thanks emily and doug for a great party and happy fourth birthday to your oldest!
the boys listening to farmer steve after getting their silly lemons
the amazing train made-with-love by the birthday boy's amazing momma
the FOUR year old birthday boy and a bunch of balloons
big birthday boy took a break to give his mom a beautiful flower - such a sweetie
petey taking in the view from a comfy chair with his sidekick, the ball
enjoying some oreo cookies after a great lunch on the bbq - don't you just want to kiss those cheeks?
train rides for everyone!!!!!
Friday, April 16, 2010
these little boys
don't you just love them? born only a couple of weeks apart, petey and james are growing up to be the sweetest littles. they were the best companions to their mommas today at the rancho bernardo farmers' market at the adorable bernardo winery. they were the best taste-testers at the market, my pete was sporting a wide variety of flavors on his cheeks and nose by the time we were done.....blood oranges, pink lady apples, strawberries, strawberry shortbread, pita bread and roasted red pepper hummus, tortilla chip and guacamole, this kid eats it all up! after the market the mommas shared some tea while the boys pet some passing dogs and explored the little area we were sitting in. it was an overcast, drizzly morning market when we arrived but by the time we left the sun was peaking out and we had to strip off all our sweatshirts. turned out to be a beautiful day, once again. thanks em for joining me at the market to start the day off right. :)
Thursday, April 15, 2010
homemade fresh tomato marinara sauce
i used the recipe from epicurean.com.......i didn't search long or hard, just picked one on a whim and gave it a whirl. my only recipe criteria was all fresh ingredients - no canned or processed anything. if i was going to use that i would have just bought the sauce from the store in the first place.
i'm a first time blanch-er of tomatoes so after a call to my darling grandmother to get her tips and advice on such a thing, i set out and made it happen. it turned out beautifully - although i did chop it up a bit more in the cuisineart because my hubby is a big picky about the chunky stuff....then i added some delicious homemade (not by me) sauce and chopped mushrooms and a teensy bit of sugar because my dad always did that and it seems important to do what your dad always did, right? anyway...its on the table and smelling fabulous. of course a taste test after heating it for dinner revealed that it is, indeed, awesome. i've got another quart of it in the freezer for another day. making it from scratch is more work than grabbing a jar from the store and putting it on the stove.....but it is definitely exciting and fulfilling and, if i say so myself, way more delicious. even if you are imagining its more delicious because you know you made it with lots of time on your feet in the kitchen instead of taking a nap. :)
start with some good looking tomatoes - this was about 2.75 pounds
then you boil them for about 15-25 seconds until the skin loosens
then the skin slips right off - after their skin is gone you cut them open and use your thumb to 'rake' out the inner seeds and juice and keep the fleshy part of the tomato for your sauce. for other things you could keep the seeds, but i opted to leave them out of my marinara. then squash up the tomato flesh with your hands. :)
saute some onions and garlic in olive oil.....add some parsley and basil and white wine near the end...
and there you have it. delicious! i blanched, peeled and de-seeded the tomatoes during the little guy's nap tuesday and made the sauce wednesday and served for dinner thursday (i added the meat and mushrooms the day i served). yum!
i'm a first time blanch-er of tomatoes so after a call to my darling grandmother to get her tips and advice on such a thing, i set out and made it happen. it turned out beautifully - although i did chop it up a bit more in the cuisineart because my hubby is a big picky about the chunky stuff....then i added some delicious homemade (not by me) sauce and chopped mushrooms and a teensy bit of sugar because my dad always did that and it seems important to do what your dad always did, right? anyway...its on the table and smelling fabulous. of course a taste test after heating it for dinner revealed that it is, indeed, awesome. i've got another quart of it in the freezer for another day. making it from scratch is more work than grabbing a jar from the store and putting it on the stove.....but it is definitely exciting and fulfilling and, if i say so myself, way more delicious. even if you are imagining its more delicious because you know you made it with lots of time on your feet in the kitchen instead of taking a nap. :)
start with some good looking tomatoes - this was about 2.75 pounds
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
free recycling for your empty cosmetic cases/tubes
origins is a great store with lots of good products, you'll find them in most malls these days - i just found out they offer to take your empty cosmetic cases, regardless of brand, and recycle them for you!!!! here are some interesting faq's they list on their webpage about how much cosmetic container waste is likely going into landfills thanks to our love of beauty products and the sad fact that most are not-recyclable. check out the link to learn all about it!
AND they will give you a free sample of your choice of skincare product. how awesome! i love finding out about programs that are actually doing something to try and help solve the overly-disposable-packaging crisis.
AND they will give you a free sample of your choice of skincare product. how awesome! i love finding out about programs that are actually doing something to try and help solve the overly-disposable-packaging crisis.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
"sprinkled" with love
well i am so very lucky to have a huge group of such wonderful, loving ladies to call friends here in san diego. any day of the week they are just the best, they are so good to me and my family and they are always making my days brighter - but today in particular i really felt blessed to call them my friends. they got together to celebrate the upcoming birth-day of my baby girl and shower me with some big-time girl power love. ladies, your company is the best, the food was fabulous, the decor was precious and the gifts of love you showered us with are ADORABLE....but i have to say, having you all together in one place to celebrate the coming birth-day was so meaningful and i am grateful for the celebration and positive baby-love you sent my way today. i love you all!
seriously - girl outfits are just more fun than boy outfits. the ruffles and details and bum prints are just ridiculously cute. :)
