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03 September 2013

Recipe- Homemade Baby Food

I wanted to write a quick post on making baby food at home- it's easy, it's yummy, and it's cheap! We fed Casper homemade baby food and are doing the same for Owen.

The idea is pretty simple: steam/bake/cook your ingredients, then throw it into a food processor (a blender would work, too, I'm sure) with water, breastmilk, or formula. Only use a little liquid at first and add it as you need until you get to a consistency that your baby can eat. 

We use KidCo baby food ice cube trays, but you can use regular ice cube trays, too (that's what we did at first). We bought these at Babies R Us (we didn't have a lot of options for baby stores in Hawaii) and love them because they have lids. Each cube holds about a 1/4c of food (maybe a little less). After you put the food into the tray just freeze it and once frozen pop them out and place into freezer bags that are labeled with the food and date.     

You can make as much food as you want at one time. I make baby food once a week or so and we end up with a wide variety of foods pretty quickly.

Below are sweet potatoes, but I have made broccoli, peas, mango, papaya, prunes (good for constipation), butternut squash, carrots... I haven't yet made any meat (usually we wait until they can eat finger foods and give them meat like that) but the idea is the same.

When you want to serve it, you can throw it in the microwave until the right temperature or you can thaw it slowly in the fridge. When we are going somewhere we will throw the frozen cubes into a small Tupperware and they usually are ready to eat by the time Owen is hungry.

If the food thaws and is really thin you can thicken it up to the right consistency with baby cereal, just add a little at a time.

We also give Owen large pieces of food/veggies that he can hold and gnaw on. It gives him something to do while we eat dinner.  






18 July 2013

Beta Iota Nu Gamma House

Here are ten reasons why I feel like I live in a frat house:

1. The inhabitants like to drink from bottles.



2. Priorities: toys, games, and boobs (not necessarily in that order).

3. A quote: "Smell my finger! I want him to smell it!"

4. Lots of drool.

5. Food preferably comes from a microwave as quick as possible. And they eat LOTS of chips/dip.

6. There is occasionally vomit on the furniture.

7. There are lots of balls around.

8. It's not unusual to find a naked guy dancing around or acting like a monkey.

9. You never know who is going to be passed out where.

10. There are lots of theme parties.

11 July 2013

Superhero Obsession

As the mother of two little boys, I spend a good part of the time talking about superheros, playing superheros, watching superheros on tv, applying superhero tattoos, putting superheros into the toybox, coloring in superhero coloring books, reading superhero stories, playing with superhero-themed legos, doing superhero laundry, dressing up like superheros...You could say the Bing ohana is obsessed with superheros.  Casper's 4th birthday party was even superhero themed.

Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Growing up I watched some superhero shows. I loved She-Ra, she was kind of a superhero right? We even named our goats He-Man and She-Ra (how awesome is that, and how awesome would it be to have some more goats???). I really liked that series Lois and Clark. And I even remember watching the original Batman series from the 60s when I was visiting my grandma. We recently introduced Casper to that series and he wasn't too interested, and looking back I can see why. The particular episode we put on had a scene where there was a guy holding on to a rope from a helicopter and a very badly portrayed shark jumped out of the ocean and bit him, holding on to his leg. Even my 4 year old thought it was a little goofy.

Anyway, Casper loves superheros. Iron Man is his favorite right now, he really enjoys The Revengers (that's what he calls The Avengers, too cute). I would venture to say even Transformers is a type of superhero genre, one that is particularly interesting with the interaction between intelligent alien machines and humans (I actually love Transformers, myself)



The superhero movies that have been coming out lately? Just awesome. The latest Batman series are just so dark and demented. The Avengers series (to include the Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America movies) are just badass. X-Men are so fascinating. The Spiderman series does a really good job, too (although not my favorite). And I haven't seen it yet but am really looking forward to the new Superman Movie, Man of Steel. Even the animated superhero movies have been good- The Incredibles, Lego Batman The Movie, Megamind.

I honestly never thought my life would become so consumed by superheros and the little guys in my house that are obsessed with them. And I think it's a good thing. At this age Casper is still too young to grasp the many complexities within these movies, and right now it's just an entertaining show with a bunch of guys doing cool things. But I think as he grows up and starts to understand more, he can learn from the morality, the faith, the hope that these superheros deal with and will learn from that.

Are your kids obsessed with superheros? What do you think about that?

This post is a part of Theme Thursday, a multi-blog collaboration. Click the button below to read posts from other bloggers, or to add your own. For some reason, I can't get the button to work but you can go to this link The Next Step Blog Theme Thursday and check out the others.

06 June 2013

Old School Blogging - June

It's that time again! 





Alphabet Meme

A. Attached or Single? Very attached and forever :)

 

B. Best Friend? Binger, of course


C. Cake or pie? I think it's pie, I love a good pie crust

D. Day of choice? Any day we get to play hookie and do something fun. 

E. Essential Item? My camera.

F. Favorite color? Coral.

G. Gummy bears or worms? Worms.

H. Hometown? Alamogordo, NM.

 
I. Favorite Indulgence? An afternoon at the salon. 

J. January or July? July, January is just so blah after the holidays. 

K. Kids? 2 boys.  


 
L. Life isn’t complete without? My three guys. 

 
M. Marriage date? 3/25/2008

N. Number of brothers/sisters? 1 of each

O. Oranges or Apples? Apples

P. Phobias? Ghosts.

Q. Quotes? I'm so not good at remembering quotes... sorry.

R. Reasons to smile? The sun, the sand, and the ocean. 

S. Season of choice? Autumn- cozy sweaters, beautiful colors, cocoa...

T. Tea or coffee? I like both but coffee is what I reach for more often.  


 

U. Unknown fact about me? That I want to be a nutritionist or lactation consultant. 

V. Vegetable? Fresh green beans. 

W. Worst habit? Picking at my cuticles. But Binger would say, spending too much money. 

X. Xray or Ultrasound? Ultrasound, those ones where you get to see your baby for the first time :)



Y. Your favorite food? Indian. 

Z. Zodiac sign? Cancer

02 June 2013

Owen and the Ear Tubes

About a month ago, Owen went in for a hearing test. He has had almost constant ear infections since last October, taking tons of antibiotics that were giving him really horrible diaper rashes (and giving my cloth diapers a hard time, too). It was pretty horrible over the winter. When he went in for his 18 month well baby check up, we spoke with his pediatrician (we go to Virginia Pediatrics and Adolescent Center in Springfield, and we LOVE them - every doctor and nurse is awesome, also a location in Fairfax, I think) about our concerns that he was not hearing us very well and that his speech isn't where it should be. She sent him to the ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat Specialists of Northern Virginia, also in Springfield but with locations throughout NOVA, and they were awesome- highly recommend Dr. Roser) where he failed the vast majority of the hearing test and she also said that he had so much fluid in his ears that his ear drum wasn't vibrating at all. No movement= no hearing.

Poor little man! Wandering around for months, not being able to hear much of anything, probably in lots of pain.... ear infections are nasty business. I got an ear infection right before Christmas and it was so bad that I went into the ER one morning crying, I just don't know how kids do it.

So we decided to go ahead and do the ear tube surgery. While I normally don't automatically go for a medical procedure, even one as routine as this, we were really concerned that his speech delay/hearing loss would have major repercussions.

We scheduled the surgery for last Tuesday at Virginia Medical Center in Arlington. I have to say that everyone in that hospital was friendly, nice, and happy. It was great. The hospital is so clean, too. Highly recommend.

We had to be there 2 hours before his surgery so at 5:30, I work Owen up and we headed out the door. I was really worried that he was going to be so hungry and upset since his surgery wasn't until 8, but we did ok. I made a point of nursing him at 3:30am to tide him over, and between that and his post surgery recovery time, I have probably rarely been that happy that I breastfeed my children into toddlerhood.

We were in our hospital room in the surgery center by 6:30 and I had to spend the next hour and a half entertaining a little boy who does not sit still EVER. It wasn't awesome, especially since I also had to sign papers and talk to doctors/nurses throughout this.

There was a little boy in the room next to us that was scheduled for the same ear tube surgery right before us, so once he went in for his surgery they brought me a little wagon that he had been using and we were able to spend about half and hour just walking around the surgery center. That definitely helped pass the time a little better.

The little boy next door was brought back and woken up from his anesthesia and he just started screaming bloody murder. The nurses said that was perfectly normal, that it's a kind of amnesia some children go through after surgery. They are very disoriented and inconsolable. I was dreading that happening to Owen, so I was hoping my plan to start nursing him as soon as they let me would help a little.

We walked back with one of the nurses to the OR. I had dressed Owen in fleece footy jammies thinking that he would be could b/c I always get cold when I have a procedure done, but the OR was nice and toasty and they had a nice pile of warm blankets there, too. I help him while they put the mask over him to put him to sleep. He struggled and was pretty upset but was out within 60 seconds, probably closer to 30 seconds, in fact. At that point, one of the nurses walked me back to our room where I waited for about 5 minutes before they brought him back to me, still asleep, with cotton in his ears. They gave him some anti-neausea medicine in the OR as well as an ibuprofen-type medication.

I took him from the nurse and asked Dr. Roser if I could nurse him. She clearly has no children or has never breastfed before, because she kind of laughed and said, "I doubt he will be able to!" Of course he latched right on, stayed asleep and slept/nursed for about 15-20 minutes. He started waking up a couple of times, but just looked at me and when back to sleep. Eventually the nurse said we could go whenever we were ready so I began to wake him up, he had a graham cracker and some watered down apple juice and we went home. No tears, no crying, nothing. Just my normal happy boy. I credit the breastfeeding, it is magic.  
He can hear us now, he is speaking clearer and has more words. It is so wonderful. It is so nice to interact with him and know he is hearing us.    


Mommy Mondays

07 May 2013

It's a Superhero Party!

We had Casper's 4th birthday party a couple if weeks ago and had a blast! Tons of his friends, our friends, great food, perfect weather- we couldn't have asked for more. I'll post more details when I get a chance (right now I am writing on the tablet while Owen takes a bath). And shout out and major thanks to my mom, who made awesome superhero capes for all the kids. I failed to get a picture of the kids in them but they were a huge hit! And thank you to my friend Rhonda who was awesome and kind enough to come over the night before and help us get ready- we couldn't have done it without her!


Casper's 4th Birthday Party
Chris drew this awesome Superhero Casper for a fun game but then we forgot to play it in all the crazy.


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party
Up until 1 AM making and decorating cake.


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party
Chris did an amazing job decorating it, and it tasted yummy, too!


Casper's 4th Birthday Party
Up early for some more decorating.


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party
Casper couldn't get enough of his cake!


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party
And all Owen wanted was popcorn.


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party


Casper's 4th Birthday Party




30 April 2013

A Letter to Casper on His 4th Birthday

Dear Casper,

You are 4 years old today! The past four years has gone by in a blink of an eye and has been so much fun. It is very hard for me to believe that exactly 4 years ago your dad and I were sitting in a room at Triple hospital anxiously waiting for you. You were born fighting and strong and all of the nurses in the NICU called you a rock star, and you were. You still are my little rock star. You fight for what you want (and, while at times that is frustrating, it is such a great quality for life and I am glad you have it)and you are just so cool and funny, too. I know I tell you all the time that you are getting too big and to stop growing, but honestly, I actually can't wait to see you grow and who you become through the years.

You are 4. And you love Transformers, Legos, and ALL superheros. Your favorite shows are Transformers Rescue Bots and Wild Kratts. Your favorite color is (usually) red. Your favorite meal is either spaghetti or scrambled eggs and bacon, or maybe tacos (you change your mind a lot). You love to make up songs and silly moves.

I love you so much, Casper. The past four years has been awesome and I can't wait to see how much you grow until you are 5.

~Mom

Notes From the Playground
Brand new.

Notes From the Playground
The first time I saw you.

Notes From the Playground
Our first family picture.

Notes From the Playground
Your first day home.

Notes From the Playground
First day home.

Notes From the Playground
At the pool at Ko'Olina (probably 9 months old)

Notes From the Playground
Mowing on your 1st birthday.

Notes From the Playground
First cake!

Notes From the Playground
A 1st birthday present.

Notes From the Playground
Walking in Annapolis

Notes From the Playground
2nd birthday cupcake

Notes From the Playground
2nd birthday (you got tools!).

Notes From the Playground
With dad.

Notes From the Playground
3rd birthday at home.

Notes From the Playground
Tae Kwon Do.

Notes From the Playground
Just riding.

Notes From the Playground
With a turtle.

Notes From the Playground
4th birthday.