Bracing myself

When my eldest little bird was born I knew I wanted to use a sling for her. I had read many articles online and in print on how great a sling could be for a breastfeeding pair. Whether or not I would nurse that baby was not an issue. There was no choice I was going to do it. I had no clue how much I would be nursing her and how that sling would have morphed itself from a great accessory to a much needed tool. Sierra seemed to be a high needs baby. The first night she was on this Earth she nursed from midnight to 4am almost straight through. Every time we put her down she cried a desperate cry. We (read me) had considered co sleeping,but got a bassinet anyway. I have a picture of her in that pretty white bassinet and yep that was the only time she spent in there!  Sierra awoke every hour and many many nights more than that. During the day she would fuss and cry if I put her down and then she would also scream straight through "the witching hours". She would nurse til she spit it all up from being overfull and then nurse more. Spit up. Repeat. I was frantic after a few weeks. How long could she keep this bit up? Surely it's no longer a growth spurt. I went to a La Leche League meeting swearing my latch must be all wrong as I was sore. Nope. Everything was fine in that department. She was just nursing too much. I had worn the sling a couple of times and it was awkward,but sorta got the job done. I went to my next LLL meeting asking if anyone knew how to use this thing. I had to get my arms back! Sure enough there was a baby wearer there. Phew! She got me slinging with ease and life seemed a bit manageable after that. When four o'clock hit I slung that baby up and walked her til we dropped. Go to bed. Nurse all night. Get up the next day and repeat. I was getting tired though and that baby was getting bigger. She was born weighing nine (OMG) pounds and eight ounces.  All that wonderful breast milk was making for an even bigger baby. She wanted to see so much of the world and touch it all too. She started to wrestle me in the sling a bit so I got a used wrap online *insert sigh of relief* Now when I went out at 4pm for the witching hours she could ride on my back. When I needed to nurse her in the grocery store, or rather straight through the store, I could use the sling and get it done with ease.
For my birthday I asked for another type of baby carrier a Babyhawk to be exact. I snuck in a pouch or two to my growing collection also. Sierra did not outgrow being a high needs baby and instead grew into a high needs toddler. I needed, let me repeat that- NEEDED, my carriers to get through daily life. She rode on my back, hip and nursed in a sling everywhere we went. Soon my fellow mama friends were catching on to my carrier collection and how handy they were. My LLL leader saw the benefits and asked me to give a little talk at our next meeting. So I did. Before I knew it I was a NINO leader and held weekly groups on the benefits of baby wearing. Everywhere I went mothers were asking where they could get such a fab carrier. Do I sell them, Do I make them? No I just spread the love about baby wearing come see me on Wednesday. Here's the flyer.
When Sierra was 16mo I found out we were expecting another lil bird to our nest. Being pregnant and chasing Sierra was hard. No wait. It was darn near impossible! She was like herding a ferrule cat in the stores. Crazy and happy and tearing the items off of store shelves one minute and screaming to nurse the next. I absolutely needed my carriers more than ever now. I wore her on my back and the baby bump on the front. I nursed her through the whole nine months and often in a sling. That spring I gave birth to Sierra's best friend Alannah. Of course at the time she didn't see it that way. Sierra was still nursing as much as a newborn and so was the newborn. Again here comes my carriers to the rescue. I would nurse the baby in the sling to avoid conflict with a jealous tandem tot. I often wore one on my back and another on my front when out alone. When my husband was along ( oh thank God!) we each wore a babe. I cannot imagine how I would have gotten by without my baby carriers. What a relief it was to be able to nurse the girls out in public and keep about the errands I needed to tend to. No way could I have stopped and fed my baby in the bathroom with my high needs toddler going ape! Not that I would nurse my baby in a bathroom, but that's another post.
      Fast forward 9 months I get the flu and it doesn't let up. Surprise! I am pregnant again! Now I have a wild high needs toddler and a 9mo in tow and pregnant too.  Carriers to the rescue! I again wear the baby on my back and the bump on my front. I got a shopping cart cover for Sierra.It was a crazy and wonderful time and my baby carriers carried me through it all with ease.
 Soon after finding out I was expecting our third Sierra was diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. The treatment would be two sessions of occupational therapy a week along with an hour of speech therapy. There were therapy type exercises I needed to do at home also. I could not have done this without baby wearing! When I took Sierra to the OT gym I wore the baby on my back so that I could pay attention to what the therapists were doing. I needed to be able to continue therapy at home. At home when I was working with Sierra and baby needed mama I wore her on my back. Monday's were crazy. I picked Sierra up from her special preschool program and drove 40mins north for an hours OT. We immediately drove across town to speech therapy. We kept that schedule up for a year during which time our third baby was born. Here I was again a tandem nursing mama with a special needs preschooler in tow. Thank God for baby carriers! It wasn't long before my middle birdie was also showing signs of autism spectrum disorder and the therapy's began for her.At least we caught it early enough to qualify for in home early intervention services.Baby bird is now also receiving early intervention also for speech delay and sensory issues.
One thing I have heard repeatedly from occupational and speech therapists is that my baby wearing has had a positive impact on my children's autism issues. For Sierra deep pressure is something she craves and needs almost all the time. Her being worn and feeling that gentle deep pressure had most certainly helped her in her early years. My lil birds have all been nursed on demand and been apart of the world since birth. Being able to see things and be spoken to on an adult level surely is a good thing for an ASD baby.Children with autism disorders almost always have digestive issues. Being able to meet the needs of my nursing baby's with ease has certainly been helpful in that area. Cassidy has had chronic diarrhea and I know sometimes she just needs to nurse for the all of the wonderful belly soothing properties that breast milk supplies. Alannah and Sierra needed to nurse for comfort also as they both had reflux. I imagine that if I wasn't able to nurse on demand in my slings I would not have been a tandem nursing mama and two of my baby's would have been shortchanged maybe with some dramatically different outcomes.I could go on and on about the benefits of baby wearing especially in regards to the special needs baby. Again that is another post.

Our first wrap.

It has come to my attention that the baby carrier industry is under attack. Hence the reason for my post today. This saddens me. I made some phone calls today to make sure my voice was heard. The secretaries took down the information dutifully. I get the impression that the important impact that BW has made on our life like so many other issues will be lost in the shuffle unless we act now in full force. If you wear a baby, know a baby,have worn, maybe in the future would wear a baby carrier  please act now. Click over to TBW and follow the instructions.Follow and join the efforts of the BCIA. Also check out similiar stories at Adventures in BabywearingYou could help make a difference. Thank you.

Baby link-a-do

My lil birds are the free range sort of birdies lol. It is no secret around here that we let the baby drive. Since before conception of our first we knew we would be very natural parents. While pregnant with the lil P-nut I bought some cloth diapers becuase I knew they would save money and they were so darned cute! Well those cloth diapers turned me onto a whole 'nother side of parenting- Attachment Parenting. Some of the things we do differently here are:

• Extended Breastfeeding. We believe babies have the right to be nursed until they are two years old.Becuase of the natural spacing of my children I have tandem nursed through two pregnancies and two seperate pairs of tandem nursers. LOL Lana has been in both of those pairs. Poor middle child ;)
• co-sleeping. My babies sleep right with me until they are toddlers ready for the big bed. Both of my preschoolers went to full sized beds with no hassle between 20mo and 2yrs. They don't often fall from the bed and there was no fear of their new beds. I sleep with my babies becuase I feel it is whats best for us. I would not want to be locked in a cage in the dark and not able to speak the language in a foreign land.
• babywearing. Yup I am one of those baby carrier women. I hate to push a stroller. I couldn't imagine holding my 20 pound heavyweights either! Nope I would rather toss my baby on my back and go about my business. My babies see the world from eye level. They expeirence so much being eye level with the rest of the world. They are talked to more mthats for sure. I am often telling a little one all about what I am doing and what we are seeing. I introduce them to people just as any other person would and they are treated with respect. Somehow it is harder for a stranger to invade a baby's personal space while on mamas back.
• Elimination Communication When Sierra was about 4months old we started EC. It just rang true to us. We always knew Sierra was a bit different. Turns out we were right she loved going potty! When she was 16mo she took off her diaper and sat down on her potty and declared herself a potty girl. She never really wore diapers after that. Before then she was gently introduced to the potty. It is just a fact of life and we feel why train a baby to sit in a wet diaper then have to retrain them to go to the potty.  Alannah was Ec from birth and by the time she was 6mo she was totally dry at night and diaper free until she was a bit over a year old. She is still EC and most days still diaper free and working on potty independence. Cassidy is slowly being EC. Hey mama is busy with 3 lil birdz lol!
• Baby Led Solids This is something Sierra led us to! Sierra has some food sensativities. She did not like the wholesome homade purees mama lovingly made. She wanted to just gnaw on things. I saw no reason to argue with a baby that was nursing on demand every hour so I let her be. By the time Alannah was born I was able to put a term to this type of feeding style and did this with much more confidence. Alannah was for a while known as "Mongo" cause she just loved to eat. She is still our best eater and has been known to like many non kid type foods. Sourkraut anyone?....

http://omg.yahoo.com/blogs/goddess/spotlight-to-nightlight-mayim-bialik-from-teen-icon-to-unconventional-mom/270?nc

Which Whey?

Seems like life is often at a crossroads. I am often wondering which way (lol or whey) to go.Last week I made the painful choice to retire my middle aged cat with my very bestest friend (in the whole wide world).Feels like I chose wrong. Rest in peace Dot Com. You will be very sadly missed on this Earth. You were a great kitty! ((huge hugz)))

Heres whats kept me busy today so I don't let on to the girls whats making mama so sad today;
Late last night as I was scrolling the net I heard a lil tiny familliar voice next to me say "I buuuuuurp". EEEK there was Lana looking rather flushed and covered in some sort of stickyness. She spent the night with a nasty lil fever and most of the day today she slept. It was suggested to give her low sugar sports drink (eeeeeeew) to avoid dehydration. Sorry mama doesn't seem to have any bottles of fake sugar,color and chemical drink laying around here to rot litle teeth *shrug* A bit of whey leftover from straining yogurt and some water topped off with apple juice seemed to do the trick just fine ;)  the lil peep seems to be getting back to herself already. I think I like having whey on hand. I got my yogurt start from this  Blog  a whole year of crockpotting! wooohoooo she's my hero! I sure do love my crockpot! Heres the basic directions adapted from that blog post:

Crockpot Yogurt

1 half gallon of milk

1/2c of good quality yogurt.

Dump the milk in the crockpot and turn it on high for 2 hrs.

Unplug and let stand for 3hrs.

Temper the yogurt with some warm milk from the crockpot (about a cup) then add the mix (aka starter) to your crockpot full of milk.

Let stand from 12-24 hrs to "yogue"

I then sometimes strain this yogurt with a colander lined with coffee filters or cheesecloth to make some uber thick an yummy yogurt and also to have some whey on hand.

The lil birdz and I like the yogurt mixed in with some yummy granola. Heres the basic recipe:

3c rollled oats

1/2c oil

1/2-3/4 c brown sugar

1/4 c flax seeds

1/4 c crushed pecans

1tsp cinnamon

1tsp vanilla

large dash ginger

large dash nutmeg

or pumpkin pie spice...whatever floats yer boat.

pour the oats into a large micro proof bowl and microwave for 2mins stirring halfway.

add all the other ingreadents and microwave for 4 minutes stirring a couple times in between.

Dump it all out onto some waxed paper to cool.

Enjoy!

Walkin Blues

Yup Mama has the walkin blues. My baby (10 mos) took her first string of steps today. NOTHING is stopping her from chasing her sister now! She is growing up so fast. She is my last baby it seems and I just wanna put her in a time capsule. Soon she will be running crazy with her big sisters. Her slug phase is coming to an end *sniffle sniffle* and on to bigger and better things. Time to go an buy her some softy shoes. Time to destash my baby carriers for some toddler sized ones. Time to really start ECing her- no more part time potty. *sigh* Maybe some free cultures would cheer me up. Check this out

http://www.foodrenegade.com/win-3-free-starter-cultures/

A rainy day in Holland

So today was our first day sans Daddy.Bart is off in PA painting some dorms for the upcoming fall semester. He will be gone a week and already my lil birdz show signs of distress. At 3am there were lil footsteps to my room followed by "mama Daddys goooooonnnne". My 2yo and 4yo,Alannah and Sierra, have Autism Spectrum Disorders and do not like any changes to their tight daily routines.

If left to their own play they will start a new level of stimming until someone, or both, melts down. Alanna has some pretty low tone and can usually be found lounging with her fave toys, Larry the cucumber and this week a rubber squeeky shark- lol shark week. She will sit and pull her hair and stare at it from all angles even crossing her eyes. This is called visual stimming and it looks something like this.

Sierra can be constantly heard making odd noises whilst bouncing off the walls (literally lol). This is verbal stimming done to oddly block out other noises. Sierra is a sensory seeker and an avoider at the same time. She hates noise and craves movement. One of her favorite things to do is play with her dolls or little people. I can tell when she is bothered by something becuase she is lining them up and making the noises at the same time.

This is the kinda day, lol or week, that I need to keep my girls busy busy busy. One of the toys that have been recently been recomended for the girls is bean bags. Simple eneugh for me to create right here on my old clunker Singer. So quick over coffee this morning before the baby wakes I cut out a dozen lil squares out to be sewn for bean bags. Set em aside and start the coconut yogurt for sierra, she is casein free, which is done now and ooohhh soo yummy...clean,play, go ride bikes and take a walk,change a bazillion diapers (who fed the baby blueberries) ooh lookie its naptime! Ok now to sew em all together and do the other stuff I need to do while they are asleep and not underfoot- like make baby some yummy cookies. ok naptime is over and it is time to fill em up.

The set up
So I start filling the bean bags with Sierra (Lana did not want to touch the beans so she watched) making sure no beans got to the baby sitting at the table happily eating the yummy yummy cookies Mama made.

Ditch the funnel. Those beans weren't fitting through there! lol Cassidy found a better use anyway! So after filling and sewing up the holes it's time to toss some bean bags. A quick Google search will give you a million different ideas on some beanbeag games to play. Sierra likes to toss em in a basket from across the room. Cassidy wanted to put em in n out of the basket and then over her head. Lana wouldn't hardly touch em at all.
So theres another day "in Holland"

Flying Solo

It is bright and early here at the nest and my lil birdz are already feeling the effects of mama bird tending the nest alone. Time to plan activities ;) so today we have on the list:
bean bags
kix mix
a trip to the park
I think some glitter glue is in order
all this with bread and yogurt going in the background. It's gonna be a busy day! Wish me luck!

into the wild!

It all started with a crockpot full of milk.By morning that crockpot of milk turned my curiosity towards yet another way to change my American eating habits. I am always looking for a way to improve what I eat. Lets admit it I am a foodie. I cringe at what some add to their shopping basket. So we have always eaten pretty well here and yet still I find that my crunchy grnola, yet American diet, makes us ill. My Pensylvanian term for this constant illness is gut rot which is the adult equivillant to a babys colic. I fail those sugar addict and yeast problem tests miserably every time and so do my lil birdz. Autism spectrum kids are known for having yest overgrowth issues and so it is no suprise that yeast problems run rampant here. I have tried so many "cures" and meds that my wallet, and husband, beg of me to stop trying all this hokey stuff. I had almost given up and just lived with the yeast. Then I yogued up that first crockpot of milk. Blink went the lightbulb over my head! I could eat a bunch more yogurt this way and man would it be good with that granola I have been making. Hmmmmm what else can I make here turned into me clabboring buttermilk and dashing to the library for books on the subject. Now I am making my own yogurt, coconut milk yogurt,biscuits, breads, porridge and many more recipes are on the horizon. This week I am on the hunt for water kefir grains (hint hint) and I am making lacto fermented blueberry syrup from some local NJ blueberries. So here we go into the wild of another one of mamas crazy foodie rants! Should be a crazy ride lol. Heres my latest version of Cakeinacup for all my TBW friends

4 Tbs flour
4 Tbs Sugar
2 TBS unsweatened cocoa
pinch of baking soda
stir stir stir
2 TBS oil
3 TBS milk
1 TBS cultured buttermilk
1 egg
fistfull of choc chips (I like white choccie chips)
stir stir stir
nuke it for 2mins 3o sec or so in the microwave


yum yum yum.......