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.......