Avery is 8 months old!

Avery turned 8 months old on Thursday (the same day her daddy had knee surgery, which is why this post is late). I feel like I say this same thing every month: I can't believe how time has flown and Avery is growing so much. But it's true every month! 

Avery is "crawling." I mean, she can get around now. It may not be too graceful but it works for her.

Avery can sometimes stand on her own...for a few seconds. She has taken one step by herself. I hesitate to call it her "first step" because she isn't yet walking on her own. 

Ever since she was 3 months old, all Avery had wanted to do is walk - she's so excited that it is finally so close to becoming reality! In other news: we are in deep, deep trouble.

Avery loves to eat! She will eat just about anything! 

She can pull herself up to standing - and loves it. The bars on our bed, her crib, the baby gate and the ottoman are her favorite standing places. 

I'm pretty sure Avery has started teething again. This time it's the top teeth. I can't see anything yet, but I just know that they are coming. We've been using Hyland's teething tablets again. 

Avery talks herself to sleep in the car almost every time. 

We have quite the little flirt on our hands! Over the weekend, she was flirting SO HARD at the store. Like, yelling at a guy and laughing and smiling so he would just look at her. 

Avery smiles at EVERYONE. She loves the word "cute," knows that it refers to herself, and promptly smiles in return or looks around, even craning her neck at times, to smile at whoever just said she was "so cute."

She's sassy - always yelling at us.

She also growls. It's kinda weird. Like, if someone that didn't know her and heard the amount of time during the day that she spends growling (either at others, to herself or at her toys), I'm pretty sure they would think she was raised by wild animals.

Avery can clap! She knows to clap she someone says, "patty cake," and "bake a cake." If you tell her to "bake a cake," she will clap. 

Avery still loves her carriers - we used the ergo for the first time this weekend and she loved it! She still loves the ktan wrap though, it must be more snuggly and comforting because she will nap in it and not in the ergo. The wrap is getting tough though because I'm pretty sure my neck and shoulders are not happy after carrying her a long time in it! She's getting so big!

Blues Clues is her favorite tv show...still. I think we've watched the same episode about 200 times now. Probably an exaggeration, but she does watch it at least one time per day so mommy can get stuff done around the house.

We are still bed sharing. Avery starts out in her crib and then we being her to our bed about halfway through the night. On the nights that Avery is in bed with us and actually sleeps all night, I love it. I still love it even if she doesn't sleep all night, but sometimes having a foot in my ribs or a finger up my nose is a little disturbing while trying to sleep ;) 

I am so in love with our little girl - I truly could not ask for a sweeter, happier, easier baby. I know we are so so lucky to have an easy baby so I try not to brag much about her. Also, I just want to point out that no matter how much I rave about not letting my baby cry it out or how bed sharing is awesome or how baby led weaning is great - it is NEVER to  make a statement about how our way of parenting is right, or better. Every child is different, every family is different. What works for one may not work for all or may not even be an option for some. I can't even say that we will be able to do the same things with our next child - each one is so different. 

Avery is developing so quickly now, it's like each day is a new adventure. I can't wait to see what's next!

Avery is 7 months old!

So, our kid has made it 7 months now and she just keeps on developing her own little personality. She's stubborn and flirty and friendly and funny and impatient and nosy and smart. And we love her so much.

Avery isn't crawling yet. She doesn't care for being on her belly so she just flips over every time and prefers to get around by scooting with the back of her head. She did scoot in her butt a bit last night...but only because she really, really, really wanted my pizza.

Eating is going really well! It wasa slow start, but Avery's palate is expanding: her favorites are breads, green beans, squashes, cucumbers and frozen blueberries and pineapple. She also eats scrambled eggs, pasta, lettuce (weird but she likes to suck on it), tomatoes, potatoes and some other stuff that I'm probably forgetting.

She can still wear 3 month onesies, but 3 month pants are too short yet fit around the waist. She can also wear 6 month clothing although some are still too big. 

Avery has discovered her loud voice - screaming is something that can regularly be heard throughout our house. And growling. And creepy rhythmic growling when she's "talking" herself to sleep in the car. Our kid is kinda weird. 

Still cloth diapering at home. Gramma uses disposables most of the time at her house during the day when she's watching Avery, but she's starting to have a reaction to them so I think we need to invest in more cloth so she can have some during the week days. 

Avery's hair fit into its first little ponytail the other day! It's just a pokey little thing and really serves no purpose, but it's so damn cute (and even more so with 2)!

Still having some trouble sleeping through the night. We are working on thinking of some way to make the nights easier for Avery (and for us!) but our plan will still not include crying it out. Maybe a little more fussing but no crying. 

I have a confession: I was super against letting Avery watch TV at all as a baby...but she loves it. I've recently discovered that her love for Blue's Clues reruns surpasses all and "Steve" is an excellent baby sitter, giving me time to shower and get ready some mornings. Or eat. Or do laundry. Or just sit. Don't judge.

Avery loves to sit on the floor and play with her toys (which are few, but we kind of like it that way!) or in her high hair with spoons, spatulas and measuring cups.

Avery is 6 months old

Avery turned 6 months old on Saturday and I truly cannot believe that my baby has been in the world for half of a year! Seth and I have been blessed with one of the happiest, most good natured baby I've known and we couldn't be more proud of her. 

At the pediatrician yesterday, Avery's growth is right on point: 14 lbs. 6 oz. (25th %), 26.5 in long (50-75th %), and a head circumference of 16.5 in (50th %). Still a peanut, still in 3 month and 3 to 6 month clothing!

We have been practicing our own form of attachment parenting with Avery - no crying it out, baby wearing, lots of kisses and hugs and attention and love - and it's working so wonderfully for us. I don't think we ever thought of ourselves as capable of being "attached" parents, but once you get past the stigmas created by modern parenting, attachment parenting is really just the most natural thing, and comes to us so naturally. 

Avery is becoming so independent (which is true of most babies raised with attachment parenting, contrary to what some people think) and wants to do things on her own so badly. 

She is a fan of "standing" and "walking." Neither can be done on her own yet but it's all she wants to do!

Avery can sit on her own and loves to play on the floor with her toys.

Beverages are a new love of Avery's. Anything that looks as if she can drink out of it (thermoses, pop cans, cups, whatever) she wants it. She doesn't actually get to drink out of it, but just putting her mouth to it is enough.

Avery has 2 teeth! Right on the bottom. We didn't even realize she was getting a tooth when the first one poked through (I think the amber necklace works!) but she's having a bit of trouble with the second tooth. Not too bad, just some extra fussing in the evenings. 

Avery wants to get hold of her puppy-brother, Auto, soooo badly but he just doesn't want her. We keep telling him he's in trouble when she becomes mobile. 

Still hates being on her belly so now that she can roll over, she does it almost the instant her belly hits the floor!

She still loves phones and tablets and computers - which can be a bit tricky when we need to use them and she's trying to steal our phones away to play!

Babyled weaning is a slow process, but Avery is enjoying eating more every day! So far she has tried: avocado, bananas, butternut squash, mango, pineapple, carrots, apples, sweet potatoes and regular potatoes (and chocolate...on accident...because macarons are delicious - that was only a one time thing and only a teeny taste). She seems to be enjoying her squash the most right now! 

Avery is 5 months old (and 3 days)

It's crazy how time flies - 5 months with our sweet pea has gone by so quickly and she's grown so much!

Avery is becoming more and more aware of her surroundings each day - especially with her puppy-brother, Auto. She really wants to get him - he should probably prepare himself for when she becomes mobile!

She can sit up on her own, although she's still not entirely stable. She's so easy going though, that even if she face-plants, she just lies there quietly under someone helps her back up (it's pretty funny, actually). 

Avery WAS sleeping through the night...until she turned 4 months old. Now she wakes up once per night and needs a bottle. 

The first half of the night is spent in her crib in her own room, the second half of the night (after her bottle) is spent in our room in her rocker. 

As far as her bedtime routine - still reading a story and taking a bottle and rocking her to sleep. Crying it out is just not an option for us, and I really believe that this is why we have such a happy little girl. 

Baby drool is a big part of our life right now - Avery really just has unlimited amounts of it and can't keep it in her mouth! No teething going on yet, just lots of drool. 

Avery is the proud owner of an exersaucer and loves the freedom it gives her to stand and play on her own.

Her tongue is out almost all the time! We keep telling her that she's gonna regret sticking it out so much once she's gets some teeth in her mouth.

Still on formula only. Since we are planning on skipping rice cereal and puréed foods and doing baby led weaning, we are waiting until Avery shows signs of being ready to eat: sitting up on her own, grasping things well, showing an interest in food, etc. she's just not quite there yet...but soon will be!

Avery is still just a peanut - wearing 3 month clothing and only some 3-6 month sizes. 

She's been sleeping on her tummy lately. This made us really nervous at first, but she seems to be just fine with it. 

Rolling over is taking some time - Avery's only done it a handful of times, and can only tolerate being on her belly (awake) for about 10 minutes or so...she would rather be sitting up or standing (with help of course).

Avery loves to scratch things! I think she likes the sound it makes. She scratches couches, pillows, counter tops, everything!

Avery loves to laugh at Auto!

She knows who mommy and daddy are and smiles when we enter a room.

Avery LOVES cell phones!

Avery and mommy are still loving baby wearing - we often cook dinner hooked together!

Our happy baby is such a blessing - can't wait to see what this month brings! 

(Fall colors and pumpkins are PERFECT timing for 6 month photos!)

treat yoself

So, I have officially become a hippie. Again. Yesterday. And I'm really excited about it.

After struggling with these first few periods postpartum, I've finally taken some action. I bought the Diva Cup. And I'm in LOVE. 

Back story: I gave birth vaginally almost 5 months ago. My baby was teeny, but she seems to have effed some stuff up on her way out anyway. Like, how do you not even completely fill a tampon but still bleed past it anyway?! I don't really know, but it happened. I've gotten really sick and tired of constantly running to the bathroom to save my pants from looking like I just stabbed myself in the vag. 

I read about the Diva Cup a whole ago on a few different natural living websites and it has gotten really great reviews. I don't know why it's taken me so long to actually purchase one (probably I'm just lazy). 

The Diva Cup is a reusable menstrual cup. Yes, you stick it up your vag. Yes, you have to dump/wash it out. Yes, you reuse it over and over again (cue all the "ewwww that's so nasty," "I could never do that," "it's disgusting," "you have to put your hand up there?!" and all the other comments that I know are going though some of your minds). 

You know what? If you're comfortable with your own body, then this kind of thing really shouldn't seem problematic to you (but that's another topic, entirely). 

Here's all the pluses to the Diva Cup:

You know that "schlump" feeling when you gush blood onto a pad? There's none of that.

You know the uncomfortable feeling of pulling out a tampon that isn't filled up? Gone.

The feeling of an overloaded tampon falling out? Nada.

Wearing a diaper pad to bed? No way.

You can wear the Diva Cup for UP TO 12 HOURS. Do you know what you can do in 12 hours without having to worry about bleeding everywhere? Sleep. And other stuff too.

You spend $40 once and then you don't have to buy tampons and pads and panty liners ever again. 

It comes with a cute little bag to put it in after your period is over.

It's earth friendly!

It's toilet friendly (because you don't need to flush any used tampons, ya know?)!

Your dog won't be able to trail chewed up bloody pad through the house again (you're lying if you say this has never happened to you)!

You can't feel the darn thing once it's positioned correctly.

Ok, I admit it takes a few practice tries to get it right, but to me, that is a hell of a lot better than feeling nasty on my period. 

So, yeah. I'm in love. 

And if you know what's good for you, you will go get one of these thingies for yourself.

Treat yoself - you and your vag deserve it.

pulling for results (hopefully)

Oil pulling. Have you heard of it? I had a few times here and there on natural living blogs, but never seriously considered trying it. Until last week.

My tooth was hurting a little bit. I opened my mouth and looked in the mirror. I'm pretty sure I have like, 3 small cavities. I don't think I've ever had a cavity before. I also haven't been to the dentist in like 4 years (hangs head in shame). 

I was browsing Facebook the same day that I found those little black spots and saw that one of my Facebook friends was starting to oil pull. And I thought, "ok, maybe I should give this a go." Then I saw this blog post http://trinaholden.com/healing-cavities-a-true-weve-done-it-story/

and decided that maybe this could really help 

me out.

I'm using coconut oil and I have to admit that 

unless you melt your oil prior to putting it in 

your mouth, it's kinda gross.

You have to chew the oil to melt it...it's weird. 

Anyway, you swish the oil in your mouth for 15-

20 minutes (in the morning, before brushing).

And don't spit coconut oil down the sink or it 

will clog when it cools down!

You can use pretty much any oil, but I've heard 

that coconut tastes the best and olive oil can

 leave a yellow film on your teeth, and nobody 

wants that.

Also, don't swallow the oil! It's pulling out all the

 yucky toxins and bacteria from your mouth and

 you don't want to ingest that...gross!

So lets hope this works! I should get Seth to try 

it out too...he really needs to jump on my 

healthy living bandwagon.

Avery is 4 months old!

It's been a third of a year. Can you believe it?! Baby girl is still so teeny...I can't believe she's 4 months old!

Avery is still a peanut: 12 lbs 3 oz (25th percentile) and 24 in long (50th percentile). And she got more shots today (we cried together).

Avery is always smiling and happy! She wakes up at 5 am with the biggest smile on her face and it makes my day, every day.

She laughs! It's so cute! Laughing gives her hiccups, which makes her laugh harder. Things that make Avery laugh: saying boo!, her puppy-brother, Auto, daddy fake laughing, kisses from her piggy and monkey toys, and when mommy tips her backwards.

Avery is a big flirt. She will smile and bat her lashes - and it works. Everyone is in love with her.

Avery went to urgent care for the first time on August 9 - her left eye got red, puffy and leaky so we thought there was something in it. She had a blocked tear duct, so nothing serious, but we have some eye drops. Her eye was better by 2 days later.

We have switched to "big girl bottles" because Avery is sometimes eating 6 oz of formula and her little bottles only hold 4 or 5 oz. 

Cloth diapers are still working great! We do need to get some more though...

I've put away almost all of the newborn sized clothing. Except for a few things, Avery is able to wear most 0-3 month and 3 month sizes. She's still such a little peanut. 

Gramma and Grampa Ash bought Avery an exersaucer for their house - and she loves it! The toys are easy for her to play with because they are stationary and she gets to do her favorite thing - stand!

Oh yeah, standing is Avery's favorite thing to do. She can even take steps (being held of course). We are in trouble.

Avery has discovered that technology is a wonderful thing - she loves our phones! She loves to watch videos of herself, cartoons and music videos.

Um, Avery loves the Miley Cyrus song, "we can't stop" and also loves the creepy, skanky video that goes along with it. Oops. 

We have installed Avery's "big girl" carseats - all in ones. She still uses the infant carrier but having multiple carseats makes it a bit easier when we are dropping off and picking her up at Gramma's house every day. Is it weird that it makes me teary to see her not in her infant car seat?

Avery loves mommy's hair - when she is tired or frustrated, she likes to grab a big handful and rub her face with it. 

 

Avery loves faces - she will lay her little hands so sweetly on your face...then proceed to rip off your skin with her razor blade nails.

To soothe herself or help herself fall asleep, she pats or rubs mommy's arm - I love it.

Avery's bedtime routine is still going really well, but she has started going to bed earlier - around 7:30 pm, and sleeps through the night (unless she wants her paci, then we just get up to give it to her and she goes right back to sleep). 

Most mornings, Avery gets to snuggle in bed with us for a bit - she will wake up, then go right back out as soon as she is between mommy and daddy. It makes for some pretty sweet Sunday mornings :)

Auto still doesn't really like his sister...hopefully he comes around soon.

starting slow and starchy

So, here's the deal:

I think about 2 years ago (?) I tried to be vegan. It lasted about 3 months. I didn't do it right. I mean, I'm sure there's not a right or wrong way to live a healthy and compassionate life, but I didn't go about doing it the right way for me. I tried making separate meals for Seth and I (he is an omnivore), I got over-ambitious, and I bought a lot of meat substitutes, etc. instead of focusing on healthy, whole foods. I also didn't have a real personal reason for adopting the vegan lifestyle other than it seemed to be the right thing to do. 

Well, I've grown up since then and I've now decided to give it another go: I will not create a food rift between myself and my husband - dinner will be vegan meals that he will enjoy or that he can easily add meat/dairy to; I have a good reason - polycystic kidney disease with a future transplant and a diagnosis of gestational diabetes makes me at higher risk for the disease; I know better - meat/dairy subs are ok, but not the healthiest - healthy, whole foods are the way to go; oh, and a video of freed dairy cows running and rolling around like puppies, yeah.

I'm planning on taking this slow rather than jumping right in - cold-turkey vegan is hard. If I allow myself the space for small setbacks, I think I will be more successful in the end. I'm also more educated this time though, so it may be easier to avoid those setbacks. 

This week is the first (of hopefully many) weeks of vegan meal planning for dinners (I only needed very minor adjustments to my food that I bring to work). To start, I made a meal plan of all things that I felt confident that Seth would enjoy. He is supportive of my choices but he's also very picky so in order to eat healthy together, I need to do lots of research and recipe altering. 

Our first all vegan dinner was a success! I chose a recipe that incorporated 2 of Seth's favorite foods: potatoes and bell peppers.

Here's the link to the inspiration for our dinner:

http://cookingstoned.tv/recipe/mashed-potato-stuffed-bell-peppers/

I obviously altered the recipe for the mashed

 taters so that they would be vegan.

Mashed Potato Stuffed Peppers

3 lbs Yukon gold potatoes (I have leftover mashed taters for later in the week now!)

3 large bell peppers 

4 green onions, thinly chopped

1/2 cup unsweetened plain almond milk (at room temp)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tbs nutritional yeast (optional, as it really didn't add flavor, you could add more I guess)

1 tsp powdered thyme

2 tsp garlic powder

Fake bacon bits (I think most are vegan)

Salt and pepper to taste 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. 

Cuts tops off peppers and remove insides and seeds.

Place peppers in a baking dish and bake for about 20 mins, or until wilting and slightly browned.

While peppers are baking, cut potatoes into quarters, leaving the skins on.

Add potatoes to a pot and cover with water. Boil until a fork can pass through a chink of potato easily.

Drain potatoes and return to pot.

Mash first with a masher, then whip with a hand mixer.

When your potatoes are almost at your desired consistency, add all other ingredients besides peppers and finish whipping.

Fill each pepper with mashed potato mixture.

Bake another 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are slightly browning.

If you would like cheese, I think melty cheese on top would be divine :)

Enjoy!

 

hormones are such little bitches

You know what? Some things are just absolute bullshit. Like, I'm trying to lose pregnancy weight, shouldn't that be enough? Nope. 

3 months postpartum ALL OF YOUR HAIR WILL FALL OUT. I mean, I have bald spots. WHAT THE MUTHAFUCKING FUCK?!? 

Apparently this is normal and all of those online baby community boards will tell you so. Those WebMD articles will just tell you it will pass.

Cut your hair, they say. Try out a new part, they say. Wear cute headbands, they say. It only lasts a few months, they say. 

A few months?! Bitch, it's been one month and I don't have hair left to spare for a couple more months! 

You know, as women, we have enough crap going on with hormones that we don't need to add more bullshit. Those little bitch hormones get all happy and built up during pregnancy and will give you a false sense of "omg I'm so pretty and luscious and glowey glowey" when they really just plan on leaving you high and dry after baby is born. 

During pregnancy, your hair gets so thick and pretty because the hormones cause most of the hairs to remain in a resting phase, not falling out at the same pace as they normally would. So when those feel-good-look-good hormones plummet after you birth your kid, those resting phase hairs just fall out. In chunks. Leaving you looking like the fucking Crypt Keeper with all of your bald patches and thin, stringy, dull zombie hair.

There needs to be a support group for postpartum hair loss, I swear. It's making me crazy.

Anyway, here I am, near hairless, and I'm telling you guys that this is bullshit. But it's normal. And it will pass. 

But in the mean time: go treat yourself to some cute-ass headbands because you're gonna wanna cover up that thinning hairline. 

drink your candy (breakfast)

So, I have a sweet tooth. For chocolate. All the time. Always. I want it ALL THE TIME.

The last few weeks, my morning smoothies have been super healthy - kale and fruit with no sweeteners...and I'm bored with it. I needed something new. And I was craving a Mounds bar the other day, so I came up with this gem that tastes just like the candy bar, only...erm...liquified.

Healthy Mounds Candy Bar Smoothie

1/2 frozen banana

1 cup kale, loosely packed

3 heaping tbs shredded coconut (I used sweetened)

1 tbs chia seeds

1 tbs coconut oil (I used Trader Joe's - this has a really coconutty flavor)

1/2 tbs honey (I used organic)

1 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tbs chocolate protein powder (mine is soy based and has a bland flavor...not sure what brand)

1/4 cup coconut water

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

Blend well (like, really, really well) and enjoy!!

Avery is 3 months old!

I'm writing this a few days late - Avery turned 3 months on Friday and its now Sunday, but at least I'm writing it, right? I sometimes wish time would slow down and let my girl stay little forever, and at other times I just can't wait to see what the future holds for her. Watching her grow up is definitely bitter sweet!

Here's what's going on with Avery at 3 months old:

She's discovered that her tongue is a thing - it's almost always sticking out!

Hands are pretty tasty - eating her hands is pretty normal now...and not because she's hungry. She also may or may not gag herself on a regular basis.

Drool. Lots of it.

Bumgenius pocket diapers fit! 

Still a peanut: still wearing some newborn sizes and a few 0-3 month clothes.

Avery just started noticing her puppy brother! They stare each other down in the car and she loves to just watch him and giggle - he is still unsure of if he really wants her to be around or not. He cries a lot when she's nearby.

Sleeping through the night most nights - or wakes up around 3-4 am and just comes to bed to snuggle with mommy.

Eating 5 oz bottles most of the time and taking shorter naps during the day.

Avery likes to stand - ALL THE TIME. If she's not standing, she's generally not happy. 

She likes people to be in her face - like, if you aren't like 2 inches from her face, you're no good. 

She sympathy cries - babies on the tv are now the devil.

All the smiles, all the time :)

Her legs are almost always moving or kicking.

She knows her bedtime routine and goes down easily (bath/shower, changed, book, bottle). 

We are so thankful for a happy baby! Patience and love are really all it takes for us :)

changing

I was going to write a post about my first post-partum period...and it got me thinking: is that appropriate? Should I really be sharing those kinds of things? Are people offended by the frankness with which I write my blog? Should I even worry about those things?

I may still write that post - I've decided it's a little too early to report on (although its going pretty well thankyouverymuch). Instead, those questions inspired a different post, this one.

Becoming a mom has changed me in so many ways: physically, mentally, spiritually. Before Avery was born, I kept telling myself, "don't let this baby make you crazy, don't let it change who you are." But she has, motherhood has, and not in a bad way. In a really good way. 

I'm going to write more posts about my postpartum body (and how it functions) because I'm comfortable with that. I want my daughter to be comfortable with that. If I'm not comfortable talking about my body (any body, really), then why would my daughter be? I want her to feel like she could ask me any question in the world and I wouldn't feel awkward giving her an answer. I want her to know that she has a right to know what is going on with her body as she grows up, to not feel ashamed in any way about the changes that are bound to come her way.

I'm going to speak my mind on important issues - if not me, who else? My thought process is this: if even just one more person (me) can speak up in the face of adversity, can it make a difference? Who's to say it can't? I want my daughter to stand up for what she believes in, educate herself on important issues and defend those well educated opinions. 

I'm going to love myself. This is a little difficult for me. I've struggled with this for a long time. Sometimes I look in the mirror and think, "what a fat piece of shit." That thinking is unhealthy, unfair, and unwarranted. I'm fully aware of that. I don't want my daughter to EVER hear me insult myself or to even see a look of contempt toward myself on my face. I'm working on this. 

I'm going to be honest with my friends. I don't think I can just smile and nod any longer. You have a problem? Wanna talk about it? I will support my friends in every way I know how, but if they ask my opinion or advice, I'm gonna give it because who knows when it will be genuinely needed? Sometimes a smile and nod is appropriate. Other times you just have to tell the truth. I want my daughter to one day have as great a group of friends as I have been blessed with - to have a place to go and not be judged, where they will tell her the truth and expect the same in return.

I'm going to try to live more simply. Things are just things. We don't need all the stuff. I want my daughter to grow up in a household where experiences are cherished more than the things we have. I never want her to feel as if she has less or more than someone else. I want her to feel as if she has EVERYTHING because family is everything. 

I want to encourage acceptance in those around me. There is no need to shame anyone for being different. No need. Different is beautiful. I want my daughter to know that, to revel in it. 

I want my daughter to be a strong woman one day. A woman she can be proud of. I want to become that woman myself. I want to be who I want my daughter to be. I want to be a better version of myself. All for her. She is all that matters. 

It's all for her.

a friendly conversation between friends of good stature

My new BFF - Kale

Kale is seriously my new favorite super-food ever ever. I have to say that since I've been consuming kale at least 5 times per week for the past 3 weeks, my postpartum anxiety has subsided and I just feel better. There are so many nutrients in kale that if you eat it regularly, it can only do good for your body. The magnesium, in particular, has amazing properties that help with anxiety and depressive tendencies - so eat your greens!

So far, I've only used kale in my morning smoothies. I haven't yet ventured into the world of kale chips and salads (the chips I could do, the salads I'm a little wary of because the texture of the leaves still freaks me out a bit). 

Here's the kale breakfast smoothie that  I'm currently digging: 

Almost-Piña-Colado Super Smoothie

(Makes 10(!!!) servings to freeze!)

1 bunch of kale, chopped (Trader Joe's also offers bagged, chopped kale for $1.99 a bag and one bag is enough for 10 smoothies - whatta deal!)

2 bags frozen pineapple chunks (Trader Joe's is also awesome for this - 2 bags at a cheap price!)

10 tbs chia seeds

10 tbs coconut oil

2 1/2 cups coconut water

5 cups almond milk

Each bag will get 1 cup of kale and 1 cup of pineapple chunks - freeze these and they are ready to go in the morning!

In the AM:

Blend - 

1 bag frozen kale and pineapple chunks

1 tbs chia seeds

1 tbs coconut oil

1/4 cup coconut water

1/2 cup almond milk

Make sure you blend this really well, or you will get yucky kale-chunks, and no one wants that. 

Enjoy! 

i'm a guest blogger!

My recent failure at cooking has been noticed! My BFF Melissa asked me to do a guest post for her blog and I was more than happy to oblige - nothing like getting noticed for your sucky cooking skills, eh?

So check out my post on her blog, Nailed It or Failed It and don't forget to take a peek at all of her recipes, craftiness and home improvement projects (most of which are "nails" because she's awesome)!

the low down on the "down low"

Yay! I'm finally writing a blog post that I had promised (unlike the updates of Avery's room, etc. oops!)! We FINALLY started using cloth diapers a few weeks ago! It took so long to get started because baby girl is so teeny - she started off wearing preemie disposables (!!!) so needless to say, the newborn-sized cloth diapers we bought just didn't fit her...and we weren't really anxious to deal with any messy blow outs. So far, I LOVE cloth diapering our baby. It's not only environmentally friendly, it's cheaper than disposables, super easy, and I'm not running out every week to buy more diapers! It's also addicting - have you seen some of the diapers out there? So cute! I want 'em all (but at about $18-$25 a pop, I'm not likely to get them all lol). 

I wrote a post prior to Avery's birth about which items we were planning on purchasing to start out our cloth diaper stash. Well, they've been put to good use already! 

So cute, right?! I know. 

Here are the diapers that we've been using (and loving): 

The prefolds and fitteds that we purchased (from Green Mountain diapers) had been washed and dried 5 times prior to use. This helps ensure proper absorption - you don't want poo or pee rolling right off of the diaper! Our covers were washed and hung dry once prior to use. 

The covers that we have include: 2 Bummis Super Brite newborn wraps, 2 Thirsties newborn wraps and 5 Rumparooz newborn covers. The wraps are all aplix (Velcro) and the covers are snaps. My favorites are the Thirsties wraps with prefolds during the day and the Rumparooz covers with a fitted for nighttime. I like the Bummis too, they work just fine, but I prefer the others. I also prefer snaps over Aplix - I think they will last longer and are more secure. If we are going out, I will sometimes use a fitted diaper with a snap cover - they hold more pee so she can stay in them a bit longer and it makes going out a lot easier (not that it's all that hard anyway). 

Fitteds are pretty self explanatory - you snap it on then put a cover over it. Here are the 2 prefold techniques that we are using: 

A pad fold: just fold the prefold on the folds, fold down the back (for girls) or front (for boys), center it in the cover or wrap, and insert baby! Super easy because you don't need to use any fasteners! I was a bit wary of using this fold because I wasn't convinced it would hold everything in, but it's really the only fold we use (and hubby likes how easy it is too). 

The other fold we use is a combo: 

Using the same pad fold as above, I place my newborn prefold (the tan one) inside of a bigger prefold (the white one). Fold the front edge of the bigger prefold over the front edge of the smaller, insert baby, and do a jelly roll fold with the bigger, using a snappi or pins to fasten. A jelly roll fold involves rolling the edges in, pulling the front of the diaper up over baby, then bring the back corners up front and fastening. We use this for heavy wetting days mostly, but I've found that this is much better for containing poo and I can use my covers a lot longer this way (poo doesn't touch the cover!). 

We wash the diapers about 2-3 times per week, depending on how much Avery goes and how often we change her (no more nighttime changes with fitted diapers though!). 

Here is our wash routine: 

Wash #1: cold wash, no detergent, no extra rinse

Wash #2: warm/cold wash, Rockin' Green detergent, extra rinse

Dry: prefolds and fitteds in the dryer, covers hang dry.

Super easy and because they are such small loads, it really doesn't take long at all.

Cloth diapering is so easy that we've convinced our moms (Avery's grandmas) that its no big deal and they are willing to use them when watching baby! 

We've slowly been building our stash of one size pocket diapers for after Avery outgrows her newborn stash (that may be a while). Right now we are stocking up on bumgenius brand diapers - recommended by our friends Ashley and Trevor (I've mentioned their blog in previous posts). I also want to get a few Rumparooz one size diapers because I love the covers so much.   

Before Avery was born, I discovered Modern Natural Baby in Ferndale. It's a natural parenting store with tons of cloth diapers and other goodies. If you are interested in switching to cloth, I highly recommend stopping by there - the amount of advice and support they can give is endless! The owners are awesome (a wife and husband) and are more than willing to help out newbies. They also offer classes! I just stopped in over the weekend and picked up 2 new bumgenius diapers as well as some pail odor remover. A testament to their great customer service: I paid for my odor remover and left it at the store, not noticing till I got home, called the store and they are shipping it to me free, no questions asked and happy to serve! I'm totally not being paid to advertise for this store, I just am in love with it! So go there!

Also, if you read my blog and have any questions, always know that I'm more than willing to help out! Just ask :)

Happy cloth diapering!!

Avery is 2 months old!

Wow! I cannot believe that my little chickpea is TWO MONTHS OLD! Two months! Time seems to have gone so fast, yet it seems like much longer since my belly was huge with only a 5 pound baby. 

Being a mom gets more amazing every day - just seeing her new little smile lights up my world, and I can't imagine my life any differently. Although going back to work has been easy for me, that doesn't mean that I don't miss being with Avery every second of the day! My mom watches her (and brother Auto) during the week and she sends me pictures of my little one throughout the day! 

Avery had her 2 month check up at the pediatrician yesterday - and she's still such a little peanut! 

9 lbs 5.5 oz (under the 25%)

23 inches long (in the 50% - tall girl for her weight!)

14 3/4 in head circumference (between the 25% and 50%)

This doctor visit was pretty intense - Avery got her shots and mama cried with her! Poor baby got 3 shots in her sweet little leggies and cried harder than she ever has before - even harder than when she came out of me! Though that was hard, I'm really happy to know that she is right on track with everything and is happy and healthy.

Here's what's new with out little sweetie pie:

1. Smiles! Avery started smiling about 2 weeks ago. She knows mommy and daddy and smiles when we come into a room and when we boop her nose! 

2. Kisses! Avery gives "kisses" (really she's just trying to eat our face, but we like to think its kissies!) and we love them, even though they are slobbery!

3. Avery takes showers with daddy - and LOVES it! We tried to give her baths, but she loves the water so much that she wiggles a bunch (and wet babies are HARD to hold onto) and gets mad when we are (all 3 of us) slipping and sliding all over the place. A shower is SO much easier and Avery loves the water beating down on her itty bitty tushy!

4. Our bedtime routine has finally figured itself out: starting at 9pm - shower (only twice a week right now) or wipe down, night time diaper (big ol' booty), jammies, reading time, bottle, and snuggles. Avery sleeps from 10-2:30/3 in her crib then from then until 5 in her swing (or crib again, but rarely). Seth and I switch on and off nights and its been working out great!

5. Cloth diapers finally fit that little booty! We've had to try a few different techniques, but they work and we love them! It feels so much better to not be spending money on diapers every week and the laundry load is totally manageable (2-3 times per week)! During the day, Avery wears a pad-folded prefold in a cover (sometimes with another, larger prefold jelly-roll wrapped and snappied over the pad-folded one if she's having a heavy wetting day) during the day and a fitted cloth diaper with a  rumparooz snap newborn cover (LOVE these) at night - we don't need to change her at night because the fitted works so well!

6. Our morning routine is going well! Since I've gone back to work, Seth and I wake up at 5 and Avery gets up between 5 and 5:30. Seth dresses her and feeds her while I get dressed, then we all kiss goodbye and he takes her and Auto to gramma's house for the day. I pick them up after work.

7. Avery can hold her head up pretty well and her new favorite game is "standing" - she pushes up with her legs off of our bellies and stands up...then slowly lowers herself back down after a minute or two.

8. Avery loves to sit up and look out like a big girl! 

9. Avery still fits in the newborn hold in our wrap, and loves to cuddle with mama in it. I can put her in there and she will snuggle in and fall right asleep!

10. She is such a good girl when we go out! 

11. Avery is still wearing newborn sized clothes (and some preemie pants lol) but can fit into a few 0-3 month sizes (but I'm pretty sure I shrunk those when I prewashed them).

12. The tongue. Avery has discovered it and is so amazed that she can stick it out! She looks like a little puppy dog with her tongue hanging out all the time (not to mention, she pants like one too!)

13. Avery loves being naked! Every time we put her on her changing table she gets so excited - kicking her legs all over the place! She just loves to be a nakey baby!

We love our little peanut so much - happy two month birthday, baby girl!

busy bee

Now that I've been back to work for a week, I have finally realized how much I like to be busy. Yes, I do love sitting at home and I do love being alone at times, but having a (pretty much) filled up schedule helps me tackle the not-so-fun things I need to get done (like cleaning the house). I think I've done pretty well adjusting to my new schedule as a working mom - Seth is having some trouble with the adjustment (he had to get up earlier to take Avery to gramma's house every morning), but he's working on it. 

One thing that I'm sure has been helping me out so much is having my lunches and smoothies for the entire week made! This was probably one of the best ideas I've ever had, and I don't know why I didn't do it before (maybe because I didn't have a baby?).

Yesterday was an interesting day. I babysat Grace, one of our BFF couples' kids, at my mom's house while the boys were at the Tigers' game. It wasn't so bad. We only had 1 fit thrown and 1 extremely-nasty-not-from-this-planet super poop (I was laughing so hard at the nastiness that came out of Gracie, that I stopped breathing - it was intense). So, all in all, a good day. After dinner, I did my weekly grocery shopping, then headed home and whipped up this savory-sweet recipe for lunch during this week at work:

Apple Cranberry Quinoa Salad (adapted from a recipe at Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice)

3/4 cup walnuts, chopped*

1 cup quinoa, uncooked

2 green apples, diced

1/2 cup dried cranberries

3/4 cup feta, crumbled (leave out for a vegan option)

6 green onions, chopped

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tbs lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook quinoa according to directions and set aside to cool.

2. Add 1/2 cup of the walnuts, olive oil, and 2 tbs of the lemon juice to a food processor or high power blender and process until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. To a large bowl, add quinoa, apples, cranberries, green onions, feta, and the rest of the onions and toss with the remaining 1 tbs lemon juice. Add the walnut dressing and toss again, making sure to evenly coat all ingredients. 

*the actual recipe calls for the walnuts to be toasted prior to processing. I said F that because I'm lazy, but do what you want.

honestly...

Ok. I'm just gonna throw this out there. 

I loved going back to work. And I'm not ashamed.

It seems, to me at least, as if there is this intense pressure on moms to feel guilty for going back to work. People are like, "oh my gaaaaaawd, you're leaving your new baaaaaaaby, how awwwwwwful, don't you wish you could just stay home and snuggle all day?"

Bitch, no! I don't wanna stay home and snuggle all day. Been there, done that. I LOVE my daughter. I ADORE her. My not wanting to stick around at home all day has NOTHING to do with her. It's all about me. And if I've learned anything at all from being a new mom, it's that you need to do what's best for yourself so that you can do what's best for your child. 

Now, this totally all depends on what type of person you are. Some people would be fine staying home all day and getting things done around the house, plus caring for children, plus activities, plus more. Props to y'all. Me? If I have too much time on my hands, I don't know what to do with it. I don't do anything. I WILL sit on my ass all damn day and be exhausted from the effort of doing absolutely NOTHING. The thought of getting out the vacuum will make me yawn. Dishes will pile up. I. Am. Useless. Needless to say, my house isn't too pretty after 7 weeks of this. 

I NEED to work. I never thought I would say that about myself, but it's true. Without the daily routine of getting up, going to work and coming home, I am just a bum. I need that routine to get me going enough to do things like clean my house and make awesome lunches (see previous post). 

So - going back to work was awesome. I've never been happier to sit in a back room, alone, with a giant pile of papers to enter into databases. I missed Avery and our snuggle-naps, but there will be ample time for those on the weekends. It's like, now I have the best of both worlds (Hannah Montana, anyone? No? Just me?) - I can go to work and feel like I'm DOING something (and actually be doing something productive) AND I can come home to my sweet little chickpea and snuggle her all up. It's a win-win. 

back to the grind

I'm going back to work tomorrow. Yay. It's almost like I can't contain the excitement (note the sarcasm). 

I lie. I'm not completely devastated to be going back to work - if I could stay home with my little one, I would, but I gotta do what I gotta do and I am looking forward to having a daily schedule again...I definitely don't hate my job. 

(But seriously, I wish I could spend all day just hanging with this cutie patootie)

In an effort to be extra healthy (and lose that extra 20 (!!!) pounds in baby weight), I took the time today to prepare my lunches for the whole week (as well as green smoothie packs and a snack). I need to try to walk on my lunch break too - we'll see how that goes, I have a LOT of work that needs to be caught up on, 7 weeks' worth. 

So I've been doing my research and (you know all about it if you follow me on Pinterest) I've found tons of recipes for simple, healthy lunches that I can make up on Sundays to last me the entire week. Here's what I came up with for this week:

Black and White Quinoa Salad

1 cup quinoa

1 can black beans (drained/rinsed)

1 can white beans (drained/rinsed - I used great white northern, you could sub navy or chickpeas)

1 cucumber (diced)

1/4 cup cilantro (chopped)

1 small red onion (I omitted this because Kroger didn't have any...I know, whaaat??)

Dressing: 

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tbs apple cider vinegar

2 tbs lime juice

2 1/2 tsp chili powder (courtesy of my friend Ashley - I didn't have any. Thanks, Ashley!)

1 clove garlic (minced)

1 tbs Italian seasoning 

1 1/2 tsp onion powder

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Cook quinoa as directed.

In a large bowl, whisk together all dressing ingredients. Add beans, veggies, and cooked quinoa and mix thoroughly. 

This made about 6 cups - the perfect amount to cover my entire work week!

In addition to this yummy lunch, I made up green smoothie freezer packs - enough for 10 (!!!) smoothies! That means I have 2 weeks of smoothies ready to go!

Here's what you need:

5 green apples (peeled and diced)

5 bananas (peeled and sliced)

A bunch of kale (destemmed/chopped)

A bunch of parsley (chopped)

Each bag will contain:

1/2 apple

1/2 banana

1 cup kale (tightly packed)

1/4 cup parsley (loosely packed)

These can be thrown in the freezer until you're ready to use them! Just add to the blender with about a cup of water (im sure your fave nut milk would work too) and blend! 

Oh! I made a snack too (I was definitely on a roll today)!!

Garlic Roasted Chickpeas 

1 can chickpeas (drained/rinsed/dried ~30 minutes)

2 tbs olive oil

1 clove garlic (minced) 

2 tsp garlic powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. After chickpeas are dry, add them to a bowl with other ingredients and toss to coat thoroughly. Spread chickpeas out evenly on a cookie sheet and bake until crunchy.