Question and Answer con...

Wondering what this post is all about? See my post yesterday to find out who all these people are and what we're talking about :)

4. When did you know your kid(s) were ready for small chunks of food and not pureed? 

     Rachele: I just tried a puree a few times, and when that was fine, tried chunks, and that was fine too. If you use small chunks of very soft food that doesn't need to be chewed (such as pears) and you sit right by, it's fine at a younger age than most people think. If you google "baby led weaning" then you'll see some babies are eating small chunks at 6mo. 

     Katie H: For starters Hudson ate like a rockstar from the beginning. He was eating me out of house and home so I started making my own baby food because of the variety, it's more healthy, and it's WAY cheaper. I started pureeing everything. Then I started giving him things like banana pieces, bread, etc. I did notice that he crammed everything in his mouth that was on his tray so I knew he couldn't handle too big of bites or two many because he would choke. He was always choking! I guess it's a trial and error thing. I also noticed he was interested in what we were eating so I would let him try things to get a variety.

     Nikki: It's got to be that pincer grasp thing. If the kid can pick up a Cheerio 9 times out of 10, then he's probably ready to eat it. Also, teeth, they're a pretty good sign. But every kid is different, so I start small and mushy (banana chunks are good) and if we don't gag, maybe we'll try something bigger or chewier.

     Calah: I think I started giving Bryton more chunkier stuff (i.e. little pieces of banana, strawberry, softer foods) around 7 months maybe? That's a big question mark. :) I generally just judge by if they seem to be learning what it means to bite and if they can mush it around in their mouth then keep it coming. The more they can do it the better. Also, a good judge for me was when Bryton started picking stuff up cause then I knew he could pick up little pieces of food.

     Greta: We started mushy foods (pieces of banana, avocado, puffs, etc.) around 7 months. I would only put a couple of things on the tray at one time. We started other food once the grasping, gagging was better. I think around 9 or 10 months? Small pieces of turkey, chicken, other fruit pieces, cheerios. 

5. How do you juggle having more than one child? Especially when it comes to having a newborn (feedings take forever, up all night, etc.) 

     Rachele: Lots of help from other people. Lots of slow cooker meals. A very very helpful husband shouldering much of the load. Relaxing the rules on letting the older kid watch TV. Enrolling the older child in independent activities to give the younger kid some space and peace for sleeping. Getting babysitting for the younger baby so I can get one-on-one time to focus on the older kid. (We have a babysitting swap setup with friends, so it's free for us most of the time. I highly recommend setting up babysitting swaps if possible.)      

     Nikki: Never say no to help. Ever. Unless it's that creepy guy down the street who doesn't shower much. Really, if someone offers to pick up groceries or bring a meal or fold laundry or walk your newborn around the block in a stroller, just say yes. Go sleep, eat, veg, shower, or read a tabloid magazine. Remember, Just Say Yes to Help.

     Calah:  It is definitely a juggling act with 3 kids! Greyson is bottle fed, which makes it easier on everyone I think. It's all about your other kids learning to have patience.  I would highly recommend to anyone, unless it's an emergency like they are gonna pee their pants or got a bad owie, that you tell them it can wait till you are done feeding little brother or sister, and don't get up till the baby is done eating. 

Make your older ones as independent as possible. I keep simple snacks like graham crackers, goldfish, in a cupboard down low so Bryton can get himself a snack if that is what he wants and I can't get it for him at the moment.

     Greta: See my post here about what I did while I was nursing a newborn with a 2 year old running around. Otherwise, ACCEPT HELP! Fortunately, my youngest was a SUPER easy (understatement) baby; we had our more difficult one first. One thing I wish I had done was continue to send our older son to his grandparents house 3 mornings a week so I could have alone/quality time with the baby. I would suggest that if you have that sort of system in place (or daycare, preschool, or whatever) keep having the older ones go (if you can afford it ) even just a couple mornings a week even though you're home. 

Question and Answer Friday

This is your chance to email, facebook, or comment questions. I'll pick some parents to help me out with giving some different answers. I had so many great questions/responses that I'm breaking them in to 2 days...check back tomorrow for: When did you know your baby was ready to switch from pureed food to small chunks? How do you juggle having more than one child, especially when you have a newborn (not sleeping through the night, feeding all the time, etc.)

First, a little bio on the Mamas featured: 


Rachele; mom to an adorable 3 1/2 year old girl and a sweet 1 year old boy. She's the author of Rhubarb Jam.
Katie H; mom to Hudson, a handsome 18 month old boy.
Katie B; featured the other day as a Transparent Moment. Mom to a beautiful 6 month old little girl. She's the author of Being the Browns.
Nikki; a brave mama with 4 kids; a 5 year old girl, twin 3 year old girls, and a 1 year old boy. Crazy? Maybe. But oh so cute (and I may or may not be envious!) She's the author of Ninja Mom.
Calah; Mom to 3 handsome boys. Trey is 6, Bryton just turned 2, and Greyson is almost 4 months old. 
Yours truly;  Mama to two cute little boys; an almost 4 year old, and an almost 2 year old. And author of this here blog :)

1. Did you teach your kid(s) sign language? If so, at what age did you begin and how many signs? What were the easiest signs for you to teach/them to pick up? If not, why not? 

    Rachele: Yes. With our daughter we started about 9mo, with our son closer to 12mo. We taught over 100 signs to our daughter. We were much more consistent with her so with son, he has learned only perhaps a dozen and is far from consistent with them. We got a lot of help from using the Signing Times series on DVD (taken from their old TV episodes). Easiest signs are: milk, eat, water.

     Katie H:  I taught our son, Hudson, to sign around 6 months or so when he started eating solids. I wanted to teach him how to ask for more without whining or slapping his hands on the tray. I taught him more, milk, food, please, thank you, drink, all done, and change. I bought a great book called Baby Signing 123. I took sign language as a foreign language in college and I currently teach sign in my KG classroom so I am very comfortable with it. Hudson caught on but didn't sign right away. He new what I was saying but he just watched. A month or so later he started copying all the signs. He is VERY verbal so I've quit signing as much because he wants to learn the words. Sometimes I say the word and do the signs.
     Katie B: My daughter is 6 months old. I am just beginning to start to teach her sign language. We are beginning with one sign as of of now and hope to work up to about 5 signs.
     Nikki: I taught my first born baby signs using the Baby Signs book. We began around 6 months, the same time that she started table food. I found that meal time was an opportunity to sit with her (helpfully captive in her high chair) and work on the signs. We probably got up to somewhere around 25 to 40 signs. It was a fantastic language builder. I've used signs with all of my kids (she has 4!) to some degree or another. And, because we use them only casually around the house, not in conjunction with a caregiver, I've felt free to invent signs that work best for us.
     Calah: I didn't teach my kids sign language. By my own choice I preferred to just teach them to say it than to sign it first. I think though in some cases my kids were the exception cause Trey and Bryton both verbally communicated fairly early for boys. So, when they started showing verbal communication skills I just ran with it.
     Greta: We attempted sign language with our first. We started at about 8 months. I taught him all done, more, and eat. I was afraid to teach him too much more because I had been reading at the time that it can delay speech. We weren't consistent and he became more interested in speaking so we just gave up. Our second we attempted all done but he would just do the sign on his tray resulting in everything getting smashed around his plate or ending up on the floor. He's been a really late talker (and is frustrated by it) so the whole "delayed speech" because of signing is thrown out the window--he would have been one to really benefit from signing.


2. What did you do to reduce/prevent stranger anxiety?

    Rachele: With both kids, I started using gym daycare 2-3x a week when they were about 4 or 5mo. Dropoff and pickup all within an hour. I think it helped some, but that said, every kid goes through stranger anxiety and it seems to hit somewhere between 9mo and 15mo. They get over it but it will still happen in phases, I think! 

     Katie H: I don't know if I've crossed this yet. I think me working has helped him to not be afraid of other people. When Hudson was a baby, we had a nanny and my mom watch him. Now he goes to daycare 3 mornings a week which has helped him be comfortable with other people. I would just say socialization in general; from swim lessons to library "lap sit" time, etc.
     Katie B: The fear of strangers may still come in time, but I let friends and family hold her whenever they want so she gets used to being with others. She interacts with strangers at the store or out and about and I let her do so.
     Nikki: I encourage the kids to wave and say hi and the like when we are together in public places. As they've aged we quietly instituted a policy that it's okay, even expected, to engage with strangers when Mom and Dad are around. The best place to practice this? The grocery store. Lots of people to interact with, but baby (or toddler) feels safe in her seat in the shopping cart.
     Calah: I feel that with Trey he has this sort of hesitation with strangers. I don't know if I instilled that in him or if that was sort of an in born thing. We have worked on it, and he is much, much better now. I have just taught him that it is not a problem if someone says hi to say hi back but only if he feels comfortable with it. I don't force it too much cause I'd rather my kids be overly cautious in this area than too friendly and trust any and everyone I guess.
     Greta: With our oldest we were consistent with was taking him to the church nursery which I think helped a lot. He was never really too shy and didn't really go through stranger anxiety until the beginning of this year when we started him in a preschool. With Kai we had taken a break from going to church because every time we did the kids would get sick. Now he's (whether a result of not going or not) fearful of strangers (and even our parents for awhile) and it's something we're still battling with. We try to make leaving a game. We blow kisses, catch them in the air, and smack them on our cheeks. So far it's been working (at least with our parents)...the true test will be leaving him with a stranger.

3. Do you use the same bedtime routine at night as you do during the day for naps?

     Rachele: No. Nap (routine takes 10-15min) is a very abbreviated version of bedtime, which much longer (routine takes 30-45min). I have heard several times that napping and sleeping are learned in different parts of the brain, and I have heard a lot of moms swear this is true, so I don't put much stock in napping routines or skill translating to bedtime, or vice versa.

     Katie H: I followed the Babywise book which is all about a schedule. I love that thing! For Hudson he would eat, play, sleep, repeat. I started stretching his feeds to eventually every 4 hours and then followed a routine. He knew what was happening and what was expected. For bedtime, we do a bath (almost every night...no in the summer:( ), Bible story, prayers, and then put him in his crib. He loves his naps/or nighttime sleep! I usually use this phrase when getting ready for a nap or going to bed "Do you want to go see dog and bearie?" He usually says "Yah" Then I say "Lets go get in your crib" and he almost always squeals with excitement.
     Katie B: Our nighttime routine is its own thing. I don't have much of a routine for naps besides zipping her in her sleep sack and giving her a little "shhhh" in her ear for a minute before laying her down. But I guess for both nap and nighttime, she does go in her sleep sack, we turn on the fan, we lay her down and give her a blankie to cuddle. But for nighttime there are many more steps (naked time, bath, lotion, feeding, story, etc)

     Nikki: We have the same routine for daytime sleep as we do for nighttime sleep. Except, we add a prayer at night.

     Calah: I don't always use the same routine for nap times as I do for night. The simpler you can keep it the better, especially if you have more than one kiddo.    

     Greta: Now we don't but it was sort of similar when they were each babies until about 14 months. Bedtime was just a longer version. For both we would read a story, close the blinds, give special blankies and turn on the fan. With bedtime we would do a bath...every night, then follow nap time routine, but I'd also sing songs and say prayers as they lay there in the dark. 


Readers: I know this is a lot of text, but what do you think? Should I continue it as a weekly or bi-monthly addition to the blog? Do you find it helpful? Next week I have some questions about "How did you know you were ready for a baby?" "What is the best/hardest part about pregnancy?", etc. Anyone want to help answer a few?

Budget Savvy Mommy

With the most recent expense of our dog (and the need for new tires...for both cars, winter coats for the kids, countless house projects, etc.) we've had to tighten up our budget...again. One of the main areas a family can cut costs is in the food budget. Obviously I'm not saying cut out how much you eat; though it might help with losing the last of "baby" around my mid-section. Rather, I'm suggesting cutting out how much you spend.  With a little effort, you can cut your grocery bill in half. For awhile I started my own coupon blog...but then I realized I was putting in a lot of work for very little reward; I enjoyed couponing, not blogging about it. However, there were some good pieces in there to get you started. So here goes...

I've heard the following comments regarding couponing:

1. It takes too much time to cut and organize coupons and then match the deals

True, it does take time. I found the initial start up to be the most time consuming. Now it usually won't take  more than an hour a week for me to clip and organize my coupons. And matching the deals? There are SO many websites that will do the matching for you! My faves: Frugal Living NW, Money Saving Mom,  Coupon Mom In fact, some women don't even clip coupons at all until these websites tell them which ones to clip. 

2. You can only buy junk food with coupons

As you can see from the picture below, there isn't a single item of "junk." And, I essentially got paid to purchase those items. Also, there are tons of opportunities to buy cosmetics, toiletries, etc. for free or close to free. If you don't eat it, and it helps you buy it for free, donate it! (This will make more sense later)

All the items above cost me $9.45 out of pocket. However, I had a $10 coupon to spend on my next purchase. It was like I was paid $.55 to buy all those things. The fruit was organic too.

3. We've all been there (meaning I must coupon because I have to)

Whether you "have to" or not, couponing is a great way to save money. Why give all your hard earned money to the store when you can get a better deal on it? 

4. Don't you have to go to a zillion different stores?

Unless there is an amazing deal elsewhere I tend to stick with Albertsons, Fred Meyer and Safeway and I will usually only pick 2 of the 3 of those to visit. If Rite Aid has a great money maker I will go there but otherwise I don't bother. Walgreens is another great money maker but Walgreens is 20 miles away usually making it cost prohibitive. 

5. And just plain "Why?" 

For me, it's fun; like a game. Where can I get the best deal? What store will pay me to buy this week? My family would rather spend our grocery money on something fun. In addition, we are currently on one income and attempting to remain free from credit card debt so it makes sense to shop frugally.

More to come (but not too much because this isn't a coupon blog ;) )

Readers: What do you do to save money? I need all the tips I can get!

Pack your bags, she's having the baby!

A friend of mine asked what I packed in my hospital bags when it came close to time to deliver my babies. Hopefully this helps someone else out too :)

For Baby:

1. Car seat. Obviously you can't leave the hospital without it. Yet, it's amazing how many people forget to install that sucker before they head to the hospital.

2. Going home outfit. Yes, cutsie them up...we want to see pictures!

3. Binky (if you plan to use one). The hospital around here no longer provides them.

4. A cute hat. The one the hospital provided was, well, not cute.

5. Cozy receiving/swaddling blanket. The one the hospital provided was not soft.

--What the hospital did provide: diapers, cloths you wet to use as wipes, a nose/throat sucker thingy (I have no idea what those are called), alcohol wipes for umbilical cord, pretty much anything else you can think of for baby--

For Mommy's Labor Bag (I would highly suggest a labor bag and a post-baby bag)

1. Birth plan. Are you wanting a water birth? Drug free? Epidural? Who do you want in the room for delivery? Are you going to listen to music? Do you want it completely silent? Etc. Write it down, give it to the nurse when you get to the hospital.

2. An open mind. Huh? See #1? Yea, that goes out the window if there is anything wrong with you or baby. Planned on doing it drug free but your child was 9 1/2 lbs and you ended up getting an epidural after 16 hours of pitocin induced labor? Yea, me too. Or how about your child was 9 1/2 lbs and you ended up having to have a c-section. Yup, plans change.

3. Chapstick.

4. Camera!!! Assign someone duty beforehand of taking pictures if you are going to have the birth documented. You'll still want your camera though for all the middle of the night pictures :)

5. Bathrobe. You'll want something to cover your fanny if you end up walking the halls. Plus, your body temperature will rise and fall throughout labor...you'll want something easy to take on/off.

6. Slippers (or socks). See #5.

7. Books, magazines, movies, playing cards, etc. Something to pass time if you get an epidural or even just to take your mind off the contractions if you don't.

8. Something to hold your hair back.

9. Lotion or massage oil. Just make sure you can stand the smell of it.
10. Glasses. If you end up having a c-section (and some hospitals require it regardless) you'll need to take your contacts out. 

For Mommy's Post-Baby Bag (leave post-baby bag in the car until...you guessed it...post baby)

1. Toiletries. Most important is toothbrush and contact stuff. I think our hospital supplies travel sized shampoos and soap.

2. Makeup. You may decide you don't want to bother. However, with my 2nd I just felt so much better about the huge belly I was still sporting after I put some mascara on.

3. Maternity clothes to wear home from the hospital...if you're like me. And if you're like my friend that didn't even look like she had a baby, well, please excuse me while I briefly hate you.

4. Nursing bra or tank.

5. Jammies. If you don't want to wear the hospital gown you'll want to bring jammies that have easy access to down below as well as open in the front on the top if you're planning to breastfeed. Don't bring your favorite jammies because they may get ruined. 

--What the hospital did provide: mesh undies (so you may want to bring your own loose cotton undies that you don't care about throwing away), a water bottle (but if you're partial to your own bring it), pads galore, ice packs, ours even provided some shampoo, meals were all included for mommy at our hospital except from 12 am to 6 am--

For Daddy's Bag (don't forget to pack for Daddy too!)

1. Toiletries. 

2. Money to buy food. At least at our hospital the food for Daddy costs extra. Bring some change too in case you need a late-night-cafeteria-is-closed vending machine run.

3. Pillow. Even dad's need their rest. Make sure hospital provides a blanket!

4. Something to wear to bed. You'll be up and down a lot in the middle of the night so you don't necessarily want to just wear your boxer briefs. Or maybe you do. Heck, your wife just showed the world her goods.

5. Make sure your wife grabbed the camera!

6. All the phone numbers for people you'll want to notify. 

7. Snacks. See #2

Pack light. Try to keep everything in one backpack for labor and one backpack for post-labor. After all, the only thing you really need to have there is YOU and a car seat. 

Readers: Do you have anything to add to the list? 

Postpartum Continued...

As I said in yesterday's post, I was determined with our second to do all I could to help prevent postpartum depression the second time around. 

Here are some of the things I learned...

1. Ask (or accept offers) for help.  This is the number one piece of advice I can give. If someone offers to make you a meal, get their phone number and call them. You do not need to do everything. Trust me, you will appreciate not having to think about what to make for dinner. If someone offers to come clean you house...TAKE THEM UP ON IT. You might need to allow them to hold your baby for a few when they're all done, but it's so worth it. You won't be able to do it all yourself, and it's important to know that's okay.

2. Surround yourself with other parents. Find a go-to person for all those parenting questions; someone you can call when you need advice, need to know if you're acting sane, need an ear to listen and let you know that what you're experiencing is perfectly normal...or not.

3. While you're still in the hospital, don't be afraid to send the baby out with the nurses so you can get some sleep. It doesn't make you a bad parent, and it doesn't mean you love your child any less. If your baby is anything like mine was, it may be the only sleep you'll have for awhile and it's so important for your recovery to rest. This will be especially true if you have the baby in the middle of the night...you'll need to get caught up on sleep!

4. Identify potential triggers. E.g. I knew if I didn't find out ahead of time what we were having I had the potential to feel depression (especially with the surge of post baby hormones) if we had another boy. I wanted to feel elated at his birth that we were adding another baby to the family. See Gender Envy. For some it might be having an overbearing parent, or parent in law, that might have the potential to hang around too much. Or it could be knowing you'll feel too stressed if the house isn't immaculate. Or for others still it might be something else entirely. The important thing is to address it beforehand (as much as possible...you won't know every potential trigger) and have a plan.

5. Ask those closest to you to monitor how you're feeling/acting. It's normal to be weepy and emotional. But if you start to feel like it's going beyond that, take it seriously. If you're like me and don't realize how bad it is while you're in it, make sure you let your spouse and/or friends/family know it's okay to suggest help.

6. Get out and about. Go to coffee with a friend, go shopping, go to dinner, go for a walk. Whatever it is, just get out. If you have a baby that allows you to get out with him/her, then by all means, do. But, if you have a baby like my first, try to find outings that are easier to manage a crying baby. Getting out for a walk, or exercise in general (nothing strenuous for the first 6 weeks) can help produce endorphins which help your overall sense of well-being.

7. Don't expect everything to go according to your plan. Life is unpredictable and babies are, well, babies. Just when you think you have them figured out, they throw you a curve ball. Your baby may not sleep, you may struggle in ways you didn't realize, your baby may

8. Sleep. Okay, remember how I said I hated (understatement) when people told me to do that? Well, I hated it because inevitably whenever I would lay down for a nap my son would wake up just as I was dosing off (It would take me 30 minutes to fall asleep which is exactly when he would wake up). However, there is truth in the statement that you should sleep. Only what I want to suggest is sleep even when your baby is awake. What I mean by that is if you are one whose child does not sleep, take up one of those people on their offer to help and have them watch your baby (yes, even if your baby is awake) so you can get caught up on sleep. I had my son at 3:42 am, the doctors and guests didn't leave until after 5:45 am, and the pediatrician came in to do the circ at 7:00 am. Guests started pouring back in around 8:00 am...should I continue? Needless to say, we were up for basically 40 hours straight. It's a hard thing to catch up on. And then to have a child that didn't sleep made it that much harder. In hindsight I wish I had asked someone (other than my husband because he was so tired too) to watch our son and only wake me for nursing...I could have missed one day of his life instead of weeks. Would it have helped? I don't know, but I sure wouldn't have been as exhausted while I was depressed. Fortunately, I was blessed with a 2nd child that slept 20 hours a day for the first few months.

9. Make sure you're getting your Omega-3s. I didn't try this one, but a lot of the reading I've done has shown me there is some research backing this up. Interesting thought.

10. If postpartum depression does happen to you, know that you are not alone. You are not the first, you will not be the last. Seek out help.

Please know that since I am not a Doctor any "advice" I suggest should be run by a Doctor first. 


Readers: I hope you've found something to either carry with yourself, or pass along to a friend. Please do! It's so important to know you're not alone. Anyone else have any tips to add? What did you do to help get rid of, or prevent postpartum?


P.S. If you haven't already, please "follow" this blog by clicking the "follow" button in the right margin:) and become a fan on facebook...oh yea, and suggest it to your friends! Thank you! :):)

Planning for a car trip with little ones

Recently I've been braving taking the kids on some solo car trips. I started out with a close distance...only 3 1/2 hours away. Keep in mind my kids are 1 1/2 and 3 1/2 so these tips won't necessarily work for older kids. Regardless, here are some pointers I wanted to share when traveling alone with kids...

1. Pray the kids take a nap on the drive.

2. Bring extra binkies to keep in the center console because inevitably one will end up flying through the air and out of reach. 

3. Pray for naps.

4. McDonalds play places are a great place to get wiggles out.
5. If you see a naked child coming out of the playground at McDonalds you might want to consider removing your children from the playground. It is possible that the naked child pooped on the slide.
6. Pray the kids take naps.
7. Bring an unseen movie to put in the player.
8. Plan on hearing said new movie 4 times throughout the drive without actually seeing the movie.
9. Let the kids pack a travel bag...it's much more exciting when they are the ones picking out the toys.
10. Bring lots of special snacks and keep them within easy reach.
11. Don't bring any snacks you don't want to spend the drive eating because you will inevitably eat all said snacks throughout the duration of the drive in order to stay awake--even if the snacks consist of 1/2 a bag of pretzels, a bag of m&ms, countless handfuls of teddy grahams, skittles...should this go on?
12. Pray the kids take a nap.
13. Plan on hearing "are we there yet?" every 20 minutes after the first 1/2 hour passes.
14. Again, pray for nap.
15. If you're fortunate enough to have kids actually take the much prayed for nap, drive. Drive fast. Do not stop. Shove another handful of pretzels in your mouth and DRIVE.