Babyfood

Well making my own baby food has proven to be a success and our stash is growing. So far I've collected a lot of great websites for babyfood recipes and I've made Peaches, Avacados, and Apples.

Katen really seems to love the apples and she's still a fan of the Gerber organic peas. I've been trying to keep her food organic to be a little "greener" and to reduce her exposure to chemicals. I'm hoping to get some great fruits and veggies at the farmers market this summer so that I can make more. It's really pretty easy and much cheaper. I've been using Ziploc microwave steam bags to steam the fruits and veggies. That makes the skins slip right off and then I plop everything into the food processor. Viola, babyfood!

On a related note, we need to find some smaller bibs...

I don't make this stuff up

Ever feel like drama follows you?



I treated myself to a brownie today. It had cream cheese frosting. My Favorite!!! I took two bites and then realized ...one of the sprinkles does not look like the others.











A closer look... Yes, the mosquitos are really bad this year. Really. Bad.

















When I told Katen about it, this was her response.

Preemie Moms

I think this is just beautiful and wanted to share...

How Preemie Moms Are Chosen (Adapted from Erma Bombeck) Did you ever wonder how the mothers of premature babies are chosen? Somehow, I visualize God hovering over Earth, selecting his instruments for propagation with great care and deliberation. As he observes, he instructs his angels to take notes in a giant ledger. "Beth Armstrong, son. Patron Saint, Matthew. Marjorie Forrest, daughter. Patron Saint, Celia. Carrie Rutledge, twins. Patron Saint ... give her Gerard. He's used to profanity." Finally, he passes a name to an angel and smiles. "Give her a preemie." The angel is curious. "Why this one, God? She's so happy." "Exactly," smiles God. "Could I give a premature baby a mother who knows no laughter? That would be cruel." "But does she have the patience?" asks the angel. "I don't want her to have too much patience, or she'll drown in a sea of self-pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wear off, she'll handle it. I watched her today. She has that sense of self and independence so rare and so necessary in a mother. You see, the child I'm going to give her has a world of its own. She has to make it live in her world, and that's not going to be easy." "But Lord, I don't think she even believes in you." God smiles. "No matter, I can fix that. This one is perfect. She has just the right amount of selfishness." The angel gasps, "Selfishness?! Is that a virtue?" God nods. "If she can't separate herself from the child occasionally, she will never survive. Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with a child less than perfect. She doesn't know it yet, but she is to be envied. She will never take for granted a spoken word. She will never consider a step ordinary. When her child says 'mama' for the first time, she will be witness to a miracle and know it. I will permit her to see clearly the things I see – ignorance, cruelty, prejudice – and allow her to rise above them. She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life because she is doing my work as surely as she is here by my side." "And what about her Patron Saint?" asks the angel, his pen poised in the air. God smiles. "A mirror will suffice."

Lullaby

After 5 months, the same old lullaby's are getting old. I think Katen would love to hear me sing something else (off key of course) so if you know of a great lullaby, send it to me!

Here's one that I definitely must learn. It's from the movie Dumbo and it's called Baby Mine.

Baby mine, don't you cry
Baby mine, dry your eyes
Rest your head close to my heart
Never to part, baby of mine
Little one when you play
Don't you mind what you say
Let those eyes sparkle and shine
Never a tear, baby of mine
If they knew sweet little you
They'd end up loving you too
All those same people who scold you
What they'd give just for
The right to hold you
From your head to your toes
You're not much, goodness knows
But you're so precious to me
Cute as can be, baby of mine


Here's the one that I've worn out. It's called "Snuggle Puppy" except my version goes:

Oooh snuggle baby of mine
everything about you is especially fine.
I love who you are,
and I love what you do,
Oooh snuggly Katen,
I love you!

A fellow Nest Member sent me information on this CD. It's called Blink by Plummer and I really like the songs. Check it out:

Happy Father's Day

The weekend started off with a bang... or a gush. One of the levys downtown broke and water flooded the bridge and surrounding area. (I'll post some pictures at the end of this entry.) Typical for Friday the 13th, right? My place of work is just far enough away from the action that we were not evacuated, but everyone in a 3 block radius or inside the flood plain were. I wasn't there anyway though.

I was at home planning for our garage sale. We had some great help with the sale. Two ladies that I know from the Des Moines Nest board ( an online forum that we belong to) brought their little girls to play with Katen. They were all so well behaved and had a lot of fun! Another "Nestie" who is expecting her first child in December helped as well. Katen tried to amaze her with her great "raspberry blowing" skills and flashed some of her best toothless grins. The weather was beautiful and in the end we didn't make a ton of money but it was nice to be rid of some of our junk! The rest will go to a local charity called freestore.org and the clothes will go to Goodwill. ...once I get the energy to take them there. Garage sales are a lot of work!

Mike spent the morning of Father's day golfing with two of his high school friends and my Dad. It rained briefly but they had nice weather for the most part. Katen and I spent the morning running errands, cleaning up the house, and making food for the Father's day BBQ we were hosting in the evening. She was such a trooper while I strolled her though Target and she gave me a good hour to do housework while she played in her Fisher Price Jumperoo. (The BEST invention for a 5 month old ever!). I figured out that if I put her jumperoo by the patio door so she could look outside and also turned on the Roomba (one of those automated vaccumes), she had plenty to keep her flea sized attention span satisfied. (And I got the living room floor clean!)

Later in the day Katen helped me husk corn while riding in her baby Bjorn carrier. The was really interested in the bumpy, sticky texture of the corn and tried to put some of the silk in her mouth. Everything must be tasted, you know. It's fun to see her the little gears in her head turn as she experiences new things. Her mind amazes me.

What did Daddy get for Father's Day? He got a new battery powered hedge trimmer and weed eater combo. I know it sounds like we're putting him to work, but that's what he wanted. Honestly, the man can have any yard toy he wants as long as he does the yard work. That's not a job that I miss and he's doing a really good job. I remember a beautiful spring day when Mike and I cleaned up the yard from the winter as Katen rode in her Moby wrap with me. That was the last time Katen and I mowed. Apparently the sound and the motion is soothing to a baby though. She fell asleep if I remember correctly. However, putting her to sleep is still not good enough reason to try it again. It gets hot with the baby stuck to your front, wrapped in jersey knit fabric. I'll reserve that fun for the Farmer's Market.



As promised, more pictures of the flooding...



Those of you who live in my hometown know that the second picture is of the lower Red Rock Lake camping ground. The picture is of the check-in booth which is generally high and dry. Water from Sailorville Reservoir flows downstream into Red Rock Lake and causes domino effect flooding as it travels.