Tuesday, June 26, 2012
We're Still Here
I've been a neglectful blogger of late. You'd think I'd have plenty of time to blog during the summer, but it's amazing how busy you can become playing, relaxing, and getting projects done. There's been a lot going on both good and bad, and I may get around to sharing some of it eventually, but for now, I'm just enjoying all the time off to focus on my sweet boy! Hope you and yours are doing well, too!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Twenty-One Months
Dear Ethan,
In three short months, you will turn 2. Mind-boggling. And yet you've changed so much just in the past month. Most notably, you have become so much more talkative and are constantly narrating the world around you. I tried the other day to count up the words you know and eventually gave up after I hit 50. Any fears I might have had about you being slow to talk are long gone. You're up to 3 word sentences now, and I'm constantly amazed (and amused) by the things that come out of your mouth ("daddy truck poop" anyone?).
So many of the peculiarities of infanthood and even young toddlerhood seem so long ago. It was just recently that you refused any fresh fruits and vegetables but now you chow down on just about anything. You love carrots and green beans the most, raw or cooked, and you go nuts over sliced apple. I'm finally enjoying meals with you instead of it seeming like just another chore.
You are such a delight, Ethan, and I genuinely enjoy our play together. Even when you have gotten on my last nerve refusing to mind and getting into mischief, you just look up at me with that grin and it's all I can do to keep a straight face. You are considerate and empathetic beyond your years, and you love your family and friends so fiercely. I'm constantly in awe of the little boy you are becoming and I can't wait to watch you grow into the man you will be. Until then, I'll continue to savor these countless sweet moments.
Love,
Mommy
In three short months, you will turn 2. Mind-boggling. And yet you've changed so much just in the past month. Most notably, you have become so much more talkative and are constantly narrating the world around you. I tried the other day to count up the words you know and eventually gave up after I hit 50. Any fears I might have had about you being slow to talk are long gone. You're up to 3 word sentences now, and I'm constantly amazed (and amused) by the things that come out of your mouth ("daddy truck poop" anyone?).
So many of the peculiarities of infanthood and even young toddlerhood seem so long ago. It was just recently that you refused any fresh fruits and vegetables but now you chow down on just about anything. You love carrots and green beans the most, raw or cooked, and you go nuts over sliced apple. I'm finally enjoying meals with you instead of it seeming like just another chore.
You are such a delight, Ethan, and I genuinely enjoy our play together. Even when you have gotten on my last nerve refusing to mind and getting into mischief, you just look up at me with that grin and it's all I can do to keep a straight face. You are considerate and empathetic beyond your years, and you love your family and friends so fiercely. I'm constantly in awe of the little boy you are becoming and I can't wait to watch you grow into the man you will be. Until then, I'll continue to savor these countless sweet moments.
Love,
Mommy
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Frugal vs. Natural
Since I just posted about green cleaning, I figured now was as good a time as any to vent write about green eating. Ideally, everything we ate would be locally and organically grown or raised. Unfortunately, we just don't have the grocery budget for that. So then the issue becomes, what do we compromise on? As I think I confessed earlier, I've dropped many of the organics I insisted on for Ethan's first year. He still gets ($6/gallon) organic milk, but his yogurt, meat, and some of his produce are conventional. I try to buy organic for the dirty dozen, at the very least, but sometimes the budget gets in the way yet again (especially since our local organic farm is having hard times due to the weather and a family emergency so all organics have to be bought at the store). And organic meat/cheese/eggs? There are not enough coupons in the world for us to afford that on a regular basis. It's frustrating because I would like to eat more responsibly, but do we dip into savings (or stop putting money into savings each month) in order to buy $6+/lb. organic chicken breasts when I can stock up on the conventional variety on sale for just $1.65/lb?
And eating organically isn't the only way I want to raise Ethan. I want him to be a locavore, too, supporting our small farmers and enjoying the fruits (and veggies and meats) of the land he lives on. We go to the farmer's market in our little town every Saturday morning, and I'm excited to start going to their new Wednesday afternoon one as well. There I stock up on kale, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, zucchini, etc. All the veggies we need to get us through a week's worth of dinners. I also buy our local honey there, which we have been going through lately at an alarming rate. A couple of weeks ago, I even decided to purchase a few pork chops and some bacon for a dinner I'd been wanting to make for a while (but the grocery store pork chops didn't look good enough). The price tag for 2 dinners' + 1 breakfast's worth of meat? Over $20. $20 for the meat alone!!! And while that was some of the best bacon I've ever had, that's just not possible on a regular basis (which may be a good thing, in this case...)
So what's the answer? In a dream world, we'd have enough money to shop exclusively at Whole Foods and buy all our meat and produce at the farmer's market. In a slightly-less dream world, I could grow all our produce organically in our backyard and put that savings towards buying other organic/local goods. I would love to do this, but I lack both the know-how and the green thumb to make this a reality, I'm afraid. Our neighbor has started to grow a lot in an effort to reduce grocery costs, so she and my horticulturalist mother-in-law would be great resources, but, honestly, I'm intimidated. And it's that intimidation that has stopped me from starting a garden for three years now. ((Thanks to said mother-in-law, I do now have an amazing herb garden, which has already helped tremendously with produce costs since I use a LOT of herbs in cooking. I also tried to grow some spinach this year, but the deer ate it last week)).
Since I've missed out on planting a garden this year, I'm going to keep muddling through like we've been doing. I buy locally and organically where I can, and I try not to fret over the rest. I'm getting to know our local small farmers (my favorite new farm is a certified natural farm that I visited last week on the way home from sailing. She gave me the full tour and is just as friendly and helpful as can be!), and those relationships are as important for Ethan's culinary education as organic, locally-milled flour would be.
And eating organically isn't the only way I want to raise Ethan. I want him to be a locavore, too, supporting our small farmers and enjoying the fruits (and veggies and meats) of the land he lives on. We go to the farmer's market in our little town every Saturday morning, and I'm excited to start going to their new Wednesday afternoon one as well. There I stock up on kale, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, zucchini, etc. All the veggies we need to get us through a week's worth of dinners. I also buy our local honey there, which we have been going through lately at an alarming rate. A couple of weeks ago, I even decided to purchase a few pork chops and some bacon for a dinner I'd been wanting to make for a while (but the grocery store pork chops didn't look good enough). The price tag for 2 dinners' + 1 breakfast's worth of meat? Over $20. $20 for the meat alone!!! And while that was some of the best bacon I've ever had, that's just not possible on a regular basis (which may be a good thing, in this case...)
So what's the answer? In a dream world, we'd have enough money to shop exclusively at Whole Foods and buy all our meat and produce at the farmer's market. In a slightly-less dream world, I could grow all our produce organically in our backyard and put that savings towards buying other organic/local goods. I would love to do this, but I lack both the know-how and the green thumb to make this a reality, I'm afraid. Our neighbor has started to grow a lot in an effort to reduce grocery costs, so she and my horticulturalist mother-in-law would be great resources, but, honestly, I'm intimidated. And it's that intimidation that has stopped me from starting a garden for three years now. ((Thanks to said mother-in-law, I do now have an amazing herb garden, which has already helped tremendously with produce costs since I use a LOT of herbs in cooking. I also tried to grow some spinach this year, but the deer ate it last week)).
Since I've missed out on planting a garden this year, I'm going to keep muddling through like we've been doing. I buy locally and organically where I can, and I try not to fret over the rest. I'm getting to know our local small farmers (my favorite new farm is a certified natural farm that I visited last week on the way home from sailing. She gave me the full tour and is just as friendly and helpful as can be!), and those relationships are as important for Ethan's culinary education as organic, locally-milled flour would be.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
What We've Been Up To In Pictures
We've done a lot of stuff lately that I haven't made time to post about. So instead of doing several different posts for the varying topics, I'm going to tie them together with the theme of pictures. Here goes:
Sensory bins:
New Truck:
Random Moments:
Pinterest Crafts:
The past few weeks have been chock full of play dates, baking, errands, and play, but this should get us slightly more caught up, at least!
Sensory bins:
 |
| Playing with his sensory table bin full of dyed cooked spaghetti |
 |
| Making piles |
 |
| Swoosh! |
 |
| We made up a big batch of cloud dough (flour and oil) for a play date |
 |
| Making it snow |
New Truck:
 |
| We bought Ethan a Power Wheels at our church's youth yard sale for $15. Unfortunately, the battery was dead. Enter Ethan. |
 |
| 4 days and one $50 battery from Amazon later, he was good to zoom! |
 |
| Our neighbor of course came down to race |
 |
| They spent a lot of the afternoon staring at one another as they drove |
 |
| Nathan hopped in to ride shotgun |
Random Moments:
 |
| Ethan dragged his rocking chair onto the screen porch to watch a thunderstorm |
 |
| It's horribly blurry, but Ethan loves wearing his daddy's shoes around the house |
 |
| Playing in a plane at a local organic farm |
Pinterest Crafts:
 |
| Felt mail |
 |
| Repurpose a wipes container with scraps of cloth for wipes! Ethan loves it, and he's no longer throwing away good wipes! |
 |
| It takes a bit longer to reload, but if you take the time, you can even make it feed automatically like real wipes. |
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Chemical Purge
I haven't shampooed my hair in over a week. It's been almost as long since soap has touched my face. And that Seventh Generation cleaner I always used on my kitchen counters? Well, it's been over a year.
While you're on hold with CPS to report the squalor I'm allowing Ethan to live in, let me assure you that my house (and body) is perfectly clean. I've just been gradually removing chemicals from my cabinets in favor of more natural remedies. It started around the time Ethan began crawling. Even though the Seventh Generation cleaner I'd always used is supposed to be natural, I was looking for something totally baby-proof. So I went old-school. Starting with the kitchen counters, I began using a 1:1 solution of white vinegar and water. Then I began using it in the bathrooms, too. With the addition of my new steam mop, all of my cleaning agents are now homemade, and my home is even more sparkling than before!
Then I discovered coconut oil. I was looking for a lotion/diaper cream for Ethan, and it became a fixture in my bathroom cabinet as well. This stuff is an amazing moisturizer, it smells divine, and you can use it in the kitchen to boot! I slather it on my hands every night, and it's cloth-diaper safe, so I can use it on Ethan without fear.
My most recent switches have come in the past week only because I wanted to wait until after graduation since there is a bit of an in-between time where you can look a greasy mess. I first heard about going "no-poo" from a blog written by a local mommy friend of mine last November. I decided then that I wanted to try ditching the shampoo but decided to wait until the pony-tails of summer allowed me to hide my greasily-adjusting hair. Y'all, this method is amazing! My hair already feels healthier and silkier. It's definitely still adjusting as the oil levels regulate themselves (it takes a couple of weeks), but I don't foresee going back to shampoo.
While I was already greasy from the no-poo plunge, I decided to try out the Oil Cleansing Method (OCM). Using the science of "like dissolves like" this involves washing your face with a mixture of castor oil and olive oil. After the first night, my face felt silky and smooth, and it's such a relaxing process! I had heard there could be an adjustment period with this method as well, but I honestly haven't noticed any difference. The breakout that was starting when I began the OCM was stopped in its tracks. We'll see if it passes the test of hormonal breakouts or not, but I have high hopes for this method as it avoids any need for facial cleanser or moisturizer, and, at the very least, it seems to work just as well.
So what started as an attempt to keep chemicals out of Ethan's crawling environment has become a process of detoxing the house entirely. I have a feeling there will be more changes over the coming months as I discover new ways to ditch the chemicals in favor of more natural methods. But there are still some things I'll hang on to. Most notably: store-bought deodorant, more specifically antiperspirant. In just the past week, two different recipes for homemade deodorant have come up on blogs and forums I follow. My husband has been trying to get me to stop using antiperspirant since we met, but I've just told him it'll be his job to care for me when I'm struck by the aluminum-induced Alzheimer's. I may not know who I am, but at least I won't be sweaty.
While you're on hold with CPS to report the squalor I'm allowing Ethan to live in, let me assure you that my house (and body) is perfectly clean. I've just been gradually removing chemicals from my cabinets in favor of more natural remedies. It started around the time Ethan began crawling. Even though the Seventh Generation cleaner I'd always used is supposed to be natural, I was looking for something totally baby-proof. So I went old-school. Starting with the kitchen counters, I began using a 1:1 solution of white vinegar and water. Then I began using it in the bathrooms, too. With the addition of my new steam mop, all of my cleaning agents are now homemade, and my home is even more sparkling than before!
Then I discovered coconut oil. I was looking for a lotion/diaper cream for Ethan, and it became a fixture in my bathroom cabinet as well. This stuff is an amazing moisturizer, it smells divine, and you can use it in the kitchen to boot! I slather it on my hands every night, and it's cloth-diaper safe, so I can use it on Ethan without fear.
My most recent switches have come in the past week only because I wanted to wait until after graduation since there is a bit of an in-between time where you can look a greasy mess. I first heard about going "no-poo" from a blog written by a local mommy friend of mine last November. I decided then that I wanted to try ditching the shampoo but decided to wait until the pony-tails of summer allowed me to hide my greasily-adjusting hair. Y'all, this method is amazing! My hair already feels healthier and silkier. It's definitely still adjusting as the oil levels regulate themselves (it takes a couple of weeks), but I don't foresee going back to shampoo.
While I was already greasy from the no-poo plunge, I decided to try out the Oil Cleansing Method (OCM). Using the science of "like dissolves like" this involves washing your face with a mixture of castor oil and olive oil. After the first night, my face felt silky and smooth, and it's such a relaxing process! I had heard there could be an adjustment period with this method as well, but I honestly haven't noticed any difference. The breakout that was starting when I began the OCM was stopped in its tracks. We'll see if it passes the test of hormonal breakouts or not, but I have high hopes for this method as it avoids any need for facial cleanser or moisturizer, and, at the very least, it seems to work just as well.
So what started as an attempt to keep chemicals out of Ethan's crawling environment has become a process of detoxing the house entirely. I have a feeling there will be more changes over the coming months as I discover new ways to ditch the chemicals in favor of more natural methods. But there are still some things I'll hang on to. Most notably: store-bought deodorant, more specifically antiperspirant. In just the past week, two different recipes for homemade deodorant have come up on blogs and forums I follow. My husband has been trying to get me to stop using antiperspirant since we met, but I've just told him it'll be his job to care for me when I'm struck by the aluminum-induced Alzheimer's. I may not know who I am, but at least I won't be sweaty.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Graduation Weekend
I'd planned on getting to this post much earlier in the week, but apparently that didn't happen! It was certainly a whirlwind weekend, though quite enjoyable! I'll try to summarize briefly and of course include some pictures.
Everyone came to town on Friday evening. Ethan went nuts over seeing his BeBe (my maternal grandmother) in person, and even though this was only the 4th time he'd seen her, he was calling for her all weekend long (and all of this past week, too!). On Saturday, after breakfast with my dad and a trip to the farmer's market, my mother-in-law came over in the morning to build me an herb garden for my graduation gift. It's amazing! Then we spent some time playing (mostly with water balloons) before Ethan's nap:
After Ethan's nap, I was able to nurse him quickly before my dad and I headed off to get seats for graduation. We got there right when the chapel was supposed to open, and yet we still ended up in the 3rd to last row!!! I headed off to the div. school chapel where all the graduates were to gather, and there were some mighty pissed off people whose parents were stuck in overflow seating already! After an hour catching up with friends and enjoying the moment, it was time to process in.
The graduation itself was full of mixed feelings. While I was trying to focus on the moment, my mind kept getting distracted by all the crying babies. "Was that Ethan? It sounded too young. That couldn't be him. Could it?" I did hear a laugh that sounded a lot like him (and indeed it was) and found out afterwards that he was as happy as could be, sitting in Grandma's lap and playing with her iPhone. I'm quite proud of how well he did, in fact, especially considering graduation lasted 30 minutes past his regular bedtime!
It was also full of mixed emotions for other reasons. In part, one of my friends from my first year spiritual formation small group passed away last fall from cancer. As we were seated, I asked the person next to me (also from our year) if that was our friend's wife sitting across the aisle. I'd only met her once or twice, but I was pretty positive. Sure enough, it was, and there was a very moving ceremony in which they awarded him a posthumous degree. I (and many of my classmates) couldn't hold back the tears thinking about what an amazing person he was and how much he's missed.
It was also full of mixed emotions because it was the end... but not quite. In a way, I'm actually thankful that I have to go back for one more class next fall because it allowed me to keep it together at graduation. This place has been so wonderful, and I hate to think of leaving. So while I was proud to have (almost) made it through, I'm so glad I don't have to say goodbye yet.
The dean of the chapel gave an amazing sermon, and then it was time for the hooding ceremony. After that, there was a time of community celebration (read: cheering), and then we recessed back up the aisle. I cannot describe how incredible it was to see Ethan waiting for me. He was just beaming, so excited to see his mommy. Seeing him, everything was worth it. And so I couldn't help absconding with him for the rest of the recessional!
We headed to our pre-determined meeting spot. Everyone soon joined us, and then it was time for pictures. By then, Ethan was quite sleepy, so we didn't get a lot of smiles out of him (save for when he started sticking his finger up his nose... he'd outright giggle every time I playfully yanked it out). Finally Ethan couldn't wait to nurse any longer, so we said our goodbyes as I nursed Ethan on the bench.
The plan had been to change him into PJs, let him fall asleep on the way home, and stop at a fast food restaurant to pick up some dinner. Well, Ethan decided that was a bad plan. Instead, he spent the drive back laughing at his phone, talking away, and just celebrating the evening. I tried to quiet him down, and even recited his favorite book to him from memory, but by the time we got close to home, he was still wide awake. So Ethan and I were dropped at home so I could get him to bed while Daddy went to pick up Chick-fil-A (Everyone else in the family had the same idea, funnily enough!). Ethan went down almost immediately as soon as he got in his crib and slept just fine all night.
All in all, it was a wonderful weekend, and I'm so glad Ethan was there to share it with me! Now I just need to actually finish earning my diploma!
Everyone came to town on Friday evening. Ethan went nuts over seeing his BeBe (my maternal grandmother) in person, and even though this was only the 4th time he'd seen her, he was calling for her all weekend long (and all of this past week, too!). On Saturday, after breakfast with my dad and a trip to the farmer's market, my mother-in-law came over in the morning to build me an herb garden for my graduation gift. It's amazing! Then we spent some time playing (mostly with water balloons) before Ethan's nap:
After Ethan's nap, I was able to nurse him quickly before my dad and I headed off to get seats for graduation. We got there right when the chapel was supposed to open, and yet we still ended up in the 3rd to last row!!! I headed off to the div. school chapel where all the graduates were to gather, and there were some mighty pissed off people whose parents were stuck in overflow seating already! After an hour catching up with friends and enjoying the moment, it was time to process in.
The graduation itself was full of mixed feelings. While I was trying to focus on the moment, my mind kept getting distracted by all the crying babies. "Was that Ethan? It sounded too young. That couldn't be him. Could it?" I did hear a laugh that sounded a lot like him (and indeed it was) and found out afterwards that he was as happy as could be, sitting in Grandma's lap and playing with her iPhone. I'm quite proud of how well he did, in fact, especially considering graduation lasted 30 minutes past his regular bedtime!
It was also full of mixed emotions for other reasons. In part, one of my friends from my first year spiritual formation small group passed away last fall from cancer. As we were seated, I asked the person next to me (also from our year) if that was our friend's wife sitting across the aisle. I'd only met her once or twice, but I was pretty positive. Sure enough, it was, and there was a very moving ceremony in which they awarded him a posthumous degree. I (and many of my classmates) couldn't hold back the tears thinking about what an amazing person he was and how much he's missed.
It was also full of mixed emotions because it was the end... but not quite. In a way, I'm actually thankful that I have to go back for one more class next fall because it allowed me to keep it together at graduation. This place has been so wonderful, and I hate to think of leaving. So while I was proud to have (almost) made it through, I'm so glad I don't have to say goodbye yet.
The dean of the chapel gave an amazing sermon, and then it was time for the hooding ceremony. After that, there was a time of community celebration (read: cheering), and then we recessed back up the aisle. I cannot describe how incredible it was to see Ethan waiting for me. He was just beaming, so excited to see his mommy. Seeing him, everything was worth it. And so I couldn't help absconding with him for the rest of the recessional!
We headed to our pre-determined meeting spot. Everyone soon joined us, and then it was time for pictures. By then, Ethan was quite sleepy, so we didn't get a lot of smiles out of him (save for when he started sticking his finger up his nose... he'd outright giggle every time I playfully yanked it out). Finally Ethan couldn't wait to nurse any longer, so we said our goodbyes as I nursed Ethan on the bench.
The plan had been to change him into PJs, let him fall asleep on the way home, and stop at a fast food restaurant to pick up some dinner. Well, Ethan decided that was a bad plan. Instead, he spent the drive back laughing at his phone, talking away, and just celebrating the evening. I tried to quiet him down, and even recited his favorite book to him from memory, but by the time we got close to home, he was still wide awake. So Ethan and I were dropped at home so I could get him to bed while Daddy went to pick up Chick-fil-A (Everyone else in the family had the same idea, funnily enough!). Ethan went down almost immediately as soon as he got in his crib and slept just fine all night.
All in all, it was a wonderful weekend, and I'm so glad Ethan was there to share it with me! Now I just need to actually finish earning my diploma!
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
My Smart Boy!
This is a total bragging post. I make no appearance otherwise. But bear with me because it has a cute video.
A week or two ago, I told my husband that Ethan knew a letter: "O." He has one of those magnetic letter sets with Scout from VTech, and he likes to play with them sometimes during lunch. On one such occasion, he exclaimed "O!" picked the "O" up, and threw the rest on the ground. My husband was unconvinced.
This morning, he was playing with his letters on the light table. He handed me the "O" and said "O." Then he handed me the "Y" and said "Y!" I was so excited I ran and got the camera to collect proof. I have no idea if he knows any of the others (so far "D" and "M" were busts, though he did identify a "V" as a "U" and called a "B" an "E" so maybe he just knows vowels), but I'm quite impressed as it is since we've never formally attempted to teach him any letters!
A week or two ago, I told my husband that Ethan knew a letter: "O." He has one of those magnetic letter sets with Scout from VTech, and he likes to play with them sometimes during lunch. On one such occasion, he exclaimed "O!" picked the "O" up, and threw the rest on the ground. My husband was unconvinced.
This morning, he was playing with his letters on the light table. He handed me the "O" and said "O." Then he handed me the "Y" and said "Y!" I was so excited I ran and got the camera to collect proof. I have no idea if he knows any of the others (so far "D" and "M" were busts, though he did identify a "V" as a "U" and called a "B" an "E" so maybe he just knows vowels), but I'm quite impressed as it is since we've never formally attempted to teach him any letters!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
