Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Christmas 2009 (and 41 weeks old)!

































I know, I know... this is rather late in coming and I have had more time than usual to get the blogging done too... no good excuses other than we have been busy having too much fun here!
So a recap then... Somehow we forgot to add owl pal to the 41 week birthday pics, but I think Kieran's size is pretty apparent from how much of him is sticking out of the pack-n-play these days! We will get back on track with owl pal this week... at least that's the plan ;)

Kieran had a wonderful Christmas- three of them actually! Our first holiday was spent in St. Charles with Rick's father's family. Rick's Aunt Alisha hosted this year at her beautiful home that had lots of space for the dozen or so kids and two dozen or more adults. There was tons of food and tons of noise... Kieran was a bit apprehensive at first but quickly warmed up to the craziness after watching some of the big kids run and play. Kieran received quite a few gifts from his great aunties and uncles and had lots of fun watching the famous (or infamous- depending on your perspective) Rother wrapping paper fight after all the gifts were opened. By the end of the evening Kieran was worn out and fell asleep as soon as his bottom hit the car seat and he stayed that way all the way home- which his fellow travelers were quite thankful for!

Christmas number two was spent at Grammie and Grandpa Daugherty's home. We got up, packed the car with presents, food and baby essentials and hit the road, enjoying the white christmas as we drove. We had breakfast when we arrived- quiche, sweet rolls and lots of other delectable appetizers. We enjoyed this morning feast with Grammie and Gramps as well as Shannon, JT and cousin Presley. Then it was off to open gifts which was of course lots of fun this year as there were finally toys under the tree again! Kieran and Presley enjoyed the festivites and all the presents and by 1 were ready for naps! So we all took a break from opening gifts- there were still the stockings to dig into- to prepare dinner and let the babies rest. We enjoyed a peaceful meal, while the babies slept, of the holiday staples such as turkey, stuffing and of course cranberries! When the babies woke up we opened stockings and then finished the day with coconut cake, made from a freshly cracked and grated coconut- mmmm!!!

Christmas number three was spent the following day at Grandma Sandy's home with Uncle Zach, Uncle Aaron, Auntie Angie, Great Aunt and Uncle Joyce and Furcin, Great Grandma and Grandpa Gene and Eileen and cousins Jayden, Jaron and Braydon! It was packed at Grandma Sandy's for sure! First we watched the big kids open presents and then we got down the important stuff- eating!! Kieran got to join the meal sitting in daddy's old highchair, which was made of metal and made great "music" when pounded on! Grandma Sandy's dinner was enormous too- two types of meat, lots of veggies and delicious rolls- mmm! After dinner it was time to open gifts and of course Kieran enjoyed this part best of all! He got to unwrap gifts with the assistance of cousin Jaron ;) After all the packages were torn open we ate- again.... lots of yummy deserts like red velvet cake and cookies and pie.

Kieran had such a wonderful first Christmas. He loves the books he got, the fire trucks, walk-to-stand toy, educational toys, stuffed animals and more! Thank you to all our families for their generosity and love this holiday- you all made it very special and memorable for our family. We wish you all a Happy New Year and look forward to many more holidays spent together as family!
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Sunday, December 20, 2009

A couple videos... and a non related "rant"



First off the videos... Daddy is so great at remembering to capture not only photos but also videos of the every day adorableness that is Kieran- thanks daddy- you ROCK! The first video is of Kieran with his "helper" spoon as daddy feeds him dinner. We have been giving KP a spoon to hold while we feed him for a while now to keep his hands occupied so that he doesn't reach for the feeding spoon and we can get his meals in his mouth- mostly ;) But recently we tried letting Kieran dip his "helper" spoon in the food to see what he would do and ta-da! he fed himself successfully on many occasions! Of course sometimes the wrong end goes in and sometimes food goes flying, but we were very impressed with his skills anyway- way to go big boy! The second video is fun times with mommy's green hat- a favorite game of daddy and Kieran is to put things on Kieran's head and then shake them off, laugh and repeat. Mommy enjoys watching this cuteness on a regular basis.

So, now on to mommy's rant (which isn't an angry rant, really more of an informative one) for the day... I don't understand why more people don't use cloth diapers and make their own baby food! I know, I know it sounds so granola and tree-hugging and like a lot of work. And maybe it is environmentally friendly and maybe some people just aren't that in to being green and natural and all that... but even if that's not your deal what about the MONEY?! Now that's something everyone cares about and yet so many people spend a ton on diapers and prepackaged baby food- I don't get it! So I am going to explain why I love my cloth diapers and home made baby food and why I wouldn't have it any other way...

1. Cloth diapers are soooooo much cheaper! I bought all my diapers and covers that go from birth to potty training for about $200 add in about $250 to launder these diapers (http://www.ehow.com/how_4785879_cloth-diapers-vs-disposable-diapers.html) and that's about $500. I know that may sound like a lot but compare that to around $2000 (on the low end) in disposable diapers for the same time and the savings is obvious.

2. Cloth diapers are cleaner than their disposable counter parts. First off, you tend to change them more often so baby sits in a wet diaper a lot less which leads to less diaper rash- in fact Kieran has only had diaper rash once so far and it was so mild it went away with a little triple past in a day- compare that to his disposable wearing counterparts- I'd say that's pretty good. Secondly, with cloth diapers there is less small... I know what you are thinking- but it's true. Disposable diapers have a very strong odder, especially after they become wet.Where as cloth barely have an odder at well when just wet. Finally, you keep poopie disposables in your nursery for a number of days before disposing of them. With cloth diapers, the poo is flushed immediately down the toilet, thanks to this ingenious device: http://www.katieskisses.com/proddetail.php?prod=4 And we don't actually flush these liners, usually we wash them with the diapers and reuse them over and over and they hold up remarkably well. The only time we don't reuse them is when there has been some very yucky poo and in that case we throw these liners away, but we have only needed to do that a few times. So, in other words, our dry diaper pail, which consists of a plastic laundry basket with a cloth, washable liner, smells worlds better than even the best Diaper Genie.

3. Cloth diapers are not all that much work, and this is coming from some one who detests laundry (and most other house work for that matter). We do diapers 2-3 times a week. Here is the process: The diaper gets dirty (thanks to sweet little KP), we flush any solids and then throw the diaper and liner in the diaper laundry basket. After about three days we take the bag of dirty diapers, cloth wipes, liners and the bag to the laundry. First we do a cold rinse cycle with a little baking soda to eliminate odder. Next we wash everything with hot water and the same detergent we use on our clothes- free and clear stuff. Then we dry everything together, put it all in the now clean bag, fold and repeat. Very easy, in fact my favorite thing to fold as far as laundry goes is the diapers because how hard is it fold a rectangle?! A lot easier than fitted sheets and pairing socks that's for sure!

4. Making your own baby food saves money- a LOT of money. On average, we spend about $.05 per ounce on most of our baby foods while prepackaged baby foods cost about $.25 per ounce! WOW!! (http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/cost.htm) Crazy I know!

5. Homemade baby food tastes better. Seriously, try it sometime... sample some packaged peas and then try some pureed frozen peas... there is a very serious difference in color, texture and flavor... one tastes like peas and one tastes like, well... you know. Eating foods that taste like the real food as a baby is certainly helping prepare baby's taste buds for grown up foods a lot better than the packaged alternative. Not to mention the benefit of no added ingredients- you know exactly went in that ounce of sweet potatoes that you made- which is a good thing!

6. Making your own baby food gives your baby more choices. I have checked out the baby food isle before and was surprised at the limited amount of choices available. Where's the avocados? What about mango and blueberries? Where's the lentils? When you make your own baby food there is no limit to the variety you can offer your baby... which also helps prepare him for all those grown up flavors and textures.

7. Homemade baby food isn't that much work and that's coming from someone who eats frozen pizza at least once a week. I buy both fresh and frozen foods to start with. Frozen are really easy because they can be steamed quickly. Gourds and potatoes are baked and that's not a lot of work really outside of scooping out seeds and the like. Then, if you have a good food processor, most foods that have been cooked a little don't need to be chopped too much, they puree very easily and to whatever texture your prefer- so you can go from soup to simply chopped and everywhere in between with the flick of a switch. Storage is simple and cheap- freeze food in ice cube trays and then store in labeled freezer bags. I spend an average of maybe four hours a month total preparing baby food. I know I would spend mere minutes if I were to buy the prepackaged baby food but I figure the savings and the health benefits make these four hours well worth it.

8. Frozen baby food has less waste. This way, instead of opening a four ounce jar of baby food only to have have KP eat one ounce and then pitch the rest, I can prepare only what he needs/wants because each cube is only an ounce. I start with a smallish amount and can always heat up some more if he wants it.

9. Homemade baby food does travel, it just needs a freezer bag or lined lunch box. We pack a variety of cubes in baggies when we hit the road and put them in a lunch bag with a cold pack. All we need then is a microwave when it's time to eat... not a big deal at all.

10. There is less cost to the environment. Disposable diapers and prepackaged baby food all add to our never ending collection of trash. Sure cloth diapers and homemade baby food use some energy to clean and prepare but there really isn't any comparison as far as which leaves a smaller footprint.

Sure we use a few disposable diapers and have given Kieran the odd oz or two of prepackaged foods. He wears disposables to bed because mommy feels better about him being in a better wicking diaper for 12 hours than a cloth one. We also use disposables on trips sometimes for the convenience and we have fed him jarred baby food in a pinch (although he doesn't like it much). But generally speaking we stick to cloth and homemade for all the reasons listed above and we feel the little amount of extra effort is well worth the benefits. That's just my two cents... no judging here just sharing what I have learned about these subjects and hoping it helps clear up some misconceptions about going the "natural" rout with baby ;)
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Thursday, December 17, 2009

Happy 40 weeks!







Kieran is 40 weeks old today! He's looking more and more like a little boy and less and less like a baby. This is bitter sweet for mommy as she loves to watch him grow but she also misses all that has passed that will never be again...
Kieran is crawling really well now and is also pulling up. In fact, he tries to stand up all the time with or without the assistance of a table or hands- thus the butt in the air all the time. Of course since his head is in the 75% this makes balance a little difficult... but he'll get there eventually ;)
KP is eating a wider variety of foods these days, ever since mommy took him in for his 9 month well baby and discovered that he isn't supposed to be eating a completely pured diet of nothing but a few fruits and vegies... turns out his food should be chunky and he should be eating most all the things grown ups eat- like dairy and other types of protein and more finger foods. So this week Kieran has tried clementine oranges (in his nummy pouch), yogurt and cheese- all of which he really likes- after an initial hesitation. Mommy has also been chopping up his food rather than spinning it into a pureed oblivion- so quite a bit more texture and thus more work on Kieran's part but he's been handling it like a champ! In fact, Kieran has discovered that his "helper" spoon can be used to feed him and not just to beat on the high chair and throw on the floor, which daddy has captured on video ;)
All in all it has been a busy week for Kieran. We are all very excited about the up coming holiday break and nearly two weeks to spend with our little man... can't wait!
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Sunday, December 13, 2009

Happy NINE months!! (and x-mas trees)












Kieran is 9 months old as of yesterday morning around 3! He has changed sooo much in such a short amount of time. In comparison to Lori's twins (both around 6 pounds) he seems enormous, like a little boy more than a baby. Kieran is crawling more and more now, so now we are all on high-baby-alert... time to start baby-proofing in earnest for sure!
Kieran spent his 9 month birthday as follows: First we went to Panera for breakfast and then stopped by Target for a little birthday gift- a couple of books, one with nursery rhymes and the other with colors and textures. Then we headed home and tried to get the little one to nap with no luck... so it was on the road! We drove to Millersburg and then back on rt. J coming up through Guthrie and to Ashland while Kieran slept soundly, where we stopped to visit Grandma/Grandpa. Kieran got see his first x-mas tree and was very impressed- good job Grandpa! He also got to see some wildlife while sitting on Grandpa's lap looking out the window. Then we packed up and barely made it Jeff (as mom forgot we were nearly out of gas) Once we filled up the tank, we went over to the Optimist tree lot and picked out a lovely 7ft balsam fir. We got the tree home and Kieran had a bath and got ready for bed while daddy got the tree up. Then we all decorated Kieran's first tree and of course it's the best tree ever because we have so many "baby's first Christmas" ornaments to make it extra sparkly. Happy nine months little one.
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Friday, December 11, 2009

Happy 39 Weeks!





Happy 39 weeks little man! Yesterday was an exciting day because auntie Lori's twin girls, Reese and Olivia were born! We are going to meet them today and can hardly wait! Kieran had a little excitment in his day yesterday too because he got to see the West school Christmas performance last night! He loved all the kids and the colors, movement, and lights- what a fun way to spend a weekly b-day!
Kieran has taken a very few tentative crawling steps but still isn't motoring around just yet... but no doubt by his 40th week, he will be a crawling machine!
I included a pic of three of the fur babies so you can see that they are indeed still here and well! Darby doesn't get into the love-in on the bench like the rest do ;)
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Friday, December 4, 2009

Happy 38 weeks!





Happy birthday big boy! Nearly as many weeks on the outside now as Kieran was on the inside! I think owl is shrinking... or perhaps he's growing up ;) KP is sooo near crawling, he makes the motion with his hands on the floor and leans forward and rocks and kicks out his "kick-stand" leg and then... he sits back down! When I picked Kieran up from Sheila's yesterday she had her camera out... trying to capture his first crawl, but he pulled the same fake out with her too and sat back down! Any day now though for sure!
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