Starting Solids | Serenity's First Food

I consider myself a fairly "crunchy" mama ~ I prefer to use natural methods whenever possible for whatever I am doing, and parenthood is no exception. Part of that philosophy includes something called "baby led weaning" which basically means you don't force your child to eat on a schedule or by a certain age, but rather you watch for certain markers that indicate your child is ready to start eating solids, then let them take the lead (using safe foods, of course). You typically end up avoiding purees, and most babies that start solids using this method do not start eating solids until they are between 7 and 9 months old, and sometimes older. The markers to watch for are a) sitting unassisted, b) loses the tongue thrust reflex, c) shows interest in eating, and d) is at least 6 months old.

I had totally intended to use this method with Serenity. And I did ~ it just didn't turn out quite how I had expected.

Serenity started showing interest in what we were eating at only 4 months old. I was not thrilled, but figured she'd be fine for another 2 months. Not so much. At 5 months and 1 day old, Serenity grabbed my fork with both hands, and just about managed to stuff it into her mouth before I got it away from her, and she threw the biggest fit I have ever seen on a baby this age. Screamed and screamed and screamed!!! So we went back to the drawing board, and decided that since the only marker missing was her age, we would go ahead and start her on solids a little early, and just take it slow.

We started with egg yolk. She wasn't much impressed...

You might be wondering why egg, and some of you might be freaking out because eggs are not recommended until a year old because of the risk of allergic reaction. Fear not! I have an explanation.

The allergenic properties of egg are found in the white portion, not the yolk. So as long as you remove all of the white and the membrane, you're golden (pun intended, haha).

"What is this stuff?? I think she's trying to kill me!!"

Serenity was more than ready to grasp things with her hands, but she wasn't yet scooping small objects with her fingers, so she wasn't getting the hang of picking up the pieces of egg yolk. She wasn't a big fan of me sticking pieces of yolk into her mouth (she's already incredibly independent, and wanted to feed herself), so I mushed up the yolk with a little water and smeared it on a spoon. Handed it over, and off she went! Happy as a clam, and ate almost a full yolk before she got tired and pooped out.

So starting solids didn't go quite as I had planned. But she's taken right to it, and is happily chowing down on something yummy once a day for over a month now. So far, baked sweet potato seems to be her favorite *smiles*

Yard Sale Weekend

I woke up two Friday mornings ago with a great deal of excitement mixed with trepidation. It was yard sale day, and I had a lot to do before I would be ready. My tagging plans were derailed from the get-go, when Nick dropped my keys into the main pocket of the diaper bag instead of the small pocket on the front (and since searching for anything smaller than the Titanic in the big pocket is akin to trying to find a blue crayon in a bucket full of office supplies in the dark with your hands tied behind your back, I naturally assumed that he had left them on the credenza the night before since that was the last place I saw him set them), and I spent all day Monday locked out of my own house. The rest of the week went in a similar fashion, and by Friday morning I had only managed to tag one small box of items. But the happy news was that I had managed to get all of the yard sale junk over to my sister-in-law's house the previous evening, so while I still had to set everything up and finish tagging a bazillion things, at least all the hauling was already done.

Serenity woke up, her usual cheerful self, and promptly pooped like the end of the world for a solid 10 minutes while giggling and talking to herself. After 4 nights leak-free, Serenity managed to soak through my favorite of her sleepers (Oh, the poomanity, will the stains ever come out?), and was extremely amused by the whole thing. Jerry, her faithful and soggy giraffe friend, looked at me with something like resignation in his beady little eyes as she snarked on his nose and screamed happily at him.

Butters is always happy to see his baby in the mornings, and this morning he surprised her (and me) with a sneak attack ear bath and had to be chased off the bed. (Butters has a tendency to try and steal Jerry, so we keep a close eye on the two of them, otherwise we end up having to fish Jerry out from under the bed or the coffee table and wash him off so he's baby-safe again.)

Once Ren was dressed, and my lunch and the diaper bag packed, Butters went in his crate and Serenity and I took off in her new stroller I picked up for a steal at the Happy Kids Consignment Sale, run by my friend Tonja. Unfortunately, one of the front wheels fell off in route, and while my mother-in-law, Cindy, found it, it keeps falling off and we're back to needing a good stroller again. *sigh* Thankfully, we made it the last few blocks to my sister-in-law, Kristine's house with no trouble, and in time to set up for our yard sale!

Both Kristine and I thought we each had just a small amount of clothing and household goods to contribute to the sale, but we were a little off. Between the two of us (mostly me, I admit), we covered her entire front yard with stuff to sell!

Our first day, we only had 5 customers, and sold almost nothing. It turned out that both of our signs had blown down, and while her house is central it is off the beaten path a bit and no one knew we were having a sale! It was also a blistering hot day, and both of us got too much sun.

That night, we all had dinner down at Nick and Kristine's mom's house, which is only a few blocks down the street from Kris's place. Despite the heat, it was nice to take a walk together, and I always enjoy watching Cinda "help" her mommy push Nico in his stroller. Soon enough, they are going to need a double stroller! I can only imagine that next summer will be crazy-fun, wrangling all these kids together! *smiles*

Poor Cinda had a bit of a freak out on the way; she encountered a little girl with a Chihuahua, and when the dog saw Cinda it pulled it's leash out of it's owner's hands and started sniffing Cinda all over and jumping up. Cinda is little bit scared of dogs, and was crying and screaming, trying to get away from it! Kristine was able to snag the leash and the little girl too her dog in hand, and everything was fine. Cinda calmed down as soon as the dog was gone. I think she picks up on her mommy's mistrust of animals...

Serenity and Grama Cindy had a fun time talking to each other, and taking goofy pictures with the iPad (which horrified her poor Daddy, lol). It was nice relaxing after a long day in the sun, and not having to cook dinner.

Kristine and I ended up running down to my friend's 2nd baby sale of the season, and I picked up a really nice Baby Bjorn baby front pack, and was really excited about it until I found out that they're referred to as "crotch danglers" and are not good for the health of little baby hips. *bummer* On the bright side, a good percentage of the stuff I included in that sale sold!

The final day of our yard sale went much better, and we ended up selling a good chunk of stuff before packing the rest of it up and donating it to a local resale shop in a neighboring town. A couple of things came back home with me, that I know I can sell online, but from an entire room full of junk all the way down to a single half empty box is a big win in my book! Kristine and I decided that if we do another sale together next year, we'll host it at my house (huge shade trees and a covered porch!!), and much earlier in the season. Even though our sale ended fairly well, we still didn't get nearly the traffic we had expected, and while I'm glad all the rummage is gone, I do wish more of it had sold and less donated. All in all, though, a great weekend *smiles*

Happy Mother's Day | Two Weeks Old

Happy Mother's Day to the women in my life who have made a difference...

To my mother, Ellen, who taught me right from wrong, and introduced me to Jesus ~ thank you for instilling in me a vast hunger for truth, for righteousness, and for the face of God.

To my Grama, Marilyn, who never sugar coated the truth when I needed a good talking to, and at the same time always made her deep love of me known ~ thank you for always being there, and for your shining example of what it means to follow Christ with your life.

To Cindy, who shows me daily through her practical example how to live a productive life that's glorifying to God and satisfying to her family ~ thank you for being the best mother-in-law in a girl could ever have, and for raising such an incredible son to be my husband.

To my Aunt Debbie, who took me into her home while I was dating Nick, and took away the homesickness when I felt displaced ~ thank you for treating me like your 3rd daughter.

And to Grama Linda, who taught me many valuable lessons about living in grace during difficult times, and who shared her wisdom and love with me, as well as her home, for almost three years ~ thank you for your servant's heart, for your devotion to your family, and for accepting me as your granddaughter. You are an incredible woman, and I miss you enormously ♥

And finally, to all of the wonderful women I know who inspire and uplift me by their shining examples of faithfulness, patience, grace under pressure, and steadfast love. You have all touched my life in immeasurable ways, and I salute you today ~ thank you for helping me, by your own lives, to be a good mother to my little Serenity, and a good wife to my beloved Nick. I love you all very much!

Happy 2 Week Birthday, Baby Serenity!! *hearts*

21 Weeks Pregnant | It's a Girl!!

We had our 19 week scan two weeks ago tomorrow, but I completely forgot to post about it. Sorry!! Anyway, this is the only image they gave us that was even a little bit recognizably human, so it will have to do. Our beautiful little girl kept her face pressed up against the uterine wall the whole hour I was in there, and since ultrasound images are obtained by bouncing sound waves off the baby through the amniotic fluid, the tech was unable to get a very clear picture - there just wasn't enough fluid between her face and my uterus. I'm a bit disappointed that we don't have a cuter (more human-looking) picture of our sweety, but I am just so SO so thankful that she is healthy and in there!! For those of you who don't know, Nick and I struggled with unexplained infertility for four years and had given up trying for a baby when she showed up - a complete surprise. Our little Serenity is most definitely a miracle baby!

Yes, we've settled on a name ~ Serenity