The elephant...on my head...

I feel like there is something I need to talk about.  Something that I've been wanting to write about for a few months now, but haven't quite had the inspiration.  No, it's not about world peace, or grass fed versus corn fed cows.  It's about something much closer to me.  On top of me even.  It's my hair.  This might not be a big deal to you.  In fact, I'm quite certain you don't care about my hair at all.  But it's a big deal to me, and this is my blog.

You see, when I was in high school, I had normal hair.  In the late 90's it was cool to not really "do" your hair, which was kind of a winning situation for me, since I didn't actually like to do my hair.  It's unfortunate, looking back on pictures of me in oversized flannel shirts, pants made for boys and Dr. Martin shoes, but at least getting ready for school each day took minimal effort.  My hair was just a normal mid-length, like most other teenage girls at that time.

My freshman year in high school....

My senior year in high school.  Note the vast difference 4 years makes...or not....

Then I went to college.  My first year there, I stuck to my normal girl hair.

Freshman year in college.  "Normal" girl hair. 

Then, the summer between my freshman and sophomore year, I cut it.  Really short.  I did this, in part, because in the marching band I was in, short hair was waaaaay easier to deal with, and also, because Gwyneth had short hair, and her's was super cute.   So I cut it, and I came back to school that year, and lots of people told me they loved it.  I loved it.  It actually made me more confident in my appearance, knowing that my hair was different than most other girls.

This was at a Jimmy Buffett concert, so pay no mind to the leis and squinty eyes.

It just worked for me.  It was easy.  I never had to "do" it.  It never took me more than 5 minutes to get my hair ready every day.  Well, you know that old phrase "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"?  It wasn't broke, so I didn't fix it.  Ever. 

At my sister's wedding, when I was in college.

In Key West on college spring break.

Here I am with the really dressy version of my hair.  (Also took 5 minutes to do)

Sometimes it was a little shorter...

One time I actually tried to grow it out!

But then I cut it again :/

Our engagement picture....

A picture on our honeymoon....

Pre-baby hot air ballooning....

Post baby Bronco tailgating....

Jackson's first birthday....

On a cruise in 2010....

About a month before getting pregnant with Gavin in 2010...

Year after year, I had the exact same hair cut.  For 13 years!  Then I got pregnant with Gavin, and decided to grow it out.  In part because I was too broke to get my hair cut, and in part because I thought "well if I'm going to be all awkward looking with this big belly, I might as well have awkward hair too."

So I grew it out.

Slowly....

(My belly grew much faster than my hair!)

Very slowly.....

But surely.....

My hair started getting longer! (Man, I was tan....is it summer yet?!)

Until it wasn't all that awkward anymore!  (My hair, not my belly!)

So here I am, six months after Gavin was born. 15 months since my last real haircut, and it's finally shoulder length.  And I don't know what the heck to do with it!  I've never actually "done" my hair before.  Not on a regular basis anyway.  Sometimes I try to curl it....

Sometimes I try to straighten it.....

But naturally, it does this sort of not really straight, not really wavy, limp hanging thing....

Ugh.  I can't believe I just showed the interwebs my 4 inch roots and completely unstyled hair....

The bang area of my hair always drives me crazy!  It's constantly falling in my face, so I either tuck it....

Or pin it....

Or, 9 times out of 10, give up and put it in a pony tail.

So, now the big question is where to go from here.  I'm really thinking I should keep it long.  At least for a little while longer.  Although I liked having short hair, and feeling unique, I also like having hair that I can actually do stuff with now.  And feeling a little more feminine.  It definitely needs cut though.  At least a little.  And we won't even get into my roots.  I'm fully aware that those need taken care of.  And the biggest question in my mind (regarding my hair) is TO CUT BANGS OR NOT.  I always either tuck, pin or pony, so I feel like something needs done.  I'm thinking some sort of side swept bang situation, but it  has to stay out of my eyes.  Especially with my glasses.  (Although those may be going away soon!  Stayed tuned about that!)  So I don't know.  What do you guys think?  Are bangs a horrible idea?  Should I just give in and go with what works?  (short hair again?)  Seriously.  What do you think?

Mile High Momday: Make your own babyfood

When Jackson was a baby I looked into making my own baby food for him.  As it turned out, I found that it is a much cheaper and healthier way to go.  I'm talking saving hundreds of dollars on each baby.  Our family doesn't necessarily eat only organic food (although I try to get it if it's economical) but for our babies, we do like to go the organic route.  And with the money we save not buying jars of baby food, making organic food is definitely in the budget.  Just a little math comparison.  Yesterday at our local grocery store, I saw a package of organic baby food for $1.86 for two jars.  Let's say you go through 2 jars of food a day*. That's about $55 per month.  If you feed your baby baby food for 6 months, that's about $330.  Making my own baby food, I've never spent more than $10 per month.  And that's going organic and shopping at Whole Foods.  See?  Hundreds of dollars!  Even if you double or triple the number of what you buy to prepare your own baby food, it still comes out better.  Not to mention that you know exactly what you are putting in your baby and don't have to worry about any of that extra stuff (preservatives and whatever else you see in there).  

*Since I've never actually fed my babies jarred baby food, I'm just guessing at the "two jars a day".  I don't actually know how many jars most people go through a day. 

When I started making baby food for Jackson three years ago, they didn't have any of the cheaper baby food maker options like they do now, so we opted for the Beaba Babycook Baby Food Maker.  Yes, it's expensive.  Yes, it's super easy to use.  Yes, they have much cheaper options out there now.  NO, you don't actually need ANY of these gadgets to make your own baby food!  You need a way to steam your fruits and veggies, like a stove top steamer, a microwave steamer, a counter top steamer, or any other kind of steamer.  And a way to puree the baby food, like a food processor, blender, or even a potato masher.    You will also need a few other items, like ice cube trays and freezer bags.  

Once a month, I do all of my shopping and preparing.  I'm starting Gavin on veggies.  This month is butternut squash, sweet potatoes and peas.  I got him avocados too, but I don't make that in bulk, I just  squash one up as needed.  They (and bananas) get too brown and mushy in the freezer.     

First, you prepare your food to be steamed.  Peel it and chop it if need be.  I had to do that for my squash and sweet potatoes but not the peas.

Then you steam it, using whatever steaming method you need.  (You can bake it too, if you want, but I prefer steaming because you can use that nutrient rich water from the steamer to incorporate into the baby food.)

Then you puree it, using the water from steaming to make it the consistency your baby needs. 

Put it in an ice cube tray and freeze it.

The peas are still in the freezer....

Then put it in labeled bags and keep it in your freezer.  Just pop one or two out when it's time to feed baby.  You can microwave it for a few seconds to thaw it. 

At first he was a little unsure about the sweet potato....

But  he ended up LOVING it!

A lot of people have told me in the past that they don't have time to do this.  Maybe they're right.  But I can tell you that it takes me maybe an hour once a month.  But for us, it's worth that little bit of extra time to save the money.  I also like the flexibility with the food later on, being able to make my own combinations of food, like strawberry banana apple sauce, and peas, green beans and carrots.  It's also REALLY nice to have these cubes on hand to add to Jackson's food without him knowing.  (cauliflower or squash puree in mac-n-cheese goes completely unnoticed!)

Do any of you make your own baby food?  What's your baby's favorite kinds?  I'm always on the look out for different combinations of food for baby and ways to hide purees in Jackson's food!

Cloth diaper update

Wow!  Sorry guys.  It's been forever!  The holidays were so crazy for me.  We had family visiting, I was doing my first Christmas for two kids, and my husband had a pretty serious knee surgery.  Something had to give, so it was my blog.  But I'm back now!

A lot of people have asked me how cloth diapering is going, so I thought I'd give you a little update.  

Gavin in his cloth diaper around 3 months old

Cloth diapering is going pretty good.  I'm still sticking with it.  The Kawaii brand I got, which is a one size pocket diaper, seem to be holding up well and getting the job done.  I use a flushable diaper liner to help with the poop.  If he just pees, I throw the liner in the wash with the diapers and they come out just fine and I can reuse them.  If he poops, I just flush them.  That way I don't have to worry about dunking, scraping, or spraying.  It took me a while to figure out the best situation for what to do with used diapers.  At first I used at wet/dry bag like this one:

But that didn't really work for me.  With the zipper there I really had to use two hands to zip and unzip it.  Leaving no hands to hold the diaper.  And it would move all around.  I felt like I was constantly wrestling it.  I needed a no hand system.  So, I used a kitchen size trash can with a lid that opens when you step on it.  Now I can just step on the trash can and still have my hands to deal with the diaper.  Ours has a can that comes out, so when it's time to do laundry, I just take the whole inside of the trash can out, take that to the laundry and dump it in.  I don't even have to touch the old diapers. 

As far as the laundry goes, this was the thing that I was the most leery about.  So far, they have always come out looking and smelling clean.  I do a pre-wash cycle, the wash cycle, and an extra rinse and spin.  Then I just put them dryer.  I don't hang or air dry anything.  It's honestly the easiest laundry I do.  No sorting or folding.  When they come out of the dryer, I just dump it all in the top drawer of his dresser.  Sometimes, if I'm feeling really ambitious, I'll pre-stuff them.  (And by sometimes, I mean one time.  One time I pre-stuffed them)

Changing him takes maybe 10-20 seconds longer than disposables.  That's just because I don't pre-stuff them (except for that one time).  Actually changing him takes virtually no extra time. 

As far as diaper rashes, I haven't seen much of a difference in disposables versus cloth.  Neither of my boys have been very prone to diaper rashes, so that's kind of a non-factor here.  The few times Gavin has been a little red though, I slather him in strong diaper cream and put him in a disposable diaper (since you can't use diaper cream on a cloth diaper) and the rash is usually cleared up by morning.  

I still think they are adorable on him, but they are a bit bulky so I sometimes have to put him in a size up to accommodate that.  

Some of the down falls of cloth diapering that I've found are that they aren't as absorbent as disposables.  I have to change him a little more often than disposables, or he will leak.   I've actually been using disposables just at night, so he doesn't leak in the middle of the night and wake up.  Anything to keep that baby asleep at night, right?  Gavin has definitely worn his fair share of disposables.  When we travel, I use disposables.  At night I use disposables.  And when my mom was here and she didn't want to deal with cloth, so she ran out and got disposables.  Not everyone likes cloth, so that can be a problem too, when other people are changing them.  

All in all, I think that the reward is worth the few small hassles of cloth diapering.  If I had all the money in the world, I would use a one size, all-in-one diaper.  That would mean there would be no stuffing, and would make the process that much easier.  But those things are expensive, and I probably wouldn't end up saving that much money in the long run versus disposables. 

If you have any questions about cloth diapering, let me know!