Walking!

Rachel is walking all by herself now! She's not even 1 year old yet (until the 25th)! She's so amazing!

How Do I Keep My House So Clean?

Child Labor. Also, I got a new snazzy kitchen-aid! Hopefully this one will last a long long time. My first kitchen-aid I got as a wedding present from my dad. It burned up in a house fire that happened when we were living with friends in Logan, and one of the roommates left a pot of oil unattended on the stove. So, I got the blue one you see on the left. That one has lasted for almost 8 years now, but I took it to my mom's house to make some ciabatta bread, and I put it on the floor of my minivan to transport it. When I got to my mom's and opened the sliding minivan door, the kitchen-aid tumbled out onto the street, and now the head shakes back and forth when I use it, causing the machine to walk itself off the counter! So, now I have a new and improved kitchen-aid... better suited for me, since I bake bread often. The new kitchen-aid models have a different kind of dough hook that is supposed to be better at kneading dough... we'll see. Also, it is week 5 of the CSA. This week, we got carrots, 2 yellow squash, 3 zucchini, peas, and CHERRIES!! Yum. I almost bought cherries at the grocery store yesterday... glad I didn't!

Chlorine Free Diapers

Ever since Rachel's been born, she's had problems with rashes on her bottom and down her legs, and sometimes up on her tummy. The pediatrician has given me prescription creams and told me to put expensive Eucerin lotion on her every day, multiple times a day, but still it never really clears up, and the minute I take pants or her diaper off her, she immediately begins scratching at her legs or her crotch, and it makes her bleed if she can get at it for long enough. Anyway, a couple of pediatrician visits ago, the prolonged irritation caused Rachel to develop a Labial Adhesion, which is where a thin layer of skin begins to grow across the vaginal opening. So, she got a prescription progesterone cream that I have to put on her twice a day, in addition to the hydrocortisone cream, Eucerine lotion, and vaseline as directed by the doctor. Unfortunately, despite all of these efforts, the rash never completely goes away, and often breaks out really bad. Then, when I was shopping yesterday, I saw chlorine free diapers in the organic section of the store. I thought - might as well try them, I've tried everything else! I put one on her last night before bed and she woke up in the morning with the rash GONE. And a few minutes ago, when I changed her diaper again, I noticed that the rash down the legs is also now gone. No medications, no creams, no lotions.... it's amazing! The diapers are $3-4 more per pack (same number of diapers) than the old diapers we were using, but if I don't have to buy expensive lotions, creams, and prescription drugs for her, it's well worth it! So, any of you out there whose babies have a problem with continuing diaper rash, I HIGHLY recommend this product.

Awesome Recipe

I made this up today, and it came out AWESOME: Finally, a popsicle I can feel good about feeding to my kids - no sugar added, a healthy dose of protien and fiber, good source of calcium and fruit! And, as Lizzy said, "This popsicle is really really good, mommy!"

1 cup dannon fat free PLAIN yogurt
1 cup frozen mixed berries

Combine the yogurt and berries in your blender and blend until smooth. It will be thick and slushy. Pour the mixture equally into 4 popsicle molds, insert the sticks and freeze until solid, 3-4 hours. Run under warm water and carefully pull free of the molds to serve.

Nutrition information per pop: Calories - 48; Fat - 0 g; Fiber - 1 g; Protien - 3.25 g

Food for Thought

I read a really good book yesterday, "Master Your Metabolism" by Jillian Michaels, the trainer from "Biggest Loser." Jason and I are huge Biggest Loser fans, and from scanning the inside covers of this book, I was interested in reading it. Anyway, I highly recommend it. Basically, she said the same things about food that were in the Barbara Kingsolver "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" book, but with more data included, and a focus on weight loss. That is, her book is a big proponent of the whole foods movement, pioneered by Michael Pollan in his book, "Omnivore's Dilemma" (Jillian even talks about his book in her's.) I recommend Michael's book as well, but Barbara Kingsolver's is the best one to read, since she is actually a fiction author (award winning) and therefore her writing is very good to read. It was "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" that inspired me to join the CSA (something that Jillian also recommends doing in her book!). Speaking of CSA, this is week 4, and we received lettuce, spinach, beets, carrots, 2 yellow squash, and 2 zucchini. East Farms, where we are getting this wonderful produce, is certified organic, and everything we've gotten has been extremely high quality, and so delicious! I made some zucchini bread this week, and a couple of batches of spinach pesto to freeze. I kept one batch of spinach pesto out, and I'll be making chicken pesto pasta later this week by tossing the pesto with some spaghetti and shredded rotisserie chicken. You can also see a picture on the side of Rachel feeding herself some yogurt. I thought it was too cute to miss!