12 Month Baby Schedule Update {baby #5 babywise}

Baby 5 aka Sir, turned 1 year old last Thursday. He is definitely the most baby of all our kids… He just started crawling the week of his birthday and is getting into *everything* now. He is hitting his developmental milestones, and is enjoying being the baby of the family.

We were doing great on 2 naps, but recently they became messy. I tried stretching wake times and doing all the things to keep 2 naps, but it was just not worth it. 2 40 minute naps and a super cranky baby, meant we were going to one nap.

So the week of his 1st birthday, Sir began the following routine:

  • 730 DWT, bottle, breakfast
  • 930 independent play in crib
  • 1030 small snack
  • 1130/12 lunch
  • 1230 Nap
  • 330 up from nap, book and snuggles
  • 400 small snack
  • 530/6 supper
  • 715- book, bottle and bed

Between meals and nap, he of course gets lots of loves and family time. Daddy and his siblings are his favorite, for sure. Sir loves being outside, and asks to go out by saying, “ah ah.” Sir has words for- dog, cup, please, outside, mama, dada, and ball.  He tries to mimic all of our most commonly used words and is learning so much.

The week before his birthday, we started weaning by dropping 2 feedings.

The week of his first birthday, Sir was teething and refusing to nurse all together, so I just took the opportunity to wean 100%. Im not sure I was completely ready, but I was sooo ready ? So, here we are. He is still taking 2 bottles a day, and honestly that’s just because I enjoy that time with him. He looooves both of those bottles. I will probably drop the morning bottle soon, but usually keep my babies’ evening bottles til about 16 months, just because we can.

Sir loves to eat, and will devour all the things: meats, eggs, veggies, spinach on sandwiches, and fruits. He enjoys goats milk from our farm, and in general is a super healthy boy. His 1 year check up went very well. We did a blood draw for food allergies, but honestly I don’t expect much from it, since they’re not very accurate. It was really just to see if the almond reaction he has had is bad enough for an episode pen… otherwise I don’t think it will tell us very much.

So that’s it. 12 months, 1 nap, 3 meals and a happy baby.

 

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you.  Thank you!

6 month (26 weeks) baby schedule/summary- Baby #5

Oh my goodness! Baby 5 is getting sooo big. The days are so much fun with him in them, we are all just in awe of his sweetness.  The boy only cries if he really has a complaint, and even then it isn’t much. He like to be in the middle of everything and has started a little signing (for “milk”). At 5 months he was over 99% on length and 88 or so on weight. He is going to be tall like his daddy.

Right now, at 27 Weeks, Sir is eating solids for 3 meals. First he nurses, then takes a bottle of supplemented formula/pumped milk, then he downs almost 2 cartons of Stage 2 baby food!  He is a big eater, to say the least. Im not making his baby food right now, I just don’t have the time. The most I do is grind oats for adding to his purees. But he doesn’t like solids from our plates yet, only purees.  He gets sooo excited to eat, but put a solid in his mouth and he isn’t a happy camper. haha

He is napping after 2 hours of wake time.

Right now his 3.5hour routine looks like this:

  • 730am- nurse, bottle, solids
  • play time with siblings in the floor/watch mama work out
  • 930- nap
  • 11am- nurse, bottle, solids
  • play time with siblings, sibling read books to him, play in floor
  • 1pm-nap
  • 230pm-nurse, bottle
  • outside play time- biggest sister pushes in stroller outside, play on picknick planet, parent wears for walk in woods
  • 430pm- nap
  • 530- up, nurse
  • 6ish solids, family time (especially loves hanging with daddy), bath some nights
  • 700pm-nurse, bottle, in bed by 73opm

Sir’s play time consists of all the things above, including time with me, being read to, laying on my bed while I get ready, being toted by siblings, etc. haha. He get SO excited when big sister puts on his coat to go walk outside. He loves being outdoors, in true Wright Baby fashion.

Developmentally, he is trying to talk. He will move his mouth while watching yours, as you talk. We practice “mama” a lot, but he isn’t quite there yet ? He has just started reaching for things, like his toy ball. Tummy time, belly surfing, and spinning around are so much fun right now. For about 3 weeks he started practicing rolling in his sleep, and wouldn’t roll over from his belly to back, but would just cry instead. So one of us would go in and flip him over …

But now he has started flipping over and sleeping happily on his belly. Yay! He LOVES bathtime and really gets excited to play in the water.

He is such a sweetie; we could not ask for a happier baby. He’s been such a blessing to our family.

—————-

In the next month or 2 I expect his naps will get super messy (ie- fighting the cat nap before bed, not being able to nail down a good wake time length for the other naps, thus getting over tired), and we will take the leap to a 2-3-4 schedule. This is when baby takes a nap 2 hours after Morning Waketime, then 3 hours after that nap he takes a 2nd nap, then 4 hours after he wakes from nap, he goes to bed. This is the last nap change before dropping to 1 nap around a year old.

baby #5 has definitely been different than my others.  His naps have been a dream *knock on wood* and he is a higher sleep needs baby- meaning he needs longer naps plus his solid 12 hours at night, than typical. So he may hang out at our current routine longer than my others. By 7 months I think most of my others were on a 2-3-4 schedule ( which is definitely easier than chasing the infant optimal wake time length!).

 

 

 

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Baby 5 summary {20 weeks}

Y’all. I seriously just had to look up how old he is. That’s How fast it goes by(and how hard it is to keep up with baby #5 stuff).

My posts have been few and far between because I am currently without my laptop (needs a new hard drive we think), which makes it very hard for me to get all my pictures and things uploaded. Also, my iPad screen doesn’t work well, and when it really decides to freak out on me, typing is useless because it phantom types. (Also, trying to correct the random capitalization and things my iPad does is really hard, so bare with me).

This year my laptop, iPad, Fitbit, and baby monitors have all died or half broken. I have yet to replace any of them cause $$$

———–

So. Moving on to baby 5.

Oh my goodness, how is he 20 weeks already?! He won’t be 5 months until nov 10, so the weeks are a little off from months just yet. He is growing so fast- he is huge. He got really long during his last growth Spurt, and now he is getting really chubby again.

I swore I would remember his schedule and would post them, and I totally didn’t.

But we just switched to a 3.5 schedule about 1-2 weeks ago. Before that he was still eating every 3 hours. But he wasn’t hungry at 3 hours anymore, and taking 4 naps had become 4 short naps.

3.5 hours just Consolidates eating to every 3.5 hours with longer wake times and 3longer naps.

Here’s how our days look right now:

  • 730dwt
  • 855/9 nap
  • 11 eat
  • 1235 nap
  • 230 eat
  • 400 nap (this becomes a cat nap around 6-7 months)
  • 530 nurse and hang out until bedtime routine (this will also add solids for dinner time with family)
  • 645 nurse, bottle, bed
  • 720ish in bed (the goal is 730 but he is usually zonked out by 720)

That’s it. He has fallen seamlessly into this routine. He loves to nurse, which makes me happy; Hopefully he will go until a year. We’ve started playing around with some solids, he really likes avocado. But it isn’t a normal part of every day yet.

Development

At 20 weeks, Sir is rolling from belly to back, side to side, and can get from his back to his tummy. He has discovered his voice and has realized if he “talks” loudly enough someone pays him attention. He is always sooo happy, is super snuggly, and loves to be held. If another child (namely our 4th) cries it does scare him, and he will cry. But otherwise he is a happy boy.

He is getting 2 teeth! They’ve almost Broken through; I can’t believe they haven’t yet. He sucks his thumb and fingers when awake, and sometimes I catch him sucking his thumb in bed.

We are still using the winged swaddle (love to dream transitional swaddle), but I’ve removed one sleeve, so he has access to that hand. He likes to suck on and snuggle the other wing, so I will prob just leave it.

This boy loves tummy time! He belly surfs and plays. When he gets tired he just lays his head down … no fussing or complaining. We couldn’t have asked for a happier baby. He makes having 5 easier than I thought.

Baby Summary 4 weeks old, baby #5

Baby Sir is doing just wonderfully thus far. We came home with an easy baby. By The Baby Whisperer standards, he is an “angel baby,” meaning He only fusses when he has gas or has a serious complaint…  and even then the fuss isn’t much. Because he was early, and is still young, this could all change I suppose. But in my experience their disposition stays pretty true to who they are as babies.

We have a pretty solid routine that doesn’t require much guess work on my part, yet. This is because I have to wake him for feedings. When we came home I thought for sure he would wake every few hours because he had low blood sugar at birth, was a big baby, and was a 37 weeker. But nope. He wouldn’t eat sooner than 3 hours, because he was so sleepy, so we settled on a 3 hour routine right away.

I had to wake him from the start, So I was able to determine our designated wake time from the beginning, which is really helpful when you have 4 other littles that depend on you every morning.

Ive swaddled Sir from birth, but today I tried the Woombie at his 2nd MOTN feeding, and he loved it. He’s just about too big for it. So I am trying to decide if I get him the next size up or put him in the Love to Dream. Baby #4 hated being swaddled, and loved the Love to Dream. Sir however likes being swaddled… I’m pretty sure he will be a thumb sucker, so whatever we do will need to be a transition swaddle (with the detachable arms) so he can safely roll and suck his thumb before long. I will probably try the love to dream first, because we already have it, and see how it goes.

Woombie Swaddle

– ————-

here’s our routine at 4 weeks old:

  • 730am DWT- nurse, big sister #4 gets to hold him, bottle
  • 830 nap
  • 1030am- nurse, big sister #3 holds him, bottle
  • 1130 nap
  • 130pm- nurse, big brother holds him, bottle
  • 230 nap
  • 430pm- nurse, if someone missed their turn to hold Sir they get it here, otherwise he stretches out and gets bombarded with conversation ?, bottle
  • 530 nap (this one is usually in the swing, but lately he has been going down fine in his crib)
  • 730pm- nurse, bath/big sister #1 holds him, bottle
  • 830pm bed
    he usually wakes around 1am, and then again between 4-530am. At the first MOTN feeding I give him a full feed, and at the 2nd feeding I just nurse, then put him in the swing until 730am.

(Yes, we had to create a system so each sibling gets a chance to hold him during the day without hurt feelings. ?)

because I nurse and supplement, it takes the full hour to do our feeding routine, which also takes guess work out of his wake time. I’ve found he goes down best with 55min-1hour wake time at this point. When it has gone over that he gets over tired.

If I didn’t have to wake him every 3 hours, his day would be a little messier… I suspect we will get there in due time as he approaches 2-3 months old and his wake time starts to vary, he drops the last nap, etc.

We are following the Wonder Weeks Leaps app, which goes by his due date, while growth spurts are calculated from birth date. He just went through a growth spurt, and for the life of me I can’t get him to stay awake for a full feeding the last 2 days. We are doing all the things- stripping him down, diaper change, cold rag, switching sides while nursing, tickling hands and feet… he is just super sleepy most feedings.

He should be hitting  4-6wk growth spurt this week so maybe that’s what’s going on.

— ———-

Things I want to remember:

  • he loves being held by his older siblings; he looks at them in amazement when they talk to him.
  • he loves baths
  • he looks most like big sister #3 and has her disposition … and if she has proven anything it is that easy babies become life loving, go at their own pace, Happy-go-lucky children
  • at 3wks5days he is 11.5 pounds on my scale, up from 9.0lb at birth
  • he is in size 2 diapers
  • he has lots of peeling skin, so we use Weleda baby lotion and oil, He loves having both put on … but it doesn’t really help with peeling skin
  • he can be hard to burp and gets hiccups a lot; gripe water sometimes help
  • he likes his Wubanubs
  • he’s a super heavy wetter, and as much as I LOVE Pampers Swaddlers diapers, we had to switch to the Pampers Baby Dry, because he is always wet. He also poops non stop… Swaddlers weren’t cutting it ?
  • He looks like his Daddy ?
  • he is always on the verge of smiling, you can see it in his eyes… I can’t wait for the real smiles to start

 

 

 

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you.  Thank you!

Baby #5 {a birth story}

Let me preface with a few things-

  • Before this I’ve had 4 babies whose labors were 12.5, 13.5, 7 (my water broke doing spinning babies), and 16 hours.
  • the whole time Baby Sir was was in the womb, he was breech or transverse. He would go head down occasionally, but always flipped back to an unstable lie when I was at my midwife’s. Every. Time. He would go head down for ultrasounds, and immediately flip back transverse ?
  • the day before baby was born, I walked into my midwife’s office and she said, “what’s wrong, you look sad,” and I just started crying. Baby was transverse again, which she confirmed, and his movements had slowed dramatically. I hadn’t been scared or worried, so much as just frustrated about all the uncertainty. I just needed my last baby to come without all this stress.
  • She put me in touch with a doctor in town that would deliver breech if my labor stalled or something were to happen and we needed her at the hospital; they set me up for a BPP (biophysical ultrasound) to check on baby-all of that the same day, Tuesday June 9.
  • at the ultrasound baby flipped head down, from transverse just a few hours before; he was playing with his toes and sucking his fingers. He passed his test and I was sent home, expecting to see the doctor Wednesday.
  • Also, my husband was supposed to leave town for an over night trip the next morning …

Now the birth story (sorry so many details, I just want to remember everything so I am adding it all).

If you’re like me, you *love* a good birth story, and I enjoy documenting ours.

Wednesday, June 10 I woke up like a normal day. Wednesday’s here are cleaning day, so I was prepared to make baked oatmeal for the kids and start our cleaning routine. At about 8:00AM, I started having contraction like pains; although baby had not spent much time head down this pregnancy, when he was head down in previous weeks, I had to stop what I was doing often due to cramping, and what felt like cervical pain. It was as if he was really putting a lot of pressure on me with his head.

This morning’s cramps felt a lot like that so I wasn’t sure it meant anything.

By 8:15 I felt like maybe I should see if the pain was regular, like contractions. With my first my Braxton Hicks would be regular for almost 2 hours, but would die off, I figured if these lasted over 2 hours I would call my husband home. We were texting back and forth so he knew the plan. I texted my girlfriend to let her know we would probably be needing her to watch the kids (her husband was working from home, so that worked out well).

I continued cleaning the house- toilets and bathrooms, vacuumed and steamed floors, folded laundry, and the kids used our Norwex rags to do all the dusting/wiping like they always do. We had music going and I was really trying to get done cleaning (I love cleaning day, so this was important ha). My oldest daughter milked the goats because my cramping was too painful for me to sit and milk. I talked to my midwife; she advised I drink lots of water in case I was dehydrated and eat something so I had energy in case it was labor.

By 10:15AM I had to stop cleaning and lay down during contractions; I texted my husband to come home to tend to the kids because I couldn’t parent and breathe through contractions at the same time haha. My oldest (9yo) knew I was in labor, so she was doing her best to take care of the others while mama breathed and tried to relax.

I sent my husband a grocery list; we needed lunch meat and a few more things to have on hand for the kids to eat, and salad to go with the lasagna I bought for the midwife team’s meal. He stopped by Walmart on his way home, and when he got here it was about 11:10AM.

During this time I had spoken with my midwife a few times, we agreed we would be having a baby today. We came up with a plan *this part is important* to meet at her office at 1PM, get checked, and then either labor some more, or go on to the birth center to labor in the tub.

I was laying on the bed (thankfully I just put fresh sheets on the day before, so that chore was done), in my gown with all my bags packed at the foot of the bed, when the husband came home. He was trying to ask me something, but I was focusing on a contraction with my hypno birthing track from YouTube playing in my ear. I think this is when he said, “Meghan, call Deidre (Midwife) I think we need to go before 1pm. Call (girlfriend) to come so we can leave when it’s time.”
——

Because we live in the middle of nowhere, he has been adamant that we were not having a baby at home. With baby 4, we had some scares and almost needed to transfer to the hospital after she was born, so he really wanted us to make it to the midwife team st the birth center.

I wasn’t certain if we needed to leave right away, but I couldn’t think straight. I kept thinking, “I just need the tub.” I’m pretty sure I said that out loud.

I started crying; when he asked what was wrong all I could get out was, “I’m not ready.”

“Not ready like … the house isn’t ready, or not ready like your body isn’t ready?”

My reply was a sobbing, “Everything,”

Not only had I never had a short labor, I had never had a baby before 40 weeks. They were always on time or late and big. #3 was 3 days early but that doesn’t really count haha.

So At 11:41AM I texted my midwife (I couldn’t really talk easily enough to call)…

So we got everyone in place for watching kids and birthing this baby. Husband continued doing some last minute chores so I wasn’t stressed when we got home, cause he’s good like that. Then he loaded the car; I wanted to lay down so he put a beach towel across the backseat and piled my bags and birth kit in the front seat. He grabbed the car seat and base, my friend pulled in at 12:08pm and we left.

When she came in, I think I managed something like, “it’s too cold for the pool, their schedule is on the counter if you want to use it, and crockpot stuff is on the counter. Thank you.” Husband helped me into the backseat and we left, it was about 12:10

At this point I didn’t have my hypnobirthing track because my cell doesn’t get reception until we hit the highway.

I had a few thoughts going through my mind

  • (Praying) God, I can’t do this for 6 more hours.
  • I’ve read and watched a thousand birth stories, and every time a woman says she can’t do this anymore, it is time to push. But I have long labors, so this is just the start of the hard part ?
  • If he hits one more freakin bump in the road, I’m going to lose my mind.
  • If I could just relax I would be okay
  • I really need to use the bathroom (my bladder was full thanks to all the water I drank at home)

Laying down in the backseat of the truck, it is impossible to relax through contractions. Relaxing through them is how I manage labor. I also tap my hand, and normally my husband squeezes my arm at the peak… but he was driving.

I knew when we crossed the highway because of the dips in the road.

My Hypnobirthing track kicked back on when my phone found reception, but just FYI- hypnobirthing isn’t very helpful when you are tence, trying to brace yourself in the backseat of a pickup truck while your husband drives 80mph down a country road. There is NO relaxing your muscles or jaw.

2 minutes later my water broke. Laying down nothing happened, just that really hard *pop.* Turns out I didn’t have to use the bathroom after all, the pressure had just been my water bag. Sweet relief.

I started getting nauseous… a few minutes later we were pulling up to the first light in town when I said, “I need to throw up.” Husband started to pull over- “No, don’t pull over! Roll down the window.” So he did. ? My water went everywhere when I sat up. I’ve never been sick during labor before- not fun. But I also knew from all the birth stories I had read that when women start throwing up, they’re usually in transition (going from 7-10cm), so I did NOT want my husband to pull over.

There are maybe 4 lights between that first intersection and the midwife’s office. It always takes me a while to get through the traffic there, but we made it in just a few minutes.

Husband pulled in, I asked if Deidre was there, he said he didn’t see her car but was going to see if anyone was inside.

I told him they’re closed on Wednesday.

But God had this amazing plan for Wednesday June 10, 2020.

The other midwife was in the office that day for an unexpected appointment- he asked her if Deidre was there, his wife was in labor.

Then he came out of the office and walked around to the passenger side where my feet were. He started putting on my shoes and I shouted, “No! No shoes! Get this thing off of me.” The day before, when baby decided to turn head down I put on my maternity FitSplint, to keep him in place. I had been wearing it ever since, and now I wanted it off! I lifted my shirt and he started pulling at the velcro to remove it. I climbed out of the truck and walked barefooted into the office.

I promptly turned around and went back outside-it was hot in there and there were people (at this point I assumed the other midwife was there just because my midwife called her.) I needed air, it was 74 degrees and windy outside. I used the hood of the truck as a place to lean, tapping my hand on the hood.

There came a contraction and baby was on the way. I pushed, Cynthia walked outside and said in the sweetest, most calm voice, “let’s just go inside.” “But it’s so hot,” I replied. We stumbled in, I stopped behind a chair for a contraction and she encouraged me, “To the bathroom. Let’s go to the bathroom.”

I got to the bathroom, husband started taking off my clothes, I hit the floor on all fours. I heard Cynthia say, “Let’s just see where baby is. I’m going to see what I can feel… okay, I feel your baby’s head.” She asked me if I wanted to feel him (this can encourage women to push and continue with labor), but I said no. I just wanted him out!

I’m pretty sure I pushed 2-3 times for his head and once for his body? So about 4 pushes later baby was here. No one had a watch or phone handy, once we found one we called his birth at 12:45pm.

Somehow Cynthia managed to get on gloves, grab some supplies, and put pads down all over the floor before he was born.

After she passed baby to me, husband went to get my pillow from the truck, and Cynthia got me situated laying on the floor holding baby. About that time, Deidre and Bethany walked in- they had gone to the birth center! My text was not clear ??‍♀️ so they thought I meant I needed the tub at 12:30, not meet at the office at 12:30pm.

I think we were all in disbelief.

Baby 5 birth story

Sir was 9.0lb, 20” and 15 days early. Several people have asked if maybe my dates were wrong, but we know they are right because A) I track my cycle and b) Deidre taught me this-if you look at the bottom of a baby’s foot, they have lots of deep wrinkles when they’re full term. Sir’s were completely smooth except for one small, shallow wrinkle on the ball of each foot.

Baby foot creases at birth

— —

Baby had meconium, a lot of meconium; it had stained his fingernails and the placenta. Because it had been in there a while, Deidre said he was probably under stress like we suspected, prompting the BPP the day before, but since he passed his test no one knew for certain …

Yall, there were SO many people praying over this baby and his birth. The day before, I had posted in my Pregnancy fitness group about using the splint to keep baby head down, they’re the ones that suggested keeping it on until labor, and during. We are positive that splint holding his head down is what put me into labor when it did. If it hadn’t, who knows how long he would have been in utero with meconium. This could have ended so differently; God was at every single turn and decision.

 

We are so thankful for all of the people, friends included, that helped make Baby’s pregnancy and labor safe. It was for sure a crazy experience and blessing, too!

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you.  Thank you!

Nutritious, Traditional Food How To: {Weston A. Price} Homemade Baby Formula Part 2

Originally posted October 2013
A few months back I left you with some information about the homemade, meat based baby formula we make at our home.
(Well, were making. Mister is almost 14 months old now, and we have weaned onto a coconut milk tonic. But I have read where many families used the homemade broth up to 2 years).

So, what is this homemade, meat-based baby formula recipe, you may be asking?

From Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats by Sally Fallon, page 603 here it is:

***Please see my previous post HERE for LOTS of details on this recipe, and where to find the ingredients.***


Here is my method for making this formula.

  • I first made my bone broth, either chicken in the crock pot, or beef bone broth in a huge stock pot.
  • Then collect all my ingredients and get out my measuring spoons for each.

 

  • Start the broth on a simmer for cooking the liver. Here is my simmering broth:
  • I slice the beef liver into strips and then cut it into about 1″ pieces so it cooks quickly.
  • Next, I add the organic, grassfed beef liver to the broth. I Simmer for a few minutes, or until it is no longer pink.
I know, it’s raw liver. That is pure, nutritious gold right there, y’all!
  • After it is cooked, I spoon out the liver and placed into the food processor. Then pour some of the liquid into the food processor with the liver. Puree it until it is liquefied (this will take some time- you’re liquefying a meat, so be patient! You need as much of the meat as you can get in the formula). *Be careful to let it cool some or you will have exploding beef liver juice flying all over your kitchen. Ask me how I know … Depending on how old your food processor is, you may need to upgrade to the Best Food Processor to ensure that you end up with a smooth paste. Outdated processors are great for chunky recipes and breadcrumbs, but with this recipe, you need a processor that will give you an even consistency.
  • Strain the liquefied liver through a mesh strainer into a bowl with the rest of the broth. **Liver has an entire strip of some kind gristle running through it. You need to strain this out, which is why I run mine through a strainer. The gristle DOES NOT liquefy. I have read other tutorials that fail to mention that … and then I wondered why it wouldn’t go through the nipple of Mister’s bottle. You must strain out the gristle. Okay. Got it? Strain the gristle….
My liver infused broth in a bowl, with some of my ingredients
  • Then I add in the amount of each ingredient the recipe calls for, and whisk it very well. I add the powdered ingredients first, so they can dissolve while it is warm. Then pour it into jars, using a wide mouth funnel for ease of filling the jars.
**Tips**
  • One batch makes about 36 ounces, which at 8 months was enough for one day for my son. I made this in triple and quadruple batches, so I didn’t have to make it every day. My understanding is it will last 5 days in the fridge just fine. Ours certainly did. Do what you think is best.
  • Shake it well before pouring each time. The fats (olive oil, coconut oil, and cod liver oil) in the formula will separate when chilled in the fridge, so shake, shake, shake. But be sure the lid is on nice and tight, or you will have a huge mess of beef liver baby formula all over your kitchen. Ask me how I know..

There you have it, how we make the homemade baby formula from Weston A Price and Nourishing Traditions.

This post may contain affiliate links.

Replenishing Homemade Skin Cream Recipe {quick & easy}

In trying to avoid overuse of steroids and other interventions that can cause lasting effects (and be less effective the more we use them),  I have a go-to skin cream we make at home for general wounds.

Eczema Before
It is a salve with coconut oil, bentonite clay, comfrey oil and essentials oils-frankincense, lavender, tea tree. 5+years ago a lady in a natural group helped me make this recipe based off her husband’s recommendation, who was an herbalist. During a case of noro virus, my then 18mo son poopied in his sleep overnight, and I didn’t know it. The next morning his bottom was literally blistered and the skin was peeling. It was horrible!

After applying this cream that morning, the skin started healing and regenerating the same day. Within 2 days he was 85% better; there was new skin covering his entire bottom, no scabbing, no scarring, and even better? When applied in a thick layer it protected his bottom when he had to wear a diaper. (Mostly he laid on me for 3 days, sans diaper, but when he needed to sleep in his bed, which he preferred, or wanted to sit in the floor, he needed a diaper.)

This cream is amazing!

So when I saw my 8yo daughter’s hands this past week, covered in eczema, I knew what we needed to use.

Usually eczema can be traced to the gut-leaky gut to be exact- due to poor gut balance/health. However, in this case I believe it is atopic-too much hand washing, cold, dry air, and not enough moisturizing.

We are going to use homeopathy constitutions based on her particular eczema, and this cream, in hopes it will heal from the inside out, and stay gone for good. Steroid creams and prescriptions don’t work on the root cause of eczema, they sometimes quiet the symptoms without addressing the root cause of the illness/ailment to begin with.

Here is what you need to mix up for the cream:

  1. 1 cup organic coconut oil
  2. .5 cup bentonite clay
  3. 2tsp of comfrey oil
  4. 10-15 drops each: frankincense oil, lavender oil, tea tree oil (I use Young Living)
  5. Whip it up in an electric mixer for a thicker, creamier consistency. But mixing with a spatula will do, too. Store in an airtight container. That’s it!

We use this for cuts, scrapes, diaper rash, and other minor skin uh-ohs. I usually keep it in the toddler’s dresser basket, since she needs it the most! haha

I also love Young Living’s Animal Scents cream. We use this for everything, too. When we travel I throw this in my bag, and keep my homemade stuff at home. I do not sell oils from my personal stash at retail cost(plus tax and shipping), but you can sign up to receive your oils at a 24% discount, including discounted shipping, with no monthly obligation. (I do place monthly orders for our family, because I like to save my points for bigger purchases at the end of the year, but you do NOT have to do a monthly order to get the discount.)

 

I you have dry, cracked skin this winter, try this homemade skin cream! (and come back to let me know how it worked for you.)

How to Grow a Dinosaur: A Book for New Siblings {new release review}

With 4 tiny humans running around, you can bet we have had many phases, changes, and adjustments in our home over the last almost 8 years. Adding a new addition every 18 months t0 2 years can be a challenge for older siblings.

We love literature in our home, and have found that reading books and poetry usually help us with any new changes, especially when young children can comprehend but not yet express themselves verbally.

How to Grow Dinosaur , written by Jill Esbaum is a fun new book about an older sibling dinosaur who is learning all about his role as a big brother. What do babies need? What do babies do? What is my job? In this sweet-sibling story, big brother learns the bad news aaand the good news about the new baby in his family.

With Mike Boldt‘s,bright, silly, yet simple illustrations this is a great guide for siblings and parents. The pictures are sure to make the kids in your like laugh, and feel at ease about the new baby coming into their life. How to Grow a Dinosaur helps open the conversation of what is and is not appropriate behavior around a new baby, and how it can be hard for both bigger siblings, and the newest sibling.

This beautiful, large hardback book, with its 40 pages is perfect for children ages 2-5; my 7 year old was able to relate to and enjoy the story.

If there is a new baby coming into the life of a child you know and love, this makes a *great* sibling’s new baby gift. Mama and daddy are sure to appreciate the special story they can share with their children.

How to Grow a Dinosaur-sibling book

This newest book we’ve been reviewing is releasing TODAY, so get your copy now Amazon!

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you.  Thank you!

A Homeschool ABC-Book {a review}

As we have started including Mister (2.5yo) in our learning time routine more and more, I am always looking for fun ways he can learn along side big sister.  Thankfully, we reviewed a precious book, S is For Smiling Sunrise and its audio sing-along song, by WordsBright; we have enjoyed reading this book each day as part of our learning time!  He considers it his special learning time book, but big sister loves it too! It is inspiring, positive, and a fun way to include an ABC-book in your homeschool!

S is for Smiling Sunrise: ABC Character Book

About S is For Smiling Sunrise {and why we love it}

This hard back book was written by a father for his daughter to grow up with; it is perfect for children of all ages.  You can read this with your toddler, and it continues to be great for emergent readers as your child ages.  My children are 2.5 and 4.5, and they both enjoyed (and are still enjoying!) the book.

S is for Smiling Sunrise isn’t your typical ABC book, which I love!  It includes both character traits and fun rhymes that your children will grow to understand and love.  The illustrations are lovely, bright, and printed on heavy, crisp pages.

What’s even better, WordsBright has included a Pre-K and K to 3 Teacher’s Guide to help parents expand on the content in the book.  There is also a precious audio CD; we really enjoyed listening to this during in-home transitions (such as after learning time, before lunch, etc.), and the kids listened to it during their independent play time in their room.  You can get the song as a free MP3 download directly form the website.

My son loved pointing out the capital letter and “little” letters at the top of each page, we made it a game which really helped encourage him to identify his letters (one of his goals for our homeschool year).  The illustrations are beautiful and so much fun for little ones!  He also learned new words, such as interesting, and dawn, while identifying things he knew in the pictures.

My favorite part of this book, is you can just tell it was written with love; almost like a sweet love letter from a daddy to his baby girl. The little rhymes are fun and it is much different from any other ABC book we have read, or own.  The Teacher’s Guide helped give me more ideas for expanding on the book, and we enjoyed that as well!

 

Connect with WordsBright

S is for Smiling Sunrise: ABC Character Book

 


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38 week baby summary

Max is now 39 weeks (9.5 months), so this is the update for last week, his 38th week of life.

Let’s just say Max is now moving, fast!  He is crawling everywhere, and is pulling up on everything!  If he can get his hands on it, he pulls up on it.  He likes to chase Lexie all around the house.

His new favorite thing?  Dancing!  He loves to dance and bounce.

He is still eating tons of finger foods.  I have been steaming him fresh veggies, freezing them on a cookie sheet, and then storing them in bags for quick meals.  I can’t get him to eat much off of a spoon anymore, he wants to chew!

Speaking of chewing, we have two top teeth!  That was not fun, but they are here.

His days look like this:

7am  wake and bottle
730  breakfast and play
8:55 down for nap
10:30 up from nap
11:30 bottle
12:00 lunch with mommy, daddy, and lexie
12:40/1:00/1:30 nap, depending on how long his first nap was
2:30/3:00 up from nap (nap is usually 1.5 hrs from whatever time he fell asleep)
3:30 bottle and snack, offer juice in sippy
5:30 dinner with family
6:30 bedtime- we shoot for 7pm, but he is usually begging for milk and bed at this point.

His naps have been SO great.  He has been feeling better since the teeth finally got here, not as whiny and clingy as the last week or two.  Literally, overnight he became my happy boy again.

We went to the pool Friday, and Daddy surprised us by leaving work early to join.  We had a great time, and max loved the pool!  We tried again, without daddy, to see if I could manage everyone by myself, and it was a success.  So it looks like we will be getting a membership for the summer.  They also have a toddler time from 12-1 certain days of the week.  It is time just for the littles to play and enjoy the water.  We may try once or twice a week, since that is lunch and wind down time for nap.  It’s not usually hot enough for the water that early here, or at least it hasn’t been yet.

I have reduced his reflux meds from 4ml, to 3ml.  So far so good.  He has some spitting up while playing and crawling, but nothing that seems to bother him.  Getting the medicine in him is still a challenge; we will both be so happy when he doesn’t have to take it anymore.

He did great at the chiropractor last week.  His lower back was out of alignment and Dr C asked if he had been constipated … as a matter of fact he had been!  Kinda crazy.  He got adjusted, took a nap, and woke up poopy.  True story.

Lexie has been her usual sweet self.  She loves playing with Max, and looks forward to our snuggles in the morning and after nap; daddy has been traveling and she gets extra affectionate when he is gone.  I think she needs that extra security.  

She randomly sleeps for naps throughout the week, but always lays down for 1.5-2 hours for rest.  Her bedtime is still 6:30 with no nap, she falls asleep right away and sleeps until 6:45-7am the next morning (usually).  We have tried a later bedtime, and get an earlier wake time, which tells me she isn’t getting enough sleep when she goes down later.  So we are sticking with early bedtime to keep from waking up at 5-6am!  On days she naps, bedtime is closer to 7:30pm.

She found mama’s favorite heels before church one morning

First time at the pool

Our roses from Arkansas

Big girl on her bike

Lima beans- yum!

Mama left me alone with avocado for 2 minutes….




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