...well, or completely on topic, I guess... What in the world do stay-at-home-moms DO all day? You guys, I hate that I'm even asking this because it makes me feel useless and stupid, but seriously. I am so bored. I mean, Luke and I have a riot all the time because that's all I have to do, and I love that. I really do. And don't get me wrong, there are plenty of things I could do to "use up" my time, even some useful things. But it's a year into the full-time at home gig and I'm running out of steam for the stuff that I've been doing to "keep busy." (Ugh, I always HATED women saying that, because for my working mom it was like a slap in the face.) I mean, I'm running out of desire to do any more crafts again ever, and I think if I spend another minute trying to perfect the art and science of homemaking that my head is going to implode.
I keep thinking about part-time jobs, but the time away from Luke wouldn't be worth the money to me (it's surprisingly difficult to find work that's less than, say, 10 hours a week that will pay you more than minimum wage--which means that after paying a babysitter, it would cost us more money for me to have a job). I don't think I'm skilled enough to teach piano lessons. I've thrown around the idea of babysitting or nannying, but stuff like that is regulated strangely around here and there's a glut of college students and low-income young women that will take the work for pennies on the dollar.
I'm looking into picking up old hobbies (like piano) and maybe starting up some new ones (like photography). But I feel like I'm just spinning my wheels. I feel like I'm an educated, motivated, ambitious person and it feels like I'm wasting so much precious time that I could spend doing something...I don't know. Meaningful. Not that raising a child isn't meaningful (!), but I guess I just feel like I could be doing more than I am. I've thought about it for hours and hours and talked about it with Scott over & over; he's not ready for another baby just yet, and I bet that boredom is a really, really bad reason to get pregnant anyway. Ha ha.
We're planning on getting a second car soon, so that will expand my horizons exponentially, but I have no idea what to expand said horizons into. We just moved into a new ward (with moving and vacations and everything, last week was our first Sunday there), and on the new-member sheet they have you fill out, I tried to hint as strongly as I could that I was very willing and able to help out a lot in the ward. I doubt that will come to much, though, because it's an enormous ward with about a quadrillion students that constantly come and go, and I don't think we'll escape that category since we're the same age as everyone else.
Man, I'm sorry, I don't mean to complain. I just feel bad...like I'm ungrateful or something. I feel like I should be more content. Maybe I'm just having a hard time downshifting after the craziness of school school school college college work work work, you know? But it's been a year and I still feel...itchy. Brain itchy. Or something. Help?
Showing posts with label Cathryn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cathryn. Show all posts
Friday, July 13, 2012
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Cheap dinners
So my meal planning usually goes like this:
Sunday night I sit down and pick 4 dinners I'm going to cook the next week. I usually try to pick 2 that I know I can make quickly (like 20 minutes or less), one a little more complicated, and one that I make ahead of time (like in the crock pot). That way I can still make the longer cook time recipes that I love, but I can do it on a night when we're not very busy or when I know Scott will be home with plenty of time to watch Luke while I cook. Having two quick-cook recipes takes a lot of stress off of me at the "magic hour" (5 pm at our house)--you know, the time of day when you've run out of steam and the baby is getting cranky and dad is getting home and everyone's hungry and it seems like there's too much to do.
Maybe 4 dinners a week isn't much to cook, but I always make 6-8 servings (Scott and I are kind of pigs, I guess...we each eat more than one "serving" at dinner, and Luke eats almost a small adult serving if it's something he likes) so we have leftovers. Lunches during the week are leftovers or sandwiches. So 4 nights a week (usually Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday) I cook a meal, 1 night is "gecheroni" (get-your-own-ey, meaning clean out the leftovers in the fridge...usually Thursdays because it seems like I get more tired as the week goes on), and 2 nights we plan to eat out (almost always Friday & Saturday, but if, say, Tuesday one of us has just had a crappy day or we've got too many errands to run, then we might eat out then & stay home Saturday night).
I have a Pinterest board of new recipes that I really should try, but it seems like we get into kind of a routine of eating the same comfortable things all the time and I don't really mind. I think these are all dishes that I can make for pretty darn cheap, and most of them take about 20 minutes to half an hour to cook. We usually have the main course plus a veggie (frozen, canned, fresh, whatever) on the side, and a grain on the side if it's not already in the recipe (say, something like rolls).
(Well, drat. I thought I had brought my list out to Utah, but I guess I left it at home. We'll see how much I remember.)
I think I've left off a few that we do all the time, but that's a good enough list for me for now. Basically my grocery lists look like this:
Meat
Dairy
Baking goods
Okay, so I am trying very, very hard to be good and quit making dessert so often. I used to just keep a constant stock of things like brown sugar, chocolate chips, powdered sugar, etc., but now I'm trying to get to where I need to make a trip to the grocery store if I'm going to make dessert. Wish me luck!! I do keep flour, white sugar, and canola oil on hand, but I buy those in bulk when they go on sale.
Other stuff
And then misc pantry items like peanut butter, honey, jam, olive oil, ketchup, salsa, soy sauce, etc. as we run out. The ones in that category that we go through the fastest are peanut butter, honey, and olive oil; I love love love love love Costco's olive oil and peanut butter (I'm going to have to figure something else out when our membership expires next month...), and the honey at our grocery store is usually not too expensive.
Snacks
Scott and I each have our weaknesses for snacks that we want but don't need...he always likes to get a bag of chips, and I have to keep otter pops on hand (even in the winter...I stock up in the fall, haha). We try to limit ourselves to only one snacky thing per grocery trip (so per week), though. Most of the time at home we'll snack on stuff like popcorn, tortilla chips with salsa or cottage cheese, fresh fruit, and whatever dessert I've made lately because I have no willpower. I did try making kale chips the other day, and I thought they were awesome. Salty and crispy and yummy. They have a weird aftertaste, though. My family didn't like them. What kinds of snacks do you guys eat?
So that's basically my "pantry" list--stuff that I buy if I've run out, no matter what I'm making that week. And actually, there are a few exceptions (like I get the tikka masala mix at the oriental store, and I get cabbage if I'm going to make soup), but basically all of those dinners only need the pantry list stuff. I don't buy anything else unless I've got a pretty darn good reason to (like I've been asked to make a specific dish for a party or something). I guess all the produce can get expensive, but we don't buy very many things that are pre-processed anymore (the ones I can think of are all of our breakfast cereals, the crescent rolls, and the chips), so I know we save loads of money that way.
I don't really use coupons at all. I tried to use a coupon on the kind of sunscreen I like the other day, but I think I left it at home. The foods I buy (fresh meat, fresh dairy, produce) never really have coupons. Things that aren't food (like cleaning supplies and diapers), I can beat the coupon prices by ordering in bulk on Amazon like Melissa said. I think couponing works really well if you have a lot of pre-packaged foods that you buy, or if you don't care what brand of health/beauty supply things (like shampoo) you buy.
Well, what do you guys do for dinner? What are your stand-by meals that you make all the time? Any grocery store tricks I can steal from you? :-)
Sunday night I sit down and pick 4 dinners I'm going to cook the next week. I usually try to pick 2 that I know I can make quickly (like 20 minutes or less), one a little more complicated, and one that I make ahead of time (like in the crock pot). That way I can still make the longer cook time recipes that I love, but I can do it on a night when we're not very busy or when I know Scott will be home with plenty of time to watch Luke while I cook. Having two quick-cook recipes takes a lot of stress off of me at the "magic hour" (5 pm at our house)--you know, the time of day when you've run out of steam and the baby is getting cranky and dad is getting home and everyone's hungry and it seems like there's too much to do.
Maybe 4 dinners a week isn't much to cook, but I always make 6-8 servings (Scott and I are kind of pigs, I guess...we each eat more than one "serving" at dinner, and Luke eats almost a small adult serving if it's something he likes) so we have leftovers. Lunches during the week are leftovers or sandwiches. So 4 nights a week (usually Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday) I cook a meal, 1 night is "gecheroni" (get-your-own-ey, meaning clean out the leftovers in the fridge...usually Thursdays because it seems like I get more tired as the week goes on), and 2 nights we plan to eat out (almost always Friday & Saturday, but if, say, Tuesday one of us has just had a crappy day or we've got too many errands to run, then we might eat out then & stay home Saturday night).
I have a Pinterest board of new recipes that I really should try, but it seems like we get into kind of a routine of eating the same comfortable things all the time and I don't really mind. I think these are all dishes that I can make for pretty darn cheap, and most of them take about 20 minutes to half an hour to cook. We usually have the main course plus a veggie (frozen, canned, fresh, whatever) on the side, and a grain on the side if it's not already in the recipe (say, something like rolls).
(Well, drat. I thought I had brought my list out to Utah, but I guess I left it at home. We'll see how much I remember.)
- Tacos
- Quesadillas
- Rice & beans & grilled chicken
- Pasta al forno
- Carbonara
- Spaghetti bolognese
- Stir fry
- Curry
- Tikka masala (I've only ever made it with chicken, but I want to try paneer sometime)
- "Oriental" chicken salad
- BBQ pork sandwiches
- Bratwurst roll-ups
- Hamburgers (well, turkey burgers, since I'm too cheap to buy beef for anything anymore)
- Oven roasted chicken (bone-in) & potatoes
- Chili cheese dogs
- Cabbage patch soup
- Crock pot "roast" (I usually use boneless pork ribs since I can get them cheap & they're mighty tasty)
- Egg & sausage hash (meaning I try to make omelets and they end up scrambled eggs)
- French toast
- BLTs
I think I've left off a few that we do all the time, but that's a good enough list for me for now. Basically my grocery lists look like this:
Meat
- Ground turkey--1.49 lb (I use half a pound for a meal)
- Ground pork (sausage)--2.29 lb (same story, half a pound at a time)
- Boneless pork ribs--2.49 lb (I usually use about a 3-lb package)
- Bratwurst--2.69 for 5
- Bone-in chicken--0.99 lb (don't use this very often...basically only for roasting)
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts--I can get these on sale for 1.69 lb about 6 times a year; otherwise I use the flash-frozen ones in the big bags that are 2.00 lb.
- Bacon--2.69 for 12 oz (I use half a package at a time)
- Eggs--man, I don't know...how much are eggs? Not very expensive.
Dairy
- Milk
- Butter
- Cheddar cheese (block)
- String cheese
- Cottage cheese
- Yogurt (I usually buy 1 pint a week, alternating plain & vanilla--I use the plain for cooking whenever you'd use sour cream, and it's yummy to eat on its own if you stir in honey)
- Parmesan in a can (once in a while we'll splurge and get the real stuff)
- Bread (I get 2 loaves a week since Luke & I eat so many sandwiches & toast)
- Penne pasta (our grocery store doesn't carry the whole grain kind, so I try to get that if we're ever in Walmart or whatever)
- Spaghetti (whole grain...it gets kind of gummy if you get the thick noodles, so I buy the angel hair)
- Breakfast cereal (raisin bran, mini wheats, granola, cheerios, and Scott's pick of the week, usually the generic Honey Bunches of Oats)
- Tortillas
- Tortilla chips
- Oatmeal (when we run out, which is like 4 times a year)
- Rice (I like to buy the 25 lb bags at the international foods store--something like $17 for my favorite brand of brown rice, which is a steal)
- Sometimes a box of hamburger helper for crazy/lazy nights
- Frozen crescent rolls
- Triscuits
- Apples
- Bananas
- Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, some kind of little berry (whatever is cheaper, frozen or fresh)--these are Luke's favorite food in the universe and they go on sale often enough that I try to keep some on hand.
- Oranges--well, whatever citrus is cheapest that week (tangerines, clementines, whatever)
- Strawberries*
- Pears*
- Avocados*
- Kiwi*
- Mangoes*
- Grapes*
- Baking potatoes (yukon golds)
- Roasting potatoes (reds)
- Sweet potatoes
- Onions
- Carrots
- Spinach (bagged)
- Romaine lettuce
- Broccoli (frozen)
- Cauliflower (fresh or frozen)
- Asparagus (frozen)--only because our grocery store carries an awesome generic kind
- Green beans (canned)
- Other canned veg as the mood strikes (beets, corn, whatever)
- Raisins (for Luke)
Baking goods
Okay, so I am trying very, very hard to be good and quit making dessert so often. I used to just keep a constant stock of things like brown sugar, chocolate chips, powdered sugar, etc., but now I'm trying to get to where I need to make a trip to the grocery store if I'm going to make dessert. Wish me luck!! I do keep flour, white sugar, and canola oil on hand, but I buy those in bulk when they go on sale.
Other stuff
And then misc pantry items like peanut butter, honey, jam, olive oil, ketchup, salsa, soy sauce, etc. as we run out. The ones in that category that we go through the fastest are peanut butter, honey, and olive oil; I love love love love love Costco's olive oil and peanut butter (I'm going to have to figure something else out when our membership expires next month...), and the honey at our grocery store is usually not too expensive.
Snacks
Scott and I each have our weaknesses for snacks that we want but don't need...he always likes to get a bag of chips, and I have to keep otter pops on hand (even in the winter...I stock up in the fall, haha). We try to limit ourselves to only one snacky thing per grocery trip (so per week), though. Most of the time at home we'll snack on stuff like popcorn, tortilla chips with salsa or cottage cheese, fresh fruit, and whatever dessert I've made lately because I have no willpower. I did try making kale chips the other day, and I thought they were awesome. Salty and crispy and yummy. They have a weird aftertaste, though. My family didn't like them. What kinds of snacks do you guys eat?
So that's basically my "pantry" list--stuff that I buy if I've run out, no matter what I'm making that week. And actually, there are a few exceptions (like I get the tikka masala mix at the oriental store, and I get cabbage if I'm going to make soup), but basically all of those dinners only need the pantry list stuff. I don't buy anything else unless I've got a pretty darn good reason to (like I've been asked to make a specific dish for a party or something). I guess all the produce can get expensive, but we don't buy very many things that are pre-processed anymore (the ones I can think of are all of our breakfast cereals, the crescent rolls, and the chips), so I know we save loads of money that way.
I don't really use coupons at all. I tried to use a coupon on the kind of sunscreen I like the other day, but I think I left it at home. The foods I buy (fresh meat, fresh dairy, produce) never really have coupons. Things that aren't food (like cleaning supplies and diapers), I can beat the coupon prices by ordering in bulk on Amazon like Melissa said. I think couponing works really well if you have a lot of pre-packaged foods that you buy, or if you don't care what brand of health/beauty supply things (like shampoo) you buy.
Well, what do you guys do for dinner? What are your stand-by meals that you make all the time? Any grocery store tricks I can steal from you? :-)
Saving Money on Food
Man, I'm so behind the times! We moved like 5 weeks ago and I've been in Utah for like 3 weeks, so I guess I have kind of an excuse. :-)
So groceries...we took a hard look at our budgets back around February because we're really trying to save for a house and we just weren't making much of a dent. Our biggest cost was rent (obviously), so we moved to a smaller, cheaper place (that is also much closer to Scott's work). Our next biggest cost was food. We were spending usually around $600 a month on food (holy CRAP!). My mom fed a family of 7 on that much the whole time I was growing up! So we knew we had to make some changes.
Almost half of our food costs came from eating out. It's almost embarrassing for me to admit that, since when I was a kid, my family only ate out like 10 times a year, if that. My parents kind of ingrained it into me that even going to McDonald's was a very special occasion. Maybe that's a little too tight fisted (and my parents certainly aren't like that anymore), but Scott and I really were spending too much money eating out. It's obviously not healthy, either. It's something that progressed over time--when we were first married, we almost never ate out, but lately we'd gotten up to 3 or 4 times a week, sometimes 5 if we ate out for lunch on Saturday when we were running errands.
The problem was that in the years we've been married, our two favorite things to do together are go to movies and eat out. We love eating out because it feels like a special event, and we love to try new kinds of food and get to know the different parts of our city. Eating out in Salt Lake (when we lived there) was my favorite way to experience all the different cultures there. Eating out is a great way for us to relax too, since we don't have to cook or clean up, and Luke loves to watch all the lights and sounds and people in a busy restaurant--meaning we get to actually talk over dinner. Since we couldn't take Luke to movies and we didn't have access to any babysitters, date night automatically meant eating out.
But we looked at it and decided that we could save a lot of money just by being more conscious of what & when & where we were spending it. We set a goal to eat out just 2 meals a week (instead of 4 or 5!), and set a dollar amount that we could spend on those two meals combined (say, $30). That way, if we wanted to go somewhere a little more expensive one night, we would try something new on the dollar menu at Wendy's (or whatever) the other night--or just stay home. It's hard sticking to the budget and we don't always make it, but choosing to limit how frequently we go out has made a huge difference.
The groceries thing too was actually even easier than I thought. We had been spending about $400 a month just on groceries, which really is ridiculous for two adults and a baby who still breastfeeds some. In literally one week I was able to cut it literally in half--from about $90 a week to about $45--by doing just 3 things: I planned economical meals for the week in advance, I made a grocery list for only the ingredients we didn't already have, and I ONLY bought what was on my list at the store. If we "ran out" or I didn't have something I wanted later in the week, I decided I would just have to wait until next week's shopping or I would have to make do with what I had in the pantry. It wasn't nearly as ascetic as it sounds; Scott actually didn't even notice the change in the kinds of meals or groceries we had in the house. He certainly noticed the difference in our checking account, though! Cleaning out the pantry was a good thing, too...I discovered a couple of boxes of pasta and a cake mix that dated back to before we were married (4 1/2 years ago!). Holy cow. We had moved like 6 times and took those boxes each time because I just wasn't thinking consciously enough about using what we had instead of buying more than we needed.
So basically, we decided to stick to a budget and shop consciously, and it cut our food costs nearly in half (about $600/month to about $350/month). We still go over a little sometimes, but nothing like before. It's very exciting to me to have the extra moolah piling up in our savings! I guess the real lesson here though was that we had gotten pretty irresponsible in our spending up to that point. Oops.
So groceries...we took a hard look at our budgets back around February because we're really trying to save for a house and we just weren't making much of a dent. Our biggest cost was rent (obviously), so we moved to a smaller, cheaper place (that is also much closer to Scott's work). Our next biggest cost was food. We were spending usually around $600 a month on food (holy CRAP!). My mom fed a family of 7 on that much the whole time I was growing up! So we knew we had to make some changes.
Almost half of our food costs came from eating out. It's almost embarrassing for me to admit that, since when I was a kid, my family only ate out like 10 times a year, if that. My parents kind of ingrained it into me that even going to McDonald's was a very special occasion. Maybe that's a little too tight fisted (and my parents certainly aren't like that anymore), but Scott and I really were spending too much money eating out. It's obviously not healthy, either. It's something that progressed over time--when we were first married, we almost never ate out, but lately we'd gotten up to 3 or 4 times a week, sometimes 5 if we ate out for lunch on Saturday when we were running errands.
The problem was that in the years we've been married, our two favorite things to do together are go to movies and eat out. We love eating out because it feels like a special event, and we love to try new kinds of food and get to know the different parts of our city. Eating out in Salt Lake (when we lived there) was my favorite way to experience all the different cultures there. Eating out is a great way for us to relax too, since we don't have to cook or clean up, and Luke loves to watch all the lights and sounds and people in a busy restaurant--meaning we get to actually talk over dinner. Since we couldn't take Luke to movies and we didn't have access to any babysitters, date night automatically meant eating out.
But we looked at it and decided that we could save a lot of money just by being more conscious of what & when & where we were spending it. We set a goal to eat out just 2 meals a week (instead of 4 or 5!), and set a dollar amount that we could spend on those two meals combined (say, $30). That way, if we wanted to go somewhere a little more expensive one night, we would try something new on the dollar menu at Wendy's (or whatever) the other night--or just stay home. It's hard sticking to the budget and we don't always make it, but choosing to limit how frequently we go out has made a huge difference.
The groceries thing too was actually even easier than I thought. We had been spending about $400 a month just on groceries, which really is ridiculous for two adults and a baby who still breastfeeds some. In literally one week I was able to cut it literally in half--from about $90 a week to about $45--by doing just 3 things: I planned economical meals for the week in advance, I made a grocery list for only the ingredients we didn't already have, and I ONLY bought what was on my list at the store. If we "ran out" or I didn't have something I wanted later in the week, I decided I would just have to wait until next week's shopping or I would have to make do with what I had in the pantry. It wasn't nearly as ascetic as it sounds; Scott actually didn't even notice the change in the kinds of meals or groceries we had in the house. He certainly noticed the difference in our checking account, though! Cleaning out the pantry was a good thing, too...I discovered a couple of boxes of pasta and a cake mix that dated back to before we were married (4 1/2 years ago!). Holy cow. We had moved like 6 times and took those boxes each time because I just wasn't thinking consciously enough about using what we had instead of buying more than we needed.
So basically, we decided to stick to a budget and shop consciously, and it cut our food costs nearly in half (about $600/month to about $350/month). We still go over a little sometimes, but nothing like before. It's very exciting to me to have the extra moolah piling up in our savings! I guess the real lesson here though was that we had gotten pretty irresponsible in our spending up to that point. Oops.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Scripture Study--Cathryn
I loved your post, Melissa. I wanted to comment on it, but I figured I'd just start a new post since it's the topic of the month anyway.
You and I should be scripture buddies. I struggle with making the scriptures as big of a part of my life as I should, too, but it's for the exact opposite reason: I am the worst person in the world at sticking to a routine or keeping a schedule or establishing good habits. (Totally gross confession? It wasn't until COLLEGE that I consistently brushed my teeth every night.) Every single Sunday I get the impression that I need to read my scriptures every day, and every week I make it 2 or 3 days. When I pray about problems I'm having or trying to figure out a question, the answer is almost always that I need to read my scriptures every day, but do you think I could do that? Nope. I really do have a powerful testimony about the positive impact that consistent scripture study has on my life. To continue with a gross metaphor, it's seriously like the difference in the way your mouth feels if you don't brush your teeth on the days when I don't read my scriptures. Things seem harder; I have less patience; answers don't come as clearly or as readily. It's one of those principles for me that hinges really strongly on the law of obedience--that the Lord is bound when we do what he says--because even when I don't put much effort into thinking or studying or pondering about what I'm reading, I still get the same blessings of peace and patience in my life the rest of the day. I don't get the same insights and answers when I'm lazy about my reading, but it's like that simple act of opening the book for 5 or 10 minutes is enough to turn the key to unlock my spiritually strong self that day. It's such a simple thing and it makes such a difference for me...why is it that I can't just do it every day? What is so hard about that? All the excuses from previous times in my life (too busy with work or school, etc.) are completely gone now. My days are slow and pretty laid-back. I have more than enough free time on my hands. What is wrong with me that I can't keep this simple habit? Honestly, I feel pretty defeated about it right now. Help!! It's been stressing me out and making me sad for a long time now. You'd think I could figure out how to change. How do you have the willpower to make a good habit, Melissa?
As far as getting more out of scripture study goes...obviously I don't read them often enough to get too burned out, haha. Let's see. Right now for my personal study, I'm reading the Gospels. Elder Bednar came and spoke to our stake and gave this beautiful lesson about Christ's character, and he told us to go home and read the Gospels and 3rd Nephi and look for examples of when Christ "turned outward instead of inward," times when he was selfless instead of putting his own needs or wants first. His talk to us was actually kind of identical to this one, called "The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality:" http://www.lds.org/liahona/2012/04/the-atonement-and-the-journey-of-mortality?lang=eng (That was published in this month's Ensign, but it's based on a speech he gave at BYU-I like 10 years ago or something. I think he's been speaking on this subject for a long time now, haha.) The talk has seriously changed my whole perception of the Savior and it's helping me see the same old scripture stories in a new light.
So this time through, I'm trying to see the names in the scriptures as real people, not just characters in a worn-out old story, you know? Like, it's completely amazing to me that Peter and his brother just stood up and left their nets in the middle of what they were doing when Christ summoned them. Would I just stand up from my teaching desk and walk out on my students and my job if some man I'd never seen before told me he was the Savior and asked me to? Would I recognize him? And I keep thinking about Matthew (the one that wrote the Book of Matthew). He was one of the original apostles. I wonder what it was like to be an apostle back then. I feel like sometimes we forget that our apostles now were (are!) real people with real lives and careers and families and weaknesses and strengths and stories, too. I like reading the Wikipedia articles about the apostles because it helps make them seem more real and human to me. Like, did you know that Elder Hales was the president of the company that makes Pond's face cream (the kind I use!) before he was called as a general authority? Or that Elder Perry threw the first pitch at a Red Sox game once? (Scott and I actually saw him at the grocery store in Salt Lake one time. He is SO tall. He's like 6' 5" or something--taller than Scott, and that's even when he hunches over from being so old!) Or that Elder Scott has a PhD in nuclear engineering and was on the team that designed the Navy's first nuclear-powered submarine and the first commercial nuclear power plant? It really helps me feel like the messages the apostles give are more meaningful somehow when I feel like they're human and likeable people. Like how we all love Elder Uchtdorf so much, right? He's so real. He talked about Harry Potter and Back to the Future at stake conference, for Pete's sake.
Anyway, so I'm trying to find details as I read about the people in the scriptures that make them seem more real to me. So like Matthew was a tax collector, which meant he was one of the wealthy class of Roman government contractors, but also that he was an outcast from Jewish congregations because he was only paid if he took enough money from them to meet his contract. How did he get along with the other apostles? What was it like to hear him preach? It's only one verse long, but I've been thinking a lot about the story where Matthew gets called to be an apostle. (It's in Matthew 9:9.) It sounds like Christ was basically just walking down the street with his incomplete quorum of the twelve, past the tax office in the capital city of the region (Capernaum), and he stopped, went in, and asked Matthew to follow him. And he did. He just walked out of his cushy, wealthy job and life and left to travel with the Savior. How did his family feel? What compelled him to go? The book of Matthew is basically his journal of how he remembers the couple of years where Christ was traveling and preaching. What would it have been like to be there? I bet they basically camped or slept in members' houses a lot. It must have been really hard, but also really amazing, of course.
The scriptures (especially the Gospels, I feel like) are often so many stories jammed together and told in just a bare-bones way that it's easy for me to brush past them and forget about how these are real people's lives. I feel like I get so much more out of them when I slow down my reading and just try to think of where each story starts and stops, and then think about what the details would have filled in like. And I think about what the story would be like if it happened today, or about what concept Christ is trying to teach. The more I read, the more I really think that the scriptures are written on so many levels. I'm trying to find that second level--that principle that stays true whether it's now or 200 years from now or 2000 years ago--that each story or sermon is trying to say, and then think about how I would take it if I heard it in conference or saw it happen in church on Sunday or something. I don't always find that principle, but probably more days than not, I can feel the spirit help me find an application of what I'm reading for my life that day.
So like on good days (when I remember!) I like to pray before I read and ask that the spirit will help me see something in my reading to help me know what to do today, or help me understand something that I need to know about people in my life, like how I could help someone else, or just to help me change whatever attitudes or perspectives I have in my life that aren't in line with God's. Or sometimes I'll ask in my heart while I read about things that people disagree about in the world--politics, parenting, whatever--and wonder what Christ's response would be if someone asked him about that. I spend a lot of time searching for examples of parenting advice in the scriptures, actually. It's hard if you're looking for specific things like "do you let a baby cry it out or not?" But just looking for how Christ teaches people who have a hard time understanding, or how he responds when someone does something wrong...sometimes I can find examples of ways I can teach and help Luke better.
And, okay, a lot of the scripture stories in Matthew talk about how people react to Christ's invitation to join the church. Living in a place where so few people are members has really made me think about that invitation--would I be Mormon if I weren't raised that way? How would it feel to be approached by the missionaries? Would I recognize the spirit and the message? How can we talk to people about the church in ways that brings them closer to Christ, instead of making them feel weirded out or something? Would I be brave enough to say what I should say if someone asked? How can I touch people's hearts and not just declare truth? Both are scary to me! In Matthew, a lot of Christ's followers were mocked or kicked out of their communities for joining with him, and a lot of times the same thing happened in the Book of Mormon. It seems like in the scriptures the church is always the minority and always looked at as being kind of weird, which feels very appropriate to me right now with Romney and the election and all the weird media coverage like Broadway musicals and all the Mormon.org stuff and living in "the mission field" and being in a branch and far away from family and everything everything everything. You know? It's a cool time to be a Mormon but also a crazy one.
Anyway, I'm super rambling now. Sorry. I guess I just feel like I get the most out of the scriptures when I spend just as much time (more time, really) thinking and wondering and just being still and listening as I do reading. And I feel like the (VERY) few times when I write those thoughts down in a journal, it's a lot easier for me to feel answers the next time I study. (Obviously I only try to read when Tornado Luke is sleeping, haha.) Elder Scott's last two conference talks, I think, were both awesome ones about receiving revelation--they're seriously so great & worth rereading. He talks a lot about how to record inspiration in a way that helps you receive more. Anyway. I just really need to put my words & feelings into action and actually COMMIT to making it a habit! Seriously, how do you do that??
You and I should be scripture buddies. I struggle with making the scriptures as big of a part of my life as I should, too, but it's for the exact opposite reason: I am the worst person in the world at sticking to a routine or keeping a schedule or establishing good habits. (Totally gross confession? It wasn't until COLLEGE that I consistently brushed my teeth every night.) Every single Sunday I get the impression that I need to read my scriptures every day, and every week I make it 2 or 3 days. When I pray about problems I'm having or trying to figure out a question, the answer is almost always that I need to read my scriptures every day, but do you think I could do that? Nope. I really do have a powerful testimony about the positive impact that consistent scripture study has on my life. To continue with a gross metaphor, it's seriously like the difference in the way your mouth feels if you don't brush your teeth on the days when I don't read my scriptures. Things seem harder; I have less patience; answers don't come as clearly or as readily. It's one of those principles for me that hinges really strongly on the law of obedience--that the Lord is bound when we do what he says--because even when I don't put much effort into thinking or studying or pondering about what I'm reading, I still get the same blessings of peace and patience in my life the rest of the day. I don't get the same insights and answers when I'm lazy about my reading, but it's like that simple act of opening the book for 5 or 10 minutes is enough to turn the key to unlock my spiritually strong self that day. It's such a simple thing and it makes such a difference for me...why is it that I can't just do it every day? What is so hard about that? All the excuses from previous times in my life (too busy with work or school, etc.) are completely gone now. My days are slow and pretty laid-back. I have more than enough free time on my hands. What is wrong with me that I can't keep this simple habit? Honestly, I feel pretty defeated about it right now. Help!! It's been stressing me out and making me sad for a long time now. You'd think I could figure out how to change. How do you have the willpower to make a good habit, Melissa?
As far as getting more out of scripture study goes...obviously I don't read them often enough to get too burned out, haha. Let's see. Right now for my personal study, I'm reading the Gospels. Elder Bednar came and spoke to our stake and gave this beautiful lesson about Christ's character, and he told us to go home and read the Gospels and 3rd Nephi and look for examples of when Christ "turned outward instead of inward," times when he was selfless instead of putting his own needs or wants first. His talk to us was actually kind of identical to this one, called "The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality:" http://www.lds.org/liahona/2012/04/the-atonement-and-the-journey-of-mortality?lang=eng (That was published in this month's Ensign, but it's based on a speech he gave at BYU-I like 10 years ago or something. I think he's been speaking on this subject for a long time now, haha.) The talk has seriously changed my whole perception of the Savior and it's helping me see the same old scripture stories in a new light.
So this time through, I'm trying to see the names in the scriptures as real people, not just characters in a worn-out old story, you know? Like, it's completely amazing to me that Peter and his brother just stood up and left their nets in the middle of what they were doing when Christ summoned them. Would I just stand up from my teaching desk and walk out on my students and my job if some man I'd never seen before told me he was the Savior and asked me to? Would I recognize him? And I keep thinking about Matthew (the one that wrote the Book of Matthew). He was one of the original apostles. I wonder what it was like to be an apostle back then. I feel like sometimes we forget that our apostles now were (are!) real people with real lives and careers and families and weaknesses and strengths and stories, too. I like reading the Wikipedia articles about the apostles because it helps make them seem more real and human to me. Like, did you know that Elder Hales was the president of the company that makes Pond's face cream (the kind I use!) before he was called as a general authority? Or that Elder Perry threw the first pitch at a Red Sox game once? (Scott and I actually saw him at the grocery store in Salt Lake one time. He is SO tall. He's like 6' 5" or something--taller than Scott, and that's even when he hunches over from being so old!) Or that Elder Scott has a PhD in nuclear engineering and was on the team that designed the Navy's first nuclear-powered submarine and the first commercial nuclear power plant? It really helps me feel like the messages the apostles give are more meaningful somehow when I feel like they're human and likeable people. Like how we all love Elder Uchtdorf so much, right? He's so real. He talked about Harry Potter and Back to the Future at stake conference, for Pete's sake.
Anyway, so I'm trying to find details as I read about the people in the scriptures that make them seem more real to me. So like Matthew was a tax collector, which meant he was one of the wealthy class of Roman government contractors, but also that he was an outcast from Jewish congregations because he was only paid if he took enough money from them to meet his contract. How did he get along with the other apostles? What was it like to hear him preach? It's only one verse long, but I've been thinking a lot about the story where Matthew gets called to be an apostle. (It's in Matthew 9:9.) It sounds like Christ was basically just walking down the street with his incomplete quorum of the twelve, past the tax office in the capital city of the region (Capernaum), and he stopped, went in, and asked Matthew to follow him. And he did. He just walked out of his cushy, wealthy job and life and left to travel with the Savior. How did his family feel? What compelled him to go? The book of Matthew is basically his journal of how he remembers the couple of years where Christ was traveling and preaching. What would it have been like to be there? I bet they basically camped or slept in members' houses a lot. It must have been really hard, but also really amazing, of course.
The scriptures (especially the Gospels, I feel like) are often so many stories jammed together and told in just a bare-bones way that it's easy for me to brush past them and forget about how these are real people's lives. I feel like I get so much more out of them when I slow down my reading and just try to think of where each story starts and stops, and then think about what the details would have filled in like. And I think about what the story would be like if it happened today, or about what concept Christ is trying to teach. The more I read, the more I really think that the scriptures are written on so many levels. I'm trying to find that second level--that principle that stays true whether it's now or 200 years from now or 2000 years ago--that each story or sermon is trying to say, and then think about how I would take it if I heard it in conference or saw it happen in church on Sunday or something. I don't always find that principle, but probably more days than not, I can feel the spirit help me find an application of what I'm reading for my life that day.
So like on good days (when I remember!) I like to pray before I read and ask that the spirit will help me see something in my reading to help me know what to do today, or help me understand something that I need to know about people in my life, like how I could help someone else, or just to help me change whatever attitudes or perspectives I have in my life that aren't in line with God's. Or sometimes I'll ask in my heart while I read about things that people disagree about in the world--politics, parenting, whatever--and wonder what Christ's response would be if someone asked him about that. I spend a lot of time searching for examples of parenting advice in the scriptures, actually. It's hard if you're looking for specific things like "do you let a baby cry it out or not?" But just looking for how Christ teaches people who have a hard time understanding, or how he responds when someone does something wrong...sometimes I can find examples of ways I can teach and help Luke better.
And, okay, a lot of the scripture stories in Matthew talk about how people react to Christ's invitation to join the church. Living in a place where so few people are members has really made me think about that invitation--would I be Mormon if I weren't raised that way? How would it feel to be approached by the missionaries? Would I recognize the spirit and the message? How can we talk to people about the church in ways that brings them closer to Christ, instead of making them feel weirded out or something? Would I be brave enough to say what I should say if someone asked? How can I touch people's hearts and not just declare truth? Both are scary to me! In Matthew, a lot of Christ's followers were mocked or kicked out of their communities for joining with him, and a lot of times the same thing happened in the Book of Mormon. It seems like in the scriptures the church is always the minority and always looked at as being kind of weird, which feels very appropriate to me right now with Romney and the election and all the weird media coverage like Broadway musicals and all the Mormon.org stuff and living in "the mission field" and being in a branch and far away from family and everything everything everything. You know? It's a cool time to be a Mormon but also a crazy one.
Anyway, I'm super rambling now. Sorry. I guess I just feel like I get the most out of the scriptures when I spend just as much time (more time, really) thinking and wondering and just being still and listening as I do reading. And I feel like the (VERY) few times when I write those thoughts down in a journal, it's a lot easier for me to feel answers the next time I study. (Obviously I only try to read when Tornado Luke is sleeping, haha.) Elder Scott's last two conference talks, I think, were both awesome ones about receiving revelation--they're seriously so great & worth rereading. He talks a lot about how to record inspiration in a way that helps you receive more. Anyway. I just really need to put my words & feelings into action and actually COMMIT to making it a habit! Seriously, how do you do that??
Saturday, April 7, 2012
...and I'm a Conference failure
Do you ever have those weekends where you feel like you're constantly catching your breath darting from one thing to another and you never have time to rest? Conference weekend was unfortunately one of those for me. I slept through about half of the talks, including Elder Uchtdorf's now-famous one...oops. HOWEVER! I have my repentance planned! I want to watch the videos of the talks I missed during naptime this week. Much easier to concentrate then than it was trying to chase a toddler around during the sessions.
What was your favorite thing about Conference? What have you remembered most?
What was your favorite thing about Conference? What have you remembered most?
I'm a gardening failure...
...or at least a gardening blogging brainstorming failure. My biggest gardening accomplishment this year has been cultivating a healthy, growing board on Pinterest called "Garden Ideas." Ha! Seriously, though, I actually made a conscious decision this time around to scale back my aspirations. Here's my list of excuses:
- I had wanted to do about 8 big hanging pots with vegetables and about 20 smaller potted herbs (imagining the flowing greenery blanketing my porch got me through many a dreary winter day!), but then we decided we were moving in May and trying to keep that many plants alive trucking across the county sounded like more fun than I had signed up for.
- I discovered through talking to the locals that squirrels are notorious around here for devouring your hard-earned crops. People go to great lengths to build squirrel-proof hutches, nets, cages, what have you. Again, more fun than I had planned on...
- Here's the real kicker, though--I wanted (want) to garden first and foremost as a money-saving measure. The problem started when I crunched the numbers in early March and realized that, at least the first year, it would cost me at least twice as much to plant a vegetable garden as I would save in harvested produce, even when you factor in all the free stuff I was able to find or that people offered me (like composted potting soil & buckets for container gardening). Part of what throws off the cost ratio for me is the fact that St. Louis is the trading/selling hub for all the farms in rural Missouri and southern Illinois, so we can get super cheap, nice produce most months of the year.
I still plan to make gardening a big part of my (future) home life, but after researching for several weeks, I determined that 2012 is just not the year to start any big-scale growing projects. Once we get our own permanent place (probably spring of 2015), I'll definitely start dreaming big again! In the meantime, I think I will try one happy little tomato plant this summer, just to get the feel for how things grow in Missouri and to get me in the habit of actually taking care of an outdoor plant. If it ends up on the sacrificial altar to the squirrel gods, so be it.
Melissa, I'm so excited you're going to grow a few things! You'll definitely have to keep us updated on how everything goes! Everyone I've talked to says tomatoes are the way to go for easy-to-grow. Seems like the climate of the midwest is designed to grow just about anything, though...I feel like I live inside an enormous greenhouse.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Shopping Consignment Sales
Nothing groundbreaking here, but since we're talking about saving money on kid stuff this month, I thought it would be appropriate: The way I've saved the most money on clothes for Luke is by shopping consignment sales. Have you ever been to one? They're kind of like a thrift store, except the stuff is cleaner and in much better condition and higher-quality in the first place and cheaper.
Here's my St. Louis example: Every 6 months there's an ENORMOUS consignment sale called The Stork Lady Sale. They have it at empty buildings they rent out (like an empty department store, etc.) for a week. The sellers price and tag their own items with personalized barcodes, bring them in the weekend before, and then get a check mailed to them with the money they made after the sale is over (they make 60% of the price tag; the sale organizers keep the other 40%). The sale is staffed almost exclusively by volunteers, because the more shifts you volunteer, the earlier you can shop (so the better the stuff you find and the better the deals you get). The sale will only accept baby & kids stuff (clothes, toys, etc.) in new or like-new condition (so no stains, stretching, holes, visible wear, missing buttons, etc.), and they basically only take brand-name stuff (or high-quality store brands like Walmart or Target if they're in excellent condition). The last day of the sale, almost everything left is 50% off. Most of the stuff not bought by the end is donated to women's & children's charities.
I love the Stork Lady Sale, seriously. Last fall I went and spent $63 and here's what I got: Almost all of Luke's 9 & 12 month and some 18 month clothes (everything except the gifts we'd gotten at his shower and three sets of Carter's onesies) including a coat, a pair of darling baby Nike shoes, about a bajillion onesies/pants/shirts, pajamas, etc. etc. etc.; an adorable jungle-themed crib bumper set for $5; two church outfits; Christmas morning jammies; some random board books; a Halloween pumpkin hoodie costume; and a few other random things like bibs. For $63! It was crazy--especially since almost all of the clothes are super adorable sets from good-quality brands like Children's Place and Baby Gap, and even expensive boutique brands like Piper and Posie. Luke scoots around looking like a little model. I could never have afforded to dress him like that new...or would never have chosen to, anyway. Because the clothes are sturdy and made from good-quality fabrics and manufacturing, I'll be able to hand them down through more kids, too. The next sale is the third week in March and I'm actually signed up as a seller this year. I don't have much to sell since we're obviously planning on having more kids, but I did find some gifts we'd been given that we really don't need (extra stuffed animals, double copies of some used kid's books, an extra diaper bag, etc.). The advantage to selling stuff is that you get an early pass to shop before the general public--not as early as the volunteers for the regular sale days, but just as early for the 50% off day. I'm planning on buying the rest of Luke's 18 month clothes (summer clothes this time) and as many 24 month & 2T things as I think we'll need until this fall.
There are consignment sales in every state, but sometimes they're hard to find. Consignment Mommies is a good place to start looking, and KCS is another (not as current, but more detailed). I heard about the Stork Lady Sale just by word-of-mouth, so it helps to ask around, too.
If it's not the season for a consignment sale near you and you're looking for something specific, even consignment stores like Once Upon a Child or Kid to Kid can be useful. I've found that they're just not the best place to go for clothes (unless you need something really specific, like a formal dress in a certain color for a wedding or something like that) because you can find equally good and much less expensive options at seasonal consignment sales--or even thrift stores, if you're lucky. (I have found a couple of shirts and pants for Luke at Goodwill before, and I think I got a couple of okay things at D.I. before we moved, but it's never very consistent and the quality is a lot more hit-and-miss.) But for other things like strollers or big toys, it's a great place to start looking. Luke has really needed a walker of some kind for the last couple of weeks (I don't have time to finger-walk him around the house all day, despite what he thinks!), but I didn't want to fork over the cash for a new one since it's the kind of thing he'll only use for a month or so. We went to Once Upon a Child and bought this...
...a very gently-used Little Tikes ride-on walker for $8.50. Normally they're about $25 new. He loves it, and I love that I spent something like 65% less than I would have at a toy store (is that math even close to right, Melissa??).
I guess all in all, I've found that if you're willing to buy used (but demand quality used!), hunt around a little, and wait for the right moment, you really can pay a third the price or less for kids' stuff. It doesn't seem like much at the moment, but over the course of a couple of years you can save hundreds and hundreds of dollars. I have to mention the caveat that I'd never buy a used car seat or crib (they're the two things it's safe to leave a baby unattended in, and they just get recalled too often!), but other than that, I see few compelling reasons to always buy new. Buying used is better for our bank account, better for the environment (less waste!), better for our community (keep jobs & sales local, and help stay-at-home-moms earn a little income), and I feel like it's a good attitude and habit to teach my kids the value of things.
What do you guys think? Have you shopped consignment sales before? Does the idea of getting used stuff gross you out? What things would you never buy used?
Here's my St. Louis example: Every 6 months there's an ENORMOUS consignment sale called The Stork Lady Sale. They have it at empty buildings they rent out (like an empty department store, etc.) for a week. The sellers price and tag their own items with personalized barcodes, bring them in the weekend before, and then get a check mailed to them with the money they made after the sale is over (they make 60% of the price tag; the sale organizers keep the other 40%). The sale is staffed almost exclusively by volunteers, because the more shifts you volunteer, the earlier you can shop (so the better the stuff you find and the better the deals you get). The sale will only accept baby & kids stuff (clothes, toys, etc.) in new or like-new condition (so no stains, stretching, holes, visible wear, missing buttons, etc.), and they basically only take brand-name stuff (or high-quality store brands like Walmart or Target if they're in excellent condition). The last day of the sale, almost everything left is 50% off. Most of the stuff not bought by the end is donated to women's & children's charities.
I love the Stork Lady Sale, seriously. Last fall I went and spent $63 and here's what I got: Almost all of Luke's 9 & 12 month and some 18 month clothes (everything except the gifts we'd gotten at his shower and three sets of Carter's onesies) including a coat, a pair of darling baby Nike shoes, about a bajillion onesies/pants/shirts, pajamas, etc. etc. etc.; an adorable jungle-themed crib bumper set for $5; two church outfits; Christmas morning jammies; some random board books; a Halloween pumpkin hoodie costume; and a few other random things like bibs. For $63! It was crazy--especially since almost all of the clothes are super adorable sets from good-quality brands like Children's Place and Baby Gap, and even expensive boutique brands like Piper and Posie. Luke scoots around looking like a little model. I could never have afforded to dress him like that new...or would never have chosen to, anyway. Because the clothes are sturdy and made from good-quality fabrics and manufacturing, I'll be able to hand them down through more kids, too. The next sale is the third week in March and I'm actually signed up as a seller this year. I don't have much to sell since we're obviously planning on having more kids, but I did find some gifts we'd been given that we really don't need (extra stuffed animals, double copies of some used kid's books, an extra diaper bag, etc.). The advantage to selling stuff is that you get an early pass to shop before the general public--not as early as the volunteers for the regular sale days, but just as early for the 50% off day. I'm planning on buying the rest of Luke's 18 month clothes (summer clothes this time) and as many 24 month & 2T things as I think we'll need until this fall.
There are consignment sales in every state, but sometimes they're hard to find. Consignment Mommies is a good place to start looking, and KCS is another (not as current, but more detailed). I heard about the Stork Lady Sale just by word-of-mouth, so it helps to ask around, too.
If it's not the season for a consignment sale near you and you're looking for something specific, even consignment stores like Once Upon a Child or Kid to Kid can be useful. I've found that they're just not the best place to go for clothes (unless you need something really specific, like a formal dress in a certain color for a wedding or something like that) because you can find equally good and much less expensive options at seasonal consignment sales--or even thrift stores, if you're lucky. (I have found a couple of shirts and pants for Luke at Goodwill before, and I think I got a couple of okay things at D.I. before we moved, but it's never very consistent and the quality is a lot more hit-and-miss.) But for other things like strollers or big toys, it's a great place to start looking. Luke has really needed a walker of some kind for the last couple of weeks (I don't have time to finger-walk him around the house all day, despite what he thinks!), but I didn't want to fork over the cash for a new one since it's the kind of thing he'll only use for a month or so. We went to Once Upon a Child and bought this...
...a very gently-used Little Tikes ride-on walker for $8.50. Normally they're about $25 new. He loves it, and I love that I spent something like 65% less than I would have at a toy store (is that math even close to right, Melissa??).
I guess all in all, I've found that if you're willing to buy used (but demand quality used!), hunt around a little, and wait for the right moment, you really can pay a third the price or less for kids' stuff. It doesn't seem like much at the moment, but over the course of a couple of years you can save hundreds and hundreds of dollars. I have to mention the caveat that I'd never buy a used car seat or crib (they're the two things it's safe to leave a baby unattended in, and they just get recalled too often!), but other than that, I see few compelling reasons to always buy new. Buying used is better for our bank account, better for the environment (less waste!), better for our community (keep jobs & sales local, and help stay-at-home-moms earn a little income), and I feel like it's a good attitude and habit to teach my kids the value of things.
What do you guys think? Have you shopped consignment sales before? Does the idea of getting used stuff gross you out? What things would you never buy used?
Make Your Own Baby Food
I'm sure this idea is pretty self-explanatory and I bet you guys did this anyway, but I figured I'd post it anyway just because it's something I was getting pretty good at by the time Luke was eating table foods. We didn't buy any baby food jars with Luke, which ended up saving us somewhere between $150 and $250, based on what I can estimate. Well, actually, I did buy like 6 jars of it in Texas and like 4 in Utah when we were traveling to visit family...the one downside to making your own baby food is that it's not shelf-stable (you have to keep it in the fridge or freezer). You technically could make your own shelf-stable batches, but you'd need to use researched recipes and a pressure canner. Obviously not worth the work...
Anyway, making your own purees ("baby food") is so easy: You decide some food that would be good for a baby to eat, cook it until it's mushy, blend it until it's smooth, and store it. I swear that it takes even less time and brainpower than shopping for jars of baby food. (A few more dishes to wash, though.)
Let's see, how can I make this helpful...Here's a list of foods we made & how we made them:
Anyway, making your own purees ("baby food") is so easy: You decide some food that would be good for a baby to eat, cook it until it's mushy, blend it until it's smooth, and store it. I swear that it takes even less time and brainpower than shopping for jars of baby food. (A few more dishes to wash, though.)
Let's see, how can I make this helpful...Here's a list of foods we made & how we made them:
- Peaches: I just used canned peaches because peaches are pretty expensive to buy fresh and the quality of the kind you get at the grocery store is just crummy anyway (picked way too green so they don't bruise in shipping). The upside to using canned food to make baby food is that it's already soft; there's no other cooking necessary. The downside is that you can't control as well how much salt, sugar, & preservatives are going in to the food. The peaches I bought were packed in heavy syrup, and I figured the last thing a 6-month-old needs is extra sugar. I got around this by draining the peaches, rinsing them in a colander, and then letting them soak in a bowl of fresh water for an hour or so--this leaches out the syrup that the peaches have soaked up. It leaves them tasting a little tart (processed fruits & vegetables are picked before they're fully ripe because it helps them not bruise or turn to mush when they're packed; food companies get around this by adding extra sugar or salt when they pack them to hide the unripe flavor), but Luke likes sour things anyway so he didn't even notice. If you want to keep them a little sweeter, just don't soak them or don't soak them for as long.
- Pears: The batches I made came from canned pears, just like the peaches, but fresh would work too. Note that with soft, ripe fruits (as compared to vegetables or hard fruits like apples), you don't have to cook the food before blending it, which retains even more of the natural vitamins.
- Plums: I made a batch of plums puree from a can of plums I randomly saw at the store in the hopes that plums would have the same magic effect on backed-up bellies as prunes, but no such luck. Prunes are strange and wonderful things. Luke didn't like the plums puree anyway; I wouldn't recommend it. When he got a little backed up and pears & peaches weren't helping enough (or we had run out), I'd just mix a little prune juice in with his oatmeal or the water in his sippy and it would do the trick.
- Green beans: I made these from canned (just rinsed & soaked to get some of the salt out), but I really should have used fresh--would have been just about as easy and not much more expensive.
- Butternut squash: I took a whole butternut squash, cut it in half, scooped out the seeds, stuck it on a baking sheet, cooked it in the oven for like an hour at 350, scooped out the gunk, and threw it in the blender. Super easy, made a TON, and was probably Luke's favorite vegetable.
- Carrots: I tried cooking these a bunch of different ways (in the microwave, boiling on the stove, whole, chopped, etc.), and I can tell you now that the absolute easiest way to cook these is in a rice cooker. Seriously. Just splash in enough water to cover the bottom, throw in the carrots (chop 'em down a little if they're much bigger than baby carrots), set it to cook (however you would for white rice), and when it dings they're ready. If they're still too firm, set it to cook one more time. If you don't have a rice cooker, I think boiling them on the stove would be second easiest. Just don't throw out the cooking water--use that water as you're blending them down if you need the puree a little thinner (the cooking water has a lot of the vitamins from the carrots in it). Luke loved carrots.
- Zucchini & summer squash: Same story as the carrots, but they cook a lot faster--easiest to cook in a rice cooker or steamer (chop into thumb-sized pieces), but boiled on the stove is easy too. Don't even bother to peel them. You can even just slice them thin & saute them with a little oil...yum. These may actually have been Luke's favorite, even more than the butternut squash.
- Sweet potatoes: Poke with a fork, microwave for about 10 minutes, slice in half, scoop out the gunk, & throw it in the blender. Another big hit.
- Spinach: Yes, I actually did make spinach baby food. There's a reason they don't sell it in the store. Luke would only eat it when we tricked him into it, and I never could get it to puree down very smoothly. Next go-round I think I'll just throw a little cooked spinach in with another batch (like green beans or something).
- Peas: Just used frozen peas cooked in the microwave. Luke never really liked the peas, although I know a lot of babies do.
- Pinto beans: Soaked in water, cooked in the crockpot on low overnight (something like 12 hours), drained (save the water for blending!) & threw in the blender. Basically refried beans without the fried part. Luke actually really liked them, & it's a super healthy (& cheap) source of protein that's pretty easy on tummies. Lots of fiber so it helps when they're a little constipated, too.
- Anyway, you get the idea, right? I had plans to make a bunch more kinds (broccoli, black beans, lentils, tofu, asparagus, tomatoes, bell peppers, cantaloupe, etc. etc.), but Luke was suddenly too old for baby food. It really took me by surprise--I still had like 6 ziploc bags full or nearly full of purees when he decided he was only going to eat grownup food.
A note on blending foods down: I keep saying "throw it in the blender," but holy cow, if you have a food processor, use that instead! Blenders have a hard time getting rid of all the chunks without you having to make it too watery. With most veggies you'll have to add a little bit water to get it to blend smooth (sweet potatoes, incidentally, need a LOT of water), but most of the purees I made ended up being thinner than I would have liked just because my stupid old blender needed a lot of encouragement to actually blend instead of just spinning the blades in an air pocket at the bottom. The thing that worked best for me was putting in about half the food, blending it as smooth as I could, adding enough water to get it tornado-ing around the jar, and then adding the rest of the food to thicken it up again.
A note on storage: I tried a couple of different ways of storing the purees (plastic pitchers in the fridge, individual containers, etc.), but the best way to do it really is what everyone tells you: Pour the puree into ice cube trays, freeze, & then keep the cubes in ziploc bags in the freezer. Don't forget to label the bags (peas look a lot like zucchini!). And don't be surprised by how much it makes--a batch of green beans, for example, was I think 3 or 4 cans that blended down to fill 3 ice cube trays, which in turn filled two quart-sized bags. A good rule of thumb to remember is that each cube is about an ounce. Oh, and we have 5 ice cube trays for some reason, which makes the whole process SO much easier than if you're just using the two that come with the freezer. Do yourself a favor and grab a few extra trays at the dollar store before you start.
In addition to the purees, by about 6 1/2 months Luke was also eating things like applesauce*, bananas (mushed up with a fork), yogurt, hummus, spaghetti sauce, cottage cheese, oatmeal, cream of wheat, etc. etc. etc.--basically anything the consistency of baby food. I know that it probably makes me a bad mom to give him such "grown-up" food so soon, but we introduced them slowly and he never seemed to have any trouble. We also don't have a family history of any allergies on either side.
* You can totally make your own applesauce really easily, but I decided buying it was worth the work saved of not peeling the apples myself! Just look for "no sugar added" on the label--the ingredients list should say just apples, water, and maybe some ascorbic acid (vitamin C) to protect the color. There's absolutely no reason to add sugar to applesauce, unless the company is picking the apples so green that the apples don't have enough of their own natural sugars & vitamins developed yet. That's a clue that it's poor-quality food anyway, besides all the added sugar. No-sugar-added applesauce is never more than 10 or 20 cents more a jar than the regular kind, in my experience. Tastes exactly the same (better--more like apples!).
A note on rice cereal, etc.: Our pediatrician (and basically everywhere I've read anymore) recommended that we wait until 6 months to introduce solids; we made it to a little after 5. (Luke had started screaming any time we ate in front of him, grabbing food off our plates, and he kept acting hungry after I'd nursed him 8 or 9 times a day; he had really good fine motor skills to boot, so I just decided he was ready even though we jumped the gun by about 3 weeks.) His first foods were yogurt, bananas, smashed peaches, green bean puree, and hummus. However, I know that some pediatricians recommend introducing solids by 4 months or so, and when that's the case you traditionally start with rice cereal (watered down with formula or breast milk). I just thought I'd throw it out there that you really don't have to do that: If you're going to introduce solids early, you can use any cereal you want. White rice cereal is actually really unhealthy; it's nothing but pure refined sugars and starches. If you look at the history of feeding babies, it's actually the cereal companies that introduced the idea of starting with rice cereal. It's not something that other countries do, either (almost every culture starts infants eating solids around 6 months and they just start by feeding them mushy versions of traditional grown-up food). If you're going to do the cereal thing, it's just as easy to start with something whole grain (barley cereal, cracked wheat cereal, finely-ground oatmeal, etc.)--it's infinitely healthier for baby and it starts a habit of them preferring whole grains right from the start. The exception, of course, is if you have reasons to go gluten-free...in that case, brown rice cereal is still a better bet than regular rice cereal. It's more expensive, but since baby's only eating a tablespoon or so at a time, it's pretty unlikely you'll need to buy more than one box. Anyway, sorry! Just some interesting info (at least, I find it interesting). End soapbox. :-)
A note on baby-led weaning: Allie, you'll obviously have to pitch in more on this one, but I know the opposite idea of the rice cereal thing is baby-led weaning, where you don't even bother with purees at all and you just give kids grownup foods and let them figure things out when they're ready. The mantra there is "food is just for fun until age 1," which is a truism that's been really helpful to me this year with Luke. I really wanted to do baby-led weaning with Luke for lots of reasons: It seemed more natural, it's much less work for moms, etc. We gave it a shot, but it wasn't what Luke wanted or what I think he needed. Here's what I mean: The first solid food he ever got was a banana. He was excited and curious, but it kind of ended up a fiasco because he got really frustrated that he couldn't feed himself fast enough (those chubby little fingers just weren't coordinated enough!). Same story every time I tried to let him self-feed for the first little while. The kid was chomping at the bit to eat "real" food (anything but breastmilk), but he just wasn't old enough to have the fine motor skills to be really successful at it yet. He was feeding himself table foods by around 9 months (just like average babies), but between about 6 and 9 months we had to feed him. Fans of baby-led weaning will tell you that it's ok the kids are bad at feeding themselves at first, that they get better with practice, that there's no need to do purees because they can figure out how to feed themselves if you let them. All true--for a lot of babies. It just didn't work with Luke because he was too impatient, and I got the sense that to some extent he really did need some good, solid calories from "real" food to supplement his nursing by the time he was about 6 months old (if for no other reason than he was so big for his age and growing so fast). It also helped that Luke LOVED purees. He never spit them back out or anything**, unless he was full and trying to be funny (or unless we fed him peas, which took him months to come around to for some reason). What I plan to do with future babies & what I'd recommend to new moms is to start with baby-led weaning if that's something you want to try and to keep offering age-appropriate finger foods all along the way, but to supplement with purees until baby really has the fine motor skills (about 9 months) to be successful completely self-feeding.
** For what it's worth, I have a theory that babies who give their parents grief about spitting all of their baby food back out all the time just aren't old enough for solids yet. They haven't outgrown the tongue-thrust reflex that makes them good nursers when they're born. I bet if mom & dad waited a month or two, baby would be a much better swallower. End second soapbox.
** For what it's worth, I have a theory that babies who give their parents grief about spitting all of their baby food back out all the time just aren't old enough for solids yet. They haven't outgrown the tongue-thrust reflex that makes them good nursers when they're born. I bet if mom & dad waited a month or two, baby would be a much better swallower. End second soapbox.
Okay. So maybe this make-your-own-baby-food business seems like a lot of work, but can I explain how much food this makes? I'll try to give you a sense: Luke ate purees from 5 months until about 9 months. I had about 10 or 12 different kinds of purees in rotation (which is about the same variety you'd find at the grocery store, actually), and I only made purees for him 3 times. Seriously, 3 batches of cooking, about an hour and a half of work each, was enough to feed the kid for 4 months straight. Saved us at least $150, but probably over $200. That's like making $40 an hour. And it's fun! And you can customize how thick you make them just by adding more or less water--so no standing there trying to decide between Stage 1 and Stage 2 carrots in the baby food aisle at the store. And it's healthy, because you get to decide exactly what your baby is eating--no extra salt or sugar that you didn't add, no crazy BHT or food coloring, no wondering about cross-contamination (as long as you keep your kitchen clean!) or product recalls. And it's so much less wasteful than throwing away dozens and dozens of glass jars (Did you know that there is no glass recycling plant anywhere in the state of Utah? Every piece of glass thrown away in Utah goes to a landfill and will never decompose.) or plastic bowls. And there's nothing quite like seeing the literal fruits of your labors lined up in a colorful rainbow in your freezer.
What's your story? Did you guys ever make your own baby food? How long did your little ones take before they made the switch to table food?
 |
| Note that this is NOT my picture, although it looks a lot like the purees I made. (It's from a blog with another lady's story about making her own food that you can see here.) I'm still kicking myself that I never took a picture of our freezer full of cubes of food! |
What's your story? Did you guys ever make your own baby food? How long did your little ones take before they made the switch to table food?
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Cloth Diapers Part II (Answering Cathryn's Questions)
Cleaning Diapers before you Wash Them
This is the gross part of cloth diapering that probably deters people the most. As for types of diapers, there are also options here. We do things the very gross way, which means I clean my diapers out in the toilet with my hand and then deposit them into the diaper pail. (I would encourage rinsing out just peed diapers too, it will pretty much eliminate smells from the diaper pail, at least, it did for us.)
They also make sprayers for cleaning your diapers.
How I wash my diapers
First of all, I have washed our underwear with her diapers. Everything gets clean. You can think of it as washing his blow-out clothes with other clothes. Washers are amazing! We wash diapers twice a week.
Note: Of course every washer is a little different, so I'll try to keep it general. My washer is a HE front loader. I don't know what my dryer is, someone gave it to us. It's old and squeaky. :)
4-6 times a day. Usually 4. Without any problems. This will change depending on how absorbent you make the diapers and age and such.
Well, lets just say any of the following phrases sell Ryan on things.
This is the gross part of cloth diapering that probably deters people the most. As for types of diapers, there are also options here. We do things the very gross way, which means I clean my diapers out in the toilet with my hand and then deposit them into the diaper pail. (I would encourage rinsing out just peed diapers too, it will pretty much eliminate smells from the diaper pail, at least, it did for us.)
They also make sprayers for cleaning your diapers.
I keep wishing I could try one of those and know how well they work. They run about $50.00, which isn't much if they are going to work well, but is a lot if it's going to be a flop. That's why I don't use one.
I've also seen a few other things, but I'm not sold on them making it so you hardly have to use your hands. I could see this one working, if you get enough pressure.
The truth about this part: You get used to it. It's not so gross when it's your own kid anyway, but you may find you know more about their bowel movements than you ever ever cared about.A n
A note on covers
We have fewer covers than diapers. This is how that works. If we change her diaper and the cover is soiled, it is dirty and goes into the pail. If we change her diaper and the cover is not soiled, we clean it with one of our wipes and leave it to dry and exchange diaper covers at the next diaper change. The only exception to this is on washing day when I try to wash as many diapers that have been used at all as possible.
How I wash my diapers
First of all, I have washed our underwear with her diapers. Everything gets clean. You can think of it as washing his blow-out clothes with other clothes. Washers are amazing! We wash diapers twice a week.
Note: Of course every washer is a little different, so I'll try to keep it general. My washer is a HE front loader. I don't know what my dryer is, someone gave it to us. It's old and squeaky. :)
- Cold Rinse Cycle, no soap or anything, just rinse in cold (I put everything dirty in the washer: diapers, wipes, covers, wet bags)
- Hot wash Cycle with soap and ecover fabric softener (not necessary to use fabric softener)
- Then I dry the diapers and wipes on the highest, hottest setting our dryer has and run it twice.
- I hang my diaper covers and wet bags. Although I have dried my diaper covers with my diapers before, but I decided to try and make them last longer by following half the tag (They say to wash in cold and hang to dry. I'm of the opinion that I can't be bothered to do too many extra things.)
A few times a year (every other month to every 3rd month, I use bleach as follows)
- Cold rinse cycle
- hot wash cycle with soap
- hang diaper covers, wet bag, and move anything that can't be bleached to dryer (fancy diapers)
- hot wash cycle with bleach
- hot wash cycle with soap (may not be necessary, but I'm paranoid about there being any bleach left on the diapers)
- 2 times through the dryer like normal
The diapers always look so bright after a bleach cleaning. Makes me happy.
As far as utilities, we pay about $100/month for our gas + electric. I've asked around and other people in my ward in a 2 bedroom apartment pay about the same, so I figure it has very little to no impact.
Absorbency
I wouldn't be surprised if the gel in Luke's diaper wicked the moisture away. I think it's designed to do that to keep the baby's bottom as dry as possible.
That being said, absorbency can be a hard one and you sometimes have to experiment to figure out what works for your baby. All babies are different. Some wet so so much. Some don't. Some poop every diaper. Some basically never do. That being said, we have on occasion had absorbency issues, but we also have had absorbency issues with disposable. I don't know what the deal is with this girl. The good news though is that we fixed it.
About two months ago, it seemed like Vidalia was wetting through everything for about a week. At first I thought, man these covers must be terrible, which really made no sense because I had been using the same covers for 8 months with no unusual problems. I tried trying the size larger, which were way too huge, so that was not the issue. I think she was just peeing more. We took a flat diaper folded it up and put it inside the prefold as we put it on. It was amazing the difference really.
How often do I change diapers
4-6 times a day. Usually 4. Without any problems. This will change depending on how absorbent you make the diapers and age and such.
The Nylon Pants I Use
First of all, these are not the best diaper covers available. I pay $4/2 pairs. They're about the best you can get for that price. I think the next step up is going to run you at least $10/pair. That's why I use these nylon ones. And I haven't had leaking problems through the nylon. Leaks usually occur at a leg hole or the waist line, but I don't usually have leaks. (I did more when she was younger though. Cloth diapering seems to be an adaptive process, changing with age and sizes.)
My dislikes of my diaper covers
- You can't adjust how the waist fits
- You can't adjust how the legs fit (I'm actually not sure if this is a pro or con.)
Possible solutions
- buy better covers
- wool - I've recently become very curious about wool, but all the covers I found online run $30/cover, it seems. So I will probably never try wool covers, but if anyone ever does, let me know what you think.
- Make your own better covers. I don't think it would be too hard.
- Don't use prefolds with diaper covers. Try a different kind of cloth diaper altogether.
- Etc. Because there are more, but this is all I thought of just now.
Night Diapers
We do not currently do anything different for night diapers. She lasts 12+ hours at night with no leaks easy.
Before we were putting flat diaper linings in all her diapers, we were putting them in for night only.
What sold Ryan
- Less expensive
- Eco friendly and about the same price
- Eco friendly and less expensive (this super sells Ryan)
- Save money
- spend less money
- etc.
Good luck trying to sell Scott on the idea. It wasn't hard for us here.
One-Time Costs
- We have 3 sizes of diapers. 24 of each size (you can get away with fewer). For the life of a baby, you may want to add 2 more sizes, one bigger than what I have and 1 smaller. Buying 12 diapers at a time cost me just under $30. (You can get the small size of prefolds from Mandalay, where I got my flat diapers, for cheaper. They're not quite as nice, but about the same as far as absorbency is concerned. They only have the one size though.) Total = $300
- lots of flat diapers, lets just say 24 @ $0.75/diaper = $18 (I actually didn't buy any of these though, they were a gift.) Total = $18
- We have 8 of 5 different sizes of covers (NB, small, medium, large, toddler) and we're currently using medium. 40 covers @ $4/2. Total = $80
- Wipes = cut up old things Total = $0
- Snappis 1 pack of 3 Total = $7.40 (I'm guessing here, but that price came up online. I think you may need more if you use these for several kids. They're bound to fail eventually. We've been using ours for about 1 year so far and they are still fine.)
- Diaper Pail, depends on your choice Total = $10
- 1 bought babysitter diaper + 1 made Total = $25 (over estimating on the one I made)
- Micro fleece (it wicks moisture from the bottom. I use it sometimes with rashes. I can't believe I forgot to mention it before now) Bought it at the fabric store and cut it into insert-size strips and then did not sew it. It doesn't shred the edges like other materials. I used maybe a quarter yard. Total = $5 (max)
- A washer ours cost $450
- A dryer, ours was free
Total One-Time Costs = $445.40
Total with washer = $895.40
Recurring costs
I will overestimate what I think I use and what I think the costs are.
- Baby soap, 2-3/year $2/bottle? Total = $6 (I use this same soap to wash her, so that's not just to diapers)
- Baby oil, 1-2/year $2/bottle? Total = $4
- Extra Laundry soap, I have no clue, maybe I use one container for diapers? (I don't even think that much) Total = $10
- Lanolin (I use it instead of desitin because desitin will ruin cloth diapers) 1-2/year $10/tube Total = $20 (there are cheaper off brands, but I haven't tried them yet. And by cheaper I mean you could get the same amount for $5 or less, I think)
- Baby Powder (1 that we got from our baby shower and are still using) less than 1/year $2/bottle? Total = $2 (don't worry, I know what they say about baby powder. We don't use it often.)
- Utility cost, no clue, no different than other people's so I'll say Total = $0 (or in other words, negligible)
- Ecover fabric softener I use 32 oz./2-3 months A case of 6 bottles on Amazon/$20. (Free shipping with subscribe and save) About 1 case/year Total = $20 (You can cut this cost, I choose not to. How much you use will also depend on your washer though.)
Total Recurring Costs = $62 (I think you can easily make this less. I haven't gotten to working on that much yet.)
Sorry about the forever long post. I think I hit on all of the questions you asked. Feel free to ask more if you have them.
Friday, February 3, 2012
About Cathryn
Okie dokie! I haven't blogged a bit since like November, so I'm a little rusty...
Scott graduated with his master's in Geography last May. He is currently working on some final revisions to get his thesis work published as an article in the journal Remote Sensing of Environment under the fascinating title "Evaluating the Effects of Spatial Resolution on Hyperspectral Fire Detection and Temperature Retrieval" (sure to be an instant bestseller, har har). He now makes maps for the government here in St. Louis and is loving the work that he does and the people in his office. He is basically the best dad in the world--Luke laughs his head off when he sees Scott in the evenings. They like to read books together, go for runs in the jogging stroller, wrestle around, make faces, tease Mom...
At church, he's the branch mission leader, which keeps him super duper busy. When he gets a spare second, he likes to read and watch movies. We're missing the free cable we had in Salt Lake, but we're kind of making up for it with shows like 30 Rock and The Office and even Parks & Recreation sometimes. (But holy cow, have you guys seen Up All Night? I think it's one of the stupidest shows I've ever seen.)
Luke is a little tornado. He's 10 months old now and kind of in between 12 and 18 month clothes--too big for his baby car seat anymore! We were gone for 3 weeks over Christmas (not quite 2 weeks seeing Scott's family in Texas & Louisiana, and then a little more than a week in Utah) and during that time he learned how to crawl, cut two teeth, learned how to pull himself up in his crib, quit eating baby food, got a nasty ear infection (took two kinds of antibiotics to FINALLY get rid of it), started saying "mamamamama," went from 5 or 6 feedings a day to about 4, etc. etc. And since we were traveling, he got used to sleeping in the same room as me. Basically January has been a miserable month of teaching this kid how to sleep again. He had just barely started sleeping through the night right before we left, and it's taken 4 miserable weeks to get back to where he can do that again. It's about half and half now--some nights he sleeps for like 12 hours straight, but last night he woke up 4 times before midnight. I think he might be teething again?
Besides all the sleeping hullabaloo, Luke is just the most darling little monster. He loves to read books--he'll turn the pages, open the flaps, point at the details in the pictures (especially anything that looks like a ball!), and turn back to the front cover when he's done if he wants to "read" it again. Thank heavens for libraries. He loves balls ("babababababa"), especially his beach ball, and especially when he can situate himself about a foot from the wall and bat the ball back and forth to himself. His favorite thing this week is walking (very slowwwly) around the house holding your fingers. He will eat just about anything (and eat a TON of it) as long as he can feed himself--today so far he has had scrambled eggs, cheerios, peas, raspberries, blackberries, peach slices, and a hummus & wheat bread sandwich. (Obviously he eats healthier than I do!)
Good grief, sorry this is getting so wordy! You guys know me. Okay, I'll try to be faster. Plans...we're definitely staying in St. Louis for the foreseeable future (sorry, Mom). Scott loves his job and I love that I can stay home. We are definitely moving this summer when our lease is up, though. Our house (duplex) here is great, but it's way too big & way too expensive for what we need--we pay over a thousand dollars a month just on rent & utilities. Hopefully we can find a teeny little 2-bedroom house to rent closer to where Scott works, since right now his commute is 45+ mins. each way. (We won't complain too much about being in a regular ward again, either.) No plans for kiddo #2 yet; ask me again in the fall. We are trying to save up to buy a house (which is the main reason we'll be moving somewhere cheaper soon!). People at work keep nagging Scott to buy buy buy right now since interest rates are so low, but we really want to be able to put down 20% so we don't have to pay escrow. So depending on how cheap of a place we can find to rent and what raises are like for Scott at work in the next couple of years, buying a house is probably between 2 and 5 years off. We'll need a second car before then too, so we'll have to see how that all falls out.
Routine...my life is pretty formulaic right now, and I actually really like it. Scott leaves for work about 6 every morning, and Luke and I sleep in until 7:30 or so. He nurses & then we both have breakfast & play for a little while, and then he takes a nap around 9:30 for either 1 1/2 or 2 1/2 hours. He nurses when he wakes up, and then our afternoons vary a little bit--some mix of walks, lunch, playing with toys, reading stories, making visiting teaching visits, etc. He usually goes down for his second nap around 2 or 3 and sleeps for about an hour and a half. Dad gets home around 3 or 4 most days, and then we just get to hang out as a family--maybe go on a walk, eat dinner, something like that. He goes to bed about 7 or 8, and then Scott and I watch TV or movies or read together for a while before we go to bed. It's a good life!
Speaking of sleeping, Luke just woke up from his nap. I'm hearing "bapbapbap wahhh bababap ewahh!" from the other room in between thunks of him hitting/chewing on his crib. Off to the rescue!
 |
| No, he doesn't still have the beard. |
At church, he's the branch mission leader, which keeps him super duper busy. When he gets a spare second, he likes to read and watch movies. We're missing the free cable we had in Salt Lake, but we're kind of making up for it with shows like 30 Rock and The Office and even Parks & Recreation sometimes. (But holy cow, have you guys seen Up All Night? I think it's one of the stupidest shows I've ever seen.)
I'm seriously digging this stay-at-home-mom gig. Luke and I are little buddies. We love going to the zoo, the store, the park, the science center, the shops along the little main street in our town, and the library. Luke is still too young to appreciate what we're doing, of course--he'd just as soon check out the fence as the elephant behind it--but I love to see all these things and he's game to go along! I'm slowly falling in love with St. Louis. It's a cool city, and we live in a great neighborhood. We walk or ride bikes to all those places, which works out well since Scott usually takes the car to work. You would think I would be losing weight faster...the last 15 lbs of Luke's residency still haven't come off yet, but I'm (half-heartedly) trying to watch what I eat a little more closely and be more active and my jeans are slowwwwwly fitting a little better.
At church, I teach the CTR B class in Primary (6, 7, 8, and 9 year olds) and am the Activity Days leader. Since there are only 6 of us that work in Primary, everyone helps out with everything: the secretary is also the pianist (she and I swap once in a while), the president is also the CTR A teacher, the counselor is also the Sunbeams teacher, the nursery leaders are also the Elder's quorum second counselor and the Young Women's first counselor, etc. etc. Most of my Primary students can't read, lots of them have learning or developmental disabilities, not much support at home, etc. Basically the branch is a lot of work and it's pretty draining. The few of us who kind of hold things together (the student families out here from Utah & Idaho for grad school, mostly) are all really close out of necessity, but we all talk about how we go home and cry every Sunday out of frustration & exhaustion.
Really, I'm doing pretty well. I miss my family and friends more than I can put into words, and the branch is tiring, but I really do have a pretty charmed life. I get to play all day with my sweet little boy and, now that he's a little more consistent about taking solid naps, I can even read or work on some Pinterest projects while he sleeps. It's lonely sometimes (a lot of the time?), but I'm happy.
Luke is a little tornado. He's 10 months old now and kind of in between 12 and 18 month clothes--too big for his baby car seat anymore! We were gone for 3 weeks over Christmas (not quite 2 weeks seeing Scott's family in Texas & Louisiana, and then a little more than a week in Utah) and during that time he learned how to crawl, cut two teeth, learned how to pull himself up in his crib, quit eating baby food, got a nasty ear infection (took two kinds of antibiotics to FINALLY get rid of it), started saying "mamamamama," went from 5 or 6 feedings a day to about 4, etc. etc. And since we were traveling, he got used to sleeping in the same room as me. Basically January has been a miserable month of teaching this kid how to sleep again. He had just barely started sleeping through the night right before we left, and it's taken 4 miserable weeks to get back to where he can do that again. It's about half and half now--some nights he sleeps for like 12 hours straight, but last night he woke up 4 times before midnight. I think he might be teething again?
Besides all the sleeping hullabaloo, Luke is just the most darling little monster. He loves to read books--he'll turn the pages, open the flaps, point at the details in the pictures (especially anything that looks like a ball!), and turn back to the front cover when he's done if he wants to "read" it again. Thank heavens for libraries. He loves balls ("babababababa"), especially his beach ball, and especially when he can situate himself about a foot from the wall and bat the ball back and forth to himself. His favorite thing this week is walking (very slowwwly) around the house holding your fingers. He will eat just about anything (and eat a TON of it) as long as he can feed himself--today so far he has had scrambled eggs, cheerios, peas, raspberries, blackberries, peach slices, and a hummus & wheat bread sandwich. (Obviously he eats healthier than I do!)
Good grief, sorry this is getting so wordy! You guys know me. Okay, I'll try to be faster. Plans...we're definitely staying in St. Louis for the foreseeable future (sorry, Mom). Scott loves his job and I love that I can stay home. We are definitely moving this summer when our lease is up, though. Our house (duplex) here is great, but it's way too big & way too expensive for what we need--we pay over a thousand dollars a month just on rent & utilities. Hopefully we can find a teeny little 2-bedroom house to rent closer to where Scott works, since right now his commute is 45+ mins. each way. (We won't complain too much about being in a regular ward again, either.) No plans for kiddo #2 yet; ask me again in the fall. We are trying to save up to buy a house (which is the main reason we'll be moving somewhere cheaper soon!). People at work keep nagging Scott to buy buy buy right now since interest rates are so low, but we really want to be able to put down 20% so we don't have to pay escrow. So depending on how cheap of a place we can find to rent and what raises are like for Scott at work in the next couple of years, buying a house is probably between 2 and 5 years off. We'll need a second car before then too, so we'll have to see how that all falls out.
Routine...my life is pretty formulaic right now, and I actually really like it. Scott leaves for work about 6 every morning, and Luke and I sleep in until 7:30 or so. He nurses & then we both have breakfast & play for a little while, and then he takes a nap around 9:30 for either 1 1/2 or 2 1/2 hours. He nurses when he wakes up, and then our afternoons vary a little bit--some mix of walks, lunch, playing with toys, reading stories, making visiting teaching visits, etc. He usually goes down for his second nap around 2 or 3 and sleeps for about an hour and a half. Dad gets home around 3 or 4 most days, and then we just get to hang out as a family--maybe go on a walk, eat dinner, something like that. He goes to bed about 7 or 8, and then Scott and I watch TV or movies or read together for a while before we go to bed. It's a good life!
Speaking of sleeping, Luke just woke up from his nap. I'm hearing "bapbapbap wahhh bababap ewahh!" from the other room in between thunks of him hitting/chewing on his crib. Off to the rescue!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)