Friday already?

1. Rice and vegetables make a quick and easy dinner.

2. Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes by Alfie Kohn is the book I'm reading right now.

3. July brings back memories of softball games.

4. The expression on her face was obvious.

5. They say if you tell your dreams right away in the morning, you're less likely to forget them.

6. Sometimes there isn't enough time to think it over.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to knitting, tomorrow my plans include something, I'm sure and Sunday, I want to eat a watermelon!

No 'Poo update

I think it's been 8 or 9 weeks- somewhere about 2 months that I've been going No 'Poo.

Observations at this point:

• Too much scrubbing of baking soda WILL frizz out your hair.
• Using too much bakingsoda will cause buildup. Need to find a happy medium there.
  
• Putting in curlers every time you do your hair will cause breakage.
• Unlike Shampoo, No 'Poo will not strip your hair of its oils. It will get it clean, but it won't be oil-free. An important acknowledgment: Oil in your hair does NOT mean your hair is dirty. Those oils are there to protect your hair.
• When you wash your hair and get those oils on your hands, water beads up on them in the shower and it's cool.
  
• I think I can go longer without washing- like 4 days now.
• I need to remember to comb out my hair BEFORE I shower. Knotty.
• The spray-on conditioners (ACV or lemon juice) are AWESOME. I love them more now than I did at the beginning.
• You can use baking soda for everything. It's magic.

I'm curious about breastmilk as a conditioner. It's magic for everything else- why not hair? I don't know if I'll try it any time soon, but I'd like to at some point.

Back again

We are once again back from a trip to see McKay's parents. Today is "Make Up For Being Gone All Weekend" Day with errands and chores and naps.

While the picture looks like Margaret wet herself- it's just water. We don't EC much on trips- she's mostly in a diaper. We were lucky enough that she only pooped in her diaper once on the trip; all the other times were in the potty. That makes it MUCH easier for us.

I'm also 6 hats richer, which is awesome.

Friday Fill-ins

1. The last thing I ate was cereal and it was the first I've had in a long time.

2. A new hat is something I recently bought.

3. When it rains, it smells good.

4. McKay was the first person I talked to today.

5. Hugs are oxytocin inducing.

6. After driving for 11 hours on the most boring stretch of highway in the United States, you'll probably need extra comfort.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to being here in California, tomorrow my plans include still being in California and Sunday, I want to go to church!

Laundry

So this was going to be a Wordless Wednesday, but I like sentences too much.

One of the problems I've found with Bum Genius is that the microfiber inserts hold smells. They get to the point where as soon as your baby pees in them, ammonia will overpower your nose and any other in proximity. It is normal for cloth diapers to get to that point, but our microfiber has gotten there faster and stronger than any other. They say it's due to detergents clinging to the fabric. You can strip them in a few really hot washes. We don't own a machine so that gets expensive time and money-wise, so multiple washes was wasteful. I do own a large pot and a stove, though!

I boiled them multiple times and put a little tea tree oil in the water. While they boiled, I used flats for stuffing in the Bum Genius. Because of ECing Margaret hasn't gone through enough diapers for me to really tell if the stripping worked. I'll let you know. If it didn't work, I'll probably throw out the microfiber inserts and just use flats in the diapers. They are surprisingly absorbent, don't smell as much as the microfiber, fit any size depending on how you fold them, and they dry on the line in less than an hour. Prefolds and the inserts take a few hours on the line.

Line drying diapers view from the building:

Line drying diapers view from the parking lot:
I put the prefolds and inserts in the front because they take so long to dry. The flats are in the back because they are quick.

What are "flats"? Well, I got these from a friend who bought sheets, cut them into squares, and seamed the edges. That's all they are: glorified sheets. You can then fold them into little or big diapers, secure with pins or whatever you use, and then put a cover or soaker on them. Personally, I think they are easier to clean than any of the other kind. When I put them in the pocket diapers, I just fold them into rectangles and stuff the diaper pocket. When we use a cover, we have a fold that puts more of the diaper in the front to catch pee and makes a little pocket in the back to catch poop.

No 'Poo for Babies

I first heard about No 'Poo when I was pregnant. I was hesitant to go No 'Poo myself because I was a little worried about the transitional stage, but I had the thought, "If I start my baby with no poo at birth, there wouldn't be a transition stage!"

So that's what I mostly did.

Early on, her bathing routine was something on the lines of- maybe once a week I'd hold her for a few minutes while I was in the shower. She never seemed upset about the water around her, but I was also careful not to let it fall into her face. When she got older, we had family showers where the one of us who was not under the water spray at the time would hold her. During this early infant stage, we did shampoo- but only maybe once a month. Maybe? It wasn't often. Less than 10 times her whole life.

Margaret eventually was able to sit up on her own in the bath, so bath time changed into her playing while I showered. I would plug up the drain so a little bath would form for her. She was in the bath daily with me, but I only washed her once a week- maybe once every 2 weeks. How dirty does a baby get, really?

Eventually she became a toddler and started getting messy. This happened around the time I started No Poo. Her hair will get smelly when she's sweaty, so I've been washing her hair every 3 or 4 days with the baking soda spray. I haven't tried the conditioner, but I don't think she needs it.
Also I thought I'd throw in a quick EC update. Margaret is using the potty pretty regularly. When we went on our trip to Wyoming, we forgot her potty seat, so we didn't EC much there. It pretty much consisted of her refusing to use a potty she wasn't familiar with. However, we haven't had a poopy diaper since we've gotten back from the trip. It's part of her morning routine: wake up, sit on the toilet, poop. It's nice that she only goes once a day- I don't have to worry about her pooping in the pool or on the carpet during naked butt time. She also is VERY possessive about the toilet. If we are using it, she'll cry because she wants her potty seat to be on it. There are on average- 2 or 3 misses a day, but most of the time we remember to suggest the potty to her or she'll go into the bathroom on her own wanting to use it. She signs "Potty" and she signs "All done." If we think she's done and we try to get her off before she's really done, she'll say, "No" and shake her head. She also likes to read books while on the potty and will sign "Book" if she wants one.

Without a Blanket

A couple of weeks ago in the comments, I was asked if I use a cover while breastfeeding in sacrament.

I don't. I've never used a cover up- and the only time I've left a room to nurse was when Margaret was around 4 months old and had a stage when she would only nurse lying down. I would leave to find a couch or bed- and a few times floor space.

Well because of that question, I thought I'd do a little post on what I do and wear for the ease of nursing. I'd like to first make it clear that I do NOT think that you should have to "do" anything about your clothes, position, etc. One of my biggest peeves is when I read or hear, "I think nursing in public is fine, but I always used a blanket/cover/etc," implying that anything else isn't modest/discreet/appropriate enough. I do not want to give that impression here at all. If you and your child are comfortable, then that is the "right" way. Period.

Most of the time I wear a belly band that I got at a maternity store. They are marketed for keeping your pants up, unbuttoned as your belly grows, which is why I bought it. Now it is a great breastfeeding accessory.

I wear it pulled up to the bottom of my bra.
Then I just pull up on my shirt and latch Margaret on.

You can see on the side: you see the belly band where you would otherwise see skin.
Of course at church, this limits you to skirts and shirts. What about those dresses? I happen to own a couple of dresses with a stretchy neckline. When I want to wear those, I'll pull down- because pulling up a dress to breastfeed is too involved and would have too much fabric at Margaret's face. Last summer, I cut a little tank top right under the breast and I wear it under my dresses. I just pull the dress down and pull the tiny top up and voila- coverage!

While not breastfeeding, it looks like I'm just wearing a shirt under the dress.
When McKay was taking this next picture, he commented, "Margaret's covering everything!" From my view, however, I saw around 4 square inches of breast. I point this out to show that as a mom, you're probably seeing a lot more breast than the people around you.

I don't own any nursing tops or dresses- though I probably should invest in one. I only just recently got a nursing bra, but the clips are too annoying and I just pull the bra down anyway.

I wanted to share these because I thought they would give some of you ideas and options. Have I gone to church without my belly band? Yes. Have I gone to church without the tiny top and just pulled down? Yes. The only "right" way to breastfeed is the way where you and your child are most comfortable.

Patriotic Eating

As I mentioned, we decided to eat local foods for one meal today as part of the Food Independence Day. We ended up doing 2 local meals- the third being our leftovers from last night for lunch.

Breakfast was simply eggs and spinach.

Dinner was fritatta and salad.














The fritatta had eggs, zucchini, onion, garlic, cilantro, and goat's milk mozarella.

Salad was greens, broccoli, baby carrots, and goat's milk feta. We had cherries for dessert.














Great thing about parades: when most of the town is at a parade, you get first dibs on produce at the farmer's market. We also bought some peas and Chinese turnips which we didn't have for dinner. The baby carrots will be great for church tomorrow. Margaret loves them and they can't be smashed into the carpet like crackers can, nor do they stain like cherries would.