If babies had the whole sleep thing down...

...they'd definitely be perfect. I guess God didn't want us idolizing them too much, so he made them cute, squishy, sweet, adorable...and EXHAUSTING (and sometimes stinky). I love them anyway, but I can definitely see some design improvements.

MuTaNt RaT!

I blogged before about the demise of our first rat, Pip Squeak. He got a respiratory infection and died shortly after buying him--of course AFTER his "warranty" was up. We decided to get another rat and when he started sneezing, we brought him right into the vet (courtesy of Petco) for treatment. He didn't seem terribly sick, but we didn't want to take any chances. They kept him for an entire MONTH! He was on 2 rounds of antibiotics and he seemed to have recovered nicely, so we got to pick him up today. The children were so excited to have him back home. The only problem is: He's GIGANTIC! I don't know what they were feeding him there (actually, they admitted that he was one of the sweetest rats ever and they spoiled him rotten), but he's HUGE. We originally bought the cheapest cage we could get and figured it'd be find for a while, until the rat got bigger, but I honestly was not expecting it to happen this quickly. I had a few rats when I was a child and none of them were this big...he's like a small cat! Jeremy had joked before that he looked like a sewer rat because he's brown, now with his size he REALLY looks like a sewer rat. So, now we're on a mission to find a new cage--STAT!

9 Months Old

Aaron is a big 9 months old today. This is a big milestone, he's been in this world as long as he was in my tummy. He's getting very big (and very heavy!). He's been sleeping about the same, waking 1-2x a night. I really wish he'd start sleeping longer more consistently, if I could choose, I'd love it if he'd sleep from bedtime until around 5am, then again until 7am, that'd be a dream come true. He's still not eating a whole ton. He just doesn't seem to really love food. I try to feed him 3 meals a day, but he usually doesn't actually EAT a whole lot of what I feed him. Sometimes he'll eat a whole banana for breakfast, along with a few cheerio-s. I try to give him protein, because I know protein keeps one full a lot longer than carbs, it's really too bad that carbs are they ones that are easy to come by (and often nice and PROCESSED), it's hard to find many proteins that a baby this age can eat-especially ones that are easy to take with you when you're out and about.

Aaron crawls everywhere, has started climbing the stairs and can pull up on everything. He's good at getting back down to his bottom after standing up, but he does still crawl on his tummy and pulls himself along with his arms. It seems like a very laborious way of crawling. A couple of times he's gotten up on his knees and started to crawl like a "real" baby, but then he falls back down onto his tummy and goes on his way.

I've mentioned before, he's a big talker. He loves to babble and it's just SO cute. He's SUPER snuggly and gives the best hugs and kisses. He naps 2x a day, usually 10am-noon and then 3-4pm. He goes to bed usually when the other children do--about 8pm. He takes his bottle and falls asleep while being fed his bottle. Usually about 3/4 of the way through his bottle, he pulls off and we snuggle him on our chest, burp him and put him into his crib. It's such a wonderful, snuggly time to put him to bed. Yes, I wish he would go to sleep independently--especially without any crying--but that's not the way it is right now...and I'm trying to enjoy every moment of these baby snuggles, knowing that he is growing SO fast, and soon I won't have as much time to enjoy these precious moments.

Aaron is a generally happy baby. He likes that he can now get around and "visit" with everyone...he's a very social little guy. Luke is the one who can get him to laugh the most. Aaron ADORES Luke, and of course, Luke could take him or leave him. Well, maybe I shouldn't say that. Luke loves him and will, every once in a while, say in his sweetest voice, "Hi Aaron!" and he'll talk to him and Aaron giggles and smiles and gets all excited...but then Luke loses interest and goes about his day. It's usually just as Aaron is really getting excited and giggly that Luke stops, I try to get him to keep it up because it's SO cute to see how much Aaron loves the interaction from his big "brubba" (he actually SAID that the other day)...but I don't expect much out of an almost 4 year old boy! :) It'll be very cute to see how and when they start playing together. I hope they click more quickly than the girls and Luke did...I know that a 3 year gap is a big one, especially as you're starting to be a "big" kid and the "baby" is always trying to get into your stuff. At least when Aaron is running around, he can play with Luke outside.

Well, that's it for the update on Aaron. He's big, he's sweet, he's wonderful. What more can I say?

Hello Third Trimester!

I can't believe I'm officially in my third trimester. This pregnancy is FLYING by at a ridiculous rate. Today I'm 28 weeks along--only 12 more weeks to go (or if this little one follows her siblings, closer to 14 weeks). Today I had my glucose test done. It's not that big of a deal other than it takes at least an hour to do--you drink this pint or so of nasty orange soda tasting junk, I'm not sure of the sugar level in it, but it's a measurable amount of glucose. Then you get to sit there, twiddling your thumbs for an hour. At the end of that wonderfully, fun-filled hour--people watching in the lab, of all places, you get to go in and have them suck your blood! Seriously, I can't think of a better way to spend a free hour of my time!! Thus far I haven't had an issue with this test, so I just hope this one comes out okay too...if it doesn't, I get to do the 3 hour test, where you do the same thing, only they suck your blood EVERY hour for 3 hours!

Homemade Baby Formula Cost Comparison Chart

Here is the cost comparison I've come up with. I did not include the cost for olive oil, whey or cream. The reason is because I buy olive oil at Costco and I generally have it on hand and use it frequently, so the cost for ME is negligible. Whey is made from straining plain, organic, whole milk yogurt. This is another thing I keep on hand and I consider whey to be something I might throw out if I didn't use it...therefore again, the cost is minimal for ME. I also did not include the cost of cream because the cost varies greatly depending on the type of cream you use. Raw cream is $11 for a little bottle, while I got the organic, pasteurized cream for like $2...I didn't even do the calculations for how many servings/container. So although my calculations may not be EXACT, you can see that the cost per ounce using pasteurized non-homogenized milk is practically not worth noting...especially considering I'm calculating the cost per ounce for the CHEAP formula you get at Costco--in the BIG container. If you buy the name brand formula, the cost per ounce would be more for the commercial formula than it would be for homemade.

We had a good 3-4 months that Aaron was drinking Nutramigen. That stuff is like liquid gold, even worse than raw milk as far as cost goes. I'm not sure what the cost per ounce for that stuff is, but each container I bought (larger than the little cans, smaller than the Costco size ones) was $34!! We calculated that we were spending $400/month on formula!!!

I hope all of my calculations are accurate...I'm a sleep-deprived, pregnant, homeschooling mommy, so I don't guarantee ANY of my work!

Homemade Baby Formula--First Trial

I've been researching what it would require to make my own baby formula for quite some time...it's always been a bit intimidating, especially before I knew what most of the ingredients were. The more I've learned, the less intimidating it's become, although I have to admit that there are still some "scary" things about doing this...mostly because it's an unknown for me.

I finally got all of the ingredients--of which there are many. Many, obscure ingredients. Yesterday I went to the grocery store and bought my raw milk and cream and this morning I took the plunge. All of the ingredients are pretty normal, other than the fermented cod liver oil--YUCK!! Yes, it smells as bad as it sounds. Thankfully, the other day when I took a dose (it's supposed to be REALLY good for you), I didn't really taste it.

Here's a link to the video of how to make this stuff. Homemade Milk-Based Baby Formula. There is great comfort in giving your baby something that contains ingredients that you've put in there, that you can pronounce and that don't require a chemistry degree to understand the process behind. Some of the ingredients serve to help the baby digest the formula more easily and some are there just to fortify the milk so the baby gets all of the nutrients s/he needs.

Aaron took it just fine at his nap this morning. It's hard to figure out the cost per ounce because of all of the ingredients...maybe one of these days soon I'll get ambitious and do the calculations. Here, a quart of RAW milk costs about $4.89. That will make 2 batches of this formula. The next most expensive ingredient is the fermented cod liver oil. I'm sure you could use other cod liver oil from the health food store...but the fermented is arguably far more nutritious and beneficial than the other stuff...not to mention less processed, yada, yada, yada. I bought it because I happen to have a loving, wonderful sugar daddy who lets me buy whatever I want--hehehe...just kidding. I bought it because that's what it called for and I wanted to make this the way it is supposed to be made, then I can tweak it from there. The one ingredient I did NOT do is the butter oil. It's INSANELY expensive (well, so is the cod liver oil at about $50/bottle-shipped!).

The other option with this formula that I am going to try next is to use PASTEURIZED, non-homogenized (otherwise known as CREAM TOP) whole milk, cultured with kefir grains. I don't have a whole lot of experience with raw milk, so I don't really have an opinion as to whether raw is better or safe or whatever. I know that it contains so much good stuff that is killed in the pasteurization process that helps it to be easily digested, which of course is a good thing...but I cannot speculate on the digestibility of raw milk versus pasteurized, non-homogenized, cultured milk. All I know is that the cream top milk is about half the cost of the raw...and in my opinion, money talks!

So there you have it...if you were ever interested in making your own baby formula, I'm being your guinea pig. So far, it's a lot less "weird" than I expected!

Brussels Sprouts

MANY people I know have told me, "Eeewww, Brussels Sprouts, I don't like Brussels Sprouts!" To which I reply, "Noooo, no, no...you've got to try MY Brussels Sprouts before deciding you don't like them." I've made a believer out of many people, so I'm going to share my recipe/technique for delicious Brussels Sprouts.

Delicious Brussels Sprouts
any amount of Brussels sprouts
fresh garlic, diced (use as much as you desire)
1/2 stick butter
chicken stock
kosher salt
pepper

Wash Brussels sprouts and slice in half lengthwise. Melt butter in large skillet. Add Brussels sprouts and garlic. Cook on high, covered, until one side of Brussels sprouts are browned. Flip over. Add 1-2c. chicken stock--about enough to come a quarter to half way up the Brussels sprouts (you can always add more if necessary, you don't want mushy, wet Brussels sprouts). Cook covered for 5-7 minutes. Remove lid and test tenderness of sprouts. If they're still rock hard, cover and cook longer. You want them tender, but not mushy...not too firm, not too soft. Take off lid and let moisture evaporate and the stock will condense and make a FABULOUS glaze. You may need to add a bit of salt and definitely pepper. These are fantastic!