Baby Wearing

I want to write a post about a recent love of mine that has had a lot of inquiry from other moms and friends, and that is; Baby wearing. So here goes.

Many moons ago, when I was pregnant with Al, I went online to Babies R Us and created a baby registry for my baby shower. Much like other new moms I had absolutely no clue what I was doing. I picked out things I thought I would need and little things that were cute. Now being a Mom for the second time around I realize what was necessary and what wasn't, but back then it was all new to me! One of the things I registered for was a way to wear baby. This was especially foreign to me but I do remember being interested in wrapping my little babe. I didn't know much about it but was very intrigued and definitely wanted to try. So I registered for a Maman Kangaroo stretchy wrap and a good ol' Baby Bjorn. Something I could try out and something that looked a little easier. I ended up receiving both as gifts (very generous of my family and friends) and started wearing Al right away. I mastered the stretchy wrap in no time and very much enjoyed it. 

As Al approached the weight limit on the stretchy wrap I started to use the Baby Bjorn more but found it relatively uncomfortable and started to use it less and less. It became more of a novelty than anything and was soon stored away in a drawer. Al was happy being worn for the first 6 months of his life for grocery trips and a few other outings here and there but as he became to big for what I had it seemed that we had "outgrown" babywearing. 

With number two on the way I started to revisit the idea of babywearing again and this time had a few really great inspirations to look toward for advice. "Try a woven wrap" they said! So I did, I ordered my first woven wrap. Now I must interject here that I was a bit shocked at the price point of these bad boys. I soon learned why they were so pricey by exploring different internet groups and doing some research. I also found out that these woven wraps held their value very nicely and could be bought and sold second hand! Anyway when I received my first order of fluffy mail (ah babywearing lingo, aka new wrap) and I gave it a try with Al. He wasnt much of a fan since it had been so long since I had worn him. However I realized that this wrap would have been a godsend on all the nights I had been trying to cook dinner and Al wanted "up"! Better late than never I suppose. 

I practiced with my new woven wrap here and there (with stuffies and pillows) until Ashe arrived. He was a big baby and we were able to start wrapping right away. I wore him all the time. It was my ultimate life saver! With two under 2 I was able to get my baby snuggles in while still playing with my toddler. I think it was one of the best investments I have made. 

I have since added to my collection but this time utilizing the babywearing swaps online to buy second hand (and sell some as well). Trips to the park, camping, grocery shopping, you name it, has all been made so much easier thanks to the world of babywearing. As Ashe has gotten older I have dappled in other forms of carriers and we have found our perfect fit with wrap conversion mei tais, basically a mei tai made from a woven wrap. He and I seem to like them best for their ease of getting on and off while still getting the beauty, structure and support of a woven wrap. I have even convinced Al to get in the mei tai a time or two.

I have come to learn that everyone will love something different to carry their baby in but it is the common love of wearing your child close to you while still "functioning" in your daily life that ties us "baby wearers" together. I really hope my big baby boy will continue to love being worn as he grows older as it has been such a bonding experience for us (plus a back saver!). I am by no mean an expert on any of this but I am enjoying learning new ways of wrapping and wearing my babes all the time. Heck I am even learning about things like safety, support & posture and so many other things! But if I can recommend anything to the second time mom it would be this, wear your baby! Whatever you choose to use will be the best for you but I promise you will love the closeness and bonding you get out of it! 

Next mission: convince Dad to wear the babes! (in something other than the bjorn)

Ashe

I'm eating

And bouncing

And rolling

And sitting up assisted.

Just a little update on what our big baby is up to these days

Recipes

Cheese & Ham Buns
2 eggs cooked and cubed
2 cups ham grated or finely cut
2 cups grated cheddar
Mayonnaise
Mustard
Onions finely chopped
celery finely chopped
pepper

Mix all ingredients together and stuff inside buns. Wrap in tinfoil and freeze all buns in large ziplock bag. Day of cooking, thaw and bake in oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Check after 20 minutes, should be melted all the way through.

Beef Lasagna
Lean ground beef
lasagna noodles
taco seasoning
tomato paste
Veggies (carrots, celery, onion, anything you want)
cottage cheese
mozzarella

Fry lean ground beef (and onion if using) at the same time boil 5-7 lasagna noodles. When beef is browned drain meet, mix in taco seasoning, tomato paste and 1/2 cup of water. Stir in veggies and container of cottage cheese.
In pan layer as follows: (bottom to top)

meat
mozza
noodles
mozza
meat
noodles
mozza

Bake at 375 covered for 15-20 minutes
Remove lid and bake additional 10 minutes uncovered

Creamy Chicken Lasagna
Lasagna noodles
4 cups cooked shredded chicken
1 1/2 tsp basil
12 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup chicken broth
3 cups marinara sauce
4 cups shredded mozza
3/4 cups grated parmesan

heat oven to 400. Combine chicken, basil 8 ounces of cream cheese and 1/4 cup of broth

Mix remaining cream cheese and broth in separate bowl

Spread 1/3 cup marinara in bottom of baking dish

then Layer as follows:
lasagna noodles
2/3 cup marinara sauce
1 cup of chicken mixture
3/4 cup mozza
2tbsp parmesan

repeat layers as many times as ingredients allow

Top with last noodles and broth cream cheese mixture and remaining cheeses.
Cover and bake 45 minutes.
Take off lid and broil 5 minutes.

Hamburger Pie
1 lb ground beef
1 1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
3/4 cup bisquick
1 cup grated cheddar
1 chopped tomato

heat oven to 400 F and grease pie plate
Fry beef and onion until browned. Drain and stir in salt and pepper. Spread in pie plate. 
Beat milk, eggs & bisquick until smooth. Pour into pie plate. Baked 25 minutes. 

Top with cheese and tomatoes (put into freezer bag and freeze at this point if doing a freezer meal) bake 5-8 minutes or until knife comes out clean when inserted. 

Turkey Pot Pie
3 cups cooked cup up turkey 
10 oz mushrooms
2 cups cooked sliced carrots
2 cups cooked potatoes
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup cooked chopped onion
3 packs of gravy (2 cups)
chicken bouillon cubes (2)
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp celary salt
Pilsbury Pie Crust

Cook vegetables. Put turkey and mushroom pieces into bottom piece of pie crust. Add cooked veggies

Make gravy as per packet instructions  add bouillon cubes and fully dissolve. Stir onion powder and celery salt in. Pour over meat and veggies lifting with fork to let gravy run through. Dont make gravy too thick. 
Cover pie bottom with pie top. Cut slits in pastry top. 
Bake at 400F for 30 minutes or until heated through and light brown. 



Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
2 cups flour
1 cups sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 bananas
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 F. Combine all ingredients together in large bowl. Grease bottom only of bread pan and pour in batter. Bake 40-50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes

M & M Cookies
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter
1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups m & m's

In small bowl combine flour, baking soda & salt
In large bowl cream together butter and sugars until fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs, beat well.
Sift dry ingredients into creamed mixture and blend well. Lastly add M &M's
Bake 8-10 minutes at 375 F

Granola Bars (Special thanks to Ashley)
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup flour (or sub oat flor)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup liquid honey
1 egg
1/2 cup oil
2 tsp vanilla

Add pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chocolate chips or anything else you like

Mix everything together with hands, add extra honey if ingredients are not sticking together well.
Bake in greased pan at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Cool and cut into bars

Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup peanut butter
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Cream butter and sugars together, beat in eggs, mix in peanut butter.
Stir in flour, baking soda and salt.
Shape into small balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Press with fork
Bake at 375F for 10-12 minutes

Busy Bags

Well what do you know, last week it was pouring rain and this week it is scorching (and I mean scorching) hot! The poor weather last week forced us inside so we decided to work on some "busy bags". As usual I found a ton of inspiration on pinterest and got to work on a few different ideas. We are working on learning colours and numbers the last little while so I decided to base my "busy bags" on those concepts.  

The first busy bag I made was rainbow pompom magnets. There is 1 red magnet 2 orange magnets 3 yellow magnets... Im sure you can finish the sequence. This will allow us to work with colors AND numbers!

The next busy bag is a number match game with ladybugs and leaves. Each ladybug has a number of dots on its back between 1 and 5. Each leaf has the number 1 through 5 written on it. The idea is to count the lady bugs dots and match it with the correct number on the leaf.

We made a few busy bags that contain busy boards, basically felt boards with felt pieces that stick to them.Our  first busy board is a pizza with numerous toppings in varied colors. The next busy board is a fish tank with different underwater animals and plants. 

We added another bag to our collection, this one containing home-made slime. Our nanny made this with Al one day and he just loves it! Great for exploring textures, plus its cheap and homemade.

And along with our slime we made rainbow rice for more color and texture play!

Lastly we made a pompom pipecleaner press to work on fine motor skills. Al loves to push all the pom poms and pipe cleaners into the different sized holes and then dump them all out again. Perfect for the toddler that loves to pack and dump!

We have a few more busy bags to finish up but for now we are enjoying the nice weather outside. I think our busy bags will come in handy for all the trips we are about to be taking too! They are quick and easy and definitely keep Al entertained!

Threading the coloured noodles onto pipe cleaners 

Hide and Seek Bag

Rock Monster eye counting

Bean Sorting

Eat Clean Train Mean

Baby Ashe is 8 weeks old this Thursday and it's time to get back on track. I have 11 pounds of "baby weight" to shed ASAP. In order to do so, priority number one is getting back to clean eating. This includes healthy choices, portion control and food prep.  The next focus is fitness. Back to running, lifting weights and being active! I always love getting back at it. I am getting more sleep now that Ashe is going longer over night so I am ready to get active! 

My new meal plans look like this:

Breakfast

Oatmeal with berries and chia seeds

coffee with sweetener and almond milk

Snack 1

apple, 1 light baby bell cheese, small bag of mixed nuts 

Lunch

2 egg white muffin tin omelettes with turkey bacon, peppers, tomato and cheese, side of cucumber and avocado 

Snack 2

two rice cakes with almond butter

Dinner

chicken stir fry with peppers, zucchini, broccoli, onion, carrots. 

brown rice 

Post Workout

Protein shake with greek yogurt, frozen berries, banana, spinach, flaxseed, unsweetened almond milk, ice, 1 scoop of whey protein.

Some recipes for other healthy snacks

Protein Cookies

1 1/2 – 2 cups of Oats
2 Ripe Bananas
1 cup of All Natural Unsweetened Apple Sauce
1/3 cup of Unsweetened Dried Cranberries
(Or any other kinds of dried fruit.. Raisins, Cranberries, Dates, Goji Berries, etc.) 
2 tsp of Cinnamon2 or 3 Egg Whites
5 tbsp of Protein Powder
1 cup of sweetener 
Step One: In a large bowl, mash up your Bananas – preferably no lumps.
Step Two: Mix in the Apple Sauce. Then add your Egg Whites. Mix well.
Step Three: Add in your Cinnamon, Protein Powder, and Dried Cranberries.
Step Four: Preheat Oven to 350°
Step Five: Spoon mixture onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
Step Six: Bake 12-18 minutes

Banana Chocolate Protein Bars
Ingredients:
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup oat flour
1/3 cup protein powder 
1 T chia seeds (optional)
1 t cinnamon
pinch of sea salt
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
3 egg whites
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 T smooth natural peanut butter (or almond butter)
1/2 T honey
5 drops of liquid stevia (or 1 T more of honey)
1 t vanilla
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F.
In a bowl combine all dry ingredients: oats, oat flour, protein powder, chia seeds, cinnamon, and salt.
In a large bowl combine all wet ingredients: bananas, egg whites, almond milk, peanut butter, honey, liquid stevia, and vanilla.
Slowly pour and stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until everything is well mixed, then gently stir in the carob chips.
Pour the batter into a greased 8 x 5 in. or 8 x 8 in. baking dish.
Bake for 15-20 minutes; remove from oven and cool for 15-20 minutes.
Cut into 8 squares and enjoy.