A Working Title For a Busy Mom

An Ode to Oatmeal

2015-06-08T15:21:00.000-07:00

I have always liked oatmeal, but my love affair with it didn't really start until after I realized just how expensive it is to feed two toddlers Cheerios every morning for breakfast. Not only would my kids (then 2 and 4) eat a whole box in 2 or 3 days, but they were always hungry two hours later. I liked oatmeal well enough, but felt it was too hard to make up a pot of oatmeal every morning and then to clean up all the glop off the table left after my not so tidy eaters finished up. We kept oatmeal on hand to make cookies or granola or for my husband and I to eat occasionally, but that was it until I saw that Costco sold 10lb boxes of Quaker "old fashioned rolled oats" for about the same price as their big boxes of breakfast cereal. I was trying to cut down our food budget at the time and had just discovered how to make my own granola and oatmeal bars so I bought the box.

Given the choice between homemade granola and cold
cereal L chooses the granola.

Since I had oatmeal in the house I started serving it more and realized that the days that I made oatmeal the kids frequently forget to ask for a morning snack!?! Not only that, but I realized that I wasn't hungry until lunch either. When snack time became less important to us all it made running errands and playing at the park easier. At some point I just stopped buying cold breakfast cereal. If we wanted something to pour milk over I would make granola, but mostly we started eating oatmeal, eggs or something like zucchini bread or pumpkin bread in the mornings instead. At first I felt like I was just being cheap and felt a little bit bad that my kids never had Cheerios like all the other kids did, but then I realized that we were actually getting the better breakfasts most days, even if it was a bit more work. Then came the real epiphany: you don't need to cook oatmeal in a pot, you can just pour boiling water over it and let it sit for a few minutes!!! My husband was the first to figure this out when he started taking jars of oatmeal and dried fruit to work with him, but we quickly adapted it to home use. Now the kids may not get to have bowl after bowl of cold cereal, but they do get to pick their toppings and sprinkle the cinnamon over their individual bowls of oatmeal before I pour hot water over everything and send them off to get dressed for the day while it "cooks". They love this and there are so many variations that they rarely get bored. My husband loves to throw in some pecans along with his normal salt and cinnamon and then drizzle maple syrup over it. T and L both love raisins and dried cranberries with brown sugar and cinnamon. A and I have been really enjoying adding frozen berries along with a drizzle of half and half. If I want something with more protein I'll throw raisins and walnuts in with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and a pinch of salt and pour some half and half over the whole thing. Add in a mug of green tea for the perfect start to a cold, grey day (or to pretend that you have a cold, grey day when you really have a hot, humid day).

A chose raisins and dried cranberries while I went with frozen
berries for breakfast. So much tastier than cereal!

For over a year we bought that 10lb box of oats every few weeks and enjoyed it a ton. Then we decided that we really needed to take a close look at what we were buying that wasn't organic/local/fair-trade/etc. When I realized that our grains were a glaring exception to our attempts to buy responsibly raised food I almost had a panic attack. I could get organic oats at the co-op, but those little bags didn't last very long at all. How would we survive without oatmeal and bread? How would we afford paying so much more to source better oatmeal and flour? The next week I saw organic flour at Costco with a giant "new" sign next to it at a price we could afford, but that big blue box of oatmeal kept mocking me. Thankfully my husband thought to call our local co-op and ask if they were willing to sell us larger quantities of oatmeal than you could really get in the bulk bin. Apparently the question wasn't as strange as we expected, they heard it all the time. Not only were they willing to sell us an entire 50lb bag of organic rolled oats, but they offered a discount! We ordered the oats immediately and then started looking around to see what else they have in their bulk bins that we might want 50lbs of. Thankfully we waited to order anything else until our oats came in. Do you know how much space 50lbs of oats takes up?

I'm pretty sure I could fit in this bad. Added
bonus is that the bag can be recycled so
no trash went to the landfill!

We need more buckets before we can order more stuff, thankfully we were able to fit the extra oatmeal into some carboys that my husband has for brewing. That was a month ago, we are now about 1/3rd of the way through the oats and planning our next order. We are loving this step of our journey as much as the others, especially when I bite into the thick struessel topping on carrot-beet cake and know that there is plenty more oatmeal where that came from.

This is what 50 lbs of rolled oats looks like. For scale, the
container on the left holds 5 gallons.

Babysteps and Food Budgets

2015-04-11T23:21:00.005-07:00

One of the things that I constantly run into when someone hears that we eat a lot of locally produced food that is either organic or naturally grown is the idea that you can't eat this way on a budget. For some reason everyone seems to assume that you have to spend an arm and a leg in order to eat a healthy diet and one trip to Whole Foods generally confirms this. However, there are more ways to source good food than from the aisles at Whole Foods and even more ways to eat well while saving up to eat even better. The first step we took in our journey to eating a more organic, local, humanely-raised, socially responsible diet was to cut our grocery budget. I know that this seems a strange step to take, but the grocery budget was the only place we really had enough wiggle room and we were, after all, saving the money we cut to play for food (aka groceries). This begs the question of how to cut the grocery budget without sacrificing nutrition. For us that answer was simple, I cooked simpler meals and everything I could I made from scratch. If you aren't used to cooking from scratch this can be a rather drastic step, but I'd had practice when A was tiny and had issues with any food containing even the slightest trace of cow's milk, soy, or corn. Let me tell you, compared to avoiding corn, cooking basic meals with no food restrictions from scratch is pretty easy.

This simple, one-pot pork and greens dish takes maybe 15
minutes of prep followed by 30 minutes simmering on its own.

About now I'm sure that some of you are envisioning me slaving over a hot stove all day or us sitting down to skimpy meals and going to bed hungry. All I can say is that this was not the case. In many ways we actually started eating better because the tighter budget forced me to plan better and made it almost impossible* to buy much junk. I know that there are a lot of people out there who claim that junk food is the cheapest form of calories, and it is. However, I budget by the meal, not the calorie when it comes to making my food choices. And seriously, how many people really sit there and count the calories on the cookies, candy and soda that they buy? Do you really feel as satisfied after eating a whole bag of potato chips as you would after eating a nice meal, even if the meal has fewer calories?

Sloppy joes on homemade buns and broccoli slaw

When you are buying by the meal you realize that a bag of apples costs the same as a big bag of chips and will cover several snacks where the potato chips have to be doled out carefully if you don't want them to be inhaled by the kids the second you open the bag. You realize that a bag of dried beans costs $1 and will cover 2 or 3 meals while that box of Hamburger Helper also costs $1, but will only cover one. Furthermore, you realize that a complete meal with the beans can be made by adding brown rice, cabbage, cilantro and tomatoes which works out to being WAY cheaper than the ground beef you would need for the Hamburger Helper, not to mention better for you. When you are budgeting by the meal you might even realize that water is not only better for you than juice or soda, but also far and away a cheaper beverage option. When you are budgeting by the meal you walk down the cereal aisle at Costco and notice that the 10lb box of rolled oats costs about the same as the giant boxes of sugary breakfast cereal, but realize that the rolled oats will cover breakfast for several weeks instead of a few days when your kids insist that they are hungry by 10am despite eating 3 bowls of Cheerios just a couple of hours ago (or maybe that's just my kids).

Eggs on a bed of sauted greens with
sliced oranges from our CSA.

The hard part, of course, is that we have all gotten used to thinking of the dried beans and the rolled oats as an ingredient that will require a lot of work before it turns into food while we think of the Hamburger Helper and the breakfast cereals as ready made meals that save us time and money. In truth, this is really all just a product of marketing. You can toss old-fashioned rolled oats in a bowl with some brown sugar, salt and cinnamon and pour boiling water over it just like you would instant oatmeal. Within 5 minutes you can stir it and start eating, just like you would with the more costly packets of "instant" oatmeal. If you cover the bowl after you pour on the water you can grab a shower and get dressed and come out to a nice, hot breakfast waiting for you. If you have a lot of busy mornings you can even make up several containers with oatmeal, sugar, spices and dried fruit to grab on your way out the door. Either add water, seal it up and toss in your bag to eat when you get where you are going or add hot water from the office water cooler when you get in and eat it while checking your morning email**. Beans are just as easy. Simply rinse them off toss them in a pot on the stove with water and seasonings for 2ish hours or throw them in the crockpot on low all day so dinner is waiting for you when you get home. Save some of your beans in 2 cup containers in the freezer for recipes that call for canned beans or to bail yourself out when the day gets away from you and eat the rest while they are still nice and hot. Beans keep and reheat well and can be dressed up so many ways. Below are two of my favorite recipes. We eat them so often that I can't believe I can't find a picture so you'll have to deal with pictures of other meals we've eaten recently.

Humanely raised pork roast with applesauce and greens.
This is a 100% local version of longtime favorite meal.

Black Beans and Rice

1lb black beans

1tsp salt

1tsp cumin

1/4-1/2 onion (dice or leave it as a big chunk that you can fish out later)

1 dried chili pod (optional, but good)

2 cloves garlic (optional, but good)

Rinse beans and pick out any discolored beans, stones, etc. Put beans in a pot or crockpot and cover with 1"-2" of water. Add seasonings and give it a quick stir. Simmer on the stove for ~2 hours or in a crockpot on low for 7-9 hours or in a crockpot on high for 4-6 hours. If you have lots of extra broth you can boil it down, discard it or just pour it over rice to add extra flavor. If you don't have enough water towards the end of the cooking time just add more and give it a quick stir. You will need to keep a closer eye on it if you are cooking on the stove instead of a crockpot as more water boils off. These are great in burritos or served over brown rice in a bowl topped with just about any veggies you would put on a taco.

White Beans

1lb navy beans

1tsp salt

2 cloves garlic (peeled, but left whole)

Rinse beans and pick out any discolored bits, stones, etc. Put beans in a pot or crockpot and cover with 1"-2" of water. Add salt and garlic cloves. Simmer on the stove for ~2 hours or in a crockpot on low for 7-9 hours or in a crockpot on high for 4-6 hours. If you have lots of extra broth you can boil it down, discard it or just pour it over rice to add extra flavor. If you don't have enough water towards the end of the cooking time just add more and give it a quick stir. You will need to keep a closer eye on it if you are cooking on the stove instead of a crockpot as more water boils off. I also made these in our new solar oven and they were amazing. Baby L ate them straight from the pot, but they were also great added to a pork stew and would make a wonderful side for anything mild like fish or chicken or even served cold with a big salad on a hot day.

*I use a cash budget for my groceries. It took some getting used to, but it really forces me to keep track of how much I'm buying or risk the embarrassment of standing in the check-out line digging in my purse for enough to buy what was just rung up. It also forces you to buy the basics first and only get treats if you have enough left which encourages smart choices. I started by giving myself a bit of a buffer to ease the transition.

**I know, I don't have an office and rarely check my email, but my husband has both and he regularly takes jars of oatmeal in. Sometimes he'll even keep a bottle of half and half in his office fridge to pour over the oatmeal for that extra layer of tastiness.

The Story of a Meal

2015-03-23T23:23:00.000-07:00

I have been terrible about getting back into this space to talk about how our journey into the world of eating food grown by people we know has been going. It isn't that we have stopped eating local food, in fact we are eating more than ever with more and more of the remaining grocery store buys being organic. There have been two nights in the last week when I look at the dinner table and realize that except for the salt and pepper I know exactly where every ingredient of every dish on the table came from and most meals I at least know something about the sourcing. I keep meaning to come back and write a post about how lovely "grocery shopping" has become for us now that the vast majority of our food comes from small, local farms. Someday I will write about picking up our CSA share in a lovely, shaded courtyard with friendly people, live music, and space for the kids to run a bit while I stop to chat. Someday I hope to write about how much easier it is to "shop" the freezer for meat instead of wrangling 3 kids out the door and into carseats to go to the grocery store. I'd love to share how nice it is to knead bread at the kitchen counter or mix up a batch of granola bars while watching the kids playing in the living room until I call them in to lick the bowl. I've already shared how easy it is to make granola at home, and let me tell you, even fancy granola is cheap compared to how much breakfast cereal 3 growing kids can eat.

L enjoying homemade granola for breakfast

However, all of that will wait. Right now I want to tell another story, the story of the meal we ate tonight. Tonight I planned to take my first dance class since A was born. Since the class wasn't until later we had time for dinner together as long as I made sure to have everything ready a touch early. For me this means using downtime in either the morning or early afternoon to get something going that can simmer because once we hit the "witching hour" all bets on punctuality are off. After a quick rummage through the fridge I planned on making beef stew. I should have started making it this morning, but I forgot to thaw the beef and then promptly forgot again. This left me with a frozen hunk of meat and a sudden sinking feeling at about 3pm. Luckily L was still napping and the big kids were playing happily so I grabbed the beef and thawed it partway in the microwave and started chopping veggies. Once the meat was reasonably thawed I reached into the fridge to grab some lard to brown the beef since it is really stable at high temperatures. That was when I started thinking. As I spooned some lard out of the jar I remembered the grey day when I rendered lard for the first time occasionally texting my sister for advice on how to go about this arcane practice. The lard I was using to brown the beef tonight had started out as pig fat from a pastured pig in the next county over that I'd picked up at our CSA. Then I tossed in the beef and it reminded me of meeting the farmer in a parking lot to pick it up and also of visiting his farm 1.5 hours away. I can still picture the tall grass of the pastures against the backdrop of beautiful mountains. As I chopped the vegetables I smiled at the turnips that I grew myself, the first success I have ever had growing root vegetables. I also remembered just a couple of weeks ago walking through the fields where our CSA veggies are grown with my family. I will admit to grinning as I remembered my shy 3 year old running up to give the farmer a giant hug because, in his world, Farmer Frank is where all the good vegetables come from. As I poured in the last of a bottle of wine to deglaze the pan I thought of the friend who had brought it over on Friday and the fun that was had that evening. I added some water and herbs from my garden that had been dried on the dehydrator that my husband's grandmother had decluttered in our direction (for which I am still thankful) and then I put the lid on and went to spend time with my kids. As I was working I realized how much nicer cooking was when making a meal for my family is a trip down memory lane instead of one more chore. In many ways, even more than the health benefits that we gain from eating better foods, these connections and memories make it worth the effort we have put in to sourcing our food. This was a story that I felt I should share. As we sat down to eat I warned my husband that I wanted to carve out a chunk of time to blog this story, then we ate, I hugged everyone goodbye and went to dance.

A wants everyone just how good homemade breakfast
sausage can be.

In the car I took advantage of the kid free car ride to listen to NPR. One of the news blurbs mentioned that glyphosphate (a major ingredient in the herbicide Roundup) has been labeled a "probable carcinogen" by the WHO. I know just how heavily this herbicide is used in conventional agriculture and my knee-jerk reaction was to worry about what kind of exposure my kids were getting and what I might do to reduce that exposure until the science was more firm one way or another. That was when I realized, not only are dinners like the one we had tonight more enjoyable to cook and to eat, but they also mean that I don't have to worry. I know for a fact that my kids (as well as my husband and myself) are getting little or no exposure to glyphosphate or any other pesticides.* I know the farms where our food comes from and I know how the farmers that grow our food approach things like weeds, problem insects, and animal husbandry. I was suddenly so thankful that I wanted to share. More importantly, I wanted to encourage anyone who would listen to at least consider the moving down the path that we are on. Your path doesn't have to look like ours, but even the smallest steps add up. Even if you don't ever see yourself baking your own bread or sticking with what produce is available locally and eating strictly seasonally (which we don't do yet), you can still take small steps away from a system that puts a lower priority on the health of workers, consumers, land and animals than on making money. I only hope that if you do your journey will be as good for you as our journey has been for us. Our journey hasn't been a fast one, but it has slowly added joy, health and simplicity while reducing worry and even (to some extent) cost. And really, what could be better than to add joy to your own life while doing better by the plants, animals, people and land in this world?

A dinner from last week that also brought on similar memories.
It may not be the prettiest, but it was both easy and delicious!

*Pesticide is the generic term for both herbicides and insecticides as well as things like fungicides and pretty much anything other chemical that gets rid of something that might hurt a crop.

Sowing Seeds and Making Connections

2014-10-31T15:16:00.002-07:00

I wish I could say that the first thing I did after deciding that we should be eating better was to leap into action. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be true. The first thing I did was to mope and whine to myself and my husband that it was too hard and that we just couldn't afford to eat better. The second, and by far more productive, thing I did was to look long and hard at where our food dollars were going. While it was true that they were pretty much all going towards healthy foods, many of which were still in a fairly raw state and thus about as cheap as they could get there was still some waste that could be cut and plenty of room for more beans and rice (which the kids happen to LOVE). I could save a few dollars a week by making my own bread, granola bars, and broth, but that didn't really cover things like organic milk or free-range eggs or the double produce share from our local CSA that we would need to feed our family. While I was still in the feeling sorry for myself stage a friend called and said the words I always love to hear "Can you babysit for me later this week? I can pay you in eggs." You see, this friend has amazing kids that play so well with my kids that babysitting for a couple of hours really doesn't feel like work. Plus, her family keeps backyard chickens that produce exactly the kinds of eggs that I like to eat and enjoys a good loaf of homemade bread even when they don't need babysitting. That simple request was the kick in the pants I need to start getting creative. I realized that even though I couldn't grow all the food we needed, even the small things that I can do add up and can be traded with others in a way that both of us win.

Capturing rainwater for the garden.

That realization got me thinking about our grocery budget, our kitchen and our backyard in a whole new way. I realized that even if I couldn't grow everything we needed, every little bit would help. I planted a small garden from seed to minimize the upfront investment and thus the risk of my black thumb setting us back even more than before. I realized that even a few fresh herbs would let me dress up the otherwise boring meals made up of cheap staples that we'd be eating while we saved towards bulk purchases. I started looking up local farmers and ranchers on EatWild.com and Local Harvest so that I could get an idea of just how much I would need to spend each week/month/year to feed us all. The more I looked, the more I realized that the expensive part of eating locally grown, organic food was just getting started, not the day to day eating. Grass-fed beef can be had for under $7/lb, humanely raised pigs for under $6/lb and grass-fed lamb or goat for around $8/lb provided you buy a whole animal directly from the farmer and have it professionally processed (the cost of processing is included in that number). Honestly, that isn't much more than you would pay for conventional versions of the same meat at the grocery store. The problem with that is two-fold. First of all, while the unit price is pretty reasonable, when you are buying dozens or even hundreds of pounds of meat all at once it adds up quickly. The second problem is where on earth to store that much meat. We have a dedicated freezer, but even that will still only hold half a cow with little room for anything else. Thankfully we have friends. I started talking to everyone I could think of that might listen and found some other families that were interested in sharing the meat. Once we had friends who were willing to split the cost and the meat we all started saving. It took months, both to save the money and for the animals to grow, but a just a few weeks ago I took delivery on a whole hog all neatly wrapped up in butcher paper and our plans for a more fresh, local, organic diet really started getting traction.

This is just the hog...

Once we had meat I was able to take the part of our grocery budget that I had been spending on conventional meat to get us through and redirect it towards a CSA share. Now that our garden is more established I can sometimes walk out the backdoor for meal ideas instead of looking at the grocery ads which has allowed me to route more money towards the CSA share. Add the money that I'm saving by baking my own sourdough bread and other baked goods and the $40/week that a double CSA share* costs is suddenly affordable while still saving for next year's meat. Now that we are getting a CSA share and have a freezer full of meat and a garden with flowers and herbs and a sourdough starter begging to be baked into bread every week we don't need to buy nearly as much from the grocery store. Suddenly we are sitting down to dinner some nights and realizing that everything on the table is not only organically grown, but that we can name the people who grew or made most of we have on our plates. When we pick up our CSA share from the same group that my husband and I picked up our first CSA share 7 years ago the faces are the same and we are remembered despite the fact that we had taken a break for 1.5 years. When we bite into the amazingly tasty pork chops I smile, not just because they taste better than any pork I have had in a long time, but also because I remember watching the piglets play and nap in the shade of some huge trees when we visited the farm where they were raised last June. I don't have to forget about the cruelties of commercial hog raising because this hog lived a life that I know won't give anyone nightmares, not even my highly sensitive 3 year old. When I watch my kids lick their plates to get the last of the applesauce, I don't have to worry about checking the ingredients list for corn syrup, instead I can remember picking the apples with my husband as the kids helped and played in the mud in the orchard. I can remember hanging out in the kitchen with my husband late into the night as we peeled, cooked and canned over 100lbs of apples. I can smile, knowing that I have dozens more jars stashed under our bed to (hopefully) get us through until the apples are ready again next fall.

Making applesauce together.

We still have more to do. I haven't planted our winter garden yet and we'd really like to get some beef in our freezer instead of just pork. I'd like to find a better source for milk than the factory farm organic that we are currently buying. I need to order a turkey for Thanksgiving and figure out how to cure the sweet potatoes that are almost done growing in the flowerbed. I need to figure out how to make bread from freshly ground, whole wheat instead of just using flour from the store. I need to roast up the pumpkins from our CSA that the kids decorated for Halloween (they used stickers) so that I can make the pumpkin bread that we love eating for breakfast and snacks in the fall and winter. However, as I stand typing this in a kitchen that smells of baking bread and simmering soup I know that we are already further than I realized towards our goal of eating well. I also know that I can't wait to see where we wind up.

Butternut squash blossom from
the garden

*Remember that I am feeding a family of 5 and it is not uncommon for us to have a couple of extra mouth at our table for a few meals each week. If you are a single person or a couple that doesn't entertain very often your costs will be MUCH lower.

Black-eyed peas growing in my garden

We Are What We Eat

2014-10-23T11:33:00.000-07:00

This is a phrase that I have been thinking about a lot lately. It is a phrase that has been around for as long as I can remember, but it wasn't until I was reading In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan (or rather listening to it while driving across the MidWest) that I really started to take it seriously. You see, Pollan points out that we are quite literally what we eat. All of the carbon molecules, amino acids, fats, sugars, etc that our bodies use to build new cells, run the ones we have and repair old ones come from the foods that we eat and the liquids that we drink. I always knew that my husband and I felt better when we were eating a healthy, balanced diet. However, I never really thought about the fact that the very carbon atoms that build my children's bodies come directly from the food that they eat as do the protein that builds their muscles, the fats that turn into hormones, and the sugars that turn into energy for their cells so that they can run and play, grow and learn. We all know that eating a good breakfast is important for school success and that it is hard for anyone to concentrate when they are hungry, but it is easy to get stuck in the mentality that food is little more than tasty fuel for our brains and bodies.

It would not be fair to say that this is a novel concept to me. In college I studied wildlife biology. I took classes that talked about how different grasses nourished game and livestock in different ways. I also learned over and over again about how our cells work and how our bodies digest our food and turn it into the building blocks of life. I even had classes about how different types of common livestock animals have bodies designed for specific types of diets and all of the things that can happen if they get the wrong kind of food for too long. I knew about CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) where grass eating cows are packed into tight spaces and fed lots of corn/antibiotics/animal byproducts/etc instead of hay. I have driven by large scale dairies and CAFOs that could be smelled many miles before they could be seen. I even knew a little bit about commercial hog production, though the little bit I knew about that was enough to keep me from wanting to learn more. I also worked for years doing computer stuff for our local cooperative extension service. I posted the warnings when the EPA decided to pull certain pesticides off of the list of allowed chemicals because they caused too many health problems for those applying them. I saw a tiny bit of the backlash from conventional farmers who felt that they could not grow crops without these chemicals. I saw the extension service working to help farmers who were dependent on "roundup ready" crops figure out what to do when the weeds became resistant to the only herbicide that those farmers knew to use. I really had no excuse for sticking my head in the sand and pretending that all food is created equal.

This is a swale I saw in Iowa while on our roadtrip. I was
so excited to see good land management that I took a picture.

Despite all of this and a love of good food I never really thought too much about it once I had kids because I was too busy thinking about other things like how to raise them into the best adults that I can. That isn't to say that I've been feeding my kids junk. We try to eat meals as a family, snacks are frequently fruits and veggies and some sort of non-grain plant food pretty much always appears at the dinner table. We are lucky enough to live in a region with a year round growing season in a neighborhood where fresh produce is used to draw people into the grocery store so despite a very tight grocery budget we still eat pretty well by modern American standards.

However, I have always been a little bit of a "slow food" person at heart as well as a lover of books (especially nonfiction) and bit by bit I have been realizing that changes need to happen. At this point I am responsible for raising three amazing children* and I am the main person responsible for making sure that they get what they need in terms of food, shelter, clothing, teaching, love and responsibility to grow into amazing adults. (Yes, my husband helps, but he is also at work all day earning the living that supports the rest of us.) However, the kinds of changes that need to happen are ones that I have been told over and over again can't happen on a tight food budget. I really want to start feeding my kids mostly organically produced fruits and veggies. I want to feed them milk, cheese and yogurt from cows that have eaten grass. I want their eggs to come from chickens that have been allowed to roam free, and not just packed into a giant shed with a little door they could theoretically go out if they could find it and weren't too demoralized to care. I want the meat we eat (because we really are omnivores here and feel better with meat in our diet) to come from animals that have been humanely raised and allowed to eat the diet that they evolved to eat. So how do I do it? How do I feed a family of five organic produce, grass-fed meat and organic dairy products on a seriously tight food budget**?

The answer to that involves planning, saving, cooking and some creativity. I started the planning and saving phase back in April after that fateful road trip and things are just now coming together, but it is totally worth it so far. I am hoping to share my journey with anyone who is interested and would love to answer any questions that come up along the way. I would also love it if this post and those that I hope will follow it inspire someone to eat even a little bit better or to spend their food dollars in a slightly more sustainable way. Who's with me?

* Yes, yes, bad blogger, no cookie. I had a baby that didn't ever get mentioned here, but if I have any followers left that don't know me in real life I'll be shocked. I'm pretty sure the 3ish visits this blog sees each week are all from my dad. Hi Dad!
**When I say seriously tight I mean it. When I first started budgeting I looked up what people got in the way of food stamps and used that as my jumping off point. I increased it when we needed to and decreased it when we had extra and needed something elsewhere. I haven't checked recently, but last I did our food budget is below the USDA numbers for frugal shoppers feeding a family of 4. That said, cash is an important part of how I have made grocery shopping at this level work as is living in a place where we can literally grow food crops year round and the local farmers can too. I honestly don't know if someone who is limited to food stamps or living in a climate that has harsh winters would be able to make this work on the budget that we are using. However, these tips may still be useful in helping others in those sorts of situations move in the same direction.

One Day

2013-03-12T10:41:00.001-07:00

Last night I came across a list of day when A was about 6 months old. It made me smile and wondered what a normal day was like for us now. There is no such thing as a "normal" day with young kids. However, as we have no special plans for today I figure this is as good a chance as any to track exactly what our day looks like. I figured I would share so that I could go back and read it later. Maybe someone will get a smile from this entry or a better insight into exactly what it means to stay home with young children. Maybe it will do both for someone, maybe it won't. Either way, it is a good way for me to see exactly where all my time goes so here you are:

5:40am - Wake up when A crawls into bed with me claiming that she has had a bad dream. Hug her for a minute until she feels better and then DH takes her back to bed.

6:10am - T wakes up hungry. DH brings him in and I start nursing him.

6:12am - Realize that T is not wearing his splint. I am thankful he only bruised his hand instead of breaking anything and the doctor said that the splint is optional.

6:13am - Fall back asleep snuggling my boy.

6:36am - Wake up and realize that A is now in bed with me too. DH comes in and grabs the kids so that I can get a few minutes of sleep on my own.

6:54am - DH wakes me up to start the day. I realize that I am now 10 minutes behind schedule.

6:55am - Hop in the shower and shiver because I forgot to let the water warm up before I got in.

7:01am - Dry off and get dressed, while trying to convince myself that this shower should count as a "long" shower because I had time to shave.

7:08am - Head into the kitchen to make breakfast. Attempting to put two thoughts together at this hour with both kids talking at me is proving a challenge, but I do realize that DH has managed to get both kids dressed in outfits that actually go together for which I am thankful.

7:22am - Send DH to work with a granola bar because he isn't gonna have time to help us eat the french toast.

7:26am - The french toast is ready, but the kids will need more protein so I throw a couple of mini frittatas in the microwave.

7:27am - Breakfast is ready when A announces she has to go to the bathroom.

7:31am - Both kids are ready to sit down to breakfast so I jump on the opportunity before the food gets too cold.

7:40am - I realize that while T is okay with one piece of french toast and most of his frittata, A will happily eat her weight in french toast. I convince her to finish her frittata in exchange for half of one of my pieces of french toast and make a mental note to make enough for 2 hungry adults the next time I make this for the kids.

7:42am - T is done with breakfast and starts throwing his frittata which he had previously smeared in maple syrup. Clean him up and let him run off and play.

7:54am - A has finished her frittata and is happy that I saved her some french toast. I clear the table and drink my tea while she finishes eating.

7:58am - Realize that T is starting to pull toys out in the living room and if I want to vacuum at all today I better hurry.

8:20am - I realize that as much as letting the kids play with the vacuum attachments is a great way to make them look forward to vacuuming, it is also a great way to ensure that you never can vacuum the cobweb out of the corner when you need to without having to track someone down and steal their favorite toy...

8:36am - Finish vacuuming the carpet and realize that I should blog about this as a response to the question of what a stay at home mom does all day.

8:38am - Both kids are playing happily so I grab the computer to start typing.

8:47am - A asks me to grab her a doll blanket and I realize that she is pretending to sleep in the doll bed.

8:51am - T goes over to play too and they snuggle for a minute before he runs off to grab his own blanket.

8:54am - I move the stools from the kitchen counter onto the carpet so I can vacuum the kitchen and dining room. T starts climbing them and A decides she wants to use them to host a picnic. Explain to A that there are two stools and that she has to share one with T.

8:58am - T sees the computer and manages to reach up and open the CD drive. I look over in time to see him trying to use it as a handhold to climb on the counter.

9:00am - Realize that the reason T's pants don't look quite right is because they belong to A. Resolve to start folding and putting away the laundry myself instead of leaving it to DH. I don't really get to complain if I'm not the one doing it and really want to complain...

9:06am - As I am in the middle of vacuuming the kitchen and realizing that I am going to need to sweep too, A asks if I can come to her picnic. I ask her if she can please wait until I am done.

9:12am - The vacuum is stowed and I'm off to a picnic of fake food in the living room. But first I stop to take off my apron and take my allergy meds which I forgot to take with breakfast.

9:17am - T says he has to go potty. I pull off the sopping wet diaper and let him try the potty. He pees a little on the potty and is super excited. I put a fresh diaper on him along with pants that actually belong to him before giving him a giant hug simply because I can and heading back out to play with A.

9:24am - Explain to A that if you are so frustrated you are knocking down the tower you keep trying to build that maybe it is time for a break. She agrees to come back to it later and goes off to play with the zoo on her own. I head for the kitchen to sweep.

9:25am - T starts fussing and I realize that he has managed to tie himself in knots in the giant playsilk and cannot get out. I untie him and hug him for a minute before he wants down to play.

9:32am - Kids are playing nicely so I head back to the kitchen to sweep, only to realize that there is too much cat hair on the broom and I need to go outside to knock it off. I decide to sweep the front porch and water the flowers while I am out there and am glad of our new screen door because it means that the kids can watch and talk to me without me having to worry about them or the cat running off while I'm sweeping.

9:37am - Done sweeping and on to mopping while the kids are still playing happily.

9:55am - Finish mopping only to have both kids ask to help me mop as I am putting away the steam mop. After talking about it they decide that they are okay with waiting until next time. Given how hard I had to scrub to get the floor clean I'm thinking that next time will be coming sooner than they think.

9:56am - Stop to blog and see the email saying my audio book is in at the library. Do a mini dance of joy and hope the kids will be as excited about listening to it together as I am.

9:57am - A pushes T down. We all talk about our feelings and how it isn't nice to push. Snuggle both kids until A wanders off. Realize that T's feet are cold and stop to find his socks.

10:06am - Realize the cat is on the counter drinking my tea. I tell him nicely to stop and jump up to grab him. A immediately starts repeating what I'd said to the cat making me very glad that I'd settled for nice instead of using the words I wanted to...

10:10am - Text my sister with a question on how to make lunch. Realize that T and A are starting to fight over silly things so I send A to her room for a few minutes.

10:14am - A comes out and apologizes without being asked. We hug, snuggle and talk for a minute before deciding to head to the park for some fresh air. I scramble to put the dining room chairs back while A gets her shoes on.

10:27am - Realize that getting ready for the park would be easier if T wasn't being so fussy. Get him ready and wrap him on my back so I can get ready and help A.

10:30am - Punch myself in the jaw trying to wrap because I was distracted by the fact that T just said the word "wrap". He is happier now that he is on my back.

10:34am - All ready to head to the park with T almost asleep on my back :)

10:38am - A decides she has to go potty just as we are about to walk out the door and T now fully asleep on my back...

10:42am - Make it out the door to the park. A didn't actually have to go potty, she just wanted an excuse to make faces at herself in the bathroom mirror. A and I walk with T on my back asleep. Once we are there I knit a little while A plays. She is finally tall enough to reach the monkey bars so that brings some pretty major excitement. (I know, by most standards my life is boring, but it's my life and I like it.)

11:22am - A realizes suddenly that she actually has to go potty now. T wakes up just as we start to walk home.

11:30am - We are home and both A and T claim they have to pee. They both manage to make it and we have dry pants (or diaper in T's case) all around.

11:40am - A decides she wants to play kindergarten and grabs one of her bins while T has fun playing with a spoon. I decide to attempt to start lunch.

11:41am - I hear T opening the bathroom door and go to check on him. He is grabbing the stool so that he can get into trouble...By which I mean put away the silverware and grab a different spoon.

11:47am - A is done with her sight word practice and starts pretending to build words a la Word World.

11:52am - A is building words and T is retrieving the letters she drops. I am attempting to remember how to make risotto as my sister never texted me back. Thankfully I remember that it is okay to throw in some extra stock early on so that it doesn't burn while I'm running back and forth between the stove and the kids.

12:15pm - The risotto is done and staying warm on the stove. DH calls to say he is on his way home. The kids have been playing nicely at the table this whole time and sharing their activities and discussing them with me. However, the second the phone rings A decides to climb up on the table and tries to brush T's teeth with a clothespin. I pull T out of his high chair and he runs off to play.

12:19pm - The cat jumps up on the counter yet again, but starts purring as soon as I grab him down. I realize that he is just doing it to get attention and that he could probably use a hug.

12:21pm - Realize suddenly that T is out of sight and being awfully quiet. I set down the cat that I am still hugging and go check on him. I find him in his room playing quietly with his toys so I tiptoe out without disturbing him.

12:23pm - DH gets home and we start cleaning up and setting the table for lunch.

12:31pm - We actually start eating. Lunch today is chicken asparagus risotto following the formula in the Zuni Cafe cookbook that my awesome uncle randomly sent me. Once I figured out the technique I realized that risotto isn't actually hard and is a wonderful way to use up those tiny bits of leftover veggies, meat and cheese that would otherwise go to waste.

12:49pm - Finish up lunch and begin the work of getting the kids and the table clean.

1:08pm - We finally have everyone clean and ready to go. It is time to load the kids in the car and take DH back to work so that I'll have the car for the CSA pick-up this afternoon. On the way out the door I realize that I really need to pick-up the stitches for the sleeve on a sweater and that the 5 minute car ride will probably be the best opportunity I have all day so I grab my knitting bag as an afterthought.

1:14pm - Drop DH off at work.

1:17pm - Decide to hit Joanns for some more elastic.

1:19pm - Realize that I have to drive right by Hancock Fabrics to get to Joanns and decide to stop try there first.

1:37pm - Get to Hancock despite weird traffic and taking a wrong turn.

1:48pm - As I am searching the notions section trying to figure out where they are hiding the type of elastic I need A decides she has had enough. First she claims she has to pee, but admits when asked that she is just saying it because she is bored, then she runs off. I chase her down and explain that we have to pay for our stuff before we leave. On the way out I ask if they have a restroom because by now A is doing the potty dance. The cashier hands me the key and we head back to find it. Once we get there A says that she really doesn't have to go...

2:12pm - Talk it over with A and T who are now both in the mood for adventures and decide to head to Joanns to find the exact thing that we need.

2:26pm - Get to Joanns, traffic was better this time.

2:43pm - Find what we are looking for, including fabric for A. Take a number and wait for our turn at the cutting counter.

3:06pm - They finally call our number, but not before more fabric has a chance to hop into my cart after I realize that I promised my sister to make a petticoat for her wedding dress.

3:13pm - After the line at the cutting counter, the checkout line was mercifully short. We have now paid and made it back out to the car. It is late enough that I decide to head straight to the CSA and let the kids play at a nearby park until it is time to pick-up our share.

3:30pm - I realize that the car is awfully quiet. I check at a stoplight and realize that both kids are now asleep. I decide to skip the park.

3:41pm - I find a shady parking spot near the CSA and roll down the windows to wait for it to open. I figure that this is a great chance to knit, but I'm too tired to knit so I play word games on my Kindle and doze off while waiting for the kids to wake up.

4:45pm - I realize that the the kids aren't going to wake up on their own and it would be good to get on with our day. I wake them up and grab the bag and the kids to walk the block to our pick-up location. T is on my back in the Ergo and A is walking along holding my hand and carrying the bag for me. She finds an acorn on the way and we talk about it for most of the walk. At the CSA we got a plant start this week so I let the kids pick out which tomato plant we get and A snags a couple of radishes from the surplus basket.

5:05pm - Load the kids in the car and hand A the tomato plant to hold. T is acting hungry and A asks if she can eat the radishes. I wash the radishes and hand one to each kid. To my surprise they both seem to really like them.

5:19pm - A starts crying because she dropped the tomato plant. I pull over to rescue the plant and brush out as much dirt as I can.

5:35pm - We get to DH's work to pick him up. He comes out a couple of minutes later.

5:45pm - We get home and I put the tomato plant outside with my other seedlings that are hardening off. I then realize that the shade didn't move over as far as I thought it would and they are almost totally dried out. I grab them and head inside to water them.

5:55pm - T is crying because DH took a book away from him after he accidentally tore it. DH sits down to read to both kids which stops the tantrum. I ask him to grab me in 10 minutes and go lay down to rest and figure out dinner.

5:59pm - While being sad that soup takes too long to make, I suddenly realize that I have several jars of frozen lentil minestrone in the outside freezer and some bread that is getting stale faster than we can eat it that would be perfect for dipping. I leap out of bed to start the arduous work of throwing a jar of soup in the microwave while I type out this blog entry.

6:31pm - Set the table for dinner and eat.

6:51pm - I finish eating and get up to throw a the load of laundry I meant to wash this morning into the machine now. DH stays at the table with the kids who are still having fun dipping stale bread in their soup. I am happy that I managed a dinner that everyone loves when exhausted and feeling that we had "nothing" in the house.

6:57 pm - Stop to hug the kids.

7:05pm - Actually start the laundry and log on to the computer to talk to my sister and some friends for our normal Tuesday night hangout while DH gives the kids their bath. I moved my laptop into the kitchen so that I could make apple crumb while we were talking.

7:50pm - The apple crumb is in the oven, but I realize that I promised A I would fix her pony nightlight before bed tonight. I grab the screwdriver, pull it apart and start poking at wires. Eventually it starts working again. I put in a prayer request that the pony nightlight will continue to work.

8:00pm - Story time! The kids alternately play and snuggle while DH reads in an effort to help everyone wind down the day on a nice note. We are currently reading the second of the Boxcar Children books. This makes me happy as these are the books that finally taught me how to read.

8:19pm - Story time is over, but the kids still have too much energy. Let the kids run around like crazy for a while to burn off some of that energy.

8:45pm - Try again. A obediently lays down and tries to sleep, but she mostly winds up just laying there watching her pony nightlight. T still has too much energy. This is what I get for letting them nap late and then not running them around enough in the evening.

9:15pm - A is crying because her nightlight turned itself off and only I can push the button to turn it back on. T is finally ready to start trying to go to sleep. Nursing is still part of his bedtime routine most nights so I settle in.

9:35pm - T is pretty well asleep in my arms and I am enjoying the snuggles while remembering the horrific story I'd seen about a lady who tried to sell her kids on Facebook. A starts crying because her nightlight has turned off again and she needs me to turn it on. The noise starts to wake T up so DH runs in and tries to sooth her. He succeeds enough that she is willing to wait quietly for me as long as he stays with her.

9:40pm - T is back asleep and I tuck him in before going in to hug A and talk to her a bit about why sleep is important.

9:44pm - A is willing to go back to trying to get to sleep so I come out and blog. I then realize that the lights load is still in the washer and that I need to wash the whites too so that A and DH have undershirts for tomorrow.

9:58pm - Check on A and find that she has finally fallen asleep. Tuck her back in and give her one last kiss goodnight before slipping out to reboot the laundry.

10:02pm - Lights are in the dryer, but I stop to talk to DH on my way in to get the whites load.

10:10pm - The whites are now in the wash. It is getting close to my bedtime, but I still need to exercise and the whites won't be ready for the dryer for at least another 45 minutes. Consider frittering away time on Facebook, but realize I miss seeing DH so I go out and hang out with him and help with the dishes instead.

10:18pm - I thank DH for doing the final living room cleanup and we start chatting about that. I learn that the way that he hadn't really been running with the kids so much as trying to teach them to dance reels. I suddenly understand what A meant when she said that they had been running around the stools and it made me laugh. I love my nerdy husband :)

10:46pm - I am now folding diapers as DH is working on the dishes and he starts talking about tea. I finally can't take anymore talk without some to drink so I start the kettle to brew a fresh cup. I really wish I liked decaf tea, maybe I can get away with mint?

11:01pm - Take a break from folding diapers to read my blogs and web comics while DH showers. It feels nice to sit down with my tea. Check my pedometer and decide to skip the workout because I've walked over 8k steps today and I'm tired.

11:30pm - Tired, but hungry again because the soup has worn off and I don't want to cut into the apple crumb until morning. DH reheats the last of the risotto while I finish up folding diapers while thinking about the fact that I'd be done with the diapers if I hadn't hopped on the computer.

11:56pm - Check who all is planning on coming to our playdate tomorrow and put away the CSA share. As soon as it is away I will be laying out my clothes for tomorrow and falling into bed. I'm just glad that I don't have a couple of hours of work left anymore.

Expectations

2012-09-09T23:06:00.000-07:00

As I was sitting there rocking and nursing T to sleep tonight I started thinking. I started thinking about how big he has gotten. I started thinking about the fact that it probably won't be long before he no longer wants me to rock him to sleep (already if he wakes up when I set him down he rolls over, grabs his stuffed bunny and goes back to sleep). But most of all, I started thinking about the last year and a bit since he was born*.

T was very proud to "finally" figure out how spoons work.

My kids are a little over 22 months apart and I love that. I still remember when we told people we were expecting our second child the overwhelming response was something along the lines of "was this planned?" and "already?". Everyone went on to warn us that it would be hard having two kids so close together because A still needed so much from me. The thing is that T was very much "planned" and we were excited to have our kids close together. We knew what we were getting into. We knew that having two kids under two while DH was working full time and in grad school and while I was working part time from home would be downright crazy; especially since our family is pretty far away. We also knew that my sister and I are only 21 months apart and very close because of it. We felt it would be worth all of the work and crazy if our kids could grow up with the kind of bond that my sister and I share. Thankfully, it wasn't as hard as I expected (though that isn't to say it wasn't/isn't very hard sometimes) and our kids are very close.

A showing T how puzzles work.

As I was rocking my sleeping boy tonight I started thinking about why it was that the last year didn't seem so hard. In retrospect it really probably was quite hard, but I didn't see it that way at the time. The only reason I can think of for this is what my expectations for this last year have been. While I would have loved to have everything totally together before T was born, I knew that between being huge and pregnant in August and the time I spent chasing A around that just wasn't going to happen. Instead I made an effort to get highest priority stuff done first and work from there. Once T was born I expected that he would need to be held and nursed a lot. As such, when he occasionally wanted to be set down to stare at toys or the dust bunnies under the couch it was a welcome surprise instead of a relief. I also expected him to go through 12-18 diapers a day at first which meant that when he was regularly using 18-24 I just sighed and threw another load in the wash (we use cloth diapers, in case you somehow didn't know that) instead of wondering why my baby was peeing every 20 minutes (well, I also realized that this was probably due to the fact that he was also nursing every 20 minutes). I expected that A would have a hard time adjusting to having to share her time with me so I dusted off my carriers and made sure to do lots of stuff with her while T napped on my chest. Because I expected these things it really didn't seem like that big a deal to take my newborn and not-quite-two-year-old to the grocery store (well, that and the fact that I just strapped him to my chest and continued life). After all, it was a bit of a pain logistically, but the alternative was not having food in the house which would be even more of a pain. The things that I expected I could prepare for physically, emotionally and logistically.

A playing at the turtle pond while T napped on my chest.

What did throw me for a loop were the things that I didn't expect. I didn't expect that my labor with T would go so fast that my mom wouldn't even have a chance to start driving down from her house 2 hours away before I had him (thankfully we had wonderful neighbors who watched A for us until my mom made it down, I'm sad that they have since moved). I really didn't expect that after a short and comparatively** easy labor and delivery I would have some complications that make a full recovery take weeks. What I really didn't expect was that when I woke up the morning after T was born feeling great and wanting nothing more than to go home to see my husband and daughter that I would have to stay two more days because T was jaundiced. Honestly, those two days were probably harder than any other two days together since he was born and I think it is because an extended hospital stay was the one thing I didn't expect. I didn't expect that I wouldn't be able to go home to see my girl or that my new son wouldn't be able to wear the cute little hat I knit him because all of his skin would need to be exposed for the lights to work. I didn't expect that after a VBAC we would wind up staying at the hospital almost as long as I did after my c-section. I didn't expect that my mom would have to be watching A for that long while recovering from gallbladder surgery or that I wouldn't be able to bring her new grandson home for her birthday.

If you look closely you can still see the yellow around his eyes.

Once I talked to the doctors and the nurses and the lactation consultants I was able to get my expectations in line, however. I was able to see the silver lining and make the best of everything. I was able to enjoy the quiet hours I spent laying there with T under the lights*** bonding with my new baby in the same quiet way I had bonded with my older one. I was able to rejoice in the fact that the degree I had never actually finished had still given me the knowledge to speak intelligently with the doctors and nurses about the treatment and how to make it work for our family and our baby. Most of all, I had time to just be and recover in ways that I never would have had were I at home with A wanting me to read just one more story and instead had time to lay there and read my own stories on my Kindle.

The two of us under the lights.

This last year has taught me a lot. I have learned how to better juggle my life. I have learned just how much my almost-three-year-old can do to help and just how strong her will can be. I have learned just how fast a baby can crawl when he really wants to get to something before you can stop him. I have learned how much a barely-one-year-old can get into when his big sister is there to "help". I have learned how amazing it is to watch children grow and learn every day. I have learned how frustrating it can be when nothing goes the way you plan. I have learned how to let go and enjoy what I can. But most of all, I have learned the power of expectations and how they can shape our lives for better or worse.

He climbed up on his own and got down safely. I was
standing by just in case.

* I don't want to hear any complaints about my lack of blogging or pictures. As much as I love writing, I've been rather busy lately and my family comes first.
**Compared to A's birth. Honestly, even with the issues I had later, T's birth and the recovery after was way easier than A's. But that is a story for another day (if I ever find time). All I will say is that I prefer natural childbirth to a c-section any day of the week even though I am really, really thankful for the doctor that delivered A and kept us both safe.
*** The standard way to do phototherapy is to keep the baby in a bassinet under UV lights. However, T would not have any of that and would scream his little lungs out and refuse to nurse which just made stuff worse. The solution that we found with the help of a very helpful lactation consultant was for him to lay next to me while I was awake and to put the lights over both of us. Since I was nearby he stayed much calmer and was even able to nurse under the lights which would not have been possible with the standard protocol. This solution is not for everyone, but it worked really well for us and I am thankful for the staff that helped make it happen.

{this moment}

2012-06-22T10:13:00.000-07:00

{this moment} - Inspired by Soulemama. In her words: A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you want to participate head over to her blog and enjoy!

Flats Challenge Day 3 - For the Love of Flats!

2012-05-23T14:17:00.001-07:00

For those of you who somehow missed it, I am participating in the 2nd Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge. If you want details click the link, but basically everyone who is participating (almost 500 households) agrees to use flat diapers that are then handwashed and air dried for a week. Each day those of us with blogs try to talk about the same topic so that we can all share our ideas and learn from each other. The topic for Day 3 is "How do you use your flats?".

Being me, I assumed that this question was asking what your favorite folds are which I briefly touched on in my last post (origami for T and pad fold for A). However, when I started looking around I saw that this post could be a lot more broad. The topic isn't just flats this week, but flats in general. That is a topic I can really get behind (please pardon the pun).

Tired boy models the origami fold.

While flats may not be me normal "go to" diaper, they do see a lot of use in our house. How hard our water is seems to change a couple of times a year and when that happens I have to adjust my washing routine for my diapers. While I'm figuring out what's wrong I switch over to flats because they are the easiest to get clean and the fastest to get dry. If I can get any diaper clean and dry quickly it will be flats. My cotton prefolds are next on the list (and my general favorite), but they are still harder to wash and slower to dry than the flats. I also love flats for when my baby is in between sizes of diapers. When the infant prefolds were just a touch too small and the next size up was still rather giant, flats fill the gap. When A became a supersoaker and was leaking out of her diaper at night a folded up flat provided the extra absorbency we needed to save the sheets. Flats are also really breathable so when we have had problems with diaper rash a flat with a wool cover gave our kids the air their bums needed to heal.

A much younger A sporting a flat and shorties during last
year's challenge. We use the same set-up for rashes.

However, the place we use flats most often is as a backup against running out. A despises disposables and refuses to wear them. Now that she is verbal she claims that they hurt, especially when she pees. Because of this we can't really plan to buy disposables if we run out of diapers due to lack of planning. We keep a few flats and two one-size covers in the car in case we run out while running errands or visiting friends and we keep a stack of flats in the house in case we get behind on laundry. We try not to need these back-ups, but when we need them it is nice to know we have them. I especially love that I don't have to worry about leaving A in a wet diaper if she uses her last one when we are at a friend's house or carrying a half naked T in to the laundry room because I didn't realize until it was too late that I hadn't pulled the diapers out of the dryer yet.

A still loves her flats, this time in her training
pants!

How about you? Do you use flats in every day life? If so, how? Click here to read everyone else's answers.

Flats Challenge Day 2 - What Am I Using?

2012-05-23T13:32:00.001-07:00

As I said yesterday, I am participating in the 2nd Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge. Basically everyone agrees to use flat cloth diapers and then to handwash and air dry them for a week. If you want to hear more about the challenge follow the link above. As part of the challenge anyone who has a blog is encouraged to discuss a variety of topics in an effort to get the information out where anyone can see it and make it easier for us all to help each other. The hope is that if one person is having problems they will be able to blog surf a bit and find a place where someone else has posted a solution. These posts are also nice to refer back to later on if you wind up in a situation where you are having to start from scratch or run into a problem. All that being said, today's (well, really yesterday's, but I'm running behind) topic is "supplies" so I'll blather on about mine :)

Since I did the challenge last year and cloth diaper normally I already had everything I needed. Well, actually, I have WAY more than I really need :) That said, I'll do my best to lay out exactly what I'm actually using this year in hopes that it will help someone else who is buying a stash for the first time. The supplies really fall into two categories, diapers and washing supplies. Since I have two kids that are very different ages I'll lay out what I'm using for each.

The diapers and wipes are folded and ready to go.

T. is 9 months old and is still very much in the traditional diaper phase. For him I am using the Ikea "burp cloths" that I bought last year for the challenge. I have 24 of these, but am not coming close to using all of them. I think if I had to do it again I would only buy 15-18 of these and I know that in a pinch I could get away with 12. I am using the origami fold with these and securing them with a snappi and then putting a waterproof cover over them. I use onesize covers and both he and A are currently in the same size so I have WAY more covers than I need. I think I could get by pretty reasonably with 4-5 covers and have managed with 3 in a pinch. The brands we like are Thirsties Duo, Bummis Super Bright and Blueberry covers, but both of my kids are long and skinny so we really need that double gusset. We are also using cloth wipes from Green Mountain Diaper and with two kids and washing daily we'd probably be okay with 24 wipes. That's it, diapers, wipes, covers and a snappi...pretty simple really. I also use some fleece liners, but this is just microfleece that I found on clearance and cut to size, nothing special and $4 worth of fleece got me more liners than I can ever use.

The flat on the left is folded to the same size as the original
insert on the right.

When it came to figuring out diapers for A. I was a little more worried. She is 2.5 years old, very active and in the process of potty training. She still needs something when we are out and about or when she's sleeping, but whatever she's wearing has to be easy to pull up and down in case she suddenly realizes she needs to go. We'd been using the Flip Trainers which are nice because they have a wipe-clean reusable shell and a bunch of cotton inserts so you can get away with fewer pairs. The insert is held in place with velcro which my active toddler really needs to keep everything from shifting. I tried pad folding the Ikea flats we are using for T, but they kept bunching. I tried the Flour Sack Towels I got from Target last year and had the same problem. Then I remembered the Gerber Flats that I'd been given at my baby shower before A was born. They are small, overpriced and not terribly absorbent, but they also have a looser weave than anything else I had. I pad folded one to the same size as the insert and gave it a try and sure enough it worked! The weave is loose enough that they stick and the lack of absorbency doesn't matter so much when it is just meant as a back-up. I will say that we have had one leak when A. wet her bed this morning, but as she normally wakes up dry I am going to consider that a fluke. We actually started using this system over the weekend and last night was the only time we've had a problem with it. We are using two of the Flip shells and going through about 3 Gerber Flats per day. Since the Gerber flats come in packs of 10 (I think) you should be plenty fine with just the one pack.

A wanted to help with the washing.

The final category is washing supplies. For this I'm keeping stuff pretty simple. I throw the dirty diapers directly into a 5 gallon bucket that has a lid (I dump any poop into the toilet first, but a quick shake of the fleece liner and it comes right off). Once the bucket is half full I switch it out for a new bucket (I have two and they are worth every penny) and start the diapers in the old bucket soaking. I use a cheap plunger with holes drilled in it for agitation, Charlie's Soap and Oxiclean for washing and a clothesline in the backyard for drying. I'll go into details in another post, but this set-up when combined with the hot and windy weather we've been having has made it a lot easier than I remembered. I think the secret is the second bucket because it means that I'm not under any pressure to finish the wash cycle before I can change the next diaper.

Here is a short list for a toddler and a baby for those that just want to skim:
18-24 Ikea "burp cloths"
1 pack Gerber Flats
4-6 PUL covers
2 Flip Trainer Shells
24 GMD wipes
24 homemade fleece liners
2 5-gallon buckets
1 plunger with holes in it
clothes line
medium wetbag for when you out and about, though a plastic grocery bag will work if needed.

That's it. Really, that's all I'm using to diaper 2 kids and the crazy thing is that those supplies would last me for both kids from birth to potty training if they had to. If you want to see what everyone else is using head over to the main page for Day 2.

It's That Time Again!!!

2012-05-21T09:40:00.002-07:00

Time for what you ask? The 2nd Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge is happening this week and I've decided to attempt it. I did it last year and we managed to finish despite a daytrip and a stomach bug that ran through the family that week. Last year I learned that handwashing really wasn't that bad. I even learned that since I live in a warm, dry place with hard water I am able to get cleaner diapers faster when I handwash them and dry them outside in the sun. All in all I considered it a success and while I wasn't about to sell my washing machine I knew that I could use flats and handwash them if I ever needed to. This was especially reassuring because my daughter A. refuses to to use disposable diapers because she claims that they hurt (or did the last time we tried one on her over a year ago).

Now I bet you are asking yourself if everything went so well last year then why am I even hesitating this year? Why am I saying that I am "attempting" the challenge instead of assuming that I'm going to do this no problem? Well, there are a couple of things going on. First of all, last year I only had one baby in diapers and that baby was a toddler who really didn't use that many diapers. This year I have a not quite potty trained toddler and a baby who goes through a lot of diapers. The second reason is that we have plans for family fun during the challenge and having to take the time to handwash diapers would get in the way. The third reason is that while A is getting pretty good at using the potty, she still needs training pants and I couldn't figure out how to make that work with flats and didn't terribly want to handwash those. The bottom line is that I've gotten lazy. Yup, that's right, I said it, I'm worried that I'm too lazy to complete the challenge this year...

Who can argue with these cute diapers for a baby boy?

The more I thought about it the more I realized that this is exactly why I need to try it. So many women don't get the chance to be lazy and I just need to suck it up and deal. I complain that it's a pain to wash diapers when all I have to do is throw them in the washing machine and push a few buttons. I complain that it is a pain to go to the grocery store with both kids when I can load them in the car and drive. I need to stop complaining! I don't know if I will manage to complete the challenge or not this year, but I do hope I will remind myself of how lucky I am and stop complaining so much. I am hoping that by doing so I will be a better wife and mother. Wish me luck, I think I'm going to need it.

Turns out the overpriced Gerber flats work just fine as inserts
in her normal training pants.

If you want to learn more you can explore some of the links below or click here for the main post and to link up yourself.

{PHFR}

2012-04-06T07:54:00.010-07:00

For quite a while now I have been reading a blog called Like Mother, Like Daughter. It isn't a professional blog, but instead started out as the blog that one family used to share with each other. I don't know how I found it and as far as I know I have never met any of the wonderful women who post to it, but I absolutely love being able to see this part of their life. I also love all the great ideas and advice that show up. This blog (and a few others) has really helped me to be a better wife and mother for which I am thankful. One of the things that they do every week is called "Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real" which encourages everyone to look for these things in their own lives and share them. I am finally participating, hope you enjoy.

{Pretty}

This picture was taken at the local botanical garden. It is absolutely beautiful this time of year, but unfortunately the camera battery died after this picture so it is all you get.

{Happy}

How could this picture be anything other than "happy"?

This was taken first thing in the morning the other day. I think I had left T. playing in his crib while I started some laundry and walked back in to find this. A. knows she isn't allowed to climb into the crib so she was doing the next best thing by holding his hand and talking to him.

{Funny}

Ever since A was born we have tried to keep the cats away from the babies while they were sleeping. Marco (our brown tabby) is okay with that since he prefers adults anyway, but Max has always taken issue with our stance. He is the cat that really would prefer to sleep in the crib with the baby and the reason we keep A's door closed at night. We have finally given up with T. though because he loves Max even more than A. does. I had to run out of the room to help A with something just as I was putting T down for his nap and when I came back 5 minutes later this is what I found. T. had fallen to sleep gazing at and petting Max while being soothed by the purring. That is a hard thing to argue with, though it pretty funny to see them curled up together :)

Even funnier (to me at least) is this picture. I had gone to a baby shower and the guests were sent home with some ballons for their kids. It was an evening shower and I got home while A was in the bath asking DH if she could please have some balloons. She had no idea what was waiting for her in the living room, but was so excited she ran to play with them while still dripping wet.

{Real}

My girl is growing up. She is fighting naps (even when she needs them), has decided pony tails are where it's at and is helping in the kitchen. She is definitely two with all the highs and lows that come with that.

{this moment}

2012-03-17T08:18:00.002-07:00

{this moment}

2012-03-09T00:04:00.001-07:00

{this moment}

2012-02-24T09:40:00.004-07:00

{this moment} - A Double Dose

2012-02-03T00:12:00.003-07:00

{this moment}

2012-01-13T08:28:00.000-07:00

{this moment}

2012-01-05T23:57:00.000-07:00

Time Marches On

2012-01-03T14:00:00.006-07:00

When I graduated from high school my dad and I went backpacking to celebrate. It wasn't just any trip either, we went all the way up to Wyoming and backpacked through areas he and his friends had visited back when they were young and stationed nearby. Since I didn't have a good pair of boots and was missing some other equipment we stopped at a sporting goods store in Denver he had frequented back then and I found a pair of boots that was just right.

The boots were perfect; they fit just right and were on sale to boot.

I wore the boots for that trip as we hiked up, down and through the Wind River. I was wearing them when I saw my first moose in the wild and when we set-up my new tent in a hurry because a rainstorm was blowing in fast. I wore them for hikes with my dad closer to home and I took them with me when I went off to college. I wore them for field trips when I was studying Wildlife Science. These were the boots I wore the day my whole class woke up to sheets of ice covering our tents at a wildlife refuge in New Mexico. They were the boots I wore on a three day trip to Organ Pipe and down into Mexico. They took me over hills and down into valleys in search of birds, plants, and animals that we were studying. In college I also met a guy that I kinda liked who had been in Boy Scouts as a kid and a teen. We talked about hiking, camping and backpacking along with other things. We started dating, but he wasn't exactly great at figuring out where to take me for a date other than out to dinner. Eventually he suggested we go hiking together so he could show me some of the local trails and I wore those boots for what was probably the first date we went on that was more than sharing a meal. As time passed I introduced him to dispersed camping and we explored some of the local trails together. Eventually that guy became my husband and he learned that anytime I was having a bad day the best thing he could do was toss me my boots and day pack and take me for a hike or even send me out on my own*. I wore those boots when we were hiking every weekend even after I got pregnant with A. and they helped me keep my balance the whole time. Having kids might put a damper on the time outdoors for some, but we did our best to just bring the kid(s) along. Through the years I kept wearing those same boots my dad had gotten me when I graduated high school. They were starting to get worn, but they still did the job. I wore them for A's first camping trip and when we took her on hikes in the nearby mountains. After T. was born we haven't been as good about hiking so my poor boots have had to sit in the closet. Over the weekend the weather was beautiful so we called up some friends and met for T's first hike. Yesterday I realized just how worn my boots had gotten. The soles are as slick as tennis shoes thanks to the hundreds of miles that they have walked with me. The upper on one is torn because these are, after all, over ten years old. I have replaced the insoles at least twice, but they have lost a lot of the support they used to offer. I made a mental note to start looking for a good price on boots since new boots (at least ones that will last me another ten years) are pretty well out of my price range. Then, last night we stopped at REI on the way home because my husband needed to run in for something real quick. When he was there he noticed that they had a bunch of shoes and boots leftover from the REI garage sale preview event over the weekend including some Vibrams that he thought might fit me. Since both kids were asleep in the backseat he stayed in the car while I ran in...I didn't see any Vibrams in my size, but I did notice a nice pair of boots. I looked at the tag and they had been marked down from $175 to $65 because they had been worn outside. I checked the soles and they were dusty but brand new. I wavered for a minute because $65 was more than I was planning to spend right then, but I knew it was a good deal for the boots. After a minute I decided to at least try them on and found that they fit perfectly. They didn't have insoles, but I use prescription orthotics in my hiking boots anyway and I happened to be wearing my old boots and hiking socks since we were just coming back from a hike. Sure enough they fit perfectly and when I put the boots on they fit my feet perfectly too. I decided to bite the bullet and buy them anyway, but I knew I would have to hurry as the kids (and hubby) wouldn't be happy sitting in the car waiting for me too much longer. I ran down the the register and when they rang them up I learned the true price...you see, the sale had ended the day before and they just wanted to be rid of them. I bought a new pair of boots for $10.85 plus tax!

I love my new boots and can't wait to take them out next weekend, but at the same time I can't help feeling like it is the end of an era in some ways. My old boots are trashed, you can zoom in on the first picture and see that, but they have also been my boots for over a decade. They have served me well in times of stress and transition. They have seen me through all the major transitions in my life. They where there when I left my parent's home and made a place for myself in the grown up world. They were there when I was figuring out how to deal with a roommate I didn't like and when I met my husband (who I like rather a lot). They were there when I needed to stomp through the woods for class field trips because I decided to study wildlife science instead of engineering. They let my husband and I go on fun (and free) dates through our courtship and early in our marriage. They were on my feet when A was driving me nuts with teething. They have made it easier for me to introduce the wonders of the outdoors to my kids. Maybe I'm a little overly sentimental, but I will miss these boots...I'm looking forward to all the hikes and memories that my new boots take me on though. Here's to hoping that the new boots will see as many miles and memories as the old ones.

* Please note that it isn't a good idea to go hiking on your own unless you know what you are doing and are properly prepared. Just having a cell phone when you are in a remote area is not enough as you may not have service. Please remember to hike safely at all times.

Time Flies

2011-12-22T09:47:00.004-07:00

I've been really bad about updating my blog lately. It's sad because I have as much to say as ever, but I haven't had the time to sit down and write it out. I keep coming up with things that I want to talk about, discussions I'd love to have and pictures I want to share...but my perfectionism kept telling me that first I had to post something about the (not so) tiny baby that has invaded our family and our hearts. A good blogger would have posted a birth announcement (and probably sent them out to friends and family as well, but that's another story). I am not that blogger so this is what you get. A little over 4 months ago after a crazy fast labor we were blessed with a little boy whose name begins with a T.

He is adorable and sweet and we love him to bits. He is growing and developing faster than I feel he ought to (not complaining one bit, but he's already getting so big that I'm miss the squishy newborn he was). I have a zillion other pictures that I could force on anyone who is still reading this thing, but if you are reading this you are probably seeing them on facebook as well (or getting them via photo text in the case of my sister who refuses to use facebook).

As you can see A is having such a hard time adjusting :)

She is actually doing really well. Sometimes she is sad that she doesn't get as much of my undivided attention as she used to, but she seems to feel that having a brother makes up for it. I'm proud of my big girl and how mature she's getting too. She is turning into a big helper and is growing quite the imagination as well. Everyday she has some new story that she acts out on her own. I can't wait for T to be big enough for them to play together so I can watch what they come up with.

I am going to try to be better about updates here, but we will see...

Easy Glazed Carrots for Toddlers

2011-07-02T20:25:00.004-07:00

We tend to try and stay away from processed and pre-packaged food at our house so I've never understood the point of things like the Gerber Graduates which are basically TV dinners for toddlers. However, days like today it might have been useful, too bad we didn't have any nor did I want to run to the store to get some.

This afternoon was spent running errands and we didn't get home until late. Normally this would have meant a quick stop somewhere to grab dinner on the way home, but we'd decided to do the Eat at Home Challenge for the month of July so while we seriously considered stopping in the end we didn't. This isn't a huge issue for us grown-ups since we can grab a snack now and wait a bit for dinner, but it was pushing A's bedtime so she needed to eat and eat now and preferably a balanced meal. The solution was actually easier than I thought it would be. We cut up some cheese (lunch meat or canned beans might have been better, but I forgot to grab more at the store last night), grapes and half a roll. Not bad, but I really wanted a veggie. After a minute of thinking I invented this recipe:

Toddler Glazed Carrots:
1 carrot (sliced)
pinch of brown sugar
sliver of butter

Put the sliced carrot into a small glass bowl, top with brown sugar and butter and microwave for 45-60 seconds or until carrot is fully cooked. Stir well and blow on it until it is cool enough to eat.

Maybe not the world's healthiest dinner (especially after DH decided she needed strawberry jam on her roll), but it is tasty, filling and reasonably balanced. The best part is that it took less than 5 minutes to throw together which is a lot less time than we would have spent waiting in the drive-thru line and not really any worse than reheating a TV dinner. Plus, it is a heck of a lot cheaper than either of those other options :)

I'm posting this recipe because it would also come in handy on those days when DH and I want to have salad as our veggie because A. really can't handle the lettuce. We almost always have carrots in the fridge so I can mix her up an easy alternative and we don't have to avoid salad and other hard to chew greens.

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T21:05:00.006-07:00

As I read my normal blogs today and check out links that friends post to Facebook I have to count myself lucky. I read of husbands and fathers that work all week and then spend the weekend or evenings out with their friends instead of with their children. I read of husbands that cheat on their wives, providing a bad example to their children. I read of fathers that don't know how to change a diaper and of dads that consider watching their own kids for an hour or two while their wife runs to the store to be "babysitting".

I am glad that my daughter has a father that will play with her, even if playing involves being used as a changing table for her doll.I am glad that she has a father who will read to her after a busy day at work while I'm busy making dinner or trying to get 5 minutes to myself.I am glad that though my husband has to work on the weekends sometimes, he still takes time to go on picnics with us when he doesn't.I am glad that my husband considers this to be the highlight of his "Father's Day":I am glad that as I am typing this I hear splashes and squeals of laughter coming from the bathroom as my husband takes care of bath-time (something that is very hard for me at this point given the size of my belly).

In short, I am glad that I have a husband who doesn't just assume that his role as a father ends at conception. I have a husband that helps me with the chores and considers my role as a stay at home mom to be a "real" job (which, considering the hours I work it really should be). I am even more glad to know that he enjoys his role as a father. When I thanked him today for being so involved he simply remarked at how sad it would be to miss out on all of the amazing things our daughter does. Most of all, I am glad of the role model he will be for our son (did I mention we are having a boy?) and the example he will be to our daughter of the kind of husband she should expect.

Now, if you'll excuse me, it's Story Time!

{this moment}

2011-06-03T08:08:00.001-07:00

Meeting the Challenge

2011-05-31T16:04:00.006-07:00

A week ago I did something crazy, I signed up for the Flats and Handwashing Challenge. The challenge was based on a news article that reported that poor families were leaving their babies in wet/dirty diapers for hours or even trying to reuse disposable diapers because they couldn't afford to buy more. It sounds crazy, but considering that disposable diapers cost anywhere from $0.18-$0.31 each I can definitely see the temptation when money is tight, especially considering the fact that even toddlers A's age use an average of 6-10 diapers a day and newborns may use upwards of 15. After all, with disposable diapers you are literally throwing away money each time you change your baby's diaper. The seemingly obvious answer for these families (and anyone else who is looking for a frugal diapering alternative) is to use cloth diapers. Yes, there is a start-up cost, but if you plan ahead and start buying while you are pregnant you can get the basics you need to diaper your baby for about $20/month until you're set-up and then diaper for the cost of a few loads of laundry per week for the rest of your diapering days (including future children). This is a great solution for those of us staying home with our children and trying to make one income stretch to cover a comfortable middle-class lifestyle that includes a house or nice condo with a washer and dryer. However, many of the families that are poor enough to have honest trouble affording diapers also don't have easy access to a washer and dryer or have to pay an arm and a leg for each load at the local laundromat which will pretty well negate the savings of cloth diapering. That was the basis of the challenge. Flat diapers are the cheapest diapering alternative as well as the easiest to wash. For between $60 and $80 you diaper your child from birth until potty training and they are thin enough that they can be handwashed and hung up to dry. Plus, some of them are really cute!
Now, you are probably thinking "that's great to know, but why would you volunteer for something like that when you have a perfectly good washing machine in your home?" I have two reasons, the first is that I got sick of people telling me that they couldn't afford the "luxury" of cloth diapers so they would be "forced" to use disposables. I wanted to prove to myself that it was possible to do this affordably in spite of excuses. My second reason is basic preparedness. While if something were to happen such that we couldn't use our washing machine for cloth diapers (either it broke or we were traveling/camping) we could always just buy disposables, I have yet to find any brand that doesn't give A. a nasty rash after a few days. I wanted to see if it would be doable to still use cloth diapers to spare her the rash if we didn't have access to our washing machine. With this in mind I talked to DH to see if he would be on board or if this challenge would mean I had to change every diaper for a week. He agreed to humor me and I did my best to make it easy on him by prefolding the diapers to make the diaper changes easier...So how'd it go? Honestly, it wasn't what either of us expected. A. decided to start the challenge out with a bang and I got a "dirty" (as opposed to just wet) diaper for my very first one. I rolled my eyes and dumped the solids and continued to have an easy day. That night I washed the diapers and was shocked at how fast I was done (it took maybe 20ish minutes to wash everything). I hung the clean diapers up in the bathroom and went to bed feeling like I was on a roll. What I hadn't counted on was the lack of air circulation in the bathroom, half the diapers were still damp in the morning. I moved the drying rack into my sewing room and packed up the diapers that were dry for a daytrip of shopping, visiting family/friends and fruit picking a couple of hours away. The trip went well and we had a great time, the flats really aren't much harder than prefolds when you are on the go and that's something we've done for a while. That night I washed the diapers while DH was putting A. to bed and then moved the drying rack from the bathtub to my sewing room right before I went to bed which meant that they were pretty much dry by morning. Wednesday was a great day until my wrist started hurting so after a quick count of what was clean I decided to wait until morning and bite just bite the bullet and wash while A. was awake. Turns out that she was more than happy to play or watch while I was washing the diapers and since it was daylight I was able to hang the diapers up outside. Outside the diapers dried in less than two hours and the breeze helped make them softer, I was an immediate convert to washing during the day and the challenge seemed easy from there until Friday night when DH came home with the stomach flu...By Saturday we were all sick and Sunday morning was spent washing diapers while feeling really crummy. I have to admit it was really tempting to just throw everything in the washing machine when I went into the laundry room to get the detergent, but my stubbornness wouldn't let me. Instead I sucked it up and washed everything with the hottest water I could and some oxiclean just in case and then hung it on the line in the sun to help kill any germs that might have survived. It was a lovely, sunny, windy day and after a few hours the diapers were clean, soft, dry and all together lovely and we only had to make it through until morning to be able to say we'd done it. Comparatively the remainder was a breeze and DH actually kept using the flats after the challenge was over, though he threw them in the pail to be washed in the machine. He summed both our thoughts up pretty well when on Sunday night he said the challenge "really isn't that bad". Would we do it everyday? Probably not, unless there was a real reason not to use the washer. However, the flat diapers we were using are super cute and work really well. Handwashing, while not something I would choose, is doable in a pinch and we will definitely be keeping this in mind next time we want to go camping or travel somewhere that a washing machine isn't available. It's also nice to know that if the washing machine breaks I don't have to worry about A. getting a nasty rash in disposable diapers if it takes a week and a half for the parts to come in...I just have to budget a little extra time for washing stuff by hand.
How about you, do you think this is totally crazy or worth trying? If you have a baby (or are expecting one) would you consider flats if money was really tight? Would you consider cloth in general for that matter if you had easy access to a washing machine, but money was tight? Would the cuteness win you over even if money wasn't tight? (Just idle curiosity on that last one :)

{this moment}

2011-05-06T11:10:00.002-07:00