Gingerly Made

House Rules

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

At the beginning of the year as part of our resolutions, Hubs and I set in place five house rules for cleaning. They aren't anything major. More like common sense things to keep the house a teeny bit tidier.

Shoes must be taken off when entering the house.
Shoes are then placed in the closet.
Meals are eaten at the table.
All dishes must be put away before bed.
Any clean laundry must be folded and put away before bed.

The problem is, we stink at following our own rules. We do really well with taking off our shoes, but not always with putting them away. We might get the dishes done, but not the laundry. There's just so much laundry! So instead of THE RULES, we are trying something different now.

Everyday at 6:45pm we and Caitlin do a quick clean up before her bath. We don't have a set 'things to be done' list, just clean what needs cleaning. I love involving Caitlin. She slows us down a bit, but it's important that she learn to be tidy. I set a daily reminder on my phone to help us remember to do it.

I really don't care how, I just want our home to be tidier. Other people say that our home really isn't THAT messy. They've seen worse, or so they say. But when the house is a mess, I just don't feel as good. It effects all of our moods.

What do you do to keep your house from looking a mess? Especially if you have babies and toddlers!

Co-Sleeping

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Sleeping in the crib.

I've been seeing a lot of things on the net about co-sleeping lately; public service announcements, blog posts with questions, and emphatic statements of opinions. Obviously there are a lot of moms (and dads) out there who are curious about co-sleeping. You hear that it's dangerous from one group and that it's perfectly safe from another. So what's the deal?
First, there are different levels of co-sleeping. Co-sleeping can mean that you have your baby's crib in your bedroom. The baby is still in his or her own bed, but just sharing the same room. Yep, that's co-sleeping. Or you could have a co-sleeper attached to your bed. It's like a bed extender just for baby. Baby feels closer to you, but is technically not in your bed. It's also easier for breastfeeding at night.

Then there is the the dreaded bed sharing. That's what we do and is also where all the controversy lies. I have seen horrible, awful advertisements saying that letting your baby sleep in your bed is as dangerous as letting her sleep with a knife! I can't even describe how angry that ad makes me. I think the reason so many people are wary of bed sharing is because of idiocy like that.

Even Dr Sears has some wonderful information about safe co-sleeping. Please check out this brief article for some amazing facts.

Bed sharing was the last thing I wanted to do with my babies. But it happened anyway. The very first night we brought Caitlin home she was not sleeping. Not at all. So Hubs and I decided to take shifts. I don't remember when Eric and I switched, but we all woke up in the morning, in the bed, all three of us. Apparently, Eric set her down for a minute on the bed and the poor guy was so exhausted he totally fell asleep. From that night on we were a co-sleeping, bed sharing family. We couldn't get Caitlin out of the bed. She wouldn't sleep a peep in her crib or bassinet.

Caitlin was a terrible sleeper. She never slept in a stroller once she was too big for the carrier that attached to the top. She had to nurse to sleep. It wasn't until Hayley was born and I was in the hospital that she would go to sleep for anyone else. She would just cry for Mommy before that. With Hayley, we let her sleep in our bed when it's convenient for us to nurse. But we are also having her sleep in her crib, the bouncy chair, stroller, wherever. I don't want to go through such a picky sleeper again.

And if you are worried that if you let your child into your bed that they will never get out. Don't. They will eventually move out into their own bed. I've never heard of a teenager, or even preteen for that matter, who still wanted to sleep with their parents. It took some effort to Caitlin to sleep in her own bed. But considering her sleeplessness anyway, it wasn't that bad. Once she was comfortable and understood that she was safe in a room by herself, she did great!

Daddy and Hayley taking a nap.

After that first night with Caitlin falling asleep in the bed, I did research on safe ways to bed share. Safebedsharing.org has some fantastic guidelines for safety. If you are smart and careful, bed sharing is a wonderful and safe thing. It's a very personal decision and I won't presume to tell you which is best for you and your family. But I do want people to understand that it is not a terrible or unsafe thing to do.

It's amazing how much differently I sleep with my baby in my bed. I am so very aware of her. I have literally slept through a hurricane before, but if she moves the least little bit I am wide awake.

I recently posted a comment on another mom's blog letting her know some safe tips for bed sharing that I use in addition to what was on the website above. I want to repeat them here for anyone considering it.

Bumpers. If you are worried that your baby may roll into you or you into her, buy some of those bumpers. Just keep them below her shoulders. You don't want anything up close to her face.
Swaddle. Babies love the feeling of being wrapped tight in a blanket. At least both of mine have. They sleep better when swaddled and bonus, they can't roll over.
Scoot baby up high toward the headboard and you scoot down low. Your head should not be any higher than baby's hips. This way, if you pull your covers up during the night it won't cover baby's face.
Turn your pillow. Instead of having your pillow horizontally, turn it vertically. Now your pillow or pillow case can't get in the baby's face. (Notice a trend of avoiding anything getting in your baby's face here?)
Keep baby in the center of the bed. Whatever you do, keep your baby between you. This should go without saying, but just in case... don't put your baby on the edge of the bed; she could fall off.

I hope this helps answer some questions you may have. If not, or if you have more, please comment below or email me. I would be happy to discuss further.

Scrappy Flower Hairbow

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

I must be on some kind of hair bow kick or something. I've already made a Pearl Headband and Felt Heart Hairbow. Now I've created this one using things I already had around the house. It's not really my 'style,' but it is a cute way to use up some scraps laying around the house.

Supplies:
Scrap fabric (from my nightgown project) approx. 4" x 8.5"
Thread for sewing
An embellishment for the center (leftover from the Photo Board)
Felt circle for backing
Hair clip

I used a tea cup to cut a circle from my fabric.

Sew a gathering stitch in a circle midway between the center of your circle and the edge.

Pull the thread to gather.

Pinch and sew across.

Trim the center.

Hot glue an embellishment in the center on the front.

Hot glue your hairclip and felt onto the back. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of this part. You could also forgo the hairclip and instead put the flower on a hairband or a pin to make a flower for your jacket.

Long Sleeve Peasant Dress

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

I made this long-sleeved peasant dress from the tutorial at Prudent Baby. It was really easy to do. I used her measurements except adding a couple of inches to the length and it still only hits Caitlin at the knees. She's so tall. I'm loving making cute dresses for her. I know I'll be doing this one again adding even more inches for length.

And would you believe this was the best photo I could get of Caitlin wearing it? She's going through a "I don't want to take a picture" thing right now. And when I can get a picture, it's a silly cheesy grin. Gotta love it.

Happy Valentine's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I'm taking a little blogging break today to spend with my three Valentine's. I hope yours is as LOVELY as mine!

Daddy Daughter Dates

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Before their special Valentine's date.

Taking a page from a coworkers book, Eric and Caitlin have started having a weekly "lunch date". I love it!! Something happened between Christmas and New Year's in our little girl's heart for her daddy. While she has always loved him, she really wants to be around him more now. She wants daddy to put her down for her naps instead of mommy. That's huge!! She will sometimes still ask for me after he has put her to bed, but hey, after nearly 3 years of being the only one she wanted at bed times, I'm ok with that.

Last Monday they went to Chick-Fil-A for a special Valentine's date. Look how excited Caitlin looks in the picture. She can't get enough of her daddy.

There's something to be said for a healthy father-daughter relationship. And I think that something goes along the lines of "Hallelujah", "Thank you Jesus", "Amen", "Praise God", "What a Relief". Or maybe just a restful sigh will do. From what I know and what I've read on the topic (I am by far not an expert), girls who maintain a strong and healthy relationship with their dad throughout their teen years have an easier time dealing with all the things that parents stay up at nights and worry about.

I love spending time with my girls. But to see Caitlin cling to her daddy makes my heart smile. I am so thankful.

Kid in the Kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Tonight Caitlin helped me with dinner. We made homemade baked chicken nuggets and she did most of the breading. I cut up the chicken into pieces, and made an assembly line for her. She dipped the chicken into some melted butter, rolled it in the bread crumbs and placed them on the baking sheet. I know what you're thinking. You let your toddler touch raw chicken?? Yep. Sure did.

Because this was the first time I let her handle raw meat, I told her what to expect before she ever touched it. "The chicken is a little slimy, but it's ok." After the first nugget or two the breading was beginning to stick to her hands and she really didn't like that. But again, I talked her through it. "It's ok sweetheart. We can wash your hands when we're done." And she was ok with that.

After a doing a few nuggets together Hayley started fussing and I needed to pick her up. So I washed my hands and went to help her. Caitlin just continued breading the nuggets and putting them on the baking sheet. I think I'm going to have her cook more often!

It's extremely good for kids to help out in the kitchen. While most, including Caitlin, start by stirring whatever is in the bowl, kids need to learn more than how to stir brownie batter. I try to let her do as much as I can. Of course there are no using knives or handling anything on the hot stove yet. She's too young for that. But after a certain age (or maturity level), why not. It helps you and involves them in their food. Kids get to learn where their food comes from. They learn to appreciate the time and effort it takes to prepare healthy meals for them. And they have ownership over their food and hopefully eat it.

Sure, they make a bigger mess than you would have, but come on... Who cares if you have to clean up a little more if your kids are getting all those benefits. And just think, one day when they leave the nest, they will know how to make more than just noodles in the microwave.

Felt Heart Hairbows

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Mandy over at Sugarbee Craft Edition made these cute Valentine hair bows and I just HAD to copy it. I've got two little girls and, although one doesn't have much hair yet, hearts are a must and not just on Valentines.

I made several so Caitlin could have a pair and a friend of hers could have some too. Aren't they just adorable!!

Mandy used a die cutter to make all of hers. I tried using my Cricut after reading that some people had success cutting felt with theirs. I had no such luck. Of course, I was using really cheap felt and not the 100% wool that others used with their Cricuts. That probably made a huge difference.

So, for those of you who don't have some sort of cutter, you can still do this project. It takes more time because you have to cut out all those little bitty hearts by hand. I made sure they were all the same size by making a template from some paper. I cut out two paper hearts; one bigger and one smaller. After that, the directions Mandy gives on her tutorial are exactly the same.

Tooth Bear

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:00:00 +0000

I made one of these felt tooth bears for my niece's Christmas present. It's the perfect gift for those big boys and girls who are just getting ready to lose their baby teeth. This one is for my one of my best friend's little boy. He's in kindergarten this year and hasn't lost any baby teeth yet.

Just put your baby tooth in the pocket and the tooth fairy will know where to find it. Then she can leave the money for the tooth in the same pocket so you can cash in the next morning.

It also makes it easier for mom and dad to 'help' the tooth fairy. Keep that tooth somewhere easy to get instead of stuffed up under some pillow impossibly planted under your kids head.

Check out Martha Stewart's website for a free pattern for these adorable tooth bears.

Family Cook Book Project

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 01:20:00 +0000

A few years ago our family decided to create our own family cook book. We wanted to collect all of those timeless recipes that remind us of each other. For instance, in our family, Thanksgiving just isn't right without a squash casserole. Or because I call my Mom and Dad every time I get ready to make their vegetable stew. I just can't seem to remember the recipe.

It took a LOT of time and effort. We had to email back and forth about a zillion times. Then there are those who don't email and you have to collect their hand written recipes and transfer them to the computer. At the end we had a 3-ring binder that doesn't fit in my cupboard with my other recipe books unless I lay it sideways. I WISH we had known about the Family Cook Book Project.

Family Cook Book Project allows each family member to log in and enter their own recipes. And as soon as they are entered, other family members can see it and begin to use it online. You can even set a deadline to have all the recipes collected for printing. If you have a special recipe that you want so-and-so to enter, you can use the special request tool.

Once you are ready to put the book together, you can add a dedication page, select the cover, and indicate any printing specifications. If/when you want to update your recipe book the next year or whenever, all your recipes are already online and just need a few new ones to be added. What I love about Family Cook Book Project is that you don't have to order a ton of books. Smaller families can order as few as 10 books.

If this is something that your family can use for your next family reunion or as a Mother's Day gift, check out the special deal offered to Gingerly Made followers below.

Clean Face

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

It seems like everyone in the blogosphere is raving about all natural homemade soaps. While I was sure it was great, I just hadn't tried any. I mean, soap is soap. Who cares who made it. Either way, it leaves my skin dry. But after hearing and reading all the hype, I gave in to peer pressure and decided to try it.

Two Christmases ago (2010), I bought all natural home-made soap from our local farmer's market to go in everyone's stockings. I figured it was a cute gift idea. The only problem was I didn't get enough for myself. I meant to, but somehow just didn't get enough. We have a lot of people in our family, so it was easy to get my count off. Anyway, not this past Christmas (2011). I bought soap for everyone again and myself too.

I was seriously surprised!

I started washing my face with natural soap instead of the other stuff I had been using. I've had trouble with face cleaners because this one would leave my skin oily and that one would leave my skin dry. The best thing I found was a 'step' cleanser from Mary Kay. Step one is the cleanser. Step two, freshener. Step three, moisturizer. And you could do a weekly exfoliator/mask if you wanted. Don't get me wrong, I love my Mary Kay face cleansers, but it does take a minute. Up 'til now though, the step system was the only thing I had tried and liked. I even tried their 3-in-1 cleanser and didn't like it. But like I said I started using this simple, natural, home-made soap. Only a couple of days later and my skin feels tighter, my pores look smaller. I'm sold! I even like the way I looks sans makeup better because my skin looks better.

I don't know why it's taken me so long to try natural soaps. Nevertheless, I've tried it now and will definitely be stocking up on more when our farmer's market opens again.

Reusable Snack Bag

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

With Caitlin starting preschool at the beginning of the year, I have discovered how valuable reusable snack bags are. I've seen them all over the internet for a while, but haven't really needed them until now. It only took me sending Caitlin to school with Ziplock bags a couple of times before I decided to make my own.

I bought PUL (polyurethane laminated fabric) for a waterproof exterior. And used scrap fabric for the interior. I also used a supply of velcro I already had on hand.

I started out with fabric strips approximately 6" x 10.25". You can make it whatever size you want. And the velcro strip is 3" long.

Separate your velcro strip so that you have a fuzzy strip and a scratchy strip. Sew each strip on the short end (right side) of your interior fabric. I placed them about an inch away from the edge.

Make sure you reverse stitch at the beginning and end every time you stitch. You will need to do this through the project to make sure you have a strong stitch. These bags will hopefully be used a lot and need the reinforcement.

Place interior fabric on the exterior PUL fabric wrong sides together. Fold over at short ends to make seam. (I don't have a picture specifically of this step, but you can still see it in the next picture.)

The fold the entire bag in half with the interior fabric facing out. The bag is inside out. And stitch down each of the sides. Remember to reverse stitch at the beginning and end. Then trim excess.

Your bag is finished now. Just turn it right side out and there you go. Or if you want, you can make it stand up by making gussets.

First you pinch the bottom corner so the side seam and bottom are touching each other. Look at the picture below for reference. Sew. I made my seam about .75" from the point. Trim excess.

Do the same on the other side. Turn your bag right side out. My finished bag is approximately 5" x 4".

Felt Heart Pillow Garland Tutorial

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

I'm not usually one to decorate for every holiday that comes along. Typically we decorate for Christmas and just a little for Thanksgiving. That's it. But a couple of years ago I realized that it really helps to make each holiday feel special. It also helps kids to pass the time and get excited for each holiday. I've been very slack about getting those decorations though. Let's face it, decorating the house with holiday decor is not essential and can be rather expensive.

So...I'm going to try to create decorations for the house without spending a ton of money.

First up. Valentine's Day.

What You Need:
2 felt sheets pin
2 felt sheets burgundy
1 roll 1" white ribbon
thread
fiberfill

What You Do:

Cut out 16 hearts. (8 pairs) I did 2 larger heart pairs and 6 smaller.

Cut 8 strips of ribbon in various lengths.

Put two hearts together (isn't that so Valentine's - y) tucking a strip of ribbon between them at the top. Starting at the curve in your hearts, sew around leaving a gap to stuff the fiberfill.

Stuff your heart. This is a great place for your kids to help. I mean (and here comes the lovey dovey cheesey Valentine's stuff) my Caitlin fills my heart, so why can't she fill these.

Sew the opening closed. Try to sew over some of your previous stitching to reinforce the heart.

Repeat 7 more times.

Once you have all 8 hearts filled, measure out a length of ribbon to attach them to. I used the same length as my mantle.

Sew heart ribbons to long ribbon. I didn't measure this out either. I just eye-balled it and they came out reasonably close to the same width apart.

Hang and you've got a fun Valentine decoration.

This entire project cost about $5. I already had the fiberfill and thread, but those don't really cost much if you need them. I also thought if you had a large family, it would be cute to embroider each person's name on a heart.

First Nightgown

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

I did it. Finally, I did it.
I made clothes!

I've tried sewing a couple of different pieces of clothing, a bath robe and a shirt, but something always happened to stop me from finishing. With the bath robe, I didn't have enough fabric because I misread the directions and when I went back to the store to buy more, they had stopped carrying that pattern. The shirt was too big, so I just quit.

This time I finished my project! Whoo hoo! I wanted to make Caitlin some nightgowns for Christmas, but I just didn't get to it. Imagine that. I didn't finish all the projects I wanted to do while in my third trimester or while I had a newborn. I'm such a slacker. But now that we somewhat have a routine again, I've been making time for some crafting.

Eating ice cream in her newly finished nightgown.

I used Simplicity pattern 2831. It's obviously a little loose on my petite girl, but that's ok. It gives her room to grow. I've really been enjoying sewing lately and can't wait to get to work on the other two nightgowns I have planned. Maybe I can scale down the width of the pattern to better fit Caitlin.

Birdseed Feeder Craft

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:48:00 +0000

I've been browsing Pinterest again. This time I found an easy birdseed feeder that Caitlin and I could make together.

The recipe I used calls for:

3/4 cup birdseed
1/4 cup water
1 small envelope of knox gelatin (I used sure-gel. Pectin, gelatin; it's all the same thing)
twine or string
cookie cutters, molds, or mason jar lids
wax paper

Cook the gelatin or pectin on the stove with the 1/4 cup of water until dissolved.
Let cool a little and then mix in birdseed. (If you are prepping for younger kids, it's best to mix birdseed and gelatin/pectin in a separate bowl. You don't want them touching the hot pot by accident.)

Set your cookie molds on the wax paper.
Spoon birdseed mix into molds filling them half full.
Tie your string into a loop
Set loop into cookie molds
Cover loop with more birdseed.

Let feeders dry overnight.
Flip over a couple of times as it dries.
Hang for birds to enjoy.

I would recommend doubling this recipe. 3/4 cups of birdseed doesn't make a lot of feeders especially if your cookie cutters are deep like my gingerbread man. This was a fun and easy project for Caitlin.

Hayley at 3 Months

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:20:00 +0000

Has it already been 3 months since our little baby joined our family? Wow. In some ways it feels like it's been a lot longer than that! Sleep deprivation makes time slow down. And in other ways, it feels like just yesterday that we brought her home.

Here are a few things we have learned about our little Hayley during her first three months.

She is a healthy eater. At her two month check up she had already grown 4 inches and 5 pounds! That's a lot for two months.
She loves to smile at her mommy and daddy. She is still reserving her best smiles and laughs for us and is slowly starting to smile at others.
Her fuzzy little head is so soft. Mommy can't kiss that head enough.
She loves to sit and stand up (with help of course) and look around. The view from her bouncer is not enough for her. This sometimes makes it difficult for me to get things done, but hey, I get to sit on the couch with my girls. And it's so sweet to see that little baby propped up in Daddy's arms while they hang out together. Who cares if all the laundry isn't folded and put away.
She is impatient!! Don't let this child decide that she's hungry for more than five minutes. If you think she's hungry, feed her now. Otherwise you are in for meltdown city.
Swaddling is the best recipe for sleep. She rubs her eyes a lot when she's sleepy, but all that rubbing keeps her awake. Swaddling keeps those hands down away from her face and mean a better sleep for her, and at night time for us too. We only swaddle her when we notice she's sleepy, so she will occasionally fall asleep and stay asleep without it, but most of the time, swaddling is best.
Her mobile is a source of fascination. That was her big Christmas present this year and she loves to watch those monkeys, giraffe, and elephant spin over her head.

Life with a second child is so much more than we expected. More crying, more late nights, more energy required, but also more love, more hugs, more kisses. Did you know just how much a person can communicate with just their eyes? I was amazed at how expressive our first child was and am equally amazed with our second. I am so happy to have this new little sweetheart in our family.

Introducing Gingerly Made

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

For those of you who have been keeping up, you know that I've been wanting to update my blog including changing the name for awhile now. I just felt that Big Dreams for a Simple Life wasn't reflecting the true nature of this blog.

Yes, I started writing with the intentions of keeping up with what Hubs and I were doing to reach our goal of owning our own homestead. But that is such a long-term goal that there are few updates to be had right now. More than anything, now, this blog is about our day-to-day lives and the things that we are making in it.

Gingerly Made is my reflection on all things that I, Ginger, am making in my life. Obviously crafts, gardening, and food and maybe less obviously my family. If you don't believe that we 'make' our families, I urge you to reconsider. Stay-at-home moms like myself often lead hidden lives, but they have great sway on our family, our communities, and because of that, our world. I teach my children (and they teach me) how to behave, how to live, how to view the world around us, to have self discipline. I help them learn more than just colors, numbers, and ABCs. Yes, we make our families. And our families make us.

So that is why I've changed the name of this blog. I had put off making this change because I felt like I would need to hire someone to help me with the design. But I ended up doing it myself. I have a small background in design, but was just scared to do it myself. So, whoo hoo for me!

The link for Big Dreams will still work, but I ask that you update your feeds to reflect the new name. it's just easier to keep up with after awhile if you do. You might notice the domain name has also changed. If you are still using the Big Dreams domain, you will be rerouted.

Thank you so much for your patience as I've been making changes to the blog and also for your continued readership. I really enjoy hearing what each of you have to say in the comments you leave. That's what makes blogging fun! I'm looking forward to this next year and sharing much of it with you.

Excuse the Mess

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:17:00 +0000

If you see some strange things going on with my blog over the next couple of days, please forgive me. I am trying to work on updating.

Thanks for your patience with my mess.

Pearl Headband

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

The other day, Caitlin was playing with an old pearl bead necklace that was missing some beads. She plopped it up on top of her head and voila, inspiration. It was so pretty that single strand of pearls in her hair.

It was really easy to make. You just need a couple of supplies.

5 minutes. 4 to heat up the glue gun and 1 to put the pearls on.

So pretty.

1st Day of Preschool

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Wow! I can't believe it. My oldest little girl started preschool. Well, technically it's a Mommy's Morning Out program, but still...

A month ago Eric and I decided that it was time for Caitlin to branch out and start spending some time away from home. With Hayley's arrival Caitlin lost some of the individual attention she was used to of course. She started watching way too much tv for my liking. She was lonely for our attention and showed it through wanting to be a baby, literally. She wanted us to swaddle her and hold her like a baby. She wanted to play with pacifiers and her baby doll bottles.

Our church has been a great outlet. She loves going and playing with the kids there and the ladies who keep them are a second family. The only problem with that is there is only one other kid her age. She also has a little group of friends that meet at the library for story time and an occasional play date, but we want her to have a little more social interaction. Caitlin is a little social butterfly. She loves everyone and really wants to engage with everyone she meets.

So we enrolled her at Mommy's Morning Out at a local church two days a week. I love it! She's home in the afternoon. It's only 4 hours compared to 7 at preschools. It's the perfect choice for us.

She did great on her first day! Her teacher said she cried just a little bit when she realized that I was gone, but got over it super fast and went to playing. She used the potty - hip hip hooray! The only hiccup was that I packed her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch and the teacher has a peanut allergy. Oops. So she ate a little bit of her other food, but really had lunch after I picked her up. That's ok though. Now I know and I'll pack a better lunch for her.

I'm so proud of my big girl!!

Hunting

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Hubs has been on a sustainability kick of his own lately. It involves guns and NOT going to the grocery store. Eric has been really interested in firearms and marksmanship for the past couple of years and now hunting. If Eric can hunt, that means he can provide meat affordably and we know that the animal it came from was 'raised' in it's natural environment. Deer is a very healthy meat because it is so lean and is a great alternative to beef. (Warning there is a photo below. It's not gory, but it is a dead animal and I know that can bother some people.)

My dad is a hunter. I grew up on deer and even helped when my dad brought home a kill. I can remember being in first grade and holding the deer steady (it was hanging and swung around a bit) as my dad cleaned it. For those of you who have never experienced something like that, yes, there was blood and no, it's not gory. It just is what it is. I even learned basic anatomy that way. I could identify what a heart, lung, stomach, etc looked like.

Eric however, didn't grow up with those experiences. In fact, when we first started dating and early in our marriage, I was a better shot that he was. That was a fun perk! We went to a fair BB gun shoot-the-target-out thing once and while Eric did well, I did better. He kept telling me that the barrel to his BB gun was crooked. Hee hee. And I surprised him when I won the girls section of a turkey shoot.

Things are different now. Eric has learned a lot about guns in general. I don't know anything about what type of gun is what, it's history, what bullets it takes, etc. I just point and shoot. Eric knows this stuff. He has taken safety courses (so have I). And he's a good shot too! He could be a better shot than me now. I don't know. It's been several years since I've taken a shot.

He has been so excited about going hunting! And don't tell him, but I am too. I'm really proud of him!

Eric's first deer

The week before Christmas he shot his first deer, a doe. He cleaned it, cured and packaged up the meat all by himself. We don't trophy hunt. If you shoot it, you eat it. Trust me, my dad made me eat some weird stuff. Can we say squirrel??

Deer hunting season is over now, but he is talking about going turkey hunting in the spring. I hope he gets some! We love turkey around here.

Potty Training a Defiant Child: Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

It has been two weeks since Hubs and I resorted to disciplining our toddler in regards to potty training. Caitlin was so defiant. She was throwing massive tantrums if we tried to put her on the toilet and then five minutes later would pee wherever she was standing.

As a mom, I absolutely hated having to punish for potty training. Not because I don't believe in punishing defiant behavior, but because I was sad that my sweet little girl would resort to it. It only took us two and a half days to conquer the problem though once we did. We haven't had to punish her for defiantly peeing since.

Since then we have begun a new calendar year, Caitlin started attending Mommy's Morning Out twice a week, and we feel like we can say officially that she is potty trained. Of course there have been some minor accidents. It happens. But overall, she is doing fantastic.

We still give her rewards and tell her how proud we are of her for going on the toilet.

I wanted to write about what we did to help our daughter because I was so lost as to what to do. I looked on the internet for other moms with the same issue. Searching for someone who had an answer. We had to do the opposite of what 'the experts' say to do. But what the 'experts' say is also the complete opposite of what has worked for people for thousands of years. We decided to use punishment as a way to help Caitlin get past her defiant toileting after hearing from many, many families who had to do the same. And their children are well-adjusted, healthy adults who are responsible and caring members of society. Their parents didn't harm them physically, mentally, emotionally, or socially by taking this route and I don't feel that we did either.

If you haven't read the earlier parts of our story, you can catch up on our potty training journey in Potty Training a Defiant Child: Part 1 and Potty Training a Defiant Child: Part 2.

Potty Training a Defiant Child: Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

In Part 1 of this post, I discussed how difficult it has been to potty train our oldest daughter. She is intelligent, independent, and strong-willed. At almost three years old, she is also going through a very defiant stage. We believe that not going on the toilet is a means of control for her. In a toddler's world they don't necessarily get a lot of control, but whether or not they go on the potty is one area where they rule.

After multiple positive methods of potty training including immediate and cumulative reward systems that didn't work, we have decided to use discipline in potty training. I know many 'experts' say not to do this. But we have known other families who have dealt with defiance in potty training this way in addition to being absolutely certain that Caitlin does in fact know when she needs to potty. We know because she can tell us when she wants to. She has looked at us, gasped, said 'no potty' and then immediately peed on the couch. This, among many other instances that has proved to us that she is physically aware of when she needs to go.

So first we tried time outs. Whoa that was a wrong choice. Time outs just led to massive meltdowns and didn't help on the potty front at all. So after fighting this route for a year, we decided that it was time to give spankings. I really didn't want potty training to have to be this way, and I suppose we could have just let Caitlin be and down the road at three and a half or even four, whenever she decided, she would just start going on her own. But we have two children now and this is getting ridiculous. Especially knowing that the only reason Caitlin was still using a pull-up is because she was simply being defiant.

We decided that after Christmas, while Hubs had a week off work, we would try putting her in panties again and really work on getting her to use the toilet. So after two and a half days of letting her run around the house with just panties, we told her that if she went in her panties again, she would get a spanking. This decision was made simply because of the outright defiance she was showing us and had been showing us for months. Hubs and I decided between us that spankings would only happen for defiance. Accidents happen and should not be punished. It was amazing the improvement that happened after only a couple of light spanks. (Please understand that in our family a spanking is only a light swat. We never bruise or injure our children! Spankings are given with out anger and accompanied by a conversation about why she was punished. They are also followed up with an apology from our daughter and lots of love and hugs from us.) She also continued getting rewards when she did use the toilet. The next day, day four, she went 3 for 5. She went potty when she woke up, stinky a little while later, then had two defiant episodes. We gently talked to her about it and administered the punishment. That night, she told us that she needed to go and did.

Day Five was mostly successful; 5 for 6. Her only accident was because she tried to hold it all morning so that she wouldn't have to go and sit on the potty. Finally, she couldn't hold it any longer and wet herself.

On day six, Caitlin was still resistant to sitting on the potty, but if we held fast and told her that she needed to sit and at least try, she would. There was only one accident again today, but it was a true accident. It was not an act of defiance and I count that as a victory. Day seven, January 1st, had zero accidents. Hurray!

I know that this is not the end of potty training. We will still have to be vigilant about asking Caitlin if she needs to go and telling her to go when it's been awhile. There are sure to be accidents. But as long as we have broken the defiance I am happy as a lark. My sweet little girl even told me "I like you Mommy" tonight, which means something totally different than "I love you Mommy." I like being told both!

Potty Training a Defiant Child: Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Our intelligent, strong-willed, and highly independent little girl started showing interest in potty training when she was 18 months old. At 33 months she was still NOT potty trained!

She was doing great early on. She could hold it through the night most every night. If we set her on the potty at the right time she would go; inconsistently, but she would. I don't know what happened, but somewhere along the way she decided she didn't want to do this anymore. Caitlin would scream and fight us putting her on the potty. She started wetting the bed again.

Not really knowing what to do, we bought her some panties and tried putting her in those for a couple of days. It turned out that she started defiantly peeing. She would look right at me and pee in the floor. I really struggled with whether or not to discipline her for that or not. Everything I read about potty training says do not discipline only praise and encourage. So after she peed in my floor on the same spot three times in twenty minutes, I gave up. We put her in pull-ups and said forget it.

"She'll potty train when she's ready." That's what people kept telling us. I even stopped potty training for a while in case she was the type of child who needed to do it in her own time. I didn't ask her about it and had her change her pee pee pull-ups. I'd only help her with the stinky ones. She didn't seem to mind being wet or even soiled though. In fact, in the past couple of months, I had a hard time getting her to allow me to change her pull-up. I had to be very firm with her to keep her from running away when it's time to change her and I had to make her change the pee pee ones because she'd just keep it on all day.

We tried rewarding her with MnMs, we tried cumulative rewards with sticker charts. She loved these things, but not enough to go consistently. She would go before nap time and bed time, mostly because she would get to get out of bed for five more minutes. But in the past month, she stopped that as well. She still wanted to sit and get out of bed, but she didn't potty anymore.

We talked to her about being a big girl and using the potty. Was it because she still wanted to be a baby?? Sometimes she said yes, sometimes she said no. We knew that she was physically ready. She stopped playing and ran to the potty a couple of times.

Hubs and I were so completely frustrated with this! She was simply being defiant about it. She showed us multiple times that she was aware that she needed to potty, she was just too busy to stop and do anything about it.

Back to the Gym

noreply@blogger.com (Ginger) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Any normal woman who has had a baby knows how difficult it is to lose the baby weight. I am no stranger to this struggle. I'm back in that awkward postnatal body stage again. I gained 44 pounds with Hayley when according to the doctor, I should have gained 30 - 35. And I'm still carrying around an extra 19 pounds.

It's tough to be here. I just had a baby and while I'm soaking up all that wonderful new baby bliss, I'm also tired and I feel fat. My maternity clothes don't fit and neither do my pre-pregnancy clothes. I finally broke down and bought a couple pair of pants in a larger size just to have something to fit right. Even then my tummy bulges over the rim of the pants. A.K.A. dunlap disease.

For Christmas, I received a couple of gift cards that I went shopping with and my mom bought me a couple of beautiful sweaters. Thank you!! But I don't just want clothes that fit, although that is a wonderful, wonderful thing. I want my shape back. I hate seeing my tummy in the mirror before I get a shower.

People compliment me and tell me that I look great. I appreciate that, I really do. But it's hard because I know where I was and where I am. People forget what you looked like a year before when your body has changed so much. I had frozen my gym membership during pregnancy and it picks up again this month. I am so excited to get back into regular workouts. Along with the physical benefits, it also means having some time to myself, sans kiddos, to recharge my mental and emotional batteries as well. Whoo hoo gym! Here I come!