Pintesting - Untangling Doll Hair

One of my daughters dolls had begun taking an increased beating with the arrival of her little brothers burgeoning toddler-hood. Both of them were getting food in her hair and the doll hair was of course getting tangled and matted.

I got everything that was going to be needed together.

The pin says to use 2 tbspns fabric softener. Already having my hands full with other things I just went with two "glugs" out of the fabric softener bottle and into my spray bottle that seemed the appropriate equivalent. Then i filled the rest of my bottle with water and shook it up to mix.

I believe my spray bottle is supposed to hold around 6 ounces.

I began by using a fine mist but by the end I was going pretty heavy handed with the spray. Just remember it's always easier to add to than to take away.

To de-tangle the dolly in questions tresses you should, like with your own hair, begin at the tips and work up to the roots to avoid fairy knots. The entire process took me around 5 - 10 minutes which is about as long as it can sometimes take to do this same thing with my daughter.

The results were worth the effort though :)

The Parenting Game

Being a parent is hard, whether you are single, a mom, a dad - it doesn't matter. As parents we are always selling ourselves short. This fact has lead me to create, the parenting game. Our days are full of miniature victories that we aren't always crediting ourselves for.

My game contains no opportunity for negative points, only positive ones; and everyone is a winner. For every item on the list you've done you only gain more points.

My "list" isn't perfect but there's only so much I can include before the list becomes incredibly tedious. Values are randomly assigned. It's for fun people.

Category/Item                                             Points

General Morning Stuff
Wake up                                                                                                                  10
There's no pee in your bed                                                                                     40
If there is pee - you aren't laying in it                                                                    30
If they pee'd during the night, you actually got up and put down a towel             35
Got dressed                                                                                                            50
Before 9AM                                                                                                           60
Before noon                                                                                                            50
This is the first time you've worn the clothes you put on
                                                                          (they aren't days old)                   100
All of your clothes were put on properly the first time
                                                                   (nothing backwards or inside out)     150


"Every day" stuff
Went to the bathroom                                                                                              50
By yourself                                                                                                              85
More than once                                                                                                      150
Took a nap                                                                                                              200
Took a shower                                                                                                        100
Without kids                                                                                                           150
With your significant other                                                                                     175
Brushed your teeth                                                                                                   60
Washed your face                                                                                                     60
Flossed                                                                                                                   200
Your hair makes some sort of actual "socially acceptable" sense                            70
Left the house                                                                                                         150
Alone                                                                                                                      200
If you didn't leave the house alone, everyone was properly buckled in                   50
Your childrens hair is done                                                                                       70
Your children still have hair                                                                                      85
Had a conversation that didn't involve your children
                                                                   (speaking to or about them)                   75
Got up in the middle of the night to handle any form of child drama                      60
Got up more than once                                                                                             70
Got up more than three times                                                                                  100
Your kids survived the day (scathed or unscathed)                                                 666
You survived                                                                                                          1000
Dropped children off someplace                                                                                50
Picked them up                                                                                                           60
On time                                                                                                                       65

Meals
Ate breakfast                                                                                                              50
It was still hot                                                                                                             60
It was luke warm                                                                                                        40
It was cold                                                                                                                  30
It was the last of your kids breakfast                                                                          25
Got to eat all of it by yourself                                                                                   100
It was leftover take out                                                                                              110
It was actual takeout                                                                                                  115

Ate lunch                                                                                                                     50
It was hot                                                                                                                     60
It was luke warm                                                                                                         40
It was cold                                                                                                                   30
It was the kids leftovers                                                                                               25
Got to eat all of it by yourself                                                                                    100
It was leftover take out                                                                                               110
It was actual takeout                                                                                                   115

Ate dinner                                                                                                                     50
It was hot                                                                                                                      60
It was luke warm                                                                                                           40
It was the kids leftovers                                                                                                 30
Got to eat all of it by yourself                                                                                        25
It was leftover take out                                                                                                 100
It was actual takeout                                                                                                     115





Your kids didn't ingest any non-food items                                                               50
They only ingested one non-food item                                                                      40
Fed your child one meal                                                                                            50
Fed your child two meals                                                                                           60
Fed your child three meals                                                                                         70
Fed them snacks                                                                                                         60
Kept their cups full                                                                                                     55
Cooked a meal                                                                                                            50
Cooked two meals                                                                                                      60
Cooked an excess of three meals                                                                                80

House And Home
Cleaned your house in excess of 30 minutes
                                                    (total time or consecutive minutes)                       30
Cleaned your house in excess of 60 minutes                                                            60
Said cleaning was related to some sort of child nastiness
                                                   (vomit, poop, next level colossal mess)                666
Did at least one of load of laundry to completion
                                                    (wash and dry - it can still be in the dryer)          250
Did all of the laundry                                                                                               600
Did half of the laundry                                                                                             125
Thought about doing some laundry                                                                            25
Moved clothing out of the dryer that's been there for an excess of 12 hours             25
Moved clothing that's been in there for an excess of 24 hours                                   30
Moved clothing that's been in there for an excess of 36 hours                                   35
Piled your laundry someplace in the house to put away                                             25
It's piled someplace your pets can't get to it                                                                30
It's piled someplace your kids can't get to it                                                                30
Nothing got to it                                                                                                           55
Put away piled up laundry                                                                                          100
Some of which is actually folded                                                                               150
Cleaned up a mess your child made immediately after your discovery of it             200



Work And Random Things
Wrote a blog post                                                                                                         50
Actually posted it                                                                                                         60
Were only interrupted once                                                                                          65
Were only interrupted twice                                                                                         50
Didn't yell when you were interrupted                                                                         65
Went to work                                                                                                                90
Came home from work                                                                                               150
Didn't hide in your car before coming in                                                                    200
Didn't take longer to come home to hide out                                                              200
Picked something up for your family on the way home                                               50
Got a workout                                                                                                             250


Congratulations parent. Pat yourself on the back and we'll see you for the next round first thing in the morning - or whenever your kids wake up.

Natural Pacifiers

Our newest addition is quite a persnickety little fella' in comparison to our first child. We've never used pacifiers, in fact, my mother never used one with me. Considering what we know about plastics today I'm extra grateful to her for choosing against one, whatever her reason was.

Uninterested in adding any further plastics to our home, let alone putting it in our childs' mouth we planned on not bothering with pacifiers again. Pacifiers are a great place to find:
- polyvinylchloride (PVC), which creates dioxins which cause neurological, reproductive, developmental, and hormonal health problems
- latex, which many babies may have allergies or hypersensitivity towards
- phthalates, also found in teethers, have been linked to numerous health problems, including cancer, endocrine disruption, development delays, and reproductive system damage

NO THANKS

You see, I am my sons current lovey and as wonderful as that is, being his natural pacifier as often as he wants me to be is very difficult. His fussiness over this matter even had my poor husband feeling like his little boy didn't even like him. The "use of a pacifier" talk was once again revisited.

Still uninterested in adding plastic to our home or our babies body I decided to search for a more natural alternative and found that my options were:
- natural rubber
- silicone
- pthalate-free PVC

I chose to go with natural rubber. The rubber is taken from a tree without causing any harm to it and is made into a totally biodegradable pacifier. On Amazon.com you can get a 2-pack of Natursutten natural rubber pacifiers for your little person for $16.50.

As much as I'm disinterested in having to break my son of the use of his "paci" down the line and fighting my daughter all the way to not steal or adopt his as her own, it looks like this is journey we'll be embarking on as a family.

Kid-friendly Movies with Green-Themed Messages

I really enjoy sharing my passion for helping improve the earth we live on with, well, just about everyone really. Education should really begin at home and one of many ways you can try to do so without leaving your children feel bogged down in "life lessons learned" is to allow them to enjoy a movie with you.

Wall-E (2008)
Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest (1992)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
Over The Hedge (2006)
Hoot (2006)
Happy Feet (2006)
Bambi (1942)
Furry Vengeance (2010)
Chicken Run (2000)
Free Willy (1993)
Finding Nemo (2003)
Tarzan (1999)
The Lorax (2012)
Totoro (1988)
Brother Bear (2003)
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)
Homeward Bound: An Incredible Journey (1993)
Pocahontas (1995)
The Lion King (1994)
Rescuers Down Under (1990)
A Bugs Life (1998)
Watership Down (1978)

And Baby Makes Four (Five If You Count Our Dog)

It was a post like this that started Small Fries.

Baby Ironhide has finally joined us here on the outside.

Welcome to the world son. Mommy, daddy, your big sister, and I'm sure even the dog - love you very much.

Pintesting - Teething Gel

As you know we're doing everything we can to run a chemical-free house-hold. With a new addition on his way in I didn't want anything other than a super trustworthy teething gel in my mommy arsenal for him.

Today's pintest comes to us via this pin and the info found here. 

Get all of your things together so you can avoid running all over your house while you're working.

Add your food grade cocoa butter and coconut oil to a pan or small pot and let it melt. 

It will melt quickly.

Once it has add your essential oils and put them into whatever container you planned on storing it in.
WARNING: this recipe makes 4 ounces!!!! That's A LOT of teething gel. I put mine in a 4 ounce container for the night and then reheated it and split it into smaller containers in the morning.

Cleaning Crayon Off of Your Walls

I knew it would happen sooner or later. What I really should have thought about was the fact that it would happen when I wasn't looking.

My little lamb drew on the wall.

Well, I thought it was just one wall

- it turns out that it was five different walls.

No longer having any magic erasers in my house and not wanting to because of the harmful chemicals they contain I chose to go the old fashioned rout first. Water and a rag.

I'm happy to tell you that Crayola's Jumbo Crayons

 seem to be washable. With minimal wiping of my walls the crayon came right up.

If you find yourself in this position. Please try simpler, more natural options before turning to chemicals.

The offending crayon was put into time out.

Pintesting In The Kitchen - Cheesey Vegetable Chowder

Still trying to stay on top of any picky-eater problems I may at any moment encounter with my little lamb I keep trying to make sure I'm frequently offering veggie filled alternatives.

Today's pintest comes via this pin and the info found here.

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup finely chopped carrot

1 celery stick, finely chopped (feel free to add more celery if you like celery; I don't, so I don't add much)

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

4 cups chicken broth (I usually use a mixture of low-sodium chicken broth and broth made with chicken soup base because it gives it such nice flavor)

2 large baking potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 Tablespoon flour

1/2 cup water

2/3 cup milk

2 cups chopped broccoli

2 heaping cups shredded cheddar cheese

Melt the butter in a large soup pot.

Chop up your onions,

and your carrots,

and your celery.

Add onions, carrots, and celery and saute over medium heat until tender.

 Add garlic and cook 1 or 2 additional minutes.
This is a good time to chop up your potatoes. I used one of my personal favorite kinds - Yukon Gold.

Add chicken broth and potatoes, bring to a boil, and cook until potatoes are tender.

Mix flour with water, add, and simmer until soup is slightly thickened.

Now wash and separate your broccoli. I had broccoli crown so I just broke off pieces until I was breaking off what I considered "soup-sized" pieces.

 Add milk and broccoli and cook until broccoli is just tender and soup is heated through.

You're supposed to stir in cheese, allow to melt, and serve - but I managed to forget to do this. How I could ever forget cheese I really don't know. The soup was alright and my little lamb seemed to really love it. I'm going to call this a pin worth trying.

A pinspired Post - Cloth Baby Wipes

I mentioned in the recent past that a couple of my friends (a couple has now grown to a few) are also pregnant. They've chosen to go the rout of cloth diapering and in addition to that they plan to use cloth baby wipes. The image of mountains of dirty diapers in landfills isn't unknown to those who consider themselves even remotely green. But what about those chemically treated and bleached baby wipes? They're doing the same thing I assure you.

Pintrest is full of the pins picturing cloth wipes but when you click them you rarely seem to get a very detailed description of how to make your own. I'm going to do my best to help you with that.

Today's post was inspired by this specific pin and the info found here.

Buying fabric can be so exciting for me. Having an excuse to do so only makes the experience that much sweeter. I picked up these fabrics for baby wipes.

I'm going to tell you two ways to go about this:

Place an actual baby wipe on top of some uncut fabric (I bought 1/2 yards). Cut out one piece that was the size you now want and then get to work.

I cut two long strips.

Then placed one on top of the other and began cutting the strips intended to become baby wipes. I used the first piece I cut as my template to cut the rest of the pieces.

Another way to go about all of this is to first lay out your piece of fabric.

Fold it over.

It's really your call if you want right side touching right side or wrong side touching wrong side.

Then place your template onto the fabric.

Then cut your strips following the line of your chosen measuring instrument.

I now had three strips, two I intended to use for cloth wipes and one of excess fabric.

Once you have all of your pieces cut the fun part can really begin.

On to the sewing machine!

Place two sheets of your fabric together backside touching backside. Your print should be on the top and the bottom. You should not see the plain white back.

Then use whatever stitch you most prefer to sew the two pieces together.

 This is a great time to test out different stitches on your machine.

Et viola you have a baby wipe.

In case you're wondering how my wipes looked after a trip through the washing machine with their un-serged edges.

I just snipped off the loose edges and put them into a baby wipes container.

Now to make some wipe solution. But that's another blog post ;p

Fighting The Good Fight - Against Picky Eating

Friday was once again grocery day. Before-hand I made sure to ask as many mommies as I could about what they have done when their children enter phases of picky eating.

Here are some of the bits and pieces of info that I found particularly helpful that perhaps other parents going through a similar hard time may find of some use as well.

- Drinks only after meals. Not during to avoid your child filling up

- Only water between meals

- Is there any chance your child may have a food sensitivity?

- If your child is teething they may find eating a lot of foods painful

- "... kids around 2 just sometimes say things because they like communicating. She may just be saying she's hungry because she likes for you to react to her."

- "What about a muffin tin full of healthy snacks set at her level so that she can graze all day? She won't starve herself and some of this sounds like Quinny wanting to take control. Definitely fruit in one cup, string cheese or cheese cubes in another, goldfish crackers in a third and maybe some baby carrots in another one? Offer her a variety and let her choose."

- "There are snack bowls w/handles and a rubber lid that has slits in it so the toddler can reach their hand in & pull out finger foods but it provides some spill protection. Munchkin makes them & I think Gerber does too. Have you tried those? It is also great for letting her snack in the car. She can still make a mess, hopefully it just takes a bit longer"

- "We loved those snack bowls when my girls were toddlers. Ideas...what about the freeze dried fruits and veggies from Just Peas? I know they're a bit expensive, but it could help as a transition away from all the candy and junk. Freeze the yogurt tubes and let her have one."

- "Food boot camp. Worked like a charm for us but most importantly it changed their entire attitude about food." take away all of their favourite foods and make all new things. "Then they earn back their favorites after a week or two. But they have to have 3 bites before they can say if they like it or not. Now the girls eat a lot of new food and its not always tears when there is something new to eat. They are glad to try it. I also try to have them taste each thing as it goes in so they understand the flavor changes."

- " I do food boot camp stuff as well, but not for super young kids. I do it a little differently though. I don't have an "earn things back" part. I just serve what I serve and they can eat it or not. If they complain about it, then we don't have any of the special food (pizza, etc) for a long time until they have changed their attitudes about the healthy stuff. This goes over better with older children though. With toddlers, the trick though is to get rid of all the junky foods. Don't have them in the house at ALL. That way it isn't even an option. I have a super finicky eater (Lydia). That's why at 27 months, she only weighs 21lbs. She is insanely picky and fickle about what and when she will eat. At first, I 'd give her whatever she wanted because I just wanted her to EAT, kwim? But then, it became unfair to my older two because they wanted the things I was giving Lydia AND it wasn't good for her. What I do now is require her to sit at the table with us at every meal. I serve her a plate of food and if she eats, fine. If not, fine. I've found that putting the food in front of her and making her sit down helped. She still won't always eat much, but she will at least usually eat a few bites. I serve her what I serve everyone else. In between meals, I offer only certain foods: fruits, popcorn (plain-no salt, no butter-- and the good kind, not the microwaveable bags), peanuts, raisins, yogurt, dheese cubes, homemade granola etc. They won't starve themselves and if they are truly hungry, they will eventually eat something that you have. If you have removed the junk, you won't be tempted to give in to the whining for it or to hand it over because of their refusal of other things. ALSO my kids are allowed only one cup of milk and one cup of juice per day (I dilute juice until age 4 about 3/4 water, 1/4 juice) an only WITH meals. The rest of the time they have to drink water. That keeps them from filling up on drink so they won't eat later. Oh yeah, and I became a master at hiding pureed veggies in other things"

-" ... get milk with breakfast and dinner and juice with lunch. Water only after that and limited snacks since they fill up on those and then won't eat much of their meals. Thought I do serve healthy snacks, they'd rather eat yogurt and cheese and fruit than eat their meals. So no snacks 2 hours before a meal. They are pretty accustomed to it now and I rarely have to say more than "so we need to go back to food boot camp or are you going to try this new stuff?" They'd much rather try it for a few bites than eat it everyday for a week, lol"

- "You can also "healthify" favorite foods. Macaroni & Cheese=instead of using the boxed processed kind, make your own and mix in peas or veggies. Use less cheese and butter and use whole wheat pasta. Mix carrots into pasta sauces. This is my favorite recipe for chicken nuggets and it has spinach in the breading! You can't even taste it!
 Put sweet potato or pumpkin puree in muffins or pancakes, use whole wheat flour in place of all purpose, get plain yogurt and add honey instead of flavored yogurts that are full of sugar, etc.
I also make "popsicles" with healthy ingredients: fruit AND vegetable juices (buy a juicer!), yogurt with real strawberries and flax seed with a little honey, etc
I make pita pizzas with whole wheat pita bread, tomato sauce with some oregano mixed in and cheese. You can mix pureed spinach into the sauce there too"

- "If my girls start to go overboard with something I just remove it from the house. Then they aren't upset with me bc I said no, they are just upset bc we don't have anymore, lol."

- "Can you get some of those nutritional shakes for kids?"

- "Does she go to daycare? I don’t stress too much over dinner because {Little Lamb} pretty much always eats all of his food at daycare, even the fruit & veggies, because…monkey see, monkey do."

- "If she likes bread, could you try some breads or muffins with veggies and fruits baked in?"

- "The head of UCDavis’ pediatric gastroenterology department suggested using Carnatian Instant Breakfast"

Here are a couple of links provided by a helpful mommy:
http://wholesometoddlerfood.com/
http://www.food.com/recipe/Deceptively-Delicious-Chicken-Nuggets-With-Veggie-Puree-257969

After preparing a detailed grocery list I was ready to hit the store. I did my best to stick RIGHT to the list and not just browse every aisle to remember what I may have forgotten.

 While I unloaded the car the little lamb kept telling me she was hungry so I tried some of these veggie crunchers on her first. She ate most of her bowl but brought me the rest and asked for something else.

 The problem with these banana chips is that there aren't enough for more than one sitting if your child loves bananas like mine does.

 Because she decided she liked raisins the day before I made sure to get plenty.

One of these bananas didn't even make it out of the store intact! In fact she learned the word banana on the spot.

 Lots and lots of frozen fruit to make smoothies with.

Frozen veggies for smoothies and some veggies that come with cheese. Usually I'm not all for that but right now what I'm all for it keeping my childs immune system strong and her belly full.

My biggest problems this time may have been 1) maybe too  much fruit 2) probably too little food for the hubs and I.

Okay, I deviated from the list a little.

I've been trying to keep my Pintrest boards as easy to navigate as possible which has left me having quite a few boards. One of the more recent boards that directly pertains to this particular blog post is the one for "kids recipes"; there you will find recipes for smoothies and things like that to feed your children.

If you're interested in interesting looking kid snacks and things like that then you'd be interested in the "kid food" board.