Husbands!

My very helpful husband last night took the Beaba food processor apart to make sure all parts were clean. We do this everytime to make sure not to transfer bacteria to the baby's food. We thought we lost an important part to the Beaba and went into panic mood. My husband did a quick google search and found out you can order extra parts through this website. http://www.scichild.com/Shop/Beaba-Babycook-Parts

We ended up finding the missing part, but decided to order a few parts anyway. Hey, you never know when he will lose a part again, and we don't want to be without the cooker since I make his foods weekly.

This brings me to preparing Blake's foods. Many of the blogs I have read about baby food including blogs tagged on Pinterest show freezers full of enough baby food to last months. This is not for me. One of the many reasons I decided to make my own baby food is because I want to know what he is eating is FRESH. For me, I don't see the point in going through the trouble of buying him all organic fresh food to just freeze it and then maybe not serve it to him for a whole month. I make his foods every week, enough to send to daycare and for dinner. It isn't the most time saving method, but it's the best for my baby.

I mentioned in a previous blog that I started with carrots for my baby. The order of foods I am introducing go something like this: Orange and Yellows, Greens and then Fruits. You need to serve the same food for three to five days to be able to notice if your child has an allergic reaction to a food before introducing a new veggie or fruit. So far, Blake has had, but not always enjoyed, carrots, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, red beets, green beans and he is in the processes of testing out green squash. Some of the veggies are really thin such as the squash, so I serve it with some cereal mixed in.

I wanted to inform my followers that there are is a high amount of nitrates in carrots, so if you choose to start with carrots do not add the steamed water back in to the carrots for pureeing. Add clean water. Wait until the babies are a little bit older before adding the steamed water back in. Same goes for red beets, although, they are recommended for babies around 8-9 months. I missed that memo!

Also, you can add formula or breastmilk before pureeing the foods, just remember not to refreeze the food if you choose to do this.

I will post recipes that I make for the boy as we get through introducing all his food foods!

Almost forgot, I use Rubbermaid's 4oz containers with freezer tape to label.

Blake and I can't live without.......

A girlfriend who is expecting in June asked me for some advice on items Blake and I just can't live without. I know everyone is different with their must haves, so I thought I'd make a list of a few of our favorites.

Number 1: Glow Seahorse. It helped sooth my fussy baby a lot during the first couple weeks.

Number 2: I hate receiving blankets. The baby only fits in them for a week or two. I think they are a waste. I am in love with aden and anais organic swaddle blankets. They are large enough to still swaddle my chunk and are made of an organic breathable material to help prevent overheating, which causes SIDS. My little guy was a little heater the first few months, so I really worried about this. adenandanais.com

Number 3: Pampers for little boys. Huggies just don't have the protection in the front that little boys need.

Number 4: A Moby Wrap. They are amazing for getting things done around the house with a new born. Helps with colic and gas as well. http://www.mobywrap.com/

Number 5: We are in love with our Beaba baby food maker.

Number 6: Medela Breast Pump. Buy the washable breast pads, so much more comfortable and affordable than throw aways. Also, don't buy the medela freezer bags, twice the price of others and other brands work just as well.

These are my 6 favorites. I'm sure more will pop up as the boy keeps growing.

My Sweet, Sweet Valentine

Well, Christmas was a bust for us. The little guy was sick in the hospital with pneumonia, so even though I am not the biggest fan of Valentine's Day, I wanted to make this one special for my little love. I wasn't sure what to do since he is so young. I thought about putting food coloring in his milk, but figured that probably wasn't the best idea. Then it hit me, I could make his meals into the shape of a heart! I already make and freeze his food, so it would be easy. Again, I use the Beaba Babycook. It cooks, steams and purees the foods.

I ran to Micheal's Craft Store and grabbed the very last heart shaped baking tray. It is silicone, making it easy for me to stick in the freezer after filling with his current foods: carrots, squash and sweet potatoes. He'll definitely have to get the sweet potatoes tomorrow :)

I filled the trays each pretty full, I wanted to make sure they took shape and if he doesn't eat it all it can always go back in the refridge. I then put them in the freezer for about three hours before popping them out. I could have placed them in individual freezer bags, but I placed them in rubbermaid containers instead since they were going to daycare. This way his teachers can feed him right out of the container.

My hope is that I can tell him about the small things I did for him in years to come and he will know just how much I really love him.


Now what to do for the dogs??? Can't forget them.