Our ninth baby, is now over three months old. He is growing well. Born at only 5lb 14oz (tying our oldest, as our smallest baby) he is growing well and is an absolute joy. His first weeks he nursed about every hour and a half to two hours during the day, and a feeding sometimes took up to half an hour when you included burp time and changing a diaper halfway through. That adds up to a lot of time on the couch during the day. As he's gotten older, he nurses less frequently, but it still takes up quite a bit of time.
When I have a nursing baby, I have to slow down the pace of my life considerably. I cannot plan to do near as much in a day, and getting ready to go anywhere takes much longer as I need to plan nursing time into my getting ready time. I have to plan simpler meals, and often choose meals that I can prepare (at least part of them) earlier in the day, so that at mealtime there is not so much time required all in one chunk. My children have to be more patient as they wait for me to finish with the baby to help them with different things. My older children (meaning anyone over 2) need to be more helpful, as my next youngest (who IS 2) often needs help with things while I am on the couch nursing. I have more time to sit and think and ponder than when I do not have a nursing little one. This is truly a blessing. I sit and think about a talk I've read, a scripture I've studied, or just ponder on the needs of my children and how I can help them develop and grow to be their best selves. I sometimes pray silently (when the room is quiet), and listen for answers as I nurse. I also realize that I spend more time having quality conversation with my children when I have a nursing baby. I think the simple fact that I am sitting still, and am not running around getting things done, makes them more likely to sit down by me and just talk about life.
I think that nursing teaches me that doing less actually results in doing more of the things that really matter. I may not be organizing a closet, or heading up a homeschool book club, canning quarts of tomatoes, painting my bedroom, or growing a beautiful vegetable garden, but I am nourishing a sweet little spirit with mother's milk, nourishing my own spirit with scripture and prayer, and strengthening relationships with my children that will last throughout eternity. …not a bad way to spend my time!!
Monday, August 26, 2013
Monday, August 19, 2013
Getting kids to eat veggies
How do you get your children to eat all those vegetables?
This is a question I get asked a lot. The answer is pretty simple. My children eat what I, as the Mom, choose to bring home from the grocery store. And then, I calculatingly set it out when they will want it most, and be most willing to try it.
For example, as I chop vegetables for dinner, I never discourage them from grabbing a piece or two from the cutting board; raw carrots, celery, bits of bell pepper, frozen veggies as I put them into the steamer basket, salad fixings of all kinds. Sometimes they’ve had their full quota of vegetables before dinner is even on the table. I never complain about that.
Another “trick” I have is the vegetable plate. After breakfast I chop up a plate full of raw vegetables and set it out on the kitchen table. As we go about our homeschool morning I never have to worry about getting snacks out for Sophia. She can just go to the table and help herself. The nice thing about raw veggies is that they are a pretty non-messy snack so I don’t have to worry about the high chair and a bib. Everyone else snacks through the morning as well, even the older kids who do not normally feel a need for a snack. By lunchtime, without fail, the plate is empty. There are always favorites on the vegetable plate. The cucumbers and jicama are always the first things to go. Raw sliced yams/sweet potatoes (the orange ones) are another yummy not so common addition to our plate. But even more boring staples like carrots and celery, get eaten by the time lunch rolls around.
We always make vegetables a good percentage of our dinners. When kids take seconds of a more favorite part of the meal, they also are encouraged to take a second of one of the vegetables. We eat a lot of raw vegetables, even at dinnertime, but when we do cook them, I try to cook them just perfect so that they taste their best. It’s hard for even a vegetable lover like me to enjoy broccoli when it is soggy and floppy. I use a steamer basket with just a little water for cooking most vegetables, and try to take them off the heat a little under rather than overdone. They finish that last little bit of cooking with just the heat from the pot. And when we are having an unfamiliar vegetable, everyone needs to try at least a little bit. Every child it seems has one vegetable that he really doesn't like. But I still have him try at least one mouthful. For example, when I serve cooked winter squash, Emily still needs to have one bite. I also make sure that when I serve a vegetable that a particular child is not fond of, I serve a second one that that child really does like, so that he can take an extra big helping of that one.
This last bit of advice goes with getting your family to like any kinds of whole, natural, healthy foods. If that is what you buy, and serve regularly, that is what your family will enjoy and become accustomed to. I don’t serve a lot of processed foods, and I don’t slather our veggies with butter and cheesy sauces. My family is used to the pure taste of the vegetables. I can’t afford to feed our family lots of great produce and still buy all the convenience foods, cold cereals, chips and treats, that are found so readily in our grocery stores. The benefit of that is that we don't have those things around to tempt us. When we need to snack, we are usually reaching for fruits and vegetables instead of cookies and soda. We do buy or make those kinds of things occasionally for holidays, vacations and special occasions, and that is what they are to us…once in a while treat types of foods. But on a regular basis, we eat quite simple, homemade, fresh, and as close to how Heavenly Father made it, as possible.
This is a question I get asked a lot. The answer is pretty simple. My children eat what I, as the Mom, choose to bring home from the grocery store. And then, I calculatingly set it out when they will want it most, and be most willing to try it.
For example, as I chop vegetables for dinner, I never discourage them from grabbing a piece or two from the cutting board; raw carrots, celery, bits of bell pepper, frozen veggies as I put them into the steamer basket, salad fixings of all kinds. Sometimes they’ve had their full quota of vegetables before dinner is even on the table. I never complain about that.
Another “trick” I have is the vegetable plate. After breakfast I chop up a plate full of raw vegetables and set it out on the kitchen table. As we go about our homeschool morning I never have to worry about getting snacks out for Sophia. She can just go to the table and help herself. The nice thing about raw veggies is that they are a pretty non-messy snack so I don’t have to worry about the high chair and a bib. Everyone else snacks through the morning as well, even the older kids who do not normally feel a need for a snack. By lunchtime, without fail, the plate is empty. There are always favorites on the vegetable plate. The cucumbers and jicama are always the first things to go. Raw sliced yams/sweet potatoes (the orange ones) are another yummy not so common addition to our plate. But even more boring staples like carrots and celery, get eaten by the time lunch rolls around.
We always make vegetables a good percentage of our dinners. When kids take seconds of a more favorite part of the meal, they also are encouraged to take a second of one of the vegetables. We eat a lot of raw vegetables, even at dinnertime, but when we do cook them, I try to cook them just perfect so that they taste their best. It’s hard for even a vegetable lover like me to enjoy broccoli when it is soggy and floppy. I use a steamer basket with just a little water for cooking most vegetables, and try to take them off the heat a little under rather than overdone. They finish that last little bit of cooking with just the heat from the pot. And when we are having an unfamiliar vegetable, everyone needs to try at least a little bit. Every child it seems has one vegetable that he really doesn't like. But I still have him try at least one mouthful. For example, when I serve cooked winter squash, Emily still needs to have one bite. I also make sure that when I serve a vegetable that a particular child is not fond of, I serve a second one that that child really does like, so that he can take an extra big helping of that one.
This last bit of advice goes with getting your family to like any kinds of whole, natural, healthy foods. If that is what you buy, and serve regularly, that is what your family will enjoy and become accustomed to. I don’t serve a lot of processed foods, and I don’t slather our veggies with butter and cheesy sauces. My family is used to the pure taste of the vegetables. I can’t afford to feed our family lots of great produce and still buy all the convenience foods, cold cereals, chips and treats, that are found so readily in our grocery stores. The benefit of that is that we don't have those things around to tempt us. When we need to snack, we are usually reaching for fruits and vegetables instead of cookies and soda. We do buy or make those kinds of things occasionally for holidays, vacations and special occasions, and that is what they are to us…once in a while treat types of foods. But on a regular basis, we eat quite simple, homemade, fresh, and as close to how Heavenly Father made it, as possible.
Monday, August 12, 2013
Basketballs and Baby Dolls
We began our adventures into family life with five wonderful, energetic boys. Our floor was littered with Lego, Hot wheels, and our driveway covered with balls and bikes. Then we had three girls in a row. Now our floors are covered with dolls, tiny clothes, strollers, burp pads and blankets. Until recently, all the baby dolls were "girl babies." I gave the girls some of our old newborn baby clothes and cute little head bands to use on the dolls. We did have one boy sleeper that fit on Raggedy Andy, but that was the extent of male dolls in our house.
Almost three months ago, we brought David home from the hospital. Having a boy baby in the house again is quite the novelty. The girls have just as much fun dressing him as they did when Sophia was the baby in our house. They went shopping with Grandma and brought home the funnest, cutest little clothes, including a Superman onesie. David was a very tiny baby and could only wear the very smallest clothes we had, so we had a whole dresser full of cute things that he would not fit for quite a while. One afternoon, all the baby dolls in the house instantly changed into boy babies. The girls had so much fun dressing them in David's things. They even came up with new names for the new boys. Jackley (a girl doll) became Jason. Isabelle became John. It was kind of funny to be dressing David (the real baby) and occasionally have to undress a doll in order to put the outfit on him that I wanted.
Now, I do need to clarify something. Just because we had lots of boys first doesn't mean they didn't play with dolls. In fact, a number of years ago one of the boys wanted a doll of his own quite badly, so we took a special trip to Walmart to pick out a doll for him. He said he wanted to practice being a Dad. We found the perfect doll and put her in our cart. On our way to the checkout we saw a man we knew and he commented on the doll and asked if we were buying it for a friend or cousin's birthday. He said something about how he knew the doll couldn't be for someone at our house because we had all boys. WRONG!!! I couldn't have been more thrilled that one of our boys wanted a doll to practice being a father. Why not? Our girls all want to practice being mothers. Another one of our sons asked for a doll as well. In fact he wanted a doll and the bottles and clothes and a baby bed. That was his big Christmas present that year and he couldn't have been happier. I think we need to encourage that nurturing side of our boys as well as the more physical, manly side. Fatherhood is as much a holy calling for our boys to prepare for and look forward to, as motherhood is for our girls.
Almost three months ago, we brought David home from the hospital. Having a boy baby in the house again is quite the novelty. The girls have just as much fun dressing him as they did when Sophia was the baby in our house. They went shopping with Grandma and brought home the funnest, cutest little clothes, including a Superman onesie. David was a very tiny baby and could only wear the very smallest clothes we had, so we had a whole dresser full of cute things that he would not fit for quite a while. One afternoon, all the baby dolls in the house instantly changed into boy babies. The girls had so much fun dressing them in David's things. They even came up with new names for the new boys. Jackley (a girl doll) became Jason. Isabelle became John. It was kind of funny to be dressing David (the real baby) and occasionally have to undress a doll in order to put the outfit on him that I wanted.
Now, I do need to clarify something. Just because we had lots of boys first doesn't mean they didn't play with dolls. In fact, a number of years ago one of the boys wanted a doll of his own quite badly, so we took a special trip to Walmart to pick out a doll for him. He said he wanted to practice being a Dad. We found the perfect doll and put her in our cart. On our way to the checkout we saw a man we knew and he commented on the doll and asked if we were buying it for a friend or cousin's birthday. He said something about how he knew the doll couldn't be for someone at our house because we had all boys. WRONG!!! I couldn't have been more thrilled that one of our boys wanted a doll to practice being a father. Why not? Our girls all want to practice being mothers. Another one of our sons asked for a doll as well. In fact he wanted a doll and the bottles and clothes and a baby bed. That was his big Christmas present that year and he couldn't have been happier. I think we need to encourage that nurturing side of our boys as well as the more physical, manly side. Fatherhood is as much a holy calling for our boys to prepare for and look forward to, as motherhood is for our girls.
Monday, August 5, 2013
Simply Summer
It dawned on me today that yet another summer is half over and I still haven't purchased the kids pool for the backyard that I thought I "really" needed. We have a tiny green plastic turtle pool that Sophia, age two, plays in. But it has been a couple of summers since we've had a pool that is fun for the older kids. We used to have a blow up pool that could be filled to about a foot and a half deep, but it has long since bit the dust. Since then, they've been playing in a huge galvanized metal tub, about 4 1/2 feet in diameter that we used when we raised a couple of cows. It can be filled to about 2 to 2 1/2 feet deep. I don't know that they've really even cared that we haven't purchased another pool. They seem to have all kinds of fun in there and so do the other neighborhood kids. It just goes to show that it doesn't take a lot of money and things to have fun. Sometimes, us grownups think they need more than they really do. They put the sprinkler underneath the trampoline sometimes. They run a hose down the slide and land in the kiddie pool. They squirt each other with cheap little squirters from the dollar store, and they flood the sandbox and call it "Water Town." That gets them absolutely filthy dirty, but we just spray them off really well before they hit the bathtub. Kids' creativity really takes over when we let it. They can find fun anywhere, anytime. Us grownups could learn a lesson or two from them!!!
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