{in the kitchen} baby's first foods

hello there!

some exciting stuff around here... our little one is trying out some tasty {solid} morsels!

we've been on our breastfeeding journey and starting around 5 months our guy showed so much interest in what was going on at the dinner table... since then he has tried a few bites too {did i mention my baby is 8 months old?!}!

we chose to feed our little j soft real foods that are cut in ways to be easily held. or can be served up on a spoon for him to feed himself. at the beginning - when he was six months old - his daily meal(s) were more about being at the family table and touching real food and less about what nutrients made it into his body. we were still breastfeeding around the clock and family dinner was when we chose to have his meal type experience. my husband and i have always been excited about being at the table as a family, talking and sharing about what happened in our days. this is why we've decided to make it j's social solid foods eating time.

now that we are two months in our guy is a pro and LOVES to eat! sometimes we serve up purees while most of the time we are making sure our foods are provided to him in safe ways to eat {soft, sometimes mashed, often on a spoon} he chats with us and his crazy babbles {plus the few words he says basically daily - mama, dada, and "Ebba" for our dog Etta}

how we knew we were ready...

+we were given the okay by our doctor - due to his head control and subsiding "tongue thrust" our pediatrician shared that she was more than comfortable with him starting to experience some foods. in fact, she was ready before we were! it was so nice to have that go-ahead. and it got this mama dreaming about messy hands and gummy sweet potato smiles!

+he couldn't help himself when mom and pop were eating - grabbing at all the things, staring at whatever was going in our mouths, we knew his interest was there.

+we researched - after throughly reading about 'baby led weaning' we found that we liked the real food, just keep it safe, eat what the family is type approach.

+we took baby steps - once we knew he was interested we had a few weeks where during dinner time he would sit in his high chair (this kid's core strength is unreal) and would touch and play with a little bowl, spoon and cup while we ate dinner and all talked together. he LOVED it from the first meal so we thought he would attend to food once we felt more prepared to start our route to solid foods.


what is working well for us...

+cutting up foods so he can hold it

+foods he likes - he can go with bananas in all the foods! but we also eat avocado, peas, sweet potato, pumpkin, prunes, blueberries, papaya and more...

+doing the 4 day rule - only trying one new food every 4 days or so. this way if a food allergy is present it will hopefully surface prior to introducing the next new food and we will know that we need to be careful around whatever food he ate just before symptoms arrived.

+peanut butter - check with your pediatrician on this one, but ours suggested moving forward with the current thinking that younger babies should try peanut butter (watered down, so no choking hazard); we waited until he had tried many solids and had no allergic reactions to anything.

+having our pup, Etta, take care of the dirty work - our little babe and pup are just such good friends already. and now our girl loves this baby boy even more because of all the snacks she sneaks from the floor under his spot at the table.

any mamas have real food/baby led weaning tips to share? or are you interested and want to learn more? check out this Real Food Mamas Podcast - Episode #49: BLW in the Kitchen

have a good one!!

::our little one arrived::

hello dear friends!

just popping in this morning to say our little one arrived!!

our son, "little j"
arrived at 10:56 p.m. on October 7, 2016
after 42 weeks and 5 days womb -side
and made this mommy + daddy just so very happy + proud.

we are more in love than we ever imagined and can't wait to share more about this new person we already know so deeply but have so much to learn about.

keep us in your thoughts - we are all well and are enjoying some slow days of healing + bonding.

hooray for our little family, that is now just a little bit bigger!

{celebrations} our baby shower

earlier this month we had our family baby shower! it was good fun to celebrate our soon to arrive little one with our dear family members and friends.


we had a lovely little banquet room, tasty buffet style lunch + snacks, such sweet gifts, and a couple of activities that were friendly for all in attendance.


when my mom, sister and mother-in-law asked about having a shower for the baby i really thought about it and decided that i wanted to see everyone and my husband wanted to get to see all our favorite people too! so we had a family-friendly, co-ed bash... open house style incase the younger party-people didn't want to hang for the entire event. several of my friends who have been mommas for a few years said they really enjoyed that it was for the whole family and it made it easy to just pop over but still make nap time. it wasn't exactly the typical ladies luncheon, but no one seemed to mind.  {even my dad had a great time, because he got to visit with his sister and some of our long time family friends and, of course, he always like to harass my good pals from high school}

i felt very spoiled by the end of the day - and tired! celebrating is no joke for me now with this baby bump!




::the details::

location:

we highly recommend Local Roots if you are planning a little party near Powell, Ohio - great food, perfect service and so easy to just show up and enjoy the event

decor:

we kept it super simple, and not too babyish since it was for guys + gals... we had flowers + succulents for centerpieces on the tables, we also put up baby photos of me and my husband, a bib that i made and a little tshirt we got from a music festival earlier this summer to add a little something for the serving buffet.

activities:

we did a "wee hours" diaper writing activity {some people have called it "late night diapers"}...
so easy! buy disposable diapers (we did one pack of newborn and one pack of size 1) and sharpie markers and invite your guests to write a little note on the booty for the new parents to read while doing those late night diaper changes. hilarious! we peeked at a few and they are just too funny. we just kept this activity in one area since we had younger children involved {what with sharpies and all}, but we had 3 year olds to 65 year olds having a grand time writing on a diaper or two. {i think our 9 year old niece had the best time... she is an ace at the potty - humor!}

we also made a special "ABC Book for the Baby"... my mom assembled cardstock pages with a letter on each page prior to the shower and then we requested that family and friends draw something for the letter on their page... so sweet and funny. my brother-in-law snagged the "T" page right away... so he could make a hand turkey! our guests actually responded really well to this activity, taking more than one page or collaborating with someone else, lots of inside jokes or silly items to represent letters. our baby is going to love this handmade book! and it gave the nieces and nephews a job to put all the pages in order in the book as more and more pages were finished.

favors:

we had Harvest Moon Bakery {located in Xenia, Ohio} make their "local, organic, vegan" twinkys for our baby shower favor! they were delicious and fun. everyone got a real kick out of them, especially since we had fun flavors like chocolate raspberry and lemon lavender! a sweet little treat for the road for our very loved guests.

all in all we had a super baby shower. i really enjoyed myself and my husband did too. our tribe is so supportive of this baby - we can't wait for everyone to meet the new family member!


have a great start to the week!

.:holidays on the homestead 2015:.

well, we are enjoying our first winter holiday season in our new home.

just a few decorations, a little baking and cooking, and many traditions to establish.

good eats, great tunes, enjoying time together. we even took a short hike this year - because 50 degrees in december. we are so grateful to make this house our home.

we ended our 2015 with two people, one {little} farm-dog, two house-cats, and eight chickens living on our 5 acre lot. i can't wait to see how all our work in 2016 will make our home so very us by this time next year.


happy holidays!

holiday season preparations

good morning my friends! are you still living that thankful-happiness-feeling?

i hope everyone had a joyous holiday and weekend full of giving thanks with friends and family. we did a bit of driving around to see many of our dear ones. thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays... just food, loved ones and staying present in the moment of festivities!

as part of my thanksgiving week work i made food to take to two different family dinners and i began to really focus my upcoming winter gifting and fun lists and plans. i cannot believe it is less than one month from christmas!

we have begun to simplify our gifting traditions with slimming down our purchasing list (yes, yes, those family gift exchanges where only the kids receive presents from everyone - which our nieces + nephews list has grown by three baby girls this year! how lucky we are!). however, sometimes i still enjoy making a little something for the mommas +poppas even if they are not the name we pull from the basket.

i guess that's it from me today. what about you? big thanksgiving hang-overs? or feeling powerful, thankful and ready to head right into the winter holidays?


big monday hugs!

my canning story

good morning! this summer produce and canning has been so, so good to me. i know i always say that i love seeing that produce all pretty in a jar... but i really do. i think i have loved favorites foods in a jar for a long time.

it probably stems from my first memories of canning. that's right friends - making great grandma's pasta sauce in the kitchen with my momma! i mean, we're talking THE family recipe. we honestly call it "the sauce" or just "sauce" and everyone in the family knows what we're talking about. even in+after college my sister and i visit home at the same time to help my mom make huge batches. with my dad sitting at the counter telling stories, passing out critiques of cooking style and hopping up from his barstool to stir the huge pot every few minutes.

so then flash forward a few years and i start craving some domestic hobbies. something that is valuable for our family life, something that could be used intentionally in our home and gives great enjoyment. i knew canning would be just the thing. i started out making simple freezer jam then cooked fruit jams + butters. after a few years of trying many {many} recipes i have found a bit of rhythm when it comes to what i love to can. luckily i even have a few friends who are into the idea of canning up goodies too! sometimes we work in the kitchen together, go to local farm u-picks, or trade various canned up foods once we were done making our own double batches!

there is even more goodness knowing that i can continue canning goodies for a bit longer this season. looking forward to some apple goodness this fall. i'm planning on making at least one batch of apple butter for my brother-in-law... what are your apple saving favorites?

* i've added this post to Our Simple Homestead Blog Hop! ::click here:: to head over and check out all the great information and stories from other bloggers! Thanks to all the hosts and bloggers for sharing in the fun!

Local Love (Spotted Cow Paper :: Columbus, Ohio)

hey friends! i thought i would share a little fun greeting card that i picked up for my sister's birthday this summer. 

when i heard of the spotted cow paper fill in the blank greeting cards i thought it was really a clever idea. then when i learned that the makers are sisters - it solidified that i needed a card from those sisters for my dear sister!

 

super sweet + fun. just like my sis. it was perfect + she loved it!

i will definitely remember them when shopping for a fun card for the next big occasion!

::Please note that this post is entirely of my thoughts. I did not receive any gifts or any prompting to promote this specific product or brand. This blog series is to celebrate the great products that are made in my home state of Ohio. The photos on this post are mine. ::

Our Special Visitor Comes to Play

July was a special month as we had lots of fun summer type things to do. One of my favorite weeks was spent with our niece H and her summer visit to our home.

Last year we had lots of fun so she was extra excited about this year's visit. Like, she had been talking about coming to stay with us during summer vacation since Christmas. 

H is seven now, she can do so many things. She has major opinions, and a great sense of humor. I love all that is her. With that said, it takes a lot to keep a lively seven year old busy. I was thrilled that my pup was up for the challenge.

playing in the sprinkler

books + tent {inside on a hot day}

Splash Pad Fun

picnic + park

quick shopping trip

Whenever H visits we make it a priority to spend time together when my husband gets home from work. He does his best to get to work early and come home early so he can spend more time with her. We had so much fun going to parks, hikes, the local splash pad, out to dinner... we even had a good time stopping at a grocery store to pick up ice cream for a game night at home.

Drawing for Pictionary

Oh my and game nights we had! H loves to play a good game... one night we played "pictionary" but we made up our own cards that would tell us what to draw. This made it super fun because we ended up drawing pictures of things that we {especially H} liked. We drew horses, parties, food, and even people in our family. 

Pictionary 

In a silly moment we decided to have the "World Series of Go Fish". H decided that this meant we had to act in a very serious manner, make up hand signals and code words... I think maybe I added the sunglasses, but she was totally on board. 

serious card players

Of course we spent loads of time on our bikes and on our local bike path. We even biked to the library and a nearby playground. Riding her bike is something she really loves to do.

bike path

 What a wonderful week! In mid-August, H will head to school to start second grade! I can't believe she is so old and wise. Hope this school year is a total blast for her!

A Simply Lovely Sunday Thought: Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!

Hope you are enjoying time with those you love this weekend!

around these parts...

April has moved quickly, and in a tempo that isn't quite typical. 

One thing that is for sure... I'm out of my blogging and photography routines.

I think it has something to do with the rush to get our garden ready! And all the spring growth that needs attention around our yard.

Oh and of course the little vacation to visit some family in Florida at the end of March.

The plan is to get settled into some routines before April is long gone. We will see how that goes :)

Hope your week has been happy!

Simple Family Journaling: Our Monthly Love Notes

After the turn of the new year, I noticed lots of journaling ideas floating around on blogs that I adore. I think that many families want to find an easy way to hold on to newly made memories. Some of the ideas I've read about are easy, some take a bit more time. I thought I'd tell about the idea that we had late last year and have continued into 2013. It is easy enough for us, and maybe it will be easy to add {with personal touches, I'm sure} into the daily/weekly/monthly lives of others.

We call it our 'Love Notes' board. They aren't the "love notes" with beautiful handwriting that you might read over and over again while your favorite person is away on a work trip. They are more like 'happy thoughts' and events that happen during our month.

We chose to use a big chalkboard that was actually the program from our wedding. I love that this was our board's first official love note and I like that it now has a special purpose in our home.

photo taken by Life in Balance Photography

During the month we add notes about exciting days, events, or little tidbits that we want to remember. On the first day of the new month we photograph the board and then wipe it clean. The plan is to include board photos in a 2013 photo review that I'm attempting to create this year. I'm sure that these little notes will make it a bit easier to remember what some of our photos are and trigger some memories when we read our lists over again months and years later.

So there you have it. Our simple way of large group journaling {sometimes visitors enjoy adding onto our board as well}. It helps when your husband has gorgeous penmanship skills. {and I'm talking mad skills... the pretty writing is all his}

A Simply Lovely Sunday Thought {Let's Get Together}

Things for our pets have been interesting lately. We are learning how to live all together. Slowly losing the barriers that have kept the playful puppy from annoying the pair of cool cats.

Our dog has calmed down quite a bit. And she has learned many things since she first came to live with us. {Most important lessons - how to "stay", be "gentle", and try your best not to mess with the cats}

Our cats can barely tolerate her. But I swear it is getting better. 

So happy to have a few successful evenings of every being in our home sharing one space.

10 on 10: February 2013

February 10th 2013... a day for family. 
An out and about day {which meant good use of my phone's camera for the day too}.

We had brunching and shopping around town all morning and afternoon.

Our loved ones claimed to come visit us for shopping and lunch. 

But honest to goodness... they came to snuggle my pup!

After the family left we left town to hit up a few shops that aren't on our beaten path.

Across town for a thrift shop, and a large health food store.

After all our running around we hung out at home doing a few things we just plain enjoy.

I spent time making a few cards.

I'm linking up with many others, sharing bits and pieces of the day {check it out here}. Ten photos to represent the way February 10th, 2013 went down in history. Thanks Rebekah for hosting!

Goodbye 2012 & Hello 2013!

We had a great 2012... and sent it off with our favorite people. We were so happy to have our closest friends come over to our home to enjoy good food, good chats, and all play with the littlest (and sweetest) people we know.

Thank you all for coming over and celebrating the New Year! We can't wait for more adventures in 2013!

Here's to continued good health, productivity, and friendships in the new year.

Wordless Wednesday: A Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to you my dear husband and best friend! Everyone had so much fun celebrating this past weekend. Thanks to our friends and family who made it such a special time!

Family Ties: Growing Up is Difficult To Do

Little Man A is working on some teeth.

Those teeth will come through someday.

I'm linking up today's post with Live and Love Out Loud and Angry Julie Monday. Check out other Wordless Wednesday Posts here.