Baby Food, Anyone?

We have three children, and until very recently, I have never made baby food. Yup. I've always bought the Gerber jars and packages of baby food. Actually, we've spent a small fortune in baby food!

My adventures in making baby food began a few months ago, before Ruth was even eating solids. We had gone to a local peach orchard and bought a lot of peaches. We ate some of them, and I made a cobbler or something with some of them, and we still had some leftover. They were starting to get soft, so I got the bright idea of cooking them and making baby food so that we wouldn't lose the peaches. There weren't enough left to make a pie or anything, so this was the best use I could think of.

Being ignorant of making baby food, I did this the only way I knew how: cook the peaches like I do apples when I make applesauce. Since they were really tart peaches, I added some sugar. My food processor was still packed up in an unknown box in our shed at that time, so I used my hand mixer to puree the peaches as best as I could. After they were as thin as I could get them, I put the mixture into ice cube trays and froze it. I found out that Ruth couldn't eat the peaches until a few weeks ago because they were just a little too chunky for her.

But then a few weeks ago, while looking for something else in the shed, I found my food processor! My wheels started turning... what could I do with the food processor? I used it to grate up a huge block of cheese that we purchased from Costco, but I knew that there must be something else I could do, something that wouldn't take a lot of time.

Fast forward to this past Saturday. I was at the grocery store picking up some baby food for Ruth, and I noticed that the price per pound for the jar of sweet potatoes listed on the shelf sticker was something like $2.50/lb. Wow! This jar was $0.63. My lightning-fast brain said that I wasn't going to get a pound of baby food sweet potatoes for $2.50. I happened to be on the phone with my mom at the time and remarked to her about the cost. She said, "Why don't you make some baby food for her instead?" So I went over to the produce section and saw that a pound of sweet potatoes was $0.49. Hmmm.... this is really starting to make sense here. So I spent $0.88 for three sweet potatoes, took them home, washed them, baked them, and scooped the potato out of the skin and threw it into the food processor with some water. After I got it to the right consistency for Ruth, I put the sweet potato puree into the ice cube trays and had enough leftover for two more servings. Assuming that Ruth will eat two of the cubes of sweet potatoes in one sitting--because that's how much of the peaches she eats--I got 18 total servings for just $0.88! I pay more that than for a two-pack of Gerber sweet potatoes at Walmart! Oh, and guess what? Ruth likes these a lot more!

So in an effort to save money and feed my family a little healthier, I have decided to start making baby food whenever possible. It doesn't take much time, and it freezes well, so there is baby food on hand in the freezer--much like some of the healthier food items I've been making for my family lately. If I can cook healthier and a little cheaper for the rest of the family, and cook enough to freeze for another time, then why not do the same thing for the baby?

You know, the Proverbs 31 woman was a pretty resourceful lady. I'd really like to be more like her.

Motherly Wisdom

Now, before anyone gets any crazy ideas, I am not the one dispensing the motherly wisdom. It's from my mom. And, since I can't say it any better than she said it, I'm just going to copy it straight from the emails she sent me this week.

The first one was sent on Monday and was simply given the subject, "Encouragement." Unfortunately, I didn't read it until this evening. This is what my mom said to me on Monday:

"Hi Megan, just had a couple of thoughts that I decided to pass on to you. Please do not take this the wrong way; just trying to help. Spend time in prayer each morning before the kids get up. Take the authority that is yours in Christ and bind any and all spirits of strife. Remember the enemy will come at you through your children. Quite the rat, huh? Pastor Farley has been teaching out of 1st Cor. 13---the love chapter. Maybe you could spend some time teaching and encouraging them that love is not rude, love does not demand its own way. Well, I could just go on and on but I'm sure you get what I'm trying to say. I know this--God's word always makes a difference. We may not see the results as quickly as we want, but if we will continue to look at His word, trust Him, believe Him--we will not be disappointed-----first the blade, then the ear........Love and prayers...Mom"

So I wrote her back this evening and said this:

"Oh, how I wish I'd read this earlier this week. It's been such a hectic week that email hasn't exactly been a priority.

I understand what you're saying and I certianly didn't take it wrong. (You don't have to worry about "intruding" here... I'll take your advice!) One of my biggest problems is that I can never seem to get up earlier than the kids. No matter how early I try to get up, they are either up at the same time or right on my heels. Early morning used to be my time. I'd go to the gym and pray all the way there and all the way back, listen to praise and worship during my workout and even a sermon or two if I had them on my iPod. Then there would be time later for a little bit of Bible reading because I'd have all of that done and be showered before the kids got out of bed. Do you have any suggestions?"

To which my mom replied tonight:

"Yes, I do have a suggestion. If you can't be up before the kids, then every time you go to the bathroom--use this time to visit your heavenly throne also. I used to do that all the time-even kept a bible in there. Also, use their nap time to spend with God. I assure you that this is time well spent and the benefits are tremendous. As you do this, you will be surprised at how much more you actually get accomplished in a day. Even use a few minutes after the kids are in bed at night.Megan, God knows exactly where you are and all the demands that are on you. He is most understanding and He will reward you for the few minutes here and there. Now, let me also encourage you to set aside a regular time when you can. As long as you have children, time will always seem to be hectic but as they grow it is a different hectic at different stages. I never home schooled so you are experiencing something I never experienced. Know that I am in your corner and praying for you. You are doing a great job with "my babies". God loves you too. Just always lean heavily on Him and He will give you all the strength, wisdom and everything else that you have need of. Just take things one day at a time. Hope this helps. Love ya much..Mom P.S. Try playing some praise music through the day!!!"

I really love my mom! She's quite the lady. I'm so thankful for her wisdom and her loving encouragement.

Maybe her words of wisdom will benefit you, as well.

Looking Forward to the "New Compassions" Tomorrow

Today actually started out pretty good. Hectic, but good.

Wednesday mornings are always hectic. I'm not sure if it's because I'm not very organized--although I truly do try--or if it's because getting up between 6:00-6:30 to start the day after being up with Ruth once or twice in the night, with the last one being anywhere between 4-5 a.m., is less doable than I'd like to think it is, or what. I've tried quick, easy breakfasts for the kids like oatmeal or cold cereal. Those mornings were truly battle mornings. So I heard about this awesome recipe for breakfast cake from a friend who tried it with her kids. It's great, and the kids eat it without any complaining on their part or begging on my part. When I actually get it prepared the night before and get up at the aforementioned time.

Today was not one of those days. I got up late--6:45, to be exact. Got myself ready, and then it was marathon pace to get the kids out of bed, dressed, fed, lunches packed, teeth and hair brushed, coats on, backpacks together, and everyone out the door so that we could be at co-op by 9:00. We literally like 3 minutes from our co-op site, so you'd think it wouldn't be that big of a deal... but as I said, I am not very organized. It seems that the harder I try to be organized, the more I fail.

Somehow we made it to co-op on time. While we were at co-op, everything was great! Then I found out that Hayden pretty much keeps to himself in his class because aside from two other boys who are his age, the room is full of girls, and most of them are 2 or younger. The two boys his age are bigger than him and they play super rough. (That's putting it mildly.) Large groups intimidate him, and he won't play that rough with other boys... at least, not like they play. Then he told another mom in his class that his ear was hurting, which prompted me to call the pediatrician and schedule an appointment for this afternoon. He had been complaining to me about his ear for the last couple of days, but I figured that if he told another mom who he doesn't really know that well that his ear was hurting, it must have really been hurting.

So we get home from co-op, the kids go to their rooms for naps (Abby, of course, didn't take one, and she's the one who truly needed one the most), and then I got them rushed out the door again so we could make it to the pediatrician's office on time.

The pediatrician looked in his ears and at his throat and listened to him breathe and she found no issues and chalked it all up to allergies. Like his mama, Hayden has allergy issues that carry over into the fall. On the upside of all of this chaos, we found out that Hayden gained two pounds in the last month. That's huge! He finally weighs 29 pounds! For that, I am very thankful. His weight has been a major concern for me.

So we go home and Ben and I decide that tonight would be a good pizza night. Abby had a Book It coupon to redeem at Pizza Hut, so she got to use that and we ordered pizza for everyone else. I had the bright idea that since we were having pizza, why not make it a movie night, too? We ate our dinner in the living room while watching Peter Pan.

Here's where the whole evening went straight down the toilet.

Since Hayden doesn't sit through a movie, I thought that I'd let him listen to my iPod. He informed me that he had pooped his pants. I swear, that boy is trying to set the record for the most consecutive days of pooping in one's pants. That really irritated me. I've been telling him every day for the last week or so to go to the potty instead of going in his pants. I don't know why he's been doing this, but I've got to say that I'm sick of it. Cleaning poop out of cloth diapers was one thing; to clean it out of his underwear on a daily basis is quite another.

I got him cleaned up, into come clean underwear and a pair of shorts since it was almost bedtime, and had just started Ruth's bath water when I heard a loud sound and then heard Abby crying. Hayden had gotten mad at her and thrown his sippy cup at her and hit her in the mouth. That just flew all over me! I couldn't believe he would do such a thing! I got mad at him and swatted his bottom and made him stay in his room until I got Ruthie bathed. Then I put him in the bathtub and talked to him while bathing him, and then Ben put him to bed.

So what started out as a hectic day with a couple of hours that were good ended in an awful evening. I went to my room to nurse Ruthie to sleep and felt like a complete failure. Where did I mess up if my kid is being so mean to his older sister? Why did I have such a short fuse with him? Does he really know that I love him, even though I made sure that I told him that several times before he went to bed? Do my kids think of me as a grumpy, irritated bitch who does nothing but fuss at them, or do they see me as loving and caring? I hope it's the latter, but I'm sure that some days it isn't.

All I know right at this moment is that the Bible says in Lamentations 3:22-23: "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."

Thank God, tomorrow is a new day.