Susie's First Snowfall

Save our Fairfax County Public Schools band and strings programs - The Petition Site

Save our Fairfax County Public Schools band and strings programs - The Petition Site

HAPPY OCTOBER!

Baby Food

I've become obsessed with baby food. No boxed rice cereal or jars for me. I love to make it -- it makes me feel like a chef (but much easier that cooking gourmet meals!) AND I love researching how to keep my kiddo healthy. I owe much to the book "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron, but I've also done a lot of creating on my own.

For all you mama's out there who are thinking of making your own food, here are some tricks I've learned to making super healthy food for a fraction of the cost:

1. Skip buying anything from the "Make Your Own Baby Food" section of the baby websites, cause you probably don't really NEED a Beabo, or special baby food freezing trays, or even food storage containers. All you need is a blender (or food processor), cheapo ice cube trays, and used baby food containers. You're going to need to buy some baby food for when you're on the go anyhow -- I bought some Gerber organics and Target Up&Up stage one purees in the plastic container and used those to store food when I send it to daycare. (Note-- don't microwave the plastic. Thaw the food in a glass ramekin or small bowl, then spoon into the plastic container. Cover, stick in the fridge, and it's ready for daycare in the morning!)

2. If you spend about four hours on a weekend afternoon, you can puree all the fruits and veggies you need for the month! I'm personally into the whole Farmer's Market thing and we're lucky to have a year round Farmer's Market in Falls Church, near our home. I will go in the morning and buy what I need, then go home and spend a few hours chopping, microwaving (yes, I microwave, and from what I've read it retains the most nutrients, however, you can steam or bake if you're more comfortable with that! I DID invest in a couple $10 Pampered Chef microwave steamers, which I use to cook the veggies, and I find it invaluable!), blending, and freezing. (I should also mention that we are blessed to have two freezers. This might not work as well if you're low on freezer space.)

3. For grains, I use regular old adult food and puree it. Right now, I'm doing a lot of oatmeal and brown rice. Every Sunday I cook up a few cups of the grains I plan to use, and refrigerate in canning jars for the week. It stays fresh and tasty -- I don't recommend freezing the grains because the texture gets a little funky.

4. Yogurt is a great healthy mix in! I buy Trader Joe's European Style Organic Whole Milk Plain Yogurt, and mix it into cereals and fruits. It's so healthy, and she loves it!

5. YES constipation can be a problem for babies that were breastfed exclusively for close to six months and then begin solids. YES it was a problem anyhow for Susie, and the solution I found was to mix in pureed prunes into one of her meals every day. She LOVES bananas, so what I did was for every banana I stuck in the blender, I also added one prune. I poured this mixture into the ice cube tray, and I add one banana/prune cube into her cereal every morning. She loves the taste, and I'm always happy to read "Dirty Diaper" on her daycare report each day.... before, her wonderful childcare provider was saying "No dirty diaper, not one!" and I wouldn't have any either, and the poor child would scream until I finally would have to resort to Pedia-Lax... no more! Yay prunes!

Here are some of Susanna's regular food mixes that she eats at six months of age:

Baby Food Recipes by Gretchen

Check out FACEBOOK and Shutterfly site for photos.

Sorry there haven't been a lot of posts here, since our trip to Australia and then going back to work, I just haven't had time to update this. For photos, either check out my facebook site or email me and I'll send you the facebook photos directly.

My Review of PeaPod - Red

Diapers.com

KidCo PeaPod® - Red

Indoor/Outdoor Travel Bed

Features:
-Includes inflatable mattress, pump, washable sleeping pad and storage bag
-Easy fold, 3-hoop design
-For ages: birth to 3 years

Product Dimensions: ...

PeaPod - Red

Wonderful!

Gretchen Fairfax, VA 8/4/2009

 

5 5

Pros: Lightweight, Easy to set up

Best Uses: Travel

We just returned from a 32 day trip to Australia with our now 4.5 month old daughter. We had used an Arms Reach Co-Sleeper at home up until this point and wanted something that we could keep right next to the bed that was safe and comfortable, but it needed to be lightweight and fit in our luggage. This was perfect -- completely worth the money! It sets up in about 2 minutes, including inflating the mattress, and is also easy to put away. It was so nice to have a consistent sleeping place for our daughter despite being in a different place every few days!

Susanna in her KidCo travel bed

: Using Product

()

My cutiepie green dress from Great-auntie Greta

I can kick things!

Smiley Susanna

My New Bumbo!

Grandma and Grandpa Liechty's friends Lali and Doug gave us this great chair that their daughter Lucy has outgrown. Susanna gets to work on neck control. As you can see, she has pretty good neck control for about 30 seconds and then loses it :)

Susanna is becoming more interactive. She smiles responsively, makes eye contact, and is making new vowel sounds. Every day seems to bring something new.

Susanna and I try to get out and about every day. I have joined "Stroller Strides" which is a fabulous excercise class for mothers and babies/ toddlers. I am STILL sore from Tuesday's class... we've got another one in the morning. Between that and training for the Baltimore 10 miler, I hope to get back in shape soon! I have felt SO much better since I resumed exercise about 10 days ago -- it really makes a difference in my energy level and I can be a better Mommy.

Smiley Susie

Susanna likes to wake up at 3am, have a late night snack, and smile at me! Here are some of those smiles caught on camera at 5 weeks three days. She started doing this about a week ago.

Susanna's First Easter

Easter Basket!


We had a nice Easter -- got to sleep in, Jamie made a nice Easter meal, and then went to Mass at 5:30. Susie got her first Easter Basket but Mommy ate all the Cadbury Mini Eggs.

Professional Pictures!

Susie and I had some professional pictures taken on Friday with Jennifer Math Photography. You can view them all here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/zenetanar/Susanna#slideshow/5317639782210077858

A few of my favorites are posted above. A huge thank you to the wonderful Jen for her amazing photography skills.

Susie's First Brunch

Susanna does wake up during the clip :) This was our first brunch out, at Amphora in Vienna.

Susanna, Day 12

Oh, so where should I begin. Let's start with Susanna's birth. I was convinced she was never coming out and desperately did not want to be induced (I wanted a completely drug free birth!) but at midnight on March 9 I finally started having contractions that didn't stop after 45 minutes. I called the midwife on call after a few hours and she said I could come into the hospital when I wasn't comfortable. I was convinced I wasn't really in labor and asked her what to do if the contractions stopped (I had been having contractions for an hour or so at a time for three weeks!) She seemed to think this was the real thing. We headed to the hospital and got there a little after 4am.

We had Susanna at The Birthing Inn, which is a part of Loudoun hospital in Landsdowne, VA. It's 35 minutes from our house (and yes, there is a hospital 5 minutes from us!) but totally worth the drive. The midwives who did my prenatal care and delivery were fabulous, and the Birthing Inn staff was amazing. I was able to labor in a deep soaking tub, move around, sit on a birthing ball, eat lots of popsicles :) -- I actually enjoyed most of the labor! After about 16 hours, though, it became apparent that Susanna didn't want to come out -- her head was in the wrong position, and I had been stalled at 9cm for 3 hours. My midwife suggested I have some pitocin to augment the labor, but I refused for another hour. Susanna wasn't budging and I still hadn't made any progress. So, after 17 hours of labor I agreed to the pitocin, but also asked for an epidural -- I was already in a lot of pain and had heard that pitocin contractions are much worse than natural ones. As it turned out, the epi allowed me to sleep for 2 hours before I had to push... and I needed a good rest. Pushing is an athletic feat, really!

Anyhow, Susanna came out alert and wide eyed and ate right away. She's been a pretty calm baby so far (fingers crossed, we're only at 12 days!) although she has been kind of nocturnal. Last night was the first night she actually slept at all between the hours of midnight and 5am. It was so nice for me to be able to get a little sleep (yes, she woke up for a feeding every 3 hours, but I've accepted the fact that 3 hour sleeping blocks are all I'm getting for the time being.

We had my family here for the first weekend we were home, which was great. I just wish they could have stayed a little longer! Aunt Addie is only 45 minutes away for the next 3 months so I'm sure we'll see more of her before she moves to San Francisco :(

My recovery has been a bit slower than I would have liked. The most I've been able to do is go for a short walk. We had a great day today -- Jamie and I parked at the Vienna Community Center and took Susanna on a walk to Whole Foods and Cold Stone. Susanna slept through most of it, but she got some good sunlight. I wish the weather would stay warm, but it looks like another cold front is on its way.

Well more later -- we have a video camera too so once I figure out how to upload the clips I can get some of those on too!

Susanna Grace has Arrived

Susanna Grace Lynch came into the world at 8:07pm on March 9, 2009. She weighed 7 lbs and 5 oz, was 20 inches long, and had APGAR scores of 9 and 9! Here are some photos from the hospital. It's taken me awhile to get back into blogging but I'll post some photos from today too and let you know what's been up with our little girl.

Baby it's warm outside.... (40 weeks 5 days)

Okay baby... I thought maybe you were just waiting for the weather to warm up, but it was beautiful outside today and you're still in my womb!  Come on out!  

So I'm 5 days past my due date, but the ultrasound measured about five days small so I guess there you have it. Now she's got no excuses... it's officially time to come out.  You've baked and baked and the timer is ringing.  Your mommy and daddy want to meet you.

Today I think I've tried everything.  Took evening primrose in the morning.  Had fresh pineapple for breakfast.  Four cups of rasberry leaf tea during school.  Had spicy mexican for lunch.  Jumped up and down with kindergarten.   Went jogging after school.  Had a pedicure.  Spicy Chinese food for dinner.  Followed by a pineapple and rasberry shake.  

ANYHOW... guess I'll be headed to work in the morning....

Waiting for Life to Begin (at least, on the outside...)

Well we're now at 39 weeks and 6 days... yes, the due date is tomorrow. I read over and over that running through your pregnancy often shaves about a week off the gestation, but apparently that is not the case for me and my little girl. Nevertheless I decided to do a quick one mile jog with the dogs around our neighborhood tonight. It was nice to get outside and I probably could have actually done a little more running but the dogs were annoying me.

We're all set, now that I bought a new digital camera! I bought a camera two days ago and it took HORRIBLE pictures and the flash didn't really work. I took it back and got a great camera (thanks Microcenter -- they rock) so I think we're finally ready.

The waiting begins....

Maternity Photos

Jamie and I had maternity photos last weekend. We had a great time with the photo shoot and you can check them out here:

MATERNITY SHOTS BY JENNIFER MATH

If you know anyone interested in her photography services, let me know! She's a great photographer and also taught with me at Freedom Hill. :)

5 Weeks til due date - 2 weeks til full term!

This photo is compliments of Jennifer Math -- a fabulous photographer and teacher that I worked with at Freedom Hill. Isn't she amazing? She took a slew of maternity shots for Jamie and I today. We can't wait to see the rest. And for her to photograph our little girl in a couple months!

We've got everything pretty much ready to go except we still need to get the carseats inspected. So that will need to be done soon! I went and got the car detailed today so that it's free of dog hair and dust. No more dogs in the car. Although I'm sure she'll get enough dog hair in her lungs from living with them.....

Jamie and I watched the inauguration of Barack Obama on Tuesday from our living room. I think Jamie was pretty disappointed that we didn't go downtown, but do I really look like I could be without a bathroom for hours? :) It would have been amazing to experience, but maybe not at 8 months pregnant. We're excited about what will come with our new leader.

And of course, we're excited to meet our little girl!

6 weeks left!

Well here's some photos of what's going on in the Lynch household on inauguration weekend. Jamie is trying to give the dog Guiness, and I am lounging around the house in my Obama shirt. In all seriousness, we're very excited to celebrate the end of an error tomorrow, and seeing a president in office that I actually voted for. My hopes are high.

We have the carseats ready to go, enough clothing to get few the first few months, diapers... now what? I guess just waiting for our lives to change forever.

The baby seems to be head down and kicking me in the ribs, which is good news. My parents are in Kenya until the second week of February so the baby needs to wait at least that long to make her grand entrance.

8 weeks to go!

I am back in Fairfax after a wonderful Christmas. As you can see I weigh quite a bit more than I did 2 weeks ago! This baby is growing at a rate of knots. I can't believe she will be here in less than two months!
Today at Trader Joe's I was wearing a winter jacket over track pants and one of the workers asked me when my baby was due, so I must really be showing if she could tell underneath all those clothes!

My goal for the next 8 weeks is to eat less sugar. Seriously. Christmas is a BAD time to be in the third trimester when it comes to my appetite and all the chocolate and cookies everywhere.

I haven't really run much since the 10K about three weeks ago. I don't really have an excuse other than laziness, well that and I seem to get contractions every time I run. Not that they are dangerous (they are just Braxton Hicks) but I'm doing some other forms of exercise just to be on the safe side. I've been swimming and also the elliptical. I'll try the treadmill (I've been away from the gym for two weeks) this week and see how it goes. I miss being able to run til I'm huffing and puffing, all out of breath! (Not the best thing to do in pregnancy... and no I haven't tried it.)