NATURAL: TEETH BRUSHING.

A few months ago Bekah shared on her blog a new toothpaste that her and her husband had started using. A tooth powder from Eco-dent that is baking soda based. This intrigued Papa Wolf and myself and we decided to order us some and try it out. We have never gone back. Not only is it much cheaper than conventional toothpaste, but we also prefer it taste wise. Colgate, Crest, Aquafresh now all have a very sugary, thick taste, personally making my teeth feel coated with a gross film.

I didn't switch Mara and Porter's toothpaste right away. I was worried since we still have the occasional brushing where Mara forgets to spit, or Porter doesn't want to spit. I had purchased Tom's of Maine Silly Strawberry toothpaste for Mara, sheepishly believe this was a truly natural childrens toothpaste option for her. However one of the inactive ingredients is a carcinogen called: carrageenan.

"Carrageenan has undergone many long-term dietary studies under defined regulatory conditions en route to its current global regulatory status. While some indicate that carrageenan safely passes through rat GI tracts without adverse effect when it is a dietary ingredient,^[2] other animal dietary studies have observed colitis-like disease and tumor promotion.^[3] Recently, some scientists have raised concerns about whether the amount of "degraded carrageenan" (poligeenan) in food-grade carrageenan may lead to health problems, leading to a debate in the research literature.^[4] It is yet to be determined whether such observations are pertinent to dietary safety considerations. Europe prohibits the use of carrageenan in infant formula, organic or otherwise, for precautionary reasons,^[5] but allows it otherwise. In the U.S., it’s allowed in organic foods, including juices, chocolate milk and organic infant formula, as well as other types of foods."

(source)

As a Mama Wolf, that just does not sit right with me. So I began searching for an alternative and then the little light bulb in my mind flickered on, baking soda. For decades people have used baking soda to brush their teeth, why not my kids? I mean shoot, that's what Papa Wolf and I are using essentially with a few more ingredients. I searched online and was surprised that there were a lot of forums where people said that it was not worth the struggle trying to get your kids to try and use the baking soda, that it was awful, that they would hate it, etc. I didn't buy into it. We have raised our children to the best of our ability to make healthy decisions and positive decisions. When I approached Mara about brushing her teeth with the baking soda, she was a bit against it, she said she didn't like it. I encouraged her to try it, that it is what makes Papa Wolf's teeth and my teeth sparkly white and keeps our mouth clean, and she gave it a go, and we haven't looked back since. Porter didn't hop on board right away, but this is the little wolf that wanted to EAT the toothpaste out of the bottle because of the "Natural Mixed Berry Flavor" it possessed. But after about a week of getting him used to it (with just a small amount on his brush at a time and then using the finger brush) he is back to enjoying his toothbrush.

Several forums I read also stated that it is not safe to swallow, now, I do not encourage letting your children swallow it after they brush, because well, you want to swallow all the yucky particles that you are brushing off of your teeth, but it will not harm them if they accidentally swallow it. Baking soda has several uses, this site lists fifty uses for baking soda. I encourage you to check it out!

15/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2013"

Mara Eden: so much style.

Porter: in love with birds, but this sent him over the moon happy, when he woke up to a birdhouse we had been gifted.

Eisley: gassy smiles for days with this one.

14/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2013"

Mara Eden: wearing the best outfits these days. I love that she picks out the brightest, happiest clothes. Such a perfect representation of her.

Porter: working hard at becoming the safest, best chalk artist out there. I can't believe he's moving onto such "big boy" activities like playing with chalk and coloring!

Eisley: born just four hours after labor began, so surreal how quickly she came and that she is finally here..

April Blossoms.

Yesterday, at 6:12pm, Eisley Mayla Baker entered the world. Weighing 7 lbs. 14oz. and measuring 20.5 inches long, she's here. She's here! We get to bring her home from the hospital tonight, and I can't help but sit in awe at what my life is now and the woman I am growing into and all the beauty that surrounds my life.

13/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2013"

Mara Eden: so caring. Warning me with "OOP! MOM! Be careful! Don't fall in the water!!" while she was trying to feed the geese over the weekend.
Porter:  coming out of his shell and getting into everything he can; this was taken at the arboretum, getting up close and personal with all the plants.

Simple: Gifts from the Easter Hare.

We don't celebrate Easter, in the religious aspect in our home, but I did want to do something special for Spring for Mara and Porter. Originally when asked, Dan and I told family members we were not doing Easter baskets for the babes; with Mara's food allergies and Porter being so young, it just seemed like a waste to gift them a basket full of sugary things they couldn't have, and celebrating a holiday that we do not observe because well, we aren't Christian. Dan's mother and grandmother got Mara and Porter Easter baskets anyway, because well, sometimes people think you are parenting your child a little too batsh*t crazy and want to give your children a "real" experience. I say that in the most, unbitter way. It is, what it is!

So, rewind to last week, I was reading one of my Waldorf education books, and the season celebrations came up. I read a tidbit about the folklore of the Easter Hare, and with it being non-religious and just a story to delight a child's mind, I changed my stance on Easter baskets. Or Spring gifts, as I like to call them. I still don't believe that these gifts from the Easter Hare should be big and extravagant, the whole idea is about an invisible, magical bunny, so I don't think rushing out and buying new bicycles or spending a bunch of money on material items is the point...

I'm posting this a bit late since Easter is tomorrow, but I figured I would share what I did for Mara (Porter is too little this year, so I didn't make him personalized Easter Hare gifts) as gifts from the Easter Hare, and I didn't spend more then $6. Here is what I used: Dan's grandma's basement is full of forgotten things, and some of those forgotten things came in handy. Stashed away with some holiday stuff was a Wal-Mart bag from 1997 (no joke, really, 1997!) and inside it were two unopened brand new packs of plastic Easter eggs and another opened pack. One pack of miniature ones and a pack of regular sized ones. I grabbed these, along with a handful of Easter chocolate that Dan's mom bagged up for me that were left over from her candy dishes, and a box of Annie's Homegrown Organic Fruit Snacks, brought all of that home. Then when the babes went to sleep, I pulled out our jar of loose change, some glue, construction paper, and a box cutter..we just moved last week into our new house (more on that a different time) and I have no clue where the scissors are, so I used Dan's box cutter from work.

First I stuffed the eggs with the fruit snacks, chocolate, and added pennies to some of the eggs. I wasn't sure what to do with all the small ones, so I put them inside the larger ones (Dan's suggestion, I think it's a fun one!). Tomorrow morning while the babes are distracted, Dan is going to go hide them.

Next, I used the box cutter and construction paper to cut out leaves and flower petals from some spring colored construction paper. Think yellow, pink, green, light blue, light purple, pastels would be great. I thought it would be nice to make Mara a poster with a morning Waldorf verse on it. Something she can use year round, but always be reminded it was given to her in celebration of Spring because of the colors on it. Once all the pieces were cut out, I took a cream colored piece of paper (8x11) and wrote on the verse. Then I took the various pieces and encircled the verse with the leaves and created flowers with the cut out petals. 

After that, I created a small note explaining who the Easter Hare is. Cut out an egg from the spring colored paper, used a different color to create a pattern, glued it onto the note and let it dry. When it was dry, I placed it in a small envelope and addressed it to Mara and decorated the envelope with another spring egg made from construction paper. Then, I wrote Mara a letter from the Great Easter Hare. The letter gave Mara some affirmations on her spirit and as an introduction to another small gift, the Easter Hare left her a special morning verse to say at breakfast everyday to make her day extra magical. He also told her about the eggs he hid outside, but that she had to eat her breakfast first and learn her verse. I wrote the verse on a separate, smaller piece of yellow paper and folded it up to attach to the outside of the Easter Hare's envelope. The verse was in my Waldorf book, and it's encouraged to do a breakfast time verse to give a sense of ritual. I like that I was able to use Easter as a way to incorporate some new Waldorf things that I had been wanting to do, but just hadn't gotten a start on.

Here's the finished products:

I am looking forward to making these simple Easter Hare gifts a tradition, and I think these make great keepsakes for the holiday. What do you do for Easter/Spring Celebration? Do you go big or do you keep it simple as well? Next year, I may do more fruit in place of candy but we are in between grocery trips and I think these gifts are just right. Also, tomorrow (my due date for baby three inside my belly!), we are going to plant our wildflower seeds that came with our Spring Equinox convenience kit, in celebration of Spring. Maybe all the fun activities will convince our little baby inside me to join us!

Have a great rest of the weekend.

12/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2013"

Mara Eden: skipping afternoon nap to play some nature bingo. This was funny, we played for quite a while before we realized she had BINGO!
Porter: apples. Always.

Spring Sprouts

Happy Spring, everyone! Except it doesn't feel much like Spring around here. But the season is slowly creeping its way in to our lives. I decided to sign up for the Spring Equinox eCourse that Elisabeth was offering and I am so glad I did. We've had a very fun, very  messy time with all the things that came in the convenience kit I ordered along side of the eCourse. One of the activities for us to do was to try our hand at sprouting our own sprouts!

The eCourse came with instructions and the materials needed for us to sprout the seeds on a tray (minus the tray) after an overnight soak in water, but I found it really messy and I feel like a lot of seeds got dumped out  by mistake since they are so tiny, when being rinsed, so I may try sprouting in a jar next time!

All the seeds are still sprouting and aren't big enough to eat yet, but it's been a fun process and I highly recommend doing it with your babes, or yourself. Mara found it really neat, and Porter is just anxiously waiting to finally get the green light to stuff them in his mouth.

Do you sprout your own sprouts? These were alfalfa sprouts, I would love to know what else people sprout in their kitchens! Or how you enjoy your sprouts? I have plans to throw them into a big ole salad and some raw collard green burritos when ready.

Again, Happy Spring! Just that much closer to summertime!

11/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2013"

Mara Eden: wearing her farmer hat; being a very, very serious story teller.
Porter: loving his fruits and vegetables. Strawberries for sweetness, and carrots for teething relief.

10/52

"a portrait of my children, every week, in 2013."

Mara Eden: loving being outside. Mid 40's this past weekend and it felt so nice.
Porter: chubby cheeked, pudgy fists, and falling in love with books, mainly the upside down ones. 
Note: I missed posting 9/52, the past few weeks have been hectic; and we are less then three weeks away from Eisley's due date. Oh my gosh, where has the time gone?!

What's for breakfast, Momma?

I've been meaning to do another, "What's for breakfast, Momma?" post but always forget to take pictures, or never get around to uploading them. So, I apologize, but this, "What's for breakfast, Momma?" post is picture-less.

Lately, Dan and I have been making a serious effort to eliminate processed foods, additives, preservatives, anything fake from our diet. Mara has been suffering from night terrors and tummy issues, for several months and it was related to some sort of food allergy, but we could never pinpoint what exactly. So, more recently, we decided to transition into a raw food diet. I am not a fan of all the fancy, gourmet, mock raw recipes that can be found all over the internet, so when we stumbled across Fully Raw Kristina and her youtube videos, I was inspired to try her raw approach, which is pretty much eating just fresh fruits and vegetables.

We are still transitioning, I still steam/saute some vegetables, continue to cook brown rice, and we've had a few slip ups along the way. The biggest challenge has been grocery shopping. It's easy to find resources on how to eat raw on a budge for one person, but what about two adults and two (almost three) children? It's been quite costly, we don't have a local CSA, co-op, or grocer that sells produce in bulk. We easily spent 1/2 of our monthly food budget, in under a week.

So we have tried to make a list of what produce we absolutely have to have, what produce is a luxury (berries are very costly!), and how we can get the most out of backyard garden space when its to plant stuff (we had totally planned on amending the soil this upcoming weekend to get things ready for planting at the end of the month but we got a random winter storm, so that is on hold.) The beauty of Kristina's Fully Raw concept/approach is to have this unlimited abundance and eat to your hearts content because what you are eating is good for you. Costly, but good for you. I am determined to find a way for us to do this without going over our monthly budget.

Since a raw diet, requires more to get in your calories, I have pretty much let Mara and Porter eat whenever they please through out the day. I was concerned about this at first, since I thought they needed a structure, but, fruits and vegetables are so low in calories, and with all the running around they do, their little bodies use up those few calories, fast! We still have breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I'm just much more open to letting them snack through out the day, since it isn't junk. So what have we been having for breakfast? Fruit, and lots of it!

Normally when we get up, Mara wants to eat, so once both babes are dressed, I begin preparing a large plate of fruit. Lately it's been one half of a honey dew, one half of a watermelon, two varieties of berries, banana, and grapes. We sit down together and eat until we are full. Typically there is fruit left over, to snack on through out the next few hours before I have to pull out any new fruit. Right now, oranges, bananas, and kiwi's are what was cheapest this week, so those are snacks, as well as the grapes. I also picked up some dates that were on sale, but have not gotten around to making the homemade "larabars" I have wanted to make with them as a snack.

When Dan is home and I have help, we've been juicing, and just bought a blender yesterday so I am looking forward to trying out this breakfast smoothie, that is loaded with oranges and banana. Hopefully over the weekend I'll be able to snap some more photos and share some juices that are Mara and Porter approved with you guys.

A Package Came...

A package came in the mail today. It was our custom order from my friend Lindsi's shop, People Webs. Mara and Porter each have custom made baby blankets, and baby Eisley was going to need one. Lindsi is really great about making custom orders for me, and I'm really happy how the purple ombre look I was going for, turned out. Mara and Porter were also in need of some "quiet slippers" to wear when we need things calm in the house and its time to color or read, and I am so in love with them. Porters feet and legs are so chunky and shapeless his little black slippers will melt your heart. Mara is in love with her slippers and insist that they make her a ballerina.

People Webs also has a selection of bow headbands, scarves, and slippers for lady feet. Be sure to take a look and pick something up. Or if you just want to look, head over to Lindsi's blog and look at all her pretty creations, projects, and her cute pug, Fig.

8/52 + A Goodbye.

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Mara Eden: just so busy, busy. Talking on her phone, putting on her Grammy Gina's velcro shoes, all while entertaining us with her head full of adventures and stories.
Porter: keeping me company while I cook, always.

These pictures were bittersweet for me to go through, because the pictures I snapped in the last week, have pictures of our dog, Martha, her last pictures, before I took her to be put to sleep this morning. I briefly mentioned in a post last week that our dog had been diagnosed with Dysphoria and Dementia. It's very hard for me to write about, but where capturing growth is so important, it's also important to remember life is cycle, and it does come to an end. We rescued Martha two years ago, when she was in a very poor physical condition. She almost died the first weekend that we had her home with us, and as she physically got better, more and more things about her behavior were a challenge. 

Martha spent the larger portion of the past two years, constantly being restless. She had periods of time where she was content, but would often be found pacing back and forth, whining, etc. Several, several, several trips to the vet, different tests, and finally our last try with medication, proved that something horrible had happened in Martha's past that made her live somewhere so deep inside her head, that she didn't know how to be a dog. 

She was not one for human interaction, she did not enjoy being pet, cuddled, held, loved on, etc. The happiest time of her life with us, was when we lived on that acre in New Mexico and she didn't have to be around people. We loved her, we really, really tried to make her part of the family. But between her previous abuse, whatever horrible things were done to her, she could not change in her mind. Add on top of that her age, that is where we are assuming Dysphoria and Dementia took over with her anxiety. We tried over the weekend a heavy sedative that she had an adverse reaction too, that actually seemed to permanently disorient her, and the decision was made to put Martha to sleep.

I am very fortunate to be friends with the vet tech at our vet, Margaret. She has gone above and beyond to help us with Martha, by making home visits across town to clip her nails, or bring us prescriptions after hours on her way home. And today, she was a true friend to me, and was there for Martha, when she was put to sleep. She held me and Martha, and we loved on her until she was gone, and sat with me for a while. She walked me to my car to make sure I was okay, and made the arrangements for the crematory to pick Martha up.  Margaret, if you read this, thank you. Thank you beyond belief.

It is very hard to have to put a pet to sleep for anyone, it's extremely hard to put a physically sound pet to sleep, when she has so much life in her physically, but her head is so sick. The mental condition that Martha was in, she needed to be relieved from. Seeing her laying peacefully after the vet left the room, and I kissed her nose, I just hope that she is at peace over the Rainbow Bridge, free of all the weight that left her so restless and anxious.

(September 2012, Porter's personal maid/Cheerio Vacuum.)

Whatever happened in your past to you to make you so withdrawn and distant from those around you, whatever happened to make you so uneasy and restless day in and day out. We still love you and tried to let you know that for the what seems like too short of time that you were with us. May you forever be free of your anxiety, Martha, forever at peace. We will miss you greatly, especially your little man, Porter.

Sweet Morning.

Source: ownthedream.tumblr.com via Jessica➸ on Pinterest

There is something so sweet about waking up in the quiet morning, when the birds have yet to sing, and the babes have yet to lift their heavy eyelids and say hello to the world again for another full day. When this happens, it is quite a treat. Porter cosleeps with us, so when I look over to find him still fast asleep, I slowly creep out of bed, get myself ready for the day quietly, and climb back into bed to catch up on emails/letters I haven't replied to, listen to some music, and have my time.

When Porter begins to wake it is a slow process, he wiggles and curls up, and rolls over and noses around to find my chest to nurse on. His hair in about fifty directions. I adjust myself so that I can still enjoy some quiet momma computer time, and nurse him with some sweet music serenading us. He isn't ready to open his eyes yet and milk drunk, plops off the boob, searches for his pacifier with a heavy, tired hand and plops the paci in his mouth. Another fifteen minutes go by, and he rolls away from me to lay on his stomach with his butt up, up in the air. Hair in fifty million directions now from rustling against the sheets. And I sit...able to collect myself, relax, refresh, renew for what the day will bring with two small children, and a senior dog that has been diagnosed with Dementia and Dysphoria (I will update on that maybe later).

It's a very sweet morning.

7/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Mara Eden:wanting to be in the kitchen with momma, always asking for avocados, and oh yeah, wearing glasses being the cutest creature ever.
Porter: apples, apples, apples, and some more apples.

6/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Mara Eden: baking a carrot cake for her brother's first birthday tomorrow.
Porter: stuck his face in the frosting jar.

5/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Mara Eden: bundled up and loving it, because we got more snow. She definitely was enjoying an afternoon ride in her van.
Porter: bundled up and hating it. And hating his car seat, but content at the moment the picture was taken because he had Mara's boot.

I meant to post these on Monday, oops. Life happened. The weather has been more like winter these past several days, and has flurried almost every day. Mara is in pure bliss! We haven't built a snow man yet, but I think if the sun stays out and is shining when Dan gets home this afternoon, we will bundle and hike our way into the backyard to make Mara's current dream come true.

Currently

Currently, my our bed is covered in three loads of laundry. Piled high to the sky awaiting to be folded. When I finally got the babes down for their nap, the baby in my belly demanded me to eat, so I ate some lunch, and by the time I finished and sat on the bed to begin folding the laundry, well, I was interrupted, Porter woke up, grabbed the back of my head like a mad man and was jumping as hard as he could. He then preceded to grab diapers, towels, wipes, socks and pile them on my head. I mean, who am I to put laundry before being a human laundry stacking tower? Then this happened...(in the video below) and my heart exploded. Over and over and over again.

A Warm Day in January

Today we took advantage of the crazy weather, and played outside in the backyard. It was gloomy and muddy and warm. I can't believe I am writing about playing outside without a jacket or even a sweater, when I just shared snow day pictures last week, but hey, I am not complaining! Especially since it's supposed to be twenty degrees tomorrow. Yep, twenty!

These two babes were so happy to be outside, all they could do was run around with huge smiles on their faces. Of course I couldn't catch any smiles in pictures though because they were running around everywhere. Mara indulged in making a mud pie that our now extremely dirty dog Martha helped out with by digging a huge muddy hole. And Porter, gosh, he can run so fast now, you can see in the last picture, Mara is trying to KEEP UP with him, he of course thought she was chasing him and it was long, giggly morning before we went inside for lunch and naps.

Have you had a break in cold weather and been able to get outside? It's wonderful. Go do it, if you can.