I don’t know if I ever shared these pictures of Tuesday or talked about the awesome older woman I found to knit for me. Yes, I am getting help using up my stash. She’s awesome, she knits all the things I love but don’t have the time/patience for. This turtleneck dress from a vintage pattern is the perfect example.

I won Elle’s Studio’s You and Me Collection when they had a giveaway and oh my I love her stuff. The faux chalkboard is so awesome. I also love the little stamp. I’ve bought many of her tags; her stuff works great for Project Life too.

I should mention that I used sketches as a start to all of these. So easy to get back in the scrapbooking game for me when I have a sketch as a jumping off point. I didn’t keep track of which sketch I used for which layouts (and some went way off course), but I did start a pin board of my favorite sketches here.

And if I could find the layouts I lifted you’d see this is almost an exact copy. I love the simplicity of it.

Had to bust out my Silhouette SD to cut the love box. The Silhouette might be my favorite crafting tool of all time.

More of Elle’s Studio goodness.

I love that I scrapped this picture. It’s suck a great moment, when she joined us at the table.

Using little bits of an old gift bag (the sparkle). This is why I can never seem to get rid of anything paper related.

Very, very fun to have a day with Sarah to scrapbook. I love taking over the dining room table and eating candy while we steal from each other’s stashes. We were talking about when we first scrapped together at a now defunct local scrapbook store in Albany. I’m so glad she said yes to meeting me there (we had only been friends online up until then). I really doubt I’d scrapbook as much if I didn’t have Sarah to share the hobby with. That was six (I think?) years ago. She’s my only “real life” (I should say nearby, that sounds nicer) friend that scrapbooks. Long live paper and glue, right Sarah?

I love the big cube shaped ice that these molds make (ooohhh finding that link I saw that they make even bigger ones!). They take a lot longer to melt. Tuesday requested a couple of limes so she could make some juice. Bennet is chewing on our juicer here, another find I love.

(carrots, beets, sweet potato – red because I didn’t clean out the blender in between foods)

So I do make my own baby food for Bennie. I did for Tuesday too, I talked about it here. Like I said in that post, I can really do this easily because I am home all day. So I can let things cook while I’m doing other stuff. Then I pop them in the blender (with a little water if I need it). Before we got our great blender I used a thrifted food mill, like this. I do like using that, it reminds me of fun times making pear butter with my mom, but the blender is just so quick and easy. I use the above mentioned molds since I have a limited supply of the containers made for baby food. I still like those, they are easy to travel with. I bought the honeycomb one you see at TJ Maxx on a whim and didn’t need it. But I love it! The cubes are smaller, but they pop out so easily, and besides, it’s super cute.

I do love the idea of baby led weaning, where you feed the baby straight from the table. I think I’m just too into everything being tidy for that. I like to spoon feed babies so they don’t get stuff everywhere. It’s just a sanity thing for me. Also I’d have to eat a little better… but that’s a whole other post! I didn’t buy baby food for Tuesday until she was three. Ya three; I got talked into a few of those squeezy pouch things. Who ever made them is a genius, because Tuesday was all over them when she went through a brief vegetable strike. I have fun making these things up, and Bennie has only been eating for a month (we delayed solids until she was 8.5 months), so I’ll probably be at it for a bit.

So I was making a bunch of baby food in the kitchen. Cooking older carrots on the stove, had beets and sweet potatoes in the oven. The girls were playing awesome together with a tray of ice and water on the floor. Then Tuesday wanted some limes, she had me cut them in half, found all the parts to the juicer and got to work, Bennet was happy with her left overs. Of course icy cold water was everywhere and Bennet peed so I took off her diaper. I was just wrapping stuff up, getting labels on the food when I hear Bennet start to crawl back in the kitchen crying. She was playing super nicely by the orange shelves (very close by). I look down and I can’t believe it.

At first I thought; how did she get baby food? But no. It was poop. AND SHE TRIED TO EAT IT!!! I do realize this makes me seem very negligent but this all happened in under a minute. So she’s screaming because she has poop all over her face, up her nose, in her eyes… You get the idea. I grab her and yell at Tuesday to help me. She pulls back the shower curtain and I plop a totally hysterical Bennet in. Get the water going. Bennet gets up, slips in the poo (also over her whole body), and falls back on her bottom. I send Tuesday running for soap while I get all the chunks off. Luckily Tuesday had the forethought to grab a towel. She was pretty cool about everything until I was cleaning the floor (while poor Bennet wailed from the playpen) and came across a pair of sunglasses with a blob of poop. Thank goodness they were Bennie’s because Tuesday just started chanting, “I don’t want her poop on my sunglasses, I don’t want her poop on my sunglasses.”

And end scene.

Amber “mother of the year” Garrison

Awe look at cute little Bennie! She just turned three months old in these pictures.

Because of my experience with Tuesday I knew I wanted to try and start EC right at the beginning. And when she was a few days old I got a little bowl and tried to get her to go on it. I tried to sit on the potty with her and go at the same time. I tried lots of newborn EC tricks. And it was not happening for us. At all. Ugh, so frustrating! Wait, I was frustrated that I couldn’t get my week old baby to use the potty? Well… yes. I had read lots of EC stuff, and had friends who were doing EC with newborns no problem. But it was just too much for me, I really didn’t like how floppy she was for one. Also newborns go all the time. Like All. Of. The. Time. So I felt like I was trying way too many times. I backed off.

The first three months are hazy, at best, but I do think I tried her on the potty every once in a while, and when I noticed her going I would cue her (make sounds like peeing/pooping). Then later I’d stick her on the potty and make those same sounds so she would associate it with going and go. I think mostly it was her strength that made it so much easier at three months, and everything just clicked. For sure I had to really support her on the potty, but she was not so tippy. I was surprised a few days after this that we went on a long, long walk and I went to change her and she was dry. We were at a little shop so I took her diaper off, put her on the potty and she went! Yay!

With Tuesday she really liked her potty seat, so much so I carried a travel one with me everywhere. I think because we started so much younger with Bennet she’s a lot more flexible.

Carmen took this of us when we stayed in a hotel in Portland last winter (she’s almost five months). I do have a little potty in my car for out and about.

We are not out of diapers, not even close. In fact I’m sure I change diapers more than most because I always change a diaper as soon as it is wet or dirty. So why EC at all then? I think it is all in the title, it’s all about communication. I feel that I’m honoring her by not making her sit in her urine or poo when ever possible. And yes, I do expect her to be out of diapers by 1.5 like her big sis, and that is a big motivation for me. Even if she were to stay in diapers for years I still feel like I’ve done the right thing for us. And I never plan on “potty training” her. Just making sure she is always aware of what she is doing and letting her know where we go potty (on the toilet).

My friend Angela took some wonderful family pictures for us and I asked her to snap a few when Bennet had to go potty. I know this phase is fleeting but sometimes it feels like I take Bennie to the potty about 20 times a day (and I might!). It can be very frustrating to take a baby you know has to go potty to the toilet, where she won’t go, only to have her pee in a diaper (or on the floor!) five minutes later. But what might be the most important part of EC is that you never shame your child, or blame them. I feel that if Bennet does not go on the potty it is our fault for not getting her there, not hers.

I feel very strongly that babies and young toddlers should be given the opportunity to use the potty. I do not think it damages them in any way. There is a line of thought that forcing a child to use the potty before they are ready will damage them in some way, and I have to say I agree. Forcing a kid to do anything pretty much never ends well. However having an open line of communication with your baby or toddler and helping them use the potty in no way forces them.

I think there are two main reasons parents wait so long to “train” their children: disposable diapers and working outside the home. So obviously this is not for everyone, and I consider myself extraordinarily lucky that I get to stay home with my girls and take my baby to the potty twenty times a day! There are still things you can do if you are not able to do this, or doing want to try EC a little. Here are some of my tips:

-Use cloth diapers. Even part time. I use a fitted cloth diaper that is the absorbent layer, and a cover that is plastic coated so her clothes stay dry. Keeping the cover off whenever possible helps me know exactly when she goes so I can change her as soon as possible.

-Change your baby as soon as they go potty. Teach them that pee and poo go in the toilet, and don’t get them used to sitting in a wet diaper.

-Make going potty a normal thing. Tell them what you are doing on the potty. Tell them when they are going potty if you notice.

-Naked time for babies. We call it baby air out time. Now that Bennet is all over the place this is less, but especially for tiny babies this is easy to do (disclaimer: I have no experience with boys!).

-If you go to change baby and she is dry, why not try the toilet?

-Try the toilet first thing in the morning, and after naps. This is why I rarely change a poopy diaper (yay!).

-Try the toilet after wearing your baby. Bennie will not go unless absolutely necessary when I am wearing or carrying her. So if I’ve had her in the Baby Hawk for a while I know she’ll use the toilet after (or she’ll start arching to let me know she needs to get out and go!).

-Baby hates sitting on a big toilet? Maybe a seat reducer would help (Tuesday loved this one), or a little potty.

-Take accidents in stride. In EC we call those misses, and they are no big deal!

-Never shame a child about missing the toilet.

-Never praise a child for going on the toilet. Going on the toilet is just a normal thing. I say things like, “I bet that felt nice” or “Doesn’t that feel better to poop in the toilet?”

I have to say people are surprised to learn I gave birth at home. But nothing turns heads like taking a three month old to the potty! People think I’m crazy. And you know what? I would have thought that too a few years ago. But now I know it is no big deal. It doesn’t mean your kid can’t/doesn’t wear diapers. It means what ever you want it to mean. For us it meant diaper free by 18 months with Tuesday and super cute XXXS undies. Read more about it and let me know what you think! I’m mostly posting this as a resource for when people ask me what the heck I’m doing. And because I don’t think accurate info is in the mainstream media about this. Maybe you don’t have a kid yet and see this and remember it in a few years. Or your baby fusses and you know they have to go potty, now you know you can try something (the toilet!). I hope I’ve helped someone. And if you still think I’m crazy, well that’s ok too.

9 months in, 9 months out, it always seems like such a big milestone.

Another big milestone? Teeth! Look what popped through! And we are all much happier for it!

Who am I kidding? She’s pretty much always happy all the time.

At about 8.5 months we started her on solids. So far avocado, green bean, broccoli, applesauce, banana, carrot, and of course beet. All made by me and Bj. Easy, what ever we’re eating blended (Blendtec for the win. Fine you were right Bj, there I said it.). She likes it all A LOT. If that could be double caps I’d do it because she is a fan of the food. I was giving her solids with dinner, but I switched it to morning because it takes her a long time to process it. And she eats so so much I feel like she was getting too stuffed full before bed.

She started doing this adorable, “ba, ba, ba” thing. We can’t get enough. Bj, Tuesday and I spend half the time she’s awake saying ba, ba or other b words in the hopes she starts back up again. She’s napping most days, sometimes twice. She’s sleeping ok. It’s not great, it’s not terrible. I can’t move her into the girls’ room because Tuesday will wake her up at night. You read that right. We realized on a night away last week when we all spent the night in the same room together that Tuesday is a LOUD sleeper. She woke Bennet up with her dreaming mumbling speech. So not sure what to do about that… for now the crib is in the corner of our room and we don’t hang out in there a lot. I miss reading in bed.

I don’t know her stats, we go in tomorrow. I’m guessing based on the two similarly aged babies we played with today that she’s a 1%er. I’ll come back and update this part.

Basically we’re totally in love with her. But we’re tired and I’m selling the baby stuff. So as soon as she grows out of/stops using stuff I want it gone, gone, gone. Apparently sleep outweighs my desire for more children

8 months, 7 months, 6 months, 5 months, 4 months, 3 months, 2 months, 1 month.

“Girl with backpack”

Two girls.

It was super sunny today and we loved it.

This is pre fall in the mud puddle.

This is post fall in the mud puddle. Bj was showing her a funny way to walk to try and coax her back up through the fields. He’s so great… his powers were not quite great enough for me to get a picture of Bennet in her Nana made dress in front of the flowers. But he did try to get her all smiley.

Hahaha, she’s such a crazy happy little thing.

Family photo! We’re thinking about getting those Queen of Night tulips (left side, dark purple) to mix with our other purple tulips in front of the picket fence. But I’m debating, they might be too dark… thoughts?

I’ll leave you with this:

Tuesday happy as can be just playing on this tube slide over and over. We were at the festival over an hour before she agreed to go walk among the flowers!

Um, ya. I just want to eat her up! I started with this vintage pattern:

Simplicity 9738  from 1980 (the year I was born!) I’ve been sewing with knits… a lot!

This is a micro fleece from Jo-Ann’s (I could make a couple dozen of these, I went a wee bit crazy on Black Friday). Yes, fleece is a knit material (choose your needles accordingly!).

The only place I varied from the pattern was with the hood. When I was putting it on I realized that it would gape a bit around my small headed baby’s head. And it wasn’t lined, so I figured out how to line it. Now, I had already done the front hemming (is that the right word here?) on the edge of the hood so I couldn’t didn’t want to pick it apart to neatly add in the lining. Since knits don’t fray I just cut it really close and sewed right on the edge. It worked. I figured out how to line a hood myself (I am very proud of this!). I also left off the drawstring on the sweatshirt. Because… a drawstring on a baby sweatshirt? I don’t think that’s such a good idea, do you?

Look at those ears, awe… She wore this all the time in Alaska. It is big, so it’s perfect for layering. The pants pattern are almost a spot on match for a North Face pair we have, and were pretty easy. I think the cuff makes them look more professional. I made another pair of the pants in a size 2 for Maddie, and simple boot cut style joggins for Tuesday and Chloe so they would all have matching pants. This was super important to me to do before we left for our trip for some reason and yet… not a single photo of them all in their pants. And even though I made Chloe’s extra long that girl has LEGS and the pants fit her for about a week. So you can just imagine how cute and snuggly four girls in this micro fleece looked.

YAWN. Enough about this outfit mom.

Reading through the books got us talking about different kinds of hair. Tuesday saw that curlers can curl your hair, and asked me if we could do that. I mentioned that my mom put rags in my hair to give me curls all the time growing up (I had serious curly hair envy). She also did pin curls (a la Shirley Temple), but I mentioned the rag curls because I thought she wouldn’t mind sleeping on them. The pin curls can pinch a bit. So my mom came over and put in Tuesday’s first rags!

It was really so, so sweet. She loved it too. I have a hard time when Tuesday comes up to me after putting on lip gloss (she’s an addict) and asks, “do I look pretty?”. AHHHHH! I usually say, “Do you feel pretty? If you feel good that’s all that matters.” I don’t want her to “do” her hair because she wants to please anyone but herself, and I did tell her as much (in a way I can to a four year old). I think this is just something so fun and I remember loving it so much.

She bounded in the room in the morning so excited! A few came out in the back while she slept, but overall they turned out great. In case you want to try it we don’t do the wet hair method. This is simply clean, dried (can be a little damp), hair wrapped around a strip of fabric that’s tied to hold it in place. They don’t have to be tight. When I take out the rags I run my fingers through her hair to break up the curls a bit. I’m sure we’ll be doing this again, and I’ll take pictures with my actual camera! And I should track down an old picture of me with curly hair. My mom did it for me even through high school! Thanks mom!