my baum shelter

[kaltura-widget wid="u0z35k62b8" width="410" height="364" addpermission="3" editpermission="3" /]It’s ridiculous how easily entertained Fred and I get at elfing ourselves each year. This is our third year and we were excited that we now have babyBaum to add to our dance routine. The first year we went with the Classic Elf Dance and last year we went with the Disco Elf Dance, so, of course, this year we had to go with Hip Hop. 

Enjoy!

 You can Elf Yourself here. It’s very easy to do – you can email your dancing elf-self, with access for a limited time, or you can purchase a download of your video for $4.99.

I know this post will make Fred and I sound like nutcases to some of you out there and I initially hesitated writing this post because it can be a pretty controversial topic (just look at the comments to this post), like so many parenting and mothering topics out there tend to unfortunately be. We’re not really potty-training babyBaum, but babyBaum does use the toilet to relieve himself on a regular basis as the result of our practicing elimination communication.

I first heard about elimination communication right before we got pregnant on a news program. I thought it was the craziest thing I had ever heard. I didn’t see the whole news story, only the last half. They showed moms holding their newborn infants over the toilet while the babies went to the bathroom. To be honest, my judgmental self filed this in the same category as breastfeeding 5 year olds: something way too alternative and out there for me to give much consideration. Then I became pregnant and I came across the topic of elimination communication again in a pregnancy magazine at my doctor’s office. I became more intrigued – at first, my intrigue was akin to that of studying a foreign people or country. But then, the more I learned, the more some of the core concepts of elimination communication resonated with me.

There are many websites, blogs, and articles discussing what elimination communication is. You can check them out here or here or you can do your own google search. There are also books, the ones I’ve read include Diaper Free, The Diaper Free Baby and Infant Potty Training. Despite my post title, EC is not really about potty training a baby in the traditional sense of that phrase. It simply views peeing and pooping like any other necessary function of life for a newborn - like eating, sleeping, etc. EC advocates that babies are capable of (and do) communicate with us when they need to “eliminate” much the same way they do when they need to eat or sleep. By paying attention to these signals, we can offer them the chance to relieve themselves in the toilet, rather than in a diaper. “CRAZY!”, you say? Well, all I can say in response is my nine-month old baby uses the toilet daily to relieve himself when pooping. Read all the details of how we discovered EC and how we use EC part-time at our house after the jump . . . .

Continue reading

Yes, I realize it is Monday. All I can say is my family was sick for over 2 weeks and it really ran us into the ground. Last Friday, babyBaum was diagnosed with walking pneumonia and the entire family was put on antibiotics, since it was pretty obvious that we probably had the same thing. By Sunday, our collective coughing had greatly subsided and I’m happy to report zero coughs today. We seem to have finally licked this thing! So, here are Friday’s Finds, three days late.

I am hosting Thanksgiving this year for both my family and Fred’s family. We’ll have 11 adults and 3 children for Thanksgiving dinner and I’m trying my best to plan ahead so that I’m not fighting long lines at the grocery store at the last minute! I’m also trying to be as organized as possible – coming up with my timeline, doing my shopping now, preparing as much as I can beforehand. But, I do this every time I host Thanksgiving and without fail, I’m fighting lines at the grocery store the day before because of something I forgot or had to replace because I burnt the first time. One of these years, though, I’m determined to make it as easy as Martha Stewart makes it look on television. A girl can dream.

So, this Friday (ahem, Monday), I’m sharing some favorite kitchen finds. If you have any terrific kitchen tips or finds, especially for making Thanksgiving easier, feel free to share in the comments!

I just picked up this pie mold from Williams-Sonoma because we have one family member who is diabetic for whom I make a small, separate pie at Thanksgiving. For $10, I thought this was really a cute (and easy!) way to make a separate pie and I plan to make each of the kids one, also.

Speaking of pies, I love baking pies for the holidays. My standard pies are: pumpkin (I usually tinker with or try a new recipe each year), chocolate (a recipe I’ve used for 15 years now and is made mostly for my brother, Cliff, who would inhale one at one sitting if I let him), and apple (a recipe I received from my friend Sarah Jane several years ago though I’m never able to make apple pies as good as she does). A few years ago, I purchased an apple peeler/corer/slicer from Bed Bath & Beyond and I cannot imagine making apple pies from scratch without one of these things. Also handy for making mashed potatoes.

Two years ago, I saw this recipe for brining your turkey in Martha Stewart’s Living magazine. I had never brined anything before so I read up on it online and decided to give it a go. It was so great – by far the most moist turkey I’ve ever eaten! I’ve been brining my turkeys ever since.

These pans from Baker’s Edge intrigue me. One is designed for baking lasagna, the other for baking brownies. The concept is to provide every brownie or piece of lasagna with two chewy sides – you know, the corner pieces people usually fight over. Since I don’t like corner pieces of brownies (I like the softer, inside pieces), the brownie pan doesn’t interest me all that much. I do, however, love corner pieces of my lasagna and it would be nice to have a pan that provides every piece of lasagna with two crispy sides. But, I’m not sure I could justify having a pan just for this purpose.

I saw this Herb Savor over on shelterrific and I really want one. I love using fresh herbs, but they always go bad before I have a chance to use them up. This seems like a simple solution.

The Pioneer Woman recently featured these Nordicware pans engraved by The Cake Pan Lady with a variety of images and colors to choose from. What a fantastic concept! Makes losing a casserole dish at the church pot-luck much more difficult and would also be a great gift filled with some homemade goodness.

And, finally, for my friend Barbara who I know will greatly appreciate this – Megan over at not martha made this Meat Hand meatloaf for Halloween. She includes step by step directions on how to make this gross yet strangely appealing entree. You should also check out her Halloween pancakes.

So, enjoy these finds and Happy Monday!

The iphone has completely changed my day-to-day life. I admit it. I’m hooked and seriously cannot imagine life without it. It’s like being able to pause live tv – once you watch tv with the ability to pause, you can never go back to the old ways of watching tv where you had to plan conversations and bathroom breaks around commercials if you didn’t want to miss anything.

Here are the iphone apps I’m most addicted to -

Maps (free) – the standard maps that comes pre-loaded on the phone. I love when I’m out running errands and I need to find a particular store. With one click of a button, I can find the nearest location or a location that is on my way home. A second tap, I can call them to see if they’re still open or if they have what I’m looking for. This app has single handedly cut out all my wild goose chasing errands. It also helps me find the nearest Starbucks or Sonic in a pinch.

Movies by Flixter (free) – look up movie times and purchase tickets in under 30 seconds

Scrabble ($4.99) - I am one of those people who can’t stand just sitting there. Being still is not something at which I excel. I love, love, love this app because it makes waiting in lines completely bearable. Not to mention that when babyBaum was in his colic phase and had to be rocked for an average of 30 minutes to get him to sleep and 30 minutes more to get him in a deep enough sleep to lay him in his crib without waking him, I passed the time playing Scrabble in the dark. Also, I’m a nerd who loves Scrabble.

NPR Station Finder/Public Radio/NPR Addict (all free) - These are three different NPR apps. Yes, yes, we’ve already established that I’m somewhat of a nerd. The Station Finder one is a necessity for any road trips out of my metro area. I love being able to find an NPR station even when visiting Fred’s relatives in the middle of nowhere, Arkansas. The other two apps are great for podcasts and hourly audio news updates.

Email ‘n Walk (.99) – Admittedly, I don’t use this app very often, but I think it is very cool and when I have used it, it’s come in quite handy. When taking a walk (in my case, usually walking with the stroller at the mall or to the park) and needing to email, you just click on this and it brings up your email screen but in a transparent way that allows you to see through the phone so that you can email and walk at the same time. You can email and watch where you’re going. Who thinks these things up?

Food Scanner (2.99) – Scan the barcode of any food item and this app instantly shows you all the nutritional content of that food – calories, carbs, protein, etc. Tap how many servings you just ate and you can keep track of your daily calories or fat grams, or whatever it is you want to track food-wise.

Groceries (.99) – The first time I used this it took a little time adding all of our groceries in. But, now it keeps the list going and I can just delete or add to the list for each trip. It also organizes everything by aisle and you can organize the aisles in the order that they appear in your grocery store. Have I mentioned that I’m kind of an efficiency nut, too?

Shazam (free) - This app is more for Fred who stubbornly insists he doesn’t want an iphone and then proceeds to use mine any chance he gets. Fred is constantly wanting to know what song that is playing on the commercial or tv show or whatever. With this app, you press the button and hold up the phone to wherever the music is coming from and in about 10 seconds, it tells you the name and artist of the song. But, that’s not all – it also conveniently provides you with a link to purchase the song on itunes, gives you a link to the youtube video of the song, and gives you a biography of the artist(s) as well as their discography.

Cardstar (free) - This app has made my wallet so much lighter! You enter all your membership card numbers (Sam’s, Costco, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, etc.). It then creates a barcode on your phone for each card. So, you can leave the cards at home and the next time you need your membership card at a store, you just press a button on your phone and there’s the barcode for the clerk to scan.

Units (free) - Very basic, but useful app for converting just about anything – measurements, currency, etc.

Google (free) - Push the Google app button and speak whatever it is you want to google. It then instantly brings up your google search without you having to lift a finger to type. Say it with me: EFFICIENT!

So, let me know what iphone app must-haves that I’m missing. What are your favorite apps?

Now among my top 5 things you should never do: Wash a load of laundry with a disposable diaper

You know the weird chemical filling that allows for diapers to be so absorbent - the stuff you don’t like to think too much about, but you’re just thankful is there? Well, when put in the wash, it will explode and you will have that weird chemical, gel-like substance covering every item of clothing, not to mention the inside of your washing machine.

Don’t ask me how it happened. I’ve gone over it again and again in my mind. I don’t know how I managed to pick up a diaper with babyBaum’s laundry and throw it all in the washing machine together. All I can say is that I won’t be making that mistake twice.