a GREAT day of ECing!

Ya, I changed 2 diapers today... that's right, TWO DIAPERS!  I don't care what anyone says, this ECing thing WORKS.  At the very least it is saving us TONS of diapers!!!

Well, if you include the first one I changed this morning, its techinically 3, but the point is I only missed 2 potty's today!  Every other one I caught in our make-shift baby potty!  It was incredible!

I haven't quit gotten up enough nerve to do this at night yet (after todays success though I just might have to start!) so of course we woke up with a wet diaper.  I changed that first thing this morning about 7.  I caught a couple of potty's until about 9:30 - i missed one.  I changed Wes's diaper then, and caught EVERY SINGLE POTTY until 7:00 tonight! 7!!!!!!!!!!!! There were so many I lost count (no one said this was easy, and it IS a full time job!)  Up until today, the most potty's I caught was 6 - and I was pretty happy about that!  Those were all just at the obvious times (as soon as he wakes up and right after feeding).  Today I caught a few just cuz he had to go!  It is unbelievable how in-tune my son and I are.  at least 3 that I caught today were because I just felt like he had to go! so I put him on the potty, made our special nose, he picked up on my cue and went! 

A lot of testimonies I read said this same thing.  Besides the obvoius times (waking/feeding), you have to learn to pick up on your baby's own cues that they have to go to the bathroom.  A lot of mom's said that a big sign form them would be that they would be holding the baby and feel a warm wet spot, but it wouldn't be wet.  This happened to me twice today.  I took the cue, placed him on his potty and he went!  The 3rd time was just kind of intuitive... I really just thought he had to go, tried it and he went!  Its like MAGIC! 

This is such and incredible way to bond with your baby too... You really do learn to listen to your son without words.  Most mommy's can pick up on your babies cry's, when they hungry, when their tummy hurts etc.  Did you ever think you could pick up when your 8 week old had to go potty??? 

I have to admit, I was slightly skeptical at all of the testimonies I read about this.  I really wasn't convinced it would work this well.  I loved the idea and knew it couldn't hurt and would probably get the potty training done sooner, but I never ever would have expected within basically a week of starting this we would have such success!

I know I will have some bad days, and thats OK.  Even today with the 2 misses, its important not to acknowledge them.  Reward your baby with praise when he does it right and end it there.

The one problem I see with this is when we are out and about... in the car and shopping and stuff.  I haven't quit decided how to tackle this one, but as soon as I do, I will let you all know :)

Now poop is a differen't story!!!  I know they say its pretty normal for newborns not to poop regularly.  Mine just doesn't poop at all!  It's so weird to go from pooping after every feeding to going every 5 days or so.  I've talked to the doctor and it seems this is normal.  He has plenty of potty's (TRUST me, after today it seems like thats all we did was go potty!) and he doesn't seem bothered by it so I probably shouldn't worry.  It just doesn't seem right to me!  For the last month or so, until last week, he had only gone 3 days, but last week he went almost 6 days without pooping. When my milk first came in, I had pumped a ton of colostrum and froze it.  I've read that colostrum is a natural laxitive to move all the meconium out of the baby's system, so I unfroze some, and mixed it with some milk in a bottle throughout the day.  It seemed to work, he pooped the next morning, and the follow morning after that.  That was Tuesday though.  If he doesn't poop by tomorrow morning, I will try this method again.  I have read a lot of remedies, but this to me seemed to be the most natural, and it worked.  Do any of you have other tried and true solutions to this problem????

Turkey Poop and Noodles

Appropriately named by my step-mom Joy, this soup is to die for!  A great way to use the left over turkey from your holiday dinner (or in our case, a Monday night dinner to create lunch meat for the week :) )

Take the turkey carcass after carving off most of the meat.  Place in a crock pot, cover with water, season with lots of salt and cook for several hours until the meat peels easily off the bones. 

Remove the carcass and cool (let the broth sit).  While the the carcass is cooling, chop up some carrots, celery and an onion.  Add these to the broth. 

Peel off all of the meat from the bones and discard the bones.  Add the meat (and any other left over meat you want to add) to the broth.  Add a couple teaspoons of thyme and rosemary, salt and pepper to taste. 

Take a package of chicken gravy seasoning and in a small cup, stir in some water with a fork until smooth. You want it to be kind of thick (if you add to much water, add some flour to the mixture).  Stir until smooth, add to the broth along with a cup or so of heavy cream.  Cook until carrots are soft. 

In a large pot, boil some water.  Add salt and a package of wide egg noodles.  Cook about 10 minutes until al dente.  Drain.

Pour soup over a bowl full of noodles and here's what ya get!

(I will add picture later - it's on my phone and I'm having issues getting it to my computer!)

Roasted Turkey and Gravy

So, turkeys were on sale the other day (weird huh? wrong time of year!) and we figured it would be great to roast a turkey and use the left overs for lunches! so we did :) this was one of the best turkeys I've ever had too! It was so moist and yummy!  It was just a little guy, just under 12 lbs (biggest that would fit in our oven though haha!)  Here's what you'll need:

1 Turkey
1 onion - cut into chunks
2-3 Carrots -  cut into chunks
2-3 stocks of celery - cut into chunks
1 stick of butter
Dried Thyme
Dried Basil
Dried Oregano
Salt and Pepper

Gravy:
Giblets and Neck from the turkey
drippings from the turkey
Flour


Make sure the turkey is completely thawed, remove the giblets and neck (safe for the gravy!)

Rinse thoroughly and pat dry with a paper towel.  Stuff the inside of the bird with the onion/celery/carrots (leave the remainder to place around the pan). 

Take your hand and run it under the skin to loosen it.  Using 1-2 tablespoons of the butter, rub it under the skin you just loosened.  Take the rest of the butter rub it over the entire bird.  Then season with salt, pepper, thyme, basil and oregano.

Put it in a roasting pan (which it just so happens I do NOT have - nor would it fit in my tiny oven :)  i actually used my pampered chef roaster stoneware that worked PERFECT).  Bake at 350 until the red thingy pops and voila!

If you notice before the bird is done that the skin is beginning to crisp too much, cover with foil.  Towards the end of the baking time, remove foil and spread a little more butter on top. 

Gravy:
I cheated and used the pampered chef gravy separator (you'd think this is a commercial for pampered chef by now huh?  :) )  It's a really handy contraption if you plan to roast turkeys/chickens/roasts often and want to make gravy with the drippings tho, I love it!

Boil the giblets and neck in salty water for about an hour (if you are up to it, eat the giblets!  I do enjoy the neck tho, its quite tasty!) Reserve the broth for later use.

After removing the turkey from the pan when its finished, reserve all of the liquid in the pan.  In my case I used the gravy separator... If you don't have one, you can put a hand full of ice cubes in the pan and most of the fat will stick to the to cubes.  Swirl around a few times with a slotted spoon to collect the fat and discard the ice cubes before they melt.

If using the separator, poor the liquid from the roasting pan into the separator.  Let sit for a couple minutes and the fat will float to the top.  Add the juices (keeping the fat in the gravy separator) to the broth you reserved from the giblets to equal about 4 cups.

Discard all but about 1/4 cup of the remaining fat.  If there are still drippings in the pan, place over the front and back burners of the stove.  Add the fat to the roasting pan and whisk in 1/2 cup of all purpose flour over med-low heat until smooth (in my case, with the pan I used, everything came out, so I just did this in a separate pan).  Slowly add in the juices and broth mixture, stirring with the whisk constantly to keep smooth.  Stir constantly until it boils.  Season with salt and pepper, cook for a few minutes until it thickens up.

YUMMY!!!! Next... the Turkey Noodle Soup I made with the left overs!

EC

I am about to blog about something somewhat controversial.  Please understand before you pass judgement, I have done a TON of research on this topic and am not shooting from the dark.  I know that some of you will disagree with my choice, and that is fine - each parent has the right to choose what is right and wrong for their children.  I do strongly encourage you to comment with your thoughts however, especially those of you who have had children and gone through the "potty training" phase before.

There is a "potty training" technique called Elimination Communication.  The words potty training just don't even seem right, as this is not actually training your child - it is all about communication.  This method uses your child's own signs of communicating his need to eliminate, and you having the patience and determination to pick up on those cues and use them!  The basics of this method are very simple.  To begin, you understand that there are key times your child will go to the bathroom, right when they wake up, right after they feed etc.  This is where you start.  Instead of having them use their diaper during those times, place them over an appropriate sized toilet.  Some parents choose to use the sink, others the toilet, a potty training seat (in my case a bowl haha!) - whatever works for your situation.  Once your baby starts to go, you make a noise to associate with the action they are doing (i.e. sssssssssssssssssssss).  The theory is your baby will learn to associate the action of going to the bathroom with that sound.  As you learn your babies other signs (grunting, scrunching up their knees, straining their face, etc) you can use these cues as well to take them to the toilet.  I have read many blogs and personal accounts of parents using this technique and most of them have completely potty trained baby's from 7 mo to a year.  What you need to understand tho, is this child cannot get up and walk to the toilet, pull down his pants and use the toilet... but they CAN hold it.  Some people believe that a child does not have the ability to use this muscle in their body to "hold it", but this theory proves otherwise.  This technique strengthens those muscles just like any other muscle in a child's body - their neck, their legs etc.  If you kept your baby on his/her back or stomach all the time, they wouldn't develop the muscles in their legs right?  Same theory here, you need to teach them to use those muscles and strengthen them.  Now of course you won't catch EVERY potty, and that's ok, its all about practice.  They say you want to start this before they are 3 months old, and that after 6 months it gets even harder (but can be done!!!!).  This method is used in just about every other country besides the US and Western Europe and has been proven many times to work.  In this "diaper" age, most children aren't completely out of diapers until age 3! By waiting that long, it is even harder to train them (as I'm sure many of you can attest to) because they have never used those muscles like they should.  By age 3, they are using all of their other muscles that you have helped them develop right?  why not start out right away with this one too?  can you imagine the amount of SAVINGS by getting them out of diapers by say 1????  One of these days you are watching TV, count how many diaper commercials you see.  Todays diapers are designed so babies can't feel the wetness, hence they don't know they've just gone as easily.  Most parents that choose this method use cloth diapers so they CAN feel the wetness.  WE don't have that luxury LOL (the luxury of a washer and dryer that is!)- so I am sticking with the disposables.

I have been so excited about this since I first came upon it before Wes was born. I have been determined to try it.  The way I look at it is it can't hurt anything.  It may or may not work, and I'm OK with that... but at least I know I've given it a good solid effort and in the mean time can save a few extra bucks on diapers :)  Getting started has been difficult though... and I'm not exactly sure why!  I have been... almost scared for some reason?  I can't quit figure it out... probably because changing a diaper is so much easier then taking the time and the effort to begin this practice (another reason, in this fast paced world, most Americans probably don't try this more!)  ANYWAYS, we began today, and guess what?!?!  i caught 3 potty's!  May not seem like a lot, but that was 3 diapers I saved :)  Of course I still changed a few diapers, but i went from noon - 6:00 today in the same diaper.  I really wish I would have started this sooner, a lot of woman doing this start right from birth.  OH WELL, I can't go back in time right?  All I can do is try harder now.  It does take more time and it DOES take patience, but I just think the rewards are going to be soooo worth it.

I am excited to blog about this and keep you all informed on our progress.  I hope to bring good news!

The Greatest Fan of Your Life

I heard it a million times and knew it was true - you never know love like the love for your child.  I loved this wonderful being before he was even conceived, but there is nothing like the love I feel for him now.  It grows and grows every single day.  Even when he was inside me, my love for this child was overwhelming.  But again, nothing could have prepared me for the amount of joy and happiness he has brought to my life.  I feel like I have won the lottery - the lottery of life.  To know that this beautiful and gentle soul picked ME to be his mother melts my entire core right down to every bone.  To pick him up and feel the love just radiating from both of us lights up my world and I finally feel complete.  I know what I was put on this earth for, and that is to be his mama.  He has completed my life, my family and my whole world beyond words.  I have always looked ahead at my life, wanting the next step, the next stage, the next up in life.  I was never content where I was in that moment in time.... always wanting more.  For the first time in my life I am truly content and satisfied with this moment, and I wish it would never end.  I have always been driven by that need for accomplishment, looking ahead at what task I could conquer next.  This by far is the greatest accomplishment of my life, and if I died tomorrow, I know my life goal and purpose has been satisfied.  He has so many great adventures ahead, and I look forward to being there, holding his hand, kissing away boo boo's, encouraging those first steps into the unknown and cherishing each and every moment this life will bring us.  I love you Weston Michael Keller, with all of my heart, forever and always.

Today, you are 7 weeks old. I can't believe it has been almost 2 months that I have gotten to enjoy with you.  It seems like just yesterday I was trying to convince myself I wasn't REALLY in labor, I still had to wait to meet you.  You had other plans though, and boy am I glad you did!

Milestones to remember this week:
You are starting to have more control over your hands, legs and head.  You have always been feisty (even inside me) kicking and punching into thin air.  As you grow, your movements are more refined and with purpose now.  You are starting to rub your eyes when you are sleepy, play with your hair, grab onto different fabrics like your blanket, or a burprag.  As I pat your back to burp you, I feel your hand flat on my back... are you trying to pat me back? Your legs are getting stronger, able to stretch out and hold your weight with only a little help with your balance.  You can hold your head up on your own too, but you still have some of that adorable bobble head I love so much.

You have started smiling at daddy and me.  Daddy even got you to laugh today for the first time.  From the day you were born, you have coo'd.  This most precious, spectacular sound comes out of you that just melts my heart every time.  That coo has started to come with a curved up lip and this light in your eyes that just beams with happiness. 

You have started to spit up quit a bit.  Until this week, you have only spit up a little, and not very often.  It has made for quit the load of laundry!

You had your first real blow out diaper today - it was so bad you needed a bath!.  In the last 5 days you have only had 1 poopy diaper.  They say this is normal, but I was starting to worry about you... But you gave mommy nothing to worry about today! Where was the camera when daddy and I were trying to frantically undress you and get you in the sink???  I'm sure we could have made it on America's Funniest Home Videos with that.

Nap times have been rough... You only want to sleep when you are in daddy or mine's arms.  As soon as we lay you down, you wake up.  If you do stay asleep, it is usually only for 20 minutes or so.  Which is making it awfully difficult for mommy to get anything done around here! 

Bedtime though is a different story!  You seem to really like our bedtime routine, and it makes it sooo easy on mommy and daddy.  Daddy was so proud and happy last night, he put you down by himself for the first time.  Around 7:30 or 8, we start our downtime.  Usually begins with a nursing session, then we change your diaper and get you into your jammies.  After that we either read a bedtime story (thank you Grandma for the bedtime story book!) or sing a song.  Then I lay you in your crib and watch you slowly drift off to dreamland.  Tonight we sang "I'll be" by Edwin McCain - it seems so fitting.  I will be the greatest fan of your life Weston!

-Love, Mommy

Things to do in a Ghost Town

It may not seem like there's a lot to do here in Ely, but we have had a great time! This last weekend was the annual Silver State Classic Car Race, they had a parade Friday night, a car show Saturday and a 90 mile race on Sunday.  There was everything from Corvettes and Mustangs to Lamborghini's! 

Jake took me to the look out above the mine they are working in, it was incredible!  One of the most well oiled machines you've ever seen... Trucks coming in and out like a factory.  These HUGE trucks are amazing.  See that big shovel down there with the itty bitty white trucks parked next to it?  Those white trucks are semi's!

We stayed for the  blast too, pretty cool!

We also rode the ghost train of Ely! This original steam engine was built in 1909 and is the only steam engine still workign today in the US!  The cars were built in 1928.  It was an hour and half ride through town then up the canyon to the mine.

We went past these old mining buildings, a literal ghost town!



 Weston's first train ride :)

After the train ride, we got to tour the train museum.  It's a working train museum where they still work on trains to this day.  They had several old engines built from the early 1900's to the 1950's.  Most were steam engines, but they did have a couple of diseal powered engines as well. 

Next on our list - Great Basin National Park, Lehman Caves and Garnett Hill (they say after a good rainstorm you can find some pretty good sized garnets!)

Verna's Mac Salad

Ok, so all the salad needed was an overnighter in the fridge!  the next day it was AMAZING! Almost as good as Verna's :)  Now, I am not the best at "measuring" my ingredients, so I am going to do my best here at guessing how much I used, but if you attempt this recipe, please feel free to adjust to your own likes and realize my "measurements" may not be exact!  When I first made the salad, we tried it straight from the bowl, and the onion was way to over powering.  After resting in the fridge overnight and letting all the flavors combine, it was the perfect amount!

Ingriedents:
Macaroni
Mayo
Carrot - shredded
Onion - finely grated
Celery - finely grated
Parsley
Salt and Pepper

First, boil the macaroni and a large pot of salted water (I used a little over 1/2 a box).  Cook for about 10 minutes or until al dente - don't over cook or you'll have mush for noodles.  Rinse in cold water and put in large bowl.

Grate 1 1/2 large carrots or 2 smaller carrots.  Finely grate (I used a small cheese grater for hard cheeses) about a half of a white onion.  I think I used just under a half of an onion.  Also grate 3 stalks of celery and sqeeze out the juice.  It ended up being 2 smaller handfulls of celery when all was said and done.

Finally, add all the vegatables to the macaroni, add 2 - 3 big dollops (sorry, no idea how to measure this one...) of Mayo (you can always add more later, but you can't take it out!), a few healthy shakes from the parsley containter, and salt and pepper to taste!  Mix well and CHILL in the fridge!!! (this is the most important part as we found out!)  The next day it was soooo yummy :)



Fancy Burgers

We had "Fancy Burgers" for dinner tonight!  Inspired by Rachael Ray and introduced to us by our good friend Woody, these burgers will change your thinking about a regular ol' hunk of ground beef :)

(The mac salad was a disaster... once I perfect that i will post :)  It was an attempt at "Verna's Mac Salad" - This little walk up restuarant in Hilo, Hawaii called Verna's had the best mac salad ever!  Jake asked the owner for her recipe for me, and she gave us the ingredients.  Tonight was my first attempt and I just wasn't impressed... Will definitely keep trying though!)

Fancy Burgers

Ingriedents:

1 lb hamburger

Balsamic Drizzle (can be purchased, Rachael Ray brand, or simmer brown sugar and balsmic vinegar for about 1/2 hour on the stove, med-low heat until thickened)

Fresh Basil

Garlic Cheese Sauce (3 tbls butter, 3-4 garlic cloves, 2 tbls flour, 1 cup milk, 1/4 cup parmigan regiano)

Tomatoe, sliced

Onion, sliced

Hamburger Buns

Cook your hamburgers as usual - we put a little montreal seasoning and grill on the BBQ, but make them however you normally would. 

Cheese Sauce: Melt butter and sautee minced garlic for a couple minutes.  Stir in flour until butter is a wet sand consistancy.  Add cold milk and bring to a simmer, reduce heat so as not to boil too hard.  Simmer for about 5 minutes until sauce begins to thicken.  Add cheese and melt in, season with salt and pepper (in my opinion the more pepper in this, the better).  Some variations, you could use asiago, romano or parmesan cheeses, or a combination of all (which happens to be what I did tonight).

To Assemble:  Feel free to use your normal favorite condiments on your bun.  We used Mayo and Honey Mustard tonight.  Place burger on the bottom bun, cover with thickened cheese sauce.  Place a few basil leaves on top and drizzle with Balsamic Drizzle (Evidently in this remote town, they don't get fresh basil delivered regularly, so we subsituted a chopped basil in olive oil Jake found in a jar at the store... wasn't as good as the fresh basil, so I wouldn't recommend it, but it definitly added the basil flavor!) Top with your tomatoe, onion, and top of bun and voila! your fancy burger is ready to devour!



Ely, Nevada

We are on our first family road trip!  Located in the remote area of Eastern Nevada, we are staying in the little town of Ely.  The closest city is 2 1/2 hours away!  This ol' mining town is very quaint and peacefull.  Not much to the town itself, but the country around it is absolutely breath taking.  Nearby Cave Lake has become Jack's favorite swimming hole and Jake's favorite fishing spot.

The RV Park we are staying in is very nice.  Everyone around us seems so friendly.  There are a lot of contractors working in the mine staying here as well.  We are parked right next to a large field which Jack loves to go hunting in... he's found a few miscellanous bones to keep him occupied!

Weston is growing like a weed!  At 6 weeks old he is finally starting to fit good in some of his newborn clothes (he's been in premies up until now...) and very quickly growing out of those! I swear he is getting bigger every day right in front of my eyes.  He is such a good baby, very loving and snuggly... which makes nap times very hard!  He has gotten quit attached to falling asleep in your arms, so putting him down for naps has become difficult.  Once he finally falls asleep he only stays asleep for 20 min or so.  We have been slowly weaning him into his own bed at night, which appears to be easier on him then mommy :)  Hopefully as he gets more used to sleeping in his crib at night, it will make nap times easier as well.

Jake is working in an old copper mine just south of town.  There have been a few bumps in the road along the way but if all goes as planned the job should take abouta nother 2 weeks and we'll be home for Memorial Day Weekend!
  For now, here are some pictures of the GIANORMIOUS equipment.  They may not look that big in the pictures, but these trucks can haul a D10 Cat in the back!!! when loaded, they weigh a million pounds!