photo © 2010 Lori Ann | more info (via: Wylio)

Cloth diapering was once a thing of the past – something our grandmothers did because they had no other choice, not understanding why anyone in their right mind would choose to do it once the “amazing” invention of disposable diapers came onto the scene. In the late twentieth/early twenty-first centuries, cloth diapers were reinvented, amidst new concerns about the environment, and the questionable materials used to manufacture disposable diapers. Today, cloth diapering is catching on like wildfire – I would say that of all the mamas I know personally – over half of them use cloth diapers, perhaps even three-quarters. I’ve been cloth diapering since my oldest was born (I confess – I did use disposables when he was born, but a few months in I finally gathered the courage to actually use the cloth diapers I’d bought months before giving birth, and the rest, as they say, is history! I love it, really! If we have another baby, I will probably only use disposables for a week or less).

Since I have written out my cloth diapering advice many times before, and continue to be asked to share my thoughts, I figured I may as well turn it into a blog post to which I can refer people. Here is a basic introduction to the world of cloth diapering…

Main Types of Cloth Diapers

All-in-One’s (AIO’s) – These are usually the most expensive type of diaper. They require no stuffing or folding, and are shaped the same as a disposable. The outside waterproof layer and the inside absorbent layers are all sewn together. Some say these are the most “dad/grandma/babysitter” friendly, but I would say that a pocket diaper (if pre-stuffed) is equally as easy. A potentially major downside to AIO’s is that they often take a very long time to hang dry (like 24 hours or more). This means you need to have more in your stash, which of course increases your overall cost.

Pocket – These are shaped similarly to an photo © 2007 Michelle Hofstrand | more info (via: Wylio)AIO, but have a small opening at the back into which you stuff an insert, which is the absorbent part of the diaper. The material against baby’s skin is generally a soft wicking fibre, like microfleece, which feels dry even after it gets wet. The benefit to this is that the baby’s doesn’t feel the wetness as much, which is especially nice for nap and nighttime. It’s also nice to be able to adjust the amount of absorbency (extra inserts at night, doublers, prefolds, etc). The outside layer is waterproof, so like an AIO, no cover required. Popular brands include Fuzzibunz, Bungenius, Applecheeks, AMP, and Happy Heiny’s.

Fitted – Fitted diapers are very similar to a disposable in shape. The only difference (other than that they’re cloth) is that they require a waterproof cover. This is nice because you can choose from a variety of different materials. If natural or organic fibres are important to you, then you can choose wool – a naturally absorbent materials with antibacterial properties. If frugality is your main motivator, then bummis covers are a perfect option. Fitted diapers include some sort of fastener, like snaps or velcro. There are also contoured diapers, which are basically fitteds, but without the fasteners (you’d use pins or a snappi).

Prefolds – The second most inexpensive option are prefolds. These are basically flat diapers, folded several times and sewn together. The middle section is slightly thicker, which you would use in the middle where the most absorption is needed. There are many different ways to fold them – some people fold them and place them into a cover, and put that onto the baby. I like folding them onto baby and using a snappi, then adding the cover over top. One disadvantage to using prefolds is that they are extra bulky. This is the case when using them to stuff pocket diapers too. It can be frustrating to have such a big booty to fit into some of baby’s pants.

Flats – The most frugal option of all (as seen in the photo above), these are basically flat rectangular pieces of material (a blend is best for absorbency, like cotton-hemp), which are then folded and fastened onto baby. You would need to use some sort of waterproof cover over top as well. I don’t actually know anyone in real life that uses these, but I would imagine they wouldn’t be all that difficult, especially if you’ve used prefolds before. Flats (as well as prefolds) are easily repurposed into cleaning rags, etc. once baby is done with them.

Hybrids – These are a relative newcomer on the cloth diapering scene. The two main brands in this category are Flip and Grovia. They are technically AI2′s (All-in-two’s), as there is an outer shell and an inner snap-in liner that make up the complete system. There is also an option for disposable liners, instead of washable ones. One of my best friends uses both of these brands, and loves them. I’ve never tried them, but am unconvinced that I’d like them any better than pocket diapers.

3 Compelling Reasons to Use Cloth Diapers

1. Frugality. Using cloth diapers will save you a lot of money. Yes, it’s possible to not save as much if you choose a more expensive diapering system, but you may save a boatload, especially if you use your diapers for more than one child, and you are using a more frugal option, like prefolds. Really though, even if you choose a system like pocket diapers, and want about 15 in your supply (allowing you to wash every other day or less as baby gets older and is changed less often), the total would still be much less than $400. When you add in all the extras, like a diaper pail, washable wet bags for soiled diapers, even a diaper sprayer if desired… your total will still come in well under the estimated $2500 it takes to get one child from birth to potty training in disposables. Use your cloth on another kid, and your savings automatically double.

 

2. Health. For me personally, this is my number one motivator for using cloth diapers. TBT’s, Dioxins, Perfumes & Dyes, Bleach, Sodium Polyacrylate, and many more harsh chemicals and poisons are used to manufacture disposable diapers. Several of these have been directly linked to increased childhood asthma, as well as infertility. And that’s just what has been proven thus far. There are countless other potential negative health effects that are suspected, but yet to be conclusively proven. Oh, and don’t be fooled into thinking that the popular Seventh Generation brand of disposable diapers are all they appear to be – they are actually dyed that light brownish colour to make them appear more “natural”, and their claims about being chlorine-free may be true – but none of the other disposable diaper manufacturers use chlorine in their diapers either. They also contain polyacrylate gels for absorbency, and other questionable materials. They are perfume and fragrance free, I believe, which is great, but hardly worth the hefty extra cost (to me).

 

3. Environment. As a steward of God’s creation, I believe in minimizing waste and doing my part to treat the earth and our bodies with respect. This includes avoiding unnecessary waste, and (all other things being equal) using disposable diapers full-time seems to me to fall into that category. I use disposables every now and then (during times of sickness or travel usually, or in the early newborn days), but cloth diapering is definitely our main system (oh, and in the interest of full disclosure, we often use disposables at night to cross one thing off the “why-oh-why-is-she-such-a-horrible-sleeper” list. Once she starts sleeping better, it’ll be back to cloth at night too). Not to mention putting all of those chemicals into a landfill, which then seep into the earth, the water supply, etc. Gross! Oh, and did you know that disposable diaper users are supposed to dump the poop in the toilet? Human waste is not allowed in landfills, yet I have yet to meet a disposable diaper user that dutifully follows this rule. With cloth, human waste goes into the toilet where it belongs.

My Personal Cloth Diapering System

{what else do you get a 5-month-old for Christmas? she loved them, really...}

We initially chose to go with organic unbleached cotton prefolds with Bummis Super Whisper Wraps and Super Brites as our main daytime diapers, with six of the perfect-size Fuzzibunz (six in size small, and six in size medium, which fit Isaac until he recently potty-trained) for naps and nighttime (for their absorbency and moisture-wicking properties). I was pleased with this system, and it worked well. Somewhere along the way we bought a couple Bamboozles to try out, but they are not my favourites. Their big selling features are that they are natural fibres (which I love), and that they are super absorbent (true). However they do not wick moisture away at all – they feel soaking wet even with just a little bit of moisture, which I would think would be much more uncomfortable for my baby’s bum, and thus not worth the high price tag, in my opinion. Now we have baby #2, Aliza, and she is most often decked out in a Fuzzibunz (or one of the other random brands of pocket diapers I bought second-hand from a friend). We snagged three more Fuzzibunz on sale to add to our stash last Christmas, and with Isaac’s recent potty-trained status, we pretty much just use our pocket diapers exclusively for Aliza. I’m happy with what we have. I wouldn’t mind trying out one of the hybrid systems (minus the flushable part), because they seem to be fairly popular. I have no reason to dislike my Fuzzibunz though – I’m very happy with them!

Last Words: Hints and Tips

• Always hang dry them (get a drying rack). They can go in the dryer, but they will wear out much faster. You’ll regret this when baby#2 comes along, or even by the time baby#1 is a toddler. This goes more for the non-prefold/flat diapers, which are much sturdier.
• A diaper sprayer is a much-loved accessory for many cloth diapering families. We have one, but it’s not exactly what I thought it was. When you hold the diaper above the toilet and spray, there are usually poopy water drops spraying all over the place, which really icks me out. After a while I learned that it was easier and more sanitary to just dunk the diaper in the toilet, swish it a bit, and maybe use the sprayer if necessary, while in the toilet, so the spray doesn’t go everywhere. Worth it… but beware of your “spraying technique”!
• Get two wet bags – one to be in your diaper pail (a large step-lid white plastic garbage can – cloth diapers don’t fit in the diaper genies or diaper champs), and one to be in the wash. We only bought one, then bought a cheap one from Canadian Tire in the camping section – not a good idea as it is much thinner and wets through. We have the extra-large purple bummis tote, and it’s awesome – still looks the same after 2.5 years of constant use. We also bought a small diaper-bag-size wet bag as well, which is invaluable for being out of the house. These bags can just go right into the washing machine, and dry super quickly.
• Make sure to use a cloth-diaper-approved laundry detergent. Check with your manufacturer online to see what they recommend. We use Nature Clean, and have been fine with it, but my diapers have recently seemed to be needing stripped a lot. It’s a long story, but I am thinking of trying a new detergent to see it it does the trick.
• For cloth diaper troubles, just try googling your specific problem – there’s a ton of helpful info out there. There are even entire forums dedicated to cloth diapering. If you run into problems, please don’t give up! Ask for help – there’s almost always a fix. Email me if you want!
• Choosing a diapering system that is right for your baby can be a trial and error process. You could consider trying out a few different kinds and then ordering more of your favourites, or you could just do lots of research and order one or two kinds, and hope for the best. That’s what we did, and it worked out fine.
• Don’t allow yourself to be overcome with guilt if you end up using disposables more than you’d like. Being a mama is nothing if not unpredictable, so give yourself some grace and do your best!
• A last word – prepare to become addicted to the cuteness of your little one’s bum adorned with a cute colour/print in a soft cloth diaper that you know is frugal/healthy/green. Who knew diapers could be so satisfying?

Do you use cloth diapers? What kind of system works for you? Any other tips or “things-you-wish-you’d-known” before you started?

(“I don’t wear paper underwear… why should my baby?”)

Beth

Beth is the creator and editor here at Red & Honey, a lifestyle blog for the naturally-minded homemaker. She recently began a passionate love affair with coffee and her life will never be the same. She has had three babies in less than four years, is a professional laundry-avoider, and loves to stay up way too late making weird stuff from scratch that normal people tend to just buy in a store. Hence, the coffee.

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It happened fast. We had been on GAPS for about 2.5 months, and then BAM! It hit us like a mack truck. The cravings, the inability to resist, the belief that it would be so worth it….

The last couple of weeks have been… guilt-inducing. A few weeks ago, we had tea with our landlady at our favorite place here in town. The Tea House offers a mouth-watering selection of homemade desserts, and we had been doing amazingly well until then – no cheating whatsoever (except for using baking powder once, which caused me painful stomach cramps). We sat down, placed our tea order, looked at each other… and ordered a piece of French lemon pie. We reasoned that we were curious to see if there would be any reaction, especially with Aliza, via my breastmilk. Up until that point she had always thrown up a ton when exposed to the many foods I had been tested as being sensitive to (cow dairy, wheat, corn, etc). Well, the good news is… no reaction from Aliza, and we felt mostly fine as well (we felt a little stiff and sore, and then came down with colds the next day, but we aren’t sure if that was coincidental. Sugar does weaken the immune system…).

To our great shame, that was the catalyst for a hard fall into cheating around every corner. We have continued to cheat and have eaten lots of non-GAPS foods, including some non-Real/Traditional foods. We have honestly been quite disappointed with ourselves. I do think that it’s possible that it would be ok for us to transition off of GAPS and onto a Traditional/Real Food diet at some point soon, but the way we did it was much too abrupt (and we should not be eating the processed/junk stuff at all). We were eating “mostly” GAPS still, especially at home, but cheating when we were out (we attempted to keep Isaac’s cheating very minimal because he struggled for so long with tummy issues).

It’s been a couple of weeks now (and I’ve been meaning to blog about this for a while now, but have not found time nor courage to admit my failure), and the cheating is really beginning to catch up with me, physically. I have really begun to feel run down, fatigued beyond reason, and achy all over. For the last couple of days I have felt nauseous, achy, exhausted, bloated and gassy, depressed, dizzy/woozy at times, and congested (but I don’t have a cold). I hadn’t realized just how crappy I had been feeling on a regular basis – because this is how I used to feel all the time, without really thinking anything of it. While I was on GAPS (after getting through die-off), I felt amazing. I had more energy than I remember having in a very long time, I felt no achiness whatsoever, and I felt happy and uplifted. While I was in university, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I do believe that my fibromyalgia was being healed, and that it is now “coming back” with all the cheating I’ve done. The difference in how I felt then, and how I feel now is astounding to me.

So. What to do?

We are swallowing our pride, and getting back into the game. We are back on the full GAPS diet (as of this morning), aiming to transition off to traditional whole foods in a month or two. That is where we are now. It’s not the GAPS update I would have liked to write, but that’s our reality right now. We’re not perfect, but we’re not giving up on ourselves, and our health!

Beth

Beth is the creator and editor here at Red & Honey, a lifestyle blog for the naturally-minded homemaker. She recently began a passionate love affair with coffee and her life will never be the same. She has had three babies in less than four years, is a professional laundry-avoider, and loves to stay up way too late making weird stuff from scratch that normal people tend to just buy in a store. Hence, the coffee.

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This post was originally published on March 25, 2010. I am recycling it today for your enjoyment, as it is so relevant to what I’m learning (still) in this season of life.

***

A while ago I stumbled across this article online, but for the life of me, cannot remember how or when. I think these were words that God intended for me to read in my mothering journey. They’ve certainly been like honey to my soul whenever I get restless and discontented in the midst of this precious season of mothering a little one.

“Carlo Carretto, one of the leading spiritual writers of the past half-century, lived for more than a dozen years as a hermit in the Sahara desert. Alone, with only the Blessed Sacrament for company, milking a goat for his food, and translating the Bible into the local Bedouin language, he prayed for long hours by himself. Returning to Italy one day to visit his mother, he came to a startling realization: His mother, who for more than thirty years of her life had been so busy raising a family that she scarcely ever had a private minute for herself, was more contemplative than he was.

Carretto, though, was careful to draw the right lesson from this. What this taught was not that there was anything wrong with what he had been doing in living as a hermit. The lesson was rather that there was something wonderfully right about what his mother had been doing all these years as she lived the interrupted life amidst the noise and incessant demands of small children. He had been in a monastery, but so had she.

What is a monastery? A monastery is not so much a place set apart for monks and nuns as it is a place set apart (period). It is also a place to learn the value of powerlessness and a place to learn that time is not ours, but God’s.”

I absolutely love this. I love thinking of my life, as mommy to my sweet little boy and a darling little girl on her way to meet us this summer, as a spiritual exercise in and of itself. It’s easy to get discouraged as the mother of young children, finding yourself at the end of the day having not spent “enough time” with the Lord, yet again, and falling exhausted onto the couch when he’s finally in bed, wanting to just spend time with your husband and go to bed. Instead of having that guilt trip laid on me by the evil one (who wants me to be unhappy and guilt-ridden), I can choose to use the mundane ins and outs of motherhood as an opportunity to commune with my Savior, and a lesson in relying on him as my guide moment by moment. My time is not my own, but ultimately His.

“The mother who stays home with small children experiences a very real withdrawal from the world. Her existence is definitely monastic. Her tasks and preoccupations remove her from the centres of power and social importance. And she feels it. Moreover her sustained contact with young children (the mildest of the mild) gives her a privileged opportunity to be in harmony with the mild, that is, to attune herself to the powerlessness rather than to the powerful.

Moreover, the demands of young children also provide her with what St. Bernard, one of the great architects of monasticism, called the “monastic bell”. All monasteries have a bell. Bernard, in writing his rules for monasticism, told his monks that whenever the monastic bell rang, they were to drop whatever they were doing and go immediately to the particular activity (prayer, meals, work, study, sleep) to which the bell was summoning them. He was adamant that they respond immediately, stating that if they were writing a letter they were to stop in mid-sentence when the bell rang. The idea in his mind was that when the bell called, it called you to the next task and you were to respond immediately, not because you want to, but because it’s time for that task and time isn’t your time, it’s God’s time. For him, the monastic bell was intended as a discipline to stretch the heart by always taking you beyond your own agenda to God’s agenda.”

When Isaac is fussing and insisting on being held, or getting into something I don’t want him in, just as I am making dinner, writing an email, or trying to relax for two seconds, or when he wants to play with the soapy water (bubboos!) I am using to scrub the floor… I can choose to seize the opportunity to die to self and become more Christ-like though selflessness and obedience.After all, it was Christ himself who have himself up to the cross for my sake. How little a sacrifice in comparison is it to drop what I am doing to tend to my children with love and patience. How little a sacrifice it is to meet their needs with compassion and understanding, though they may seem trivial or trite, just as my heavenly Father does for me day by day. 

“Hence, a mother raising children, perhaps in a more privileged way even than a professional contemplative, is forced, almost against her will, to constantly stretch her heart. For years, while raising children, her time is never her own, her own needs have to be kept in second place, and every time she turns around a hand is reaching out and demanding something. She hears the monastic bell many times during the day and she has to drop things in mid-sentence and respond, not because she wants to, but because it’s time for that activity and time isn’t her time, but God’s time.”

I pray that the Lord continues to stretch my heart in becoming more like Him. I thank him for the blessing of my family so that I can be “set apart” for Him. The rest of the article can be read by clicking on the link at the beginning of this post. It was so good I quoted a fair bit, but it is well worth reading in its entirety.

***

Published online at www.lifeissues.net. Written by Ronald Rolheiser,  a Roman Catholic priest, is the General Councillor for Canada for his order, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. He has offices in both Toronto and Rome. For most of the 26 years of his priesthood, he taught theology and philosophy at Newman Theological College in Edmonton, Alberta. He remains an adjunct faculty member at Seattle University. He has written many books, (won Catholic Book Award in 1996), is a regular columnist in a number of papers, and has articles published in Louvain Studies, Critic, America, Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Spirituality and in various other popular magazines.

Beth

Beth is the creator and editor here at Red & Honey, a lifestyle blog for the naturally-minded homemaker. She recently began a passionate love affair with coffee and her life will never be the same. She has had three babies in less than four years, is a professional laundry-avoider, and loves to stay up way too late making weird stuff from scratch that normal people tend to just buy in a store. Hence, the coffee.

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{This subject has been heavy on my heart for many months. Until now I haven’t been able to see the forest for the trees. Now that I feel I’m somewhat coming out on the other side, I am able to see a bit more clearly. It’s a big conversation – one that is not talked about as much as the cute little crafty ideas, or the nutritional info, or the eco-friendly stuff. It’s more threatening than a recipe – if not for you, then certainly for me. I’m being vulnerable, and transparent. That might come back to bite me… or maybe I’ll just be met with silence, wondering if everyone else is thinking about how they certainly do not identify in the slightest.

Or, perhaps this road is not as lonely as it may seem?}

…

There are things I blog about, and there are things I don’t. I’m sure everyone is the same way, blogger or not. There are things we talk about in polite conversation, and then there are things that are most often left unsaid.

This post is going to be about some of that ‘unsaid’ stuff.

Right now, I feel that I am not being the best version of myself as a wife and homemaker.

Sometimes (gulp – OFTENtimes?!)…

…I sit on the couch and waste time online, instead of taking care of household duties.
…I choose to have a poor attitude when my day doesn’t go exactly as I wanted, instead of choosing joy.
…I dump that bad attitude on my husband, instead of welcoming him into a peaceful haven after a long day of work/school.
…I lose my temper and raise my voice to my two-year-old, instead of responding with grace.
…I am mean mommy, instead of calm and kind mommy.
…I get overwhelmed and paralyzed with the many things on my to-do list and my desire for perfection (thinking that if I attain it I will be satisfied), instead of trusting that my best is good enough, and that my husband loves me, flaws and all.
…I blog about the good days only, instead of admitting my weaknesses. Or worse, I romanticize my weaknesses, instead of leaving them raw and unfiltered.
…I’m selfishly engrossed in myself, instead of how I can make my husband feel loved and appreciated, and my kids cared for and loved.

{I think it’s pretty obvious that I’m not perfect, and never will be. I know that. But right now I’m not even trying my best. I’m sinking in my own selfishness and sin.}

There are days when my husband walks in the door at suppertime, and I do not have supper ready (or even almost ready), the house is even more of a mess than when he left that morning, I’m grouchy, and the kids are fussing and misbehaving. In those times, I feel like a total failure at my job. So many people say “you should give yourself grace in this season of raising young kids… it’s important to take time for yourself, etc”. I wish someone would say, “Get off your butt and take care of your house and family. Work hard, honouring God in your day, not being lazy, having a joyful attitude, and greet that awesome man of yours with a hug and a serious kiss when he walks in the door! Your life is a blessing, so start acting like it!  And those days that you do try your best, and chaos still ensues… it’s not a reflection on your worth as a homemaker and mom”.

Thankfully, I feel like I’ve really rounded a corner in the last month or so – the days were *oh so heavy*, but I’m finally coming back. When we started GAPS in January, I was in a deep funk. I don’t want to say I was “depressed”, but there were lots of ‘heavy’ days. I just could not seem to get a handle on daily life – I was constantly feeling behind and inadequate as a homemaker. A combination of a little bit of extra work on our marriage, and a diet that allowed my moods to heal and come out of that funk, and I am now definitely on the upswing…

I’m reading a book right now called The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy, and “Women’s Work” (sent to me by a sweet friend whom I greatly admire) and the following really hit the nail on the head:

“The fact that none of us can rise so far in status as to remove ourselves from the daily, bodily nature of life on this earth is not usually considered a cause for celebration, but rather the opposite. The daily routines that provide a modicum of discipline in our lives are perceived as a drag, a monotony that can occasion listlessness, apathy, and despair.” (emphasis mine).

Norris (the author) goes on to say that (and this is a long quote, but worth getting through to the end!):

“The Bible is full of evidence that God’s attention is indeed fixed on the little things. But this is… simply because God loves us- loves us so much that the divine presence is revealed even in the meaningless workings of daily life. It is in the ordinary, the here-and-now, that God asks us to recognize that the creation is indeed refreshed like dew-laden grass that is ‘renewed in the morning’ (Ps 90:5), or to put it in more personal and also theological terms, ‘our inner nature is being renewed every day’ (2 Cor 4:16). Seen in this light, what strikes many modern readers as the ludicrous attention to detail in the book of leviticus, involving God in the minutiae of daily life- all the cooking and cleaning of a people’s domestic life- might be re-visioned as the very love of God. A God who cares so much as to desire to be present to us in everything we do… When it comes to the nitty-gritty, what ties these threads of biblical narrative together into a revelation of God’s love is that God has commanded us to refrain from grumbling about the dailiness of life. Instead we are meant to accept it gratefully, as a reality that humbles us even as it gives us cause for praise. The rhythm of sunrise and sunset marks a passage of time that makes each day rich with the possibility of salvation”

Beautiful. These words grip my heart in a fresh way, and present a strong challenge, and I hope I am up for it. “to accept it gratefully…”, indeed.

My desire, in my role at home (as home-maker – literally: making the home) is to be wholehearted (wholehearted: “undivided commitment or unreserved enthusiasm”). I have two new blog badges in my sidebar to remind me of this desire. Authenticity and wholeheartedness. Worthy goals that I’ll talk about more in Part Two and Part Three.

Watch for these follow-up posts coming soon…

Wholehearted Homemaking, Part Two: Identifying Hindrances
Wholehearted Homemaking, Part Three: Finding Your Rhythm

Edit: This post was mostly written several days ago. I think writing things out is good for a heavy-burdened soul, because I’ve felt more free in the last few days than ever before. God is teaching me things, dear friends. And I’m finally opening my heart to *hear* them. More to come in part two…

Beth

Beth is the creator and editor here at Red & Honey, a lifestyle blog for the naturally-minded homemaker. She recently began a passionate love affair with coffee and her life will never be the same. She has had three babies in less than four years, is a professional laundry-avoider, and loves to stay up way too late making weird stuff from scratch that normal people tend to just buy in a store. Hence, the coffee.

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There's been a lot of *this* around here lately... getting three of your first four teeth at once is *not* enjoyable... (and no, she's not crying about the taste of her food... she actually loves gnawing on stuff from our plates - this is chicken, green beans, and squash

Like many kids, I had braces in high school. It was such a horrible and painful experience – feeling like my teeth were slowly being ripped out of my mouth. Then there were the routine tightenings – oi, those hurt! Then as if that wasn’t enough, just before I began my last year of high school, I underwent major jaw surgery. They broke both jaws and repositioned them, using permanent titanium screws and plates to secure them. It was easily one of the hardest experiences of my life. I also had eight teeth pulled in preparation for the braces. So, needless to say, I know a thing or two about mouth/jaw/teeth pain.

Thus, when my babies are teething, I have sympathy. Heaps of it.

For the past several weeks, Ally has been enduring three teeth coming in all at once, and they are taking their sweet time to do so. Poor girl. I think we’re through the worst of it now – she’s (sorta) happy again… but man was (is) she ever in pain. And she was waking up a ton at night. She wasn’t a great sleeper before, and then it got worse. Thankfully the past few nights have actually been pretty fantastic (let’s hope it continues!).

In light of this recent (and current) experience, I thought I’d share a few things I’ve tried to help my little one with her teething pain (and things I avoid).

Things to Try

1. A pickle/carrot/apple slice, straight from the fridge (don’t use this one when baby has a top and bottom tooth because little pieces could be bitten off and become choking hazards). Aliza loves dill pickles and apple chunks.

2. Homeopathic medecines (gel, tablets, camilia, etc). The two most well-known makers of homeopathic teething meds are Boiron and Hyland’s. I haven’t been able to get my hands on any Hyland’s Teething Tablets, which I’d like to try. The Boiron Camilia is decent, but not always strong enough for the rough days, we’ve found. We’ve been trying the Hyland’s Gel (applied straight to the gums) but I won’t buy it again because I’ve discovered there are parabens in it.

3. Vanilla extract. The real stuff, not the imitation. Check your label. The tiny amount of alcohol (vanilla extract is made with vodka) provides a numbing relief. Just apply a tiny bit with your finger. This seems to work well with Aliza.

4. Cold/frozen cloth. You could dip it in chamomile tea and freeze it. Chamomile has calming effects. I have our tea-dipped-Ringley in the freezer right now, waiting for a fussy baby to wake from her nap and need it.

5. Sophie the giraffe. This toy, invented in France nearly 50 years ago, and is made from 100% rubber, with safe food-grade paint. Aliza loves gnawing on hers, and Isaac always brings it to her when she’s fussy – “she needs her Sophie!!”, he says, running to find it

6. Your finger. If in a bind, your finger is always accessible, easy to clean, and nice and soft to chew on. Plus then you can feel how many teeth are in, and far up they’ve come.

7. Wood. I have a couple of wooden teething toys for Aliza, and she enjoys chewing on them. Another natural material, wood is a worry-free option for gnawing and gumming. It’s also a little bit soft (depending on the type of wood), which is nice for baby. We prefer to use untreated and unpainted wood items.

8. Amber necklace. We had one of these gifted to us by friends who use one on their own babies. Some claim that they work wonders. I’ve had mixed results – it’s hard to measure and know for sure. In my friend’s words, “we’re not sure if it works, but we’re afraid to take it off!”. At the very least, it looks super-cute!

9. Herbal remedies – Clove oil, belladonna, chamomile, etc. There are all kinds of herbal remedies out there to treat inflammation and pain. Read up on herbal remedies if you want to go this route. There are tons of options. We’ve tried the clove oil very sparingly (it’s said to possibly cause tummy aches if overused), and it did seem to help, but we haven’t used it enough times to know for sure.

10. Prayer, and a hefty dose of patience. I’m guessing (hoping) that I’m not the only one who gets grouchy easily when the day goes less than smoothly. A baby that is super fussy and whiny due to teething, not sleeping well, etc. usually requires extra doses of patience, and lots of prayer sent up, for both baby and mama.

11. Change of scenery/distraction - Sometimes, the only thing that worked when we were all about to go crazy was to just get out of the house. Go for a walk, go for a play date, go to the library. Or invite someone over. Anything for a change of pace would usually work well for Aliza to forget a bit about the pain.

Things I Avoid

1. Tylenol (acetaminophen) – we have used this in the past, but are learning about the associated risks (liver and kidney damage, etc) of taking it, and are swiftly moving away from using it at all, especially for our children. (We also try to avoid other OTC’s like ibuprofen as well.)

2. Teething gels – most teething gels on the market contain benzocaine, a numbing agent. Most parents assume that these are safe, since they’re legally sold and marketed for babies. However, the FDA has recently stated: “Benzocaine products should not be used on children less than two years of age, except under the advice and supervision of a healthcare professional. Healthcare professionals and consumers are advised to consider the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendations for treating teething pain instead of using the benzocaine teething products”.

3. Joining the grouching – it’s probably pretty obvious to all of us, but sometimes it takes a real concerted effort to remain calm and not spiral into a pity party (I should say, I TRY to avoid this one, but don’t always succeed!).

4. Plastic teething toys – due to the many concerns with plastics, I’d rather avoid them altogether instead of finding out down the road that they’ve banned yet another ingredient in plastic toys that babies are sucking and chewing on all day long. Life Without Plastic says “You may wish to seriously consider your – and especially your children’s – use of plastics numbered 1, 3, 6 and 7 (polycarbonate), all of which have been shown to leach dangerous chemicals. This does not necessarily mean the others are completely safe, just that they have been studied less to date” (emphasis mine).

What do you use for teething? Any other natural remedies I haven’t listed here?

(linked up with Your Green Resource at SortaCrunchy)

Beth

Beth is the creator and editor here at Red & Honey, a lifestyle blog for the naturally-minded homemaker. She recently began a passionate love affair with coffee and her life will never be the same. She has had three babies in less than four years, is a professional laundry-avoider, and loves to stay up way too late making weird stuff from scratch that normal people tend to just buy in a store. Hence, the coffee.

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As our family tries to fight off some unwelcome common cold germs, we decided to stay home from church in order to rest and not infect our friends. It seems that the coughs and sniffles are worse at night, so we are all a little bushed from last night’s not-so-restful sleep. Isaac couldn’t stop coughing and his throat was so raw and sore that he cried and fussed in his sleep whenever he had a coughing fit. This woke Aliza, who in turn would have her own hacking cough – the kind that is from the tail end of a cold where the mucous is thick and throaty. Now this mama has a sore throat and congestion, which I am trying to ward off before it gets any worse. And the Honey? Well, it’s late morning, and he’s conked out on the couch as we speak…

Thankfully, I cooked up a bit of homemade all-natural cough and cold syrup last night, and it seemed to do the trick for Isaac. He slept much better the latter part of the night. This morning, as Aliza napped, we ate a late breakfast of homemade sausage and eggs (with homemade salsa on the side for mama), and tea. I pulled out the Winnie-the-Pooh boxed set that Chris had as a child, and he read aloud the first story. Isaac seemed distracted, but then would randomly ask questions that made us smile knowingly, realizing that he was taking in far more than we’d first thought. “What happened to the tree? Where’s the balloon? The bees say bzzzzz, daddy!”.

As Daddy read, Isaac and Mama enjoyed cups of tea, and my mind wandered as I gazed at the bouquet of fresh flowers that Chris had brought home to me last week. Some had begun to die, so I rescued the still-good ones and gave them a fresh drink of water in a new vase. Those flowers reminded me of our relationship – after a long while things when begin to wilt, with a little love and effort, new beauty is brought out and is somehow even more beautiful than before.

{Thankfulness Continued}

53* the way he looks at our son, with loving pride in his eyes
54* flowers that stay fresh a good long while
55* homemade medicinal cough syrup
56* the humble onion
57* big boy underwear
58* longer stretches of sleep
59* homemade salsa, extra cilantro
60* the way they play together, big brother, little sister
61* a knife sharpener
62* dreams and talks of the future
63* one day at a time
64* the sunset over the prairies, majestically displayed in our living room every evening
65* sheepskin in her bed
66* summer plans – picnics! day trips! camping! sunshine!
67* prayer. remembering to pray
68* the tea house
69* a hot whirlpool bath
70* reading aloud on a sick day
71* my best friend’s new baby born just days ago
72* the gift of technology so we can see photos from far away
73* his two-year-old enthusiasm and energy
74* easy potty training

You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me. {C.S. Lewis}

Beth

Beth is the creator and editor here at Red & Honey, a lifestyle blog for the naturally-minded homemaker. She recently began a passionate love affair with coffee and her life will never be the same. She has had three babies in less than four years, is a professional laundry-avoider, and loves to stay up way too late making weird stuff from scratch that normal people tend to just buy in a store. Hence, the coffee.

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My current reads. I often have several books on the go, on a bunch of subjects. These are some interesting ones for sure!

1. Recently I switched my email address (it was getting annoying to spell out a billion times to people who wanted it for whatever reason). It’s now the boring, unexciting, unoriginal “firstname-middleinitial-lastname” at gmail address… and it’s sadly uninspiring. But it’s easier to spell. Sort of. Anyway… the point of all this is to say that when I transferred all of my stuff to my new account (which I thought would be oh so helpful), ALL of the emails in my archives (and perhaps all that were deleted too) were placed in my inbox as unread messages. And since I HAVE to have a clean inbox, this is super annoying. I started out with over 2600, and am now down to 1290. On the plus side, it’s been sort of a fun little trip back in time to see some of my emails from 3-4 years ago. {Like the one about the socks…}

2. Hubby brought me flowers the other day. He really is a good man, and I need to tell him that more often.

3. If you haven’t already noticed, there’s a new page on my blog called “GAPS Diet”. I’ve linked a whole ton of info on the GAPS Diet, as well as my posts and photos on flickr (to which I added a bunch of new photos a few weeks ago).

4. There’s a new show on TV called “Mobbed”, which I haven’t yet seen, but am thinking that I want to. It’s all about flash mobs, which make my heart happy. I like to imagine myself in one someday, with all my mad dance skills. {Ahem, in the interest of full disclosure, I feel that I need to confess: that the word “skills” *may* have been a slight exaggeration}.

5. We have a good supply of eggs again. Isaac’s Sunday School teacher’s daughter has a farm just outside of town, and she sells gorgeous (and huge) eggs with bright orange yolks (that means that they are more nutritious because they run around eating dirt and bugs like chickens are meant to do). In the winter they don’t lay well with limited sunshine, so supply was limited. Now we can get them whenever we want. We go through about 4-5 dozen per week!

6. We just made a budget… and are hoping to stick to it. This is an area of huge weakness for us – not necessarily overspending (though that too), but just keeping track of things, and knowing what to spend and when. Anyone else terrible at this stuff? Or is it just me?

7. I accidentally bought crunchy peanut butter last time I got groceries. I LOVE it. I now eat peanut butter out of the jar as a snack. High protein, healthy fats. It’s a win-win.

Beth

Beth is the creator and editor here at Red & Honey, a lifestyle blog for the naturally-minded homemaker. She recently began a passionate love affair with coffee and her life will never be the same. She has had three babies in less than four years, is a professional laundry-avoider, and loves to stay up way too late making weird stuff from scratch that normal people tend to just buy in a store. Hence, the coffee.

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the obligatory "i-can't-blog-without-a-photo" photo.

Since I always seem to have approximately 31 tabs open on my browser at any one time, I thought that perhaps I should share some of my favourite reads lately so I can stop annoying my husband with my web-browser maintenance habits.

Here, in no particular order, are my favourite reads around bloggingville as of late:

On Being Tired :: Conversion Diary {This resonated with me. Oh yes, indeed.}

“I thought about how counterintuitive it is to say, “Hey, kids, I’m really freaking tired all the time because of the duties of my vocation, and I pray that in twenty or so years this will be your life, too!” I can see why so many of the Baby Boomers and their parents adopted the mentality that the best life you could give your kids is one of physical ease and personal freedom to do whatever you feel like doing — after all, that’s a whole lot more comfortable.”

Why Waiting is Sometimes Best :: Handmade Recess

“Maybe you are a newly married girl or a newly single girl or just out of college and you are looking around at all the people who are settled and have accumulated lots of stuff. Maybe you are a married woman with lots of life under your belt. Maybe you rent. Maybe you own. Maybe your husband is in ministry. Maybe you both work and just barely scrape by. Maybe you know a big change is coming and you feel paralyzed.”

Parenting: It All Starts With Your View of God :: I Take Joy

“How do you see your children? What informs your mind when you look upon their sweet faces? Do you see them through the eyes of Jesus? Do you focus on them as someone to police or correct–or someone to love and serve, understand, protect, love and instruct?”

Fevers: Good or Bad? :: Modern Alternative Mama

“Think of it this way: when some bad bacteria or virus has invaded the body, it has done so because the body provided it hospitable conditions. The body instinctively knows that a higher temperature will create an inhospitable environment and kill the nasty, invading bug. So, it reacts by spiking a fever in order to create that condition.”

Catalog Living :: {This is a new blog I’ve recently begun to read regularly. It is HILARIOUS. If you don’t find it funny, I’m not sure we can be friends. This combines two of my most favourite things – poking fun at consumerism/big companies/advertisements, and sarcastic/dry humour. They are all *real* ads in home decor magazines. Go forth, read, and try not to giggle out loud. I dare you.}

Beth

Beth is the creator and editor here at Red & Honey, a lifestyle blog for the naturally-minded homemaker. She recently began a passionate love affair with coffee and her life will never be the same. She has had three babies in less than four years, is a professional laundry-avoider, and loves to stay up way too late making weird stuff from scratch that normal people tend to just buy in a store. Hence, the coffee.

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I busted out my inner crafting genius today.

{I knew she was in there somewhere.}

{Confession – these were actually ridiculously easy. But I felt super-crafty nonetheless.}

Step One: Buy an old wool sweater from the thrift store.

Step Two: Cut the sleeves off.

Step Three: Place them side by side. Cut halfway(ish) down the seam on the inside of each sleeve.

Step Four: Sew them together, pants-style.

Step Five: Sew a roomy section at the top and thread a piece of 3/4″ elastic through it. Sew shut.

Step Six: Find a ridiculously adorable baby to model. Take pictures. Feel uber-crafty.

A tutorial for these can be found HERE.

Beth

Beth is the creator and editor here at Red & Honey, a lifestyle blog for the naturally-minded homemaker. She recently began a passionate love affair with coffee and her life will never be the same. She has had three babies in less than four years, is a professional laundry-avoider, and loves to stay up way too late making weird stuff from scratch that normal people tend to just buy in a store. Hence, the coffee.

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Every year on March 21st, World Down Syndrome Day is observed. My friend, Krista, who blogs at One Beautiful Life, has a darling little girl named Ella, who has Down Syndrome. Krista considers herself an advocate for Down Syndrome Awareness, for children here and around the world. She also promotes awareness of a special organization called Reece’s Rainbow, which is dedicated to saving children overseas with Down Syndrome, though adoption. You can’t help but be moved to compassion (and hopefully action) when you visit their website.

In honor of Down Syndrome Awareness Day, and to help raise money towards little Bennett’s rescue, she is doing an awesome giveaway on her blog.

CLICK HERE to go to her blog to enter!

(First prize is a $100 itunes gift card, and there are several other awesome prizes too!). This blog post is one of my entries, but I don’t mind lessening my chances by spreading the word to (hopefully) tons more people!

Beth

Beth is the creator and editor here at Red & Honey, a lifestyle blog for the naturally-minded homemaker. She recently began a passionate love affair with coffee and her life will never be the same. She has had three babies in less than four years, is a professional laundry-avoider, and loves to stay up way too late making weird stuff from scratch that normal people tend to just buy in a store. Hence, the coffee.

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I think I am fighting off some kind of bug – a cold or something of the sort. I am bound and determined to not let it overcome me, so the little sore throat, sneezing, and minor fatigue have been duly warned – their presence is NOT welcomed. I am doing my thing, using some natural remedies and immune system boosters, and hoping I’ll feel back to 100% by tomorrow, without letting it get full-blown.

Meanwhile, I am refusing to throw myself a pity party, on the grounds that I *will* be fine by tomorrow, and spring really truly will eventually come. For despite the softly falling white stuff that I see right now, this is apparently the first day of spring.

And yet.

In my morning prayers every day there is this:

O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you,
as the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Thus, I take this as a good opportunity to record the latest blessings in my life…

35* when i pick up my baby to snuggle, and her head bears her daddy’s scent.

36* books, and the ability to read.

37* a clean kitchen.

38* morning, midday, and evening prayers.

39* an outing to the city with a friend, in between feeding times for the little one.

40* sleeping in until 8:30am.

41* when others encourage us in their generosity.

42* that He is so gentle with me, in teaching and molding me into the mama He made me to be.

43* that I mess up, and have the opportunity to know that I am not sufficient.

44* but that He is.

45* for crafty ambitions, and a creative soul.

46* unexpected hugs {I love hugs}.

47* a sense of productivity after cleaning out the pantry.

48* passion {what would life be like without passion?}.

49* adventures in the kitchen. new recipes that end up turning out fantastically.

50* feeling beautiful in a new dress.

51* parmigiano reggiano. freshly shaved bits in my salad. yum.

52* that I don’t have all the answers, but that I serve the one who does.

Beth

Beth is the creator and editor here at Red & Honey, a lifestyle blog for the naturally-minded homemaker. She recently began a passionate love affair with coffee and her life will never be the same. She has had three babies in less than four years, is a professional laundry-avoider, and loves to stay up way too late making weird stuff from scratch that normal people tend to just buy in a store. Hence, the coffee.

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My handsome little man, with a fresh haircut (holding his favourite toys - Thomas and Duncan, the trains

The little man turned two and a half yesterday.

He entered this latter half of his twos with a fresh new haircut, compliments of Miss Christie (a friend of mine here in town who is a hairdresser). The short hair makes him look all so grown up, don’t you think? (sniff, sniff!)

I just love that kid. Seriously, I’m smitten. I just wish someone would have warned me how quickly they grow, how quickly they stop being “your baby” (actually I’m pretty sure “they” did, way back when, but in my sleepless stupor I’m not sure I believed them). He still lets me hug and kiss him and cuddle him from time to time, but he is now very decidedly a “big boy!” with strong opinions and thoughts all his own. This kid keeps me laughing every single day. Love, love, love him!

Then there’s the little miss.

She turned eight months old on the weekend.

Except for her apparent allergy to sleeping through the night, this little girl is pretty much perfect . She got her first tooth a few weeks ago, she’s (finally) showing interest in eating solids, and she babbles like nobody’s business. I’m pretty sure she’s going to be very verbal, like her brother. I love hearing her little voice as she expresses herself:

bahbahbahdadadadadadmehmahbahdehdeh! (read with much gusto and feeling and a variety of facial expressions)

…is what it usually sounds like.

I so love her. Love, love, love!

Sometimes… I look at them and I can hardly breathe. Hardly believe they’re mine.

Two precious souls to teach about food and family, jazz music, and art. Sports on TV, and trees and flowers. Domesticity and jobs. How a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. Allowance, spending, saving, tithing, giving. Arguing and reconciling. Dying to self, living for Christ. Traditions and hopes, the world and it’s problems. The Light of the World, and His saving grace. How to love well. How to live.

All of this by His grace, with His breath, by His will.

“Blessed” doesn’t really even come close to describing it…

Beth

Beth is the creator and editor here at Red & Honey, a lifestyle blog for the naturally-minded homemaker. She recently began a passionate love affair with coffee and her life will never be the same. She has had three babies in less than four years, is a professional laundry-avoider, and loves to stay up way too late making weird stuff from scratch that normal people tend to just buy in a store. Hence, the coffee.

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One of the biggest challenges to doing the GAPS Diet is when you need to be away from home for an extended time.

{of course, any road trip is made infinitely better with a sexy italian in the driver's seat...}

It is sometimes difficult to explain the complexities of the diet (such as “the only oils we can use right now are homemade ghee, coconut oil, olive oil, or pastured animal fats that we render ourselves…”). It’s also very difficult to go to restaurants (although we managed it once or twice, it’s not really all that enjoyable, because we can’t eat most of what they use to make the food taste good).

Thus, when we decided to all go as a family to MissionFest Edmonton (2.5 hours away), as part of our job representing AIM for Alberta, we knew it would require lots of planning and effort if we wanted to stay on the diet while we traveled.

So, we began planning several weeks in advance. I came up with a meal plan, we bought a $20 hot plate, and we started cooking. We cooked most things in advance and froze them (and then used the frozen stuff to keep everything else cold in our cooler). Here is the meal plan that we followed:

Thursday

Leave at naptime (kids sleep in the van). Roll into the city at supper time.
Supper – RESTAURANT (steak and steamed veggies, plain, at a steakhouse)

Our “kitchen” (aka: the bathroom). Heating up spaghetti for lunch.

Friday  

Breakfast – eggs, fruit, sausages (fried/scrambled eggs in our homemade ghee, and our pre-made honey-garlic sausage patties to fry up).

Lunch – spaghetti & salad (spaghetti squash pre-baked and “shredded” at home, the grass-fed organic ground beef/onions/spices for the spaghetti sauce had been fried together at home, then we added the organic jarred tomato sauce that we buy at Save-On – the only sauce we’ve found with no sugars, bad oils, preservatives, etc. Plus it’s in a glass jar, so no BPA! Our favourite salad consists of mixed greens and baby spinach, additive/oil-free raisins, and soaked and dehydrated sunflower seeds. Topped with our homemade creamy italian salad dressing, which has lots of crushed raw garlic – an amazing health booster!).

Supper -  chicken, acorn squash, peas (we had marinated and baked boneless skinless chicken breasts in our homemade salad dressing, then cut into strips, and froze. Served with mashed acorn squash, which had been cooked at home and mixed with ghee, salt and pepper, as well as some frozen peas that steamed up nicely with everything being heated all in one pot. Easy! I am in love with acorn squash, by the way – it has a lovely sweet buttery flavour to it, and I think I love it at least as much as mashed potatoes.)

 

Saturday

 

Preparing our salad one night... we had pre-portioned it out in ziplocs, with the raisins and sunflower seeds, so all we had to do was add the dressing, and serve. {Please excuse the dorky expression }

Breakfast – eggs, fruit, sausages (same as yesterday).
Lunch – RESTAURANT (I think we had steak and plain steamed veggies again… that’s pretty well all we could order from the entire menu).
Supper – cowboy stew & chopped chicken salad (we all LOVE cowboy stew, which is a recipe from the GAPS cookbook I ordered that includes beef stock, tomatoes, ground beef, zucchini, peppers, and a chili powder and cumin kind of flavouring, cilantro optional. We paired it with our favourite salad and included some chopped chicken breast on top for extra oomph – the same chicken that we’d eaten the night before for supper – we’d made extra).

Sunday

Breakfast – eggs, fruit, sausages (same as yesterday).
Lunch – butternut squash soup & chopped chicken salad (I made up a seriously yummy recipe for butternut squash soup, which we had made ahead and frozen in large canning jars. They were nicely defrosted by Sunday, at which point we had to add some hotel ice to keep the cooler cold!)
Supper – spaghetti & salad (same as Friday’s lunch)

Monday
Breakfast – eggs, fruit, sausages (same as yesterday, except that sadly, we had accidentally left out the container of the last sausages, so had to throw them out).
Lunch – RESTAURANT (I don’t remember exactly what we had… but I’m pretty sure it was steak and veggies for a third time. I much preferred our hotel ‘bathroom meals’ over the boring plain steak and plain veggies!)

Drive home, arrive by suppertime!

the "food etc. suitcase" - it held all of our cooking supplies.

 

 

SNACKS:
granola (GAPS-legal: made from nuts, seeds, and raisins), fruit, raisins, homemade nut flour crackers, raw carrots sticks, boiled eggs, homemade beef jerky, herbal tea (plus vitamin D, cod liver oil, and probiotics every day).

SUPPLIES TO BRING
- electric hotplate
- 3 plates, 3 soup bowls, 3 salad bowls, one set of cutlery each, 3 stainless steel cups
- blue water bottle, travel mug
- cloth napkins, dishcloths, dishtowels, dishpan, dish soap, garbage bag
- frying pan (I have to be content with my teflon pan for now… perhaps one day I’ll have one of these), stainless steel saucepan
- flipper, ladle, serving spoon, sharp knife, small mixing bowl
- portable high chair, bibs

Overall, the level of difficulty in cooking (almost) all of our own meals in a little hotel room for 3.5 days was not nearly as high as I’d expected. With all of the preparation we’d done ahead of time, it was quite simple – take out a jar of soup, heat, serve. It would be challenging to travel for any longer periods, as you’d run out of the stuff you’d prepared at home. It would still be possible  to do longer, with access to a grocery store, although I don’t think I’d ideally want to travel on GAPS for more than 3-4 days, maybe a week max. It was quite an adventure, and actually served to demonstrate that if we could pull this off, we can certainly overcome the diet’s challenges on a daily basis (and we are! yay us! ).

PS: The reason we used the bathroom as our kitchen was because Chris was nervous about setting the smoke alarms off and getting in trouble for using a hot plate in the hotel… the bathroom didn’t have any smoke alarms in it, so that’s where we prepared our meals. One time when he was returning from the booth to the hotel room for lunch which I had been getting ready, he said he could smell it (spaghetti sauce) cooking when he got off the elevator on our floor! We “hid” the evidence whenever we left the room for the day, and thankfully didn’t get into any trouble! I still don’t know if they would have minded or not, but I’m happy to be blissfully unaware .

{This post is linked to Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist}

Beth

Beth is the creator and editor here at Red & Honey, a lifestyle blog for the naturally-minded homemaker. She recently began a passionate love affair with coffee and her life will never be the same. She has had three babies in less than four years, is a professional laundry-avoider, and loves to stay up way too late making weird stuff from scratch that normal people tend to just buy in a store. Hence, the coffee.

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1. Gardening. I’m feeling a mixture of excitement and fear and trembling on this issue. I have zero gardening skills to speak of (I am a houseplant killer. I have good intentions, but basically if a houseplant comes to live in my house, it’s not getting out alive). I have lots of friends with green thumbs, however, so I shall endlessly hound them for advice and pray for the best. I’m going to plant lots, because I’m usually a “go big or go home” kind of person in these types of things.

2. I’ve been realizing just how much time I spend on the computer on a daily basis. It is a huge time-waster for me, and I think that fasting from both TV and the computer on Sundays for Lent will show me just how much I can get done when I don’t have those things distracting me. The things I do/read on the internet aren’t bad in and of themselves, but whatever I value over and above God is an idol. The Holy Spirit has been pricking my conscience on this as of late, and I need to listen and take action so as not to hinder my relationship with God.

3. I think I’m going a little overboard in the GAPS-legal treats department. Right now in my kitchen there are: chocolate coconut macaroons, sesame snap candies, fruit and nut power bars, and banana bread… not to mention tons of fruit. All GAPS-legal, but meant to be OCCASIONAL treats… not hourly ones

4. My honey went to Red Deer yesterday for some “recharging alone time” to see a movie. When he asked me about it initially, I had a bad attitude (probably because I was a wee bit jealous of the idea). But I gave myself a good talking to, and changed my tune. He went with my full blessing, and returned in a great mood.

5. The quiet of nap time is euphoric. I love my kids… but oh man – nap time is such a good time of day. Silence really is golden, when you have a 2.5-year-old (and an 8-month-old who’s beginning to find her voice!).

6. Speaking of that cute little 2.5-year-old… he’s really getting into that stage where he says the “darndest things”. It’s sometimes quite hilarious (like when he informed me that he likes my head…). And then sometimes it’s absolute sweetness itself. Yesterday I said to Isaac, “Isaac, you are just delightful!” (I meant it sincerely, not sarcastically). He put his head on my shoulder and said “I love you Mommy!”. Yeah, say it with me… “awwwww”

7. I need to know what to write about regarding our GAPS journey – it seems lots of people are interested, so I want to know – what are your questions? Comment with any GAPS-related questions you have, and I may use the question as a blog post.

Beth

Beth is the creator and editor here at Red & Honey, a lifestyle blog for the naturally-minded homemaker. She recently began a passionate love affair with coffee and her life will never be the same. She has had three babies in less than four years, is a professional laundry-avoider, and loves to stay up way too late making weird stuff from scratch that normal people tend to just buy in a store. Hence, the coffee.

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I grew up as a Baptist. I had hardly even heard of Lent until a few years ago, when a friend announced on facebook his intent to “fast from chocolate for lent”. The Catholic church has a pretty good handle on observing Lent, but sadly, many Protestant denominations do not. Too many Protestant Christians are more or less ignorant about the Christian calendar, to their great loss.

My own understanding of Lent has come a long way since that initial introduction. It’s not simply about giving up something you enjoy for 40 days, though it might include that. It’s not even solely about self-sacrifice so that we can begin to identify with Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. And it’s certainly not only about measuring our level of self-control and congratulating ourselves at the end. Those things can be good, but Lent is more than that.

Ann Voskamp describes Lent in her ever-eloquent way, saying, “Lent. It’s the preparing the heart for Easter. Like going with Jesus into the wilderness for forty days, that we might come face to ugly face with our enemy. Our sacrificing that we might become more like Christ in His sacrifice. Lent isn’t about forfeiting as much as it’s about formation. We renounce to be reborn; we let go to become ‘little Christs’. It’s about this: we break away to become… Don’t think of Lent as working your way to salvation. Think of it as working out your salvation.”

It seems, if we’re not careful, Lent can become a personal “see what I can do” contest, so that we can pat ourselves on the back when it’s done, heave a sigh of relief that we are indeed “holy/christian/self-controlled/good/pious” enough, and then gorge ourselves on chocolate/TV/facebook/coffee/etc. or whatever we decided to give up.

I don’t just want to learn a bit of self-control.

(the GAPS Diet has been giving me lots of much-needed help in that area)

I want Lent to sear my conscience into remission. I want to empty myself of the habits, actions, attitudes, and mindsets that are not of Christ, so that He can in turn fill me with His love, patience, and joy.

My plan is three-fold: GIVING UP, TAKING UP, and BUILDING UP. For this Lenten season, I will be:

Giving Up: my own access to my facebook account (I can still get Chris to log me in – he is changing my password), screen time (computer and TV) on Sundays.
Taking Up: random selfless acts of kindness and love to others (at least 10).
Building Up: daily morning, midday, and evening prayers following this website.

I will not achieve my goals perfectly.

But… I will bask in grace. In my insufficiency, I will find Him sufficient. And in this, I think, the real purpose of Lent is found.

This is my Lenten goal this Easter season.

Jen @ Conversion Diary asks her readers to share their plans for Lent, but clarifies: “I know that some people don’t like discussing this publicly, since it can sometimes degenerate into a one-upsmanship contest in which the final commenter triumphs with her announcement that she shall retire to a cave and read Scripture 23 hours a day and eat nothing but beetles and wild grass while wearing a hair shirt throughout the entirety of Lent, but I ask only in the spirit of sharing inspiration.”

Ditto to that for me Care to share?

Beth

Beth is the creator and editor here at Red & Honey, a lifestyle blog for the naturally-minded homemaker. She recently began a passionate love affair with coffee and her life will never be the same. She has had three babies in less than four years, is a professional laundry-avoider, and loves to stay up way too late making weird stuff from scratch that normal people tend to just buy in a store. Hence, the coffee.

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a typical breakfast in our house these days... scrambled eggs, homemade honey-garlic sausage patties, and fruit.

It seems that everyone (and their mother) has been asking me about how the diet is going. It’s actually been quite interesting having conversations with so many people who are interested in the concepts of the GAPS Diet, and who are more and more convinced that diet and health are intricately connected. I’ve had quite a number of people express interest in doing the diet, or seeing the need for it in a loved one’s life. I am convinced that most people I know would greatly benefit from doing the GAPS Diet themselves. I hope that my documentation of our family’s journey on the diet will show you that if we can do it, anyone else can too!

Changes in our Health

It has been quite an interesting month. For the first time in my life, I’ve begun to be regular.

Yeah, you know what I mean.

(I just thought I may as well put that out there – this blogger cannot be shy about these things, especially while journeying through the GAPS Diet. What’s the point? Everyone poops and pees, but no one wants to talk about it.)

Chris has noticed much improvement in this area as well, but we’re still very much in the beginning of our healing. As for our poor little guy – his chronic diarrhea has come and gone, and as of now has not yet permanently gone. It doesn’t help that on a couple of occasions, while in the children’s programs at church/MissionFest, he has been given a cracker or cookie, which has caused several days worth of diarrhea 3-4x/day, each time. It was my fault for not making it clear enough to the childcare workers (at our church), except in one case (MF) where I wrote it in big underlined letters on the registration form, and even provided a snack for him, and they STILL gave him a cookie. It’s a good thing it wasn’t an anaphylactic allergy, because I don’t think they even checked the forms before giving a snack… not good.

I have noticed some improvement in my energy levels, although it’s difficult to really tell when I’m already sleep-deprived from having a baby that doesn’t sleep all that well. I do, however feel a significant difference in my mood and “mental energy”. Pre-diet, I felt “blah” all the time, and often felt sad/down/angry/moody for no good reason that I could tell. I couldn’t figure myself out, or how to change it. Around a week or so into the diet, I began to notice a marked difference – I have noticed less moodiness/mood swings (in all of us, actually), and I feel more motivated and energetic to get things done around the house instead of sitting around on the computer or whatever. Though it may sound cliché, I am also a happier person in general – I feel lighter and more like myself, without a downer mood hanging around my neck. I am loving this result, and think it would be worth the effort, just for this.

jars of homemade bone broth, cooling on the counter before making their home in the fridge or freezer.

Isaac’s behavior has also seen a drastic improvement. Pre-diet, screaming tantrums and meltdowns were a daily (sometimes hourly or more) occurrence. Now, I actually can’t remember the last time he had one. Of course, he is still two, and testing the limits/learning obedience/finding his individuality are all still parts of his day to day, which still sometimes causes some friction… but honestly, he’s a different kid now. It’s been a joy watching his sweet and (usually) obedient spirit return to the forefront. (As a side note, we watched his behavior go haywire on a couple of occasions… which were the times he had accidentally ingested something with grains/sugars/preservatives/food dyes. Confirmation for what we already believed!).

Prior to beginning the diet, Aliza was throwing up multiple times a day, sometimes projectile vomiting that would cover her and me in copious amounts of “spit-up”. She would sometimes require multiple outfit changes, even in just an hour. A couple of days into the diet, and her throwing up ceased completely. We’ve now been puke-free for a month, and counting! Her sleep has also seen some improvement. Nighttime is still hit and miss (she’s getting her first two teeth at once right now), but naptimes have become pretty good. She usually naps in her bed for over 2 hours in the afternoon, plus her morning nap.

As for eliminating our food allergies, we’ve already seen success with some already. I’ve successfully reintroduced tomatoes into my diet with no reaction, and Chris has added a few things successfully in that he was sensitive to as well. We’ll be trying to introduce some dairy (butter, homemade yogurt, some cheeses) in a few weeks, starting with butter, and hopefully our dairy sensitivities will have been healed.

Changes in the Kitchen

I’ve started to get into the groove of cooking GAPS-style. Keeping on top of making sure there is always bone broth available (to drink, to use in cooking, and to make soups), making pretty much everything from scratch (ghee, nut/coconut flours, condiments, coconut milk, salad dressings, etc), and the endless chopping of vegetables has kept me plenty busy.

the usual state of my kitchen counters... covered in veggie peelings, etc...

I’ve also enjoyed the challenge of finding a few treats that can satisfy the occasional desire for sweets. Last night I ate several peanut butter brownies with chocolate frosting, topped with bananas and strawberries… all entirely GAPS-legal. Interestingly enough, however, our cravings for sweets have greatly lessened. I can now think about chocolate chip cookies without salivating or feeling compelled to go make some and eat half the batch. I think they’d be a great treat (if I make them with healthy ingredients, after we’re done the diet), but I no longer crave them (or anything else, really) so intensely. (OK, maybe sushi… but that’s another category altogether ).

One of the common complaints of those with damaged gut flora (which is mostly everyone in North America, although they don’t know it) that often finds improvement through this diet is picky eating, especially in children. We were hoping to see improvement in this area for Isaac, as well as for Chris. In the last couple of weeks, Isaac has begun to regularly enjoy several things that he used to refuse, including butternut squash soup, huge amounts of green salad, cooked peas, cooked green beans, squash, veggie soup, broccoli, soup with pretty well anything in it, etc. He often now eats almost everything put in front of him, which never would have happened before.Chris has also been acquiring the taste of lots of new foods(and even enjoying them), such as cauliflower, veggie soup, butternut squash soup, tomato soup, broccoli, beans, peas, carrots, salad, zucchini… etc. I was not a fussy eater before, and I’ll still eat just about anything

Peanut butter brownies with decadent chocolate icing, garnished with fresh sliced strawberries and bananas, enjoyed with a cup of loose-leaf mint tea. Who says food-lovers can't do GAPS?!

Conclusion

The overall consensus is that we are feeling great, and encouraged by our results so far. There is definitely still a ways to go in our healing (especially for Isaac), so we are continuing onward and upward. Chris still struggles with cravings for Coke, and I am still occasionally craving things like homemade bread. Once we’re off the diet, we will be able to enjoy homemade sourdough/soaked/sprouted bread from time to time, but Chris will need to find a replacement for his Coke addiction. I am looking into water kefir, but am not yet sure if it’s GAPS-legal.

The big question these days is how long we will be on the diet. The answer is… we don’t know. We are figuring we need to be off of it by August at the latest, because we’ll be travelling halfway across the country for Chris’s sister’s wedding, and staying with family for several weeks. The author (Dr. N. Campbell-McBride) does say that the diet can take up to 2 years to complete, especially when you are trying to heal some of the more serious things like schizophrenia, or celiac disease, or autism (which we’re not). I’m hopeful that we can be finished with it by summertime, but we could always go back on it when we return home in September, if necessary. Time will tell!

(The official one month mark of our GAPS journey was February 24, which was last Thursday, the day we left for our weekend away at MissionFest Edmonton, representing AIM. Thus, this long-overdue GAPS update is just a little late, but better late than never, right?)

*This post is linked to Fight Back Fridays at Food Renegade.

Beth

Beth is the creator and editor here at Red & Honey, a lifestyle blog for the naturally-minded homemaker. She recently began a passionate love affair with coffee and her life will never be the same. She has had three babies in less than four years, is a professional laundry-avoider, and loves to stay up way too late making weird stuff from scratch that normal people tend to just buy in a store. Hence, the coffee.

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Sometimes, you have to look a little harder to see the gift in certain situations.

28* being at odds with the one I love. a marriage in a valley. the opportunity to gaze up and begin the long and arduous trek up to the mountaintop, marvelling at that from which we’ve been saved.

29* a strong man of God who, when unable to find peace with his wife, pulls his Bible down from the shelf, and humbles himself through the reading of scripture to her. their hearts are bound together again.

30* a toddler with a strong will that makes me go absolutely crazy with frustration. the reality that those same eyes that spark with mischief are also alight with passion and love energy. an inspiration.

31* the precious opportunity to pray for my children, that God would use us to mold them for His glory.

32* a daughter who interrupts my sleep more often than I’d like, with a healthy appetite, and a voice that I hope she uses well one day.

33* for a lack of financial security, a daily leaning on Him for my needs. an opportunity to truly learn what it means to trust Him.

34* a restrictive diet, and a chance to practice self-control. allowing my dependence on Him to satisfy me, instead of things or food.

Beth

Beth is the creator and editor here at Red & Honey, a lifestyle blog for the naturally-minded homemaker. She recently began a passionate love affair with coffee and her life will never be the same. She has had three babies in less than four years, is a professional laundry-avoider, and loves to stay up way too late making weird stuff from scratch that normal people tend to just buy in a store. Hence, the coffee.

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I’m finding it difficult to find the time to write a full “update on how it’s going” post with regard to our journey on the GAPS Diet (though I’ll be doing one in the next few days as we come up to the one-month mark). I do, however, love having my trusty little Nikon D60 close at hand so that I can snap shot or two of whatever it is I’m doing in the kitchen, or whatever strikes me as significant to our experience.

Therefore, I invite you to follow along as I document our GAPS journey in photos.

And once I figure out how, I’m going to add a flickr widget to my sidebar. And perhaps a tab at the top. Stay tuned for techie greatness coming to a blog near you

PS – If you click on the above link and go to my GAPS flickr set, you can then click on “redandhoney” at the top left in order to see my “photostream”, which will show you the photos with their captions.

Beth

Beth is the creator and editor here at Red & Honey, a lifestyle blog for the naturally-minded homemaker. She recently began a passionate love affair with coffee and her life will never be the same. She has had three babies in less than four years, is a professional laundry-avoider, and loves to stay up way too late making weird stuff from scratch that normal people tend to just buy in a store. Hence, the coffee.

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1. We survived our 7 days apart while Honey was on Winter Survival Training last week. He slept in the snow, I stayed with the kids… he’s not sure who had the more difficult job. Regardless, we both survived, and probably grew in our character and perseverance and all that good stuff. Seriously, the Lord really took care of me with lots of offers to help/playdates/dinner invites, etc. throughout the week. It was good… in the “this is really hard, but I’m probably learning all kinds of good lessons from it” kind of way.

2. We plod along doing GAPS. We’re going to MissionFest next weekend, and staying in a hotel. We’re bringing a cooler of food, a hot plate burner, and hoping to stay completely within the diet while there. We’ll be away Thursday – Monday. Let the creative meal planning begin!

3. We’re loving the public library lately. It may be a small-town library the size of the circulation desk of our old big-city library…  but there are enough children’s books to keep Isaac busy for hours upon end, and a decent selection of other stuff for the grown-ups too. Plus you can order stuff in from libraries all over AB, for no charge. Love it! Our latest library favorite: The Little Blue Truck.

It’s an adorable story with a lesson about helping others in need, and being kind. It has charming rhyming and beautiful illustrations, and Isaac loves it!

4. Ally is still not eating any solids. Yes, we’ve offered them. She’s just not interested at all… in fact if I manage to sneak the tiniest piece of whatever into her mouth, she makes the most horrified faces, as if I’ve tried to feed her poison. So far avocado, banana, and applesauce have been rejected. (And just for the record, I won’t be giving her rice cereal. Or grains in general just yet). I’m not actually worried about it – most official health organizations recommend waiting until at least 6 months to “start trying” solids (NOT 4-6 months). The average age for starting solids is 6-9 months… so she’s got lots of time yet (she just turned 7 months). It sure is interesting though how many people are slightly horrified that she’s still pretty well exclusively breastfed… family, friends, doctors, random lady at church…

5. Baby Ricci #3 is NOT yet on the way, to be clear. However, I’ve been thinking lately about how I “ideally” would like my children to be spaced. I  don’t think there’s really any question of “if”… it’s more of a “when”. Part of me says “go for it! have them nice and close together! you’ll only be insane for a few years, then it’ll be great!”… and another part of me says “wait a few years and regain your sanity, you’ll be a happier, healthier mom”. I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts on their ideal spacing between children. (Of course, we can’t always control these things… but insofar as I am able, I may as well have some reasoning on the issue).

6. Apparently I’m not good at doing “quick” takes… because each of these so far is a hefty paragraph long. Oh well. Ironically, this one’s short

7. Lately, I’ve been working on my attitude… as in, sometimes it stinks. I’ve been convicted a lot recently about how I need to have a positive attitude in my days if I’m going to enjoy my life. This is a tough stage in life, or so I hear, with a toddler and a baby running around… BUT I don’t want to just crawl into the corner and wait for them to become self-sufficient/rational/potty-trained. I can choose to have joy in THIS stage. I’m convinced it’s all about perspective, and I’m working on finding the right one. Sometimes, it really is as simple as reading some scripture for a few minutes, or praying instead of “raising my voice”.

Beth

Beth is the creator and editor here at Red & Honey, a lifestyle blog for the naturally-minded homemaker. She recently began a passionate love affair with coffee and her life will never be the same. She has had three babies in less than four years, is a professional laundry-avoider, and loves to stay up way too late making weird stuff from scratch that normal people tend to just buy in a store. Hence, the coffee.

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February 8, 2010.

Wake up at my parents’ house (having moved out of our townhouse 3 weeks prior). Hurriedly throw some last-minute things in my bags, make sure we’re well-stocked with toddler-friendly snacks and activities, head to the airport. The customary lunch at Swiss Chalet in the terminal, many hugs and a few tears (ok, many tears) later, and we board our plane. (Chris had gone out a week ahead, so it was me and Isaac, along with my mom, who was coming for a week to help us get settled). Leave our HOME in the city. Everything familiar.

Fly halfway across the country. Land in the cold, wild west. Drive an hour and a bit to a tiny (charming?) little town, in the middle of nowhere. Nothing familiar.

Begin “missionary life”.

Making wherever we are into our Home, with a capital “H”. Not just the place our bodies reside, but the place our souls can find rest. The place we make memories, make new friends, build our family, shed tears, have “differences of opinion” and then kiss and make up. The place we share meals, and enjoy gatherings of new friends.

The place I grow more into mamahood, he more into fatherhood, and us all being more tightly knit together as FAMILY.

The place we learn better how to love.

HOME.

The tiny town that has captured a place in our hearts has been fairly kind to us. There are ample sweet friends in this place, though it has taken a full year to really just barely begin to feel that way. Loneliness has not been unheard of here. I still sometimes feel that dull ache of wishing I could just skip over the pleasantries and ask “how’s your heart today?”. To share our lives and love as sisters in Christ, over a hot cup of tea. Not our thoughts about the weather, or the latest news around town, or the usual talk of all things kids&baby. To have a friend I could call at a moment’s notice and know they’d be there for me in a second. To have a friend who really loves me for who I am, not just for the occasional stay-at-home-mama-boredom-relieving-playdate (though those are nice too).

These kinds of friendships take time, I know. And when you live the nomadic lifestyle, as we have begun to do, it’s even more difficult. Nonetheless. In this next year of life in the small-town (or wherever we may be), I want to make sure I am BEING that kind of friend. And remembering that I truly am never alone, because HE is with me.

The Lord has been good to us this past year (as always). We have felt His presence in those lonely days, and in the financial strains of being missionaries/students. We have known His leading and felt His confirmation of our following in the right direction.

This past year has been a most excellent exercise in faith. We thank Him for his mercies, and His love.

“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness” Psalm 115:1

11* new friends who offer to help when hubby is away.

12* the sweet acts of kindness that have come our way as strangers in a new town over the past year – cookies on our doorstep, a meal when we’re sick, playdates and invitations.

13* for old friends that still love us from afar.

14* a sweet lady (wife of an instructor at the airport) that I’ve only met twice, coming yesterday to fold my laundry and play with my kids for 3 hours.

15* the blinding sunlight pouring in through my window, shining on my face.

16* the sparkly-ness of the snow.

17* Isaac learning gratitude (the way he says “thanks mommy!”)

18* the lovey-dovey e-cards my hubby sent (“postdated” to arrive in my inbox, each morning he’s away).

19* the surprise he says is coming tomorrow afternoon… but that’s as much as I could get out of him!

20* homemade applesauce.

21* my cruising/close to walking “not-yet-7-month-old”.

22* new friends with whom to share a cup of tea and a love for crafting.

23* bunches and bunches of God-given patience these last few days, while solo parenting.

24* library books.

25* how he loves the blue sweater with trains on it that was originally knit for Daddy.

26* blissful dreamings of the coming spring.

27* expressing gratitude on any day of the week (again, oops, it’s not Monday )

***

Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Moments So Dear
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
How Do You Measure – Measure A Year?
In Daylights – In Sunsets
In Midnights – In Cups Of Coffee
In Inches – In Miles
In Laughter – In Strife

In – Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
How Do You Measure
A Year In The Life

How About Love? (x4)
Seasons Of Love (x2)

Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Journeys To Plan

Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
How Do You Measure The Life
Of A Woman Or A Man?

In Truths That She Learned
Or In Times That He Cried
In Bridges He Burned
Or The Way That She Died

It’s Time Now – To Sing Out
Tho’ The Story Never Ends
Let’s Celebrate
Remember A Year In The Life Of Friends

Remember The Love (x3)
Measure In Love

Measure, Measure Your Life In Love
Seasons Of Love… Seasons Of Love

(Seasons of Love, from the movie “Rent”)

Beth

Beth is the creator and editor here at Red & Honey, a lifestyle blog for the naturally-minded homemaker. She recently began a passionate love affair with coffee and her life will never be the same. She has had three babies in less than four years, is a professional laundry-avoider, and loves to stay up way too late making weird stuff from scratch that normal people tend to just buy in a store. Hence, the coffee.

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