I'm not Oprah, but...

I have some book suggestions for you!

I may have a 6 month old, but that doesn't mean I can't feed my brain with great fiction. Here are just a few books I've read lately:

The Time Traveler's Wife: I haven't seen the movie, but the book was a good one. Definitely makes your brain hurt with all the time traveling, but such a heart-wrenching love story.

My Sister's Keeper: Also haven't seen the movie. MAJOR tear-jerker. Get out the tissues for this one.

The Red Tent: A fictional story about Dinah from the Bible. She is the one daughter of Jacob (he had 12 sons). If you aren't familiar with the Bible version (and even if you are), keep it close by for references.

I'd recommend the Twilight Series as well, but c'mon...who hasn't read that?

P.U.

Tired of alcohol-based hand sanitizers?

So is Sweet P.

So what can you do about it? For starters, get rid of the alcohol-based stuff that isn't good for you or your baby (and smells bad AND burns!). Then, check out CleanWell products. Sweet P and I just ordered 4 bottles! You can find it online (we got ours atLuckyVitamin.com or at Target (our favorite place). Thyme, a natural disinfectant, is the active ingredient. It kills 99.99% of germs (including E.Coli, MRSA and Salmonella) and smells good, too! It's 100% biodegradable, alcohol-free and never tested on animals! AND it's non-toxic. Can't get much better than that. So what are you waiting for? Go get some.

And while you're at it, join the Million Baby Crawl sponsored by Seventh Generation to demand toxic chemical policy reform. Make the world a better place for Sweet P's generation (and those to come!).

The Remedy

Cold and flu season. Yuck.

My cold always starts with a tickle in my throat and then moves to my sinuses. When I was pregnant with Sweet P, I swear I was congested for a month. One of my midwives told me I might be sick the entire pregnancy. "Excuse me?" That didn't fly so I went in search of home remedies. Here are a few for you to try.

*Drink hot/warm liquids (and lots of them!). I drink hot tea in the mornings (and throughout the day if necessary). Here is the concoction that I came up with to use.

1 tea bag (I use lemon or peppermint)

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (this stuff works WONDERS)

pinch of cayenne pepper

a few drops of lemon juice

tbsp of honey (makes it all taste halfway decent)

I heat the hot water and put in the tea bag. Let is steep for a few minutes and then add other ingredients. Drink while it's hot.

*I swear by Simply Saline (so does my mom). It's non-addictive nasal spray and it works! I use any time I feel congested (or fell congestion coming on). I also spray a little on a Q-tip and use in Sweet P's nose.

*On top of hot liquids, drink lots of water!!!

*Drink Emergen-C. A lot of people say Airborne, but when I was pregnant I called the midwives to check on Airborne (because you know all that stuff has "consult your physician if pregnant" written on it). Airborne has a lot of Vitamin A which is not a vitamin that is good to have in multitudes. Emergen-C has the vitamins you need and if anything you will only get an excess of Vitamin C--your body flushes out any extra Vitamin C.

*And last, but not least. I just started using Natural Creations Cold/Flu Comp. They are homeopathic drops that I use for both Sweet P and me. They taste TERRIBLE, but they do the job.

That's what we do around here to keep the bugs away. What do you do to stay healthy?

Sleigh bells ring...

Are you listening?

It's so close! Of course, we have to get through the gluttonous Thanksgiving first. But then! It's Christmas! Around these parts we LOVE Christmas. I can't wait to put up our decorations, hang ornaments on the tree (and then keep Sweet P from pulling them off and eating then), celebrate the birth of Jesus (and tell Sweet P the Nativity story) and make oodles of Christmas candy.

If there's one thing I think of when I think of Christmas (thanks to my dear mom) it's toffee. My mom's toffee is the BEST. Ever. Ask anyone who has tried it. And tonight (approximately 40 days from Christmas) I made our first batch. Of course only half had chocolate (the Farmer doesn't dig chocolate. I KNOW right?!) and we didn't have pecans so we subbed in black walnuts. YUM.

But all this Christmas talk has me thinking about Christmas cards! How do you send yours? With a picture? Without? Who doesn't love getting Christmas cards? And who does a better job at creating them than our very own Auntie Rosita?! She can custom design your cards or you can pick from her collection. Whatever you do...you will not be disappointed. You can also visit her blog for more about Rosita Designs. We can't wait to show you our Christmas card. But for now, go get your own!

On the Go

Sweet P can crawl. It's been happening slowly over the past few weeks, but on Monday after her 6 month check up, she took off. Needless to say, there is no more leaving her playing on the floor unsupervised. Here is a list of a few of the things I have pulled out of her mouth this week while my back was turned. The nasal aspirator (seconds after I'd used it on her), my water bottle (it never made it to her mouth, she just knocked it and all it's contents to the ground), a kleenex, a paper towel, the tiny bow that had previously been in her hair, the silver part of a hanging rack at Kohl's (don't even ask how, she was in a stroller) and currently, a small stuffed animal that is so soaking wet it is dripping saliva on the carpet. I think I just threw up a little.

Speaking of stomach's turning...Turns out the Farmer and I can change poopy diapers all day long, but a little snot makes us both gag. Why is it that boogers are worse than poop? I don't know, but they are. And my last bit of news on the home front...I have loved her new teeth until yesterday, when she took her first bite of you know what. Yeah. Not fun. Not fun at all.

6 Month Stats:

Weight: 20lb 8oz

Height: 27 in.

Head circ: 45 cm.

I thought for sure it'd be time to say goodbye to the infant carseat, but it turns out we get it for one more pound!

The Haps

I admit it. I'm not a very good blogger. I wanted to be this exciting blogger who wrote about great stuff that could change your life (or at least help it a little bit). Unfortunately, I find it difficult to sit down and write a blog. Don't get me wrong, I have the time. I know this because I read plenty of other blogs written by mamas or women with smart and eco-friendly ideas. So I have tried to be a good blogger (ok, not as hard as I could), but this is what it is for now. A mediocre blogger. With a super cute baby. And a few good/okay ideas.

Today isn't about an idea though. It's about a cause. A recent occurrence in my apartment complex made me realize how fragile life is. It also made me realize that I don't agree with our justice system. And on top of all of that it made me realize that now that I am a mom, I have a lot more to worry about. An incident occurred involving domestic violence and it saddens me to say that it did not end well. I'd like to encourage you to donate or give time to victims of domestic violence. Here are a few places you can start. And I ask for you to pray for the 8-month old baby who was left behind.

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence and Treatment

Hanging with daddy

With daddy at the Farmer's Market

Last week we went to our last Farmer's Market of the season. I had to teach a class that morning so I left Sweet P with the Farmer and met them at the market. Before I left I looked through the closet for an outfit for Sweet P until I decided, "Honey, I'm going to let you pick out her outfit today."

Honestly, the Farmer did a pretty good job. Just fell a little short on matching and she had on a hoodie that doesn't really fit anymore, but I showed him the part of the closet that has clothes that fit so it's my fault if that hoodie was still in there. She had on a yellow kimono onesie, pink fleece pants, a maroon fleece hoodie, a pink hat and green socks (he couldn't find the socks so he just put her back in the ones from the day before). I left her in the outfit all day and while I never would have put this outfit together...it was cold and she was warm. And daddy did it.

What do you think of daddy fashion?

Teefies and sleepies

Guess what?

Sweet P has two new teeth! They are still small and growing in, but they are dang cute. It took awhile, but she's finally showing them off. Not quite for the camera, yet, but we're getting there!

Remember a few months ago how I bragged about my child sleeping through the night. I haven't told you yet, but she doesn't do it any more. It was a sad, sad day when I realized she was going to start waking up again. Sometimes it's once a night, sometimes it's three; but it's always difficult. It makes me tired, ya'll.

Really tired. So all of you thinking "she doesn't know what it's like to have a baby" when I bragged about her sleeping habits, you win. And so does Sweet P. For now! We're working on it, but until then I need a nap.