Five Baby Favorites for the First Six Weeks

1. Homemade Wipes

I do not use cloth diapers.  I toyed with the idea when I was expecting Jill, but a near and dear friend told me "Jessica, I just don't see you doing it."  Thank you, Kathy, for saving me from my wanna-be crunchy inner hippie with your honesty.

I DO make my own disposable wipes with my very favorite Earth Mama Angel Baby Organic Angel Baby Shampoo & Body Wash.  I used these wipes on Jill for the first several months, and have already talked Patrick into sawing rolls of paper towels in half for me.

For one half roll of paper towels, I use this recipe.  If I'm using Kirkland paper towels (and you know I am), I have to multiply everything by 1.5 because Costco is like Texas.  Everything is bigger.  If I went to a Costco in Texas....I can't even...

I find these wipes to be softer, drier, and gentler on baby skin than any store bought wipes.  They are also cheaper and smell delicious.  Not that I would eat them.  I keep the half roll in a gallon size ziploc.

If you follow Earth Mama Angel Baby on IG, they post discount codes every Friday!

2. Baby K'tan Baby Carrier

I posted this out of focus picture on Instagram yesterday.  I have been petitioning St. Anthony to help me find my misplaced Baby K'tan Baby Carrier for weeks now, and the moment I committed to buying a new baby carrier yesterday, the K'Tan turned up.  (Thanks, St. Anthony!)  In the front hall closet of course.  Under the pool bag and the library books, naturally.

I love my ERGO, but it's not practical for anewborn.  I even invested in the infant insert which is like wearing a baby carrier inside a baby carrier, no good for me or the baby here in No Central A/C July.

Truthfully though, our window units are off and the windows are open as we experience yet again the only gorgeous season in Chicago, summer, high of 75.

3. Starbucks Refreshers

I picked these up before Polly was born, knowing some excruciatingly exhausting days were in my future.  I loathe coffee, and under normal circumstances, I loathe the soul-sucking corporation of Starbucks.  I much prefer locally owned Funky Java if I have to partake of the bitter coffee bean.

Starbucks Refreshers are made with green coffee.  I won't say they taste good, but they don't taste like coffee either, so that's something.  They help me power through when Jill and Polly double-team me with bouts of sleeplessness.

I might re-invest in the Zipfizz too.  It's expensive, but it works.

4.  Fiber One Bars

In the first six weeks of newborn life, I need food I can throw in my mouth.  Hopefully, food that is not always jalapeno kettle chips or handfuls of chocolate chips.

Enter the Fiber One bar.  It tastes like a chewy chocolate chip granola bar, and it's not half bad for you either.  Takes the hangry away for a few hours.

5.  Lily Jade Baby Bag

I used my Vera Bradley birthday coupon to pick up this sweet bag. (40% off - KaChing)

 Did you know VB sells bags that aren't fabric?  My mother didn't.

It's a nice size tote, big enough to hold all the things a mother of many needs on her person.  However, it does not zip, and it only has one teensy interior pocket - also non-zipping.

So I started looking for a diaper bag insert thing.  You know, like the guts of a bag with good organization, but sold separately.

I checked out Etsy, but those organizers cost more than my tote, so I ended up ordering from Lily Jade.

I got the red baby bag in medium.  It ZIPS!  And has lots of pocketses! And it's washable!

Hey Mr. Postman, please bring it soon, because every time someone needs my keys or a tissue, I stick my arm in my tote up to my elbow and swirl it around like James Herriot turning a breech calf.

You didn't need that image.  My apologies.

Linking up with Heather (eventually) for Five Favorites.

7QT: What's For Dinner and Guess the Baby Day

Way back in May, I asked for some help with easy evening meal prep.  Some good Samaritans have linked up, and some have emailed me good recipes like this one and this one.

YOU can still join the One Pot Wonder Link Up.  It's not too late.  

An InLinkz Link-up

I have been using the recipes from the link-up.  Correction.  My children have been using them and will continue to do so.  There are lots of good things linked on there.

Patrick came up with this brilliant idea that our four oldest children could each take a night of the week and make dinner.  Summer Fun!

Their reactions ranged from outrage, to patient acceptance, to excited curiosity.

We even let them decide what's for dinner, within reason.  We haven't had to veto anything yet.  I just send them "shopping" in the deep freeze and remind them what we've had the last few nights.

1.

Sunday:  Patrick and I were empty nesting so we had to cook for our own selves.

He grilled pork tenderloin and Turano bread brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with garlic salt (so good), I faked a tortellini salad (tortellini/halved grape tomatoes/chopped black olives/hard salami/Italian dressing) while he whipped up a garden fresh salad from our garden that only has lettuces so far.  We welcomed my Road Trip Warrior In Laws and returning childrens with a homecooked meal.

2.  Monday:  Susan made a vinaigrette and used it to marinate boneless, skinless chicken breasts, which were then grilled by her father.  Add to that recycled bread, tortellini salad, lettuce salad with homemade vinaigrette. Bueno.

3.

Tuesday:  Patrick and Edmund made this Spinach, White Bean, and Italian Sausage Soup, because it was a yucky, cold, and rainy day.  We used kale instead of spinach.

Good thing I caught an error early on.  First, someone was inadvertently thawing Bratwurst instead of Italian Sausage.  See?  I'm still a critical part of the operation here. And that grilled bread appeared again as crostini for the soup.  Still delicious.

4.

Wednesday:  Peter made Campfire Beans from the America's Test Kitchen Slow Cooker Revolution Volume 2.  He also grilled the previously mentioned bratwurst, heated up sauerkraut, invited his cousin for dinner, and had her make another lettuce salad.

Delegation:  a skill all of my children are born with.

5.

Thursday:  Lucy made Spicy Shredded Chicken from Charlotte of Waltzing Matilda's link above.  She used chicken thighs and Charlotte's version and it was delicious.

6.  Friday (Today) is Lucy's birthday, and provided she is not asked to share her birthday with a new sibling, she has requested grilled shrimp and pasta.  I'm certain Patrick will provide both (he da man), or they can order pizzas should Patrick and I be elsewhere and otherwise occupied.

For Lucy's birthday dessert, she asked for the incredible yet work-intensive Summer Berry Pie, but I am phoning it in with the ever-so-simple-yet-delicious Sorbet Pie.

My mother invented Sorbet Pie when my dear sister Mary was little.   Mary was allergic to eggs and dairy, so my mother made graham cracker pie crusts with non-dairy unsalted margarine, and filled them with non-dairy fruit sorbets.  Dairy Free Ice Cream Pie!

I'm probably going to buy my graham cracker pie crusts, or make someone else make them with real butter (though I'd rather not turn on the oven these days).  We have an assortment of sorbets that were on sale at Aldi for $.99 a pint.  I have "sampled" the raspberry, and in my professional opinion, it's just as good as Haagen-Daaz. We also have lemon and mango.  Any flavor tastes good in a graham cracker crust.

7.  Less than ten days until Thornton Baby 6.0's due date!

Who wants to hazard a guess as to when the latest model will actually arrive?

Gender and weight guesses optional.  Because let's be honest, I don't really care about gender or weight at 38.6 weeks.

Here are my stats:
Peter:  4 weeks early 7lb. 4oz.
Susan:  On the Due Date 8lb. 12oz.
Lucy:  5 days early?  can't remember zactly, but she was a little early.  8lb. 13oz.
Edmund:  4 weeks early.  Shaddup.  My dates WERE correct!  9lb. 2oz.  Biggest preemie they ever saw.
Jill:  5 days early.  7lb. 12oz.

BUT!  Colleen, Dwija, and others (Hello Kathy!) who had five children early, yet delivered their sixth in a less timely fashion have put the fear of overdue-ness in me.

Leave your predictions in the combox, and may the odds be ever in your my favor.

Linking up with with Kathryn at Team Whitaker who also just had her sixth baby late!

7QT Sunday Edition

1.

One Pot Wonders Link up is still "clicking away."   Have a delicious and easy go-to recipe for a crazy family dinner?  Please share!  Old and new posts welcome.

2. I won an ebook from Haley at Carrots of Michaelmas!

It looks fun and family friendly with recipes for lots of different Catholic feasts.  What are the chances that I can get Patrick to make Pasta Pescatore on the feast of St. Maria Goretti this July 6th?  It looks sooo good.  All of the recipes do, especially the cocktails!  I want to make all of them.

You can get your own pdf of Haley and Daniel's Catholic cookbook for only $7.99, or buy a print copy for $21.99.  Bonus for all of you gluten sensitive people, all of the recipes are gluten-free or have a gluten-free version!

3. I went to a baby shower Friday night for this mama-to-be and gave these must-haves:

Chewbeads 

Where were these 18 years ago?

and the Earth Mama Angel Baby a Little Something for Baby Kit.

I got one of these after Jill was born and became totally addicted to the Earth Mama Angel Baby line of baby products.

That last ingredient is MYRRH!  Have you ever seen or smelled real myrrh?

Their Angel Baby Bottom Balm has myrrh in it.  The idea of Blessed Mother putting myrrh on 8.6 oz. Baby Jesus's diaper rash just tickles me.  That was probably not the best metaphor to use.

The Angel Baby Lotion smells like oranges and vanilla and holy innocence, as does their Angel Baby Shampoo & Body Wash.

I am so crazy about the Angel Baby Shampoo & Body Wash that I bought the 34 oz. refill bottle for $39.95.  Three years later, I have never washed Jill with anything else and I still have a wee bit left.

4. I also gave a pair of these hand-knit mary jane type baby booties, and I'm working on another pair. Seeing as how I am currently without a complete pair, I have no photo except this one that is copyrighted by the pattern creator Brenda Green.

The ones I made/am making are soft pale grey with pearl buttons.

So that is NOT my photo.  That is Brenda's photo.  Brenda lives in New Zealand and answered my super stupid questions via email immediately because she is totally cool with knuckleheads purchasing and attempting to use her pattern.  I blame pregnancy brain.

Brenda has lots of beautiful patterns on Ravelry.  I want to make all of them.

5. This happened.

Jill says, "Peter is a high-school graduate!"

He's headed for the University of Dallas this fall as a double legacy since both of his parents are UD alumni.

6.  Tomorrow is his 18th birthday, Selective Service and all that, kind of apropos for Memorial Day.

He wants Hobo Packs for his birthday dinner.

Hobo Packs are foil packets of food that you cook on the grill.  We are going to make the kind with potatoes, green beans and andouille.

There are dozens of different recipes for hobo packs out there, and this Art of Manliness article has one for a Pineapple Upside Down Donut Cake.  I want to make all of them.

7.  Last week, this knucklehead forgot to link back to the 7 Quick Take hostess, Jen Fulwiler of Conversion Diary.  I blame pregnancy brain.  This week I remembered.

GO SEE JEN FOR MORE!