Mom Blog and Baby Blog | Baby Bunching

product review: munchkin food grinder

Even as a third time mom, I am still occasionally discovering products that make me wonder where in the hell they have been my entire parenting life.  Sometimes it turns out they have been right in my own closet.

Take the baby food grinder, for example.  Someone gave me this nifty grinder sometime in between my first and second babies, I think. To say that I am not the most mechanically inclined person would be a gross understatement, and anything with more than one moving part scares me.  In addition to that, I was in a Baby Bunching haze without a spare moment to pee, more less read instructions on a grinder, so it went straight to the top shelf of the nursery closet unopened. 

When I packed away the nursery stuff, it was almost scooped up by my very mechanically inclined (courtesy of his father) eldest son, who is fascinated with gadgets of all sorts.  But since it was still unopened, I threw it in a box thinking maybe I would unload it at the preschool's consignment sale in the fall.

When Baby #3 arrived, it bounced from the storage box to to a box of toys to a box on the changing table and finally actually ended up in a kitchen cabinet somehow.  One day recently, I found myself with a baby who was pretty close to being ready for table food, the grinder, and 5 free minutes to peruse the directions.   It turns out it was a cinch to "assemble", did not require batteries, and was dishwasher safe!  Aside from not being mechanically inclined, I have an aversion to changing batteries and hand washing dishes, so score 10 points for the food grinder.  Another 5 points for the fact that I saw one at Target later that same week and it was only $7!

It was super easy to use and I was able to quickly make a variety of foods suitable for baby, from peas, corn and carrots to a little homemade chicken noodle soup.  The food grinder does not like pineapple, but it did siphon off the juice nicely for baby to enjoy a few spoonfuls.  It was so easy to use that I wondered why it was again that I busted out the Cuisinart mini-processor to make homemade baby food for my first two?  Talk about complicated and moving parts...ugh.

Unfortunately, the food grinder met a cruel fate in the form of my garbage disposal.  Bent beyond repair, it has ceased to grind.  This happened just 72 hours ago and I am missing my new best friend the grinder like I lost my right arm or something.  Literally the ONLY reason I haven't dashed to Target to replace it is because of my tendency to turn a $7 errand at Target into a $90 one, so I have to pace myself on my Target trips.

I have a few products that I love to give new moms and the Munchkin baby food grinder has just made the list.  Cheap, effective, and so easy to use even a sleep-addled Baby Buncher can figure it out - a winner in my book!

how come you don't iron?

Yep, my kid actually asked me this question a few weeks back. My oldest was talking about things they had at school, and one of them was a pretend ironing board. He asked what it was for and then why I don't do it. Ok, let's get one thing straight. I hate to iron. In fact, the minute we could afford to have my husband's shirts sent out, I did. I'm pretty sure we had been married for about 3 seconds when the first batch of dress shirts met the neighborhood cleaners.

When we moved overseas, I started ironing since we had trouble negotiating the foreign cleaners. After birthing my first child, I realized I didn't have time for this so we hired someone to come in and iron once a week. Then we moved to another country where hiring people to iron was TOTALLY out of the question and sending shirts out cost about $10 a shirt. So I went back to perfecting the art of ironing. This also coincided with my new Baby Bunching life. And if there is one chore that doesn't mix with Baby Bunching...it's ironing. Toddler and new baby, bigger baby and bigger toddler, toddler and toddler--it doesn't matter how you slice and dice it--ironing with your younger bunch is a hazard! At least that's how I positioned it when we moved back the good ole' USA and having shirts cleaned/ironed was cheap again.

Now we are back to the neighborhood cleaners doing the ironing. I don't buy things I have to iron and when I do, I tend to wear them wrinkled. It's too hard to get out an ironing board and keep an eye on the kids AND make sure they don't pull it all over on themselves.

And when my son asked how come I didn't iron, I wondered what other things he wasn't exposed to because of Baby Bunching. (Like ironing is really that big of a deal!)

Oh yes....mopping floors. We don't do that around here either at least not while they're awake. I learned early on that mopping during the day while a giant pain was also a waste of time because within about 3 minutes someone would mess it up again. So I would spot clean with a wipe or paper towel and EVERY now and then I mop. At night. This way I have a chance of it staying clean for 10 hours before they spill oatmeal, jelly, rice, egg or some other food that is near impossible to get up without making a mess.

What chore have you abandoned since Baby Bunching?

baby bunching bests

My life has been inundated with new house and birthday the past week so here are the Baby Bunching bests from the past two weeks.

Super Ninja Mommy over who writes at Two Under Two recently started a separate blog called Cinco Surprise dedicated to her fifth baby, which will put her at possibly three under two. She has a scare this week at a potential miscarriage, but it turns out everything looks fine. As a mom who has had this happen, I know how emotional the first trimester can be.

Rachel over at Oh, My God I'm a Mom writes about how her ego has gotten the best of her, and she's disappointed that even a great tube of lipstick doesn't make her feel better.

Momma Bear over at Momma Bear writes about the "Momma Flap" and all its versatility. She has some very creative uses for that extra bit of skin us Baby Bunchers are accustomed to.

Jess over at A Bushel and a Peck is cleaning out her toy room. I love reading about organization because no matter how much we organize as the kids grow and their toys change we have to readjust.

Stacey over at Any Mommy Out There writes about her attempt to get everyone out of the door. I'm pretty sure she's been spying at my house because this is almost verbatim what goes on for us. Every. Single. Day.

a very merry unbirthday to you

Equality is this week's theme (which may carry over into next). My son's fifth birthday is tomorrow! Can I just say I'm in awe that I am almost the mother of a FIVE-year old. But here I am, emotional as can be as I kissed his sweet little four-year-old forehead tonight knowing tomorrow he would be five. FIVE!

Birthdays are a big deal to me. I love birthdays, and I make a HUGE deal out of my own even if no one else will. I'm just that kind of crazy. I'm not into big elaborate birthday parties, though I do love a good themed party. Tomorrow's will be a very small pirate party. One which I believe will be rained out. Super fun.

But in all the hoopla of the day (presents, cake, extra attention), what happens to the other member of the Bunch, especially if the other one is older or at least old enough to get that her sibling is getting a ton of gifts. Now, I understand this is a life lesson in 'everything isn't fair' and 'your time will come,' but it's sometimes hard to teach that to a three-year old.

My husband comes from a household where the nonbirthday kid gets a small 'unbirthday gift.' (Do you remember that from Alice in Wonderland?) I didn't realize how much I appreciated this small sentiment until a few gift givers sent along a small token unbirthday gift for my daughter. She cooed in delight when she saw her name on just one of the gifts. Just one little thing for her to open. So I started thinking perhaps my husband's family was onto something. We have been doing the unbirthday gift for a few years now, especially for my oldest on my youngest's birthday. And this year is no different with two small gifts for her.

I know many moms just remind their other children that THIS birthday is for THIS kid and the rest just have to cope. I believe that to some extent. It's their special day today. Am I am setting up a bad expectation for the future? And if so, is spending $5-$10 on an unbirthday gift REALLY that bad?

who gets what room?

We have just bought a new house. Ok, it's not new, it's new to us. This has been about a three-year process and one that we desperately needed. We knew where we wanted to live. Exactly the right school district and the perfect neighborhood. Turns out we bought somewhere completely different.

So my hope is after the home inspection on Sunday and closing at the end of April our family will move into a mildly larger home which will house us all comfortably. And maybe even give us room to grow if we like.

And speaking of rooms, I have a dilemma. Our current home has three bedrooms. My son has the much, much larger room and my daughter has a bedroom that is about the size of a large closet. So our new house has three bedrooms, but one is still larger than the other. With my kids being only 16 months apart (Alex is 5 and Anna is 3 1/2), my question is who gets the bigger room? They equally have the same amount of crap. Alex had 4 years of a bigger room (most of that time Anna wouldn't remember anyway). So now that we're moving in and painting and redecorating rooms...who gets the larger room?

When I was growing up, I had the pleasure of being awarded the bigger bedroom until we moved in ninth grade and my brother was given the bigger and better room. I felt like it was fair after, well, 14 years of being in the giant-ass room.

Cara said in her family of three girls they did a lot of switching around. That is a great idea, but I have a son who wants a knight room and a daughter who wants it all pink and purple princesses around. Perhaps just painting both rooms yellow might solve might issue for a bit or moving them after five years is an option. Anyone have any thoughts on this before I start painting?

monitoring your bunch

As a Baby Bunching mom, there is very little extra gear we recommend you need before Baby #2 arrives: a second crib (probably), a double stroller (eventually), a new baby monitor to monitor both kids (maybe). A second monitor was one piece of gear I ended up skipping. Mainly, since my daughter slept with/near me for several months, the need to monitor her seemed moot because she was right there with me most of the time.

Our house was set up so that I really could hear each child most of the time. I have been blessed with amazing hearing allowing me to hear the neighbors sneeze three houses down. Great hearing + really loud children = not needing too many baby monitors.  I plunked the on monitor we did have in Anna’s room once she was onto a schedule (around 5 months) , but still could hear her through most of the house. She was really loud!

However, most people do want the comfort of hearing and/or seeing their baby and toddler. So here are a few choices and a few Baby Bunching opinions recommended by fellow Baby Bunchers:

Summer Infant Day and Night Dual Scanning Video Monitor:

This is a nice small handheld unit which you can switch back and forth between the two cameras to see each kid. Baby Bunchers admits that it’s so interesting to see what your oldest might really be doing when you close the door. It’s great when you move them into their big boy/girl bed so that you can monitor their activities.

You won’t be able to hear both kids at the same time, but there is a switch on the side of the video unit that goes from A to B. One kid is on camera A and the other is camera B and you just move the switch back and forth to see/hear each kid.

Fisher Price Sound and Lights (using 2 sets):

Using two sets of the Fisher Price Sounds and Lights monitors should also work out.  By using a different set in each kid's room you can hear them anywhere in the house.  Just make sure one monitor on the "A" setting and the other is on the "B" setting. You need to separate the monitors in each room or you will get a lot of static.

Graco iMonitor Duo:

With this monitor, you can choose how long you want it to stay in each room (5 seconds for one, a minute for the other if you want) and you can look up and see what room the noise is coming from (the lights are different colors). Moms love the fact that you can have a receiver/listening part both in one floor and then on another which saves from having to move it around. You can also remove the receiver from its base to take it outside for a couple of hours. Bonus, they have rechargeable batteries!

Fisher-Price Private Connection Monitor with Dual Receivers:

For this one to work with your bunch, you need to buy two of these. You will need to have the same ones to make it work. There are 9 channels, and then never interfere and the receivers are rechargable. But this makes me think you'll be juggling a ton of monitors in your house, but if you already own this one, know that just buying a second one, will work for you!

We'd love to hear your best monitoring tips. (Beyond just ignoring the crying....we know how to do that!)

baby bunching bandit

Today marked the third time in as many weeks that I have accidentally shoplifted something thanks to my Bunch.  The first time it was horrifying.  The second time it was kind of funny.  This time it was just ridiculous.

The first time it happened a few weeks ago,  I was at TJ Maxx with my mom and Baby looking for new decorations for my fireplace mantle.  We had several items we were considering, but we were taking too long for Baby's taste.  When he began fussing, I picked him up out of the infant seat, threw the item in my hand in the seat, and proceeded to bounce him on my hip and browse a little longer.  When he COMPLETELY fell apart minutes later, mom and I dashed out of the store.  We calmed him down, proceeded to the next store, picked up the baby blanket out of his seat and found the contraband item (which was, ridiculously enough, an oversized wooden pear).  Never having stolen anything before, I was beside myself.  I left my mom and the baby at the shoe store and hightailed it back to TJ Maxx to confess my sins and pay for the pear.  As it turns out, not only was I NOT arrested on my way back into the store, no one cared and I paid for the pear without incident.  I wasn't even sure if I wanted the pear, but once I had shoplifted it, it had a story so it is now proudly sitting on my mantle.

Fast forward a few days - different store, similar scene (subtract my mom and add a kid).  Get out to the car, buckle everyone in, fold up the stroller, and out falls a $2 tube of glue.  Uh oh.  Late for carpool to pick up Big by this point, so there is NO way I am unloading everyone and taking them back in for $2.  Justify it by telling myself that if I'd remembered to bring my stupid 40% off coupon, I would've saved $2 off my total purchase anyway, so the store isn't really any worse off.  Yeah, right.

Fast forward to today.  Just me and Baby hit one of our favorite joints to stock up on necessities such as diapers, Pull Ups, formula, and baby food.  His infant seat is taking up the bulk of the cart basket and it's difficult to see what's in there, so I make a special effort to group things and make sure that I get everything out of the cart at the register.  Run into a friend at the checkout, chat with her for a bit while checking out, head out to the car and drive home.  At home, take baby out of the seat and out falls...an over-sized hair clip.  ARGH!  I go to the store on a weekly basis, so I will take it back and make it right, but this is ridiculous.

The irony of this situation is that about a year or so ago, I was practically strip searched entering the dressing room of this same store when I had my kids with me.  I was really offended, and the explanation the sales clerk gave me was that "Moms are a high theft demographic for us."  I was absolutely appalled.  And now I'm speechless for a different reason - turns out they were right.  Intentionally or not, children really are the perfect cover.

 

bunching friendly bites

Dinner time around our house is a three-ring circus.  I love to cook and my husband loves to eat, but my Bunch pretty much ensures that we can do neither one in peace and quiet.  Hubby and I are both firm believers in the family dinner, so I cook a hot, balanced meal most nights and we sit down together when he gets home from work.  

My kids used to eat anything I put in front of them, but the older they get the pickier, they get, so I have really dumbed down my cooking.  Ingredients like feta cheese, pesto, porcini mushrooms, and sun dried tomatoes have been replaced by more kid-friendly ones like shredded cheese, cream of mushroom soup, and peanut butter (think chicken satay).  

 

Still, getting vegetables into my oldest is a battle and most nights he will refuse to touch anything else on the plate either.  His reason - "everything you make is sickening and you never make my favorite food (which was cited as hot dog on that particular occasion).  Middle does well with fruits and vegetables but is pretty much a vegetarian.  Oh yeah - and HIS favorite "food" is butter.  Baby doesn't care what the food is, as long as it is shoveled into his mouth as quickly as possible over his grunts of anticipation.  All in all, it's a pleasure dining with them.

 

Occasionally I stumble upon a recipe that keeps everyone happy because it is healthy (me), easy (me), has basic ingredients preferably one of which is a flavoring to disguise vegetables (the kids), but a little sophistication (my husband).  I lucked out tonight.  Here's one that everyone gobbled up - I was even able to mash the sweet potatoes for Baby and slide him tiny shreds of chicken.  As a bonus, whole chickens frequently go on sale and it's easy on the wallet.  

 

If you've got one that's a winner with your crew, please share - I'm always on the lookout for new ideas!

 

Maple Roasted Chicken with Sweet Potatoes - 

• 1 3 1/2- to 4-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• 1 yellow onion, cut into 1-inch wedges
• 2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme

Directions

 

• 1Heat oven to 400° F.
• 2Rinse the chicken and pat it dry. Arrange the chicken, onion, and sweet potatoes in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Drizzle the oil over the chicken and vegetables and season with the salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Drizzle with the maple syrup and top with the sprigs of thyme.
• 3Roast, stirring the vegetables once, until the chicken is cooked through, about 1 hour, 15 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

big baby bling

So many of our big babies have some form of "bling" which can trail, adorn or hide them from the rest of the world. You know what I'm talking about those accessories--binkies/pacifiers, bottles, blankets, teddy bears, lovies--they covet as their security or comfort items. But at what point does big baby need to bid bye- bye to his bottle or pacifer? Somehow the infamous "they" make us feel bad when our 18-month old is still taking a bottle or the two-year old still wants his pacifier at night.

I must admit that I briefly panicked when I realized my one-year old wasn't anywhere near giving up his nighttime bottle just four months short of his younger sister's arrival. We were moving. He was adjusting. He  just couldn't let the bottle go. Or was ME who couldn't let go?

They are so young and really the oldest of a Bunch has to grow up so fast. Suddenly a 19-month is expected to be responsible, not throw tantrums and not run over his baby sister.

Bedtime is a critical time in any Baby Bunchers day. It's the one chance where everyone will be safely in his bed, at least for a little while and you are left with some quiet--we hope. So when my youngest was born, I didn't want to jeopardize the bedtime routine or the sleeping through the night for my oldest. I wanted him to be able and keep this evening routine. (We do crazy things when it comes to bedtime.) Really, I wanted one less thing to complicate the chaos.

I slowly got rid of all bottles except for the one before bed. I also managed to water most of it down to just water with a bit of milk. (It was a pretty digusting mix of milky water.) My daughter was born when he was 15 1/2 months and one day when he was about 17 months he just seemed Ok with saying goodbye to the bottle. That was that. We replaced it with Goodnight Moon and the same song every night and he seemed to be fine with the change.

And since I'm a creature of habit as well, I let my daughter take the bottle until age 2 (also just one at night mostly watered down), and she gave it up really easily as well when she seemed ready. 

Transitions can be difficult for children. Sometimes I think they might be more difficult for us than our kids. The thing to keep in mind is that they are still little, even at 18 months. They are still babies. If a little baby bling helps ease the transition for you or baby and keeps everyone happy, I say go for it.

mirror, mirror, on the wall

Yesterday was my birthday and as a special treat, my husband kept the gang busy and allowed me enough peace and quiet to get fully dressed.  We're talking hair, makeup, accessories - the whole shebang.  I looked and felt more put together than I have in months. 

Typically, my hair is rarely is rarely styled/blown out and my favorite hairstyle is the ponytail.  Why?  Because I'm freaking tired and I'd rather have an extra half hour of sleep in the morning than blown out hair. 

My jeans are definitely out of style.  Why?  Because I've been up and down the maternity ladder three times in the past five years and why would I spend $150 on a pair of jeans, only to have them not fit in three months? 

Even though I work part-time, my clothes consist mainly of child-friendly fabrics and styles (if you can call them that).  Why?  Because even after I get dressed for work, I have to get children ready and they will inevitably wipe their syrupy hands or snotty noses on me before I can get out the door. 

I do wear makeup on a daily basis, but it's pretty simple and not always the right colors.  Why?  Because I can't seem to carve out time to get to the mall to buy new makeup when my summer tan fades, rendering me ghost-like for the winter.

Even when I do make it to the mall, I inevitably beeline past Ann Taylor in favor of the Gymboree clearance rack because some small boy has either worn through or grown out of yet another pair of pants and has nothing to wear.

Moms are frequently the butt of fashion jokes, ranging from use of the term "mom jeans" to the frazzled moms featured in the Suave and other like-minded commercials.  When I started to think about it yesterday while getting ready, I actually started to get kind of pissed off about it.  It's not like I'm a total slob that neglects myself - it just seems that there's always something more important to do than focus on making myself look put together.  Like, I don't know - keeping three small children clean, fed, safe, schooled, and entertained?  Doesn't leave a lot of time for perusing Victoria's Secret to make sure my underwear coordinates with my outfit.

Frazzled Mom Syndrome is particularly partial to moms of very small children, i.e. under the age of about two or so, so Baby Bunchers are doubly screwed.  I did notice a marked improvement in my style for the year or so between when my middle son turned two and the third one was born.  But now with a baby again, I'm back to square one.

Linda's posted before on her staples for keeping up appearances.  Mine are cute shoes (preferably flats with metallic tones, sparkles, patent leather, or floral fabrics), Clinique's Berry Freeze lipstick, and a pair of sunglasses.  Oh yeah - and I finally grew up and committed to a good (read: expensive) haircut and color every 7 weeks, which I find somewhat mitigates my lack of appropriate hairstyling or makeup.

Anyone care to share their beauty secrets with the other frazzled moms out there?