New Address!

Hello, I am going to start posting here: ECO GREEN BEAN

Hope to see you there!

Happy Canada Day, everyone!

Their Milkshake Brings All the Babies to the Farm

Along with many vitamins, an omega 3 fatty acid known as DHA found in fish and walnuts is essential in your pregnancy diet. This is good for the development of your baby's brain, eyes and nervous system and YOU. If your baby is not getting enough DHA, s/he will start sucking the DHA out of you!

I rarely had time to cook a meal that contains enough DHA but I prefer to get my vitamins through food rather than supplements so I found a local dairy farm that carries products that contain DHA.

Avalon Dairy has been around for many years. It is tucked in the Killarney residential neighbourhood on Wales street about a block south of 41st Avenue. It's a real farm but you won't see any cows there.

The product with the DHA is known as Vitala Milk. It comes in a plastic container or the old school glass bottles which are cool looking but doesn't hold very much (you get your deposit back when you return the milk bottles). You can also buy Vitala Milk from IGA, Meinhardt, Thifty Foods, Famous Foods, Drive Organics, and Save-On Foods/ Whole Foods. They also offer a delivery service to houses.

But I enjoy going to Avalon Dairy because I get ice cream, smoke cheddar cheese and other dairy goodness there as well.

Links for Reference

Old posts that may be helpful to new readers.

Milk Storage - Space Saving Tip

Milk Storage - Timelines

Government Paperwork Checklist for Newborns

Ridding of Spit Up Smells

Cloth Diapers - Sample Pack Review

Cloth Diapers - Why We Chose to Use it

What's the Cost to be a Stay-at-Home Mom?

I've been reading a lot of mommy blogs and found that many of them have something in common. They are stay-at-home moms. After reading more of their posts and putting the pieces together, I also noticed that many of them have spouses with a middle range income. I'm quite baffled at how a moms of 2+ children can stay at home.

I am becoming more attracted to the idea of being a stay-at-home mom. However, losing one income is quite a hit for our family. And having one child doesn't not warrant quitting my job and spending all my time with him. However, having multiple children would make more sense to stay home but that also means I would have more mouths to feed with one income.

Unfortunately, our family are not in the position to live on the income of my Ed's alone. We are renting and saving to purchase our own home. But if you live in Vancouver, you would know that housing prices spell out i-n-s-a-n-e.

If there's a way to make this work, I would love to know! Perhaps we should start buying lottery tickets...

Excuse Me While I Stuff My Face

While I was pregnant, there were many things that I couldn't eat. The foods that I couldn't eat, regardless of whether I liked it before or not, became my cravings. I had a lot of caffeine and sugar in the form of starbucks lattes, pop and teas when I wasn't even a coffee drinker before I was expecting.

My favourite foods are raw - blue steak, all sorts of fresh sashimi, rare lamb (according to my previous post, I shouldn't even be eating lamb), ahi tuna, and raw oysters. I was good to not touch any of that for 9 months.

photo taken from RecipeTips

Another weakness of mine are Vietnamese subs, especially ones from Ba Le and Au Petit Cafe. It's not the deli meat that I was concerned about, it was the thin layer of pate that makes it so sinfully good. But that was also what makes it a pregnancy crime to eat.

Pate contains higher levels of the listeria bacteria than other foods. It also contains high levels of animal based form of vitamin A (retinol) since it's made from liver. It's not that the vitamin itself is bad for you but too much of it is.

Simply speaking, you get a fair amount of vitamin A from your daily diet (fruits, veggies, cereals) and your prenatal vitamins. Eating liver will bring your level into the danger zone which is harmful to your baby. Not many ppl care much for liver, but I love fois gras so watching my husband eat a plate of seared fois gras (which reminds me it's time for his cholesterol check up) during our anniversay dinner at Le Crocodile almost brought me to tears.

Since I love fancy and raw foods, and anything with alcohol, I didn't get to eat much because I didn't like what was good for me like potatoes, rice and other pregnancy goodness. Instead, I had a lot of milk... in the form of ice cream.

However, being pregnant gave me a reason to eat like I haven't eaten for weeks. At work. To and from work.

And in the middle of the night.

And again shortly after.

A Time Saving Appliance

I dedicate this post to a mother-to-be friend, Christine. Last weekend, I attended her baby shower with Ed and Kyle. She was the person that I made my diaper cake for.

Halfway through the party, I had to feed Kyle. I took out the bottled milk, found a cup to fill it with hot water but I couldn't find any hot water. I wasn't looking for a kettle, I was looking for an electric thermo pot. But she didn't have one (or maybe I didn't look hard enough). My friend found a kettle-like thingy on the stove and it's been forever since I've used a kettle! My immediate reaction was 'But she's Chinese, how could she not have one!' I ended up warming the milk with running hot water from the sink (not very eco-friendly!).

Most people (I'm afraid I can't say everyone anymore) that grew up in a chinese family would have used an electric thermos pot because I swear it was in every chinese kitchen that I've been to.

However, if you don't have one and have a baby, you may want to consider getting one. It may not be as hot as kettle boiled water but it is definitely hotter than the bottled or direct tap water dispensers. When you are trying to warm milk in the middle of the night, the last thing you want is to wait for the kettle to boil.

I have this one, it is a Panasonic one that holds 3 litres. There are larger capacity pots and 3 'Keep Warm' temperatures with the hottest one being 208ºF (98ºC). 3 litres was enough before Kyle came along as it was primarily used for making coffee and teas but now a larger one would be more convenient as I don't need to refill it every night.

There are other brands that make these pots and you can find them at Forum Home Appliances. They are around $130-$200 depending on capacity and brand. I recommend Zojirushi (w/ an elephant logo), Panasonic and Tiger Brand.

Name Labels for Kids' Clothings

Name Labels is a Canadian company that makes woven labels that can be used to label your kids' clothings. I have bought from them before for identifying my crafts with my company name and was satisfied with their no-frills service. If you are not picky about having a design on the labels and do not mind sewing or ironing the label, I recommend Name Labels because it is cheap. I bought 100 labels for $10 so it comes to 10 cents each. Since it is not a self-adhesive labels, it cannot be used on items where you can't iron or sewn on.

Other companies that makes self-adhesive labels can charge up to 50 cents each because it is coloured or has images printed on it. Those can be used to stick on childrens' cutlery or other articles that can be easily misplaced or mixed up with other kids'.

Getting Rid of Spit Up Smells from Clothing

Milk residue scent on clothing is hard to get off. Since Kyle's been spitting up a lot, many of his clothing and especially bibs have an annoying smell on it even after multiple washings. I managed to find a solution to get the smell out and the clothing smelling clean as spring.

1. Do a rinse in the washer with a cup of white vinegar.
2. Do a regular wash and rinse cycle. During the wash cycle, use your regular laundry detergent and add a few drops of dish detergent (I used Palmolive's Green Apple but the clothes don't end up smelling like dish detergent so I don't think it matters what you use).
3. Do a rinse cycle with water only.
   

This actually takes a long time and uses a lot of water so I tried doing step 1 or step 2 only to see if I can eliminate a step but the result remained smelly. I think it's easier to just buy new bibs for him. As for clothing, I try to do this once in awhile when I have a full load of clothes with the smell.

If Only Nursing Pads are Big Round Stickers

While nursing pads that prevents milk leakage from showing on your tops are a great invention, why is the sticky patch on the other side always so small? We're talking a centimetre by 2 centimetres. It's already hard to stick on fabric and having the sticky patch that small is as good as not having a sticky patch.

I'm talking to you, Medalla, Lanosinh and Johnson & Johnson pads.

Making My First Diaper Cake

I made my first diaper cake over the weekend. My cousin made me one for my baby shower and I thought it looked easy and fun to make. Being a super crafty person, I actually found this pretty hard to make compared to my beading and felt pins projects.

Nonetheless, i still think diaper cakes are fun and useful for new moms-to-be. You can surely customize it to what you want to give.

Ingredients - Diapers, fleece blankie, blue bunny rattle, a pack of 3 bodysuits, glass plate, small bottles of shampoo/cleansers/etc, a container of wipes, ribbons and cellophane wrap. Glue gun can be used to glue the ribbons. Ribbons, plate and cellophane wrap can be found at the dollar store.

Place the wipes container in the centre of the plate. Wrap the fleece blankie around the container to give it more girth. Roll the diapers and hold it with either a ribbon or a mini elastic band. Wrap it tightly if you want to squeeze in more diapers. Place the diapers around the container. Wrap a thick ribbon around the diapers covering the elastic bands and secure the ribbon with tape or glue. You may need an extra set of hands to help you .

Repeat the same steps for the second layer of diapers. You can add the bodysuits in between the diapers. For my cake, I put the 3 bodysuits together at the 'front' (where the rattle will be facing).

Same for the third layer. Place the rattle on top of the third layer. It looks nicer without the backing on the rattle but it was easier for me to place it on top by placing the cardboard back between the diapers for support.

Tie a ribbon on the socks and mini bottles and attach it to the thick ribbon around the diapers on each layer. You can use larger bottles and squeeze it between the diapers if you wish.

Wrap the cake in cellophane wrap and tie a bow on top. Your cake is ready to be served!

Finishing touches - you can line tissue paper at the bottom and crinkle the ends to make it more decorative if you feel the first tier is too plain. I glued stones to the ribbon because I thought the ribbon was too plain. There are cellophane wrap with designs on it such as stars or ducks, etc.

Tip on Storing Milk in the Freezer

Anyone want to play poker with my card bricks? :-P

Storing milk the conventional way can be a space waster as it is bulky. Milk storing bags are designed to have the milk stand upright and when it freezes the bag expands. I have been freezing milk flat so that it saves space since you can stack them one on top of each other in the freezer. I place it in a larger zip loc bag (the medium size bags can hold about 15 milk bricks). Milk bricks take a lot less time to defrost. You need to make sure that the milk bag is sealed tightly and make sure to get all the bubbles out first.

Before I pour the milk into the bag, I write the date on the date tab first with a pen. Then with a marker, I indicate how much milk there is because when you defrost, sometimes you need to do some math to get the amount of milk you need for the feeding(s). Then I number the bags in order. That is so I don't have to rifle through the zip loc bag to find when the 'next date' is. If I used up number 5, I know that bag 6 is up next. The date is written for the purpose of expiration. If remembering the number is too much work, you can mark the next one with a post-it note or a coloured clip (see first photo, on the right with the green post-it).

When you defrost, place the frozen milk on a plate just in case it leaks so that it can catch the drips. If you notice the bag was ripped in the freezer, it's better to throw it out.

I label everything clearly and indicate the volume of the milk. You will be glad you did if you are in a rush or if you are instructing someone else to defrost milk in your absence.

Use for Newborn Booties

Kushies Terrycloth Newborn Booties

If you find baby mitts are too loose on your baby's hands and keeping losing it (they tend to find ways to fling them off when you are not paying attention), you can use newborn baby booties that no longer fit their feet as mitts. The elastic area is tight enough to hold the mitts in place but not too tight to leave marks.

Milk Storage Timeline

I've been pumping a lot of milk lately to ease the pain of engorged breasts. My friend recommended the Gerber Nuk Seal 'n Go Milk Bags. My pump is the Medalla Swing and I love it because it's compact and it is used by local hospitals.

I try to breast feed whenever I can. Bottle feeding is my last resort if someone else is watching Kyle. There's a chance that you may lose antibodies, fat or leukocytes found in breast milk (live cells that carries immunity from mother to baby) as they may stick to the side walls of the containers or plastic bags. The milk bags are made specifically for storing milk so they do a better job at maintaining the milk components mentioned above.

I've figured out a rotation schedule for my storing my milk whereas I have not figured Kyle's feed/eat/play schedule yet!

A lot of parenting sites offer valuable advice on milk storage with a slight variation on dates. I took advice from different sites to set my own system. This is how I am storing my milk in rotation.

1) Pump milk into a Medalla plastic bottle.
2) Store milk in fridge with date pumped on a sticky note. Store for 5 days in the fridge. If I know that I would not be bottle feeding that week, I store the milk directly in a Nuk bag for freezing.
3) By the 5th day, I transfer the milk from the bottle to the Nuk bag.
4) Freeze in the fridge freezer overnight.
5) Place the brick of milk in a zip loc bag and move it to a separate deep freezer with a constant temperature.
6) Use milk within 6 months of storage.

My timelines are less than what is normally recommended because I want to make sure that the milk doesn't go bad.

You may notice that I call the milk a brick. I will share a tip on space saving on my next post.

Cloth Diapers Sample Pack

Last month, we picked up the sample cloth diapers from New & Green Baby Co. For about $200, we got a sample pack for 2 months to see which type of diapers we want to go with.

This is what's included in the kit:

• 18 Kissaluv size 0 cotton diapers
• 4 Newborn Diaper Covers
• 4 Small Diaper covers
• 3 Small AMP All in One Diapers
• 3 X-Small Fuzzi Bunz Pocket Diapers with Insert
• 1 Large At Home Waterproof Storage Bag
• 1 Small Out and About Waterproof Storage Bag

Accessory Items to Keep:

• 5 Microfleece Liners
• 1 roll of Bio-Soft Flushable Liners
• 24 Cloth Wipes
• Try it Size Wipes Cleansing Solution
• 40 Loads Wonder Wash Laundry Detergent

Here are my reviews after a month of testing these diapers out:

AMP All in One Diapers - During the first week, I preferred the AIO diapers more than the others, mainly because it was simple to use and it's very much like a disposable diaper. However, even with 2 liners, it leaked on me on the 3rd try especially near the thigh area. The diaper is thick but not very absorbent. The outer layer is waterproof and the inside is usually lined with fleece, cotton, hemp or microfibre without additional filling. Ed mentioned after that it could be because Kyle was not big enough to fill the diaper so it was loose causing the leaks. We will give the diapers another try in 2 weeks when he's bigger and update this review.

Kissaluv Cotton Diapers with Bummis Super Brites Diaper Cover - This was initially my least favourite because I felt it was a hassle to put on the cotton diaper and a diaper cover on top. I changed my opinion after using it for a week. The cotton diaper was snug around the baby's thighs without leaving a binding mark and kept the poo in. It does not seem appealling to think that the diaper will most likely be wet and moist by the time you change it (that's why you need a waterproof cover) but there is a reason why it's better to have the entire diaper absorb the pee. When I used disposables, the pee was all concentrated in the crotch area where it holds the most liquid. After using it for 3 changes (I was lazy that day and we received a lot of disposables from friends as gifts), I noticed that baby had a diaper rash. That didn't happen when i used the cotton diapers. It also helped when there's a liner as buffer between the skin and the cotton diapers.

Fuzzibunz Pocket Diapers - This is like the AIO diapers with a pocket for microfleece liners. Ed tried using this for overnight because he added more microfleece liners for more absorbency for night time. It didn't work and the diaper shell was soaked after a couple of hours (we only change when he cries for a feeding at night). It was not fun to remove the soaked liners from the shell, it was an extra step that I did not need. This was my least favourite diaper.

I find that cloth diapers mask the smell of poo better than disposables. When Kyle pooped in a disposable, I can tell right away but I'm usually unsure with the cloth diapers. I'm not sure why though.

My choice of cloth diaper - Cotton or Bamboo Diapers with Diaper Cover.

Baby Cloths/ Wipes

You can never have too many wash cloths around the house. They are not always used for washing but rather for wiping up spit ups, milk and other baby messes. After a month of using different brands of cloths, here is what's left of the wipes.

Left to right: Chick Pea, Cotton, Piccolo Bambino, Honey Bunny Organics
Bottom centre: Kushies 2-ply wash cloth

Honey Bunny Organic Cloths ($6 for 3)

These are by far the worse ones (see left, click on image to see larger version). After the second washing (in gentle cycle), the edges frayed and curled up making it frustrating to fold into little squares. They come in packs of 3 (above image, top right) and I don't know if the fact that it's organic is what makes it so flimsy. I like that it's thin so that I can easily wipe Kyle's hands and get into creases. But after the 5th wash, the cloth is no longer in the shape of the square nor could you tell that it used to be square.

Kushies 2-ply Bath Cloths ($6.50 for 3)

These are great for bath time. They are thick and did not lose shape with multiple washings. They are slightly larger and noticeably thicker than the standard wash cloths. There is a sewn on trimming around the cloth to help prevent curling and fraying which makes it a lot more durable. A bit on the pricey side, they are worth the cost unlike Honey Bunny Organics.

Piccolo Bambino 12 pack Wash Cloths ($7 for 12)

Ideal for gift giving as these are packaged in a mesh wrap. These are quite thin as well but they are still holding the shape after many washes. The edges have curled a bit but did not fray. I use these for the same purposes as the other thin cloths.

Cotton cloths (prices and brands vary)

I am using the generic ones that came with the cloth diapers. These cotton cloths get softer with each washing. A small number of them have stretched out a bit in one corner but feels durable. I was expecting pilling on these cloths but that has not happened yet.

The Chick Pea cloth is holding up like the Piccolo Bambino. It was given to me in a Chick Pea 10 item baby basket that was bought from Winners. No one else has heard of Chick Pea and those that shop at Winners know that if you see a brand you like on a visit, it's unlikely that it'll be there again on your next visit. If anyone knows where else you can get Chick Pea baby baskets, please let me know. I enjoyed all the items that came in the basket and would love to purchase those for expecting friends.

I recommend washing the cloths in a laundry bag to prevent losing the thin ones in the wash, especially if you have the older machines where there's a gap under the rotator where the water is drained. I have lost many socks in the black hole!