Making baby food..

So I am making my own baby food today. I have done a little before - mostly because I had a whole bunch of home-grown pears and I couldn't eat them all fast enough. But now I'm getting into it.

So today I bought (for baby food making) organic apples, organic pears, bananas, organic squash, organic carrots and sweet potatos.
How did I decide which to buy organic...mostly from this article: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/06/01/dirty.dozen.produce.pesticide/index.html?hpt=C2
though I do plan to read more.

Cost of organic jar of 4 oz baby food (and they were on sale today: $.89)
Cost of carrots - $2.19 and the bag made approximately 20 oz or 5 jars and amounts to a savings of $2.26
Cost of apples - $1.94 and the 3 I bought made approximately 14 oz or 3.5 jars and amounts to a savings of $1.17

I have yet to do the others...it may wait till tomorrow. I got these done (and ate lunch) during Sam's mid-day nap!

The baby carrots were already washed and peeled, though I did wash again then I boiled. With some of the boiled water I pureed them with my magic bullet. (I'm sure a blender would work too, but the bullet is smaller for cleaning)
The apples I peeled with a vegetable peeler (because I'm really bad skinning with a knife) then cut into pieces and steamed. I added a little water and pureed these too.
Then pour into ice cube trays and freeze. I think it would last a few days in the fridge also, but I never know how fast Sam will eat it. Plus I also still have a bunch of jars that I bought recently and I like to give her variety every day.
I prefer to defrost in hot/boiling water (be sure to use a safe glass container like a measuring cup - I broke one of our glasses using it...) because I think the microwave could damage some of the nutrients, but the microwave will work too and be a little bit faster.

Christmas Card 2010

Dazzle And Shine Christmas 5x7 folded card

Create modern Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Holiday Card Bargain - Just Do It!

So I guess I'm a little behind because I have yet to get Christmas cards. And yes, two of my sister-in-laws shamed me when I got their cards in the mail Tuesday! The past few years it seems more and more people are sending photo cards and I absolutely love it. I love seeing everyone's families growing and what they've been up to during the year. Its so fun!

So shutterfly is making it easy for bloggers to get Christmas cards this year with their awesome giveaway:.

They have quite a card collection so I'm sure you'll find the perfect one for your family. Check out their Christmas cards.

I personally like this one:

Also, if you're quite behind like me, you could always do a New Year's Card or a photo calendar

They definitely have good prices compared to lots of other places and if you sign up for their emails, you'll get some good promotions and discounts.

I got started with Shutterfly over 3 years ago after my wedding. So many photos and never enough time to do a scrapbook. So I added them to Shutterfly and got photobooks! Also, it was really easy to get 3 copies to give to the parents of the bride and groom. And they loved it too.

The photographer we just used uploaded the pictures to shutterfly before she got the CD to us. An easy and private way to display our pictures and right there already loaded for printing. I'm definitely excited for that and might just have to do another photobook! (Especially right now since its buy one, get the next one 50% off) That's all I've used for Sam's "baby book" because I'm just a lazy mom - or should I say techinically developed! Its all just so easy to do and so easy to personalize and have it come out just right. :-)

Its been over 6 months...

It's been more than 6 months since...
*I've slept all night
*I've had a clean shirt at the end of the day
*I've cooked dinner with both hands

But I do enjoy my little girl!!

She is sitting up all on her own, crawling backwards and army-style crawling forwards! She will go especially fast when you put down something she shouldn't have...like a phone. :-)