Cooking for Baby

Boy, oh boy, are we learning a lot as we go! My approach to feeding Olivia food has slowly changed overtime. Originally, I wanted to try the Baby Led weaning approach which is basically giving your baby table food to 100% feed themselves. Waiting till 6 months means you can skip the rice cereal and just start with foods. It also theorizes that if you allow babies to feed themself they will stop when they are full, versus possibly continuing to eat more if they were spoon-fed.


We started by offering Olivia avocados, banana, and sweet potato wedges. She loved playing with her food, but did very little eating, which was fine because she was just 6 months at the time. She was not sure about the texture or taste of most of the foods that we offered her. She usually made a face as though we were trying to poison her.

Slowly, she got better at feeding herself and figuring out that the food was meant to be eaten. That's when dinners started to get a little more stressful. Olivia still does not have any teeth so she would gum off way more than she could manage and gag; one of us was always on guard fearing she would choke.

So I decided to try some of the puree recipes from this book that my mother-in-law gave to us.

I have really enjoyed doing the puree food feedings.  I feel really good about making her food from fresh fruits and veggies, and dinners have become fun, again!

It's really easy, too. Wash and clean the fruit or vegetable. Then steam, broil or bake it, and throw it in the food processor. Let it cool and then you can serve if fresh or freeze in ice cube trays as pictured above!

In addition to being easy, it's also MUCH cheaper than the jarred variation. I was pricing some of the jarred food, and wow. Anywhere from 64 cents to upwards of a buck for one jar of food, which can be 2-4 ounces or so. One head of broccoli was 1.89 at HEB and it made about 16 ounces of puree. So making the food is definitely cost effective.


 

So far I have made broccoli, mango, bananas, butternut squash, cauliflower, and apple.  Surprisingly, Olivia loved broccoli.  She has yet to try the cauliflower, but I'm hoping she likes it, too.  Those are my two favorite vegetables, and Dave's least favorite. 

Oh, and Josie Wails is with us for the week while Annette and Reese go off to Santa Fe to celebrate their 38th Wedding Anniversary.  She is an awesome pup.



Body Transformation

The pregnancy weight is finally gone.  Hallelujah!!!  It is still sort of hard to be terribly happy because even though the scale may reflect those old numbers I used to love to see, the mirror does not reflect the body I used to love.  I don't hate my body now, by any means.  I am actually quite proud of it in ways I never imagined.  It's awesome.  It grew a beautiful little baby girl, and it continues to almost 100% nourish her to this day.  How is that not amazing?!

I'm squishy in places I no longer want to be squishy in anymore, primarily Olivia's old home.  But how to fix that?!  The bigger question is, when?!  We eat pretty healthy, but I know my diet can always improve.  Also, I started walking a bit this weekend with Olivia in the stroller and I hope to make it a regular habit in the evenings once it cools down a bit.  I would also love to start possibly training for a race; I'm looking into getting a jogging stroller.

I know in due time (likely in time to get pregnant, again) I will get back to where I was, but for some reason this past weekend I got impatient with the slow process it has taken for me to bounce back.  So although, I'm giving myself a little pat on the back for (finally) losing the pregnancy weight, all 55 pregnancy pounds, I'm also trying to give myself a kick in the booty to start getting back into shape.   

Birth Story Video

Dave has been creating a birth story video for the birth of Olivia for about 3 months or so now.  Simply because my labor was so prolonged, we have a ton of video snippets and pictures to be used. Additionally, we had just purchased Dave's iPhone 4 and he was in love with it.

The video that Dave is currently  making is over 30 minutes long, and it's wonderful so far.  I'm excited to sit down and watch the whole thing once it's completed.  I'm not sure how, and if we will be able to share it because it is so long, but Dave made this trailer to the video last night.



I love having these memories captured.  I re-live them every time I watch a video or see pictures.  I don't even mind that most of the images are less than flattering.  Olivia's birth was so special for us both and I look forward to sharing this with her one day.

Wordless Wednesday

Hardin Simmons Jimenez

It's really interesting how family pets really do become family members.


Jay Jimenez, the oldest child in the Jimenez family, was off to college in the summer of 2000 and set to attend Hardin Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. The other two children in the Jimenez family, Amanda and Sarah, were both a bit distraught about their older brother's big move to the United States from Belgium. What better way to "replace" a family member than buying a puppy?!

Hardin Simmons Jimenez was born in June 2000 on the Southside of San Antonio, Texas. He was picked from the litter and named by Sarah Jimenez, then 4 years old. Hardin flew half way across the world to live in Belgium with the Jimenez family for many years. In 2003, Texas "Tex" Bobcat Jimenez entered the family and was Sarah and Hardin's new brother.

Hardin and Tex resided in Obourg, Belgium until the summer of 2005 when the Jimenez family moved to Harker Heights, Texas. In 2006, Hardin moved to San Marcos, Texas to live with Amanda Jimenez and Kelly Garrott. From 2006 until 2009, Hardin bounced around to all sorts of apartments and new places in the Central Texas area and thoroughly enjoyed his college experiences. He was quite a hit at most house parties.

David Copeland and Hardin met in November 2007 and tolerated one another.  Thor Copeland entered the picture in June 2008, and Hardin was not very happy about his new brother.  The Jimenez-Copeland household tried to make their new blended family work.  However, in November 2009, Hardin went to stay with the Jimenez family in Harker Heights while Dave and Amanda traveled to New Orleans, and never returned back to live with the then Jimenez-Copeland family.

Hardin passed away on July 11, 2011.  Hardin was a happy old dog living in Harker Heights with Tex.  He was certainly spoiled and loved greatly by Javier, Cindy and Sarah Jimenez.  Hardin lived a very full life and will be missed by all who knew him.