1.28.2011

Milk-stache

The point of this post is to state my feelings and opinions on a certain subject.  
Last week the babes and I packed up for a weekend of fun and "baby coaching" with a friend.  By "baby coaching," I mean a friend & I sharing what has worked and what has not worked for our kiddos.  As we settled in Friday afternoon I made the statement that I could not wait to give Scarlet cow's milk.  She immediately said, "why would you give her cow's milk?"  I thought for a second and my first answer was that it is cheaper, then because it is just what you do.  They turn a year old and you give em' milk.  Right?  Yeah I thought so.  After a brief discussion/speech of her telling me about the origin of the western culture giving cow's milk to babies, and why it was unnecessary, I decided I would do my own research.  


Did you know that we (the western culture) are the only people that give their children (another mammals) milk after weaning them?  Me neither.  
DO you not find it weird that we would wean our babies from OUR OWN milk and give them another mammals milk?  I do. 
I was under the impression that our children NEEDED cow's milk for calcium as well as other nutrients.  I looked into Almond milk and here are some neat facts.    

The Nutritional Value of Almond Milk

Almond milk is one of the most nutritionally valuable milk substitutes available today. It is high in a number of vitamins and minerals, including vitamin E, manganese, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, selenium, iron, fiber, zinc and calcium. Almond milk is low in calories, at only 40 calories per eight ounce serving, and low in fat. It contains only three grams of fat per eight ounce serving. Almond milk is lactose, gluten, casein and cholesterol free; it's also free of saturated fats.  (source)

I also really like this info - 
Compared to cow's milk, almond milk is the much healthier choice. Almond milk contains a wide variety of the vitamins and minerals that your body needs to function. Almond milk also contains high levels of antioxidants, so it can help prevent many types of cancer and slow the signs of aging. Almond milk is also great for those who can't drink cow's milk due to lactose intolerance, or a casein or gluten allergy; however, those with tree nut allergies should avoid almond milk because it could elicit a dangerous allergic reaction.
Whole cow's milk contains a lot more calories and fat than almond milk, making almond milk the better choice for those on a diet. Cow's milk also contains saturated fat and cholesterol; almond milk is free of both saturated fat and cholesterol, making it a healthier choice, especially for those with heart problems.
While cow's milk contains high levels of calcium, and is fortified with vitamins A and D to help you meet your daily requirements of these vitamins, almond milk contains high levels of a wide range of necessary vitamins and therefore has a higher nutritional value than cow's milk. The only thing that cow's milk has more of than almond milk is protein; cow's milk has eight grams of protein per serving while almond milk has only one gram per serving. (source)


Here are a few interesting tidbits for those of you that say our calcium comes from cow's milk.  

Did you know that 1 cup of cooked broccoli has the same amount of calcium as an 8oz. glass of milk?  I didn't 
Did you know that these food are very calcium rich? 
1 cup tofu 
1 cup cooked collard greens (mmmmmm)
1 1/2 cups calcium-fortified oatmeal 
1 cup calcium-fortified orange juice 
10 medium figs (I love figs!)
1 cup cooked spinach (& spinach)
1 cup cooked white beans (& beans :) )
  I didn't know that either. 

(See, I wanna make her healthier than I am)
Now, at the end of the day I am not doing this because I want my kid to be Vegan, Gluten free, sugar free, or anything "free."  I just want to choose the healthy option for her while I can.  Not to say that I wouldn't hand my child a Kraft single while driving from Birmingham to Orange Beach and tell her to have fun.  In the long run, I feel creeped out by the whole "milk" thing, by the fact that we (at some point) took our kids off the breast to basically put them on another animals breast and that, I find WEIRD.  What are your thoughts on this, and have you EVER heard such a thing?  I am glad I have read up and made a decision for our family but what do you do for yours? 

1.24.2011

Fun-ness

The babes & I decided to take a "breather" from daily life and road trip to Nashville to visit our dear friends at Grizaland!  I will post the link to the blog later because it is not working now.  Anyway, LG has a squishy, sweet 6 month old that Scarlet LOVES to laugh at, and that sweet squish ball had a cold :(  He was very pleasant but had a nasty cough.  We had a great time hanging out.  Literally, hanging out.  As in, I did not bathe and neither did LG so I don't feel guilty!  "Uncle" Erik got some majah lovin from Scarlet and she cracked up at him!  Check it out!
 (from top right, new teether from Essex, My giant Red Stripe, Fenn & Letta, Girl & our new baby gate)
( and again, Letta in the new BOMB highchair of Fenn's, trying out her shades, lovin uncle E, and yes "I believe in Auburn and I LOVE IT!")

1.14.2011

Par

I have not been up to par lately.  As far as blogging goes, eating right, laundry, pretty much life.  Ever since we left town for Christmas I have been a bum.  After I was tired of bumming a "ice storm" came.  Not so much ice in our hood, as we are surrounded by giant trees, but just enough to keep us from getting out of our house.  The day the storm resided I got babes dressed for school then got the phone call that the heater was broken and she couldn't go.  :(  So another day of cabin fever was in order.  We ventured out and I got skinny jeans & some shirts with gift cards.  Before the storm I had to take Scarlet to the doc for what I feared was a sinus infection, it was.  I always weigh myself there and I was very shocked to learn that I had lost 10lbs over the holidays!  Sweet.  
Okay, so these pics go a little like this.  (from top left)  #1 Dad teaching babe how to tweet, #2 WAR DAMN EAGLE national champs!!  Yes we let our baby say "damn" in this context, #3 just woke up with a fever and partying,  #4 airing our dirty laundry,  #5 cute.  Got a few more pics if you can stand it!  Sorry for the baby pic life I lead but lets be honest, this is it.  Other than try to dress cool, this is what I do now.  
Yeah, those are my skinny jeans :) have a good weekend ya'll.  I know I will.  Could you guys maybe give me some ideas on what you want to have given away (within reason)?  Maybe what you're wearing to not look so "mom"ish?  



1.11.2011

New

We got a new cousin today! Baby Gaines is here and he is CUTE! Congrats Erin & Matt! We love y'all and can't wait to see your family of 4!




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1.03.2011

8 months!

Oh man I cannot believe my baby girl is 8 months old!  Things are great!  

What she is up to now:

Teeth - 2 on bottom, top working the way in
Sleeping 7pm-6:30am
Napping (normally) 9-11 & 3-5
Eating A LOT!  She is a table food junkie but has been gagging on some of her favorites lately?
Playing all day!  She loves electronic books, remotes, cell phones, necklaces, anything shiny.  (kind of like a ferret but cuter)
Crawling - we have been waiting on this and last she army crawled, like a soldier.  Oh well ,she is a little too hefty to get that belly off the ground

Baby Scarlet - you mean the world to us.  I have had so much fun watching you grow and learn.  You are so curious and oh so beautiful and I am so happy I was blessed as your mother.  I love you angel and I can't wait for all of the months to come!



(sorry for the picture dump but I like em all :)