It's Potty Time!!

Many years ago when I was working in the infant room at a childcare center, I was fortunate enough to assist an amazing teacher named Pushpa.  Pushpa is Nepalese and she taught me things about children, education and life that no American I knew could have.  For some reason, a story she once told me about flying to the U.S. from Nepal with her 9 month old son has always stuck in my head.  She spoke of how her son was already 'potty trained' and flew the whole way with just one 'accident'.  I haven't been able to shake the idea of an infant being able to comprehend the concept of waste elimination since then.

As soon as I found out I was pregnant with Salem , the notion of infant potty training immediately came back to the forefront of my mind.  Being the self-learner that I am, I set out to research this idea.  What I found was a real eye-opener and I realized just how brainwashed we are here in the states.  All around the world people practice what many Americans refer to as, Elimination Communication (EC). 

"Elimination communication (EC) is a practice in which a caregiver uses timing, signals, cues, and intuition to address an infant's need to eliminate waste. Caregivers try to recognize and respond to babies' bodily needs and enable them to urinate and defecate in an appropriate place (e.g. a toilet). Caregivers may use diapers (nappies) as a back-up in case of misses some or all of the time, or not at all. EC emphasizes communication between the caregiver and child, helping them both become more attuned to the child's innate rhythms and control of urination and defecation. The term "elimination communication" was inspired by traditional practices of diaper-less baby care in less industrialized countries and hunter-gatherer cultures.^[1] Some practitioners of EC begin soon after birth, the optimum window being zero to four months,^[2] although it can be started with babies of any age. The practice can be done full-time, part-time, or just occasionally." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elimination_communication

Having a 'diaper-free' baby sounded like a daunting task, but I was up to it.  After Salem was born, I was all gung ho about getting Salem to use the toilet as early as possible.  I soon realized that it wasn't quite as simple as everything I had read made it sound.  With lots of practice, tons of mistakes, some time and finally allowing myself to relax a bit, we found a way that worked for us.  From birth to about six months, I would simply allow Salem some diaper-free time on a waterproof mat and occasionally set him on a little potty.  Once he could sit up on his own, I started to just sit him on the itty bitty toilet during diaper changes.  Then one day he started to pee in said toilet.  A few days later he pooed in it. Soon he started to make a conscious effort to 'hold it' and communicate with me when it was time to go.  Needless to say, I was ecstatic! After that first poo in the pot, Salem never looked back and I can count the number of dirty diapers I had to change from then on on one hand. He has been out of diapers (except overnight) since around 18 months.*

These are the embarrassing pictures that I will dutifully show my children's future dates.

Now it's Piper's turn and I am proud to announce she has taken to her tiny pot just as quickly as Salem did.  I will spare you the details, but she is equally as impressive as her brother was!  I have read/heard that girls are easier to potty train than boys, so maybe our Piper will be done with the diaper even earlier!  

* Although he has been diaper free during the day for over a year, there have been occasional accidents during nap time.

A Lifestyle Makeover

Sometime towards the end of 2012, I realized that I wasn't living my best life.  I had become complacent and wanted to make a change.  When I looked around the house, I noticed some areas that could use improvement.  I didn't like how much of our food was coming in a package of some sort.  I didn't like how much sugar our family was consuming.  I didn't like that we were using chemicals to "clean" our bodies and home.  I didn't like how high our electric/gas bill had gotten. I didn't like seeing how much water we were throwing down the drain.  I didn't like the person looking back at me in the mirror.  So I talked with Miguel and shared all of my fears for continuing to live an unconscious life.  I relayed the thought that I want to teach our children a better and healthier way to live so that they may have a solid foundation to build their lives upon.

With Miguel on board, I set out to research different ways of creating a more sustainable life for our family.  I figured we needed to start small as to not overwhelm ourselves into a panic*.  I started with food (since that is where I am most comfortable) and reduced our processed items greatly by making granola (instead of cereal), greek yogurt (Salem loves yogurt), bread, beans (dry instead of canned), and snacks from scratch. These items are just the beginning as I have a long to-do list in this department and will share my trials and tribulations as I knock off each new item. My end goal is to produce most everything under my roof using local resources for ingredients, which in turn reduces the amount of packaging and unwanted chemicals/sugar in our food.  Oh and we need to compost our kitchen scraps, then we would have barely any actual trash (since we recycle/reuse too).

Homemade granola and Greek yogurt

After reading a ton of blogs about sustainability and natural/simple living as well as discussing these topics with friends, we quit using shampoo/conditioner and replaced it with the baking soda/apple cider vinegar method. We moved away from chemical laden soaps in plastic containers and started using bars of ivory (which we also use in making detergents and such) instead.  We stopped using fancy 'no tears' baby wash and just use water and a wash rag now (Salem uses ivory when he's super dirty).  Coconut oil with a few drops of tea tree oil replaced our deodorant.  I'm still working on moisturizers since our skin is a bit dry, but we have been using coconut and olive oil when things get rough.  We use white vinegar as a fabric softener in the laundry as well as for cleaning;  we add it to saved citrus fruit peels to make citrus cleaner/degreaser.  In the very near future, I will be making laundry/dish/dishwasher detergents, hand soaps, body and face scrubs.

Brewing some citrus cleaner

Deodorant

I bought a drying rack for indoor line drying laundry and a programmable thermostat to regain control of heating/cooling our house.  We have been saving the cold start-up water (that first gallon or two of cold water before the hot water gets to the faucet) from the shower and leftover bath water then using that to flush the toilet.  We save the cold start-up water from the kitchen and use it to water the dog and plants as well as to soak Piper's dirty diapers.

After 3 weeks of line drying full time and using the programmable thermostat, our electric/gas bill was down $80 from the previous month

I started to workout regularly and changed my eating habits to reduce the amount of white sugars I consume.  I recently acquired the Insanity and P90X workout dvds from a friend and am finally in decent enough shape to attempt these programs.  For the first time in the last decade I feel in control of my life and cannot wait to share our progress towards a healthier and more conscious existence!

*Disclaimer: There are a few things that we were already doing that may have helped us transition easier, such as: Making most of our meals from scratch in the first place, limiting showers/baths to a few days a week, using more natural household cleansers, practicing the 'if it's yellow let it mellow, brown-flush it down' method for toilet flushing, etc.

Piper Rolls Over!

A few months ago someone asked me if Piper was rolling over yet and my response was, "I don't encourage that kind of behavior in my house".  Now don't get me wrong, I simply meant it as a humorous way of saying I wasn't ready for that major milestone yet.  After all, Piper is my last baby and I want to cherish in the moments of her infancy before she bolts into toddlerhood. With Salem, we were so excited to have him hit every milestone that we pushed him through games and exercises.  But we soon realized that babies do their own thing on their own time regardless of how much we encourage them.  Piper has been pretty content just laying back and watching life go by, without even attempting a roll over until this past Thursday (the day before she turned 7 months).  Although she had to try a few times before actually turning from her back to her belly, she managed to accomplish her goal! Before long our dear baby girl will be motoring about the house getting into trouble with her brother.  I need a nap just thinking about it!

Gaining momentum

Halfway break

Almost there!

She made it, drool and all!

What do you do?

What is it about this year that is so freeing?  Maybe it’s because I’m not pregnant and my brain cloud is finally clearing.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I am coming to terms with my conflicting ways.  This week I had an epiphany that has completely changed me.

Throughout my adulthood I have always struggled with how to answer the ridiculous question, “What do you do?”.  Thinking about a career has always been a festering sore in my side and kept me awake many a night. Well, I no longer have to waste my time searching for an answer, for the answer has been right in front of me for the last 3 years.  I’m a homemaker/stay-at-home mom/housewife and I’m really good at it.  I love what I do and my job is very important, regardless of the fact that I don’t bring home a paycheck.

I believe the reasons behind my lag in this discovery can be traced back to the thought that unless you contribute financially, you are not doing your part.  What a silly notion! Now that I realize I was choosing my own misery by allowing myself to believe I wasn’t doing enough, change is inevitable.  A giant boulder of frustrations has been knocked off my shoulders and I feel lighter.  I feel ready to finally be totally present at home and with my family.  With the worry gone, I can concentrate on things of real importance like raising my children and living a happy, healthy life together!

New Year, New Me

I suppose the New Year has something to do with the recent fire under my butt. Perhaps it’s more of a combination of factors at play; Miguel is working two jobs so he’s home less, my kids are growing crazy fast and I want to document more, I miss having a social connection with the outside world on a regular basis, I have finally/recently come to terms with me and I want to hold myself accountable.

Recently, I discovered ME; as in me, I, yo.  For as long as I can remember I have been living in a conflicted state of being.  I have always felt the need to create, to work with my hands and my heart but I have pushed myself towards trying to find a more lucrative career.  I have trouble finding satisfaction in ordinary jobs and therefore have had LOTS of them.  With every new step I take towards something I believe would fulfill me, I run away with my tail between my legs.  My fear of failure has kept me from succeeding yet I also fail because of my fear of success. See the conflict?

So I came to these conclusions:

1)      I am a dreamer.  I am ‘that’ friend.  You know, the one who always has some hair brained idea that she shares with passion yet she never follows through.  The friend who means well but just can’t seem to get her shit together career wise.

2)      There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a dreamer and I should keep my mind open.

3)      This year, I resolve to live my life for me and to follow my heart.  To no longer allow outside voices to dictate what is appropriate for me or my family.

4)      Time to use my creativity for a bigger purpose and to allow that side of me to flourish.

5)      I shall embrace my differences and count them as strengths rather than weaknesses.

As you may be able to gather, until now I made a lot of excuses and refused to take full responsibility for myself and my downfalls.  As my children grow, I realize that I may be setting them up for failure to, unless I change my ways.  I’m a firm believer in leading (parenting) by example, so if I want to raise holistically successful children, I had better start living by the same expectations.  Really, who doesn’t want to be fulfilled in all areas of their lives?

1 Year Anniversary

Yesterday marked the one-year wedding anniversary for me and Miguel. I can say without a doubt that more sh** happened/changed in our first year of marriage than in the entire course of our courtship. Ha!

Let's recap:

- Got married
- Moved into our rv and began traveling
- Traveled to the East Coast
- Found out I was pregnant
- Traveled through the South and to the West Coast
- Returned to Colorado
- Moved into my parents' basement
- Began working at the kennel again (both Miguel and I did)
- Moved out of my parents' basement and back into the rv
- Lived at a campground
- Started working at Home Depot (both Miguel and I did)
- Got too pregnant to be comfortable in the rv
- Moved back into my parents' basement
- Got hernia from pulling hoses at work
- Quit Home Depot
- Mig got his old job back in Denver and started working there again
- Mig lived in the rv in Denver for a month to save on gas money
- I was bit by a dog on my hand, swelled up for a week
- Mig moved back into the basement and began commuting to work
- Had a baby shower
- Had a baby :-)
- Stayed with parents for a few more months
- Moved into our own home
- Salem turned 3 months old

And that brings us to our first anniversary as a married couple! Happy Anniversary babe! Its been one hell of a ride!

Salem Oliver Banuelos

Because I have been out of the blogging loop for so long, I figured I should probably give some information regarding our son, Salem Oliver Banuelos.

Salem (named primarily after the city in Massachusetts because that was where we discovered his presence) was born after a fairly quick and easy non-medicated delivery on June 28, 2010 at 7:50pm. He weighed in at a mere 6 lbs, 13 oz and was 18.5 in long. By my side during the whole process were my amazing husband, Miguel and wonderful sister, Sara.



Our little man came into the world beautiful and perfect!