Happily Barefoot

Bag givaway at He Sows, She Sews!

http://www.hesowsshesews.com/

Such a pretty bag! Hope I win LOL

Crazy Nourishing Chocolate Cupcakes

Our household has been white sugar free since Feb 1st… while I’m sure we have consumed things containing sugar since the end of the real food challenge, none of it has come from my kitchen… With my son’s fourth birthday coming up I needed to make him cupcakes that did not contain white sugar and also had the flour properly prepared.

I ended up modifying this recipe and it worked great!

Makes around 20-24 cupcakes

Crazy Nourishing Chocolate Cupcakes
3 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
2 Cups Water
2 T Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
1.5 Cups Sucanat or Rapadura
1 t Sea Salt
2 t Aluminum-Free Baking Soda
1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder (unsweetened)
3/4 Cup Coconut Oil
2 t Real Vanilla Extract

The night before: Mix together the flour, water & apple cider vinegar. Allow to sit in a bowl on the counter, covered, overnight.

In the morning: Mix in all the other ingredients (slightly warming the coconut oil to make it pourable if your kitchen is cold) until a batter is made. Pour batter into lined muffin tins no more than 2/3-3/4 full (they are quite difficult to get out of the pan if they aren’t lined) and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Without the internet…

Every once in awhile I sit here and thing of all the things I could manage to get done in a day if I wasn’t checking my email, obsessing about facebook or chatting with the ladies at my favorite message board. Sometimes I see posts from other bloggers (you know, ones that update their blogs more than once a year…) and see the cool projects they manage to get done in a day’s time. The awesome things they accomplish with their children. The cool crafts and sewing projects… you know, LIVING life, not just typing about it…

I think of all the time I spend parked in front of this machine… and think of what I’ve missed out on. I know I’ve missed my kiddos playing quietly together. That would at the end of the day be much more rewarding to watch than 3 youtube videos and much more entertaining than a stupid facebook quiz.

Then I think of all the things I have learned from this chair… I never would have had a homebirth or used cloth diapers. Never would have learned to cook real, healthy, from scratch food. Never would have had such an awesome supportive group of women rally around me when times were tough….

Some days, I just want to rip this thing out of the wall and never look back. Others I have to fight with myself just to get up and make breakfast rather than read one more thing.

I need to think on this more – but I need to figure out how to get the internet to become more of a resource and less of a time suck.

The Home Waterbirth of Coco!

I was pretty certain that this baby was going to come on Grandma’s birthday, so when I started feeling strange around midnight on November 11th, I wasn’t surprised. I also wasn’t surprised when I woke up at 2am, 4am, or 5am. By 6am I decided it was the day and woke up my husband – who replied to my “I need you to get up now.” With a glance at the clock and a “Why?”

My husband started setting up the birth tub while I called the midwife and started making preparations. The hose to fill the birth tub was leaky so we ended up running it from the basement utility sink rather than the bathroom sink.

With the tub well on it’s way, I wandered around the house, trying not to get too excited. I think I listened to a hypnobabies CD at some point and threw some breakfast burritos in the toaster oven. Around 7am my cable clicked off (probably should have paid that bill on time… ) and I lost all contact with the outside world LOL (and the kids lost our most reliable form of entertainment that would distract them).

My mom arrived and braided my hair for me, and the midwife arrived soon after. The kids spent the majority of the morning bouncing off the walls, eating junk and doing whatever we could do to keep them occupied. My labor was totally manageable at that point, and I was starting to feel guilty for calling the midwife and my mom so early – but true to form, had I waited until “they” say to call, nobody would have made it in time.

My husband and I went for several short walks during the morning, and eventually I locked myself away in the bedroom with my hypnobabies CDs and tuned out the chaos in the living room. The midwife came in a few times to listen to the baby, and I think I was in and out of sleep for a good portion of my labor.

Eventually things changed and I decided that I needed to get into the birthing tub for some relief. Unfortunately, we had filled the tub so early that I found it to be too cold. I returned to the bed and listened to my CDs some more to help me relax while I was waiting for the tub to be warmed.

Awhile later my midwife let me know that the tub was ready when I wanted it, and I headed in. I got comfortable, put my CDs on again and started mentally preparing for the pushing phase – something that I cannot stand.

My mom was taking photographs the whole day, and attending to the kids, as was my husband. At some point I started to feel a bit pushy and complained that my water was in the way, and was quite relieved when it broke. The pushing feelings were getting more and more intense and I was trying to keep myself calm and not panic.

At some point I started pushing, which was just as I remember it being from my previous births – not pleasant. First on my hands and knees and then after reaching down and feeling that the head was mostly out, I moved to more of a kneeling position. Baby wasn’t coming out and I was getting impatient. Finally another good push got the baby moving and I felt her slide under my hands. My midwife helped me move the baby out of the water and on to my chest, and I immediately looked over and called for my husband and the kids to come over to the tub. I looked between the baby’s legs and called out that she was a girl – nobody looked surprised, and truthfully I wasn’t either! The kids were so excited! She was born at 3:12pm.

I tend to be a bleeder, so we had some issue getting that under control, but my midwife is skilled and I wasn’t concerned – I moved out of the tub to deliver the placenta which was a little difficult since like Lum this baby had a short cord too.

I made it to the bed, nursed the baby, got the placenta delivered and after awhile got control of the bleeding. The kids came in for a little bit to see the baby, but I needed to rest so I sent them back out after a few minutes. The midwife weighed and measured the baby while I had some stew – 8lbs 5oz 19.5″ long – my heaviest and shortest baby! We passed the baby off to my mom to get her dressed while I stepped into the shower.

Pretty soon everyone cleared out and it was just our little family. It was a great birth – but I do remember asking “Why do I keep doing this?” LOL (Well, I know why, but it sure doesn’t feel good at the time!)

Day 2 – 30 Days of Diaper Making

Today’s Accomplishments

• Finished marking snap & elastic placements on already cut out diapers

NB Diaper Totals

• Diapers I Made – 7
• Diapers Gifted To Me – 6
• Diapers I Bought or Traded for – 10

NB Wool Totals

• 3 Soakers
• 5 Longies