a few more words on food

i know i know i know, it's a baby blog. but i have had a ton of questions since posting last week about food. and this is actually very relavent to my baby since i am doing it for her and to be more healthy as her mama.

"the cleanse": mostly, i have had questions about my cleanse and what i am doing. yesterday made five weeks on the cleanse. wild. it also marked a loss of 20lbs. holy crap, no wonder my pants are hanging. the soul purpose of the cleanse was to get my body and mind off sugar. it was a two week cleanse but i felt so amazing once being on it for two weeks that i have extended it and am five weeks in. i also extended because i truly believe that it takes 28 days to make and/or break a habit. and sugar is my nasty habit. i am now past the 28 day mark but i am going to keep going because I FEEL GREAT!!!

what is "the cleanse?": again, it was designed to get my butt off sugar. i noted last week that i have been trying to be really good about eating whole foods. well, now i am a whole food fanatic. for me, the first big thing for the cleanse was to eat whole. no more fake food!!! 100% out of my diet. i was never really into artificial sweetners but i certainly enjoyed the zip of a Diet Coke now and again. no more fake meats. they're just government regulated soy anyhow. if you ask me, these soy products are the next corn. no more low fat or reduced calorie anything. it's all crap. it's all fake food. so that was my first big change. only whole only whole only whole. but, again, the main reason i cleansed was to get off the sugar. so i cut everything with sugar in it. no breads, no wine (ah!), no honey, none of that. i also cut fruits as they are sweet and i wanted to make sure that my body wasn't thinking that i was eating sugar. basically - i am eating vegetables, proteins, and dairy. whole whole whole. the carbs, starches, and sugars can all wait until my cell memories have given them up completely. then i can easily have some without diving back in and going overboard. i am doing 95% strong with local and grassfed. i, of course, have had some restaurant meals that are not on that wagon. but again, i am doing my best. so that is my cleanse...in a protein nutshell.

seasonal eating: i am still not there yet. i have been researching and reading like crazy but i am just not ready. it's easy for me to say that i am doing it now because we are in harvest in New England. but once fall/winter hits, i am honest in knowing that i am just not ready. i have started gathering charts and what not though. starting to wrap my brain around it. and, luckily, i have a partner who loves to cook and loves to cook healthy and loves to try new ways of cooking. i know this fall/winter will be tough but we will do our best. i am guessing it will take years to be a solid seasonal eater.

my difficult times: not drinking wine was tough. i switched to vodka, which i hate. although now i am totally into it. a vodka soda is suprisingly refreshing in the summer. what else was tough? the first week of my cleanse. i felt drained and yucky. but that was just the toxins leaving my system. detox, baby. i felt amazing after that first week. now, i don't even think about those foods. they seem blah to me.

what else?: oh, people asked where i/we shop. well, we have a CSA at Mountain View Farm. doesn't get more local than that! plus, Harlow LOVES picking with us every week. we also get our eggs, milk, and cheese there. we don't have a meat share at this point. we generally buy our local meats at River Valley Coop. but we will be looking into a farm in Soho soon as they have a meat share program. we also checked into a grain share but we're not ready to sign up for that just yet.

that's about it. YUM TO GOOD FOOD!

oh...gender...

we have tons of hand me downs and gifts for Harlow of the "girl" variety. little to none of the "boy" variety. we like to mix it up gender wise, so we find ourselves buying "boy" outfits for her so that she is not all frilly and lace.

since the very beginning, i have noticed the sizes of the "girl" and "boy" clothes to be drastically different. even the pajamas! it's such an odd idea that "boy" clothes should be larger and boxier than "girl" clothes. i don't get it. especially since there is nothing that says boys are bigger than girls or vise versus. do we really need to start infants and one year olds off on not only the blue/pink gender track but also the idea that girls should have more form fitting clothing? SO WEIRD.

here is my example this morning that i snapped as i folded the laundry.

shorts. both size 18m. both bought at the same store in the same season. "girl" version on the left and "boy" version on the right.


tshirts. both size 18m. both bought at the same store in the same season. "girl" version on the left and "boy" version on the right.

a word (or 321) on food

writing about food on a baby blog. there is a link, i promise. mostly because it is the inspiration of Harlow that has brought me to this place.

we have been consciously eating whole foods for quite some time now. whole foods? pretty easy. a few years back we added organic to our buzz word index. but, as you know, organic is all relative. it's all about packaging and sales and corporations and on and on. although i did just learn something further that i had not thought of before - did you know that food items can be marketed as organic and preservative free BUT corporations can fool the system by spraying the food containers with bug spray, formaldehyde, and preservatives? ew! i don't know why i never put two and two together on that because, duh, how else would the food last that long? moving on. so we had whole and organic under our belts fairly easily. when i got pregnant we made a huge stride to buy local and grass fed meat. that was a shock to the system because grass fed local/fresh meat is TO DIE FOR next to the crap they sell in stores. so yummy. it's shocking. and so muchy more filling. so now we have whole...organic...local...and grass fed meats under our belts.

are we perfect? no chance. do we strive to be better and better? you betcha! we do still eat in restaurants. we just try in our home to be more and more conscious around food.

so here comes the kicker = i am hoping after harvest season to start moving toward seasonal eating. that scares the living crap out of me. that is going to be SOOO HARD!

so why am i typing all of this out? big deal, i try to eat in every buzz word possible. but there is so much more. Harlow eats like a king. she has the most local, grass fed, sugar free, organic, hormone free, and whole foods that we can find. that kid seriously could not be more pure of a specimen. ha. but i will say, people often look at us funny when we ask that they not feed her xyz. people mostly don't understand why it matters to us and what the big deal about feeding her abc is. they also think we're dippy hippy idiots and that none of it matters. well...to us...it is a big deal. we want to give her every chance we can give her. and food is huge for us.

four weeks ago i started a cleanse to get my body off the toxins and sugar. it was supposed to be a two week cleanse. tomorrow makes four weeks for me and i have no desire to go off. like i said, i have been far from perfect and will continue to be far from perfect. but i have not felt this inspired by a "cause" since college. i am reading more and more about food and talking with more and more experts, interested folks, and livers of the life. it is WILD what we put in our bodies. WILD. a group of doctors recently did a study that proves all children born after 2011 will have diabetes at some point in their lives. 100%. you know why? you would think junk food is the cause. right? well, sure. but not just that - also because we eat all foods in all seasons. our bodies are not made for that. they can't handle those foods year round. diabetes started in the eldery and has worked it's way down. now babies get diabetes. now let's look at hormones in dairy products - little girls are getting their periods and growing breasts at EIGHT. why? because they're triple dosed with hormones in the milk/yogurt/ect they eat. hormones that are given to the mama cows so that they produce milk year round. wait, here is one more for you. oranges. healthy, right? sure. except that no bodies are made to have that much citric acid year round. and we force feed ourselves oranges and orange juice all year around because it's "healthy." consider this, nowhere in the world do oranges grow year round. so why do we eat them year round? over exposure of citric acid has woken up the herpes that all humans carry. herpes. which leads to the chicken pox and shingles. why are all babies being vaccinated for chicken pox right now? oh - because shingles has moved down to babies and kids because of over indulgence on CITRIC ACID. want to buy a Macintish apple in the summer? sure. why not, this is America, and apples are healthy. but the harvest season for apples is in the fall. so that means you're eating an apple from LAST YEAR'S harvest. it's just pumped so full of preservatives that it looks brand spanking new and ready for the eating. and it can read organic because the preservatives are in the packaging and not the apple. wtf.

okay. i am getting away from myself.

food. it's actually super important. and we give it too little thought. i am 20 days into my detox and cleanse and i feel fantastic. i pledge here in writing to keep getting better and better about whole...organic...local...grass fed...and SEASONAL eating. am i scared? sure. is it my newest passion? you betcha. i am obsessed. i want my baby to grow up with every chance i can give her. i want her to work the soil with her dirty little hands. i want her to understand the foods we mass produce and the poison that we eat every single day.

okay. need to cool off. if you see me, support me. this road is hard. and i am more than happy to talk with anyone more about it. in fact, i just learned that one of my favorite friends has followed the Paleo way of eating for over a year now and i am so excited to learn more!

first day of school

Harlow is wonderful with adults but a bit shy around other kids for a bit until she gets to know them. watching her be so painfully shy, we decided that we really needed to get her around more kids. the music classes at the Northampton Parent's Center are on hold for the summer...so we thought it might be nice for Hlow to start a little structured school time.

we chose Roots Learning Center in Westfield MA. it's pretty amazing. all brand new. wood toys. teeny tiny little tables/chairs/toilets. open to cloth diapering. high security. cameras in the classrooms with live video stream so that you can check in throughout the day!!! they also go next door to Roots Gymnastics to do some tumbling. so cute! she will be attending two days a week - just enough to get some kiddo social time. never too early to start learning social dynamics. we're terrified but we think it is best for little Hlow. was talking with my friend, Sarah, and she said her son blossomed once he started spending time with other children. here goes nothing!

tomorrow is the first day. WISH US LUCK!

for the love of Jess and Shan

Hlow is getting better and better with her intonations and her piecing of two words together. last weekend, Shannon and i were shoe shopping. Baby H picked up a really ugly/flashy/trashy pair of shoes and went, "wooooooooow." it was pretty amazing. also, Shannon has the summer off and has started taking Harlow one day a week for a "ladies day." they visit Jess. they play together. they lunch. they nap. they have a regular ball with it! today they were playing at the park and Harlow said, "oh well." she has since said it multiple times today. to die!

things i love:

1. Harlow piecing together multiple words and playing with intonation.



2. Harlow having Jess and Shannon to love her as much as she loves them
   


3. picture updates while i'm at work!

last week's date. Harlow modeling at Westfield State.

playing in the park today.

a day for catch up

i am horrible. work got in my way. i am too busy staring at my cute baby. no matter how you look at, i have been a terrible updater. so, as i like to do, here is an update in pictures.

i will begin with Harlow's first birthday. that was TWO MONTHS AGO in April. it was wild that my baby suddenly turned one. i still can't believe it. it happened so fast. she want from a teeny tiny little baby to a little kid. in the fastest year of my life.

some things that i know to be true in this one year of knowing her = she is thoughtful, funny, strong, willful, loud, but also soft, caring, loving, and a tid bit wild. she loves to dance and sing and kiss and throw balls. she likes to explore but also loves to sit with mama/papa and love. she is amazing. i look so much forward to knowing her more and more.

for her birthday - we had a lovely little party at our house. just immediate family, close friends, and a few of Harlow's pals. it was wonderful. the sun came out and we were able to play outside for a bit. the food was AMAZING. thank you for your help, Nicole! and thanks to everyone else that made it such a special day. it was perfect!

we still have plans to plant a tree using her placenta as fertilizer. soon! and we have a box full of letters from her friends/family that we are debating whether to plant or hide away.

here come the pics! the party favors i made with our Locke family scrap metal sign in the background...


the party favors! i made little compostable pots with sunflowers planted inside. littel Harlow flowers growing all over town!!!


the spread...



a replica of the cake we ate one year previous on her actual BIRTH day. a lovely little spring buttercream from Bread Euphoria. YUM!


"bacon and eggs" made by Nicole! too cute.


pigs in a blanket. i believe Alex made these??? or was it Nicole masked as Alex?


i made the fruit bowl! see, i'm not totally useless in the kitchen!


the cake for the adults. a vegan raspberry buttercream made at River Valley Co-Op!


Harlow's entrance to the party in her party frock after her morning nap. and then her cousin, Benjamin, laid a bunch of kisses all over her.





guests checking out the digs.


Harlow's first birthday cake! it was a sugarless apple cake made by mama. she LOVED it!!!



the party ended in a dress-less run around the yard. yay for first birthdays!!!

preparing for Hlow's first birthday

i know that the first birthday is a really big deal. a REALLY big deal. but i didn't know i would have so many emotions around it. i have been talking about it for weeks. "can you believe it?" and "our baby is all grown up!" and "can you believe it?" but today, when i started actually planning, it really hit me that my baby girl is about to be an antire year old. this was the most difficult year of my life. it was amazing and intense and beautiful and wild and...hard. getting to know Harlow has been the most amazing thing in my life but also the most challenging and painful. it's hard to explain the amount of love one feels for these little monsters. and it's shocking at the level in which you can love another. truly shocking. this year of knowing Harlow has found me shocked and amazed by capacity for love but also in awe of the little human she is. she is funny - beautiful - thoughtful - amazed - loving - joyful - and i think even witty (funny to say that but i believe it to be true). we have plans to plant a tree and pull the placenta out of the deep freeze for a little ceremony. we will most likely do that alone as a family together. then we are going to have a very small family/friends gathering to celebrate. in preparation for her first birthday today:

• i planned on making invites but then i found ones that i can print on paper that GROWS into wildflowers. can't beat that.


• i bought a teal 7" cake stand with glass dome because she is that special.


• i have been researching infant friendly cakes to bake.


• planning a menu.


• thinking about ceremonies and things we can't plant together in celebration of Harlow.


• asking her most loved to write her letters about her first year.

more to come in this journey to the end of year one. our first family photo...taken just about a year ago.

Harlow is a (feminist) supermodel...

V-Day onesies!

my little fish

step 1: get acquainted with the water.



step 2: in which she swims like a fish.

an update in pictures

my big girl. just two months until she turns one. she looks like such a kid already. what a charmer.


Amy and Ali got her a suit for Christmas. i took the clip on tie from the suit and added a newsie hat. smitten. she looks just like her Papa!


we went swimsuit shopping with Jess and Shannon. this green number is Harlow's first suit. she has since received one with a pink ruffle skirt from Grammie. so stylish she will be this summer!


the last time i visited my folks, i found a box of baby clothes that i had bought in the early 80s for my Cabbage Patch Kid to wear. score for Harlow! what kid doesn't want to wear a pink leisure suit from the 80s?


i bought some hair things to try and keep her hipster hair out of her eyes. seriously?


another attempt at keep the hair back. but more importantly, urgh, that profile!