How to Make Water Kefir

So let's talk water kefir for a second.

What is it?
In short: fermented sugar water--but don't worry. The water kefir grains eat up the sugar and the longer you ferment the water, the more sugar is eaten up; so it's not like you're gulping down teaspoons of sugar (gross).

What's the benefit?
BILLIONS of bacteria. You know the pricey probiotics you buy at the store? They have only a fraction of the probiotics in homemade water kefir.

Basically, you're supposed to have about 6 POUNDS of good bacteria in your gut. If you're filled up with good bacteria, the bad bacteria aren't able to colonize because the good guys outnumber them and the good guys shall prevail! AKA, you won't get sick.

Why not milk kefir?
You've probably seen this at Trader Joe's or maybe you've tried the Lifeway brand at your regular grocery store. Milk kefir is awesome (and you can make that at home too)! But some people can't have dairy due to an allergy or sensitivity (Carter!) so water kefir is a great alternative. Also, if you have a picky kid who doesn't like yogurt--water kefir is much easier to disguise.

So how do I get started?
Order water kefir grains from a reputable place like this one (it's where I got mine). They include really easy instructions for activating your grains. Once you have activated grains, you:

1. Dissolve 1/4 C organic cane sugar in 1 quart hot water (in a large glass mason jar)
2. Let the water cool to room temp
3. Add the grains and cover with a cloth (I use cheesecloth and a rubber band)
4. Let the mixture sit on the counter for 3-5 days
5. The fun part! Add fruit, fruit juice (or I like coconut water--not from concentrate!) and let the mixture ferment for an additional 2-3 (or more) days in swing top glass bottles (like these). At this point, the drink will become fizzy AKA even more delicious
6. Drink it up and do it all again! You only buy the grains once and use them over and over. If you're lucky and your grains keep on multiplying, share with friends!

Let me know how it goes!

Natural Alternatives to Orajel

Teething sucks, doesn't it? It's tempting to reach for the Orajel, but it's not necessarily the best option. For one, Orajel can cause numbing of not just the gums, but other areas of the mouth as well (like the tongue, throat, etc), which can lead to babies choking. There's also a rare condition caused by the main ingredient (benzocaine) called methemoglobinemia (it's the reason most pediatricians no longer recommend it).

Second, it isn't natural. I always try to give Carter the natural option first, unless obviously he has a high fever; and if he needed medication for a serious reason then I'd go the medical route as well. But as far as teething went (we're done for now! yay!), I saved Tylenol for the nights that I wanted to rock in a corner and cry, and usually went these options on the less severe days:

1 / 2 / 3 

Camilia was my personal favorite. It comes in little tinctures of liquid drops and they are individually packaged which is nice and easy. The Hyland's teething gel worked great as well. The Humphrey's teething tablets I saved until he was a little older because I was nervous he would choke, but you can melt them on a spoon in a little bit of water to give to younger babies. Lots of people like the Hyland's tablets, but we couldn't use them because they contain lactose, so that's why they aren't pictured here. We avoid dairy like the plague in this house now (thanks, allergies).

Homeopathic remedies (like all of those pictures above) work differently in different people, so sometimes you have to try out a couple to see what works best for your baby.

Need some ideas for other teething remedies? Baltic amber teething necklaces are another favorite of mine. Frozen washcloths seem to be a big hit with lots of babies and keeping teething rings/toys in the refrigerator is a genius idea as well.

Here's some evidence of Carter rocking his teething necklace a few months ago:

Share your teething remedies.  Have you tried any of these? How'd they work for you?

I'm at Wifessionals today!

I'm not here today! : ) I'm at Wifessionals talking about natural alternatives for *gasp* cooking! Don't worry, don't worry...even though I'm a terrible cook, I still know what I'm talking about when it comes to eliminating chemicals and other terribleness from your food. Just trust me! Go check it out here!

And don't shed too many tears. I'll be back soon enough with a post just for YOU (oh, and I still haven't found my camera charger--all of a sudden I'm a wannabee photographer over here, just because I couldn't take a picture if I wanted to, and now I do, obviously). I guess you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone (cue that song)

K BYE, G2G, TTYL, LYL, LOL, ROFL... 

Oh wait, we're not on AIM chat and it's not 6th grade? Woops, my B. 

Make Your Own Dryer Sheets!

For the longest of times I have wanted a truly natural dryer sheet. All I want is a little scent on my clothes without getting all hivey and rashy--is that too much to ask? I've even tried the natural brands, and still--torture.

I came across this tutorial recently and thought I'd share the link. The basic idea is that you take muslin cloth + 2 drops of essential oil and BAM, you have yourself a dryer sheet. 

I'm going to be purchasing some fun fragrances here to play around with.

This is may be the simplest DIY ever. That's how I like things.

P.S. Plus you don't get all those nasty chemicals on your clothes (score).
P.P.S. Are you wondering now what's in your conventional brand dryer sheets? Hint: They aren't vegetarian (even if you aren't a vegetarian, that's gross.)

And since this is technically a baby blog. Here's some baby for ya. Doing what he does best...clapping. He's pretty proud of himself basically all the time.

xoxoxo

Carter is 1!

So Carter turned one this week. Don't worry, this isn't going to be a sappy post about how this year flew and how just yesterday I remember pushing him out into the cold, brutal world (literally). No...those are boring.

This is a short one (promise there will be a deeper, more interesting one in just a couple of days, I'm playing catch up on my work since I took time off for his birthday! And our anniversary, which was the following day!)

This is how cute he is:

I wasn't joking when I said he was cute. Right?...Right??

Here we are as a little family:

And here is one where we all look a little {a lot} goofy because I have promised to not post only good pictures (I am deeming the above two as good pictures of us).

P.S. I've said it before, but our photographer is awesome. I love her. If you live in New England you must check her out. Now.

On to other things:

We took Carter to the aquarium. He had a blast (and a meltdown because he wanted to touch a little shark in a touch pool and we couldn't let him) But I touched it! (sshh, don't tell him, hysteria would ensue).

He got some cool toys and a shirt and a sea turtle back pack (awesome) and some other things. It was a ton of fun and couldn't have gone better.

Alright, now you know I'm still alive. I've go to catch up on work and then it will be all about the blog. Some big things are in the works. Like BIG THINGS. Obviously a blog with 11 followers has huge, world changing events on a daily basis. Someone maybe said something about sponsoring a certain someone and mmaayyybbee a giveaway.

yup.