Six Months.

Adelaide has reached 6 months. She started off 5 lbs 13 oz and has now reached a whopping 17 pounds! Life is slowly getting crazier as she is becoming more independent. In the past month, so much has happened. It seems that when babies start to learn things, it's like a domino effect. She's becoming such a person now, full blown personality with more of an understanding on how things work. Incredible hand eye coordination. Eating food. Teething like mad (her bottom middle left tooth should make it's debut soon!) Rolling around. Sitting up. Pulling herself up to stand. Talking her own language. She's doing all the things a 6 month old should do but she has the temper of a two year old! It's the Bays/Horton temper and boy is it fierce. She can reach this crazy high pitch when she screams that make you cringe. When she first learned to scream, she thought it was funny. We did not encourage it, ever! But she still laughed. It's awful. She just wants to be heard I guess, lol.

She is SO in to music. Music anything and she just stares and takes it all in. Sometimes she'll sing with me when I sing to her. Her favourite is when Julian plays the guitar for her. I reckon she'll be very musical. There are some incredibly talented people on Julian's side! They can sing and play instruments, so you can imagine Christmas time is especially fun! You may have heard of Jodi King or Jenn Mierau and of course, lets not forget Hot Live Guys. My side of the family are the dancers. Can't really carry a tune, but LOVE music and LOVE to show off their moves.
Here, listen to Julian play Beirut for Adelaide while you finish reading!

Adelaide is starting to become independent. She likes to put her own soother in her mouth. She likes to hold her own bottle when I give her water. She grabs the spoon and tries to feed herself at meals. She's getting pretty good at feeding herself a biscuit. We're a fan of Farley's Rusks. Sometimes she'll have one mixed with breastmilk and bananas for breakfast. But she likes just eating the biscuits. They dissolve easily and they must feel great on her sore gums.

Introducing her to food is so fun! So far, she hasn't snubbed anything. She's had rice, banana, apple, pear, prune, avocado, pumpkin, peas, and sweet potato. I've also introduced her to cinnamon. I get recipes and ideas from http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/. I find it weird that in our culture we introduce the most constipated foods first. It's hard on their wee digestive systems. Bug LOVES sweet potatoes, but they also constipate her really bad. Good thing she loves prunes! I am looking forward to the next couple weeks when we're gonna start adding new things to the menu and spice it up a bit! Just because we're Canadian, doesn't mean we gotta feed her that way!

With all the changes going on in her diet and her teething roller coaster ride, she's become more susceptible to diaper rashes. So she is experiencing her first one. It sucks. The moment I noticed it I knew it was yeast related. Most diaper rashes are. It's bright red and raised. It started off patchy. So right away I upped my intake of Acidophilus to 4 capsules a day from 2 and I break open a capsule and give Adelaide the powder inside with some food or water once in the morning and once in the evening. I was using Penaten Cream at first but surprisingly that didn't work. A friend of mine got me a jar of Sudocrem and that seems to be working and giving Bug some relief. We also spend the day naked which gives us plenty of opportunities to use the potty. And at night I put her cloth diaper on really loose so moisture doesn't get trapped. Hopefully it won't be around that much longer. For more info on how to get rid of a yeast rash click HERE.

Now that Adelaide is sitting up and rolling over and pulling herself to stand I have to start baby proofing because it won't be long before she's on the go and into everything she shouldn't be. This is when things start getting really fun! lol. This is when you lose that last bit of baby weight!

Politics. The Ultimate Game.

The question of the day is...How do we get people aged 18-29 to care enough to get off their butts and go and vote?! IF there was a way of voting online, I bet you'd see more participate. People don't realize HOW interesting and sorta fun politics are. And people don't realize the power they have. I know with the Canadian system not every vote matters, but as whole, it makes a difference. So you really need everyone to participate to make it work.
I couldn't care less about either of them until my husband came along! All I knew was what I learned from my parents which is, that all politicians lie so don't bother getting involved. And also what I learned from high school which was, it's all confusing and boring anyway.
I don't know about you guys, but when we learned about the Canadian Government in high school, it was terribly boring. Just read from a text book. Half the class was asleep at their desk. How is that supposed to make it interesting and how are you supposed to learn anything. My history class...well, man, that couldn't have been any more boring. History and politics go hand in hand. It really makes both more exciting when you put them together. If we could get ALL teachers to be passionate about what they are teaching, maybe we could get the youth to pay attention and want to stay updated on world issues instead of which which pop star is next in line to get plastic surgery and I can assure you, my teachers were not passionate. I mean, my Social Studies teacher was first and foremost a gym teacher, he wore his gym clothes to class, lol, and he was not passionate or very focused when teaching us Social Studies. This has a huge influence in shaping peoples political participation.
I also think that parents should encourage their kids. Start involving your 16 year old. Stay as bias as possible. I know it'll be hard, but give them the info, help them understand it and remember, when it comes time for them to vote, they may vote differently then you, but that's okay because as we can see as you get older your ideas and thoughts could be expired and with most of the votes being from 30+ year olds, that's how we ended up with a majority Conservative Government. But ya know, it's not ALL bad. Elizabeth May got her well deserved seat!

Teen Moms Shouldn't Be Glorified.

Okay, I know that I just started my first period after having a baby and having gone 15 months without it, but this show "16 and Pregnant" angers the shit out of me!!! How could ANYONE think it's okay to make a shows called "16 and pregnant" and "Teen Mom" and be okay filming the trashiest and worst child parents parent this way!!??? And don't we have laws about child labour? These wee babies and toddlers are technically working, they are being filmed for TV! For money making purposes! How is it possible that there have been movies or shows or music videos or even songs that get banned from public, but THESE ones, yes THESE ones are a keeper?! This is outrageous!
http://ca.jezebel.com/5796167/did-16--pregnant-star-get-knocked-up-to-be-on-tv?skyline=true&s=i
I just can't believe that there are people out there who would glorify teen pregnancy. I don't have TV and I even know about these shows! I see and hear about them on the internet (that link is the perfect example.) I see these teens and their tots on the covers of magazines when I'm waiting to pay for groceries at the supermarket. These girls have been modelled the same way Lindsay Lohan is and Paris Hilton and Miss Spears. You're fooling yourself if you think this isn't glorifying it! I know they claim to show people the struggles that teen moms go through, but the fact that there are for sure girls out there that would get pregnant just for a chance to be on these shows tell me that the people behind these shows aren't doing their job. And what parent would LET their child BE ON these shows in the first place? Should I even bother asking, lol?! The problems in these children's lives, both the wee children and the teen children, are not problems to be aired on TV for the purpose of a reality TV show, ESPECIALLY when the consequences are so REAL! I hate television!!

Shop Handmade for Mom.

I don't know if many of you shop online, but it's fun.  I have the most fun browsing on Etsy.  So many creative people with unbelievable creations!  You can find anything!  And if you can't, there will be someone there that can make it for you so you can bring your idea to life!  And with Mother's Day around the corner, you'll probably wanna get your Mum something special and cool. So I have made a little treasury of fun things all handmade by people on etsy! CHECK IT OUT!

It features:
OldRags
calamaristudio
FA2u
ThongbaiTatong
SwitchDesignsNYC
vesselsandwares
walldecors
ThePlumGiraffe
TillyWhistle
RevivedVintage
NewMoonStudio
Nitscreations
BurlapAndBlue
MissGlory
spirocreations
fancyshop

This will be my first Mother's Day as a Mother. So it's pretty special. Though, I think it will be even more special when Adelaide is old enough to glue pieces of paper together and draw stick people and is able to write "I love you" as if I were trying to write it with my left hand.

Happy handmade shopping everyone!

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Four Hundred Fans.

Hey dear followers! After receiving some emails about doing a contest giveaway thingy on facebook, I decided, why not! So, when I reach 400 fans on my facebook page, I'll have a giveaway. I'll even do a wee giveaway right now as we climb our way to 400!! Com'mon! Spread the word and spread the love! Click HERE to participate and get your chance to win a free needle felted cupcake! It's so easy!

Thanks!
Heather.
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Heather Bays

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5 Months.

"You and Me". One of Bugs favourite songs. I have an Ipod Touch so a couple times a week when we're laying in bed in the morning, I'll play a some youtube videos for her. This song is a good one to play when she's a little cranky. She calms down almost instantly.
And, "I Love My Hair" makes Bug smile and giggle. It's a great song.

I love Sesame Street!
http://www.sesamestreet.org/
We don't have cable or anything and we don't really watch the TV unless we watch a boxset and that only happens when Bugs in bed at night. (Right now we're finishing up Battlestar Galactica, the newer series!) So she rarely gets exposed to TV except when we watch a couple videos here and there on the ITouch or when we get together with friends some Saturdays to watch Hockey Night in Canada. She LOVES hockey! I am not sure how I feel about TV, but it's obvious to me that if she was to be exposed to the Tube, then only watch very small doses. And of course be careful what you expose their wee minds to. For instance...when I first started showing Bug the video clips on YouTube, we watched a couple Baby Einstein videos I found...she was enthralled, but they were boring. So I searched for a variety of them. Here's one we watched:

It was at about 2:43 when I realized that this really wasn't for kids. And the title didn't say "not for kids" at that time. But from the beginning of the video I was a little weirded out. Oops, lol.
Anyway, five months is fun. She's "talking" more, her vocabulary is quite something! She has learned to scream and will just do it because she can. She thinks it's funny. I hope this ends soon, lol. She's so giggly and really fun to interact with! She's a really tiny person with likes and dislikes. She is SO close to sitting up on her own. And she just wants to stand and jump all the time. She can roll over to one side only with a disposable diaper on because the cloth diapers are a bit bulkier, ha ha ha. Two teeth are about to make their debut any day now! And as of 2 days ago, we introduced her to food. Rice cereal, apples and breast milk. She seems to love it.

We decided it was time because she was waking more frequently at night time for milk. Like 5 times a night! Now she wakes up for 2 or 3 quick top ups between 7pm and 8am. Much better. Now I am excited for her to get to eat what we eat. Since we have the Cadillac of all food processors we'll be making our own baby food! I am thinking about getting a table at a farmers market this summer so I can sell jars of it, along with all the baby attire I make! I'll keep you posted!


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Homemade Ice Cream Cakes

I previously posted a recipe for brownie chunk ice cream, and since then I have mastered a recipe. I thought I knew how to make ice cream then...but I didn't...now I do!! So now that I have learned how to make the best ice cream in the world, I decided to make the best dessert in the world...ICE CREAM CAKE! These are honestly SO incredible, and since I make it from scratch, I know exactly what's in it!

Here's photos that I took of the 2 cakes I made as I was making them. One has a chocolate bottom and a vanilla top and the other has a vanilla bottom and a chocolate top. Both have crumbled Oreo cookies and chocolate fudge in the middle. I will be making another one in a couple weeks that will have homemade brownie chunks instead of Oreo cookies. Mmmmmmm!

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Four Months.

This is rather unbelievable to me, but Adelaide is 4 months old today. The time is going scary fast. It's incredible watching a tiny human learn the simplest of things. When she does something new, I lose my shit over it. I get SO excited for her, and she often looks at me like I'm crazy, ha ha ha.

A few weeks ago I feel like we entered a stage of double time. Like, she is learning SO fast. Everyday I feel like she does something new. She's really becoming a person with likes and dislikes. Who interacts with the world around her. You can really see her learning right before your eyes. And just as you get used to your routine, wham, she switches it up because she's either growing, or teething, or over stimulated, or god knows what!! It's fun and sometimes not so fun, lol.

We had a few hard days last week as Bugs teething worsened. She woke up screaming in the night some nights. She was tired but in too much pain to sleep, she was hungry but it hurt to suck. I felt badly for her. I didn't want to introduce her to medicine like Tylenol. But then my sister recommended Camilia which my cousin Fiona had recommended to her. Seriously this stuff is MAGICAL!!! It works so fast. It's a homoeopathic non-numbing pain reliever and there's no alcohol, sugar, coloring, flavoring or preservatives! They also have other products for colds, flus, and colic. Anyway, it's great that we got this stuff when we did because her drooling has gotten crazier, her gums are redder and her cheeks are a bit bigger and often rosey, she grabs her hair by her ear when she's in pain, and just cries. So, we are for sure on the journey to getting teeth...(my poor nipples, lol.)

She has been a rather chatty Cathy lately. I love talking to her when she babbles. She'll laugh at herself. I mean, she's hilarious, and she knows it! She also seems to yell at me sometimes. I try not to laugh, ya know, maybe I took too long getting to her for whatever reason (maybe I was in the bath) and she'll have a right go at me, lol.

She is well on her way to sitting up! I put a pillow behind her and she plays with her toys or her toes...which is something she has just discovered. As she reaches for her toes, she often loses her balance and starts to fall to one side...don't worry, I'm always there to catch her.

And her toys! About 3 weeks ago she started showing interest in her toys, but now she really interacts with them. This all such great news because I can sit there with her and crochet and talk to her while we listen to music as she independently plays and chews on her toys while occasionally chatting back to me.

Breastfeeding is a cinch now! We usually lay down so I have 2 free hands so I can read while she feeds, but of course sometimes we just chat. I was wondering how much she ate, so I quickly figured that in a 24 hour period she eats about 10 to 12 times and I think she takes about 4 or 5 ounces per feed, which means my body is most likely producing about 40 to 60 ounces of milk a day! Eeep! This whole experience has just made me really feel and understand that I am an animal, a mammal, and it's just incredible.

It's just this whole new level of love that I never knew existed until she got here...I honestly CAN'T imagine my life without her. My pal Andrea said it well when she was talking about her wee one (Willa is almost 2 months old.) She said, "Feels like I've always known her, like she's always been here." And yes, that's exactly how I feel too.

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Homemade Brownies & Vanilla Ice Cream = Love.

Brownies and vanilla ice cream, put together to make the ultimate desert! BROWNIE CHUNK ICE CREAM!!! I make these brownies all the time, and I make vanilla ice cream occasionally and the other day I made both and put them together.

We'll start with making the brownies! They're easy and seriously some of the BEST brownies I've ever had! For reeeaaalz people! I will even give you a great icing recipe for them just in case you wanna make just brownies (which is written at the bottom of this post, so scroll down.)

BROWNIES

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), then grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.

You'll need:
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Now melt your butter in a medium to large size pot. Once it's melted remove the pot from the element. Now stir in the sugar, vanilla and eggs.

Then mix in the cocoa, flour, salt and baking powder.

Pour batter in to the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Do not over bake. If you're just making the brownies and would like icing on them, the recipe is at the end of the post, so scroll down!

ICE CREAM

Now it's time to make ice cream! This is a simple vanilla ice cream recipe. You can use an electric machine or a basic hand churning one. I'm gonna give instructions for the electric one since that's what I'm using.

You'll need:
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/8 cups white sugar
3 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

Pour the milk and sugar in a mixing bowl and mix with an electric mixer on low speed until the sugar dissolves. Then mix in heavy cream and vanilla.

Turn on the machine and pour the mixture into the freezer bowl and let mix until thickened, which will take about 20 to 25 minutes, depending on your machine.

While that's churning, cut up your brownie in to little chunks.

When the ice cream thickens, add the brownies.

You might have to stir in the rest!

DELICIOUS!

You can serve it up and eat it right away, or if you prefer it to be firmer, put it in an airtight container and in to the freezer until you can't wait any longer!!!! Mmmmmmmmm!

ICING
If you're just making brownies, here's how you make the icing.

You'll need:
3 tablespoons butter, softened
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners sugar

Put the butter, cocoa, honey, vanilla, and confectioners sugar in a bowl and mix it till it's well blended. Spread on top of the brownies while they're still warm. Oooooooiiiiiiieeeeee!!!

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Weirdly Cute.

I started making these super weird baby rattles, lol. I can't tell you how much I LOVE them. More importantly, I can't tell you how much my baby girl LOVES hers. Well, I guess you can see from the photo above! The first one I made was obviously for her, it's a cthulhu. She chews and slobbers on that thing like a cat with catnip, lol. It's hilarious. So far I have 3 different ones, but I assure you, there's more to come.

Cthulhu Love.

Miss Medusa.

Brobot Robot.

These rattles are an eco-friendly, all natural cotton baby toy that's stuffed with 100% wool and rattles with popcorn kernels inside a reused plastic container, such as a pill bottle, or kinder surprise toy casing.
The best thing for a teething baby is a cold wet cloth. Well, this is a much more fun cloth! Wetting and freezing her snakey hair makes it perfect for babies to chew on to sooth those sore gums. My daughter LOVES hers, they're light and soft and easy to hold.

Come see what's available in my shops:
www.heatherbays.etsy.com
or
www.heatherbays.artfire.com
If you don't see the one you want, just email me and I will make it for you!
heatherbays@gmail.com
Stay tuned for zombies and such...

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