Organic Baby Cereal... DIY Style

I love making things. homemade. especially when it comes to my little Maci.

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I know I have a lot of new Mommy friends so I thought I'd put this out there for any of you who want to save some money and make your own rice cereal!  

It doesn't necessarily have to be organic rice but this is our preference in the Charlton home.

*Short grain is the best for making baby cereal!

What you need:

• Blender
• Short grain Rice
•  Medium pot
• 2 cups of water (boiling)
• 1/2 cup (to measure blended powdered rice)
• Timer
• Whisk
• 2 Medium tupperware containers (one for the cooked rice & one for the powdered rice)

Step 1:  Blend up the rice until it becomes a powder.

- I usually just throw in about two cups of rice into the blender and blend it... I do this so I don't have to keep blending the rice up ... saves me time and with an almost 5 month old time is valued! I put the excess powdered rice into a tupperware container so it stays fresh & I can pull it out when I need to make a new batch of rice!

Remember to make sure the powdered rice is very fine

 Step 2: Boil 2 cups of water in a medium pot

Step 3: Once the water is at a rapid boil, mix a 1/2 cup of your rice powder into the 2 cups of boiling H2O. (Make sure you have your whisk in hand so you can immediately start stirring!!)

Step 4: Mix/Stir vigorously for ten minutes. (At 8 minutes turn it down to medium heat & at 4 minutes turn it down to low/medium heat)

This is the consistency of the rice about half way through your time.  *Beware your arm/hand may cramp from the constant mixing!

Step 5: Let it cool for a bit & serve... 

This is the finished product!

Remember this is a big batch... so it lasts for about 4-6 meals of rice. (For the remainder of the rice cereal, I put it in a container and put it in the refrigerator so when it comes time for Macianne's next meal I pull it out and heat it up.

To heat up the cereal for her next meal:  I put it in a little glass container and put it in a little pan of boiling water and stir until it's warm.  (I'm sure you can use a microwave, I just prefer stove top)

The end results: a satisfied beauty that looks something like this...

Finger-lickin' good!!

New Family Pictures

We've decided to make a yearly tradition and do Family Photos every Thanksgiving.  & from these photos we will choose our Christmas card photo.  We are still trying to decide...

It's hard to pick just one isn't it?

WOAH BABY!!

WOAH BABY... is what most are saying when they see the size of me and I'm sure that's what you are thinking as you read this!  Yes, as much as I look like a tank... I feel like one as well!

Oh how I'm hoping and praying that our little girl is still little and not walking and talking when she's born! My last ultrasound (which was on June 30th) Macianne was measuring in the 61st percentile and 10 days ahead of my first due date!  For a first time mom-to-be this can be a scary thing as one mentally prepares for labor. HOLY HUGE BATMAN - does that even physically work out?

Maci's headband collection

Many have asked if we will be letting people know when I go into labor.  My usual response is when you receive the text message that reads "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" You'll know it's from me (or Nick...LOL) and you'll know what it means! (for real!!!)

As far as being ready, I am... I think!  Most 

everything is ready.  The nursery is set... well as much as I'm going to do to it now.  I'll continue to work on some decorations little by little, bit by bit but I'm usually just wiped out from the simple daily things now so most of the stuff can wait!

 Both, Nick and I are very excited! We definitely appreciate your prayers as we will not only be adjusting to parenthood but Nick starts classes again on September 10th as well as working his normal 40 hr. week job.  And on top of that, his job will be requiring him to travel quite a bit starting the end of September all the way through the beginning of November!  This will allow for me to take a trip to N.Y. to see family and friends which I am excited about.  So the plan for that trip, Lord willing, is scheduled to be from the 21st of September until October 1st!

Hopefully my next post will be announcing the arrival of our little bundle of a blessing!!

Welcome Week 32!

Only 8 weeks until our due date which converts to 56 days! Get out of town - I know!!! We couldn't be more excited! Time seems to be passing by so very quickly! I do recall this not being the case as I lived my first three months of pregnancy in the bathroom... but these last three months are flying (at least thus far).  We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of little Maci. 

We still have much to do in order to get our house ready but we are slowly plugging away.  Weekends are devoted to operation preparation as our week days are filled with the mundane tasks of everyday life. 

My last appointment was this past Tuesday.  Everything seems to be great, although I dropped a pound instead of gaining any...but I have attributed that to the increase in outdoor lawn work and inside house improvements! 

Our doc also informed me that within the next week or so the baby will be "dropping" so I may feel a bit more uncomfortable and in his words, "may even feel as though a cantalope may drop through my legs at any moment." TMI? Sorry about that!

Happy Birthday sweet Husband of mine...

It's a day to celebrate my sweet Nicholas - the man that I cherish and adore with every single inch of who I am.  Happy 26 years of life, Hunnie! What a great day celebrating the one and only man that I am absolutely - madly in love with!  His embrace showers me with love and his smile makes me feel cherished.  He pushes me to live more like Christ and rests in the fact that I am not perfect and that is completely and 100% okay.  But I must say... he sure is perfect for this girl. for me. and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Some 26 reasons why you're more than worth it to celebrate:

     a) You. love the Lord & strive to make Him first in our lives

   

     b) You. live out your faith with an attitude of such humility

     c) You. are my example of grace in so many ways

     d) You. love me unconditionally & remarkably

     e) You. love little Maci and make it so evident

     f) You. realize what is truly important in life

     g) You. are my earthly comforter & protector

     h) You. understand importance

     i) You. cherish our quiet moments like I do

     j) You. embrace me with nothing but love

     k) You. assure me when I'm doubting

     l) You. are so ridiculously funny

     m) You. love competing with me (even when it's something silly)

     n) You. now are a full fan of my country music

     o) You. pronounce things differently... simply because you're not American ;)

     p) You. call vacation - holiday

     q) You. bring flavor to my life

     r) You. do your famous dance move numerous times a day

     s) You. strive for excellence in all things

     t) You. scratch my back every time that I ask you (which ends up being a lot)

     u) You. love cuddling me, even when I'm grumpy

     v) You. carry my purse when we shop because it usually adds to my whale-ness and waddling

     w) You. still open the door for me everywhere we go

     x) You. randomly tell me how much you love me

     y) You. are going to be the best dad ever

     z) YOU. are my absolute, all time, best friend and the love of my life

You. Nicholas. hold my heart and I love knowing that you will forever take such gentle care of it.  Today is a day to celebrate YOU and I couldn't be happier to do so! 

Happy Birthday Nick!

Exactly one year ago today! Who knew I'd love him this much more a year later!

Did you know..... He. makes my world.

Can you believe that this picture was 17 years ago? 

Some things change but somethings always stay the same!