SNOW

Finley is still an awesome sleeper. We are so lucky and appreciate every 9 hour night of sleep we get. We put a few stuffed animals in her crib and on several mornings we found her cuddling with this little plush lamb. Its very cute.

29 weeks and sitting up on her own

our new flyball practice facility

We had our first snow of the year. It was fun to experience the first snow experience along with Finley, Pax and Kate. It was extremely cold, but Finley was all bundled up and we went for a walk. The dogs had fun in the snow too, although Pax was cold and was excited to get home.

a mid november video for ya

Finley does this really funny breathing to tell us she wants more food or maybe just because she is so excited to get another bite. Either way, its really cute and funny.

HERE IT IS

Finleys First Halloween

Finley had her 6 month check up yesterday. She is growing very well and is still tall and thin. She is 16 lbs 4 oz and 27" tall. She is still breastfeeding every 2-3 hours during the day and not at all between 7 pm and 7 am. We have been giving her more regular meals (usually 2 per day). She has tried lots of foods and likes most of them. Some of the newer introductions have been yogurt, oatmeal, eggs, turkey, lentils, spinach, potatoes and liver. Her favorite by far is liver. Im not a fan of liver at all, but I know its packed with nutrients that are great for babies and am really happy that she likes it.

She is still sleeping like a champ. We never hear a peep from her during the night and even hear her get up sometimes at 5 am and babble for a little while and then go back to sleep. Naps are still more of a battle, but mainly if we are too late putting her down or if she is off her schedule.

We think she is going to crawl and sit up fully on her own any day now. She is very close to doing both. For now though, she enjoys rolling to get where she needs to go.

Remlinger Farms

Dr Mazes Farm

Finley dressed up like a duck for Halloween and had her Gran and Grandpa visiting during her first Halloween. We went to 2 pumpkin patches on Halloween weekend.

Grandpa made roasted chicken on the grill. It was delicious with a spinach & fennel salad and baked sweet potato. Finley enjoyed the sweet potato and sucking on a chicken bone.

27 weeks

28 weeks

my many blogs

I havent been great about updating my blogs. Its hard to get it together to write one blog post and I have 4. I changed things around a little bit and will hopefully be regularly posting on 3 of them. My foster dog blog needs to be updated with our last 2 foster dogs, but we are on hold with getting another foster for a little while.

Of course I will continue to update this blog with things that our family is up to around the house and our trips. All of my dog updates, training and competition information will be HERE. It is a new blog named after Indigo, who introduced us and got us addicted to dog sports.

As I mentioned in my last post, Im thinking about focusing my dietetics practice on nutrition for kids and families as well as pregnancy and lactation. I decided to start a blog to share my experiences and knowledge.

yet another cute baby video

Here is some video of Finley eating for the first time, more laughing at the dogs and trying her little mesh food toy.

CLICK HERE

Healthy Family Meals & Using the Last of The Harvest

I cannot believe that Finley is already 6 months old! I am really enjoying this age. She hasnt started crawling, but she can make her way across a room in a short amount of time. Her stomach crunches has been modified into her lifting her upper body up on her elbows. She is on her way to sitting up on her own. In a sitting position she can balance for a little while, but still mostly needs support. The bumbo chair is about to be retired because she can almost roll herself out of it. This is sad because I love the bumbo chair!

We have been using our signs that we are learning in our baby sign language class. We are trying to teach her diaper change, hurt/pain, milk, eat, bath, going home, sleep and a few others.

I have been struggling with the decision about how, what and when to start feeding Finley solid foods. There are so many theories about what to introduce first and foods that should possibly not be fed right away. Im also not sure if I want to even feed her pureed food at all. This is very frustrating, especially knowing that as a dietitian I should have a better idea about how to feed kids.

My realization is that there isnt a lot of great information and there isnt much explanation for why most Americans start with rice cereal. Heavily processed, fortified rice cereal doesnt seem much better than formula or any other processed food. Im not sure if grains are a great first food at all. It makes sense to me that fruits and vegetables and meats/eggs should be the first foods. Since I havent completely figured out how I want to feed meat and eggs, Im starting with fruits and vegetables.

Ive given Finley both partially pureed and whole steamed fruits and vegetables. So far she has tried sweet potato, acorn squash, banana, avocado, blueberries, pineapple, mango, apple, broccoli and green beans. The favorites were blueberries and pineapple so far.

We have been having Finley sit with us at meals and plan to serve her a baby friendly version of what we are eating. It is definitely important to start family meals as early as possible and include baby in the family meal. It is also important to start introducing lots of flavors, spices and textures as early as is safe. Babies dont need their food to be completely tasteless and plain.

I've been unsure about which direction I want to take my nutrition career. Im starting to think that maybe I should focus on filling the void of information on feeding babies. We will see....

25 weeks

Chewing on a teething ring

First bite of pureed food was a surprise!

Not so sure about sweet potatoes

26 weeks

Goofing off after taking pictures with Owl

We did not get a large amount of anything from the garden this year other than zucchini. I decided to take the rest of the tomatoes, shallots, garlic and lots of herbs and make Tuscan White Beans. I made enough to put 6 large containers in the freezer. I have found that dishes like this are much more likely to be used in our house than the standard tomato sauce. This dish is a great side dish with pork chops or Italian Sausages.

Tuscan White Beans with Fresh Herbs

For the Beans:
1 cup dried white beans
6 cups water
2 medium carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
4 thyme sprigs
1 large sage sprig
1 large rosemary sprig
1 tsp kosher salt

For the Sauce:
3 bacon slices
1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup minced garlic
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1 lb tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup tomato puree
1 1/2 Tbsp chopped thyme

Soak beans overnight covered in water, then drain. Bring beans , water, carrot, onion, and herb sprigs to a simmer in a heavy pot (4 qt), then simmer, partially covered, until beans are mostly cooked about 45 minutes. Add kosher salt, then simmer 45 minutes more.

While beans cook, make tomato sauce. Cook bacon in large pot until crisp (6-8 minutes). Add oil and onion and cook , stirring occasionally until onion is golden, about 12 minutes. Add garlic, salt and pepper and cook until garlic is soft, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato puree and thyme and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally until sauce is thickened, about 30 minutes.

Discard herb sprigs from beans, drain, reserving cooking liquid. Mix beans with sauce and 1.5 cups of bean-cooking liquid. Simmer, stirring occasionally about 45 minutes.

ROAD TRIP

Just before we left for our road trip, we took these cute pictures of Finley at the dinner table. We gave Finley a few pieces of steamed broccoli to chew on while we ate dinner. Im pretty sure she has just started teething and likes to chew on anything she can get her hands on. She is also getting better at grabbing things and is starting to be able to balance better when sitting up. We are excited for her upcoming 6 month appointment to see how big she is!



I have been looking forward to going to flyball nationals for a long time & when I had the opportunity to go with Indigo and Epic, I could not pass it up. We teamed up with my friends from Massachusetts and put together two very solid flyball teams. I had so much fun watching the best teams in the country and some amazing dog athletes.

Because I had so much fun at the tournament, I wouldnt say that I regret going. The drive there and especially the drive back were pretty horrible. Finley actually did much better than I expected. She slept in her portable crib through the night in the trailer and she was quiet in the car most of the time. When she cried in the car, however, it was extremely upsetting and stressful because I felt horrible for her. I learned several important lessons from the whole experience and probably wouldnt do it again under the same circumstances.

hanging out in the trailer in the evening after a long drive

the bunkroom in the trailer is used as a dog room

after a bath in the trailer

stopped at a rest stop along the way for dog exercise and baby stretching time

we camped at a place called Al's Oasis in South Dakota and decide to try their restaurant for breakfast. It was nice to have a hot breakfast. Finley did very well in her Bumbo chair while we ate.

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23 weeks with Pig instead of Owl

Indigo's family: her 1/2 sister Ezri, aunt Prancer, Grandma Brita and mom Dazzle

we stopped to visit Ignited Border Collies on the way there and got to play with puppies

Ben flew in to Indiana for the weekend to run his dog and help out with Finley

We were one of many trailers lined up at the fairgrounds

We went out to dinner with our friends from Massachusetts one night and forgot to pack a change of clothes in the diaper bag. All we had was a shirt and some baby leggings. Ooops!

The crowd watching the final races

Finley watched some Fraggle Rock while we drove. She was mildly entertained.

24 weeks with pig instead of owl

Joy holding Finley in Montana on the side of the road when we ran out of gas

Our new dog Pax! He is from Kentfield Whippets in California. He is in puppy class now and is starting flyball and agility. He is a very good boy and is fitting in well with the border collies.