Gifts for Baby - Celebrating a half birthday

Even though we have had 5 kids, our four month old is truly our 'first baby.' We have been through the trenches with him, and for the first time as parents we are watching a baby grow and reach all of the exciting milestones. He came to us by accident, but obviously it was so much more than that. On the day our first baby was leaving (we had already said goodbye to our 10 month old 2 days prior) I prayed ALL DAY LONG for our phone to ring. My friends kept saying that I should just enjoy a break, but I couldn't fathom a quiet house without a baby. 4 hours before our little girl was scheduled for pickup, the phone rang. There was a 6 day old baby boy available...were we interested??? At the time we were only on the call list for girls (quite frankly, the thought of preparing for both sexes 0-4 years overwhelmed me) and this little babe was from a different county (kids are ALWAYS placed in the same city). So CPS made a mistake, and so did our agency, but we couldn't have been happier. Our little bundle was so beautiful, but I had no clue what I was in for. He had sleeping, eating, and breathing issues and was up all night. At the time I had no information regarding the circumstances of his traumatic birth or that he was born premature. Unfortunately in foster care this 'important' information is not always relayed, and sometimes considered none of your business. His first 2 months were total chaos. There were so many times when I thought I was going to lose it, I had no idea how to make him happy or content. I felt like such a crappy momma. I worked the 5 S's around the clock, never slept, and was just a hot mess.

The joy of parenthood isn't all about the smiles, giggles, & love, it's about being tougher than you ever thought was possible. It's about pouring your heart & soul into a kid, even though you just want to crawl up into bed for a month. It's an exhausting and beautiful job!

In the last month we have seen a total turn around, he is such a happy little guy and is finally sleeping more than 2-3 hours, we've even had a couple of 7 hour stretches. He is absolutely perfect and has brought so much joy into our lives. Although in our hearts he is "our baby," his permanency is still in limbo and it looks like the fight will continue til the very end. All bio parents have at least one year to work their services (I will post on this soon), so it's going to be a long road!  Because we have no idea what the future holds, we want to celebrate everything with him. I have started planning a very happy half birthday party and I can't stop buying him gifts!

Shopping on the the internet is so much fun these days!  There are so many great shops and too many awesome options out there (it took me 2 hours to decide on a custom boppy cover on Etsy). Needless to say,  I am definitively going overboard. One of the perks of foster care is you can justify buying some pricier items, b/c you could potentially have babies in your house for years and years. But to save a little dough, I have started following my favorite shops on Instagram and there are always sales posted with 10-25% savings, which helps justify my spending!

Here's what our little prince is getting so far:

Indie Nook 'Juice" T-Shirt $22 

Snagged with an IG 20% Promo Code 

Loved by Hannah and Eli 'Man Cub' T-Shirt $34

Salt City Emporium 'Blue Deer' Leggings and Beanie 

Sale posted on IG - Leggings $11 & Beanie $6

I'm still a little torn on his stuffed animal and with the way things are going, I may just get all of them. I can't help but spoil him rotten!! But my thrifty self may just wait for the first shop that has a sale. 

Bla Bla Knit Dolls $44-56

They do not have an IG, but sometimes post PROMOCODE savings on their blog 

Mr.Fox by Maileg -A Little Bundle $33

This shop always has promo codes on their IG 

Babe's First Camera by PlanToys - A Little Bundle  $15

I have been extremely cautious about where my kid's toys are coming from/made of and I am so impressed with this company. More awesome toys here! 

Great Books for your Littles

As a new mom, I am constantly on the hunt for fabulous books for my babes. My mom was an avid book collector and I inherited about 200 baby books from her, but now that I am reading 5+ a day, I have noticed a massive influx in the donation pile. I absolutely adore the classics like Goodnight Moon (great for 'last call' sleep training), Eric Carle, The Carrot Seed, etc. but there are a ton of terrible reads out there!! Some have awful morals, boring story lines, or no story at all, and it's pretty frustrating to think that all of this junk is getting published.  I'm not going to name any names, but that one mousy ballerina is a little snot!

I will spare you from the baby book trash talk and focus on some must have finds for the new generation of readers. 

Art Books:

Petit Connoisseur: Art - Karen Salmansohn

Petit Connoisseur: Fashion - Karen Salmansohn

Andy Warhol's Colors - Susan Goldman Rubin

Mini Masters Series - Julie Merberg 

Learning Colors, Numbers, & Animals:

Orla Kiely Series 

Charley Harper Series 

Classic Lit:

Must have books from Jennifer Adams

Just too cute:

Taro Gomi 

I will always be a sucker for Moonbear's adventures by Frank Asch

And the Ahlberg's books

Mama's & Papa's- your baby loves looking at pictures, but she also loves to hear you talk. It is NEVER too early to start reading chapter books to your little ones. One of my babes (10 months) loved it and every night we read Harry Potter. No, she didn't get the story line or remember the characters, but she was getting at least 20 minutes of calm bonding time. If your little one does not like bedtime, but loves reading, take it up a notch with a big kid book. It's a great way to wind down those busy bodies!

Life as a Foster Parent - Five Months, Five Babies & I'm Still Breathing!

Loved by Hannah and Eli

It's been a crazy few months over here on the Arnold homestead. After 2 years of trying for a baby, we finally decided to throw in the towel and dive into our plan b.....foster care! We took all of our classes last summer, baby proofed everything, went through a home study (post to follow on what to expect), inspections, FBI fingerprints, buying furniture, car seats...the whole nine yards, and had our first baby 2 weeks after certification. She was two days old and absolutely perfect. Adoption immediately looked hopeful, but we quickly learned to NEVER put all of our eggs in that basket. When a child is in foster care, the case workers will check every nook, cranny, and under every rock in search of family members to take temporary custody (this is called kinship care). Seven weeks later we said goodbye to our first little love 'Lu'.  In a short 5 months, we have had 5 babies under our roof (typically 2 at a time). 

It went a little something like this:

Newborn girl - Almost 7 weeks
10 month old girl - 6 weeks
Newborn boy - Still in our care - he's almost 4 months!
6 month old boy - About 5 weeks 
10 month old boy - Almost 4 weeks

*We are open to kids up to 4 years, but have never had a baby over 1

Can you keep up?? I had no clue that the turnover would be so fast on the majority of our kids, and I'm not even sure if this is typical (we were told in training that an average placement is 6-7 months). It has been such a joy loving all of my little munchkins, but very short term care has it's hardships. Most kids in foster care have had no schedule and extremely poor eating habits.   It can take weeks to get a wild baby sleep trained and accustomed to healthy homemade food, and the second you are high-fiving yourself on your successes, the call comes that kinship has been approved. These 'quickie placements' can turn your world into a wild circus of exhaustion because your home is never fully in a routine.  I have never been more drained or fulfilled in my entire life. This is truly my calling, and as much as I would love one morning to sleep in (babysitters aren't knocking down your door when a background check & fingerprints are required), I wouldn't trade this crazy life for anything.  I have learned so much, from detoxing babies to making parents feel at ease during visits. I have also made some mistakes, mostly learning to watch my tongue and not ask TOO many questions.

I am going to start posting all kinds of tricks of the trade that I have learned in such a quick time. Renegade parenting anyone?? I hope that I can shed some light on everything from what to expect during visitations, initial placement, getting certified, building relationships with CPS and the parents, as well as sleep training tips, weening kids off junk food, detoxing, and small things foster parents can do to provide security for these little broken birds. And of course my usual recipes & crafting, and now cloth diapering tips (YES, I am converted and there's no turning back). 

So welcome or welcome back to my new little nook. I'm still pretty much the same, just sleep deprived and covered in spit up now!

Kitchen Obsession

When you love to cook, but live in a condo with a kitchen the size of a closet, all you can do is obsess over beautiful photos and dream....

Keeping Parsley and Cilantro Fresh...For Weeks!!

I can not believe I didn't know about this simple trick years ago!  I have only done this on parsley and cilantro, so I can not recommend anything else. 

Take your herbs, and place them in a cup with about 3 inches of water, cover with a plastic bag and place in the refrigerator. I've seen a lot of posts about clipping the stems and making sure the leaves are dry, but I have never gone that far. Lazy maybe? No joke, they will last a month and still be fragrant and healthy. Talk about never throwing out molded greens again! 

Orange Vinegar Spray

Obviously, I did not come up with this brilliant idea, but I do want to rave about it! If you eat oranges and like all natural cleaners, this is simply the easiest thing to do. Simply throw your orange peels in a jar with white distilled vinegar and let it sit for at least 2 weeks. *The longer you keep it "brewing," the stronger the citrus scent will be. 

Transfer the scented vinegar to a spray bottle. I personally buy the oh so stylish Cassabella line, b/c I'm classy like that. You can buy them here.

Perfect Pan Seared Fish...Every Time!

I know so many people that stress out over cooking fish, but I promise you, it is one of the easiest things to cook once you get the hang out it. Here is a step by step guide to perfect fish EVERY TIME!! 

• Preheat the oven to 400°

• Make sure that your fish is at room temperature and completely dry (extract any moisture with a paper towel)

• Take an oven safe frying pan (no rubber handles!) and heat up 2 TBS of olive oil on medium until it is slightly smokey

• Either season (salt & pepper) your fish or go the Julia Child route and season the pan on top of the oil

• Once you see a bit of smoke, place the fish presentation side down in the pan

• After about a minute or two, gently shake the pan - dry fish + smoking hot pan = a sexy sear that should not stick to the pan - I like the shake just to make sure it's not sticking before flipping

• Your nice golden sear should take about 3 min ( I always give it a look) before I flip

• Flip fish with a spatula (if you are cooking cod, tilapia, or any other flakey, delicate fish, I highly recommend buying a fish spatula) It looks like this:

You can buy one here.

• Once you have turned the fish, "finish it off in the oven

• Depending on the thickness of the fish, you should allow it to cook in the oven for about 3-4 minutes 

• Take the fish out of the oven and gently squeeze the sides of the meat to check and see if it's done, if  it feels soggy or too soft, it needs a few more minutes in the oven

• Always, always finish it off with some fresh lemon/lime/grapefruit juice or something acidic! Dig in!