…because dinosaurs need a good tooth-brushing, too!

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Traveling during the holidays can make me … well, let’s just say less than full of good cheer. I try to follow a few guidelines to keep me, and my friends and family merry and bright.

• Pack conservatively. It’s tempting to bring all those shoes you think you’ll need, but you will not want to pack and unpack or tote them from place to place. Take a few minutes, really think about the events you’ll be attending, and try to limit the number of things you’ll place on your back as you leave the house.
• Leave early. I haven’t figured out exactly when the rush happens on the road, so I leave early assuming it will always be when I’m on the road. Whether you’re going to visit family for days or going to a holiday party, you can almost always arrive a few minutes early and kindly offer to help with last-minute preparations.  This policy keeps me from being flustered on the road because I’m late, and from looking like an inconsiderate guest.
• Think about the little things. I’ll often keep an extra reusable bag in the car throughout the year for errands, etc. During the holiday season I keep a sturdier crate or basket in the car as well, so that little gifts and carefully wrapped items don’t get lost or crushed amidst larger things.
• Final flourishes. I wait to put the final touches on gifts until we get there. I can’t tell you how many times I crushed bows that I’d carefully made only the night before because of traveling. In an effort to bring a pretty gift and a face unclouded by disappointment, I now polish off my wrapping jobs once we’ve reached our final destination.

We’ve thought about adopting a child {or three} to add to our family.  We’ve actually discussed adoption long before Calvin…back when my husband and I were engaged.

We put off having children for a long time…until we were both not living transient lifestyles courtesy of the United States Air Force.  However, even once I was pregnant, and Calvin joined our family, we’ve still discussed the joys of finding a pair of siblings to adopt.

We’ve considered overseas adoptions because of all the news of hardships in orphanages.  However, learning about the long waiting process and expense involved has deterred us…for the moment.

Recently, a friend of mine told me about domestic adoptions in the United States…typically a much faster process (although still quite involved) compared to overseas.  I’ve started to learn more about it through the AdoptUsKids program.

The mission is to recruit and connect foster and adoptive families with waiting children throughout the United States.  Funded by the Children’s Bureau of the Administration for Children and Families, the national photolisting website contains photos and information about children in foster care.

A national adoption public service advertising recruitment campaign was launched in July 2004 in a partnership of the Children’s Bureau, the Ad Council, and AdoptUsKids, with the goal of raising awareness of the significant number of children in this country waiting to be adopted.  Thirty-one percent of the children in foster care waiting to be adopted are African American; African American children are overrepresented in the foster care population relative to their percentage in the U.S. general population. Because of this, African American children often wait longer to be adopted.

Learn more about adoption from foster care and how to help spread the word about children in care waiting for a forever family.  Search for children in awaiting a family in your area.

Follow @perfectparent on Twitter and become a fan of AdoptUsKids on Facebook.

On Tuesday, November 10th, there’s a Twitter event at 2 PM (EDT) to discuss the benefits of adoption, and provide information on adoption from foster care.  Use the hashtag #adoptuskids to participate.

YOUR TURN:

Have you adopted children?  If so, from where?

OR

Have you considered adoption?  If so, from overseas or from the United States?

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Welcome to a weekly series on Traveling with Baby, Health Happy Round-Up that  focuses on multiple aspects of wholesome living and optimal health for the entire family.  Each weekend, Traveling with Baby will share some insightful news, recipes, and tips to help you consider fresh new perspectives on wholesome and happy health.

I’ve had my fair share of colds during my pregnancy – really though, is it ever “fair” to be pregnant and sick at the same time?! You probably already know you shouldn’t be taking over the counter medicine while pregnant if you can avoid it, so here is my list of natural home remedies that can help relieve your symptoms and lessen your recover time.

• Badger Balm. This stuff is the natural equivalent of Vick’s Vapor Rub. It smells great, when you can smell, and relieves congestion when you can’t.
• Essential Oils. Cinnamon essential oils help break up phlegm in your chest and reduce coughing. I’ll often walk around the house just sniffing from the bottle, or you can also drop some into a pot of steaming water and the scent from the steam will permeate your house (smells like Christmas!). Hang over the pot and breathe in – what a relief! If you don’t like the smell of cinnamon, consider giving eucalyptus oil a try.
• Herbal Expec. This is another natural remedy for coughing. No more robatussin needed.
• Homeopathy. When I was miserably sick and pregnant I was given free reign from my midwives to try whatever homeopathic remedies I wanted in my search for relief. A lot of the remedies you’ll find on the shelves at your natural food store contain what they termed “buckshot” homeopathy – meaning it contains several different cures for congestion, runny nose, etc, assuming that you don’t know which one you specifically need to address. I certainly had no idea, so buckshot homeopathy worked well for me.

We’re coming up on cold and flu season, so I hope this information is helpful. Feel free to post your comments on what natural remedies worked well for you and your family!

Recently, Teri Kent of Better World Betty interviewed me on green baby practices for the November issue of C-Ville Abode Magazine, on news stands now.  I “heart” her post title, “Greening Up Baby.”  Why didn’t I think of that?

Also, I just found out that my article submission was selected for publication in a new Heart Series book by Sheryl Roush and Eldonna Lewis-Fernandez, called Heart of a Military Women.  I’m SO excited about this!

Previously, I was interviewed and submitted two selections to Michele Hunter Mirabile’s book, Your Mother Wears Combat Boots, that were published in the final edition of the book.  What’s so special to me about that particular book is that my great aunt Vivian who served as a nurse in the Army Air Corps in World War II also has a personal story published in the same book!

Anyway, I’ll keep you posted on Heart of a Military Woman–especially if there’s some book signings by the authors in the local area.

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A bee-yuti-fall day on Calvin’s birthday…fetching candy, balloons, and other treats on the leaf-covered UVa lawn on October 30th.

There’s s’more evidence that your Mama let you have processed sugar (one day out of 365).

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Welcome to Tuesday Travels, a weekly series at Traveling with Baby.  This season, my son and I are excited about sharing some local day trips and field trip ideas for families with little ones.  This weekly series will also feature travel tips for families with kids-in-tow and related product reviews and giveaways.  I enjoy hearing about your traveling adventures, too.

Traveling with baby doesn’t begin after their born – it starts as soon as you are pregnant and continues for quite some time! I’m now 38 weeks into my pregnancy (almost at the end!) and so I thought I’d share a few tips for the road for other expecting moms out there. Most of this information is common sense, but it doesn’t hurt to write it down.

On the road …

• Plan Your Breaks. You will have to stop to use the restroom, so go ahead and build time for it while you’re traveling in the car. Get out and stretch, walk around a bit, use the facilities, etc.
• Bring Water. I hate to be thirsty in general, and have been especially thirsty while pregnant, so pack water, pregnancy tea, or some kind of liquid to consume on the road. You can also freeze it in advance if you want it to remain cold on longer travels.
• Pack Snacks. I have made several long trips since conception, and I have to say that this was an important point for me. When I had to pull over to purchase food I continuously made poor nutritional decisions, against all my best intentions. So, to keep my budget and my diet in check, I started packing my snacks. Take nuts, granola, fruit and veggies to keep yourself from impulse purchases like muffins, cookies and chips that present themselves at gas stations.

As you’re packing, don’t forget …

• Prenatal Vitamins
• Clothes that pull double duty (maternity wear can take up much more room in a suitcase than regular clothes)
• Comfy shoes
• More snacks! (especially if trying to eat healthy while traveling from place to place or staying at someone’s house when their diet is different from yours).

I recently wrote about my recommendations for a child’s car seat–describing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s efforts to provide more comprehensive regulations for side impact crash testing.

Since then, I learned about a plethora of free resources available to help parents make safe choices about car seats, and to help them use their car seats properly for maximum safety.

In Charlottesville (and Albemarle county), you can set up an appointment with the Albemarle County Department of Fire and Rescue for a complimentary car seat installation.  Contact them by e-mail carseats@albemarle.org or by phone (434) 531-6614.  Also, check out the downloadable pdf instruction guide for child passenger safety.

Stay in-the-know

Follow @ChildSeatSafety on Twitter, where a safety expert from the NHTSA responds to direct messages and publishes relevant tweets.  You can ask any questions about child passenger safety.

You can become a fan of the NHTSA on Facebook to learn about everything from LATCH to locating your local inspection office.

The Ad Council and the NHTSA have teamed up to produce a website with all the resources parents need to keep their smallest passengers safe.  You can locate the nearest inspection station to you, and watch instructional videos.

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For Calvin’s special day, I made a slight variation of my standard pancake recipe.  In fact I love this recipe because I can make all sorts of pancakes: banana pancakes, pumpkin pancakes, berry pancakes, oh the list goes on…

I tweaked the basic banana pancake recipe by substituting buckwheat flour for the spelt/brown rice flour.  Instead of milk, I used plain whole milk yogurt.  Instead of a banana, I used half of a baked acorn squash.

The great thing about these pancakes is that they’re gluten-free–perfect for anyone with grain allergies, crohn’s disease, celiac disease, or diabetes.  For more information on how gluten (found in many grains) is linked to inflammation and many health disorders, check out the Succulent Sanctuary and Deflame.com’s free pdf download of Deflaming Guidelines.

BUCKWHEAT ACORN SQUASH (or PUMPKIN)  PANCAKES

(Note: Makes about 6 servings of  6 inch-diameter pancakes.  I usually double the recipe and store the extra pancakes to reheat the next day.)

• 1 c. buckwheat flour
• 1 T. sucanat (you can substitute with turbinado sugar, molassas, or honey)
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder (I use aluminum-free)
• 1 egg (from a free-range chicken)
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/2 c. whole milk yogurt or buttermilk
• 1 T olive oil or coconut oil (it tastes BEST with coconut oil)
• 1/4 cooked acorn squash or 1/4 c. canned pumpkin
• 1 tsp. butter

Mix dry ingredients.  Create a divot/hole in the dry ingredients and pour in milk, yogurt, squash/pumpkin and liquefied coconut oil (must be above 76 degrees F).  Separately, beat egg, then pour in.  Mix ingredients until well blended (2-3 minutes on medium speed).

(Note: This batter is pretty thick with buckwheat–depending on your altitude and humidity.  You can thin it down with more milk, or from the start, you can use half buckwheat and half brown rice flour for thinner and lighter pancakes).

In a cast iron skillet (or griddle iron), turn to medium-low heat.  Add butter and coat pan surface.  Once warm, pour in pancake batter until the cake is 6″ diameter.  Once it bubbles and sets on top, and edges are a golden brown, flip and cook other side for only 1/4 of the time compared to the other side.

I love to serve these with butter.  If you want a little extra sweet, heat up a small bowl of pure maple syrup and add a dash of cinnamon.  You will never eat plain maple syrup again, for the rest of your life because this is so incredible!  Serve maple syrup over chopped pecans for some extra crunch and sweet, nutty flavor.

Serve and devour, immediately.  Bon appétit!

Note: for fun pancake shapes, I recommend using a plastic squeeze bottle.  I used something like this…

The squeeze bottle gives you control over batter flow and amount, but you’ll want to make certain the tip is wide enough for thick batter.

To  make the fun bear face in the top photo, I squeezed out a large pancakes, and smaller ones that were closer to 3 inch diameter.  I also made a small one for the bear’s nose.

The squeeze bottle is great for making letters, numbers, or more creative shapes, with the aid of a cookie cutter.

So, be creative and enjoy.

Don’t be surprised if you get a reaction like this:

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Two years ago, our son was born at 5:06 AM, at home with my husband, midwife, and sister-in-law present.

Two years ago, he looked like this:

Twelve months later, he was transformed into baby-toddler sweetness:

Today, he is two.

———————————————————————————————–

I got myself out of bed extra early to prepare a special birthday breakfast for our family before my husband had to rush out the door for work.

Calvin woke up when he heard the mixer whirring while I was whipping up pancake batter (buckwheat pancakes with acorn squash and cinnamon–to be specific).  I used a squeeze bottle to make a few fun shapes, and we ended up with a bear with raisin eyes, served with huckleberry syrup on the side.

Calvin roared like a bear when he saw it.  Then, he gobbled it all up, followed by a bowl of plain yogurt–chased by a colostrum protein/greens/omega-3 shake.

Later that morning, Calvin and I went to a Mainly Music class at our church–almost every child present was in costume.  While standing at the front of the gym, everyone sang a special birthday song to Calvin while he danced and squealed and received a cool birthday book.  The class is our weekly Friday date, but it was definitely extra-special this morning.

Today, Calvin wore a his borrowed bee costume for the third time this week.  It was a blast attending the biggest birthday party EVAH!

Okay, so I didn’t really plan a big birthday party, but costumed children were invited to participate in candy giveaways on the University of Virginia lawn.  Balloons, costumes, juggling, free books, face painting, s’mores…I mean seriously…this doesn’t happen every day.  I think our little guy felt pretty special.

He is seriously cute. The cutest bee I’ve ever seen, actually.

Mr. Bee was a little overwhelmed with the thousands of people at the lawn.  I’m not kidding when I tell you there was a large crowd.

Calvin and I both got our faces painted.  He only relented once he saw me get my face painted first.  Prior to that, there was back-arching and yowling.  After I had a turn, there was complete and utter submission.

Then, he helped his Daddy roast s’mores  marshmallows in the amphitheater.

Only because it was his birthday (and we did allow a s’mores taste during his 1st birthday), we allowed him to have a couple bites of the s’mores treat.  He’d already consumed an apple prior, so at least he was full on something beneficial.

Tonight, we had a more intimate family birthday celebration at dinner.  I prepared my son’s favorite dinner–grass-fed beef burgers with green onions and avocado served with a side of peas and baked french fries.

I didn’t make a birthday cake nor cupcakes.  Instead, I went to Hotcakes and purchased their signature chocolate chip-walnut pumpkin muffins.  It was perfect for this…

And this…

You don’t want to miss a 23-second video of Calvin blowing out his birthday candle.

We’re so thankful for God’s blessing of Calvin in our lives for yet another year.  Here’s to many more!

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