I'm back on the normal computer!

Hey everybody!

I finally am back on the nice FAST computer and had time to look at everyone's blogs. You all are have made such pretty updates! Great job. I especially love the fall looks that everyone is doing. I am greatly looking forward to fall myself, but have run into a big problem- I have no idea where my decorations are! I think they are somewhere in the storage building...but, it's not gonna be easy to get to. Plus, for me, I don't do fall decor until closer to October. That's when it really starts looking and feeling like Autumn here.

I need to do some work on this blog. I need to make links for all the videos I've done and add labels to many of my posts and change the background. I'd also like to make it easier to access certain posts as well. Hang with me!

I am starting to feel more normal now, thank the Lord! I still experience some incision pain, but not very often. See, it takes a month or more just to feel somewhat healed. This is why I did NOT want the c-section. I am hoping to get myself organized on paper soon- yes, the Home Management Binder is going to get an overhaul!

Today I am finally going to dig into my herbs and make some homemade elderberry syrup. You can buy this stuff at the health food store for about $8 per 3-4 oz. I have enough to make a quart I think for $10! Maybe I can take pictures. I might be able to get my husband (since he's off today) to fix a clothesline for me. I'd love to hang out the cute diapers on it! See, I told ya I'd be back to my self soon :)

Saturday I trekked to the dairy and bought lots of raw milk. I am going to make Samantha's formula this week from this recipe:

MILK-BASED FORMULA

Makes 36 ounces

Our milk-based formula takes account of the fact that human milk is richer in whey, lactose, vitamin C, niacin, and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids compared to cow's milk but leaner in casein (milk protein). The addition of gelatin to cow's milk formula will make it more digestible for the infant. Use only truly expeller-expressed oils in the formula recipes, otherwise they may lack vitamin E.

The ideal milk for baby, if he cannot be breastfed, is clean, whole raw milk from old-fashioned cows, certified free of disease, that feed on green pasture. For sources of good quality milk, see www.realmilk.com or contact a local chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation.

If the only choice available to you is commercial milk, choose whole milk, preferably organic and unhomogenized, and culture it with a piima or kefir culture to restore enzymes (available from G.E.M. Cultures 253-588-2922 or http://www.gemcultures.com).

2 cups whole milk, preferably unprocessed milk from pasture-fed cows
1/4 cup homemade liquid whey (See recipe for whey, below) Note: Do NOT use whey from making cheese--it will cause the formula to curdle. Use only homemade whey made from yoghurt, kefir or separated raw milk.
4 tablespoons lactose*
1/4 teaspoon bifidobacterium infantis**
2 or more tablespoons good quality cream (not ultrapasteurized), more if you are using milk from Holstein cows
1 teaspoon regular dose cod liver oil or 1/2 teaspoon high-vitamin cod liver oil*
1 teaspoon expeller-expressed sunflower oil*
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil*
2 teaspoons coconut oil*
2 teaspoons Frontier brand nutritional yeast flakes*
2 teaspoons gelatin*
1 7/8 cups filtered water
1/4 teaspoon acerola powder*

*Available from Radiant Life 888-593-8333, www.radiantlifecatalog.com
**Available from Natren 866-462-8736, www.natren.com, or Radiant Life 888-593-8333, www.radiantlifecatalog.com. Also, please note earlier versions of this web page called for 1 tsp of bifidobacterium infantis--this was a typo.

Add gelatin to water and heat gently until gelatin is dissolved. Place all ingredients in a very clean glass or stainless steel container and mix well. To serve, pour 6 to 8 ounces into a very clean glass bottle, attach nipple and set in a pan of simmering water. Heat until warm but not hot to the touch, shake bottle well and feed baby. (Never, never heat formula in a microwave oven!) Note: If you are using the Lact-Aid, mix all ingredients well in a blender.)

I have most of the ingredients and am waiting on the rest to come in the mail. I am going to make some up today and combine with commercial formula to gradually switch her over. I am looking forward to see how well she does with the whole food, nutritionally superior formula!