A magical recipe.

What better way to embody magick than in the making of bread. I think this is a lost art and its one I'm trying to get back. I think as early as 100 years ago it would be shameful to not know how to make a simple loaf of bread. How many of us have to look up recipes now? I know I did! So today I decided to make bread. Now let me start off by saying I am in no way a perfect baker. I have my issues with bread. Either it doesn't rise, rises too much, is too gooey in the center or crumbles too much. Today's loaf crumbles too much, but at least I can eat it will a little butter or jam. I didn't get a good color on it though unfortunately. I think it could have used a bit more browning, but it was already very hard on the outer layer and I didn't want it to get too much harder.

One cup warm water (Not hot)

1 package active dry yeast

3 tablespoons sugar

Let yeast proof for 10 minutes.

Proof the yeast

 Mix in all-purpose flour till it has a sticky consistency. Should be able to pinch off a piece of dough easily.

Added my flour

Allow dough to rise

 Allow dough to rise (About 2 hours)

Add 1/2 cup of flour and kneed. Add more flour if too sticky

Finished product. As you can see I couldn't wait till I cut into it! Sorry for not taking a picture before I cut it.

 Allow to rise and bake @ 350 degrees for 1 hour. If your like me, you can't wait till you can cut into it. You really should wait till it cools though. And there we have yummy homemade bread! The magick is in the sharing with family. :)

Happy Breastfeeding Week

Sierra giving Wyatt breast milk via bottle

So Wyatt is 2 1/2 months old now and that means we've been nursing for that long. My second baby is so much easier than my first and I attribute that to breastfeeding and co-sleeping. My first I did things very traditional. Formula, CIO, sleeping in her crib from day 1, etc... I didn't have any mom input from others besides grandmothers and great grandmothers so I really had no other viewpoint.

Me & Wyatt nursing

Now I can definitely see a difference. Wyatt still fights sleep like Sierra did, but he doesn't scream all night. He's chose his own schedule to sleep which is fine. The point is that he actually does sleep! With Sierra she would cry for hours on end for years before we'd have a peaceful nights sleep.
I refuse to sleep in the actual bed with Wyatt. I'm afraid I'll forget he's there and roll over on him or something. But his bassinet is next to me which was so great when I was first out of the hospital. I had a c-section so standing always was a pain.
I think I'm really doing things better now. Not that FF is bad or anything. I think its great if your not able to BF. I'd certainly rather see a baby well fed ANY way than to die of starvation. But breastfeeding is so much more than just nourishment. Its our special time. I like the bond that it has given us. With my daughter, she's more of a daddy's girl and I have always been jealous of that.

I like my num nums!

Nursing

I don't go many places right now, but when I do usually I'll need to nurse in public (NIP). I live in a very small town so breastfeeding in general isn't very popular. I've gotten a mixed bag of looks and comments. Some just smile and nod. Some glance at me and look away. A few have pointed their finger at me and whispered to their companions. And one even asked to "See the baby". As if he didn't know I was nursing. That guy was just a perv. The point is, breastfeeding is natural. It shouldn't be this foreign concept that people want to hide away or point at like its part of a circus side show. So in honor of breast feeding week, I'm proud to say I'm a breast feeding mother, and I hope that my experience will help another mom to choose to breast feed her LO too.