For Sale by Owner

When I started thinking about selling our house, I asked the neighbors for realtor recommendations. One of them said, "Why not just do it yourself?"

Then my mom asked the same thing. Apparently, she sold our last house on her own.

I kept the idea in the back of my mind and met with a realtor. I explained to the realtor that we would be on vacation the first two weeks of July and wouldn't be putting our house on the market until we returned. She said, "Why not just let us sell it while you're gone?"

That sounded amazing! We could clean our house once and then leave! We wouldn't have to put away our toothbrushes every day, get Henry and Hoss out of the house for viewings, and figure out all the nuances of contracts and stuff.

But I kept thinking about how much money we could save by selling it on our own (approximately $8,000), and I also thought about how empowering it would be to learn about the whole process from scratch and then make it happen (or at least attempt to make it happen).

So I read a book about it, and now we're in the process of getting our house ready to sell. We're getting landscaping done, making the front porch look nicer, redoing some paint, etc. It kind of sucks to put so much work into a house that you're leaving, but that's how it goes.

I ordered some signs from Build a Sign. I figured we should try to look as professional as possible. I modified their templates a little, and I'm very happy with how the signs turned out. We're in the process of making a website (which is listed on the signs). We're also going to have color flyers in a plastic tube. Finally, we plan to hold open houses every Sunday. We need to give ourselves a timeline. I'm thinking if we don't sell it ourselves in one month then we should turn it over to a realtor.

We'll see how it goes. I've heard that the realtors in my neighborhood refuse to show houses that are for sale by owners. Eep!

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P.S. Don't forget to enter the Feeding the Soil header re-design contest! We already have four lovely entries from Olivia.

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Making Our Home Child-Friendly

Henry - Crawling? from SaraMattHossHop-singClemHenry on Vimeo.

Whoa, Nelly! Henry is essentially crawling!

I say "essentially" because--as you can see from the video--he's not officially crawling. But he is certainly able to get himself from Point A to Point B in a pretty quick fashion.

It's time to make sure our house is completely child-friendly. I like that phrase better than "child-proof." We want our house to be a welcoming place for every family member (except the chickens are not welcome unless they opt to wear diapers, which they would hate!).

We didn't do this earlier because we honestly thought we would be living in a new house by the time Henry could crawl.

Since we'll hopefully be in a new house by October, I don't need to make it perfect. Henry gets lots of supervision.

Here's what I'm thinking I need to do:

• Put outlet covers in all the plugs
• Get rid of the lamp on the desk in his room. He's very fascinated by the cord.
• Remove some of the baskets in his shelf and replace them with trays that hold his toys. He can crawl to them on his own now, which will honor his need for independence!
• Vacuum much more frequently to make sure we're not leaving anything little on the floor that Henry could choke on.
• Keep our house very de-cluttered and clean in general.

I feel like that should do it for the crawling stage. He won't have the opportunity to get into cabinets right now.

What do you think? What am I missing?

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Join Us! Health & Wellness Internet Community

Before I start this post about health and wellness, I have to confess that I have eaten 4.5 large cupcakes, a piece of cake, a bag of donut holes, and countless homemade chocolate chip cookies (plus lots of dough, of course) in the past week. I eat when I'm stressed, tired, and/or bored--all of which I've been feeling a little of lately.

So when I read my internet friend Jennie's post about her health and wellness goals for August, I thought, "Yes! I need to jump on the health and wellness bandwagon!"

You see, I always believed the idea that it "takes nine months to put on baby weight," so it's perfectly acceptable to "spend nine months taking it off."

Before I talk about this issue, I want to state for the record that I am not an expert in any way, shape, or form. I've only done this once!

Okay, now onto my [potentially invalid and inaccurate] thoughts about this.

You see, I think a lot of us "eat for two" when we're pregnant. In other words, we use pregnancy as an excuse to eat way more calories than our baby-nurturing body actually needs (which, incidentally, is only about 300 extra calories in the second trimester and 450 in the third trimester).

If you use pregnancy as an excuse to eat whatever you want, then you put on extra weight in addition to your baby weight, and it can take a lot longer to return to your pre-pregnancy weight (hence the nine months argument).

I worked really hard not to gain any extra weight (mainly because I had a strict midwife who didn't want me to eat refined sugar, which meant no cupcakes, cake, ice-cream, or cookies for the vast majority of my pregnancy). The recommended weight gain range is 25-35 pounds. I think I gained about 28.

After I delivered Henry, my weight dropped dramatically. In fact, about a week or two after my pregnancy, I wasn't very far above my pre-pregnancy weight. I did have lots of extra skin around my abdomen, but I didn't have any extra fat elsewhere.

If I had continued eating really healthy foods like I had been doing during pregnancy, I am pretty convinced I would have returned to my pre-pregnancy state really quickly.

But that's not what I did. Ever since the night Henry was born, I've been eating cupcakes with abandon, which is not good on my wallet or my body. I'm not going to beat myself up about it; I know that I need to be patient with myself as I adjust to motherhood and my new identity (and prepare for a move to a new city). I also know that depriving myself of sweets for so many months makes me want them even more, now that I can have them.

But I'm also not going to keep making excuses about it. I want to live a healthy lifestyle. I don't want to follow my mom's path of emotional eating that has led her into obesity.

When I want to accomplish something in life, I usually start by making a list and then I try to institute some kind of accountability. I've already made my list of healthy lifestyle intentions. Now I need the accountability.

After I started a little sewing club and read Jennie's blog about her health goals, the idea dawned on me: I should start a community discussion area for kindred spirits who are pursuing their own healthy lifestyle changes and need a little extra accountability. The Health & Wellness Club within the Feeding the Soil community will be great for me. It will be a place for people to share their health and wellness goals, update the community about how they're progressing toward those goals, share motivational articles and links, post healthy recipes, etc.

So, if you want to join others in chatting about topics related to this blog, please Join the Feeding the Soil community discussion area!

Once you do that, you can opt to join any of the sub-groups, which are currently the Sewing Club and the Health & Wellness Club.

Hope to see you there!

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Happy Birthday, Henry!

Dearest Henry,

You turned five months on July 28. Five months! I can't believe we're almost at half a year. I haven't written since June 12, so we have a lot to catch up on.

In June, you finally stopped taking naps in the Moby. Up until then, you were taking five naps a day in that thing! It drove your dad and me crazy at times, but we knew it would be short-lived, so we tried to savor our opportunity to be so close to you so consistently.

Your absolute favorite thing in the world right now is Hoss. He makes you smile and immediately commandeers your attention, no matter what else you're doing. We're teaching you how to use gentle hands with him. Right now you try to grab everything and pull it to your mouth, so Hoss isn't very fond of you. Your dad and I have started brainstorming Halloween costume ideas, and we want to dress you up as something you really, really like. Right now it's Hoss. We'll see if that changes before we start on your costume.

At the beginning of July, we went on a two-week vacation to New Mexico and Colorado. You were great on your third and fourth plane rides. You had so much fun dancing with your grandpa and smiling at your grandma. You also worked on your newest skills: sucking on your toes and kind of sitting up. You also love pulling water glasses to your mouth. We have given you a couple drops of watermelon juice (which you loved!) and let you drink a little water out of your Montessori glass.

When we took you for your 4 month visit to the pediatrician, you started to get a little antsy, so Dr. Injac gave your dad a tongue depressor to entertain you with. He held it up for you to grab, and Dr. Injac said, "Oh, he won't be able to grab that yet." Before he could even finish his sentence, you had grabbed it and pulled it to your mouth. I explained that we're doing Montessori in the home and that you get lots of practice with reaching and grabbing.

And you are quickly turning into a master scooter. Once you set your eyes on something, you can easily scooch your way toward it. You are very curious, interested, motivated, and ambitious. You are also very smiley and cuddly. You crack up when I say, "Where's the pudding?" and then pretend to chomp on your body. You smile at everyone so easily.

You're starting to get a little bored at home, so we're going on more outings. We carry you in the Ergo, and you love to gnaw on the sides the whole time. You are a very drooly and slimy baby! You turn your head from side to side so you can see everything.

You take most of your naps on our bed, while I work on my computer. In August, I'm going to try and transition you into your own bed for naps (which is where you sleep at night). You are so sweet when you sleep. I love when you reach out to touch my leg while you're sleeping.

We take you swimming quite a bit, and you are very happy to kick along and suck on your chlorinated fingers. You also love to go for walks and be outside. Trees are your favorite mobiles!

We are getting ready to move to Austin, and I am sad that we will be leaving your first house. It's a great little bungalow, and we will miss it dearly.

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August: Reflection & Rejuvenation

From the Nikki McClure Calendar

I missed a month of this! We went on our two-week summer vacation right at the start of July, so I didn't have a chance to reflect on June and set my intentions for July. It's probably better that way because July has basically been 2 weeks of vacation + 2 weeks of busting my butt to finish early-August deadlines. My first book deadline is August 1, and then I'm traveling to Austin to do some reading professional development for a charter school there. I'm actually really looking forward to getting past those deadlines and settling into a slower, yet still constant, stream of work.

Let me see how I did in June:

• Be the best mother and teacher I can be for my son, Henry. I have to remember that all the time and energy I put into parenting now is an investment in our future together. Specifically, I want to help Henry learn how to take naps on a bed instead of in a carrier or wrap. I also want to practice asking open-ended questions (e.g., "What did you think about that book?) instead of closed-ended questions (e.g., "Did you like the book?"). Yes! Henry now takes naps on my bed instead of in a carrier. Plus, I've been working on my question-asking.
  
• Maintain consistent posting on my two blogs: After I wrote this sad post, my dear friend, Marisa, called me for some heart-to-heart life coaching. She convinced me that I needed to put 2000 Dollar Wedding on a brief hiatus while I finished other major deadlines. Thanks, Marisa!
  
• Actively participate in Purposeful Conception: Preparing Your Mind, Body, and Life for Pregnancy: Yep! And now I'm getting e-mails from participants (and kindred spirits) who took the course and have since delivered babies. I love it!
  
• Send printed photos to the grandparents, like I promised to do every month for their Christmas presents last year: I did it late, but I did it!
  
• Study Spanish for 20 minutes every weekday (I do this while breast feeding): I am bombing on this one. Argh! I really need to figure this out.
  
• Attend a Montessori class with Henry and learn as much as I can: Yes!
  
• Plan a fun potluck picnic for the next silent film at Discovery Green: Yes!
• Make a video about implementing Montessori in the home: I decided not to do this. Our video footage isn't really good, and it requires collaborating with Matt and commandeering some of his free time. Our free time is so sparse these days; I can't really justify taking up some of his to work on my projects.
  
• Go on a date with Matt: Yes!
  
• Write the first chapter of my book: Um, I'm working on this. It will be done by my August 1st deadline!
  
• Travel to Florida with Henry for my brother's graduation: Yes!
  
• Wrap up the end of the school year with my students: Yes!
  
• Read a self-development book and a parenting book: Yes!
  
• Create a new header for my Feeding the Soil blog: No, but I'm sponsoring a contest to get this done!
  
• Declutter our house: Yep!
  
• Plan a fun Father's Day surprise: Yep!
  

And here are my intentions for the month of August:

• Be the best mother and teacher I can be for my son, Henry. I have to remember that all the time and energy I put into parenting now is an investment in our future together. Specifically, I want to help Henry learn how to take naps on his bed. I also want to help him learn how to sleep through the night. I also want to take him on daily outings. He's starting to get very bored at home.
  
• Recruit participants for the next Purposeful Conception: Preparing Your Mind, Body, and Life for Pregnancy.
  
• Send printed photos to the grandparents, like I promised to do every month for their Christmas presents last year
  
• Study Spanish for 20 minutes every weekday
  
• Work on my 2000 Dollar Wedding book
• Work on the book that I am co-authoring about Montessori
  
• Get our house ready to go on the market at the beginning of September
• Find a rental house in Austin
• Update the look of this blog
• Sew a dress
• Travel to Austin to observe the charter school application interviews
• Plan something fun with friends (maybe a potluck at the drive-in?)
  

There's one more project I really want to take on, but I don't think I should. I need to stop packing my schedule so tightly. Henry naps twice during the day when we're home together, so I get approximately three hours of work time, which never feels like enough.

I'll be happy if I can tackle these!

What's something you really hope to accomplish this month?

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Breakfast of Champions (Er, Vegans)

I took a picture of my quinoa to share with you, but Matt accidentally deleted it from our camera. Sorry for yet another shot of my baby!

I've been a vegetarian since 2001, so when Henry's pediatrician diagnosed him with a dairy sensitivity at his 2-month check-up and advised me to stop eating dairy while breast feeding, I effectively became an Almost Vegan.

I had actually been trying to eliminate some dairy from my life before Henry was even born. For example, when my midwife explained that she notices calcification on the placentas of women who drink cow's milk, I switched to almond milk with my cereal.

However, trying to eliminate all dairy has been very challenging. First, I love cheese. Secondly, I love baked goods. Baked goods made with dairy products.

I didn't notice much change in Henry's symptoms between his 2-month and 4-month appointment. When I explained it to the doctor, he said, "Well, he might have a sensitivity to something else, like wheat, soy, corn, peanuts..." He said I could do an elimination diet by just eating rice and chicken and then gradually reintroducing things. When I explained that I was a vegetarian, he revised it to be "rice and vegetables." Seriously? Little to no protein?

I asked him what would happen if I stopped worrying about Henry's dairy sensitivity and instead just ate everything in moderation. He said that would be fine, since Henry's symptoms aren't severe. His stools are mucousy and watery around the edges, but they don't show any traces of blood.

So when we left for vacation, I started eating dairy again. But here's the thing about having a baby: it's an incomplete science experiment. The sample size is way too small. There's no control group. There are too many variables. It can be frustrating!

So right when I reintroduced dairy, we also ascended to very high altitudes, slept in seven different places, ate a bunch of junk food, and went into a much drier climate. As a result (of what, I'm not sure), Henry's congestion was absolutely terrible. To the point where he had to breathe out of his mouth.

On the days when I wouldn't eat dairy, his congestion seemed noticeably better. In fact, the one day I ate entirely vegan meals was the one night he slept super well. [Again, I know my observations are not even close to being scientifically accurate].

So I'm back to not eating dairy for a while, which brings me to sharing this recipe. What a long-winded introduction!

I've decided that I'm going to rotate through different breakfasts each week. Last week, I ate quinoa with bananas and cranberries. Delicious! The original recipe called for honey, but once I added the dried cranberries, the honey pushed the sweetness over the edge.

I loved eating quinoa every day for a high-protein breakfast. I just made a big pot of it on Sunday and heated up a little each day.

I think next week I'll do whole wheat bagels with hummus.

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Sewing Club

Image courtesy of Colette Patterns

Anyone interesting in doing a little virtual sewing together? I'm going to tackle this cute (and relatively easy?) dress by Colette Patterns. It's called the Crepe.

I love the 1950ish feel to it, as well as the cap sleeves. And I'm especially enamored by the idea that it has a tie waist instead of any difficult closures.

But in order to tackle a big sewing project (while I juggle a gazillion things: this blog, 2000 Dollar Wedding, Purposeful Conception, educational consulting, my book about weddings, my book about Montessori, selling our house, finding a rental house, and Henry), I'm going to have to break it down into manageable chunks.

1. Take my measurements
2. Read reviews of the pattern online
3. Order the pattern
   
4. Buy the fabric
5. Wash and iron fabric (thanks, Sara!)
   
6. Cut out the pattern pieces
7. Cut out the fabric pieces
8. Sew the dress (easier said than done!)

Anyone care to join me? If so, please join the Feeding the Soil community discussion area on Big Tent and then join the Sewing Club subgroup!

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