Bathtime fun!

I have been coveting these Frog Pods by Boon for a long time! I am happy to say we now own one and it was totally worth it!  It is so cool, that I have decided Naked Baby needs to stock them.

Kahu loves his new Froggy! I love it too, it not only stores his bath toys, it also holds his bath wash and shampoo AND my bath scrub thingy.  The back of the Frog or scoop as its really called comes of the base of the frog and you can scoop all the toys out of the bath, the water runs off and they dry out! Fabulous.

Here are some piccy's of it in action in our bathroom.

http://www.nakedbaby.co.nz/shop/whats-new/frog-pod/

Nappy Time

Ok so I have been pretty useless at updating this thing lately!  Not enough hours in the day and increased hostile situation negotiations (full blown 2 year tantrums!) 

Do you have those moments as a parent when you suddenly realise how funny your conversations with your child actually are?

I was full swing into a 1/2 hour heated discussion on the reasons why my son couldn't sit in his pooey nappy all day long and simply must let me change it, when I burst out laughing.  For me "poo wrangling" as I call it is a daily activity.  My son HATES his nappy being changed, he kicks, screams, and worse... grabs the offensive nappy and flings it poo and all across the room.  I need octopus hands. 

Today I thought better I reason with him and tell him all the reasons why he should let me change his nappy, only after 1/2 an hour did I realise how ridiculous my conversation would seem if any other person heard it.  Burst out laughing I did, and so did my son.  These are the moments I love. 

Anway below is a wee piccy of Kahu at his grandparents farm (notice nappyless) and the nappy's which have never looked better, drying in an open paddock!

Bellamy's organic baby food & formula

I just thought I would share a little something about where the idea for Naked Baby came from.  When Kahu was quite young he started to self wean, I found it a really difficult time.  I wanted to give my child the best possible start in life, and even though breastfeeding had started out on a very easy and natural road, at some point he just started not wanting it anymore.  I tried everything, and he screamed, bit me and blatantly refused.  This was distressing for both of us. 

I started pumping breastmilk so that at least he was getting it in some form, and I think with the stress and guilty feelings, the milk just stopped coming, and I couldn't pump anymore.  I went through all kinds of feelings from thinking I was a terrible mother, a failure to my child etc, it took me a while to feel ok about bottle feeding Kahu.  Eventually I decided that the main thing was my baby was getting the right nutrients and felt all the love that I had in my heart for him.

I looked at all the different baby formulas and decided that organic was the only way to go.  I found the brand Bellamy's in Australia and realised it was not available here.  So I decided to start selling it and set up a website.  Of course my ideas grew and Naked Baby developed into a eco baby boutique.

I loved that Bellamy's had a great philosophy behind their brand, as they played a big part in the inspiration for Naked Baby I thought I would share a little about their company as well.

"The Bellamy’s Organic story began almost twenty years ago...

Once upon a time in Tasmania, a new mother and organic farmer, wanted to provide her four children with convenient, nutritious meals that tasted as good as those she could prepare in her own kitchen.  She believed that organic foods are most beneficial for babies and young children as they are vulnerable to harmful substances that might be in their food.  So she set about developing recipes and sourcing ingredients from Australian certified organic food producers, to be prepared into babies' first foods.

The first offerings were Bellamy's Organic Babyrice and Baby Porridge.

Today, Bellamy’s Organic proudly produce a wonderful range of family-friendly cereals, pastas, milk drinks, and snacks.  These include the ever popular toothiepegs teething rusks, freeze-dried Fruit Snacks, and new Pinkies fruit bars!

Most importantly, it is still a company operated by mums in Tasmania, producing nutritious and convenient food for families."

Orange & Prune Muffins.... mmmmmm!

 

http://www.nakedbaby.co.nz/recipes/

I had a craving for something sweet today!  I thought it would be fun for Kahu and I to do some baking so we made these.  Oh they are so yummy I am sure that Mr Naked Baby will be having a few when he gets home... I wonder if this means I will get a shoulder rub tonight?

Ingredients

• 1 orange
• 1 large egg (We love free range ones!)
• 1/2 cup sugar (this is optional)
• 1/2 cup of dried chopped prunes
• 125g Butter
• 1/2 cup of plain yoghurt (I added some honey)
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 2 cups of flour
• 1 Teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 200
Grate rind into blender, take off bitter white orange pith, then roughly chop the rest of the orange.
Add orange flesh, egg and sugar into the blender (or food processor) adn mix for approx 2 mins, until smooth.  Add prunes, butter, yoghurt and milk, pulse a few times.
Pour mixture into a bowl, sift flour, baking soda and baking powder and combine, mixing well.
Bake for 15-18 mins until golden brown adn well cooked, Cool in tin before serving.

*can substitute prunes for sultanas or the like

Check out the rest of our recipes at www.nakedbaby.co.nz

Naked Baby Headquarters!

Here is a little preview of the progress on Naked Baby's new studio!  We are hoping that we will be ready to open our doors at the end of Feb and we will have a little party to celebrate!

 

Mid painting!  Thanks to my brother and Sarah for donating their time to help paint!

 

Here is some of our stock, more in there now and this photo is taken before we have put up any of the shelving.

 Touch ups part way through!

We are currently making all the shelving etc out of preloved materials (there are some funky ideas thrown in here!)  I really am excited about it and cant wait to show you all the finished product!

Holiday

I set myself a challenge this holiday, and that was too take and use cloth nappies while on holiday!

I must say other than a few occasions where it was just too difficult things ran rather smoothly.  I had so many comments while out and about when Kahu was flashing his rather cute Tots bots easyfit in their fun summer designs!

We rented a 2 bedroom apartment on the Sunshine Coast (which unfortunately was not so sunny!) so we had a laundry, which made washing nappies easy as!  My parents (who were pro's at the old square numbers) could not believe how nappies had changed and how easy they were to use.  

Kahu did have a go at swimming in them... here is the result! (as you can see there is a reason Tots Bots make swim nappies! But you get an idea of how much liquid these nappies can take! Hee hee)

 

And below is a sneeky shot of Kahu opening his Christmas present from Nona & Grandad!

 We just love Cloth nappies here at Naked Baby!  Please contact us anytime if you have any questions or have any brands you would like us to try!

Loving daylight savings and spring!

Its official I love daylight savings!  The weather is getting warmer and the sun is out.  We are up in the mornings and out and about in the garden.  Here are some shots before we went for walk round Arrowtown. Tuesdays are our day for fun and playing.  (of course when Kahu goes for his daytime nap, its all down to business for me!).  

This past weekend, we finally started the process of weeding and getting the garden beds ready for summer.  We are planning having a bigger and better vege patch this year, so stay tuned as we get this under way.  Nothing beats food from your own garden!

Kahu has been riding up a storm on his Wishbone bike.  God I love that thing and cant say enough about them.  Must be one of the best inventions of all time.  (if you have a super energetic energizer bunny of a child like me, you will understand where I am coming from!).  

Just like a spring clean of the house, we are doing this on the website.  We are tidying a few things backend and giving little tweaks here and there.  I love my little website and gives me great satisfaction each time it gets a new little lift!  We are having some sales on www.nakedbaby.co.nz/specials make sure you check them out!