Holiday Cheer

This past week has been a whirlwind of holiday cheer.

We've been pretty busy shopping for gifts, wrapping gifts, and attending family holiday parties. I've been really careful to make sure that the Guppy nurses as much as she normally does. I definitely want to avoid the holiday wean.

Christmas Eve is a big night in my family. We all gathered at my aunts to open our Secret Santa presents, eat a delicious meal, and play Yankee Swap. It was so nice to see everyone in the family, especially my cousin and his wife who live out of state.


Christmas Day was wonderful. The Mermaid woke up incredibly excited to see what Santa brought her. The Guppy woke up a little overwhelmed. Santa spoiled both girls this year, but the big gift for both girls was a toy kitchen, complete with all the accessories. Both the Mermaid and the Guppy have shown a lot of interest in creating things, including dishes to eat, and so far the kitchen has kept them busy for hours.

My big gift this year came from my mother, who gave me a much-needed GPS system for our van. I find that I have a horrible sense of direction, and every time I travel for either my doula work or for my other business, I get lost. I always end up calling the Knight and having him guide me over the phone to my destination. Now, I won't have to do that any longer.

The Knight made out well, too. He got lots of gift cards to his favorite store, Barnes and Noble, and some clothes, movies, and sports stuff too.

All in all, a wonderful Christmas. I hope your holiday was as wonderful as ours.

Holiday Cheer

Birthing Goddess

Tuesday night a dear friend of mine went into labor and I was honored to attend the birth. This was her second baby, and her first homebirth.

I arrived and the midwives greeted me. They were so nice, so wise, and so in their element. My friend was a birthing goddess. She did so incredibly well during the labor and birth. She was not very vocal, instead she was very focused inwards on what her body was telling her.

After a while she labored in the birthing tub and pushed her baby out in the tub as well. What a Goddess she was, unaware of anything else except for what her body was doing to bring her baby into the world! The baby's arrival was met with smiles, joy, and laughter. A beautiful, healthy, baby boy!

I was so honored to be able to participate in this event. The atmosphere was of pure support, encouragement, joy, and calmness. This is the way all births should be, the mother surrounded by women who are calm and supportive. I was awed by the knowledge of the midwives and especially of my friend, who dove deep within herself and birthed her baby with ease.

Unfortunately, it was after the birth of the baby that things went slightly off track. Mom had lost a lot of blood and fainted, despite the shot of pitocin that the midwife gave her and despite the constant massaging of her uterus. The decision was made to transport Mom to the hospital. I stayed behind to watch their two year old son, who had slept through the entire birth.

Mom and baby are now doing great. Mom should be coming home from the hospital today. Dad was amazing, when the decision was made to transport I could tell he was worried and scared for Mom, but not once did he panic. He kept his cool and did what needed to be done to prepare for the ambulance's arrival.

What an amazing family!

Birthing Goddess

Beware of the Holiday Weaning

The holidays are an extremely busy, and at times, stressful time of year. Most people are running around shopping, cooking, baking, partying, and doing other holiday errands that must be done. For a nursing mom, this chaos can wreak havoc on her nursing schedule.

Yup, one minute you are running to the mall, to the bank, to the holiday party, and the next you realize that your little nursling has not nursed all day. Or, at times, you even realize that your little one has weaned.

Now, if you are ready to wean your child, the holiday season might be the best time to start. However, if you and your child are not ready to end the nursing relationship, then this accidental weaning can be heart wrenching.

Nursing moms have to remember to take time to make sure that they are meeting the needs of their nursling. It is so tempting to put it off during this busy time, but don't. "Just let me wrap one more present" or "Just let me go pick up one more gift" often begins the holiday weaning. Stop. Sit down with your nursling and take the time to nurse. Even if your child isn't asking to nurse, offer it anyway. It might be they themselves are feeling overwhelmed and just aren't thinking to ask.

If anything, ensuring that you are stopping to nurse your child during this busy time of year will force you to relax as well, and perhaps enjoy the holiday season a little more.

Check out this great article for more tips for a nursing mom during the busy holiday season.

Beware of the Holiday Weaning

Bisphenol A Found in Formula

First in plastic baby bottles, now in formula. According to an article I read recently, bisphenol A is found in the lining of cans of liquid formula and often leaches into the formula itself. The article states:

New research from a U.S. environmental group reveals the potentially carcinogenic chemical bisphenol A is in the lining of most cans of liquid baby formula and often leaches into the liquid at what they say are dangerous levels for babies.
"Because they eat so much relative to their small size, their
exposure is intense," said Sonya Lunder, lead researcher on bisphenol A for the Environmental Working Group, a research agency based in Washington. "We can't use endocrine-disrupting chemicals in a baby's first food. The formula companies need to take action."

The response of the formula companies, of course, is unsatisfactory. The article recommends that if you do buy formula, to buy it in powder form instead of the liquid form.

Yet another reason to be so glad that I chose to breastfeed.

Bisphenol A Found in Formula

First Week of Homeschooling

Well last week was our first week of officially homeschooling the Mermaid.

By "officially" I mean by actually sitting down and following a curriculum.

The curriculum I am using is one that I found online, and it's one that is low cost, as all the materials I need is found either in the library or in my own home. I searched high and low for a curriculum that I would hope would capture the Mermaid's interest, and after the first week, I can tell that I've made a good choice.

Basically, I started the Mermaid in a preparatory curriculum for children from ages 2 - 4. It's a basic letter of the week curriculum. Each week, you have a theme for the week, a vocabulary word of the week, a shape or color of the week, a letter of the week, a number of the week, and a nursery rhyme of the week. You introduce one for each day. And you incorporate songs, books, and games into the theme of the week. You also have a learning poster that you keep where your child can see that reviews the items that you are studying that week. I would have taken a picture of the Mermaid's poster, but my camera is broken :o(. However, it is basically very similar to this one.

I am also keeping a book in which I will place in all the materials that we make during each week, so that the Mermaid can flip through it and review it any time. I also picked up a small notebook that I write in every day after we do learning time. I find this very useful for myself, because I am suffering from horrible "mommy brain" lately and need reminders of what we did, and it is also very useful for the Knight as well. He is very involved with the girls' schooling and now, when I am at work at nights, all he has to do is glance in the notebook to see what we are working on and he can work on it with the Mermaid more.

The preparatory curriculum basically involves themes that the Mermaid already knows (alphabet, numbers, etc.) but I figured that I would start her off on this one anyway instead of skipping to the preschool one. I figured I would do this because the Mermaid has soooo much energy and not much attention span and I wanted her to get used to a "learning routine" without me having to worry about if she really absorbing anything that we learn for the first couple weeks while she gets used to it. Then, by the time we get to the preschool curriculum, she will be used to a routine that involves actually sitting down for more than two minutes to learn something.

Those were my thoughts when I started. Here is what I learned:

I need not have worried. The Mermaid absolutely loves, loves, loves her learning time. She loves sitting down with me and reviewing her shapes and letters, loves the games we play to enforce them, loves getting personal attention. And believe me, this girl is thriving on all the individual attention that homeschooling is giving her, I honestly had no idea how easy she would be to homeschool. For example, this past week the letter of the week was "A" and the number was "1". Well, not only did she have a blast going through all the activities at home during our learning time, but now whenever we go to the grocery store or other place she loves pointing out all the "A's" that she sees and all the "1's" as well.

And I find that I like our learning time as well. It forces me to forget about the laundry, to forget about the dishes, to forget about everything except this angelic, adorable, three year old sitting in front of me, waiting to learn whatever I have to teach her. It gives me the chance to focus on her, I mean really to just focus on her. It gives me the chance to notice things about her that I've never noticed before, like how she holds her pencil and crayons perfectly with her tiny hands (how she picked that up, I don't know, it was never something I consciously taught her); or how she sticks her tongue out of the corner of her mouth when she is concentrating (I know where she got that from, I do the same thing); or the way her hair falls softly over her face when she leans over the paper to draw; or how her eyes literally do light up when something clicks in her head and she understands what we've been talking about. How in the world did I ever miss these things?

I've also learned that it really isn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. I was worried about how I was going to homeschool and take care of both girls and run my Doula business and run my Direct Marketing business. Plus cooking, laundry, housework, and working at my other job for two nights a week. Oh yeah, and being active in my local babywearing group and LLL. *deep breath*. But, again, I needn't have worried. Every day I go over the item of the day, we draw it or do other artwork to enforce it, then we play games to enforce it. We do the official "learning time" in less than an hour. The rest of the day, I take little opportunities to enforce the lesson outside of "learning time". Last week the theme of the week was Cows and the vocabulary word was "calf", so whenever we read books I would pick books with cows in it. Or when we were driving somewhere, we would sing songs about cows. Little things like that. And that is all she needs. By the end of the day, she fully understands the concept that we had been going over. So it works great for us. In fact, if anything, it's taught me to manage my time better, which I found is not as hard as I thought it was going to be. In fact, I am looking into joining a local Moms Group, mostly to meet new people.

I have also found a curriculum for children the Guppy's age. I think I am going to wait until after the holidays to start her on it, though, since it is a crazy time of year. In the meantime, she loves watching while the Mermaid learns, and I am sure that she is picking up on some of it.

So we have begun our journey. And I am so excited. Life doesn't get any better than this.

First Week of Homeschooling

Oh No, I'm a Mini Van Mom!

A few weeks ago, the day after Thanksgiving to be exact, the Knight and I bought a Mini-Van.

We have been a one car family for a while now. The car we were driving was a 1996 Dodge Intrepid. It ran well for a while, but then things started to go wrong. Like the tires always ran flat. Or the brakes would constantly need to be replaced. The engine light would always be on. And both the air conditioner and the heater were broken, although we could finagle the heater on using a pair of pliers.

The final straw came when the car started to vibrate wildly once we went above 45 m.p.h. At first the vibration was slight and hardly noticeable, but then it became so bad that the Mermaid would hang on for dear life and yell "Whoa! Whoa!" for the entire length of the car ride. We took the car to the mechanic and he informed us that the vibration was the actual engine vibrating against the car itself, because the engine mounts were so rusted through and old that they weren't holding the engine in place correctly any more. In fact, he told us that the engine could fall out of the car any minute.

Nice.

So, the day after Thanksgiving we dropped the girls off with my In Law's and we vowed not to return until we have a safe car to return in. Now, because we are big fans of Dave Ramsey and we are in fact on his Total Money Makeover Plan, we knew that we did not want to finance a car. For one, we can't afford a car payment right now and two, we just worked our butts off to get rid of my old car payment and we didn't want to sign up for another one after all that work. So we made some phone calls. Turns out, my ex-step-uncle (follow that?;o)) is a mechanic. A reliable mechanic. A reliable mechanic who has a mini van for sale.
We went to go see him and the van and ended up buying the van.

It's a 1996 Dodge Caravan. There is a little bit of rust on the bottom of both sliding doors. One sliding door refuses to lock. There's no CD player, only a cassette. When you open the glove compartment, you find out that it is actually not attached to the rest of the dashboard and it falls to the ground. And it has over 130,000 miles on it.

But you know what? It runs like a dream, I kid you not. This is where the whole "buying from a family member who is also a reliable mechanic" plan really pays off. Because not only did he knock down the already low low price for us since we are family, but he also had the inside detailed and put brand new tires on it. Plus, the brakes are new. Plus, he maintained it extremely well.

So, now we have a very safe and reliable van. And I LOVE it. I love the room, I love the comfort, and I love the safety features. And I love the fact that we got what we set out to get, and we still have no car payment.

One step closer to being debt free, baby.

Oh No, I'm a Mini Van Mom!

It's the Little Things...

~ Yesterday we got hit with a snow/mostly ice storm. The price of oil has really hurt our budget, so thank goodness we have a wood stove. And for once, I am thankful that we have such a small living space. Our wood stove is enough to heat almost our entire house, so we are able to turn off the heat during the day while the stove is running and only use the oil heat at night after the fire dies.

~ The Mermaid used the potty twice yesterday and didn't go in her diaper at all. On one hand, I was thrilled, but on the other hand, it made me realize that she only went "pee pee" once in the entire day. I don't think that's normal. Note to self: make sure the Mermaid starts drinking plenty of water!

~ The Guppy's two teeth finally popped through and we've been getting some peace in the house :o). She's now our little happy baby again, and she's even begun to pull herself up to a standing position.

~ A dear friend of mine and I are going to collaborate to help pregnant women in our community. She does Reiki and teaches Yoga and I am a Doula, so we are working on plans to have a monthly gathering of women where they can learn some relaxation techniques through prenatal Yoga and I can show them positions ideal for encouraging a baby to turn or for labor. I'm excited!

~ We haven't started our Christmas shopping yet, or put up any decorations, but since I made a conscious decision to take it slow during December with my businesses, we're going to have plenty of time to do that in the next week. I can't wait!!

It's the Little Things...

Song of a Mother

Song of a Mother

My Husband is HOT!

And I'm not talking about in the "you look handsome!" sense!

The other day the Knight bought some new fire starter sticks for our wood stove, ones that we had never used before. When he went to go start the fire, the flames flared up and his face got burnt.

He had hundreds of tiny, tiny blisters all over his face. His skin was hot. and he had a cough.

The Knight's company had recently been bought out, and everyone is a little nervous about what exactly is going to happen to their jobs. On top of that, the Knight is up for promotion. So, although he took one day off to recover, he really didn't want to take more than that off, so he went to work all week. And of course, I was working every night this past week. And of course, the Guppy has two teeth coming in and she is VERY cranky. So, the Knight would work all day in this condition, then come home and have to deal with a very cranky baby and active three year old.

My poor, sweet Knight.

But this story has a happy ending. Last night, my family swept in to the rescue. While I was at work, they came over and caught up on all the housework and tended to both kids while the Knight rested.

When he woke up this morning, the blisters were gone, as well as the cough.

Another thing to add to our list of things to be thankful for this holiday season: wonderful family :o)

My Husband is HOT!

Thanksgiving

I really love holidays simply because I have a blast whenever I get together with my family. This year, Thanksgiving dinner was held at my aunt's house and everyone came. Good food, good company, good times. However, I do not have any pictures to show from that day. Why?

Because the Knight dropped our digital camera that morning, and it broke.

Of course, it had to happen Thanksgiving morning, when I was itching to get some great pictures of the kids and fam. And of course, it had to happen with Christmas coming up, a time of year where every day presents numerous opportunities for fantastic pictures (think Santa, Christmas parties, etc.).

Despite my grief over the loss of my camera, I am fully aware that I have so many reasons to be incredibly thankful for this holiday season. Two wonderful, happy and healthy children. A wonderful and supportive husband who is more than I could ever hope for. My own health. A roof over our heads and food on our table. And every day, I get to experience those moments that make every mom's heart melt. Those moments when the Mermaid throws her arms around my neck and whispers "I love you" into my ear. Those moments when the Guppy laughs and giggles just because she saw me walk into the room. Those moments when the Mermaid watches me get ready for the day, then tells me "Mommy, you look beautiful!"

I am truly blessed.

Thanksgiving

Still Here

I'm still here, but unfortunately, so is the virus.

The Mermaid has pretty much recovered. She still has a slightly runny nose, but other than that she is fine. So, of course, when the Guppy woke up this morning, she was sick. Runny nose, slight fever, sore throat.

Of course.

Tonight I have to work and find some time to cook up something to bring to my Aunts house tomorrow. We are having dinner there and then dessert at my In laws. This year in my family, we had a really corny idea that we could dress up as pilgrims and Native Americans for Thanksgiving. I was all for it, but now I find I am lacking in both time and money to go out and get costumes for all four of us. I'll probably just end up making hats and feathers out of construction paper.

Yesterday we had our first snowfall of the season and we found out that our heating system does not work properly for some reason. Until we got the fire going in the wood stove, we were all bundled up in our jackets. Now I am worried that the Guppy will burn herself on the stove, as we can't put a gate up in front of it and she really doesn't understand the concept of hot yet. I just have to be really careful not to leave her in the room alone.

I hope everyone has a fabulous Thanksgiving!

Still Here

Great Giveaway

Five Minutes for Mom always seems to have great giveaways! So I am so excited that from now until November 25th, they are having their big Christmas giveaway! Head on over to check out what you could win!

Great Giveaway

I'd Hate to Say I Told You So...

I think I've blogged about this before. But now I have research to back me up.

One of my pet peeves is when women say that they don't even want to try to breastfeed because it will make their boobs sag. Whenever I hear this, I cringe and two thoughts run through my head:

1. What a selfish reason to deny your infant optimal nutrition. Way to put your looks before your child's health@@.
2. Breastfeeding does not make your boobs sag. Pregnancy and gravity do.

The first thought I usually keep to myself. The second I usually share. And they usually don't believe me, either because they don't want to or because they know of "so and so who breastfed her kids and her boobs are down to her knees".

Nice. Reeeaallll nice.

Well, I hate to say I told you so, but now there's research that states the same thing: breastfeeding does not make your breasts sag. Really. In fact, this study suggests that the real causes of sagging breasts are age, number of pregnancies, and whether or not the mother smokes.

Now, here's my viewpoint. Do my boobs sag? Hell ya. Not down to my knees, but I definitely no longer have the perfect, perky round lovely lady humps that I was graced with before pregnancy. Does that bother me? Not at all. When I decided to become a mother, I decided to embrace all of motherhood, including saggy breasts due to pregnancy. Just like women learn to embrace their stretch marks, their apron of skin, etc. At least I am using my breasts for their intended purpose, by giving my child her optimal nutrition.

So yes, my breasts sag. And yes, if you have children, your breasts will sag, even if you don't breastfeed. The difference is, my breasts are going out with a bang!

I'd Hate to Say I Told You So...

Family History

My favorite book of all time is The Red Tent. I love many things about this book, but one thing that touched me personally is how the women in the book would pass down their stories to their daughters so that they would not be forgotten after their death. The author writes:

"If you want to understand any woman you must first ask about her mother and then listen carefully. Stories about food show a strong connection. Wistful silences demonstrate unfinished business. The more a daughter knows the details of her mother's life - without flinching or whining - the stronger the daughter."

I think this point is lost in our busy and hectic society today. How many women in this country could tell someone what her mother's dreams were, what her disappointments were, what her triumphs were? Probably a good number, but definitely not all. What about if they were asked about their grandmothers? The number would be significantly less. Their great-grandmothers? I would be surprised if any woman could answer. It seems that today's society has trained it's younger generations to be so focused on themselves and so hectic in achieving their dreams that they fail to realize the importance of learning about the women whom they came from.

I missed out on this chance with my grandmother, as she died about three years ago. I won't miss this chance again. In the coming weeks, my cousin and I are going to sit down with my great-grandmother. We are going to bring a tape recorder, paper and pens, and most importantly, our open ears, hearts, and minds. My great-grandmother is 96 years old, but looks 75 at the most and has the clarity of mind of that of a 50 year old. She writes for a local paper, is active in the senior center, and has a social calender that is busier than most. She has lived through the Great Depression and numerous wars. We will ask her what her dreams were, what her triumphs were, what her life was like. We will record her stories.

I will share her stories with my daughters, along with the stories of my mother and my own stories. I want my daughters to be two of the few women who, when asked about their maternal ancestors, will smile and pull up a comfy chair and pour a cup of tea, because they will have lots to tell.

What about you? Will your daughter know what your dreams were? Will she know about your accomplishments, about your heart breaks, about your triumphs? Will she pass it on to your grandchildren and great grandchildren? Or will your stories die when you leave the earth, leaving only a name and dates on your tomb stone.

Family History

It Just Never Ends

There's some kind of virus or something going around in our area and it came into our house about two weeks ago. Since then it has decided that it really doesn't want to leave. First the Mermaid caught it, and came down with a congested nose, sore throat, and fever. The kind of fever that had both the Knight and I up at 1:30 in the morning debating on whether or not to take her to the hospital. We settled on calling her pediatrician who gave us some hints on how to bring down the fever, which thankfully worked. As soon as the Mermaid appeared to be recovering, the Guppy came down with the same symptoms. Her illness lasted about a week and yesterday she finally had no fever, no congestion, and was a happy baby once again. So, I really wasn't surprised when, this morning, the Mermaid announced that she wasn't feeling good and then promptly got sick all over the living room floor.

*sigh*

So, as you can imagine, my life lately has been hectic. And not the fun kind of hectic. When the girls are sick, especially the Guppy, they want to be held and cuddled constantly. I am more than happy to oblige, but that means that the housework goes on the back burner for a while, the laundry piles up, and other daily tasks are ignored.

In addition to these adventures in Sickville, my great grandfather passed away this past week. He was 99 years old and would have turned 100 this December. I'll always remember him as the quiet, gentle man who could barely hear and had trouble remembering who was who. He had a long, happy and fulfilled life.

So, now the Mermaid is on the couch watching a movie (I generally throw the no TV rule out the window when she is sick, as it helps keep her calm and distracts her from the fact that she is miserable). She's had her vitamin C, her homeopathic remedies for nasal congestion and upset tummy, and I prepared a lavender mist for her as well to help her relax. Hopefully she will get well soon and this ugly virus will leave our house for good.

It Just Never Ends

Pictures, Because They Are So Cute

Some pictures I took of the girls yesterday and today. The Guppy is such an adorable and affectionate child, I can't help but take pictures. And the Mermaid went to her first non-family children's birthday today, and she looked adorable. And to me, a little older.....*sniff*

Pictures, Because They Are So Cute

I Knew It Was Too Quiet...

Earlier today, while I was sitting in the recliner nursing the Guppy, I noticed that the house was awfully quiet.

In our house, silence is not a good thing. The Mermaid is a very active and loud child, and normally she is only quiet when she is either sleeping, or doing something that she knows she is not allowed to do.

I called out to the Mermaid and sure enough, when she finally padded into the living room, I saw why it was so quiet. She had colored her entire face with magic marker.

Not only that, but she had also colored in her teeth to match.

What could I do? I had to laugh and take a picture. Even though it took over an hour to scrub the marker off her face and teeth. And even when I discovered that she had used my makeup brushes to "blend" the marker in, and I had to throw them away.

After all, was it not just two days ago that I, her mother, colored on her entire face for Halloween? And we had had a lot of fun doing it as well. So, in her mind, she was just doing something fun that she had done with me a few days ago. In her mind, her makeup was beautiful.

So, we laughed, we took pictures, and we had fun washing it off. If only I could deal with ALL my messes in life the same way.

I Knew It Was Too Quiet...

Halloween

I haven't been around much. The Knight took the week off from work so we could do some serious house shopping. It was nice having him home all week, helping to school the girls and to get caught up on some stuff that had been on our To Do list for a while.

For Halloween, both girls dressed up as matching clowns. I wasn't really big on the clown thing, but the Mermaid insisted that she wanted to be a clown, and I thought it would be really cute if they matched. Our town always has a parade and costume contests every year, so the girls participated in that and then we took them to about three or four houses for trick or treating. The Mermaid is allowed to keep five pieces of candy and the rest she trades in for a toy or book. All in all, it was a good night.

Halloween

Mamanista Sling Giveaway

As a lover of babywearing, I am always on the lookout for ways to expand my carrier collection on my tight budget. Mamanista is offering a great sling giveaway that I would love to win! To find out how you can win a Rockin' Baby ring sling, head on over to enter in the contest today!

Mamanista Sling Giveaway

Old Sturbridge Village

In our local area there is a museum called Old Sturbridge Village, the largest outdoor museum in the Northeast. It's a literal village built and run like a typical village in the late 1700's to early 1800's. As school children, the Knight and I took many field trips there to learn about our country's past and what life was like for our ancestors. Along with the 40 original buildings from that time period, the village also offers a staff of history interpreters, who wear authentic costumes of the time period and answer any questions that the visitors may have.

I have a lot of fond memories of my many trips to Old Sturbridge Village, from field trips as a student to bringing our foreign exchange students to the museum so they can experience our history as well.

Luckily for us, the Knight's company offers a free weekend at the museum to all its employees and their families. This past weekend was the free weekend, and although we were very busy, we made sure to squeeze in some time to take the girls. The museum often hosts "homeschooling days" for those families in the area who homeschool, and we can't wait until the girls are old enough where we can take advantage of that great program.

We had a lot of fun, although the Mermaid received her first bee sting. She was a real trooper about it, and at least we are pretty sure that she is not allergic. Here are some pictures:

Oxen, with one of the costumed "history interpreters."

The Mermaid was afraid to pet the oxen.

She felt much more confident when there was a fence between her and the animals

In one of the original buildings

The gazebo, overlooking the lake.

Here the Mermaid is helping to "clean" the clay before it goes onto the potter's wheel. She is powering the mill that churns the clay, causing all the rocks and other debris to sink to the bottom of the barrel. The potter then takes the clean clay off the top.

My favorite picture: our little prairie girl.

It was nice to be able to take the Guppy as well. It reminded me how last year when we went, I was pregnant with the Guppy and the Mermaid was only around 18 months old! :o)

Old Sturbridge Village

Trip to Boston and Salem

About two weeks ago the Knight's best friend came up from Arkansas with his new wife to visit. We spent the day visiting with them, we went to Boston and Salem.

Before I post picture of our trip, I must say this:

Living nearby to Salem, I've had many opportunities to study the witch trials throughout school. In college, I wrote a term paper on the witch trials for my History of Witchcraft course. I took many trips there before, both in field trips through school and with friends just to hang out. However, it was my first time going in October, during the Halloween season.

I always avoided Salem at Halloween simply because I really don't feel comfortable with the way they "play up" the fact that the witch trials occurred there to the tourists during this time. They close down Main Street and everyone goes crazy with Halloween fever. They have haunted houses, tours, witch exhibits, etc. Having done extensive research on the trials and reading about what actually occurred, I really do feel that this is disrespectful in a lot of ways to the people who were prosecuted during the trials.

I mean, come on. Women (and one man) were accused, thrown into prison, and killed for crimes they never committed. They trembled in fear while being led to their deaths. Their families and friends wept at their graves. The women in the town lived their days in fear of being the next accused.

Now, every year around Halloween, their deaths are made into a mockery, an excuse to get together to celebrate. People trounce through the cemetery and the other historical sites without a thought into what actually happened there, what it actually meant. Somehow it all seems so....disrespectful.

However, since our friends wanted to see Salem at Halloween, we went with them. But while they went into the Haunted Houses, we visited the cemetery to pay respects to those who were executed. And I was so very glad to see that some people thought the same way I did; for there, on each of the graves of those who were executed during the trials, were beautiful white roses.

The bar that inspired Cheers

Boston Common

Salem - Nursing the Guppy

Trip to Boston and Salem

Picture Time!

Built a tower
Loves her blocks
Wild Turkey passing through our yard
The Guppy playing
Oh geez, ma!

Picture Time!

Long Winded Rant Ahead!

To the rude woman that I met in HellMart yesterday,

You seemed nice when you first struck up a conversation with me while we were waiting in line. You asked about the pictures that I had developed and were waiting to pay for. When I told you that they were of the birth of my second child, you went on and on about how you loved your elective cesareans and would never have a vaginal birth because women who have vaginal births are "loose".

You know what? As ignorant and rude as you sounded, I respected the choices you made for your births and just smiled politely.

But then you had the nerve to criticise me for the rest of the twenty minutes that we were in line simply because I had a homebirth. You went on about how I was "crazy" and how it "wasn't natural". I'm sorry, but how much more natural could it have been? Even when I turned my back to you and ignored you, you still went on to the people around us about how crazy I am, how stupid I was, etc.

And while I ignored you at the time, to answer some of your rude comments and questions: no, it wasn't crazy. And no, it wasn't overwhelmingly painful (in fact, my hospital birth was more painful). And yes, I am one of "those mothers" who breastfeeds their children. Yes, my older daughter was present for the birth, and no, she isn't "ruined for life" because she witnessed it.

You were the one who felt the need to discuss your births with me. You apparently have lots of unresolved issues with your "wonderful" births, so much so that you became terribly rude and defensive when facing someone who did things differently. Just like you are not comfortable giving birth at home, I am not comfortable giving birth in the hospital. Different people, different choices, end of story. This concept is easy enough for my three year old to grasp, but your idiotic mind could not wrap itself around that idea. And so, twenty minutes later (thank you so much, Hellmart, for only having one cashier open!), I finally left the store, red-faced and feeling like a freak as everyone stared.

I am angry. Not at you, little ignorant and rude woman, but at myself. I should have told you off. I tried to be nice and not make a scene, but I should have turned around and knocked you down with my awesome verbal powers. I should have kicked your ignorant butt with statistics of homebirth safety, statistics on c-sections, forceps deliveries, episiotomies, etc. until you were so confused all you could do is drool.

If I had done that, I would have come home happy, and went about my life and forgotten about you in an hour. Instead, I'm sitting here and typing, wasting more time on you, simply because I didn't take the chance to stand up for myself when it was appropriate, and now I feel like the situation was left unresolved. And it is driving me crazy.

This I know to be true: as soon as I hit the "publish post" button, I am going to get up and go take my girls outside to play. And I will continue on with my life. And you will be forgotten in an hour. Because this is my choice, and I choose not to waste anymore time on you. I have better things to do. End of story.

Sincerely,
That homebirthing goddess you harassed in Hellmart because you sensed that her life was more fulfilled than yours and you were jealous (and you were right, it is).

Long Winded Rant Ahead!

The Mermaid in the News!

The Mermaid made the news back in September and I finally found the video. I wasn't able to snag it but you can view it here. She's the little girl who is chowing down on the corn :o)

The Mermaid in the News!

The Official Start of Homeschool and Other Thoughts

Today I took the girls to their first official homeschooling event. A new homeschooling group was started up in our area for children under six years old and I decided to go.

While I'm not sure I made a great first impression, I really liked all the other ladies and children that were there. They were all so kind and welcoming and really just interested in teaching their kids. While most meetings involves a more "structured" activity, today we had a Montessori School type of set up, with different activity stations set up around the room for the kids to work in. The activities were really engaging and encouraged the children to work together in order to accomplish their goals. We also had snack time, story time, and circle time.

Throughout most of the meeting I did have a horrible migraine coming on, so I wasn't too interactive. Hopefully at the next meeting I will make a better impression.

I also just wanted to put up this picture of some diapers that I made for the girls:

I'm also in the process of knitting some longies, but I haven't had much time to work on them lately.

I'm also attempting to get myself and the girls on a more organized schedule. Getting back into the FlyLady process and establishing routines are also going to help with that. Hopefully I will become more organized and therefore have more time to do things I love, such as sewing and knitting.

One other thing I did today was that I hired a nanny. I am not happy about leaving my girls with someone, but it is necessary in order to run my businesses. The woman is very nice and experienced, and my instinct says that she is a good choice. I will still be home with them most of the time, and mostly they will be there no longer than three hours.

The Knight and I have also decided to step up on our house hunting. Next week I am viewing twelve houses over a period of three days. For numerous reasons, it has become apparent to us that we need to get out of my mother's house as soon as possible, so we are taking steps towards that direction. Wish us luck!

The Official Start of Homeschool and Other Thoughts

Update and Now in Business

I know it's been a while since I've last posted but things have been a little hectic around here.

To start with we lost power at our house for a few days so we had to temporarily move in with my In-laws. It's a long story but the good news is we have power again and were able to move back in over the weekend.

Another thing that has been taking up a lot of my time is that I finished my Doula training and I am now officially in business! My Doula training was one of the most wonderful things I got to experience in my life and I'm so glad I made the decision to follow my dream. This week I've been working on officially launching my business by ordering my business cards, setting up my website, etc. I published my website this morning, it's not fully completed yet but all the basics are there. Please check it out and give me feedback, I would love to hear from you all! :o)

Maternal Goddess Doula Services

So between those two things and running my other business, I really have had limited time but hopefully I'll have more time to post in the coming week. Both the girls and the Knight are doing great and we are still house hunting so hopefully we will be in our own house soon!

Update and Now in Business

Infant Development: Tummy Time

During my Doula training class this past Saturday we had a wonderful woman come in to talk to us about infant development. The information she gave us was astounding.

Apparently in this country there is a real epidemic of children that have no tone in the front of their body, or flexion. This is from lack of tummy time. Babies are now sleeping on their backs, in the carseat and stroller on their backs, etc. and more and more parents are not being informed of the importance of tummy time. This can lead to developmental issues with crawling and walking.

Another problem that is prevalent in this country that is a result of lack of tummy time is that parents are now "prop sitting" or "prop standing" their infants more and more often. What happens then is that the children learn to prefer to sit or stand before their body is physically ready to do so. This can lead to back problems later in life, problems with the hips and pelvis, arthritis, etc.

The best thing to do for baby's development is to encourage flexion by always holding that infant in the "baby ball" position. That is, with knees tucked to the chest, head bent slightly in, arms tucked in. Hold the baby in this position when passing the baby over to someone else as well (instead of holding him or her under the armpits and letting his or her legs dangle). When putting the baby down on his or her back in order to play, or to change a diaper, or to sleep, first put the baby down in the baby ball onto his or her side, then slowly roll that baby onto his or her back by moving the hips, not by grabbing and pulling on the arms. Better yet, swaddle the baby into the baby ball position. Same thing when practicing tummy time: start off with the baby on his or her side in the baby ball position then slowly roll the baby onto his or her tummy; then get down and interact with baby during tummy time to make it fun. As soon as baby shows discomfort, slowly roll him or her back onto her side or back, and then pick the baby back up in the baby ball position.

Encourage the baby to take one developmental step at a time. Nature intended babies to follow a certain course: lifting his head, then pushing up on forearms, then rolling, then bell crawl, then side lie, then sitting, then pushing to all fours, then crawling on all fours, followed by kneel-sit, then kneel-stand, then bear-stand (standing on his feet with hands on the floor and behind in the air), followed by standing, then side stepping (or cruising), and finally walking. By encouraging baby to stand, sit, or walk too early through propping of the baby, the baby's body is not able to keep up with each developmental milestone and that is where problems can develop. Instead, focus on encouraging your baby to improve at whatever step he or she is currently at. Give lots of praise and encouragement at every achievement. Allow the baby to go into the next step of development at his or her own time, with a little encouragement from you. This way, the baby's body has plenty of time to develop flexion and and when baby does learn to walk, he or she will be able to walk properly and with confidence.

You can learn more about infant development at AlmaJoy, where director Lenore works with both healthy children and children with developmental issues to achieve their highest potential at whatever stage they are in. She also has a great booklet available for parents that is filled with advice on how to encourage flexion and proper development.

Infant Development: Tummy Time

Facing Reality

I'm finally facing reality. I changed my blog's header and About Me to reflect the girls' real ages. I officially no longer have a "baby" in the house. But that will change next year when the Knight and I begin to TTC ;o)

We already have the names picked out for our next baby :o)

Facing Reality

One Year Old Letter

To My Dearest Guppy,

Wow. One year old. How amazing is that? It's truly astonishing how much you have grown in developed this past year. And it is even more astonishing how much you have impacted our family in such a short time.

In this past year, you have taught me so many things. You have taught me Joy: You arrival into this world was the best birth experience I could hope for. I still feel as though I am on a birth high from that single experience; thank you for teaching me how to empower myself through my natural abilities as a woman.

The Guppy, One Minute Old

You have also taught me patience: While the Mermaid was a very quiet and independent child, you adore constant contact with either me or your father. You love to be held. And while we adore holding you, it took a while for us to learn patience and appreciate the fact that you love to be held so much. Now that you are not teething as much and are more independent, I find myself missing that constant contact and I'm glad that I was able to develop the patience necessary to wear or hold you almost all the time without complaint.

You have also taught me to prioritize. Reading my email is not as important as playing with you and your sister, and you were very vocal on letting me know that. Eating ice cream was not as important as avoiding dairy so that your eczema would not come back. And cleaning the house? Definitely not as important as a good long nursing and cuddling in the recliner. Thank you for those moments.

The Guppy three months old

Lately you have come to understand so much that I think of you as older than one. You have five signs that you know. You shake your "no" or nod it "yes" when I ask you certain questions. Your funny butt scootch is so close to turning into standing up that I have my video camera charged and nearby to catch that moment. You pull yourself up. You love to race after the Mermaid down the hallways. You love puzzles. You play pass with the ball. You point to things that you want. You adore your father, your sister, your Aunt Stacie, and me. And while you are enjoying so much the freedom of crawling around and exploring, you also love to engage in a few quiet nursing sessions each day.

You are so calm and easygoing, the Knight and I feel as though we can take you anywhere....and we do. You are so patient with your older sister when she gets a little too excited and rough with you, never reacting with anger. You hair is still light blond but your eyes are turning brown. You now have at least four teeth. And playing with your sister is your absolute favorite activity.

I love your chubby cheeks and legs. I love the way you look when you are drunk on my milk. I love watching you sleep. I love the way you play with your belly button. I love the cute way you sign. I love how you feel comfortable in any one's arms. I love the way you snuggle up to me at night. I love the way you watch your sister, your eyes filled with wonder and awe. I love the way that nothing scares you, you are always calm and serene. I love the look you give me when you want me to pick you up, no one can resist it. I love the way you are so chubby you fit into your sister's clothes and diapers...it makes getting you dressed so much easier. I love how you are willing to try any new food that I give you. I love that you still enjoy being worn in the Mai Tei on my back. I love the cute way you get mad when the Mermaid steals your toys. I love how you are so expressive of your feelings.

I love how you are so sweet, so adorable, so calm and serene. I love you with every fiber of my heart and soul and this past year has been the best year of our lives.

I am so incredibly excited to see what the coming year is going to bring. There are going to be so many positive changes happening for our little family and I am overjoyed that you are here with us to experience it. I can't wait to see your first steps, watch you develop and grow into a toddler.

Happy Birthday, dear Guppy. We all love you so much.

One Year Old Letter

This Girl is Fearless

Yesterday the Knight and I took the girls to a large local fair, the Big E. The Big E is something we look forward to every year, and this year was the first year that the Mermaid was old enough to go on the kiddie rides. The Mermaid is absolutely fearless and went on all the rides she could, and wanted to do them by herself. We all had a really good time, the girls especially.

Biker chick!
Love that smile!
Monster Truck
The Guppy and I
The Knight and the Guppy
The Mermaid on the "Mary Poppins Ride!"
The Knight and the Mermaid.
The Guppy with my SIL
The Mermaid going down the Super Slide with the Knight

I went down the Super Slide with the Mermaid as well, and let me tell you, that slide is fast and fun!! I also went on one "adult" ride with my SIL and it has been sooo long since I've been on a ride, I was surprised at how nervous I was. But it was all in good fun!

We also stopped for a bit to watch the horse show, particularly the jumping classes. The Guppy really got excited when she saw the horses, I couldn't believe it! Maybe we have a future equestrian in our midst? ;o)

This Girl is Fearless

New Business Blog

A couple of times I have mentioned that I started a second home based business besides my upcoming Doula business. I've gotten a few emails asking what it is so I decided to start a blog about it. You can read about my journey here:

My Business Blog

Feel free to comment!

New Business Blog

Blog Rush

I recently joined Blog Rush. It's a great way to increase traffic to your blog. If you would like to add your blog, you can join here.

Blog Rush

Sunny Days

Now that the days are cooler and I don't have to worry about heat stroke, the girls and I have been spending a lot of time outside. These were taken yesterday. It was gorgeous out!

Sunny Days