Baby Yoga Round Up

Baby Yoga

• In and Out


• I Love You


• Kicky Kobra


• Rolio


• Padahasta


• Twistee


• Corkscrew


• Baby OM


• So Big!


• Tiny Tugs


• Bridge Pose


• Benefits of Baby Yoga

July 4th Yarn Wreath

I have been talking about a lot of wreaths this year!  I made a Easter one and the other day, I made a July 4th wreath. If I had got it together in time, it could have been a Memorial Day through July 4th wreath.

It was pretty time consuming, considering I like my craft projects to be wham, bam, thank you maam. But it was a very simple and CHEAP project.

First, you wrap yarn around a wreath.  This is the time consuming part.  I did mine in spurts, here and there, and I think if you were able to sit down for awhile and really get in a groove, it would go faster.  Maybe take the opportunity to practice your Breath Awareness.  If you want something quicker, you can do like Tara did on her Spring Wreath and use strips of fabric, or you can also use ribbon.

To start the wrap around process, I simply stapled the yard to the wreath and went to town.

Then cut out squares of felt.  All different sizes.  I went with white and blue, going with the July 4th theme.  After I cut out the squares, I cut out circles.  I free handed the circle, I thought it gave it a nice natural edge and lent it self to looking more flower like in the end.  But you can certainly take a cup or bowl and trace a perfect circle first and then cut it out.

Then you cut each circle into a spiral, starting on the outside and cutting into the center.

Then you simply roll up the spiral of felt to make the flower.  You can hot glue the end piece to the side of the flower to keep in place, or do like I did, and just use a pin to pin it in place.  You can then hot glue them on the wreath, but I chose to use a pin again and put the pin in the center of the flower and pushed it into the wreath.

That way, I can take them off very easily and switch out the blue flowers for green and instantly have a Christmas wreath!

Here is a great link full of different color combinations for some more inspiration.
Hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th!

Pregnancy and Birth Round Up

Pregnancy

• Bikini Wax Initiation
• Mother Blessing
• Benefits of Pregnancy Massage
• Big Babies
• 30 weeks!
• Last Night I Dreamt I Gave Birth to a Puppy
• Over Half Way!
• Feeling Penelope Move
• We Picked A Name!
• Why are Heidi Klum's Ankle's NOT Swollen??
• Farts and Yoga
• Best Facial Ever
• Big Butt
• It's a Girl!
• 1 in 4
• First Appointment with our Midwife
• Two Pink Lines!
• Is Massage Therapy OK for High Risk Pregnancy?
• Pregnancy Belly Memory Lane
• Why You Should go to a Pregnancy Yoga Class
• This Time Last Year
• Waiting For Labor

Birth

• Penelope's Birth Story (End of the 4th Trimester)
• The Birth Wars
• Wait to Cut the Cord
• How Do You Birth From Within

Refashion Sewing Project Round Up

Sewing/Refashion

• Reuse, Recycle, Refashion!
• Reuse, Recycle, Refashion II
• Reuse, Recycle, Refashion III
• Reuse, Recycle, Refashion IV
• No Sew Baby Cowl 

Baby/Toddler Recipes/Nutrition Round Up

 Here are our Baby/Toddler Nutrition Posts.  Enjoy!

• Blackberries are a Hit


• Mimi the Sardine Spill Mat Review


• Sugar Snap Peas


• Fried Bananas for Babies?


• Toddler Smoothie Recipe


• Raw Egg Yolk for Babies?

This Moment: Getting on a Plane!

So if you are on our Facebook page, you know all about the awesomeness of Penelope starting a low grade fever right before bedtime last night.

The night before we leave for a very needed two week vacation that involves her first time on a plane and flying across the country.

Ah, the joys of motherhood, right?

Before the fever reared its ugly head, I was so excited to get on a plane.  I had gotten over my fear of flying with Penelope for the first time and felt ready with a bag full of brand new toys and a fully charged DVD player.

I am the daughter of a retired air force pilot/airline captain and a flight attendant. I grew up traveling. I can't really explain it, but I NEED to get on a plane and go somewhere several times a year. Peter is the same way. We need to travel for our sanity. We are die hard travelers. In fact, we even met on a trip to Costa Rica!

Now I am  terrified!  Not only does she still have a low grade fever, she woke up at 6a this morning!  2.5 hours early than she normally does.  She has no other symptoms than the low grade fever, and she is in a good mood, so we are still going to get on that plane. 

This could be a disaster, but like I said, I NEED to get on a plane for my sanity, so I send more prayers our way!!!

We will be flying into Las Vegas and staying there one night, then driving to Mount Zion National Park to hike and camp.  Then we drive down to Ventura, Ca for more camping, staying with friends and lots of going to the beach so Peter can surf.

While I am gone, our posts will be a little sparse, but I will get some great Round Up posts up with links to our favorite past posts.  And we will still be on Facebook having fun, have you liked us yet? We will be back in full swing the first week of July.

Wish me luck!

How to Sage Your House

The other day, my friend asked me how to do a sage energy cleansing of her house. I thought maybe you all would like to know too!

Saging your house is also known as smudging. It's roots are in Native American cultures and traditions. It is a ritualistic way to cleanse a person, place or an object of negative energies or influences.

The theory behind smudging, is that the smoke attaches itself to negative energy and as it clears it takes the negative energy with it, then Mother Earth reabsorbs the negative energy and filters it herself.

To cleanse your house with sage, you need a bundle of dried sage like this:

You can find them at natural food stores, or specialty bookstores or you can buy some online (check out the amazon link below).

To start, you set your intention. You can say a prayer or an affirmation, whatever feels right to you. The exact words do not matter for it to work. Simply set an intention, to clear your house of any lingering negative energy.  I like to say a prayer, because I am Catholic, and I then I say something like "anything that is not of the highest Christ light and energy please leave you are not welcome here."

Then light your sage. You want to get it lit completely. It is the smoke, not the flame, that clears the energy.

Then wave your sage stick around your whole house. Try to get the smoke into every area of your house. Every corner, every closet, etc.

Sage also helps the flow of energy (a la Fung Shui) in your house, every house can have stagnant areas where the energy is not necessarily negative, but it's stuck. The sage helps move it along.

Also do the front and back porches and all around your door.  


So when would you want to sage?

• After you have had a large party or gathering at your house.  Energy is fluid, so people can leave bits of their energy field where ever they go.  Have you ever felt yucky after going to the mall or a sporting event?  It's because there are 5 million people there and you are rubbing up against and mixing with their  energy.  Sometimes this feels wonderful, like when you are at retreat with like minded people, but other times it feels like you need to take a shower to get the gunk off!  Just FYI, there are ways to protect your aura from negative energy, I will show you how to do that one day soon.
• If you have had a fight with your spouse or children.  Me and Peter fight all the damn time (while Penelope is sleeping).  I do my best to sage after every fight (I also always tell Penelope that we are just working things out and we get angry, but that it is not about her and that she is safe).
• If a negative/grumpy/mean person comes into your home.  
• If you just moved into your house or apartment.  You want to clean out the last families energy.  I would also sage a hotel bed or your bed if you are house guest.  You are literally laying on someone else energy, and it can make you restless.
• If a virus or illness just went through your house.  Sage does have anti-bacterial properties to it. But really its good to do, because usually all illness is just a physical manifestation of an issue in your energy field that has been taken care of.
• If something sad or traumatic happened.  Grief is not necessarily a negative energy, but it sometimes lingers longer than is healthy, and sage can help it along.

Hope that helps!  Happy Saging!

This Moment: Return to Fertility

Did you see my article in the Summer Edition of Rhythm of the Home?  I love being apart of this publication.

I am as proud of the pictures, as I am of the article! I still have a long way to go, in regards to my photography skills, but to those of you who have been with me since the beginning of this blog...my pictures are getting better, right?!

The article is about celebrating the return of our periods, where ever we are in our post-partum journey. I wrote this article a good two months ago, Penelope will be 19 months old tomorrow and still no menses for me.

Anyway, here is the article, let me know if you like it!

5k Pictures

Tara and I have been so blessed to have some amazing local photographers sponsor and support our endeavors.  Most recently, Christy Balwin Photography came out to our 1st Annual Healthy Mama, Healthy Baby 5k.   As you will soon see, she is an amazing photographer!  Thank you so much for capturing the day, Christy!

If you want to see all the photos go to her website, click on Your Images, and then type in the password Mama.  If you want to order some prints you can do so directly on her site.  She has generously offered 50% OFF her print prices for us!




Here I am at the our "registration table".  It was a sad little table, that actually fell out of Tara's husband, Corey's truck on the way over.  It was a comedy of errors that morning, next year we will be much more organized, promise.

Here is our little crowd!  I forgot to do a total headcount, but all in all, I think there were about 40 people there.  Perfect amount for our first event.

Arn't these boys adorable?!  They had little shirts on that said, "Fastest kid on the block."

The trails at Southwood are so gorgeous.  My favorite part of living in this neighborhood for sure.

Our official winners!  The little girl in the picture is Ava (one of the girls I was a nanny to before Penelope was born) she will be six in September and she did the whole 3.1 miles on her bike!

Tara, and her husband Cory, and Arabella.  They both ran the whole time!

My god daughter Ella (Ava's sister).  I still can't get over that she is not a baby anymore.  She will be 5 this September!

So sweet!

I don't know what the hell I was laughing at here, but apparently I thought it was hysterical.  P.S. I am rocking a prAna top and skirt, LOVE them both.

Vibram Five Fingers represent!  Thanks again The Shoe Box for sponsoring the 5k!

Tara's pretty smile, doing what she does best, cheering people on!

I love this picture.  I was pissed at my husband this day, because he gets really stressed out whenever I am doing some big event, that requires his help, and then he gets all moody and jerk-like.  But look at him, he is so cute, my little surfer dude, I can never stay mad at him long.

Baby Hannah passed out.  She was one of many babies, who need to get out and have a nursing break.  It was so cool to create a 5k that was breastfeeding friendly!

Love this shot!!

My sweet little assistant and I, leading a stretch routine after the run.

This mama is so awesome.

More stretching.

And more stretching!  Tara is doing the stretch she talked about here.

Have I mentioned we love our Five Fingers?

Just hanging out.

Time for some milk!  After Arabella saw Penelope nurse she decided she wanted some too.  Such sweetie pies.

So there you have it! Our 1st Annual Healthy Mama, Healthy Baby 5k.  Tara and I had a blast and we can't wait till next year!  Please join our monthly Running/Wellness Club if you are local.  If you are not local and would like to become an Healthy Mama, Healthy Baby Ambassador and start your own group, please contact us!

HUTH and PPD

HUTH is code for Hanging Up the Horns. I had no idea what this acronym meant until I became an Exclusive Pumper, also known as an EPer.

Never in a million years, would I have guessed that this would be the card I was dealt. For me, not being able to breastfeed like normal, was like a death. It has been the hardest thing I have ever experienced in my life, and I have been through some shit.  It killed me.  I have talked about it here on the blog, in pieces, but it is still so raw for me. 

I like to think, as I look back over the past 18 months and this EPing journey, that I was able to keep post-partum depression (PPD) at bay. But it's so hard to see clearly, when you are still in the deep, dark, belly of your experience, that I am not entirely convinced I succeeded. Am I out? Am I on the way out? Am I still on the way in??

Throughout the past 18 months, I have felt the presence of PPD.  My family has a history of mental illness, so my awareness has always been heightened of whether something was "wrong" with me or not.  In fact, in the same week my dad dropped me off to college, I made an appointment with a physiologist and said: "look just tell me if I am bi-polar, tell me if something is wrong. I will do whatever it takes, whatever drug, I don't care, just tell me straight."  After talking to me, he realized, that no, I was not in fact bi-polar, just highly traumatized from having a mother who was.

But even after his reassuring words and almost 15 years of various therapies, I still hunt my emotions. Every single one, I stalk and analyze and self reflect.  I do not let one pass by or accumulate.  I find that I have a lot more power and choice in the matter.  If I feel a wave of depression coming in, trying to drown me, trying to suffocate me, I can either give in and let it wash over and take over. Or I can fight it.  I realize that everyone's experience is different and that not everyone has the mental/emotional ability to "fight" it, this has just been my experience.

And so, over the past 18 months, PPD has sat in the corner of every room of my house.  Some days it's just a tiny spec of dust, others, it's an enormous monster.  Either way, I beat it off with a stick, every. single. day.  I do it for Penelope.  I will not be so selfish to wallow in my own self pity and not be able to be emotionally present for her. I will not collapse under the pressure of it all, so that she has no stable ground to rely on.  I will go the places that are uncomfortable for me to face, so that I can be a good mother for  her.

I am not saying I never cry or I never feel like I am going to loose it, but I have managed, by being very, very diligent, aware, and hard working, to keep my shit together.  And by hard working, I mean having the courage to be and stay in therapy and always owning up to my crap.

But back to the point of the story.  I have hung up my horns.  I am done pumping.  I pumped for almost 19 months and now I am done.  That part of my life is over.  Crazy.

It's been over two weeks since I last pumped, and still my pump sits next to me.  I can't bare to put it away.  This pump has gone everywhere I have gone.  I have pumped in the craziest of places.  But mostly I pumped at the kitchen table, with my lap top in front of me, while Penelope napped.

This pump became apart of our family.  It's place in the fourth chair at our table. Never moving, always constant.  Looking back at all the time I spent pumping, I don't even know how I functioned.  I am not sure I even want any more babies, because I can't go through this again.

It all happened very naturally, my goal was to absolutely make it to 18 months and then try to get to 24 months.   But then, all of a sudden, Penelope stopped asking for her post nap time bottle and instead asked for water.  I also happened to have a bunch of things to do that didn't involve sitting at a computer.  So the next day, I skipped a pump. And then the day after that.  Before I knew it,  a week had gone by.  She still has not asked for her bubba once.

I will continue comfort nursing her for as long as she wants.  Even if she is 5 before she fully weans.
I have also been hand expressing about an ounce every day and spoon feeding it to her. She gets at least several ounces from me, in a 24 hour period, from comfort nursing, but I need to at least see one ounce come out of me for my sanity. I consider it part of her daily vitamin regimen now! She also gets about two ounces of thawed frozen breast milk a day in her fruit smoothie.  I wish she would get more milk, but it's comforting to know that in just one tablespoon of breast milk contains over 3 million germ killing cells in it.

Mama Meditation: Saa,Taa,Naa,Maa

I love this meditation.  It is so simple and easy, and unlike a traditional meditation where you just focus on your breath, this one gives you something to do.  And for me, if their is movement and rhythm involved,  I am much more likely to do it at all, and much more likely to stay focused.

To begin, disregard the mountain of laundry behind me in the photo.  In true Mama Yoga fashion, this is how I roll.

Lay on your stomach, with your chin on the floor.  Keep your head straight, to keep your spine straight and in proper alignment.  Lay your arms down by your side, with your palms facing up.

Then you mentally chant the words, Saa, Taa, Naa, Maa.  As you chant each sound, close a finger and thumb together.

So, on Saa, you close your first finger and thumb.  On, Taa, you close your ring finger and thumb and so forth.

The reason you are on your stomach for this meditation is because it stimulates and balances your "Moon Centers".  Each woman has 11 Moon Centers and they are located in different parts of the body.

Your psyche resides in each Moon Center for approximately 2.5 days, and each Moon Center is associated with a different emotion or quality, so roughly when you have cycled through all the centers you have completed one menstrual cycle.  Moon Centers are a fascinating topic, I promise to write more in depth about them soon.

Isn't Penelope adorable?  You guys probably get so bored with us oohing and ahhing over our daughters, but we just can't help it, so bear with us. 

This meditation is supposed to help you break old habits, assist you going through transitions and change and any accompanying emotional turmoil.  I don't know about you, but that is my life all day, every day, it seems.

I have been doing this meditation before bed, every night, for the past two months.  It has been a nice way from me to transition from laptop/work mode to shifting into relaxation/sleep mode.

Enjoy!