Home Birth Story of Jovie Harmony

It started as most days do,  slowly waking with the family and doing daily life tasks. To take our minds off being “past the due date” (40 +3), my partner went disc golfing with our two older girls.  I stayed home taking time to relax and connect with the babe, working on a sale for my little handmade online shop.

I felt a bit different as the day went on. I just knew it wouldn’t be too long before she would be earthside with us.

Mother Forage.

I must create. 

And I will. 

I will use my hands to construct all the things I am fortunate enough to have the ability to create. 

It fufills a part of me I feel sometimes I have lost in motherhood. Or maybe just in life itself. It renews me.

I use my hands because within my roots, those before me (very talented, close to me others) were not gifted the time physically or mentally to keep creating. 

It is pieces of me.

It allows me to dream.

Dream about the beautiful simple life I want to live with my little family. 

 I want to manifest good intentions that this will lead to a bigger way of supporting (or leading me towards)  the love filled, unschooling, wanderlust family vision we dream about. 

No matter what it becomes, I am just glad I am moving forward. Even be it baby steps right now. 

 Over the next few months I hope to share more about myself, my vision, and the meanings behind the pieces I create.  

I want to find other people who are already living similar dreams to listen to. To learn from. 

I want to facilitate life learning for my children. I want to create and love and….live! 

My shop will have bits of tie dye, blessing branches, kid/home vintage, hair accessories and much more! Most of it will be recycled or upcycled so you will be doing Mother Earth a favor too!  Your purchase will help grow my little dream and help support my little family. 

You can find my new little shop at the link HERE. 

Find it on Instagram @motherforage

Or Facebook Here

~Lightgreenmom

Food Art.

This is my very first crafty blog post with one of my littles! I am so excited to share the fun with you that we have played with over on Instagram here in more detail. 

(If you want to find me on IG I’m @lightgreenmothering) 

  Today we are playing with kitchen scraps! 

What you need:

• Food scraps (we used celery and potatoes)
• Paint
• Paint brush or roller
• Paper 
• Knife or cookie cutters
• Painters Tape (optional)

   I chose to tape the paper (painters tape) to my table to secure it. 

Next, I pre-made some designs in halved potatoes with cookie cutters and then trimmed the edges with a knife. My celery was literally just the cutting from the bottom of my stalk. You could use broccoli, carrots, apples..you get the picture. 

Next, I set out paint, water, brushes and a towel for brush clean up. 

Time for fun!

The celery makes lovely flowers!

We also were practicing our peace sign and heart making skills while doing this “mural”.  Because mamas, this kid loves it when I join in. Mom bonus, she thinks I’m awesome when I do. 

Now, considering  my daughter tags EVERYTHING with an H. I would say this is her signature now.

So easy peasy right?

 Now go have some fun! 

~Lightgreenmom

Belly Henna.

In less than 2 weeks, my youngest babe turns One. In honor,  I’m posting a few stories I never published. Enjoy! 

A continuation of my little Blessingway story. 

Belly henna. One of my favorite fun pregnancy rituals. A way to celebrate and honor you and your beautiful  pregnant transformation and embrace the new life soon to come. This is my little gathering. 

   
Again, we are all about laid back around here. No fancy props or expectations. Just each other’s company and a fun safe place for the kids to play.

  
My doula Tracy and new soul sister and her daughter came in support as well. If you are in the area looking for a doula, you can find her here.

 Also in attendance was my dear friend and her two little ladies. She coordinated our henna day.

  
 It was the perfect moment. The artist, Erin Ernst from the  Sarasota, Florida area, is magical and such a positive creative energy in the room. Check her out here. 

   With the aroma of henna spiked with lavender swirling around this was a divine moment of motherhood. 

  
   
I wanted some sort of birthy mermaid mandala and Erin created this beautiful Mermaid mom and daughter following behind. 

  
This henna artist also did the art on my belly for my oldest daughter as well. 

  
I will cherish these moments and the wonderful mama goddess vibes I felt for a long time.

 
~Lightgreenmom

My Circle Blessingway.

Since I am coming up on a year with my youngest earth side, I want to share a few exciting moments I never posted. The first will be my Circle Blessingway;

As you may have read in a past blog, I had a Virtual Blessingway. However, after the invite to the virtual blessing went out, a dear mama friend of mine got our little tribe together. We had a kid friendly (because we are always with babes) Mother’s Blessing! If you have ever considered one but don’t know where to start, I hope you find inspiration in our simple gathering full of love.

  

 We kept it very low key. We are all with child(ren) most all of the time. So it took place at a very cute park where we could all have a little fun. 
One of the mamas made me a flower ring. It was so sunny and happy. It is still wrapped around my car mirror. What was particularly special about it was that it sparked memories of my husband and I when we were in high school. I totally wore a dried lavender flower ring to prom. Short spiked hair and all. Come on, It was the year 2000.

Also, a mama brought these beautiful charms I tied on or handed to each guest in attendance. We agreed to wear them until I went into labor to connect me with my tribe. It was amazing!!  The quote reads ” Love beyond the moon and stars.”

  
The children ran around and played while we chased after them and talked mom talk of midwives, doulas, and all things birthy. We had connection, love and support in each other. 

  
We drew up affirmations for my birth flags. 

  
This lovely goddess, our Mother’s Circle mentor, came to support as well. I’m so grateful for her presence in my motherhood journey and her compassion for new mothers and their tiny little babies. 

  
It is so important to show the future generation that sisterhood. To share the good in the world. Even the littles joined us. 

  
I haven’t seen as much of my tribe this year as I had thought I would. Two kids seem to have added to my introverted ways. I still love them all and find my sisters in everything even when they are minutes, or thousands of miles away. 

We also planned henna, but it was postponed and ended up being another sacred day to spend with my mini tribe. I think it was meant to be. The henna artist didn’t have to travel quite as far and I was in the comfort of my house for it.  I’ll be posting about that very soon. 

~Lightgreenmom

Lightgreenmom update.

  
It’s been a long while since I have posted and instead of apologizing, I will just say life with two babies takes much presence.

I’m here to be real with myself this year. 

I have been mostly at home retreating in my piles of laundry, sub par meals and trying to figure out how the hell to be the mother, wife and the human I aspire to be all at the same time. To fully embrace my new slow life adventure.  AND…I almost have a ONE year old again. 

  
What?

How do I not have my shit together yet?

It’s been a year and I STILL have no idea who I am.

I am really bad at pushing the publish button here. I have a draft page a mile long and the posts never got the chance to be seen. All because I never pushed publish. Total mom move right?

So it is my intention to make this a place to document the good, the great, and sometimes the ugly and crappy stuff too. The creative moments. The moments of motherhood. Maybe a little yoga or silly dancing may be involved as well. Cursing may happen (I have two kids and try not to verbalize my sailor mouth because of their insane ability to repeat, so it may end up here a bit) The lighter green way we live as a family. Enjoying the wealth of a slow life and shoestring living.  The little things I learn along the way. A place to keep track of the little snippets that make life worth living.

Because all of it. That is real life, right?  

I want to be as mindful as I can with my family, so know that I would love to hear from you! I will respond when I am given the opportunity to be fully present to connect. 

You can Email me at: 

lightgreenmom@yahoo.com 

When I am not here, I can be found on Instagram

@lightgreenmothering  

You can also PM me there. 

Most of all, thank you for being here and sharing a bit of life with me!

~Lightgreenmom 

Three month EC pep talk.

The following is a letter I am writing to myself just as much as everyone else who is on the elimination communication train. Even though my second is now 7 months of age already. I wrote this and it was lost in my drafts. So I’m posting it now just in case I need to reference it if we truely decide to rock this parenting thing for a third child. I must remind myself it does take time, patience and love.

Dear ECer, 

  
    Don’t stop now!! You are doing a great job! Remember why you started this practice in the first place.

 You are communicating.

Three months isn’t a very long time to get to know your little completely. It takes time. She/he is developing new thoughts, motions and sometimes all of those things take a front seat to listening to cues all the time. 

Relax. 

You are communicating the best you can for now. Be an open arm for potty-tun-i ties. and be okay with stepping back when it is too much for either of you. 

It will get better. 

Even though it feels like miss after miss, at the end of a learning streak of other things, children who have regular EC communication typically come back even more aware than before the new development that has taken place. 

Your cleaning less poo diapers at this point most likely. If that isn’t something worth a high five or victory dance then I don’t know what is.   

You are building yet another means to communicate and let your child be heard thru their own needs. 

You have got this. Keep going. You will be glad to have had the time with your little.

Bookmark this page and read it as many times as you need during those bad days you may stumble upon. 

Know someone else is feeling the same way you are right now. You are not alone!
~Lightgreenmom

Elimination Communication with two kids.

So far in my blog I have shared our Full Time EC journey with our first child. Now that we have two, I really wanted to document how things are going the second time around. 

  
     First off, there is much less time! I had virtually all the time in the world with my first to sit and study cues, and potty when needed. Now, I have a 3 month old and an almost 3 year old to keep me busy with a neverending supply of needs and wants to tend. Some days it feels like all I get accomplished in a day is cleaning little potties, nursing the baby, and feeding the toddler. But then again, my little is only 14 weeks at this juncture. I think that is how all moms feel with a newborn in tow. 

I must say this time around I have had to be much more relaxed with my EC practices. For my own sanity and my entire family. 

Potty-tunities

I remember with my first, I offered constantly. My new babe still gets full time opportunities, but I find myself cueing her in her diaper much more than my first. I want her to know I care and understand that she is indeed going, but when I’m in the middle of tending to my toddlers detailed need or my almost burning dinner it has to happen every once in awhile. 

There will be diapers. 

Or prefolds in my case to wash. I think we may burn thru more diapers than a typical diapering parent would. Right now we are doing prefold and cover laundry every other day. We have a little under 2 dozen prefolds in rotation and a handfull of covers. I try to look at this as a good sign. I’m catching over 50% of pee and about 80% of poo at this leg in the journey. We are also just getting to know each other really.

Kids pee alot.

If you EC, you quickly realize how much a kid really goes. I did the math with my daughter; Every other day washing I’m at 12 prefolds a day. I also catch about 50% of pee so 12 more for pee and at least 2-3 bowel movements a day. Now mind you most “misses” with our prefold laundry are small bits of dribble and then we go on to catch more when I take it off to change. So my child is going around 12-15 times a day or more! 

You can’t just not EC the second child. 

No matter how much you have a bad EC day and swear you are done with it, lets face the facts. You can’t bear the thought of your child sitting or sleeping in a pee filled or crappy diaper now. It literally pains you to know they went and not do anything about it. I know. I tried to take a day and not practice and it drove me crazier than removing a prefold numerous times a day to place  my little baby over a bowl.  You also most likely know from your first experience that it works. Your children listen and communicate if you are mindful to listen and watch as well.

Go with the flow

No pun intended. I have learned with two comes misses.  You can’t do it all at the same time. Especially this early on with a little. We have had moments where I have been using my toddlers potty insert for the little and my ninja toddler happens to sit down on the potty missing the insert and pees without me noticing until I see a puddle on the tile floor once she stands up. Mom brain at one of its finest moments.

Lesson learned there my friends. 

Toddler regressions

As much as I would love to say 100% of the time my toddler is miss free I would be lying. I would be lying if I said I never accidentally peed when I sneeze just the wrong way too. Most of our mild issues with the toddler would stem from the attention my youngest was getting when we had a miss. Our 2 year old started saying she was peeing in her pants. Typically a little tiny dot of pee, but this had not been happening and then started up a few weeks after her little sister was born. We have decided to be the crazy potty people and have them everywhere so they are always available. She often gets distracted if she is really into playing and will pee in her underwear. Someday I will no longer have to consider the color of an infant potty because it will no longer be a permanent fixture in or living room.  But until then I will thank Baby BJorn for the gray potty chair. 

Communication is good.

Even If you can’t dedicate as much time as you would like to, any communication is better than none. Keeping up dialect about eliminating and being there when you can to help. When you cannot, you make an effort to cue so that your child grows aware of the sensations meaning something.  At the end of the day,no matter how bad it has been, I am always happy that I at least gave what I could to my children to communicate another need they have. 

Be gentle with yourself.

I am writing this to you as much as I am myself. Always remember to be gentle with your own feelings and needs as well. It takes time and dedication to be hyper aware of your child’s cues sometimes. It’s totally ok to step back and take a pause or break for a little while. Some days are rough and I just have to surrender my expectations for an evening to gain clarity and remember why it is that I’m doing this EC thing. Let’s face it. In the beginning we are just getting to know each other. It takes time to communicate. 

~Lightgreenmom

My virtual blessing way.

I’m going to back track with a few posts because I have been savoring every single second of Jagger’s little life and am ready to share some of it finally!  So I will begin with my virtual blessing way. It was a moment that changed the way I see things. A true moment of sisterhood. 

 

Birth Flags.

 
During both of my pregnancies, I felt the urge near the end of it,  to really connect with my sisterhood. My tribe. This pregnancy however being my second, I didn’t need anything really. So a shower didn’t feel like an experience to live again. Let’s face it. My babies are minimalists. A few chopped onesies, some prefolds, Castile soap a potty bowl, a boob and we were good to go! So without a shower how would you connect with your tribe?

For me, this didn’t necessarily mean just my mom friends or those who were within driving distance. This meant all those women who have sparked a flame. The ones no matter if they have birthed a child Or not, they have birthed something to inspire me. The ones who fight the girl fight so to say. They radiate with empowerment, creativity,  and gratitude. 

I have always loved hearing stories of blessing ways and had never actually been to one. I started researching and quickly realized most of them were very local oriented . Which is such a beautiful thing, but impossible to make happen when half of your tribe lives 1000s of miles from you. So I decided to pour my inspiration into a private group invite to every woman I am moved by. It was unbelievable. 

 

Invite via Facebook.

 
I wrote in detail about my love and gratitude for each person invited and how I wanted to share this special time with all of them. Since I couldn’t include everyone in a local ceremony, I decided to ask them to be thinking of us during labor. I also added my address and suggested that those who wanted to could send either a bead that reminded them of birth or of me and/or an affirmation for my birth flags. Both of which would be used in the birthing space. There are many other traditions or ideas for blessing ways, but for now I’ll just document my journey as it was. 

I am still in awe months later at the outpouring of well wishes, and creative gifts from friends near and far. 

 

Wishes for baby. By Aunt Brandy.

 
I chose to keep updates on what I had received and what I was creating with them on the event. It is really something to look back and see all the love and support that poured in after I simply asked for a little sisterhood. 

 

The very first bead I received .

 
And who doesn’t like getting surprises (not bills) in the mail? It was like perpetual Christmas every time I walked to the mailbox for an entire month!! 

 

Mail time!!

 
 

Shower of gifts .

 

A very old friend’s charm boxes and a flag from my mom with my earrings from when I was a child.

  

I ended up with so many beautiful beads, I made two necklaces. 

 

So many beads!! Blessing necklace.

 
Also, I created a wall hanging that continues to hang in the room where I birthed Jagger. It was something that just popped up in the last week of pregnancy. It now houses my birth necklaces as well. Little h. also collected the feathers and branch from our many trips to the beach while I was pregnant.

 

So many beads!! Blessing wall hanging.

 
  
The birth flags were more magical than I ever could have imagined. I love to do little projects like this. I had premade the banner part and posted the measurements for anyone who wanted to create and send their own creations. 
I didn’t get my flags up in those few moments before labor got intense.  They were however just as inspiring to look at once they were hung postpartum from my bed during our baby moon and round of family colds the first two weeks. 

Blessing flags hung postpartum.

Lovely gifted flags.

Little h. even helped with flags.

 
The blessing way didn’t end here for me. One of my soul sisters planned a physical Blessingway that was kid friendly ( because the girls are always with me) with our Circle of Mothers tribe.

Keep checking back for my post on my kid friendly Mother’s Blessing.
~Lightgreenmom 

Jagger Hazel’s Birth Story.

Nothing could prepare me for the emotions that would fill my head and heart during my second birth experience.  Not one word of advice, homebirth video or birth story would have explained the intensity, healing and pure bliss I would journey.

This is the birth story of Jagger Hazel Davies.

EC 2 years later.

I realize it has been a very long time since I have posted about our EC journey. We have been full time EC’ers since little h. was 2 days old. (If you don’t know what EC is read more about it here) Here we are 2 years later! I wanted to share an update for those of you curious as to where we are now and I also wanted to share some honesty about our journey with elimination communication.

So, I am happy to say that at 2 years old we are consistently going on the little potty or “big girl” potty 100% of the time. My 2 year old is in normal toddler underwear day and night and has been for a little over 6 months. We haven’t had a number 2 miss since she was a little under a year (even those were few and far between) We did have our minor setbacks of pee misses between one and two (you can read about that here) I don’t want to jump the guns and say graduated though. My definition of “graduated” seems to be a little different than the average ECer or even potty trainer of a toddler though I do believe. Let me explain;

Art Dependent interview.

Art Dependent and her workspace.

There is nothing better about discovering something new and actually knowing the real life story behind the purchase you make.  I personally love to be able to look around in my life and know the story behind the items in which I choose to share it. So I really want to start taking my love of creative, small independent business a little further. I want to start interviewing some of my favorite creators and share them here at lightgreenmothering.

I finally got a moment to talk Art and inspiration with a wonderful friend and the artist behind Art Dependent.

Frenchie Friday is back!!

After a long break, Frenchie Friday is back!

Every friday, we are going to post  a fun photo of something our French Bulldog Sophie did this week. Because seriously, what is a better way to end the week than a picture of a frog dog?

 

Sophie, just like the rest of my family, has been adjusting to a new town and new home. But she is back and here at the blog and now that we are settled in…

This is what a typical night looks like in our home when Chipotle is served. 

EC Night Time magic.

Many times I have been asked, “How does EC possibly work at night?” So after a recent discussion with my husband of knowing H needed to go and him not wanting to mess with our “magic dream routine” by putting her on the potty.
I of course was a jerk and just thought he needed/wanted sleep more.
Then I thought about it…
It made me blush. Magic? I was magic?
He is rather supportive of all my crazy life and parenting passions.
So here it is, our version “magic EC at night” just in case you find yourself wondering what it looks like as a full time ECer.

If only there were more girl superheroes.

Art By: ART DEPENDENT

 

It’s no secret to those who know me that I love a good documentary. I had a moment to finally finish one that has been on my watch list for a long while now.
Missrepresentation is all about a girls role in society. It discusses how media and advertising plays an integral role in encouraging our sons and their fathers to feed into its over sexualized content.
For me, the opening scene was myself. A mom who now has a daughter and wants her to be everything she dreams of. To be content with herself and love who she is becoming.
In real life, I’m terrified for her to become older.
Seriously terrified.
I really feel that I had a great childhood and growing up. But it was the 1980’s and 90’s. Diets were everywhere from Richard Simmons to Suzanne Sommers, I even had my grandma tape Mouser-size (we didn’t have cable where I lived at the time) so I could “work out” as a kid. Yes I said tape it.
Growing up my mom, one of the best mothers was always hard on herself for her self image and remains to this very day. Then I started my career in a large spa, and around me, plastic surgery in fellow co workers and magical meal replacements. It’s funny how all these things play on your conscience as you are growing into adulthood and here I am, still remembering them now.
I guess what I am trying to say is even a self proclaimed geeky art girl started to worry about how she was seen in the world.
All of us at one time or another have questioned our own image. Unfortunately, it’s everything in print ads, on the Internet, and television and movies, most of the time it’s what sells it.
Even our daughters “role models” are these perfect impossible princess characters. Ones with tiny waists and big eyes waiting for someone to come save them from their life.
Seriously?
We are so hard on each other. Especially women.
Looking at politics for example, women are so very outnumbered. What is sad is no matter what the woman’s political standpoint, automatically most men and women are more likely to vote for the male counterpart. Why? Because women are the hardest on each other. Hillary Clinton was noted to be “the bitch” during her campaigning. It’s Sad, the way we automatically in our heads jump to conclusions about one another.

What If more superheroes were girls?

I don’t mean leather skin tight suits with mass cleavage either. But REAL badass heroines that you remember because of their wit and character and superpowers? What if we started to tell bedtime stories about Super-heroines? What if girls were given capes and boots with that crown and pink glitter boa?
What If we begin to accept ourselves as we are more often than not, and celebrate what we are instead. Give our children the superpower of self love and acceptance right from the start?
As a mom I can say its hard to be in love with my lack of makeup and hairstyle most days. But my daughter has also taught me that there are way more important things to be concerned with than vanity and appearances at this moment. Like dancing to the “Kites are fun” song as soon as we roll out of bed, or that early morning tea party. She doesn’t care that my high lights have 4 inches of regrowth, or that I failed to remember mascara to the grocery. She reminds me life can really be more simple. I just have to go with it. Why waste time thinking about what everyone else thinks.
Stand for something YOU are passionate about.

I want my daughter to grow up strong, smart and confident. I want her to be empowered in making her own dreams come true and inspired to love every bit of her being.

It is my superpower to make this happen.

I’m a mom.

How about you? What superpower are you working on?

P.S. The amazing picture at the top of this post was done by an amazing artist of my daughter and french bulldog. How cute is that?

You can find more of her work or contact her directly here.

~lightgreenmom

The no-cry nap solution book review

I was lucky enough to be asked to review Elizabeth Pantley’s book “The No Cry Nap Solution”. Yes you have totally heard of her, she is the Author of another well known book ” The No Cry Sleep Solution”. I recall in desperation asking a mother in my local group to borrow it not too long ago (in little h’s earlier days). My daughter was never a fan of the act of falling to sleep. At nearly one and a half she still isn’t in love with the idea.
We do finally feel pretty successful with night time sleeping (unless teeth are working her nerves or we had an off kilter day), but what about naps? Around the time she started settling into a night time sleeping pattern she cut off her two naps a day and went to one, sometimes she wouldn’t nap AT ALL.

Oh god, how do I make it thru the day with this crazy tired bounce off the wall child? Anyone who stays at home full time can tell you it is imperative at this stage to get at least one nap in a day for your own sanity as well as your child’s.

Sometimes it’s hard to get in a book when your child loves to play and doesn’t nap. But I am here to tell you it’s worth trying and sacrificing your quiet time if you have a nap time disaster on your hands.

This book is great because you can read it in bits and take the information you need right now and find it easily in its contents page if you prefer.
Honestly, it had me at “making short naps longer”.
What makes this book so wonderful is its down to earth, reasonable solutions you can choose to use to greater communicate nap time with your child. Which as most of us know isn’t always the easiest task.
In a nutshell, It teaches you about the stages of sleep and how your child needs them to nap efficiently. If you are a list or plan maker, there are also logs to help you track your nap plan. By far the best part of this book are the solutions to many of our all too well known nap time problems.
One of my favorite suggestions was setting the scene for a nap. This is something that until just recently I didn’t realize made such a difference. Making sure your nap space is inviting, sleep friendly and familiar. Now at 17 months, my daughter will often independently walk right into the calm, dark bedroom and plop onto the mattress after waving for me to come along when she is getting tired. I know by her actions that she is ready to try and nap now. She still doesn’t enjoy settling to nap or sleeping by herself, but who really does like to sleep alone?

This book has so many great solutions to nap issues that can be used through your children’s life stages. You can easily refer back to it. I have more than a few topics bookmarked for future reference and reminder.

The only thing missing for me was the ability to wear your child to nap. Baby wearing was one of the only ways we had naps for awhile in our own home. It was a magic solution at many times. It gave me the opportunity to get odds and ends done while keeping my daughter asleep and comforted.

So if you are living with a lack of nap time bliss or would like some of your nap questions answered, this one is for you. I don’t want to give away all of the juicy nap topics covered. You will want to read this.
You can find more information or purchase your own copy on her web page HERE.

Have you read this book? I would love to hear your thoughts too.  What works for you at nap time?

One is so fun.

My daughter is very quickly approaching 17 months and every day it’s something new (its most likely a week in real life time, but in mom time it really flies by so fast). In the first few months of being one so very much changed.

Sometimes it’s the funny things.
We live on he same street as the local fire department so we hear more than our share of sirens. Little h. is very aware of them now and after looking and looking she starts whoooooo-ing back at it.
Or when she hears music and immediately starts dancing and moving to the beat like its the only thing in the world at that moment that matters (Seriously the cutest thing ever).

Sometimes it’s the not so funny.

EC has really been an amazing way to communicate. I can spot teething or sleepiness very easily by her patterns. However, I was not ready for the “hand dunking phase”. Kids really get a kick out of water in the commode. Seriously, I wasn’t ready to combat this yet. Welcome to EC toddler mode. Or when your wearing your babe at the local market and because your reusable bag is stuffed to the brim with fresh goodies you stuff the extra $5 in your bra for safe keeping only to realize your daughter nabbed it while in a front wrap cross carry and threw it on the ground on your way back to the car (yes, that happened).

Then there is the ugly.
Molars. Not just one molar but multiples at a time. Someone should really prepare you for your child on molars. No amount of teething tablets or amber necklaces are going to stop the attitude you were hoping to not see until your child is a teenager. Apparently molars are sort of the same. Serious mood swings from insanely happy to throw yourself on the floor pain tantrums. There will be mothers who claim to have magical babies who are not phased by teething and I say good for you, now please shut up about it while I pull all the tricks out of my bag to soothe my sweet little girl turned teething maniac.

Finally what makes it all worth it.
The feeling of being needed.
The full body hug when you pick them up.
The giggles and snorts.
The big wet sometimes misplaced on your nose or forehead wet kiss.
The sweet look on their face when sleeping.
When they try to brush your hair.
When they grab your old childhood stuffed animal and hug it like its the best thing ever.
Big sweet eyes when they see something new and exciting.
The first time your kid says mom.

Seeing that face and knowing you created that.

Pure magic.

Being a mother is the hardest thing I have ever done, and the best infinitely. It continues to help me find myself in this life journey. I will embrace the many more amazing (in more than one way) moments in one year old adventures to come.

~lightgreenmom

DIY No Sew Cloth Baby Wipes.

At last! I am finishing my DIY series on homemade cloth baby wipes. Today I will share with you the super easy no sew way to make your own simple cloth baby wipes. Seriously, this is so easy! I started making these after researching what was in my daughters conventional disposable wipes. You can read more about that here. You can make these for next to nothing. I used old receiving blankets we were no longer using and also a few I found while thrifting (old ones are expecially good because they are super soft).

Full Time EC. A year later.

It’s been a moment since I have shared our journey with elimination communication. If you have no idea what I am talking about or want to read more about EC, check out my post on it HERE.
Here is a refresher on our journey.

Where is the sisterhood love?

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have been stirring on writing this post for a long while now. There it is, my fear of sisterhood backlash.  I’m not talking about sororities here, I’m talking about all woman kind and the way we treat each other.

I have always been a loner of sorts I suppose. Throwing my time and energy into projects for past jobs or a hobby rather than people outside of my immediate family.  Now that I am a stay at home mom, (gasp, I can’t believe I said it!) I made a vow that I would try and become more social for my daughter’s sake.  What I didn’t realize was how emotionally draining and depressing woman can really be.  I had no problem making people happy in my career. I was rather good at the work I used to do. People pleasing in the mom universe however is well….so incredibly mind numbing and confusing to me. I often feel a failure after a social meet up. I’ll say it, I am just so akward sometimes. In many ways, it’s just like going back to high school (which I really was not a fan of to say the least). I was pretty much a music and arts dweeb back then. Not much has changed. I have just added mom to my life resume.