Birth and Babies

I found this in my inbox last night.  This sounds like an awesome idea!

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My LLL toddler group has been kicking around the idea of writing our
own kid’s book that would contain positive depictions of moms
breastfeeding. There are literally thousands of books on the market
depicting newborns, babies, baby animals, even baby monsters, with
bottles and pacifiers. There are very few books on the market
depicting moms breastfeeding in the normal course of the day. A few
books focus exclusively on the concept of breastfeeding. These are
typically heavy handed with a limited audience. Breastfeeding babies
and toddler adore these books, other families aren’t interested.

We are constantly looking for really good kids books where moms
happen to be breastfeeding in the picture. It just doesn’t exist.
While I haven’t read every single book on the market, it is
startlingly absent. I wrote to a users group of children’s book
illustrators to ask them why so many children’s books depict bottle
feeding of newborns and young babies. I got a huge response from
illustrators, most of whom were super frustrated with their
publishers! They said that the major publishing houses forbid the
depiction of breastfeeding, male nipples as in dads in the swimming
pool, ancient greeks in togas, Native Americans in buckskin… AND
ALSO, NO UDDERS ON COWS. This tipped me over the edge! No UDDERS!

My LLL group, of 96 moms, has put together a project proposal to an
entrepreneurial website called ideablob.com. This is an online
community of entrepreneurs. Anyone in the world can propose any
project or business idea, no matter how small or unusual. Thousands
of people visit the site and vote for different ideas. The idea with
the most votes is awarded $10,000 to implement their idea.

At the moment, our project idea — a book for children containing
positive depictions of breastfeeding — is among the top ranked. We
have one week left to garner the votes needed to earn the $10,000
grant. We’ve sent the idea around the world and are in the top
scorers for the runoff. Would you be willing to vote for my project?
What would be very helpful would be for you to forward this message
to your friends, asking them to vote, as well. You do need to
register for the site but they are very respectful about not
bombarding you with messages…

Here is the web page:
http://www.ideablob.com

Thanks for your help, everyone! We really do have a chance to win,
but everyone’s gotta vote.

Lunch Bunch, a social parent/child group, meets on the 2nd Thursday of the Month and is FREE and open to ALL FAMILIES

MSU Extension Conference Room, 963 S. Raisinville Rd., 10:30am - noon

This months topic: “Play, Learning and Household Fun!”

Learn about different types of play and easy creative games/projects your family can do with item you have around the house. No lunch is provided, but families are encouraged to bring a sack lunch. Lunch Bunch is a breastfeeding-friendly environment (although breastfeeding is not required).

Brought to you by the Monroe County Breastfeeding Collaborative

Each month we have different discussion topics/guest speakers depending on parent interests. For more info, call Stephanie Garrett at 734-240-7946

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I wanted to share with you some links to free sewing patterns online.  Most of the links also have a section for cross stitching, knitting, crocheting, etc. with free patterns also.  Sewing can be a great way to satisfy that ‘nesting’ instinct and if you buy your fabric cheap enough it can be a great way to save money while sewing clothes, toys, and more for your baby!  I’ll give you the link to my latest posting on my homesteading blog here.

http://www.blogsmonroe.com/homemaking/2008/06/26/free-sewing-patterns/

http://picturesofpregnancystages.net/pregnancy-stages-week-8.htm

Very informative and interesting!

Some great articles on health, nutrition and more for pregnant and nursing moms, as well as women in general!  Spend some time on this gem of a site, you’ll be sure to learn a LOT!

The MayaWrap site has a great tutorial on how to make your OWN ring slings.  This looks VERY easy. 

I’ll be trying this also!

Just a little blurb to let you know that Motherhood Naturally is now offering cloth diapering classes for free.  The classes will be in my home, in a relaxed atmosphere. By all means bring your child/ren and let me show you the world of cloth diapers and how easy (and economical) they can be!  I have a large selection of cloth diapers available for demonstration purposes that businesses have kindly donated, so you have a great chance to see the many features available today.

This link shows 10 facts about vaccines, which you may find interesting.  I always encourage my childbirth students to learn about both sides to everything - vaccines being an important one.  The website linked has lots of great information.

For those choosing not to vaccinate, this is a great article on why you should NOT sign the vaccine refusal forms, but rather write your own (examples included).

My latest craze these days is a household notebook I’ve created.  This isn’t a new idea by any means, but I am finding the organization exciting and want to tell everyone about it!  If you read my lastest post over in Home Life, you can visit a great link that is an amazing resource for household notebooks.

Anyway - a household notebook can be great for pregnancy and postpartum.  Many women find it hard to remember things during their pregnancy and also during the postpartum period.  Having a notebook where everything important is stored (along with prenatal appointments, belly and baby stats, etc.)

A daily, weekly and monthly to do list helps keep track of regular and routine tasks.  Make a note of all of the things you need to get done, when they need to get done, and their priority so you can take a peek when you’re having an “I don’t know what to do next” moment.  If you have a checklist of your cleaning tasks divided by room and frequency of needing cleaned, this can be VERY helpful during the postpartum period for your partner or other people eager to help.  All of your regular chores will be written down so they can take a look at your list and do something on it.

Keep a running list of items you want to buy before baby.

Make notes of things you’d like to try during your labor and birth, and postpartum if necessary.  Sitting down to write up a birth plan is helpful, but generally you won’t remember all of the details.  It’s great to keep a running list through pregnancy so you can avoid the “Oh, I wanted to try that!” afterwards.

Keep a list of favorite recipes and what cookbooks they can be found in.  Start planning some freezer meals so you don’t need to cook (or rather, your partner or family) after the baby is born.

Keep a list of books and movies you want to read.  After the baby is born if you’re nursing, there will be a lot of downtime.  If you’re not gazing at your baby (and that will be a lot!), you can catch up on some good books!

If you want to keep track of your new baby’s feedings and diaper changing, you can print off some pre-made charts (you can find some at chartjungle.com) and have them ready to go.

Start off on the right foot and print off health record forms to have ready for your baby.  Document important things like birth weight, length, blood type, and more.  If you choose to vaccinate,

Are you a mom of closely spaced children?  Closely spaced is considered three years and younger.  I have created a new resource for moms of closely spaced children, due to a lack of resources I’ve been able to find on my own.  By 2008 I hope to have the website, www.closely-spaced.com a informational resource with not only the newsletter, but a discussion forum and many articles written by those who have been there done that.  What have you found to be the biggest challenges?  How did you handle the early years?  Care to share?

As a mom of three children closely spaced (19 and 23 months apart between the three of them) I’m learning day by day and have come up with many successful ideas I hope to share with everyone.  Please consider adding your thoughts, submitting an article or a question.

As a natural-minded, homesteading mom of three closely spaced children I find each day to be quite exhausting.  But I’ve also found each day leads to new memories, laughter and bonding as I watch my three youngsters intereact with each other.  Yes, interaction also includes fighting!  I guess it’s a part of life. 

One of the biggest suggestions I have found helpful for when things are getting stressful in the house: take the kids outside for playtime or a walk.  The change in scenery, fresh air and new things to do often makes the kids forget what they were fighting about or stressing about inside.  Then when the air has cleared, bring them back inside if it’s time to eat or things have to get done.

Another thing: keep the kids engaged.  This is the exhausting part.  Try to keep plenty of activities out and in the open for the kids to get into and play, so they aren’t left with “nothing to do” and end up getting in trouble.  I have one of those clear plastic 5-drawer organizers and have put all of my kids multiple-parts toys such as puzzles, shape sorters, arts/crafts supplies, threading and beading things, etc. so the kids can see them, request them, and I get them out so they can play with them (I did take the wheels off and turn the organizer around so the drawers can’t be opened (the opening end is against the wall).  This prevents big, big messes :-)  I keep this in my living room, where we spend most of our day, and when one activity is no longer enchanting I can have the kids clean it up and pull something else out.  *I* personally don’t interact with them every second of the day (it’s important for them to play together and also have solo play time), but I do make sure they are engaged in something.  Of course, I do interact with them, just not every second of the day.

Also, activities such as reading keeps all of the kids in one spot for any length of time, and we’re all sitting and comfortable.  I like reading time - no chasing, no cleaning, no moving… Just sitting, reading and cuddling with all of my kids!

Share your tips!  I’d love to hear them!