discount on Baltic sea amber!!  This stuff is absolutely essential for teething, in my opinion.  Plus it's really cheap.  Share the love.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/inspired-by-finn/40-off-childrens-items-anyone-can-participate/130190650354527

Linz

Prenatal yoga, thoughts from my weekend.

I just had an amazing weekend at Blooma's prenatal yoga teacher training.  The ladies were amazing.  Pregnancy is beautiful.  Birth is incredible.  I just can't put into words how truly beautiful.  I know I haven't been blogging much.  It's hard to think of the next entry to write after linking to the incredible sadness of the tragedy that happened to Kristin and Andy.  I have to thank Stevie Joy from the bottom of my heart, and her mama Kristin.  Stevie's short life has had such a profound effect on so many people, myself included.  It was with her on my mind that I went into my prenatal yoga teacher training and I just know that it is because of this tiny beautiful little girl, and her sweet mama, Kristin, that I am going to hopefully be able to help women who have gone through a loss in the past, or maybe in the midst of one.  It's through Kristin's real, raw words on her blog that I feel like I experience just a tiny fraction of the incredible pain she must be going through.  Love and prayers to you Kristin and Andy.  It is my hope that someday when you make Stevie a sister that you will be uplifted by the amazing women of Blooma, as I and so many others have been.  

I am truly passionate about working with pregnant women.  Such an amazing time in their lives.  It is my honor to help them to learn to trust their intuition and to surrender and trust their bodies, their bodies that know perfectly how to birth their babies.  I am excited to hopefully teach prenatal yoga sometime in the not too distant future.  And I am hoping to start the process of becoming a postpartum doula, and then someday a birth doula, but I need to wait on the birth doula stuff since the unpredictability of birth doesn't mesh well with my life situation currently :)

Anyway....

I think some people think prenatal yoga will give them this perfect birth.  But what I really think prenatal yoga does is to help you accept the perfection of the birth you are given, regardless of whether it goes according to your plan.  I read that somewhere and I like it (not an exact quote as I am not sure where I read it... Gurmukh maybe?).  To be honest, my 2nd birth was very close to my idea of 'perfect.'  I wouldn't change one thing about it.  It was exactly the way my son was supposed to come into the world.  Prenatal yoga helped me to trust in my body, to surrender to the process of birth, and to just get out of my own way and let my body do what it knows very well how to do.  It helped me to reprogram myself- to breathe deeply in the midst of overwhelming sensation instead of doing the whole 'fight of flight' thing of holding my breath or taking shallow breaths.  It helped me to relax, instead of tensing up and causing unnecessary pain.  Here's my thing- birth is INTENSE.  It's overwhelming.  It's a lot of work- emotionally, spiritually, and physically.  But birth is the most freaking awesome thing there is.  It's through the intensity that one can experience the most amazing experiences ever.  Birth is life changing.  I venture to say that no matter what your birth is, it WILL change you in some way.  If, through prenatal yoga, I can help just ONE woman really experience the amazingness of birth.... to truly BE present at her birth instead of trying to run away from it.... well then it's totally worth it.

Lots of Love!
Linz    

Unimaginable

My heart is aching for this family.  Please send your prayers their way.  

http://dearbabycook.blogspot.com/2010/05/your-birthday.html

Kid tested, mother approved.

No, not kix.... sloppy joe pot pie and raw choconana pudding!  The pudding was so dark and creamy and delicious.  And simple.  I'm all about simple.

So, we had our go to comfort food for dinner- sloppy joe pot pie.  With Anderson Farm ground beef and then of course I throw a bunch of finely shredded veggies (and a few oz of shredded pastured liver!  SO good for you!) in there because my 3 yr old prefers not knowing the veggies are in there.  And I prefer not to know that there is liver in there.  Good for you, but I have not developed a taste for the stuff.
Basically it's just sloppy joes with a gluten free pot pie topping.  I use sourgum and tapioca flour with some xanthan gum.  Roxie gobbled down seconds AFTER her pudding even.

So... here is the recipe for the pudding.  I got it in the newest issue of Mothering magazine.  My favoritest magazine ever.  And the only one I read.  But it would definitely be my favorite if I read other ones too.

Raw Choconana pudding
1 avocado
1/2 ripe banana
1/4 cup cocoa powder (make sure it's fair trade!!  Don't buy cocoa powder made with slave labor!)
1/4 cup honey
1 TB coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor (I actually used my magic bullet, but will probably use my food processor next time because I had to add  water and shake profusely to get it to blend well).  Process until smooth and pudding like.  Add water if needed.

 

Happy Birthday dearest Roxie!

My little girl turns 3 today.  I am a bit sad to see it all go by so quickly... it seems like just yesterday I giving birth to her, rocking her to sleep, sleeping next to her at night, wearing her in a sling, changing her diaper.  Now she seems like such a big girl!  I could have sworn, if you'd have asked me 2 1/2 yrs ago or so that I'd be sneaking into her dorm room at night to rock her to sleep since that would be the only way she'd fall asleep.  But, inevitably, they grow up and don't need you quite as much as they used to.

Roxie is definitely my fiery girl.  She has real spirit.  Real personality.  And I wouldn't change anything about her.  She loves her baby brother fiercy.  She loves puzzles more than any child her age that I've ever seen.  She can read books to herself for hours.  She can get lost in her intricate make believe games for long periods of time.  She loves to dance... lately her favorite is doing the robot dance with her daddy.  She is a daddy's girl.  Don't get me wrong, she loves her mama, but there is a special place in her heart for her dearest daddy.  Her drawings are adorable- she loves to draw pictures of people.  She loves to tell me how much she loves me.  She hasn't stopped saying "he came out of your tummy!" since Jasper was born 7 months ago.  She is obsessed with learning things like sign language and reading and writing- with no poking or prodding from me- she just loves it!  "Why?" is her favorite thing to ask and her daddy explains to her in scientific detail.... when she asks me (a quiz, I'm sure) and I can't tell her the exact right answer she says "No, this is why" and tell me the scientific reasoning behind something like rainfall.  She eats slowly- mostly because her food turns into magical make believe stories.  Currently, her blueberries are talking to each other and walking around her plate together and singing a song that Roxie made up.

There is so much I could say about this special little girl that took hold of my heart and changed it forever 3 years ago.  It seems like just yesterday that she was born, yet at the same time I can't remember my life before her because her life as intertwined mine so tightly.  I am so blessed to have the opportunity to be her mother.

first day in the world

 

Baby led weaning.... skipping the purees.

Disclaimer- this is just the way I feed my babies.  If you dig the mush, give your baby the mush.

So, it seems like in this country when your baby turns 6 months old (or even sooner- eek!) you start giving them rice cereal.  Stomach filler, I like to call it.  Because it doesn't have a whole lot of nutritional value.  I gave my first babe rice cereal mixed with breastmilk because I just thought that is what you are supposed to do.  I quickly stopped when I thought "why am I doing this?" I realized that she wasn't so much into the mushed up food and just gave her chunks of stuff instead.  I didn't even know there was a name for it, but apparently it's a whole movement or way of thinking about how you feed/introduce food to your baby.  Baby led weaning.

The Rationale

• The bulk of babies diet for the first year should be breastmilk.  This means we don't need to force them eat baby food....
• Which brings me to the 2nd point... baby led weaning is all about letting the baby explore food.  They get to discover different textures, the feel of the food as they smoosh it, grab it, squish it.  It's definitely a lot more stimulating sensorily than eating mush.
• Many worry about choking, but it makes sense that if the baby is able to regulate what goes in their mouth they are less likely to choke than if they are spoon fed all the time.  Babies do not develop the ability to push things to the back of their throat until they develop the ability to chew.  Also, if you DO NOT HELP the baby get the food to their mouth- they will get it there when they are developmentally ready to.  It's sometimes hard to not want to help the baby get something to their mouth- but I *try* to refrain, telling myself that if he's struggling to pick it up, he's probably not ready to eat it.  I think this is such an important point to emphasize... DON'T HELP THEM... it's so easy to want to help them get the food to their mouth, but just don't do it!

I think the easiest way to do it is to give them something that is "chip" size, because at first they aren't going to be able to eat whatever they grasp.  So I look for things that have handles... broccoli and cauliflower florets, zucchini sticks, carrot sticks, bananas.... there are a whole bunch of foods that are good sized for grabbing.

Also, I don't do the whole 'give them 1 new thing, wait a week, then give them another new thing.'  I guess this is because 1) I'm lazy and 2) he's eating so little that I would be able to tell what he was reacting to if he did react and 3) we don't have a history of allergies and I am not introducing gluten anyway, which is the main one I'd be concerned about.  Baby led weaning is all about letting the baby be apart of the family meal, so Jasper man gets something of what we're eating.  Steamed broccoli, roasted cauliflower, some pieces of fruit, whatever.  Last night he DID get some homemade chicken stock from a spoon, so I guess I will say I am not 100% anti spoon or anything, but 97.3% of the time I just let him feed himself, but if I'm eating applesauce, or soup, I'll help.    

My son is almost 7 months old and still not eating much food.  His primary source of nutrition should be breastmilk for the first year, so at this time food is just a sensory experience.  And if he gets some in his mouth and swallows it, yay for him.  But if he doesn't and he just smears it around, paints with it, squeezes it between his fingers and plops it on the floor, that's fine too.  

Plus, watching a baby eat the tops off a bunch of broccoli is super cute.

Chia Seeds... not just to grow your chia pet anymore.

I got some ground chia seeds from my friend Emily, and made some chocolate coconut milk chia seed pudding a few months back.  Then, I told my inlaws about chia seeds when we were visiting over Christmas vacation.... and I got a fabulous recipe sent to me by my mother in law that uses chia seeds.  Yay chia seeds.... they're not just to grow a chia pet anymore.  Seriously, who knew? 

So, you have all probably heard how good flax seeds are for health... well chia seeds just may be better!  It is higher in Omega 3's than flax seeds, high in antioxidants, and unlike flax seeds, they don't have to be ground to be used by the body.  They are high in fiber, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, copper, iron, niacin, and zinc.  When added to water, chia gels... this not only makes for a good thickener (makes an EASY addition to pudding, I made chocolate chia seed pudding a few months ago from a recipe and from some ground chia seed that my friend, and food guru, Emily gave me).  Additionally, this gel-ing is said to slow down the process of the digestive enzymes breaking up carbs and converting them to sugar.  

As I said, I got this recipe from my mother in law, who I believe got it from my sister in law.  I love Lara bars, but they're pricey, so I think this is a pretty good alternative!  They are ridiculously easy to make (like pretty much everything I make).  The hardest part is finding some of the ingredients (okay, just the chia seeds).  Can I just say.... I love the Wedge!  Best co-op ever.


RAW CHOCOLATE-CHIA ENERGY BARS
Makes 8 bars

1 1/2 cups pitted dates
1/3 cup raw unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup whole chia seeds
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 cup raw slivered almonds or raw shelled pistachios (I used pistachios because I was out of almonds... I would use soaked and dried out almonds to neutralize the phytic acid, but whatever floats your boat)

Place pitted dates in bowl of food processor; puree until thick paste forms. Add cocoa powder, chia seeds, and vanilla and almond extracts. Pulse until all ingredients are combined. Add almonds; pulse until nuts are finely chopped and well distributed through date mixture.
Spread large sheet of wax paper on work surface, and dust with oat flour, if using. Transfer date mixture to wax paper, and use paper to press mixture into 1/2-inch thick rectangle. Wrap tightly, and chill overnight.
Unwrap block and cut into 8 bars. Rewrap each bar in wax paper.
 
My camera won't take a good picture of them.  *cry*  Oh well, they're yummy, go make them!