Birthdays & Beanbags

(Just so you know, I realized I can post larger photos!!

You can click the photo to blow it up big and then right-click to save it if you'd like... )

So, our good friend celebrated her 2nd year of life this past weekend. Kalina & I decided that bean bags would be a good gift, so we got busy...
She worked so hard filling each little pouch with beans! (and if I didn't get them away from her soon enough, she had even more fun dumping them out & scattering beans everywhere!!)
(and if our friends ever get hungry, they can just throw a bean bag in some boiling water...)

Pinto beans....yummm!

Here they are - 10 bags complete with a matching carrying bag!

We made her a birthday cake too... pink & green as her mommy requested:

Happy Birthday!!!!

Ooooh... check out the checker board inside...

I'll share my secret:

(don't those layers look great on my Fiesta Ware?!!

This is the nursery I painted for her when we visited the first time. I think she was just 2 weeks at the time... and I was, unknowingly, 1 or 2 weeks pregnant with Kalina during this time!

Anyway, here's more proof that her mommy loves pink & green:

Valentine's Day

Happy day of love, kisses, silly lovey-dovey cards, sleeping in, heart-shaped french toast, hand-made gifts, long naps, historic sites, hiking, award-winning dairy goats, Boston Market, and chocolate martinis!

Kalina helps me pick out just the right buttons to finish her Valentine's Day present

(the birdy's eyes)

Oh man, you should've seen the floor about 5 minutes later!!

She inspects the sewn felt bird & crochet nest...

...and gives it kisses.

Helping momma make breakfast.

And eating...

heart-shaped french toast...mmmmm!

Good morning birds!

I think she knows exactly how cute she is.

Whattaya think?

We took a drive up to NC (that's where the closest Boston Market was!) and stopped at the Carl Sandburg historic home. I honestly didn't even know who he was, but we walked some of the glorious trails,
and took in the beauty and gorgeous weather.

We saw chickens that looked like the ones I used to have... and met a rooster too. We learned that roosters do not say "cock-a-doodle-do" and that they are quite loud!

Mrs. Sandburg had dairy goats and her own small dairy farm.

The goats are still winning awards!

We toured the old milking/bottling area & I loved this:

"Dairy Goat Milk: For Vigor and Vitality,

The Perfect Nourishment for Children, Adults, and Invalids"

Good to know :)

I have read that goat milk is much closer to human milk than cow milk is, so it's easier to digest. Problem is, it just tastes too "goaty" for me...

Stopping for a short break...

And then back down the trail. Kalina did a lot of walking!

And seemed to enjoy every minute of it...

Finally arrived... Boston Market!

It's our 9th Valentines Day eating Boston Market together. It's just what we do ;)

And back home for dessert...

Beautiful Breasts

I just saw this and thought it was a beautiful story that needed to be shared...

Not only is Salma Hayek a sexy, talented actress, and a mother who is currently breastfeeding her 16 month old daughter, she is also saving lives with her boobs! Good for her for using her breasts for what they were made for, spreading the word, and not being ashamed!

This came from Celebrity Baby Blog:

Many of you responded positively to last week’s story about Salma Hayek nursing a starving baby during her UNICEF trip to Sierra Leone, after finding that his mother could not produce milk. Having her experience filmed for ABC’s Nightline, Salma explained that doctors in the country encourage mothers to breastfeed for two years, but this rarely occurs. The reason? Men urge their wives to cease nursing rather quickly because of a cultural taboo against sexual intercourse with breastfeeding women.

“It is the best thing you can do for your child, not only the bonding, that’s how you build the immune system, so in a country like [Sierra Leone] imagine how important it is for the mothers to do that,” Salma says. “But here, there is the belief that if you are breastfeeding you cannot have a sexual life so the husbands, of course, of these women are really encouraging them to stop and this is just a taboo.”

Her decision to assist one of these women by nursing her hungry baby boy hit home for Salma, 42, as she wondered if it was fair to daughter Valentina Paloma, 16 months. She shares,

“That was amazing. I’m in Africa, in Sierra Leone, and I was able to feed an ill baby that was very hungry. I thought about it — am I being disloyal to my child by giving her milk away? And I actually think that my baby would be very proud to be able to share her milk. When she grows up I’m going to make sure that she continues to be a generous, caring person, and I think that’s the best thing I can give her as a mother.”

What Salma did is called “cross-nursing.” Bettina Forbes, CLC, of the Best for Babes Foundation says, “cross-nursing has been critical to the survival of the human species and is more common today than people might think.” Andi Silverman, author of Mama Knows Breast: A Beginner’s Guide to Breastfeeding adds,”some moms do it, but there’s no way to know how many. And La Leche League actually discourages cross-nursing and wet nursing because the person feeding your baby could have a communicable disease.”



While we're on the subject, here are a couple of my favorite breastfeeding clips from kids shows...

First we've got good ol' Mr. Rogers (love this!):



Big Bird even gets in on the action:



So sweet.

It's really too bad kids today don't get to see this kind of thing. Many are clueless about such a natural & normal thing as a mother feeding her child. Something I recently learned from kids book illustrators is that the publishers don't want them to show any nipples. No mom nipples, no dad nipples, no cow nipples... well udders, I suppose. Don't want to make anyone uncomfortable. How strange. We are so backwards - in a culture of cleavage-lovers, women are still forced to sit in corners or hide under tents to feed their babies! What the world needs is more NIP!
An image that always sticks with me is a photo of an Arab woman covered from head to toe in modest dress, but sitting outside with her breast completely exposed, unapologetically breastfeeding her child.

So anyway, thank you Salma! Hopefully things will change and we will see Elmo nursing one of these days. And no, he isn't too old... The American Academy of Pediatrics, The American Academy of Family Physicians, and the World Health Organization recommend breastfeeding for at least two years and as long as mutually enjoyed by mother and child. Not to mention the numerous benefits to both as a result of nursing past infancy. So, c'mon Elmo - you, me & Big Bird need to have a talk!

Ok, getting off the soap box now & heading to bed... ;)

For the Birds

Every morning, Kalina & I open up the blinds to see the birds out the windows while we eat breakfast. Usually we have quite a few colorful robins to watch, as well as some crazy squirrels. It was such a nice day yesterday that we decided to take a blanket outside and enjoy the company of the animals. I thought it would be fun to feed the birds too, hoping it would bring more into our yard. I didn't have any bird food though, so grabbed some sunflower, pumpkin & sesame seeds to share.

We soon realized that unlike the Florida seagulls who will attack you to get whatever you're eating, these well-mannered birds actually run away when you chase them with food!

At least Kalina enjoyed the snacks...

I then had a great idea. Since we wanted to feed and watch the birds, but they wanted nothing to do with us, we would build them a "bird feeder". I remembered making one in the past out of a pinecone, peanut butter, and bird seed. EASY.

I gathered the supplies, and we began the hunt for pinecones. We searched all over our yard and the neighbors, but unfortunately when you have no pine trees, you also have no pine cones. Too bad. We collected some sticks to use instead.

We tied some strings to the sticks and then found some peanut butter. I dug out what was left in my last jar of natural peanut butter. Not quite the consistency needed to adhere to sticks (hydrogenated oils must be the secret!), but we made do.

Next comes the bird seed. Except, we had no bird seed. Instead, we prepared these birds a gourmet treat - a mix of sesame, flax, & sunflower seeds, quinoa, and millet. This part was messy and fun and I was thankful that we were doing this project outside! Eventually our peanut buttered sticks were covered in seeds & grains.

I then adorned the tree closest to our dining room window with three beautiful birdy treats. I cleaned up the mess as Kalina spread the word about the new restaurant to our feathered friends.

So far, I don't think the birds have found it. We did, however, see a squirrel hanging upside-down by his feet to get himself a taste. He was camera shy though, so we didn't get that funny pic. At least we know that SC squirrels are no different than the FL variety!

We'll keep an eye out for the birds, but I am thinking that next time we'll just decorate the tree with some worms!

UPDATE: As we ate our eggs this morning, we watched a mockingbird eating from one of our lovely bird feeders! He held on and spun around some, and hopped off when I think he got too dizzy... then wiped his beak off on a branch (peanut butter?! lol) and was off ~

Fabulous Feet

If the eyes are the windows to the soul, then the feet must be doors to the physical body, or something like that... There is a spot on the foot that corresponds to each area of the body. The feet can be used to absorb medicines you put on them, as well as to detox toxins from the body.

While we have been dealing with our colds, I've been reading and trying lots of home remedies & natural treatments. It's amazing how often the feet are mentioned in dealing with illnesses.

Here are a few things useful feet remedies that may be helpful to you:

For bringing down a fever (this really works!):

• Put on a pair of wet cotton socks. Put a pair of dry wool socks over them. Your body will dry out the cotton socks and bring your fever down. Continue to wet the cotton socks as they dry out (the soles of your socks dry out first), until your fever is down.

How to clear a stuffy nose:

• Put lots of ice cubes in a small tub of water and submerge only your toes. I haven't tried this one myself, but I'm guessing it's because your sinuses are at the tips of your toes (see reflexology chart above).

To stop night time coughing (this works great too!):

• Put vapor rub on the bottom of your feet and cover with socks. (Rub some extra on the toes as well to stimulate those sinuses!)

Try this natural Vapor Rub (instead of petroleum-based Vicks) from Dr. Jay Gordon

1/2 teaspoon eucalyptus essential oil

1/8 teaspoon peppermint essential oil

1/8 teaspoon rosemary essential oil

1/8 teaspoon clary sage essential oil

1/4 cup olive oil

Mix ingredients together in a glass bottle (not plastic as the essential oils will bleed into it making the rub less effective) and shake well.

Treatment for colds & clearing the lungs:

• Crush some fresh garlic (let sit for a few minutes to release the natural healing properties) and add to a small amount of olive oil. Let sit for at least 30 minutes (you can warm it to speed things up) and apply to the bottoms of your feet and toes and cover with socks OR rub olive oil on your feet and apply a paste of crushed garlic directly to your feet and cover with socks (not for children, as the garlic may burn sensitive skin)
  
• Alternatively, add the crushed garlic to boiling water, and then add the water to a small tub with enough cool water to be comfortable to put your feet in. Let soak for 30 minutes, or until water is cool. (Wear a towel over your head to keep the warmth from going out your head)

To prevent sickness:

• Thieves essential oil blend on the bottom of the feet during the holidays or whenever you'll be around sick people (we did this during the holidays and never got sick! Wish I'd kept it up!!)

That's all I can remember for now - If I come across others, I'll be sure to add to the list...

Speaking of FEET, Kalina's feet got a new pair of shoes!

She has her first pair of Big(ger) Girl Shoes :)

She still wears her leather Robeez inside, but for the sticks, rocks, and weather of outside, she just got a pair of Pedoodles and loves them. They are still soft & flexible soles, but thicker to protect her own fabulous feet :)