40% Off Designer Maternity & Nursing Lingerie (AU)

Shop here

Hi There,
If you're a nursing or expecting mum in Australia, don't miss this incredible sale at Ma Mère. So many lovely things that may just have to get my people in QLD to do some ordering for me!! I love the Amoralia Nougatine Maternity Bra and matching knickers. 
...enjoy the weekend!

Stella McCartney Kids Spring/Summer 11

Thanks to some friends, family and co-workers we now have a dresser and closet full of baby hand-me-downs. From birth to age twelve months, our little bub is basically good to go with cloths. Nevertheless, it's too fun not to look at children's lines like Stella McCartney's new Spring/Summer line for babies and kids. 

With a love for texture, my favorite? The HETTIE: Babies organic cotton and cashmere trousers.
STELLA MCCARTNEY KIDS
NYT INTERVIEW WITH STELLA ON RUNNING A SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS

Pregtastic Online Radio

Listen Here

Lately, I've been taking a little break from the books and have been enjoying many of the pod casts over at PregTASTIC. Topics covered include prenatal concerns (health, fitness, etc), gear for baby, birthing options, breastfeeding and more. My favorite thus far has been Episode 136, an interview with midwife, Marla Hicks CNM, who speaks on the "home court advantage" and safety of home births.

Marla has a great website and of particular interest are her pages on:
QUESTIONS TO ASK A MIDWIFE
MARLA'S LINKS TO LOVE (Highly comprehensive with links on optimal Fetal Positioning, pain relief, waterbirths, VBACs, breastfeeding, Chinese Medicine, etc)

Morning Muffins

source

 

Lately I've been craving a lot of fresh veggie and fruit juice. Most of the time I compost the pulp and save a few scoops to mix in with the dog's food.  (Little Bear is especially mad for carrots & apples).

Today I juiced some pineapples, carrots, apples and ginger. Wanting to be a little more resourceful with the pulp I used most of today's yield in a variation of this easy & delicious muffin recipe.

I eliminated the vanilla and 1/2 cup of the sugar from the original recipe as the pineapple, ginger & coconut are sweet and flavorful enough.


Here's my version:

Ingredients
4 eggs
1 1/3 cups olive oil
3 cups flour
3/4 cups brown sugar
1tbls agave nectar

3 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp clove powder

3+ cups pulp of any fruit/veggie you desire (I used carrot, apple, pineapple, ginger)

3/4 cup shredded coconut

1/3 cup nuts (walnuts, almonds, etc)

1/2 cup raisins

 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. 

In a mixing bowl beat eggs, sugar, agave, and oil. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves. Fold the combined dry ingredients into the egg and oil mixture until partially incorporated before adding the carrot, apple, raisins, coconut and nuts and folding until well combined. Be careful not to overmix the batter. Before baking you may also sprinkle on extra nuts and/or a dash of raw sugar. 

 

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

 Yeild: 18-24 muffins.

 

.:: I froze about half of the recipe for after the baby arrives as we don't have family near-by to help with the early days of cooking and cleaning).::.

Healing Minor Cuts

No sleep + brand new Japanese knives = Bloody Touble!!

I've been spending a lot of time in the kitchen lately, preparing lots of fresh juices and healthy meals to freeze for the first weeks after delivery. I usually try to be pretty slow and methodical with my knives, but I slipped up with a new one today. ):

It was a tiny, thin, precise cut, but a gusher! Here's what I did and how I reccomend stopping both the bleeding and pulsating pain of a minor cut:

1)- Wash cut with warm water and soap
2)- Wrap wound in gauze or paper towel
3)- Apply pressure & hold above heart
4)- After 3-5 minutes check to see if there is still bleeding
5)- If so, apply new gauze as well as a small cold pack wrapped around the outside gauze. Return to positioning above level of heart for an additional 3/5/10 minutes.
6)-After the wound has stopped bleeding, apply a moderate amount of healing salve, followed by a band-aid. Savoir Herbals is a small mama-owned organic company in mountains of North Carolina which makes a wonderful and affordable Organic Lavender Healing Salve. The blend includes: Organic Olive Oil, Organic Calendula Flowers, Organic Comfrey, Wildcrafted Plantain, Wildcrafted St. John's Wort, Organic White Willow Bark, All Natural Beeswax, Vitamin E, Organic Therapeutic Grade Bulgarian Lavender Essential Oil.

* As a bonus, this salve may also be used for healing perineal tears and traumatized tissues, as well as sore, cracked nipples. I have a jar packed with our birth & baby supplies.

SAVOIR HERBALS WEBSITE

yogi pop

via storkbitesman

Super Slouchy Baby Boot Pattern

PDF downloadable available at Sweet Pea Patterns

As the soft undeveloped bones in baby's feet grow, ossify and fuse over the course of their first several years*, it is important to let our little ones spend the majority of their days shoe-free or in carefully designed shoes that respect this delicate period of growth. Shoes should be breathable, soft and flexible. There are plenty of appropriate brands on the market. Robeez are widely-available, pediatrician-endorsed and have a broad range of really cute designs. There are some sweet organic options over at Pristine Planet. And of course you can always make your own with patterns like the one above. 

ROBEEZ SHOES

PRISTINE PLANET

SWEET PEA PATTERNS

BABY FEET DEVELOPMENT & CHOOSING APPROPRIATE SHOES