Design Update & Our New Backyard!!
Sorry it has taken me this long to get you an update on our new house. We are 2 months into the design process with our architect and it is going really well. We had our latest meeting last week and have finalized the floor plans and the roof lines/shape of the house. Here is a quick sneak preview of the house for you (this is a very rough draft, but I think you get the idea of where we are going with this!)
We have also decided to try to sell the current house that is on the lot rather than just demolish it. We think this is a good decision for a few different reasons. First, it is a much better way to recycle a whole lot more of the house (ie, the WHOLE house), than if we took bits and pieces of it and tried to sell or give it away to various organizations (Habitat for Humanity, Architectural Clearing House, etc...). And secondly, it is a way for us to make some money off the sale of the house AND save even more money on the demolitions costs (which can be upwards of $50-60,000 for a two story house). And believe it or not there are companies that exist who do just this. They come in, find buyers for your house and arrange all the moving/deconstruction of said house. The logistics of moving a two-storey house are a bit more complicated, but we are confident that we can get this done.
And the bonus of doing this (we hope) is that it puts us in the good, or at least better, graces with our new neighbors.
You all know how much I love this property (and really pushed for the deal to go through) and this point was really driven home to all of us this fall when we went to spend some family time over in our 'new' backyard. The trees are simply AMAZING at this time of the year and then the HUMONGOUS piles of leaves were so much fun for everyone! Granted, it took us three weekends to go over there and rake them all up (and there is still more to do), but I think the FUN and future family time in that yard is going to more than make up for it!! Here are just a few pictures for you to get an idea of what my fall seasons are going to be like from now on.
Our week de-railed by a nasty bug....
I am so sorry everyone, I was all set to get the 30 Days of Truth going this week and then, and I swear to God, not 20 minutes before I was about to write my first post, it hit me. THE FLU. And not the ache-y, runny nose kind, the chills-fevers-can't stay too far away from the bathroom-have a bucket with me at all times kind!! This was Monday night and I did not sleep at all. Tuesday I begged my sis to come and watch the kids so I could get a few hours sleep and good, God how I love that woman, she did! And I washed my hands like crazy, disinfected everything and prayed that the kids would not get it. Well, seems the messages did not get through, because Wednesday night was a rip-roaring puke-fest at our house. I was washing someone's sheets at least every hour and a half and by the end of the night we were all sleeping on layers of towels.
This is the first time L has vomited since she was a baby and she was NOT happy about it and also not very good at keeping it in her puke bucket. C was not a whole lot better, as it has been close to two years since he has vomited too. (Of course, I attribute their relative healthiness to the extended breastfeeding, but this one broke through all of our defenses!)
So this is what our house looked like on Thursday. Pathetic Baby #1 and Pathetic Baby #2. Not pictured is Pathetic Mama (trust me, it was BAD).
We are all on the mend now. Every sheet and towel and surface has been thoroughly disinfected and we are ready to face the world again this week. And that being said, I promise that on Monday, November 15th, I will start my 30 Days of Truth!
Thanks for reading everyone, and make sure you get your entries in for our contest and giveaway. You can find all the details here. Up for grabs are a local Edmonton photo shoot with our friends at Timeless Edge Photography and a gurumama Ring Sling and a Gift Certificate from Natural Urban Mamas.
Here's to your health, and ours too!!
Natasha~
This week's pick - Hazelwood Necklaces
My pick of the week this week....
The hazelwood necklaces we have at Natural Urban Mamas are made from the branches of a hazelwood tree alternated with gemstone beads. No chemicals of any kind (pesticides, fertilizers, etc.) are used to grow the hazelwood trees these necklaces are made from. (Often when wood comes from a plantation chemical pesticides and fertilizers are used.) The necklaces are handmade - from the gathering of the wood to the stringing of the beads. All of the metal used to fasten the clasp and the clasp itself is sterling-silver (a lead-free metal).
The life span of the necklace will depend on the level of acidity of the body. In general, a necklace will maintain its medicinal benefits for 6 months to 1 year. Higher acidity may mean a shorter lifespan of the necklace. Some indicators that a necklace is losing its effectiveness are: the ends of the wood beads will darken and/or symptoms return.
Keeping the hazelwood moist aids the body in absorbing the beneficial properties of the Hazelwood. Though it is not recommended to wear the hazelwood in the pool, spa, or in other highly chlorinated water, it can be worn in the bath or shower. Don't be alarmed if/when the bark comes off the hazelwood beads - the wood beads will change over time.
Safety considerations - These necklaces do contains small parts; Children should be supervised at all times while wearing them. The necklace should be removed when the child sleeps.
My daughter is getting her two year molars right now and has NOT been fun for anyone. She has always worn an amber necklace and we use the now-recalled Hylands Teething Tablet's too (My choice-I feel that this is a safe product for her and it WORKS!). She has been wearing one of the new hazelwood necklaces now for about three days and last night was the first night in over a week that she has had a decent sleep. I have both her amber and the hazelwood necklaces on during the day and take the hazelwood one off at night (just because the beads on it are not knotted like the amber ones are).
I have heard from quite a few people that hazelwood is also great for eczema. We don't have that problem in our house, but I would love to know what your experience has been or if you have had success with using it for other ailments too.
You can find our selection of Hazelwood Necklaces here at Natural Urban Mamas. Have a great week everyone! Natasha~
Yoo Hoo! Here I am and I come bearing prizes!
I really must apologize to you all. I have not been blogging lately and I must admit that I miss it! So here I am back with a renewed commitment to my blog, to you, my readers and well, to myself too. And what better time than now. Did you know that November is NaBloPoMo? Say What?? National Blog Posting Month, a crazy phenomenon where you blog once a day for a whole month! I've done 2 weeks before with the Breastfeeding Cafe Carnival posts in July this year and it was a challenge. This will be, well, another (bigger) challenge, but one that I think I am up for and that I hope you will enjoy. To start things off on a good foot, I thought we could have some fun and give away some stuff (locally and for all our fans across Canada and the US). So here is our kick-off to a month long blogging marathon!! And it is a Giveaway Contest of course!!
Our first prize up for grabs is a fabulous photography package from our friend Linda Patterson at Timeless Edge Photography in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. This one would be for our local friends, fans and followers and the package includes:
Prize #2 is a fabulous Gurumama Ring Sling. You all know that I am a big believer in having at least three different carriers and a ring sling is one of these. The Gurumama slings are beautiful, functional, are great for newborns up to 35 lb toddlers and are made right here in Canada. (Retail value of $109.00, color not as shown).
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Subsequent Entries:
- Giveaway #1: Tell me why you need this makeover and photo shoot from Timeless Edge Photography (and really Mamas, this should not be that hard, always behind the camera yourself, never doing anything for just you... sound familiar?)
- Giveaway #2 and #3: Check out Natural Urban Mamas and tell me what your favourite product is and why.
- Like Timeless Edge Photography on Facebook
- Like Natural Urban Mamas on Facebook
- Follow @TimelessEdge on Twitter
- Follow @naturalurbanmom on Twitter and ReTweet this contest (leave me the links) Win a #YEG photo shoot with @timelessedge, a Gurumama Ring Sling or a $25 GC from @naturalurbanmom
Contest is open until Friday, November 19th at 9 PM MST. All winners will be randomly drawn using Random.org. *For Facebook entries, please leave your first name and last initial with your comment so that I can verify you are a fan on Facebook.* Now stay tuned People!! Because starting Monday, November 8th you are going to get the Natural Urban Mama version of 30 Days of Truth!! I promise to be as open and truthful as I can without hurting any one's feelings and without getting in trouble with my husband (oy!).
Thank you and Good luck! Natasha~
P.S. This is my first giveaway/contest on the blog, so be kind and patient with me!!
Babywearing is SAFE-Baby Carrier Industry Alliance (BCIA) Position Paper
This is an amazing time to be a parent. And for me one of the things that has truly "made" me the mama that I am is babywearing. I would have never discovered attachment parenting, I probably would not have breastfed my kids for as long as I did (and still am) had it not been for my ability to do this while babywearing. And I surely would not be in the business of babywearing (retailer and educator) had the practice of babywearing not been part of our parenting. All that being said, I feel that it is very important to post the following. It is an excellent document from the Baby Carrier Industry Alliance (BCIA). The BCIA exists to increase awareness of the value of quality baby carriers and to support those in the baby carrier industry.
The following is the Baby Carrier Industry Alliance's Position Paper on Babywearing and Kangaroo Care with Endorsments from Leading Experts in Babywearing. Please read and know that babywearing is a very good thing and it is a safe practice that can make a world of difference for you as a parent and for your child.
I also encourage you to consider donating or becoming a member of the BCIA (at whatever level you can afford) to ensure that we as consumers will continue to have good quality, mom-made and parent tested slings and soft carriers to wear our babies in!
Thanks everyone, Natasha~
BCIA POSITION PAPER Over the last year, much misinformation and unwarranted fear has been cast on sling style carriers through announcements by Consumer Reports and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), as well as the recall of the Infantino Slingrider. The Baby Carrier Industry Alliance (BCIA) is aware of research supporting the overwhelming benefit of baby carriers and knows that the view that sling carriers are unsafe is wholly inaccurate. In fact, the chance of an individual being struck by lightening is twice that of the mortality rate of children while being worn in baby slings.
Using a soft baby carrier (“babywearing”) supports baby and mother’s biological need to be together. For mothers, it facilitates initiation and ease of breastfeeding as well as helps mothers form attachments to their babies, care for themselves and their babies during the newborn stage and avoid postpartum depression. In addition, babywearing is practical, comfortable and convenient for caregivers. For babies, it decreases infant crying, colic and infant acid reflux disease. It promotes healthy physical development of the spine, vestibular system, vision and other systems in babies. It optimizes the mental development of babies because worn babies have an enriched environment which, in turn, helps their brains to develop better. Babies in slings spend more time in the quiet alert state known to be optimal for learning and development. Further, it helps babies develop socially and keeps babies safe from the multitude of surrounding hazards of every day life.
For a parent to realize these benefits, it is essential that the carrier(s) used mimic in-arms carrying and allow the baby and mother to be in maximum contact with each other. The baby should be cuddled directly against the caregiver’s body, with the baby’s head ABOVE the caregiver’s chest, near the caregiver’s collarbone. Ideally, physical obstacles between parent and child should be eliminated, allowing for proper skin to skin contact, also known as kangaroo care, and breastfeeding. While there are alternate baby holding devices available to parents, nearly all of them fail to meet all of these requirements the way that traditional babywearing and sling-type carriers do.
Over the last 20 years, there have been an estimated seven million sling-type carriers sold in the United States and additional untold numbers imported by immigrants or improvised by parents of various cultures. As an industry in its infancy, the baby carrier industry needs leadership to grow past the grass roots, “do-it-yourself” stage. With over 100 years combined experience in the baby carrier industry, the BCIA is uniquely positioned to lead the way.
As parents and leaders in their field, members of the BCIA are conscious of safety with regard to their carriers and are constantly working to improve safety and comfort for both baby and caregiver. In April of 2007, several of the leading US manufacturers approached the American Society for Testing and Materials, now called ASTM International, with a request to participate in developing standards for sling-style carriers. They have worked with the ASTM since April of 2008 and are very close to achieving their goal of a sling standard.
This standard will join the standards for cribs, strollers, hand-held infant carriers, bouncer seats, play yards and other nursery products as a way to protect the public from unsafe products. As with many of these standards, the BCIA hopes that any mandatory standard will conform to this ASTM industry standard. The BCIA will also join with the CPSC and other representative manufacturers on educational campaigns promoting the safest environments for babies and toddlers.
Babies under the age of four months, with their immature respiratory systems and lack of muscle strength and control, are especially vulnerable to death and injury. This susceptibility is magnified when they are left unattended. Keeping babies close and under direct supervision, such as when they are carried in a sling-style carrier, is the best way to ensure their well being.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently issued a warning about the dangers of using baby slings, due to the occurrence of three infant deaths that the agency attributed to baby slings. As parents, we are deeply saddened by these tragedies and extend our heartfelt condolences to the families affected. As educators, we are dismayed that the CPSC has mistakenly lumped all carriers together and inadvertently tainted our industry as a whole. The carrier in question is structurally distinct from baby slings in general and the BCIA is working to clarify this difference. Sling-style carriers have an exceptional safety record. While the death of any baby is tragic, the small number of deaths in sling-style carriers only serve to emphasize the safety of these products.
Baby slings are the optimal place for babies to spend time safely developing and bonding to parents in a nurturing environment. Research shows that this caregiver attachment and stimulating, safe environment are critical to early childhood development. Parents, educators, advocates, manufacturers, and our civil servants need to stand together to maintain the rights of babies and allow parents to buy, make and use baby slings.
BCIA Mission: The Baby Carrier Industry Alliance (BCIA) is an alliance of industry leaders that was organized to share standards across the industry, promote educational outreach, participate in research and help small businesses comply with standards. The BCIA works with the ASTM and CPSC to ensure that parents and babies continue to have access to the safe, quality baby carriers that emulate in-arms carrying, providing the greatest benefit to both caregivers and children.
The Baby Carrier Industry Alliance (BCIA) is firmly committed to the development, health and safety of all infants. We believe that sling-type carriers and other traditional baby carriers are superior to any alternative products in which a baby might spend his or her time. Our mission is to promote a parenting mode called “babywearing” which is the practice of using a fabric carrier, more or less constructed, to hold a baby or young child securely to the torso of an adult, typically the parent. The goal of BCIA is to protect children by ensuring that the products that facilitate this practice remain widely available to consumers and are safely used.
ENDORSEMENTS FROM LEADING EXPERTS on BABYWEARING
Maria Blois, MD 7/2010 Author, Babywearing: The Benefits and Beauty of This Ancient Tradition “My heart goes out to those parents who have lost their babies while trying to hold their babies close in a sling. The CPSC warning is very important if it can help us prevent even one death. It is important to understand that any baby carrier or holder can be used in an unsafe manner and certain carriers can promote improper positioning simply by their design. This does not mean that the act of babywearing is unsafe. On the contrary, when done properly, wearing our baby close in a soft carrier can actually help make us more responsive to their needs, ensuring a safer environment. The key to safe babywearing is responsiveness. We must be aware of our baby even while they are in a soft carrier. The soft fabric of a sling means that we are able to use our hands from the outside to check on baby and make sure that baby is comfortable and breathing easily. As a physician, I would welcome good randomized controlled trials supporting the best positioning for infants in baby carriers and the best designs to promote this optimal positioning. Until then, our best guess is that baby should be held upright, visible at all times, mouth and nose clear, and head and neck should be in good alignment. In order to best learn from the CPSC warning, we should know what types of slings were involved and the circumstances surrounding the deaths. Babywearing is wonderful for parents and for babies. Beyond the convenience aspect, the early bonding facilitated by soft carriers is crucial to proper early infant neurological and physical development. Babies need to be in-arms and slings can help us do that. Human beings have been safely wearing their babies in fabric carriers for centuries. Our current efforts should be about education and understanding how to make babywearing safer for everyone."
Dr. Evelin Kirkilionis, Deutsch Hebammenzeitschrift 7/2010 “a child .. placed upright in a suitable baby carrier or embraced firmly and properly in a wrap, supported and upright against the body of the parents, firmly embraced by the fabric, which ensures that even the smallest little one will not sink into himself ending in an over-curvature of the spine, staying out of the danger zone of the little head being forced into a position that will compromise the breathing. The upright supported posture allows even very small babies moving patterns that are usually not seen until two to three month later. Free from the chore of controlling and holding his little head while trying to stabilize against gravity, an infant secured in a wrap for example can hold and turn his own head early on.”
Roy M. Nuzzo, MD, FAAOS,FAAOP, POSNA, New Jersey, USA Cultures that carry babies with the child’s legs spread apart, such as riding on the mother’s hip, have, by far, the lowest incidence of hips that go on to be bad. African mothers have the best track record of all. Their protective way of carrying babies is unbeaten – held in an open-legged position by a sling-bandana. Cultures that wrap legs together in one way or another (swaddling, etc.) just plain destroy hips. Swaddling of children leads to waddling adults.
Prof. Dr. Ernst J. Kiphard, Institute for Sport Science, University of Frankfurt/Main “Infants who are carried around everywhere in this baby sling either on the hip, on the stomach or on their mother’s back develop better than those who spend most of their time in a baby cot. This applies equally to their motor, cognitive and emotional development. Parents generally only rock their children when they want to calm them down or reassure them. Eminent pediatricians and orthopedic specialists recommend the sling for the following reasons: the baby’s eyes see very much more of their surroundings. This provides more stimuli for the infant’s brain. The mother’s movements stimulate all skin receptors but also the organs of movement and balance. Every time the centre of gravity shifts the reflexes of both the nerves and muscles are stimulated. The intensive eye- and body contact with the mother or father (because he too should carry the infant) imparts a feeling of safe wellbeing whose psycho-social importance is immeasurable.”
Prof. Dr. med. Büschelberger (Dresden) “The head of the thighbone in a newborn is ideally orientated towards the hip socket – and thus fills it out evenly-when the legs are pulled up to approx. 100 degrees and spread approx. 40 degrees at the same time. When infants are picked up they take up this posture spontaneously and therefore it has to co-operate with their anatomic conditions. As well, the rounded back (kyphosis) doesn’t stretch out immediately after birth. On the contrary, the well-known double-s-form of the spine is developing fully at the beginning of self-supported walking. These anatomic conditions, together with the palmar grasp reflex of the first days in life, suggest that infants are especially adapted to being carried on our body. Thus, it is possible to make a statement about the ideal carrying position: with wide-spread,flexed legs, slightly rounded back and orientated towards the carrying adult."
Eckhard Rolz PhD, South Dakota “The greatest expression of love is holding and carrying your baby. For centuries, humans have carried their children much of the dayundefineduntil the invention of the stroller and the portable car seat. It is the most natural thing to carry a baby close to your body. A child needs physical contact and must be held for proper physical and mental development. In today’s society, we must do every thing we can to help our children be well-adjusted. A baby sling or carrying cloth is the most natural way to facilitate these needs. In addition, parents who carry their children create a special bond between them and the child that will last forever. We have used slings extensively and I recommend them to every mother and father.”
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH Perinatol, J. (1991). Current knowledge about skin-to-skin (kangaroo) care for pre-term infants. Journal of Perinatology 11(3), 216-226. Anisfeld, E., Casper, V., Nozyce, M., & Cunningham, N. (1990). Does infant carrying promote attachment? An experimental study of the effects of increased physical contact on the development of attachment. Hunziker, U. A., & Barr, R. G. (1986). Increased carrying reduces infant crying: A randomized controlled trial. Pediatrics, 77(5): 641-648. Barr, R., et al. (1991). Crying in !Kung San infants. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 33, 601-610. Bergman, N. J., Linley, L. L., & Fawcus, S. R. (2004). Randomized controlled trial of skin-to-skin contact from birth versus conventional incubator for physiological stabilization in 1200- to 2199-gram newborns. Acta Paediatrica, 93, 779-785. Carter, S. C. (1998). Neuroendocrine perspectives on social attachment and love. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 23, 779-818. Charpak, N., Ruiz-Pelaez, J. G., Figueroa, Z., & Charpak, Y. (1997). Kangaroo mother versus traditional care for newborn infants <2000 grams: A randomized, controlled trial. Pediatrics, 100(4), 682-688. Chomosky, N.(1998). Language and problems of knowledge. Cambridge: MIT Press. K Christensson, T Cabrera, E Christensson, K Uvnäs–Moberg, J Winberg, Karolinska (1995) Separation distress call in the human neonate in the absence of maternal body contact Christensson, K., Siles, C., Moreno, L., Belaustequi, A., de la Fuente, P., Lagercrantz, H., Puyol, P., & Winberg, J. (1992). Temperature, metabolic adaptation and crying in healthy full-term newborns cared for skin-to-skin or in a cot. Acta Paediatrica, 81, 488-493. Douglas, P. S. (2005). Excessive crying and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease in infants: Misalignment of biology and culture. Journal Title, volume(issue), page numbers. Durand, R., Hodges, S., LaRock, S., Lund, L., Schmid, S. Swick, D., et al. (1997). The effect of skin-to-skin breast-feeding in the immediate recovery period on newborn thermoregulation and blood glucose values. Neonatal Intensive Care, 10, 23-29. Ruth Feldman 1 , Aron Weller 1 , James F. Leckman 2 , Jacob Kuint 3 & Arthur I. Eidelman (1994) The Nature of the Mother’s Tie to Her Infant: Maternal Bonding under Conditions of Proximity, Separation,and Potential Loss Gerber, M. (1958). The psycho-motor development of african children in the first year and the influence of maternal behavior. Journal of Social Psychology, 47, 185-195. Gray, L., Watt, L., & Blass, E. M. (2000). Skin-to-skin contact is analgesic in healthy newborns. Pediatrics, 105, 14. Hensinger, R. N. (1989). Spondylolysis and Spondylolisthesis in children and adolescents. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 71A, 1098-1107. Insel, T. R. (1997). A neurobiological basis of social attachment. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 726-735. Lamb, M. E. (1982). Individual differences in infant sociability: Their origins and implications for cognitive development. In H.W. Reese & L. P. Lipsitt (Eds.), Advances in child development and behavior (Vol. 16, pp. 213-239). New York: Academic. Landau, R. (1982) Infant crying and fussing: Findings from a cross-cultural study. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 13, 427-444. Littlefield, T. R. (2003). Car seats, infant carriers, and swings: Their role in deformational plagiocephaly. Journal of Prosthetics & Orthotics, 15(3), 102-106. Ludington-Hoe, S. M., Lewis, T., Morgan, K., Cong, X., Anderson, L., & Reese, S. (2006). Breast-infant temperature synchrony with twins during shared Kangaroo Care. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing, 35, 1-9. Messmer, P. R., Rodriguez, S., Adams, J., Gentry, J. W., Washburn, K., Zabaleta, I., & Abreu, S. (1997). Effect of Kangaroo care on sleep time for neonates. Pediatric Nursing, 23(4), 408-414. Meyer, K., & Anderson, G. C. (1999). Using kangaroo care in a clinical setting with full-term infants having breastfeeding difficulties. American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing, 24, 190-192. Moore ER, Anderson GC, Bergman N. (2007) Early skin-to-skin contact for mothers and their healthy newborn infants. Pelaez-Nogueras, M., Field, T. M., Hossain, Z., & Pickens, J. (1996). Depressed mothers’touching increases infants’ positive affect and attention in still-face interactions. Child Development, 67, 1780-1792. Schmid, S., Swick, D., Yates, T., & Perez, A. (1997). The effect of skin-to-skin breast-feeding in the immediate recovery period on newborn thermoregulation and blood glucose values. Neonatal Intensive Care, 10, 23-29. Schön, R., & Silvén, M. (2007). Natural parentingundefinedBack to basics in infant care. Evolutionary Psychology, 5(1), 102-183. http://www.epjournal.net/filestore/ep05102183.pdf Tessier R., Cristo, M., Velez, S., Giron, M., Ruiz-Palaez, J. G., Charpak, Y., et al. (1998). Kangaroo mother care and the bonding hypothesis. Pediatrics, 102:17. Wahlberg, V., Affonso, D., & Persson, B. (1992). A retrospective comparative study using the kangaroo method as a complement to standard incubator care. European Journal of Public Health, 2(1), 34-37. Wall-Scheffler, C. M., Geiger K., & Steudel-Numbers, K. L. (2007). Infant carrying: The role of increased locomotory costs in early tool development. Skin contact (kangaroo care) shortly after birth on the neurobehavioral responses of the term newborn: a randomized, controlled trial. Pediatrics 113(4):858-65.
Contact: Baby Carrier Industry Alliance PO Box 27 Laveen, AZ 85339 (512) 943-2242
I am not the mama I want to be today....
We all have those day right? (PLEASE tell me I'm right). Those days when everything that can go wrong just does and no matter how many times you count to ten, your patience is run out. I have had a few of those days lately, not something I am proud of, but you know what, something I am strong enough to admit.
Fall is one of those seasons that I have a love/hate relationship with.
I LOVE the changing leaves, the crispness in the air and the colors that go with Fall (I am a green, brown, orange kind of gal). But I HATE the shorter days, and less and less sun. And if you have been in Alberta this summer, we have not had a whole lot of sun to begin with! I think I might suffer from a touch of seasonal affective disorder and every late September and October I feel like LIFE in general sometimes gets the best of me.
So, yeah, I've been yelling at my kids more than I want to, swearing more than I usually do and just generally not being the mama that I want to be or know that I am. It becomes even more important during these times for me to make sure that I am taking time for me, and doing all that I can to ensure that I don't let myself get overwhelmed with being a mom, a wife, a business owner, a chef, a chauffeur, a laundress, etc......
I must remember to breath, to know when Mama needs a time out (which is often the case) and know that a bad day is just that, one DAY and tomorrow is another day and hopefully a much better one at that.
How about you Mamas, how do you handle your less than stellar days as a parent? Really, any tips will be greatly appreciated and likely put to the test!
Just Breathe, Natasha~
One year ago a small Indian man in a Speedo changed my life.
OK, well maybe not directly, but it was a year ago today that my BFF dragged me to my first Bikram Yoga class. I had never ever taken a yoga class before, mainly because I never thought I could do it. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, 2 prosthetic hips, a frozen shoulder and a bum knee - needless to say, my range of motion is somewhat limited.
Well, I agreed to go and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made for myself!
Bikram Yoga is a series of twenty-six asanas (postures) and 2 breathing exercises done in 90 minutes. The series is conducted in a heated room (think 103 degrees and 50% humidity) to warm up your whole body and allows you to work deep into your muscles, tendons and ligaments, changing your body from the inside out. And for this reason, it is THE perfect kind of yoga for someone like me.
Birkam Choudury developed the series after he sustained a debilitating knee injury at the age of 17 that had doctors telling him he would never walk again. He refused to believe them, had himself carried back to his yoga teacher's Bishnu Ghosh's school in Calcutta and 6 months later his knee was healed. He went on to develop yoga schools in India and Japan and then brought his teachings to North America.
The heat and humidity can be daunting for some, but for me, they are the main reasons that I can do this practice. My joints and muscles get nice and warm and I am able to get deeper into the postures. And I LOVE the sweat! I feel like it really does cleanse and detox my whole body. AND according to the calorie burning calculator, I can burn up to 955 calories in one 90 minute class!! What more reason do I need.
My practice has definitely changed in the year that I have been doing Bikram Yoga. I used to have to bring a towel into class for a lot of the floor poses involving my knees, but no more. I have developed way more strength in my legs and have better balance as well. I don't think I have lost a huge amount of weight doing this practice, but I do think that my body has changed. My butt is firmer and higher (according to my husband), my mama pooch is not as 'pooch-y' and I can really feel my abs under what is left of said pooch.
But the real joy of Bikram Yoga for me is that it is MY TIME!
Last Fall, I was not in a good mental space. I believe I was suffering from some late post-partum depression, I had no patience and was losing it more than not with my kids, and I was in the midst of a less than ideal business partner break-up. I was just NOT a happy mama. I started seeing a psychologist, had some long chats with my husband and realized that I needed to find some time and space that was just mine.
Bikram classes gave me that time and space that I desperately needed and that I continue to need to stay happy and healthy. Once I am in that room, all of my days troubles melt away with the heat and drip off of me in the sweat. I don't think about ANYTHING except my breath, I listen to the dialogue from my yoga teachers and I feel the energy in the room. And the icing on the cake is that after class I get to have a nice long leisurely shower, ALL BY MYSELF!!
I am now practicing at least three times a week and am now a regular at my yoga studio. I practice at an amazing studio in Edmonton, Alberta and am so grateful to all the amazing teachers and students that have helped me along the way and keep encouraging me to go deeper, reach farther and keep breathing.
I encourage you all to find your local Bikram Yoga studio and discover all the benefits this practice has to offer both your body and your mind!
Namaste, Natasha~
Let the Designing begin!!
We got possession of the new house and lot on August 14th. And as of this week, we have hired an architect to start the design process. This is the fun part for me. I get to rip out picture after picture from magazines and books, send our architect links to all of my favourite design websites, etc.... And I really think I am going to like working with this guy. His name is Michael Sczesny and he is a partner in a new firm with 2 other architects. He has been in the industry for over 20 years and has some pretty cool projects under his belt (The Selkirk Hotel at Fort Edmonton Park for one!). He is super keen on incorporating as much green technology and sustainable materials as possible and also staying within our budget (a big selling point for Ben).
We are hoping for a spring 2011 ground breaking and to be in the house by late 2011 or early 2012. Mike has a great contractor that he works with exclusively and he too is very keen and excited about our Green Home project.
In the mean time, I think that we are going to try to rent the house for the next 6 months. The previous owners replaced the hardwood and carpet throughout the house and outside of an abundance of floral wallpaper it is in quite decent shape. It is a big house and would be great for someone looking for a short term lease, is rebuilding their own house or someone on a sabbatical here in Edmonton. If you know of anyone who fits that bill--let me know!
My next few posts will be about some of the technologies we are going to incorporate in the house, so bear with me as I do my research into ICF, radiant floor heating, passive solar energy and on-demand hot water heaters!
Cheers all, Natasha~