Pregnancy and Birth: Third Time is a Charm

Goals for Pregnancy:

• Daily walk and/or Bike Ride
• Whole Food Prenatal Vitamins and Omegas Every Day
• Drink 10-12 cups of Water Every Day
• Spirulina / Fruit / Yogurt Smoothies :)
• Probiotics
• Prenatal Yoga in the Morning before DD2 wakes up
• Cut Down Coffee / Caffeine to 4oz a day or less
• Take Professional Pregnancy Photo
• Take a Belly photo every week <3
• Henna the Belly
• Make a Belly Cast
• Keep a Pregnancy Journal
• Get a Midwife
• Plan on Homebirth

Goals for Birth:

• No Interventions / Natural Birth
• At Home in Birthing Pool
• Video Tape Birth (I want to watch it, darn it!)
• Midwife or Doula to assist with Birth
• DH to be present and hold me in pool when wanted
• DD1 to hang out with DD2 and be involved as much as she wants :)
• Breastfeed as soon as possible
• Bank Cord Blood or Donate if possible
• Save Placenta for Placenta Pills or bury it under a tree :)

This is the the list of personal goals thus far...

And of course a Healthy Baby is the ultimate goal to reach for!

Someone's awesome prego belly!
Borrowed picture from: www.flickr.com/photos/hennalounge/1287522705/

UpCycle Old Crayons

I was searching online for something crafty to do with the kids for Valentine's Day. I came across this crayon heart project at Disney's Family Fun website.

First step was to find something heart shaped we could melt our old crayons in. I found a mini heart shaped muffin tin on ebay for about $10 including S&H. It showed up on Monday, which was perfect because DD1 had the day off from school for Lincoln's Birthday.

We gathered up old crayons and the grrls started peeling the papers off the crayons, while I cut some off with a box cutter. I later read in the project comments that you could soak the crayons to get the paper off easier.

While peeling the crayons, we preheated our oven to 250 degrees farenheit.

We broke the bigger pieces of the crayons up and put them into the heart shaped compartments. We used all kinds of crayons and any colors. DD1 decided she would color scheme some and created special masterpieces for her personal collection.

When we filled up our first batch we put them in the oven for about 10 minutes. When it was time to pull the tray out I realized that this may be a task. Hot melted wax and goofy big oven mitts, not really a precise grab. If I was one for reading directions I would have noticed that the original site suggested putting the tray on top of a cookie sheet. Even so, we escaped any catastrophes that could have happened with the first batch.

I noticed the colors were not chunky like the example pictures on the site. They were more like tie dye swirls. It could have been the cheap wax from some of the restaraunt and off brand crayons or that we heated them too long, but the end result was beautiful.

We made three batches, totally 36 crayons for DD1s class. Since, they are not celebrating Valentine's Day in class we are leaving off the paper portion of the craft. Instead, she will be sharing heart crayons with her class and possibly inspiring others to re-use their old crayons.

The muffin tin will most likely only be used for melting wax in. Even with the cookie tray to help stabilize, we spilled some wax. Also, if you leave the wax in the oven for more than 10 minutes, clear wax may separate and create an opaque layer on what would be the bottom of the crayon. It also could have had something to do with the glitter crayons that were in this batch. Only more experimentation will tell.

I suggest trying out this project in your home. We had some great variations with glitter crayons, I could see us trying out other variables, temperature, and timing. It also offers a chance to discuss convection currents as you can see the waxy colors rising and falling once you remove them from the oven.

DIY: Medicine

Here are a few simple recipes to making medicine for common ailments.

Conjunctivitis / Pink Eye : Seep some fresh ginger in hot water, take warm washcloth and wipe eye, wash hands frequently. Ginger acts as an antiseptic. If you have breastmilk, putting a few drops in the eye may also help. Breastmilk has a lot of antibodies and holds many healing properties.

Ear Ache : Infuse some olive oil with garlic, make sure it is not too hot, drip a few drops in affected ear, cover with a cotton ball. Olive oil coats the ear, garlic acts as an antiseptic.

Sore Throat : Slice some onion, stick in glass jar, put in some sugar, place in fridge. Sugar will draw out onion juice and the juice and sugar will create a syrup. You can take a spoonful when needed.

Immune Support : Put some honey and garlic in a jar, take a spoonful when needed.

**If Conditions Persist or Worsen, Contact a Doctor - These are just suggestions from what we use in our own home.**

Helping Haiti is as Easy as Texting

Image borrowed from: http://www.unicef.org.nz/page/348/Haitiearthquake.html

When the earthquake hit Haiti, my heart sank. Every time something of this magnitude affects our Earth my heart aches. Many people say the best way to help is to help those organizations that are already helping Haiti. Our society has a dependence on technology and most are more likely to help another if it is made easy for them. While paying my verizon bill I came across a page that lists organizations you can text to donate money to. And another realization hit me while reading the list, the charge for a download I just sent an email to Verizon disputing could very well be the $10 donation to Red Cross. Ooops, but maybe they should list charges on our bills as they are.

http://news.vzw.com/HaitiInfo.html

Text the word “Yele” to 501501 to donate $5


Text the word “Yele10” or “YeleTen” to 501501 to donate $10

On behalf of the Yéle Foundation, the leading contributor to rebuilding Haiti founded by Wyclef Jean



Text the word “QUAKE” to 20222 to donate $10

On behalf of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund



Text the word “Haiti” to 20222 to donate $10

On behalf of the Clinton Foundation Haiti Relief Fund



Text the word “Haiti” to 52000 to donate $10

On behalf of the Salvation Army



Text the word “Hope10” or “UNICEF” to 20222 to donate $10

On behalf of UNICEF



Text the word “Haiti” to 40579 to donate $10

On behalf of the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB)



Text the word “Save” or “Safe” to 20222 to donate $10

On behalf of Save the Children Federation, Inc.



Text the word “Give” or “World” to 20222 to donate $10

On behalf of World Vision Inc.



Text the word “Haiti” to 85944 to donate $10

On behalf of the International Medical Corps



Text the word “Haiti” to 25383 to donate $5

On behalf of the International Rescue Committee



Text the word “Oxfam” to 25383 to donate $10

On behalf of Oxfam America, Inc.