Babywearing + NYC = LOVE

Home movies and my favorite Ella Fitzgerald song combine to make my ode to babywearing in NYC. This was my original idea for the Sakura Bloom Triathlon, but after nearly completing this video I had the idea for Baby Mamas (Put a Sling on 'Em). I recently decided to finish this one anyway because it expresses my affection for some of my favorite things in life: motherhood, babywearing, and New York City! I hope you enjoy it :)

Home Again

Photo via Squaregirl

Mississippi Christmas, Days 3 & 4

1. Christmas Eve reading, 2. stockings, 3. gumbo, 4. gumbo taste, 5. Mamaw's yummy root veggies, 6. J unwraps, 7. ornament, 8. Mamaw's surprise, 9. W's 1st Christmas present

Breastfeeding Baby Jesus

You must read this amazing post on the blog Peaceful Parenting! Danelle has assembled a beautiful and inspiring array of images from art history depicting the Virgin Mary breastfeeding the Christ Child. What a wonderful celebration of the everyday miracle that is breastfeeding. Via Gloria Lemay's facebook (by the way, Gloria is all kinds of awesome and she always posts the best links! Her Facebook status currently reads, Quote of the day, Sheila Stubbs: "If Jesus were born today, he would have been induced and c-sectioned three weeks early because a virgin birth is far too risky." Word.

Mississippi Christmas, Day 2

1. J at the Gym, 2. Erin's shot, 3. Mamaw and W, 4. Taro's shot

The highlight of our second day was when we all went to my parent's gym and shot hoops. Taro and J are obsessed with basketball, so they were in heaven. Living in Manhattan it's not every day that they get a huge court to themselves for hours on end! The rest of us had fun too...

Mississippi Christmas, Day 1

1. Radio Flyer, 2. Papaw and W, 3. W in sun and shadow, 4. Mamaw and W, 5. Uncle Seth and W, 6. Erin and W, 7. on the street where Mamaw and Papaw live, 8. Hurley, 9. elephant ornament, 10. sparkly ornament, 11. Papaw's spaghetti, 12. Italian dinner with Father Paul

Christmas Travels

We're packing up tonight for our trip to Mississippi tomorrow (our first time flying with two kiddos!). We'll be staying with my parents for five days, and we can't wait for the good times to begin! Hopefully I'll get to do a little blogging here and there, but if I don't manage to post amidst the fun and festivities here's wishing you a joyful, marvelous, peace-and-love-filled Christmas.

How (and where) are you celebrating this year?

Photo via a long-ago post on one of my favorite blogs, Please Sir.

Random Stuff I'm Loving: Holiday Snowstorm Edition

This image

{via Unruly Things}

This illustration

{via AshleyG}

This yawn

{via Cakies}

This hallway

{via MadeByGirl}

This dress

{via Project Rungay}

This cake

{via The Morale Agency}

This model

{via Fashionising}

These sandals

{via Distractions}

These pumps

{via Audrey Hepburn Complex}

These boots

{via The Shiny Squirrel}

This glimpse of summertime

{unknown source}

Making Snowflakes

We've been busy manufacturing our very own little winter wonderland, as per these instructions. It's quite fun and a little bit addictive to cut each snowflake and get a surprise upon opening it up! What are your decorations looking like this year?

White Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake

By popular demand, I present you with the recipe for White Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake that my mom prepared during her recent raw food demo. Thanks for the link, mom!

Birth Story of the Week: A Better Birth Experience the Second Time Around

This week's story was sent in by Kattie Jones, and I think it serves as a great illustration of the value of researching and evaluating different birth options to find the environment that will work best for you and your baby. Thanks for sharing, Kattie! -- Leigh

When my first daughter was born I did everything according to hospital protocol…pitocin because I wasn’t progressing fast enough followed by the epidural for pain management. It was honestly, what I wanted at the time but I did not do much research into it at the time. I had a long labor but got a wonderful, sweet girl out of it. The days, weeks and months that followed was something that I was not prepared for. I didn’t feel that “instant love” that everyone talks about and I felt extreme guilt for it. I had trouble nursing and became pretty depressed with the idea that I was always in pain and that I hadn’t bonded with my beautiful baby like I thought I would have. It was a very hard, lonely experience. Of course, I soon fell madly in love with my child and those feelings of guilt lifted but it took time and conversation with some new found friends.

When I became pregnant with my second daughter I was very worried that my experience would be the same and that coupled with adjusting to having two children would put me over the edge. I initially planned to deliver at local hospital with a midwife group but after a trip to triage as well as watching my friend give birth in that very hospital I started to feel like a hospital birth just wasn’t the experience that I wanted. I then watched “The Business of Being Born” that cemented that I didn’t want another hospital birth. What I wanted was for the person who delivered me to know ME and to care about me and my child and to not feel like a number. I also really wanted to know the person who delivered me and I wanted to have a natural child birth in a calm, peaceful environment. It took me awhile to make my decision but at 30 weeks I switched my care to a much smaller midwife group at a birth center and I am so very glad that I did.

I was due on September 14th but I went overdue. On September 19th I went in to see my midwife at about 2pm. She did a stretch and sweep to see if we could get things going but we scheduled me to come back in at 7pm that night to break my water since I was 5 days overdue and the baby was low enough. I went back home and my older daughter and I walked around our neighborhood about 5 times to see if we could get things going. I was starting to feel a little crampy but nothing crazy was going on so we went in to pack her bag so she would be ready for her stay at Auntie and house for the weekend. I did a bunch of last minute cleaning and chores and then my Mom got to my house so she could stay with my daughter until my sister arrived. My husband, Greg, got home around 6:15 so he got ready, ate some dinner and we took off.
When we got to the birth center they were lighting candles and getting the room ready. It was so peaceful and calming. At about 7:20 they broke my water and things started moving along pretty quickly. I was able to work through the first part of the contractions pretty well by sitting on the exercise ball and using one of the candles as a focal point. I had put together good playlist and Greg made me some CD's so listening to the music really helped me to concentrate as well as Greg applying counter pressure on my lower back. My Mom arrived at about 8:30 and did whatever she could to help me feel comfortable. I went through those manageable contractions until about 9pm then they got more intense and it was a little harder to remain calm. I stayed in that position until about 10 o'clock when I got into the Jacuzzi tub. The tub felt great but I was still in some major pain. Greg was awesome coaching me through each contraction and my Mom was applying cold wash cloths to my face, neck and back depending on what position I was in. By around 10:30 I was not a happy camper and began begging for an epidural even thought I knew I didn’t want one. My midwife informed me that my statement probably meant that I was ready to push so I tried to do so through my next contraction but I just couldn't get into the right position in the tub so I decided to get out and got on the birthing stool.

I cannot begin to describe the kind of pain I was in at this point. I was caught between being in so much pain that I just wanted the baby out and being afraid to push because of the pain. I pushed through about 3 contractions and felt like I wasn't getting anywhere but I was able to push her to crown pretty quickly. I promptly pushed her head out and felt a sense of relief until I was told that I still had to push her shoulders out. At this point, I started yelling at everyone around me to just take her out because I thought I could not do it. Greg just kept trying to encourage me and let me know that she was right there and that she was so pretty. He was so cute....already in love with her before she was fully born! Obviously, I made it past that point and pushed her out with the next contraction. She was born at 11:16 pm after 4 hours of labor. I looked at her and instantly fell in love.

Once I delivered her they handed her right to me and she didn't make a peep as I held her. She just hung out and got used to being in a new place. I think that my midwife was a bit concerned that she wasn't making any noise but as soon as Greg cut the cord and I handed her off she let out a huge wail. I delivered the placenta then somehow made it over to the bed where I just sat absolutely zoned out for about 30 minutes. When I finally had the strength to speak and actually hold her Greg brought her over to me and she began nursing like a champ! We hung out at the birth center for about 3 hours while they checked out the baby and watched me. It was so nice to sit in a comfortable bed without all the poking and prodding and just get to know my new baby. At about 2:30 am we left and headed home. It was so great to spend our first night in our own bed with no one to bother us! Even as she woke up through the night I felt this sense of calm knowing that I was at home and that I could provide her with all she needed.

My birth center experience was all that I imagined and more. I had a wonderful, short labor and I bonded with my daughter immediately. I had zero PPD and I adjusted very well to having two children. I really feel that my incredible birth played a huge role in this wonderful transition and I am so grateful that I had enough faith in myself to make the leap from the traditional hospital birth to an “unconventional” birth center birth.

Wedding Gown Gorgeousness

I'm usually not into froofy dresses and I'm most definitely not in the market for a wedding gown, but when I saw this one-of-a-kind creation by Project Runway Season 5 winner, Leanne Marshall, I have to admit I gasped in awe.

I guess it's easy to see what she's been up to for the last couple of years: working on this dress!

Via East Side Bride.

Gift Wrap Inspiration

I'm loving the pretty gift-wrap idea by Color Me Pretty over at Decor8. I might have to try this...

My Mom's Raw Food Demo

One of my mother's many passions is the Raw Food Lifestyle. In the last few years she has become quite the Raw gourmand! These photos are from a recent event she hosted in her home in Jackson, Mississippi (that's her in the bright yellow apron). She gave a "cooking" demonstration, and then sat down with her guests to feast on what they had prepared. Here's the menu (doesn't it sound yummy?):

Fresh squeezed juice to start

Zucchini “Pasta” with truffled Alfredo Sauce

Mixed Greens with Caesar Dressing

White Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake

I hope to get my very own demo when we go to Mississippi for Christmas next week!

Pure, Undiluted Awesome for your Sunday

Thanks to my brother for posting this on his Facebook page. It made my Sunday morning sparkle, and I hope it will brighten yours too!

We're going to a tree-trimming party today at my friend Abbey's house and I'm soooo excited to get into the Christmas spirit! What are you doing to feel festive this weekend?

Our Time One Acts: TONIGHT & TOMORROW!!!

Friday, December 11th

8pm

Saturday, December 12th

2pm & 8pm

The Peter Jay Sharp Theater

416 W. 42nd St.

(between 9th & 10th Aves)

New York City

Tickets ($12): www.ticketcentral.com

or call 212.279.4200

For more info call: 212.414.9696 or email moreinfo@ourtimetheatre.org

Read more about Our Time and its mission, here.

The kiddos and I will be at all three shows, supporting Taro and Our Time. We hope to see you there!

Baby Love

I love this photo.

Taken by my friend, Lauren Colas,

when she was visiting us a few weeks ago.

Contact her at laurencolas@gmail.com.

OMG, YAY!

Photo via Too Many Sebastians

I am jumping up and down, so giddy and excited! It was just announced that the Grand Prize winner of the Sakura Bloom Triathlon is...

A TIE!!!

Between me and Sara Sophia!

I loved all of Sara Sophia's entries so much, I was sure she had the win all sealed up :) I am honored beyond belief to be sharing the win with her.

Thank you thank you thank you to everyone for your help and support!!!

AND, I am excited to let you know that Sakura Bloom has just opened up a special Sample Sale to celebrate the end of the Triathlon! There are some beautiful slings available at amazing discounts, so GO!!!

Happy babywearing :)

December Photo Project, Day 10

Playing with trains.

Visit the DPP pool, here.

Birth Story of the Week: A Difficult Birth and a Breastfeeding Triumph

This week's Birth Story was submitted by Kelly Grindrod, who blogs at The Accidental Pharmacist. Here's how Kelly prefaced her story:

"We had planned a home birth. While we did not plan to have any ultrasounds, the only way we could entertain a breech delivery with our midwives was to have a 3rd trimester US to confirm the position. As you can see, very quickly things got out of hand. It was a tough go and not at all how I imagined it. To top it all off she was 5wks early and was taken from me right after they took her out. In the end there was pretty much no birth story, leaving all involved a little shocked. I've been finding it tough to read the natural stories because of how mine happened let alone use words like birth, born or delivery when talking about her arrival. For that reason my experience may appeal to some of your readers."

Kelly's Birth Story: Battle of the Boobs

For most of our third trimester our "Princess Pea" had her head stuck firmly under my lower right rib, and on our 35th week we went for an ultrasound to check her position. While waiting for the results, we were pulled aside by the radiologist and told to go straight to Maternity.

As it turned out, I was in labour and The Pea wasn't doing so hot. Right after they hooked me up to the fetal heart monitor her heart rate dropped and the room filled with nurses and doctors who stripped off my clothes, put needles in my arm and started saying 'cesarean'. This happened two more times and before I knew it they had flipped me over with my ass in the air and rushed us to an OR.

Unfortunately, when The Pea was pulled out her Apgar score was 2 (very low) and after resuscitation she was taken to the NICU. I, on the other hand, was stitched up and sent to the recovery room to wait for 2 hours. Afterward, I was taken directly to my room.

Alone.

The midwife tried, The Husband tried, and I tried, but it took another 6 hours for me to see our baby.

In that time The Pea was bottlefed 3 times. Thankfully, the midwife managed to get some donor milk from the BC Women's Milk Bank and The Husband did all the feedings.

Far from how I imagined it, the first time I was handed The Pea I was also handed a bottle.

Apparently, the doctors' orders were to bottlefeed every 3 hours because The Pea was premature, had low blood sugar, and needed more than colostrum. Instead of a bottle, we asked for a lactation aid to supplement while breastfeeding but was told it wasn't a good idea. We tried anyway and it didn't really work but we'd made our point. The next day a nasogastric tube was inserted for that very purpose.

Here's the thing - I didn't feel labour and did nothing more than lay on my back while a team of nurses and doctors did the work. Once the baby was out, more doctors and nurses took her and kept on doing the work. I kinda felt optional.

This was wrong.

And the only way I could prove it was

to get up

every 3 hours

and walk through the maternity ward,

past all the labouring women,

past all the new moms and babies,

past my nurse who told me more than once to go back to bed to rest,

and feed our baby.

So, with the support of the midwife, The Husband, and the NICU nurses, that's what I did. Even after I was discharged, The Husband and I stayed. Living out of various hospital lounges, we fed our baby every 3 hours and soon the tube was out. We kept on for 7 days and were exhausted, but on that 7th day we took home an entirely breastfed baby.

And she thrived.

Now, I'm a health professional and this experience made little sense to me. I know the "breast is best", especially for premature babies, and that those same babies have a lower breastfeeding rate. In my years as a community pharmacist I've talked to countless breastfeeding moms. I've attended La Leche League meetings. I've read books like Dr. Jack Newman's Guide to Breastfeeding. I know the importance of feeding shortly after delivery and not separating mom and baby.

I had a supportive husband and a mom who breastfed all her babies, including twins.

I mean, come on, I even had a midwife.

And we still had a hard time breastfeeding. Through this we learned that not everyone is on board with the boob. However, when the time came we knew what we needed to do and we did it. And would do it again and again because, you know what? The boob rocks and The Pea has some chubby cheeks to prove it.

December Photo Project, Day 9

Oh my goodness! In the craziness of the last week I have totally been remiss in taking a photo every day for the December Photo Project :( As of now I am re-committing to the picture-a-day challenge.

I snapped today's photo moments after these cookies came out of the oven. J and I had a blast making them from my mother's recipe and they are DELICIOUS!

This post is dedicated to the most awesomely wrong comment that someone left on the Baby Mamas video on YouTube, which completely cracked me up:

"Ugh. Stop dancing and get in the kitchen."

So, yeah, I'm able to rock the kitchen AND the music video, thankyouverymuch! LOL!!!

Behind the Scenes of "Baby Mamas"

My friend, Stephanie Marshall, recording the vocals for the "Baby Mamas" video while her son Makai snoozes in their Ergo.

Wow, I am just incredibly amazed, thrilled, and humbled by the response to my Round Three entry to the Sakura Bloom Triathlon! Thank you for all the enthusiastic and lovely comments, and for spreading this video around by sharing it with your friends. I am so excited that it is resonating so much with baby mamas (and daddies!) everywhere. And of course a huge thank you to the Triathlon judges for selecting Baby Mamas for the round three win :)

I also want to publicly thank the incredibly talented and creative people who helped me to put the video together at the eleventh hour (we shot the whole thing on my Flip camera on this past Saturday and Sunday, and edited in the wee hours of Monday morning!): Stephanie Marshall, Shirley Rumierk, Naudia Jones, Taro Alexander, Everett Bradley, and Liz Rubincam.

Several people have asked for the lyrics, so I wanted to share those here. They were written by my amazing husband, with a tiny little bit of input and tweaking from me ;) Here they are, for your singing (and slinging) pleasure:

All the baby mamas (all the baby mamas)

All the baby mamas (all the baby mamas)

All the baby mamas (all the baby mamas)

All the baby mamas

Now get your slings out

Up in the house

We just woke up

I'm lookin' at your pretty face

Figurin' out

Which nice sling

To put you in today

You're up on me

Get you comfy

I know this will make you happy

No more tears

When you're in here

A sling’s good for you and me

‘Cause if you love 'em then you should put a sling on 'em

If you love 'em then you should put a sling on 'em

If you love 'em then you should put a sling on 'em

If you love 'em then you should put a sling on 'em

Wha-oh-oh-oh-oh-ooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

Wha-oh-oh-oh-oh-ooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

If you love 'em then you should put a sling on 'em

If you love 'em then you should put a sling on 'em

If you love 'em then you should put a sling on 'em

If you love 'em then you should put a sling on 'em

The Kangaroo carry

Or a baby on my hip

We're ready to rock the playground

We laugh and play

Have fun every day

So safe and cozy you’ll stay

I need no stroller

To take him or her

Anywhere we want to go

Just pop ‘em in the sling

A ring a ding-ding

Let me hear all the baby mamas sing

If you love 'em then you should put a sling on 'em

If you love 'em then you should put a sling on 'em

If you love 'em then you should put a sling on 'em

If you love 'em then you should put a sling on 'em

Wha-oh-oh-oh-oh-ooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

Wha-oh-oh-oh-oh-ooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

If you love 'em then you should put a sling on 'em

If you love 'em then you should put a sling on 'em

If you love 'em then you should put a sling on 'em

If you love 'em then you should put a sling on 'em

Wha-oh-oh-oh-oh-ooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

Wha-oh-oh-oh-oh-ooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

Baby Mamas

For my Sakura Bloom Triathlon Round Three entry:

My ode to babywearing. Inspired by Sasha Fierce ;)

For best results, view full-screen.

Enjoy!

December Photo Project, Day 4

It was pretty warm today, so much time was spent digging in the dirt in Central Park. Notice the grubby jersey. I actually managed to get it off of him and into the laundry basket when we got home! (Yaaaay, me!!!)

Hard to believe that snow is coming tomorrow...

Blog Love

I recently discovered the blog FRÖKEN Ö and I have been completely captivated by the haunting, magical quality of the photographs. Beautiful.

Homemade Snow Globes

I love love LOVE this easy-peazy tutorial for making your own gorgeous snow globes! Via Oh Hello!

What are you making/crafting/decorating this holiday season?

December Photo Project, Day 3

J made it until 6:15 pm today before konking out hard for his nap. He's been wearing his New York Knicks jersey for going on two weeks now -- the only times I've managed to get it off of him has been for baths and on Thanksgiving day (he agreed to wear a clean, button-down shirt to the festivities, bless him). Otherwise, its been all-jersey-all-the-time. During naps. During nighttime sleep. I need some kind of decoy jersey in order to wash this one! Soon I'll have no choice but to throw it in the laundry -- the toddler-induced patina is accumulating to the point of downright crustiness, lol.

Birth Story of the Week: Seeking Submissions

Photo by Beth Fletcher via Design Mom.

Just a reminder to my wonderful readers, I would love to feature your birth stories on Marvelous Kiddo! If you are interested in sharing, please email me at leigh(at)leighpennebaker(dot)com.

Meanwhile, you must read this wonderful, exciting story of an (unintentional) unassisted home birth. It totally made me cry and gave me goosebumps!

Celebrity Babywearer of the Day

Yet another example of Rossdale/Stefani babywearing goodness! *Love*

{Via CBB}

The War on Kids vs. Delight-Driven Learning

I enjoyed this interview with the Cevin Soling, the Director of a new film, The War on Kids, that aired this week on The Colbert Report. I love Soling's observations about the brokenness of the school system, and the movie sounds like it will add a great dimension to the public debate over education.

While we're on the topic of school and learning, I wanted to share this video by Unschooling mom and activist Dayna Martin. Her words confirm for me the rightness of allowing kids to follow their interests and passions instead of forcing them into institutions to be educated. I love her phrase "delight-driven learning! What a positive alternative to the war on kids. (Via This Inspired Life).

December Photo Project, Day 2

Here are the remnants of the bouquet Taro gave me for my birthday. Last night I decided to salvage the blooms that were still looking vibrant, so I cut the stems down and put them in assorted tea tins. Remember my inspiration? I think it turned out pretty nicely!

Babies

The trailer for Babies is here!!! I love it, and I can't wait to see the movie.

December Photo Project

My blog-friend Rebecca invited me to participate in an awesome challenge she created called the December Photo Project. The event involves taking a photo every day this month and posting on your blog or flickr. To learn more and join in on the fun, click here.

This is my first entry: a photo I snapped of W this afternoon just moments before he rolled over for the very first time! A rather momentous event on this 1st day of December -- which is also his three-month birthday ;)

We Have a Winner!!!

Photo via flickr

It took me all day, but I finally plugged the numbers into the randomizer and came up with a winner of the Retro Repro hat!

And the lucky commenter is Kim, who said,

Congrats, Kim, and thanks to everyone who entered!

Bookmaking Class

My friend Liz is teaching a bookmaking class at Spacecraft in Brooklyn this Sunday, December 6th. Doesn't it sound rad? I love that the project will integrate a vintage book cover.

Email contact@spacecraftbrooklyn.com to get more information, and to sign up. Thanks for letting me know about this, Liz! I hope I can come :)

The Gift

We shared a really sweet, fun Thanksgiving with family in Westchester. Throughout the day, Taro surprised me with little cards hidden here or there containing sweet little birthday messages, culminating in a gift that was the exact thing that I've been wanting for soooo long: a macro lens for my digital SLR camera!!! I am excited to own this piece of machinery to a degree that far surpasses my knowledge of how to use it ;) When I tested it out for the first time this morning I was hooked and I couldn't stop snapping all day. I can't wait to learn more and become a better photographer! Here are a few of my favorite pics so far...