Purposeful Nurseries: Planning Stage

From Finn's room over at Sew Liberated

Matt and I have started the preliminary planning for converting our office/craft room into a nursery/office/craft room. We've decided that we want to set aside some space for ourselves in the room (for using our laptops, sewing, etc.). We're guessing that we'll spend a lot of time in the first several months hanging out in there for breastfeeding, diaper changing, and tummy time. It also happens to be my favorite room in the house, which is another reason why we'll probably spend so much time in there.

Once little "Coconut" (I have no idea why we've taken to calling the baby by that moniker) is able to move independently around his/her own room (by the way, we're getting our first ultrasound in a few weeks, and we're going to find out the baby's sex), then we might rethink the whole office/craft aspect of having our own stuff in there.

For now, here's what we're thinking we need:

• A dresser (with a changing pad on top--although we fully recognize that we will likely change Coconut throughout the whole house)
• A trash can for storing our dirty cloth diapers before we wash them
  
• An organic mattress to put on the floor (we're following the Montessori approach and not using a crib)
• A pullout couch for anyone who comes to stay
• A sidetable that can function as a "breastfeeding station" (for extra Klean Kanteens filled with lots of water to stay hydrated, books, burp cloths, etc.)
  
• A lamp
• An iPod dock
  

We will not be getting a changing table, a crib, or a glider/rocker (is this a huge mistake?). We'll be consolidating our three crafting/working tables down to one.

I'm excited to be thinking about this stuff!

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Cookie Party

Matt and I attended a fun birthday party this past weekend. The theme was "Cookies and Beer."

As a person who is sixteen weeks pregnant, I am neither partaking in sugar nor beer, but I wanted to go nonetheless. (Did I mention that Matt is also not eating sugar in my presence, out of solidarity?)

I decided that I would make ice-cream cookie sandwiches as my contribution to the party, while Matt took a different route and opted to make cookies without sugar. I was skeptical, but, fortunately, he proved me wrong. He used mashed up bananas, butter, soy milk, dried cherries, oatmeal, sundry spices, and sunflower seeds (following this recipe) to make a pretty decent "cookie." They definitely can't compete with a good ol' sugar-laden cookie, but they were definitely a nice treat nonetheless. The dried cherries made all the difference.

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Wart Removal

I seem to have a wart developing on my hand. It's the first one I've had since sixth grade. I did a quick google search for natural remedies, and I read about using Apple Cider Vinegar. Apparently, you apply it to a cotton ball and attach it to the affected area with a band-aid twice a day.

It's definitely worth giving it a shot. We'll see what happens!

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September: Reflection & Rejuvenation

Image courtesy the Nikki McClure calendar

Phew! I somehow managed to make it through August. Well, it wasn't so bad. It was just a lot of work to make it not bad.

The month started with a trip to Las Vegas for a national conference. I spent a lot of time in July preparing for the conference. We took at side trip to Zion National Park in Utah, and I had to make sure that I didn't overexert my pregnant self while hiking. It was also challenging to continue to eat healthy food and to stay hydrated.

Then I was thrust into getting ready for school. It would have been so easy for me to spend all day and night getting stuff ready because I enjoy doing it, but I had to remind myself to make time for rest and rejuvenation. I also had to make time for exercise (despite the sweltering Houston heat!) and cooking meals and keeping up with my chores (which I neglected to do for three whole weeks!). I've also been trying to make time for naps.

Overall, I've been doing a really good job with balancing everything; it's just taken a lot of metacognition and willpower and coaching and cajoling. I really want to honor the work that my body is doing to create a new life. I also want to make time for the rest of me to come to terms with what it means to be a parent and to fully embrace the ways in which our life is about to change.

Here were the intentions I set out for myself at the beginning of the month:

1. Enjoy a mini-vacation with Matt as we trek to Las Vegas for a conference and spend a few extra days at Zion National Park. Yes!
   
2. Have fun participating in my Purposeful Conception course. Yes!
   
3. Accomplish my massive to-do list before school starts. Get to a place where I can actually sit and meditate in my classroom before school starts. I accomplished many, many, many of the things on my list. And I did have time to sit on the floor and meditate (for about 1 minute) before the kids came in on the first day!
   
4. Prepare to present a workshop at a conference in September. Yes! I have the PowerPoint done and the handout ready. It will require probably another 1-2 hours of tweaking before the conference.
   
5. Organize our office. I did this on the last day of the month! It was a huge undertaking. I went through our craft boxes and files to purge, purge, purge. My plan is to tackle one room a month, leading up to the baby's arrival in February. I scheduled the hardest room first.
   
6. Spanish, Spanish, Spanish. Enough said. No, no, no. Aack!
   
7. Finish learning all I can about pregnancy. I'm getting tired of reading about pregnancy. So much of what I read creates a culture of fear. "This could be happening--look for these symptoms!" I think stress is one of the worst things during pregnancy. I'm trying to stay as relaxed as possible. I've been moving on to books about parenting, instead.
8. Relax and rest! I've been trying my very best...

My intentions for the month of September:

• Work on Halloween costume
• Organize the bedroom
• Learn about taking care of an infant (breastfeeding, sleeping, bathing)
• Attend a conference for public Montessori teachers
• Travel to Indiana for an awesome wedding
  
• Work on birth announcements
  
• Relax and rest

I'm looking forward to it!

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Pregnancy Pictures

Erin's Growing Baby Belly from Tim Betler on Vimeo.

I have to confess that Matt and I have not capitalized on the photo op provided by my ever-expanding pregnant belly. We haven't yet come up with a "concept," and it's preventing us from moving forward. Lame, I know.

First, I had the idea that we could bring our camera along on our weekly trip to Whole Foods and we could ask a different random stranger to pose with me each week. Although I like this idea, Matt and I agree that we are both a little too shy to pull this off.

Last week, we agreed that we would make a stop-motion video of my growing belly by taking many, many pictures and putting them all together to make a video. However, we disagreed about how we would take the pictures. I argued that I should wear the same outfit to keep some consistency, and Matt thought I should change my outfit every time.

This week, we decided that we could make a sort of thematic video. I could be planting seeds and watering them and then they could grow into a plant with a seed pod that eventually opens to reveal our baby. Our brains are still spinning with the logistics of this. I think it would work if we make the plant grow on the flat ground, but Matt thinks we should try to make it grow vertically.

Oy vey. Sometimes we are both too stubborn to work on creative projects together. We need to hurry and get our act together because my belly is seriously pooching!

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Minimizing Sugar During Pregnancy

My midwife is kind of strict on the nutrition front. When I was preparing for conception, I looked at the sugar content of my food and tried to keep it below 20 grams for a particular item (since that's the number I had in my head from my friend's birth with my midwife a few years ago).

When I started going to my midwife, I realized the limit was not 20 grams but, instead, 3-6 grams. Gulp! What that means is that I cannot eat things like dried fruit or any type of flavored yogurt or juice. There's simply too much sugar in pretty much everything.

For the first trimester, my midwife gave me permission to eat whatever I needed, in order to get through the first trimester. At the end of my first trimester, she asked me to start filling out a food log to track my eating. The night before the log started, Matt and I were eating at a Mexican restaurant outside of Zion National Park. Unfortunately, I couldn't touch my meal. It made me way too queasy. I pushed some of the food around on my plate to make it look like I had eaten something (who knows why I felt so guilty for not eating something I paid for!). I then informed Matt that we needed to order dessert because I was going to be completely starving if I didn't eat something. I took a few bites of the erupting brownie sundae but then set down my fork, not wanting to binge on sugar simply because my food logging wasn't going to start until the next day.

That was pretty much the last bit I've sugar I've eaten this entire month. I feel so proud of myself! Normally, it is a real struggle for me to keep away from the sweets. I'm good about not buying them at the store, but if I go somewhere where they're being served, it's over. For some reason, that hasn't been the case this month. Perhaps it's because this dietary restriction is relatively new to me, and it's easier to stay motivated in the beginning.

Part of me thinks, however, that I'm not craving sugar because I haven't been eating it. I'm really not sure. This past week alone, I've been able to resist (without much work on my part), such temptations as root beer floats with local ice-cream, Snickers bars on the tables at really boring professional development sessions, hot and fresh donuts, chocolate bars--the list goes on (this is what it's like to work in the public school system!). I haven't had any crazy pregnancy cravings at all. I'm perfectly content to eat healthy foods all day long, including snacks.

Granted, I may be eating my words in a few weeks! But I thought I would share the fact that I am currently a huge fan of minimizing sugar throughout pregnancy. One of my student's moms is due in five weeks, and she has also been on a strict, minimal sugar diet. She reports that she, too, doesn't have any crazy cravings and that she feels great. She also put her family (six children) on a minimal sugar diet, and they didn't have a single illness throughout the entire summer.

I can't find much information about not eating sugar throughout pregnancy, and I honestly haven't talked to my midwife about her rationale (I promise to ask her report back!). But I wanted to offer up my own testimonial, even if it may be premature...

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Halloween Costume

2004 Super-Ego

2006 Rainbow Brite

2007 A Picnic

2008 Scrabble

Last year I got terribly behind with my holidays. The fall holidays seem to come so fast. First it's Halloween and then there's Matt's birthday to prepare for and then Thanksgiving is here and once Thanksgiving has passed, there's no time to prepare for a handmade Christmas. This year, I want to slow down, undertake fun projects, and fully savor each holiday.

So, I hope you can understand why it's August and I'm already talking about Halloween. Plus, I need your creative help!

Since this will be my first (and perhaps only) Halloween as a round, pregnant person (I'll be approximately 6 months pregnant), I have to take full advantage of the opportunity.

Here's what I have so far:

1. A beach ball: This costume would be really easy. I would simply paint a t-shirt to look like a beach ball.
2. A crystal ball reader: My belly would be the crystal ball, and I could pass out little fortunes that read, "Baby says..."

That's it! Please chime in with your ideas!

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