August Babywearer of the Month!

 Meet Ariel!

 

How were you introduced to baby wearing?

Local mamas encouraged me, and the fact that I knew I would need my hands free to chase Kaydee (my 2 yr old) 

How has baby wearing changed your life?

It has made this deployment so much easier by keeping Quinn happy and loving on her- and still being able to keep up with day to day functions. 

Favorite carrier: Tula for sure! I'm all about the convienance of a SSC- and the comfort of the brand. 

Currently in your stash? currently only ssc- I have a standard circles du Solei Tula, a standard full WC girasol ardent cream weft, a beco butterfly. 

Previously owned: a full WC Lisa, a half WC yellow deag, a semi ardent purple weft, a handmade cottonlike moby wrap, a moby, and a no name ring sling. 

What was your biggest struggle?

Trying to learn wrapping! Lol 

Still a work in progress 

What do you wish everyone knew about baby wearing?

It's not just for crunchy hippies!  

It's convienant, great for babies, great for older siblings, and an excellent bonding experience.

(pics to come)

Babywearer of the Month!

Get to know Liz!

Hi! I'm 24 and was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. I joined the Air Force out of high school and got stationed in CA after basic training. Only a few weeks later I met my husband and less than a year later we were married. Shortly after I became pregnant with our son and left the military. Since my husband was (and still is) active duty we remained in CA which is where our babywearing journey begins...

How were you introduced to babywearing?

When Sonshine was born we had been given a Snugli. I wore him a total of twice in it and both times was extremely uncomfortable so I never picked it up again When he was about 5 months old, while I was look into cloth diapers I stumbled upon carriers and decided to give an Ergo a try.

How has babywearing changed your life?

Around the same time I got my Ergo my husband deployed. I was a young new mother who suddenly had to take my baby EVERYWHERE. He was too heavy for his infant carseat but hated sitting in carts so I wore him. It amazed me (and others) how calm he was and would often fall asleep while we were shopping. I decided to look into this babywearing stuff more and later got a mei tai from Nuzzleme Creations. I got a wrap eventually but got frustrated with it and it was left untouched for a long time. I became pregnant with Rosie and delved even deeper into the babywearing world just soaking in information. I decided to dive into wraps and bought a few different ones and a ring sling and practiced with Sonshine. I discovered with the right support and practice wrapping was comfortable, fun and easy.  We moved to South Georgia back in October and was asked to speak at the Moody (AFB) Mommas meeting about babywearing. There was so much interest I began the South Georgia Babywearers and start having playdates, helping organize local events and teaching moms all about babywearing!

What's your favorite carry/carrier?

O My! I'm not sure I could pick just one!! I default to Double Hammock or Ruck carries most days. I always have trouble picking which wrap though since I truly do love everything I have!

What's currently in your stash?

I currently have a Beco Butterfly II "Ever", Nuzzleme Creations UMC MT, BBSlen Pineapple Med. WC Ring Sling, Didymos Pink Punkte 2, Oscha Starry Night Raven 2, Didymos FHI 4, Girasol Snow Rainbow 4,  Natibaby Grey Silk Dandies 4, Hoppediz Timbuktu 6, Didymos OS Lago dyed Plumberry 6, Ellevill Zara Origional dyed hot pink 6, Oscha Roses Aphrodite 6, Oscha Starry Night Orchid 6, EasyCare Prism 6, Natibaby Lutea Sky 6, Natibaby Green/White Tulips 7, Wrapsody Bali Breeze "Presley", Wrapsody "Stella" and an Oscha Roses Eros Toy Sling. I know my stash is currently quite large but both my husband and I wear them plus I teach and I know that my local babywearers really appreciate being able to try out different fabrics, styles and sizes.

What has been your biggest babywearing struggle?

I'm not really sure...I did struggle as I mentioned before with wraps before really learning how to wrap. I struggle with any negativity that comes my way too. I handle it but that doesn't mean it doesn't bother me.

What do you wish everyone knew about babywearing?

OMG it makes life SO much easier! I've survived two deployments, a tdy, and taking two kids ANYWHERE all because of babywearing! I wish everyone knew that babywearing can be super comfy, easy and fun! There are two things that solve 99% of the cries or meltdowns in my house and that's milkies and uppies! <3

One Year!

Rosie is ONE! and so is our blog! I'm a little late writing this due to all the chaos of her birthday and party! My parents came down to help celebrate and we all had a great time! Her party was Minnie Mouse themed- just like my first birthday was! We had the fabulous AK Photography take her birthday pictures and despite the usual non-cooperative Sonshine we managed to get some amazing shots!

I can't believe how she's grown!! One year of breastfeeding and babywearing with my Rosie! She dug right in to her cake (homemade! my mom and I did pretty well I think!) and her presents! Sonshine has since then decided all the presents were actually for him though! My parents got her/them a wagon which has been a HUGE hit. They also set up the light table for us! All that is left is ordering the plexiglass top!

Although in the meantime it is still a train table- we also hope to paint the back sides of the train table top with chalk paint! I really look forward to all the cool things we can do with the light table! I know I've been taking lots of notes from Play At Home Mom.

We have our local babywearing playdates this week and I look forward to seeing and teaching my local mommas more about wearing. I also hope to do a video this week for the Ruck carry for you!

<3 Sonshine & Rose <3

BOLD

I saw a post the other day on Facebook - something along the lines of "Raising a boy is not for the fainthearted".

I Agree.

But raising girls isn't for the fainthearted either.

Honestly, parenting period isn't for the fainthearted.

Fainthearted: Adj. - lacking conviction or boldness or courage

I don't know a single fainthearted parent.We may be fainthearted as a person...but never as a parent.

I say this because I wanted to share a story of something a friend of mine did recently. She was traveling and while at the airport witnessed a woman yelling at a young mother for nursing her baby. What my friend did next speaks volumes to me about the kind of woman she is and brings tears to my eyes.

She walked over and sat down and started nursing her baby next to the other mother.

That lady who was yelling? I wish I could of seen her jaw drop as she walked away! 

I applaud you my dear friend! YOU made a DIFFERENCE in that young mother's life! 

And all of you? maybe...just maybe this story will give you the courage to stand up to anyone that bullies you or another mother for taking care of their child. Don't be fainthearted friends <3

***UPDATE 8/14/2013***

My dear friend received a message from that young mother recently and she has made it to 6 months of nursing and is going strong thanks to my friend who supported her in such an awful scenario!

And here's a picture of Rose yesterday thanks to sweet big brother who gave her CHOCOLATE while mommy wasn't looking:

TuTu Cute: A Baby Monsters Boutique Review

Hi everyone! A few weeks ago a lovely mama friend from Baby Monsters Boutique sent me an ADORABLE Ladybug tutu outfit and I decided since I still had Rose's Ladybug wings from Halloween and dug up some red and black polka dot Babylegs that it would be super cute as one of her outfits for her 9 month pictures with A K Photography .

As you can see Rose doesn't exactly enjoy having wings...or anything on her head...a constant battle between the two of us since I absolutely ADORE headbands and even have a few matching ones for the two of us. However the tutu dress was extremely impressive as it held up amazingly to Rose's tugging and attempts to destroy it! It came with a cute matching flower that could be worn on the dress or put on a headband. My little Ladybug looked so sweet!

Baby Monsters Boutique has a lot to choose from so go check her out! She's very affordable and amazing to work with!

And...Rose wasn't the only Ladybug in the house...Sonshine decided he really liked it too...

Hey there are boy ladybugs too!

It's SPRING?!

I've been SO busy! Time just got away from me!! So let me recap what's been happening since this new year! I've lost 21 lbs total so far and have been pretty good about logging on MyFitnessPal and going to the gym almost every day when we go get daddy from work. I've been working on getting the South Georgia Babywearers group going and our lending library together.

We also traveled to see some family and my parents spent some time here with us. Sonshine turned 3 earlier this month and we had a LOT of appointments for him since he was transferring from Babies Can't Wait to the school system for his speech therapy. Speaking of which Sonshine has been progressing SO well! I hear him talking to himself right now as he looks for a missing toy piece and now he ran over to me to tell me about the eyes he found (Mr. Potato Head's). Last night after I read him his story, while we waited on Daddy to come in after putting Rosie down, he came over to me and starting singing (a jibberish song) and stroked my face- something I've done to him countless times- he then kissed me. Then, after I told him "I Love You", he responded "I ove ooo too" in his sweet little voice. It wasn't the first time he's told me that but it melts my heart every time- I've waited a long time to hear those words from him and it took almost three years to hear them. Sure I knew he loved me- he has said it in many other ways over the years but hearing it is just the best. <3

So now Sonshine goes to "school" once a week for two hours. He had his first day last week and absolutely LOVED it. They said he said all his letters (he may not talk much but he has those down pat!) and got the hang of the scissors really quick despite not ever having used them before (and now he tries to steal MY scissors when I'm using them). We've also been doing a lot of activities here together.

Practicing his letter shapes (templates can be found at Play At Home Mom and we used these dabbers from amazon )

We got to color on the windows and see the light shine through the different colors (we used Crayola Window Markers with Crystal Effects which wiped off VERY easily when we were done)

We also planted some herbs and veggies together with Bobo (my mom) and Sonshine LOVED getting to put the seeds in!

 

 

Anyways I'll be making more of an effort to post and look forward to getting out of the house for lots of fun summer activities for my babies! <3

 

2013: Bring it on!

Do you have new year resolutions this year? of course you do! I know I have them every year! Every day even! They rarely get achieved though...although maybe I don't give myself enough credit- it HAS been a crazy 5 years since I graduated high school and joined the air force. I went through Basic then to California where learned Korean and I met my husband and married him a little less than a year later! Then I got pregnant, left active duty, had Sonshine, went through a deployment, got pregnant again, went through another deployment and had Rose. Then we moved cross country...that's a pretty crazy 5 years for me! SO this year...although we will be busy I WILL achieve my goals!

1. I would like to get down to a healthy weight again- I've already started losing and look forward to making my goal which is set at 145lbs (high end of "healthy" BMI) and my best friend's wedding (yayyyy!) will be later in the year so I HAVE to look great!

2. Plan two AWESOME parties- Sonshine's birthday will be Phineas & Ferb themed- with a huge emphasis on his favorite- Perry and Rose's birthday will be Minnie mouse themed- just like MY first birthday was!

3. FINALLY get Rose's nursery together and Sonshine's new room

4. Start couponing and meal planning to save us money- I was couponing before I got pregnant with Rose and hubby deployed but lately (especially with the move) I only grab the coupons they have at the store. I have, however, been meal planning more but I'm still not very good at it.

5. Organize the house- its still pretty chaotic since we moved in and then the holidays happened.

That's it...it's a lot for me! 

I have a lot to look forward to this year too! Rose still has a LOT of first's coming up- she will start walking this year and have her first birthday! She will also be getting the rest of her teeth and hopefully start growing some beautiful blonde locks! Sonshine will turn 3 and hopefully, with the help of a speech therapist, start communicating a lot more. 

I also plan on doing a lot here on Sonshine & Roses! I'll post more babywearing videos, babywearing info, recipes, my house, and anything else I want to share! So I hope you'll join me this year and thanks for a great 2012!