Santa Barbara Natural Mama

Garden Inspirations

2012-02-03T18:42:00.001-08:00

Birthday Ring

2012-02-03T18:39:00.000-08:00

We use our Grimms Birthday Ring as a table centerpiece for dinner every night.

A Waldorf-Style Bedroom

2012-02-03T18:37:00.000-08:00

Make Your Own Waldorf Dolls

2011-12-21T08:43:00.000-08:00

Perfect for the new-to doll-making, Weir Dolls makes simple kits with everything you need to make a Waldorf doll for your sweetie. I made this little babe-in-a-sling in just over an hour.

Winter Nature Table

2011-12-10T19:54:00.001-08:00

Mini Pine Cone Christmas Trees

2011-12-10T19:37:00.000-08:00

We have these mini pine cones in our neighborhood. My girls like collecting them and adding them to the nature table, or using them in their play cooking. Yesterday we thought of another idea to put these cute little pine cones to use: mini Christmas trees for our dinner table. We are incorporating a little of advent into our dinner routine. To be honest, I don't completely understand the whole thing, but I do know each week has to do with a specific kingdom. First mineral, then plant, then animal, and lastly man. Since we are now in the second week, it was perfect timing adding this tree.

We used cardboard from an instant (don't judge!;)) oatmeal box, and cut a little stretched-out "U" shape. Then we rolled it into a cone, and taped it down. Lastly, we covered it, section-by-section, with glue (I used a mini hot glue gun, which doesn't get the glue too hot, so Isla could actually *very carefully* help me place the pine cones.

The Closet

2011-11-16T19:55:00.000-08:00

After painting the girls' room, I was stumped on what to do about the closet. I had rolled it white, and it was begging to be painted. Isla had the idea: rainbow with a gold star! So I did it, and we love it.

The silk banner on the wall is easy to make. We used some of the silk we had dyed, cut rectangles, outlined letters (I was shooting for an anthroposophy-type font), painted them gold, sewed the tops down by hand, and finally threaded a gold ribbon through them. We left the edges raw like prayer flags.

DIY Fabric Frames

2011-11-07T21:13:00.000-08:00

I love this old picture that I had pinned up on the girls' wall, poster-style, but it didn't look quite right. It needed a frame, and I didn't have one that size on hand. I made this silk "frame" for it by cutting thin, long strips of silk and braiding it. Then I pinned it at the corners around the picture, and tied the loose ends together.

Giveaway

2011-11-06T20:37:00.000-08:00

My favorite co-op Waldorf website - CedarRingCircle.com - is offering a giveaway right now. Check it out.

Roots and Wings School Takes Off!

2011-11-04T12:27:00.000-07:00

Wow! What an epic afternoon! Everything came together this week for our "Roots and Wings" mama-toddler "school" we mamas started up. The theme this week was fire, and it was woven throughout our afternoon. The children prepared baked potatoes with oil and salt, poked holes in them with a fork, and wrapped them with foil, and we cooked them with fire in the oven. While the last kids were finishing up, we got to check out Cash's awesome fire gear and fireman books. Then we had circle time and learned firemen songs and then lit a candle for story time. Mama Amrita read a Native American book about how Coyote steals fire, and then teaches the other animals in the forest how to make fire. After that, we walked down to the beach and the children helped to build a fire pit! They dug out a pit, lined it with stones they found on the beach, and then found some sticks and driftwood. Thanks to Mama Heather we had a real fire! The children observed how the fire felt (hot!), smelled (smoky), and sounded (crackly), and then everyone ran down to the water for some play time. After that the children carried buckets of sea water to dump on the fire. (We made sure it was all the way out!) Lastly, we headed back to the house where we enjoyed our baked potatoes together after a blessing song led by Mama Emma.

Happy Time and Hard Time

2011-10-30T14:46:00.000-07:00

Isla and I have a little moment each evening when we check in with each other. Sometimes it's before we even eat dinner, but usually it happens when we are lying down in bed, after saying our nighttime blessing. We call it "Hard time, and happy time," and it started out spontaneously about a year ago, when I knew she had had a hard day. All it is is a moment to share one (or more!) hard time and one happy time that we each remember from the day. I make sure I don't make her feel responsible for any of my hard times, so I never say anything like, "My hard time was when you threw a huge tantrum on the grocery store floor!" or anything like that. I love this little connection, and it often gives me real insight into her day and her heart. She tells me things like, "My hard time was when *so-and-so* threw water on me at lunchtime at school," or "My happy time was when Lyra shared her special doll with me." It is so sweet. I think/hope it will continue into her teenage years...

I came up with the idea after reading somewhere about a mom and daughter who kept a journal to each other. The mom would write to the daughter, and leave the journal on her bed. Then, the daughter would write back to her mom, and leave it on her mom's bed. It went back and forth this way for years, and they had great communication and mutual understanding largely because of it. I'd like to maybe start doing that when the girls are older.

Fall Dinner Table Centerpieces

2011-10-28T17:36:00.000-07:00

My oldest has fun decorating the dinner table with me every morning with items that are the color of the day. Here we have:

Saturday - blue

Tuesday - red

Sunday - white and light blue

Friday - green

Thursday - orange

*For the pumpkin soup pictured on Thursday's table - make a chicken noodle (or veggie noodle) soup and add chunks of cooked pumpkin.

Lazure Painting the Kids' Room for $40 in One Day

2011-10-28T16:37:00.000-07:00

I loved the color of the girls' room. A bright golden, yellow-orange - the same color my room was as a teenager. But for my two firecrackers, I think it was a little much for them energetically. For $40 (plus the cost of watercolors, if you don't already have those) I did a re-do, attempting a lazure-faux style, similar to what I've seen in Waldorf pre-schools, specifically like the Waldorf pre-school in Cuernavaca.

Materials:

1 gallon of Swiss Coffee-colored paint (Or 1 quart if you don't need to paint over the existing color)

Stockmar watercolors in blue, red, and yellow

Rags (I managed it with two)

Plates or bowls for mixing colors

I started by painting over the yellow-orange with one coat of "Swiss Coffee" and let it dry. Then, after the girls went to bed, I put a little of the paint on a paper plate and mixed in some Stockmar watercolor in red to make a rosy pink color. I mixed the paint with some water and used an old rag to rub it on the walls. Then I mixed a little blue watercolor into the paint to make the lavender color and tried to blend it in a little. Then I made blue for above the lavender, and above that, green then yellow. I mixed lavender with pink to make a darker color to go around all of the windows, along the floorboards, and in the corners of the room, to give some dimension. Isla's response when she saw it the next morning made it worth staying up until 2 am finishing up!

Play Food

2011-10-20T19:09:00.000-07:00

The best play food we've found is actually not even intended to be play food. My needle felting wool has doubled as the most excellent food in the girls' play kitchen. They use a bunch of colors to make all kinds of "food" and really enjoy being able to manipulate it, which they can't do with the wooden food. And it's way less messy than play-doh.

Fall Bouquet and Crown

2011-10-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

Elsie Marley made a beautiful yellow leaf crown that I quickly became obsessed with. My attempt at it, with Baby crawling over me and Toddler grabbing at it, came out much less professional looking, but it was still fun. I followed Elsie's instructions: cut off stems, layer leaves, fold over a bit and whip-stitch with a needle and thread. It was not really sturdy enough, so then I whip-stitched a pipe cleaner in the inside, and it was better. Isla wanted to wear it upside down, which was also cute.

The color for Tuesday is red, and the Fall leaves in our neighborhood made a perfect bouquet for the dinner table.

The Week

2011-10-18T16:59:00.000-07:00

Wednesday - Spaghetti Squash Pasta

2011-10-18T16:40:00.000-07:00

Wednesday is yellow! We made spontaneous spaghetti squash and both girls ate it up!

I think it helps calling it pasta.

Spaghetti squash

Olive oil

Salt and Pepper

Parmesan cheese

Tomatoes

Basil

Balsamic

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Halve a spaghetti squash, scoop out the seeds, and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place cut side down on a cookie sheet and cook until you can easily pierce the skin with a knife (45 minutes?). When it's fully cooked, remove from oven, drag a fork through it to "get the noodles out" and top with sliced tomatoes, chopped basil, and shaved parmesan. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic.

Lady of the Harvest

2011-10-11T17:05:00.000-07:00

Kathy Neely teaches needle felting at Santa Barbara Waldorf one Monday night a month. It is a bargain at $10 per class, which includes all of your materials. I had never made a "human" figure before, so I wanted to get a little help with my first one. I had the best time with the other mamas, and made this 8" Lady of the Harvest to celebrate Autumn. Isla is enamored. I left the doll on our nature table by the front door so that Isla could discover her on her own. She found her early on and has spent the day cuddling and nursing her doll, and making her cozy beds.

Their Space

2011-10-11T16:18:00.000-07:00

Always evolving.

Our School!

2011-10-06T12:29:00.001-07:00

I'm so excited to start our school! Actually, I guess it's more of a group or gathering, just a handful of mamas and their kids, meeting up once a week for adventures and discoveries, art, cooking, craft and music. To get in the spirit of things, we picked out some books that go along with the themes we chose for October... And here they are at our ever-changing Fall Nature Table (with the pumpkins from the yard!)

A Waldorf-Style Play Space

2011-10-06T12:14:00.001-07:00

The Play Space

Sprout Your Own Lentils

2011-10-05T13:17:00.001-07:00

I don't know if it's everyone's kids or just mine who love sprouted lentils. My oldest eats them as a main course. They're so easy to do - Just fill a mason jar or a large cup 1/4 full of lentils and then fill the rest of the way up with distilled water. Cover the top with a thin cloth (we used some napkins) and set out of the sun somewhere on your counter. After 12 hours (or overnight), drain the water, and fill to the top again. This time, pour out the water right away. Rinse like this once or twice a day for a few days, and you'll have sprouted lentils! Transfer them to a baggy (don't zip it, though) and keep in the fridge.

Pumpkins!

2011-10-05T13:11:00.000-07:00

Striving to give the girls a sense of connection to the seasons, we planted pumpkins in the front yard. They didn't get in the ground until a few weeks after the ideal window, so we weren't sure what the result would be. Much to our delight the pumpkins have finally started to turn orange! It looks like they might even make it in time for Halloween :)

A Steiner-Inspired Meal Plan: Monday

2011-10-03T21:02:00.000-07:00

Monday:

The color is purple, and the grain is rice.

Tonight we made a lentil soup recipe courtesy of my dear friend Kristin, and tweaked it via suggestions of my dear friend Emma.

Put

1 cup of rinsed red lentils in a pot with

1/4 cup brown or green rice

4 cups distilled water

1 onion, peeled and cut up into small chunks

into a pot and bring to a boil

turn down to a simmer, and simmer for 30 min.

add

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon rosemary (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

juice of one lemon

Since Monday's color is purple, we added our natural food coloring from Whole Foods, made from purple carrot extract. We made Jiffy (don't judge me!) blueberry muffins and put food coloring in those as well, and served it in purple bowls. We had purple candles and amethyst on the table and drank wine! (The girls had water in purple cups ;))

Alpaca Festival

2011-10-03T20:45:00.000-07:00

We are obsessed with llamas. Our family coffee house, Lucky Llama Coffee, is opening this Winter, and we are into everything llama. Seeing as there are no llamas in Santa Barbara (that I'm aware of!) we settle for alpacas. Settle is a bad word, since we love alpacas as well. They are just like llamas, only smaller, softer, sweeter, and more timid. What is not to love? Luckily my friend Tammy let us know about the Alpaca Festival last month at Canzelle Alpacas, in Carpinteria, and gave us the heads up. Isla got to ride alpacas, pet 4 day old baby alpacas, and feed them! It was such a fun day! If you missed the festival, they do tours on the first Saturday of the month for $35. Check out the website for details: www.canzelle.com.

DIY Silk Canopy

2011-10-03T20:31:00.000-07:00

We love silk canopies. Love. But they are expensive! So, we bought the silk from the Waldorf supply co-op we are a part of: www.Cedarringcircle.com and dyed our own. For $4 something a yard, we dyed our own silk canopies and they came out great! We had leftover dye from Isla's "Trippy Hippy" party, but I'm sure any dye would do. Most people seem to use watercolor as dye, so we'll use that next time and report back with results. Anyway, we cut silk to size, got it wet, and squirted it with dye. Then I rolled it and bunched it to mix-mash the colors. I wanted the canopy to be pastel, so I rinsed the whole thing off right when we were done dying it. Then I just let it dry outside. To finish the edges, I rolled them and did a whip-stitch around them. Easy! *If you are not a co-op member of Cedar Ring Circle (you should be! Hurry, while they're still accepting new members!), you can order your silk from Dharma Trading. We used the 45" wide 8mm silk habotai. Right now they are being used as curtains in the girls' room, but they are easily whipped down for spontaneous play!

Fall Leaves Candle Holder

2011-10-03T20:11:00.000-07:00

We celebrate Autumn with plenty of nature walks to check out the trees. Luckily, in our neighborhood, we have lots of maple trees, which have leaves that turn color and fall. On these walks, we collect the beautiful yellow, orange, and red leaves and bring them home to press in a big book. We do all kinds of fun projects with the pressed leaves: 1. sandwich between clear contact paper and then cut around. Hang these from any ring from fish line or thread to create Fall mobiles or 2. use as-is as leaf decoration or do the contact paper/cut out thing and use as leaf wands (my daughter's invention!). 3. Mod-podge a bunch of them around an old, short, wide vase to make an awesome Autumn candle-holder (see picture...*Project from Twig and Toadstool*)

The Perfect October Day!

2011-10-02T15:27:00.000-07:00

How does the Santa Barbara Mama celebrate Autumn? There are so many amazing ways to do this in and near Santa Barbara. Wanting to really embrace the season, we set out for a Fall-themed day. First, we drove to Santa Ynez to "Seeing Spot Farm" (www.seeinspotfarm.com) to ride mini donkeys, feed huge turkeys, and pet goats. While we were there we picked four varieties of apples. The drive wasn't bad at all - about half an hour from Santa Barbara. On the way back, just before turning onto the 154, we stopped at Summerset Farms to pick our own blackberries and raspberries, and sang the blackberry picking song from the Magic Garden, kids 4 kids CD I mentioned in an earlier post:

"Come along, come along to blackberry hill; the berries are ripe, you can pick them until your tongue is all purple, your fingers are sore. Oh, but let's keep on searching for sweet ones. The green ones are bitter, and too hard to pick. They're sour and they're bitter; you're sure to get sick. The red ones are warning, 'we aren't yet black! We'll be riper tomorrow - be sure to check back!' ...over the hill, where the honey suckle grows, there's a very special place where nobody knows. You can't go in, unless you're brave. It's a prickly, stickery blackberry cave. Prickly, stickery blackberry cave. You can't go in unless you're brave, but I have my boots on and very long sleeves, and I know I'll be safe when I'm hiding beneath the leaves. Tug a tug tug, tug a tug tug, there are prickles - beware! but the berries are calling, 'Come and pick us if you dare!'"

There we also picked up the awesome "Australian Blue" pumpkin you see here at Isla's ever-changing nature table.

We came home and decided to make some tea with some of the apples. To make it extra festive, we hollowed out some apples to make cups (kind of falls into the "easier said than done" category, but if I can do it I know you can!). To make the tea, we cut 1" chunks of apple and put them in a pot with drinking water (one apple per cup of water... as a rule I'd use one small apple per person at your tea party). Then we let it simmer for maybe seven or eight minutes. We strained out the chunks and poured the tea into the apple cups. To fancy it up, we put a little cinnamon sugar in it. I would have liked to have cinnamon sticks to stir it, but we didn't have any this time. With the leftover chunks in the pot we made "crustless apple pie" by spooning them into bowls and sprinkling with cinnamon sugar. So easy!

We finished off the day with the Apple Story, author unknown, and some parts changed to please my kid: A young girl has played with her toys all day, and now does not know what to do. She goes to her mother and asks her what she should do next. Her mother tells her that she can look for a little red house, with no windows or doors that has a star inside. The little girl goes to her grandfather and asks him if he knows where there might be a little red house, with no windows or doors, with a star inside. He does not know, but tells her to ask her grandmother. So the young girl goes to her grandmother and asks her if she knows where there might be a little red house, with no windows or doors, with a star inside. The grandmother does not know, but tells the little girl to ask Father Sun. The little girl asks Father Sun where there might be a little red house, with no windows or doors, with a star inside. Father Sun replies that he does not know, but that the little girl should ask Sister Wind. The little girl goes to find Sister Wind. She asks her where there might be a little red house, with no windows or doors, with a star inside. Sister Wind replies, "Whoooooooooooooooo," which sounds like, "Follow meeeeeeeeeeee," so the little girl follows the wind out to the orchard, where she sees an apple on the ground. "A little red house with no windows or doors!" she cries, and runs home to show her mother. But then she asks her mother about the star inside. Her mother cuts the apple in half (we did this at this point in the story) crosswise, not lengthwise, to reveal the star in the middle of the apple!

I love this story, because I remember the exact point when I discovered the star in the middle of an apple: My pre-school teacher had shown it to me. I thought it was incredible, and Isla was very pleased with the story. What a great day!

Autumn Cleaning and Beautiful Handmade Toys

2011-09-25T16:03:00.001-07:00

I am in the process of getting rid of at least 75% of our earthly possessions. I felt like all I did was clean, and still our house always looked like a hurricane just came through. My girls had too many toys, most of which they never played with. So, out with (almost) everything cheap or plastic, as well as all of the non-handmade soft toys and dolls, unless it was something one of the girls really loved. We donated the books that weren't favorites and the clothes that hadn't been worn for a while. The result is a house that is always clean and in order! Yay! I still pick up a little all day, but the house looks a million times better than before, with much less effort. Even better is that the girls really play with the toys they have, since there is much easier access to their favorite things. We've noticed that the toys Isla gets out are played with for a much longer period of time, and she never asks to watch movies anymore! Another huge plus is that I feel so much less stressed. Less is more!

Anyway, needless to say we are not really in the market for more toys. However, I just stumbled upon this great website for natural, waldorf inspired toys. It's called Sage Dream Design, and has the sweetest playscapes and dolls made from wool, and her things are so magical I may just spring for a couple.

Waldorf Window Stars

2011-09-23T13:14:00.001-07:00

I love Waldorf window stars, and was so excited to try my hand at a couple. It's a really easy DIY project, and was fun for me, but I'm trying to find a way to make it fun (i.e. not frustrating!) for my 3 year-old. We found this great tutorial online, on one of my favorite Waldorf-crafty blogs, Twig and Toadstool, and used the same colors since they were perfect for this time of year. I'm excited to decorate our house in honor of the season, since you can't always tell by looking outside!

These window stars are made from kite paper, and you can find it in packs online. The paper I had was 6x6, so there was a left-over strip of paper after cutting out the rectangles for each piece. I cut that strip in half to make the smaller window star you see in the picture, and the same pattern worked for that. The next project I'll post is dying silk... you can see the purple and turquoise piece I did this afternoon drying on the chairs in the background of the first picture. It was my first try, so we'll see how it turns out!

My Natural and Organic Sugar Cookie Recipe

2011-09-23T12:53:00.000-07:00

In search of more Autumn crafts and projects, Isla and I decided to make cookies in Fall-inspired shapes, and frost them in the color of the season. We came up with our own version of the classic, to make these cookies a little more on the natural side. I am a big advocate of less sugar for kids, so we made these "sugar" cookies with hardly any sugar. To make them sweet, we glazed them with a little *wince* store-bought frosting which we made orange with natural food coloring. We bought our food coloring from Whole Foods, but if you are crafty in the kitchen, you can make a good orange using tumeric (for the yellow) and beet extract (for the red), and mixing it all together. Our make-shift cookie recipe:

1 c. organic unsalted butter at room temp.

1/2 to 3/4 c. (up to you) organic sweetener (we used evaporated cane juice)

2 eggs

3 teaspoons vanilla

2 3/4 c. organic all purpose whole wheat flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix up the butter, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Combine dry ingredients in another bowl. Stir in the dry to the wet a little at a time. Pat the dough into a ball and pop in the fridge, covered, for 3 hours or overnight.

Flour a cutting board and roll out the dough. Cut with cookie cutters and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet (or line with foil) and bake approximately 8 minutes at 350F. While cookies are in the oven, if you are using store-bought frosting like me, scoop some out into a bowl, add food coloring and mix together. Let cookies cool before frosting.

Autumn Nature Table / Playscape

2011-09-20T16:56:00.000-07:00

I love the Fall! Isla's Autumn Nature Table is always changing, and she spent a lot of time and care making it just right this afternoon. She uses it like a playscape and has fun finding new things to add to it. We walked the neighborhood in search of Fall leaves, and were lucky to find a bunch right around the corner. All of the extras we are in the process of pressing, and then we'll mod-podge them onto a short, squatty glass vase for a candle-holder centerpiece for the dinner table. I'm hoping the pumpkins from our garden will be ready soon so we can add one to the Fall scape. Later this week, if it stays chilly, I plan on making apple cider and we can serve it in cups made from apples!

Wonderfully Odd New Kids Books

2011-07-29T17:53:00.000-07:00

The Worry Woo books by Andi Green are so great. I am drawn to the uniqueness of the collection. They are whimsical and strange, and have sweet messages. They kind of remind me of the Serendipity books by Stephen Cosgrove that I grew up reading, but with a more current vibe. You can get plush dolls to go with the books, which I was a sucker for. We started with Rue, the monster of insecurity, but now have four books in our collection. I like "The Nose That Didn't Fit" because it teaches little Rue that it isn't his nose that's the problem; it's just how he sees it. Nola learns that friends are all around her, and that they can come in all shapes and sizes, Squeek learns to take calculated risks so he can enjoy life, and Fuddle learns how to make decisions and stop worrying about what the "best" thing is. Cute.

Magical Willow Forts

2011-07-29T12:54:00.000-07:00

My husband made this fort for the girls by planting willow stalks at four points and then bending them to meet and tying them together. There are a ton of YouTube videos to help. It will, theoretically, fill in (the stalks have just started to sprout) and there are plans for windows and a tunnel, but until then it's fun to tie up some play silks for walls. We hung some crystals and shells inside and I kind of want to live there. Cost: $0

Or, another option is this little GardenFort, which comes with three kinds of seeds and is $70 on magiccabin.com.

Baby Doll Friends

2011-07-28T10:46:00.000-07:00

Lyra and Isla love baby dolls. And not just White girls. We get strange looks from people at the zoo or grocery store when Isla carries around any of her babies that aren't of the blonde haired, blue eyed variety. When the brave passer-by questions why her baby is Asian or Black, we smile and tell her we have lots of different friends. Some are Black, some are White, some are animals. Santa Barbara is pretty lacking in diversity, but that doesn't mean Isla's toys have to be!

Mer-Baby Outfit

2011-07-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

Why did I not own this when Lyra was a newbie? $18 for this sweet get-up... I love etsy.

Needle-felting Natural Toys

2011-07-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been trying my hand at needle-felting. Isla loves the little dolls and spends hours playing with them. She loves them so much that her choice for a present for her teachers was a felted doll. I made a rendition of her amazing teachers at both of the schools she attended, and the first picture is of the "Miss Jeannie" doll. I thought the teacher appreciation doll was such a cute idea I made customizable options on my etsy store, NatureBaby.

Magical Music for Mellow Play Time

2011-07-24T09:18:00.000-07:00

I've really noticed how music affects the mood in our house, to the point where I've temporarily shelved the spazzy, silly kids' music and replaced it with these two albums: The Magic Garden by Diane Tatum and Come Follow Me!, by Lorraine Nelson Wolf. They are both kind of mellow and inspire hours of imaginative, magical play time.

The Best Toddler Movies

2011-03-22T20:16:00.001-07:00

In my opinion, Disney movies, and actually 99% of all kids movies are totally inappropriate for toddlers. It seems like almost all of them involve either scary villains or parents who die. I don't want my daughters exposed to either of those themes right now. Ideally, I would have liked to wait until Isla was three before introducing her to the television, but that wasn't our reality. We tried a couple of movies ("Finding Nemo" and "Dot and the Kangaroo") that ended up being much too scary for her, before I remembered an old favorite of mine: My Neighbor Totoro. By the same director we have my daughter's favorite: Ponyo. Totally appropriate for a 2.5 year-old, it is sweet and magical, and I can actually stand watching it more than once. Isla likes to snuggle a little felted wool version while she watches, and then uses it for imaginary play after.

A Green Valentine's Day

2011-02-21T12:29:00.000-08:00

I was especially inspired to throw a green Valentine's Day bash since green is the color of the heart chakra. Making the decision to have the party with just a couple of weeks to plan, I scoured the internet for ideas on how to throw an eco-friendly age-appropriate Valentine's Day party for toddlers. I was actually surprised by how little I found to help me. What would two year-olds like to do at the party that would go with the theme? I also wanted to use materials I had vs. buying new. I settled on three crafts: Card Making, Pasta Necklaces, Felt King and Queen of Hearts Crowns.

For the cards, I cut out heart shapes from newspapers and magazines that were on their way to the recycling bin. I then cut hearts out of paper Isla had colored on, which was also on it's way to the recycling. I glued the un-colored-on side of the heart facing out onto the newspaper heart, and set up a table with eco-friendly, non-toxic paints (I used the Clementine brand from Lazy Acres), glue by the same brand, and some feathers I had left over from other crafts.

For the pasta necklaces, I found some all-natural food coloring from Whole Foods. The red was made with two ingredients: beet root extract and hibiscus extract. The purple was just purple carrot extract. I used spinach pasta, un-dyed, and whole wheat pasta, un-dyed, and then dyed some "regular" pasta with the red and purple dye. To do this, put some pasta in a plastic baggie. Add a few drops of the food coloring, and a few drops of white vinegar. Smoosh around until evenly coated. (Isla loved this project!) Then spread out on newspaper to dry. I used some yarn I had lying around to string it, and I dipped the ends of it in some paint so that it would harden, and be easier for little hands to string it.

The felt crowns were easy: cut crown shapes out of felt and sew together at the sides. Cut out hearts, leaves, flowers, etc. out of felt and cotton fabric. I also put out paints which were left over from Lyra's baby shower, and also happened to be pink! Since I was crunched for time, I didn't sew on buttons and make slits in the shapes like I did for Isla's birthday party. Instead, that was a "mama-help" station, where the kids could pick out the shapes they wanted to use, and the mamas sewed a stitch in the middle of them to keep them on.

Isla made the goodie bags. We used brown paper sacks and I drew heart shapes with the non-toxic natural glue. She then sprinkled them with candy sprinkles we were given a few years back, but don't cook with ;). Another option for this would be to sprinkle the glue hearts with sand, and decorate the bag with a feather. In the goodie bags were some trinkets Isla had picked out from my craft materials bin: polished abalone shells and feathers. Her grandmother also came by with some musical treats we threw in the bags. We left the goodie bags relatively empty, figuring the kids could fill them with the crafts they made. Some of the kids brought valentines for everyone, and the bags were perfect to store those in.

For treats, Isla and I made little mini carrot cakes, dyed purple and pink with the beet and carrot extract dyes, with frosting using the same dyes. We decorated them with dried goji berries, cranberries, and blueberries.

We made Love Potion out of coconut water and the purple carrot extract dye. I had wanted to make little heart-shaped ice cubes using the red dye, but ran out of time. Some of our guests brought fun things like apples cut in the shape of hearts, open-faced strawberry cream cheese heart-shaped sandwiches, no sugar added oatmeal treats, etc. We also put out some totally unrelated green spinach dinos, pretzels, and whole wheat pasta with cheese.

As for what I'd do differently, I definitely should have had some full-body activities. Our little pink plastic car outside could have had a tag on it: The Love Bug. Tunnels could have been put out and dubbed: The Tunnels of Love. Our swinging chair, always a toddler favorite: The Love Seat... Maybe next year <3

The Birth of Lyra

2011-02-21T11:51:00.000-08:00

We were so happy to be able to have our second baby born at home, just like her big sister. We were beside ourselves to be able to have the experience of being the only ones in the house when Lyra was born. Of course we didn't plan to deliver the baby on our own. We had a plan, and the best team of midwives around. They were waiting by their phones, and sped over the minute Ryan called. They were there in less than ten minutes!... but Lyra was out of my womb and in my arms in less time than that! It was the most perfect, intimate experience either of us had ever been a part of. And the first midwife, Anna Bunting, was there within a minute or two of Lyra's birth to make sure everything was perfect, and to deliver the placenta.

Awesome Anatomically Correct Baby Dolls

2010-09-24T16:03:00.000-07:00

I buy only cloth-bodied or anatomically correct baby dolls for Isla, since the realistic bodied type with no genitalia freak me out. Cool anatomically correct dolls are hard to find, though, so I am always casually looking. Luckily, you can get really cute (and non-toxic!) ones locally, from Summer for Kids in Montecito (or on their website). Pictured is their European Boy with underwear, and they also have a girl and a newborn girl. Unfortunately at the moment they only offer White babies, but I've inquired about it and they do have plans to carry other ethnicities as well.

The other company I like for dolls is Berenguer. Pictured is the Asian Baby Girl. The website is a little strange, but I ordered a newborn doll for Isla (to be the present from her soon-to-be baby sister) and it came in the mail quickly and in really nice packaging.

Blessing Way for Baby Lyra

2010-09-24T14:52:00.001-07:00

When I was pregnant with Isla, I secretly pined for a Blessing Way, even though I wasn't entirely sure of what that was. And I don't think very many of my friends (if any!) had ever even heard of it. I had a gorgeous baby shower that was fancy and lovely, and we had every guest decorate a quilt square that we later made into an incredible quilt for Isla. I felt incredibly lucky.

After the birth, I joined a mamatoto group, and met dozens of incredible mamas, a large handful of whom would become some of my closest friends. This pregnancy, I was lucky enough to be thrown another beautiful baby shower, and later, my mamatoto friends threw me a Blessing Way! What is the difference? Including my own, I've attended only two Blessing Ways, so I am by no means an expert, but here's what I've noticed: like a shower, a Blessing Way honors the mother and the baby on the way. However, traditional showers seem to focus on the gifts, and Blessing Ways feel more spiritual. The showers I've attended go something like this: guests arrive, eat, play games, and watch the mother-to-be open presents.

The Blessing Ways were like this: each guest brings a dish and a special token to decorate for a secret project for the baby or the mother-to-be (no traditional wrapped gifts). The gathering is generally smaller, and more intimate. Guests pamper the mother-to-be with foot rubs, belly casting, henna, etc. Then, a long strand of string or ribbon is stretched around the group so each guest holds onto a point while they take turns saying a blessing for the mama-to-be, the baby, and the birth. At the end, the ribbon is cut so each guest keeps a piece to wear until the birth or keep in a special spot and wear for the labor. Or, each guest may bring a bead to bless and then string on a necklace for the mama to wear while she is in labor to remember the support she has.

My Blessing Way was magical and amazing, and I was so moved I wanted to cry the entire time, but I was having too much fun to do that. My friend Alicia organized the entire thing. Everyone brought a Moroccan dish (my all-time favorite food!) and a piece of driftwood. I was pampered with foot rubs, shoulder rubs, and braids in my hair. My friends decorated the driftwood with beautiful art and loving words, and then strung it into the most incredible mobile for Lyra. Then everyone held onto a long piece of hot pink elastic and blessed the baby and me. At the end, my friends each put a hand on my huge belly and we took pictures.

Don't get me wrong, the traditional shower is important as well. The Blessing Way works best with a smaller group, and you probably have some family and friends who would rather attend a shower. I think if you can swing it, the way to do it is to have one of each. My Blessing Way was the best party I've ever had, and now that another mama in our group is expecting, I can't wait to throw a Blessing Way for her.

Birth Center in SB

2010-08-31T17:04:00.000-07:00

Isla and I got wrangled into modeling for the "Fabulous Fashions for the Family" event benefiting the Santa Barbara Birth Center a couple of weeks ago, on August 14th. Although I am a home birth lady, I am a huge supporter of the Birth Center, because it gives women more options for their births. Birthing at home is at one far end of the spectrum, and a hospital birth is at the far other end. The Birth Center would provide a safe and more natural alternative to birth in a hospital. I have lots of friends who are afraid of having a home birth, and although these fears are largely based on nebulous fears and not actual information, they keep these women from having the natural birth they would like. Check out their website for more info at http://www.sbbirthcenter.org/ and if you'd like to see more pictures from the fashion show you can see them here. Why are people getting in the pool in that first photo? Because at the end of the fashion show, $100 was being donated to the Birth Center for every person who jumped into the pool. Isla was one of the first ones in - and I guess she, my babe in belly and I counted for 3!

The Best Play Dough

2010-08-31T16:49:00.000-07:00

Isla has gotten really into play dough. First we tried making our own. She loved it, but I rarely have the energy or drive to do it, and she rarely has the patience to wait for it. Then we tried Eco-Kids Eco-Dough but it was crazy expensive, and such a mess! I loved how natural it was, and although Isla doesn't ever try to eat her dough, some of her friends do. However, it was a huge pain to get it off of our floor, and left a weird residue on our hands. Next we tried the name-brand Play-Doh. I was scared of the ingredients, but loved how easily I could sweep it up off of the floor once it had dried. And it is so cheap. But the nagging feeling that I was giving my daughter something unhealthy to play with made me switch it up once again. Now we use Clementine Art Natural Modeling Dough. It is totally non-toxic and the ingredient list makes me feel like I could eat it by the handful. Even the colors are completely derived from natural ingredients. It smells like fruit and doesn't leave a gross residue on my hands. It's easy to sweep up off of the floor and costs way less than the eco-kids variety. You can get it from the link above, or they also sell it at Lazy Acres.

The Fairy Prince and Princess Party - A Success!

2010-08-16T16:32:00.000-07:00

So, the party went really well, and even though I forgot to put out a lot of the fairy snacks I made, I'm really happy with the outcome. The babies had lots of fun and really got into the crown making and fairy house painting. Around 18 babies and their parents were at the party, all crammed into our small backyard.

My sister ended up making "Fairy Stew" AKA vegan chili, summer salad, dino pb&j's for the babies, lots of organic fruit, fairy cupcakes with homemade frosting and sprinkles (verrrrrry little suger, but SO GOOD), and we had lemonade/limeade with raspberries to drink, along with water and ice tea.

The party went from 10am until 1, but ended up going until around 2 because we were having so much fun. Most of my non-parent friends didn't make it until later, because the concept of having a party at 10 in the morning was so strange (it won't be after they have kids and start working around the nap schedules!). All in all it was a lot of fun, and fairly low stress, a combination I am really not used to!

No Mama Bullies!

2010-08-02T21:10:00.000-07:00

Most if not all of the babies in our group have gone or are going through a grabbing phase. Isla is definitely no exception. It's hard for her not to grab when she sees a toy she wants to play with in the hands of another baby. The natural reaction might be to then grab the toy from Isla and hand it back to the child who was initially playing with it, but I don't think that's right. How can I show her grabbing is wrong when I do the exact same thing to her? Would I teach her not to hit another baby by hitting her? The better choice is to try to get her to give the toy back on her own. Almost always easier said than done. An important piece is to give her a way out so that she can feel like she is doing good by sharing back with her friend, rather than making her feel like she did a very naughty thing and shaming her into giving it back. I say things like, "Isla, Brody was playing with that fish, and he seems really sad that you took it. Can you give him his toy back and make him really happy?"

When this technique works (it usually does) both babies end up happy, not to mention the mommies. When it doesn't right away, I am still modeling for both babies that the way to solve problems is to talk things out, for as long as it takes. Taking the "quick and easy" route of grabbing the toy back from the child who took it may seem like you are "sticking up" for the victim, but really it teaches both children that the bigger, stronger person may grab, and that that is how one gets what she wants. It's really hard, but I am constantly trying to make sure I only use force with Isla when her safety or the safety of another baby is at stake. This goes for "time to go," "time to get in your carseat," and "time to brush teeth" to name just a few.

Sometimes Isla is just not in the mood to cooperate at all. She is expressing her frustration (or exhaustion, or over-stimulation...) by having full blown tantrums lately. My patience is tried daily. I do use force to just hold her when she's having a tantrum unless there is a safe spot on the floor and she seems to need her space to squirm and kick, but then I try to keep a hand on her and tell her I hear her and I love her. I also try to put words to what she might be feeling, and she seems to like that. Sometimes. More on tantrums later.

Birthday Party Favors

2010-07-15T20:13:00.001-07:00

Isla's second birthday is around the corner, and I'm embarrassed to admit I've been planning it for months. It's very unlike me. I am such a spur-of-the-moment type... which is the pc way to say lazy - that it's really out of character for me to start the planning process more than a week before the event. But this is a big deal, and I want to do it right.

I decided on a Fairy Prince and Princess party for her, since she is really into wings and dress-up. I wanted there to be fun activities for the babies, but also wanted the whole party to be eco-conscious and non-toxic. Birthday crowns sounded like a fun project, but I wanted to avoid plastic. After a tiny bit of searching, I found almost everything I would need on etsy. Tami's Cozies pre-made the crowns out of felt for me, in different colors. Then I sewed buttons on each. I have a huge bag of felt shapes I got from bbd Supplies, and I cut slits in all the shapes that didn't already have them so that they could easily slip onto the buttons. The picture is the prototype of what the babies will be making (with the help of their mamas) at the party.

For the other craft, I got wooden birdhouse building kits which we are calling "fairy houses," and some eco paint and felt creatures to decorate them. The rest of the plan is to have a table with eco-dough to play with, a couple of baby swimming pools with plenty of toys in them, tents and tunnels all around, and to decorate Isla's fort "fairy style." Party favors are tiny butterfly people from KhaliNouveau, little fairy telescopes, bubbles, and hopefully some home-made play dough if I can swing it.

My sister is an amazing vegan chef, and is graciously making all of the food. She is talking about making fairy cakes, which will be sweetened only with fruit (bananas, dates) and lots of baby friendly snacks. Now all I have to figure out is the music.

2010-07-03T12:54:00.000-07:00

My friend Carrie (maybirdkids.com) and I had a booth this year at the Live Oak Festival. We both make baby clothes, and thought we'd try out the carney life for a weekend. It was probably the wrong venue, but it was fun, as well as being the catalyst for creating in the weeks before. Now I just have to take pictures so I can *finally* update my etsy page.

The Wedding Blowout

2010-07-03T12:20:00.000-07:00

So, funny story. I ordered this kimono outfit for my baby girl on the way. When it came in, I was so excited about it, I carried it around with me all day Saturday, showing it to everyone. I went to a wedding Saturday evening with Isla and husband Ryan. As is her style at fancy functions, Isla had a BLOWOUT in her diaper, and the dress she was wearing at the wedding was covered in... brown. We didn't have an outfit to change her into! But, in desperation, I tried the kimono and skirt on her... and it just barely fit! Not only that, but it was flipping adorable. ...And here is Isla, wearing her second outfit for the night!

This outfit is available from Koolmono, and you can get it by clicking here.

Good Eats

2010-06-30T13:10:00.000-07:00

Isla's been loving the Plum Organics veggie purees from Ecomom.com. At just over $1 a pop, they aren't cheap, but they are organic and good for on-the-go or travel food as they don't have to be refrigerated until they've been opened. Isla would eat a dozen a day if I let her. Save 15% on your entire first order with code SB004240

Some Love for Little Boys, Too

2010-06-30T13:00:00.001-07:00

Even though our house is having a pink transformation in preparation for another girl, I still keep my eye out for cute little boys clothes. Froggy beanie by HuggaBeans, monkey hat by Sweetlovecreates', monkey slippers by RusticPatriotGirl and kimono outfit by AuntE.

Kimono Craze

2010-06-30T12:49:00.000-07:00

I've been having a little bit of a kimono obsession lately, and set out to find some for the baby on the way. The best are on etsy, of course, and my favorite sources are: Koolmono, MsWood, and Feyacblurk. The kimono robe by MsWood I got for Isla, and she asks for it daily. She calls it her Kee-Mo-Mo, which always makes me smile. Isla actually got to squeeze into her soon-to-be sister's kimono onesie by Koolmono when she had a major blowout at a wedding we went to a couple of weeks ago. We got her the matching skirt that went with it, and she looked adorable. I'll be sure to post pictures of her dancing in it when I get them from the photographer.

Potty Training Camping Weekend

2010-06-13T17:14:00.000-07:00

With all of the babies either two or nearly two, my mamatoto group thought it might be a good idea to try out potty training. We thought somewhere out in nature would be best, where it was warm and they could run around diaper-free for a few days. We camped at the Paradise Campgrounds at Red Rock, and there were nine babies in all, although some just made it for one day or another. The idea was that the babies would see each other using the potty and that we, the parents, would have the support of the other mamas and daddies in the group.

I wasn't sure Isla was ready. Actually, I was pretty sure she wasn't, but I thought it would be a fun camping trip either way. We gathered up our camping gear. I tried on my down jacket ahead of time to make sure it fit over my enormous pregnant belly, and grabbed Isla's potty along with her potty baby and her potty. Luckily husband Ryan is a great camper. He got everything else together first thing Friday morning and we were at the campgrounds by two.

It turned out that Isla had very little interest in being potty trained. We had a lot of poop on the floor, and ended up back in diapers for the last day and a half. I wanted to be careful she didn't feel pressured, and the group did a good job of keeping it fun for the babies. We had potties everywhere, and when a baby went pee or poop in one, we sang a song and did a dance about it. Besides that, we went to the river every day and cooked dinner together every night.

The camping trip was such a success that there are plans for it to be an annual event, and I am already looking forward to next year... with TWO babies!

2010-04-28T08:19:00.000-07:00

Making my own baby food for Isla was easy, but with all of the inexpensive organic options out there I often wondered if it was really necessary. Inhabitots posted an article/study that makes it very clear why (after exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months) making your own baby food is best.

2010-04-13T07:37:00.000-07:00

Isla is at that stage now where she likes to imitate everything I do. She wears my high heels around the house, repeats what I say to the dog, and the best fun she has is carrying the broom and dustpan around the house pretending to clean.

I had to seize the opportunity. Since she was born, I've had trouble cooking. She really loves to be held, and really can't tolerate attention being split between her and anything else.

This is where the apron comes in. I don't know why I even have one for myself, but I do, so I put my apron on, which makes Isla want one for herself. She has a very adorable one my friend Carrie made her, and it's just her size. She knows aprons go on in order to cook dinner, and she can't wait to get a wooden spoon in her hand and some vegetables to put in a cup. We kind of make a game out of it, and it works almost every time.

Happy Green Bee Clearance

2010-04-12T11:58:00.001-07:00

If you haven't already, I highly suggest stopping by Happy Green Bee's online clearance store. I just bought nine things for under $40, (probably at about 90% off), and the shipping was free! All of their clothing is organic cotton, and Isla is a big fan of their cozy tees and dresses.

Baby Brag Necklaces

2010-03-17T20:26:00.000-07:00

Simple, handmade, hammered gold letters keep your little lovey close to your heart.

A Smoothie for the Busy Natural Mama

2010-03-09T09:01:00.000-08:00

Now that I am pregnant again, I am cutting back on how much Isla nurses. We've been pretty consistent for the last week or so at about 8 nursings in 24 hours. This is way less than the 20-30 nursings we used to do. I started feeling like she should be drinking milk, so I've been giving her different temperatures of different types of milk in cups and bottles. She's not so keen on any variation I've tried... except one: the smoothie! All it is is mostly milk, with a little banana blended in to make it sweet.

More Magical Room Decor

2010-03-01T16:46:00.000-08:00

If Isla's room weren't already strewn with mobiles, I would have a hard time not buying one of these magical hanging art pieces by Puddle Stomper.

Isla's New Favorite Toys

2010-03-01T16:40:00.000-08:00

Ill share our secret resource for the coolest toys: Green Man Shop. The pea pod babies are among our favorites, along with Ganesha, Gnome-Butterfly Babies in hanging cocoons, and the sweet Dad and Daughter Hugging Dolls.

Fun, Green Toys to Make

2010-03-01T16:32:00.000-08:00

Fortytworoads promises that with these instructions, recycled cardboard, wire hangers from the dry cleaner, and odds and ends you most likely already have around the house, you will construct a functional washer and dryer that is adorable and remarkably sturdy. Looks pretty awesome to me!

The Pregnant Lady's Cheat Sheet

2010-02-15T15:45:00.001-08:00

A list of everything I would have loved to have when I first found out I was pregnant:

1. What do I do first?

-Contact Anna, Alice, And Laurel (Santa Barbara Midwifery), even if you are not planning on a home birth. They are a great place to start and have volumes of information and resources, and books to lend, and your initial meeting is free. You can find more information on their website at www.santabarbaramidwifery.com or give them a call at: 805.563.0348 . **Please see my earlier post about my home birth experience.

-Subscribe to Mothering Magazine immediately.

-Find a pre-natal workout class for fun and some exercise. You'll end up meeting the ladies you'll be spending all of your time with for the next couple of years here. I like Tracy Schmidt's class at the SBYMCA. It's kind of jazzercize-y and it takes away morning sickness. Also, Fredda Spirka teaches a great free pre- and postnatal yoga class through adult ed. This may be your most valuable resource. You will learn so much about doctors, midwives, pediatricians, birth, etc. from the women in these classes.

-Make sure you are taking a good pre-natal vitamin

-Grab a book on each of these: pregnancy, baby's first year, breast feeding. The Traveling Pants in Carpinteria usually has used books which are really inexpensive. The thrift store at St. Joseph's is also a great resource, but you have to dig and they are only open Wednesdays and Saturdays until 2 pm.

-Get insurance if you don't already have it. AIM is great for those who qualify. It's worth taking a look: www.aim.ca.gov/

2. Where do I register?

***I have an older post that is a sample registry that might be helpful, and you can find it by scrolling down.

-Find a site like myRegistry.com where you can register at any online store, and have just one list for everything. Some great online stores include palumba.com, novanatural.com, albeebaby.com, and babiesRus.com.

-It is so important to register at a physical location. Summer for Kids in Montecito has some excellent natural choices and Chicken Little in Santa Barbara has a huge selection as well.

3. Is home birth for me?

-Please look into this, even if you don't think it's for you. We are so lucky in Santa Barbara to have such great choices, and since this is one of the biggest decisions you'll be making in your life, it probably deserves a little research. I was terrified of home birth before I had real information. I watched movies and talked to midwives and women who had given birth at home and decided undoubtedly that it was the safest and best decision for me and my baby.

-Watch some movies! So important. The Baby International Film Festival has some great ones. I recommend The Business of Being Born, with Ricki Lake if you only plan on seeing one, or as a starting point.

Good Books

2010-02-15T15:00:00.000-08:00

My new favorite book is Earth Child by Kathryn Sheehan and Mary Waidner, PhD. It seems to be the perfect Earth science resource for a parent or teacher. The sections include "The Circle of Day and Night," "Earth Celebrations," "Wonders in the Garden," "Trees Are Terrific," "Hurt No Living Thing," and "Let There Be Peace on Earth." It's full of "games, stories, activities, experiments, and ideas about living lightly on Planet Earth," as well as songs and crafts.

Yesterday my daughter and I observed rainbows in our kitchen, and watched how they moved when we moved the crystal in the window. She was in awe as we put the rainbows on our hands and feet. Today we took a nature walk and found some ladybugs to inspect and kindly touch. I am thrilled with the possibilities in this book and am literally vibrating with impatience to share them with Isla.

Get Rid of Cradle Cap

2010-02-06T10:22:00.000-08:00

The best cure for cradle cap is actually the most natural. I didn't want to use Head and Shoulders on my daughter since I had heard it could burn her scalp. The hot tip was olive oil. Just drizzle olive oil all over baby's head and massage in. I left it on her head for about twenty minutes. Then, exfoliate gently with a comb. I turned the comb on a 45 degree angle and gently scraped off the pieces of crust that came off easily. Then, shampoo as normal with a natural baby shampoo (we like California Baby). Repeat this process the next day if needed, and it should all be gone.

Educational Dolls

2010-02-05T19:48:00.001-08:00

MamAmor makes these incredible educational mama dolls. They can be pregnant, and birth babies which not only have detachable cords and placentas, but they also breast feed (Im guessing their snap-mouths snap on to the snap-nipples on the mama doll). Amazing for a child expecting a new sibling, especially if you plan on letting her or him watch the birth.

Yoga for Babies?

2010-02-01T17:05:00.000-08:00

Our love of mama and baby yoga is growing along with my toddler. Once she started doing downward dog on her own I really wanted her to have her own yoga mat. She carries her rolled up mat to Emma's class, and spends some of the time practicing moves on it (the rest of the time she plays with the other babies.)

She really likes to use it at home. We put on Kyra Willey and practice sun salutations together.

The Best Anatomically Correct Baby Dolls

2010-02-01T16:11:00.000-08:00

My search for the best anatomically correct baby doll for Isla is over. I settled on the Gotz Aquini doll with a potty for a few reasons:

1. the price was pretty reasonable

2. she comes with a potty that looks just like Isla's potty and may help make potty training fun

3. she is recently made and presumably not toxic (the anatomically correct vintage newborn twins I bought for her online smelled like toxic fumes... and they were made decades ago)

4. she's pretty cute, and smells nice

You can find this doll on Amazon, ebay, and at Chicken Little in Santa Barbara.

Imaginary Play

2009-12-30T12:51:00.000-08:00

Dragonfly's Hollow makes incredible custom Waldorf dolls. This fairy mermaid is one of Isla's favorites.

Another key play item is playsilks. They are great for all ages, and "grow with your child." You can find them almost anywhere, but I like the ones from The Farm House Boutique for their hand-dyed uniqueness.

Toddler Backpacks

2009-12-30T12:46:00.000-08:00

When Isla started trying to carry around more than she could hold comfortably in her arms, I decided it was time for a backpack. The best ones I've seen are hand made and available here.

Magical Kids' Room Decor

2009-12-30T12:27:00.000-08:00

Harvest Moon By Hand makes these beautiful window stars for your little one's room.

My daughter has the rainbow sun catcher up in hers, and it definitelyadds a touch of magic to her space. They start at $10 and are available here.

International Bebé

2009-12-25T14:30:00.000-08:00

What was I thinking taking my toddler to Europe?? My first advice is don't do it. If possible, postpone until your child is older and take a more child-friendly vacation. If that's not possible, then I do have a few tips for you to hopefully make your excursion easier for you and Baby.

First, do bring a stroller. Yes, if you are taking the subway and traveling on cobbled streets and climbing crazy staircases a stroller will suck, but not as much as not having one at all. I only brought my ergo pack, and wore her the entire time. We won't go into the back problems I am still dealing with.

Second, consider your baby. Both France and England have great parks, and really any patch of grass where Baby can safely run around for a while will be much appreciated. London has the best parks we've ever seen, with special buzz-in gates surrounding the child area to keep kidnappers and pervs away. Besides the parks, the only other places we saw other babies were the toy stores. We played for hours in each one. **Make sure you make a time agreement with your little one rather than just scooping him or her up when you are ready to go. Tantrums are guaranteed if I don't let Isla know when she only has one more minute left to play. I remind her again at thirty seconds, and then count down from ten.

Third, bring your partner. My husband was still recovering from back surgery when we took our trip. The single parent thing is even harder than it looks.

Lastly, don't forget to ask! Or at least make sure the person in charge sees you have a babe with you. France is so baby-friendly. People smiled at me just because I was carrying a baby... kind of like they do here in the states when they see a pregnant lady. We did not have to wait in line anywhere because as soon as Isla and I were spotted we were whisked away to the front. Do ask if you are able to get a bassinet for the flight. Whether or not you choose to use it, you will be seated in a row with substantially more leg room.

I have a feeling this was my last trip to Europe for a long time. I am, however, heading off to Cabo after the first of the year, so I'll be sure to post about that. This time I will have backup, and between my husband, siblings, and mom I'm anticipating a more relaxing trip.

***Cabo was excellent. Probably the most fun we've had as a family, ever. Go someplace warm with an ocean and pool, and save the Europe trip for when Baby is older!

Why Anatomically Correct Dolls?

2009-12-25T14:02:00.001-08:00

In my search for the best anatomically correct dolls, I found a surprising amount of opposition. Even some of our family members didn't understand why we wanted Isla to have a couple of anatomically correct dolls. What started out as a simple quest for a good Christmas toy turned into an interesting debate with friends and family.

Why would we want Isla's dolls to have genitals. Simple: Gasp! She has genitals. So do all of her baby friends, and every other human being I know of. Why would her dolls have faces, arms, hands, feet, and bottoms like her, but in the place of a vagina, only a flat spot? Rag dolls barely resemble real-life babies, so their missing genitalia isn't an issue for me. The baby dolls she likes, though, are of the plastic, extremely lifelike variety, and I don't want my daughter thinking there is something wrong with her because she has a vagina rather than smooth plastic in her diaper.

An argument against anatomically correct baby dolls is that it would make kids prematurely interested in genitals, and cause exploration. I think we can all agree that this happens with or without dolls, and maybe exploration with one another would be less important if children could answer those questions by looking at their dolls.

Another thought - what about siblings? When we have another baby, I bet he or she will have genitals. Would the "progressive and understanding" women who are so against anatomically correct dolls consider a new baby to "...numb [our children] to the sacred nature of our bodies," or see the new baby as "...adding to the pile of [nudity]?" Then why on earth would a doll?

I'll have to finish this when I have more time, but please post if you have any ideas that can enlighten me in either direction.

A Pancake Recipe for Cold and Flu Season

2009-10-29T21:18:00.000-07:00

We are not vaccinating. Yikes. Instead, we are opting for preventative measures. We swab her nose (and mine) once a day with saline and aloe solution. We also give her a children's formula sambucus (elderberry extract) which contains echinacea and astragulus. The sambucus is liquid, and tastes really good, but Isla won't take it in water as suggested. I had to get creative. I do things like pour it on her pancakes as syrup.

The pancakes are fantastic, and our whole family loves them:

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

dollop (about 2 or 3 tablespoons?) molasses

enough milk, soy milk or water to make it the right consistency

Mix above ingredients. Cook on a hot skillet. Flip once. I eat mine with butter and sometimes syrup; Isla has hers with sambucus and kids liquid vitamin drizzled on top.

*Obviously check with your doctor before using any supplements.

Nature Baby on Etsy

2009-10-29T21:03:00.000-07:00

Sweet little designs for your baby or mine at www.naturebaby.etsy.com.

Kid Friendly Eats

2009-10-26T21:21:00.000-07:00

Isla is now at the age (14 mos.) where she will not just hang out in my lap or a highchair while I eat. She runs laps around the legs of waiters and tries to find steps to leap off of, head first. Fortunately, we have a couple of great kid-friendly options on Santa Claus Lane: the Garden Market and Padaro Beach Grill.

Padaro opens at 11 and serves lunch and dinner outside on a huge lawn. They are totally kid-proof, with a fence around the property, and even have a huge sandbox with toys. The food is so-so at best, and expensive for what it is, but it is absolutely worth every penny to eat lunch or dinner in peace while your kid has the time of her life.

The Garden Market has incredible food. It's my favorite lunch spot, and although it does not offer a sand box or rolling hills of well-trimmed grass, there are fountains everywhere and shady outdoor seating, which was enough to entertain Isla for about an hour today when we met her godmother for lunch. If someone could combine the two it would be perfection.

Little Sapling Toys

2009-10-06T10:41:00.001-07:00

Little Sapling Toys makes the coolest takes on traditional teethers, cars, stacking toys, and rocking horses. Teethers come in fun designs like triceratops and hedgehog, and they make an organic rocking unicorn.

Latest Etsy Find

2009-10-04T20:59:00.000-07:00

Baby pants handmade out of bandanas... for $5!

Cool Kids Clothes

2009-09-22T22:55:00.000-07:00

Hands down the cutest baby pants for boys or girls. They're handmade and available here.

Cool Kids' Room Decor

2009-09-15T20:33:00.001-07:00

I don't know why all the murals for babies' rooms are so "precious." I'm not into it. Besides the vintage-looking photos I posted earlier, I also love these posters from the Ashes and Snow exhibit, for either a boy's or girl's room.

Design Your Own Baby Shoes

2009-09-09T01:42:00.001-07:00

The coolest shoes I've seen are French, and totally vegan. Canvas ballerinas and slip-on tennies by Ben Simon are available here.

If you buy leather shoes for your baby, there are other options besides Robeez. At moxiesbabyshoes.com you can design your own, right down to the color(s) and style. There is also an option to personalize with your child's name and/or a decal.

For girls, my favorite shoes are the Baby Bloch ballerina slippers. Somewhat hard to find online, Garnet Hill seems to have the most in stock.

Healthy and Easy Mac and Cheese

2009-09-06T18:34:00.000-07:00

There is no doubt what my daughter's favorite food is; she likes mac and cheese better than anything else she's tried. So, rather than fight it, I'm trying to work it. Tonight, I made her favorite with a twist. It ended up looking very green, but she scarfed it down like she hadn't eaten in a week.

Ingredients:

Annie's Organic Deluxe Mac and Cheese made with whole wheat shells

Flax seed or Omega 3 oil

Nutritional yeast

A few leaves of kale, stemmed and chopped up in the food processor

First, prepare the mac and cheese as directed. Then, drizzle flax seed oil on top, along with some nutritional yeast. To top it all off, put 2 or 3 tablespoons of chopped up kale (chopped in the food processor) on the top. (This amount was for Isla's tiny-sized serving. Adjust the amount of kale to taste, and stir the rest of the kale in with the leftover pasta to eat yourself.)

Banana-Kale Muffins

2009-09-06T18:20:00.000-07:00

Inspired by my visit to the Little Woods Pre-School Food Fair, and the muffins we tried there, I made up a new recipe this evening to sneak some healthy into yummy foods for my husband and daughter. Actually, "sneak" isn't a good word, because I'm trying to encourage Isla to like foods like kale by preparing them in a way that's kid-friendly. These muffins taste like dessert, but are a much healthier option:

ingredients:

one bunch organic kale

three or four small organic carrots

three very ripe organic bananas

one cup organic whole wheat flour

one tablespoon vanilla

1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 tablespoon nutmeg

big dollop of organic plain yogurt

one free-range organic egg

sesame seeds (1/4 cup or so)

one tablespoon baking soda

one tablespoon baking powder

one dollop organic honey

1/4 cup or so organic canola oil

pre-heat oven to 400 degrees

in a food processor, chop up the bunch of kale (after removing stems), the carrots, and the banana.

put all three in a large bowl

dump in the other ingredients

mix by hand until blended

drop in greased cupcake pans (I use the mini kind)

bake until done - approx 10-14 minutes

enjoy!

Fall Sweaters

2009-09-02T22:38:00.000-07:00

Looking for a new favorite sweater for your little one? My top two sources are Craft Junkie Creations and The Anecdotes.

New Natural Toy Obsessions

2009-08-26T15:34:00.001-07:00

MamaKopp makes the coolest wooden toys and puzzles. Isla loves to play with her "Troll-in-a-Rainbow" puzzle, and my new obsessions are the Serendipity, Pregnant Mama, and Lovebirds (pictured). More puzzles and toys including Centaurs, Moomintrolls, and Beasties are available here.

Birthday Crowns

2009-08-22T15:19:00.001-07:00

I am all for birthdays. Mine lasts all week. I plan on making crowns for Isla and myself for birthdays and just playtime. Etsy is a great resource if you're in the market to buy one, or looking for a pattern. Try njsisson, cozyblue and SusannaW.

SB Natural Mama Goes to SD

2009-08-22T14:16:00.000-07:00

While I've called Santa Barbara my home for over 22 years, I'm originally from La Jolla and feel very connected to my birthplace. Also, Isla's PopPop (my dad!) still lives in Del Mar, so we're down South quite a bit. On our most recent visit, I took some mental notes, since it is actually the perfect road trip for an SB mama and her family to take.

We usually take the train down since Isla is not too keen on the car seat for extended periods of time. It is an easy and beautiful commute, and takes less than 5 hours to our stop at Solana Beach (and just a bit more if you're headed all the way to downtown San Diego.) The most recent trip we took was for Isla's birthday, and we took her to Sea World for the first time. While I'm generally very conflicted about zoos and animal parks, I feel pretty good about Sea World. The animals seem well cared-for and happy, and most importantly I feel it instills a love of the ocean and it's creatures in all who visit. The connection children and adults make when they see the whales and other sea life up close ostensibly contributes to the percentage of visitors who go on to help protect and preserve these animals and their environments. That said, Isla's favorite exhibit was the beluga whales, although she was ridiculously entertained the entire 4 hours of our visit. We barely covered 1/3 of the park, and are planning our next trip for September.

Click here for an amazing story of a hero-beluga whale.

Even if the main focus of your trip is to visit Sea World (or the San Diego Wild Animal Park, or Zoo), I highly recommend a pit stop in North County. Just ever so slightly North of Solana Beach is Encinitas, home of The Magical Child - one of the best natural baby and kids stores I've seen. Expect to find Waldorf dolls, amazing CDs and books, fairie dress-up, safe and natural toys, organic clothing, cloth diapers, organic toiletries, etc., and a great play area for your little one. I make a trip here every time I'm in the area. As for restaurants, the Pannikin is a daily must for my family. It's the best coffee house I've ever tried. The ambiance is so cool, and different at each of the three locations (La Jolla, Encinitas, Solana Beach), and the food and coffee is amazing.

The beaches in San Diego are incredible, and the water is so warm. There are plenty of great spots, but my favorite is Windansea in La Jolla. If you're planning on taking your little one in the water, though, I'd skip this one - while an older child would have a blast, the shore break is not suitable for young kids.

**I want to add that my feelings about Sea World - and other sea parks - are extremely ambivalent. The Shamu show was one part cool, to three parts sad. The giant, intelligent, amazing wild animals were in such a tiny, artificial environment. While I do feel sea parks are important in keeping people connected with whales and dolphins enough that they would fight for their welfare (i.e. trying to stop the mass-slaughtering of both in Japan!), I feel just as strongly that something needs to be done to protect the animals in these parks. Better, larger tanks that better simulate their natural environment, and breeding animals specifically for the parks rather than poaching them from their home in the ocean would be a start.

Magical Portraits

2009-08-17T13:47:00.000-07:00

I am absolutely in love with these magical portraits by Dream Touch. You just send them a photo of your child and choose from all of the different backgrounds. This fairyland scene is my favorite.

Sample Baby Registry for the Natural Mama

2009-08-17T09:24:00.000-07:00

Knowing now what I didn't know then, this would be my registry for our first baby:

I. Gear:

1. Graco Snugride infant carseat

2. Britax Marathon convertible carseat

3. 2 strollers - one lightweight umbrella stroller (we have a Maclaren, which is on sale now,) and one sturdier stroller that can accommodate an infant (we have the Bumbleride Indie, which you can clip your carseat right in to.)

4. Don't get a swing right away - your baby might not like it. Instead, wait until Baby is born and a few weeks old, and test it out at a friend's or a store. Same goes for the exersaucers.

5. The moby wrap.

6. The Ergo Baby.

II. Sleeping:

1. Co-sleepers ended up not getting used. The babies in our mamatoto group for the most part all ended up sharing the bed with their parents. If you decide to go that route, though, you can find a used one on Craigslist. Cribs were also seldom used. Instead, a toddler bed on the ground ended up being our best and safest option for naps.

2. Organic crib mattress and organic crib mattress pad for the toddler bed.

3. Bed rail for the family bed if Baby will be sharing the bed with you.

4. Organic crib sheets - two fitted (and two sets for your own bed).

III. Layette:

1. 8 organic cotton or secondhand 100% cotton receiving blankets.

2. 2 muslin gauze blankets (I love Aden & Anais) for swaddling, shade over the stroller, lightweight warmth, clean place to sit at the park, etc.

3. At least a dozen organic cotton burp cloths. I like the Gerber cloth diapers for this purpose - extremely soft, inexpensive, organic...

4. 6 organic cotton or secondhand 100% cotton onesies, 2 longsleeve tees, 2 pairs of cotton jersey pants, 4-6 pj suits, 6 pairs of organic cotton socks, 1 or 2 cozy cotton sweaters, 2 pairs of BabyLegs. (The rest I'd wait on, since you'll receive tons of outfits as gifts.)

IV. Diapering:

1. Some disposables to start out - either Seventh Generation or Tushies: 1 pack newborn and 2 or 3 packs of size 1.

2. Cloth diapering system, including pail and sprayer. I'd suggest pocket diapers, and either FuzziBunz, Happy Heinys, Bum Genius 3.0, or something similar. One dozen to start with, and you can always buy more. Alternately, you can try the G Diapers with cloth inserts and the flushable inserts for travel, but remember not to use the flushable inserts until Baby has started on solid foods or you'll have a mess on your hands.

3. Hemp Inserts. These are so trim and absorbent, and it's nice to have a few extra inserts on hand.

4. Cloth wipes and diaper area spray. In addition to being better for the environment, you'll save a ridiculous amount of money using cloth wipes. We use California Baby Non-Burning and Calming Diaper Area Wash. We dilute it and one bottle lasted us almost the entire first year. Or, you could do what my friend Heather does and fill up a thermos with warm water in the morning to use throughout the day.

5. A couple of wet bags to toss wet diapers in when you're out and about.

V. Feeding Baby:

1. Breast Pump. I started with the medela swing, but ended up passing it on to a friend. I ended up much happier with my hand pump: the Avent manual pump. It comes with two bottles, is easy to assemble and operate, and totally BPA free.

2. One or two bottles. Born Free makes a good one, and so does Green to Grow.

3. Boppy. You can find one pre-owned at the Traveling Pants and put a new organic cover on it.

4. Nursing bra. Getting the right size is tricky. I needed one size bigger around the ribs and two cup sizes bigger than my pre-pregnancy size.

5. Organic cotton breast pads.

These others you could register for, or wait until Babyis closer to 6 months old before buying:

6. Snacktrap (2)

7. Mesh feeder (1 with extra bags)

8. Sippy cups (3-4)

9. Baby Spoons and bowls (We like the wooden sets from novanaturals.com)

10. Bamboo or organic cotton bibs - my favorite option is at Summer for Kids (6)

11. Baby food mill

12. High chair. Ours is a pre-owned wooden one that cost us $30 and works fabulously. No need to splurge on a Svan unless you really want to.

VI. Bath and Potty:

1. Baby bathtub.

2. Washcloths (4) and hooded towels (2). Bumkins is great.

3. Baby shampoo/bodywash, lotion, diaper ointment, and sunscreen. Try California Baby.

4. Comb. (You will need this if your baby gets cradle cap. Just massage her scalp with olive oil and let it sit for a few minutes. Exfoliate with the comb and wash Baby's head as usual. Do not use Head and Shoulders or a similar product - it will burn Baby's head!)

5. Baby nail clippers. (These will be in a first aid kit if you get one.)

6. Thermometer.

7. Humidifier.

8. Baby Tylenol (the kind without the dye).

9. Hyland's homeopathic teething drops.

VII. Safety:

1. Outlet covers.

2. Monitor

VIII. Furniture:

1. Glider chair. (Ours is from Craigslist.)

2. Changing table. (Also from Craigslist.)

3. Changing table pad and organic changing table pad covers.

Lastly, where to register?

I got nearly all of our diapering essentials, plus a few other things from BabyBunz.com, and gear from BabiesRUs.com. For the rest, I registered at a site like myregistry.com, where you can choose from lots of different sites and the registry is all in one spot. Albeebaby.com has a lot of great gear at the best price, and michaelolaf.com is good as a checklist for the natural mama. Novanatural.com and palumba.com have the best natural toy selection (besides etsy), and don't forget to register at a physical store. Summer for Kids has a huge selection of organic toys, clothing and bedding, as well as all of the feeding essentials, and is totally organic and natural. Chicken Little is also a good source. While definitely not entirely organic, it does have the best range of products from strollers to clothing, breast pumps, highchairs, etc.

Apple Cheeks

2009-08-16T22:21:00.000-07:00

I recently heard about Apple Cheeks cloth diapers, and was romanced by promises of the trim fit. We've been testing them out for a couple of weeks now, and the results are in:

1. They are made in Canada, come in cute colors, and have snaps - a plus as far as I'm concerned.

2. They are not that trim. At least not if you use their inserts. Compared to the other diapers we've tried, they are comparable to the Happy Heinys, bulkier than the Bum Genious, 3.0, and much bulkier than the G Diapers. If you use a Fuzzi Bunz hemp insert, they are pretty trim.

3. It is a little harder for me to tell when my daughter's diapers are wet. With the other pocket diapers, I just stick my hand in the pocket (which is in the very back) to see if the insert is wet. The Apple Cheeks opens in the middle of the diaper, so it makes it more difficult to do a quick-check. Per my friend Amrita's advise, I do the smell test to see if there's pee.

4. The fit is great. I attribute this to the two-size system they have. One size pocket diapers are extremely bulky on the little ones, and the elastic at the leg holes isn't ideal once the babies are bigger.

5. They are a bit more expensive, and also do not come with free inserts.

Overall rating B+/A-

What's a Natural Mama to Do?

2009-08-16T21:49:00.000-07:00

There are so many things to do in Santa Barbara with babies, but a few of my favorites are yoga, bike rides, and the "Butterflies Alive!" exhibit at the Museum of Natural History.

We take yoga classes with Emma, at SBYC, and also with Dani at Yoga Soup. See earlier posts for more info on these.

For bike rides, we have a sturdy baby/toddler seat that attaches to the back of my husband's bike, and a tiny helmet we found at the thrift store. Isla LOVES bike rides, and it's the best way to get her to take a nap. We park at the estuary by Stella Mare's and take the bikes down the trail and all over downtown. Today we parked at the pier at Goleta Beach and took the bike trail through UCSB and around IV. We love bike rides for the outdoor time and the workout, but the best part about it is that we get fun family time all together. **Isla's adorable kimono sweater is available at Craft Junkie Creations, and is easily my favorite piece of clothing she owns.

The "Butterflies Alive!" exhibit is so much fun for kids and babies, and is best when it's sunny outside. I really would like to live in this place - butterflies were literally everywhere. Isla was fascinated and entertained the entire time, and surprisingly not frustrated at not being able to hold one.

The Thrifty Natural Mama

2009-08-03T22:05:00.000-07:00

Some would love to be natural mamas, but are short on cash. It's a popular mis-conception that it costs more to be natural. Yes, organic food and clothing do cost more... sometimes. Not if you're buying some of the clothing secondhand and sticking with what you really need, and not if you're growing some of the food, and cutting back on the portions of meat. And, with the extra $4000 you save using cloth diapers over disposables (way more than that if you use cloth wipes like we do!), you'll probably come out ahead.

I like buying clothes for myself and Isla from secondhand stores. It's much greener than buying new, (less waste, less pollution from production), and you can get really nice labels and fabrics for less than the brand new, cheaply-made polyester type at Target or Old Navy. For myself I like swap meets, thrift stores and yard sales, as well as Twice as Nice and The Closet; for Isla The Traveling Pants and Polar Bear. And saving money buying secondhand makes me feel a lot less guilty when I have to splurge on a nice organic mattress or really want to buy a cool but pricey outfit for Isla.

I love buying antiques, for the same reasons I buy secondhand clothes. Santa Barbara County is full of antiques stores, especially in Summerland and Carpinteria.

We're getting rid of our water-guzzling front lawn in favor of fruit trees, and the vegetable garden in the back keeps getting bigger. I used to buy our organic produce at farmer's market and Lazy Acres, which was delicious but pricey. Our garden saves us so much money, and Isla has fun crawling in it to find and eat the strawberries. The excess water from the washer waters the backyard. (I'm planning a future post on greywater, and setting up a system at your home will save tons of money and water.)

If you're a meat-eater, buying grass-fed, free-range meat is really important for your health and the planet. It's also more expensive. But if we can change our ideas about what a portion of meat looks like, (or serve it as a side dish, rather than the main) and not necessarily eat it every day, than you will be spending much less money in the end, and have a healthier diet.

Natural cleaning products are really important. The toxins in conventional cleaning products are really scary, and harmful to you, your baby, and the environment. There are great natural options available at the supermarket and online, but if you buy vinegar and baking soda (in bulk, even, to save more money and packaging) and a few lemons, you can make your own natural cleaning products, which are really effective and practically free.

Natural toys also seem to be more expensive, but again I've found that not to be the case. Isla plays with her natural wood and woolen toys a lot longer than the noisy plastic versions, and we don't need to buy as many toys as we think. At the top of Isla's list right now: playsilks - for playing peek-a-boo, wearing like a scarf, and taking in and out of her purse. See earlier posts for more good deals on beautiful, naturally-made toys that will grow with your child.

Peaceful Clothing

2009-08-03T21:46:00.000-07:00

I'm into this clothing company called Be Love. 10% of all their sales go to help teach peace, nonviolence, and conflict resolution. Their clothes are organic and sweatshop-free, and feature images of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. They come in sizes 3-6 mos - adult and are available online, or you can purchase locally at Rincon Designs in Carpinteria.

What Up with G Diapers

2009-08-03T21:16:00.000-07:00

I've been test driving G Diapers for a while now, and here's my final opinion:

1. They're so cute. And really "trim" compared to my other cloth diapers, comparable to a disposeable.

2. They are virtually leak proof - yay!

3. Do NOT use them during baby's first few weeks. I've heard from every friend who did - the messy poops go everywhere. Wait until they're on solid foods before trying these diapers out, unless you use the cloth inserts.

4. 3 Covers, 5 liners, and one package of inserts lasted my entire 4 day (50 hours of which was on the train!) trip. Just as convenient as disposables, but less leaks.

5. Velcro starting to get less "sticky" at the edges. (I saw one baby in our yoga class pull hers off...)

6. As with any diaper cover, make sure you use natural fiber inserts or pre-folds. I like the hemp the best, since it holds the most liquid and is also the trimmest. If you use a microfiber insert (which came free with our pocket dipes), use it with a hemp doubler or a cloth wipe over it so that the natural hemp is against Baby's skin rather than the microfiber.

7. To sum it all up: these diapers are perfect to use when traveling, and when your little one needs to squeeze into her bootcut jeans, but like the bum genius 3.0, the velcro may be shot after a while if you use them 24/7.

Meg Fish Potography at Mama Baby Yoga

2009-07-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

A picture is worth a thousand words, and we were lucky to have Meg Fish pay us a visit in mom and baby yoga class last week. Here, actual proof of mamas doing yoga and babies having fun.

The Greenest Baby Stores

2009-07-25T07:35:00.000-07:00

An even greener option than buying organic is buying secondhand. We buy a lot of Isla's clothes from The Traveling Pants in Carpinteria. It's the same idea as Polar Bear in Santa Barbara, but has a completely different feel - more like a boutique than a secondhand store. I found blankets from This Little Piggy and Fattamano for $4.99 each when I was pregnant! You'll also find things like slings and other baby carriers, adorable clothes from designer to old navy, handmade clothing, toys, and books.

If you have items your little one has outgrown, you can bring them to either Polar Bear or Traveling Pants and get cash for them. If you plan on taking them to Polar Bear, you'll need to call them on the first of the month to book your appointment. Plan on calling early because the phone lines get busy. Once you schedule your appointment, you'll just drop off your bag of clothing and come back in a couple of days to pick up any items they don't want along with your check. If you're taking them to The Traveling Pants you don't need an appointment. They accept bags of clothes the first week of every month. The bummer about both is that you don't see how much you're getting for each item. You're just handed back your bag with a few unwanted items in the bottom, and a check for what they've taken. If you have really nice things it might be worth it to ask first before dropping them off.

Favorite Learning Toys

2009-07-21T23:26:00.000-07:00

These felt letters are bright and fun, and feel so good in my hands. Isla loves to play with them and throw handfuls up in the air, although I have to watch her closely so they don't get eaten. I bought a set to use when she's a little older so she'll be familiar with the letters of the alphabet, and they'll be great for forming words when she's learning to read. I'm betting we'll be using these all the time in the years to come.

Feeding Baby

2009-07-21T22:19:00.000-07:00

Since she started eating "solids" at six months, Isla has always eaten her meals with my husband and me, and usually we all eat the same thing. Her first food was avocado, so I sat her in her kiwi bebepod and fed her the fruit, smooshed up with breast milk, while I ate some myself. As she got older we would sit down for breakfast together and eat joes o's or oatmeal with bananas and milk (mine from cows and hers from me). We prepare meals for ourselves which she can also eat. When she was younger we would grind up some of our dinner for her in a food mill, and once she got a little older we just cut or tore the food into little pieces and arranged them on the tray of her highchair.

The thought process behind our feeding style is this: 1. We are hoping that by always eating with her she will be used to sitting down for family meals as a family. 2. By feeding her what we are eating we hope to curb any expectations of a separate "kid" meal. Growing up I remember my mom always making two dinners so my little sister would eat. We'd like Isla to eat a variety of things, rather than getting mac and cheese for dinner every night. 3. This way, Isla gets fresh food prepared right before eating (or leftovers for lunch the day after), and nutrients are not lost reheating frozen food cubes. 4. I would rather spend the time playing with her than preparing elaborate, separate "baby" meals, and she really would not tolerate having to be on the floor or in her highchair (as opposed to my arms) for as long as it would take to do that.

*...not to claim my method is necessarily the best for your family. All of my friends have a different style of feeding Baby that works for them and their little ones, and this is just the style that works for us.

Good sites for feeding baby: Wholesomebabyfood.com was discovered by my friend Amber, and I kind of don't know what I would have done without it. There are tips on feeding, tons of recipes, and timelines for when to feed baby what.

Good books for feeding baby: Superfoods: for Babies and Children, by Annabel Karmel; Super Baby Food, by Ruth Yaron. **We didn't really use any books for feeding Isla. Rather than "recipes," we gave her whole foods (ground up) one at a time, and checked online at wholesomebabyfood.com for the safe time to introduce each one. These are books my friends like and use.

Feeding Baby World Peace

2009-07-21T22:13:00.001-07:00

Isla is almost ready for her own plate. I only say almost because I am not especially into constantly picking up plate and food off of the ground. But when she and I are ready, I plan on using these earth friendly, BPA free plates by smiling planet.

Baby Carriers

2009-07-14T17:57:00.000-07:00

The benefits of babywearing include a decrease in crying, and an increase in attachment, emotional learning, and most probably peaceful societies. I loved that I could soothe my baby while getting the dishes done, dinner made, eating lunch with friends, walking on the beach, etc. I couldn't imagine leaving Isla in her carseat "carrier" and hardly touching her all day long like so many moms do all over our country. Babies need to be held and touched, and slings and other babywearing devices make that possible while enabling mamas to use both of their hands to do other things.

We didn't know what baby carrier we would need, and in the end we (basically) tried them all. The two that looked to be the easiest were the sling and the BabyBjorn, but I found that not to be the case. Although she loved her sling in the beginning, it was difficult to position her in a way that didn't make her look like she was about to snap in half or fall out. Also she tipped the scales at 9 lbs. at birth, so she quickly outgrew her sling. We often stuffed her into an organic newborn insert and then into the Ergo, and that worked out fine, but my favorite carrier for the earlier months was the Moby wrap. It worked because I could carry her facing in, facing out, or sling-style, and she strongly preferred one style over the other two at any given point in her development. It was really soft, and breathable, and easy to throw it on quickly. Also, my husband could use it without any adjustments. As she has gotten older, I've stopped using the Moby at all, and just use the Ergo. We both love it, and Isla likes riding in it on the front as well as on my back.

Had I known then what I know now I would have bought both the Moby and the Ergo, and skipped the sling and the Bjorn.