When Calvin was born I did not need more stuff so I havent bought a new babywearing device in ages. This Mother’s day I decided that I needed a really good supportive wrap for my big babies and decided to splurge on a good Didymos waves.

I didnt know if getting a woven wrap in the middle of the texas heat would be a good idea but I went for it. I have worn this wrap every time that I have needed a babywearing device since I got it.  Today is was over 90 degrees and hot as hell.

Here is Calvin hanging out in the new waves while at the park today. I am putting Kate in a swing and he is just chilling.

Here you can see Kate and Aidan walking hand in hand and Calvin’s head peeping out from the top of the waves while I carry two bags.

I am so in love with this wrap. It is cool and supportive. Soft and comfy. I really dont know how I lived so long without it.

Let’s begin with the facts… shall we? Yes please… lets.

When a baby is born they have a reserve of Vitamin D in their liver. Livers do a good job of storing that.. our body rocks like that. They have enough for roughly 6 months if they never see the light of day again.

But in reality, most children have left their homes by 6 months and are happily outside at least a couple minutes a day… going in and out of the car, waiting at a bus stop, etc.  It is possible that in really cold climates people could have a deficiency especially darker skinned people.. but most of us have nothing to worry about.

La Leche League had something to say about this topic, because breastfed babies are especially prayed upon on this topic. Formula is fortified with all sorts of stuff including Vitamin D so they arent worried about as much… I do find it hilarious that anyone would worry more about breastfed babies than formula fed babies… I mean… with the stuff found in formula nowdays and with the fact that formula is truly inferior…. but I digress.

Here is some info on the release.

No known risks of ‘vitamin D’ supplementation exist at the level recommended by the AAP. However, no research has actually investigated whether ‘vitamin D’ supplementation during the first six months has any negative consequences for infant health, such as vomiting and aspiration when supplementation is not tolerated, harmful alterations of the infant gut or increased risk of infection

Let me explain… so we DO know that exposure to some sun once in a while helps our bodies create this “vitamin”… and this is not harmful to us because it happens WELL before a sunburn would happen. But we DONT know how dangerous giving our kiddos this vitamin actually is. Ah… yeah.. now I get it.

Here is an article with more details, specifically how much sunlight we need to create the vitamin D that we need.

To make enough vitamin D, a baby in a diaper needs a total of only 30 minutes of sunlight a week-less than five minutes a day. Fully clothed and without a hat, a baby would need two hours of sunlight a week, or about 20 minutes a day. Medium to darker skin tones need a little more time in the sun.

Hard isnt it?

Um. no… it isnt actually.

Today my infant and toddler spent a vast amount of time under the sun making sure that I never have to spend a dime on supplements for vitamin D ever.

This is the daughter of one of my friends and behind her you can see little Aidan in his hat and pants, making sure that his mommy Devin doesnt have to buy any supplements for him either.

Here are the kiddos outside having fun.

These two little chunks are Greg and Calvin, both in red and ready to rule the world… they are inside now after spending some time outside with their crazy older sisters. These two have to stick together.

Today was had playgroup and I feel tired but refreshed. Like minded moms who really arent afraid of rocking the boat. We talked, we co-parented our haggle of kids, and had a great time.

I hosted at our house and I made sure that we do what we can to tell the vitamin manufacturers where they can stuff it if they want to have us give our kids supplements for vitamin D.

I love seeing how happy we all look…  no deficiencies here.

What have we been up to? Tons…

Tomorrow we start a Kindermusik and Sign Language class at our downtown library with the kids. I am looking forward to it.

Kate got her kitchen in finally from Camden Rose.  I am in love with it and so it she… basically it is the most beautiful piece of anything that I have seen in a long time. The wood has a great color and it is true heirloom quality.

I knit the little towel for the oven so she could have her own towel to hang on her kitchen. She thought it was really cool and was amazed that I made it just for her, she knew I made it because she watched me knit it for a couple of days.  It matches our real kitchen because our kitchen has wood trim so she really thinks that it is all part of our kitchen.  She is truly amazing. .. she is getting smarter and more chatty. She amuses Calvin and he amuses her as well.. they do a good job of keeping each other company at this point.

Calvin is no longer my little potato baby… this makes me sad as I truly feel like my baby boy is dissappearing before my eyes… just like Kate did.

this is hard on a mother… so very hard.

That describes our year so far.

We slept early on new years eve and have a nice little family weekend since then.

Devin my BFF had her second baby boy on New years. He is beautiful and his feet at tiny and his nail are sharp. He was born in their home, in their big tub, in the caul.  Her birth was picture perfect and they are all happy and healthy.  He has no name but he will soon.  Seeing her happy and relaxed you wouldnt think she had a baby a few days ago.

It almost makes we want another one. Almost. It sure as hell makes my uterus twitch.

I had our little Cal recently…. so I dont need a new baby… but knowing that this is our last baby makes me sad sometimes.

Oh well… happy birthday “No name baby”. We love ya and my kiddos cant wait to get ahold of you to play with you and Aidan, the happy older brother.

We opened gifts.

My brother in law made a basket of farmers market fruits and veggies with a basket from Ten Thousand Villages. Kate thought that the persimmons smelled funny.

He also made a beautiful “soup in a jar” with ingredients and instructions on how to make a great little soup. The presentation was beautiful… I really dont want to make it but I probably will soon.  Shake and Bake loves it too.  You can see him staring at it and wondering when he will get to have some yummy lentils and rice.

Kate got a ton of great gifts from our family. They are always so creative about what gifts to give the kids. We have serious issues with gifts with batteries and that make noises… we also hate plastic. The best gifts for us are learning and activity gifts… and this is a great one. A kaleidoscope. This little metal cylinder is going to give hours of endless entertainment and discovery for our two year old. And her parents.

She also received some puzzles…. she loves puzzles. Her little brain starts working as soon as she sees them.

I made Michael a book on Snapfish with pictures of the kid and him. It was his christmas gift from the children… it was like a love note from them to their daddy. I hope he liked it… it was made with such love.

Here is Calvin enjoying the Lambskin rug that I bought him for christmas. He loves it.. he digs his face into it and grabs onto it. I love the way it feels and it breaths really well. I bought it from Ruskovilla as well as some other things for Kate. I cant wait to get more things from this company. Their stuff is amazing.

My awesome Brother In Law gave Kate some great outdoor toys made from recycled plastic milk jugs from Green Toys.

My family is is really big into soccer. It is really kind of like the law that all Mexican families have to be into soccer… its like a religion. SO of course my daughter needs a soccer set. This will bring endless hours of entertainment and put her well on her way to being the professional soccer player that my father wants her to be. The first outfits that my parents bought her were rival soccer team uniforms for her. Each in their respective favorite team. She has around 5 of them now and so does our son. Soccer is serious business.

The Rockets outfit she is wearing my inlaws bought her. They are basketball people.  Sports are a big deal Kate. No pressure.

This sports thing is hard work. Let’s take a rest for a while ok?

The cooking started and it was a mad house. Mike and I worked and cooked together while the kids played outside with their new toys. Michael made the fruit salad which was beautiful and really good.

It had red and green cherries. Coconut chips. Bananas. Apples. Oranger. Marshmellows. Peacher. Grapes and mized nuts. Just divine and stunning to look at. The bowl the salad is in Michael gave me for Xmas this year. It is made of recycled plastics 100%. The colors are beautiful and it is responsibily made not in China.

The stuffed Zucchinis were great. I scooped out the innards of the zucches and mixed the guts with cheese, sour scream, proscuitto, onions, bell peppers, and curry powder.

The ham was absolutely divine. It was a ham from Paidom meats.. as usual. Do we eat meat from anywhere else? Nope.. not really.  The glaze was a brown sugar and mustard paste… it was delcared the best ham in years.  the crust was perfect. we cooked it from almost frozen, expecting a disaster.

Another side that I made was a baked mac and cheese. I used a variation of Alton Browns recipe. Started it out with a bechamel sauce and a million pounds of cheese. The crust was of panko bread crumbs and cheese. It took a good while to make (as did everything else that I made) but it was worth it.

It was a good christmas dinner with our family and with good food. We washed a million dishes and scrubbed a dozen pots and pans but it was worth it.  I cant wait till next year.

Calvin my sleeping baby

Everyone once in a while all mothers get their sense of guilt and are pained by past events or feelings.

Today is one of those days for me. I have my ups and downs and my feelings of inadequate mothering on a regular basis. I think it keeps me honest. It makes me keep trying.

And here… I will list where I believe that I have failed as a parent. Well those that I can think of off of the top of my head, I am sure there are more.

• Not getting my post partum depression diagnosed fast enough after I had Kate.
• Letting myself get to a point where I was creating stress for myself and my family because of my mental state.
• Getting pregnant so soon after she was born so my milk dried up and she couldnt get breastmilk as long as I wanted her to get it. She is getting it again now but she didnt get it for a while. We had to do soy.
• The above mentioned pregnancy brought tons of other things along with it: Not being able to wear her/carry her as much as I felt she needed. I still did it but less than she asked.
• Feeding Kate solids too early – while we did wait the recommended time I believe her allergies to dairy could have been mitigated if we would have waited longer. This might not be true but I can beat myself up for it right?
• Not realizing soon enough that she did in fact have allergies to dairy. Her “colic” and crying would have not been necessary if I had been paying more attention to her signs.
• The awful, painful, and bleeding rashes when she started solids because we gave her dairy products that she did not react well to could have also been avoided if I had been paying more attention to her signs. They didnt last more than a couple days but they could have been avoided. Period.
• Working too many hours at my last job. I saw nothing wrong with working from home after putting in my 40 hours and working more hours than I should have had to. It was unhealthy and I ignored my family. Nothing is worth that. Thankfully that is over now.
• Resenting my husband for being able to spend more time with her because I have to take care of the little bitty one so much.
• Not being patient enough with our Katherine because she is so spirited.
• Putting too much pressure on her to be potty trained early.
• Not taking enough time to enjoy her being little and wanting her to grow up fast.
• Giving Calvin the love and attention that I should have given Kate at her age but couldnt because I was so depressed and working so hard.
• Letting money take a front seat to my family.
• Wanting to tackle motherhood like I did my college assignments, something that I could just do in my spare time.
• Not having a college fund for either one of them.
• Not planning either one of them.
• Being so clueless and unprepared.
• Hoping that I would wake up one day and they would be gone and I could have my single life back again.
• Being an imperfect mother

The list… it could go on and on.

I adore my children. I look at their little faces in awe still because they have given new meaning and direction to my life. They have helped forge the person that I am, along with their father… whom I adore and along with my own personal experiences. I was in college for a long time and I tackled everything the same way, with my head… with brains and with logic. Being a parent sometimes has no logic and makes no sense. Having a child changes so much because it is so primal that it turns you into something that you might not even recognize. I strive to not lose myself within the monster that is motherhood and I think that I do a good job of making sure that I take care of myself as a person so that I can be a good mother.  But once in a while the pangs of guilt hit me again and I start to wonder if really my children deserved a mother better than I am… because I am obviously so faulty in that aspect that it burns.

My little girl

I dont know if I am a good mother or not honestly… but I try. I work every day, some days harder than others, but at least a little bit every day.  I hope that they understand that even as a mom, I make mistakes and that I will do things that might not be in their best interest… without knowing it. Never on purpose, but I will do it… I know it. But even with all of that, I love them and I always will.

Family pic

My children are adorable arent they?

Surprised Kate

Calvin and I

OMG WHERE IS MY MOTRIN??????? I am in obvious pain and need drugs to numb myself. Cant you tell how much I hurt?

Many thanks to her for making us look so good. That takes a real pro. These arent all of the pics that she took, obviously.. more to come.

This week there were two things that pissed me off:

First one. The new Motrin Ad. Basically it is an ad in print and in video that says this:

Wearing your baby seems to be in fashion.

I mean, in theory it’s a great idea.

There’s the front baby carrier, sling, schwing, wrap, pouch.

And who knows what else they’ve come up with. Wear your baby on your side, your front, go hands free.

Supposedly, it’s a real bonding experience.

They say that babies carried close to the bod tend to cry less than others.

But what about me? Do moms that wear their babies cry more than those who don’t?

I sure do!

These things put a ton of strain on your back, your neck, your shoulders. Did I mention your back?!

I mean, I’ll put up with the pain because it’s a good kind of pain; it’s for my kid.

Plus, it totally makes me look like an official mom.

And so if I look tired and crazy, people will understand why.

As a mother and a babywearer I find this ad offensive, ignorant, and in poor taste. Babywearing is not supposed to be painful, if it is… then you are doing it wrong.  Letters were written to Motrin and a great deal of anger ensued by many people.  Blogs were fired up and they made emails fly and were sent to many a group. I sent a response and so did many angry women (maybe we should try Motrin to feel better… HA). Motrin is supposedly going to remove the ad. It is on their website still so feel free to see it for yourself. It infuriated me.

The second thing that pissed me off today was part of our International Babywearing Week event today. While there a couple of us nursed our children, well… you wont believe it but it stirred up a s$%^storm and I was told to cover up and stop. Repeatedly.

Lets begin with Exhibit A. Here is a picture of one of the evil breastfeeding offenses. Can you see the evil?

Evil Breastfeeder

Then… there is this little thing called the Texas Law.. that states:

Chapter 165. Breast-Feeding
Subchapter A. Breast-Feeding Rights and Policies
Sec. 165.001. Legislative Finding
The legislature finds that breast-feeding a baby is an important and basic act of nurture that must be encouraged in the interests of maternal and child health and family values. In compliance with the breast-feeding promotion program established under the Federal Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. section 1771 et seq.), the Legislature recognizes breast-feeding as the best method of infant nutrition.
Sec. 165.002. Right to Breast-Feed
A mother is entitled to breast-feed her baby in any location in which the mother is authorized to be

I was told by the employee at Discovery Green that she was trying to keep people happy and that people had complained. Needless to say I have already started my own little one woman campaign to email everyone under the sun and call the media outlets to get this rectified. What’s worse… this has happened to other moms at this park. This supposedly family friendly and green park that was paid for with our tax dollars in part is violating our rights. My anger isnt really about me as much… I dont mind nursing in public. I have done it in many a country and many a place. I will do it anywhere that I please. No security guard will stop me from doing it. But for those moms who are afraid of it and who might be discouraged from breastfeeding because of this, this is who I am trying to get this changed for.  Actions like this continue to further the idea that breastfeeding is gross and unnatural and continue to make our culture not breastfeeding friendly.

On a happy note here are some pics from the event.

International Babywearing Week 2008

This is my all bundled up with my “refugee” look, as Mike likes to call it.

I am wearing a babywearing poncho, Olives and Applesauce Mei Tai, and a wool Greek fisherman hat.

Alma the Babywearing Refugee

Babies taste really good with Curry Ketchup.

Yum.

Sunday we made it to the Renaissance festival in Plantersville Texas.

Much fun was had and much food was consumed. The day was really quite beautiful, it was not hot and it was not cold. There was a light breeze and it was just comfortable with little humidity (well little as far as Houston is concerened).

Kate and the Flowers

Kate loved eating smelling the flowers and dancing around like a monkey child. We watched a group do a little jig and dance a fling and Kate danced right along with them.

Dancing Kate

I dressed the kids up in tie dye as you can see because if Ren Faire isnt the time to let your freak flag fly then when can you? Calvin was also wearing lime green baby legs and yellow socks. He has more colors on than Superman.

Tie dye baby

My two favorite things on earth. Food and hot men babywearing. As a side note : You dont not realize how wonderful a father a man is until you are driving back, tired and weary from being out all day long and the baby starts crying. Then the man in question busts out in a harmony with you of “The Lion sleeps tonight” to try and calm the baby down a bit, and then when the song is over start singing about how we are exiting the freeway just for the him and to not cry because we are going to get him out. There are fewer things on earth that are sweeter and more heartwarming than this.

Real men wear their babies.

Days like yesterday, with the perfect weather… the sunlight and the ren freaks… are days that I love living in Texas. With its big cities and small towns. WIth the little feed stores and big trucks. With its multitude of faires and get togethers that are just excuses for people to get together and be merry. This weekend was a weekend where I loved Texas.

Country feed store

Shake and Bake as a tiny devil

I am obviously guilty of having pictures such as these all over our home and will continue taking these pictures and making sure that our children are as embarassed as I can possibly make them so that they never are able to procreate.

A+ parenting!!!

Kate's first attempts at abusing her male counterparts.

 Oh yes…my children will hate me. It will be grand.