first field trip

Posted in advantageous adventures, it's cool to school by ElaineMarie

our first field trip with darla’s school was more like a patch trip, pumpkin patch that is.

on monday, darla’s school arranged a visit to nearby Circle S Farm. i was pretty impressed by their set up. lots for the kiddos to enjoy and learn from. and they enjoyed it for sure. and how. let’s have a looksie, shall we?

the first thing that made the day special was getting to hang with darla’s friend kaden and the second thing was the pumpkin donuts. yum. YUM!

and then it was on to playing in the hay barn

and then it was on to hayrides through sunflowers

to pick our pumpkins

and spy on woolly caterpillars

then it was back to the farmyard for animals, hay maze and more jumping in the hay

and my favorite two moments of the day

we had a really great time. more than that, we had two tired kids who wore themselves out having a great time. score.

9Oct2012

weddinz

Posted in advantageous adventures, love and happiness, Travels by ElaineMarie

i’d first like to take a moment to thank everyone whose wedding i’ve attended this year for choosing such beautiful settings. i mean, look at this

and this

and now i’d like to take a moment to thank pinterest for spreading and spurring every one of those weddings to be so thoughtfully put together, detailed and aesthetically wonderous to behold. i mean, look at this

and this

and this!

we had an amazing time this past weekend taking part in the communion of a very special couple. their one-of-a-kind weekend was perfectly tailored and i’m just very grateful to have been a part of it and to have seen our friends bc well they’re fun and cool and good looking. i mean, look at this

and this

sigh.

a bit more reminiscing…

1. bonfire! 2. there’s some handsome dudes down there getting pics 3 & 4 fashion choices – farm b&b calls for ruched floral and vintage cowgirl boots, fall wedding calls for faux fur stole & animal print clutch 5. boutineer boy 6. mother nature showing of the beautimous veil 7. officialness 8. another columbus day wedding couple 7. more twinkly 8 & 9. gettin’ this party started! and james on disco ball duty.

and by the way, the dance party was epic. EPIC. at least i thought so…

9Oct2012

anniversariez &

Posted in love and happiness by ElaineMarie

Photobucket
i am glad to be here with you at two years of marriage.

happy anniversary, husbeau

5Oct2012

c week

Posted in it's cool to school by ElaineMarie

remember our letter learning from earlier in the year such as here and here?

well, i’m attempting to bring it back and work in conjunction with what little miss darla is learning in her preschool. they go over a letter each week so we’ll be reinforcing here at home.

this week was C. here’s our brief activities:

coloring and candy all while listening to chicago. that’s my kinda schoolin’.

4Oct2012

birth matterz

Posted in doula work by ElaineMarie

i’m helping another wonderful mama and papa bring their little one into the world today. I’m feeling so incredibly thankful and excited.

in honor of this event, i wanted to share a few birth related items i’ve come across this week.

I found two interesting articles on Marvelous Kiddo:

the first is an article from science daily about new research findings in regards to limits of gestation length in humans. it’s long been theorized that cephalo-pelvic relations (i.e. baby’s head size in comparison to mom’s pelvis) contributed to the end of the mother’s pregnancy term. new evidence shows the end of gestation has more to do with metabolic rate. full article here.

the second article is about Oxytocin. Oxytocin is a delightful hormone that plays a big part in labor and birth, and a whole lot more in life for that matter. Oxytocin stimulates uterine contractions. It also helps mom get an endorphin rush post contraction helping mom cope with labor pain AND oxytocin helps establish momma + baby bond immediately after birth. what a wonderful little hormone! Pitocin is the synthetic form of oxytocin that is sometimes administered during labor to start and/or strengthen contractions. Beware – evidence shows the brain doesn’t react to pitocin the same way as oxytocin naturally occurring in the body. mom may not get the beneficial endorphin rush post contraction and it can make contractions longer and stronger than would be in natural labor. full article here.

and i saved my favorite for last. I snagged this study summary from Mary Catherine Hamelin Birth + Family Arts. The study shows evidence that 100% of women benefit from supported birth:

Overall, women who received continuous labor support were less likely to experience:
• Epidural or other regional analgesia • Any analgesia/anesthesia, including epidurals and opioids • Birth with vacuum extraction or forceps • Birth by cesarean • Dissatisfaction or a negative rating of their experience. The authors concluded that all women should have support throughout labor and birth.

the last two lines are the most important. it doesn’t matter your chosen method of birthing your baby, it matters how satisfied you are with your experience. doulas help give mom the optimal emotional support to compliment their optimal medical support. think of what our maternity care system could be like if we had a doula for every mother.

this article is from the site childbirthconnection.org. this site is packed full of information. any expecting parents should check it out!

hope you enjoyed this influx of birth information. looking forward to sharing more info and experience as time goes on.

4Oct2012

100 thingz

Posted in Run Da House by ElaineMarie

whenever i feel that my household has become unmanageable i know it’s time to get rid of some stuff.

schtuff.

yesterday i took on a 100 things project. I gave away 100 things in one day.

granted this is not hard to do when you have a small child. small articles of clothing and small no-longer-played-with toys easily add up. still, it was 100 less things i have to sort, fold, pick up, organize and step on.

here’s my nice little give away pile:

i normally just haul the stuff to the goodwill but i’m thinking about a stuff swap party in the future. anyone want to set a date and join me? i’m thinking this might be a good alternative to buying kiddos all new toys for christmas. maybe just trade ’em up.

if you decide to take on the 100 things in one day give away please post and share your pics on MomJeanz page.

cheers to a simpler, more manageable household.

3Oct2012

baby wear ware

Posted in Shopping by ElaineMarie

maybe you’ve already read, bc the mommy blogosphere is blowin’ up about it, but ergobaby is having a contest to design their next ergo carrier.

the ergobaby was my favorite of our baby carriers, especially when darla was older. it was perfect for days that i knew we would be walking a lot. it got us through 2 music festivals, countless city walks, and a handful of airports, all before ours was stolen from our car. saddy sad face. but that is a testament to how nice these carriers are. they get stolen from cars! they left our stereo alone and took the ergo!

i have spent more than a few minutes thinking about which design we will get as a replacement if baby number 2 ever comes to pass. now i am thinking of how cute an ergobaby in momjeanz floral would be. hmmmm?

if you feel a strong desire to design a carrier for your little one you can visit their site here for details of the contest and instructions for entering.

good luck!

2Oct2012

the thing about acorns is…

Posted in Momma Needs a minute... by ElaineMarie

yeah, this patience thing is one i’m meditating on A LOT lately. this illustration spoke to me from one of darla’s library books, Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature, so i thought i would share it. i’m constantly reminding myself that it takes time for our seeds to come to fruition.

i’m always eager to see the results of work and effort and have a hard time remembering that everything happens in its own time. i can get disproportionately discouraged by minor setbacks.

what do you do when you need to conjure up a little more patience? please fill me in. i need all the help i can get!

2Oct2012

a wonder wander

Posted in advantageous adventures, kiddie-do by ElaineMarie

i much prefer a nice stroll in the woods over any other activity with my girl. after a picnic lunch at their pondside wildlife observation deck we took our apples and went for a walk in sodalis nature park.

i love the way her imagination has the freedom to expand when there are few parameters. we walked along the trail, singing various songs, clearing sticks off the trail and using the sticks to build various projects darla dreamed up. i loved watching her excitement as she found red leaves and exclaimed “i found the first leaf of autumn!” or when she found large rocks to climb and jump off.

i’m looking forward to a whole season of these nature walks.

1Oct2012

harvest moon weekend

Posted in advantageous adventures, let me let me update ya by ElaineMarie

did you enjoy the harvest moon weekend? did neil young perform in your headspace as well? just me?

oh well.

we enjoyed a wonderful weekend of beautiful weather (thankful for that after several rainy days), carnival rides, food truck fest and a little girl running hills.

at the top of the ferris wheel

ferris wheel 2

picture comment one: i was a little reluctant to let darla in the fun house. i mean, did you see those paintings? i don’t know if you know this but carnivals are creepy…

picture comment two: the food truck fest was at mallow run winery. this was a rad time! the set up was very relaxed and kid-friendly – a great place to relax, nosh, and watch your child run up and down hills while you delude yourself that it will help get her into an earlier bedtime. i highly suggest it for any of you central indiana folk.

hope you enjoyed your weekend. thanks for reading about ours!