momswimz

Posted in pregnancy, Shopping by ElaineMarie

it looks like i’m going to have to get myself an alternative swimsuit for the summer. i thought my normal suit would work out but it’s not looking good. given how hard it is to find a suit for my non-pregnant body i thought it was going to be the same for my preggo body but one google search and BAM this little number turned up, from Target nonetheless.

i’ve been in love with this color lately so i’m crossing my fingers they’ll still have my size when my next paycheck rolls around…

although, i may just take this summer as an opportunity to rock a bikini since i don’t pull that off well in my non-humangrowing days.

18Apr2014

our week

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

small

collection

of moments

from our week.

the lovely bones

^^^ unschooling is back. bone gazing at the audubon center. ^^^

^^^ a long overdue beauty sesh with my main girl ^^^

^^^ back in pottery class ^^^

^^^ got a bag of doritos; by far the most important thing that happened all week.^^^

hope you enjoy a great weekend.

17Apr2014

bump day

Posted in pregnancy by ElaineMarie

i couldn’t pick just one image for bump day this week so i just decided to include both. i feel they gel together nicely by highlighting new things happening to my body. darla likes to keep track of how far her finger *doesn’t* go into my belly button anymore. thanks, kid. i never got an outie with her but it did get pretty darn flat. we’re getting there.

i really like the second image because it shows how my body is folding over and resting on itself in new ways. well, in truth, it always folds over and rests on itself in more places than i would like but at least when a baby is in there it’s for a purpose. and i was wearing my Frankie Says Relax shirt as a reminder…hey, relax…it’s only a baby belly on the internet. no biggie fries.

mmmm biggie fries…

photo 38E7E382-72F3-4AD1-A8BE-EA94A66C8F80-14096-00000959235F7A63_zpsa1cbaf5c.jpg

16Apr2014

on this day when i didn’t like being a mom

Posted in Momma Needs a minute... by ElaineMarie

am i really cut out for this?

these days of struggling and tiredness mount up on one another, leaving me feeling drained and daunted by the question of whether i’m really cut out for being a mom.

i find managing a family and a household to be utterly exhausting mentally. i’m at home in my independence and keeping the family plates spinning in the air is something that leaves me feeling endlessly inadequate. my inner mountain lioness wants to slink away and reclaim my status as a solo being. this feels like a wretched place to be emotionally residing when a new life is growing inside me.

how can i facilitate some attached independence? how can i make a little space in my life just for me? how can i accomplish all that i want to do when all i have are snippets of time and endlessly interrupted thought patterns?

please know you don’t have to provide these answers. i just need to get them out there. maybe you feel the same way. maybe you’ve worked through this yourself. i’ll figure out my way. i know i will. just thank you for letting me put this out there and accepting it as is.

16Apr2014

pregnancy eats

Posted in pregnancy, yum yum eat good by ElaineMarie

i’m going to attempt to venture into the perilous realm of prenatal vitamins with this pregnancy eats post. sigh.

i feel this qualifies as a pregnancy eats post because when it comes to prenatal vitamins i try to get most of them from my diet. my family has been in financial hardship for a while and the first thing i did was give our food consumption a big overhaul. i think normally the quality of food is one of the first things to go when money becomes an issue but here i try to remember that food is our first medicine, the old “pay the farmer today instead of the doctor tomorrow” line of thought. i really put a great deal of effort into crafting healthful diets for my family. and guess what, if you scrap all the stuff that is processed and bad for you then eating healthy is relatively cheap but requires more time and effort.

so, when it came to choosing a prenatal vitamin the skeptic in me reared her head. vitamins are controversial. my brain is not really ready to make a call on whether they are actually effective or not. but better safe than sorry, right? ugh, well, now we’re getting into whether or not they’re safe which some researchers claim they are not. if you decide to take a vitamin then you have to decide which kind to take and that’s a whole issue on it’s own.

and guess what, the ones that seem like they’re the best cost a fortune…for vitamins…that should really be sourced from our food in the first place.

so i’ve come up with a system that seems to work for me and my pocketbook and hopefully for my nutritional needs but who is able to really measure that on a daily basis anyhow?

i started with a high quality vitamin. originally i was taking Garden of Life’s Raw Prenatal Multivitamin but that cost me the same amount as one week’s worth of groceries and only lasted 2 months. you see, it says 180 count but the serving size is 3 per day so barely two months worth is all i got out of it. {actually, it looks like they are on a pretty decent sale of them over on amazon right now.} as i mentioned, i’m not willing to risk real nutrition for pill nutrition so i did some more research and settled on Rainbow Light Prenatal One Multivitamin which my body seems to like really well, has probiotics included and is easier on the pocketbook since it’s a once daily pill.

i added a calcium + magnesium supplement daily. i chose the Trader Joe’s version because it seems decent enough and the price was right. i would put a link for it here but it’s way more expensive on amazon than at the store so just get thee to a TJ’s if you’re interested in incorporating that.

i lucked out and was gifted a DHA supply and take that daily. a gal pal passed along her Country Life Omega Mom tablets that she was done with. if this child has superior brain function as a result i will make sure he/she knows who to thank.

so now things get interesting…

i also picked up a generic drug store prenatal vitamin which cost me about $3. and i have a Trader Joe’s Probiotic that seems pretty effective for my body that cost me $6.

What i have come up with, which is probably way too over thought and crazy, is i take the Rainbow Light one day and then take the cheaper version along with the TJ’s probiotic the next day and keep in a rotation. I take the calcium & DHA everyday. By using this system I’ve got enough vitamins to cover me well into my breastfeeding relationship with this child. I tell myself that my good nutrition more than compensates for the days when i’m taking the cheapo vitamin.

does this all seem crazy? it all seems a bit crazy. let’s just admit it’s crazy. but it makes it affordable for me to get those high quality vitamins in there at least every other day since i can’t afford the daily {or thrice daily} versions. i honestly don’t feel a difference between the days but feel pretty good overall so i think this plan is working. but it’s probably due to the very healthy REAL food we eat.

so, i’ll keep this up until my Rainbow Light stash runs out but then i don’t think i’ll be re-upping on them even though i think they’re really good. when i think about all the REAL food that could be going into my body with that money it just seems so silly.

because it is.

15Apr2014

my plan to avoid maternity clothes

Posted in Shopping by ElaineMarie

so, i loathe maternity clothes as most are overpriced and not very cute. i made it through my pregnancy with darla without buying a single pair of maternity pants and i’m looking to do the same with this go around. let’s see how i do ;-) i’ll post some of my outfits from here on out to show how i’m avoiding mah momjeanz!!

ps. yes, i’m sure i’ll be baring my middle some before this babe is out. and yes, it looks like i enjoy taking pictures of myself at work. they have much prettier mirrors there with far less hand prints and sticker residue on them than at my house.

14Apr2014

my daughter is my hero

Posted in love and happiness, parenting apparently? by ElaineMarie

girl crush moment:

this girl is my hero. she’s so fearless and fun. she’s easily the person having the best time everywhere she goes. she doesn’t know a stranger. she dresses up in her girliest outfit and then hunts all over the house to find her “light sabers” to stuff in her purse because she “doesn’t go anywhere without them.” she knows what she wants and she’s not afraid to go for it. she puts together the best outfits. she’s smart and she’s funny. and she’s punny! she’s determined and affectionate. she’s helpful and enthusiastic. she’s creative. she’s independent but loves being part of a team.

in short, she’s all the things i want to be when i grow up.

what i feel about this age + stage is that i realize mike and i may have very little to do with how great this person is. when they are young you feel this overwhelming weight of how they’re going to turn out. and then, even though it seems like you do a million things wrong along the way, they turn out to be these amazing little people who are just so cool. i pray i’ll remember this with our second person and just CTFO about everything other than love and fun.

i hope you all have a kid hero.

13Apr2014

learning how to share

Posted in let me let me update ya by ElaineMarie

dear friends, family & fans,

thanks, as always, for reading my blog and being a source of encouragement. i have no idea why some of you have stuck with me for so long but thank you just the same.

many of you might have read about facebook’s upcoming changes to their algorithm that affects how pages such as MomJeanz share new posts with their fans. right now about 8-10% of a page’s fanbase organically sees a post. the upcoming changes will limit our audiences to about 1-2% viewing for those pages who do not pay to promote a post.

say what?!

now i would love to be able to pay to promote my posts and grow my readership but that’s just not feasible or financially smart for a hobby blog such as mine.

there are a couple of things you can do as readers to stay up on MomJeanz action and help circulate new posts: 1. you can hover over the “like” button on my blog page and click on “get notifications”. Keep in mind, this means you will get a notification for every post i make. this option is good for the hard-core MomJeanz fan who wants to keep close tabs on our doings {mom, this one’s for you} 2. OR you can just visit the MomJeanz page, frequently, and comment on or share the posts. the more interactions a post has, the more it will show up in the feed of others, organically. 3. OORRR you could add MomJeanz to your blog feeds. i use bloglovin’ for organizing my blogs but another one is called Feedly {both have free apps as well}. and then you can share your favorite MomJeanz posts to your Facebook page. yay!

of course, you can always do none of these things. but fyi, soon your feed will be full of a lot more posts, articles, and links from businesses that have paid to be in your face and there will be a lot less of the actual things that you want in your face…in your face.

i hope you will choose to stay in touch with this blog. if you haven’t liked the facebook page for my bloggity then come on over and do so. thanks for reading as always. you’re a gem. a real diamond in the rough.

12Apr2014

Birthy BOGO with a purpose – Birth Tshirts on sale!

Posted in birth links, doula work, Shopping by ElaineMarie

I want to let you in on a secret {now not so secret} birth work goal of mine. Almost a year ago my family lost my dear cousin in a tragic accident. She had devoted much of her young life to
mission work and had a passion for helping others. I promised myself that one of the things I would do with my birth work was find a way to provide services for mothers in need of pregnancy, labor & postpartum support in her name. It feels like it’s taken me forever to lay the ground work but, with my certification pending, I feel that I’ll finally be ready to get the ball rolling on a fund to support that work. I’ve calculated how much it would take to cover my basic costs per birth and am hoping to establish a fund to offer those services to at least one mother a month after I’m back from maternity leave in 2015. That feels so exciting and kinda lofty to me at this particular moment but I’m just going to keep pressing on. All I can do is try, right?

One of the ways I’m supplementing this fund is through the sales of my birth work shirts. I began creating these for myself and then thought “hey, maybe you should open these up to other birth workers who want to spread the birth word as well.” So I did and I was right. Slowly but surely these shirts have been bought up. It’s been a modest venture but looking at the earnings I’m sitting here feeling like I could provide service for at least one mother with those earnings. That’s a damn good feeling and I want to keep the ball rolling. I have a few more projects up my sleeve that I hope to add to this endeavor but it feels good to have scratched the surface.

So, I’m setting an intention with this post and providing some birthy information along with these shirts, which are BOGO 50% off until 4/14 through Skreened. Get ready for lots of birth goodness:

April is Cesarean Awareness Month. The mission of the month is to draw attention to the fact that 1 in 3 children in the US are born via cesarean. The debate for and against cesarean birth wages on but one thing is for sure, at least for me, it is something that deserves attention and conversation. These two shirts were designed with the intent to help mothers with cesarean experience initiate those conversations. All birth deserves our support. All birth deserves to be discussed.

As a birth worker, I’ve had the most success with this shirt starting conversations when I’m out and about doing my daily do. I’ve had a variety of lovely conversations bloom because of my shirts. Women want to talk about their experiences with doula support. Partners want to rave about doula work. I’ve even had a heart-warming conversation with an area anesthesiologist who stopped marching in a parade to come talk to me on the sidelines when he saw my shirt. I think having these conversations in everyday life are powerful and necessary. People, in general, want to talk about birth. If you’re a doula looking for a starter shirt I’d say try this one or it’s tank top cousin.

i designed this sweatshirt to match the apparel for the new Central Ohio Doulas organization that sprung forth into existence earlier this year. i’m very excited to be a part of this group and see good things happening in the future for furthering doula work as a profession and getting that professionalism recognized by the larger birth community in central ohio. however, the shirt has no real affiliation with the group so I thought doulas far and wide might enjoy this warm cover-up for chilly hospital nights.

and this last one i’ve put on here just for funnies. i can’t wait to put my own little baby in some of these onesies.

if you are a birth worker, birth activist, birth lover or baby lover head on over to the skreened shop to see if anything catches your eye before 4/14 to get in on the 50% off savings. i have designs for babies, mamas wanting to rock their homebirth status, doulas, midwives and lots more. i’ll continue to add more to the shop and update the public on these offerings from time to time.

Thanks y’all. May your life be blessed with supported, beautiful birth.

11Apr2014

plant plans

Posted in Run Da House by ElaineMarie

who doesn’t get excited about a big plant sale. obviously darla does. we picked up a few new green friends the other day and it got my nesting feathers ruffled for more updates to our space. i love adding more life to this house be it green babies or human babies. my only problem is i don’t really seem to have a green thumb yet. i don’t know much about taking care of house plants. i need to have someone come over and give me a private houseplant lesson. yeah, i’ve pinned a lot to pinterest to look over and read up a bit but learning in person seems to be my forte.

anyway, the pics of me re-potting a plant are superfluous but they were taken by darla so i thought i’d include them as a keepsake. good luck with your weekend. here’s hoping sunshine comes your way this weekend for you and all your growing things!