Things I Love

Valentine's Day has never been about romance for me. I know it has a long history, but I'm not much for history so I'll spare you the boring recap. It's also one of those "holidays" that the greeting card and candy companies benefit from, but again I don't care to get into that - no need to get raged up on a such a nice day. I thought maybe I'd share a few of the things that I love on this day, the 14th of February. So here goes - there will be lots of links!



First is My Family - no need to elaborate!

 I love everything natural, especially cloth diapering. I have a great diaper service, Sweet Peach. They also provide a number of other fabulous things I love like slings, wraps, carriers, nursing bras and tanks and a whole variety of cloth diapers - by far my favorite natural parenting store!

Speaking of wraps, ring slings and soft structured carriers, I love babywearing!! Here are some of my favorite places to ogle my favorite carriers:
ObiMama - beautiful handmade ring slings and wrap conversion mei tais
Sustain.Able Sprouts - lots of items to choose from, including my new favorite wrap the Girasol
PAXbaby.com - carries pretty much any carrier you can think of. 

I also love giveaways! Who doesn't love a chance at free stuff? The above three businesses are also holding giveaways today!

I love Crafting... I'm not great at it, but it's fun and I like getting the end product.
Pinterest - brace yourself for a slight addiction. This website allows everyone to "pin" photos they like to their pinboard and in doing so allows anyone that follows that person to see items that interest that person. These photos aren't simply a photo to look at, however, it's a direct link to the website that the photo came from. So when you click on that photo, say a photo of a handmade craft like an owl hat, it takes you to the website that the pinner saw it on - it may or may not have a pattern or the opportunity to buy the pattern on the website or blog. I'm always up for seeing what you like, so come Follow Me!
CraftGawker - runs on the same principle as Pinterest with direct links to websites and blogs.
Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores - though I've never bought anything from this company they often have great ideas and tutorials for things to make.
I have bought some lovely fabrics from the following Etsy shops, but will lnk to their facebook sites out of convenience. LeeLee, Fishskin Fabric and Pink Castle Fabrics. All of which have had a great turnaround time and wonderful customer service.

I also love love love informed childbirth! Nothing makes my heart swell like a mother and father who ask questions and make decisions based on information... the reason I'm a doula! If you're interested in becoming a doula check out DONA International. If you live Leeds Grenville area and are looking for a doula check out My Website to see if I might be the doula for you. If you're looking for information head on over to The Childbirth Connection and if you're pregnant and want the ultimate in care and information, seek a midwife - Community Midwives of Kingston Facebook page is an active page with all sorts of posts for families and their website will put you in touch with them. All three of our children have entered this world with the support of the midwives in Kingston, they are wonderful!

Tied with informed childbirth is breastfeeding. It's great for mom and babe, nature's choice. It is a touchy subject so I'll skip my opinion for now (I'll save it for a future blog post and really get our hearts racing!).
Human Milk 4 Human Babies - provides a way for those needing breastmilk to get in touch with those who what to share their breastmilk as well as provides information to anyone interested in milksharing.
KellyMom - is an education-based source of information. Baby-friendly and all around awesome.
Best for Babes - breaking down breastfeeding barriers all over the place!
These are just my top picks... there are so many more out there!

And finally I have a real love for trees... I don't know why (aside from their natural life-giving qualities) I am just truly drawn to them. I have a tree on our property that pulls me to it on a weekly basis, its strange to say the least. But my favorite type of tree by far is the ones I grow when I grow my babies, the ultimate in life-giving trees, the "Tree of Life" found on the baby's side of the placenta.

My most recent creation

And I suppose that brings me back full circle to the things I love the most: My husband, the co-creator of this tree, and my three perfect little boys. Happy Valentine's Day!