Market Day, Rain or Shine!

The weather has been so cloudy and rainy here all week it feels normal (but it's not, May should be much warmer and my garden, fuller)... It's looks like tomorrow will bring some of the same, but I am taking serious comfort in the small peek of the sun behind the cloud in Environment Canada's Victoria weather icon! We'll be at the Moss Street Market tomorrow, rain or shine, and hope to see you there too. I've got fresh Summer Blankets (shown below) and Summer Bonnets - made from new vintage finds and organic cottons - and a pile of my uber cute and practical Vintage Tea Linen Burp Cloth sets.



It may be our last Market day - Baby #2 is due soon and I sense I'll need a break from the luggin' and standing that Market day requires. Some of our products will be 10% tomorrow off to make our summer storage a little lighter. Spread the word!

Buy the Book!

"Everytime I cook for my family, I will do it with love and with the awareness that every meal I prepare feeds their bodies, minds and souls." ~ Anni's Mama Mantra



Organically Raised Conscious Cooking for Babies + Toddlers cookbook was released today - you can buy your copy now! And that Mama Mantra - what an intention to set for each meal's preparation. I'm so proud to be involved, in my tiny way, with Anni and her creative work that I'm excited to keep giving you updates! Her website is looking great too, beautiful fresh photos and amazing endorsements. The book launch is next Saturday, oh how I'd love to jet to LA ... but with my luck I'd go into labour and have the baby somewhere over Oregon, high in the skies. Wouldn't THAT be a story.

Preparing for Birth

A few weekends ago, Nathaniel and I took the Birthing From Within birth prep class with Sarah Julisson of IslandMother.com. It was an informative and empowering 2-day course, spread over 2 weekends - and it was intimate, a far cry from our birth prep weekend 4 years ago with over 30 couples! With Sarah, we were 4 couples - 3 first-timers and us second-timers. I found it a gift to be embraced by the enthusiasm and worry and anticipation of these first-time parent friends, reminding me to bring some of their newness into my second birthing experience ... a coming event that at times is squished between Dress Me Up and my 3-almost-4 year old.

Sarah's leadership and knowledge was what I needed to let go of some of the challenging aspects of Ruby's labour and delivery in order to prepare fresh for my little one's journey to earthside. Us mamas were invited to create a birth bundle - a collection of physical objects from home to represent me as mama, my partner, my daughter and my coming baby. I dug into my spiritual pracitices box and found a snake skin, gathered up one hot summer day in the Okanagan desert, and tucked it into the bundle to represent the coming baby ... shedding what I need to of my previous birthing experience, being reborn into life as mama-of-two, acknowledging my itchy scratchy bursting skin, constantly moving with this wiggly inhabitant almost ready to emerge.

The baby is due in a month. Ruby is full of anticipation and curiosity, sharing her knowledge of things like squirrel births, placentas, vulvas and crying babies (Our baby will cry, right Mama? I will hug her.). As a gift to Ruby, soon to be reborn into life as big-sister, Nathaniel and I are making her her own birth story picture book - a wonderful suggestion from Sarah. We sat down at the computer and went through hundreds of photos from my pregnancy, labour, birth and early months of Ruby's newness. I can't believe how young we were then, in so many ways, and how much we have grown and learned, and come to understand and trust ... knowing so well that there is still much more to come. And not so much time to get the picture book finished! I'd love to hear what things you did to help your first prepare for the arrival of new baby.


Mama and Ruby, October 2006

Morning, Mamas!

I was recently interviewed by Steve Carey for a piece on organic baby and children's products in the Victoria Times Colonist, and the article came out today! What a great Mother's Day gift. And, I have to say, at 8 months pregnant the photo of me ain't half bad! You can read the article here Making Choices for the Kids



Happy Mother's Day to all you beautiful mama women out there!

Market Day - Already!

Friday afternoon and the Moss Street Market prep rush is on! The sun is shining, Ruby's playing Memory out on the lawn with a friend (thanks, Lissa!), and I'm doing some last minute zipping up of lovely Dress Me Up things on the sewing machine. Tomorrow looks to be a GORGEOUS day. I can't wait to spend it at the Market. Come visit!



ps. There will be new Ostrich Picnic Blankets!
Can you believe this was Ruby, 2 1/2 years ago?

Mmmm, warm fuzzies.

I received this sweet note Saturday evening, and it filled me with smiles.

"I met you at the Moss St market today and bought a beaver for my son. I just wanted to say thank you. My son loves it. I may be exaggerating a little, since he's only 11 months old and still asleep, but I'm pretty sure it's keeping him asleep. He knows how much love went into it and is dreaming sweet dreams. That's what I'm choosing to believe anyway. Have a lovely day."

It's something to remember - the positive, comforting benefits of a hand made organic toy, stuffed with lamb's wool. I just love working with wool. Wool holds familiar, comforting scents, like mamas and papas and home, and feels exceptionally soft and springy to snuggle with. It's naturally anti-bacterial, which is AMAZING for a child's toy - you don't have to wash it, just spot clean the surface as necessary - and because the wool is on the inside of our toys, nestled behind layers of organic cotton, even little people with sensitivities can enjoy the benefits of a lamb's wool stuffie. (And for the uber safety aware - wool is naturally fire resistant to boot!)

Do your magical thing, little Three Penny Beaver friend!