Special Guest Sunday: Mother Dear

What kind of daughters would we be if we didn't celebrate our very own mother as a Special Guest on Mother's Day?

Happy Mother's Day to a wonderful mom. She teaches us, inspires us, had 5 of her 6 beautiful babies unmedicated (she always wonders why she didn't get 6 of 6 medicated), and she was the first person to start sewing our Laborlooks gowns.

She has faith in us, she taught us how to work hard, she supports us in what we do, and if someday we become half the mother she is then we will consider ourselves blessed.

We love you mom,

Love,

Ashley and Brittani

Fashion Friday: Smart Mom Jewelry

http://www.smartmomjewelry.com/
Have you seen this? Teething Necklaces that are cute! I actually have the one below and I used to wear it ALL THE TIME. Not only did my girls bite and chew and play with it, but when they were nursing it was something to entertain them.

Thankful Thursday: International Midwives Day

Want to know more? Check out:

http://mana.org/IntMidDay.html

Did you know that May 5th is International Midwives Day? Yes yes yes, in America it is also Cinco De Mayo, but I am thankful for a day that recognizes midwives and all the services that they provide for women throughout the world. I am a midwife. I love being a midwife. I am busy and life is crazy but I LOVE the women that I serve. It is a calling, sometimes a hard one, and sometimes my family misses me. But I am a midwife and I love what I do.

One of the reasons we celebrate International Midwives Day is because that we need to recognize all the good that trained midwives can do for women around the world. There are many countries where they cannot deliver their babies at a hospital. They don't have access to the healthcare that many of us have. A trained midwife can save thousands of lives. Knowing these life saving measures and using them as needed is what saves women and children in childbirth.

Some day I hope to help train foreign midwives. I think my first trip will be to Haiti. I want to also spend time in other areas. I have been blessed with such a great passion for knowledge and I need to share what I know. And that is why I posted a picture of myself for you today (sorry- it was when I was getting ready for work this morning!), so that you can say you saw a midwife on International Midwives Day and you celebrated with her!

Thank you.

Wild Wednesday: Mommy Flash Mob

Trusting Tuesday: Babysitters

Do you trust your baby sitters?

I could go for a long time about how to pick the best babysitter... and maybe I will... but seriously, Aunts do not always make the best babysitters.

Look what my sister taught my daughter!

Mommy Monday: Returning to Work and Breastfeeding

Have you ever wondered how to manage it all? As a mom sometimes it is hard to be able to figure out how to get it all done.

One of the most important things for me was to be able to continue a breastfeeding relationship with my daughters when I went back to work. I usually did this by pumping. I used my pump in style (medela) pump 3-4 times a day for almost a year. But the super model Miranda Kerr is able to breastfeed and work at the same time!

Check out this article:

Model mother Miranda Kerr breastfeeds baby Flynn behind the scenes of photo shoot

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 2:07 AM on 29th April 2011

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Life as a working mother can be quite the juggling act - just ask Miranda Kerr.

The Victoria's Secret supermodel posted a picture on her Twitter page today that showed her bonding with her baby boy Flynn between takes while on a shoot.

The 28-year-old, who is dressed in red high heels and a gaping satin robe, appears to be breastfeeding her three-month-old as she sits in a make-up chair.

Along with the picture, Miranda wrote: 'Another day in the office xxx'

Bonding between takes: Miranda Kerr posted this picture on her Twitter page today

The wife of actor Orlando Bloom, who returned to work two months after giving birth, has been working on several new campaign in recent weeks.

On location: The model at a shoot for Have Faith Swimwear in Malibu last week

She was photographed on location in Malibu earlier this week, where she put her post-baby curves on show in a purple bathing costume for Have Faith Swimwear.

Miranda has become quite the advocate for breastfeeding and the first picture she released of the newborn showed her nursing him.

'The photo was one of the first photos Orlando took,' Australian-born Miranda later said.

More...

• Changing shape of maternal Miranda Kerr: Victoria's Secret model shows off healthier post-baby figure

'We both loved it and we wanted to share it. The pleasant surprise was that it also had the added benefit of promoting breastfeeding which to me is the most natural thing in the world and I love it.

'I intend to breastfeed for as long as I can,' she continued.

Meanwhile, Orlando, who is busy promoting his new films Sympathy for Delicious and The Good Doctor, has revealed the inspiration behind their son's name.

The actor revealed his grandmother Evelyn passed away while his wife was pregnant and Bloom said that they wanted to pay tribute to her.

Appearing on Live With Regis and Kelly on Wednesday, he said: 'I was convinced we were going to have a girl because my grandmother actually passed when Flynn was conceived and she was really dear to my heart.

'Evelyn was my grandmother, on my father's side... I was thinking Evelyn. We're going to have a girl, it's going to be called Evelyn. And it was a boy. And so Flynn! Evelyn, Flynn. Flynn, Evelyn.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1381669/Model-mother-Miranda-Kerr-breastfeeds-baby-Flynn-scenes-Victorias-Secret-shoot.html#ixzz1Ksi6kz6d

Special Guest Sunday: Tender Gifts Doula

During my pregnancies I took way better care of my body than when I wasn't pregnant.

Why do women do that? Why don't we take care of ourselves ALL OF THE TIME?

I always took my vitamins, never drank caffeine, limited sweets, and I exercised regularly.

I drank water until I thought my bladder would explode. I, like most women, wanted to do whatever was best for my baby. I also didn't want to gain a thousand pounds, but that came second to my desire to have a healthy baby.

After I had my baby I soon returned to work and found myself pumping 3-4 times a day, 5+ days a week. I pump before deliveries, I pumped in the nurses lounge, I pumped in my office, some days I even had to pump on one side at a time while driving (thank goodness for hands free pump straps!). I image that would have been hard to explain to a police officer or the person who I rear-ended because I was distracted.... seriously though... don't report me. I was a busy busy midwife.

During the middle of all that pumping my milk supply dwindled. I was soon pumping an ounce or two when I used to be pumping 6-8 ounces! I thought immediately to boost my supply with off label use of medications- Reglan and Domperione. While I have seen success with these, I was hesitant to used because the risk of side effects that hadn't been studied in nursing mothers.

This is when I turned to Tender Gifts Doula.

Tendergiftsdoula.com is a wonderful website of a local Phoenix mama who sells Mother's Milk Tea in bulk. She is super reasonably priced and guess what? Her teas work! I posted on my family blog about the time I used her tea HERE From the ingredients I see are Red Raspberry, Fenugreek, and I can't read the rest- but trust me- it helped. I was able to increase my milk supply and continue nursing past my daughters first birthday.

I didn't know about Althea and her magic teas until after I had my daughter. Had I known about her during pregnancy I would have used her Mother's Life Tea as well (I hear her red raspberry tea tastes much better than her milk tea).

Go ahead moms- check out her website www.tendergiftsdoula.com