I am in love with the Nesting Pillow from Blessed Nest. I received it in the second trimester of my pregnancy with Ailia, and it has been used nightly - and now daily - ever since. It's not only a phenomenal nursing pillow, it also provides wonderful support during pregnancy. I decided to share some of our favorite ways to use the Nesting Pillow and Nest Egg (the smaller pillow available from Blessed Nest). Be sure to visit Code Name: Mama and Natural Parent Network this Saturday, January 7 - we'll be opening up a giveaway so that you can win your own Nesting Pillow from Blessed Nest! Enjoy the pictures! And feel free to share your own favorite Nesting Pillow or Nest Egg positions in the comments.

17. Nursing Support (Cradle Hold)

Of course! Use this pillow the same way you'd use any nursing pillow, but this one is even better since you can reposition the pillow thanks to the insides full of buckwheat hulls. Read more at Blessed Nest's website.

Cradle Hold

16. Knee Relief and Back Support

Tuck the Nesting Pillow behind your back and put the Nest Egg in between your knees for support during pregnancy.

Knee support and back relief

15. Squatting Support

Practice your squats with the Nesting Pillow underneath your tush for support. Why squat? "Squatting stretches the calves of your legs so that getting into a good pushing position will be easier. . . . In contrast to lying on her back, a woman in a squatting position allows gravity to help move the baby through the birth canal." There are many more reasons to practice squatting every day - pregnant or not - read about them at Birthing Naturally, and find out how at Aligned and Well.

Squatting support

14.  Nap Time for Baby

We wedge the Nesting Pillow behind Ailia's back during her naps. Like Kieran, Ailia does not like to sleep on her back, she prefers to sleep on her side. This gives her support and lets us tilt her somewhat backwards while lying on her side.

Naptime for baby

13. Big Pillow

If you're stuck in bed with lots of pillows behind your head, use this one!

Big pillow

12. Massage Support

Prenatal massage is so relaxing, but you'll need plenty of support on either side of your growing belly. Check out Prenatal Massage Techniques for tips, and use the Nesting Pillow for support.

Massage Support

11. Knee Relief

Put the pillow squarely between your knees for back and leg relief.

knee and leg relief

10. Newborn Nursing

The Nesting Pillow is great to use with newborns, see instructions at the Blessed Nest Perch.

Newborn nursing

9. Yoga Help

There are several yoga positions you might appreciate some soft support for - this is a picture of me using the Nesting Pillow to help me in Child's Pose.

Yoga Help

8. Child Pillow- Nest Egg

The Nest Egg makes a perfect pillow for your little one!

Nest Egg Child Pillow

7. Front Support and Knee Relief

If you'd rather have support on your belly side, you can either use the Nesting Pillow between your knees and curve it up in front of your belly, or use the Nest Egg for your knees and the Nesting Pillow for your stomach.

Front Supporrt and Knee relief 

6. Naptime for Baby + Beanbag Prop

Reminder: Never leave a baby unattended with anything loose such as blankets or pillows until they are over the age of two.

When I was a baby, my mama had a frog beanbag that she would slowly set on my back in place of her hand as I drifted off to sleep. With Ailia, if we can manage to lay her on her side, we attempt to slip the Nest Egg against her belly so that she doesn't realize that we're not lying right next to her. Obviously we are careful not to put it near her face, and we're vigilant while she is sleeping that she does not pull it up.

Nap time for baby and bean bag prop

5. Hugs for a Sleeping Child

Give some back support to the big brother or sister by hugging them with the Nesting Pillow during naptime or nighttime.

Hugs for a sleeping child

4. Nursing (Football Hold)

The Nesting Pillow makes nursing in the football hold incredibly easy!

Footbal Hold

3. Arm Support for Older Sibling

Big brothers and sisters always want to hold baby, but they may need a little help. Use the Nesting Pillow as a way to prop up little arms so that baby heads are held up properly.

Arm support for older sibling

2. Co-Sleeping

Ailia, like Kieran, sleeps cuddled up on my chest. In order to keep her up there, I have to prop my arm on a pillow - the Nesting Pillow is ideal!

co-sleeping support

1. Awesome Baby Photo Prop

And my favorite way to use the Nesting Pillow? Well, it's my favorite way for posterity's sake anyway - use the pillow for super sweet baby pictures. Check out Miss Ailia when she was only a week old! How do you use your Nesting Pillow? _________________________ Dionna is a lawyer turned work at home mama of her amazing son, Kieran, and a beautiful new daughter, Ailia. You can normally find Dionna over at Code Name: Mama where she shares information, resources, and her thoughts on natural parenting and life with a little one.

The girls and I have spent the past couple of days playing in the snow at the local mountains in CA. I always wonder what families do that live in areas with harsh weather. Sure, there are play dates at friends homes but I would imagine parents are always looking for new, fresh ideas outside of the local fast food play place...ugh

As a Southern CA girl, I would have loved to have alternative educational play date ideas that did not cost a fortune.

The Tree House, A cafe at play in Asheville, NC is a mommies dream; both educational and fun!

Description:

Looking for fun, engaging things to do with your children? Families play and learn together at The Tree House, A Cafe at Play - rain, shine, or snow! This Mountain destination is located in the beautiful and quite neighborhood of North Asheville and is just minutes away from downtown Asheville, West Asheville, Weaverville, and Woodfin. It offers flexible hours for open creative indoor play, a site-built and safe indoor treehouse, classes for kids and adults, as well as a comfortable cafe featuring delicious food, coffee and wi-fi. Come join us for what is promised to be a fun-filled day of learning, relaxation, and exploration!

Mission:

Our goal is to provide families with a safe and engaging place to play and learn together. Kiddos will be excited to play here and parents will have the satisfaction of knowing that their children are having fun in meaningful ways. We also strive to offer parents the latest and most developmentally appropriate parenting information so that they become facilitators of growth!

Teachers at the tree house:

The tree house, a cafe at play has an amazing staff...

I've had the pleasure of getting to know the wonderful DePoy family this past year. Jamie is starting a new journey with The Tree House and we are so excited for you as you begin to teach at The Tree House, a cafe at play!

About Jamie:

Jamie moved to the Asheville area in 2009 from Michigan, where she had been actively engaged in early childhood education in both private and public academic settings. Jamie graduated from Grand Valley State University in 2003 obtaining her Bachelors Degree in Education and in English, solidifying her Teaching License in elementary education. Jamie's passions include spending time with her family, photography, and volunteering in the children's ministry at Exodus Church. Jamie helps to create the developmental curriculum at The Tree House and will also be teaching these ideas to parents and children throughout weekly classes. She has been married to her husband, Jay, for ten years and together they have three daughters, ages 7,4, and 1. To read more about Jamie's life experiences as a mom, follow her blog at Raising The Girls

Green Child Magazine & Blessed Nest

Thank you Green Child Magazine~

  A few days ago, teen actress and singer Demi Lavato was on the Ellen Degeneres Show. She was talking about her struggle with Anorexia, Bulimia, cutting and all around self-loathing. She spoke of the impact being bullied had on her. She also touched on how some people in her life did not have her best interest in mind, but only that of their own. Her family and close friends kept telling her that she needed to get help. Her handlers, those who were making money off of her, told her otherwise. She eventually went into a drastic downward spiral that she almost did not come out of.

 Later that day, I had a talk with my Gracie Girl who is eight. I told her that there was a 19-year-old girl on the show talking about how people in school were really mean to her and made her think she was fat so she stopped eating and when she did eat, she would make herself throw up. I explained to her that it made Demi  really, really sick and she almost died because of it. I told her about the damage it does to your body when you deprive yourself of food and how making yourself throw up does a ton of harm to your body. I let her ask as many questions as she needed to. She wanted to know if I knew anyone who had eating disorders. I do know some who did, who do, and who died because of it.

 The reason I felt it was so important to bring such a big thing like this to my little girl is that these issues are starting with kids younger and younger. I remember going to the drug store with my best friend and buying Dexatrim and water pills when I was ELEVEN! One of our friend’s aunts knew & just told us not to take the water pills when we were on our period. WHAT?! The fact that the clerk sold it to us is infuriating! Yeah, so some people in your life have no clue. But there are people whose voices you need to listen to. I remember feeling fat because a boy at school told me I was. I had never viewed myself that way until he said it. I remember hating that I loved to eat. So, I would eat and then take diet pills, hoping the food wouldn’t stick to my thighs.

 The other reason I had to tell Grace was because I don’t want her to have a bad relationship with food. She has multiple food allergies (gluten, dairy, soy, peanuts, egg whites & cod fish). I don’t want her to resent food. I want her to embrace the joy of researching and learning about new foods and alternatives to things she had to give up. It’s not always just about bullying when someone has food issues. I think food addiction is the worst to have to recover from. If you are addicted to drugs, you can detox and hopefully never touch them again. If you want to quit smoking, there are tons of resources to help you never light up again. If you are addicted to food, be it not eating enough, purging what you have eaten or binging on a regular basis, you cannot just stop. We have to eat. You can’t go cold turkey off of food. You can’t wean yourself off of it. We need it to thrive. So there is a battle every time you put food to your mouth. You have to convince yourself each time, I deserve this. I need this. It is OK for me to enjoy this. It is not OK for me to allow this to kill me.

 I think every parent has the responsibility to talk to their kids about eating disorders. We sit our kids down and address all kinds of topics; drugs, alcohol, illegal activity, bullying. All of these things are important to issues that kids need to hear from us about, but I think eating disorders are often left out. I think a lot of parents think it won’t happen to their kids. Or they don’t know how to deal with it if it does, so ignoring it will make it go away. Wouldn’t it be nice if that really worked!? I found this article that I think is very helpful. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/when-parents-are-partners/201105/crisis-manual-parents-how-talk-your-kids-about-food-and-weight

We are back on track and SO thankful for our perch writers who are also very busy juggling family, friends and business!

Today's post is from Holly at Integrative Mom~ Feeding The Nations

Since I did not wean my toddler during pregnancy, I was really wondering what would transpire upon the arrival of our new baby.  So here I am, exactly 17 days into tandem nursing a newborn and a 2 year old.  I have learned a lot, and there are already things I wish I could go back and change.

 I was just planning on "going with the flow" and seeing what happened.  My 2 year old was down to nursing once or twice a day, and even though I had read that he might want to nurse as often as the newborn, I didn't expect it.  Nor did I have a plan for what to do if he tried.

One of the reasons I didn't try to wean my 2 year old before the birth of my baby was because tandem nursing is supposed to cut down on jealousy and stress in the toddler.  The day I gave birth and for a couple of days after I feel it created more stress as I didn't have a clear idea beforehand of what I was going to do.  When my 2 year old tried to nurse in the hours after my baby was born, i tried to discourage him.  Much of my hesitation was wondering what others would think (friends, family, the nurses and doctors in the hospital etc.) And so I tried to stop my toddler and distract him which only led to frustration on everyone's part.  

Once I decided that if it doesn't bother me, it shouldn't bother anyone else and let my toddler nurse when he asked for it, everything settled down. I was visited by.a lactation consultant in the hospital who had tandem nursed until her older child was four and a half and she gave me some great tips and some really cool facts.  

For instance, my older son had a pretty bad cough the day my son was born, and I was worried about letting him nurse because of the transfer of germs. She reassured me by saying that nursing my toddler is actually the best thing I can do, because the virus in his saliva enters my body and then my milk ducts create antibodies to it that will then be passed on to my newborn to protect him from it. How cool is that?

And most everyone's main concern is whether or not I have enough milk for both of them.  Well, I’ll put it this way- I joked  yesterday that  maybe I should see if there’s anyone else in my neighborhood who needs to be breastfed.  I have enough milk to feed the nations. My newborn has been happy since day one because he didn't need to wait very long for his milk to come in and only lost 4 percent of his body weight in the hospital. By 5 days old he had already gained a third of that back and at his two week check-up, the one where they want to make sure he’s gained back his birth weight, he had gained 3 pounds since birth!  I’d say I have enough milk.

I’m not sure how long I’ll be doing this, but for now it is working for us.The adventure continues...

Hollys' two handsome boys with their Nesting Pillow!

I think her new little one is going to be a writer..as soon as he arrived, Holly "birthed" more amazing blog posts..nothing like " a little inspiration". Hollys' blog Integrative Mom is the best place to visit for natural parenting! Here is her latest post "Labor and Childbirth"

The Mission of International Princess Project: Establish self-sustaining enterprises and partnership with indigenous organizations that provide for physical, emotional and spiritual needs of women formerly enslaved in prostitution; AND advocate for women enslaved in prostitution around the world.

Holly at Integrative Mom

When picturing my life as a mother, I had always planned to practice extended breastfeeding. I really hoped my son would nurse until age 2, and then gradually wean on his own. That was my hope and from my experience thus far, it was wishful thinking!

One scenario I had not planned on was becoming pregnant for the second time while still breastfeeding my first. I’m not sure why it hadn’t occurred to me, but it just hadn’t. Well, here we are. I’m currently 37 weeks into my second pregnancy, AKA full term, and I still have a breastfeeding two year old. I was assured by my OB that it was perfectly safe to continue nursing throughout my pregnancy. She reminded me that people in third world countries do it all the time and this is often the best nutrition these children receive during their lives. “But remember, we don’t live in a third word country, so it’s no longer nutritionally necessary to breastfeed your toddler. You just need to decide it you’re willing to tandem nurse a newborn and a three year old. If so, I usually advise my patients to give each child one breast, that way you know your newborn is getting an adequate milk supply.”

Whoa! I am so happy I found an open minded holistic ob/gyn, but even this was “out there” for me.

So then I consulted La Leche League who told me that many children will gradually taper off of breastfeeding as the taste of the milk changes due to hormones, and then is replaced with colostrum during the 4th or 5th month of pregnancy.

We were seeing signs of hope as my son totally quit nursing during the day, but then he also quit taking naps (since this was his main way of falling asleep). Once again, something I was not prepared for! He continued to nurse in the evening, then got used to the new taste and reinstated his daytime nursing. He also recently told me that he’s going to nurse on one side while the baby nurses on the other. “I’m a really good sharer, Mommy.”

Where will this journey take us? I don’t know, but I have learned one thing so far in my career as a mother- never say never. I’m certain you will find yourself doing and saying things you could not even fathom pre-child. As for me, I have anywhere from zero to three weeks to either make changes, or to just go with the flow and see what happens.

Since I’ve heard tandem nursing reduces any jealousy or behavioral problems the toddler might experience and creates a quicker bond between the siblings, I’m pretty sure if you see me in a few weeks I’ll have my hands very, very full.

On Monday night, Forest Park, Georgia passed a public indecency ordinance to prevent public nudity. Previously, the city only had a public indecency ordinance that covered adult entertainment businesses.

According to the law, no woman can breastfeed anyone older than 2 years old in public. City manager John Parker called the law a proactive step.

“It sets up a process whereby we can try to control nudity throughout the entire city," Parker said.

Those of us who choose to breastfeed our children past the age of two years now have to run the risk of being arrested and treated like some kind of pervert. This new law actually goes against the Georgia State law protecting Mothers’ right to breastfeed anywhere she and her child are allowed to be. That means if you are sitting in the park, at a café, in church, the library, ANYWHERE! You are allowed to breastfeed your child.

On Monday, May 23^rd a large group of us Moms will peacefully go and sit on the steps of Forest Park’s City Hall and feed our babies the way that nature intended. It’s amazing that in the Bible belt, what God created to multi-task for our husbands (boyfriends, partners, what-have-you) and our babies has been turned into something dirty. We have been lumped together with adult entertainment.

If you feel the need to voice your opinion to the city manager, here is his contact information is:

Office of the City Manager
745 Forest Parkway
Forest Park, Ga. 30297
Phone: 404-366-4720
Fax: 404-608-2343

John Parker, City Manager
Email address - jparker@forestparkga.org



Nursing my sweet Billy Goat on Halloween (15 months old). We're still going strong at 21 months.

Random.org picked #76 as the winning #!

Daily tweet about miss elaini ous'
http://twitter.com/#!/aeris321/status/69422231914156034

Thank you to all who entered! We will see you again in June for MOMday Morning.

Love to the moon and back.

Heather, Donna, Andrea & Kara-Noel