First Dreadiversary!

June 21^st is a big day! It is the first [official] day of Summer! This year it was the 2nd anniversary of my mother's death. And... it was the 1st anniversary of dreading my hair. Its been an interesting year.

My Very First Dreadlock

Honestly, my focus on my dreadlocks has been a nice distraction from sadness over my mom. And I've learned so much over the last year! My dreadlocks were originally backcombed. We used wax at the time. Since then I stopped using wax at the request of a "loctician." I've had my dreads professionally maintained once. I've gotten a tool to do some upkeep myself. Mostly, I've learned that dreadlocks are more work than I thought they would be. I've also learned that people LIKE dreadlocks! I get compliments, comments and questions all the time! I still love my 64 60 dreads!

So I was faced with a question... how did I want to commemorate my "dreadiversary?" I asked some other dready mommas online for ideas and couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it myself: a bead!

On my Dreadiversary, I actually got to go to the Bead Merchant all by myself! (I almost never leave home without Spencer.) I browsed around and told the owner what I was seeking. She looked around and helped me find a dish of handmade zodiac beads... they didn't have every zodiac left, but they had mine: Pisces. It felt like fate!

Handmade Bead $9 or so

I did look some more, in case anything else spoke to me even more than this bead. Then I found a bead that resembled one I'd been wanting! Specifically, it is metal with spaces that are bare so you can see through the bead to the hair. I love these on dreads!

I don't think this one was handmade, it was only about 90¢.
I clearly need to clean up this lock, though!

The first bead is my official commemorative bead. The second was just bonus. I also wear 7 other beads in my locks. Have you done things to commemorate unusual anniversaries? You can find all of my dreadlock posts here or see posts about my mom by searching my blog for Gran.

Mamatography 2013 - Week 25

Day 167 - June 16

This was Spencer's first dip in a pool! He loves the water!

Summer with NPN Volunteers

I am proud and honored to be volunteer with the Natural Parents Network (NPN), a community of natural-minded parents and parents-to-be where you will be informed, empowered, and inspired. When you visit the NPN’s website you can find articles and posts about Activism, Balance, Consistent Care, Ecological Responsibility, Family Safety, Feeding With Love, Gentle Discipline, Healthy Living, Holistic Health, Natural Learning, Nurturing Touch, Parenting Philosophies, Practical Home Help, Preparing for Parenting, Responding With Sensitivity, Safe Sleep, and so much more!

The volunteers who dedicate their time and energy to make NPN the outstanding resource it is also spend countless hours informing and inspiring others on their personal blogs.

This month, the Natural Parents’ Network Volunteers are sharing posts that are in the spirit of Summer! The posts shared here are wide and varied in topics but all encompass that which symbolizes Summer; slowing down, relaxing, rejuvenation, reconnecting, enjoying nature, regrouping, travel, fun and adventure, health and vitality, and simplicity.

You will read posts that address summer fun – activities for children, travel, seasonal traditions, and the like. Other posts discuss the importance of slowing down, reconnecting with your family after the end of a busy school year, getting out into nature, and plain old relaxation. Our volunteers are also sharing posts related to gardening, healthy living, and healthy eating. Plus there is everything in between.

We hope you enjoy reading these posts as much as we enjoyed writing them. We are always looking for new volunteers so please, contact us if you are interested. Just a few hours per month can help other mamas in a huge way!

Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares 50 Ways to Explore and Connect to Nature With Your Children. This list of ideas will definitely get you outside, enjoying the warm summer days together as a family!  You can also find Jennifer on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.



Momma Jorje offers dehydration warning signs to help prepare you for Summer outings with your littles and advice on keeping your children hydrated. You can also find Momma Jorje on Facebook and Twitter.



Julia at A Little Bit of All of It shares 10 ways to stay cool this summer while having fun with your kids. You can also find A Little Bit of All of It on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.



Farmer's Daughter and her Country Boys visit fields of sunflowers, meet some cows and enjoy farm fresh ice cream for a great cause in Sunflowers for Wishes. Keep up with their adventures on Facebook and Twitter.



Lyndsay of ourfeministplayschool, shares her family's secret urban summer escape in Tourist in Our Own City. You can also find Lyndsay on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.


It's time for fresh, local produce - do you know how to get the best deals when you go to the farmer's market? Dionna from Code Name: Mama got all of the insider secrets from her local farmers to bring you 9 Insider Tips for Farmer's Market Newbies. See if you can't score more the next time you visit!


It’s easy to get caught up in fun summer activities, but often the most memorable summers are filled with the simple activities. Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children shares some of her favorite summer activities with her children. Be inspired to take it easy and share fun and yet easy memories with your children this summer!


Angela from Earth Mama's World shares her recipe for Homemade Natural Sunburn Relief Spray. Angela and her family live at the beach so this spray gets a bunch of use during the summer! You can find Angela on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.


Traveling this summer? Be sure to check out Christine from African Babies Don't Cry's post, Healthy Travel Snack Ideas for Toddlers [Vegetarian, plus sugar, gluten & dairy free ideas]! You can also find African Babies Don't Cry on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.


Destany from They Are All of Me sat down with her kids one day and they brainstormed a list of 50 ways they could entertain themselves during their summer vacation. You can find Destany on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

So... here's the deal

Before Solavei was even 1 month old, I enrolled (in October 2012) for mobile service. Solavei uses T-Mobile towers, which I was already using, so my service quality didn't change at all. I was finally able to have a data plan, though, because it is all included with Solavei. I'd never had data before because I couldn't justify the added expense.

Solavei rewards you for referring people, so I immediately sent info to a lot of people. There wasn't immediate interest and I kind of gave up for a while. I'm laying it all out here for you honestly, friends. There were another 1 or 2 times that I tried to spread the word and got discouraged. I do believe in Solavei, I just didn't have the determination at the time.

Solavei is powered by relationships and that finally set in with me. And people I contacted a while back have started to come to me about Solavei as their contracts with their mobile service carriers near their end.

Other than running an ad in my sidebar, I haven't mentioned Solavei in my blog because I didn't want to come across as "spammy." But the thing is, Solavei really does offer a good deal that can save money for a lot of people! Even if people don't want to spread the word or try to "work it," money can be saved! Check out this blogger's review. (Just remember to come back to my page!) You can also read about Solavei on engadget, The Dallas Morning News, Fierce Wireless, c|net, NBC News and more!

How much are you paying for mobile service? Would you be interested in getting unlimited talk, text and data service on nationwide 4G for just $49? How about free? That's right, free. That's what I'm working toward. July 12th will be my first [monthly] pay day! So far, its dropping my phone bill to $29. That's pretty exciting to me.

I don't want to write you off just because you enjoy my blog. I won't post about Solavei all the time, either. This is, first and foremost, a parenting blog. Solavei is a part of our lives, though, and something I'm doing to help support my family.

If you're interested in more information, please feel free to leave a comment or contact me through one of my sites: Solavei or Jorje's Network. I'd be glad to help you determine signal strength in your area, phone compatibility, new phone, etc. Enroll this week and get $50 cash back! Click the banner above for more info!

The next time I post about Solavei will be the beginning of my success story!

A Mostly Typical Week in Therapy...

I don't like to book Spencer for more than one appointment of any kind back-to-back. I try to only do one per day, but sometimes we have to do one morning and one afternoon. A lot of people book their therapy appointments together to save on trips, but at Spencer's age I don't feel its the best choice for him. If we catch a bad (missed) nap day, then he'd have two workouts to get through. This is our week in therapy last week:

We do Speech Therapy for 30 minutes every Tuesday with Jordan. Last week we got to try the Z Vibe for stimulation. Spencer loved it. Every time she touched his face with it, he looked like he wanted to go right to sleep! I'm not sure it encouraged any talking yet. She also does lemon swabs with him.

We work on getting Spencer to say all the basic sounds. (M B P D T) We also do signs and work on communicating to do different things with toys. (He just started putting the rings back onto the tower when told.)

We just started going to Occupational Therapy for 45 minutes on Wednesdays. This was our second session with Shelia. Spencer was totally zonked out when we arrived! He never naps this hard. Still, clacking some blocks together got him awake and ready to play!

We'll be working on getting Spencer to help with dressing and undressing, feeding himself and reduce his face sensitivity.

We see Rachel for 30 minutes of Physical Therapy once per month, mid-month. It was on Thursday last week. Yes, we went to the same therapy place for three days in a row. Spencer was a rock star at PT this month!

We focus on getting Spencer to crawl on his knees rather that his bear crawl. He is already starting to walk with his knees turned closer to straight instead of turned out. We're also working on how he goes from sitting to standing and how he squats. His hips are kind of hyper flexible, so his knees and feet turn out pretty far.

April 2013

We also see Kristen, our Child Development Specialist from the Department of Human Services, twice per month. She came on Thursday afternoon. I fill her in on Spencer's progress (health and development). She helps us come up with new ideas of things to do in our home to encourage his healthy development. Having her in our home, she is able to see exactly what we have on-hand. She also brings us items to help sometimes.

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Yes, I say "we." I help the therapists. No, I'm not trained. However, 4 hands are better than 2. For example: It is very difficult to blow bubbles and help Spencer to sign for "more" at the same time.

I love our therapy. I like having professionals encourage us both and give us more ideas of things to do at home. As long as I feel it is beneficial, we'll continue. I want to encourage rather than push Spencer. He is doing things on his schedule, no one else's. I want therapy to continue to be a fun thing for him.

We also had Spencer's first dentist visit on Monday and we see our chiropractor every Friday. We have very busy weeks!

Mamatography 2013 - Week 24

Day 160 - June 9

Spencer at the Guthrie Green Splash Pad Fountain
Sasha is in the upper right corner, too!

Simply Downstairs

Welcome to the June edition of the Simply Living Blog Carnival - Around the House cohosted by Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children, Laura at Authentic Parenting, Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy, and Joella at Fine and Fair. This month, we write about what we do to keep the little things from overwhelming us. Please check out the links to posts by our other participants at the end of this post.

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We were on a waiting list for 9 months before we moved into our two-story home. We would like to have waited for a flat, but were advised that the wait for them is much longer. So... we settled. We have 3 bedrooms upstairs. We decided, however, to keep our closet downstairs. It started because of our weird schedules. My husband leaves for work around 3 o'clock in the morning. This does not lend itself well to picking clothes.

So we actually put both our clothes (and Spencer's) in the downstairs closet. Its a good size closet and it just seemed easier than going upstairs to change, too. Eventually we moved Sasha's clothes down here. Inevitably, we'd find ourselves downstairs mid-day, needing to dress her to go out... but not wanting to climb the stairs to fetch an outfit.

Maybe it is strange to use a big coat closet as a family closet, but you know what? It works for us. Our master bedroom closet is used for storage of things we don't use very often (like holiday decorations).

This makes laundry so much easier! The dirty laundry gets cleaned downstairs. How much clean laundry do you tote back up your stairs? For me its only bath towels and family cloth! Yes, I have a dirty clothes hamper downstairs... I can stash it in a closet or on the washer when I have company here.

Since then, I've taken it another step. I often have to wear Spencer while preparing Sasha for bed. Worse yet, sometimes I have to leave him alone (asleep) downstairs while I take her up to bed. It makes me nervous. Spencer is pretty quiet when he wakes.

When Sasha got a new toothbrush from the dentist, I got an idea! I now keep a toothbrush and floss on the kitchen windowsill. Her hairbrush is also downstairs in a plastic jar full of headbands and "hair doodies." (I always brush and braid her hair before bed.) So now, I do almost all of Sasha's bedtime routine before we ever go up the stairs! It is so simple, why didn't I think of it sooner?

1. Go potty - yep, have one downstairs.
   
2. Brush teeth - see recent post.
   
3. Brush hair - the back of the couch is the perfect height!
   

Then we go up, pick a snuggle for the night, talk about dreams, tuck in and start relaxation CD. It all seems like it gets less battle, too! Living simply for the win!

How have you taken unusual measures to simplify your life?

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Thank you for visiting the Simply Living Blog Carnival cohosted by Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children, Laura at Authentic Parenting, Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy, and Joella at Fine and Fair. Read about how others are incorporating simple ideas around their homes. We hope you will join us next month!

 

• Embracing the Schedule - Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy writes about how her family learned to keep on top of household life by creating a family calendar.
• Simply: Car Free - On the one-year anniversary of selling her car, Lyndsay from ourfeministplayschool, reflects on her family's decision to go car-free in urban downtown Toronto.
• The Importance of Finding Your Housecleaning Rhythm - Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama outlines how she keeps her housecleaning under control with a daily rhythm. Even her 4 year old gets in on it!
• Keeping It Simple At Home - At Living Peacefully with Children, Mandy shares some tips for keeping the clutter and cleaning at bay.
• Cleaning? - In her post, sustainablemum outlines how keeping clutter to a minimum makes for an easy life when trying to keep her house clean and tidy.
• Simply Downstairs - Jorje of Momma Jorje has found a way to simplify laundry AND bedtime... all with one simple move.
• In Shares, not Chores: Helping your Kids Help You Without Coercion Laura from Authentic Parenting tells us how she gets work done with two little kids and without coercion.