Mamatography - Week 42

Day 288

(10/14/12)

This is one seriously happy little boy!

Giveaway: Jumbo Numbers - 20pc Wooden Puzzle from Serious Puzzles - $20 ARV {11.25; Worldwide}

This is a joint giveaway between Natural Parents Network and many other natural parenting sites. You may enter for all of the giveaways at one site only. Please find the section marked "Win it!" for the mandatory entry and optional bonus entries.

Welcome to the Natural Parents Network Holiday Gift Guide!

Natural Parents Network, Momma Jorje, and 24 other natural parenting bloggers are giving away 89 items perfect for gifting for the holidays as part of the Natural Parents Network Holiday Gift Guide. The combined total value of all of the items is $2,550.

Have you finished your holiday shopping? The NPN Holiday Gift Guide is a great opportunity to complete your gift-giving purchases for family and friends, while supporting many naturally-minded small businesses. The companies who have provided items for giveaway are almost exclusively made up of small businesses or work-at-home families.

The Rafflecopter entry system is at the bottom of this post (and on every post participating in the Gift Guide). Please visit some of the other review posts listed below and read about the fabulous companies offering giveaways in the Natural Parents Network Holiday Gift Guide.

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Please continue reading to learn more about Serious Puzzles, which is offering our readers a giveaway of Jumbo Numbers - 20pc Wooden Puzzle By Melissa & Doug, a value of $20.

To Eat or Not to Eat

Welcome one last time (this year) to Down Syndrome Awareness Month 2012! Today I'm sharing a guest post from a friend who's son has feeding issues. (Please scroll to the bottom for a bio.) I think this sort of issue is rarely seen by the general public, so I asked my friend to share her family's experience.

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Photo Credit: Trinnica Photography

Know Your Body

Welcome to the October edition of Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival: Body Awareness.

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival hosted by Authentic Parenting. This month our participants are sharing how they actively influence their children's body awareness and how they experience their own! Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

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Gonna jump right in... toilet humor abounds. Whether its the husband or the teen or the preschooler... I think everyone gets a little toilet humor in their lives. Bodily functions can be funny.

Mamatography - Week 41

Day 281

(10/07/12)

Spencer's Bear Crawl

Mamatography - Week 40

A food kind of week...

Day 274

(09/30/12)

Shhh!

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance

Today is International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. In honor of this day, I'm hosting a very personal guest post from my friend Julia from A Little Bit of All of It. Please scroll to the bottom to find her bio.

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6 years ago, on October 12, 2006, I found out my first baby was miscarrying. Today women all around the world are faced with this news as well. October 15^th is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. In an effort to bring awareness to miscarriage, I'm sharing my story here with you today.

When I was pregnant with my first baby, we were so happy. Only 2 months of trying and we had that glorious positive test result! I remember literally jumping up and down with joy. At around 8 weeks I had some cramping and spotting so the midwife suggested an ultrasound. She said it was probably nothing. The date was September 11, 2006, a Monday. Much to our relief we saw a tiny beating heart.

(Photo credit: wcm1111)

Helmet Hell

Welcome to Down Syndrome Awareness Month 2012! Today I'm bringing you a guest post from a friend who's daughter has Down syndrome and is having to wear a helmet. (Please scroll to the bottom for a bio.) I think often the general public see children in helmets and do not understand why they have to wear them. This is one reason...

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During my pregnancy with Lily, I always carried my her on the right side, so much so that my belly even looked lopsided! When she was born, she favored everything right; she would gaze at her right hand, she would only look to the right and she preferred to lay with the right side of her head down. Needless to say, I was not surprised to learn she had developed plagiocephaly on the right side of her head.

Plagiocephaly is basically a flat spot on your child’s head. It is very common and very treatable. During the treatment process is where we were introduced to the helmet.

I was not afraid of the helmet, I was not afraid of the way people may stare at my daughter wearing the helmet or even what people might say to me about the helmet. In all honesty, it just did not bother me at all and I was excited and ready to get Lily’s helmet and begin the process of re-shaping her head.

Here is how our quest for the helmet begins:

Lily was 3 months old when her occupational therapist began measuring her head. She would do this once every two weeks and by the time Lily turned 6 months old we had all the necessary paperwork to submit to insurance for her helmet. We began seeing a prosthestics doctor who scanned her head with equipment that made her look like a space alien! This new way of scanning is pretty cool as it does not require making a mold of their head but rather scans their head with what looked like a barcode scanner you would see at your local retail store! He also concurred that she would benefit from a helmet and filed the required paperwork.

Mamatography - Week 39

Day 267

(09/23/12)

Sasha threw all the bean bags at once.
Then she walked right up to the potty for her next try. She won!

She's got the right idea on these carnival games!
These were at the annual picnic type thing at hubby's work.

Self Image has to Come from Within

Welcome to the October 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Instilling a Healthy Self-Image

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared confessions, wisdom, and goals for helping children love who they are. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

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Self image... By the very name of it, it isn't about what others think or tell you... it is your own self image. Our children's own self image. It is such a worrisome topic! I don't want anything to discourage a healthy self image in my children. At the same time, I don't want it to be a fragile thing. My children hear my husband tease me about physical traits, hearing loss, age, you name it. But they also hear him compliment me all the time. They hear me laugh along with the teasing and tease right back.

What can we actively do to encourage a healthy self image? I try to set my kids up for success, for starters. I set them up with tasks or experiences that I know they can tackle with success. I comment when they accomplish things. It doesn't have to be a compliment, though. I don't want their self image to be reliant on outside opinions - that isn't self image. I spent too many years relying on someone else's opinion of me for my "self worth."

Tracking Health & Down Syndrome

Welcome to Down Syndrome Awareness Month 2012! I am hoping to feature some pretty awesome guest posts this month. To kick us off, though, I thought I'd give you an update on Spencer's health. Let me fetch his notebook...

While I was pregnant with Spencer, I created a notebook for tracking his health. There are tabs for each "department" of his health. Each tab has a business card taped to it, as it applies. Within those tabs, I made notes of specific conditions common for babies / children with Down syndrome and how/when tests should be administered.

The cover sheet in front of the tabs is a Down Syndrome Health Care Guidelines Record Sheet which tells me when to have various things checked.

Mamatography - Week 38

Day 260

(09/16/12)
Sasha's Birthday

Daddy helps Sasha open presents.

Sasha & Charles playing with gifts. Family in the background.