Parenting Resources I like

I loved being pregnant, I had an empowering and pain free all natural birth, and now with Saule at 2.5 I love being a mom.  I say that with 100% honesty.  I think allot of that experience has been shaped by the books I've been able to get my hands on.

Here is a list of resources I really benefited from reading.

Pregnancy and Birth;

Mothering.com
This is a MUST in my mind, its a web page, forum, and magazine all 3 of which have provided me with endless support, information, and entertainment. The forum is a great place to get instant feedback and friendship- it is very active.  This is a pregnancy through adulthood resource. 

 "The Business Of Being Born" 
 "The film interlaces intimate birth stories with surprising historical, political and scientific insights and shocking statistics about the current maternity care system...Should most births be viewed as a natural life process, or should every delivery be treated as a potentially catastrophic medical emergency?"
http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/

"Hypnobabies" 
This is a self hypnosis and relaxation book and CD that was awesome for helping me chill out during pregnancy and labor. This is also a great skill to practice for everyday life! Pollo and I did this together.
http://www.hypnobabies.com/

The Bradley Method Of Childbirth
This is focused heavily on husband/partner in birth and birth preperation.
http://www.bradleybirth.com/

Breatsfeeding:

Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by La Leche League International 

Kellymom.com
Is a wonderful web page devoted to all things nursing. If you have a question the answer if here.

llli.org 
This one most people know, but just in case you forgot here it is again.

Parenting: 

Becoming the parent you want to be
By Laura Davis and Janis Keyser

Dr. Sears 
askdrsears.com

Attachment Parenting Theory   
attachmentparenting.org/ 

 The Continuum Concept 
 This is a really interesting theroy about human nature, parenting, and evolution. It is a must in my book, as it brings some really important things to light. The author defiantly has a strong opinion.
continuum-concept.org/

Playful Parenting By Lawrence J. Cohen, Ph.D.
playfulparenting.com/a-about.htm

Unconditional Parenting By Alfie Kohn
alfiekohn.org/up/index.html

New Year New Post

Looking back at my last post in March 10 months ago not to much has changed. I still don't have to much time for blogging, although the time I used to spend on diapers is now spent with potty breaks, or dancing, or changing a dolls diaper, or just playing more in general.
Saule is more and more independent, today she put her shoes on all alone, on the correct feet and was very proud. She also fully undressed herself at bedtime, which made her happy since that has always been her favorite outfit (nothing that is :). Its been a year of small yet important milestones like that. She knows her alphabet now, and her numbers, and most common bird species, and endless songs, and how to build a snowman. She is a wealth of knowledge and curiosity, and light, and love.
Pollo has re-found his passion for learning in a more academic setting, and is about to start his masters program in Copenhagen, Denmark. Along with that news comes news of our families next move, and the next chapter in the Adventures of Chicolini and company. Bon Voyage USA hello everything Danish!
So for the year of the Rabbit, I thought a few Resolutions were in order:
#1. I will wean myself off the mindless time suck called "facebook" (where I can peruse endless baby pictures of people I hardly know, read everything about every ones hangover and workout and new car and have almost no meaningful interactions at all). Hence forth if you want me to know what you are doing at 2am, send me an email.
#2. Blog. Blogging provides a forum for MEANINGFUL exchange of feelings and ideas. If you care to join in my facebook revolution, I would love to read your blog as well.
#3. Spend less overall time with the computer turned on. Did you know that I probably haven't turned off my computer in the past 8 weeks? DAY AND NIGHT. That's not to say I use it all the time- Its just always there. I walk past and scan the screen for new emails or facebook probably once an hour. Hence forth I am limiting my computer time (I don't do phone or TV at all anymore).

Dont blink things are moving to fast

Saule is growing like a weed. Every time I blink, or look away for a second it seems like she rockets forward with leaps like a little bullfrog! 

So the reality is, for me, blogging just takes up to much time. Seems these days that by the end of the day, after all the naps and nursing, and diapers, and chores, i almost cant stand to do anything except lay in bed and have more Saule time! I mean, what is better that laying cuddled up next to the sweetest smelling little love bundle in the world? Well, the nights when pollo is off are better, because then im surrounded! With Grike at my feet and my 2 humans on both sides, I can sleep all the way till saule starts pulling my eye lids open at 6am!

The truth of the matter is, im basking in the full glory of toddler hood- or toddler hood mothering i guess. And part of that is the ultimate satisfaction of run-ragged-ness we feel by the end of the day. 

So a short post, with no promises of when the next on will be, just to record even for my self, this moment. 

This week she started taking this talking stuff seriously, and has used to many new words to count. She is speaking in both Lithuanian and English, understands both. She runs full speed around the house and her favorite game is jumping off the couch onto the bed.  She knows all her body parts, colors, it seems like she fully understands most everything we say. 

Thats all for now. Time to climb in bed with the little Miss and wait for tete to get home from work.  

The only thing worth stealing is a kiss from a sleeping child.”

No day is so bad it can't be fixed with a nap. ~Carrie SnowSleep these days is better than ever. We all climb into bed together and its the sweetest feeling in the world to be between those you love and warm sheets on a cold winters night. Sometimes Saule sleeps through the night, and sometimes not, but waking to her soft touch, sweet smell and gentle cries is a wonderful thing indeed. She reaches out for us in the night, to be sure we are still with her, and of ocurse we wouldn't dream of being any place else. She giggles, smiles, and even laughs in her sleep. Pollo snuggles close to her and holds her tiny hand, she wraps her fingers around his thumb. I couldn't dream of anything better.

A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book. ~Irish Proverb

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one. ~Leo J. Burke

Winter days

The winter days may be dark and gray, but there is no doubt spring is on its way! We ordered a bunch of vegi-seeds and planing on getting a big crop in this spring. We got some really nice heirlooms like the "early Wonder Beet" and "Kentucky Wonder bean" and "Moon and Start Watermelon". Last year I only had time to get the seedlings in the ground and i didn"t get to see the through the season, although there was still some boccoli waiting for me in November. We hope to be in NY around April, to move into our new CABIN! Hopefully we will be able to get everything in the ground it time- of course we will have lots of help from Saule by then I'm sure...



Yippie! Everybody has been helping get it ready for our arrival, working on the yard, the goats, the house- Its been like an old fashioned bard raising, sadly not all together but same idea. We still have lots of projects to complete, but its livable, and we are really looking forward to giving it our final touches.

The goats are all due to kid some time around april/may, so there is going to be lots and lots going on at home. We are planning a goat roast for some time in the early summer and hope everyone can come! bring your drums, whistles, kazoos, fireworks, and tents. more on that later.

Any way for now we have been really enjoying our time here together. Pollo's mother cooks up delicious feasts every sunday. We spend lots of time with each other, and took really nice hike out to a castle and lake near here this past weekend. My latest projects are homemade ginger ale, fudge, and sour kraut! Which i fermented for about a month and turned out great! yum yum....

I do miss our days in Central where we would sip juice and lay around with naked baby, but living here inside the towers and walls of a medieval castle is pretty nice as well.

Dust of Snow

Dust of Snow by Robert Frost (1923)

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.




Hello world! Here we are back on the map again after a few month hiatus. We have made our way back around the globe and are currently sending this from our big comfy cozy bed here in Vilnius. Its cold and rainy outside, but that doest stop the adventures of jungle baby!



We got her Lithuanian birth certificate today- which means she is officially Lithuanian! Yippee! Not that we didn't already know that from those big blue eyes of hers. So now she has three passports! lucky girl...and Pollos green card application was approved! So looks like we will all be legal now...wondering if they will send us a collar and a tag in the mail the way they do when you license your dogs....

Lately Saules best time of day is in the morning and she is really allot of fun. Giggling and playing with us. She roles around in the bed to find her tete, and wakes him up. She's more fun everyday (IMHO!) and thats a good thing because right now she runs the show round 'here :)

Shes almost got some teeth coming through, we know this because she tells us how much of a pain they are every evening. She still hates tummy time, prefers standing, and we figure she will walking any day now.... forget crawling... not going to happen. She's drooling all the time, and giving lots of cute sloppy kisses.



Uncle jesse came to visit last week, and we all had allot of fun. He was a great help with everything, even Saule at the end of a long da teething we took lots of walks in the old town and went to see the fish in the super market. We went to the KGB prison and i nursed her on the floor in the torture chamber. lol. He just happened to come during the week when Lithuania kicked the Russians out back in the '90s, so we enjoyed lots of related parades and such at the parliament. Saule even got to witness her first political protest :)


me and Saule made oatmeal raisin cookies and they were so good! oatmeal may help lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease but did you know its also linked to better milk supply!? bring on the cookies :)



3/4 cup butter, softened
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar (can use white if you cant get brown like me :)
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 3/4 cups rolled oats
* 1 cup raisins
*

* DIRECTIONS
* Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
* In large bowl, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until fluffy. Stir together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Gradually beat into butter mixture. Stir in oats and raisins. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
* Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. Cool slightly, remove from sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

going on 5 weeks

its been a while since my last post, things here have been moving quickly so an update is overdue. chico seems to get hungry every time we get to the internet cafe and typing while breast feeding is something that requires a bit of finesse to keep from getting milk all over the keys and or an indecent exposure citation.

the labor and delivery all went as well as we ever could have hopped for. after a day swimming and cannon balls in the pool we spent the evening at home eating cake and watching Scarface (of all things!). around 1:30am i woke up feeling a slight tummy ache, took a bath, and we started to realize i was maybe in labor. Pollo and i had been practicing hypnobirthing, a kind of self hypnosis and natural birthing method, which stresses that labor doesn't need to be a pain-full experience (amongst other things) and it really worked for us. we had planned to wait the labor out at home until the contractions were close together, which we figured would take at least 6 or 8 hours. around 2:30, after an hour of noticing something was going on, they we recoming so close together we decided it was time to call our trusty cab driver and make our way to san jose to the clinic. Pollo threw our snacks and baby clothes into our backpack, and always the comedian put on his snorkel and got into the still full bath tub, submerging his head and paddling around. They say laughter is the best medicine and i would have to agree, the entire scene was so silly! iwish we had it on camera. He than went down the mountain that was our driveway to let the cab in the gate. A neighbors guard dog stopped him mid way resulting in a mexican stand off of sorts, but after all he made it to the gate and back up the hill. on our way out the door we tipped over a big jar or pickled jalapenos all over the kitchen floor but that was no time for cleaning we left it for the friendly ants we love so much. I jumped,or rather eased, into the back seat of the cab with pollo and away we went.

laying with my head in pollos lap, the cab made its way down the pothole filled road, over speed bumps, through the winding mountains and into the capital city where the driver became completely lost in the seemingly endless shanty suburban sprawl. while he called friends and asked for directions, i was becoming increasingly aware that chico was about to arrive and Pollo understanding the urgency of the situation (and my hair pulling) repeatedly asked the driver "poco mass rapido por faavor?!" Although one might expect things to have been rather...frantic in this moment of near automotive delivery,we were all in surprisingly good humor.

moments latter i saw the the bright lights of the Hospital and Hotel Catholic and the driver opened my door revealing the waiting wheelchair and my underwear and spread legs to the world. oh well, these are not times for modesty. I finished my contraction, and we made our way inside. chico was ready to arrive!

Pollo was there with me the entire time, my support, my comedian, my translator. Our dr arrived in his pajamas just in time and moments later Pollo announced 'Its a girl!" She cried, we held her slippery little self, and pollo cut the cord. It was love at first sight.

We all climbed into bed (the three of us that is, the nurses and dr left) and broke out the breakfast. It was a great morning. She was born an hour after we arrived at the hospital, exactly at dawn, and we named her Saule meaning sun in Lithuanian.

A nun and a priest came and blessed her, hey the more blessings the better when you're an hour old. We watched the closing ceremony of the Olympics, they told us we could go home after just a few hours but with air conditioning and a bed that goes up and down, why rush (or endure another taxi ride so soon)? we all spent the night in bed together watching each other and pollo and i had our first attempts at changing diapers and clothes, which saule was very patient for (we have since perfected the art and are more like a race car pit mechanics).

A few days later it was time to move houses,to a place near the beach where we would be staying the next few weeks.Pollo rented a car and we loaded up , the ride was all to silly with pollo going the wrong way up one ways all over the country.

mom and dad came for a visit last week and we had a great time, and we are expeciting pollos family this week. ok shes up and im sleepy. more to come soon.