Whipped Shea and Essential Oil Body Butter

Every year around this time my skin starts hating me.  The dry air and the lack of time outside makes my skin get itchy, tight and just all around angry feeling.  So this year, I decided rather than bath in the gallons of lotion I typically do, I needed to make a change.  

I have been drinking water properly, as a breastfeeding mother should, as well as taking all the proper Omega-3 vitamins.  So when the itchy feeling started creeping in again, I knew it wasn't enough.  

With the addition of Essential Oils to our household this year, I knew I could find an oil or two to help me.  

I ended up going with Elemi and Lavender.  

Lavender is kind of the "Swiss Army knife" of the oils. You can use it for almost anything!  Bonus points because it is one of my favorite scents.  Elemi is a lesser known oil that is amazing for all things skin related.  I decided to play around with a few things and see if I couldn't make a recipe for a body butter since I had some Shea Butter and it was a snow day so I was feeling super "crafty".  

This is the resulting recipe: 

3/4 Cup Coconut Oil 

3/4 Cup Shea Butter

1 1/2 Tablespoon Vitamin E Oil

25 Drops Elemi

25 Drops Lavender

( To learn more about the oils I use, go here)

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• Put the shea butter into a mixer
• Put coconut oil into the mixer
• Blend until smooth
• Add vitamin E oil and Essential Oil drops
• Blend until smooth 
• Put into cute jars and use or give as gifts

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I plan on making more of this and gifting to to some of my family members because I LOVE it so much!  I am already seeing a difference in the appearance of my skin and it feels so much better.  

Starting in December, I am going to be posting lots of different crafts, recipes, and gift ideas that I am doing.  So stay tuned!  

Vacation pic dump!

So we went to Cape Charles over Labor Day weekend.  Had a blast, but realized that 3 month olds do not know how to truly appreciate the beach yet. The 2 year old loved it and we all loved the time as a family.  

Cape Charles was really great for a family trip, not very touristy but had cool things to do and see.  Everything closed way early though, so people of Cape Charles, work on that for next time! 

Breast feeding in a baby tent

Gabe and his auntie

Daddy is a good sport 

Big brothers are so helpful

Cheers! 

Bacon stealing mongrel 

Also, at 3 months postpartum, I wore a bikini.  I am in a much better head space about my body this time :) 

Hello, My Name is.....

Have you ever gone to introduce yourself and forgotten your name?  I know a lot of you will laugh at that idea, but there will be a few, probably other moms, who just went "eff, yeah I do that".

It occurred to me the other day that in the past 2 plus years, I have gone by "mommy" more than my given name.  My husband called to me using my name rather than the normal, honey, or mama when the kids are around.  It honestly took me a second to realize who he was talking to.

This got me thinking, have I begun losing "me" and replacing it with "mommy me"?

Let me start by saying I LOVE every second of being a mom.  There is nothing I would rather do than be mommy, and I am exceedingly lucky to be able to stay home with my guys and be just that.  However, there is a part of me that would like to hold onto my identity that isn't attached to my children.  My kids won't always be little and as mommy needy as they are right now, so I take time to savor the moments I have with them, but still think about the future.  I don't want to get to the point where they are out, doing things, living life and I am trying to figure out my place.

I wonder how many other parents feel that way.  Parenting take such a commitment, as it should, and you really throw yourself fully into it, but how do you hold onto those pieces of your "youness" so that when you aren't chasing a toddler around, you know how to function?

I have started really thinking about who I am as a person, not just as a parent or a wife, daughter, sister etc, but as an individual.  What are the things I want to accomplish, what are my goals, and dreams.  All of those other parts of who I am help shape me, and I am so glad for it.

I realize those thoughts are rather heavy for a Friday night, sorry crew.  When I started this blog, I wanted it to be as real as possible and that is what I am really thinking about.  Don't worry, it's not as dreary as it sounds, more just figuring out how to balance all of the parts of my life.

I am interested, what are some things that others do just for yourself?  Just to hold onto who you are and are things you love or are passionate about?  I have a bunch of projects in the works that I am so excited about, and they are really helping me maintain my ownness.   Pretty sure I have made up a few words here tonight.  It's cool, G does it all the time.  So if it's good enough for the toddler, then it's good enough for me ;)

I have crossed over

I have joined the Twitter.  You can start following the blog @crunchypearls10.  I am sure eventually I will tweet something awesome :)

Veggie Muffins!

After trying a few different recipes, I decided to make up my own veggie muffin, since I knew my 2 year old would sometimes eat them.  I also decided that it would be a good idea to let him help with the baking process.  Maybe he would take an interest in the food and be more likely to eat it.  

And so, I present to you the making of the veggie muffins by a 2 year old: 

We started with some carrots, a beet and a zucchini then blended it in a food processor

Then mixed equal parts whole wheat flour and white

Vanilla, apple sauce, eggs, yogurt, raw sugar and pumpkin pie seasoning

Gabe helped measure everything out and in true toddler fashion, played in the dry ingredients

Then we added the wet ingredients to the veggie mix in the processor

This is what you get when you mix the wet ingredients with the dry

Liam decided to join the fun

We then put the mix into a mini muffin tin for easier freezing later

This part called for coffee

We baked the muffins then had to taste test

Gabe decided he liked this recipe the best, and ate 7 muffins! 

Here is the full recipe with directions.  Let me know what veggies you try and how they go with your little ones!

Dry Ingredients: 

1 cup white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup oats

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

3/4 tsp baking soda

Wet Ingredients:

1/3 cup sugar

4 Tbsp coconut oil

2 Lg eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 cup fruit/veggie juice

1/4 cup applesauce 

1/4 cup plain yogurt

2 1/2 cups veggie puree

Directions:

Puree veggies

Preheat oven to 375

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside

Mix sugar, oil and eggs well

Combine veggie puree, yogurt, applesauce and juice in processor. 

Add in sugar mixture

Mix veggie mixture with dry ingredients in large bowl

Spoon batter into greased/papered muffin tin

Bake at 375 for aprox 20 minutes

Yeild: 48 mini muffins

I like to freeze the muffins in bags of 6, then just throw them into the fridge to thaw when we are running out.  I also suggest keeping them in the fridge for storage.  

Hope everyone enjoys!  

Gather Round Children, It's Birth Story Time!

.  I am lucky to have given birth to both my children through Brookhaven Birth Center.  My first, Gabriel Lowell, was born at the birth center  on Sunday April  15, 2012 after a quick and intense labor.  I dilated from 5-10 in about a half an hour!  That was a surprise to everyone and most of the birth team didn’t make it in time.  Heather arrived 3 minutes before he was born to assist Misty, my midwife.  One of the main things I remember during that labor is how I thought I was being hilarious and witty.  I was coming up with these great zingers and couldn’t for the life of me understand why my husband, doula and Misty weren’t finding me delightful and entertaining.  Turns out, I was so far in labor land, I wasn’t actually speaking.  I made the decision that my next labor would be different. 

 Liam Michael was born at 8:23pm Sunday May 25, 2014 at home.  His birth story starts on Friday the 23^rd.  I woke up around 3 am with regular, strong contractions and a little bit of fluid leaking.  I got up and labored alone for a bit to make sure they weren’t going away.   My husband was off of work that day, so when he woke up around 6, I let him know what was going on.  We went about our morning with contractions getting closer together.  I let my birth team know things seemed to be happening, since we know my track record of flying through labor.   Around 9 am contractions started to taper off.   I texted the birth team to keep them updated and decided to get a massage.  One of my friends is a massage therapist, who gave me an induction massage the night before I went into labor with Gabe.  He came over late morning , then one of my doulas, Mia, came around lunch time to hang out and be supportive. 

We spent the rest of the day Friday going on walks, taking Gabe to the playground and just hanging out waiting for something to happen.  Mia went home late afternoon and we spent the evening with my parents and sister making s’mores and having a grand time.   Saturday, we spent the day as a family, taking Gabe to a children’s day in the park, grilling, going on walks and enjoying our time as a family of 3.  I had regular contractions, but they were so far apart that I decided not to pay any attention to them.

Sunday morning, I woke up after midnight with what felt like more fluid.  I had gotten some tests to check and see if that’s what it was.  It was fluid, but such a small amount that it was decided I had a high leak.  So nothing to be concerned about.   Dan got up with me and we decided to have my sister come get Gabe in case things really got intense, so he didn’t wake up to it.  I tried laying back down to sleep, and was able to cat nap between contractions.    They continued getting closer and stronger for the next few hours, then tapered off again.   At this point I am getting grouchy.  I am tired of my body playing games with me and I am starting to get concerned because I had a little bit of spotting.   Mia came over again mid morning and we just hung out at my parents house for awhile.   Early afternoon, I asked Maya, my midwife, if she would come check on us to make sure Liam was doing ok and to make sure I was doing alright with the bleeding.   When she got to our house, she checked me and said I was dilated to a 4, but she could easily stretch me to a 5.  The bleeding was probably from my cervix dilating and Liam was doing great.  That was all I needed to hear and was fine with things going slowly.   I sent Mia home with the promise to call if anything changed and texted the rest of the birth team to keep them all updated. 

After the cervical check, contractions started coming back and Dan asked if he should fill the birth tub.  I kept telling him not to since I didn’t want to jinx real labor coming.  Around 3pm, contractions were feeling much more productive and a little more intense, but no where near what I had with Gabe’s labor, so I kept thinking that we weren’t close to the real deal yet.   I started slow dancing with Dan through them and making quiet moans during, but between contractions felt completely fine.   I texted Maya to let her know what was happening and decided to lay down again and try to nap. 

I was able to cat nap between contractions again and started thinking that things were slowing down when I felt a small pop and a gush of fluid.  I jumped up and knew that things were for real this time.  I texted Maya around 5:30 to let her know, then texted again  a little after 6 letting her know things were picking up.  I let my birth team know that it was time to head to my house, for real. 

I started vocalizing through contractions, but in between felt completely fine.   I wanted to wait until Maya got there and checked be before getting in the tub, but was REALLY ready to get into it.  Maya arrived around 6:30, checked me and I was at a 5. The birth team started trickling in shortly after.  My mom and my sister, who was my photographer were there and helping , my doulas Meredith and Megan arrived while I was in the tub and we were all laughing and joking about my awesome birth tutu that I sadly never got to wear. 

I felt so strong and so in control of this labor.  Contractions were intense, but not painful, and I had great breaks between them where I could talk, and laugh and joke.   This time people could hear me and I was delightful.  I kept saying that I was having so much fun!  The energy in the room was amazing and my husband was an outstanding support.  I could look into his eyes during contractions and focus on bringing my baby down.  Never did it get painful and that surprised me.  We listened to classic rock and a German punk song.  I strongly suggest listening to Du Hast by Rammstein during labor, it matches tone perfectly. 

Suddenly, I felt sick and threw up.  I was so confused since I did that in transition with Gabe, and I felt nowhere near transition with this labor.  I continued to talk and laugh with everyone, but during contractions I got really vocal and Maya told me I would have to let her know when I was pushing since I sounded like I already was.  I check myself and couldn’t feel cervix anymore, and thought I could feel Liam’s head!  I asked Maya to check and sure enough, I had a tiny lip of cervix and my body had already started pushing.  I was so surprised since I felt so awesome.  The next contraction I really felt pushy, but said NO very loudly since I didn’t want to push against that lip of cervix.  The contraction after that, I pushed to see what it would feel like and boom, Liam descended fully and we had the ring of fire.  I was squatting in the tub and was able to apply counter pressure to my perineum when the next contraction hit I pushed again and out came his head.  I told everyone that his head was out, then the next contraction came and I pushed out my baby.  I only consciously pushed 3 times!   I was able to catch him myself and brought him up to my chest.  I felt like a warrior goddess.

Both of my birth experiences were amazing, but so different.  I enjoyed both, but felt so much more in control of Liam’s and really was able to have an enjoyable time during labor.  It felt so much like a party!  I am so excited to see my boys grow up together and to use my experiences with doula clients in the future.