Don't be a Jerk

Thought Bubble Lime Birthday

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Creating Spaces that Work With You

How many times after a big meal have you searched and searched for a stupid lid that actually fits a stupid tupperware container? At least a billion! Search NO MORE!

For the most part, my cabinets are fairly organized and things are easily accessible. I have all my sheet pans and chopping blocks stored neatly in little racks, I have all my appliances tucked nicely together, and I even have a whole drawer dedicated to all of my baking tools. Doing good...until you get to my tupperware lids.

Between working in restaurants for forever, going to culinary school, and eating out, I have about a billion deli containers. These things accumulate like dust. They come in all different shapes and sizes, all with different lids to match. For years, I would stack them all up, and put all my lids in a zip lock bag. This method worked very well for me for a while. It worked until I got sick of digging through the bag to find the lid I needed. Half the time, the lid I was desperately searching for would be hidden between two larger lids. I would look and look for a specific lid, knowing it was there...somewhere. It would just piss me off!

Sunday, Doug and I were doing a little house cleaning and I was putting away a few of my Pyrex pieces (and the lids) and it hit me....Why not buy a magazine holder to store all of my lids??!?!!?  GENIUS! Well, at least I think so.

So, here ya go. It cost me about $4 and so far it has worked beautifully. The holder I bought has three compartments. Small, medium, and large. This way, each size lid has it's own home. No more slouchy zip lock bag to dig through, no more hidden small lids. Every thing's here, out in the open, just the way it should be. I hope this post will help you to make your cabinets work with you, not against you. And maybe it will give you ideas for other areas in  your home. Good Luck!

Using a Birth Ball during Labor

While I was pregnant, I was diligent about  going to my yoga classes. I joined a prenatal yoga class with a dear friend, who was also pregnant, at a wonderful little yoga studio called The Turning Leaf. theturningleaf.org Along with about 7 other women, I stretched and breathed my way through my pregnancy week to week. We had an amazing instructor, Cameron Gunter. She was literally this little 5 foot tall, hard as a rock, Yogini. Not only was she a yoga instructor, she was also a Labor Doula. She knew everything there was to know about yoga and birth and labor. We would practice all the usual yoga moves and then she would always teach us modified moves to use during labor. My favorite became the moves with the birth ball. Now, a birth ball is really just an exercise ball...literally.

Cameron also was extremely knowledgeable about the body, muscles, etc. She would have us do all sorts of moves on the ball that would stimulate, stretch, or relax whatever muscle she was wanting us to work on. My favorite became kneeling on the floor and laying over the ball. Don't worry about your big belly being in the way, it's fine. Remember, there are 7 layers between the baby and the world :) (This position really takes pressure off of your lower back and lengthens your arms.) While I was leaning over, I would kinda rock back and forth. While you're in this position, the ball is supporting all of your weight so there is very little stress on your legs/ knees. It's seriously the most relaxing position to be in while you're pregnant. I would do this all the time at home, but I never realized how valuable it was to me until I was in labor.

On June 29, 2010, I woke up at 3 am in hard labor. Doug and I knew we wanted a natural/ drug free Bradley Birth. www.bradleybirth.com To give ourselves a greater chance of success, we wanted to labor at home for the first few hours. We did just that. My labor sanctuary became my birth ball. But, I had now found a new and improved way to use it. I put it in the shower!!! Now, use common sense here. Make sure there is no soap residue in the tub and DO NOT SIT ON THE BALL...you could slip. Most of you know that while you're in 2nd stage labor, being immersed in water can slow labor progress down. So, I would get in the tub, kneel over the ball and let the shower pour down on my back, and I would stay that way for about 15 minutes. Then, sadly, I would have to get out for about 20-25 minutes. This was the only thing that would ease my pain. I followed this cycle for about 2 hours.

After I came home from the hospital (with my beautiful new baby in tow), all I wanted was to take a nice long soak in the tub. Well, unfortunately Gals, this is NOT allowed! There is an extremely high chance of infection if you do so. So, I found myself day in, day out, using my birth ball method. It was amazing. It helped to sooth my achy muscles like nothing else. Crazy as it sounds, it even was emotionally healing also. You are such an emotional wreck after labor, your hormones are crazy, and you have this baby that's crying every 20 minutes...the shower will become your sanctuary..if only for 10 minutes!

Our First "Hello"

Recently, I decided it may be fun to start a blog. I know, I know...everyone is doing them. But, at least I'm not Tweeting...yet. But, I figured- why not!? 

I'm a brand spankin' new Moma of a beautiful little boy, Keegan, and a wife (of almost 4 years) to Doug.  We live in the most amazing city in our beautiful nation, Charleston, SC. We've been here for 4 years and now we couldn't imagine calling anywhere else home. 

When we moved to Charleston I was able to finally go to Culinary School. It was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. I have never felt that I belonged somewhere so immediately. Luckily, Doug fell in love with his new job too. He's an Economics Professor at the College of Charleston. (The whole reason we moved here.) Our life was pretty awesome here. It was just me, Doug, Oliver the Great Dane, and Palmer the very sweet, sometimes moody cat. We knew we wanted babies but were going to wait to start trying once we knew Doug had Tenure. God had other plans. November 13, 2009 we found out we were pregnant. What a glorious day. 

I always loved babies and I knew that being a Moma was what I would do with my life. I had always imagined my children, what they would look like, how my parenting skills would be. But when I found out I was pregnant with Keegan, all of that kinda went out the window. Little Miss Susie Homemaker was no longer and distant dream, it was turning into a reality....quick. 

With this blog, I hope to bring pieces of my little life into yours and yours into mine. Babies have become a huge love in my life and I spend most of my days trying to provide the best scenarios I can for my child. Hopefully, I can share a little of that with others. I love talking about babies, birth stories, breast feeding and all that gushy stuff that most people never want to relive after it's over. I love cooking, baking, and creating memories for people.  Hopefully, this blog will give me an outlet to do so. Enjoy!

CMW