For me right now, working the Farmer’s Market Saturday mornings (4:30 wake up, yo!!) Friday night has become super busy work time for me followed by a “lets get as much sleep as possible” thing. Tomorrow will be the third market this week, as there was a special July 4 market yesterday. With a just turned 10 month old in tow, it is hard work! I’ve been relying on lots of liquid nutrition like smoothies and juices to power me through.
I had some noni juice for the first time! Verdict- foul by itself but pretty damn great mixed with kombucha! I will be having this the next time there is a festive occasion where I don’t want to be drinking alcohol.
I also had this quick and dirty green juice:
And this banana soft serve, pimped out with superfoods!
Even with all that goodness + the goodness that is my life, today I sort of hit an emotional and physical wall. Seeing Amethyst transform from a dependent, bald little baby into an independent little girl is so beautiful to see, but at the same time it is testing my ability to enjoy each moment and to allow myself to let go and surrender to the inevitable flow of life to the limit! Of course I want her to grow into the being she was meant to be, but I can’t help but selfishly want her to stay a baby! She is my little starseed. I felt her grow inside of me and then I released her, into the world. Each contraction that rocked my being to the core, each primal push that brought her a little closer into this dimension is forever etched into not only my memory, but my cells themselves, as I am forever changed because of it. Along with by body which opened to give her passage, my heart as well was cleaved wide open, raw and exposed. And right now, I feel it all too well. I see her, this living, breathing, laughing expression of me, of my heart, out there in the world and I know that it will never return. And so I continue to breathe deeply, wipe the tears off of my face (and hers), thank the Great Spirit for the gift of this experience, for the ability to feel such divine pain, kiss the tip of her nose and brush my face against hers. Kind of heavy, I know. But I have to be real and this is what I am going through now.
The Medicine though, is right here:
As per yesterday’s post, I am spending the majority of today packing for the weekend. Even for just a short trip, the amount of planning necessary to make sure a baby has everything necessary is truly EPIC!! So while I have my glorious cup of morning coffee with almond milk, I thought I’d share a few things that I am loving in my world lately!
– This sweet and silly girl with her mouth green from chlorella tablets (man, she went to town on those things LOVE IT!!!) and her finger up daddy’s nose.
-Also, this chocolate which is some of the best in existence! True facts!
-Last, but not least… FarMar! I am loving all the seasonal and local produce now! Tomato, cucumber, yellow squash, zucchini, corn, purple hull peas and GREENS galore. Also lemongrass, dill, watermelon, blackberries, blueberries….the list goes on. Not only is it amazing to be selling my wares, but I love supporting my local farmers and knowing that I am giving my body and my family the best of the best! Here are a few of my stall at the FarMar..
I posted a while back about my struggles breastfeeding and what we do in our family regarding milk.
I wanted to do a little update on what we do now about feeding our little one.
First, Amethyst still gets the vast majority of her calories through milk. At this time that means she gets mostly her home-made formula although she can breastfeed on demand. As she gets older and more interested in the world around her however, her interest in the boob has waned dramatically which means that my milk production has decreased as well. As a family, we decided against long term intensive breast pumping to maintain my supply.
Starting at about 4 months, Amethyst starting being extremely curious about the food that we were eating. We didn’t really offer her anything, but as the weeks went by and her interest kept growing we started offering her a few things. She started with some pureed pears, and then some sweet potato, then apple and spirulina, then avocado and banana. She loved everything she tasted and we began letting her taste some of our food (within reason, of course!)
Now, at almost 8 months old Amethyst LOVES green smoothies, green juices (even the ones with wild greens), coconut water, all kinds of fruit but especially berries and melons, yogurt, broccoli, carrots-anything really.
drinking her green juice in a big girl cup!
Ideally, I would have waited a bit longer before introducing nuts and seeds into her diet but she stole a sip of a smoothie I was having that had hemp seeds and cashews. We don’t specifically give her these, but after seeing that she suffered no ill effects we let her taste things with those two ingredients in.
Once, when we were having a quinoa pasta dish, I mushed up a few pieces of the quinoa pasta and let her have those. I’ve also mushed up a few black beans when we were having black bean tacos for her to try along with her beloved avocado. We have also just started feeding her egg yolk a few times a week for choline, which is necessary for brain development.
So that is where we are now- in the food for fun stage! We like to let her try out her palate and taste all kinds of new things without pressuring her to eat any more than she likes. She will easily suck down half a glass of green smoothie, though!!
My girl getting her Vitamin D!
So, we may be doing it all wrong. But we are doing it intuitively and following Amethyst’s lead. She is a thriving, happy and well adjusted girl who is always eager to learn new things.
Hi there! You know, I may not have made it this week because I know it is either extremely close to midnight or already past midnight. Oh well, better late than never. Consider it Thankful Thursday or something life that.
* Working the physical. Today I went to my first Kundalini class since moving back to Shreveport, and yeah. Just nice. Really, really nice. Also, I have Zumba again tomorrow.
* My new Prana pants. I love this brand for pants. If you know me, you will know my struggle to find pants that I love. Pricey, but where else are you going to find hemp and organic cotton yoga pants with a flared leg.
*Raw brownies in Austin. I bought these at Whole Foods when we first got into town and I went back and bought another pack. I love the slightly smoky flavor from the mesquite powder as it gives it an almost cooked taste, love that they are nut-free (not that I am against nuts, but they are heavy on the digestion and variety is awesome!) Also, the texture is chewy like a real cooked brownie!
* Pictures of my Amethyst.
I’ve always loved these weekly love list posts on other blogs, so I thought why not do one myself?
So, what I have been loving lately-
My new-to-me diaper bag! 10 bucks secondhand and never been used. It is gorgeous and I am so glad I didnt cough up the 90 dollars for the only other diaper bag I have seen that I actually liked!
This Living Intentions raw granola. Normally I don’t like storebought raw cereals and granolas because I am always dissapointed and think what a better job I could do myself. Not so with this stuff. So far I have had the Cacao Crunch and Hemp & Greens flavors, but am looking forward to trying the others.
photo from highvibe.com
Wild green juices. At the risk of sounding redundant due to my other posts on juicing, I can’t get enough of this stuff. Here in Northwest Louisiana, cleavers and chickweed are what is abundant at the moment, at least of the things that we recognize and have a relationship with. And the juice- so easy. Blend, strain and enjoy! Oh, and add coconut water for some crazy awesome hydration 😉
Zumba- I went to my first Zumba class last night and I loved it. I felt super ridiculous pretty much the whole time, but luckily instead of staying locked into feeling self-conscious, I recognized the feelings for what they were and for an opportunity to laugh at myself a little more than I usually do and let go and smile! And I had fun! So much in fact, that I stayed for the next class too! Yay exercize that doesn’t suck!
Pine pollen! Oh the abundance at the moment! The trees here are a totally different species to those in Madrid and they are some high producers. Dan has spent far less time this year than in the past and ended up with waay more. He’s got about 3 liters of pine pollen tincturing at the moment and then a large jar of pine pollen powder. I loooove it in blueberry/nut milk smoothies. Who needs expensive protein powders when this is a far superior ancient food and free!
Oh, and this little peapod of course. She never, ever ceases to both amaze and delight me. Thank you Amethyst Joy for choosing me to be your mommy!
