Moved the blog

My blog has moved to www.shalommama.com. Thanks for reading!

nina

Haiti

Haiti has been on my heart for a few years now. Mainly adopting a child from Haiti. A few years back, I read a book by Karen Kingsbury, the title of which I can't remember, oh wait, I think it was Like Dandelion Dust, or something like that. Anyway. The characters in the book go to Haiti, but the story was inspired by the author's life. She adopted three boys from Haiti (was it two? Maybe four? Not sure on that, either). Since reading that book, I've thought about Haiti every few months or so.

And now the earthquake. I know that it has affected so many people and the whole world knows about what happened, but it seems kind of personal to me. Like another instance of God bringing this country to the center of my mind. Does anyone else feel this way? Is this a sign that I should adopt a child from Haiti? I don't know. But I do now that I need to be praying. Praying for the people who have been killed and injured, their families, the relief workers and for the future.

Many organizations are prompting you to contribute financially to help Haiti. If you are in the situation to donate, please prayerfully consider it. If not, please pray. Pray, pray, pray. And remember the orphans, for the kingdom belongs to such as these...

He's Here, He's Here!

Well, he's been here for a few weeks, actually. Isaiah James was born on Dec. 13th at 3:30 in the morning. And, of course, he's just woken up and is crying for me, along with his sister, so I must go :)

A little update

Well it's been a busy past few weeks, and I haven't been doing a lot of work. This last trimester has been wearing me down and I'm trying to take it easy and rest. It's not working out to well, though, because I've been nesting! I've been organizing like crazy and I've also been taking what spare money I have and adding to the baby's diaper stash. I thought I was all set on covers and prefolds while he was a newborn but I changed my mind at the last minute. I love fitteds and decided I wanted some of those on hand, too, so I got them in the mail yesterday and am all set. I love fluffy mail! I just hope that he stays small for a while because these diapers are just too cute to only use for a week or two. :)

Just a reminder, Shalom Beginnings offers free shipping to anyone in Oregon (this isn't posted anywhere else, it's just a nice surprise at checkout) all the time and it's just $2.50 for everyone else. And don't forget, we don't just have diapers - we have some awesome herbs and teas available as well as the brand-new Shalom Mama Soothing Herbal Bath Tea. Try some out!

Shalom,

nina

Black Friday sale!

Shalom and Happy Thanksgiving!

Do you enjoy a good sale, but don't necessarily want to get up at 4 in the morning? From now until Monday, November 30th, we have some great sale prices available on our best-selling items!

Thirsties - Duo Diapers, Duo Wraps, Covers, Fitteds, Doublers and Wipes all on sale!

Sleepy Wrap baby wraps - 15% off our in stock Sleepy Wrap baby wraps. Get yours today for only $33.95!

*excludes boba organic carrier, sleepy bear and the organic sleepy wrap.

Tiny Tush Aplix One-Size Pocket Diaper only $16!

Take 15% off all boxed herbs and teas (just use the order form and I'll get you the total)!

Updates

We went out of town for a funeral last week and I got sick and now that I'm finally feeling better, I just wanted to give an update on a few things.

I had my home visit with my midwife and her assistants (great ladies!) the other day and I'm finally 36 weeks pregnant. I'm 2 cm down and 8 to go and I have a feeling that this birth will be another fast one. Hopefully I'll be blogging about our new baby boy (who still remains nameless) in the next few weeks.

Shalom Mama Soothing Herbal Bath Tea is now available on my website! I thought this up a few months ago, made up a test batch and loved it! I tweaked it a little and made a new batch and with the help of my parents at Juniper Butte Herb & Tea Co., it's all packed up and ready to go! It comes in 2 sizes - 1.6 oz and 3.1 oz. They're good for 3-4 baths and 6-7 baths, respectively. The bath tea contains calendula, chamomile, chickweed, lavender, oatmeal and plaintain. Calendula, chamomile, chickweed and plaintain are especially good for those of us with really sensitive skin because of their soothing and healing properties. Get yours today!

There are some great new products from Thirsties available now! Thirsties just announced that its brand-new Duo Diaper is in stock and ready to go! I am so excited about this - and it's not just an unhealthy obsession with cloth diapers! The Duo Diaper comes in 2 sizes, like their wonderful Duo Wrap, and has two pocket openings for stuffing so that you don't have to remove the insert when you wash - it agitates out in the washer. I love that! As soon as I saw the e-mail in my inbox this morning, I logged onto their site and ordered a size 2 orchid Duo Diaper to try on Ella. I can't wait 'til it gets here. When you check out the new Duo Diaper, you may notice that the pocket AIO is no longer available. Thirsties is discontinuing the AIO, but I think the Duo Diaper will more than make up for the loss.

Thirsties Pre-wash and Super wash are also available on my site now. They were both made in the USA by a chemist to work specifically with cloth diapers. Both are 100% biodegradable and were created to keep your diapers in top condition and to prevent diaper rash on your sweet baby. Both washes are 32. oz and they offer a great value pack that saves you $7 when you purchase them both together. Gotta love saving money.

That's it for now, but keep an eye out for some great Black Friday specials coming your way.

Shalom,

Nina

Ella's Birth Story

I became pregnant with Ella when Eva was only 3 months old. I went to see my same dr. and went back into the high-risk prenatal routine I was used to. At about 20 weeks I told him that I didn’t want to do the same tests that he had had me do with Eva. He told me that was too bad and that I had to do them because I was considered high risk. I had had no problems with Eva so I thought, “that’s what you think, man.” I had been doing research on becoming a midwife through apprenticeship and found one who lived right next to me, thanks to a friend’s referral.

Her approach was so much better. It was holistic care, focused on nutrition and letting my body do what it was designed to do. I elected for a water birth. At about 36 weeks I was dilated to three cm. And I just kept on dilating. I was dilated to 6 cm when my husband left for work at 8:30 on May 28th. I had felt nauseated that morning and was having the same old contractions I’d become accustomed to in the previous month. At 8:45 I had a really long one and it hurt! Then I had another one that felt really weird and I knew I was in labor. I called my midwife, Tiffany, who lives four houses down from me and let her know. Then I called my husband who had just gotten to work and asked him to come home. My brother came and got Isaac and my mom came and helped put Eva down for a nap. I was very blessed that my body had been getting ready for so long. I got into my birth tub after a while and the warm water helped so much. I tried to surrender completely to what was happening and went into a different consciousness where I would moan in a low tone during a contraction and relax as much as possible in between. I got to ten cm very quickly. I began pushing around 11:05. Ella was born at 11:10, right as Eva woke from her nap. It was the most amazing experience ever. I am so glad that I trusted my body and had her in the comfort of my own home, at my own pace. I now have three perfect children and am looking forward to having our 4th at home as well.