Birth Blessings

Maybe this should belong in my other blog, I'm not sure. It does involve pregnancy after all, but I'll put it here all the same.

I'm known for a great many things in life: having lots of pets, having weird pets, getting tattoos, making up my own catchphrases, blah, blah, blah...I am also known for throwing Birth Blessings parties for all the preggo ladies in my life. This is a new addition to the list of things that make me pleasantly strange. I just started having them last year. I started with my    younger cousin Kayla when she was preggers with Miss Story Jade (whom I like to call "Turnip Head").

Everyone asks me what exactly a Birth Blessing consists of, so here is an explanation and some websites you can look up in case you want to have one of your own.

First things first, anyone can host a Birth Blessing party, even the Mommy-to-Be herself. And unlike the unspoken taboo of having a baby shower for each child you birth, you can have as many Birth Blessings as you so desire.

That is the thing I like best about them really, you can cater them to fit the person. True, you can do the same with a baby shower, but the baby shower focuses primarily on the baby, whereas a Birth Blessing focuses on the Mother.

Obviously men can be involved with a Birth Blessing as well, but mostly it is women that participate...older, younger, childless, houseful of kids...it doesn't matter really. It can be religious or not. You can add "activities" to it or keep it simple. No decorations or door prizes required.

Here are some websites to help you out with ideas and give you a better explanation than I can:
www.birthblessings.com
www.birthbeads.com/blessingway


Here are a few details of what I've done at the Birth Blessings I've been a part of:



At Kayla's:
 ~We baked cookies, made chili, and made "ants on a log".
~We gave Kayla a pedicure and facial.
~We each put a "keepsake" in Story's keepsake box for her to have when she becomes an adult.
~We each gave Kayla a charm to add to her charm bracelet so that she could take it in with her when she gave birth to Story Jade.
~We all brought a candle to light. So when we heard about Kayla going into labor and giving birth, we could light our candles and send prayers and good thoughts her way for a safe and healthy delivery and baby.

At Tabby's:

~We made chili and hotdogs. We ate cookies and chips.
~We gave Tabby a manicure and facial.
~We also gave her charms, keepsakes, and lit our candles, just like with Kayla's. The only difference is I made Molly's (Tabby's wee little bun in her oven) keepsake box and I bought Kayla's. :-)

And what goes in a keepsake box you ask? I put a homemade CD of tunes I thought Molly could use throughout her life for Tabby's Birth Blessing. For Kayla's, I put a picture of our entire Nunn clan (there is a bunch of us!!!) in Story's keepsake box. Absolutely anything can be used...as long as it is something special for the child to keep as it ages.

So if you've never done a Birth Blessing, I strongly suggest it. Its great fun and a great way to make the Mommy-to-Be feel special and loved.

Thanksgiving & Black Friday

First of all, I hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you ate way too much and took way too many naps. :-)

I had a normal Thanksgiving with my kinfolk in Tyner, Kentucky. Good food...especially the peanut butter pie. If you've never had peanut butter pie, then you need to rush out right now and get some. Trust me. You will not be disappointed.

I came home to dirty dishes and laundry that had to be brought in before it rained. The biggest surprise of the day though was bear poo in the front yard. That's right. B-E-A-R poo!!! I knew for the past couple of days I had been hearing something outside rummaging around. One night it scared me quite a bit even because I heard it walking through the leaves and it sounded WAY too big to be a dog. I was afraid to look outside to see what it was even...guess now I know. A bear!

Ah well...I won't be participating in the Black Friday events today. I did one year and I'll never, ever do it again. I don't care what they are selling or what deals they have, I will never go shopping on Black Friday ever again.

So good luck to all ya'll shoppers. Have fun. Be safe. Don't get pissed and kill any other shoppers...remember, its only "things" and "things" are not important. Not ever. Just people are important. So don't go biting the fingers off the chick that gets to the digital camera quicker than you or anything like that. :-)

Take care all!

B-E-A-utiful!

The wonders of Mother Nature never cease to amaze me.

My bed is at the perfect position to catch the rays of sun first thing in the morning. This is something that usually doesn't bother me, but I've been working third shift (or at least our version of it) and so I don't even lay my weary head down to rest until 3 a.m. When the sun comes poking through the window around 7, I get a little annoyed.

There is a young maple tree that sits in front of my window. We planted it when we built on to our house years and years ago. I think I was a Junior in high school maybe. Anyway, its been there awhile and its finally big enough that in the summer, when the green leaves are full and spread out in all their glory, it blocks out most of the morning sun's rays. Thus allowing me to sleep a little longer undisturbed.

Its November now though and the leaves are almost gone from my little maple. Its nice to be able to look out the window and see my pond and rolling hills on my family's farm and know that particular stretch of land belongs only to me (well, me and the credit union). Since the leaves are gone, the sun can now shine through pretty much without interuption and that's exactly what it did at 7 this morning.

I was tired and a little aggitated when the sun came crashing through, but when I got up from the bed to stumble downstairs I happened to notice just how beautiful the sunrise really was.

I'm not going to be all poetic on you now or anything like that, but I do think that sometimes in our hustle and bustle of everyday life, we really forget to just take a moment and breathe. Just soak it all in. The beauty of the world is amazing. For as much as they get on my nerves, people are even beautiful in their own way as well. Life is beautiful. You don't have to travel the globe or live a certain lifestyle to see these things and soak them all in, all you really have to do is just take the time and look.

You may be amazed at what you find.

 

(The frost melting off my window.)