babywearing in the rain and snow. It can be done!!!

I just feel so much frustration for the moms and Dads who are trying to push a stroller through the snow. You know they must be cursing under their breath and the wheels get caught in a snowbank.. and that snow is again just around the corner for us Canadians. Today I see parents trying to adjust a plastic cover over a stroller while its pouring out. Lets face it, sometimes life gets busy, and if you are like us who dont drive you have to face the elements, even when they are being ultimatly discusting. My 9 month old son is breastfeed, and doesnt use a bottle so even if there are days we can leave our older children with someone, mr. "Turnip" must come along. But I smile to know that even on a day like today where it was so windy, rainy and ..well..gross..he was so snug and warm under my coat in my podaegi.

So what can one babywearer do to face the elements with baby? Its so simple, and I want to share some of the options.

There are coats out there made for babywearing. They are well made, beautiful, and can be used from pregnancy and beyond. http://www.suseskinder.com/ http://www.pslingnewyork.com/ http://www.birdiesroom.com/Products/DIDYMOS-Jacket__CL-DI-BWJ.aspx... these are some of the many company's that offer babywearing jackets.

If you are a crafty woman, or man, or know someone who is handy with a sewing machine, there are some wonderful DIY babywearing jackets you can make. Plus, this way is also quite cheap if you search second hand stores for your jacket/poncho you would be using. This is what we did using this tute http://www.sedlmeiers.net/photos/Babywearing/BabywearingCoat/instructions.html




Then there is the new sew fleece poncho... now I think anyone who is able to get their hands on some fleece and sisscors can do this! http://magiccityslingers.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/no-sew-babywearing-fleece-poncho-with-fringe-revised/ This is something I think we will be trying out this season. If not for the winter soon approaching, perhaps for spring!

But, if you think it cant get any easier, it can!!!

I mean, you can go to a thrift shop, and purchase a cardigan or sweater for like 2 bucks, one that is a few sizes too big for you, and you and your baby can fit just wonderfully under there!

I went to a thrift store and purchased a mohair wool sweater a few months ago, for two dollars. It was an xlarge. This has been keeping my son and I beyond warm over these fall days.

For the winter months, a larger jacket can do just the same... we purchased a heavy downfilled jacket, for 10 dollars at a second hand store, and my second born and I happily used it through the most blistery days happily warm underneath.

But if you reallly want to spoil yourself in what I believe is the most gorgeous way to carry a baby in the winter, go for it and purchase an Amauti. http://www.amautibaby.com/ is one I know of. They do cost quite a bit of money, but they are well worth the money!! Absolutly gorgeous! An Amauti is definatly on my wish list, even if I have to purchase one, long after my babywearing days are over.

The Apprentice, Barefoot Buttercup style

Im on the journey of making myself my own quilted wide blanket pod. My husband is out for the eveing so I decided that I would start doing it tonight, we have been so busy packing for our big move I have no idea why I decided to take on a project NOW...but I did, and there's no stopping me...



or is there??



This is the one evening, my almost 8 month old son decides he needs me to lay next to him in order for him to be at bliss. Nevermind sneaking off once he's snoring. Cheek to cheek, no going back to the sewing machine. Do not pass Go, do not collect 100 dollars...poo poo on this.

So I said HAHA I'll show you!!

In the pod you go.

You can learn how to sew as you sit back there, you can learn the art of making carriers. You can take over for Mom one day

this Podaegi can get done before the snow flies!

Excuse me there is a baby following you!!!

"Excuse me, there is a baby following you!"

I just had to laugh today when a neighbour of ours pointed this out to me as I carried Zayden under my heavy wool jacket in his pod to do some errands this morning. I stopped in my tracks, looked left, then right and shouted "WHERE!?! WHERE?!?!" then I peeked back to see his amazing smile and said "oh that guy, yea he seems to do that alot!"

I also must add that I am so very very happy to have discovered babywearing. Yesterday evening

my husband and I decided to bring our big old double stroller out and on our way home, at about 9:30pm, the wheels had it and the double stroller kicked the bucket. This would probably anger someone who doesnt know how to tie a baby on their back, but HURRAY! I can do just that!!! SEE YOU LATER YOU BIG OLD DUMB STROLLER! I NEVER LIKED YOU ANYWAYS.. although it did hold groceries quite well!!!!

upcycling fun

Upcycling is defined by wikipedia as "a component of sustainability in which waste materials are used to provide new products. It is generally a reinvestment in the environment. "Upcycling is the practice of taking something that is disposable or downcycled and transforming it into something of greater use and value." This process allows for the reduction of waste and virgin material use."

I had a beautiful old OLD dress in my closet. It is older than my Mother who is 50.
Sorta this style ( I really should have taken a picture before hand)

So since its been in my possession forever now, and I really have no use for it at all... I did the unthinkable and took the siccors to it and made yet another baby carrier. I had beautiful orange satin sitting around for the past two years, I finally found its purpose. I had enough of both materials to make myself a podaegi, my daughter for her dolls

and ofcourse Cinderella needed one too!

Teaching them to love Mother Nature, young!

So yesterday we took a biiiiiiiig long walk down the macnamara trail. http://www.ontarionature.org/network/groups_detail.php?ID=101ps_detail.php?ID=101 We found a lot of beautiful things, like mushrooms, chipmunks, acorns, streams. The kids had an absolute blast! When I was a wee little kid myself I remember my Mom doing the same. From the second I found out I was pregnant with my first, I knew that I would be teaching my children about the beauty in nature and how to respect it. Teaching them to get down low and seeing whats below there feet. They were amazed at all the amazing mushrooms and critters we came across!

So we do try to get out into local conservation parks as often as possible, but some days the weather doesnt nessesarily want to co operate. so I have taken extra effort to bring nature indoors as much as possible with the kids. this mostly comes in with indoor gardening. They love watching things grow. We have done the traditional beans in paper towel, but last year we had a lot of fun planting a pomegranate seed. We didnt really know if it would actually grow, but after a long germanation period it did! What a surprise to us to see it sprout up!

(Taken May 2008)

so as the days went by our little experiement began to grow and grow, the kids love coming to check on how BIG the pomegranate bush is getting. Ofcourse due to our climate, the bush cant be planted outside so its found a nice little home in our kitchen. We are treating it sorta like a bonsai, I gave it a trim today, it was starting to get reallly crazy. My daughter keeps asking if it will ever grow pomegranates, unfortunatly I dont think it will, but I tell her to be paitient and see if it wants to someday grow them and if not, we will enjoy the ones we buy at the market.

There is one particular branch that has always made me smile, knowing that it needed a swing on it. So tonight that is what we did, found an old broken truck of my sons, took off one of its wheels and made a tire swing with some old hemp twine and then made a little wire dude to sit on it. I can just see now how my childrens minds are going to go off into this little wire dudes world, does he swing when we are not in the kitchen? I can picture it now.

While out on our nature walk yesterday we came across a LOT of acorns that squirrels knocked out of the oaks above our heads. The kids had pockets full of them when we got home. I sudjested we put them outside for our local squirrels but keep one and see if we could get it to sprout as well.

So we have planted this little acorn in a shallow dish in hopes it will grow into a mighty oak, just in tiny size!

barefoot buttercup is moving!

Well the family and I are packin up and moving to southern ontario in October. We are very excited to move back to London after being away for 6 years. There is a lot of things we will ofcourse miss but I will definatly enjoy the perks of a bigger city, PLUS meeting lots of new babywearing crunchy moms like myself! There are lots there! So barefootbuttercup wont be taking orders till the end of October.

Zayden is getting so big, and lovin to be worn. We have been using the pods a lot latley, he really loves to be carried on my back, so he can see the world. He is a very curteous passenger too, only pulls my hair every once and a while! LOL

He just keeps growing and growing!

My little Turnip man. He's getting so big! Just shy of five months and already 19 lbs!!!!!!!
Its getting so hot outside too, so we have been doing rucksack carries and I have even started him in a pod. We had some left over unbleached cotton from my cloth diapering days (oh those days are over, so many diapers already in my home ) and we dyed it up! Like I needed another baby carrier in my house!

(hehehe) He seems to enjoy being on my back a lot now. So thats how we do things these days!!!

Earth Day festival 2009

What a blast my daughter and I had at the Earth Day festival today! Tons of people, lots of new things learned!!!!
(seen some really cute piggies too! :) That was the highlight of my day!) A terrific first time vendor experince! Cant wait to do it again!

Will be a vendor at the Earth Day celebration!

Just wanted to let everyone know Barefoot Buttercup will be a vendor at this years Earth Day Celebration downtown Arnprior Ontario, being held Saturday April 25th 2009, from 10-3pm on John Street! There will be a lot of other vendors, music and food so be sure to come on down!! Its going to be a wonderful earthy time!!!

Barefoot Buttercup has an official site!

Im so super pleased to announce Barefoot Buttercup has its own official spot on the web

http://www.barefootbuttercup.com/

Please feel free to check it out! It feels so nice to have a spot that everyone can see the slings and wraps Barefoot Buttercup makes! Its been a long time coming! :)

when your life throws you toddlers...

Put him on your back!
My two year old son, can master a buckled stroller seat, untie a tie around his waist in a wagon, and proceed to the intersection. This obviously made me nervous when I was having him as well as my newborn son out. So heres the solution- wear em both! Did I ever get looks! but it worked!

WHAT A LIFE EH!?!

a day in the life of a babywearer.

For three and a half weeks I have been a mother of three. Its absolutly wonderful, but at times, a bit (or maybe a tad more) chaotic! My second born, who is two, has decided that getting into things he is not supposed to is best done while I am nursing his baby brother. Thank goodness for babywearing. I dont know how anyone without a carrier who has a gassy baby with a toddler in the house, and a preschooler with a really loud wild imagination gets anything done. I just about fall over at the end of the day running all over the place, trying to keep up on laundry, cooking, entertaining the kids, changing diapers, breastfeeding etc. With my son being carried contently against me, I can nurse him, and pull my two year old off the dining room table and talk to him about the dangers of getting into Daddy's shaving cream without having a baby crying for the boob. I can do my dishes and laundry without wondering if my two year old is trying to take his baby brother for a walk, or hitting him in the head with one of his trucks. I can go run errands without having to lug our big bulky double stroller out, getting up and down the narrow isles of certain stores is so much more easier with the baby all snuggled up on me. My baby also has taking a disliking to his little baby bathtub and taking a bath with me. But absolutly loves the shower, so into a sling he goes and we take a shower together..much easier than holding a wet slippery baby in your arms..much safer too! Plus, so many of the slings, wraps, mei tais, pods out there today are so flippen cute, it makes it so much fun!!!

We're babywearing again in our household!

I am super pleased to announce our third (and final) blessing was born Feb 1, 2009 at home, a beautiful baby boy 10lbs 2 oz. We named him Zayden-William. He just loves to be worn! Its fantastic. Such a wonderful baby!!

My energy is in abundance, and I have decided to start taking orders again, earlier than expected. Life's blessings sure are wonderful! We are so pleased to have three beautiful children! The house is filled again with baby slings, cloth diapers and breast pads gallore! Its fantastic!