Welcome to my third blogging experience...created in order to keep my other blogs free of my crazy rantings. This space will be dedicated to the day to day trials and tribulations of motherhood and life in general...as well as the experiences that come with trying to rediscover the many basics of life that have been lost to the constant hullabaloo and cookie cutter mentality that has become the 21st century.

I am a proud mama to our first born, Gracie, who waits for us in Heaven, and her very lively little sister, Jenna. I am a semi-crunchy mama who works full time outside of the home. If you come here to read, expect to find posts related to cloth diapering, breast feeding, homemade baby food, organics, cooking and recipes, day care & working outside the home, baby wearing, natural childbirth, general fitness, general nutrition, environmental topics, etc.


Feel free to ask questions, share valuable information that you might have or share your thoughts and/or opinions. Please do not come here to attack the things that I believe or the way I live. I will respect your opinions as long as you respect mine, even if it means agreeing to disagree!! :-)



Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

In my younger days, I worked for about 5 years as a life guard in a couple different settings.   The bulk of my work was at a community pool that was packed with kids every day.  I can honestly say that I vigilantly watched the pool like a hawk every time I was in the chair; I watched the little kids especially closely, for obvious reasons.  One afternoon late in my 2nd summer, another lifeguard and I had a 'near miss' with a 4 year old.  A couple years later, during a life guard recertification course, we watched a video that presents information very similar to that presented in this article.  If information had been presented in this format during my initial life guarding class (as opposed to the standard cookie cutter book that the ARC hands out), I am certain that our near miss would have never gotten as far as it did.

This article is short, sweet, and potentially life altering.  Please, please, please read it.  (I know that many who follow here are also friends on FB, but I need to post this here for those who are not FB friends or who just plain missed in on FB today.  If you are a parent or care provider for kids, read this article.  Even if you don't think you need to read it, read it anyway.  It might be the best two minutes you ever 'waste.')

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

March for Babies / Wordless Wednesday

I want to thank those who donated toward Team Gracieb.elle's fund raising goal this year.  With your help we were able to raise a total of $5300.31.  As someone brought to my attention a couple months ago, these efforts won't bring Gracie back to us.  But, perhaps, our efforts will help save the life of one baby - which, in turn, will save one family from enduring the heartache that we have endured for the last 21 months.  So, from the bottom of my heart, I say thank you to all who donated. 

Obviously my picture isn't so wordless today, but here it is anyway.  :-)