The Beauty of a Mother

I want to share this picture that i ran across a few weeks ago.  I think it ties into my previous post very well. 

There is so much hate out there about our bodies, especially postpartum mothers.  We hate the stretch marks, to sag, the bulge, the pooch.  We look at what society considers beauty and feel inadequate next to it. 

We need to remember the miraculous, wonderful, AMAZING thing our bodies did!  We were partners with God to make something amazing, something no one else can do.  We are mothers and we are beautiful!  

Yes, our bodies may not ever be the same again, but life will never be the same again.  We must remember this and remember that we are all daughters of God, and we are all beautiful.

And if you are a mother struggling with how you look postpartum i *highly* suggest checking out the website, The Shape of a Mother.  I love that site! 

The Whale and the Mermaid

Hello hello my friends!

Sorry i've been MIA, and sorry i keep making excuses.  I think i've mentioned before that life is extremely hectic right now and we're just trying to get moved into our new house, but problem after problem keep arising. 

But i have not forgotten you!  Today i ran across a photo and an analogy i wanted to share with you :)

French model Tara Lynn

A while back, at the entrance of a gym, there was a picture of a very thin and beautiful woman. The caption was "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"

The story goes, a woman (of clothing size unknown) answered the following way:

"Dear people, whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, seals, curious humans), they are sexually active and raise their children with great tenderness.
They entertain like crazy with dolphins and eat lots of prawns. They swim all day and travel to fantastic places like Patagonia, the Barents Sea or the coral reefs of Polynesia.
They sing incredibly well and sometimes even are on cds. They are impressive and dearly loved animals, which everyone defend and admires.

Mermaids do not exist.
But if they existed, they would line up to see a psychologist because of a problem of split personality: woman or fish?
They would have no sex life and could not bear children.
Yes, they would be lovely, but lonely and sad.
And, who wants a girl that smells like fish by his side?

Without a doubt, I'd rather be a whale.

At a time when the media tells us that only thin is beautiful, I prefer to eat ice cream with my kids, to have dinner with my husband, to eat and drink and have fun with my friends.

We women, we gain weight because we accumulate so much wisdom and knowledge that there isn't enough space in our heads, and it spreads all over our bodies.
We are not fat, we are greatly cultivated.
Every time I see my curves in the mirror, I tell myself: "How amazing am I ?! "

 

French model Tara Lynn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UK model Chloe Marshall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Australian model Crystal Renn

Kailee O'Sullivan

Two of my beautiful sisters

My beautiful mother and me

My beautiful sister in law

A beautiful friend

Another beautiful sister in law

You are all beautiful!!

How Amazing are we?

Greening Up

For a while now i've been wanting to "green up" my life when it comes to my beauty products.  The more i've been reading about the toxic things in our beauty products (what am i saying, in pretty much everything around us...) and the effects it has on our health the more i've been saying NOT FOR ME.  If you want to know what i'm talking about, i suggest this article:

Chemicals In Cosmetics: What You Need To Know

 I think the first step i took in trying to "green" myself up was when i found out i was pregnant with DD2 i decided i was not going to paint my nails anymore (EDIT: now that i think about it, my first step was to stop using traditional menstrual products and get a cup, but that is another post!).  There are some nasty things in nail polish (as you can probably tell by the smell).  You can read a bit about it here:

Toxic Nail Polish

Pretty nasty sounding isn't it?  I didn't want to be putting that stuff on my nails for my body to absorb to be passed on to my growing baby.  So i haven't painted my nails in over a year now.  And honestly, i don't miss it too much.  Yeah...it was fun to have hot pink or lime green nails in the summer, but at what cost? 

My next step was to stop using so many toxic things in the shower.  The first to go was shaving cream.  This was easy because i just stopped shaving.  Yep, you read that right, since the beginning of the year i have not shaved once.  And i don't think i will anymore.  1.  it's a pain in the underarms for me (i get HORRID ingrown hairs), 2. i barely have time to wash my body let alone shave anymore, 3. my legs aren't that hair anyways and my husband thinks they are soft even when i don't shave, so what's the point, and 4.  why should i have to?  I have given myself permission that if i feel the need, i'm allowed to trim my underarms, but no shaving this year at least :)

Then after giving up the shaving cream i decided that next to go is my shampoo and conditioner.  Now this is where most people think i have really gone nuts.  Sure, they could let the no nail polish go with no problem, and shaving...well, that's not too horrible either.  But not using shampoo or conditioner!?!  Oh how will my hair ever be clean???

Easy.

For one, just water and my hands will get most of the grime out of my hair.  But for now i'm washing my hair using baking soda and apple cider vinegar.  You see, washing your hair with a detergent all the time (which is what shampoo is) strips away all the natural, GOOD oil from your hair.  This oil works on a supply and demand basis.  The more you wash it away, the more it makes (works the same as breastfeeding).  So if you stop stripping the oil away and instead try to work *with* your body, your hair will (in most cases) make only enough oil to keep your hair healthy. 

I am already a person who doesn't wash her hair regularly.  Yeah, that's right, i only wash my hair maybe once a week!  And it's NEVER been overly greasy :)  So i figured making the switch to not using any shampoo would be easy.

So i decided to start after i had a procedure to get a mole removed from my scalp, since i wouldn't be able to wash my hair for a while anyways.  The day before i washed my hair for the last time and then went 2 weeks before ever actually using anything on my hair.  This was because my scalp was VERY tender around the stitches site and i didn't want to use anything that would irritate and such.  So for 2 weeks i just rinsed my hair with water and i used a washcloth to kinda pet my hair in a downward motion to distribute the oils to the rest of my hair.  And that worked fine.  Then after 2 weeks i finally did my now normal wash routine.  I took one tablespoon of baking soda and rubbed it into my scalp and then rinsed it.  I then took one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and slowly poured a bit at a time on my scalp and rubbed it into the roots and shaft of my hair.  Then i rinsed and that's it, done. 

When i got out of the shower and towel dried my hair it was SO SOFT!!  My hair has never been that soft before!  All day i couldn't stop running my fingers through it.  I think DH was getting tiered of me saying 'i can't believe how soft my hair is!!!!'.  It's now been over 3 weeks since i've last traditionally washed my hair and i've done 2 of these "treatments" and my hair is still doing great.  I'm tossing my shampoo and conditioner and never looking back! 

Not only is this so much healthier for me, but it's also healthy for my wallet.  I mean, how expensive is baking soda and vinegar???  Awesome i know!

If you want to learn more about this "crazy" topic, read the articles below:
All about 'No Poo'
The No Shampoo Alternative- No Poo
What is No Poo?
Don't use shampoo again!
How to No Poo
The no poo do

So this is it for now.  My next step is body wash, then toothpaste and then deodorant.  Then we'll see where i go from there.

What about you, what are things you've done to "green up" your beauty routine?