And seriously, besides the fact that everyone I know whose book taste I trust likes it, that is ALL I know about The Hunger Games. I have it, it’s downloaded, it’s waiting for me, but reading it with three kids and so much to do is kind of a far away dream of something nice I’d like to do someday.

Know the feeling?

I feel that way about movies, too. The last one I saw in the theater was the new Star Trek when I was pregnant with my second. To see a movie, there’s childcare, there’s the should I take the baby or will I be stuck outside not watching it while she coos, so many things that could go wrong in a theater of adults with my infant that I have just opted out. Someday I will see movies again.

Know the feeling?

I’m actually kind of glad I haven’t read The Hunger Games yet, because the fervor with which people are discussing the movie is pretty remarkable, and I don’t know if I’d want to put it off until it came out on heavily edited TNT. Are you hemming and hawing and trying to figure out how you will see the movie RIGHT NOW?

WELL. Have I got a giveaway for YOU.

The GGB has FIVE free passes to the April 3rd showing of The Hunger Games movie to give away courtesy of The Bump!! Not only do you see it for free, but it is a BABY-FRIENDLY showing, so feel free to bring your non-walking babe without the slightest worry! How’s that for awesome??

To win, enter via Rafflecopter below! Spread the word! Get your friends entered so you can all go together!

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Full disclosure: I did not swaddle any of my babies. I think maybe I sort of did at the hospital with my first, but it became evident really quickly with each that my children like to flop out in odd positions, and swaddling hindered their ability to fling their arm over their face, prop their legs up, or contort into wacky pretzels (especially favored: the butt in the air pose, adopted the precise moment they become able to turn over onto their tummy and given up…never? The four-year-old still does it.) He spent his time under bili lights looking like he was at a spa.

However, I know many, many, many parents for whom swaddling was the best thing they ever did, allowing them to soothe the unsoothable, quiet the yeller, calm the tiny beast.

There are a lot of things like this – people who swaddle, people who don’t; people who breastfeed, people who don’t; people who babywear, people who don’t; people who use cribs, people who don’t. I think if I came up with all the little choices people make and put it in list format, it would be the longest blog post ever written by anyone in the history of blogs. It would probably be longer than Ulysses.

I was a part of a conversation the other day on a friend’s Facebook status about one of the myriad choices we make as parents and as we ascertained where we each fall on that particular issue, one of the moms mentioned that the “against” comments would have sent her over the edge as a new, first-time mom when it felt like she was making an unpopular and difficult choice, but a choice she felt strongly was the right one for her family and her baby. I realized that I had come a very long way in my journey as mom to small people who test me and force me to grow and expand at practically every turn. It was no longer an affront to me when others did things differently. There are a few issues where I have an incredibly firm stance and as a consequence of that growth I also have the confidence to speak my mind, even if it’s unpopular. I also have the capacity to empathize and not be offended in the least when others have equally strong stances that are the opposite of my own. It’s actually kind of refreshing to see that there is not just one way – that parenting basically the opposite of the way I do will also produce remarkable, kind, creative, and goofy children.

I have thanked every deity I can think of (and a few I’ve invented just for the purpose of thanking) that my inconsolable screaming banshee child was my third and not my first. I still didn’t have the first clue how to help her other than just do the mom bounce and endure a tiny person screaming in my face for an hour,  but I did have enough experience to know that this was just one variation of normal, and that we were both going to get through it. If she were my first, I have no idea what kind of choices I’d have made. Heaven knows I was as uptight as uptight gets with my first and he was one of those never cries babies that you read about in attachment parenting books (he read them, too, I guess) – always soothed by nursing or the sling, perfectly content. Little stinker.

So, maybe you are parenting your first baby or parenting your first screamer. Maybe you adopted a gorgeous little cherub that yells his head off and you are wondering if you had physically given birth, would you know what to do? (To answer that: probably not! Take heart!) Maybe you’re parenting your ninth perfect little angel who has read all the books like her siblings before her and knows just what she should be calmed by. I’d like to think that we’re all in this together – we’re all starting in different places, expanding at different rates, but we’re all doing the best we can with the wildly different circumstances and babies we’ve been given.

I wish there was a mama (or daddy!) swaddle blanket for those times that you need to be snuggled up and cared for. For the times at 3am when you wonder how on earth an 8lb baby can be so heavy and how your hallway can be so long. For the times you watch the sun come up or when you fall asleep before it goes down because you are just that exhausted. For the times when the choices seem so hard, so monumental – be they pacifiers, cribs, slings, schools, or socks.

I’ll be looking up those deities again tonight to thank them for letting me reach the point where I can recognize that we are all on the same team. I will thank them for opening my mind to see that what we ought to do for each other is offer support, a cozy blanket, a little mama swaddle. Even if we disagree, even if we do things differently, I am confident that your kids will turn out just as goofy as mine.

You know, I wish I could say that once you parented one kid, the rest are just easy as pie – been there, done that, got the t-shirt and had it altered to fit you. Unfortunately, you basically start over again with each one, because they insist upon strange things like being their own person and making mommy work for it.

My one consolation is that what you do get better at with each successive kid (and each successive year of the one(s) you’ve got) is improvising and going with the flow. (At least, I tell myself this so that I can let the universe manifest it for me like I was promised by whatever guru Oprah had on that week.) My oldest learned to use the potty when he was just over two. My second was a new baby, but he was the most mellow baby you could ever wish for that was just happy to be wherever he was, and I could just set him down, tend to the puddle, move the toddler to the potty, and go on with our day. (Okay, I made that sound really non-stressful, but in all honesty, potty training was my most hated few days ever – once we got past the initial you and me are stuck at the hip until you can remember to put your pee in the potty and not on the rug phase, it was so much easier, but that first few days I was Googling for gypsy caravans offering free pickup.)

This time, my mellow baby turned into the wildest toddler I know, and while I’ve felt for awhile that he could probably get the hang of the potty, he was in no way ready to have unfettered access to the bathroom. We made a few attempts at starting the process, but it always ended with no pee in the potty, but plenty of hands in the potty, the remote in the potty, and pee on the floor. Add to that the new, new baby who does not like to be put down willy nilly, and I was basically content to diaper forever.

Seriously, just when you think you’ve come to a resolution on an issue, is it just me or does it always come back and bite you in the patoot?

The last few days have been really hard to diaper the toddler. He is constantly taking off pants and diapers, bringing them to me and saying, “Ucky.” I tried changing more frequently, getting us out of the house, even resorting to the largest onesies we own to deny diaper access. All thwarted. He’d hand me a freshly put on diaper – nothing in it, “Ucky.” He’d strip at the bouncy castle place. He’d maneuver the diaper off with onesie remaining snapped and in place (rather like the take your bra off without removing your shirt trick).

This morning, I went through 6 diapers between 6-7:30am. I looked very stern and said that pants must remain on. He took off diaper number 7 and said, “Ucky.”

So, here we are. In underwear. The door to the bathroom open. The big kid enlisted as cheerleader. And wouldn’t you know it, even with those previous false starts that said to me he’s not ready, he’s been dry all day. I managed to get the toilet plunger away from him before he decided to chew on it, and it gave me a reason to clean off the countertop, but today has been monumentally uneventful except for the fact that he learned how to pee on purpose.

And of course, we had to have a blizzard last night with zero groceries in the house, so when it seemed like the roads were good enough, we all bundled up  and headed out to the store. Within the first 6 hours or so of potty practice in earnest. And wouldn’t you know, he wore underwear, went potty at the store, fell asleep on the way home, and is still dry? If you would have asked me yesterday if we were going to be out of diapers today, I’d have told you NO WAY, NO HOW. NOT READY. And by not ready, I would have meant ME.

Thank goodness for all three of them and for wacky blizzards and dry trips to the store to teach me to listen better and go with the flow.

We do have more cloth diapers than any store in the Denver Metro, so if you do need cloth diapers we’ve got you covered. However, if your sister-in-law or cousin Fred are not currently in cloth diapers, you may be looking for a different sort of gift for them. So many people are surprised when they come in our store and find that we are so much more than cloth diapers! We are full of ecological, locally made, and unique gifts for the toilet-trained folks in your life! I wanted to share a few of my favorites with you.

lifefactory water bottles for grownups

They reinvented the glass baby bottle – BPA, dishwasher safe, and with a silicone sleeve to prevent breakage and give a place to grip. When I first saw them I wished a little that we ever had a reason to give bottles so I could use them! So, imagine my joy when I realized they had a bottle for ME! Beautiful, colorful, BPA free glass water bottles for adults! Do you have a friend or loved one who has yet to ditch the disposables in this area of their life? Everyone needs to drink their water (especially in dry Colorado!), why not do it in style?

tiffin boxes

Don’t you love it when something that works so well also looks so cool? I feel like that about the Tiffins! Used for years in India, the classic Tiffin is two-tiered stainless steel and keeps your courses separate. It’s lightweight, infinitely portable, and you can have  a sandwich and pasta and never the twain shall meet! Awesome for moms and kids who want different park lunches without mom having to cart a carrier for everyone.

local lovelies

We are so lucky in the Denver Metro to have amazing artisans that create such beautiful work. If you’re in the mood to shop local and buy local, you can swing by our mama-owned store and snag some local handmade goodness. We’ve got bibs, clothing, tutus, accessories, bags, and art all made right here. My favorite locally made gift would have to be the art-glass nightlights blown by artist Sara Good! You have to see these in person!

Swing by, we’re more than just diapers, and you’ll be amazed at the fun stuff you find!

Win Great Gifts!

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Yeah, that president. The one in the big white house with all the columns.

Funnily enough, to get to the dude with the biggest office in the land, we started small. We have many small dogs, and because of this I’ve had dachshund themed birth announcements for each of the kids, so we had to find some for baby. This is no small feat since dogs on things for kids tend to be beagles, scottie dogs or poodles. While there is certainly nothing wrong with those dogs, wienerdog people are a weird bunch, so if you haven’t met any, just trust me on this one.

Exhibit A: My child has enough wienerdog fashion to wear something with a wienerdog every day and not repeat until she is 12. She will be seven weeks tomorrow.

Because we also shop small (Hi, Giggling Green Bean!), I turned to Etsy and found the dachshund birth announcements of my dreams, and I sent a message to the amazing artist behind them, and waited for the baby. When she came, I whipped up some wording, ordered the announcements, and had them in about a week!

Well, apparently we also friend small, because I had a difficult time thinking of 10 people that would want a birth announcement from us in the era of Facebook and picture text messaging. (To be honest, I mostly get the birth announcements to frame with newborn pictures so I can look at them myself and remember my wild lunatics as sweet babies.)

So I have everybody accounted for, I have mine saved and framed up, and I have this gorgeous announcement leftover and looking sad. Of course, what would anyone do in this situation? Send it to the President of the United States. Right? Well. I mean. Unless you live in France or something (in which case, do you think you’d get a card back from Carla Bruni-Sarkozy? Because maybe I will move to France in that case. I love her. Have you heard her music pre-first lady? I’ve loved it for years – I highly recommend Quelqu’un m’a dit – the link goes to Amazon, but pick it up at your favorite local music shop instead, oui?).

And with three 4-and-unders and five under your feet wienerdogs, it’s difficult to shower, let alone get your baby announcements out in a timely fashion, so imagine my surprise when just this weekend Miss Dale Arden Irene K got an envelope from The White House in the mail. It’s not an invite to a black-tie dinner at the private residence or anything, but it’ll sure be a fun addition to the baby scrapbook (if, you know, I get around to showering and move onto those bigger projects like baby scrapbooks).

When I was a little girl, I had the Barbie Dream House – you remember – the one with the elevator where you pulled the string to make it go up? I thought that was basically the apex of dollhouse awesomeness – I mean, an elevator. In your house.

I bet the people at Plan Toys had that dollhouse, too. Except instead of staring at it, mouth agape, pulling the string to watch the elevator go up, down, up, down, up, down, they thought to themselves “I can build a better dollhouse. First of all, we’re nixing this cardboard and plastic crap toute de suite. (I bet they said things like toute de suite when they were 3.)

So then they grow up and become this mondo toy-person and create things like this:

And then they use phrases like pièce de résistance and in order not to sound silly saying it, they had to come up with a toy that was worth talking about in French.

As I said in the title, there is a reason we don’t own this dollhouse. This is the Plan Toys Green Dollhouse (with furniture!), and if we had it in our house, my children would hate me because I would never let them play with it. I would keep it all to myself and buy the family and accessories to go with it. My little doll family

Would totally grow their own food (that you can plant and harvest! And put in your wheelbarrow!) and probably have some small livestock in the barn like chickens and goats.

They’d totally grill out on the patio because they are casual and fun like that.

See? See what I mean? Could you even let your children play with this, or would you totally hide it in your own room and get it out after they go to bed? Tell me I am not the only one here, folks.

Win a Plan Toys Green Dollhouse (with Furniture)

If you are stronger than I am and could have this in your house without appropriating it for your own use, or hey, maybe you’re going to win it to do just that (and if you do, you HAVE to have me over to play!), enter now to win a Plan Toys Green Dollhouse!

AND! Because we’re adding entries for each additional person you get to “like” us on Facebook, if we reach 1500 Facebook “likers” by the end of the sweepstakes entry period, we’ll throw in a garden for your house (because the people who live in this green house of eco-fabulousness would TOTALLY have a garden).

From PlanToys: “The dollhouse’s energy efficient design includes a wind turbine, a solar cell panel and electric inverter for generating electricity, a rain barrel for collecting rain, a biofacade, which uses the natural cycle of plant growth to provide shading, and a blind that can adjust the amount of sunlight and air circulation. Also, recycling bins are included in the set.
Playtime Ideas

• The Green Dollhouse is designed to help children learn how to live in harmony with nature. Children will learn how appliances in the Green Dollhouse assist their daily life without damaging the environment. They will also learn how electricity can be generated from alternative natural sources such as the sun and wind.
• The dollhouse is divided into several rooms which children can customize with furniture and accessories.
• Children can act out stories about a family living in the Green Dollhouse. Through role playing, they can show the important roles and relationships of each family member.”

To enter:

1. Leave a comment to this entry – What was your favorite toy as a kid? Your comment constitutes your sweepstakes entry.

2. We’re going to change it up a little and add two other ways to enter for this giveaway. You will receive an additional entry for each one.

• Follow us on Twitter. Leave an additional comment with your Twitter username as a sweepstakes entry.
• Have a friend “like” us on Facebook. Leave a separate comment for each friend you bring on board. Put their Facebook name in the “email” section of your comment, because that is screened so that only we can see (we’ll only use it to check that they “like” us if you win!), that way we’re not plastering the internet with the names of your loved ones! Each comment here constitutes an additional sweepstakes entry.

3. Entries are accepted from the publication of this post until Saturday 12/03/2011 at 5pm MDT. Winner will be announced via our Facebook page on or about 12/04/2011.

4. Winner must “like”  The Giggling Green Bean on Facebook! Please do not leave a separate comment for this one, just for friends you bring over.

5. One winner will each receive one (1) Plan Toys Green Dollhouse (with furniture) (retail value $239.99). If we reach 1500 Facebook “likes” by the end of the sweepstakes period, winner will also receive one (1) Plan Toys Garden (retail value 19.99).

6. By entering, you are agreeing to our Official Sweepstakes Rules.

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We upgraded servers in the midst of the sweepstakes period, and lost comments! I retrieved them from my email, and the numbering goes as normal from 1-43, and then as per this list from 44-97, picking up with 98 in the regular comments. I did it this way to preserve the original comment order in case anyone is superstitious about their number instead of just adding on to the end.

44. Clare – I loved dolls as a kid (Still do) my mom made me a huge wooden dollhouse as a kid, it was awesome, but got water damage a few years back.
I’m getting my daughter a dollhouse for Christmas, it has been one of the hardest purchases I’ve made a s a parent, second probably only to carseats. LOL
45. Kellista – My favorite toys were the Heart to Heart family (like barbies)!
46. Kellista – twitter follow
47.  Leah – My fav toy was a carousel with collector’s horses…
48. Julie B. – Facebook Friend
49. Julie B. – Facebook Friend
50. Cindy – I had cardboard boxes with two sides cut open as my doll house. I carpeted the bottom and painted the walls. I even put a wire over the handle part of the box and wove material back and forth to look like curtains. I would love it if my grand-daughter could have an awesome doll house like this and not like the one I had. However, I had a blast with those boxes!!
51. Julie B. – Facebook Friend
52. Julie B. – Facebook Friend
53. Julie B. – Facebook Friend
54. Julie B. – Facebook Friend
55. Rachel – I used to love setting up elaborate barbie houses in my room. I’d spend so much time setting up that I’d be uninterested in playing so my sisters would end up using the “house” Thanks for the chance
56. Gina – My favorite toy changed every year. When I was four, my daughter’s age now, my favorites were my horses and their barn. Then I think it became cowgirl barbie, whose back had a button that would make her wink. And she had a horse that could fit in my other horses’ barn.
57. Rachel – twitter follow
58. Betsy M – Facebook Friend
59. Julie B – Facebook Friend
60. Julie B – Facebook Friend
61. Sarah V – twitter follow
62. Sarah V – My favorite toy as a kid was my Fisher-Price record player. My dad hacked it to play 45s, and I used to play Kenny and Dolly’s Islands in the Stream over and over and over…
63. Teresa – My favorite toy was a china cabinet my friend Nancy and I used as a doll house for our teen-aged dolls (pre-barbie) to have their adventures.

64. Alicia – I loved Pound Puppies as a kid!

65. Alicia – twitter follow
66. Cathy – My favorite toys growing up were stuffed animals and Barbies. We didn’t have a doll house, but we would use the Collier’s Encyclopedia’s book shelf and books to create a lovely home for our 7 Barbies, 2 Cher’s and one Ken.

67. Julie B – Facebook friend
68. Betsy M. Facebook friend
69. Betsy M. Facebook Friend
70. Betsy M. Facebook Friend
71. Heather – My favorite thing was my Fisher Price record player. I played my Heidi, Muppets, and Bugs Bunny records about five thousand times daily. Old school 45s, y’all!

72. Erena -  I had lots of favorites at different ages, but I always loved crafty toys and a standout was the old school Lite-Brite.73. Brooke – My favorite toy was either the preemie cabbage patch doll or the My little pony
74. Erin – My favorite toys as a kid were Barbies. Oh the drama my friends and I came up with–it would rival any soap opera! LOL
75. Brooke – twitter follow
76. Dawn – I really loved my barbie playhouse. Also my cabbage patch dolls.
77. Samantha – My dollhouse was my favorite toy. I even wallpapered and carpeted the rooms!!
78. Samantha – twitter follow
79. Jenny J – My favorite toy as a kid were the Playmobil toys and characters.
80. Anne – My favorite toys as a kid were my paper dolls – my sister and I would play with them for hours.

81. Sandy – My favorite toys were any and every stuffed animal I could get my hands on. My kids enjoy them all now (they are on a shelf around the top of their room.) I also liked Barbies but never had anything cool like this doll house. My daughter would be OVER.THE.MOON. to play with such a cool toy!
82. Sandy – twitter follow
83. Kathy – My fave toys as a kid were my stuffed animals, my real dog (once I finally convinced my parents to get one) and the horses that went with the Barbies.

84. Beth R – I loved dolls, especially my Cabbage Patch Kid, and remember being really jealous when my brother got the Ewok village from Santa!

85. Beth R – twitter follow
86. Kathy – twitter follow
87. April G – Oh my goodness! My three kids would love this but if I won I’m not sure where I’d put it. My favorite toys as a child were my Breyer horses. Gosh, I loved those things! I’d get one every Christmas since they were so expensive.
88. April G – twitter follow
89. Stephanie – My favorite toys were my stuffed animals, strawberry shortcake dolls and My cabbage patch dolls!
90. Lynn – Barbies and stuffed animals.
91. Lynn – twitter follow
92. Lisa – I loved building those marble mazes from where you make the tower with all the spins and curves.
93. Ann J – I loved my doll house as a kid! My dad made it for me. I also loved stuffed animals, Rainbow Brite, and legos.
94. Carrie – Cabbage Patch Kids. Definitely.
95. Charmaine – Yay (and boo) that I get to do this now! My fave toys were my red Mongoose bike, bamboo fishing pole, and homemade bow and arrow set ( thanks to my grampa who couldn’t wait to have grandsons but had four granddaughters first!)
96. Rheana – As a kid I loved my cousin’s Cabbage Patch dollhouse. My favorite at our house was hands-down the Legos!
97. Rheana – twitter follow

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Congratulations, GINA!

It probably is. I’ve sort of accepted that most things I do are weird, and by kid number three have developed the ability to just embrace my weirdness as the thing that will allow future therapists to earn a living.

So, toys. The other day while my big one was in preschool, my two littles decided to take a simultaneous nap, which felt a bit like what it must have felt like when the Israelites got their first delivery of manna from heaven. I took the opportunity to raid the kid room and cull things that were broken, came from restaurant kid meals more than a week ago, and toys that I couldn’t remember the last time anyone had played with (sad! Isle of Misfit Toys and Toy Story movies you have ruined me forever!). I had a box for the bin and a big bag for donation, and suddenly all the toys fit neatly in the closet and toy drawers, and for a moment I got to bask in the shiny glow from a floor that I could actually see.

It got me thinking about all the stuff we collect. I had all these grand ideas when pregnant with my first about a playroom filled with wooden toys and Charles Dickens board books, neatly kept art supplies easily at hand, and my kid wouldn’t ever even eat a Happy Meal, so clearly there would be none of those little plastic doohickeys underfoot.

Best laid plans, y’all, best laid plans.

So, here I am the other day picking up plastic, broken, licensed merchandise from weird tv shows that my kid has never heard of, and I have this epiphany. I can totally bring us back to the more laid back version of the toy room in my dreams, and no one will be the wiser. I realized that I was going to give away or throw away a giant portion of the stuff in the play room, and nobody would notice (and nobody did!), because we had waaaaaaay too much for any kid to play with. Play should not have to be a frenetic waltz where you change your partner 37 times in order to fit everyone in. My philosophy of toys was born.

I want to steer us toward less toys total, while having more toys that are truly fun (for more than two seconds), toys that reflect our consciousness of how much we consume, and toys of a higher quality that we could conceivably hang onto for the littler kids and then for grandkids.

For the rest of this month, I’ll be highlighting (and giving away!) some of our personal favorites inside the Giggling Green Bean. Have you seen the toy section? If you think the GGB is just diapers, you will need one when you see the huge variety of truly fabulous playthings.

Can we start with Green Toys? I don’t know about your kids, but my kids aren’t really ones to play quietly rolling their trucks back and forth like civilized little gentlemen. When I took this picture, I interrupted my two boys riding their respective recycling trucks and crashing them into each other (It was like the toddler Sopranos – violent clashes in the waste collection industry!). I was spotted with the camera, so we got silly face instead of crash, but you can see that even though this truck was a milk jug in its past life, its current life is not anything flimsy.

Not only can these toys stand up to my forces of destruction, they are ecologically sound – made from recycled milk jugs! They even go so far as to take their green philosophy to their packaging, which is 100% corrugated cardboard – no plastic, twisties, anything. 100% recyclable! So, win win – my children cannot seem to break them, love to play with them, and they don’t force my kid to have an immense ecological footprint at age 4. (Also win, they are so affordable! I love when companies don’t try to cash in on their green status – us normal folks like quality, ecologically sound products, too!)

Win a set of Green Toys blocks!

Green Toys says, “Green Toys™ Blocks are the world’s most environmentally friendly basic building set. All 18 boldly colored blocks are oversized and lightweight, making it super easy for tiny hands to stack and unstack. This unique block set includes a variety of shapes for building castles, towers, or any imaginative structure budding architects can dream up. Most importantly, Green Toys Blocks are safe. No BPA, PVC, phthalates or external coatings, but plenty of Good Green Fun™. These blocks are made in the USA from 100% recycled plastic milk containers that save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Packaged using only recycled and recyclable materials and printed with soy inks.”

To enter:

1. Leave a comment to this entry – Do you have a philosophy of toys? Your comment constitutes your sweepstakes entry.

2. Entries are accepted from the publication of this post until Monday 11/21/2011 at 5pm MDT. Winner will be announced via our Facebook page on or about 11/22/2011.

3. Winner must “like”  The Giggling Green Bean on Facebook! Please do not leave a separate comment, one entry per person.

4. One winner will each receive one (1) set of Green Toys blocks (retail value $24.99).

5. By entering, you are agreeing to our Official Sweepstakes Rules.

Did you know that elephant pregnancies last 22 months? I wonder if they get forgetful, too, “pregnancy brain,” and the other elephants (the ones who never forget) look down their trunks and tsk tsk the mama elephant for being the exception to the rule.

Maybe the forgetfulness is useful biologically. We can reach the end of pregnancy and the amnesia carries us into the first few weeks where we forget that it hurt, forget that we were keeping the antacid factories in business (or the apple cider vinegar factories, but you who swig that stuff are Xena warrior princesses beyond my level of comprehension), forget that our hips clicked, forget the waddling, forget it all in the face of that sweet new baby that smells so good and sticks her tongue out so funny.

In a way, it’s a tragic amnesia, too. You try and drink up the tiny baby, but the time passes so quickly and soon they’re big (but still so little!) and you forget they ever had wrinkly little faces and fur on their back. You vaguely remember the smell of their newborn head, or at least you remember it had a smell that was intoxicating, and you see a photograph and can’t quite believe they were so small, so new, because now they have thoughts and ideas; they vex you and thrill you across the same moment.

And by the time you are welcoming your third miraculous little person, you remember the forgetfulness and fight it. Time slows and hurries and you shake your fist as if time cares that your newest person is growing at a rate that makes you want to cry with frustration and stay up all day and night just watching them breathe. Do not forget, you admonish yourself, please do not forget, you plead.

They are only tiny for a fraction of a second, and if you’re lucky you find someone with an eye for how precious these moments are to come and capture them for you, to steal them from time and amnesia and the tiredness that forces you to sleep and miss so much. If you’re very lucky, that someone will quietly sneak in give you a glimpse of your new family that reminds you of why you made these babies and how joyful the moments are when it feels like no one is looking.

We welcomed our baby girl on October 17th. She was born here at home, and we have been busy enjoying all of her firsts and seconds and thirds (her first cloth diaper is up there – a red Rumparooz Lil’ Joey!). We were incredibly lucky to have the amazing Kathryn from Kathryn Kaye Photography tiptoe into our house three days after the birth and capture a few of these moments we never want to forget. I couldn’t believe there was someone with such an artistic eye so close that we could actually afford (she’s in Thornton – north of Denver, and her newborn package was so affordable – and included a print release and the digital images), so when I saw the pictures she got of my beautiful family, I was floored. I still get a little teary when I look at my husband and oldest son holding the baby, and that’s not hormones speaking.

So, hello, baby. Thank you for being ours.

For most of my life, if you asked me to tell you about pumping, I’d probably mention how cute Christian Slater was in Pump Up the Volume or how my cousin Trina and I used to dance in my grandma’s garage to Pump Up the Jam (get your booty on the floor tonight, make my day). I might also tell you that I was one of the first kids in my junior high to have shoes that pumped up at the tongue, though I was the least athletic kid in our entire city, I’m sure, and I cannot fathom the usefulness of pumped up shoes even if you were Michael Jordan.

But now, being a mom-person and having mom-person friends, the pump has changed in my mind’s eye from this:

to this:

I’m pleased that pumps are on other peoples’ minds, as well. I love that the recently enacted health care legislation has given pumping moms in EVERY state the protections they need to be able to pump for their babies. These mamas work HARD ENOUGH without being told they need to pump in a bathroom stall or that reasonable break accommodations won’t be made for them. In honor of the pump and the moms who wield it, I thought I’d put together a couple of my favorite web-resources for pumping information.

Resources for Pumping Moms

Is your workplace compliant? Here’s a great resource that can help you understand the new law as well as information to give your employer so that the law can be easier to implement and why it’s good for business.

Do you have a pumping, milk storage, bottle feeding a breastfed baby question? Kellymom.com has an amazing pumping section with an enormous amount of information. Peer-reviewed and collected into one handy spot, I dare you to find a question this site doesn’t answer.

La Leche League is an amazing resource for breastfeeding and pumping moms, not the least of which because it can connect you in real life in your real town to other moms doing the same thing! I know here in the Denver Metro Area we have LLL meetings both day and evening with moms who stay home, moms who work, moms who exclusively pump, moms who wouldn’t know a pump from a transistor radio. The diverse mamas at LLL meetings – as well as the wonderful leaders – can help with questions, but more importantly are a welcoming community!

Are you getting ready to go back to work and worried about pumping? Dr. Sears, pediatrician to the people, has a wonderful list of tips and tricks for pumping moms from getting the milk flowing to increasing your pumping output.

Win a Hygeia Enjoye EXT!

To send off Breastpump Month with a bang and shower of fireworks, we’re giving away a Hygeia Enjoye EXT breastpump!

* All the great features of the Hygeia EnJoye LBI except the EnJoye EXT has an external battery pack that is powered by 8 AA batteries (batteries not included).
* The EnJoy EXT is the best breast pump for battery pumping in the same location, such as work. Because you can take the battery out of the pump, you can leave the battery pack at work and reduce the carrying weight of your breast pump.
*Hygeia’s Breast Pumps are engineered and designed for multiple users when each mother has their own personal accessory set. All of Hygeia’s Breast Pumps have been reviewed and registered with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as multi-user pumps.

To enter:

1. Leave a comment to this entry – tell me who you pump for or what you think of when someone mentions a pump. Or! If you have a favorite pumping resource I haven’t listed here, let us all know about it! Your comment constitutes your sweepstakes entry.

2. Entries are accepted from the publication of this post until Thursday 11/3/2011 at 5pm MDT. Winner will be announced via our Facebook page on 11/4/2011.

3. Winner must be a fan of  The Giggling Green Bean on Facebook! Please do not leave a separate comment, one entry per person.

4. One winner will each receive one (1) Hygeia Enjoye EXT Breast pump (bag color depends on stock and is selected by the GGB) (retail value $249.99).

5. By entering, you are agreeing to our Official Sweepstakes Rules.

If you are or have ever been a pumping mom, you can attest that pumping is work. Some pump for babies while they work outside the home, some pump exclusively, some pump to donate, and some pump for the occasional bottle, and I bet that almost none of them would call it fun. It’s time-consuming, it’s not your baby, it’s necessary and wonderful and awesome that we have such technology, but it’s still work.

Add to that the fact that the post-partum bodily readjustment period is something ongoing for quite awhile, and you get a frustrating set of circumstances when you try to find accessories that fit for the long haul (and don’t even get me started on being a larger or smaller than average mom!). Because of this, the fact that the GGB is carrying the Simple Wishes Hands Free Pumping Bustier makes me do a little dance of joy. Not only do they cover sizes 30AA – 48J, each bustier adjusts up to 10 inches to allow your body to do what it will post-partum without needing a new one. Best of all, the openings in the front are also adjustable so there’s no awkward shoe-horning of your breasts into the space where the manufacturer thinks they ought to be (let me tell you, on my third nursling mine are nowhere near where the manufacturer thinks they ought to be in most cases!).

I want to officially go on record to say that whether you pump every day around the clock or for the occasional bottle to leave with a sitter, you deserve to do it comfortably and with your hands free – even if those hands are just playing Angry Birds on your smartphone or reading a trashy novel. Pumping mamas deserve all the perks they can get for this important work that they do!

Win A Simple Wishes Hands Free Pumping Bustier!!

Four Sisters, One Vision.
The Story Behind Simple Wishes

There’s undoubtedly something special about the bond between sisters. So when four spirited girls who grew to be successful young women decided to create a product that they – as new mothers – felt was missing from the market, there was quite simply no stopping them. Though the connection of this foursome is the foundation for Simple Wishes, each sister brings her own unique strengths, talents and ideas to the table, resulting in a powerful professional force mixed with love, laughter and loads of creativity.

We sat down with Joy, the sister responsible for Business Development, and here is what she had to say:

Answer: My sister Debra was exclusively pumping for her first baby and was frustrated with the available hands-free options. None of them were truly hands free. They were functional but not ideal. As the bottles filled up with milk they would tip away from her body, start slipping down and more importantly as she lost her pregnancy weight no longer fit. Debra has a background in apparel production and knew with her contacts and expertise she could design and produce a hands free bra that addressed all the issues she was experiencing. Debra approached Lydia, Keren and I, we’re all sisters, with her idea. I have a background in sales, Keren in online merchandising, and Lydia in finance/business operations. Our combined strengths made up the foundation to successfully launch our business. I started selling the concept of our product to retailers before we even had a sample to share. Fast-forward 2 years and our product has now helped over 100,000 moms simplify the pumping experience.

Answer: At Simples Wishes we thrive to cultivate a new generation of moms who are prepared and confident during this thrilling yet challenging journey called motherhood.  Our mission is to offer simple solutions; innovative products that help women succeed at parenting confidently while living a well-balanced life.

We believe a happy mom = a happy baby and a happy family.

Answer: While driving.

Answer: We have expanded our presence internationally into 10 new countries. We also have a couple exciting new products in development in the areas of swaddling and nursing attire. Unfortunately I can’t share details yet…stay tuned for updates in 2012!

So, how do I win??

Simple Wishes has been generous enough to offer TWO of their amazing Hands Free Pumping Bustiers for this sweepstakes, so there will be two lucky winners that can choose the size and color best suited for them! LUCKY!

To enter:

1. Leave a comment to this entry with your favorite pumping story or props to your favorite pumping mom (even if it’s you!) Your comment constitutes your sweepstakes entry.

2. Entries are accepted from the publication of this post until Tuesday 10/18/2011 at 5pm MDT. Winner will be announced via our Facebook page on 10/19/2011.

3. Winner must be a fan of both The Giggling Green Bean and Simple Wishes on Facebook! Please do not leave a separate comment, one entry per person.

4. Two winners will each receive one (1) Simple Wishes Hands Free Pumping Bustier in the size and color of their choice (retail value $39.99).

5. By entering, you are agreeing to our Official Sweepstakes Rules.