our home birth journey - prepping

The other day a delightful box came in the mail all the way from Croatia! A gift for the little baby, a pair of sweet handmade wool felt shoes by Daria from LaLaShoes.  And I've been feeling the nesting so much (I think my daughter has too)... so these were so welcomed, so sweet.

These photos don't nearly do the shoes justice. They are so very lovely.

Even the bottom soles are (in the words of my daughter) "hippity-hop". How cool is that? And entirely constructed from eco, Oeko-Tex certified wool felt. When the cooler  early fall temperatures roll around, some little guy will be slinging around Ottawa wearing some fabulous shoes. Thank you, Daria.

And since this little guy was a complete surprise, I didn't have a chance to plant the proper amount of calendula last spring - our harvest was quite small last fall.  I knew just where to turn. I've admired Flying Bird Botanicals' shop on Etsy for a long time now, and was so excited to order a few things for me, and baby. Some organic comfrey, lots of calendula, and a fabulous calendula tincture for cord care.

And some of her talc-free, organic powder for the early diaper changes.

All of our home birth tools are going into a big round basket my mom made years and years ago during a basket-weaving session with members of the Wabanaki tribe in Acadia National Park.  It feels like making a nest, quite literally.

And now I have a little pile of sweet organic fabrics I've been collecting to sew up. Some lightweight (but super soft) undyed organic muslin for making summer weight swaddling blankets. Some sweet little pastel stripes for pants. Or shirts. Or both.

And some houndstooth checkered organic flannel for a big play mat. Maybe some big animal silhouettes in wool felt sewn on. Hmm.

And I want to THANK YOU - everyone for sending me your book ideas. I was thrilled to learn more about, well, how to learn about this journey for ourselves.
 
Birthing From Within is wonderful and enriching and thought-provoking. Thank you.