Monday 8 February 2010

Back to Basics- Baby Wearing

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In recent times, baby wearing has become an increasingly popular trend with sensible yet fashion conscious moms (and dads!) There have been many proponents to this growing movement  whereby many new parents are shunning other baby carrying methods such as prams and capsules in preference for the humble looking  baby sling, although some slings may come in not-so-humble prices as I recently found out while surfing the net for one.


In Kenya and many African countries, baby wearing is steeped in tradition.Women being the dominant care givers in these societies have always been given to wearing their babies on their backs as they carry out their daily household chores such as cooking,washing the laundry (using their two God given hands for scrubbing the clothes), grinding flour or even when they are out in the fields picking tea, and etc.For these women, baby wearing has essentially been perceived as a way of killing two birds with one stone, so to speak, as they can soothe their babies to sleep as they accomplish the work at hand.


Many African women have normally improvised their baby slings by using whatever suitable cloth that is around them, be it a large towel, khanga or leso and even bedding sheets so long as it is size-able enough to tie into two tight knots at the front while baby is snuggly secured on their backs.Truly the makings of a simple ,adjustable not to mention affordable baby sling! Of course the material has to be strong enough to hold the baby in...as it is all about functionality for these women.For them, fashion sense (Scenario: Exotic African woman poses mid-stance in tea plantation thinking, "How good does my baby look on my back in that sling?") comes a distant second when it comes to baby wearing! Click here to read an amusing short story titled  "Carrying my baby African Style" for further insight into the African tradition of baby wearing.


Image from africaA-Z


As I mentioned before, I noticed that in first world countries like Australia, where I now live with my husband, the case is reversed whereby baby wearing is seen first and foremost as a fashion statement.There  are a myriad of baby slings now on offer in the market and they come in all types of fabric, colours, shapes, sizes and prices.The organic-made ones seem to be especially dearest both sentimentally and monetarily speaking.

For me, looking for a baby sling online was a crush and burn experience.Whenever I found what I thought was the ideal sling, it turned out to be too expensive for what it was (especially once you add in the shipping costs) ,or not in available my size, as was the case was on eBay ,or just not appealing enough.Finally, I decided to make my own handmade baby sling!

Having bought my first sewing machine a few weeks ago, I watched a quick tutorial on YouTube on how to make a pouch sling.Turns out that I needed needle and thread (dah!) so I made a quick trip to the shops early the next morning (a humongous exertion in 30 degree whether) and within an hour of coming back home I had made my own baby sling. The satisfaction factor made it all worth the effort.Here is an E for the Elephant Lady! (I am now 31weeks pregnant. My hubbie has dubbed me The Whale. He rolls me around the house and about grocery shopping when he should really prop me up on the damn trolley! Before I digress, what is it with the pregnant lady duck walk?)

Here are some pictures I took immediately after I had made my reversible pouch sling.


I was so excited and bubbling with energy that day.It's made from rich organic cotton cloth that my mother brought from Kenya, which I hadn't found very useful until now...


Kikoi cloth from Kenya 
is 100% organic cotton.


I am now planning on making another baby sling out of semi-stretchable fabric for the hubbie as mine might be too small for him. I am sure Lita will love snuggling next to her papa in her baby sling.

Gotta go now and rub my tummy as Lita is fighting for some attention. Also, by sheer coincidence I found a similar post to this one on Progressive Pioneer .She documents the process she went through when making her own baby sling. I do love her life philosophy. Such a kindred spirit!

Sunday 7 February 2010

Blogger in Draft - What a gem!

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This week I have been making a few discoveries about Blogger gadgets and I must say that finding Blogger in Draft today ,where the hell have you been hiding?, was the best find. I'm loving all the new features in it compared to Blogger (beta?), which I have being using for quite sometime now but was never fully satisfied with.


Blogger in Draft has an improved posting interface which enhances the user experience.Plus it's pretty easy to switch to and fro the two interfaces, whichever you fancy. I assure you that checking it out will be worth your while as it is bound to exhilarate your blogging experience as it did mine! 


Now if the people at Microsoft windows can do something about their blog feature so that people like me can effectively publish to blogger via MS windows, that would be not the solution to world peace a great help!


"You do what you do, and that eventually breaks through the inaccurate label and the attempt to label."
-D.Banhart.(musician)

Friday 5 February 2010

House Renovation 101- Some Befores & Afters

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Just a collage showing some of the house renovations we have completed so far.We still have a lot to do but we are getting there...




"You do what you do, and that eventually breaks through the inaccurate label and the attempt to label."
-D.Banhart.(musician)

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Thursday 4 February 2010

My Pregnancy at 30 weeks

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So far I must say that this pregnancy has treated me kindly.Lately I feel like I am on such a natural high and I must say I love what these pregnancy hormones are doing to me.I definitely have that pregnancy glow( and I thought it was just something people said to make you feel better when you actually really looked like a blown up futon.)

As my due date (April 11) nears, I am growing more confident that my baby Lita is getting stronger and more viable for this tough world we live in. She has been very active over the last two weeks, giving me hard kicks as she is running out of room in my womb. My bump now feels as solid as a rock! It is just amazing how much I have popped out in the last few days, although I must say my bump is relatively small compared to many pregnant women's.

I got pretty positive feedback from my last hospital visit.I had been anxiously anticipating the outcome of my gestational diabetes test.The midwife informed me that my test reading came at 4.9.That was a huge relief as I was dreading the thought of having to inject myself with insulin shots as I really hate needles.Nevertheless I have to keep up with my diet and in some ways improve on eating my greens as I am very low on iron.I am now taking vitamin D supplements as well as iron supplements daily as well as my multi-vitamins.

Finally, I got my first sewing machine three weeks ago and with it come a surge of intense creativity.Or is this what they term as the nesting instinct? For a beginner, I am pretty impressed with what I have accomplished on my machine so far. I have already made a baby sling for Lita after watching this simple to follow tutorial on how to make a pouch sling for baby.



I have also finished hemming my new curtains and I am already thinking of ways to alter my old jeans so that I can fit my growing belly into them.Sometimes I get carried away day dreaming of ways to breath new life into my old tired clothes or going to the op shop and getting items to redesign (recycle). I have grand ideas at the moment! Maybe I can start my own fashion clothing line of recycled clothing. But at the moment my sewing machine is keeping me very busy in these last stages of pregnancy and the days do seem to be zooming by.

Hubby and I have also been renovating our house in readiness for bub.To tell the truth Hubby has been doing most of the work!He's been so supportive and nurturing.I count myself very lucky to have such a caring partner. The baby nursery is far from ready but we have been busy purchasing the baby essentials over the last few weeks and getting seconds from close friends. We still have to paint the nursery walls and set everything in place although I don't think Lita will be using her room at least until she is 3 months old.

Today my hubby decided to drive to Sydney for the weekend to visit his folks and at the same time pick up a surf ski that he bought off ebay.I can't bear to be apart from him.To say the least,I am missing my baby boo:-( Anyway I gotta call it a night.I will try and post pics of our ongoing house renovations soon!

* Image by Sabrina Eras

Wednesday 3 February 2010

Popping out!

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