WOW! Yesterday’ giveaway day on my facebook page was so much fun! We’ll have to have another giveaway day when I hit 4444 “likes” (Holy Crap imagine that!)

—-If you were a winner, you should have received a message from me, Joni Rae, and if I don’t here from you by noon today I’m going to have to choose another person in your place… Which will make me feel like a crappy person, so contact me as soon as you can, m’kay?

Round of applause to everyone who gave the stuff to be given away- you are AWESOME and generous and thanks to those who participated, I had a blast. I really loved giving all this nifty stuff away! Thank you for “liking” my page and for reading my blog.

To continue the party, my friend Amy has offered a pair of super cute baby leggings for a blog giveaway!

This is open until 8am Thursday, May 3rd and to enter just leave a comment to tell us your favorite item in Amy’s etsy shop.

So cute!

Amy of Anktangle Creations is giving away one pair of handmade baby leggings in the style of your choice from the available selection in her shop. These leggings have been a staple of Amy’s son Daniel’s wardrobe since early on, and at almost two years old, he still wears them often! Leggings are great for keeping little legs warm while aiding in quick diaper changes, practicing EC, or navigating the potty learning phase. They also protect your little one’s knees from scrapes and bruises while crawling and learning to walk. These leggings are long enough (at 12 to 14 inches) that they can be worn on the arms of older children for extra warmth (and flare) under a shirt, or on the lower legs of most adults to keep warm while biking!

Visit the baby leggings section of Anktangle Creations to see the available styles to choose from.

Heart Anktangle Creations on Etsy.

Like Anktangle Creations Facebook fan page for news about new products and sales.

Follow anktangle on Twitter.

Check out Amy’s blog, too!

UPDATE:  Ashley C is the winner!

Beautiful Mama

So Beyonce only breastfed for ten weeks.  So what?

So maybe she did it to lose her baby weight.  So what?

In that brief time she was a prominent, visible role model for  breastfeeding mamas. That’s awesome.  She may have even made it look “cool” and perhaps there are new mothers breastfeeding their babies right now because of her.  Babies that may not have been breastfed if their mothers hadn’t seen Beyonce doing it first.

Does it really matter why she did it?  In my opinion, it doesn’t.  I don’t think it matters if you are making the choice to breastfeed your baby for all the awesome benefits, because you don’t want to shell out big bucks for formula or because you are too lazy to wash out and prepare bottles (raising my hand here, this is why I started all those years ago.  That was a selling point for me, I’ll admit it.) Regardless as to what prompted her (or me, or you) to make the decision, a baby got to have some of that liquid gold.

Do I wish she had nursed longer? Of course- it would have been super cool to have such a well-known and glamorous woman as a breastfeeding advocate, but I also strongly believe that everyone has to do what works for them.  And I believe that even a little bit of breastmilk is better than none.

We aren’t privy to the details of her life- we don’t know why she stopped.  Maybe she fell victim to the booby-traps that can mess up milk supply.  Maybe she is sad because her milk dried up.  Maybe she just didn’t want to do it anymore.  Who knows?  Judging a celebrity (or any mom really) for the duration of her nursing relationship might make us feel superior, but it certainly isn’t doing the breastfeeding cause any favors.  This isn’t an “all or nothing” sort of thing.  The lack of compassion and the way so many of us “lactivists” are quick to jump on the judgy train is just what makes some people turn a deaf ear to our message.

Vegan friendly chocolate dip!

This is the yummiest and easiest recipe ever!  Only three ingredients! All you need is avocados, agave syrup, cocoa powder and a food processor.  I suppose you could also mash it and then whip it up by hand but I am too lazy to attempt that!

Ingredients:

3 ripe avocados

1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup of agave syrup (adjust the sweetness to your taste)

Scoop out the avocados and dump them into the food processor, followed by the agave and cocoa.  Add a pinch of salt.

Blend until smooth and creamy.  Spoon into a bowl and serve your awesome dip with a platter of sliced fruit.  We like strawberries best.  Pineapple is also awesome.

This can also be eaten as a pudding……  Or used as a frosting for vegan brownies…  Which we discovered yesterday when Dionna visited.