I have fallen into a late pregnancy hibernation/stupor/glorious fog and sometimes I get a little crazy in my head, but mostly it's wonderful.

On Sunday, Dan and I went to pick up a whole bunch of delicious food as well as an arsenal of herbs for this last little part of pregnancy including that labor thing that I guess will be happening fairly soon now...*gulp*

I get really into the potions and medicines game. The magic of plants gets me giddy...

My favorite is the immune boosting tea of Echinacea and Burdock root steeped for 8 hours at a time and sipped over the course of the day. I was ready to bravely face a gnarly bitter concoction, but I had forgotten about the sweet warming quality of Burdock. We discovered this for ourselves when living in Kansas a few years ago. Dan and I sat crouched up in the attic of his childhood home sipping Burdock Tea and marveling at the instantaneous and total peace that came over us.

Maybe we're crazy. Well, there's no doubt. But I love this tea.

Also, there is a truly ghastly potion called Mother's Blend, prescribed to me by my casually witchy midwife. It's all kinds of magic and we're hoping it helps me to be a little more ready physically for the labor.

Baby is rolling and squirming like a little maniac in there. And the house is still rolling through different stages of clean and organized. It's amazing how much you can stuff into a closet over the course of only 2 years. It's been really fun to do all those things I've only thought about doing, like sweeping under the couch. yeah. Super fun.

We'll keep you posted as best we can in regards to baby's arrival. That might mean two weeks of radio silence followed by the cutest baby photo you've EVER seen! But again, we'll do our best.

And as always, if you'd like to help us with the welcoming of this little wonder, you can still contribute to our HomeBirth Fund:)

Thanks to all of your sweet support, we've nearly reached our goal to cover the cost of our Home Birth!
It's incredible.


Much love to you all...

Danielle

It is my last day of work today! WOOOOOOOHHOOOOO!!!

Baby said, "Mom, it's really time to stop working K?" I was going to go one more week but it's not happening. At this point, my ability or will to wrangle preschool age children at any time of the day is dwindling. Quickly. If they want to tear shit up and run away from me tauntingly, I'm pretty much out of reasons to give much of a sh*t. Sorry babies...


Instead, In this last month I will be doing lots of glorious nesting and drinking of smoothies. And if you are a friend who lives close by, I'd like to see you and we can make smoothies together. Or whatever...

Also, did you ever think I or anyone could get so excited about making your own baby wipes?
Because check these out: http://wellnessmama.com/1459/homemade-baby-wipes-recipe/

And at that, I leave you with a musical offering that sets the tone for what kind of mood I'd like to maintain as much as possible while finishing off the last moments of baby cooking:

LISTEN TO THIS!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs66ORnV5jU



SO LOVELY AND JOYOUS


Happy Friday ya'll!
D, D & B

We are so very close to our Home Birth Goal! We need to raise about $1,000 more dollars to make this
home style birthday bash happen and I have every confidence that we will make it there!

Our Friends and Family continue to shower us with support and its so amazing it makes me want to jump up and down. But that feels weird when I do that, so I just sort of skip around and do a funny little pregnant dance...

In fact speaking of funny, yesterday I had the actual experience of getting stuck on my back like a big fat roly-poly bug. Couldn't roll over on either side and certainly not forward. Actually, it was not funny at the time.

I'm admitting this because it helps with the experience of shedding self perception in order to become something more/new/different...

I may have, in the past thought of myself as much more physically agile than all of this. And to be fair there is lots of grace that goes with growing a baby. But honestly, sometimes this task is so very deeply human that you have to stop and think "who am I?"

I guess I'm willing to be whatever I am because I really have no other choice. That's what is kind of magical about being a mama... so far. and let's be clear, we've barely begun.

So! We are getting close to meeting this blessed being! But before they arrive, there's this:
http://thelostchurch.com/page%202.html

Do you see Betsy&Beau there listed for the 22nd of Feb?

It will be my last show before baby-show time...You should come just to see the madness that is whatever outfit I figure out how to fit my crazy belly into.
Should be quite something.

Also, have you ever been to The Lost Church? How many times have I asked you that? And you still haven't been? It's magical. Also, our friends Brett and Elizabeth who are the creative masterminds behind this sweet little theater of madness, are expecting a  baby boy mere days after ours...

Hooray!


Love you,
Danielle, Dan & Sweet BabyG

Baby clothes are HILARIOUS! 

I can't wait to see Dan try and wrestle these silly pants onto out little love. 

In other news, Acupuncture is amazing. Pregnant or not, I'd recommend going here: http://www.circleca.com/ for some delightfully regenerative body care.

I've been having really interesting visions about birth coming to me mostly in dreams. Last night I dreamed I was turned completely purple. I'm still searching for the significance of that one, but I'm sure it has to do with being changed forever by this incredible event that is unfolding!

Also, we are very close to meeting our goal for the homebirth! How totally exciting and what a blessing it is to have you all in our lives!

Most love, 

Danielle & Dan & Sweet Baby

Over all, My pregnancy has been extremely pleasant. At worst, quite tolerable. 

Sometimes I get winded walking up the stairs. 

Sometimes I take it personally when someone's car is leaking exhaust ( so MEAN!).

In the beginning, I had a sudden disdain for green vegetables of any kind. 

And when I roll over in the middle of the night sometimes it's a surprisingly challenging shift. 

I'm learning to brace myself for large movements like that...but when you're half asleep you kinda forget...

This morning, when I woke up I thought about all kinds of practical and logistical things, then I stood up and noticed the weight of this critter pulling forward from my center. "Hi, baby"

It's getting REALLY real. 

Upon checking in to the digital world, I am yet again FLABBERGASTED at the support that is rolling in, and I must continue to thank you all for your generous gifts to our new family. We are already nearly 2/3rds to our goal of funding this home birth! HOORAY!

A Great Big Belly Bump, 

Danielle, Dan & Sweet Baby

P.S. Below is a photo representation of why Dan and I will make such (um...) great parents...

My Goodness! What a generous world of supportive and amazing friends!

I am so touched by your generosity. It's astounding.

We are nearly half way to our goal of raising 3,000 for the home birth of sweet baby and it's been less than 24 hours.

All my love and gratitude to those of you who are helping us do something so magical.

We feel you are not only providing us with practical support but also sending us the message that you believe in what we are doing, and that is more valuable than anything we could ask for.

A huge THANK YOU and let's keep this little -jack- n -the -bean -stalk -fundraising- thermometer-thingy moving!

For those of you who have not read our first post- follow the link to our first post: "How You can Help Support our Home Birth" in the blog archive OR just scroll down to the next post!

Danielle, Dan & Sweet Baby (who just now sends you a mighty punch/roll through my striped shirt!)

How you can support our Home Birth: 

Dear friends and family and EVERYONE who has made our world wonderful enough for us to consider bringing a sweet baby into it:  We are reaching out to you for your support in our decision to have a home birth.

I always knew in my heart that this was the best and most peaceful way to guide our baby into this world and after much reading, talking and researching all the wonderful reasons to have a home birth, our decision feels so exciting and true to our core beliefs about life and birth.

We have found a wonderful midwife, Kelly Murphy @ BirthYourself.org who has brought us a wealth of information along with a sense of ease and trust in ourselves as parents to be. We feel that birthing at home where we feel safe happy and comfortable is the best thing for us and this sweet baby. And we trust our midwife to give us the care we need during this momentous occasion, however it proceeds. 

Because health insurance does not cover any of the costs of a home birth, we are pooling all our resources to birth the way we feel empowered to birth. We need to come up with $3,000 by our due date (MARCH 28th)!

Because we have already received such a generous abundance of practical (and adorable) baby goods from our friends and community, we are asking that if you wish to gift us, you do so with a donation of any size toward our Home Birth. For us, this is the greatest gift you could give us and our baby, and we will cherish this occasion for the rest of our lives.

 Dan and I are so grateful for all of the love and support we feel from our community as we become more and more pregnant. We are so excited to introduce our little clown to all of you!

Many thanks and love from all three of us, 

 Danielle, Dan and Sweet Baby

p.s. Keep checking in for more photos and updates on the pregnancy and birth and other news surrounding our baby adventure!