Multitasking!!

I found some songs that you can sing with your little toddler or older baby while you do exercises for pregnancy!

Do your squats while doing the motions for this song. You stand up slowly from a squat as the snowman gets bigger, and then you drop down slowly into another squat as it melts. If you do it several times you will feel it!
Once there was a snowman

These are some songs with actions that you can do while tailor sitting:
If you're happy and you know it
Two little eyes
The wise man and the foolish man

Although technically you can sing about any song while tailor sitting, it's fun for the kids to do the actions with you.

Importance of the family unit in society

Two quotes from the 19th century psychologist, Johann Friedrich Herbart, that I found in Charlotte Mason's book, School Education:

"To the child, the family should be the symbol of the order in the world; from the parents, one should derive by idealisation the characteristics of the deity."

"The education of the children will always remain the holiest and highest of all family duties. The welfare, civilisation, and culture of a people depend essentially upon the degree of success that attends the education in the homes. The family principle is the point at which both the religious and educational life of a people centres, and about which it revolves. It is a force in comparison with which every sovereign's command appears powerless."

I find it so interesting that they recognized the family as the center of society, of culture, of civilization. It wasn't perfect by any means, but it was still considered the most important place to begin learning about the world around you.

I feel like in today's world, the importance of the family is greatly undermined. We devalue everything from sibling relationships (especially in media, where it's portrayed as typical and even good for a teen to be more loyal to his friends than his or her siblings) to the mother's role in the home ("What do you do all day?"). Divorce is as easy as ever. There are families with two mothers. The public school system is trying to take over every role of the parent, from discussing the birds and bees to teaching ethics.

I've come up with an analogy for this. Back in the 1950s, fast food seemed pretty cool. No one saw
anything wrong with eating trash. But now we are starting to realize that our bodies need natural, whole foods. It's simply how we are made. Are we going to make the same mistake with families?

The human race has evolved within the family unit. It's how we're made. The family will always be the basic unit of society. The sooner we disassemble it, the sooner we bring on the collapse of all we know. Just as our health is failing because of the foods we are eating, our society will fail because of the disruption of the family.

God set up the first family unit. It's how civilization got its start. If Heavenly Father set it up that way, there must have been a reason. Just as he prepared the earth to give us the natural, whole foods that were perfect for our bodies, he set up a basic governmental unit that was perfect for our emotional and spiritual health.

Please share any comments or thoughts you have below. Even if you disagree, let me know. As a society we need to talk about this.

Book review: Mother Food

If I could use only one word to describe this book, I would use "fantastic." Although it is a little technical, it is a great read and I enjoyed every minute. It would be a great read for anyone, not just breastfeeding mothers. It's all about how to eat while breastfeeding, which really just boils down to eating healthy!

It's jam-packed with health and nutrition information. I learned so much from reading it ... I learned all about what fats are healthy and what aren't, lifestyles that contribute to insulin resistance, and digestive problems such as fungal overgrowth. She also stresses the importance of a whole-foods diet, which I totally agree with.

Besides nutrition info, Hilary Jacobson (the author) also has a great section full of recipes. The recipes are simple recipes so that busy new moms will have time to cook and eat. My personal favorite is the snacks section. I think the ideas in there are brilliant!

There is also a section in the back, kind of like an herbal, on lactogenic herbs. It details what each herb does, any cautions, where to find it, and different ways to prepare it.

This book has really inspired me to eat more healthy. I've been trying out the recipes all ready. The copy I have is one that my mom lent to me, but I have to get one for myself! I highly recommend it to anyone else!

Some thoughts on motherhood ...

Being a new, first-time mom, I have been thinking a lot about how I viewed motherhood before and after the birth of my beautiful baby girl. I knew kids would be hard, but I didn't think one kid would be hard! :) Little did I know. It makes me nervous to have more!

But I have to remember something that sometimes I lose sight of among the dirty dishes, piles of laundry and spit-up spots on the couch. I think it is best illustrated by a conversation I had with a friend in one of my college classes ...

This friend wasn't a member of my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But she was attending BYU-I. Being surrounded by Mormons, she was naturally curious about our faith. She learned that we believed in having lots of children, and that children are important. Why? she asked. Why would we want  to have lots of children? It's hard to take care of a couple and to give them everything they need, let alone eight or nine. Wouldn't that make it so you couldn't give the children proper care and attention?

I feel like the Lord inspired me in my answer. "That's where faith comes in," I told her. "If the Lord is really there, and He really wants us to have children, then we can do it all."

This story came back to my mind because these last couple of days I've seen some miracles that have helped me do the most important things for my family. I guess I've begun the journey, and I can't lose sight of my Strength ... and the importance of what I am doing.

This isn't to say that we as members of the LDS church believe that women are baby machines. A mother is only supposed to have as many children as she can physically, emotionally and mentally handle. This is different for every woman. We see women as the heart of the home, where the family is the central unit of society. To know more about what our church believes regarding the family and parenthood, click here to read The Family: A Proclamation to the World. It is a wonderful declaration of our belief.