Tree of Life Mothering

This is a great little, FREE, ebook, full of stories from history of real heroes. Click here to get your PDF. Enjoy!

Even though my youngest is 4 and I am not breastfeeding right now, I often think about “the old days” when I was breastfeeding and how amazing breastfeeding is. I mean, how cool is that, that our female bodies can make food for our babies?! I’ve got my superpower! I am a huge fan of nursing! It’s a sweet relationship that I miss. Here’s a fun infographic that one of my favorite breastfeeding experts, Nancy Mohrbacher, IBCLC, created and gave license for copying. It shows how moms can have different storage capacities for milk in their breasts, yet in the end, their babies end up getting the same amount of milk, because they nurse for different numbers of time in 24 hours, and  will nurse for different amounts of time. The size of your storage capacity is not determined by the size of your breast. See chart below. Fascinating!

Breastfeeding does make a difference! I could go on and on about it, after all, I have been a La Leche League Leader for over 15 years and have led many meetings where we talk about the importance of breastfeeding. I will leave all that out for now, and instead I will tell a little story about my oldest three kids (now ages 20, 18, and almost 16) teeth, and breastfeeding.

I took Child #3, who is almost 16, to the dentist this past week. The X-ray shows that he has great teeth, with room for all four wisdom teeth to come in! I count him as a breastfeeding-makes-great-teeth success story! (I was however, vegan with him during my whole pregnancy. He still has great teeth so that seems to discount the Weston A. Pricers. I think I had great nutritional stores back then and could “afford” nutritionally for a while.)  I weaned Child #1 to a bottle (big mistake) when he was 1, and the repeated sucking for over a year after that made his mouth narrow. Hence, he had to have all his wisdom teeth removed, and he needed braces. Child #2 had an accident that knocked her teeth out of order when she was 2, and that meant braces for her when she got older, even though I nursed her for over 5, yes, count them, five years. I nursed Child #3 for over three years. He never had a bottle, and he never had an accident knocking his teeth around. Whew! Now he has perfect teeth, and all the wisdom teeth can come in.

So you know how great breastfeeding is, and want to keep it it up, but you are feeling nipple pain in those early weeks? Here’s a podcast by Nancy Mohrbacher about nipple pain. Listen here.

Do you hear critical, judgmental voices in your head? Do you hear voices telling you you can’t do something, that people don’t like you, that people won’t listen to you, or that your kids would be better off with someone else?

Do you realize these voices are not from YOU? Do you realize that these voices are telling lies? Do you know that there’s no such thing as “negative self-talk”? Come learn more about this powerful truth, and learn how you can turn your life around with this simple truth! Start breaking the chains of your bondage!

Join us for a free conference call with Maurice Harker, the best licensed marriage and family therapist, because he has a unique LDS Christian perspective on psychology.

It’s Midday Monday with Maurice on the topic of “Negative Self-talk”!

Monday, 3 February 2014
12:00 noon
Conference Dial-in: 1-267-507-0240
Enter Conference Code: 541012

You can text your questions ahead of time to 

801-558-5952

Today for my Hero Project class with some homeschooling youth at our Commonwealth school, we discussed one of Richard Maybury’s “Uncle Eric” books, World War I: The Rest of the Story and How it Affects You Today. I found some videos Mr. Maybury has done and showed the above one to the youth. Maybury’s definition of government is reminiscent of Pres. Benson’s essay, The Proper Role of Government. 

I highly recommend all of Maybury’s books for learning about the real history you don’t hear about in school. You get some juicy details in these books! One of my friends requires her kids to read all of the Uncle Eric books before they leave her home. They are that good!

Here’s a special message from Kathy Smith, chairman of Utah’s Constitution Day Celebration.

Dear friends and family,

 

If you haven’t registered yet for 

“The Making of America” seminar at the Smith and Edwards theater on Saturday, Feb

. 

8th, please do so now at www.cdutah.com. We especially hope you’ll bring your young people. (Two anecdotes that illustrate why they need to be there: At Davis High this year, students were told that Samuel Adams was a violent man whose temper sparked the American Revolution. In Washington County, a fifth grader reported to her parents that the Boston Tea Party occurred because the colonists were angry when the British sent the wrong tea so they dumped it in the harbor. When her dad asked her if it had anything to do with taxes, she replied, “I don’t think so.”) Please, bring your children and grandchildren so they can learn the truth about our Founding Fathers and their intent to create a republic that protects inalienable rights. Our instructor, Bill Norton, recommends children over the age of eight for this seminar.

If the $10 student rate is keeping you from bringing your children, bring them for $5/each. This will help to cover the lunches. We want them to be there! Call me and I will put you on our list for the discounted rate: 801-698-8298. 

 

Register

 

soon

 at www.cdutah.com or call me at 801-698-8298 and ask for the discounted rate of $5

 

so we can plan for materials and the lunches catered by Bella’s Mexican Grill

. 

 

Saturday, February 8th at Smith and Edwards’ theater upstairs

3936 N. Hwy 126, Ogden (Take Exit 351, south of Willard Bay)

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM with lunch catered by Bella’s Mexican Grill

Thanks for sharing 

this event with your friends too!

 

 

Your friends in liberty,

 

Kathy and Bert Smith

I hope those of you who can, will come to the rally tonight! 

I really like the explanations about the marriage issue written by a Mormon blogger over here.

Last night I attended a family fireside hosted by my husband’s cousin. We heard from Amberli Nelson, about her belief that the Book of Mormon peoples probably celebrated the Jewish holy days. Her presentation fascinated me! She bases her theory on the Book of Mormon heartland model, which the video above is about. I love learning about this stuff! I have not decided for sure about where the Book of Mormon took place, mesoamerica vs. “the heartland,” but after hearing Amberli’s presentation last night, I am leaning much more towards the heartland.

My husband heard about this new, family-friendly movie called Inspired Guns on the radio. The producer was giving away free tickets to a preview, so dh, always looking for frugal, clean family entertainment, snagged us all tickets.

I tend to be leery of movies. Even Disney movies have double entendres that I wish clear play could wipe out. I hardly ever go to the theater. Let’s see, in the past 5 years, I’ve probably been to 4 movies. I am very picky about what I watch.

So what did I think of Inspired Guns? It was hilarious! It was clean! I have to admit though, it did make me wonder as a missionary mom, just what kind of world is out there when I sent my son on a mission. At least he’s in a city that is not known for Mafia activity. At least, as far as I know…

Sp what do you get when you mix a father of 5 1/2 kids who wants to produce a movie his mom can watch with her grandkids, a buff, tall, handsome BYU law school grad, a guy who looks like a Russian waif, and two fat guys who look Italian? You get Inspired Guns, a comedy about missionaries getting mixed up with the Mafia. 

We got to have Q and A with the cast and crew after the movie and found out that most of them have really served missions. Then we had a chance for some pictures with the star. I am having problems getting them uploaded, long story. The most common question asked that night? Whether or not the star, the tall, buff, handsome BYU law school grad, the star of the show, David Lassetter, is available. Unfortunately for you single ladies, he’s not. But the movie is available for all! Go see it, you will laugh! It’s nice to have some good clean fun. I am still deciding whether or not this was brain candy or a classic for the mind. It did have a few implausibilities, but for once, I am not going to picky. 

Today for my Hero Project class for homeschooled youth, we talked about Irena Sendler. If you don’t know her story, please watch the above video! She was a courageous Catholic Polish woman who risked her life to save Jewish children during WWII. Even when caught and tortured, she would not tell about them. I also love her story because there’s a story beyond her story. Some schoolchildren discovered a clipping about her in a magazine and eventually met her! They also created a play about her called Life in a Jar. I hope you feel inspired by her bravery, I know I do!

I think it’s funny that this video that Nicholeen Peck’s daughter made to promote the Winter Homeschool Conference uses the song “The Climb.” Was that metaphoric? Does she know this is how moms feel about homeschooling sometimes? Homeschooling surely feels like a climb sometimes, especially if you are working with more than one child. I have had my struggles this week with two of my kids, where I’ve thought, “What, after all I’ve poured into them, they still are behaving this way?”  It helps to have community around me, who support me in my goals. I hope if you are in Utah or northern Idaho you will be coming to this conference this Saturday January 25 to feel some community and get new ideas!

You can get more info right here.