What I Ate Today

Good morning! Oh wait, good afternoon? I've been up since seven and since then I've had a soy latte from starbucks (not awesome, I know) and I got home to a sleeping baby and took full advantage. I made an incredible salad- with green leafys, avocado (of course), alfalfa sprouts, tomato slices, cous-cous & vinegar and olive oil dressing. Contrary to popular belief, vegans can in fact eat unhealthy. My go-to fast food is the burger king veggie burger with no mayo or cheese (just ketchup) and sweet potato fries. My frozen go-to is the Trader Joes black bean & corn enchiladas (I add vegan cheez on top). I filled up my water bottle and threw some lemon in there and viola! LUNCH!

What are you eating today?

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What's In Your Easter Basket?

Baby's first easter is almost here. While I am not a practicing catholic or christian anymore, I can definitely appreciate the celebration and everyone knows how I feel about bunnies! Also, I read about some excellent egg-free fun over at The Kind Life for when she's old enough to celebrate with us. I put together some sets at polyvore of the ideal easter basket contents. I'll definitely be taking pictures of her in some confetti in a basket this Sunday. And what's dreaming about easter baskets without including Daddy & Pets! Enjoy!

Baby Easter Basket 2013 by michelle-welch-rivera on Polyvore

Another Bunch of Dahlia Flowers Vinyl Wall Decal / Evenflo Classic Glass Nurser 4 oz. 3 pk / Vindie Baby Girl Bownknot Blue Stripes Swimsuit swimming Cap Girl’s... / Mini Melissa Infant's, Toddler's & Little Girl's Mini Melissa... / Wood Teether Bunny wooden toy natural baby toy / ERGOBABY® Performance Carrier

Gotta get a basket all setup for Daddy too!...

Daddy's Easter Basket 2013 by michelle-welch-rivera featuring a tweed hat

Tweed hat / Casio Databank Watch DBC-32D-1AES / Game of Thrones Coasters / Gingko Slab Red LED Alarm Clock - Beech, $64 / Sparq Home Whiskey Soapstones (Set Of 12) / Doctor Who, Bowties are Cool Patch / Doctor Who Flask - 6 oz Stainless Steel - David Tennant / Star Wars onesie Daddy is my Jedi Master bodysuit

And of course Artoo & Tabitha will want in on the fun...

Pets Easter Baskets 2013 by michelle-welch-rivera on Polyvore

Orb Pet Bowl / Claudia's Canine Cuisine Luv Bones Carob Dipped Dog Treats / Chilewich Fish Shaped Basketweave Pet Mat - Carbon, $67 / Alessi AMMI22 MiòJar - Jar for Cat Food / Coastal Pet Metal Buckle Double Ply Nylon Personalized Dog Collar in... / Best Friend Kitty Sticks Cat Treats 50g | Cat Food | Pets | Food &...

What will be in your easter baskets this year? 

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What A Typical Day Looks Like

Our Nini (Noelle) has now reached 11 weeks. This morning she had her two month physical with Annie (our physician) and she's 100% healthy and wonderful. Great news! Nothing makes me happier than hearing that baby is healthy- I would absolutely die if anything happened to her. Anyways, I talked to a friend this week who of course I haven't spoken to until before the baby was born (I'm now the worst friend ever) and she asked me point blank, "what do you do all day now?". Before I got pregnant I had ZERO friends with kids so I figured this question would come up eventually. So, to rid you of all suspense, here is what I DO all day:

Usually I try to leave the house at least three times a week with baby. This means meeting up with a moms group, practicing outings at the grocery store, taking a walk in the park etc. This does not always happen, especially if the weather doesn't allow for it. Since we have decided to have only one car, my husband wakes up early, showers, gets dressed then wakes me to get ready and takes care of the baby while I shower, get dressed, juice some fruits and veggies and make him some coffee and toast. Usually my Mom (who is staying with us for a while) will take the baby while I take him into work and then drive back to our house. In between all of this we clean and refill 6 bottles with breast milk for the baby to eat throughout the day. We use a bottle warmer when she looks like she's starting to wake up which is when she'll want to eat. By the time I get back my Mom is usually downstairs with baby making herself coffee and baby is wide awake. I usually run upstairs and tidy up our bedroom which becomes a war zone overnight easily. Then I'll start a load of diapers in the laundry.

Then I'll take baby and we'll go out somewhere or start our afternoon routine. I turn on Pandora on my favorite stations and we dance (my only source of exercise right now). Usually it's Daft Punk or Lady Gaga but I get a good dance beat going and try to work up a sweat. Then we'll do tummy time and she'll just lay on the bed with me over her and talk, talk, talk! She loves to talk and coo and make the funniest sounds. I always try to respond honestly. After that I'll usually give her a bit more milk from her bottle and we head downstairs. I put her in her rock 'n play in the kitchen and she watches me make my lunch which is usually leftovers from dinner heated up and put in a corn tortilla. After that we'll go into the living room and she'll watch me eat (fast). I throw my dishes into some soapy water, grab another bottle and head upstairs- she's surely ready for a nap by now. I give her the rest of her bottle and put her on her side on a pillow on my stretched out legs. Usually I'll give her her pacifier to help her doze off and I put her in her swing or snuggle nest. She usually sleeps for about an 1-3 hours while I start another load of laundry, fold the diapers and then nap with her. When she wakes up she's sure to be hungry so I have a bottle warmed and ready to feed her & when it's about half empty I'll change her diaper again. Sometimes she goes back to sleep, sometimes she wants to play more. By now it's around 4-5pm, I put down the baby einstein play mat which she loves, or we bounce on my yoga ball for a while but mostly she just wants to talk. Every other day I give her a bath in the sink or in the tub with me! I love to bathe with her because she loves to swim! She kicks her feet and smiles and kicks off the walls of the tub. She usually wants to take another nap after a warm bath.

By this time my husband usually gets home or I go to pick him up while my mom takes baby. When we get home he walks the dog & takes the baby so I can go downstairs to make dinner. The perks to only bottle feeding breast milk are that Daddy can take over! I make up some dinner and we eat it upstairs in bed while watching a movie. It's nice and we get to relax together with baby. She sits in our laps if she's awake and watches us eat. Then I go run errands at Target or Whole Foods (if needed) and we start her bedtime routine around 9pm. She eats a whole bottle, and falls asleep. We go to sleep immediately and her wake up times in the night are 1am, 4am and 7am. Jeremy takes the 1am, I take the 4am and he takes the 7am when he wakes up. Then the whole thing starts again! I usually do most of my grocery shopping on the weekends and sometimes my mom takes her just for the heck of it which is SOOOO nice. My day has most definitely changed- I seriously took my freedom for granted while I was pregnant haha. It's tough work but it's also really fun and she's a really easy baby. She never cries for very long- her needs are really easy- she's happy as long as she's fed and not bored. She doesn't get reflux or gas very often and she's just really happy and smily. The only problem is that she keeps growing! She's 25" long now and 12.5 lbs. - she's very long and lean which is surprising because she's got the chubbiest little cheeks and legs! Ah, listen to me, I am a damn proud mama.

So, that's my life right now. Haha! Sounds weird but I'm actually loving it. Feeling very empowered and very much like a natural mom. I do wish I had more time for skating, sewing and creativity in general but I know that'll come back as she gets bigger.

What was/is your life like with baby if you've got kids? What's a typical day look like for you?

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My Daily Beaty Routine

Let me just start by saying that I am flattered by how many people compliment my skin. Sometimes this is just because I am wearing enough makeup to cover up what's under there efficiently & sometimes it's because it's in the middle of summer and my natural oils are hydrating my skin. Sometimes it's because I've been drinking a ton of water. For whatever reason, I get complimented often and that thrills me to no end. I did not have great skin in school. When puberty kicked in, I had the very limited resources of my Mom (who I JUST finally got to start washing her face daily) and neutrogena commercials (I'm not even going to go into how horrible that crap is for your skin). I slathered on the "oil control" everything because I had no idea what was wrong with my skin and everyone kept telling me it was the oil's fault. This of course made things worse and eventually I'd give up and find cover girl makeup and literally cover every inch of my face with thick pancake-batter-like, oil free foundation. This of course made my skin worse and didn't cover anything.

Like everything else in this life it simply took some understanding of biology and trusting my instincts. I went to school for  2 years as a makeup artist and 2 years as an esthetician and learned all I could about the skin. It's ironic that I did all of this and came to several contradicting conclusions: first off, most "skin care" is crap. It's full of toxins that enter your body and just make things worse. Sodium laurel sulfate is found in 99% of face wash/cleanser and it's also found in laundry detergent, dish soap and pretty much anything that bubbles. It's harsh and strips your skin of the oils that it needs to properly hydrate and promote cell regeneration. Secondly, hydration is ALWAYS key. This doesn't mean just put on moisturizer. It means drink water! Properly hydrate your body which leads me to my next conclusion: beauty starts on the inside and works its way out. If your skin is beautiful with very little makeup- you're eating well, exercising, laughing and your insides are healthy.

People who juice on a daily basis usually have incredible skin. They're getting really high doses of vitamins and minerals and it goes to the middle and works its way out. Or, in other words, your skin is the last organ to benefit from good health so if you've got good skin its a good indicator that you've got a healthy body. So, my daily beauty routine doesn't include a toner, cleanser, moisturizer etc. It's actually kind of different: I wake up and brush my teeth with homemade vegan toothpaste, I use a scrub daily that also doubles as a moisturizer. I got the recipe from The Vegan Housewives and before that I made something very similar (minus the essential oils). This scrub exfoliates manually with the raw sugar crystals and moisturizes with the coconut oil. After I scrub with it, I pat my face dry. My face feels greasy for maybe 5 minutes at most because the oil immediately starts soaking into my skin.  I drink 16oz of water within an hour of waking up & I juice 1 cucumber, 4 celery stalks, one bunch of kale, one bunch of spinach, 1 lemon, and a tiny bit of ginger root. I don't eat animals or their bi-products. That's basically it. If I feel like my skin is feeling dry after a couple of hours I add a little bit more 6:1 coconut oil and peppermint essential oil.

I don't wear foundation anymore, I do use a concealer under my eyes and mascara. I love, love, love lip balms. Rule of thumb- I always wear something emollient based (formulated without: Parabens ● Sulfates ● Petrolatum ● Synthetic Fragrances ●Colors ● Mineral Oil ● PABA ● Animal testing or animal ingredients). Wax and petroluem based balms just sit on the lips- I want something that will soak in! Look for ingredients like ultra refined organically grown shea butter fruit, beeswax (not as a base), alpha tocopherol USP (Vitamin E), sesame seed oil, aloe vera oil, borage oil, macadamia nut oil, avocado oil, wheat Germ Oil, grape seed oil, ascorbyl palmitate (Vitamin C). I have personally tried every single La Natura lip balm and can confidently say they rule. I put a little bit of brown shadow to fill in where hair wont grow anymore in my brows and I'm ready to go!

I've truly learned the benefits of less is more! My skin is not perfect but for the most part it's healthy and that's all I can ask for.

What do you do inside and out to promote healthy skin? 

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I Have To Give My Baby Formula Sometimes and It Turns Out That's Ok

People mean well when they tell you "formula is rocket fuel". It's really easy to misinterpret this, I know that I did. When I got pregnant I knew nothing about breastfeeding or formula. I know that my mom breastfed me until she went back to work (about 6 months) and then she fed me formula. I figured this was the norm, just like I figured that giving birth in a hospital was the norm... so why stray? Well, I obviously learned a lot during the pregnancy and ended up going with a natural birth at home and of course that led to a strong want to exclusively breastfeed. Attachment parenting feels right to me and it's really important to go with your instincts when it comes to your baby. During discussions with other natural birth Moms and Dads, it's been thrown around over and over again that formula is the devil and just wrong to give to your baby. I nodded and agreed assuming that I would never need formula, I'm gonna be a breastfeeding mom. This scenario reoccured several times during my pregnancy and little did I know that every time I said it, I was slowly reinforcing the insecurities that would inevitably occur when my milk never came in. It's all well-meaning but I've learned that it's not explained properly at all. Moms and doctors are constantly saying that formula is bad and breastfeeding is good, when what they should be saying is that breastfeeding should be your first choice, supplementing with donated milk should be your second and formula should simply be a last resort. This would really clear up a whole mess of anxiety and depression that occurred when I failed to produce my own milk for my baby. I was SO angry at my body for betraying me. I swore that every time my baby cried it was because I was letting her down (so not true). The first time we gave her formula was completely bittersweet. I was SO happy she was eating (and so was she) but so angry that it wasn't at my breast from my supply.

Breastfeeding is making a comeback, did you know that!? How cool is that? Basically, for the last 50 years formula has taken over as the first choice of new parents. Formula companies have even made claims that formula is just as good if not better than breast milk (wtf). Well, we all know that this is not even kind of true. Because formula has taken over for so long and women are learning better- a lot of women preach the evils of formula. This message is meant for women who don't know that breast feeding is a much better choice. But what about the women who do know better and can't breastfeed for whatever reason? I mean, REALLY can't breast feed. Some moms have their babies, attempt breastfeeding on day one and if baby doesn't latch, they immediately give up. This is easy because usually you're in a hospital and you've got a nurse saying "we can call in the lactation specialist if you want, but I've got formula right here....". Well, what are mothers who don't know any better gonna do? First, moms make the mistake that if baby doesn't latch and drink then the baby will starve. The truth is that baby has some reserves. Baby wont die if you dont feed him/her immediately. You have enough time to call in a lactation specialist and really work on that latch. They can usually pinpoint the reason immediately and offer solutions. Sometimes the babies introduction into the world is part of the reason why breastfeeding is hard. C-sections, however necessary can throw off this biological want to breast feed for babies, but not always. Sometimes C-sections and epidurals don't throw anything off but the chance is much higher. Either way, it's important you do whatever you can to encourage baby to breast feed if you've got the supply. Now, sometimes you don't get the supply. I have a hormonal imbalance called PCOS that means I probably should've never gotten pregnant, avoided a miscarriage and had her with no complications. It also means that my milk would not come in naturally and easily. I didn't know I had this imbalance until after I had her. Here is my breast feeding story. I believe that after day 3-4, if that milk doesn't come in- that's just the beginning of the fight! First, I started pumping like a crazy woman. I rented a medela symphony hospital grade pump and used that thing every 2 hours like clockwork. At the urging of my lactation specialist I took Motherlovewhich includes goats rue, fenugreek, blessed thistle, nettle and fennel; these are all herbs used for milk promotion. I also took alfalfa and moringa. Pumping plus the herbal supplements was my first attempt at getting that milk supply in. Unfortunately, it did nothing. If these things don't work there are prescriptions you can try too: Reglan and the compound, Domperidone.

The point is that there are a lot of things to try and they're all worth the effort. But while you're doing all of these things, formula is an ok supplement. It's more than ok: we're lucky we live in a country where the water is clean enough that we can make formula for our babies. If you're lucky enough to have a network of caring moms (like I do here in Nashville), your second choice can be doner milk! Another mama's milk is a great choice. From the beginning of baby making the village mothers fed all of the babies, not just their own. It's not weird or gross. I would say just make a good judgement call: ask if she's taking any drugs, legal or illegal.

The hardest part, I thought, of giving baby formula was that I wanted her to have the best. I learned while I was pregnant that babies who are formula fed have more health issues and a lower IQ. I don't want my baby to struggle in school because I couldn't produce milk. I talked to my Dr. about this and she brought up a great point. Those tests really are relative! Moms who don't consider breast feeding are usually uneducated women who don't know any better! Well, babies raised by uneducated moms usually have lower IQ's for whatever reasons. These babies often have health issues because their mothers just aren't as aware of all of the preventative care to take. They're not bad moms, they just know very limited amounts of information and don't really question what they're told. So it would make sense that when these statistics were taken the results would be what they are. Is it the formula or the women who generally use formula? Just something to think about...

Another amazing alternative to breastfeeding or while you're working to get your milk in is this great little device called the LactAidtrainer system. You fill up a small bag with doner milk or formula or your pumped milk, hang the bag from your neck and tape a tiny little tube with the end at your nipple and when baby latches and sucks, she gets fed at your breast! I love this because I love the experience of bonding with her. I love watching her at my breast and I love being skin to skin with her. She prefers this method but will take a bottle under fire.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is be careful what you say about breastfeeding. While preaching the evils of formula is only well-meaning (of course)- it can easily throw off a mom who genuinely cannot breastfeed and make her feel like the biggest disappointment walking the earth. Instead, consider saying that breastfeeding is the ideal choice! Be supportive of moms who cannot produce and if you can, donate milk! So far, I've had 3 wonderful women offer their milk and although I've never been able to supply enough for her she's consumed about 75% breast milk and 25% formula since birth! That's amazing to me and I am eternally grateful to these women. I'm still working to get more and more milk in- but I realize now that what's important is that I do my best. That I explore all options and that it's important to ALWAYS question what you're told. Formula companies make a killing off of people who just don't know any better... ALWAYS question especially when there's millions of dollars involved lol. Thank you for reading this. I hope your breastfeeding journey is amazing no matter what and remember what's important is that you show baby your love however you can.

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Vegan Menu Review- The Mellow Mushroom, Nashville TN

Nashville does not have an abundance of vegan restaurants. Being in the south, there is definitely a preference towards barbecue and fried cheese. Like all great cities, Nashville is slowly evolving into healthier, higher quality foods so it's really nice when I can find something on the menu specially for my dietary choices. The Mellow Mushroom originated in 1974 in Georgia and has spread itself all over the US with locations from Portland to West Palm Beach. They pride themselves on providing food in a fun, creative environment & I'm happy to say that they delivered.

With the offering of creating your own pizza (all options gluten free) with 4 different sizes and the inclusion of "vegan cheese" you can easily create your own vegan delight! The waitress even offered to let the chef know to leave off the usual butter and parmesan on the crust. I ordered a small pizza with pesto and olive oil instead of sauce, vegan cheese, roasted red peppers, onions and pineapple. Paired with a pint of Yazoo beer (vegan of course). It was delicious. The chef knew not to smother the pizza in "cheez", just enough to get the gooey texture of cheese and I could taste the freshness in the organic veggies. Pretty much anything with pesto in it is the best, but on a pizza, it's magnificent. My opinion - ★★★★☆ i would give 5, but that's only reserved for 100% vegan restaurants so not too shabby. The Mellow Mushroom is a great place for vegans to hang out with omnivores and still have great choices!

What would you order on your vegan pizza? Let me know below...

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