Cake Nursing Lingerie Giveaway

In honor of Mother's Day I have partnered with Cake Lingerie to giveaway a Turkish Delight lingerie set.  If you are a breastfeeding or a planning to be a breastfeeding mama you know how difficult it is to find nursing lingerie that isn't ugly or frumpy (aka that creates uni-boob).  I have been nursing my little one for 10 months now.  It was time for an upgrade from the one I had been using.  I missed my well fitting underwire bras from before breastfeeding and wanted to wear pretty undergarments again.  I have tried on tons of nursing bras and many of them were unsupportive or very very plain.
When I happened upon Cake Lingerie I fell in love.  How could you not? When I received my package it felt like my birthday as I unwrapped the beautiful silvery box with pink bow.  Inside the lingerie was wrapped in pink tissue paper with a seal.  I ripped into the tissue paper and there lay the most aesthetically pleasing nursing bra I had ever seen.  I almost didn't even want to wear it but rather frame it and hang it up on the wall.  I'm serious it's that pretty!  Their website doesn't do justice to the quality and beauty that their lingerie has. I know that some mamas are worried about underwire bras.  But this bra did not cut into me at all.  I double checked a couple of times to make sure it even had underwire since they offer a flexible wire in alot of their other bras.  If you are terribly concerned about the underwire you could choose one of those bras.  I have been wearing a underwire off and on throughout the ten months and I haven't had any issues. After months of nursing I only go back and forth about one cup size.  Some nursing mamas seems to go up 4.  It just depends on your biology which we sadly can't predetermine.  The bra is true to size and I made sure by taking my measurements twice here before ordering the bra.  It's so important to know your true size for any bra.  Did you know Roughly 80% of women are wearing the wrong size bra?

I have been wearing the nursing bra for about a month now and it is very very comfortable.  When I'm out and about I can easily pull it down to nurse my little one.  The lining is cotton so it's very pleasant to wear not itchy like some of the other nursing bras.  I wore it with a t'shirt and the lace wasn't noticeable which is a huge plus.  Also Cake Lingerie has so many hooks which really extends their wearability (I've seen some with only three, what are they thinking?).  The only thing I found to be a bother is it could separate more.  I think if the underwear parted more in the middle this would remedy this.  But overall it separates way more than any other nursing bra I have tried on.  The panty is amazingly constructed as well and true to size.  I would definitely purchase or recommend Cake Lingerie nursing/maternity lingerie to any future or present mamas who are/will be breastfeeding.
The best part of this review is that Cake Lingerie has agreed to giveaway the same matching set (retails for $90) to the winner of this giveaway.  This will be my second giveaway on the blog!  I'm excited let's do this.

Open to everyone, this is an International giveaway!  You can enter this giveaway by using the rafflecopter entry form.  You can do any or all of the entries.  The winner will be chosen on May 20th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclaimer: I did not receive payment for this review. I was provided a sample of the product for review purposes. The opinions are solely my own and your experience may differ.

Austin Weekend

Adrienne's baby shower was lovely.  It was a perfect sunny day and it was great getting to see her.  I wish I could have stayed longer than just an hour.  She is due so soon (June 15th) and I'm so excited for them to meet their little girl :)

Visiting my hometown always feels like a whirlwind.  I want to see every one of my friends but after driving 3 hours into Austin I'm just ready to veg with little Josephine at my parents house.

46 weeks

-visited my parents this past weekend :)  Josephine loved getting into everything.  She giggled when she got close to Ozzy.

-Josephine met Gail, Loren and Tyler this weekend (they made this amazing blanket for Josephine).  Tyler showed her how to play a piano music game on their ipad.  She was in awe of it.

-Josephine was handed around like a little puppy at my friends baby shower.

-She is cutting her fourth tooth so she has been constantly cramming her fingers into her mouth.  Not that it's really different from what she usually does.  She just looks more aggressive about it.

-She tried butternut squash again at my parents house and seemed to like it.

Mother's Day interview

Happy Mother's Day!  I wanted to do something different from my previous Mother's day post and open letter post.  I wanted to interview my mom.  I always love the idea of interviewing your loved ones because you learn something you never fully knew before.  It's pretty amazing.  I asked my mom 10 questions:

Why did your parents give you your name?  Or nickname?
The name Jennifer, I remember my Mom saying was from Guinevere in the King Arthur story.  My mom said never let anyone shorten Jennifer -  especially to Jenny, which is the name for a female donkey. Or nickname?  The nickname that I had for a while was JJ.  I was told it was because my dad was working as telegraph operator on a ship in the Great Lakes.  The connection was not very good, so he thought the name was JJ.

Describe who you were as a little girl.
Always playing.  Rather a tomboy.  I had holes in my jeans at the knees.  I crawled around pretending I was a horse (mostly); sometimes a dog. This was probably age 4 through 10 years. When it was rainy out, I would jump over the furniture and practice balancing  my knees onto the back of my arms.  I would also practice the standing broad jump. Outside, I played a lot of tag/ hide and seek/ kick ball. I explored a wooded area by where I lived.  It had lots of hills.  I played Tarzan at the age of around 5 ish. I remember climbing trees, dressed like Tarzan.  At the age of 5, I took off on my seatless tricycle for the zoo (by myself).  I was brought home by a policeman.  I had made it about 3/4 of a mile.  At the age of around 10 to 15, I would play darts in the basement.  I would also paint oil paintings with Classical music playing for inspiration. 

How did your childhood shape the woman you are today?
I had a very wonderful childhood in Manhattan, Kansas.  I was raised to be a good kid.  Raised to be nice to others.  I think I have an overly trusting and gullible personality because of my upbringing.

What has always come easy to you?  Sports and watching TV. I was always pretty fast at running.  I remember (even tho I was on the heavy side), I was timed going 6.2 in the 50 yard dash.  I placed third in the track meet that year in that event.  I could throw the ball quite well, hit the ball a long ways, was really, really good at dodge ball.  I was excellent in ping pong- thanks to playing a huge amount with my dad.  I was also pretty good at hitting baskets in basketball- thanks to many hours of weekend practice with my dad.  (When I played the actual game in school;however, I was sliced on the wrist by another girl's fingernails - she did it on purpose)....I soon found out how mean a sport it could be.  When I was in about 6th grade, I would ride by bike up and down the sidewalk for HOURS..  I was only allowed to go up and down the sidewalk on that street, which amounted to 1 block.  I would pretend my bike was my horse.  I would also play pogo stick for HOURS.    I also was known to jump off of a one-story house and a one-story garage.

As a young girl, what did you dream of being one day?  A vet.  I just thought about being a vet because I loved animals.  Soon I found out that being a vet would not be all fun.  Putting down animals and cutting them open would not be what I wanted to do for a living.

What did you learn from your parents?
Manners, be nice to others.  Try your best.    Also - when I was about 10, my dad had the whole family sit around and draw a stilllife that he had created -  I think some fruit and vases.   Turned out, mine was the best; and, from then on, they encouraged me to tap into that ability.

As an adolescent, what kind of mischief did you get into?
I remember several things.  I remember (at a very early age) getting in trouble for picking the neighbors flowers for my mom. Later - about 8ish, I remember taking a rock (which I had originally found) from a friend and getting in trouble.   At about 11ish, I acquired a block of hard brown sugar from my mom's kitchen and kept it in the closet to eat on from time to time.  In about 10th grade,  I had just finished watching a Star Trek episode.  Capt. Kirk was stranded on a planet and he had to use the resources that he found......coal, sulfur and  (I forgot the third item).     One of my sisters had given me a chemistry set.  My parents were out to dinner (a rarity).   I put the ingredients into a test tube and heated it.   It exploded with a big bang(fortunately I had aimed the tube away from my face).  It knocked a small hole in the wall (which I tried to cover up),  but I remember my parents came home just after the explosion and probably could figure out I was still upset. I had to show them the hole. 

What advice would you give me about life, about people, about relationships, about home?

Have an open mind.  Try to gather and research the other person's opinion (or information that they are giving you) before making up your mind about something.  Try not to stress out too much.  The house cleaning, etc does not always have to be done on schedule.  Something that I am still working on.....it may SEEM like you are doing it all, but you are not.  Try to remember that before complaining.

What do you wish you had done before I was born?  Matured a little more before getting pregnant or maybe babysat some in my life.  I had only babysat twice in my life and one of those times was when I was 10 for 1 hour.

What's the one thing you would have done differently as a mom? I would have tried to have been much more consistent in my discipline.  I would try not to spoil you as much.  I would have loved to have been able to afford a tutor for you in math.

In what ways do you think I'm like you? And not like you? 
Of course, we love art, photography, nature. And not like you?  You are more of a reader of books than I ever was or ever will be.  I am more of a magazine person.  You also have developed a much deeper, more philosohical view of the world than I have.

What was your first car?  What's a specific memory about it.
It was a used Buick Skylark...brown/ two tone.  My Dad came to Austin to help me purchase it.  I had been riding my bike to and from work at a pizza parlour.  One time (at about 1 a.m., I was on my way home, some boys in a car were calling out at me and making me feel uncomfortable).  I told my mom, who told my Dad.  My dad used my savings that he mainly built up by putting his unused quarters into a glass jar.  I remember there was $2000.00 in the account.

Is there anything you would like to ask your mom?  Are you doing something special for your mom today?

ps: The photo is from a trip my parents took to Lake Tahoe in the mid 70s.  I meant to post baby photos of my mom when she was little but didn't scan them before I left our house.  I will have to do a separate post for that.  

Birth Sampler for Josephine

Grandma Margaret has been gifting us some lovely handmade gifts that I am very very behind on posting.  After we moved she gifted us a lovely handmade birth sampler for Josephine.  Isn't it grand?  I absolutely love the vintage feel of it.  I cannot wait to put it up in her new room.  I just need to figure out where to put it.

Artwork Update:

something almost sacred in the self-sacrifice of being a mother, 2013

Children Become Their Environment, 2013

My artwork lately has been focused on birth.  The ability to create life is miraculous.  I feel like I'm still coming to terms with what my body went through.  Growing your child inside your body and nourishing it with what you eat and drink.  Then Birthing itself feels like a dance between both life and death.  Circling through these two spectrum's as pain, love, trembling, gentleness combine into one entity.  Then pushing as you feel your baby kick inside to enter the world.  That moment before they cut the umbilical cord and sever that bond of 9 months.  Then to realize a new bond through nourishment while breastfeeding.  I will never be able to explain fully how it was to give birth.  These drawings are my way of trying to understand, as well as explain the pregnancy and birth of our daughter.  

45 weeks

-Her third tooth just sprouted.  It's the upper left top central incisor.

-She likes playing on the front porch with dada.  She pulls rather large rocks out of the yard and tries to drag them along on the sidewalk.

-loves her push wagon.  She juggles between pushing it around while on her knees or fully standing.  Now she likes to push anything across the floor (i.e., books, baskets, part of her stacking toy).

-Josephine made lots of sounds while we were touring the MFAH.  We got some nasty looks.  I believe they are all people without kids and will realize their stupidity once they have kids.  She was only loud when we were in the Picasso Black and White exhibition.  I wonder if Picasso just makes her loud.  I mean I could see that in the work-it gives off an intense kinetic energy.

PS: The winner has been announced for the vine.com giveaway