Small Business Spotlight: Lovelee Three

I would like to introduce you to today's small business: LoveLee Three!

Lovelee Three is a work at home mom company that specializes in baby/toddler items including: moccasins, blankets, leggings, hat/headbands, and more being added!

We own several items from Lovelee Three! 

I bought these leggings for the Rebel Princess this past spring, and the first clothing item to ever touch her little body was a knotted hat purchased from Lovelee Three!

Each and every single item is very high in quality; from fabric selection down to stitching. Many of the items are unisex and because of the high quality of material you can pass them down from one child to the next! 

Moccasins for babies and toddlers are so popular right now and Lovelee Three has a geat variety of colors to chose from and they are one of the companies that I have seen with a comparable great low price. Now, I can't give feed back on the moccasins from Lovelee Three as we do not yet own a pair but we'll have to change that soon! 

I'm absolutely loving the new colors that she released and need them! However I am willing to bet, that based off the high quality of every other product we own they will be amazing! 

And just to show how well the leggings fit with moccasins...

Lovelee Three recently released their fall design line for 2014 and everything is great! Lots of great neutral colors and patterns as well as warm yet bold colors to welcome in the chilly fall weather!

Check out Lovelee Three:

Website

Instagram

Facebook

Milk Sharing

**The photo below may make some people uncomfortable, I apologize if you are one of those people, but you have been warned. Please note there is nothing "inappropriate" (i.e.:nipples) that can be seen in the photo**

________________________________________________________

Milk sharing is something not commonly heard of in our society. 

Yet there are thousands of families out there (desperately) searching for other nursing mothers to give breast milk to their child (either from pumping or wet-nursing, though pumping is most common).

I have donated several random times in the past when the Little Jedi was nursing and the thankfulness from the mother picking up the milk is plane as dawn to see in their eyes.

I decided that since the Rebel Princess is nursing and I plan to nurse her for as long as she wants to (same as with the Little Jedi, who self weaned at 23 months) that I will be pumping and donating regularly to a family.

The day I made the decision to donate milk to a family I got on Facebook and went to my cities local Human Milk For Human Babies page giving details and said if there was a family interested to message me and we could talk more. 

My inbox was flooded with hopeful mothers looking for a regular donor, mothers poring their hearts out telling me their story hoping that they were the lucky first person to get "dibs" on the spot. It broke my heart a little to see such a great need and so little supply (no pun intended) to fill it.

I wish that I was one of those mothers who could pump 20+ ounces a day and help multiple families, but I'm not. 

I wish that it wasn't so hard for these families to find breast milk for their babies, but it is.

 There are "milk banks" but those are ridicules. Mothers like me  DONATE their milk to the bank (and receive nothing in return), then the milk bank takes that FREE milk they received and SELL it for over $1 per ounce to these families! It's wrong.

I don't pump and donate milk to get a pat on the back or anything like that. 

I do it because it is something I believe in. It's a small way that I can show love and compassion towards at least two strangers (mom and baby). I do it because I know if I were in their place I would hope that there would be a 'me' out there to come and help because I believe it is what is best for my child.

Today the family that I will be donating milk to regularly picked up what I had for them! 

I am only able to pump about 5 ounces a day (no matter what, sadly) but it totaled to over 70 ounces! 

It's not hard, but it's not easy work either, so I am proud of myself  and hopefully next week and each week to follow will mean a minimum of 30 ounces for the family for weekly pick ups!

Mom Of Two

Somedays, ok most days, I sit here looking at both of my beautiful children still in awe of how amazing they are and that I am blessed with the task of raising and nurturing both of them.

Being a mother to two has been remarkable beyond anything I imagined.
The transition from having an only child to two muchkins seemed so natural and seamless.

Love grows and expands so freely and I find my heart becoming fuller and fuller each day as I see her personality developing and revealing itself to us and seeing them both growing and starting to play with one another. 

Sister Bear Shirt: Loved by Hannah & Eli

The Little Jedi is so in love with his baby sister. He loves giving her kisses, talking to her, reading to her and she just lights up and coos at the attention. One of the first things he does in the morning is get up and go check on her and give her a kiss.

Leggings & Blanket: Lovelee Three

For as wild and crazy as he is, he is so good and gentle with her and shows concern when "his baby" cries, he is also so helpful with bringing me items for her when I ask.
I knew from the start that he would be an amazing big brother.

 She has only been with our family for a little over 2 months now and I can't imagine life without her or really remember what it was like before she was with us! 

I feel so blessed to call them mine, I can't wait to watch them grow up together, to play and love on one another and be best friends. 

Blankets: Lovelee Three

Portland, OR: Small Business Spotlight: Rosehip Midwifery

If you are in the Portland area pregnant and find yourself seeking a home birth with an excellent midwife team you need look no further than Rosehip Widwifery! Heather, Katrina, and Emelia are in my opinion a one stop, top notch dream team!

Heather has been a midwife for 14 years (as well as an instructor at the local college for midwifery) and has confidence and passion for what she does. Katrina and Emelia who is finishing her schooling in midwifery and apprenticing under Heather. Katrina is also a certified herbalist meaning you can trust her knowledge when it comes to holistic alternatives during pregnancy. And Emelia is an IBCLC (lactation consultant), so once your baby is born you will have help with breastfeeding, should you need it. 

They are all passionate about birth and that the experience of birth has a profound impact on the mother for the rest of her life. That birth and pregnancy are a family event, that it is something to be celebrated. That having siblings be involved helps form a stronger bond and makes the transition of bringing the new baby into the family easier. They believe that gentle beginnings start long before labor starts and that having a relationship with the midwife/mother is important to fostering trust beyond their credentials. 

Through out your birth you can feel confident and know that the same warmth and respect that you came to expect at each appointment will be just the same. 

They do not come to your pregnancy or birth with their own plan or vision of how it should be and try to make that happen. They listen to you, to what your vision is, to what you want it to be and help support you. They are there for you no matter how long it is from start to finish and no matter what that end may look like.

They are kind, supportive, caring, nurturing, funny, professional and just plain awesome!
I am so glad we found them and had them as a part of our team!

More shots of them in action:

Photos from Birth by Sassafras PDX (Facebook)

Rosehip Midwifery Facebook