To all my motherly neighbors, I wish you a wonderfully relaxing day and to all those neighbors who will be celebrating their mothers, I wish you a day in which you can enjoy time with your mother. Here's an early gift that I'd like to share with you all.

A Spot of Color

So, I'm surfing Etsy and found this little gem. An origami-ish leather stork that holds baby trinkets. In a fabulous orange color. Eco friendly (reconstituted leather) and very original. Check it out here.

Occasionally, the fashion designerly inspirations from my early adulthood pop back up, although my current place in life calls for jeans and t-shirts, and I'm reminded of the excitement that is Style.com. I was skimming the site today looking through different collections and this new designer caught my eye.

The draping techniques are pretty and interesting in a wearable sort of way and not in a "straight-off-the-runway, it's too-ridiculous-to-wear-in-public" sort of way. The line's name is Vincent Villarin. You can read about the designer, Joanne Reyes, here.

What personality trait has gotten you in the most trouble? 

Definitely, my curiosity. Why do people find it annoying when one has questions?

Ma-Ma Sisterhood Group

Ladies, I've been very pleased with all the great posts lately. I'd like to thank you all for your participation. I'm learning so much from all of you and am constantly reminded that we all have our own unique experiences yet the need for sharing amongst ourselves is so vital and universal.

I just wanted you all to note that we've slowly been gaining in number and if you haven't already checked out some of our newest members' blogs, please get to know them and leave a comment or two. It's always nice to add a new neighbor and I think that you'll really be impressed with the ladies who've recently joined us.

This week I'd like to play catch up. So feel free to go back and answer previous prompts or skim through our new members' blogs. If you have any ideas for prompts or would like to invite someone you know to join the group please send me a private message.

Ma-Ma Sisterhood Group

I appreciate my group neighbors excusing my absence for the past couple of weeks due to our move.

I've been sitting on this quote for awhile now. I'm not entirely sure why. It's so poignant. Well at least for me and I suspect for many of you too. I guess it's also really hitting me all over again as I read Ian Mc Ewan's, Atonment. I must admit, I sympathize with the Briony Tallis character and her need for a neat and orderly world. The habit of envisioning the way something is suppose to happen, the satisfaction of something going as planned, and the disappointment when something does not go as planned are all too familiar to this slowly reforming Type A mama.

There was nothing like having a child to begin the work of pruning this unfruitful shoot from the vine of my personality and giving birth was just the beginning. My birth went nothing like I had planned. I still remember it quite vividly although everyone says I'm supposed to have forgotten by now.

The funny thing is I was completely open to giving birth naturally or with interventions. I was going to start off naturally and then if I wanted the epidural or other assistance I was not going to beat myself up for that. I never thought though, that I wouldn't be able to call the shots on exactly when and how I received the interventions. I pictured it all happening at the snap of my swollen and pudgy fingers. I thought I was the epitome of the easy, go-with-the-flow expectant mother. My son is 19 months old now and I was never able to put my finger on exactly which part of giving birth bothered me so much (besides the obvious horrific pain) until I read this quote.

Both of these women entered the labor ward assuming confidently that the experience of childbirth was something  they or their medical attendants, could control. And both emerged with that assumption (among other things) in    tatters. It is not really difficult to understand why. In fact, for all their differences, both childbirth models share a common core. Essentially, both define a "good birth" as a controlled birth- whether that control is imposed            externally (via medical interventions) or internally (via breath control, creative visualization, or what-have-you). A "bad birth" is one that has somehow gotten out of control: one that refuses to progress according to plan ...... A    "bad birth", in other words, is what most of us have and none of us expects."

The quote is, again, from The Mask of Motherhood by Susan Maushart. It's been slow going with this book.
There's so much to chew on. This was from a chapter entitled, Laboring Under Delusions. She had been discussing     her exit interviews, as a part of her research, with first time mothers. She went on to conclude:

"The ways we assess and score our birth performances can tell us much about the values we hold dear. And         among women who report positive birth experiences, it is clear that the issue of (perceived) control is valued highly     indeed."

Please share with us your expectations for giving birth if you are currently pregnant and how your expectations were or were not met if you are already a mother. And for those of you with multiple children or who may be pregnant with a second child, please share how your expectations have varied from pregnancy to pregnancy.

(I'm so sorry for the wonky formatting. I have no idea what I did to this post. And I cannot figure out for the life of me, how to get those closing quotation marks to work on the block quote tool!)

This was so fun to make! You can make your own by clicking on the link that appears when you scroll over the bottom of the tape. I'd love to hear my neighbor's mixes.

(There is a missing Regina Spektor track. You'll find when you search for some songs that they'll be empty files. This one was one of those empty files and I didn't catch it. Anyway, the song is great. Too bad it didn't make the cut.)

I'm only 30 minutes in and I'm already in tears. I think I'm going to love this movie.