Happy Birthday, Nurture!

This month marks Nurture's 2nd birthday!

Happy birthday, Nurture!

Thank you to everyone for your love and hard work

in making Nurture the beautiful community resource that it is.

A celebration is being planned for April,

more details soon...

Bringing in the New Year (& decade): The Giving Tree

I love this story and was so excited to find this video! I hope you enjoy it and cheers to a 2010 that is filled with love, joy, and lots of other goodies!

House Plant Exchange Party

Fall always makes me crave more green inside my house. Turning on the heat makes my house feel dusty and stuffy; plants breathe clean air, so I get an urge to do some indoor gardening. It is costly to buy several new plants, but plants are easy to share, so let's share.

Let's celebrate autumn and share our plant families. Bring a few healthy houseplant clippings started in small pots and bring home some new wee plants.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

12pm-1:30pm

Everyone is welcome!

Let's Talk Placentas

Placentas are the heart of connection between a baby and mother during pregnancy, literally anchoring the baby to the mother's uterine wall. In an intricate dance, the placenta gathers blood from the mother, pulls oxygen and nutrients, transfers them to the baby's blood system via the cord, and then sends the waste from the baby's blood back out to be excreted by the mother's body. This whole waltz happens without the mother and baby's blood ever combining. The placenta also produces hormones that are essential for many changes in the mother's body during pregnancy as well as the fetus's growth. It is a pretty powerful and important organ and not just during pregnancy.

After a baby is born, there are several ways that the placenta can be honored and utilized:

• In numerous cultures families plant the placenta under a tree. Some cultures burn or smoke the placenta first and plant the ashes, but other cultures plant the placenta directly in the ground. The tree's growth is a beautiful reminder and symbol of the child's growth.
• Some women encapsulate (or otherwise prepare) the placenta for ingesting. It has been said that placentophagy helps a new mother's body recover more quickly and lessens the chances of baby blues following a birth. For more information visit Placenta Benefits.info For a recipe visit Placenta Remedy
• A beautiful keepsake can be made by doing a placenta print. The placenta makes a tree-like shape when printed, and the print can be framed. The prints can be made before encapsulating or burying if you choose to do either (you would not want to use paint or ink for the print if you are going to encapsulate or otherwise ingest the placenta). Visit this webpage for more information on how to do the print. These websites both have a beautiful picture of a placenta print: http://www.ebsqart.com/Artists/cmd_690_profile_portfolio__11_1_G.htm & http://www.beautifulbellies.co.nz/Placenta%20Prints.

I am also including two links to videos below. The first one is a step-by-step how to make a placenta print. The second one is a video of "the Placenta Lady" encapsulating a woman's placenta for her as her husband films and makes not-so-pleasant comments. Despite the commentary, the video is informative if you are interested. Both videos show placentas and blood, so if you do not want to see either, you might want to skip the videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHc-zV77JLY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuxeAbeDcU0

Homebirth and Birth Center Family Potluck Picnic

Come meet other homebirth and birth center families and learn how you can be involved in preserving out-of-hospital birth in Oregon. All homebirth and birth center families and supporters are warmly invited to this potluck in the park.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

2:00pm - 5:00pm

Laurelhurst Park, Picnic site C

Near SE 37th and Oak

View Map

For more information call Lucina Armstong at (503) 886-9171 or e-mail Silke Akerson at silkeakerson@yahoo.com

If you can’t make the picnic but want to be involved in an on-going homebirth families group please contact Lucina or Silke (see above)

An Open House Thank You

Our open house on March 14th was a good time had by all. I saw several familiar faces and made many new friends, thank you everyone for coming and celebrating Nurture's one year birthday.

Nurture has been such a gift in my life. Since co-founding it last year, I have been able to keep up professional activity while keeping my main focus at home with my family. Thank you to my family and friends for supporting me in this endeavor.

I have had the honor of working with mothers who have shared their stories of challenges, hopes, fears, and change. I appreciate your willingness to trust me. Thank you.

Nurture has also given me the wonderful gift of connection. Throughout this year, I have met so many people, mostly women, who are working to support growing families just as we are at Nurture. The connections I have made with these professionals has been sustaining and enriching in ways I cannot put into words. Thank you.

And thank you to all of the fabulous women who are a part of the Nurture collective. You are all a part of the previous category, but I think thanking you twice is quite short of all the thanks you deserve. I enjoy our collaborative efforts and love what Nurture has become this year. Thank you.

We had several door prizes to give away at the party. Congratulations to our winners, I will be contacting you soon to make sure you receive your gifts...

Milagros gift certificate winner: Angi G.

Winner of the Pediatric Wellness Session with Molly Fitzpatrick: Joanna M.

On Hour Massage with Tiffany Ueltschi winner: Melissa C.

Winner of Two Hours of Postpartum Support: Dan B.

Grasshopper gift certificate winner: Dave

Campbell Salgado Studios gift certificate winner: Lynette W.

SCRAP Membership winner: Kimberly D.

A big thank you to our local business for offering these terrific prizes! And an extra thank you to Campbell Salgado Studios for sharing your beautiful photographs with us, I have really enjoyed having them on our walls.

Enjoy a few pictures from the party...

Join Us

Join us for an open house celebration
March 14th
3pm-5pm

Special treats include:

• food
• chair massage
• Reiki
• friendly conversation
• family art activity (make a mini wood doll family)

Raffled goodies include gift certificates for:

• Milagros Boutique
• Campbell Salgado Studios
• Grasshopper
• SCRAP
• Nurture (2)

Save the Date: Open House

Naked Baby Party

Naked Baby Party

at Nurture

When: Sunday, January 18, 2009
Time: 1:00pm-3:00pm
Where: Nurture ~ 1614 N.E. Alberta St.

What to Bring: Please bring your gently used children’s clothing, toys, and books. Please make sure they do not have stains, rips or tears, broken zippers, or missing buttons. We are looking for clothing from Newborn to 5T.

Items include any and all clothing, socks and tights, shoes, coats and hats. Please bring a bag to carry home all of your new items!

Any leftover items will be donated.

We look forward to seeing all of you there!

Wild Feminine Release Party

You are invited to Tami Kent's book release party...

A celebration for Wild Feminine

THIS FRIDAY, Dec. 12, 8 to 11pm
Soma Space, 4050 NE Broadway, Portland

Stories from Wild Feminine 8:30
Dance & celebrate 9:00
Babes in arms are welcome

Wild Feminine is hot off the press and books will be available for purchase $20(cash/check).

It makes a great gift too!

Can't make it to the party? Order the book from Amazon
More info about the book: www.wildfeminine.com

I have been excitedly awaiting the arrival of Tami's book, Wild Feminine. The description alone of this book sounds beautiful, powerful, and healing as do Tami's work and workshops. Connecting with the wisdom of our bodies, roots, and feminine energy brings forth balance and peace. Hurray for a book that contains so much potential for healing.