Fred Penner Is Coming To Town! (and you can win free tickets or a free CD!)

One of Canada' most beloved children's entertainers, Fred Penner, will be performing in Nelson this weekend on February 28th at Nelson's Capital Theatre at 2:00 o'clock(250 352-6363) Fred is known for his wonderful, fun and loving stage presence and the delight he brings audiences of all ages. You can be sure that you will asked to sing and clap along to his upbeat, rhythmic melodies. Many of you grew up watching "Fred's Place" on CBC and probably remember the log he used to crawl through to get onto the set and start his show. I know that my kids (who are now in their 20's) loved his show and all of his music. Their favourite song was "Sandwiches". (Remember? Sandwiches are beautiful, sandwiches are fine, I like sandwiches I eat them all the time) Anyway, we had a friend who worked at the CBC TV studio in Vancouver, and he invited us to visit Fred Penner on the set. My kids insisted on making a whole pile of "sandwiches" to bring along. Fred very graciously accepted them, even though they had gotten quite smushed by those excited little hands! Bringing your children to a live musical performance introduces a whole new world to them. There is nothing quite like seeing a real person, not a TV or computer image, but a real live person up on stage singing and dancing and communicating with the audience. It's a great way to introduce "audience skills" to children in a safe a child friendly environment, and it gives them the idea that one day they may be able to be on stage singin and dancing as well.

HOW DO YOU WIN?

WIN FREE TICKETS TO SEE FRED PENNER!!!!!! or, if you are out of town, win a Fred Penner CD!. Just Enter the Mountainbaby Facebook Contest! Mountain Baby is giving away two free tickets to the Fred Penner Concert, or, for those of you from far away, we're giving away a Fred Penner CD. Here's how to enter to win: Tell Mountain Baby your favorite ways to spend special time with the little ones in your life. what do you like to do best together? What's your favorite memory of something you did together? share you ideas with other parents by posting them on our Facebook page...... Once you post your stories on our face book page we will enter your name into a draw to win 2 tickets to Fred Penner's concert Feb. 28th at the Capitol theater in Nelson, or a Fred Penner CD. Hurry, The Dead line to enter is 6pm Feb. 26th. We will contact the winner through Facebook after 6pm on Feb. 26th.

Oh Yeah, You’re Still Here….Romance After Baby Comes.

Since you had your baby, sex is possibly the least appealing thing you can imagine doing. Try as you might, you’d rather change poopy diapers than get naked with your partner. You never thought you could feel this repulsed by something you once found so pleasurable. You, and pretty much every other new mother in the history of humanity.
Rest assured, you are not the only one going through this.

It makes sense. Your hormones are all over the place, you haven’t slept properly in weeks, your body isn’t recognizable in the mirror, you’re concerned your breasts may explode at any second, and no amount of ‘sensual massage’ is going to make you anything but drier than the Sahara during a drought. All in all, a decidedly un-sexy time.

Undoubtedly, this is going to put some degree of stress on your relationship with your partner. They don’t get it, and you don’t get why they don’t get it. Not to mention you’re both suffering from lack of sleep and having your lives flipped upside down and your roles changed by a new baby. Frustration, resentment, even jealousy may rear their heads in your interactions with each other. It doesn’t help that you’re reading and hearing everywhere what the “normal” amount of time is for couples to resume sex, and you’re both panicking about being outside the norm and feeling pressured to measure up.

Before you google magic herbal sex formulas, there are some things you can do to minimize the stress this situation causes, and maybe even to get back into the swing of things.

Communicate. You’re pretty confused by your body’s changes, imagine how hard it is for your partner to understand. Tell them about what your experiencing,and let them talk about how they’re feeling. There may be a lot of misunderstanding happening, so clear the air with a frank discussion.
Do things together that are intimate but not necessarily sexual, and not necessarily without your baby if you aren’t ready to leave him or her. If you’re breastfeeding, bring your partner into the experience by having them sit with you, burp or rock the baby afterwards, etc. Family bed may allow you to have more bonding time and a more restful sleep.
Be flexible. You might be eager to get back to “the way things were,” but the fact of the matter is, things aren’t going to be like that for a while. Part of the process of adjustment is accepting that fact for what it is, then you can work within your new circumstances. You may only have small windows of time to be intimate.
Do your best to avoid comparing yourself to arbitrary standards of normalcy; they do not reflect reality and have no productive value. Your body will tell you when it’s ready, not a book. That being said, reviving your sex life is going to take a conscious effort and some energy. Letting it fall by the wayside isn’t going to help your relationship get through the transition into parenthood.


This aspect of the many changes you experience when you become parents is rarely talked about. Just as it's hard to imagine what it's like to have a baby in your life until you actually do, it's also hard to imagine how that baby will affect your relationship.

So this Valentine's Day try to take a moment, however so brief, to look into your partner's eyes and remember that you love each other, light some candles with a take-out dinner, put on your favourite music and dance - even if you have to hold the baby at the same time.

Happy Valentine's Day


With Love from Chief Mom
Been there, done that, seen it all.

We Love you sale goes bag free!

Love a Sale?

Our Valentines Mega Sale is Coming up! Mark your calenders for Saturday February 13th. We will be having a giant, We Love You! clearance sale. We will send you details next week. As part of the sale we will be encouraging people to "Love your Planet" by having two plastic Bag-free days. We will be supporting the hard work of the LV Rogers High School students who are organizing the Bag Free Day. Here is a link to the Facebook pageof these dedicated, caring young people, explaining what their campaign is about. If you desperately need a bag, for those two days they will cost 25 cents. All proceeds will go to the LVR plastic bag reduction program. In the meantime the clearance on Columbia snowsuits, Kamik boots, Stride Rite shoes, Snowshoes, fall and winter fashions etc continues. There are also a few sale items on our website,www.mountainbaby.com

Amazing Response

The Giving Keeps Going!

Thank you so much to everyone who has brought in contributions for our "Keep the Giving Going Campaign". We are so touched by your generosity and the beautiful quality of items you are bringing in to share with families in need. Family Place will be distributing the items on your behalf. Just a reminder: this campaign will continue through the end of January. And if you bring in items you will receive 10% off your purchase at Mountain Baby. So let's keep the giving going!

It's Literacy Week.

Keep on Reading to Your Kids - Family Literacy Week is Here!

Want your children to learn to read? The greatest predictor of successful literacy is being read to as a young child. Many people think it's a waste of time to read to your baby or toddler, as they often just want to eat, throw, chew, or pull the book you are reading to them. But actually every time you read to them they are absorbing the idea of reading, as well as the sounds and rhythms of the language. You are providing them with ideas and concepts, new vocabulary, and an understanding of their world. And because reading to a child is a cozy, loving intimate experience children develop a positive and familiar relationship with reading. Our local Nelson library is putting on a number of events for Family Literacy Week. Check out the schedule here. For those of you in other communities, your local library is sure to have Family Literacy events this week as well.

January

Keep the Clearance Clearing!
Our January clearance sale continues. All fall and winter clothes, Columbia Sportswear, Kombi mitts, Kamik winter boots and Little Bear Snowshoes are now 40% Off. Stock up for next year! We will see you in the store.

Green Eggs Ham and Spaghetti?

Here's a great, easy, super fast pasta recipe that will help you get those veggies into your kids. This was an absolute all time favourite in my house. My kids loved the fact that their spaghetti turned green...like Green Eggs and Ham! This recipe is from "Whole Foods For the Whole Family", published by La Leche League International. Green Spaghetti (or macaroni or rice) 1 package whole grain spaghetti, cooked and drained 1 bunch fresh spinach or 3/4 lb broccoli, chopped 1/4 -1/3 cup broth (you can use part of a bouillon cube) 1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese 1/2 cup milk (of any sort) 4 Tbs butter or olive oil (optional)1 clove garlic (if your kids like garlic, it gives a real "zing" to the recipe.) Steam the spinach or broccoli until just tender. Put spinach or broccoli, with a bit of cooking liquid, (and garlic) into blender. Add warm broth and liquefy. Stir in cheese and milk. Presto! you have a great, tasty nutritious sauce. Play with the ingredients; more or less cheese, broth, veggie combos etc. Another way to stay prepared for this is to puree fresh spinach and broccoli when they are in season and cheap or fresh from you garden as it may be, and store in 1/2 cup portions in the freezer.This is an excellent "Oh no! It's four o'clock" recipe I do so like green spaghetti! Thank you! Thank you, Peyton Paghetti!

Warm and Outdoors!

Get Active and Get Outdoors!

One of the best ways to stay healthy this season is to boost you and your families' immune systems with good, nutritious food and active play in the fresh air. Mountain Baby offers everything fromwarm woolly socks to technical long underwear, and cozy hats and balaclavas to keep your children warm, dry, and outside this season. There's nothing that will shorten an outdoor day faster than being wet, cold and miserable. So have fun and stay warm and dry. We will see you outside!

Winter Clearance Sale

It's time for our January Clearance Sale!!!!!

Right now we have all fall and winter fashions, all Columbia outerwear (snowsuits, hats and mitts) and Kombi mittens and gloves for25% off. Fall and Winter Stride Rite shoes as well as Kamik winter boots are 15% off. In addition, our Little Bear Snowshoes are 25% off. These snowshoes are a great introduction to snowshoeing and are designed for children 4-8 years old. With the discount they are only..... A great way for your kids to get fit, outdoors, and active.

SO come in and take advantage of these savings. There's still lots of winter left!

Help Us Keep the Giving Going

Help Us Keep the Giving Going!

We spend all of December (and a good part of November-basically once the Halloween candy is gone), thinking about all the holiday preparations and all the gifts and all the spending. We run around, we get stressed, we get exhausted. Once the New Years cheer has worn off, the vacations are over, and the visitors have all gone home, we tend to power down and get into hibernation mode. We're back at work, it gets colder, and the days feel shorter. It's hard for all of us, but much harder for some of us. Living in the beautiful Nelson area can easily feel like a charmed existence, and we can forget too easily that there are many members of our community struggling to make ends meet--to put food on the table, to heat the house, to keep their kids in good warm clothes and happy with good quality toys. Take a second, and look around your house; we bet there's a perfectly good toy your daughter has forsaken for the brand new one she got this winter; a snowsuit in the back of the closet that's still in good condition but hasn't fit for two years; a pair of yellow mittens that your son got for Christmas that he'll never touch because he only wears red. For the rest of the month, you bring your unwanted or unneeded toys, winter clothes, books and games, or an item for the food bank, into Mountain Baby and we'll pass them on to an organization that's helping Nelson's families get through the winter. In return we'll give you 10% off your regular priced purchase. Please be sure your donations are in good condition. Think of them as hand-me-downs; your community is kind of like your extended family, after all. In the cold grey days of January the holiday spirit may feel like a distant memory. Show your neighbours in need that the spirit is still alive and well. Help us keep the giving going.