Baby Food Basics

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I’m back again at Serenity Birth Studio in Barrie to offer my popular Baby Food Basics class to moms and babies. This is a perfect class for babies ages 3-9 months.

I’ll answer all your questions about

  • baby led weaning
  • peanut allergies
  • water
  • allergy prevention
  • and more.

This hour will be full of information about the foods to start with, how to introduce peanuts, foods to avoid, how to do it, food sensitivity signs to look out for and much more.

Here’s exactly what you’ll get when you join me for my workshop:

  • Why going from “Milk to Meals” properly is more critical than we thought and how to do it right.
  • Why these 5 reasons are causing 40% of moms to feed their babies too soon. Pay attention to these 5 reasons and these 3 ready signs and you’ll do great.
  • The differences between Baby Led Weaning and Purees and what’s right for you.
  • Why the research has changed on introducing peanuts and when to do it and how to do it safely.
  • How to easily create a week-by-week food introduction schedule that will work for you, your baby and your family.
  • Why food sensitivities are causing the next health epidemic our children are facing and what you can do about it starting now.

Visit Serenity Birth Studio’s website to book your spot today!

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Five Futures

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In April 2020, a mother blue jay fastidiously built her nest outside our kitchen table window in Newton, Massachusetts. It was the spring of the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic and the 7 of us were living together in a pressure-cooker. We 3 Canadians had fled the country before the countries closed their shared border. Teenagers were sent home from university and schools. All 7 of us were trapped inside one new house without outlets of friends, coworkers, hobbies, or escapes. Our blended family was thrust together for the first time and for intense bonding or avoidance. The blender was turned on high. 

Outside our window, the mother blue jay didn’t know any difference. It was spring. This was a perfectly good evergreen tree to build her nest in. She didn’t know that the 7 trapped humans watching her from the dinner table talked about her as they grasped for some common ground. She didn’t know that the tallest of them all, the oldest, and possibly the wisest, took it as a good sign when she lay 5 eggs.

5 futures huddled together in their own impenetrable shells. 5 souls who didn’t know if they would be able to survive in the outside world. 2 parents who took turns looking out for them, protecting the nest, and getting food. 2 parents hoping for the best. 2 parents trusting that summer would come, all 5 would grow strong, and everyone would fly from the nest as they should. 

Baby birds, we do this for you.

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Loving After Loss

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Loving after loss is really hard for many people. I know a lot of people who are divorced, widowed, or single who are terrified to love again. 

They don’t want to have the loss, the grief, or the complication again. 

I get that. But I wanted to love again. 

Brene Brown wrote “We are biologically, cognitively, physically, and spiritually wired to love, be loved, and to belong. When those needs are not met, we don’t function as we were meant to. We break. We fall apart. We numb. We ache. We hurt others. We get sick.”

After Steve died, I couldn’t imagine spending the rest of my life without a partner. Someone to be my partner in life. To dream with, to build with. 

It makes me mad when amazing women I know don’t fight hard enough for the lives they want. Sure, it doesn’t have to include a man. But it could!

Tim, my second husband, was amazing. He was all the things I dreamed of. I was so incredibly surprised that he already existed! That he was out there, doing his thing, waiting to meet me too. Loving after loss was something we both were doing together! We understood the preciousness of life.

When things got tough with our long-distance relationship or blended family, I knew he was worth it and we were worth fighting for. 

And now? Sure, I’ve questioned if I want the potential heartache again. 

But what I know for sure, is that I’m going to live the hell out of life, make the most of it, and do all the things that bring me joy. I’m going to live bravely and make mistakes. 

And love. 

I want to encourage you to be your brave self. Love more and find where you belong. 

I’m here for you along the way. Join me over on Instagram as I rebuild my life yet again as a “Double Widow” and share the journey with you.

Whitney

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Rock Bottom for Moms

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As I sit here writing the last chapter of my book about Rock Bottom for Moms, I’m thinking of all the women out there who’ve hit their rock bottom during motherhood like me.

I’m thinking about their mom guilt. Mom’s feel guilty about not being the mom they want to be. That their rock bottom moment or moments are taking away from experiences with their children.

I’m thinking about their struggles and sadness. They’re suffering from loss, grief, or miscarriage and infant loss. Their rock bottom might be mental illness or a physical illness. Their rock bottom could be burnout from this darn pandemic thing.

I’m thinking about their children. Their children who love them no matter what. The children who even though their mother has hit rock bottom, need them.

And I’m thinking about their journeys. Rock bottom for moms happens all the time. But it’s usually behind closed doors. We claim to be “fine” and want to appear to have it all together. We have so much pressure to maintain a house, raise the kids, feed them, keep ourselves together, and maybe have a job too.

I want you to know that Rock Bottom isn’t a destination, it’s just a layover. 

A layover is “a period of rest or waiting before a further stage in a journey.” That’s it. Just rest. You’re taking a layover. You’re still on your journey. This isn’t it. Things will get better. I promise. 

I’m writing my book as a tribute to Steve, my late husband. I’m also writing it for moms out there, my friends, my patients, and those I haven’t met yet. I want them to know there’s a way out of rock bottom.

In my book I share with you my story of hitting rock bottom. It can serve as a guide or inspiration. Or just as a comfort to know you’re not alone.

I’ve walked this path too.

Whitney

P.S. Do you want to be in the know about my book launch? Join my Facebook Group for Moms to stay up to date.

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Coming to You From Boston

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Here I am, in my new life. My newly designed life. Not exactly as planned. But I’m thinking outside the box.

We all make plans, right? Where to go to school, what to do for a living, who we want to spend our time with. 

Then plans change. 

The pandemic has changed the trajectory of my new marriage with a closed border that’s made things very complicated for our family. We’ve been married for 2.5 years but the longest we have ever spent together under 1 roof is 3 months. That’s not what I planned. 

Now, I write to you from Boston. Where we plan to spend the next few months together as a blended family. 2 are off to college. 1 teen, 2 school-age, and an elderly dog at home.

We are together. Finally. For another stretch of time, hopefully the longest. 

This life is the one I’m creating. Yes, many things have been out of my control. But how do you colour outside the lines? Think outside the box? (Why don’t Kendall and Joe just live in L.A. AND Chicago??? (for those Bachelor in Paradise fans out there)).

Think outside the box.

What are you stuck on? What in your life isn’t going the way you planned? What if you asked “what if?”

Join me in my Mom’s Group Online for support – www.facebook.com/groups/guiltlessgrace/ 

Let’s brainstorm together how we can all think outside the box a little bit more.

Whitney

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