Hip Mountain Mama☆Review

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The lovely Suzy over at Hip Mountain Mama contacted me a couple weeks ago to see if I would like to do a product review of something she sells in her shop. If you haven't heard of Hip Mountain Mama it's a family run business that sells amazing funky and bohemian finds for your body and home. I have been a window shopper for some time now so when Suzy contacted me I was more than willing to help spread the word about this great site. We emailed back and forth for a bit and decided on the Mother Earth Long-sleeve shirt for me.
HOLY MOTHER OF SOFTNESS. When I got the package and opened it I immediately found myself rubbing this beautiful shirt on my face and Joey's back as he was bathing the kiddos. It is made by a company called Soul Flower, another company I've been an avid window shopper of for some time now, in the US and with organic cotton. And can I also just say how beautiful the print on the shirt is? I can see myself wearing this shirt all through winter, staying warm in it and snuggling up to babies. 
 Outfit details:
Mother Earth Long-sleeve: c/o Hip Mountain Mama
Yellow circle scarf: O Bella Organics
Skirt: Borrowed, then stolen, from a friend

I also fell even more in love with it when I discovered it was perfect for supporting breastfeeding. The neckline is just right to pull it down without a wrestling match. I like the ease of this since nursing is still very much an integral part of our day. 
This holiday season even if you only bought one item from a small business owner, we could make a huge impact! 

Support small business owners. Support handmade. And support Suzy because she's one heck of a rad gal!

She also wanted to offer my readers a chance to win a $20 gift certificate. To enter you must be a follower of my blog and simply leave a comment letting me know what your favorite item in her shop is. You can get one more entry if you share this post so we can share the love. This giveaway will close on Monday night, December 10th.

Also, if you are Footling Mama please email me at katelyndemidowphotography(at)yahoo(dot)com so I can get you your copy of EC Simplified. If I don't hear from you by Friday I will choose a new winner.
Peace and Love.
Katelyn

Raw

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I'm sitting here, staring at this screen. Unsure of where to start. Where this journey started. I am not certain of the point when I started to release attachment to my dreads but more importantly to my hair. I've adopted the mantra, "It's just hair" for some time now and I think that was a way to fool myself. It's not just hair. It's an adornment of this journey we are on and whether we choose to have long hair, short hair, dreads, a buzzed head, or to shave our heads completely bald, there is power in that. When I chose to dread my hair it was a time when I was in a moment of needing to hold on. Hold on to whatever I could. And whether that meant to tangle everything up in my hair for a few months, that is what I would do. 

But let us go back to when I was in elementary school. I got lice. Heavy duty, hardcore, lice. Every time we got rid of it, it would just come back full force. The little buggers love shag carpet, surprise surprise. Well through that I formed a crazy relationship with my hair. At one point my father took us to get it all cut off even though I did not want that. I hated it. I hated that haircut and was so self conscious about it. The hair battles did not end there. At one point he even used paint thinner on my head, in desperation, to try to kill the lice. This gave me a weird tingly sensation down my neck for weeks and my entire scalp basically peeled within that time period as well. It wasn't until he had the epiphany to take out all the carpet in the house, bag up all the stuffed animals for weeks and wash every item of clothing in the house, it seemed, that we finally got rid of the lice.

I never realized that through that, I formed a relationship with my hair that was, I don't know, ill. 

I just let it grow for years, then when I moved to Louisiana I went through many phases of hair. But, I would never just cut it all off. It was a blanket. A security blanket. 

Letting my hair dread was an unexpected path I took. I was going back and forth on just cutting my hair into a pixie cut or dreading it. Dreading it won because that would mean I would still get to keep my hair. It was the right path for me at the time. Moments I loved them. Moments I hated them. I got bad dandruff. Sores, even. I couldn't get rid of them and almost went to get some conventional dandruff shampoo. They pulled. I struggled getting comfortable at night with them. 

Through the nine months I had them many trusts were broken. Many hurtful words were said to me. Many transgressions got tangled up within my dreads. They were there for me to work through. For me to learn to stand up for myself and my family. Bad associations were made with my dreads when I would look at them in the mirror. Not only mentally but there were physical markers of the hurt I went through, on them, in them. Markers of my mistake of letting people back in once I had already let go. A mistake that would affect my daughters lives. Not only mine. And while I needed those reminders daily, to learn to not make those choices again, it was hard. There was a negative feeling always around. Always.

So when I got sick and was elbow deep in a trashcan, I was cursing my dreads. When you don't eat for a couple days and nurse a baby all day they are boulders on your shoulders. They were heavy. Weighing me down. I was hot and miserable. And just ask Joey, when I am hot and can't cool down, mama ain't friendly. It was the catalyst for this change. I am actually grateful for the time I was sick. It brought to light many things. Things I was ready for. Ready to accept and ready to release. Shaving my head was a way to disconnect from the things that were silently haunting me each morning when I would wake. The next morning I woke up 100% better and haven't had any signs of illness since. Not by coincidence.

Time to lay to rest this strained relationship I have with my hair and let it serve me. Serve the greater purpose and this journey I am on. On the night of the winter solstice this year, I plan on fully releasing my dreads, into the fire.

Maybe none of this makes sense. Maybe I seem crazy. But with this crazy it brings joy. A joy that only those that have experienced it can understand. 

I am naked and bare. I choose to be raw and vulnerable. 

I can finally see me.

And dude. I forgot how much I love head scratches.

The entire 30 minute process of letting go. All under 4 1/2 minutes.

Peace and Love.
Katelyn

Adjusting.

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We finally have internet in our house. Our home. We closed on this house the day before Thanksgiving and have been settling in and getting the old home ready to rent out. It's been hectic and crazy but oh so wonderful. I've had many things to share but the break from the "real" internet (because I still used my phone to check email and whatnot) has been very resting. Many changes have been occurring. Physically. Spiritually. 

We all came down with the flu. Luckily Penelope did not get the lovely, toilet hugging part of the flu. But everyone else did. I thought I was getting better then one night, my body told me differently. The next day I spent almost all of it in bed, drifting in and out of sleep. Joey took great care of me, of us all. It lingered and lingered. 
The very last day I was ill, Joey and Leena cut off all my dreads for me. It was a catalyst for this change and I know it needed to happen. I will be writing a more in depth post about this, this decision. But I find it no surprise that the next morning I woke up 100% better. 


 Peace and Love.
Katelyn

Time Out.

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Through this moving process we are remembering why we are doing all of this. We are remembering this is for our family. This is for getting back to our roots. Reconnecting to nature and the spiritual, healing beings we are. We are remembering this so we are taking time out to have fun. Not worry about the packing that needs to be done. The work that needs to be done on our current home. At least not for short periods throughout each day. We feign ignorance at all the happenings. All the paperwork. All the numbers. All the boxes and taping and organizing. We reconnect. And then we get back to work.

Peace and Love,
Katelyn



These hands.

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These hands have shown more love than I've ever known. More acceptance than I could ever imagine. These hands are strong. Weathered but also soft. They have held my hands and told me, "Always and forever." These hands have helped me through labor pains. Held me through sorrow and grief. When only crying and rocking would do, these hands have cradled me, wiping away my tears. Reaching out of my darkest of times, these hands are the ones I have found. Lifting me up. 

These hands have waited patiently to feel tiny kicks from tiny feet growing inside my womb. These hands have tucked littles into bed. And held them close. They have cleaned off scrapes and bandaged cuts. These hands have put together countless puzzles and picked up countless toys. These hands have guided and taught. My babies have learned strength and love from these hands. 

These hands have worked hard to provide financially for our lives. They have allowed for me to stay home with my babies to lead the lives we feel most in line with. Working and working to getting closer to these goals. These hands have been dirt stained and sun soaked. Blue, bruised fingertips have adorned these hands often. These hands yearn to live the farmer's life.

I will hold these hands in mine, always and forever.

Peace and Love.
Katelyn

Mystic Moon

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Photobucket
The Winter 2012 Bohemian Collective lookbook has released this morning. Mystic Moon. Through shooting and editing of this lookbook Laura and I, along with the model Gina, really got into this vibe. A bit of witchy spirit erupted from us all as we dived into this realm and I am so happy to get to share this project with you all. I can't even really put into words how honored I am that Laura asked me to be a part of this project again with her and to learn to collaboratively edit along side such a lovely woman was a great experience. I look forward to many more lookbooks with her as well as hopeful future collaborative projects. This is a gal I definitely find myself falling into a natural artistic rhythm with. I just wish we lived closer. Click the photo up top to go look at the full lookbook and leave a comment there to let us know what you think!

Peace and Love,
Katelyn

EC Simplified-Winner

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Announcing a day late. I used yesterday to power through the last few photos I had to finish for the Bohemian Collective. And you all just wait, it's going to be amazing! I may be bias though. ;)
Thanks to everyone that entered the EC Simplified book giveaway and a HUGE thanks to Andrea for such a generous offer. Leena helped me choose the winner by picking the name out of the bowl. The winner is:
Please email me at kd@katelyndemidow.com and I will get you set up to receive the book and all that jazz.
To those of you that didn't win, if you are still interested in the book I am now an affiliate so feel free to use the link:  http://ecsimplified.com/gypsymothsol or click the pretty little button over there under the affiliate section. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->

I listened to the audiobook while driving and cleaning around the house in a couple days and it has made me rethink our approach and we are definitely moving forward with EC with grace and a lot more kindness towards myself. I was getting myself down and PUTTING myself down whenever I would miss a pee or poo and that's not cool, Katelyn. Knock that off, right now! This momma is working even harder on her self love. Andrea really has put together a lovely book and her audiobook is superb. I love how she reads it and it definitely makes it enjoyable to listen to.

Peace and Love.
Katelyn