And now, the Labor Playlist

Why has it been forever since my last post? Come on, me, work it out!

Over last weekend I took a birth doula training/workshop as part of my certification to become, well, a birth doula. So basically for three whole days I ate, slept, breathed, and you know what else- birth. I thought it was awesome!

In recalling the birth of my darling Leila in July of 2010, I remembered that the best part of it was my labor playlist- listening to my favorite music while laboring. Here it is, feel free to steal part or all of my playlist for your birthing enjoyment!

The Labor Playlist:

(in this order)

1. Help by The Beatles
2. Painbirds by Sparklehorse
3. Under Pressure by Queen/Bowie
4. Stronger by Kanye West

5. Float On by Modest Mouse
6. Push-It by Salt-N-Pepa
7. Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice
8. Alive by Pearl Jam
9. Made to Love by Toby Mac
10. Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns N Roses

11.(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman by Aretha Franklin
12. Ain't No Mountain High Enough by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
13. My Girl by The Temptations
14. Layla by Derek & The Dominos (Eric Clapton)
15. O Praise Him (All This for a King) by David Crowder Band

Bonus track: In the Backseat by Arcade Fire. Chick was singing her heart out as I was working through contractions and it rocked.

My doula remembers me saying, while the song Layla was playing, "aren't I supposed to be having my baby now?"

What a funny girl I am!

I am complete: the Indie Dance playlist

I love music. Here is my music history in a nutshell:

I grew up listening to the "oldies" with my mom. It festered an amazing love for the Beatles and a lot of disco era music. In middle school I got sucked into pop music pretty heavily. Matchbox 20, Ben Fold Five, Will Smith, and my favorite: 'N Sync. Oh, JT, how I STILL love thee...



In high school I loved some Hip Hop and R&B. Busta Rhymes, Usher, and a ton of others. I also had an All American Rejects moment and a long moment where I was into techno and trance type music. Have I mentioned I love to dance? Um, yea.



My greatest love in terms of music was yet to come- Indie music. My husband is very into music and writes and plays music himself. It took me a lot of "what the bleep is this stuff" to warm up to some of the artists I had never heard of before like The Flaming Lips, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Sparklehorse. But now, I don't know where I would be without them. My favorite of all is Arcade Fire and so I guess you could say that my new playlist is heavy on them.



The Indie Dance Playlist
1. Howlin' for You by The Black Keys
2. Ready to Start by Arcade Fire
3. Electric Feel by MGMT
4. The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
5. Got Some by Pearl Jam
6. Kids by MGMT
7. Month of May by Arcade Fire
8. Rebellion (Lies) by Arcade Fire
9. Keep the Car Running by Arcade Fire

So, this is what gets me pumped. What's on your list?

Dear Library: I love you!

It's official- I love the library and were I not already married, I would consider marrying it.

There are a couple things I love more than everything else and those are books, paper and writing utensils. Oh, and fabric. Big trouble. Big, big trouble. I was just telling my hubbs the other night that if I had nothing else but people in my life and books, I would be all good. Ok, and food. And maybe clothes but I think you know what I am getting at.

On my last trip to the library I totally hooked up. I got all the books I don't already have on my doula reading list. I got a couple of sewing books, a couple of cook books and a couple of books on parenting stuff. Lastly, I picked up a Kits for Kids bag all about animals. Love it!

Here are some ways to get the most out of your library:

*Get entertainment for the kids at the library- books, movies, games, whatever.

*Attend free programs and seminars at the library. Our library has movie nights, plays, concerts, a Lego club, and a ton of other programs that are free.

*A good way to boost your music library. The library has to know that when CDs are borrowed from the library they end up on someone's IPod for free. Just saying.

*Create a project file. I borrow books on crafting or sewing and instead of keeping them for an eternity I make copies of projects I want to try to do (for my personal use, not to share or distribute) and keep them until I have time to work on them.

*Take advantage of multi-media resources for children. We love to get the kits for kids (packs of books and other materials all about a certain subject area) and check out CDs.

For me, the library is one of my favorite places. If it wasn't for my kids, I could totally just get lost in there for a few days. I love the big windows, playing hide and seek with my girls running between rows and rows of books, and the fact that the library knows more than I ever will about.... everything.