Summer Fun in Denver

This morning Mackenzie and I tried something new for a "Mack & Mommy Day Date". We headed to Wash Park for the Mile High Food Swap and we LOVED it.

 

The swap was held at 201 Grant Street in the Wash Park Community Garden.  Locations vary each month.  The concept is this --  

"Bring 5 or more of your amazing homemade, homegrown or homebrewed good that you are prepared to part with -- they can be all the same thing or a mix.  You will have a chance to check out the products that other attendees have brought to swap, let them know you are interested in trading for their goodies by signing up on their bidding sheets -- and then the trading begins!  You can see who wants your amazing soup/jam/cookies/home brew, and decide if it's worth trading for their excellent compote/bread/infused oil/home laid-eggs. 

 

You don't have to take anything you don't want and you definitely do no have to spend any money -- cash is strictly forbidden.  You do have to come expecting a good time.  Samples are nice too!

 

The only rule concerning what you bring to the swap is that it must be homemade -- if it's organic, gluten-free, vegan, low-sugar etc. that's great -- just make sure you label it accordingly so you can easily find like dieting people to swap with."

 

 

For our contribution to the swap Mackenzie and I brought some of our family favorites -- click the links for the recipes!  We put out samples of our Banana Bread, Lemon Blueberry Muffins with an extra lemon glaze and  Lemon Bars (all gluten free). 

 

 

 

The other swappers were just the sweetest.  This eclectic community of women just welcomed us right in and we felt like part of their group from the second we entered the garden. Today's gathering was smaller than usual which made it a nice for us new comers and allowed for us to not feel so overwhelmed. 

 

 

 

Above -- Mackenzie learning about some new herbs!

 

 

Sampling Bread and Butter Pickles

 

 

My girl couldn't get enough of the Peanut Butter Chocolate Balls!

 

 

Let the swap begin!

 

 

 

 

The Wash Park Community Garden

 

 

 

 

We took home a bag of goodies -- Rhubarb Chipotle Barbeque Sauce, Home Brewed Iced Coffee Concentrate, Garlic Scape Pesto, Essential Oil Infused Bug Spray, Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls and a collection of herbs.

 

 

I'm not usually a fan of posting pictures of my children covered in their filth (I generally don't think people desire to see that)  -- But I just couldn't pass this one up.  This was taken mid asking Levi if he was enjoying the Peanut Butter Balls. His response was, "Ummm, YEAH!" (What kind of question is that Mom?!)

 

This was SUCH a fun event!  If you are a Denver area friend please come along with me for the July swap!  Kids are welcome and you'll leave with some new friends and lots of homemade goodies!  Email me (onelittlemountainmomma@gmail.com) or google the swap for details! 

I Climb For You

This morning I packed Mackenzie & Levi up bright and early and we headed for the foothills to participate in the 3rd annual Postpartum Progress' International "Climb Out of Darkness".

 

She asked me why today's hike was so important to me.

I told her that after she was born, momma was sick for a while and I needed some help to get better.

 

That, this morning we were going to hike for all of the mommas who need to know that it is okay to be a little bit sick but also need to know it's okay to fight back.

 
What I didn't tell her was that I was hiking for her. My warrior baby. I struggle to tell her this because I don't ever want her to believe that my postpartum depression was her fault.

But truthfully, she's the reason I fight daily.

 

She's the reason I write and share with other mommas and she's the reason I'm a voice for honesty and transparency.

 

I want to raise kids to have a voice and to speak truth and life over others who feel like their voices have been silenced.

So today, we hiked for all of the warrior families out there who are in the thick of the struggle. The mommas and the babies and the daddies and siblings too. And we celebrated the JOY that has come to our family. The joy we fought so hard to reclaim.

 
Mackenzie Leigh, some day I'll tell you ALL of our story. But for now, you just need to know that you were worth EVERY minute of my battle.

 

* Postpartum Progress’ Climb Out of the Darkness® is the world’s largest event raising awareness of maternal mental illnesses like postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety & OCD, postpartum PTSD, postpartum psychosis, postpartum bipolar disorder, and pregnancy depression and anxiety. Climb Out is held on or near the longest day of the year annually to help shine the most light on perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. The event features mothers and others across the globe joining together to climb mountains and hike trails to represent their symbolic rise out of the darkness of maternal mental illness and into the light of hope and recovery. We currently have more than 150 teams in 44 states and 3 countries -- and it's not too late to join an existing team or start a team in your area if you'd like, or at least donate to a team in your area to show your support. 

At The Heart Of It All

Summer is in full swing over here at the Baker home, as I'm sure it also is for each of you!  Can I just say....

 

Summer. Is. GLORIOUS.

 

I'm having a love affair with splash parks and lakeside picnics, bare feet and sticky popsicle fingers, iced coffee and family hikes, s'mores and sangria while we watch the sun go down.  It's all beautiful and magical and I'm sure as the heat reaches it's scorching 90 degree height I'll be losing some of my starry-eyed, honeymoon bliss.  But for now, I'm just going to bask in all of the gloriousness and pretend that the parallel universe of (ughh, winter) -- just doesn't even exist. Can I get an, "Amen" from anyone else out there?

 

It's been a little quiet on my blog lately.  This is in part to my tight grip on Summer's hand.  But I've also been doing a lot of thinking and praying and soul searching about my intentions for Little Mountain Momma and for where I see myself headed as a writer.

 

I feel as though as my heart has been in one constant tug-of-war.  One practical side of me knows that to become an established writer in today's day, I have to continue to put myself out there on social media, promoting my website and asking readers and subscribers to follow my work.  The other part of me just doesn't give a gosh, darn rip.    

 

As I've been doing research to discover how other writers "make it" successfully, I'm finding that it involves hours upon hours of intentional time spent promoting posts, hosting giveaways, manipulating Instagram and Facebook photos to bring in more "likes" and followers, engaging with other bloggers and blogging networks in a constant "You scratch my back, I'll scratch your back" dance.  It involves spending time adding "pins" to Pinterst and linking those pins back to blog posts as a way to bring in and engage readers.  And that's just barely touching the surface of it all.

 

I've spent the past several months really trying to determine if this is the road I want to take with Little Mountain Momma.  And I am so at peace with my decision.  

 

No.  Absolutely, positively no.  I do not want that.  I have zero desire to join the "big leagues" of blogging.  I don't need or want thousands of followers on my social media accounts and I don't plan to pursue writing on Little Mountain Momma as a form of income or a side job for my family. 

 

And all of the angels in heaven just began to sing!  I'm sure my poor husband is going rejoice upon reading this since he's been the sounding board for all of my back and forth and up and down opinions and emotions on this blog as of late.  God love that man.

 

In keeping with the theme of transparency I thought I should share why and how I came to this decision.  For any aspiring writers out there, my hope for sharing about my journey is that maybe it provide a moment of clarity for you as well.
 

 I've been in a season of growth and change in regards to how I see myself and in where I place my worth and value.  I've been desperately seeking God's deliverance from a deep-rooted place of people pleasing and low self worth.   

 

I was not created to please others.  I was not gifted the ability to write for the reason of building myself up through a human attempt to band-aid the emotional wounds I've been trying to heal.

 

God gave me the gift of writing for the purpose of walking alongside other women in transparency and community.  By spending my free time trying to promote my name through various avenues of social media I've found that I've been writing less and getting further caught up in the lies that tell me that in order to be someone,  I have to impress someone.  This is not why I began to write. 

 

My worth is defined in Christ and in Him alone.  No amount of blog statistics or followers on social media will change that.  So, as a way to continue on this path of growth, I'm choosing not to deliberately go searching for others to define my worth. 

 

I am going to rest in the truth that God gave me a gift and that He will continue to draw readers to my blog.  In the past this has been primarily through family and friends who read and then share what hits close to home.  And moving forward, I'm just fine with a slow, steady growth of readers if it means that my experiences and lessons as a momma are reaching the hearts of women that God has divinely placed in the path of my writing.
And then all glory goes to HIM.

 

Secondly, my decision has been based largely out of love for these two.  At the heart of it all, these two have to remain my focus.

 

 

These beautiful, amazing kids get less of me when I'm caught up in how to grow my blog audience.  And this is so ironic because my blog is primarily about being a momma to Levi and Mackenzie and about the lessons I'm learning as I engage their hearts.  So, it should come as no surprise that I've had more trouble writing over the past few months as I've found myself focusing on my inward self more than on the calling God has placed on my life as their momma. 

 

Now, don't get me wrong -- I was made to be more than just a wife and a momma. I believe God desires for me to write and to share my heart with other women. But when running a blog becomes more than the writing itself -- when it begins to take away from my children and my husband -- that becomes a problem for me. 

 

 

Moving forward, my desire is to continue to connect with other women through my writing.

One of my greatest joys in life is to walk alongside other women in community.  There's something so fantastic about making a new friend and sharing that, "You too!?" moment when you realize you are walking similar roads.  I hope and pray that I can continue to connect with old and new friends as I share my heart through Little Mountain Momma. 

 

But if I go several weeks between posts, I hope you'll continue to check back in.  I may not be posting 5+ times a week like some writers. Instead,  I'm just doing "the momma thing" whole heartedly and intentionally and I'm learning lots of lessons to share along the way!

 

As always, feel free to reach out to me if you've connected with anything I've written!  I would love to hear your heart!  Onelittlemountainmomma@gmail.com