Moses, Again.

Moses and I are sitting at the kitchen table, eating sandwiches for lunch. He pauses before taking another bite, turns to me, and asks,

"By way, you have a car?"

By which I believe he meant, "By the way, do you have a car?"

Shocked, but not wanting to appear as if there's anything funny about this question, and a little taken aback, I say,

"No."

To which he replies,

"Yes, do! See, right dere!" Pointing to my car in the driveway.

"Oh, well, yes. I do have a car. But it has a flat tire."

He asks, "You no can drive?"

"No."

He nods his head sagely, as if commiserating on the difficulties of flat tires, and goes back to his sandwich.

.

More Funny Things from Moses

The other morning Moses woke up and the first thing he asked me was,

"Where's Papa?"

me: "At work."

Moses, very surprised: "Again?!"

me: "Yes, Papa goes to work a lot."

Moses: "That Papa. He really silly."

I would have to agree.

He Walks!

Remember back when Judah became mobile at 4 1/2 months old? That was his notice to us that he wasn't content to just sit around and watch from the sidelines. He followed that up, true to form, with his first steps back in October at 8 1/2 months old! He's 10 months old today and has been walking for a month! Crazy.

Here's the video to prove it:

Reading

No One Ever Hated His Own Body...

Wow, it's been a while! Busy, but in a good way.

The other night I was taking Moses up stairs to put him to bed. At the top of the steps he turns and yells back downstairs:

"I love you Papa!"

"I love you too, Moses."

"Sissy!"

"What?"

"I love you Sissy!"

"I love you too, Moses."

"I love your room, Sissy."

"Okay, Moses."

Then, as loud as he possible can,

"I love mine self !!"

Then he doubles over laughing. What a fruit.

.

It Ended Well

Thank you all for your deep concern about my awful morning! Yes, it ended well. Richard got home from work, let me nap with Judah in the afternoon and cooked an incredible dinner! It was awesome, and I felt great that evening. Kids went down early and we had a relaxing evening together. :)

One of THOSE kinds of days...

Email sent to my mom and sister:

Oh my gosh you guys, what a morning. I took Judah to his 9 month check up and found out that he has the beginning of an ear infection! That explains why he's been out of sorts, but he's so mild-mannered, it's hard to tell when something's wrong! Besides being a little sensitive and more wakeful at night, he seemed fine. Poor guy. I have to remember that he doesn't scream and wail when he's in pain, he just pinches his lips into a little line and whimpers. I feel like a bad mama!

So then, even though it was Judah's naptime, I had to take the kids to Target to get the prescription filled. Just as I was lifting Moses into the cart, he VOMITED all over. Me, himself, the cart, everywhere. I took his coat off and saw the look in his face like more was coming just in time to hold his coat under his mouth so that *most* of it went into his coat when he puked another bucketful. Then he started crying and I had to hug him even though there was steaming barf everywhere. "Me-me tummy hurt!" Yeah, you don't smell so hot either.

But I still had to go to the pharmacy to get Judah's rx filled! They were like, "It's going to be 15-20 minutes." Great, I have to walk around Target with my shirt soaked in barf and my baby crying with exhaustion and my toddler whimpering in a puddle of puke at the bottom of the cart. Yay.

Now I'm home, my shirt changed, the two older ones in the tub and Judah sleeping. I'm supposed to go to a "Ladies Night" with my Small Group girlfriends tonight, but....

It's one of those days when I think, wow, if I can do this, I can do anything. Seriously. I came through a morning from h*ll and I'm still functioning! Sure, I smell like vomit, and I look a bit frazzled, but I did it, and the kids are okay and I might even be able to have the house in order and dinner on the table by the end of the day.

But right now I'm going to go have a stiff drink and some chocolate.

How's your day?

Have You Seen...

.


Have you seen The Mom Song yet?


.

New York Times Covers Homebirth

There was a great article written recently in the New York Times about homebirth titled Baby, You're Home. After mentioning the growing number of homebirths happening in New York City in the recent months, the article goes on to say,

Home birth professionals in New York City have been struck, several said, by the fact that the increase is coming not so much from the dyed-in-the-wool back-to-nature types as from professionals like lawyers and bankers. “People who wouldn’t naturally self-select for home birth are coming in and getting very open-minded,” said Cara Muhlhahn, a certified nurse midwife who has had a home-birth practice for 17 years and is now fully booked six months in advance.

The fact that the New York Times is running this article seems to indicate that homebirths are, indeed, becoming somewhat more mainstream.

The article does present both sides of the issue pretty clearly and fairly, as any good piece of journalistic reporting should. And, if you want to chime in with your own 2 cents worth, you can comment on the article here. I considered commenting, but when I looked there were over 400 comments. Uh, no thanks.

However, I would encourage you to at least watch this beautiful slideshow that is also connected to the article. The images are lovely and the commentary intriguing.

My Favorite Birth Books

With all the little ones born recently, I thought it would be fitting to share some of my favorite books on childbirth! Most of these have been/are loaned out to various friends, because I believe that however and where ever you choose to give birth, the most important thing is that you are informed.

Make informed decisions about birth!

There are always surprises with childbirth, and things don't always go as you hoped or planned. But if you are knowledgeable and well-informed about all aspects of giving birth, you are much more likely to have a safe and satisfying birth (Not guaranteed, just more likely) and able to roll with the surprises that the birth experience can bring.

I believe that birth can be empowering, satisfying, and exhilerating, not just something you have to get through in order to get the baby! Although I think it's harder to experience that in the hospital, it's certainly not impossible. I saw this first hand with my friend Kellie's birth!

She knew she didn't want an I.V. or to be immobilized with constant electronic fetal monitoring, so she refused both of those and instead requested that the nurse do periodic fetal monitoring, which is proven to be just as effective in identifying problems in the baby and much better for the mom, allowing her freedom of movement*. She also labored in positions that felt the best to her. When the nurse told her to lay down, Kellie told her laying down was too painful and that she needed to stay at least in a semi-sitting position. She also asked that the baby's head be engaged before they break her water. Way to be informed and proactive!

If you are pregnant, thinking about getting pregnant, or know someone who is, I highly recommend these books:

The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth
by Henci Goer

If you read one book, make it this one! You can't help but be informed after reading this book. All the latest scientific studies and research on maternity care are carefully laid out and explained, giving women insight into the benefits and risks of common procedures. This book will give you the information and confidence needed to make informed choices in your maternity care and to have the best possible birth experience. I highly recommend it.




The Birth Book
by Dr. William and Martha Sears

This book is a very close second. Dr. Sears is a well-known pediatrician and his wife Martha is a labor coach and lactation consultant. Together they have eight children. In this comprehensive resource guide, the Searses explain the many options available to expecting couples along with pros and cons for each. You can head into childbirth relaxed, knowledgeable and confident after reading this book. The Birth Book is divided into three parts: "Preparing for Birth," "Easing Pain in Labor," and "Experiencing Birth." Everything is covered: vaginal births, cesareans, VBACs, water births, home births, birthing positions, drugs, managing pain, birth plans, and more. The book ends with a beautiful array of birth stories.


Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
by Ina May Gaskin
Ina May is the founding member and former president of the Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA), a professional organization representing the profession of midwives. Since the mid-1970s, Gaskin and the midwives in her practice on a Summertown, Tenn., commune known as "The Farm," have attended over 2,200 natural births. This book is a compilation of her folk wisdom and insight into natural childbirth gained through years of experience and research. She writes in a very personal, yet knowledgeable manner, sharing ways that birth can be beautiful and not dreadful. I found this book to be very touching, informative, and helpful for both my homebirth and my hospital births. One word of warning, though; some may be turned off by the somewhat hippy-ish nature of Ina May's style. But if you can get past that, I think you'll find the book to be well worth the read. (Try skipping Part I of the book - which is all birth stories - and instead digging into Part II, The Essentials of Birth).

Pushed: The Painful Truth about Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care by Jennifer Block

This book isn't a "how to" book on childbirth, but it is a fascinating, gripping read about the state of modern American maternity care.
"This provocative, highly readable expose raises questions of great consequence for anyone planning to have a baby in U.S., as well as those interested or involved in women's health care." ~Publisher's Weekly

"The book is loaded with interviews, statistics and...some quietly deft storytelling." -- Chicago Reader




Giving Birth: A Journey into the World of Mothers and MidwivesBy Catherine Taylor

Also not a "How To" book, but a very readable and enjoyable story.

"Examining midwife-attended childbirth in contemporary America, Taylor approaches the subject as both a creative journalistic investigator (her articles have appeared in Premiere, Rolling Stone, and Every Baby) and a consumer of the system she reports on (while writing the book, she became pregnant and gave birth). The result is a delightfully readable blend of scholarship, expos‚, and storytelling that is likely to become a classic." ~Library Journal

"One of the most important books on childbirth...A colorful, anecdotal, and research-supported journey from both the mothers' and midwives' perspectives...A classic." (Pam England, nurse-midwife and author of Birthing from Within: An Extra-Ordinary Guide to Childbirth Preparation)



I hope this is helpful. I own all these books (and more!) and am happy to loan them out. Several are also available at the library. They make great shower gifts, too. :)


____________________________________________________________________

*Researchers at the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said a review of the most significant controlled studies of the effectiveness and safety of electronic fetal monitoring indicated that routine use of the procedure had no measurable effect on death or illness of infants or mothers.
But they said electronic monitoring was associated with a higher rate of Caesarean deliveries, which increases surgical risks to mothers. ...
Electronic fetal monitoring has been controversial for years, with some women's health groups charging that it was accepted as standard practice before its effectiveness was proven and that it was an unnecessary interference in childbirth, particularly in low-risk pregnancies. Some doctors also say the devices result in unnecessary Caesarean sections because they can erroneously indicate that a fetus is in trouble.
The new study, published in the October issue of the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, found that electronic monitoring was not measurably better in spotting distress and indicating that intervention was necessary than the traditional practice of intermittent auscultation. With this method, a nurse or midwife closely monitors fetal heart rate with a stethoscope. If a problem is detected, the nurse can reposition the woman to relieve pressure that may be restricting the fetus's oxygen or give extra oxygen to the mother to increase levels in her blood stream.
Article from the New York Times

When Your Kids Do Things That Really Embarrass You

Yesterday the kids and I were invited over to a new friend's house for the first time. Tiffany is someone I've known slightly from church and through blogging, and she's a good friend of my good friend Megan. Anyway, Tiffany invited me and the kids and Megan over to her house to hang out and then have lunch. Tiffany has a 5 year old daughter and a 1 year old son (Jude was dedicated on the same Sunday as Judah!)

So the girls are upstairs playing dress-up and the three boys are playing with toys in the living room while Tiffany, Megan and I drink tea, eat coffee cake and chat. Lovely!

Then I happen to look over and see Moses without his pants on. Uh oh. He's in the midst of potty training right now (and doing really well!) but sometimes he has an accident. No problem. I've brought extra pants just in case.

I go over and quietly ask Moses, "Did you pee?" He says, "No. Poop." Uh-oh. Big uh-oh. Sure enough, he's had a major B.M. and has taken off his undies and pants (after all, who wants to hang out in poopy pants?) I'm sure he was just trying be helpful, but when he took off his pants, he got poop everywhere. All over himself, all over the floor... dee-sgusting.

At this point I'm just like, No. Please no. Moses has never done this at home! Why now? Why here? I just met this nice woman and my son poops all over her floor. It's just so gross.

Well, I got Moses cleaned up in the tub and Tiffany (brave, wonderful person that she is) cleaned the poop off her lovely hardwood floors (thank goodness it wasn't carpet!!!) I was THOROUGHLY embarrassed. More like mortified. If our newly formed friendship can survive this, I think it weather anything!

Tiffany was very nice about the whole thing and extremely gracious and all I could do was apologize. I was able to laugh when I told Richard about it that night. But it really takes the cake for embarrassing moments.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who's been embarrassed by something their child has done!

Fall Leaves

Richard cheated this year and went and bought a leaf blower. The resulting pile of leaves was pretty incredible! The three older kids (i.e. Grace, Moses and Richard) had a great time playing in it.

Not quite old enough this year to enjoy leaves (other than eating them),
Judah checked out Grace's pumpkin.

Moses' First Prayer?

Yesterday as I was getting the boys in the car to go grocery shopping (Grace was volunteering with our homeschool group at Feed My Starving Children), I had a little conversation with Moses.

Me: Moses, do you feel that wind? Look how it's blowing the trees around. Who made the wind?
Moses: Uh, Papa.
(I think Moses believes Papa can do pretty much anything.)
Me: No, not Papa. Who made the wind?
Moses: Uh, Jesus.
Me: Yes! Jesus made the wind!

So we get to the store, and I have to park kind of far. Moses is walking next to me as we head across the parking lot. It was CHILLY and that wind was blowing pretty hard. I hear Moses talking to himself:

Moses: Jesus, stop! Jesus, stop!
Me: What are you saying, Moses?
Moses, louder: Jesus, stop wind! Me-Me cold!

Does that count as his first prayer?? He was asking Jesus for something...

.

Remembering the Babies Who Are Not In Our Arms

On the heels of all these precious babies being born comes Pregnancy and Infant Loss Day. It is difficult (if not impossible) to understand the providence of God in giving and taking children. While some mothers hold their brand new babies today, others have recently buried theirs, or are remembering the anniversaries of their losses (or both!).

I read this today in the Word:

"Come, let us return to the LORD
For He has torn us, but He will heal us;
He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.
"He will revive us after two days;
He will raise us up on the third day,
That we may live before Him.
"So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD
His going forth is as certain as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the rain,
Like the spring rain watering the earth."

The God who wounds is also the God who heals. And one day the healing will be complete. There will be no more pain or tears or death. That is the Hope we have, the hope that is a steadfast anchor to the soul. And that is why, in our grief, we do not despair. We know that we will "live before Him forever," as our sweet babies are right now!

Remembering,

Owen S.
Matthias M.
Hannah S.
Eloise B.
Adella C.
Felicity P.
Lazarus & Gideon H.
Enoch B.
Felicity S.

and many other babies miscarried early.

My thoughts and prayers are with the parents of these babies as they wait for that day when they will join their sweet children around the Throne!


.

Babies, Babies, and More Babies

This is so incredible, I just had to share it with y'all. I had 5 friends due between the end of September and the end of October. Five. That's a lot, but not my main point. This is where it starts to get crazy: Three of these babies have been born so far. One was born on Monday (the 6th), one was born on Tuesday (the 7th) and one was born yesterday (the 8th). Crazy.

So I'd like to request that you, Kellie M., please have your baby today, and you, Debby P., please have your baby tomorrow. That would be really cool for me. So see what you can do. Thanks. :)

Also, WELCOME BABIES!!

Peter S.

Athanasius B.

Elias S.

May the Grace of God rest upon you as you grow, dear ones.

Apple Orchard Pics

We went to the MN Harvest Apple Orchard again this year and again I got some incredibly cute pictures of the kiddos. Enjoy!

The Kids

this is Moses' classic smirk

Judah being adorable

there, now you all look sweet

funny kids

again, the smirk from Moses. and nice tongue, Judah!
goofballs
this one just cracks me up

too sweet
precious

Grace

nature girl

isn't she sweet?

Moseseating lots of apples

looking forlorn

there's that smile

Judah
eating grass and leaves. yum.

pondering

all smiles, as always

more grass and leaves

my golden boy