Birth Days...

Ahhhh...eggs. Simple fare, good source of protein, versatile. And in my case, gorgeous!! I mean, aren't they just pretty? I get my eggs from a local lady whose young daughter is learning about money and savings. And meanwhile, I get these beauties for $2.50 per dozen! And what's really awesome is that I know that the hens they came from are well-cared-for, organically fed (mostly fruits from their orchard and veggies from the garden, plus the standard bugs, etc. that free-range hens eat), generally happy birds.

Seriously, does it get any better than this? The boys are really tickled about the blue-ish ones...

Speaking of the boys...one of my boys had a birthday today!!

My sweet, crazy little Gavin turned two years old on this day!

I love to look at pictures and read over his birth story and remember that awesome time in our lives. Where has the time gone? One moment his daddy is holding him for the first time, then *blink* he's running around the yard in his big brother's hand-me-downs, chasing the dogs and loving life.

I thank God for every day with my boys. Life is so fragile...we've seen this in our own lives and in the lives of others around us. There are days that they drive me to the brink of insanity, but I wouldn't trade those days for the world...I'm just so glad that they're here and they've been lent to me for a while...I cherish every day.

P.S. I won the afore-mentioned book giveaway for "Birth Space, Safe Place"! Woohoo! It's the first time I've ever won a giveaway!!

It's giveaway time!

Talk Birth, the personal blog of Molly (one of the ladies over at Citizens for Midwifery) is hosting a giveaway! We all love free stuff, and if you're even half as crazy as I am about anything even remotely having to do with birth, then you just might be interested! The book is called "Birth Space, Safe Place", and is about emotional well-being in pregnancy and birth. I know that, for me, there were a few things that played big roles in my emotional well-being during that time...the first few that come to mind are having family that were supportive of me, having a midwife who I trusted implicitly, and the overall sense of peace brought by being "in charge" of my pregnancy and labor this time and being educated about the options in birth. Even if I don't win the giveaway, I will be planning on getting this book for my library. I think that a lot of people either discount or don't realize how much your emotional state has so much to do with your progression in labor. I'll be interested to read it...and I LOVE the cover art!

We're famous!

Woohoo! Gavin's birth story has been featured in Born in Sarasota, a blog dedicated to all things birthy and that share birth stories of babies born under the watchful and loving eyes of the wonderful midwives in the Sarasota area. My midwife, Harmony Miller of Rosemary Birthing Home, touched my life in a very unique way. She not only took care of Gavin and me during pregnancy, labor, and after birth, but also challenged me as a person and introduced me to a new and wonderful world of cloth diapering, babywearing, co-sleeping, etc. Deklan's birth was very special...he was my firstborn, born healthier than we could have ever hoped with his heart problems, and one of the few loves of my life. I had wanted to have him in a birthing home, specifically The Birth Cottage, which was near the place that I lived at the time. Wanna know something crazy?? Harmony actually apprenticed at that very place, and was there at about the same time as I would have been there for Deklan! Anyway, shortly after I had contacted the midwife there, I found out that Deklan would be born at a hospital due to a congential heart deformity. His birth, though very special, left me feeling a bit violated and left to the mercy of "the system". I vowed that, barring health problems, it would be different for the babies following him. Harmony helped me to fulfill that vow. She also inspired me to go back to school. I had been wanting to be a L&D nurse since I was in nursing school, I had just never gone in that direction. But after Gavin was born, I was just left thinking "If I could do for just one woman what Harmony did for me, I'd be the happiest woman alive!" I knew I had to go back to school. We discussed the different aspects of midwifery, and she introduced me to Frontier. As far as attachment parenting goes, it was all stuff that I felt was right, but it just seemed so removed from everything that I'd known that I really never delved into it. If I could, I'd go back to Florida just to have my next babe with Harmony!

So read the story if you'd like. Beware, it has pictures! I only wish that every person who reads this story could read it and remember it with the same love and respect that I had, for my baby, my body, my family, and my midwife. Thanks again, Harmony. It was an honor to have you as our midwife!

A new year!

Hurray for new years and new beginnings! I have a few things that I'm happy about, a few things that I'm sad about, and several things I'm anticipating already this year...

I'm anticipating starting school this year. A co-worker and myself have decided to try a seven on/seven off schedule. Yes, seven 12-hour days in a row is a lot, but it's honestly not a lot different than what I've been doing. This last week of work was 3 on, 1 off, 3 on, 1 off, 2 on. How is seven in a row going to be much different than that? I think having a week off every other week will "give me my life back"...you know, give me time to be a wife and mom and do some of the crafty things that I like to do, etc. If it really helps and I find that it's working, I'm going to go ahead and turn in my application to Frontier.

I'm anticipating losing weight and getting healthier. Another lady at work and myself have put together a "Biggest Loser" competition on our floor. We have already had over a dozen people sign up! We're going to all pitch in $30 for an initial buy-in, then $10 per month for the duration of the competition. The $30 is going to pool together to be the grand prize, and the $10/month is going to be for a monthly first, second, and third place winner. I think we all need a little incentive and motivation! There are all types of people joining, and I think it's great! It's going to be for four months. I don't plan on doing anything drastic, just healthier eating and being more active. Wish us luck!

I'm anticipating having another baby this year. Well, I'm hopeful, anyway! The date that would have been my due date for the little one that we lost is less than a month away. I'm hopeful that losing some weight will help me get pregnant. Deklan prays every night for a baby sister, without my prompting and without us even talking about babies...he just wants one! He's such a sweetie.

I'm happy for my family entering this year healthy, together, and happy! We all have our bad days, but as a whole, our family is awesome.

I'm happy for a friend of mine, who is now about four months pregnant after having three early losses in one year! My heart broke for her as it did mine, knowing the loss that she felt and that compounded twice more...it was a definite answer to my prayer (and hers!) and I'm so thankful for it!

I'm sad for my best friend, Lolo. Her husband's father went to heaven today after having a massive stroke a couple of days ago. It was due to a bleed in the brain, caused by high blood pressure that he didn't even know he had. He was a healthy guy in his 60's, and nobody saw it coming. That brings to mind a couple of things for me. Check your blood pressure often. A physical once or twice a year may not be enough to detect an abnormal blood pressure. High blood pressure is known as "the silent killer"...most people have no symptoms at all until they have a stroke. Also, don't wait to get saved. Thankfully, Mr. Breaker was a fellow believer and nobody who knew him doubts where he is right now, worshipping at the throne of God, happier than he ever was on this earth. But there are people who think that they can wait until "later" to learn about eternity and salvation. They're young. They're healthy. They have time. But there are so many "what ifs"! You could be in an accident. You could have a stroke or a heart attack as a young person. You never know. Please, please consider eternity and where you'll be!

I know that this year will hold lots of ups and downs, hopefully more ups than downs! Happy New Year to everyone!

One of Trav's favorite quotes...

"A good wife is heaven's last best gift to man; his angel and minister of graces innumerable; his gem of many virtues; his casket of jewels; her voice his sweet music; her smiles his brightest day; her kiss the guardian of his innocence; her arms the pale of his safety, the balm of his health, the balsam of his life; her industry, his surest wealth; her economy, his safest steward; her lips, his faithful counselors; her bosom, the softest pillow of his cares; and her prayers, the ablest advocates of heaven's blessings on his head." ~ Jeremy Tayor, 1613-1667

I tie-dyed my sheets...

...and they're AWESOME! Forgive the less-than-stellar quality of a couple of the pics...they were taken on my phone at night!

~ Pillowcases

~ Fitted sheet...and Jasmine getting flashbanged...

~ Flat sheet

~ Everything put together!

I was going for a moderate shade of purple...darker than lavender but not too dark. I committed a cardinal sin in the dyeing world and didn't test the color before I took the plunge. But hey, I'm not too picky and this set didn't have to match anything, so I didn't really care. I just did random circles in random sizes and used Rit dye in the washing machine. Minimal effort, great results! Oh, and the sheets were on clearance from Wal-Mart for $15, 100% cotton flannel, perfect for the cool weather we're having!

The seasons change...

...with or without us! Do you ever look back at time...the last few weeks, months, years? Where did they go? What did you do in that time? Somehow I find myself toward the end of 2009. Next month we will have been in Fresno for a year, in Cali for almost a year and a half. I think about these things as family members who haven't seen my kids for the last year or so comment on how grown up they look in pictures and how they sound on the phone, and as people that I know continue to grown, age, and go thru life. I look at people around me, my peers, and can't believe that we're almost 30 (not that that's a bad thing!). My brother will be 30 in a few weeks. My sis is serious about her guy and we're hoping for a summer wedding (*wink, wink, nudge, nudge Janna!!*). My little sister who was two years old when she was a flower girl in my wedding is now ten years old!

Another thing that made me think of the passage of time, the waxing and waning of the seasons, was a friend's loss of her 2 1/2 year old son. Silas fought a hard battle with cancer, and left this world November 1st. His mom's blog chronicles his life, illness, and death. Our lives are so short, likened to a vapor in the Bible. We're here one moment and gone the next. Our lives are simply a drop in the bucket of time. Some lives are much shorter than others, like our little one and Silas, who were here for such a short time. But no matter how long we're here, each one of us is here long enough to fulfill our purpose. That's something that I am constantly pondering...my purpose. Oh, I know what I'm here for, as far as the broad spectrum of things. But my day to day life, every thing that I do in every moment...does it have purpose? The time that I spend every day, with my family or with my coworkers and patients...is it spent purposefully? Am I spending my time wisely? Do I make each moment count? I see areas that could use improvement, areas that could benefit from improved focus on purpose. I work with a girl who just came back from maternity leave following the birth of their second child. She apparently read some of my blog, pulled me aside one day recently, and asked me why I'm working on the Neuro floor. At first I had no idea why she was asking this...did I seem unhappy? Then she said that she read my blog and was wondering why I wasn't in L&D! Turns out that she wants to be an L&D nurse as well. I explained my rationale for not requesting a transfer yet, but her question left me asking myself questions. One thing is for sure, I need to get my application in for school. I wasn't able to start the winter term because the trip to Kentucky for the start of school would have fallen during a family reunion. But spring...ah, spring has such potential! And I can't wait to start school again, to have drive behind research. I've been wanting to start doing more research-type posts...I'm a statistic/fact and figure fiend...but I find myself being in the mood more to contemplate than to study.

So, I found a CSA that suits our needs quite well! For those not familiar, "CSA" stands for "Community Supported Agriculture". It's a great way to support your local farmers, know where your food came from, and buy locally and in season. Some CSA's require that the members spend x-amount of time working on the farm (not much, but enough to acquire an appreciation of your food and where it came from), others don't. Some deliver, others require pick-up. The one that we chose is called "The Farmer and the Dale" (the farmer's name is Dale). I find myself unable to make it to the farmer's market very often, as I work every Saturday and most Wednesdays, the days on which the market is open. So, with this CSA, it's like the farmer's market coming to your door! I also found a source of fresh chicken and duck eggs. I was hoping for true free-range, but the coyotes here are so bad that it's virtually impossible...they snatch chickens in broad daylight!! The family who raises the chickens, though, keep them as pets. They live in huge pens where they can roam safely, eat off of the farm and orchard that the family also keeps, and are not forced to lay year-round. Thus, we have to wait till spring is closer until we can get some eggs as they only produce a few eggs during the winter. But they've invited us over to have a look at the farm and the other animals, and allow the boys to collect a few eggs so they can really appreciate where the eggs are coming from. Now, to find a good local source of dairy! I'm pretty sure that there's a farm near here, I just have to research it out a little bit. I want to know if I can get it straight from the farm instead of from Whole Foods, where's it's twice as expensive. One thing that I have gotten hooked on since moving out here is St. Benoit Yogurt. It is SO GOOD. Our local Whole Foods just stopped carrying it, though...so now I have to find a way to get it. Maybe I can bring a cooler every time we go to San Francisco and do a pick-up!