Lighting Up My Life

The tree is up! Ian and Eva immediately started banging and throwing our ornaments around (the majority of which are Egyptian glass). Miraculously, none of them broke. However, Curt broke two ornaments while attempting to stop the kids from breaking them. We left the bottom 2 feet of the tree pretty bare and used some fleece blankets under the tree to give the ornaments a chance of survival.

Birthing is a Journey: A Woman Who Serves

From the DONA website:

The word "doula" comes from the ancient Greek meaning "a woman who serves" and is now used to refer to a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth; or who provides emotional and practical support during the postpartum period.


I have been asked to serve a friend on her VBAC journey. She, herself, is a certified doula. She does not need me to give her information or resources about birth or VBAC or labor coping techniques. She has read and researched much more than I have. She has attended many births as a doula and has put many techniques in practical use. So why does she need a doula herself, and why me?

Support.

Every woman needs support in her pregnancy and birthing time. Her knowledge, goals and family situation may vary, but every woman needs support. In Amy's case, she has great knowledge and a supportive husband, but she has special circumstances since her first birth was by cesarean with an inverted-T incision. It can be difficult to find the right provider for a VBAC when you have a low, transverse incision, but an inverted T makes it even harder. The importance of creating a birth team, cannot be underestimated.

I am not a certified doula, but I did go to great lengths to birth Eva. I know what it is to wear the scarlet letter that a prior c-section represents to many doctors. I know what it is to believe that I can birth my baby even when it would be more convenient for everyone else involved (other than me and the baby) to submit to a major abdominal surgery. I know the courage it takes to prepare and to believe when most people around you don't understand, or worse yet, don't believe. I know how it feels to do everything you can and then surrender to the process.

So I will serve. I will listen. I will cheer. I will encourage. I will surrender to the process of her birth. I will trust that I will have the right words at the right time, the right touch at the right time and know when to just sit quietly in the corner and do nothing but be present.

I am honored to walk this road with her and for the next 9 months, I will serve in any way I can.

Sewing Project

Though I have had some small sewing projects in school, I never really learned to sew. I can't cut or stitch a straight line and I am not mechanically inclined, so getting proper tension on the thread, threading the machine, winding the bobbin, all big obstacles to sewing. Before Ian was born, I made a crib skirt and quilt with the help of my mom and friend, Heather. My mom is much more precise about laying out the fabric correctly and pressing the seams. That paralyzed me even more.

I've had a simple pillowcase dress pattern for months that I have been unable to get myself to make for the reasons listed above. I think I am finally starting to realize that it doesn't matter if it is perfect, I just need to do it. The pattern is very forgiving as is the cotton fabric, so I am trying to just get it done. The pattern was a PDF so I got it printed and put together and then I cut it out. Now it is pinned together and ready to be stitched.

So the question is, how long will it take me to wind and load the bobbin, thread the machine and stitch?

What Does Daddy Do Every Sunday

My yoga teacher training course is all day long, every Sunday. People have been asking me,"How is Curt doing? What does he do all day wit the kids?"

Well, every Sunday after they drop me off, they make pancakes. Then, the do a lot of this:

Standing and Scooting

Standing:



Falling into the Splits:

Little Sister

Yesterday Sex, Today Death

So yesterday Ian hits us with,"I want to talk about sex," and today he picked Bambi off the shelf for me to read to him at storytime.

Ya know, the story about the little deer whose mother gets shot by the hunters. The book doesn't show Bambi's mom die, just tells you that it happened and on the next page Bambi appears with his father.

"What happened to Bambi's mother?"

"She died. The hunters shot her."

"Why did they do that? They shouldn't do that?"

"They wanted to eat her."

"You're not supposed to eat somebody's mom. I need to get in those pages and stop the bad guys from shooting her."

Think we might be going vegan. Until Curt makes ribs again.

First Sex Talk

My son is 3 years old. Not almost 4, not even 3.5, he is 38 months old. Yesterday, while he was getting into the bath he said,"I want to talk about sex, Mommy."

"What?"

"Sex. Seeeexxxxx. Let's talk about sex."

Just then, my husband came home and I told him,"Ian wants to talk about sex."

Curt said,"We can talk about sex after your bath."

After his bath, Ian was jumping around in the livingroom,"I'm ready. Ready to talk about sex!"

So Curt says to him,"What do you think it is?"

Ian says,"I don't know."

Curt,"Where did you hear about it?"

Ian,"On the tv." (Darn those PSAs there is one that plays on AFN a lot that has kids sayingm"Mom, Dad talk to me about sex."

Curt,"Sex is something that adults do."

Ian,"Then I think I need to practice a lot." (probably said this because he had to practice going to the potty and putting on his clothes , etc)

Curt,"No, no, you don't need to practice until you are much older." (Oh boy, was Curt starting to sweat here).

Ian,"Can I eat these carrots?"

And so ends the first sex talk.

Another Moby Wrap Intervention Brought to You by Mama Seoul

Yesterday, I ran into a mom of three who was trying to help her older child with his homework, keep a toddler from jumping off the stairs and other destruction and calm a fussy newborn baby. She was holding him, but he was still fussing. Unable to concentrate on helping her older son, she set the baby down in his carseat carrier. She was very frustrated and so was the baby. Since Ian was occupied and Eva was sleeping I offered to hold the baby. The mom said,"That would be really nice, but he is hard to soothe."

I picked him up and wrapped my sweater tightly around him, like he would be held if I had my wrap, and he calmed instantly. I held him for about 15 minutes before Eva woke up. The mom was amazed and a little embarrassed. She said,"You calmed him and I couldn't. I should have been able to do it."

And then, of course, I told her about Moby,"It's not magic, it's Moby."

I'm no "baby whisperer", but the right carrier can really help a fussy baby. Unfortunately, my own wrap is out on loan, but I sent her the contact information for Moby Wrap Korea. It is amazing how a good baby carrier will change your life for the better.

Coincidently, Eva was wearing her Moby hat yesterday (with a very cute knit outfit that was given to me by my friend Katy). Moby has hats, blankets and Baby Legs to match your Moby. Korea only has the hats and blankets right now, but perhaps the Baby Legs will come soon.

Halloween!

Halloween 2009 started back in August when I decided not to be last minute about the costumes. I decided that Eva would be Cyndi Lauper and ordered the basis for her outfit. I tried to let Ian pick his costume but he kept going back and forth so I finally ordered a pirate costume sometime in September. Well, Eva's outfit was backordered and delayed and backordered. I think it has finally shipped, but it did not arrive on time. With the Passion for Birth seminar October 28-30, I was not prepared for Halloween.

Eva's costume had to be put together. She refused the wig I had (it was blonde, not colored so it didn't really fit for 80's Cyndi anyway), refused bracelets and refused makeup. So her costume ended up being somewhere between punk princess, senior cruisewear and vampire. Oh well, she is a baby.

It was raining on Saturday but did clear up between 6 and 8 so we were able to go Trick-or-Treating. I got a few pictures before the camera died. Then I shot some more with a friend's camera, but I don't have those pictures, yet. I got a few more with another camera at home. Next year, I need to make sure I have enough time for execution or just buy something premade . Ian had a lot of fun and did more houses than last year. Of course, last year we were able to get rid of most of his candy without him knowing. This year, he knows but we are rationing and I will still give out or throw away a lot of the candy.