The Battle for Homebirth

A couple of days ago, I stumbled upon a blog called A girl named Kevin. Basically, the woman who writes it, Loni, suffered the devastating loss of her daughter Aisley just last month. I obviously don't have all of the details, but what I know from her blog is that she had a homebirth and her daughter was stillborn. The baby's heart tones were steady even while she was in the birth canal. They believe that in the final moments before birth, there was a cord accident. Because this was a homebirth, Loni and her husband have come under attack. So while dealing with their immense grief, they now have to justify the fact that it was NOT their fault that their baby died.

I chose to birth my last two babies with highly trained midwives out of a hospital. I CHOSE. My husband and I CHOSE. Why is it anyone else's business where I, or any other woman, has her baby? Just last week I had to defend my choice of homebirth to the guy who processed my son's social security card. He had a completely negative attitude towards me because of it. Why does it matter to him, a complete stranger, where my baby was born?

Where you choose to labor and birth your baby is an extremely personal choice. One that is the business of the pregnant woman and her partner/baby's father/husband. I had my first child in a hospital and I chose never to do that again. I am not a birth nazi, but I am passionate about birth. I don't care where anyone else births. Well, that isn't entirely true. Pregnant friends close to me know that I will subtly mention how amazing my midwives and my homebirth experience were but I try to stop there!

I know there are women who take control of their labors in a hospital. There are women who don't mind the constant monitoring and mandatory IV and the nurses who tend to ask if you would like an epidural 15 times. Some women feel safer in a hospital. I do not judge this. I know not every hospital is a pit of hell like the one I had my daughter in. There are fabulous doctors and nurses and even midwives that work in hospitals. Just as I'm sure there are midwives that do homebirth that are the exception to the rule as well.

I was fortunate in that I had a supportive husband and family when I chose to birth at home. It is true that not everyone was comfortable with my decision but no one said anything negative to me. A lot of people are unsure about homebirth because they are not educated on it. Most women who chose homebirth end up educating themselves as well as their families and friends on the safety and benefits of it.

Excuse my ramblings. I was up most of the night with a sick baby and all of this on my mind. Please show some love to Loni on her blog if you can. I can't begin to imagine her pain and you can't have too much positive support.

Just for kicks here are some studies on the safety of homebirth:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9271961
http://www.changesurfer.com/Hlth/homebirth.html

In case you are looking for a midwife in the Sacramento area:

http://www.newearthmidwife.com/

Mommies on a Mission: Weeks 8-10

<center> <a href="http://lifeasalake.blogspot.com/2012/07/mommies-on-mission-week-1.html"><img src="http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z7/Abbeylake07/weight-loss_after-baby1.jpg" /></a></center>   I totally slipped the last couple of weeks! I swear its not my fault. Well, not entirely. My husband keeps bringing me home bags of sour gummy worms and he knows they are my weakness! I have been lazy, busy and tired, which is a terible combination. I figured since I was losing the weight slowly without putting in a ton of effort, I was doing just fine. My pre-pregnancy clothes fit me but they would look so much better if I got my butt into gear! I am really going to try this week.   Pre-pregnancy weight: 121 Weight at delivery: 180 Week 7 weight: 124 This weeks weight: 125   Check on Mama Lake's Progress!

Confession Friday

Here it is: I secretly want to be Michelle Duggar. She has more patience for her 95 kids than I could ever have for my 3. She's crazy organized, has a helpful husband and well behaved children, and she never has to worry about birth control. That's all.

Our New Normal

Wow have we been busy around here lately! Natalia started first grade a few weeks ago and Noelle started preschool last week. After last years ridiculous kindergarten experience (I will save that for another post!), we applied to a few charter schools and we were lucky enough to get a spot at one. The only downfall is that it is a 25 minute drive each way. So basically we are in the car most of the day M-F.

Here is Buggy on her first day of preschool!

I don't know what it was about the first two weeks of school but it was a huge adjustment for us all. Natalia went from being homeschooled all day to almost 7 hours of school a day. Not to mention my nightowl was now needing to be up and ready earlier than she was used to. What was most surprising was that it really affected Noelle and I. We both started napping with the baby in the afternoons!

Yep. Here is where I spent my afternoons for a few weeks!

So now we are getting in to more of a routine and I am getting used to being tired every day and less dependent on a daily nap. Noelle, however, still very much needs one! I am hoping not to get too burnt out on the daily drive, because Natalia's new school is amazing and we are all so happy with it.

I start working again next week and I can't wait! It is only 2 days a week but I will be happy to have a houseful of kids again. I know once that starts and I begin volunteering in both of the girls classrooms in the next few weeks we will need to adjust again. I really am someone who thrives on being busy, so hopefully the transition will be smooth!

In other news at the G house, Natalia has her first loose tooth and baby Ryder had his first half birthday!

 It is getting harder each month to get him to hold still long enough to take a photo!

Mommies on a Mission: Week 7

<center> <a href="http://lifeasalake.blogspot.com/2012/07/mommies-on-mission-week-1.html"><img src="http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z7/Abbeylake07/weight-loss_after-baby1.jpg" /></a></center>   I apologize for being so behind on updating! Both of my girls started fulltime school and it has been a huge adjustment! You think I would have more time to blog but it just isn't so. I have been doing good as far as not eating out and cooking at home. We did order out from Chili's once and my husband and I both got sick from eating such rich food! I definitely notice a huge difference in the way I feel when I eat healthier. I also signed up for an organic produce delivery program. So we receive a box of organic locally grown produce every 3 weeks. It has been fun to experiment with produce I normally wouldn't cook with or eat. I haven't done any formal exercising yet but I have been trying to walk more and just be more active in general. So here is what this week looks like:   Prepregnancy weight: 121 End of pregnancy weight: 180 3 weeks ago weight: 127 Today's weight: 124     Don't forget to check on Mama Lake's progress!

Mommies on a Mission: Week 4

<center> <a href="http://lifeasalake.blogspot.com/2012/07/mommies-on-mission-week-1.html"><img src="http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z7/Abbeylake07/weight-loss_after-baby1.jpg" /></a></center> I can't believe it is week 4 already! I have finally made some progress. I lost 3 pounds this week and can finally button my pre-pregnancy jeans! I swear, I owe it all to the Special K. I haven't yet found (made) the time to exercise so I still have the pregnancy belly pouch that won't go anywhere until I get my butt off the couch! I think I need something to motivate me this week. Maybe a trip to a local beach, pool, or lake as a reward...somewhere that means a bikini. I am really excited about my progress but I really want to start exercising for so many reasons, not just to lose the last of the weight. If you are following along each week, how are you doing with your progress? Any advice for motivation?   Pregnancy weight: 180 Pre-pregnancy weight: 121  Last weeks weight: 130 Today's weight: 127   Please venture over to Life as a Lake to check on Mama Lake's progress this week!

Mommies on a mission: Week 3

<center> <a href="http://lifeasalake.blogspot.com/2012/07/mommies-on-mission-week-1.html"><img src="http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z7/Abbeylake07/weight-loss_after-baby1.jpg" /></a></center>


I had a feeling I wouldn't make much progress this week and I was right. I have been making better food choices but I haven't fit in any exercise yet. The problem is that I am still nursing the baby a lot, (he is 19 lbs now!) and I am always hungry! I have started eating special k for breakfast each morning and I know once I start working out, I will see a difference.
My oldest starts school next week so I am hoping that once we get into a routine I can schedule some exercise in somewhere!
Weeks postpartum: 22
Pregnancy weight: 180
Last weeks weight: 130
This weeks weight: 130
GOAL: 120

Be sure to check out Life as a Lake to see Mama Lake's progress and if you are interested in joining in the weight loss challenge, send me an email.

Wish me luck this week!

Wordless Wednesday

Mommies on a Mission: Week 2

Week 1 was pretty much a fail! We decided to go camping last weekend so between the tri-tip, bread and artichoke dip, guacamole, beer and smores, I definitely didn't start my diet! The only exercise I got was walking up and down the hills between the pool and our campsite. The good news is I didn't gain any weight. I am headed out of town again this weekend to see family and my goal is to pack healthy snacks and not overindulge. Oh, and Special K is on sale at my local store so I plan to stock up!
Here is the lowdown:

Pregnancy weight: 180 (EEK! I know...)
Pre-pregnancy weight: 121
Current weight: 130
Goal weight: 120

Check in next week to see if I make any progress!

Second Anniversary

Yesterday was our second wedding anniversary. Since we hadn't been out since before baby boy was born, I thought it was about time for a date night. I called him in the morning and asked him to be home by 5, ready by 5:30 and to wear something nice because we were heading downtown. In the five years we have lived here, we have probably been downtown less than a handful of times so I know he was very curious.

We dropped off the kids at their awesome babysitters house then headed downtown. When we got there and walked in, I said to hubby, "Look, there's Hans!" Hans is the extremely talented musician who played at our wedding. Check out Hans' music here.When I found out he was playing on our anniversary, I knew we had to go! Hubby was super surprised and we had an amazing time.

Here we are two years later:

Mommies on a Mission: Week 1

<center><a href="http://lifeasalake.blogspot.com/2012/07/mommies-on-mission-week-1.html"><img src="http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z7/Abbeylake07/weight-loss_after-baby1.jpg" /></a></center>

Ok I admit, knowing I was going to start a weightloss challenge today did not encourage me to eat well and get a head start. In fact I did the opposite. I stopped thinking about what I was eating and rationalized that I would be starving soon enough! All kidding aside, I weighed myself this morning and was pleasantly surprised to see I had dropped 5 more pounds. I was confused as to how that could have happened but while telling my mom about it, it dawned on me that over the past month or so, I have made some changes to my diet. I stopped eating fast food and dining out, I was making all of our food including most snacks, from scratch, and my family was eating alot more fresh fruits and vegetables. I hadn't thought of it before as helping me to lose weight. I just wanted to save money and be healthy.

So here is the rundown:

Goal: I have 9 pounds to lose to get to pre-pregnancy weight. I am realistic with this goal because I am a nursing mommy and my son needs me to be a little chunky!

Plan: My plan to reach my goal is something that has worked for me in the past. Most days I will be eating special k cereal for breakfast. Lunch will be an Arbonne protein shake with either 2% milk or almond milk and almond or peanut butter. Dinner will be a balanced meal. Lots of water, fruits and veggies for snacks! For exercise I will be attempting to do Jillian Michaels dvd "Ripped in 30" 3-5 times a week.

Here is my before, please excuse the picture quality!:

For those of you who want to link up your blogs so we can read your progress here's how:

Post Partum Weight Loss

I am excited to announce that my friend who writes over at Life as a Lake and I, are going to team up for a weekly after-baby weight loss blog. We will be writing every Thursday about trying to shed the baby weight. I have been wanting to lose the last of the weight for awhile so hopefully having to update everyone on my progress each week will help!

If you are interested in joining in on our challenge and weekly updates let me know! Be sure to check back next week for the start of our challenge!

Crunchy AND Crafty...Oh My!

I have recently started looking for an amber necklace for baby boy. A few friends have little ones who wear them and supposedly they are great for teething. While I was looking online for one, I came across lots of mommy necklaces. There are a lot of different styles out there. Some are actually made for teething babies like the ones found on chewbeads. Others are just designed to catch baby's attention while he or she is nursing. You know that age when little nursling's start to get distracted and want to look around, pull mommy's hair or pinch your arm fat? My little guy just got there. I found a few cute designs I liked and decided I would try and make my own! Well I am not crafty in the least but I really wanted one of these necklaces. So off we went to the craft store, where beading supplies were 50% off this week.

Here is what I started with:

Super basic but this is the style I was going for. Plus, I am a beginner and I wasn't ready for a crazy challenge.

Here is the finished project:                                                                                                                

Like i said, totally basic but I love it! I even have enough supplies left over to make a few for friends. The best part? I spent $2.68!

What to do when it's crazy hot outside...

This week it has been stupid hot where I live. I know it could be hotter, but with an infant who sweats like a grown man, we haven't been venturing out unless we must. So what do we do when we are stuck inside? Apparently the same thing we do on cold rainy days. We cook and bake.

On Sunday we made microwave chocolate-peanut-butter-oat-snack-bars. The recipe only makes about 3 bars but its perfect for a quick snack.  

On Monday the girls and I made Baked oatmeal casserole. This is the second time I made this. The first time was to bring to a new mama. It is addicting!

Today we only left the house to get our free slurpees from 7/11! Oh, and we played at a friends for a bit. As if slurpees weren't enough, a few hours later I threw some frozen bananas, hershey's syrup, peanut butter and milk in a blender to make "milkshakes."

Thank goodness for instant netflix because it seems like all we have done this week is watch Hannah Montana and eat! Judge me if you want, but it is H.O.T. and I want to enjoy my children as much as I can before school starts again.

Disappointment and New beginnings

I miss blogging! I took a little break while we moved and got settled in our new house.

Over the past month I have been actively searching for a job, turning in resumes and even going on an interview. Last week, an interview I was scheduled to go on was canceled because they filled the position. I was so disappointed because I felt like this job would be perfect for our family.  It took me a day or so to find the bright side. I realized that I hadn't worked since a month before my baby boy was born. I have been so blessed to be home with my three babies for the past five months. I have gotten crazy good at budgeting and finding cheap or free things to do with the kids. Most of all, it has forced me to come up with creative ways to make money. I have so many ideas floating around in my head and I can't wait to put some in action!

This time has also allowed me to find what I am really passionate about. I love pregnancy and birth. I have always been fascinated with it, even when I was a teenager. Now that I am a mama and I have experienced three very different births, I have a huge respect for the birthing process. A friend of mine recently gave birth at home using the same midwives I delivered baby boy with. She also used a professional photographer to capture her labor and birth. Something clicked for me when I looked at the pictures from her birth.

I have to be involved with birth somehow.

Like I said, this isn't exactly something new to me. Anyone who knows me at all knows I have always wanted to work with pregnant and/or parenting teenagers. It's why I got my B.A. Now I want to take it a step further. My dream is to become certified as a childbirth educator and a birth doula. I watched a documentary today called "Pregnant In America." That sealed the deal!

Money Makin' Mama

Everyone knows times are tough these days. Especially stay at home moms. I have seen a lot of blog posts about supplemental income for moms. Everyone seems to have ideas on how to bring in extra money while staying home with their kids. I have heard everything from selling goods on etsy to direct selling companies such as Avon to doing childcare. I have been a consultant for Arbonne which I really loved. I have been incredibly fortunate to be able to stay home with all of my children since they were born. At first it was easy because my husband had a great job with a steady income. Just as the economy was taking a downturn, he lost that job. Thankfully he found a new job very quickly but it came with a paycut. A few months before this I had begun caring for two other children in addition to my two. I have done childcare as long as I could remember so this was perfect for me. I cared for those two beautiful children for almost three years up until 3 months ago just before my son was born. Our plan was to move into an apartment for 6 months so that I could take a break from working and we could save up to buy a house. Well, one thing after another came up and quickly ate into our house fund. Including replacing the transmission in my car. Then about two months ago our former landlord called us up and asked if we would like to move back into a house we previously lived in for several years. My husband and I have moved nine times in the eight years we have been together. In all of those moves, this house is the only place we have stayed longer than a year. It is home. So we are jumping at the chance, and signing a 2 year lease! The only catch is that I will need to be bringing in some income in order for us to be comfortable there. I graduated with my BA in Child Development a year ago and my goal is to eventually work with pregnant and parenting teens. For now though I would prefer to do something part time. I need to be the one taking my kids to school and picking them up but I am not opposed to working outside of my home. I am willing to sacrifice a lot financially in order to be the primary caregiver for my babies but I need to contribute to my family too. Not to mention, it is SO satisfying for me to be making money as well! Does anyone have any clever money making ideas?

Oh, Monday.

This past weekend I braved 3 birthday parties. One for my own child, and two on my own with all three kids. Yesterday my husband had a guys day, which he rarely gets to do, so I was on my own all day. Today we had a two month checkup for the baby and a homeschool meeting for my 6 year old to get to. My goal was to leave the house by 9:30 am. My morning and afternoon went something like this: 3 year old wakes me up at 7 am wanting breakfast, I crawl over the baby like a ninja so he doesn't wake up, feed 3 year old, put in workout dvd while praying that baby sleeps for another 30 minutes, baby wakes up 5 minutes into the dvd, 6 year old wakes up asking for cartoons and breakfast, I feed her then feed the baby. I sit down with 6 year old to catch up on the three days of homeschool we didn't have time for last week. I pick out four outfits, shoes and hair accessories, put the baby in the bouncy seat, stick him in the bathroom so I can take a shower. Get out of the shower, check the time. 9:26 am. How the hell did that happen?? Dry off, throw on too big maternity jeans and shirt, do my mom hair. (You know what I'm talking about, some variation of a ponytail, bobby pins or God forbid, a butterfly clip. Oh well, at least its not a scrunchy). I manage to get the kids into the car by 9:46 and to the Dr.'s only 15 minutes late. The Dr comes in, we talk, she checks baby, I sign the form saying I am refusing vaccinations at this time and get a short lecture. We leave, go to starbucks where I ask for the food item with the least amount of calories since I never did get that workout in but I am STARVING. In case you are curious, it's the spinach and feta wrap. Yep, tastes like feet. After that, I drive through Mcd's for the kids (save the lectures please). Hop on the freeway and realize the gas gauge is on E. Praying again that I don't run out of gas on the freeway because it is now in the 80's outside and I just might die if I have to walk somewhere. I make it to the next exit, find a gas station which of course does not accept debit cards outside and I am not getting all three kids out and going inside so I put the $10 in cash I have in my wallet. Get back in, start the car, and the needle doesn't move off E. Whatever. Get to the homeschool meeting and the 3 year old has to pee and baby has to eat. Beg the teacher to give us a light load for the next two weeks and ask her three times when the last day of school is all while nursing the baby. 3 year old has to pee again so I take her. Thankful that baby loves his Moby wrap because that is his home today. Get back to the meeting, finish it up. Now 3 year old has to pee AND poo. Again. I cannot make this up. Drive home, check email, see that the mom's group has a meetup tonight. Hooray, sign me up! Hubby calls and says Sorry, I am in Stockton and won't be home until at least 7. Sigh.

This is what makes it worthwhile.

Sleep much?

Any parent who has had a newborn knows sleep becomes a thing of the past for a little while. My first two kids did not sleep. Ever. At least if felt like that at the time. Neither one of them slept through the night until they were over a year old. My newest little guy has been a little different. Instead of waking up 5 or more times a night, he usually sleeps for a long stretch at the beginning of the night, then wakes up one or two more times after that. My problem is his daytime sleep. He is just not a napper! He loves to be close to me to sleep. A friend gave me a moby wrap and it has become my savior! In fact, he is sleeping in it as I write this.
When my oldest daughter was about 6 months old, I read a lot of books on sleep. I tried letting her cry it out when I was so exhausted I didn't think I could last another night. It was too hard on me and her so I gave up quickly. In the end, I survived their first years of life with little sleep. With that experience behind me, I have learned not to stress about whether or not my son will sleep through the night anytime soon. There is nothing more special than your little one (or two or three little ones) snuggled up in your bed, even if it means the couch for your husband! Time passes so quickly and even when you think you can't survive one more day with no sleep, you do!
As for me, I would rather be sleeping than doing pretty much anything else. I hate being tired!

Hot mama?

I have never been a pregnant woman with a cute little bump. When I am with child, I gain weight from my chins to my cankles. That's when your calves blend into your ankles for those of you not in the know! I typically add about 50-60 pounds to my 5'6" frame.  Every pregnancy I think to myself, this time I will work out and eat better, but I love food. I mean, I really LOVE food. I also have a ferocious sweet tooth. If there are sour gummy worms anywhere in sight, they belong to me. Forget about asian food. I'm surprised my kid didn't turn out half Thai. In between pregnancies, I am in decent shape. When I got married a little over a year and a half ago, I worked really hard and was in the best shape I had ever been. Unfortunately now I have that to compare my current body too.
Since having my third child almost 7 weeks ago, I have lost about half of my pregnancy weight. That leaves me with 28 extra pounds of solid jiggle. I have heard the saying that it took nine months to put the weight on and it might take as long to take it off. I don't think so.
You see, it was 90 degrees over the weekend and my kids wanted to go to the pool. My only choice was to buy a *gasp* bigger bathing suit. So off to target I went, with baby and one of my best friends in tow. She suggested a tankini, since my husband was appalled that I might buy a "onesie." Isn't he clever?
I found a tankini top and some shorts to go with it, but for some reason I bought them both in size medium, which is what I would normally wear. Why did I do that? I have no idea. When I got home and met my hubby and kids at the pool, his reaction went something like this: "Richard Simmons wants his shorts back." I told you he was clever. Ok maybe I should have gone up another size instead of squeezing myself into something a tad too small. I thought about posting a picture but I think I will wait until I have actually lost the weight to do a before and after.
Anyway, having weight to lose sucks. I have crazy motivation and serious desire to lose the weight but a very cranky newborn and two older kids who leave me with little time. Is this something other mommy's struggle with? It can't be just me!

My homebirth story

After 42 weeks of pregnancy, lots of walking (ok some walking), drinking various herbs, membrane stripping and listening to advice from just about everyone regarding how to start my labor, I finally gave in and drank a bottle of castor oil on the 294^th day of my pregnancy. 5 hours later, active labor started. I put my two daughters to bed just as labor was starting and hoped that they would fall asleep fast. I had always thought that when it finally started it was going to go fairly quickly and it seemed like it got intense right away. So around 10:30pm I had my husband call my good friend who was going to photograph the labor and birth and our midwives. Everyone showed up around 11:30 pm.

When I was checked, I was 4cm dilated. My first instinct was to get discouraged at that low number but instead I convinced myself that my body was working really hard and it would still move quickly. In the beginning, I moved around the house a lot trying to get comfortable. Eventually though I wanted to stay in our bedroom and labor pretty much on my own. My husband knows how I am in labor so he was there when I needed his presence and backed off when he sensed I didn’t. I kept asking when I could get into the birth tub but I couldn’t until I was at least 6 cms.

Finally around 1am (at least I think that’s what time it was!) I got into the tub. I was already in transition at that point so the water provided little relief. Every symptom of transition that you read about, I felt like I was having. My legs were trembling uncontrollably and it was driving me crazy! I asked one of my midwives to break my amniotic sac so that we could move it along a little. She did and I instantly felt like I needed to push. It is amazing the almost primal urges your body experiences in trying to get the baby out. Nothing else matters at that point. The baby had a little trouble coming out, due to his big size. I had to move into several positions to try and help him and finally he was out! All 9lbs 5ozs, 22ins of sweet baby boy. I am so thankful to have been able to give birth to my son in our home with the support of my husband and our wonderful midwives, and to have an amazing photographer to capture it all.

Another crunchy step

I have never tried cloth diapering. I could list the reasons why not, but I am sure you can imagine. The other day, my midwives put a link on their facebook page from a website called www.theecochic.com. The article they linked to was called "How to cloth diaper your baby for only $50 from birth to potty training." Well I am always looking for ways to save money so I'm really considering it! I have to admit, while I was pregnant, I stocked up on diapers. I mean really stocked up. Anytime they were on sale, or clearance, or I had coupons, I bought diapers. I thought I would be covered for quite awhile. When my son was born, he was over 9 lbs. That meant that he wore newborn sized diapers for 3 days. Literally. In the past 6 weeks, he has blown through all of the size 1 diapers. Today I finally took apart the really cute diaper motorcycle centerpiece my friend made us for our baby shower so I could use those diapers!
Do they have a cloth diapering class for semi-crunchies? I wouldn't even know where to start....

The Greater Good

I recently gave birth to a son, who is 6 weeks old now. When I took him in for his 2 week checkup at his pediatrician's office, I was asked if I wanted to do the Hep B vaccination. Normally, this shot is given in the hospital at birth. However, my son was born at home so he was spared this. I politely declined and my pediatrician (who I love and have been seeing with my older children for over 2 years), didn't push the issue. This got me thinking about the many times in the future I would be asked about shots for my son. With my first daughter 6 years ago, I was a young mom who really didn't question much. When my second daughter was born two years after that, I had learned more about vaccines and I decided I would allow her to get all the recommended shots but we spaced them out. Most people have heard the controversy in the news recently about vaccinations and injuries caused by them. Whether there is a link between autism and vaccines, we may never know. But the fact is that there is a much higher incidence of autism in males than females. That is just not a risk I want to take with my son. I know this is a sensitive subject for a lot of parents and I would never condemn someone for their beliefs. As parents, we choose what is best for our child. A documentary has come out recently called The Greater Good. (www.greatergoodmovie.org) I thought it was a moving and insightful film about vaccinations and the damage they may cause. I mentioned in a previous post that my husband is very much un-crunchy. He thought I was crazy for even questioning getting all the recommended shots for our son. Forty minutes in to the film he said, "I don't need to watch any more. We aren't getting him vaccinated." I couldn't believe my ears. I wasn't even sure how I felt yet! For those of you Californians, a very important issue is at stake. Please read about California Bill AB2109! This bill has passed the first stage of becoming a law. It isn't about whether or not you vaccinate. It is about the freedom of making that choice for your own child.

The Pinterest Obsession

Isn't it fascinating how so many people can become "obsessed" with the same thing? In my social circle, pinterest spread like wildfire. The site gives an inside glimpse of people's thoughts,dreams and inspiration. For me, I love getting new recipes, finding fun activities for my kids and discovering new blogs to read. Here's the thing, do we spend too much time "pinning" ideas that we never get around to trying them out? Does looking at other mom's boards give us unrealistic expectations for ourselves? Maybe its just me but it takes much less time to pin something to a virtual board than it does to actually do something. Personally, I have tried out quite a few recipes I've found on pinterest and I have done a few craft projects with my kids but most of my pins never see the light of day. I wonder how many moms out there feel guilty about never getting around to doing half of the ideas they pinned. I know a few times when I have looked back at the boards I have labeled "kids" and "homeschool" I feel a little guilty about the lack of follow through! Luckily, I have enough other mommy things to feel guilty about, so the feeling quickly passes!

What the heck is crunchy?

According to urbandictionary.com, "crunchy" is defined as someone who has changed their lifestyle for environmental reasons. It gives this example: "I need more crunchy guys in my life. I'm so tired of dating preppy metrosexual assholes." Awesome, right? When I say don't call me crunchy, it's not because I don't identify with this lifestyle, I do!  I just don't think I deserve the title. Who the heck comes up with these words anyway?
Why might I be considered crunchy? Well, I homeschool my kids, I recently had a homebirth with my third baby, I breastfeed, co-sleep and babywear, and I am super weary of overmedicating and overvaccinating children. Is that enough to be a crunchy mama? I don't think so. I don't cloth diaper, I don't have any chickens in my backyard (although that would be cool!), and I don't do meatless mondays. Maybe I am semi-crunchy or a neo-hippie...Can someone please come up with a title for me?? It was hard enough to name this blog!
Anyways, I'm a stay at home mama of 3, a recent college grad and a wife to a fantastic husband who is the complete opposite of crunchy (or whatever we are calling me!).
I am excited to share my thoughts, stories and even some current research with everyone. Follow me!