swirly thoughts

I’m a little crazy.

I pray. I know most people don’t know I am a spiritual person. But I keep it fairly low key only because I don’t want to shove my beliefs down your throat. I believe in a higher being that for lack of a better word I call God. Its not the God that is preached about in the religion I was raised with, it the one that I have come to find in my life over and over again.

I see this being in the birth of my children, in the power of my body as a mother; I find this being in the sequences that occur right before death, in the science that I study everyday.  

My gut/intuition/inner voice leads me to this being for whatever reason and I have no problem listening to it. I am absolutely okay with the fact that it may turn out that this being is all in my head. For now it keeps me peaceful, provides me an outlet; and yes carries me in times of need.

So anyways I pray. Not always in the conventional way like kneeling before bedtime or in church hands folded and eyes closed. I am a mother to two boys that on most days run rapidly from one catastrophe to the next. In my home a kneeling person is usually me searching for the missing item that my oldest cannot be without. No, I usually have my prayers in my head, almost always a quick prayer of thanks for these beautiful disaster children. Even when they are hungry, sleepy, and screaming I find myself listening to that intuitive feeling saying be grateful that you know how to handle them while they are hungry, sleepy, and screaming. Be grateful that they only scream when they are hungry and sleepy. Be grateful. Be kind. Be humble.

But while I was in a dark place in my life I found writing out my prayers were the easiest way to deal with the emotions I was wrestling with. I was glad when I read the book Eat. Pray. Love that someone else was as crazy as I am and also wrote out their darkest prayers. I was also glad to see that apparently God was writing back to Elizabeth Gilbert as well as me. This is where my confession comes from.

I was reading back through my prayers and though at the time I didn’t see the response it was there. Plain as the sun in the sky, a response was scrawled across the page in my untidy writing. And goose bumps rose on my skin while tears swam in my eyes.

Forgive.

Holy fuck. After a long prayer written out seeking anything to make my darkest days turn to light I remember writing it out the last thing on the page meaning to continue it with something else but stopped. It shook me to my core to see there on the page the answer I had so desperately needed.

There are probably a good few of you out there thinking, “I don’t get it, Dani has lost her marbles.” Maybe I have, but something in me just clicked when I read that word, and it further opened my eyes to the world. I will never be able to explain the feeling or connection I feel with the rest of the world. I may never meet another person that physically aches for the mistakes human kind isn’t learning from. But I will be able to take this feeling and connection and use it.

I don’t care if this was just me writing, and my subconscious’ neurons firing madly trying to pull me out of a deep rut for self-preservation. My heart felt touched and my mind was blank except for the fact that this was the God I knew, simple, loving, and guiding.

Even for a crazy lady.

Omnom nom nom!

I know that in the post “let’s get crunchy!” I very briefly mentioned Baby Led Weaning (BLW). And since then I have gotten a few questions about what this is and how it works. So here I am to answer the questions via blog post!

Theo on his first birthday trying his first taste of cake:)

Max loving him some brussels sprout:)

BLW is exactly what its name says it is. Letting your baby decide when they will wean themselves from breast to solid food. It also is omitting puree foods and instead allowing baby to feed themselves with their hands. Simple enough right? Around six months your baby is beginning to take that leap from exclusive breast milk to wanting some solids. This can be a confusing step for parents sometimes, so we tend to over think, over prepare and over worry about it. But really your baby is following your lead and what you are leading them to is food to mouth movements, chewing, and swallowing.

BLW is a process of feeding that allows a child to decide when they are ready to eat, what they want to eat, and when they are full. Kiddos use their innate instinct to pick things up and put them in their mouth. They then learn to chew before swallowing as a result of the mouth investigation instinct, instead of swallowing immediately with a puree or milk. Think of your little one picking up their favorite toy. What do they do? It goes straight to the mouth to be “investigated” which is basically tasting, and gumming on. So put food in place of the toy and you have a chewing then swallowing baby.

Beginning with foods that are baby-grasp friendly like cooked carrot sticks, zucchini, sweet potatoes, celery, and some fruits like bananas, mangos, peaches, nectarines, tomatoes and really ripe pears. These all can easily be grasped in a long thin form, and then gummed on to investigate. Don’t worry if immediately you little one doesn’t want to actually eat anything and they would prefer to lick or gum on it instead. The whole point of BLW is that they get to set the pace.

After you little one is on the roll with chewing and swallowing, you can begin to see what foods they prefer over others. Once they begin to have the “pincher grasp” down too (8-10 months) you can cut different things up into tiny little pieces to be picked up by baby and eaten. This would be the time to start with meats, beans, eggs, and other veggies or fruits that are less “gummable” there in the beginning.

Follow your baby’s lead; if they are continuously turning down a certain food they may not like the taste right now. But don’t be discouraged, set it aside for a few weeks or months and then try again. So ready for some BLW go to tips?!

• ·      Always make sure what you are feeding your little one is an appropriate food groups! Avoid rices, cereals, and grains since little ones have scarce to little amounts of the enzymes available in their gut needed to digest these.
• ·      If you or your partner have a food allergy it is best to keep that particular food away from baby until they are old enough to tell you how they feel.
• ·      Always double check temperature, center of cooked foods especially!
• ·      Eat meals with your baby in your lap. This way they begin to see the food they can try and start to explore off of your plate. (I did this with both my boys and ended up moving them to the high chair when they figured out they could use their hands. I usually ended up with an epic battle for my food, or the windshield wiper hands on my plate. Both resulting with more food on the floor than in either of our tummies. So once they let me know they wanted some too they got their own food).
• ·      There is a difference between “gagging” and “choking”. Gagging is the natural reaction to move food from the back of the tongue to the front of the mouth. Choking is when a food particle is obstructing the airway. Until baby gets the feel for moving things around in their mouth it is possible they will gag a few times. That is why it is super important to always be beside your baby when they are eating and to have appropriately sized food for them. Avoid anything too big when the pincher grasp is mastered.
• ·      Remember “Food before one is just for fun” so let your little ones have fun exploring and tasting new things! Don’t worry on the amounts they eat, or try to force food upon them. It will associate bad feelings with food and can take many years to reverse. Bad JOOJOO!
• ·      Want more about BLW? Check out these sites!
• http://www.babyledweaning.com/
• http://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintroductie/blw/engels.html
• http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/babyledweaning.htm#.UFvnEY6WPao

I am going to stress that it is very important that you wait as long as possible to give your baby solids. The digestive track of an infant is very immature and one of the last things to develop fully. Hence why an infant receives it caloric intake from Mama who takes food in for the baby and turns it into a manageable food source for their tummies along with other little miracles.

Six months is around the time your little one will be showing you that they indeed are ready! But some babies are not ready until as late as 10 months. These are some signs your little one might be ready:

• ·      Sitting up unassisted
• ·      Extreme interest in the food you are eating (think of the face you would make if the holy ghost appeared in your food!)
• ·      Hand to mouth coordination with “pincher grasp”
• ·      Crawling into a sitting position from tummy time.
• ·      Reaching out to your plate of food
• 
  

Feeding little tummies with delicious things is one of my favorite parts of the day! I hope to have a few recipes up soon! Until then crunch on fellow mamas!

Dan<3

Thats right I said it.

Foreskin. Foreskin. Foreskin. I'll say it again. Foreskin.
Apparently this word and the prepuce organ it describes have become a taboo in our nation.

In lue of the recent statements released by the AAP on mostly pro-cutting, there has been a lot of uproar from many people across the world. So, I thought I would just throw in some fun facts about the prepuce organ for everyone to read! (Warning it gets a wee bit graphic in this post so if you do not want to read about intimate body parts please feel free to close this post!).

The AAP's official statement can be found here: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2012/08/22/peds.2012-1989

Okay if you are lost right now I will do a quick fill in. The AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) released a statement on 8/27/12 states its views for parents to cut off the foreskin of their baby boy's penis are that "The benefits outweigh the risks". Circumcising is a very touchy subject and has been for the past few years. Many (yes as well as myself) believe that this is a step too far in modifying our children that were born whole and healthy. Why cut off a healthy, vital, and very sensitive piece of our son's bodies we ask?

Where to start on this controversial subject? I would first like say that I am not here to bash on anyone that has circumcised themselves, or their sons. I truly stand by the fact that, that is your child and no one can tell you what to do with him. 

By this same saying I would like to urge all and anyone considering circumcision to not do so without doing all of your research. REAL research. Understand what purpose the foreskin has, understand the process of amputation, the very real risks, and overall understand the enormity of the decision you are making on the behalf of a minor. 

Or better yet, let him decide for himself when he can fully understand his choices.

So now that we have that all cleared up lets talk about how AWESOME foreskin can be for everyone!
Did you know?

• that the foreskin contains far more fine touch nerve receptors than the exterior parts of the female clitoris (over 20,000 verses about 8,000).
• that the foreskin is a double layered skin system and is approximately 12-15 square inches in an adult. 
• that the end of the penis is supposed to be mucosal tissue like the inside of the cheek or the inside of the eyelid.
• that the foreskin slides and has a gliding action during intercourse, all the while providing exquisite sensations for the man that shape his orgasmic response.
• that this gliding action maintains a woman’s vaginal lubrication and does not dry her vagina out, making for a more comfortable experience for both partners and eliminating the need for artificial lubricants. 
• that having the foreskin increases the girth of the penis and that it allows a man to have enough skin to accommodate his whole penis – intact men are larger. 

Oh hey, that sliding gliding foreskin sounds a whole lot more like Fifty Shades of Grey Material now right? 

In reality the foreskin on a penis is a very vital piece of the male anatomy. It keeps those sensitive glands hidden underneath safe, moist, warm and protected. Foreskin is not a dirty area if taken care of properly (by that I mean bathing on a regular basis). That skin is actually kept cleaner than most body parts just by urinating. And when being protected by that handy foreskin the glands beneath produce a antibacterial and antiviral protein called lysozyme. In return the plasma cells in the foreskin’s mucosal lining secrete immunoglobulin’s, antibodies that defend against infection! So I suppose now the real question is: Why are we still slicing these off our newborns?

Intrigued? I knew I was! If you are looking for more information about foreskin, its purpose, and/or the AAP statement's wishywashyness I would point you in the direction of the peaceful parenting website! http://www.drmomma.org/ They also provide a overwhelming amount of attachment parenting facts and advise. 

Refrence:
http://www.drmomma.org/2012/08/aap-circumcision-policy-statement.html

Dan<3

Guilty, guilty, guilty.

First I would like to apologize for the time gap between posts. My boys have decided that because I now have things that I need to be doing in a timely fashion napping and quiet time are a thing of the past. But I am still keeping my fingers crossed that this is a phase. (Please oh please oh please let it just be a phase!) Recently there were some big decisions made for myself and for our family. First one is that I decided that the semester I took off to have Pancake is not turning into two semesters and I enrolled in classes at our local community college. I am only doing part-time but I have run out of classes to take online for my degree and have to take all of my labs now before I can graduate. With this I have to leave the boys for 6 whole hours a week. Which brings me to my guilt, the mama guilt.

I know that every mother that is reading this understands immediately what I am talking about. So for those of you that are a little less familiar with the gut wrenching guilt, I will explain further. This guilt is a horrible feeling that moms encounter when they cannot be everywhere at once. Now of course there is no such thing as a super mama that can be at work, at home with a baby and at school with their toddler all at once so many mamas get the case of the mama guilt. The flip side of the mama guilt is that you want and need to have an adult moment or two. You crave a moment where you get to speak a non-toddler modified version of English where you don’t refer to yourself and everyone else in third person. You long to miss your babies so that you can cherish the moments you share more.

Theo is now almost 4 years old and is ready to be able to play and be social with other kids his age and be away from Mama for a few hours. He has always been a child that enjoys playing with other kids and makes friends quickly. Theo is the child at the park that is telling the other children’s mother that they are not allowed to leave yet, because they are having fun. Theo I am not feeling guilty about leaving, Theo is ready and begging to play with his friends.

Max I am feeling guilty about leaving. He is hardly six months old, and firmly attached to Mama as he should be. And let me tell you Mama is just as firmly attached to him. Max who has never had a bottle and isn’t really ready for solids. Max the baby that when waking up in a new environment panics and looks immediately for me. He is just a baby, and needs a mama. I shudder at the thought of leaving him on my first day of class.

The worst of my guilt is that I am very ready to have a moment to do something for myself. It has been a full 18 months with far and few reprieves in between since I have been able to leave my babies and have that moment. I feel guilty that some times I wake up and am not ready to face a day filled with messes, toy truck noises, and not one adult to talk to for 10-12 hours. I feel guilty that I look forward to leaving my boys and going to a class where I will be challenged intellectually instead of challenging my patience. The overwhelming guilt really begins when my conscience starts whispering that I shouldn’t feel like I need to be away from them, that I am ungrateful for the blessed life we live where I can stay home if I want to. (I swear sometime I wish I could punch my conscience in the face).

But I know that I am always a better mother to my boys when I am happy and patient. And in order to be that happy and patient mother I need to take a few hours and take care of me. So David and I found a wonderful in home daycare/pre-school, where they parent like we do and have a loving and warm environment. They change cloth diapers; baby wear, and feed whole foods for snacks. How lucky are we that it happens to be right beside the campus that I will be at?

So in a few days time I will take my boys to someone else to watch. I will take way too long to leave, give them too many hugs and kisses, and probably cry when I get back in the car, but I will not let this guilt eat me alive. Although sometime I do try to pretend like I can do it all, I am only human and I need a break. And all my other mama friends reading this now, I want to tell you that you to deserve a break too. Because we will never be all of the mother that we can’t be if we don’t take those few moments to take care of ourselves.

Dan<3

Let's get crunchy!

Recently friends and family had asked me why and how I came to choose the parenting style I use. Most of our friends and family were doubtful of our choices when Theo was born. They had expected us to rear a demon, so just questioning how I use it is a HUGE step in the right direction. In a previous blog I mentioned that I tend to dance in the green pastures of “crunchy granola mama land”. By this I mean that I practice Attachment Parenting also know as Peaceful/Gentle/Hippie/Granola/Crunchy/Natural Parenting. In this blog I’m going to roll through the major ins and outs of what this is to us, how we use it, and a few more details.

I will not go so far as to say I am an expert on this parenting style but what I do with my children work in our home and are loosely based on Attachment Parenting. Not all of this is what all AP families do. AP parenting is about meeting your baby's needs.

First off in Attachment Parenting (AP) many families begin their parenting choices when they are pregnant. By this I mean that they choose to see a midwife instead of an OB-GYN, they chose to omit ultrasounds and invasive procedures, and choose to birth their baby naturally without any drugs. These families go with trusting the mother’s body to do what it was made to do, grow healthy babies. 

I am so happy to say that both of our boys were born naturally with the help of a midwife. What was best about a midwife was that they knew me and what I wanted in each pregnancy and birth. They saw me each time at the appointment and cooed with me at the lubdub noises of the baby's heart. Both my midwives cared about me and my baby.

Theo was born at home into David’s waiting hands in a warm tub of water. Max was born in the hospital (due to a rare blood condition making our pregnancy a high risk one) to my waiting hands that scooped him up to my chest. Both boys didn’t leave my arms until they had been calmed and told they were loved a million times. (Skin to skin contact immediately after birth, it is a precious gift that only you can give your baby.) Once they did leave it was only for the shortest of time to find out their measurements, and then were quickly returned to me and rarely left again in the following weeks. These weeks that passed too quickly were the most tender moments I have ever shared with them and I will never forget their lovely newborn noises.

Another HUGE practice in AP is breast is best. Breast is best. Breast is best. Breast is best. Did I mention that breast is best? In my family’s case I take this to an "extreme". We use baby led weaning and yes that means that I nurse into toddlerhood (gasp!). I don’t particularly like pumping, bottles, dummies, or frankly anyone else feeding my baby. So with this comes nursing in public. I couldn't give a hoot if someone doesn't want to see my baby eat; I’m going to feed him. Max likes to wear his cover as a turban rather than a cover, so I really do try to sit in a discreet area because I don’t want to show my boobs to anyone but if it happens then whoever got a peep usually gets an apologetic smile and I go back to nursing.

Max and I nursing in public. Notice the turban like cover. 

I love that my baby solely depends on my body to nourish his body. I really love sitting down and nursing a cooing little one that looks at you like you are the sun, moon, stars and earth all wrapped into one. With that being said I wouldn't say that it is a simple task, or that there is no sacrifice in it. Most days when I sit down to nurse, Max is so squiggly wiggly that we end up both being sprayed in the face with milk, at least twice. Sometimes if Theo is close enough he’ll get a face full too. Yeah, a distracted active baby (in other words a healthy happy baby) isn’t the easiest to nurse.

But some women cannot even get the chance to nurse their children because of lack of support. It is my belief that many women are faced with the worst difficulties of nursing (low supply, thrush, mastitis, engorgement, and more) and are unable to fight through because of the ill informed society we live in. Simple information and support from loved ones and people trusted can work miracles. Having faced each of the listed problems above I understand the extreme struggle it can be to just feed your baby. My advise to any nursing mother would be to trust your intuition, not your grandmothers saying that your milk is too thin/that baby needs a bottle/you’ll spoil him if you let fall asleep nursing. Do some research, find a lactation consultant, talk to other nursing mothers, and mostly follow your babies cues.

After nursing babies is co-sleeping and bed sharing. This is the act of having a family bed where parents and babies all sleep together. Some cases the family all share one bed, in others cribs or bassinets are attached to the bed and sleep directly next to the parents bed, and in others children sleep in separate beds in the same room. Yes, we bed share in our home. No, I am not going to roll onto my baby in my sleep. Breast feeding mothers have heightened sense of awareness of their babies, especially in newborn days and infancy. (Wooooohoooo mom magic is real!) 

Originally when I first brought Max into our bed it was just Theo and I because David was on deployment. I slept in-between the boys so Theo wouldn’t round house kick Max in his sleep. All was well. Then David came home, and we were a tad smushed in our queen-sized bed. Theo woke up after less than a week of this sleeping arrangement and told me I wanna sleep in my bed Mama, its too smushy in here. And just like that it became just Max in our bed. And every now and then Theo crawls in too and we all snuggle up. I love bed sharing its the best. I don’t have to wake up, and get out of bed, every time Max wakes up needing to nurse.  I simply roll over plug the boob in and fall back to sleep. Awesome. I know.

Another common AP practice is baby wearing. Its one of the new aspects of parenting to me, so please forgive me for not being able to give you every detail. Baby wearing is when instead of using a travel system like a stroller or the cart in a store you carry your child on your body. Some families like to wrap their babies in Moby Wraps or Sleepy Wraps (best for newborns only IMO), some like to buckle them in soft structured carriers like Ergo or Boba, while others sling them with woven wraps or Mei Ties. Some do a little of it all! There are many different baby carriers out there and each different family has different preferences.

I have found that the best part of babywearing is the ability to still do activities and have a happy baby. Baby won't let you set them down for nap? Strap them on to your back/front! How awesome is that? In fact, I write this post as Max snoozes in my ERGO Performance Carrier.

I know it looks like Max is broken here but as soon as I wrap him up he usually passes out. Hence the limp neck form!

BEWARE! Since baby wearing has become more and more popular, more and more retailers are selling less than adequate carriers . "Crotch Danglers". A proper carrier should hold your baby snuggly to your chest, back or hip and shouldn't  face your baby outwards. Your baby should not look like they are rocking the newest bikini when they are in the carrier, they should have their weight rested on their bottom with their legs slightly bent in a hugging position.

http://store.ergobaby.com/
http://www.didymos.de/en/?gclid=CN_k48bxs7UCFYqk4Aodf3QALg
http://www.mobywrap.com/
http://www.bobafamily.com/

The last large practice in our home that I find many other AP parents doing as well is natural medicine. Instead of seeing a doctor every time a cold rears its ugly head (which isn't often), I usually pull out the mega doses of Vitamin C, Echinacea, and water. When Theo became a walking bruise, with each lump, bump and scrape I wrapped his owie in arnica or calendula ointment and ice. We do not vaccinate until our children have a completely developed immune system and even then we will omit many vaccinations. We very sparingly use any other the counter medicines, and Theo has only been on antibiotics twice in his life.

I was raised in a home that practiced homeopathic medicine, and I have spent all of my life living it in granola land. It is a lifestyle that takes practice, patience, knowledge and the right resources, but all that you put in comes back hundred times in good health. And let's face it, what is better than good health?


The stuff above is just the tip of the iceberg! Other common AP practices that we use:

• Anti-Infant Cosmetic Modification. Sounds like a no brainer right? Leaving your baby to chose for themselves if they will modify their body. It means leaving babies bodies alone. No circumcision, no ear-piercing, no modifications. My take on it here.
• Elimination communication. No diapers, not potty training but just reading your baby's body signals to go potty!
• Cloth Diapers that disposable diaper you just tossed will be around to meet your great grandchildren. Gross, look into cloth diapering.
• Child led weaning/ baby led solids: skip the cereal, the airplane spoon, and nurse into  toddlerhood. No its not unnatural. In fact our society is the only one that thinks it is.
• Anti-Cry-it-out method. Its one of the most cruel and unusual methods we use on out babies. We are still parents after the sun sets. 

All of these practices work wonderfully in our home but this may not be the case for anyone else. Now if you'll please excuse me I have to go crunch on more of my granola ways!

Dan

Show of hands...

How many of you have talked about losing that post baby blub (what I have lovingly dubbed the excess skin on my belly the “mama flap”) three thousand times and tried about a billion way to squeeze that work out in anytime of the day and not fall asleep instead? Yeah, raise your hand with me.

The problems I had with my schedule (that is mostly ruled my Max’s hunger and Theo’s temperament) is that I hardly ever get more than fifteen minutes completely alone to do something other than tiptoe around the house in a whirl wind to get through the list of things I have to do while the boys nap. After a day of Max strapped to my chest while I clean the house, chase Theo, mow the lawn, grocery shop, make breakfast lunch and dinner with snacks, walk to the park and intermittedly stop to nurse; I’m ready to collapse by the time I get those few rare moments.

Does anyone else have this problem? You finally get those few moments to work out, you have the motivation but then you stop to think and realize that if you put your all into this work out for the full twenty eight minutes you have, that when you are done you won’t be able to do anything else. I go through this thought process in my head and panic, thinking if I’m even more exhausted tomorrow how in the hell will I function?!

Less panicking thoughts. More burning muscles. 

And in order to get to where I can sanely and successfully work in that activity for myself, is if I let those silly little chores that really get to me go. I sometime find myself vacuuming the baseboard of the house thinking poop this hurts my back but on the flip side less dust bunnies! and that voice in my head whispers back: Yeah Dan because Max, Theo and David really care about those dust bunnies where you can't see them. not. Gotta learn to let it go.

I also need to learn to look in the mirror and not immediately find something wrong. I am beautiful, and my children are worth all of my stretch marks and less than media perfect body. Every body could benefit from learning this in my opinion, together we should learn to love our bodies. (More on that later)

Soooooo, I made the decision that thirty minutes of my day is going to have to be for Mama to work out, even if it is broken up over the day. And the dust bunnies under the bed may just have to wait. I don’t care if I have to lunge back and forth to the refrigerator to get Theo his morning snack or use Max as weights for an arms work out. By goodness I will be getting that work out in. Thats right Mama Flap I'm coming after you.

Tell me Mamas how do you get your favorite work out in?

Dan

Saying Hello!

As my first official blog post I suppose some detail about me would be a nice icebreaker. And hopefully get someone reading my blog other than me. I am first a mommy to two beautiful sons that make my world delightful. Theo, my oldest is just past three years old and is half robot half rocket ship. He also possesses the power to make any object (be it his brother’s hands or the cup he is drinking from) fly through the air like a rocket ship with sound and all. He instantly upgrades me to Mama Princess when I put on any dress, and he is incredibly smart. My youngest Max, is a bundle of coos and new noises every day. He is bound and determined to make my heart stop by the time he is six months old. He’ll either do so by learning to be mobile and moving waaaaaay too early for my liking, or by wailing in his car seat because he just plain hates it no matter the situation. He too blows my mind with his intelligence.

My husband David and I were one of those super cheek couples that had a baby without getting married. (Just joking it is not cheek to have a baby before you are planning one, *cough cough* 16 and pregnant/teen mom *cough cough* it just happened to be right for us.) We lived together and raised Theo in our hometown while I did school and he did work. Until we both decided that we were ready to see something more and do something more. David wanted to fill his more void by joining the military, and so he did. He proposed on a Wednesday and a judge married us with our immediate family there to watch on Friday. To us the wedding ceremony was only a symbol of the marriage and really we were already living a married life. After a year of traveling back and forth between our hometown and where ever David was at the time we finally were able to make our move and live together like a family. Costal Virginia we now call home, even if it is considerably more humid and buggier than the desert land we are from.

About six months after being stationed in Virginia we got news that David’s detachment would be deploying on a last minute deployment. This news also came right around the time we found out we were pregnant. With that I held my head high (and my mom and sister’s hands) and delivered Max without David by my side. But it made our first homecoming even sweeter and each moment is even more cherished now. Together we are a happy, messy, loving family of four.

I personally am an artsy person, I love poetry writing it and reading it. I have sang and danced to every song possible, and can understand most of the performing jargon since I have done it most of my life. I own a professional camera with many different lenses and a wonderful editing system but mostly I take pictures of my babies. I have even been known to pick up a paintbrush and paint from time to time. But by no means am I a talented artist in any of these matters, I simply enjoy using the right side of my brain and feel it should be exercised well through many different outlets.

I also find myself untangling and frequently unscrambling the left side of my brain. I am a student studying the medical world. I have a passion for the human body and learning all of its mechanisms and grace. It truly is a miracle just how wonderfully put together we all are.

With all of this knowledge on just how great our bodies work and how we all are really interlaced, I find myself dancing in the green pastures of being a granola mama. That’s right I am one of “those” home-birthing, breastfeeding, co-sleeping, baby wearing, cloth diapering, homeopathic medicine using mamas. And I love it! I promise not to shove it down your throat, but if you do have any questions feel free to fire away!

The rest is really just details, please feel free to comment and help me to navigate through this new adventure I am trying.

Dan<3