Thursday, December 31, 2009

Epidurals

A very informative paper on medical risks of epidurals

Very interesting in light of the recent Christmas Miracle baby. Especially since in the Good Morning America interview the mom says she had just received an epidural minutes before (in fact, the anesthesiologist was the one doing cpr when the doctor came in).


From the section "Deaths from Epidural Anesthesia"

"Women are almost never given informed consent for epidurals. Even if they were just read two paragraphs from the package insert that comes with the medication used for epidurals (manufactured by Abbott Laboratories), they might think twice. The package insert states:


Local anesthetics rapidly cross the placenta, and when used for epidural, caudal or pudendal anesthesia, can cause varying degrees of maternal, fetal and neonatal toxicity....

Adverse reactions in the parturient, fetus and neonate involve alternations of the central nervous system, peripheral vascular tone and cardiac function....

Neurologic effects following epidural or caudal anesthesia may include spinal block of varying magnitude (including high or total spinal block); hypotension secondary to spinal block; urinary retention; fecal and urinary incontinence; loss of perineal sensation and sexual function; persistent anesthesia, paresthesia, weakness, paralysis of the lower extremities and loss of sphincter control all of which may have slow, incomplete or no recovery; headache; backache; septic meningitis; meningismus; slowing of labor; increased incidence of forceps delivery; cranial nerve palsies due to traction on nerves from loss of cerebrospinal fluid.


Who would sign a consent if it included the above language? The degree to which the facts about the risks of epidural anesthesia are hidden from women in labor is astonishing.

Mothers who have a fever are significantly more likely to have had epidural anesthesia.82 Therefor increasing the incidence of septic workups on newborns and the subsequent complications of this procedure.

We would hope that pregnant women would have a more informed explanation of the risks of epidural anesthesia than what is currently given, and would suspect that many would make other choices if true informed consent was given (before labor, when the woman still has time to prepare to cope with childbirth pain in other ways)."

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Opinionated

I'm super duper opinionated and judgmental. This usually isn't in real life since in real life I go out of my way to make other people feel comfortable and un-awkward and accepted and I have confrontation phobia. But, for some reason, I have this internet alter-ego that is kind of out of control. And, sometimes I don't even realize how I may come off to other people.

Also, can I just add that when I heard Mike's mom had all of her 6 kids unmedicated I was seriously, seriously disturbed by this fact. I could not let it go and made him call her and ask her why she would do that (this was before I knew anything about birth). A few weeks later, after researching things, I was begging him to have all of our future (we were engaged at the time) babies be born at home.

I have this friend... we talk occasionally online, I had told this friend who is pregnant- how birth isn't really bad (I tell every pregnant person this, and my entire childhood I said I would never have children because I never wanted to go through it and all the media portrayals are scary!). And we got started talking about her OB because she said she was an awesome doc and how I should use her when I get pregnant again. I said that I was hoping to have a homebirth (doubtful! I hate you, tricare!!!) next time so I don't think her doc would be up for that... and she thought I was crazy and I said it wouldn't really be much different since I didn't use any drugs in the hospital... she thought I was even crazier. This was a few months ago and I was very proud of myself for not being pushy and all "don't use drugs during labor or your baby will die!" haha

Fast forward to now, she posted something on facebook about taking a lamaze class and I asked her if it was all crazy breathing and said not too bad and they learned a bunch of different positions and massages etc. I was like "cool, are you planning a natural birth then? You can't exactly use positions with an epidural ;-)". Sometimes I'm an embarrassment to myself. I really didn't even think anything about it (until she didn't respond... or maybe she hasn't seen it yet)... what if she wasn't planning a natural birth- thats just mean! Usually if I think something is on the verge of inappropriate or rude, I have to consider it for a long time before typing it and I didn't.

If only I was as evangelistic about Jesus as I am about birth, circumcision, ecological breastfeeding, babywearing, cosleeping, homeschooling, EC, cloth diapers, etc. why is that?

So, I hope nobody hates me and sorry if I ever offend anyone. I'm just so passionate about things (besides Jesus :(, apparently) and never consider the possibility that there might be legitimate reasons why someone would not want/be able to do these things. Now, I need to apologize to my preggo friend.

I'm in Kansas and Faith has been nursing/sleeping on me (yes, they are synonymous) the whole time I've been typing :)

Monday, December 7, 2009

It's Not About Us

Lately I've been getting frustrated with Faith. She loooves cords. Here is something I saw & found it helpful today in remembering its all age appropriate and she's not doing it to be rebellious. Just thought I'd share in case anyone else is having their baby teach them patience. It's Not About Us

I heard a newly-soon-to-be-Father responding to the comment from a child
"I bet you guys will fight over who holds the baby"
Father: "No... we don't want to hold it too much"

:-( sad, sad day for babies.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Nursing for comfort

(I'm posting a lot the last few days... I get stuck on the couch and Faith falls asleep on me. thank goodness for laptops)

Since Faith is crawling and pulling up now, she gets hurt a lot. And, its so amazing to me how quickly she calms down if I just pop her on. Why do some people say not to nurse for comfort or nurse to sleep for that matter (I know, I know, so they self-soothe and not become dependent on "aids"... America and its independence lol)? bleh! This is so easy!!! Faith- please still be nursing when you are a toddler and have temper tantrums. seriously. :-)

“For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance.” For this is what the LORD says: “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”
Isaiah 66:11-13

She bear crawls... its the cutest thing! Usually we have her nakey from the waist down at home (its just easier that way for EC, but now I'm going to be raising a nudist lol) so it hurts her knees on the hard floor (we only have carpet in our living room), I think. She is so adorable. She loves standing up and looking out the window. And its funny when she is standing and there is something on the ground she wants, so she tries to squat and hold on and grab whatever it is she wants... she ends up falling, but its cute.

And, can we talk about baths? How often? Every day is ridiculous, but then I forget so its like Oh... when was the last time you had a bath... i dont remember... last week? lol And then once I get her in the tub I can't get her to lean her head back to wash her hair so I just end up pouring water down her face, which she doesn't like.

She is over 19 pounds and will be 7 months in 10 days.


Thursday, December 3, 2009

Maria Montessori

A quote from Maria Montessori

"For it is not at all paradoxical to say that, while adults suffer among the poor, children suffer among the rich. Let us think, for a moment, of the many peoples of the world who live at different cultural levels from our own. In the matter of child rearing, almost all of these seem to be more enlightened than ourselves-with all our Western ultramodern ideals. Nowhere else, in fact, do we find children treated in a fashion so opposed to their natural needs. In almost all countries, the baby accompanies his mother wherever she goes. Mother and child are inseparable... Mother and child are one. Except where civilization has broken down this custom, no mother ever entrusts her child to someone else."

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

sad blogs

I happened to stumble upon this blog . wow! This guys wife has breast cancer, finds out she is pregnant, gives birth to a little girl 3 weeks early and dies a few days after they bring their baby home from the hospital. They should not let mothers read this stuff! Way more sad than any sad movie.

Sometimes I wonder why God has never really given me a huge trial to test my faith... but then I read things like this and I'm like "Please Jesus, never let anything bad happen!" I really could not handle it. Seriously, I use to cry in bed at night from the ages of 6 to yesterday 12 because I was afraid my mom would die. I'm sure this stemmed from watching Full House, and really, why was the mom always dead on every show/movie marykate and ashley ever did? I also cried when I was 2 at Rock-a-Bye Baby because I wanted to know where the mama was!
So, as I'm sitting here crying; Faith asleep in my arms, (by the way, I never really know when to use a semicolon, guess I skipped that part in homeschool lol and the part about overusing parenthesis and "...") I'm so thankful that God has protected us. So, thank you people with sad stories who write blogs... you cause me to remember my blessings!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Advice needed

Mike is updating his "dreamsheet" and I like to think that someone will actually look at that when they decide where they will send us next (maybe?). So, if anyone has any info- good/bad about these bases, their surrounding areas or if you have suggestions for better ones- let me know! We probably won't be moving for a few more years (like 3 or 4? I don't really know)

Wright-Pat OH (I believe this is in the SW corner... Mike has family in the OH/PA area)

Scott IL (St.Louis)

Tinker OK (OKC)

McGuire NJ

Andrews MD

McConnell (this is 5 min from my parents house!)

Lackland TX (San Antonio)

Hanscom MA (near Boston)



Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Faith Update

In the past 2 weeks Faith has sat up on her own, said mama, got up on all 4s, said dada (and baba), crawled, had her first tooth come through, and she will be 6 months on the 14th. It's been quite an exciting time! She is so sweet... I love her so so so much! The teething hasn't really affected her, sometimes (like once or twice a night, or not at all) she cries in her sleep, but if we pick her up she stops, and for a while she wouldn't nurse unless I was laying down or she was in the sling. She also doesn't like to eat very much anymore which makes me sad. Well... she does most of her eating in her sleep at night. Her enjoyment currently comes from: electrical cords (mainly the powercord for this computer), remotes, feet/shoes, ice cubes, turning on the ps3, water bottles, scratching and pinching us. We haven't given her any solids yet. I think we'll start with mashed avocado sometime...soon?

And here is a video for proof (the "ball" and "I fell down" is just coincidental babbling my baby is a genius).

I Fell Down from beth white on Vimeo.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Shoes

Don't you hate it when you find really cute, cheap shoes... but they are a 1/2 size too small, but you buy them anyway and hope your feet will magically fit into them after you leave the store or that they will stretch out eventually.

On the right, we have a brown maryjane... $4 at payless. I wore them for 10 min on Sunday before we left for church and got a blister... 10 MINUTES! Not too bad, since I only wasted $4.
And, on the left, we have a brown Coach sneaker... $80, originally $120 (this was in my frivolous spending days, ha!). I think I have worn these once and I've had them for 3 years.
These are my only brown shoes people!
The sneakers didn't feel too bad when I put them on for this picture, surprisingly! Maybe they knew I was thinking of donating them to goodwill for some lucky, lucky person with size 5.5 feet.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Children

So, we don't believe in using contraception in any form for a number of reasons (unless you count breastfeeding). Aside from the health/abortifacient concerns of hormonal contaception, we believe G0d is sovereign over the womb and think He knows best how many children we should have. People say "God could still make me pregnant" well yes, but if you are taking precautions to ensure it doesn't happen, its similar to running in front of cars on a highway and saying "guess God wants me to die" or living recklessly and saying "guess God wanted this to happen". Thou salt not tempt the Lord thy God (Luke 4:12). Anyway.. not the point here.

The past couple months we have been going to a Messianic Jewish synagogue for a class (maybe I'll post about it later... it was interesting). The teacher/pastor/rabbi (?) also believes in leaving ones family size up to God and in talking about this with him he said (I'm using quotes loosely)

"I couldn't handle the thought of the children I was causing not to be born"

... to be not born, to not be born? I can't figure out what would be correct grammar in this sentence , you get what I'm saying. What a thought, huh? I would guess you can't find one person, who has adopted this way of thinking, that would be able to point out which of their children they wish God wouldn't have given them. Children are an eternal gift.

I've been up since 4 from tooth pain from a filling I had... ON MONDAY. forgive me.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Kansas Trip

K, I'm done with controversial posts for a while.

Faith is rolling over ALL the time. The second I put her on her back she is trying to roll over. Oddly, she doesn't go from back to front too often. We also recently put some carpet down in our living room, its so nice to be able to lay her on the floor now! She is almost 5 months... I can't believe it! I took her to her 4 month "well baby check up" and she is 26 in tall and weighs 16 lbs... thats 95th percentile for both! The nurse said she was like an average 6 month old. Anyways... I think we are going to quit going to the check ups, she is healthy and probably more harm than good is being done... especially with flu season, I'd rather not expose her to illnesses. Plus, we only go to find out how much she weighs... but I found this awesome baby scale at the airmans attic, so problem solved!

And now, pictures from our Kansas trip. Edit: they are getting cut off on the right side... WHYYYY? I uploaded them from facebook.... weird. well click on them to see the whole thing I guess.

Visiting Aunt Michelle (my 19 year old sister) at college


The family

Aunt Michelle

Erin and Caden. See other picture further down the page for more info...



At Keeper of the Plains


My friend, Kelly, works at the zoo, she let us pet and feed the elephant!


My fav picture. Grandpa/my dad

Katie!! We have been best friends since kindergarten... no big deal

Aunt Karen


My best friend, Erin, had a boy baby... him and Faith have an arranged marriage. They are both excited, if you couldn't tell. She is 3 months older... quite the cougar.

Meeting Great Grandpa... he is 96! (this is my grandpa)

Grandma/my mom

Aunt Emily/my 17 year old sister... i think she is 17

At the church I grew up in

Thursday, September 17, 2009

The Bible wasn't written in English.

What?! The Bible wasn't written in English directly to the Americans?! This is brand new information!!

All quotes are from the book "Thy Rod and Thy Staff They Comfort Me"(it was available to read online, but has been removed in the few days since I posted this, unfortunately... but def. worth buying). I left in the number reference markers, so you can find where it came from in the book since I didn't list chapters for the quotes. and apparently in Europe spanking is called smacking. I'm not preaching to the people that spank, if thats what you want to do... but it just irks me when people (and I used to be one of them) say all Christians who want godly children must spank because its the only way and its biblical (not that any of you said that). I just really liked the book... thoughts?


"Now if some Jewish scholars, who do not have the New Testament as their Holy Scripture, are pointing out that the Biblical, post-Biblical and historical sources are vague concerning specific information about children and how ancient Hebrew society looked at them, how is that Christian ministers or Bible teachers can come along now and explain what the texts of the Hebrew Bible mean relative to children when individuals whose expertise far outstrips those of us in the Christian world are saying that they don’t have the answers to these questions?This is one question that those in the Christian world who advocate smacking children need to answer."


In the Hebrew Old Testament there are 11 different words that refer to different stages of life.... 11! “yeled,” “yonek,” “olel,” “gamul,” “taph,” elem,” “na’ar,” “bthulah,” “bachur,” “ish” and “ben.” (see link above... in the first chapter for explanation of these terms)


"The word that we find used in three of the verses that advocate smacking in Proverbs is “na’ar.”65 The phase of life associated with the “na’ar” (which means the “one shook lose”) is that of young adulthood or the teenage years. This is significant. Based on this evidence, it is safe to say that all of these texts in the book of Proverbs have no application to anyone less than about ten to twelve years of age."


"The other two verses66 often quoted by smacking advocates when referring specifically to the recipient of the corporal punishment both refer to the word “son.” In Hebrew, the word used is “ben.” This word is used hundreds of times in the Bible and can refer to a son of any age. In light of the use of this word, “son,” it makes sense, considering especially that we have three others texts that all refer to the use of the “rod,” that we let these three texts, which use the Hebrew word “na’ar,” be our primary sources of authority to understand who was the recipient of such corporal punishment. Obviously, we cannot let the two texts, which use the word “son” let us interpret the three texts, which use the more specific term “young adult” or “teenager.” All who are fathers refer to their teenage boys as their “sons,” but not all fathers’, who have sons, are teenagers. We have to let the more precise term young adult or teenager, which in Hebrew is “na’ar,” be our guide when applying these texts to individuals."


"It is not referring to “children” in the non- specific way. We have to be very careful in handling the information that we do have from this book because this information is sparse and terse. We also need to be very careful not to read things into the texts that are not there on the basis of an English translation. We have to let the original Hebrew words and their meanings come through into our understandings or else we can lose the richness of meaning that is there for the interested party to investigate. This advice must be especially heeded when it comes to such issues of immense social importance as how we bring up the next generation. For their sakes, we need to be right and protect them from teachings that are not directed at them in the first place."


"The texts says: “My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him; For whom the Lord loveth he

chasteneth, and scourgeth every son who he receiveth.”233 The first thing to understand about this passage is that it refers to

punishment, but does it refer specifically to punishment with a rod or specifically with any other instrument? No! Does this verse in the book of Hebrews refer back to any of the texts advocating smacking in the book of Proverbs?234 No! Is the word rendered “scourging,” which does refer to bodily punishment (and is used in that fashion in the New Testament235), ever used to describe actions taken against children? Not once. When the New Testament mentions the word “scourging” and refers it back to the Old Testament book of Proverbs, does the word in Hebrews always mean bodily punishment or can it mean other things?236 Yes, it can mean other things. In fact, when we look specifically at the context in Proverbs 3:11, we do not find the concept of “scourging,” by means of a physical beating, in the text at all. What we do find is that the Hebrew word “musar” has a broad meaning and it does not only refer to physical punishment."


"So, in conclusion, what do the data show? In no instance does the New Testament quote from any of the texts that are used to demonstrate that smacking is valid for today. There is no instance in any of the New Testament’s 27 books that specifically refers to a child receiving any bodily punishment. The evidence shows that the New Testament writers were quite familiar with the whole of the book of Proverbs and quoted from numerous sections of it, but wholly avoided any passage mentioning the rod. Because of these facts, anyone who seeks to advocate for the idea that smacking is a New Testament teaching is standing on shaky theological and Scriptural ground. This is the plain information we find in the Bible itself."


"... Proverbs 19:18. Let us look at it once again. “Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.” Once again, I

have italicised the word “crying” in the King James Version and it is this verse that, as I said previously, provides the justification for smacking proponents to strongly recommend that children who are spanked be brought to the state of crying with tears.

There is only one problem with this interpretation. It doesn’t hold up to even the most simple of examinations of the meaning of the Hebrew words. The translated “crying” in Proverbs 19:18 is the Hebrew word “mooth.” This word is used well over 500 times in the Hebrew Bible and is translated by about 40 different cognate words that all refer and are translated by words relating, without ambiguity or exception (except for this single verse we are here discussing) to the concept of death! Only in this verse did the King James Version translators render this word by the English word “crying.” This word has nothing even remotely related to crying that brings tears at all. What we have here is a very bad mistranslation.302 Modern Bible scholars recognize this fact almost universally.303 First, the Revised Standard Version, in reference to this verse says: “do not set your heart on his destruction.304 J. B Rotherman’s excellent translation renders it as follows: “Correct thy son, because there is hope, Yet not so as to slay him …”305 Finally, in the Interlinear Bible, we have the following: “Chasten your son while there is hope; and do not set your soul on making him die.”306 By correcting the translation, a whole different meaning to the verse arises. The feeling shifts away from harsh, legalistic judgment to one of moderation. It shows that there are actions that parents can and should take to correct

behaviour of a wayward child. [within the environment of the Law of Moses as pointed out before.] However, these actions should not be taken to extremes. This is clearly implied by the meaning of this verse. This verse could be argued to be against aggressive forms of punishment. When we look at this verse, the use of the word “hope” is most important. We get a strong indication that the latter portion of the

verse points to a situation where hope is now lost. This is certainly in evidence if an uncorrected life leads one down the path of crime, which in the Mosiac system could lead to the death penalty. This seems a much more clear interpretation based upon the context and it is this idea that most Christian authorities assign to this verse. Certainly, no parent would lose hope in a child due to his crying, but one certainly would find oneself in a hopeless situation if his or her child were moving down the path towards death.

Additionally, we find that while there are over 20 Hebrew words that relate to “crying out,” “crying aloud,” “to cry”, etc. not one of these words is found in the whole book of Proverbs


What we who are Christians today have to recognize is that we are no longer under the Law of Moses or any other law other than the Law of Christ. What is that Law of Christ? It is the Gospel of the grace of God. It is this grace, or unmerited favour, that is, a favour from God that we don’t deserve on the basis of our works, but He gives it to us through our attachment to and identification with Jesus Christ. Is it not this message that we, as Christians, wish to communicate to our children? The concept of the grace of God cannot be communicated to children accurately by administering a smacking. Smackings are given in environments of law, not grace. Let us look at an example of this in action in the life on one of the great Christian ministers of the last century.

Rev. Dwight Moody was one of the most famous of evangelists of the late 19th century. He was a Christian scholar who knew the difference between law and grace and he applied this difference in the way he raised his children. Rev. Moody grew up in a home dominated by law. “To these whippings (from his father) Mr. Moody always referred with great approval but with delightful inconsistency never adopted the same measure in the government of his own family. In his home grace was the ruling principal, not law, and the sorest punishment of a child was the sense that the father’s loving heart had been grieved by waywardness or folly.”338 Reverend Moody understood the simple difference between grace and law. He chose the clearly spelled out New Testament teaching that “you are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by law; you are fallen away from grace.”339


"the theological interpretation of a smacking is that it is a punishment for the violation of law. This law can be the law of the family, the law of

the city, the law of school or the law of the government. The Bible shows, however, that “you (who are Christians) are not under the law,” any law except that of the Spirit. What is the teaching or fruit of the Spirit? Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.342 What part of a smacking brings forth the principle of Love? of joy? of peace!? of longsuffering? of kindness? of

goodness? of faithfulness? of gentleness? or of self control? The truth is there is no part of a smacking that brings forth any of these things. On the contrary, smacking is more acclimated to those concepts found in Galatians 5:19-21. Against these fruits of the Spirit there is no law343 and in an environment where they are taught and practiced there is no need for a smacking.341



Monday, August 31, 2009

"Unconventional Mom"

Anyone remember the TV show Blossom? I caught a few episodes when I was little.... my mom didn't let us watching it though. :-) Anyways, she is an EC-ing, AP, homeschool mom now! You can see the video interview/article here. Apparently what she does is "somewhat controversial". lol

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

daycare

I was in this store today and almost started crying... the saddest thing I've EVER heard...

womanA: are you happy school is starting?
womanB: YES!!!
womanA: oh... where is your baby?
womanB: in daycare where he belongs...
then they started talking about formula


I couldn't believe my ears. I always try to give people the benefit of the doubt, like oh thats sad she must have to put her baby in daycare so she can work because her husband died and they have 6 kids or something equally sad. but to hear that.. I don't even have any words!! And I'm constantly hearing how happy moms are that school is starting again. Why are we always viewing our children as huge burdens and something we need to escape? I'll tell you why... feminism and probably other things, gah.. I don't even want to talk about it.

I think I'll be sad the rest of the day now.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

I read too much...

So, the other day I was thinking "its time to learn something new". lol

I started reading about how bad sugar is for you... and just as I was figuring out this whole high altitude baking problem. Then about how much better it is to grind your own flour and drinking raw milk. ugh, I'm so overwhelmed, I want to do it all!!!

Saturday, August 8, 2009

School Time!

“Let it be remembered, that I do not speak to the wild, giddy, thoughtless world, but to those that fear God. I ask, then, for what end do you send you children to school? “Why, that they may be fit to live in the world.” In which world do you mean, — this or the next? Perhaps you thought of this world only; and had forgot that there is a world to come; yea, and one that will last for ever! Pray take this into your account, and send them to such masters as will keep it always before their eyes. Otherwise, to send them to school (permit me to speak plainly) is little better than sending them to the devil. At all events, then, send your boys, if you have any concern for their souls, not to any of the large public schools, (for they are nurseries of all manner of wickedness,) but private school, kept by some pious man, who endeavours to instruct a small number of children in religion and learning together.” - John Wesley (1703-1791)

Friday, August 7, 2009

Underground History of American Education

Free Book Online

I checked this book out from the library and it is HUGE. I can't believe they put it all online!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Spankings



I have been reading a ton on child (and baby) training recently and have come to the conculsion that its awful. At least conventional methods. Maybe I should keep my mouth shut since I don't have unruly toddlers running around, but there are some wonderful articles here (on spanking & discipline) and here (on the different baby training methods) written by Christians that do have older children and the gentle disciplining they write about seem to be working.

I read "To Train Up A Child"(TTUAC), you could read it online until just recently... something fishy is going on, all the links I post to free online books end up being removed from the internet. anyways, it is like $5 on amazon, but just reading the reviews should give you an idea. And Barnes and Noble has stopped carrying it... hmmmm Basically their answer to everything was "switchings" (for babies too, with a willow branch) and never use your hand on their bottom because it doesn't hurt the child and it can mess up their spine apparently. But, you can use a large tree branch, wooden spoon, a belt across the back of the legs; I believe is what was suggested. They back this up with biblical evidence of "God spanks us when we disobey", and of course those Proverbs on 'The Rod'. No, God doesn't give us the exact same physically painful consequence for every sin committed. I felt like the author made up a bunch of bologna... he said a rebellious teenage boy came to him and said that he wished his parents loved him enough to spank him... really?! And a small child telling his mother he loved her for spanking him. huh? The author gives examples of children that weren't spanked and how they are devil children compared to the kids that received switchings. All he says is that they weren't switched not that they also weren't disciplined, so readers believe children that aren't spanked are thus horrible and out of control.

Now, I wasn't spanked often (I only remember a few occasions, and thinking it was funny when it happened. I know.. I was awful) and my sisters and I grew up completely selfish and rebellious and disrespectful to our parents.... so you'd think I would be all for "switchings", but my parents (I love them dearly) just weren't consistent in their disciplining.

In TTUAC multiple times he uses animals as examples... "this is how the amish train their mules". So, that means this is how we should train our precious children?! He doesn't even try to hide the fact that this is nothing more than behavior modification psychology. They say if you are nursing and your baby bites you to pull the baby's hair. Poor baby never knew what was coming. Why not just remove baby from breast everytime he bites, he will figure it out, seems more logical right? You will get switched for: not playing with a toy you were given, crying, not being happy or joyful, not having unquestioned obedience to any adult/older child. Gee, you know... after I've had a bad day a good, long switching or solitary confinement always put me in a better mood! And, apparently fear is how you gain your child's respect. Think about the people you respect, seek advice from, trust and love... did they use a large tree branch on you to earn it? What happened to "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"? That verse was never quoted in the book, I actually don't remember anything from Jesus being quoted.

I love this article: "I’ve read several articles that address the issue of spanking where the writer says it’s okay to spank if the child is in danger - for instance, if a toddler is running into the street, or reaching out to touch a hot burner on the stove. They suggest that at these times a few pops on the rear end are okay. I must admit this naïve mindset baffles me. Why in the world would we want to teach our children about safety by hurting them? Does you ski instructor jab you with his ski pole to teach you not to jump off the chairlift?

A parent who believes that spanking is the only effective way to teach a young child about safety issues is not giving the child enough credit. Children - even little ones - can indeed learn about safety through our teaching them. As a matter of fact, through teaching they will learn much more, as they can absorb the reason for the rule, and over time, can learn to make good decisions on their own. I watched two friends one summer teach their toddlers not to run in the street Mom A give her toddler a swat on the rear every time he went in to the street. Mom B picked up her toddler, looked him in the eye, and said, “NO street! Dangerous. Stay by Mommy.” By the end of the summer, both children learned to stay out of the street. Which child understood why? And which child has better communication with his mother?

Positive, respectful, consistent discipline is the real key to raising well-behaved children."


10 weeks old

Faith is now 10 weeks old!! I love this picture of her (it was cold one day). At her 2 month check up she weighed 12.6 pounds, I think (it was confusing because the scale jumped to like 13 for a second and then went back to 12.6 and the nurse is like I think she is 13... I'm like whaaat?) and 23 inches. So that makes her 90th percentile for weight (but probably for being 13lbs) and 75th for height. And she still sleeps through the night... she nurses to sleep around 10-11 and will start making noises around 5am (some nights around 2 also) and I nurse her before she has a chance to wake herself up and then around 7 I wake up and take her to the potty (she has gone all night w/a dry diaper the past week! that isn't normal right?) then she goes back to sleep until 8:30 or 9. She sleeps most of the day (except in the evening) for 2 days, then the 3rd day she will be awake all day long.

And, the doctor was so impressed with her head control. He said that babies that are worn in slings, etc tend to have better head control & learn to walk faster :-). And, when I told him we were "delaying" vaccines he was like "that's cool." he did say his ultimate goal was to have her vaccinated, but he wasn't pushy or mean and didn't call CPS. lol

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Laundry Without a Washing Machine

I really just needed this for my own documentation, because once upon a time, I lost my mind. When we first moved here, we (I) didn't think a washer/dryer was necessary since it was just the 2 of us. So, this is how I did laundry for the first 4 months (before I got sick from being pregnant)... and now I'm using it for our cloth diapers because we are at a hotel due to kitchen remodeling. All can be obtained here


Fill this with clothes, water, and detergent... it actually holds a surprising amount of clothes.

Use the handle to spin it around for 30 sec-2 min depending on size of load.

empty the water with this tube thing, and repeat to rinse.

The "dryer"... this holds surprisingly little amounts of clothes (i have stuffed a pair of jeans in there before though), but takes much less effort than the "washer".

You have to make sure you fill it evenly or it will wobble all over your counter. Set the timer for 1-5 min, and they come out slightly damp.

As much as I hate the line-dry crunchiness (towels are the worst!)... it works. But, don't worry... we do have a washer & dryer now.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Living Within Your Means

Why does everyone think the military pays you awful or that you can't live on what they pay you.  We are reading Family Driven Faith right now and there is a story in it about this man who started having children when he was a captain in the military... and about how rough life was for them in the beginning because they had no money.  A captain makes about $2,000 more A MONTH than what Michael makes.  There is a commercial on tv for one of those Direct Buy showroom places with this woman who says "I know on military pay, I couldn't afford to buy top of the line..." and under her name it says "Colonel"... thats about $5,000 (probably more than that depending on how long she has been in) more A MONTH than what Michael makes.  I went to this "New Parent Support"  class (they give you a free gift bag, so I went.  lol) and they encouraged everyone that qualified to enroll in WIC (a government program for families if the woman is pregnant or if their are young children in the home, you get formula & some essential food for free because you are poor...).

Now, you're probably thinking... poor Michael and Beth... they must be so poor & she doesn't even work & they have a baby, the military is so stingy.  au contraire.  The "base pay" may not be a lot (for us that is... those people mentioned above are just being ridiculous!), but we have NO BILLS.... we get free health insurance, free housing (kind of... we just never see the money we would be getting if we didn't live on base), tax free groceries, free baby clothes (via airmans attic... LOVE IT).  This is what we spend our money on every month... groceries, car insurance, and internet.  How do we do this, you ask... well, let me tell you.  We don't use CREDIT cards, we don't take out loans for cars (and we didn't for school when we were going)... if we can't afford it with whats in the bank we don't need it (well, that would have to be something pretty expensive like a new car... which is ridiculous to buy anyways).  We hardly ever go out to eat or buy premade meals (ok, frozen pizzas I do... lol).  I can find PLENTY of great clothes at goodwill (for me at least, Michael not so much).  Maybe its because I love thriftiness so much... I think I should have lived during the depression.  

I just don't get it.... why can no one else "make it" in the military but we seem to be stockpiling money over here.   What are people spending money on?!  All the wives of Michael's superiors "have to work".  When we first got here Michael had to go to a "First Term Airman" seminar and they had a finance person come & talk to all the new airmen about saving money and went over the finances with each person... the woman told Michael she had never seen an airman with so much money saved.  SERIOUSLY?  And, that was a year ago and I don't even work!!!  

Even when I lived in Pennsylvania all alone and had to pay for my own apartment & electricity I still managed to save $2,000 by the time I came home (though I did have 2 jobs for the last few months and didn't have to pay for my health insurance).  I don't know, I guess no one is teaching good money management and is instead trying to get them to sign up for credit cards to pay off their other credit cards.  

K, thats my tangent about the military.  I imagine its much harder in the "real world".

Oh, and I would like to thank Michael for teaching me saving money with nothing in mind to spend it on is fun, because right before I met him I almost overdrew my bank account (and that wouldn't have been the first time).   Though, I think we are too stingy now and need to give some of it away. 

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

4 weeks old!

Well, 4 weeks tomorrow...
These are the birth announcements I made.  I'm pretty proud of myself, they cost us a grand total of $15 (plus $35 postage!!!).  We were looking at spending $100+ on the ready-made ones, but thanks to wal-mart and picnik, we didn't need to.  

I don't know why, but I am in love with this picture.  Cloth diapering is going swell.  No problems, except I have to wash everyday it seems... small price to pay.  Oh, and everything is really bulky on her (even just prefolds w/covers), so we can't button her onsies (see picture) and 98% of the time she doesn't wear pants because she only has 1 pair that look ok over her diaper, and I find it pointless having to take them off to change her anyways.  But we like the sleep sacks. 

Breastfeeding is going great too.  We never had any problems, thankfully!

ECing (I love her modesty! lol).  She has always peed as soon as we take her diaper off, so since day 1 we have made a "ssss" sound as she is going and the day she was 3 weeks I held her over the toilet like this and made the sound and she went.  I don't know what her signs of needing to go are, so right now its just timing and guessing and usually she goes.  but i have about 1-2 real "catches" (she still has clean diaper) a day.  Today has been particularly good.  I'm still not sure if she is just going because her diaper is off though.  lol

I look gigantic in this picture.   She was like 2 days old here.  We co-sleep.  Its a good time.  lol.  We had a pack n play given to us and it has a bassinet part in it, so we were going to use that as a solution to this because I wasn't sure how I would feel sleeping with her in the bed when she is so little.  But, she would wake up & cry as soon as we moved her into it (ok, we only tried it the first night she was home, but now it serves as a diaper holder).  Even in the hospital she wouldn't sleep in the plastic bassinet, so I held her all night, and then since the first night she was home she has slept in bed with us.  And, since her first night home, she has slept through the night.  Is that ridiculous?!  I have to set my cell phone alarm to go off 4x a night so I can change her & sometimes she will wake up enough to eat... sometimes not & then I'm sorry in the morning.  I wonder how long this sleeping will last.   I love being able to nurse without having to get out of bed/stay awake though.  


This thing lives up to its name.  Its called a "Sleepy Wrap", unless she is real angry she could be in it all day.  And within 10 minutes she is asleep.  The only problem is if she is awake she won't let me sit down with her in it, so I have to be walking around.  And, she likes her head to be hanging out of it, so I have to hold her head like that.  You should see the looks I get from people when I'm out with her in it... "is there a baby in there?!".  Usually her legs aren't hanging out the bottom though.

The first 2 weeks she slept like 20+ hours a day so that was so easy!  But, now she is starting to be more awake during the day.  When she is sleeping I just want to pick her up & play with her, but then when she is awake I just want her to go back to sleep.  lol  And, I always think of things I need to do when she is awake or fussy and when she is sleeping I just get on the computer.  lol

Sunday, May 17, 2009

She's here!!!


Faith Adelia was born on May 14th, 2009 at 8:37pm.  7 lbs 13 oz, 20.6 inches long.  

here is what I can remember... aka the birth story aka too much information.

on the 14th my friend Katie text me (we've been BFFs since kindergarten) and says she had a dream that I had the baby today, which I thought was really funny and I told her I would try real hard to have her.  I had been doing some nipple stimulation for about an hour that morning to try to get things started.  Around 9, I felt some leaking, it wasn't much and it stopped after like 5 seconds, so I was kind of confused since it didn't continue throughout the rest of the morning.  My midwife happened to call about 30 min later to change our appointment time to an hour later since she was at the hospital with another patient, so I told her & she said it may have been my water breaking but there was no rush or concern since I wasn't even having contractions.  About 10 I decided to start timing the braxton hicks contractions since they seemed to be coming more often, they were between 7 & 10 min apart and a little bit later they started feeling more like light menstrual cramps & more pressure on my back.  Michael came home earlier than usual for his lunch because of some training thing he had to go to, so he went back to work at 11:45 (instead of 1), and I still had no idea I was having contractions since they were SO mild.  About 12:30 they were steadily 5-6 min apart, so I decided to call the midwife's office since I had an appointment for a biophysical profile and didn't think that would be necessary since I may already be in labor, but I thought I would still come in to see my midwife and have her tell me if I was really in labor or not.  So, the office person transfers me to her nurse and the nurse flips out and is like go to the hospital now.  I'm like WHY?  I'm hardly having contractions if thats what you call these!?  lol (we had wanted to stay home and labor as long as possible, so going to the hospital at such an early stage seemed ridiculous!)  She was really persistent, but since my midwife was already at the hospital it would basically be the same as going to the office, so we decided to go.  I was absolutely convinced we wouldn't be staying at the hospital and that she would just tell us to go back home,  I even told Michael we shouldn't even bring our stuff, but he thought we should just in case (he's so smart!).  So we get to the hospital and my water had broken earlier, but since her head was so low it was blocking the rest of the water & had formed a water pocket at my cervix, so she broke that too around 2:30 I think (I was still only dilated 4 cm at this point), then nurses asking me tons of questions while Michael went to go get some food.  Contractions started getting stronger around 3-3:30 about 4 min apart.  I decided I was tired of feeling water leaking out of me every contraction, so I got in the tub, thinking it was a bad idea to get in the tub so early since it can slow down labor.  It was SOOOO nice, it had jets... mmmm.  I was probably in the tub about an hour, contractions were getting a lot stronger & a lot more painful on my back.  They needed to listen to the babies heartbeat, but couldn't hear it with the waterproof doppler, so I had to get out, and decided to have her check me since I was already out of the tub and I was 7-8 cm.   I was so shocked!  I got back in the tub, this was apparently transition, but I had no idea, I just kept waiting for it to get worse & closer together, because the contractions were still 1.5-2 min apart, not right on top of each other like I expected.  I started having 'pushy' contractions soon after.  I really really loved in between the contractions-  I don't think I've ever felt so relaxed in my life!  The midwife and nurse kept laughing about the happy sighing sounds I was making between contractions.  And all I kept saying was "i just want to sleep" lol.  They checked me around 5 & I was 9 cm and having really pushy contractions so she moved the remaining cervix with a few contractions and I started really pushing at 5:30 in about every position in the book, but nothing felt very good and was a lot of pressure on my back.  2 hours later I asked how long I had been pushing... I couldn't believe how long it had been (thats how I'm estimating some of these times... I wasn't constantly checking the clock so I could write this accurately! haha).  Pushing felt a lot better than not pushing though.  Her head was out (OUCH) an hour later (after pushing for 3 hours now!), but her shoulders were stuck, which was really scary and the nurse calling for backup, but she came out.  I kept repeating "I can't believe its over" and other strange things (including 'it feels like i have cotton vag... ya know, like cotton mouth'  and 'wow my stomach is so small!' hahaha  which I find hilarious now).  I was bleeding A LOT apparently, so they ended up cutting her cord sooner than we would have liked & giving me an injection of pitocin (which I didn't realize until I saw the band aid on my hip the next day & having no idea where it came from!)  to stop the bleeding and get the placenta out.  And I had a 2nd degree tear, which isn't too bad.   So basically she was born after 5ish hours of labor.  I was expecting 12+ hours!  And, I was never begging for an epidural, and I never said "I can't do this"  (well, except when her shoulders were stuck and they were telling me to push)... which I really expected I would!  lol  Afterwards the nurse and midwife kept saying I had acted like I had an epidural!

We had to switch rooms 4 hours after she was born (at like midnight) since they were so busy on the L&D floor, so that wasn't very pleasant, but the postpartum rooms had more comfortable beds.  She stayed awake-ish until 3 am!  Sleeping that first night was awful, I hardly slept (I feel like I'm still not sleeping, but I'm not tired yet... lol).  Then I woke up about 2:30 and the clock in our room was spinning backwards- like the minute hand was spinning backwards super fast, and I woke Michael up, saying that I was hallucinating, and made him look at it but by that time it stopped on 10:00 and kept on ticking like normal the rest of our stay (which ended 24 hours after she was born).  All the nurses that came into the room were like... "Oh, your clock is wrong".  I'm like yeah... it sure was scary watching it happen!

She is so precious!!!  And has so much hair!  I still can't believe that she was inside me, she is just so big!  She makes the cutest noises too!   And, I just got peed on, she was wearing a cloth diaper, but no cover, so it leaked out the side!  awesome.  lol

 My stomach is the smallest its been since before Christmas and my boobs are 10x their normal size & feel like they are filled with rocks!  lol

Romans 10:17, 1 Corinthians 2:5, Hebrew 11:1, Isaiah 32:8 (Adelia means noble)

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Still pregnant

Don't worry... I'm still pregnant!  according to my original due date, I'm 41 weeks today.  But.... since we used NFP to chart my cycles & help us get pregnant (and not get pregnant right after we got married, before mike left for basic training), I know when I ovulated... which should actually make my due date on the 8th (and I just realized the original due date was 2 days late anyways, it should have been the 3rd!!  haha).  This all occurred to me this morning.  And, first time moms are on average 8 days past their due date, so that would be the 16th... lets shoot for that.   So, hopefully I can get my midwife to change the due date because that would give me 3 extra days to go into labor on my own before they have to induce me.  Oh and last Thursday I went in to have a "biophysical profile" done, which is an ultrasound and a non-stress test (they do it between 40 & 41 weeks) and I was 3-4 cm, 80% effaced and she is at 0 station... which is great, except that I'm still not in labor, so it really doesn't matter except that when I am in labor I won't be as worried about getting to the hospital and them telling me I'm only 2 cm after 10 hours of labor.  lol But, if I do end up going 2 weeks over, she said all they would need to do is break my water and I would probably go into labor, which is good since we're trying to avoid drugs. 

Monday, May 4, 2009

I'm due TOMORROW

This was me last week... 39 weeks.  


This is just one of the maternity pictures we had taken, they were a while ago though. 

I really can't believe how close it is!  I still don't expect it to ever happen, since for the past 9 months I've been thinking about how far away May was and now its here!   I'm kind of freaking out and keep thinking of things I still need to do around the house.  But, alas, here I am, not doing any of them.  

I think she 'dropped' last week.  I have a lot more pain in my tailbone & pubic bone.   But I still sleep through the night without waking up to pee (well, last night I woke up like 5 times, it felt like she was clawing my cervix with her razor blade fingers... thanks baby!).  I get braxton hicks contractions, but my uterus has been diligently exercising itself since 24 weeks, so thats nothing new.  If I don't have the baby by Thursday then I go in for an ultrasound/non-stress test so I'm pretty excited about that even if it means I am still pregnant.  I really don't feel 'that' pregnant.  I'm not too uncomfortable, so she can stay in there as long as she wants as far as I'm concerned.   lol  Oh and... if you want to guess the birth date, weight, height-  we have a game set up at www.expectnet.com  the game name is babywhite9

We moved into our new house.  It only took a week to completely unpack all the boxes & organize everything, so I'm glad thats all done.  And they still haven't redone the counters (apparently they will be redoing the interior of the cabinets too, so we will have to take everything out of the kitchen), I call the housing company and they can't tell me anything except that they will call me when they get the shipment in.  Sure am glad we went ahead and moved in when we did instead of waiting for the cabinets to be done... we would still be in our old house right now!  I've stopped worrying about it and I will just tell them NO if they call wanting to do it anytime in the next month and a half.... its their own fault!

Well, now I've wasted an hour.  I need to go do one of those projects on my list now.  

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Feminist Fantasies

from Phyllis Schlafly's book- Feminist Fantasies, in a section called "Choosing a Career"

"Marriage and motherhood have their trials and tribulations, but what lifestyle doesn't?  If you look upon your home as a cage, you will find yourself just as imprisoned in an office or a factory.  The flight from the home is a flight from self, from responsibility, from the nature of woman, in pursuit of false hopes and fading fantasies.
If you complain about servitude to a husband, servitude to a boss will be more intolerable.  Everyone in the world has a boss of some kind.  It is easier for most women to achieve a harmonious working relationship with a husband than with a foreman, supervisor, or office manager.  
That American women have always been fortunate (as opposed to oppressed as feminists would have us believe) was confirmed more than 150 years ago by the famous French commentator Alexis de Tocqueville:  "Although the women of the United States are confined within the narrow circle of domestic life, and their situation is in some respects one of extreme dependence, I have nowhere seen woman occupying a loftier position; and if I were asked, now that I am drawing to the close of this work, in which I have spoken of so many important things done by the Americans, to what singular prosperity and growing strength of that people ought mainly to be attributed, I should reply:  to the superiority of their women"

MOVING!

I have been meaning to update for a while because so many things have been going on!  And, then I come into our computer room, and the USB thing that connects the memory card for our camera to the computer has been packed!!!  grrr...  so, no pictures.  

We are moving!  One block away, literally.  The housing company on base said that our house would probably be remodeled in August.  Turns out they are ahead of schedule.  So, 2 weeks ago we got this notice saying we had 30 days to move, we go to the housing office and they say it won't actually be until late May/early June.  I'm like uhh... no!  Moving with a newborn??  I think not.  So, thankfully, there was a house available sooner and we are moving this weekend.   We got the keys today (we had already seen the inside a week and a half ago because there were no doorknobs on any of the outside doors... so we "broke" in) and the whole house must have been painted like yesterday, it smells horrible!  

I have been slowly packing our house for 2 weeks, so it hasn't been overwhelming.  I hate being pregnant and not able to lift heavy things!  Though, I have successfully disassembled a twin size fully wooden bed and our 8 foot dining room table by myself!  

The house is nice though, the master bed & basement are much bigger, it has nicer bathrooms, and a fireplace and a garage... with a garage door opener!  Oh, but we will be having to move out around the 20th of this month for a few days while they re-do the kitchen counter tops (apparently the shipment was delayed)... hmmm great.  Anyone know if I should take everything out of the cabinets while this is happening?  I don't want everything covered in dust!

I'm also excited about having a new address, people don't understand our address now which is 4518E E. streetname (thats right 2 'E's)... and then to live in a 'city' that is an acronym including the similar sounding letters of S & F.  Now we will be at 4501A W. street name... less confusing I hope.  

I'm 36 weeks now!  27 days left hopefully (and not 41 days!).  

I'll have pictures after we unpack.