The Business of Being Born

This is a must see movie for all who are thinking of having another child! It a documentary about home birth. I liked this documentary partly because it did a great job in telling both sides of the story hospital birth versus home birth. They interview lots of OB/GYN doctors as well as midwives and follow the story of several ladies in their quest to delivery naturally at home. They also do a historical overview of how our country has gotten so far away from home birth since 95% of all births used to be at home. In all the other developed countries except ours this custom is still practiced today and they have much lower infant mortality rates than the United States. Our is the second highest! Yes the statistics will blow away but more importantly I think we as women are missing out on this incredible experience. We are pushed by our culture and our insurance companies to inform us of how we should give birth. I was also deeply moved by the corelation between the oxytocin that is released in the brain( the love chemical) that you experience to it's fullest when you give birth naturally and your baby experiences it too, thus it deepens the bond that you have with your child. I would love to know if any of you out there have see this movie your thoughts and if you haven't seen it I would highly recommend that you do.

New Hair

Thats right it's gone and it feels sooo good to be short! It may not seem like a big deal but i haven't had my hair short since i was pregnant with Mady five years ago. Now I have to remember to put sunscreen on the back of my neck. It's weird I've gotten sunburn there the last two days.

New Playhouse

Yes for those of you who read this blog you know my love of garage sale finds. Well this weekend was one of those that usually happends once a year, like last year when I got the swing set for $20. Well this year my score of the year( well it's only April) so far was this playhouse. It happened to be on a friend of mine's street and she called me at like 6:45 a.m. to tell me to go and look at this house that was getting rid of a bunch of kids toys. I show up around 7:45 and took this baby home in her husband's pick up truck. And my bargain price for this was....FREE!! Yes that's right just needed someone to haul it away. Aslan is loving it as you can see by the picture:) Jim is like don't we have enough stuff back here. I said well it's only for a season and I want it to be a fun one:) There will be time for a beautiful yard and big people stuff for the rest of our lives but for now my backyard is built for the kids.

Blue Hands

This year we had sort of a pre easter at our house. Saturday Mady's friend Lauren came over and we colored Easter eggs. They both submerged their hands in the blue dye and thought it was hysterical to have blue hands. I was a little worried after the fact, i thought they might have blue hands for Easter but turns out baking soda and water did the trick. Then we hid the eggs in the backyard and had a little easter egg hunt. I am glad we did because the next morning, Easter Morning, I was getting Mady into her Easter dress and she just said, " Mom I'm gonna throw up," which she did thankfully in the bathroom toliet and not all over her new dress. But just Aslan and I went to church because Jim was sick too. So here are the pre Easter pictures. Mom I'll put her in the new dress you got her and take some pictures another time.

Aslan is Two

Yes my little boy is growing up so fast here he is on his birthday this past March. Just a couple because he was rather cranky when the day actually came around. In the morning Jim and I went into his room to wake him up so Jim could see him before work. He just said, " Go!, Go Go!" And that's how his day started and ended much the same way. This was one of the few shots I got of him smiling. He did enjoy all the cars he got as presents and exclaimed Ohhhh! as he got each one. Wish everyone could have been there.

Our Weekend

Our weekend was good we took the kids down to the tide pools in La Jolla. It was Aslan's first time being able to explore, which he did to the fullest measure. He didn't quite understand that you weren't supposed swim in the little puddle of water. He was soaked head to toe, we had put rain boots on Mady so she was perfectly fine, Jim and I joked that we had put the boots on the wrong kid. Not that they would have stayed on with all of the falling. hehe. Sunday we went to the beach again after church, was a little windy, but still a good day. This weekend we are getting new carpets put in all of our bedrooms so we are going to stay with a friend a little north of here for the weekend. It's been a mixed blessing because it's kind of like moving in that everything has to come out of the rooms, but good in that it's forcing me to take stock of what I have and organize those closets and get rid of lots of stuff we don't need. Oh and I booked my tickets back to Virginia for the summer, I will be there June 11th- June 24th. We have a beach cottage in the Outer Banks for part of that time but i am excited that I get to see my dear friend Ginger's new baby! That's all for now, have a great weekend everyone.

Candles and Coldplay

Last night Jim and Drew made a special Valentines dinner for Jenna and I. We dropped the kiddos at Drew's mom's house and then headed out for some shopping while the men fixed us dinner at our house. We arrived home to find candles lining the walkway as we walked in, complete with a candlelight dinner, the table was beautifully arrayed with flowers and carnation heart candies. No detail was left unturned, shrimp cocktail appetizer, ceazer salad and filet mignon with garlic mashed potatoes and grilled roasted vegtables for dinner. Oh and delicious flourless chocolate torte with vanilla ice cream for dessert. They were so sweet in praying for us and telling us how much they appreciated us. It was a very memorable night. I couldn't believe all the effort they went through for us. And even still as I am thinking about it I am just smiling and thinking.... WOW! God has truly blessed me with an amazing, thoughtful, compassionate and loving husband. This is what we came home to....