I Married an Artist

Watching Ratatouille was like watching my husband and his sister in the kitchen. (Actually it's like watching all of my in-laws in the kitchen.) I never thought cooking was an artistic expression before, but now I see the light. It's not just about making delicious food (which is also a talent); it's about making beautiful and delicious food. D used to talk about the presentation and it was so funny to me. Now I can say that he's right; it does make a difference. Instead of handing me a peach, D slices and arranges the peach in such a way that it looks like a flower. A flower for dessert! The funny thing is, he does this naturally, without even thinking about it. It is something that makes my husband (and his whole family) truly endearing to me.

Wow, LOOK at that!
Fresh basil, tomatoes, zucchini, and broccoli with sauteed mushrooms and sundried tomatoes and homemade olives.
It really made me smile!

A flower of chips with an exotic dip for the breastfeeding first-time mama (see the boppy and Squeak's little ankle?)

Oh, how I LOVED this zucchini herb and cheese dish!

The aforementioned peach flower (look, there's the boppy again!)

This was D's birthday pie (he prefers pie, so I always make him a birthday pie). This is one of my most beautiful and delicious pies ever. Four years ago, it wouldn't have occurred to me to create this. See how much I've seen the light?

Babywearing 101

I thing it's really important to wear my babies as much as possible for as long as possible. Squeak is learning this important part of parenting from an early age. She likes to wear "Mo" because she sees me wearing Pip. What a gal!

I LOVE the mei tai D's mom made for us! Check out the tiger eyes!

Squeak loves having Mo in a sling

I have all kinds of babywearing accessories--front packs, backpacks, mei tai, sling, hiking backpack--but I'm mainly posting this to enter a contest for MORE babywearing accessories. You can enter too! Here's the link: Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)
http://www.alongfortheride.biz/contest-s/49.htm">

Freedom

We're in Tucson for a month. D got his first rotation down here because my brother and his fam live here and they knew of a family who was taking off for the summer and was cool with us staying in their house... We brought about six changes of clothes each and a few luxury items like the laptop (so D could study in his free time) and the double jogger (so I'd have a way to get the two kids around). Everything is suddenly so simple! I'm freed from all my STUFF in Phoenix, stuff that complicates my life and makes me too busy to really enjoy life. Maybe it's Tucson, maybe it's my newfound freedom, but I suddenly find myself enjoying life more in the past few weeks than I had in the past few years. I'm almost to the point that I could write poetry. I take the kids running almost every morning, followed by a little swim with La Squeak (the pool is just a few minutes away). I walk to the supermarket or Walgreens or my brother's house. We head out for a sunset walk at night and I've been reveling in the rainstorms typical of monsoon season here. We're still a one-car family so most days I don't have a car, but I don't even care. I love being outside and enjoying the beautiful weather and my kids' company. I love walking everywhere. I love not having to live with all my stuff. I almost feel like that moment in time when I was a jumper-clad 20-year-old in the Dominican Republic. Ahhh, to relive those days!

The Princess is Two!

I'm so good at doing late posts! I started this one almost a month ago and I still haven't posted it. The photos are out of order to make it more exciting! I didn't make Squeak a birthday cake this year because she was really constipated, so I decided to make a special "pan de mono" (whole wheat bread that looks--sort of--like a monkey) and serve it with fruit preserves. Mmm, lots of fiber and also very healthy. It was such a hit, I don't know if I'll ever make her a cake again!! She's STILL asking for "mas pan de mono" almost daily. What a girl!

Squeak on her Birth Day

A birthday run for La Squeak
(I LOVE the double jogger!!!)

Pip enjoyed the consumption of the "pan de mono" from the sidelines

Pan de mono
She was so excited about her monkey bread instead of a cake!

Baby Squeak

"Silla de Pip"

Family Hike

Squeak's Blessing

My baby turned two a month ago. She has brought us so much joy these past two years, and she has been a great companion for me. She is also a sweet big sister and she makes all of us (including Pip) giggle with her antics.

Here are some of her favorite things:

Favorite shape: estrella--she notices them everywhere and constantly points them out to me
Favorite color: azul! (I haven't had much luck teaching her most of the other colors because when I ask her what color somthing is, she almost always responds, "azul!")
Favorite food: banana, cheese, yogurt, peas, bread, milk, grapes, all fruits.... well, she loves food
Favorite thing to wear: it's a toss-up between her flip flops and her wild butterfly skirt
Favorite letter: "A"--she also notices them everywhere and constantly points them out to me
Favorite animals: mono, moma (mariposa), pajaro, gato, perro. She also likes hormigas (we've recently had an ant infestation and she squeals with delight when she sees one crawling across the table or floor)

Favorite little friend: Emma

Favorite toy: toys have almost no appeal when Mama's around, but she does enjoy her little kitchen, on loan from cousin Sara

Favorite book: probably Libro de Mono (that's "Hug" or "Good Night, Gorilla")

Favorite comfort object: "Mo"--that's what she named my Care Bear that I gave her for Christmas

Enlightenment

I'm very passionate about natural birth. If you find this offensive, you may want to skip this post. My dear friend recently posted her feelings about birth on her blog. I thought I should do the same. I also wanted to resurrect her post, since it was such a good one.

I was recently able to spend some time with this dear friend who shares my views on natural childbirth, and while we were talking, I said, "Wow, ten years ago, I never would've thought that I'd be able to say I've had two natural births with a midwife as my birth attendant." She said the same thing, and we each talked about how we'd become enlightened. This is how it happened for me.

My mom set the foundation decades ago when she birthed all eight of us without drugs. She also conveyed to us that birth was a normal event and a natural body process. I never heard horror stories about pain and complications. It was actually quite funny to hear about our births because my mom preferred to labor mostly at home because "as soon as you get to the hospital, they want to stick a bunch of needles in you"--she'd wait until the last possible minute to check in at the hospital, and a few of us were almost born en route to the hospital, and a few more were born just a few minutes after she arrived. My mom wasn't one of those ladies who writhed and screamed during contractions--she calmly went about her day. And I thought, "Well, if she can do it, I can do it," and I always had in my mind that I would birth naturally.

About seven years ago I had two co-workers whose wives had birthed with midwives. I was especially intrigued by Will and Melissa's experience because their first baby had been born in the hospital with an OB and the standard interventions and the whole thing had been quite negative, so they chose a CNM (Certified Nurse Midwife) and the Bradley method for their second (and third and fourth). The difference was night and day. I enjoyed hearing how positive they were about natural birth and midwives and decided to look into finding a midwife should I ever get married and have a baby.

My sister Karen got married and had kids before I did. When she was pregnant with her first, she looked into different childbirth methods and discovered HypnoBirthing. She had a really positive experience with HypnoBirthing (and to this day applies it to regular life and not just birthing), which got me interested in it. I suppose I would've thought the hypnosis part was kind of kooky if it hadn't been my sister telling me about it, but I knew that my sister had good judgement, so I wasn't at all weirded out about the hypnosis. I came to realize that hypnosis for birthing is simply a way of focusing your mind so that your body can maximize the effect of each surge (that's what we call a contraction in HypnoBirthing).

The aforementioned factors all led to the two AWESOME experiences D and I have had with the births of our babies. I was able to look forward to birth with a calm and peaceful attitude--and I'm not just talking about having the baby in my arms. I looked forward to my body performing the labor and birth that would get my baby into my arms. I didn't fear pain or complications. I believed things would go well. And indeed, it was wonderful, and having a birth companion who supported me and helped me was paramount to me feeling so satisfied about how labor and birth went. Using the HypnoBirthing method and having a midwife as our birth attendant were also key factors.

What is it like to have a midwife? First, the midwife philosophy is that birth is a normal and natural body process. Every birth is different, therefore midwives are willing to sit back and let a woman's body dictate the pace of labor and birth. My first labor was very long, and when I finally checked in at the hospital after being in labor for over 50 hours, I told my midwife Claudia that I had come to the hospital after 25 hours and my cervix was open 1/2 cm. Thankfully, they gave me a shot to help me sleep and sent me home. Twenty-five hours later, I went back to the hospital, and this time my cervix was open 1 cm. (At this point I was getting worn out and was starting to doubt my body's abilities just a tiny bit.) Her response was, "How rude! After all that work, they told you you're only open 1 cm!" She told me I was doing fine. I never heard a word about having to ramp things up with pitocin or having to rupture the amniotic sac. After ensuring that the baby's heart rate was fine and that my body was handling labor just fine, she told me I could decide when I wanted to be checked. When the nurses came in every half hour to get the mandatory read on the fetal monitor, she made sure they didn't keep it on too long and let me get back to the labor tub or sitting on the birth ball as quickly as possible. She offered to fill in for D if he got tired (he was a trooper; he stayed with me the whole time!). Claudia offered me a priceless treasure--trust in my body. She didn't DO anything to "manage" my labor. She was there as a support and a resource. She told me to follow my body's instincts, which I did. I changed positions when I wanted to; I followed my own body's urge to push, rather than a roomful of "coaching" medical folk. And, WOW, what a rush to give birth that way!! The thrill of finishing a marathon or cliff jumping or hiking to the top of the rainforest canopy don't even compare to the exhilaration I felt at having my mind, body and spirit completely aware, completely in sync, and completely present for birth. I neither wanted nor needed pain medication. The self-confidence I gained from working (and believe me, it was hard work) to achieve my goal of natural birth is priceless, and it's something a woman can't get from an ordinary birth. Then again, ordinary is no thrill for me--I prefer extraordinary.

So we'd had this awesome birth with Squeak, and my thought was, "Why doesn't everyone give birth this way?" I became certified as a HypnoBirthing instructor so I could spread the good word to other expectant parents, and we decided that having a midwife was the way to go. I actually didn't meet my midwife for Pip until two days before he was born. I made a last-minute switch to Ellen because only a doctor (whose ideas about birth I do not embrace) from the midwife group I'd been going to was on call. Like Claudia, Ellen also reviewed my birth plan and told me she agreed with everything on it. She was true to her word. I had no doubt that labor and birth would again be a positive experience. I again labored mostly at home and checked in at the hospital after around 18 hours of labor. Ellen was so hands-off, I felt like I was having a home birth! She convinced the nurses to leave me alone (no intermittent fetal monitoring, no checking my cervix, no checking my vitals) for hours. Nobody even came into the room unless I called. She told me (just as Claudia had) that she'd check my cervix only if and when I wanted her to. She even said that after the initial check, I didn't need to be checked at all. D and I were left alone--what a remarkable thing! I again used the birth ball, the jetted tub, the birthing stool that D made for me, and the relaxation, visualization, and breathing techniques I had learned from HypnoBirthing. Labor progressed naturally with my body dictating the pace. Ellen also expressed a lot of confidence in my body--when I told her I felt like Pip was about to arrive and asked her to check me to see if my cervix was completely open, she said, "I don't have to check you. If you feel like you're ready, you're ready." Wow, talk about trusting a mother's instincts! She was there as a support and resource if I needed her. She told me to birth in whatever position felt the most comfortable. I wanted to try the birthing stool, so she sat on the floor in front of me. I ended up switching at the last minute, but here's the point-- I gave birth the way my body chose to. D caught Pip. I had absolutely no tearing, and Pip was breastfeeding less than five minutes after emerging. His arrival, like his sister's, was so peaceful, so serene. The lights in the room were dim, the voices of the few people present were subdued, and the standard newborn procedures were put off until D and I had spent time (more than an hour both times) bonding with our new baby so fresh from Heaven.

And so it was... The experiences of others led me to my own enlightenment about birth. I'm so grateful! I only know a handful (well, maybe two handfuls since I married into the right family--all my sisters-in-law are proponents of natural birth) of people who have had the kind of birth experiences that D and I have had. Most women are physically able to give birth this way (I will say that medical intervention is a great blessing and should be used for the small percentage of women who need it) but choose not to for reasons I do not understand. I have experienced many exciting things in my life, but nothing as empowering as natural birth. That feeling, and the peace of birth without intervention, is the good news I want to share with women everywhere.

Two Under Two

Squeak turns two tomorrow, so today is my last day to say that I have two kids under two. I was feeling a bit sentimental... thus, I'm posting. I love our two little munchkins--they are so fun and I know I would be so bored without them!

Pip and Squeak were both in T-shirts and diapers lying on the floor next to each other so I started making that farty sound on their bellies (is it called a "zerbit"?). They were laughing and laughing and the three of us had such a fun moment!



Squeak loves getting cozy with her bro!


"If you're happy and you know it, honk your beak!"

I've been such a lazy blogger that I didn't even post a photo of Pip's blessing back in March. Well, here we are!

Murphy's Law

So, the day after my last post, Squeak had three accidents (pee), which was more than she'd had in the previous two weeks! Then, two days later, when I left her with a friend for the first time since potty training, she pooped her pants TWICE!! I was bemoaning the fact that I'd ever publicized the happy news of potty training success. And you can bet I won't be making any kind of announcement about Pip consistently sleeping through the night until long after it's an established habit.

Toilet Training in Less Than A Week

It's funny that potty training is such a big deal to the mama, but nobody else cares. I can't even remember much about my siblings getting potty trained, but I'm sure it was a big event for my mom. Well, Squeak was interested, therefore I was interested, so I tried this potty training method a few weeks ago. It worked! It took more than a day (five days, actually), but what a thrill to see my little munchkin go to the potty all by herself. I heard rave reviews about the method from Beasta and Shelly. I can now say I highly recommend the method too! "Potty trained" means the child goes to the potty, pulls down panties, sits down, used the potty, empties the potty in the toilet, flushes, puts the potty back, and puts clothes back on without assistance. There's no arguing about staying on the potty for hours, and no dealing with six months in pull-ups. (I will confess that Squeak LOVES running around "desnuda" after using the potty so we're still working on modesty afterwards). But, hey, I'm only washing cloth diapers for one kid now! Whoopeee!

Fifteen Pounds at Two Months

This little outfit was Squeak's, given to her by my brothers when she was born. It is almost too small for Pip now. So sad!

We are so excited (and Pip is so excited) that he's our SECOND HypnoBirthing Baby!
(This is also Squeak's onesie)

Is that fair hair on our boy? Yes, and curls too! You can see Squeak's hand trying to grab the pacifier to put it in Pip's mouth. She is so helpful and cute with him! She also likes to wipe his mouth with the spit-up rag, just like Mama does.

Another belated post: I can't believe our boy has gotten so big so fast. He was fifteen pounds a month ago (that's 97th percentile). He was also 24 inches (90th percentile). He's bigger now, I think around 18 pounds, but I haven't gotten to a doctor's scale. I'm thinking of putting him on a diet so he won't outgrow his infant car seat this month. (Just kidding) We all love his giggles and smiles and D and I are so happy to have our two awesome kids.

$40,000 Easter Egg Hunt

It's a little late for an Easter post, but I'm a little late for everything these days. D's school held an Easter egg hunt for families, which Squeak was thrilled about. I loved watching her grab an egg, shake it, open it, ooh and ahh, and then (after my prompting) put it in her bag. She didn't even get a dozen eggs, but she was so thrilled about the surprise in each egg.

You can see that there were hundreds of eggs. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw ADULTS running around collecting eggs to add to their kids' baskets. For shame!!