The progress of play

I think watching a child play is fascinating, particularly when it's my child and I can watch the changes in the way he plays. I've noticed changes lately in the way Luke plays. He used to focus on crashing cars one after another. He loved dropping them off the edge of the desk. He still does that some but not nearly as much as he used to. I can really see the wheels turning now as I watch him play. The bottom three pictures are all from the last couple of weeks. I just loved seeing the way he pulled all the movies out of the drawer and lined them up across the desk. I loved seeing that he put the little wagon on the desk, put all the blocks in and then put cars on top of them. I've loved that he's been hanging out under the blanket by my legs like it's a little tent to play in. He can stay in there a surprisingly long time. I've also recently realized we need to get him some action figures. Now he's wanting someone to ride in the cars, in the helicopters and on the motorcycles. I just find it so interesting. I wonder what's happening in his mind. I wonder what he's thinking and how his brain is changing. It also makes it very clear to me that my little boy is growing up. It happens so subtly most of the time. So I'm grateful to recognize the changes occasionally. Mostly, I'm just grateful to have a little boy who fascinates me, loves me and enjoys my love. :)

Everyday adventures

Our spot for putting on shoes, which always makes this kid so happy. He LOVES going outside and doesn't mind the heat a bit.

Found Mom's hat!

Even as a little sickie, he's adorable. :)

Caught with the candy

Doh! I'm caught!

This backshot reminds me so much of my sister, Becca, as a kid. Same blonde curly hair!

He doesn't like eating the candy but he sure likes unwrapping it! Sometimes we wrap the suckers back up, sometimes we throw them away. Either way, we have a happy boy. :)

Luke's Easter basket and my new haircut

Isn't the Yoda basket awesome? :) And of course he loved the cars in his basket and wanted to play with them right away. I wrapped playdough around some cars and bouncy balls and put them in eggs. He loved it. And he also loved unwrapping Reese's eggs wrapped in foil. He didn't care to eat them (which I expected and got candy WE like). His least favorite thing in the basket: the book about Easter. He actually started to cry when I showed him he got a book. ;) Since then, he has looked at the book but looking at books was the last thing he wanted to do when there were eggs to open! As you can see, the basket is super full. What can I say? Mom and Dad are suckers for making Luke happy. We loved Easter this year. The upside to the spoils? Everything was bought super cheap or secondhand. Luke has lots of new cars, bathtub paint, sidewalk chalk, CARS socks, an "I am a Child of God" sign from Aunt Lissa and more. Plus, he had lots of fun and is still enjoying the eggs and basket everyday. Sorry this picture is blurry. It's just too cute to not include. I finally chopped my hair off. It's been driving me crazy. I hate having it on my neck, especially when I sleep. It's stacked in the back and I have RED red highlights. It's pretty fun. So, what do you think? Mike totally teased me about taking selfies btw. ;) E

Too fast!

Luke just WALKED up the stairs by himself for the first time ever!!! He is growing up so fast! He led me to the stairs (wanting to go play with his cars), grabbed the railing and just set off! I kept waiting for him to want or need help or just start climbing instead. But he made it the whole way! My little boy is getting so big. Way too fast!

Still Alive! And back at the blog!

I recently left facebook so I'm thinking I will start blogging again (not that I was ever great at it) to keep people updated and also track things in our lives. :) Here are some pictures from Valentine's Day. Luke colored some hearts for Daddy and we put them on his computer. He also insisted I draw a cat and dog on one of them. It's one of his current cute things. He loves coloring and even gets to color on Daddy's big computer sometimes. He's very creative, just like Daddy. By the way, that background on the computer is a painting Mike did. :) Aunt Lissa got Luke a cute shirt that was perfect for Valentine's Day. Hello Ladies!

Isn't he beautiful?

Mike and I had a Valentine's date on the 15th. We went to a dinner hosted by our stake. We hosted a table of ward members which meant we decorated the table and made the entree among other things. Mike would have preferred to not do any of it or even go but he was a good sport anyway. We left before dancing started and went for a drive and reminisced about our beginnings and falling in love in our first phone conversations. It was a really nice night. Mike even agreed to take a picture with me!

Going Natural

As a young teenager, I decided I wouldn’t have kids. Not because I didn’t want to be a mom, but because I didn’t want a needle in my arm (IV). I’d had such ordeals with getting my blood drawn and the needles hurting so much. I didn’t even know about the long needles used for epidurals. Looking back, I think it’s sad and strange that I didn’t know/realize that giving birth without needles was an option. While I still don’t like needles, I’ve become accustomed to telling nurses/doctors/phlebotomists that my veins are small, they roll and my blood doesn’t come out terribly fast. These issues would never stop me from having children today.

When I was younger, I didn’t realize that the pain of being poked by a needle repeatedly would pale in comparison to the pain of childbirth. I heard at some point that by having an injection in my back, I could give birth without the pain. I thought, “well, that’s the path for me.” Surely, the brief sting of the injection would be better than whatever pain causes women to moan and scream. I’d heard the first time my dad ever heard my mom swear was when she was in labor. That must be some crazy pain. So, I fully planned to go pain-free when that day came that I would give birth. (The fact that having an epidural does not equal a pain-free labor was unknown to me of course).

Fast forward to sometime in early 2009. My knowledge-hungry husband had watched yet another documentary, The Business of Being Born. Out of the norm, he said I really should watch it. So eventually, I did. It was the beginning of my education about birth. I was a twenty-seven year old woman just starting to learn about birth. Over the next two years, studying about birth was one of my favorite pastimes. I loved to read birth stories of complete strangers. I watched more documentaries (which is really unlike me). I read and read and read. During these two years, my knowledge grew and my opinions changed.

Today, I am 23 weeks pregnant. It’s August 2011. This week I will have another prenatal visit with my midwives at the birth center where I will give birth to our son. In the past few months, I have been surprised by the negativity I’ve encountered when people find out we are planning a natural, out-of-hospital birth. I realize that most of these people haven’t read what I’ve read or seen what I’ve seen. But I’m still surprised they think I would choose to put my baby or myself in danger or that I would choose to do something “out-of-the-norm” without researching the options and outcomes. So let me be clear: I am not giving up a safe, healthy birth. Period. What I am doing is choosing the safest and very best care I can for me, our baby, our family.

I could attempt to site all the studies and summarize all the individual accounts from mothers. But then I remember how long it took me to arrive at my decision to have a natural birth. I remember that I had to study it out for myself. I had to read countless articles and examine many, many studies. It took a lot to turn me, the “girl” scared of needles and desperately wanting to avoid pain, into a woman who knows that she can and will give birth without pain medication. Now, I’m a woman who not only knows that giving birth naturally is the best thing for me and my baby, but I’m excited to do it!! Holding my baby for the first time will be one of the most incredible, fulfilling experiences of my whole life. And I won’t be hooked up to a machine. I won’t hear endless beeping and unknown voices. I won’t be in a strange, unknown place. I won’t be numb or foggy from medication. I will be safe in the care of trained professionals. I will be comforted knowing that my baby is safe too. I will be strengthened, nurtured and renewed by my husband and care providers. I will know that I just gave the greatest gift possible to my husband, my son and myself. I will be in a comfortable, homey room. I will be enjoying my husband and child with only a few friends in the room. I will be completely in the moment basking in the glory that is our child. I will feel madly head-over-heels in love with my husband and son. What more could I ask for?