In This World We Live

When life is sad its good to have a James.

A Mother's Thoughts

Today I was standing in the laundry room looking at the bottles of laundry detergent and it hit me that I won't always need to use Dreft on James laundry. I realized that except for the fact that it is very tough on dirt and grime I probably already didn't need it. This was not a great thought for me. I then decided that I would just use Dreft on his laundry till he turns 18 just to keep things simple. I ran this by Tim and he seemed to think I was being a little irrational. I don't really see why. I mean really he'll always be my baby and if it works great on spit up surely it will be just as good on grass stains. What will the world come to when his laundry no longer smells like baby?

10 little piggies.

Yes, he almost always looks this naughty.

Happy Father's Day

Yesterday we went out and spent the afternoon at the river after Tim got home from work. It was great. Most of the time I sat on a towel on the shore taking pictures and videoing Tim and James. I couldn't help but think while I sat there what a great Dad Tim is. He Loves spending time with James and helping out with him. He splashed with him, cuddled with him and spent a good amount of time teaching him the proper technique for skipping rocks. What more could a little boy ask for? Thank God for good Dads.
Now I am off to make Tim Biscuits and Gravy for his Father's Day Breakfast.

He may look like me sometimes, but I'd say he looks like his Daddy too.

Aww.

Nothing better than baby prune feet.

My Son and Me

So what do you think are we related.

Me at 5 mo.

James 9 1/2 mo.

Spoils of the Day

Almost every Friday and Saturday I load up James and cart him off to all of the garage sales I can find in town. I'm afraid I am addicted. I tell myself that of all the addictions to have this is the way to go, but it is an addiction still. James made out very well today with two pieces of Little Tykes equipment, a car seat, stick horse (complete with hoof beats and neighs), and a footed jammy. I also found an electric ice cream maker and some ribbon/tinsel for my future Christmas tree. All this for under $20.00. How can you go wrong?

Besides going to garage sales James has started his own version of crawling. It gets him around, but it is definitely not your traditional method. He pulls himself around on his tummy half army crawl half frog. It really does a number on his shirts but he loves it cuz now he can follow Momma everywhere, even where his walker can't go. Hmmm...

The laundry basket worked well for today to contain him. I give that about another day. :)

Darling Boy

Bath time is so much fun.

"I don't understand why this bumper is here it just obstructs my view while I am holding onto the bars wailing, "Momma."

James has decided that he is now in charge of his naps, when he takes them and how long he sleeps. I am still trying to convince him otherwise and figure out a new schedule that works. So far it is to no avail. What worked like a charm in the morning is for the birds in the afternoon. So like I told Aaron "this parenting stuff is harder than it looks" which had him pretty worried. Not to worry its not so bad, just lots of nights thinking "oh no, I've ruined my child". All parents think that right?

In other news:
We did actually end up getting the Manx kittens. The owners brought them into town the next day and I being such a softy took both of them even though I only wanted one. I just couldn't help but think that the one would get lonely without the other. So now I am thinking both were a bad idea. They have been climbing up our back porch screen door, barfing on our sidewalk and steps, and making our grill their home. This is not what I bargained for. Hmmm

The Manx Kitten

James loves animals, so Tim and I have been pondering getting him a pet. We had decided that we would get him a Golden Retriever for his 1st birthday. Mom pointed out that August was a silly time to get an outdoor animal as that it would grow up over the winter and James wouldn't be able to play with it much till spring. So we thought about it and as usual Mom was right. Ok, so no dog till next spring, but what about a kitten? That sounds harmless enough. So we have been keeping our eyes open for a good free kitten. Yesterday Tim heard on the radio about two free Manx kittens. They were in Jasper which is about a 30 min. drive from here so I called them and asked if it was ok if I came to look at them in the afternoon. No problem, just call for directions when you reach Bob's. Ok, sounds good. I made the trip on the very winding road at about 45 mi. per hr. due to those I was following. For me to mention the curves in a road may clue those of you who know me in on the severity. It was a very beautiful though. I made it to Bob's in closer to 45 min. to find that Bob's was a Shell gas station/lumber yard/grocery store/feed store. Seemed like a nice place. Anyway, I pulled in and called the kitten owner for directions only to find that the # went directly to voice mail that was full. I sat in the parking lot for 30-45 min. calling back every five, but there was no luck. So in the end I drove back to Harrison kittenless. As Aaron said they now owe me $8.00 for gas and a kitten. Oh, well. I really still want to get one but have very little intention of driving back out to Jasper.
Moral of the story: Always get directions the first time.

Then and Now

James turned 9 months old on Thursday and while he has changed a great deal in the last 9 months apparently some things have stayed the same. He still likes to ponder the situations in which he finds himself. I think in the first picture he was trying to figure out why he was so jaundice. In the second picture I'm quite sure he was wondering if he could fit any more into him mouth.

Six days old.

Nine months old.

Baked Potato Salad

Recently there has been some clamoring for this recipe. Its a little vague because I just kind of made it up as I went. One of the things I love about potato salad is that there are so many different variations. So anyways here it is:

Baked Potato Salad

8 medium russet potatoes baked
1 small bunch green onions (chopped)
1 1/4 large carton sour cream ( I think it is the 16 oz size)
Grated sharp cheddar cheese (to taste)
Bacon (to taste, I think I used about half a lb.)

Bake the potatoes and cool till they are easy to handle, cube, do not remove the skins. In a large bowl combine potatoes, grn. onions, bacon, sour cream and shredded cheddar. Top with more shredded cheddar, serve warm or chill. I like it chilled :) .

Freebirthers

The Following is an article my Mom found on MSNBC.com. I was horrified when I read it. I like to do things as naturally as possible, I have been called an Earth Momma. I was delivered by my father (the mid wife didn't make it in time to catch but was there very shortly after) at home and when I found out I was pregnant I strongly considered having that same midwife deliver James at our home. I opted not to because it was my first pregnancy. The Dr. I chose was a mid wife for about 20 years before becoming a OBGYN. So in the end I still had a very comfortable, (by comfortable I mean the setting, not the labor :) natural experience. Pregnancy is not a sickness but it is medical. There is a reason that the survival rate of mothers and babies is much higher today that in the past. I feel that these women are seriously risking the lives of their babies as well as their own. Life is too precious to be so careless. What do you think?

LONDON - They insist they’re no superwomen, they have no special powers, and are certainly not pain or adrenaline junkies.
But ‘freebirthers’ choose to go through what some call the most painful and potentially frightening experience of a woman’s life with no drugs, no midwife and no medical help.
Delivering their own babies at home, often alone, they dismiss what they say is “fearmongering” by doctors and midwives and confidently catch their offspring as they leave the womb.“Birthing uses the same hormones as lovemaking — so why would you want anyone poking and prodding you, observing you and putting you under a spotlight?,” said Veronika Robinson, an Australian based in Britain who sees growing interest in freebirth among readers of the international magazine, “The Mother.”
Her comment is echoed by many in online discussion groups about freebirth, where women insist having a baby is as intimate an experience as having sex.
“We were the only people there when she was conceived, and it felt absolutely 100 percent right that we were the only people there when she was born,” writes Laura Fields from the United States.
Robinson says medical establishments in Britain and across other westernized nations have for years been “taking something that’s natural and making it into a disease,” and now, with freebirthing, “women are taking their power back.”
Free- or unassisted birth means having a baby with no medical or professional help. In Britain, as in North America, where its popularity is growing, it is legal as long as delivery is not “assisted” by an unqualified partner, friend or husband.
To some, like new mum Janet Sears, the idea of giving birth alone, with no one around to help if things go wrong, is little short of madness: “It’s my idea of hell,” she told Reuters.

Intervention and fear
But one of its most prominent supporters, Laura Shanley, an author on childbirth, is now mother to four children — all of whom were born at home without the help of doctors or midwives.
Shanley, who lives in Colorado in the United States, says that, in essence, birth is only problematic because of three main factors — poverty, intervention and fear.
As long as clean water and reasonable living standards are available — as they are to many women in the west — then the task is to eliminate the other two factors and a natural birth will be as safe as it can be.
“As I began to understand how fear affects the body, and that birth is not inherently dangerous provided we don’t trigger the fight-flight response and shut down labor, then to me it was natural to want to just trust myself,” she told Reuters.
“It didn’t make sense to me that something that ensures the continuation of the race would be a dangerous and scary event.”Diana Drescher, a Dutch freebirthing enthusiast who lives in Britain and wants a fourth baby with her German partner, agrees.
“We’ve been giving birth for thousands of years and we’re still in this world. If it was that dangerous we wouldn’t be here,” she told Reuters.
Coming from the Netherlands, where there is a more relaxed attitude to birth, Diana finds British medical authorities far too quick to intervene and is determined to have her next baby here with no professional presence.
She says she will also avoid being in her partner’s native Germany where she says freebirth is virtually impossible without fear of the authorities finding out and intervening.
“I do know some people who have had unassisted births in Germany, but they will not talk about it. It’s a very close community that does it and they have to be very careful.”Britain’s Department of Health frowns on the practice of freebirthing and says every woman should have a midwife.
“The safety of mothers and their babies is our top priority,” a spokesman told Reuters. “Midwives are the experts in normal pregnancy and birth and have the skills to refer to and coordinate between specialist services. Every woman needs the care of a midwife in labor and birth and those women with more complex pregnancies may need a doctor too.”

'The most dangerous thing'
And some doctors, as well as some friends and relatives of those who chose to go it alone when they go into labor, are fiercely critical of what they see as a selfish, reckless, even irresponsible approach to childbirth.Dr Crippen, a British National Health Service doctor who writes an award-winning blog on the Internet, has reacted angrily to growing interest in freebirth, saying babies born this way should have a right to legal recourse later in life.
He says “giving birth is the most dangerous thing that most woman will do during their life,” and argues:
Does a mother not owe a duty of care to her baby? Should a mother not take reasonable care to protect the baby when she gives birth? And if she does not take reasonable care — and the standard should be objective not subjective — why should a baby who has sustained avoidable brain damage due to the mother’s negligence not take action against his mother?”
If a baby were to die during a freebirth, Dr Crippen argues the mother should be prosecuted for manslaughter.
Mary Siever, a mother of three who lives in Alberta, Canada, said she has experienced the wrath of those around her when they learned she had a baby on her own.
“There are people who are horrified when they find out that an unassisted birth has taken place,” she told Reuters.
“I can’t claim to know why they feel this way, but my belief is that the majority of them — doctors and health authorities — truly do not think women are intellectually capable of making their own decisions when it comes to birth.”
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