Who sleeps like this Anyhow??

I am stealing this blog title from a friend who has a regular series on her blog. Until now, H has never slept in any noteworthy fashion. UNTIL NOW. These have all been taken over the last 48 hours. Newfound mobility has taken it's toll! Since I still have not yet figured out how to individually label each picture....here are a couple labels :
Pic 1/2 "Sitting up sleep style"
Pic 3/4 "The trouble with co-sleeping"
Pic 5 "Mommy's spot is my favorite"

Camping with Baby

We had a blast taking Hannah down to WV for her first camping trip. She did great! Here are some pictures from our adventures.

and...she's off!

H's life of mobility has begun. Well, forward mobility (she already had the backward crawl and rolling methods down). Here is a clip I took today of a slow, intentional crawl. As I sit here to type, she is next to me screaming. I have also determined that this is a vivid part of her personality. She is the most vocal baby I have ever met. Anyone that has called here recently knows this very well! We are anxious for our first family camping trip this weekend and will surely have more stories after Tuesday!

Enjoy your memorial day and don't forget to pray for fallen soldiers.

This made me chuckle. It is all so true!

5 occupations your baby would be great at:

• Dentist — scratching at your gums with her fingernails is an important part of her training!
• Professional raspberry blower — not in large demand, but surely somewhere one is required.
• Night watchman — he'd never fall asleep on the job!
• Disgruntled prison inmate — he's already got the table banging and bar rattling down pat.
• Member of a studio audience — though she might occasionally clap at inappropriate moments.

The Business of Being Born

Last night Paul and I watched the documentary called "The Business of Being Born." This project was inspired by Ricki Lake, who, after having a traumatic hospital birth experience, chose a home birth for baby #2.

Since we had such a positive birth experience with our midwives at the birth center, we were, of course, open to the film's message. Though the film comes across with an anti-hospital slant, I thought it was well done and eye opening.

The premise from their website: "Should most births be viewed as a natural life process, or should every delivery be treated as a potentially catastrophic medical emergency?" While I know women that have had good hospital births, and know some awesome ob/gyn's, the film discusses how many hospitals - and insurance companies view birth as business. The reality is that many women don't have the freedom to choose to choose out-of-hospital births, because it is competition for this booming business.

We signed up for a free trial of Netflix and found this available to view online. You can also watch a preview on their website. I do recommend this film. In addition to the thought provoking and challenging questions, there are beautiful and moving birth scenes (with nudity for those sensitive to that fact). Before I gave birth, I spent lots of time watching the Discovery Health and TLC baby/birth shows. Most of which take place in a hospital, and many of which involve trauma (or the threat of trauma). In retrospect, they are not the most encouraging scenes to fill your mind with before giving birth. We both noticed the lack of screaming mothers in this documentary. It brought Paul and I right back to September when we were laboring our daughter into the world. Birth is a moving, emotional, empowering, wonderful thing. And for those that genuinely need hospital intervention, c-sections, etc....well, the film maker speaks from that perspective. Her breach son was delivered via c-section. Though she felt as though she missed out, she recognized that the gift of a child spans beyond their method of arrival to this world.

New Life

Oh how I love spring time! Right now, my husband is outback mowing our grass (wohooo) and with the weather getting better every minute, it is wonderful to spend time outside. Here is a picture of our back yard bird and her two little ones (nested on our swing).

H also got to work on her crawl a little bit. She currently enjoys push up position, and rolling to her destination. What a ham she is becoming! I was relaying the story to my mother about how she does not like her bibs. She rips them off every time we put them on her (with grunts of determination until she accomplishes it). I will post a picture of our garden when things start growing bigger, but for now, our seedlings are doing well. I just got an email from our CSA (community supported agriculture) that our first pick up date is coming soon!! We can't wait for all the fresh food PA has to offer!