Happenings in the Rich Family

Summer's Almost Gone Already!

2008-08-26T10:08:00.000-07:00

Wow - I can't believe how fast summer is flying by us! I suppose that's one of my least favorite things about Seattle - the LONG rainy season and the SHORT summer... And we have kept very busy with many things, especially with growing and developing our photography business - Rich Imaging. We are trying to develop our branding and our "look" as well as doing as many sessions as we can fit in to expand our experience and portfolio. Our next task is to write a business plan and start marketing! It's a lot of work, but Mark's dream is to do this full-time and not have to work an 8-5 job, so we have to make it a priority.

Also, I am working on developing my own business! I am still trying to come up with a name, which is kinda frustrating, but my hope and plan is to someday teach classes in natural fertility awareness, healthy pregnancy, childbirth, lactation, and maybe early baby care. I also want to be available as a doula for birth and postpartum as well as an in-home lactation consultant. This is a lifelong career path for me that I plan on taking very slowly and only doing as much as I can while still retaining a good relationship with my kids. We're still planning on homeschooling too! I know, it probably sounds crazy, but I really have a passion for helping women achieve healthier births and imparting knowlege to help them make good decisions about their bodies. Anyway, the first step for me was taking the teacher training for The Bradley Method of natural childbirth. I did it this past weekend - a four-day long workshop - and now I am provisionally certified to teach classes! I'm excited! Now I just need some students... so if anyone knows someone interested in really inexpensive childbirth classes... send 'em my way!

Cute Pics of the Kiddos!

2008-07-25T18:13:00.000-07:00

We are enjoying the summer immensely and trying to take advantage of every beautiful day! The kids are happy and really starting to enjoy their relationship and they're growing up so fast!!

Pregnant? Want a natural birth?

2008-07-24T22:39:00.000-07:00

I am a self-professed addict of natural birth - I love it! I love the work and I love the payoff at the end - a healthy, undrugged baby who is alert and happily breastfeeding or gazing into Mommy and Daddy's eyes!!!

I also enjoy sharing my passion for natural birth with the people around me - so much so that I decided to train to become a childbirth educator. So after about a year and a half, I am finally taking the plunge! I am currently training to become a certified childbirth educator for the Bradley Method. Mark and I went to Bradley classes before Eliza was born, and I believe that it was extremely instrumental in our success having a natural birth.

My hope is to finish my bookwork before the big 4-day training seminar next month after which point I will be a provisional Bradley childbirth educator. Then I'll need to teach 2 sets of 13-week classes before becoming fully certified. So, if you are reading my blog and live in the greater Seattle area, and would like to have a natural birth, please contact me! I will be offering discounts for these sessions and they will be open to couples who are due anytime after Dec. 1st.

A few quick stats on the Bradley Method:
- Developed as the first "husband-coached" childbirth method and truly focused on the husband-wife relationship
- A success rate of just under 90% unmedicated births
- A very complete program that covers all aspects of childbirth
- Not hypnosis or patterned breathing

For more information, see www.bradleybirth.com
(yes, their site is outdated-looking, but the method is time-tested and works!)

Cry It Out: The Potential Dangers of Leaving Your Baby to Cry

2008-06-07T22:03:00.000-07:00

As I have developed and matured as a mom over the past few years, I have become more firm in my belief in Attachment Parenting (AP). AP is practiced in many ways, including child-led-feeding (breastfeeding if at all possible), co-sleeping, babywearing, gentle discipline, and the belief in a baby's cry. This last topic is the one I am writing about tonight. It breaks my heart that moms all over the country are fooled into believing that it is somehow healthy for their infant to be left to cry. This is typically based on an ignorant belief that an infant is trying to "manipulate" her parents. However, this theory is flawed because obviously the cry is the only method of communication that a baby has. Even until a child is 2-3 years old, their primary method of communication is crying, especially when something is wrong. To punish a child for trying to communicate with her parents is so very wrong, and can only result in a child who has lost trust in her parents to meet her needs with love.

Below I have pasted an article that is the summary of much research in the effects and dangers of letting a baby "cry-it-out." Here is the original link for reference: http://drbenkim.com/articles-attachment-parenting.html

Cry It Out: The Potential Dangers of Leaving Your Baby to Cry

By Margaret Chuong-Kim on March 22, 2005

Among parents of infants these days, there is constant debate about how to respond to a baby's cries. On one hand, there are proponents of the "cry it out" method, where the baby is left alone to cry in the hopes that he or she will eventually stop. On the other hand, there are the "attachment parents" who respond immediately to their crying babies and attempt to soothe them using various methods including holding and cuddling. While the cry-it-out method (CIO) has been popular in previous years, attachment parenting (AP) is gaining a foothold among new parents today. Results of studies in psychology indicate the AP approach to crying is most likely to result in an emotionally and physically healthy child.

Attachment theory originated in the late 1960s when psychologist John Bowlby postulated that a warm, intimate relationship between caregiver and infant is necessary for optimal health as well as for basic survival. As such, each individual is born well-equipped with reflexes and instincts for interacting with their primary caregiver, which is often times the mother. For example, infants quickly learn to recognize and prefer both their mother's voice and smell. As babies develop some locomotor control they display their desire to be close to their caregivers by reaching toward their mother or father to be picked up or by crawling toward them. From an evolutionary perspective, these behaviours have survival value. Babies who lack such attachment behaviours will stray from their caregivers and are more likely to get lost, attacked, and perish. An infant's cry is also intended to increase the likelihood of its survival, as a mother's instinct is usually to go to her child at the first sign of distress.

We live in an age where we can know that the baby is safe in another room, despite the loudness of his cries. Does this mean we should leave babies to cry on their own? CIO proponents often advise that babies left to cry will eventually stop, and the duration of future crying bouts will decrease. What are the emotional consequences of crying for the infant when she is left unattended? Bowlby and colleagues initiated a series of studies where children between the ages of one and two who had good relationships with their mothers were separated from them and left to cry it out. Results showed a predictable sequence of behaviours: The first phase, labeled "protest", consists of loud crying and extreme restlessness. The second phase, labeled "despair", consists of monotonous crying, inactivity, and steady withdrawal. The third phase, labeled "detachment", consists of a renewed interest in surroundings, albeit a remote, distant kind of interest. Thus, it appears that while leaving babies to cry it out can lead to the eventual dissipation of those cries, it also appears that this occurs due to the gradual development of apathy in the child. The child stops crying because she learns that she can no longer hope for the caregiver to provide comfort, not because her distress has been alleviated.

Do babies cry more when they are attended to? A 1986 study concluded just the opposite: the more a mother holds and carries her baby, the less the baby will cry and fuss. Cross-cultural studies also show that parents in non-Western societies are quicker than parents in Western societies to respond to their crying babies, and babies in non-Western societies cry for shorter spans of time. Caregivers in 78% of the world's cultures respond quickly to an infant's cries. For instance, Efe caregivers in Africa respond to a baby's cries within ten seconds at least 85% of the time when the baby is between three and seven weeks, and 75% of the time when the baby is seventeen weeks. !Kung caregivers respond within ten seconds over 90% of the time during the baby's first three months, and over 80% of the time at one year. In contrast, American and Dutch caregivers have been found to be deliberately unresponsive to an infant's cries almost 50% of the time during the baby's first three months. Infants in non-Western societies have been found to fuss just as frequently as those in Western societies, but due to the prompt response of caregivers in non-Western societies, the overall cumulative duration of crying is less than what occurs in Western societies.

According to attachment theory, many babies are born without the ability to self-regulate emotions. That is, they find the world to be confusing and disorganized, but do not have the coping abilities required to soothe themselves. Thus, during times of distress, they seek out their caregivers because the physical closeness of the caregiver helps to soothe the infant and to re-establish equilibrium. When the caregiver is consistently responsive and sensitive, the child gradually learns and believes that she is worthy of love, and that other people can be trusted to provide it. She learns that the caregiver is a secure base from which she can explore the world, and if she encounters adversity she can return to her base for support and comfort. This trust in the caregiver results in what is known as a secure individual.

Children who do not have consistently responsive and sensitive caregivers often develop into insecure individuals, characterized by anxious, avoidant, and/or ambivalent interactions. Long-term studies have shown that secure individuals, compared to insecure individuals, are more likely to be outgoing, popular, well-adjusted, compassionate, and altruistic. As adults, secure individuals tend to be comfortable depending on others, readily develop close attachments, and trust their partners. Insecure individuals, on the other hand, tend to be unsettled in their relationships, displaying anxiety (manifesting as possessiveness, jealousy, and clinginess) or avoidance (manifesting as mistrust and a reluctance to depend on others). North American parenting practices, including CIO, are often influenced by fears that children will grow up too dependent. However, an abundance of research shows that regular physical contact, reassurance, and prompt responses to distress in infancy and childhood results in secure and confident adults who are better able to form functional relationships.

It has been suggested in the past that CIO is healthy for infants' physical development, particularly the lungs. A recent study looking at the immediate and long-term physiologic consequences of infant crying suggests otherwise. The following changes due to infant crying have been documented: increased heart rate and blood pressure, reduced oxygen level, elevated cerebral blood pressure, depleted energy reserves and oxygen, interrupted mother-infant interaction, brain injury, and cardiac dysfunction. The study's researchers suggested that caregivers should answer infant cries swiftly, consistently, and comprehensively, recommendations which are in line with AP principles.

CIO supporters tend to view their infants' cries as attempts to manipulate caregivers into providing more attention. Holding this view can be detrimental to the immediate and long-term health of the baby. In the field of cognitive psychology there exists the premise that our thoughts underlie our behavior. Thus, if we think positively about an individual, our behaviors toward them tend to be positive as well. Conversely, if we think negatively about an individual, we will behave correspondingly. Consider people in your own life whom you consider manipulative – how does that perception influence your behavior toward them?It is unlikely that the interpretation of a manipulative personality will result in the compassionate, empathetic, and loving care of that individual.Infants, quite helpless without the aid of their caregivers, may suffer both emotional and physical consequences of this type of attitude.

When faced with a crying baby, it may be prudent to ask yourself the following questions: Why am I choosing this response? Do I want my baby to stop crying because he feels comforted and safe, or do I want my baby to stop crying for the sake of stopping crying? What is my baby learning about me and the world when I respond in this manner? If I were a baby and was upset, how would I want my caregivers to respond?

References
   Campos, J., et al. (1983). Socioemotional development. In P. Mussen (Ed.), Carmichael's Manual of Child Psychology: Vol. 2. Infancy and Developmental Psychobiology. New York: Wiley.
   Craig, G., Kermis, M., & Digdon, N. (1998). Children Today. Scarborough, ON: Prentice-Hall.
   Dacey, J. & Travers, J. (1996). Human Development Across The Lifespan (4th Ed). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
   DeCasper, A., & Fifer, W. (1980). Of human bonding: Newborns prefer their mothers' voices. Science, 208: 1174-76.
   Gleitman, H. (1996). Basic Psychology (4th Ed). New York: W.W. Norton.
   Hunziker, U. & Barr, R. (1986). Increased carrying reduces infant crying: A randomized controlled trial. Pediatrics, 77(5): 641-8.
   Luddington, Hoe, S. Cong, X., & Hashemi, F. (2002). Infant crying: Nature, physiologic consequences, and select interventions. Neonatal Network, 21(2): 29-36.
   Macfarlane, A. (1975). Olfaction in the development of social preferences in the human neonate. Parent-Infant Interaction. Amsterdam: CIBA Foundation Symposium.
   Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P. (2001). Attachment theory and intergroup bias: evidence that priming the secure base schema attenuates negative reactions to out-groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(1): 97-115.
   Miller, R. (2000). Dysfunctional relationships. In R. Kowalski & M. Leary (Eds.), The Social Psychology of Emotional and Behavioral Problems: Interfaces of Social and Clinical Psychology. Washington, DC: APA.
   Waters, E., Wippman, J., & Sroufe, L. (1979). Attachment, positive affect, and competence in the peer group: Two studies in construct validation. Child Development, 50: 821-829.
   http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/fac/hewlett/infantcare.html

I Love My Inlaws!

2008-06-03T18:34:00.000-07:00

We just came home from spending the weekend with my husband's family in Idaho, celebrating his youngest brother's graduation from high school. It was so much fun! We were very busy, but we enjoyed spending time with everyone. I told Mark and Debbie (my mom-in-law) that I really feel like family now. It has been 4 years since I first met the Rich clan, and they are such a great group of people! I am very blessed to have married into such a great family. I think of Mark's family almost like they're my own! Here are a few photos of our trip:

Michael with Judah

Judah enjoying his Grandma... or maybe it's Debbie enjoying her grandson!

Eliza and Daniel

Judah loves to play with balls!

I'm just waiting for the day Eliza tells me that she's going to marry her Uncle Tim!

Dorothy with her favorite niece!

I'll try to get a few more on here after we get them all downloaded to the computer!

Steps to Make a More Peaceful Home

2008-05-12T23:09:00.000-07:00

Our home has been really haphazard and disjointed lately, at least as far as our day-to-day life goes. The kids haven't been sleeping very well, and they seem to be a little withdrawn. When I got to thinking about this last night, I decided that we need to take some major steps to make our home a more healthy, peaceful place to be so that our family can thrive! This is what I came up with, and I put it this on our refrigerator:

Steps to Make a More Peaceful Home:
1. More routine for everyone
2. Consistent devotional time
3. Quality time with the kids
4. Better nutrition for everyone

The way this will look for us is this:
1. More routine for everyone. We have a routine that we haven't been very good about sticking to. We all function better when our bodies and minds know roughly what to expect. This is especially important with bedtime routines.
2. Consistent devotional time. This is for Mark and I, as well as time spent teaching Eliza about God and praying with her (and Judah when able).
3. Quality time with the kids. Both kids need lots of this, Eliza with special "big girl things" like learning her alphabet sounds and playing house, and Judah with wrestling and carrying/wearing him more.
4. Better nutrition for everyone. I am trying to lose some weight and inches, and Mark and I both need to get our bodies into better condition internally. They just feel off! And Eliza hasn't been eating enough during the day, as evidenced by her frequent night wakings and asking for food. Judah also isn't nursing as regularly as he could during the day and as a result is nursing all night long.

We have three weeks until we go to Idaho for Michael's graduation. They say it takes three weeks to make a habit stick, so for the next few weeks this will be our biggest focus!

My Wonderful Husband!

2008-05-11T21:30:00.000-07:00

Mark made me feel so special today! I woke up this morning to Judah crawling on me to find that Mark and Eliza were gone. I figured they were cooking up a surprise for me for the special day, and I was right. A few minutes later, they came in the door with big smiles on their faces and a dozen pink roses with a beautiful vase and a card. I was so touched! Mark said that Eliza walked all over the floral department looking at every bouquet and liking a few before she saw these and had to get them! It was so cute - she was so proud of herself!

Then this afternoon we had Tim over for lunch and Mark told me that the real reason Tim was here was to watch the kids so that he could take me out to The Cheesecake Factory! I felt so honored and special that he went through so much to make my day a memorable one! We had a really nice time at The Cheesecake Factory. It's such a different feeling going on a date without juggling two children at the same time!

I love my husband so much! He is such a blessing to me. When I think back to that year of praying that God would open up his heart towards me, and then the year of dating and engagement before we got married, I can hardly believe this road that God has brought us down! It has been such a joy to share my life with someone who must have been created with me in mind!!

Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Remembrance Day

2008-05-01T13:50:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, May 2nd, is Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Remembrance Day.

In this world, we are so far removed from the horrors of the Holocaust and the effects that it had on the entire world. But it was a very real event in the not-so-past history. Six million Jewish people were brutally murdered, including 1.5 million children. They also murdered tens of thousands of disabled children and adults.

The stories are sickening, to say the least. The horrors that seem too evil to ever be possible, are not.

Last night I read a couple of first/second hand accounts on Aish.com that brought me to the point of sobbing to Mark, "How could such evil possibly ever exist? It's a horror story that's actually true!" I want to challenge all of you to take some time tomorrow and read a story of a Holocaust survivor (you can google them). Yes, it will probably bring you to tears also, but that's what we need. We NEED to stay sensitive to this, and it needs to be remembered. That is the only way we can prevent something like this from ever happening again!

And let's not forget that this evil plot stemmed from the theory of evolution. The murdered in the Holocaust were thought to be "less evolved" and the Nazi's were trying to perfect the human race in an effort to become "gods." As long as evolution is taught as fact, we must be even more vigilent to stand against this evil mindset!

Praise the Lord for the strength and blessing He has abundantly given to his people, Israel!

*Here is a link with some educational sources: http://www.remember.org/educate/

Gary's Wedding

2008-04-11T13:03:00.000-07:00

Last month we went to my brother's wedding in Minneapolis. Mark did the photography for it which was a very long, hard day's work for both of us! But I had a blast getting to reconnect with my extended family and old friends!! Here are some photos from the wedding of my family:

Our Whole Family!

My beautiful little sister, Aimee

Gary & Tina with their daughter, Ruby

My Aunt Sandy & Uncle Jeff (my dad's siblings):
(Yeah... my Greek family knows how to have a good time!)

Pastor CJ & Cheryl - our pastors and friends for many years:

My very handsome little brother, Karl:
(yes ladies, he's single...)

Four Generations - My grandparents, Dad, me and my children!

Mom with her sisters Mary & Lois, and baby Ruby

My parents! Still in love after 25 years!!!

Ruby and my mom!

PT101: Potty Training 101 - Score: A+!

2008-03-12T15:34:00.000-07:00

I have had 2 long-term nanny jobs in the recent years - and both involved potty training. Both sets of parents took a long, gentle approach to it and both had boys over the age of 3. I can't say that they were great experiences either! Not bad, just not great! Potty training can be such a challenge because it's a really sensitive thing for the child going through it! So needless to say, I was a little apprehensive about what potty training Eliza was going to look like.

Sunday before last we did it. We built it up for a couple of days - getting her some cloth training pants:
and telling her that she was getting too big for her diapers so she was going to learn how to use the potty! She's had a little potty seat since before Judah was born, so she was already familiar with it and even went in it a couple of times.

Sunday morning came, and we brought the potty out to the kitchen. We read her a potty book:

which she really liked. Then we helped her change into her new training pants and her show us how to sit on the potty. Then we offered her some juice. :) And yes, this is a sneaky way to make them have to pee more so that they get more practice! Over the course of the day we had probably 6-8 accidents on the floor and one BM in the carpet (eeewww!), but towards the evening she started getting the hang of it and once she felt herself start to pee, she'd stop and let us guide her to the potty to finish. Monday, she only had 2 accidents - one first thing in the morning, and one in the evening when she was playing with a friend and forgot. Pretty good for her second day! She had a few drips in her undies but that was it. Tuesday she was dry all day! Wednesday we went to Target to get her some much-deserved "big girl panties" which she got to pick out. She picked Elmo:

And that was basically the end of potty training Eliza! She has her occasional accidents, and won't poo on an adult toilet, but who can blame her?!? They're like almost as big as she is!

Anyway, I am sooo proud of my little girl! I'll add a photo of her in her cute panties when I get a chance to upload it. Gotta go put Judah down for a nap!

Me and My Endless Projects!

2008-03-06T10:51:00.000-08:00

My life seems to be comprised of a constant stream of projects - and very often I don't finish them before moving on to the next one! For instance, right after Mark and I got married (3.5 years ago) I decided that I would input all of our chord charts for worship music into a computer/web-based database so that they were easy to access and find. I put it to rest around letter F when Eliza was born 2 years ago, and the pile of chord charts is still sitting underneath our printer!

The other day Mark and I were looking at a couple of Bible storybooks that were given to our kids. We were amazed and disgusted by how Biblically-inaccurate they were! Being Messianic, I always replace "Jesus" with "Yeshua" when I'm reading to my kids, and other names with their actual Hebrew name also (Just because Pedro from Mexico moves to the U.S. we don't start calling him Peter - his name will always be Pedro! Shouldn't it be even more so with the Son of God?). We also correct some other things like instead of 2 of every animal in the ark, there were actually 1 pair of every unclean animal and 7 pair (14) of every clean animal! Anyway, this got me to thinking about how much I would like to have a Bible storybook for my kids that I didn't have to screen first! And with as easy as it is to write and print your own book these days, I decided that I would write a Biblically-accurate (yes, violence and sex will be masked as appropriate) Bible story book and get it printed at one of those online print places (like Shutterfly).

So I'm going to do it - but... I'm not a very good artist, or at least I don't have time to practice to where I'd be comfortable at doing it. So if anyone reading this knows someone who might enjoy illustrating a children's Bible story book, I'd love to talk to them! The illustrations will follow the culture and will be mostly Jewish in nature, but will also include ancient Egypt, Rome and Persia.

Woohoo! I'll post some text here when I get it started!

Our Crazy February!

2008-03-01T21:39:00.000-08:00

We have had the craziest month around here! We have been busy trying to grow our photography business and did three sessions this month. It has been fun, and we are praying that God will help us grow and develop because we would really like to do this for a living someday in the not too distant future! For a glimpse of our work, you can view the Rich Imaging Blog (click to link). Right now we're trying to get some practice doing senior sessions and are offering them for FREE - so if you know any high school juniors in the area, send them our way!

We also almost moved this month and it fell through at the last minute. We've been tentatively planning on doing a lease-to-own with someone since the beginning of February. He called on Feb. 16th and said that he'd be ready with money in hand to sign papers and move in by the 1st of March. We said that that would be fine, and set up to sign papers on Feb. 29th. For the next week I frantically searched for a place for us to live. We are actually planning on moving to Idaho (more on that below) in a few months so we couldn't move anywhere that required a lease. Finally on the 24th, we found a place - it was a perfect situation for us and it was as if God handed it to us Himself, telling us not to worry and that He would take care of us.

The next day was Monday, and the guy who was supposed to be signing papers with us on Friday called to try to back out of the deal because he found something more appealing. Mark convinced him to keep his word and he decided to stay with us. I had a sick feeling in my gut all day on Tuesday, knowing I desperately needed to pack but being afraid that it wasn't going to go through. On Wednesday morning, I decided to just go ahead and pack because I had so much to do in just a couple of days. I packed all morning. Then, in the afternoon, this guy called to let us know that he didn't have any money to sign the lease papers and he was calling it off. I was angry and at the same time relieved. So, we're not moving out of our condo - at least not yet!

That brings me to the next topic: our pending future move to Idaho. We've been toying with the idea of moving to Boise for over a year now. We really want to raise our children around their grandparents and include our extended family in their lives. In most ways, Boise will be a better place for us to raise our family. It is a smaller city with much less crime and less traffic. It is a more conservative area with favorable laws on homeschooling and families in general. And since we want to have a few more kids, it will be much easier to raise them with the help of Mark's parents. It will also be a day's drive closer to my parents in Colorado which will make it feasible to visit them much more often. AND, real estate is about half the price as it is in the Seattle area, which is appealing for obvious reasons!

The biggest reason we don't want to leave here is our amazing and wonderful community at Beit Tikvah. BT has been a place of huge spiritual growth and maturity for us as well as a place that has fostered some wonderful relationships. Our faith has deepened to a level we never realized possible before, and we have a foundation that will support us for the rest of our lives. For those of you who don't know, Beit Tikvah is a Messianic congregation. Essentially, it is a place where we keep the Torah as a part of our relationship with God. We keep the Sabbath, celebrate and honor the Biblical holidays (Leviticus 23) and eat Biblically kosher. We are very similar to a typical Jewish community except for the major difference that we believe in the deity of Yeshua (Jesus). Our rabbi's teachings are very solid and Biblically-sound and relevant to our lives. (Side note: you can listen to them yourself from BT's website link on the right!) Such a community is not easy to come by! There are a lot of flaky communities in the Messianic movement, but our is definitely not one of them! We have developed so much there and have fostered some wonderful friendships that we will always treasure.

That being said, we still believe that it is God's will for us to move on from here into a new place, spiritually as well as physically. I remember when we first started attending BT, and Mark told me that he believed that we would be there for a short time - maybe a couple of years - and then God would move us on somewhere else. At the time, I prayed he was wrong but knew he probably wasn't. I've learned to trust Mark's prophetic gift and his ability to hear from God. So all this time we knew deep down that this was probably just going to be a relatively short season of our lives, but I think all along we hoped it would last forever. We don't know what kind of a community of believers we will find ourselves in when we move to Boise, but we do know that at the end of this time we will live forever in a world of Torah observance, where all the nations with gather in Jerusalem to celebrate the festival of Sukkot together with Yeshua! We will always cherish our relationships at BT, though, and hope to visit there whenever we are able.

So, we will continue trying to sell our condo (or do a lease-to-own) and Mark will start looking for a job in Boise, and our plan is to move in the beginning of June. We'll see how things go!

In the meantime, here are some recent pictures of our beautiful blessings from God!

Eliza will be two at the end of March and our next event with her will be learning to use the potty! I am especially looking forward to it! :o) She is talking a lot now and starting to really use her imagination in play which has been loads of fun!

Judah is 6 1/2 months and is growing up so fast! He is sitting up (for a few weeks now) and starting to crawl already! I think that he is always challenged by his big sister and is pushing himself more than she did at his age. He's such a joy!

Well, everyone, I must end this very long post. Have a wonderful day... and leave me a comment - I'm curious if anyone reads this thing!! ;o)

-Judy

p.s. Oh - and by the way - I voted for Mike Huckabee...

Politics: the journey continues

2008-02-06T08:52:00.000-08:00

Well, up to this point I have supported and followed Ron Paul for president for a number of reasons. The biggest reason is that I agree fully with his "libertarian" stance that we need to return to the constitution and get the government out of people's business. He doesn't support the government interventions to stop abortion and gay marriage because he doesn't believe our constitution gives the federal government the right to intervene in such things. Although I actually disagree in the case of abortion because I think our government has the right and responsibility to protect it's citizens - even those not yet born! And he wants to get our troops out of Iraq - because the war was "illegal" according to our own constitution. He is tired of the amount of power and control that the government has in its citizen's lives, and wants to put a stop to it. This is why I have supported him for president.

But at this time, I am very interested in Mike Huckabee. Although he isn't as concerned about minimizing the government, he is interested in using the government for good instead of evil. His stances are in line with my morals and ethics, and I believe our country would be a much better place if he were president. I would love to see Roe vs. Wade overturned and the constant murder of the innocent unborn ended. And I would love to see marriage defined as a unity between "one man and one woman." Our country's corruptness and blatant sin is going to be it's end - if our manipulation of Israel doesn't end it first! (But that's a topic for another day...)

Oh - and I definitely DON'T like the other options: John McCain or Mitt Romney. Way too liberal and "big government" for me...

But all that said, I honestly don't think that any of the republican candidates have a chance against Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. Our party has unfortunately been weakened greatly by President Bush and his inability to follow through on his word, along with the mess he created for us in the middle east. And in the event of a democratic president, so far I think I would rather see Barack Obama in office than another Clinton. Not to mention that I don't believe that women belong in such a position of leadership. Feminism is already causing decay in our society and the breakdown of the family. And I think that Obama has some good ideas, although it will still be detrimental to have a liberal in office, at least for those of us with strong moral and ethical convictions.

May God show mercy on us and may the Messiah return soon in glory!

Photos of our growing kids!

2008-02-05T16:27:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since I've put photos in here, so here it goes! The top ones are the most recent:

Judah is now happily rolling all over the place, and as of this past weekend he is sitting!

Eliza and I dancing to some swing-style music!

Mark took this one - our happy boy!

We took Eliza to the Everett Children's Museum on New Year's Eve - it was a blast!

I took these two of the kids on a Shabbat morning in December - all dressed up and adorable!

Couldn't resist doing this one in black and white - Judah's not quite rolling over yet here.

I hope you enjoy these photos! Have a wonderful week, everyone!

Side-by-Side Vaccine Comparison

2008-02-05T15:57:00.000-08:00

This is a side by side comparison of the CDC vaccine schedule from 1983 and 2007. Wow!!! I recently read a great article in Mothering Magazine (Jan/Feb 2008) about aluminum in vaccines, and the dangers that it imposes on infants. Very interesting! We don't vax at all at this time, for many reasons, and our children have hardly ever been sick. Their immune systems are very strong!

Tough Times Parenting, part 2

2008-02-04T15:48:00.000-08:00

Well, things are going better than I expected with Judah. I only ended up having to spend one night in the living room with Judah before returning to our bedroom. He did better the next night, although I was so tired that I think I nursed him to sleep frequently, which was okay that night. Since then, he has done better, usually having one instance each night where he has a hard time going back to sleep. But we haven't had to go to any extremes, which is great. He'll fuss for a few minutes, but then he'll eventually go back to sleep. Praise the Lord! And he's been napping really well too which is wonderful for me!

Tough Times Parenting

2008-01-31T21:40:00.000-08:00

Those of you who know me well know that I am a firm believer in attachment parenting. I wear my babes in a sling or mei tai (as long as my back will cooperate), I breastfeed on demand, hopefully until they wean themselves (Eliza had to wean early as I lost my milk in pregnancy), we co-sleep, and my entire being cringes at the thought of the "cry-it-out" method. I have always made it a point with my children to respond to them as quickly as possible in any time of their distress because I believe in their cries. Crying is the only way babies have to communicate with us, and by responding to them quickly I am telling them that I am concerned about their well-being. I want them to trust that if they cry to me, I will answer. I firmly believe that by building this kind of a foundation early on, my children will have a solid trust in me as they grow up.

So, that being said, this is what has been going on around our home lately. First, some background. Eliza was a "bad" sleeper. For the first year of her life, she woke up every hour and a half to two hours all night long, and she wasn't easy to get back to sleep. When she was around 10 months old or so, we realized that she was taking in an inordinate amount of calories during the night, and her body was legitimately hungry during all of those wakings. So we began weaning her off the night feedings and increasing her caloric intake during the day. It was a hard road, especially combined with the unplanned forced weaning from breastfeeding that occurred when I became pregnant with Judah and lost my milk. She also was a bad napper, which made it even more difficult. I was a frazzled, frustrated mess until she started sleeping for a few straight hours at night, which happened around a year old.

So back to now: Judah is a much better sleeper than Eliza was. When he was 3 months old he started sleeping for 4-5 and sometimes even 6 hour chunks during the night. I was so happy - this was how babies were supposed to sleep so that their parents didn't lose their sanity! But a few weeks ago, this dream began fading and he started waking more and more frequently. He's been getting up every hour or two all night and unlike Eliza who would nurse and then be rocked or walked back to sleep, he wakes up and will sometimes nurse and other times will just cry until I pick him up, take him out of the [warm] bedroom, and pace around with him. I am having flashbacks to my frazzled self with Eliza, crying out of despair and losing my temper for no good reason. Not willing to return to that sleep-deprived state, I decided that something has to change. So, last night after we were all tucked in for bed (we 4 all sleep in the same room), Judah woke up wailing, just an hour after he last nursed. I knew he wasn't hungry. I took him out of our room, into the living room and made us a makeshift bed on the floor. We proceeded to spend the night on the hard floor. He cried on and off for an hour that first waking, as I lay next to him and lovingly rubbed his back, patted him, sang to him, and reassured him. The next time he woke up, a few hours later, he nursed thoroughly and went back to sleep with hardly any fuss. Then he awoke again an hour later and cried for 20 min or so, again with me trying to comfort him.

I know this might sound mean to those of you who are strictly against letting a baby cry. And it probably sounds ridiculous to any of you who's baby cried it out at 2 months old. But I refuse to leave my baby alone to cry - I do want him to know that I am there with him and that I'm not going to abandon him in his time of need. At the same time though, I also know my child enough to know that he doesn't need anything - he just wants to be held and rocked and walked around every time he wakes up. I also know that however a baby falls asleep, that is what they will expect when they wake up. So unless I want to be rocking him every hour, I need to find a new solution. So it looks like we'll be spending a few nights on the living room floor. Hopefully this will fix a few things, and then we can return to our family bedroom with daddy & big sis!

Politics...

2008-01-24T09:10:00.000-08:00

Here's another quiz to take to determine your best match for the presidency: http://www.wqad.com/Global/link.asp?L=259460

As time goes on I realize that although my views are mostly in-line with Ron Paul, they are also close to Mike Huckabee's. In some ways, closer. I would love for either of them to become president. Although I'm afraid that the republican party is too split and scattered to win the election at all. We'll see...

Anyway, this is my result of that quiz:

Ron Paul - Score: 41
Agree:
Iraq
Immigration
Taxes
Stem-Cell Research
Health Care
Abortion
Energy
Gun Control
Education
Disagree:
Social Security
Line-Item Veto
Marriage
Death Penalty
Environment

Mike Huckabee - Score: 35
Agree:
Stem-Cell Research
Health Care
Abortion
Social Security
Line-Item Veto
Marriage
Death Penalty
Gun Control
Environment
Disagree:
Iraq
Immigration
Taxes
Energy
Education

John McCain - Score: 35
Agree:
Taxes
Stem-Cell Research
Health Care
Abortion
Social Security
Line-Item Veto
Energy
Death Penalty
Gun Control
Disagree:
Iraq
Immigration
Marriage
Environment
Education

New Rich Imaging Blog!

2008-01-19T20:50:00.000-08:00

Many of you may know that Mark and I own our own photography business. We have since we got married, but we haven't done much with it lately due to lots of things. But to make a long story short, the more we think about it the more we realize that photography is what we really want to do. So lately we've been trying to kick-start things into motion. We are doing some free and deeply discounted sessions to get some practice and to enlarge our portfolio and we are getting some software to streamline and professionalize our workflow.

Another issue for us is that we want to specialize in wedding photography, but most weddings are on Saturdays and we don't work on Saturdays (at least not before sunset). This poses a bit of a problem! So we need to figure out how to reach people who don't get married on Saturday - like the Jewish population and Seventh-Day Adventists. If anyone has any ideas, please, pass them along!! :o)

Anyway, we have recently redesigned our website, http://www.richimaging.net and also created a blog: http://richimaging.blogspot.com. Check them out if you get a chance and tell us what you think! Currently the website is taking a long time to load, so give it a minute (literally) - it looks great once it does!

And, if you live in the area and want to get your photos taken, or know anyone planning a Sunday or weekday wedding, let us know!

Find your presidential candidate!

2007-12-05T13:18:00.000-08:00

This is a cool quiz with accurate results!

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/page?id=3623346

My results:
#1- Ron Paul (woohoo!)
#2- Fred Thompson
#3- Mitt Romney

Take it and see where the candidates stand with your personal beliefs - you might be surprised!

**Ron Paul for President in 2008!!!!!**
**www.ronpaul2008.com**

Thanksgiving and more

2007-12-03T12:18:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been an emotional couple of weeks around here. On the day before Thanksgiving, our house purchase fell through. Turns out our broker made a major computing error on the estimates he was giving us the entire time and he was telling us that it would be almost a thousand dollars less per month than it actually was. It was very frustrating and emotional, especially for me.

The next day, Mark's parents and youngest brother came up from Idaho to spend Thanksgiving and the weekend with us. We had a blast with them! Eliza loved it and learned how to say "Grandpa/Grandma" which melted all of our hearts! I went shopping on the morning after Thanksgiving with Mark's parents and Judah - at 5am - woohoo! We had our "Thanksgiving Dinner" on Friday with a turkey, potatoes, stuffing, cranberry salad, green beans, salad, and pecan pie with ice cream. It was a feast! And it was great to have us all together. Tim's girlfriend Allison came also and it was great to get to know her a little more.

The weekend really helped me get my focus back where it should be. God has blessed us immensely in so many ways!

Since the initial blow, we've discussed a few things that helped me feel better about it all. First, God was probably protecting us from a potentially bad situation with the house. We were biting off a very big mouthful! Secondly, we decided that we're still going to try to sell (preferably lease-option) our condo and either find another house or rent for awhile. Thirdly, we are turning our under-utilized guest room into a cute playroom for Eliza (and Judah if we're here long enough). By pulling the toys out of the living room we will gain some additional living space which will be nice.

Ron Paul for President 2008

2007-11-16T16:13:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been researching Ron Paul, and from what I've read I feel confident supporting him for president. He is completely pro-life and pro-homeschooling and he is a believer in small government and minimal taxes. He is gaining ground in the republican political sector, and he has a chance at winning, albeit a small one.

For a more in-depth look at his exact stances, check out his website at http://www.ronpaul2008.com.

Family Photos & News

2007-11-12T16:11:00.000-08:00

Here we are - our beautiful and happy family! We had our personal family photographer - Mark's brother, Tim - take our picture at the beautiful Bothell Landing Park. They turned out so well!

Some news from us - we're moving! Next month we will be moving out of our condo into a beautiful house in Auburn. It will be a big change for us in many ways - we'll be closer to some of our friends and farther from others. But we are looking forward to it! Pray for us - that we find someone to lease our condo soon!

Shalom!

Anniversary Blessings!

2007-10-09T10:47:00.000-07:00

Today is Mark and my anniversary, and I can't help but think about how blessed we are to be trusted with these two precious lives! My, how time flies - seems like just yesterday we were newlyweds on our honeymoon at Seaside eating ice cream at the parlor down the street!

Eliza, age 18 months:

Judah, age 6 weeks:

Photos of Judah!

2007-09-11T15:26:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos that we took on Sunday at the park:

Judah is growing up so fast already!

Natural Living: An Update

2007-09-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

I've had several people ask me about the results of my ongoing quest for a more natural lifestyle, so I decided I should post an update here.

First of all, I have been no-poo for about 3 months now. I only use a mild baking soda rinse - about half tablespoon baking soda dissolved in a half-cup of warm water. I actually usually only use half of this per rinse, and I do this twice a week. The rest of the time I just rinse my hair with water. I also don't use any kind of conditioner which has been just fine for me!

I did, in fact make and use cloth menstrual pads for postpartum use. I liked them - so much softer than paper. And they were easy to care for too - I rinsed them after use and washed them with Eliza's diapers. I'm still considering the Diva Cup too, we'll see...

I did drink a lot of red raspberry leaf tea during my pregnancy, but didn't use the strong mix during labor. I think it helped because my labor was fast and easy (relatively speaking) and I didn't have much bleeding at all.

Is there anything I'm forgetting? Let me know if there is!

Our son has arrived!

2007-08-18T20:44:00.000-07:00

We have been blessed by the birth of our first son! Judah Malachi Rich was born on August 16th at 4:15am. He was 7 lbs, 14 oz and 21 inches long at birth and perfect! His birth was wonderful - exactly what we hoped and prayed for. He was born into his daddy's loving hands and immediately held by me while he adjusted to life outside the womb.

Here's a look at our new blessing:

Almost Ready for Baby!

2007-07-28T20:53:00.000-07:00

Wow - this past 8 months has flown by! I am now just shy of 37 weeks gestation which means the baby could come in a week or could wait another 4! I've stopped nannying and am now a full-time stay at home mom, which has been wonderful for Eliza and I. It has been so nice to focus so much of my time and energy on her. She has developed a lot with the extra attention - learning her shapes and colors and lots more words. It will be hard to learn to split my attention between two children, although I'm sure it will be wonderful in its own way!

And for an update, I have been shampoo-free for almost a month and a half now, and only cleanse my hair with baking soda every 4-5 days. It's amazing to me that it takes that long to build up oils! I still haven't switched to a natural alternative to conditioner, so I still use commercial stuff when I cleanse with baking soda. But it's still a good transition for me. I could never go for any length of time with oily hair - it totally grosses me out; so I'm very glad that the baking soda enables me to not shampoo and still cleanse.

Following are a few photos from recently:

Here is Eliza playing our new electric piano - she couldn't avoid music even if she wanted to in this house! But she really loves music as much as Mark and I do, which we're glad of.

And here are a few photos that we did to capture my pregnancy (at Bothell Landing Park):

Lastly, this is Eliza and I relaxing in our birthing pool which we were testing out before our baby's birth! She's gives the best kisses, and she gives them so freely!

Going Natural

2007-06-09T20:03:00.001-07:00

For the past couple of years, I have been on a slow journey toward more natural living. It was kick-started with my introduction to home-birthing. Suddenly, a door was opened to me to a world of people who thought outside the typical box of consumerism and modernism. We started trying to eat more organic and less-processed foods.

Soon after, I became pregnant, and eating healthy was even more important as it affected my unborn child as well as myself! I realized that the way I treated myself had a direct impact on the lifelong health of my child. What a gift to be able to give! I stopped drinking caffeinated coffee and have never returned. I get just as much pleasure out of a good cup of decaf and no side-effects! With pregnancy also came the research into childbirth. I studied home-birthing and unmedicated birth. I learned about what your body does during labor, what causes pain, and what causes most complications. Mark and I took Bradley classes during the last trimester also, which was a great benefit. I found a great midwife who believes in the body's ability to birth naturally and who is also a grounded believer in the Lord.

Eliza's birth was amazing! It was difficult - more than I expected to be honest - but totally worth it. I can't imagine being drugged up for such a life-changing event! Now with a newborn in the home, I had yet another reason to research natural living. We exclusively breastfed for Eliza's first 9 months of life. She never touched a bottle and didn't even eat solids until about 9 months (except for little nibbles here and there). She has never had a vaccination - not even vitamin k or eye drops at birth and has a very strong immune system. When she started eating table foods, we started her with fruits and vegetables - not rice cereal. After some study, we found that fruits and vegetables are much better sources for nutrients that babies need than cereal which was stripped, broken down, and supplemented with artificial "nutrients".

Other than nutrition, we also have sought out more natural solutions to other parts of health. In the beginning, we only used Seventh Generation diapers - disposable, but not bleached and processed with the harsh chemicals that regular disposables are made of. When Eliza was about 6 months old, I decided to switch to cloth diapers. I decided this because I found it to be healthier for their skin, more cost effective, and not really that much work! After lots of reading, I decided to get the Fuzzi Bunz diapers and loved them! They were so soft and it was a great feeling that we were reusing them instead of filling up a dump somewhere.

Also with natural health came natural parenting, which is very closely intertwined. From the beginning, we followed the mindset of attachment-style parenting. We carried/held Eliza as much as possible and used a sling frequently. We attended to her with every cry, nursed her when she wanted, and kept her in bed with us. It may seem like a huge investment to some, but it is worth every minute. She is a very sweet, sensitive, thoughtful child and is very close to us. And with her personality, she needed that kind of parenting. She would become rebellious and upset if we didn't keep her so close. She has such a huge need for quality time! That's okay with me though; it has taught me to be a more sensitive person also! Anyways...

Now I'm working on making myself more natural! For the past 10 years (at least) I have had my daily shower, complete with shampoo and conditioner. Lately I've been reading a lot about training your hair to go without shampoo. Shampoo essentially strips your hair of all its natural oils and moisture, and then conditioner replaces it with more artificial chemicals. Your hair becomes dependent on shampoo because it has to work so fast to replace those oils that it lost. Therefore, you hair gets over-oily in a day or two when it wouldn't otherwise. Anyway, back to me... I have always had to shampoo every day of my life. Recently, I decided that I don't want to be so dependent on so many chemicals and started trying to stretch the time between shampoos. I went to every day and a half, and then to two days. I just went 3 full days without shampoo and it was so cool! I was amazed to see how long it took my hair to become oily! Pretty soon, I'm going to quit shampooing for good and use only a little baking soda. Baking soda is much more gentle on the scalp and provides a gentle transition from shampoo to no-poo. Anyway, I'll have to keep you posted as I make that part of the change - it will be interesting!

I also decided that I'm going to make cloth menstrual pads for myself for use postpartum. I have the supplies already, and the thought of cloth instead of paper is very appealing, especially when that area is so sensitive!! I might even switch to the Diva Cup, we'll see!

I'm also trying red raspberry leaf tea for this pregnancy. I read an article about its use during pregnancy and labor and how much it can help the birthing process. So I ordered it in bulk and I'm going to drink it every day between now and then. There's also a formula for a very strong tea (one ounce of tea leaves in a pint of water, seeped for 30 min.) to drink when you start to go into labor that I'm going to try too. If this works well, I'll definitely blog about it!

Okay, that's enough for now - I'm going to pick up the house and drink some tea!!

Spring Settles In!

2007-04-23T20:20:00.000-07:00

We are enjoying the start of spring here in our rainy state! It's been really busy lately, but I promise to update more as I have a chance!

Passover This Year

2007-04-06T11:20:00.000-07:00

I love Passover! I love having the Seder together with friends and family and celebrating the sacrifice of Yeshua. Every year I am amazed all over again at how Yeshua fulfilled so much of the Passover. For those of you who don't know what I am referring to, here are a couple of the most well-known fulfillments:

The Passover Lamb:
- The lamb was set aside for 4 days on the 10th of Nisan. Yeshua was on public display for 4 days starting on the 10th of Nisan (commonly referred to in Christian circles as "Palm Sunday").
- The lamb was sacrificed on the 14th of Nisan, right before the start of Passover at sundown. Yeshua also was sacrificed on the same day. (Side note: During the 2nd temple period, there was much controversy as to the actual date of Passover, whether it be the 14th or 15th. It was common to keep it on both nights which explains the keeping of the Passover Seder with His disciples the evening before his crucifixion.)
- The lamb could not have a blemish. Yeshua was without blemish/sin.
- The lamb was sacrificed around 3pm (at the time of the afternoon sacrifices). Yeshua was crucified at the same time.
- The lamb's bones were not broken. Yeshua's bones were not broken.

The Afikoman:
- There are 3 pieces of matzah wrapped in a cloth that have traditionally not had a good explanation. Some say they symbolize Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and some say they stand for the Aaronic Priests, the Levites, and the Israelites.
- During the seder, the leader is to remove the middle piece of matzah, break it in half, wrap half in a cloth and hide it. No one understands why one would break Isaac or the Levites, respectively.
- But if you look at the 3 pieces of matzah as Elohim - our Lord who exists as several entities, and look at the pieces as G-d in heaven, Yeshua His Son, and G-d's Spirit which dwells in us, it makes sense. Yeshua was sacrificed for us, wrapped in a cloth and put away in a tomb until the Sabbath when He rose.
- This also explains why Yeshua in His last seder with His disciples, showed them the matzah and compared it to Himself saying, "This is my body which is given for you, this do in remembrance of me."

Anyway, I love all of the Biblical Holidays, but Passover is definitely one of my favorites. We had a wonderful time together this year. Mark and I had our first home seder (just us and Eliza) reclined at our coffee table. I'll never forget Mark's reading of "Dayenu." He wept as he thought about how grateful he was to G-d for all of His wonderful blessings in our lives and the lives of those before us.

"L'Shanah haba'ah bi Yerushalayim!"

Time passes so quickly!

2007-03-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

Wow - it's hard to believe that it has been almost a year since Eliza was born. She is such a blessing to me. She has truly made me a better person. I am forced to be more patient, more loving and more giving because her eyes are always watching me. She has taught me how to look beyond myself more and also to take a deeper look at myself (ouch!). When she chooses to come walking to me or when she says "mama" when I leave the room, even when she's unhappy with me, I am challenged to have more unconditional love. I am always inspired to learn and develop myself so that I can better take care of her needs.

It's been amazing to watch our family dynamics develop too. Now she is officially a "toddler" - walking all over our house. And when Mark is home, she's just as much of a "daddy's girl" as she is a "mommy's girl." I am also now 18 weeks along in my pregnancy, and starting to really think about what things will be like with another baby in the house. My most frequent thought is, "How will I ever love another child as much as I love Eliza?" In my mind I know that it's possible, that God gives you all the love you need. Wow - what love He must have for us!

Family Vacation!

2007-02-25T00:14:00.000-08:00

During the third week of February, we went on a family vacation to see my family in Grand Junction, Colorado. Our trip was on the road, and consisted of two days of driving, each way. Eliza was such a trooper! And we had an amazing time. My family is awesome, and we so enjoyed spending time with them. While we were there, Aimee turned 12 which was a real treat. I turned 12 just after we moved to Grand Junction, 12 years ago. Most every morning a little while after Eliza would wake up, we'd take her downstairs to my mom, Aimee and Benjamin, and they'd play with her and give her breakfast while we went back to bed - it was pure bliss! I'll post some photos here as I get them sorted out:

Eliza and I at the Arches National Park in Utah, February 23, 2007.

Being there with my family made me realize how much I miss them and need them in my life. I also realized that I really don't want to raise my children without their grandparents in close proximity. It is so important for kids to have grandparents close - I believe it gives them a more well-rounded view of family and life, and it's great for the grandparents too! I also really need to have my parents close as I encounter the challenges of child-raising. I find myself calling my mom more and more as time goes by. Hopefully we can make some decisions in the next few years that will bring us closer to them so that we don't have to do this on our own!

Hanukkah 5767/2006

2007-01-17T22:15:00.000-08:00

Eliza and her daddy reading her Hanukkah book!

Eliza watching in awe as I light the Hanukkah candles on the first night!

Goals I Am Working Towards

2007-01-16T21:22:00.000-08:00

A few months back, I decided that I really need to be further educating myself. Not because I need to earn a better living - on the contrary I love nannying and don't plan on ever getting an "outside" job. But because the mind becomes dull if you don't exercise it, and I don't want that to happen! But college is definitely not my thing. It's completely inconvenient and they don't really have anything I'm interested in. So I got to thinking - what do I really enjoy? What am I passionate about?

And I decided that outside my relationship with God and my family, I am most passionate about moms! I love seeing moms succeed and take joy in what they do, all through the different aspects of motherhood. And most of all, I am very passionate about natural mothering - from natural health, to drugfree childbirth, to breastfeeding. They are very real parts of who I am as well as things that I would enjoy learning more about so that I can help other moms.

So, I started looking into different avenues in this arena, and this is what I've decided on. I want to:
1. Become a Bradley Method ® Childbirth Instructor
(The Bradley Method ® is the most successful instruction for drugfree childbirth)
2. Become a certified Breastfeeding Counselor
(This is a huge step underneath a lactation consultant, but still useful)
3. Become a Birth and/or Postpartum Doula
(A doula is one who assists a woman in birth and/or postpartum adjustment)

This journey will probably take several years, and each of these goals is a very large undertaking, especially with a baby and one on the way! But I believe that I can do it, and it's something that I'm very excited about! I'm glad that I found something that I want to learn about and want to set apart time for.

As I undertake this journey, I hope to use this blog to track some of the things I'm learning so that maybe through it I might be educating and encouraging people already. May it be so!

Who am I ?

2007-01-02T21:01:00.000-08:00

Last night, as I was laying in bed stricken with pregnancy insomnia, I was thinking about what defines me. I came up with a few things that really describe who I am, what I believe, and what I am passionate about. Here it is:

I am a redeemed child of the Almighty God.
I am the beloved wife of a wonderful man.
I am Eliza's treasured mommy.
I am the womb and mommy to my developing miracle.
I am a daughter, a sister, a daughter-in-law, and a sister-in-law.

I believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
I believe in Yeshua, the Messiah of Israel.
I believe that the Bible is the written inspired word of God.
I believe that the Torah is the cornerstone of the Bible and God's direct instruction for our lives.
I believe that God wrote one set of laws for His people - Jew and Gentile - and is honored the most when we obey it fully.
I believe that the Sabbath day was, is, and always will be the seventh day.

I am passionate about being the best wife and mommy that I can be to my family. They are amazing people and I want to bless them with my life.
I am passionate about living a Torah-observant life. I believe that God wrote the Torah as His guidelines for living a life pleasing to Him, and that's what I strive to do.
I am passionate about sharing this truth with the Christians in my life who haven't had this truth yet revealed to them.
I am passionate about natural parenting - breastfeeding, drugfree childbirth, and healthy eating.

Expecting again!

2006-12-27T20:39:00.000-08:00

Well, I just recently found out that I'm pregnant again! Although we've left this area of our lives in the hand of the Almighty, I was still surprised to find out that He had chosen to bless us again! I guess I just didn't think it would happen so soon. Honestly, it's kind of daunting to think about having another baby in the house with Eliza so young, but I guess by the time this one is born Eliza will be at least 16 months. So by then it probably won't seem so crazy! It's also strange thinking of another child growing inside of me, because I still mentally equate pregnancy with Eliza. But I'll get used to it I'm sure, and it will be fun to watch this one develop!

My convictions...

2006-12-22T21:09:00.000-08:00

Lately I've encountered a lot of people who accept or reject something in God's word based on their "convictions." That kind of logic is everywhere- "God is different to each person" or "We all believe in the same God, just in different ways." I hear it on the news, on sitcoms, and just in daily life. My former boss told me, "Yeah, I believe in God- I'm not sure what I believe though. But that's okay 'cause all that really matters is that I'm a good person, right?"

And we all expect that from those people who are not born again - those without a living and real relationship with the creator of the universe. But what about when it comes from fellow Christians? Lately I've been hearing a lot of Christians say that "I'm just not convicted of that" when asked about something in the Bible. They use the passage that says that the Spirit of God will lead us to all truth to mean that if they don't feel "led" in a certain direction, then it's not what God wants.

But let me say right now that my convictions are now and will always be subject to the Word of God - not the other way around! If I start using my own convictions and feelings to interpret God's word (and I sometimes do), I am treading on dangerous ground. It's those kind of thoughts that lead to "Christian Gays" and those couples in churches everywhere who live together outside of marriage because "they're commited to each other, and they're not convicted about it."

It's high time for those who serve God in this world to stop thinking like the world and start holding ourselves to a higher standard! I challenge us all - me included - to pursue holiness at any cost - even when other Christians don't understand. Let's start taking the Word of God at face value and subject our convictions to it's words - not the other way around!