Whoever coined the phrase "sleep like a baby" must be crazy!

Who on earth would want to sleep like a baby? Babies don't sleep long although they do sleep often. Maybe this is what that infamous person meant by the phrase. Undoubtedly, it was a man! While I get so much support from my spouse in night parenting, I know there are a lot of women who don't. There are so many different approaches to sleep and babies. In keeping with our philosophies of parenting, we have chosen to bedshare/cosleep. And with exclusively breastfeeding, it just seemed natural to us. Mason slept with us off and on (mostly on) for the first couple years of his life. When he moved to his own bed in his own room before Willow was born, it was so weird not having him with us! I think the transition was harder for me than it was for him. Now that Willow is 9 months old, we are finding her preferences are like her brother's were at that age...she only wants our bed. I can't say I blame her. Have you felt how hard those crib mattresses are? While most nights this arrangement works, we wanted to make the eventual transition to her own bed a little easier by starting some different habits with her than we did with Mason. (ah, the advantage of experience)

My neighbor suggested to us using her crib like a co-sleeper so that she was still right next to me and able to nurse on demand but not actually in our bed. So, we decided to give it a go. We are now in night 5 of our transition from bedsharing to co-sleeping. So far, it is actually going smoothly. The first couple nights she kept trying to roll over into bed or crawl over me to get in between Dave and I. But I would just nurse her and roll her back over into her crib. She still tries to roll into my bed but not as often. I am hopeful that this strategy is going to work once she is used to it. I'm just glad we all get what we want, she gets to sleep snug and close to mama, I get to have her close too and Dave and I can spread out in our bed once again!

Back in the saddle again

Quite unexpectedly, I am getting back in the saddle and preparing for a return to doula work. I wasn't planning to resume work of this nature again until after Willow's first birthday. However, one of the couples I worked with in the past contacted me after news of their second pregnancy. How could I say no? They were the most amazing couple and I loved working with them. We remained in touch over the past year and it seemed only natural to work with them again. So just like that, I was looking at the unpredictable world of doula-ing. It seems that without any warning from that point on I began getting several references. Man, word gets out fast. Because I am not officially certified, I charge substantially less money than certified doulas. This apparently makes me desirable in this tight economy. I have had several interviews and three offers. So it seems that I really am back in the saddle. Because I love helping couples welcome their babies into the world, I love this job and am very excited to get back to it. I am, however, a little nervous about leaving Willow. Because the nature of the job is so unpredictable, I don't know what my "hours" will be. So, if you think of it please pray that I would find a great on call sitter that Willow and Mason would both be great with and that I won't have to leave Willow during the night. We'll see how it all goes soon as I have my first birth in April. YEAH!! Well, that is my big news for now. More posts to come....

A family update

So since I have gotten a facebook account, I have totally neglected the blog. Apologies to the 3 of you that actually read this for updates on the family. What has been going on with us?? A lot so here we go:

Mason: is now a full blown three year old who wants to do everything by himself. He likes to dress himself, brush his own teeth, get his food out by himself and wash himself in the bathtub. He loves to play at his friend Raven's new house, he is obessesed with cars, especially Cars movie items, play outside and make mud. He is in his 3rd quarter of music class , which he still really enjoys. He likes his new game Diggity Dog and playing with his friend Noah. (This is dictated by Mason-told you he likes to do things himself)

Willow: at 8 months is rolling, scooting, rocking and pulling up on objects but not crawling yet. She is very vocal and lets her feelings be known. She loves watching her big brother and playing with his toys, which he doesn't always appreciate. She is happiest when she is with other kids who are playing. She loves nursing and is showing little interest in wanting to eat solid food. We're trying a little here and there anyway. She loves to do things herself. So we just follow her lead as far as what she is ready to do. She's still bald and toothless...much like Mason at this age. Except for this similarity, she is definitely her own kid and not like Mason personality wise at all. Dave says she's feisty. Don't know where she gets that from:)

Dave: is busy as all get out. Teaching full time, in school part time and being a great dad when he's at home. He is pretty much gone all day everyday and two nights a week. So his time with the kids is limited to a few hours in the early evening before they go to bed. He is a couple short quarters away from completing his credential program. He is doing a great job teaching and has gotten very positive feedback from this administrators as well as from the people observing him from his program. He should finish up this summer and get his preliminary credential. He would eventually like to get his credential in regular ed math and maybe history too.

Amanda: is taking her final class at Fuller and will complete my program this summer after doing her practicum. I will walk in June though. I am also getting some more clients again for my work as a doula. I hope to pursue that full time once I am completely done with Fuller in the fall. I am still able to stay home with the kids full time. They keep me pretty busy and frustrated at times but I wouldn't trade it for any other job in the world. I am learning a lot about myself through parenthood as well as learning about my kids. It is so much fun to see who they are becoming and trying to let them be themselves without imposing my dreams or even my insecurities on them. It is definitely the hardest job I've had in my life- raising two little people to be great adults.

Well, that is it for now. I will try to keep this updated more often in the future.

Will there ever be peace?

I guess it all depends on your theology and disposition as to how you will answer this question. I for one refuse to accept that there must always be war and that peace can not exist. I will continue to keep the hope alive that peace can and will prevail in Israel and Palestine! I hope that this prayer for peace is on the lips of all Christians. May peace be upon ALL my brothers and sisters. Check out the following link for more info and a perspective you may not have heard before http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/