follow up comments on planning post

For those of you who commented on my Planning post a few days ago, I wrote some responses in the comments section of that post. Check it out.

Happy 4th of July weekend!

thanksgiving point garden flowers

As promised, here are some pics of the flowers from the Thanksgiving Point Children's Discovery Garden. There were of course lots of flowers and I only got pictures of few. I'd love to go back and see all the gardens some time.

thanksgiving point gardens with new friends

Shortly after we moved, I discovered a lovely new-to-me blog--The Daily Delights-- by an even lovelier lady who happens to share my name. Despite the worst hurricane of the century being named Katrina, there really aren't that many of us out there, so it's always kinda fun when I run across another. I've actually only been acquainted with 2 or 3 other Katrina's in my entire life. And I've never had a friend named Katrina. Until now that is. Trina and I emailed back and forth a few times and it turns out she had found my blog some time ago. She lives about 40 minutes away, but her playgroup had an outing planned for Monday to visit the Thanksgiving Point Children's Discovery Garden and she invited us along. I'm so glad she did because it was a lot of fun, and I'm really happy to have made a new friend! You should definitely check out her blog. She is ridiculously talented--she paints, she does really fun crafts with her kids, and she is always posting fun, super healthy recipes.

Here she is... mid-sentence. Sorry I didn't get a better picture of you, Trina!


And now is the part where I bombard you with tons of photos of our outing. Ready, set, go!

First up, we have the maze. Grace LOVED it! And then there was a bear cave, complete with a bronze bear that roared.


And a lily pad pond with Koi fish.


A caterpillar made for climbing and tunnels made for exploring.


And the best part of all, the Noah's Ark fountain. Asher and Grace both had lots of fun playing in the water.





Asher had fun with his new friends too.




Oh, and of course we had snacks too.


I took some flower photos too of course but I think I'll save those for another post.

planning

Me and Asher moments after he finally made his appearance.
Can you see the relief and exhaustion on my face?

Before I even begin this post let me just state for the record that I am NOT currently pregnant, nor are we trying to become so in the near future.

Now that we have that out of the way I can talk about my day today. I went to visit a midwife. For some reason as Asher's first birthday approaches, I find myself thinking more and more about when and how I will have my next baby. A couple weeks ago my friend Danielle and I spent the majority of an hour's phone conversation on the general topic of childbirth, etc. Her baby is now 14 months old and mine is 11 months, so we've both been asked lately when the next one might come along. Every time someone asks me that I think or say, "I have a baby. I don't need another one yet."

And yet... I must confess that I have started to plan for the next one. And I find myself coming around to the idea of having another sooner than I thought I would. Of course, moving to a new state means finding new care providers, and when I happened to hear about this midwife Rebecca, I decided to contact her. For some reason when I heard about her a very strong feeling came over me that she would be the one to help me birth my next baby. She has a lovely little birth suite/office about 15 minutes from my house. Today I got to meet her and tour her facility. We chatted for over an hour, and I just think she is terrific. She has tons of experience. She was a labor and delivery nurse before becoming a Certified Nurse Midwife. She has an impeccable record. And she just has a great vibe. She padded around her office in barefeet and was wonderful with Asher.

With Asher I had a midwife delivery in a hospital. As far as hospital births go, it was about as good as it can get. Per my request I was never offered drugs and had a completely drug free delivery with no complications. You can read my complete birth story here if you like. The midwife who delivered Asher was AMAZING! She stuck with me through three long hours of pushing and was never anything but encouraging.

Unfortunately, most hospitals are not very natural birth friendly. Women often can't move around freely and are pressured into getting epidurals, etc. Most of the time women are rushed through, which often leads to cesareans. I feel strongly that had I had a physician attending my birth, I could very well have ended up with a forceps or vacuum delivery or even a cesarean because I was pushing for so long.

Now that I know I can birth naturally, I really want to have an out of hospital birth. As long as I can go full term (37 weeks) than I plan to birth my next baby either at a birth center or at home. With Rebecca, I can do either. I am currently leaning toward the birth center, but I will definitely consider doing it at home. We live quite close to several hospitals, should a transfer be necessary.

Birth is such an amazing, life altering experience. It is impossible to fully comprehend until you experience it yourself. I really do love the whole process of pregnancy and birth. I love knowing that my body is capable of creating a life.

Is it totally weird that I actually miss being pregnant?

So now I have a question for all you mamas out there.... when and how did you know that it was time to have your first or another baby? Did you plan the spacing of your kids well in advance? Did you just let nature do its thing? Were you surprised to find that your plans changed somewhere in the middle? Once decided, did getting pregnant take longer or shorter than you planned? I know this is an extremely personal topic, but I am just curious as to what that process is like for different people. So I'd love to hear your thoughts if you are willing to share.

EDITED TO ADD: I'm loving all the comments on this! I just want to clarify that although I have chosen drug-free birth with a midwife and will probably birth my next baby out of the hospital, I don't think this is necessarily the right choice for everyone. What I feel most passionate about is CHOICE. We as women and mothers MUST educate ourselves and then make the best choice for US. If that means an epidural in the hospital, great. If that means a waterbirth at home, great. What frustrates me is that so often women don't realize what they are getting into and end up with a bad experience. I am also frustrated that our current system is so skewed towards medical intervention. I LOVE the approach that most of Europe has, as Missy says in the comments. You have a midwife and then IF there are problems you see a doctor. I hate that here we assume the worst will happen. For many women, epidurals work great. And I think that is awesome. I guess I have just always been afraid of them. And afraid that they won't work for me and then I'm stuck not mentally prepared to deal with the intensity of labor. Having a drug free birth doesn't make me a better mother, but it is a really great accomplishment and something that I am proud of. It was hard mentally and physically and I did it. It's good to know we can do hard things.

midnight magic

"Woman with Infant Flying" Brian Kershisnik

Last night our air conditioning was not working properly and it was getting increasingly hot in our house, especially our bedroom. By midnight, when Asher woke up (pretty sure he's teething again or something), we turned off the AC altogether and Jared started opening windows and setting up the fan in our room. I escaped to the cool night air with Asher and laid in our hammock while I nursed him. The wind was blowing, the wind chimes chiming, and we found relief from the stuffiness of the indoors. Asher would look around at the blowing trees between drinks in wonder. It was delicious to lay there under the rustling leaves and just feel the breeze brush our skin. We cuddled and sang and rocked until the bugs discovered us. It was magical.

the baptism

Saturday morning was Isaac's baptism day. We all got dressed up for the occasion which of course meant a photo op of the four kiddies.

Are they a good lookin' bunch or what?


We had a lovely little program with all participants decided on by Isaac himself. His mom gave the talk on baptism, Olivia gave the talk on the Holy Ghost, the girls and I sang "When I am Baptized" and of course his dad was the one who baptized and confirmed him.



Thanks to all the family who came to support Isaac on his big day!

This is Jared's (and my) side of the family.
We missed you Grandma Sue!
And Grandma Dawn and Grandpa Rod!

Isaac was trying to escape, hence the death grip we all have on him. He refused to smile for all pictures at this point.

For more info on baptism and confirmation in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, click here and here.

the party

Friday night we hosted Isaac's 8th Birthday Party. We decorated the back patio with streamers and balloons.


We made and decorated a pinata.

Guests included:
Grandma Teddy (my grandmother)
Aunt Raquel (my aunt)
Kezzie (my cousin)
Aunt Theresa (Jared's sister) and her two boys
Isaac's Grandma and Grandpa Stewart
Isaac's Uncle Ben

These cousins played and made each other cry on several occasions.


The pinata was busted.


Presents were opened... inside after the rainstorm started.


The volcano cake (made by Isaac's aunt and uncle) was enjoyed and consumed.


Asher had his first tootsie pop and turned his mouth blue.


And a rainbow appeared after the storm passed.


I'd say it was a successful party and it made me appreciate our house and yard even more.

the birthday boy

This handsome fellow is eight years old today.

Isaac's birthday meals requests:

Breakfast- Trix cereal
Lunch- pancakes
Dinner- Pizza

Not the most adventurous eater out there I'm afraid. But when it comes to pancakes or waffles he can out eat us all!

Doesn't he have the most amazing eyes? He has the eyelashes that every mascara commercial promises--long, black, thick, and perfectly curled. They are seriously the most perfect natural eyelashes I have ever seen.


Tonight we are having Isaac's birthday party in our backyard. Should be some good times.

We sure love you, Isaac!
Happy Birthday!

this is the place

While my family was here a few weeks ago, we hit up the This is the Place Monument and Heritage Village. For anyone unaware, this is where we Mormons/Utahans celebrate Brigham Young coming into the valley declaring "This is the right place." Exciting stuff. Especially, when one of your great-great something grandpas was with Brigham Young.
Check it out:

I am a direct descendant of Tarleton Lewis, who was in the first group of Saints to come into the Salt Lake valley. Practically famous, I know.

Anyway, we looked at the monument.


Isaac lept.


As usual, Grace attached herself to my little brother Nick.


And then it was off to discover the Heritage Village. Because you know how much we Mormons love our historical village reenactments. While I have certainly been to my share, including this one before, I must say I learned a few new things this time around.

Highlights included: learning about washing, spinning, and weaving; children's games; Nick getting a fake shave; leather making; train rides; and the Native American Village.



And I made sure I had someone snap a picture of me and Asher just to prove that we were there too.


I have returned to the land of my birth and my ancestors.
Once again, Utah is the right place for us.

not enough "milk things"

Grace and Asher in January

The other day Grace and I were talking about Asher and babies.

Me: "Grace, do you think I should have another baby someday?"

Grace: "Yeah. Then you'd have two babies. But you shouldn't have three."

Me: "Why not three?"

Grace: "Because you only have two milk things. What if they all wanted to eat at the same time? There wouldn't be enough."

I then explained to her that babies do grow up and eventually no longer utilize the "milk things" and that by the time number 3 came along, there is no way in heck, Asher would still be nursing. Ok, so I didn't say it just like that. But you get the idea.

Kids really do say the darnedest things, don't they? Milk things? Where does she come up with this stuff?

11 months old

On Sunday, our sweet boy turned 11 months old! One month to go until the big first birthday!
I cannot believe it. It's crazy how fast a year can go.

We just love Asher more every day and delight in all he does. I am so blessed to be his mother.


Note the four new teeth since last month.

father's day

We had a really nice Father's Day yesterday. The kids came back to our house about 9:30 and we gave Jared his present which had been previously wrapped and decorated on Thursday night when the kids were over and Jared was at work.

Here they are hard at work.

The kids also each made him a card. Jared's present was a new hammock to be hung in the back yard. Then per Jared's request we had Zoom (a cracked wheat hot cereal) with peaches and vanilla ice cream for breakfast/brunch.

Do these kids look like their dad or what?

We have 1 pm church, so we got all ready and walked down the street to church. I ended up having to leave after Sunday school because Asher had a fever. But Jared was able to stay and go to the primary to see the kids sing for all the dads. He said it was really wonderful. Each of the older kids also made a little book in primary where they filled in their dad's favorite things (or what they thought were his favorite things) and then their favorite things. It was funny to see what they thought.

For dinner I made a Three Bean Dal and Quinoa. Everyone but Isaac loved it, although he did eat it so that he could get cake for dessert.

I also got to talk to my dad on the phone. I have such a wonderful and generous father. I'm an extremely lucky lady. I feel so blessed to have such an amazing father and also such an amazing husband as the father of my children.

Jared is such a fun dad. His kids adore him. I just love seeing him with them. And of course I especially love seeing him with our little Asher. Asher loves his daddy very much. Thank you for all you do, Jared! We love you!

And here's a look at the new hammock which we hung up today. Turns out our trees are little too close together so the hammock is a little saggy, but still gets the job done, is very comfy and lots of fun.

Notice my extremely dirty feet. Didn't realize our yard was still wet from all the rain and hence rather muddy in some parts.

LAST day to enter contest for FREE photo session!

Today is your last day to enter the contest to win a FREE photo session courtesy of little ol' me. Check out redbeanphotography.blogspot.com for all the details! If you live in Utah or will be in Utah this summer, you should definitely enter. Or if you have family or friends who live here, you could enter for them. Enter by midnight mountain time. Winner will be announced tomorrow!

I promise I do have real posts to post later on--for example I must update you on Father's Day and that Asher is now 11 months old!

flowers week day 5: the rest

All good things must come to an end and so does flower week here at Musings of a Redhead. ;-)
I'm sure there will be more flower pics as I just love to photograph them, but here are the rest of what I have taken since we moved. I am so grateful to be surrounded by such beauty!

Next week I'll actually fill you in on more of what we've been up to around these parts.

Happy Weekend!

flowers week day 4: blues and purples

All of these blue and purple flowers are from walks through the neighborhood.
Unfortunately, I don't know the names of these. If anyone does, I'd love to know.