Art and Stitches

The weekend before my birthday this arrived in the mail. Even the artist did not know it was my birthday it still arrived right on time. It added a lot of birthday joy around here. Let me tell you the story of this wonderful mosaic.

My brother got married this summer. Of course we went to the wedding, all three of us were in the it, I was the best-woman, my daughter was the flower girl and my husband was a reader. My brother and his wife, then fiance, put a lot of thought and energy into making it one of the most beautiful and fun weddings I have ever been to, and I'm not lying just because it was my brother. It really was a lot of fun. One of the things that made this wedding so fun was meeting all of their friends, mostly from college. One of the friends we met and spent a lot of time with was an artist. Now she is not just any kind of artist, she does mosaics (among other things) which Todd loves. I mean doesn't everyone love them, but seriously he really really loves them. I'm not sure how it happened but somehow between June and October a conversation happened in which our new friend made us one! WE LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! We have spent a lot of time talking about it, touching each piece of glass and thinking about how she put them all together.

Anyways what does this have to do with stitches? Well I had to have a little surgical procedure done this week (yes October was an exciting month for me, my tooth removal and now this which left me with 10 stitches and turning 30) and got to spend a little bit of time laying on the couch healing. Well as I lay there I found myself just looking at our new mosaic thinking how much joy a single piece of art can bring someone. I mean it really makes me happy because of how beautiful it is. I am always amazed at how incredibly creative God made humans. Knowing the artist has made our mosaic even more wonderful to us because we know the story behind it, what parts of it were more difficult than others to cut and put together, what she likes about it and other interesting things. All of this really does bring joy to me when I look at it. It makes me really grateful that humans were made so creative because that creativity just makes life so wonderful and beautiful.

Thanks for our wonderful mosaic. We love it!

Featuring Fuzzi Bunz

OK OK OK so if you read my cloth diapering post you might get the picture that I LOVE Bum Genius pocket diapers. And I do, but I have been getting a few email questions asking me if they are good for the long haul. Meaning, "if I have four kids will the velcro last?". Being an honest person I must tell you, no, the velcro will not last. In fact if you are starting diapers with your first child and plan on having more than one, get Fuzzi Bunz. I say this because I have several friends who's number three of four is now wearing the same diapers they put on number one. I'm not joking that these diapers can last through four kids, maybe more. But its the longevity of the snaps verses the velcro.

Now if you are trying to save money or space BG's are still a great choice because the velcro can be replaced with each kid without distroying the integrity of the diaper. Ahhhh that's good news. The reason I love these is because they are good diapers but also because you only need one set of them. However if you are having a diaper baby shower, and you plan on having more kids invest in the best. Get the Bunz. BUT ONLY GET THE SMALL AND MEDIUM. Do not buy the large until you actually need them. Why? Well I have known several people who's kids still fit into the medium size at the age of mastering potty training. Then you would be stuck with a whole set of brand new unused large diapers. You can resell them on ebay or craigs list, but not for the same price, people want a deal.

I hope this helps people in making decisions and does not add more confusion in the process.

Enter a Contest--Post a Picture

The site 5 Minutes for Mom is running a contest that involves giving away an entire bedroom furniture set. So I'm going to go ahead and post a picture of my sleeping babe. I know many of you know that our little one has been a "high needs sleeper" (HNS) according to Dr. Sears thus our recent bed time achievements have been welcomed with open arms. We are also excited because we were able to accomplish this without a CIO (cry it out) moment. Thanks to my wonderful husband who has worked so hard over this summer to help our toddler become a wonderful sleeper. There are a ton of really adorable kids and pictures so I do not expect to win, but I just thought that I would make this post to encourage all of you out there who understand and appreciate what it is like to get a nights sleep once your HNS has made the leap into dream land.

Here are the rules for entering the contest. We love the style of the Summer Breeze Set.

The Business of Being Born

I wanted to add this film as a bonus post of the day. It feels as though I have been recommending it a lot these days so I just wanted to get it out there.

Way to go Ricki Lake! There is a trailer that will open automatically when you click below.

The Business of Being Born

Getting a tooth removed--memories of postpartum

Yesterday I had a wisdom tooth removed, it had come in a few years ago and several dentist's had told me it was growing in crooked and harming the tooth in front of it. Which at my last cleaning the dentist said this little pest was going to cause that good tooth a possible root canal, which is supposed to be an awful procedure, so it had to come out. Now I know most of you probably got your wisdom teeth out in your teens or college years. I was not so lucky, mostly because this means I had to pay for it (no one in town takes any type of insurance for this procedure CASH ONLY), and that I also was taking care of my toddler in the afternoon. My husband took the greater half of the morning off to take care of us but had a few obligations in the afternoon.

Here was my experience and why I'm writing about it. After the consultation with the Dr he wanted to take my 3 wisdom teeth out for $1500---which we don't have that kind of cash just laying around so buddy just take the one. I also had this idea that as someone who chose natural water birth I would also be able to get the tooth removed with local drugs and no laughing gas...wrong. He convinced me to get the gas in about 3 words, maybe more, but the words "... crack that tooth into about 4 parts.. drill it out" was enough for me to sign up for the $100 fee to get the gas.

They put me in the operating room, and hooked me up to all sorts of heart monitoring clips and started the gas. Now whoever said it was supposed to make me laugh was wrong. "Take a few deep breaths Holli" next think I knew I started crying. Not like sobbing but huge hot tears just flowing out my closed eyes. It was so weird, as soon as I got "high" I could not stop crying. The nurse kept asking me if I was OK and I just said, "yeah I guess". So I have been trying to remember what I was thinking about and why I would have reacted that way. All I can come up with is that I think I got scared that I would be dopey all day and not be able to take care of my baby. I think it was sort of like a postpartum feeling I had experienced the day after giving birth. I could hardly move my body and yet knew I was going to be needed as a mom.

Anyways the tooth came right out in about 5 minutes and before I knew it I was home with some drugs and Marin doing her 2 year old stunts like dancing and singing all day for me.

I think as a mother the thought of being "out of it" must really scare me. I know the feelings I had under the gas were very similar to being in a state of postpartum exhaustion. There were some days my mind was so fuzzy that I had to be intentional about every step I took, every time I carried my baby from one room to another. This lead me to realize that one of the reasons I think the first three months of postpartum were so scary for me was that my mind was not 100% and yet I was responsible for this tiny creature who demanded me to care for all of her needs. Before we have babies our minds are sharp, we are aware of our actions and then the combination of hormones and sleeplessness causes us to doubt our abilities as new mothers. I had a lot of night anxiety for about 4 weeks after Marin's birth, I truly believe this was my mind telling me "you have one hell of a job laid out for you" that burden laying under my hormone/exhaustion cocktail became frightening. All this to be said, I'm sure if I had gotten my wisdom teeth out when everyone else does then I would probably laughed during the gas, not cried.

Oh the joys of parenting can have its funny affects on a woman. While it might cause me to cry under laughing gas, it also causes me to laugh so hard at times I am also crying.



So in my state of numbness and narcotics I made my avatar self. Here is what I'm supposed to look like.

Klean Kanteen ON SALE

Hey I wanted to let you all know that REI a recreational store is having a Fall sale and one of the many items that is on the list is the stainless steel Klean Kanteen drinking bottle!!! These types of things usually never go on sale as they are not seasonal. Anyways they are usually $18.95 for a 27 oz bottle and on sale they are $13.99. Whoohoo I know what I'm going to get with my birthday money.

Feminists for Life

I wanted to feature the organization Feminists for Life. I just spent some time reading though their site and find it very helpful and full of resources. Their slogan is "Women deserve better than abortion" I think that will give you an idea as to what they are all about. I have been really struggling with the mainstream pro-life voters because it appears (while I know most of them do not believe this) that they get so obsessed with "pro-life or bust" that they forget or ignore the living people (like fighting for health care). I mentioned all of this in my previous post. Either way it was refreshing to come across a group of women who are against abortion but for women. And believing that no woman should have to go through the pain and grief of choosing an abortion. To put it another way I am also frustrated with the pro-choice-ers who sometimes seem to want abortion more than caring what actually happends to the woman going through the abortion. I commend McCain for saying that life begins at conception in his interview with pastor Rick Warren, and am dissapointed with Obama for not having an answer. If you are going to run for president you need to develop some type of an answer as to what you believe about human life. This does not change my belief that Obama is still a good choice for president but I would like him to get some balls on this issue.

Also guess who has been a member of FFL for almost 3 years... Sarah Palin. Yep, its on the site.