Article on Measles outbreak

Ok, so many of you have heard about Measles outbreaks across the nation. I have read several articles on the topic, and they are rediculously biased. Not that I am surprised as it is the media. Anyway ALL of the articles make a coment about nearly half of those with measles did not get the immunization. Ok...so read that again and slower... NEARLY half. Which means that MORE than half of those with the measles DID get the shot, yet STILL got the measles and are spreading it. Yet the tone of the articles are on the irrisponsibilities of parents that do not vaccinate. It kills me how the media can still twist the facts of a story by using specific wording to make it sound like they are right.

Each parent is right in whatever they decide to do regarding vaccines. I would never tell someone that it's wrong to vaccinate. The only thing that I believe to be wrong is making blind parenting choices based on what one is "supposed" to do. Again I say, Parent with purpose!!!

Disturbing

I witness a consistently disturbing practice every day. It happens in every city in every state, and in many more countries than just ours. It isn't gross. It's not unlawful. But to me it is very disturbing. That is parenting by chance not purpose.

Too many people become parents and choose not to train or discipline their children. Fits no longer bring on discipline, but equal reward. Parents yell and scream at their children instead of providing correction and direction. There are no longer consequences for bad behavior. I fear for society more and more with each generation of whiners that is created. I fear what is to come as disciplne is now shunned in our society and children are being given what they want, and parents have no follow through with their discipline tactics.

It's time to bring back the paddles and switches if you ask me. Allow teachers to discipline, and parents to spank. It never did the past generations any harm.

A little correction is healthy

So, I have suffered from foot in mouth disease a lot lately. I am a bit hot headed as most of you know, and certainly have a problem with correction (I am working on that). I have offended a friend, though I am not sure who she is, that was just trying to give me a little direction in my response to things and immediately shot out a post that was meant for them. Thankfully this weighed on my heart enough that I went back and changed the post. So, to Mrs. Anonymous (or I guess there's a chance it could be a Mr. but I think I know who it is, and she's definitely a Mrs.) I am sorry for my reaction, and I apreciate your words and correction. I will heed them and try to be more careful in the future.

Okay, so here is the problem though. This is how I ALWAYS react to correction, advice, constructive critisizm, anything that isn't saying I am perfect. How sad is that! But I always, after reacting poorly, think about what was said and often what that person said was true, and helpful.

It affects every aspect of my life, and all I really know to do is pray that God will change my heart and mind. But I think He needs me to do the work so that I learn from it. This brings me to you. So, how do I fix this? I am seriously asking for help and advice. Do any of you suffer from this foot in mouth disease? How have you worked through it?

Adventures in Diapering

So, it is always interesting to see what I will find in a restroom when I go to change Faith's diaper. Many of you moms can sympathize. Katie, I have no clue how you do it with twins, more power to you sister girl!!!! Well, I had such a...well.....hmm.... yeah.....ummm... experience in a restaurant bathroom, that I thought I would share.

I will start this all by saying that I started the evening out with switching to a new diaper bag....something that should have been simple...though had I remembered the bottom pocket that held the wipes I wouldn't be telling this story.

So, Faith had used her potty (had a BM) that morning so I pretty much knew I was clear for the evening just having to deal with wet diapers if that. We got to the restaurant and Faith started fussing. I figured she was wet so I went to the bathroom to change her diaper....only find out there wasn't a changing station, nor a place to use as one. Normally I would put the pad on the floor, but it was a 2 person bathroom and someone was using one of the stalls. So...I waited until they left. Then I had the brilliant idea to put my bag in the sink and cover it with the pad to make somewhat of a flat surface. it worked okay, but Faith wasn't thrilled as it was a corner sink so VERY cramped. So I take her diaper off and notice there is a little bit of poop that I needed to clean up....wipes...where are my wipes...I just need one wipe....CRAP they're at home. I guess I'll use TP. So I pick Faith up and walk over and take care of that then walk back to the makeshift changing station. As you know I practice EC which teaches them to wait for the cue to eliminate, Well.....the way I was carrying her is pretty much the same position that I hold her in over the potty....and I made the mistake of saying "potty" which triggered a Pavlov's response. Yup...you guessed it. She peed on my new bag, the counter, the floor and my leg. All this time she is crying and Mike's family is waiting at the table for me as our dinners had been delivered. So....then I had to clean up her pee while holding her and not dropping anything (including her) on the ground... It was quite comical. I was laughing pretty much the whole time.

So...you can bet I will try and never forget the wipes again. :)

Contest

I am a big fan of baby wearing. I don't keep her in tow 100% of the time because I like her to still have some independence, but baby wearing has certainly saved me when she is gowing through a clingy fussy time. Here is a link to a contest I thought I'd share with those of you that also are interested in it.

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

EC (Elimination Communication)

EC (Elimination Communication) is the practice of learning your baby's ques that are given when there is an elimination need. It is not a new practice, as it has been practiced in countries such as Africa and Asia for centuries. It is only new to our culture. In our society of disposable everything and hurry up and wait mentality the art of parenting has been forsaken. Parents let their children get away with throwing tantrums, and being lazy, and becoming spoiled brats. There are so many things that our society and gleen from other cultures that would make our lives, and the lives of our children, better. This is just one of those as it would reduce the need for rubbing chemicals on our babies (diaper rash cream) and reduce waste (disposables) as well as save us time (washing cloth diapers and changing diapers in general).

I will first admit that I do not practice EC full time. Part because of my running around too much, and part because up to a certain point Faith couldn't hold her head up by herself which made that difficult in itself. Well, I can proudly say that I have been able to read her signs, and get her used to it enough that every time I place her on the potty she pees and when I wake her up from her noon nap she poops (her normal elimination time every other day). I don't catch every thing of course as I am only doing it part time; but I have to tell you that no messy diapers is a blessing especially since I use cloth prefolds.

At first she fussed a bit when I held her over our toilet, or placed her on her Baby Bjorn potty (babies'R'us $10), but it didn't take her very long to get used to what I was doing and why I was doing it. I hardly have to make the Pssss sound anymore. I hope to start being more dedicated now that she is getting bigger, and especially once she's able to sit on it by herself. For now, I put her on the potty each time she wakes up. She is 8 weeks old today and I think it's just a matter of time before she starts waiting for the potty to go potty as she hates sitting in a wet diaper for too long and sometimes not at all.

The book Diaper Free Baby by Christine Gross-Loh is great. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions. imkita@gmail.com

Below I have listed a few websites that I also found useful in case you are interested. Now, I am not advocating everything on all of the websites listed. They just happened to have information about EC.

http://www.naturalbirthandbabycare.com/elimination-communication.html
http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/infantpottytraining.html
http://www.tribalbaby.org/ECindex.html
http://www.timl.com/ipt/
http://www.freewebs.com/freetoec/mythologyreality.htm
http://www.natural-wisdom.com/nihgentlealternative.htm

My baby is the cutest

I know that every parent THINKS that their child is the cutest, but mine really is! :) I have always loved talking to new moms because of the infatuation that is held for this new person that has taken over their lives. Well, I am no different.

Faith is amazing. She is getting chunkier by the minute and has completely stolen our hearts. There isn't anything that could have prepared me for how I feel with her sleeping on my chest, or watching her eat. I think watching her eat is the best. There is such an amazing bond that I feel with her when I know that God designed my body to care for this being in totality. She is such a veracious eater too. Her eyes get really big and her mouth starts moving before I even get her latched on. Oh, she is so amazing.

She is 5 weeks old now, and has entered into the fussy infant stage. It is interesting though, as really most of the time I can figure out what her need is based on the type of cry. I never thought about infants actually communicating, just crying. Boy was I wrong. I love knowing how to satisfy her needs based on her communication with me.

She has been sleeping well since day one (5-6 hours at night) and is starting to be more alert during the day. She's holding her head up now and smiling in response to people. Mainly Mike and my Dad. She loves the men in her life for sure. She adores Mike and just stares at him whenever he's holding her. There's nothing like a father/daughter bond...nothing.

Well, hopefully I will be able to keep this updated more often now that I am getting the hang of motherhood and housekeeping! I hope to start posting every Monday or Tuesday morning. We'll see how well I can stick to that though. Oh, I posted a link to my Public Photo album under the "Links of My Life" in case you wanted to see more. http://picasaweb.google.com/ImKita