My thoughts on parenting, and two recent videos

I think that I seriously fall in love again every day. She’s just the cutest smartest little thing! And she SO time consuming! Yes, the normal things: she’s crawling everywhere and getting into everything (safety and comforting the bonks), she needs to be fed, her diaper changed, a nap, etc… But she’s time consuming in other ways too! Starting with just how much fun she is to play with these days! She loves to dance to “her music,” play peek-a-boo, and pretend chase. The week after she learned to crawl (which was two weeks ago and at 8 ½ months old) she learned how to go up the stairs, which is a pretty fun game and good exercise too. Then there are all of the pictures and video recordings that I feel compelled to catch of all of these cute and wonderful moments! There are books to read, lullabies to sing, and baths to take. It’s all too much fun, and while I love it, it can be tiring and she most often will prefer her brothers over me for some real action! Then there are moments that I just observe without wanting to be caught observing (because she will most certainly stop whatever it is and crawl over to me). They are the moments that I can see her brain working, thinking, knowing, wondering….and I see her act in result of what she’s thinking, or move on. And I feel like I’ve been given privy to this amazing discovery, this creation who miraculously grows and thinks and feels and knows. Why am I so fortunate? I know, I know, not the same question I ask after five middle of the night feedings and scores of poopey diapers. But this smile, this laugh, this amazing brilliance that emanates from such a small little being, it only becomes more astounding each passing day. As she also learns how to let her frustration and dislikes be known, in new ways, it only adds to my admiration of her (so far! that is likely to change one day soon). And while she consumes so much of my day in these ways, and sometimes I do admit to needing a break, most days I just simply take it all in. This time now is fleeting. Gone are the days of colic and the frustration of breastfeeding. Gone are the times of sitting her down (even to just use the bathroom!) and there she would stay. Gone are the days where she couldn't be consoled. Gone are the moments when she wouldn't grab anything in site or try the food out of our hands! And so much more! Already gone. So now too, these are the moments of now, which will one day be gone. One day she will not crawl. She will walk, run, skip. She will not fall asleep nursing in my arms. And so I hold her just a little longer after she falls asleep. Because one day she will not fit exactly so as she does today. And so yes, I do make her more time consuming than she is a lot of time. But ask me if I would like to do it differently, and I'll say that if I did I would already be doing it that way.
When I see her strength, her bones, her skin, her development (both physically and mentally) I am amazed at the wonder of God’s creation. For nine months He formed her in the womb, and for the past nine months He has formed her on the outside of the womb, full of love and nurturing care, given us the nutritious milk He designed, and by His hand, He has grown her as He has seen ought. These thoughts often prompt me to see the older boys as such as well. While they are not growing at quite the speed of Brielle (which I suppose could be argued since puberty may be setting in) they are certainly growing! And this is a special time in their lives too! A time that will never return to us. A time that should be lived, touched, felt, and shared. Fortunately with them it doesn't feel as immenent to capture and record each milestone. But it does feel almost near urgent to share it with them, listen to them, and be with them (physically and mentally). So much that a baby teaches me about my older boys, and so much that my older boys have taught me about a baby.
God is so infinite in His wisdom.

okay, she is dancing in this video (it's from my phone so not so good quality) and bonks her head...you may want to turn down the volume--as my voice is loud when that happens! sorry

This one was at Tyler's football practice two nights ago.

going to sleep

last night it took about fifteen minutes for me to put Brielle down to sleep, or help her get there rather. will was impressed with this short amount of time, and we chuckled a little over how we used to put the boys down for bedtimes & naps. we just put them in their cribs with a blanket and pacifier and they went to sleep. i don't remember if they cried, but they might have sometimes. i'm sure that we didn't go to extra measure to ensure their security though. we looked at parenting different then. we used to scoff at parents who went through all of that trouble, and we surely thought that we were doing a good job and weren't letting out kids 'get one over on us.' but it's not all about that! it's about meeting a child's needs and taking the time to parent them in a nurturing, loving way! i was telling will that though it may take longer to put her to sleep, it was during those times that some of the most special moments happened. like yesterday, i laid on the bed with her for her first nap and hummed her to sleep. i nursed her to sleep just a while ago. then last night she used both of her hands to play with my face and ears and softly made noises that hummed herself to sleep. we both agreed that it was worth having that one-on-one time and that those moments were priceless and so special. that is why sometimes i am so amazed at this gap between our children and how it has affected how we parent and what is most important. it also draws us to our older boys and allows us to evaluate their needs for this stage in their lives. parenting is such a joy, such a blessing. good thing to find that out before our children have moved on.

How is one "Crunchy?"

Recently, I've been reading on a new parenting forum called GCM (Gently Christian Mothers). I kept seeing the word "crunchy" pop up. I had to ask! Emily (saturnfire16), was the first person who explained it to me. She had very many thought-provoking explanations...and I thought that they were very interesting since she has made them from a Christian perspective. I thought it was very mind-expanding to simply read why she believes what she does, and so I asked her if I could use her responses for my blog, and she graciously agreed. So, here are her takes on being "crunchy":

Well, like AP (Attachment Parenting), being crunchy isn't a list of do and don'ts, or meeting certain criteria. It's just a lifestyle that has certain things in common, and a general life philosophy in common, and takes on different roles for different people. Personally, I believe that God designed our bodies to be healthy, when we eat the food he made and use the cures for sickness that he created. I believe that he designed my body to be capable of giving birth, that he made my breasts to nourish my baby and my hips to carry her. That my children are a blessing, and that I should treat them with love and respect. That he created them with a natural curiosity and love of learning and desire to please. That he gave us dominion over this earth and animals to care for them and not destroy them. So for me, that has led to babywearing, cosleeping, breastfeeding, GBD (Grace-Based Discipline), homebirth, raw foods and traditional foods, homeopathy, homeschooling/unschooling, cloth diapering, not vaxing or circumcising, sustainable living etc. Some of this is new for me too, and I'm always learning! There are a lot of ways I'd like to be more "green," and the cloth diapering will be a new thing with this baby due in July. I just try to always be learning and adjusting, with the goal of getting as close to living the way God designed us to live as possible. But not all of these things are for everyone, and that's ok! And since our culture is mostly so far removed from "natural," I think it is often just a matter of people not knowing the options that exist. For me, it's fun to find out! I'm thinking that crunchy is probably a more liberal, hippy, coastal word, so I'm guessing that there wouldn't be many people using it in the Midwest, but I could be wrong.

*when I asked her to elaborate on some of these things she replied:

I try to eat mostly raw foods, which means eating them in the state that God created them. So uncooked fruits, veges, nuts and seeds. Obviously some things have to be cooked, so I try to eat them in the "traditional" ways. I'm just learning about soaking grains, which makes them easier to digest. I'm also just learning about fermented foods, like keifer and kombucha. Many of our ancestors did this. Our modern day sour cream and yogurt are takes off of traditional fermented foods, but with additives and so processed that it takes away a lot of the nutritional value. I do eat meat and dairy, so I'm not a vegan or vegetarian, though I think these diets are good too. I get my meat and eggs from a local farmer who raises them free-range on organic pastures. I'm trying to find somewhere local to buy raw (unpasteurized) milk, but in the meantime I buy organic from the store. I just joined my first CSA (community supported agriculture), so starting in June, I'll be getting fresh, organic produce from a local farmer. The way a CSA works is you basically buy a share of the crops up front, and then get a weekly variety of whatever is in season.People will argue back and forth about whether it's best to eat raw or traditional or vegan or vegetarian. But the one thing all these diets have in common is that they avoid processed and refined foods, additives, preservatives, excitotoxins etc. Basically, its just eating the food that God made vs. eating food that someone in a white coat in a lab made. For a variety of reasons, some people can handle meat, and others don't feel as good when they eat it. I think that when someone is sick, the first thing they should look to is their diet and see what might be the cause of the symptoms.
Co-sleeping's not for everyone. The important thing is that you and your baby are happy with whatever you're doing. I loved it, because I couldn't stand the thought of getting up in the middle of the night to nurse. We did it for 2 years and probably would have gone longer, except now I'm pregnant, so I didn't want two in my bed. But she was ready for her own bed, and the transition was really easy.
For me, not doing vaccinations is just an extension of the rest of my beliefs. God created our bodies to be strong and healthy, when we take care of them. He didn't make a mistake that only modern medicine can cure. I did research them, and everything I found just convinced me more not to do them.
Sustainable living is kind of like environmentalism, but I don't like being grouped with tree huggers. So things like recycling, less materialism and consumerism. Just living simply. Organic food is sustainable because it doesn't destroy the land.
Sorry I'm so long winded! I guess I just get excited about all this stuff.