More stuff. . .

Elisabeth's second tooth came in Monday.

I am currently reading Through Painted Deserts by Don Miller who wrote Blue Like Jazz, which I really enjoy!

Gentle Discipline

There are so many aspects of parenting and, of course, discipline comes up fairly quickly. People ask if your baby is a 'good' baby. Of course, Elisabeth is such an easy baby that I get asked if she cries! *Note, yes, she does cry, like all babies--when she needs something, and I haven't noticed or answered her body language signals. But note, I said "easy" not good. I get irked because babies are not bad. Difficult or high needs, yes. But bad, no, I would never label a baby or even a child, 'bad'. Children will fulfill the expectations they hear spoken of them. I backtalked because anytime I talked and my mom didn't want to hear me speak, I was backtalking, so I figured (and I remember thinking this) if I'm gonna get in trouble for backtalking, I might as well be sassy when I talked.

So anyway, I've been discussing Gentle Discipline with my parents. My dad didn't want to spank us, and my mom did, she still thinks she's right even tho' she and I don't get along the greatest. I was reading the Graceful Parenting blog, and the thought struck me, (er, pun not intended), "I could never see Jesus spanking a child." And I am sure that He had opportunities to see His siblings' children and other kids act up and had times where He may have corrected them, but I can't imagine Him saying "You need a good spanking " or, "I'll give you something to cry about." Instead, He does not say you should beat a child, but He blesses them.(Mark 10:13-16) One of the things I like most is that when the disciples try to keep the children away from Jesus, He gets indignant! And He says cursed are those who cause a child to sin.(Matthew 18:1-6) Woooo, that's a little heavy. How do adults cause children to sin? Hmm, good question, what would you say? Please answer if you have any thoughts.

Comments on comments and Books.

I was going to post crying that nobody must be reading my posts since nobod comments, but dear Fish of Gold commented! Huzzah.

I am currently reading several books:
The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett--fantasy, tongue-in-cheek silliness.
The Organic God by Margaret Feinberg--a postmodern/emergent author I've not read before
The Discipline Book by Dr. William Sears--good, focuses on non-punitive, teaching self-discipline
What Your Doctor May NOT Tell You About Vaccinations by Stephanie Cave M.D.--very interesting info talking about the side effects of vaccinations and how to minimize some of the risks. But did you know that some vaccines are grown in the cells of aborted babies? If you look at the ingredients/info lists on CDC and from the inserts, it says human diploid cells. (just one of the interesting things I've learned about vaccines.)
John by John--for our couples' Bible study

and I know I've got a couple more books I've started, but where they are, I don't know!

I just finished:
Protecting the Gift by Gavin de Becker--great suggestion for question to ask your babysitter, daycare providers, and school administration. Things to teach your children to be alert for and not just the typical(ly useless) "Look for a policeman if you're lost." But he is a little far out on gun control(which has been bugging me for ages, and I'm going to post on soon. In fact, I wrote a whole paragraph, and I'm just going to put it all in a new post.

Ta-da!

Okay, I am finally posting after how many months? Don't worry I know. And I have intended to for ages, okay, four months. But have you done much typing one-handed? Or while nakking a squirmy baby? Slightly difficult, esp. when I want to write more than "I had a baby."

So I did finally have my lovely little girl, Elisabeth Loree. Elisabeth is a name my man and I agreed on *shew*, and Loree is for my wonderful MIL.

She was 6 lbs. and 7 0z. and had a shockful of hair. She smiled from the very beginning, although to herself until about 3 weeks, then she smiled at us. *sigh* So wonderful. (Lapsing into dreamy reflection)

She laughed at, oh, I don't know, 2 months, has been laughing and 'talking' (gurgling, aaaahhhhing, etc.) for awhile. She rolled over two weeks ago, but still had her arm stuck under her. But last weekend she rolled off the couch in her uncle's camper. He saw her and hollered so thankfully I managed to break her fall so she was just startled. Yay for uncles! Her other uncle (no kids, just observant eyes) saved her toesies when I was heading out the door without any socks, and it ended up being rather cool, and I was soooo glad she had sockies on! So yay for uncles!

I love, love, love being a mama. I joke that I am a hippie mom. I breastfeed and plan to for a while (more than just a year, which is the minimum recommended by WHO(World Health Organization). We practice EC(Elimination Communication) which, yes, is a little more work but fun! I use cloth diapers and co-sleep. I babywear (wear my sweet baby in my sling or my gorgeous Pink Rose Mei Tai). We would not circumcise if we had a little boy. And I think vaccinations may prevent some illnesses and cause worse problems later on. I have learned more about so many things in the last few months, it's a little mind-boggling.

My mom always said college would be fun because I would be studying things I wanted to, well, sorta. I didn't love my ELED classes although the psych and counseling classes were fun and I loved all the ones with Dr. Larson. Yeah, even Multiculural Ed. She was hard, but each class was worth it. Hmm, I miss those classes the most. I was thinking about college, since it just started. Don't miss the homework, but the mental stimulation was good. But to my original topic, I have been enjoying researching and learning about each of the things I've mentioned.

One book that really influenced my thinking was The Ministry of Parenting Your Baby by Dr. William Sears. I want to read The Mommy Brain: How Motherhood Makes us Smarter by Katherine Ellison.

I think that sums up the last few months. I'll probably post on all of the above-mentioned topics, but I love comments and questions.

Yay, another post finally!

Okay, so back by demand, all right, so two of my friends, (loyal readers, yay) said they were checking my blog for new posts.

I'm just not really great at it. There's not usually too much to say. Of course if I were reading more serious stuff than fiction, I'm getting bored of reading, (it's winter, can you tell? good grief, if I'm bored of reading, erg).

I do have something, we have a church we are attending regularly (in a deep voice). It's Century Baptist. I really like it. The pastor's been sorta preaching on The Great Omission by Dallas Willard, which I'd checked out his The Divine Conspiracy and never go around to reading, too many books! I mean 'sorta' by he doesn't preach the book, he preaches Scripture, which make a world of difference. I think talking about books that are influencing your spiritual walk are good, but to base an entire sermon on a book not the Bible is a little iffy.

But he preaches from John 15, the "Abiding" chapter, and it's been good. We've got a Bible study group tonight that we'll be going to the first time. I'm pretty excited.

I've been swimming at least once a week, the last three weeks, which feels really great! My back and sides get pretty sore at night, so I'm already getting used to not getting sleep, ugh!

I did enjoy reading Lisa Wingate's Drenched in Light, lovely title, 3rd in a series, but I didn't realize that! The main character struggled with bingeing and purging and trying to fit and making a difference in her job as a middle school counselor. Loved it. Going to read the first two. Also read Anita Shreve's Where or When and Sue Monk Kidd's The Mermaid Chair, both about women dissatisfied with their marriages, well, the former is more about the man, tragic ending, and the other is more about the woman, but if they put as much energy into marriage as they do in sustaining an affair, their marriages would be better. It's very annoying, kind of a "I just don't feel like working at this, and I'm unhappy, so, oh, this looking interesting, I'm gonna try it out, since I'm looking for my self" mentality. Utterly selfish. Of course, I've only been married 15 months, so I'm a naive newlywed. HA! Marriage takes work, as does anything worth anything.

And lest anyone think that I think all separations/divorces are completely selfish, let me say for the record, if a person is being abused, mentally, verbally, physically, sexually, GET OUT OF THERE. Separating should be part of working with the abuser to decide to change. And getting back together should happen when the abuser has proven him/herself trustworthy and is in counseling.

Anyway, and that's my short version because it's lunch and I need to feed my hungry man!

What do you do when you can't sleep?

Well, I try to fall asleep, who doesn't? Or when I can't anymore, or I'm too uncomfortable, I get up and read or add something to my blog.

It's cold here in ND, been below zero overnight and not much above in the days. It's snowing and misty looking outside.

My man and I went for a drive yesterday. We saw 19 antelope in the river bottoms. There were two very close to the road who pretty much ignored us while I took pictures, and my man whistled and tried to get them to look up for me. We saw an eagle too. Okay, I say it was and he says we couldn't tell, but I think the head was white. It was quite a bit aways off, but still very big.

Sometimes my thoughts flow better at night, and in the shower, both times when writing is a little difficult. And then there's time my brain just doesn't work at all. *sigh* Seems like that happens more often the longer I'm pregnant. Ha!

I suppose I should answer my own question from last time, although no one else did. Too hard to come up with an answer or too private? Anyhow, if I knew undoubtedly that there was not a chance I was going to survive some disease, like cancer found far too late, I might keep that a secret and enjoy living while I could. Maybe. But then I don't know. That's the only thing I could think of.

Here's the question for this time: What is your favourite book right now and why?

Lamaze Class and the Secret Question

Nothing too exciting. My man was out of town so I had to go by myself. :( I survived. I am enjoying the class. I've read so much there aren't too many things that I don't know or understand. Altho' there are some things I hadn't heard before. It's good.

I was visiting after class with the instructor and helped her figure out how to set her cell phone to vibrate.

Oh, I finished The Memory Keeper's Daughter. It left me feeling sad. I can't imagine keeping secrets from the people I love most. I can't imagine not sharing how I feel. Of course, the story is set in a different time than I grew up in (it was interesting to read the discussion questions at the end). But it made me start thinking: If you were to keep a secret from your family or someone you loved, what would it be? I know, I know, blogs are public, so then don't post. But I have an answer, well, something I thought I would might possibly were all the circumstances just so.

Oh, if this seems like it jumps around; it's late, and it's a fairly good example of how
my brain works.

Reading

Winter was made for reading. I am so spoiled. I live in a bigger town with consequently a bigger library. Of course, I get more books than I can read! but it's fun anyway. I've been racing through The Memory Keeper's Daughter. Kinda sad, very poignant and just good prose. I'll finish it tonight likely. I also read this week There and Back Again; an Actor's Tale by Sean Astin. It is an interesting inside look at not just the making of the LotR movies, but of an actor's journey.

Besides all that, winter is just perfect for reading. Cold evenings, a cup of tea or cocoa, what else do you need?