Why I love Mayim Bialik

Mayim Bialik is an actress who has made some not-normal-to-society choices in her and her family's life.  She has really inspired me to try new things and not just buy something, because Target said it was the number one toy for infants.  There is a link to her blog on The Today Show here if you want to learn more about her:  here.  I don't agree with all of her opinions.  But her opinions aren't why I love her.  I love her, because she isn't afraid to be different.  And she has taken such a leading role in helping others get information that wasn't out there a year or two ago.

People always think that Noah and I are weird, because of the choices we have made in our lives including our choices with our baby.  We are OK with this.  I've never expected people to agree with us or understand completely.  And I shouldn't.

We plan on having a home birth with a midwife without any medical intervention, whatsoever.  We are going to home school our kids.  I am going to breastfeed our babies.  We are going to use cloth diapers (I can feel some of your cringing at this one).  We choose not to have health insurance (unless the Lord changes our mind, which is OK).  We plan to not take prescription medicine.  We treat most ailments holistically.  We eat as raw and organic as we can.  We plan to not vaccinate our children.    We make a conscious effort to not base our life or decisions off of other people or fear, but on God's convictions and guidance on our life.  I think most of you would agree with us on the last one.

I'm not saying that what we are doing is the best thing or that you are wrong. This is just what we believe is the best way for us to live.  It's as simple as that!  I'm not going to push my beliefs on other people when it comes to our life choices.  I truly believe most people really do what they think is best for their children and themselves.  And while I don't want them judging me, I need to respect their decisions and be supportive as well.

We don't do these things just to be "different" or because its becoming "popular", like some have labeled our actions.  We research everything for ourselves, pray thoroughly, and do what we think is right for us.  And we are always open to God changing our minds.  We try to be teachable in this way.

But, I do thoroughly believe that our American society has degraded in it's beliefs.  I, personally, think we depend too much on doctors and drugs to fix us.  God has opened my eyes in the past few years to ways of keeping us healthy with what He gave us on this Earth.  Don't get me wrong though, if I have a migraine or a really bad headache, I'm going take some Midol.  We aren't completely against medicine. 

I just think everything should be done with an educated decision and in moderation, not because someone else told me to.  Sometimes when I make decisions, if I'm really honest with myself and search my heart I'm making a decision based on someone else's feelings or expectations of me.  And I don't want to live my life that way, because then I'm not really living my life.  I'm just letting lions chase me.

In the Home Stretch

Woah, its been a while since I'v blogged, ok....

So I am 29 weeks this week and I have grown big time, like exponentially.  In about a month's time I became "you have a cute bump" to "big mama!".  The baby is kicking, punching, and moving around A LOT!  And my feet hurt when I've been walking around too much.  But I love every minute of it!!!  I told Noah that I could totally be an elephant and have a 2-year gestation period.   I love being pregnant!  Our midwife, Janet, says we are in the short time.  That is what she calls it when we go to once-a-month visits to visits every two weeks.

25 weeks

We moved last week from our first apartment as a married couple to our first house as a married couple.  Although I was happy to move to a bigger place with hardwood floors (yeah!), I was sad to see the little apt go.  We have a lot of memories from there and it was really good to us.  But I am NOT having a baby in an apartment! And I don't mean raise a baby in an apartment, because I see nothing wrong with that.  I just don't feel comfortable actually having our home birth there.  I need open space, and the new house definantly has that.  Thank you everyone who were praying for/with us about the new house.  I wanted to step into a house and feel comfortable and have God's peace about it.  And God has given us both that!  He has provided a wonderful place that we love and can see ourselves raising our family at for as long as God has us in San Antonio.

We started our birthing classes with a doula named Brenda Minica.  And we love it!  She is a super sweet lady and her classes are so informative.  But best of all it is Christ-centered teaching.  We talk about everything through God's eyes and dealing with fear, doubt, and emotions with scripture and prayer.  Our midwife suggested her and I am so glad she did.  We are learning so much! 

It is amazing the people God has brought to us during this pregnancy to teach us and to encourage us.  I am so thankful and feel super blessed! I don't know how people do life without God.  I would be a mess! Not that I am not anyway, but I have God to keep me on track.  And I need Him!

16 Weeks

We are 16 weeks pregnant now.  So, I thought I would put up some fun facts about what the baby should be up to.  Oh, plus we got a heartbeat this past Tuesday, so that was really cool!  Janet, our midwife, said that everytime she tried to get a a heartbeat with the FetalScope that the baby moved, like the baby didn't want her to mess with it....so Janet, predicted it was going to be a girl, because this baby has attitude....anyway....

1.  baby should be 4.5 inches long (about the length of mascara)
2.  weight 3 ounces
3.  baby's heart is pumping about the 25 quarts of blood a day
4.  fine hair is starting to grow at the top of head
5.  baby has grown strong enough to hold it's head up a little straighter
6.  starting to have facial expressions like squinting, yawning, and grimacing

We are preggo!

Yes, we are pregnant! And I can't even explain how awesome and amazing this all is, good stuff.  We found out September 12, which just so happens to be Grandparent's Day. (I think that's hilarious!)  Everyone is really excited!

We have chosen to have a home birth with a midwife.  Hopefully, a water birth will happen, but that just depends upon what the baby wants when the time comes.  We aren't finding out what the sex is until the day of birth.  So we aren't having a sonogram as of now.  We aren't vaccinating the baby, because there are just way too many bad things....I will talk more about that later down the road.  I don't know exactly how far along I am, because we have not been to the midwife yet.  We are still interviewing them and such. 

And that is all I am writing today, because I have the amazing morning sickness and just looking at this computer makes me nauseous.  So peace!