Picture day!

Ah! Today was picture day for Bailey! I pretty much forgot until after she went to bed. We got it together this morning, but we were late for school! Oh well, she looked cute. I'm a little concerned b/c when I told her to show me how she was going to smile, she "smiled" but it looked uh.. incredibly posed and fake. This years pics should be fun! I did get a pic of her and Ty before she left for school this morning though. It was shockingly half way decent. It's so hard to get them to smile at the same time!


Then this afternoon, Ephraim came over while his mom went to a midwife appointment. So we were just chillin'. Let's just say he missed his mommy. Even Ryan was trying to console him with a sweet little knee pat. Poor guy! He finally cheered up though... over some cookies! ;)


Today, I have been struggling with the idea of politics and Christianity. I don't really want to go too deep into it, because I'm tired and frankly, I've come to a conclusion that I don't feel the need to share any further. However, I think it's important to remember that God is not on one side (republican or democrat). He's in many Christians who happen to feel personally convicted to vote on one side or the other. There ought not to be any judgment among us about what is more or less Christian when it comes to politics. What matters is that we save as many souls as we can and love in a way that is only possible through Him, as we bring His love to the world. When you put it into that perspective that, it really doesn't matter which way we vote, does it?

Oh and I almost forgot, my token Ryan shot!

Rachel's Top 5 Reads

Well, likely these aren't my top five books EVER, but I've done quite a bit of reading in the past year or so, and these are at the top of my list. These aren't really in an order b/c they each played a role in shaping my perspectives, enriching my faith and also empowering me as a person to be just who God created me to be.


This book set me on the wild course to home birth. I had NO intention of birthing at home or doing ANYTHING unconventional. In fact, I can't remember why I bought it. It just kinda came up on my amazon homepage and I was intrigued at the idea of a birth without drugs, so I bought it. I believe God had a role in that because I was definitely not the natural, homebirthing type before this book!
Little did I know that upon finishing it, I'd switch from my OB to a birth center and then eventually to a midwife attended home birth! So, for me, this one is special! Half of the book is statistics and information. The other half is full of rich birth stories. Ina May is an interesting character, having lived on a commune for her life, delivering babies, and becoming probably the most respected midwife today by medical professionals.


This book is a great book for ANY woman who is birthing in the US to read. It is basically just a bunch of facts. It was based on statistical research, as well as out in the field, interviewing research (I can't recall the right name for that type of research right now!). I really loved it and couldn't put it down. I liked the author's style and was shocked at the information presented. Eye opening and a quick read!



Well, I never thought I'd be reading Christian fiction, but Francine Rivers is truly amazing. This book parallels God's love for us, even though we often fight him and try to fix things on our own. The book is about a sweet girl who gets stolen/sold (I can't remember!) into prostitution at a young age, she just had a terrible life. Then it's about a man who tries to save her from prostitution, and he does. This man has incredible faith, she fights him and runs away. But his love is steady and unconditional as he waits for her to turn to him and the Lord. This is seriously a tear jerker. It will challenge your faith and make you fall more in love with God. I made Erik read it and he loved it as well (don't tell him I told!).



This is another Francine Rivers book... but it's actually her Mark of the Lion series. Even more captivating and challenging than Redeeming Love, this book parallels ancient Roman society to today through the eyes of a young Jewish Christian sold into slavery in Rome. It's an excellent story about a girl who has such faith in God, it is amazing. You know that a faith like that is attainable and through reading it, you thirst for it more and more. I really LOVED this series. REALLY REALLY REALLY. If anyone wants to borrow my copies, let me know. My copies of any of these books actually.


Finally, Blue Like Jazz. I don't even know what to say about this book. I love Donald Miller, I love his style, I love his perspective, I love his blatant honesty and I love his love for God. He's so offbeat from your typical Christian writer. So different, so normal, so real. So not in your face at all, while being totally in your face but not meaning to... if that makes sense.
For me, this book changed my thinking, it helped me at a time where I was wondering what exactly does it look like to be a Christian? Do I look like a Christian? Is modern day American Christianity what a Christian looks like? I was feeling like I didn't really have a place b/c I'm not your typical Right Wing Conservative Christian type. Not at all. But most of my Christian friends are that way, love them dearly though! For me, this book said, you are how God created you to be. Be who YOU are and then DO something for God with that. I was very touched by this book and I think you will be to!

Relaxing weekend!

We are just coming off a really great weekend and I'm sad to see Monday rolling around again! We spent a lot of family time just hanging around and relaxing with ourselves and with relatives. It's so nice to live by all our family!
On Friday night, we just hung out with the kids, and kicked back. Saturday we had dinner at Erik's parents house, grilled out, did some cleaning, etc. Sunday, I made a couple meals and took them over to a friend who just had a baby girl. Bailey went to the the stables (Erik's family's business) with her Nana and hung out with some cousins and then in the evening we had dinner with my folks. We got a lot done around the house and spent quality family time, you can't really ask for more out of a weekend!
I made a really great soup for the first time that I doubled (and then halved so we could have some!) to bring to my girlfriend while she's recovering from birth. Another friend of mine raves about this recipe. It is delicious, but BEWARE!!! there is velveeta involved.
Velveeta skeeves me out, but honestly, it was really good. I think you can substitute shredded sharp cheddar and then mix in some cream or something... here's the recipe though (from my friend Meghan).

Meg's Loaded Baked Potato Soup
6-7 potatoes
1 large onion
2 chicken bullion cubes
1 lb. velveeta cheese
16 oz. sour cream
"real" bacon bits

Directions:

1. Peal and chop potatoes.

2. Put in pot and cover just slightly w/ water. Cook in bullion cubes until tender.

3. Add onions, cheese, and sour cream, stirring until smooth.

4. Serve and top w/ bacon bits.

MAKES PLENTY AND ALWAYS BETTER AS LEFTOVERS!

It was really yummy! I put the bacon in the soup to give it more flavor while the soup cooked and I liked it!
I hope my friend Rachel enjoys the soup!
On another note, I thought I'd broach the subject of birth here. Aside from bringing Rachel a couple meals, I needed to get my pool back from her. For those of you who don't know, I have joined the ranks of "homebirthers", having had Ryan (planned!) at home with a midwife, in water. He was born quietly in my bedroom in a birthing pool! Honestly, I'm not a hippy or anything (well not too much anyway!) but for my family and based on my research, birthing at home was the best choice for us. I'm so glad I did it and I can honestly say that Ryan's birth was by far the GREATEST birth experience I have had. The other two births were good too, your textbook epidural births. I have never had any complications or anything, but doing it at home without the epidural, doctors, nurses, bright light shining on me while delivering, etc. was really awesome. If God decides to trick us and give us another baby in spite of Erik's vasectomy, I will most definitely do it at home again!
So anyway, Rachel had borrowed my pool and then in a couple of weeks, my other girlfriend (and now neighbor!) will be borrowing it to have her first homebirth! I can't wait to post pictures of Annette and Jason's little girl (Okay, we don't know what it is, but I am sure it is a girl!). I'm so excited to see homebirthing starting to kind of catch on and am happy to help anyone I can achieve this type of experience.
Anyway, I'll conclude with some pictures from the weekend and then my birth announcement for Ryan, just because I'm feeling a little bit sentimental.:)

Friday night

Tyler with his "gwasses"


Mommy and Ryan hanging out "poolside".


Ryan even gets his highchair pulled poolside.


Bailey posing for the camera... what a character!


Hanging out with my parents


Pops and Ryan


Goofing off with Sussa's hats!


Ryan's Birth Announcement! You might have to click on it, because it's kinda big for this blog...

Mommy got bangs cut

I like them.

Update:)

Well, I can't find my card reader, so no pictures today. I just finished my 2 glasses (okay maybe it was 3?!) of wine and watched the debates. I use the term "debate" loosely, because these really aren't debates. They are so pointless really. It's kind of depressing. I am wishing/hoping for some spark but they are altogether way too civil. Oh well! In my opinion, McCain looked kinda like a fuddyduddy:)
I made something really delicious for dinner tonight, thanks to my best buddy Robyn, who made something similar the other day. This is what it was. 2 cans of chunk chicken (you could use regular chicken like shredded, but this is what I had on hand. I think took about half a carrot and chopped it up with my pampered chef chopper thingy, and threw that in with the chicken. Then I added Trader Joes Thai Yellow Curry Sauce until it reached a nice consistency of moistness... kind of like chicken salad but a touch drier. Then I toasted wheat bread, pulled it out of the toaster, but the chicken mixture on top and then added havarti cheese to my bread and sliced dubliner cheese to Erik's bread and broiled the whole thing til it was melted. It was delicious! Really it was so good and I made enough of the curry chicken mix for lunches for tomorrow and probably another day this week! It was really great! All this to say, I have no idea why I'm writing all this... but maybe someone else will make this and enjoy it as much as we did.
Well, there is not much else to say really... I recently joined facebook and that has been pretty fun, seeing what everyone is up to. Everyone I've ever known seems entirely happy and ecstatic, it's kind of weird. But then today, I heard someone who seemed the happiest of all was getting a divorce. Places like facebook or myspace or wahtever are so interesting, because all you see are smiles and happy perfect, pictures. I mean I put the same things up there too... I just wonder sometimes if people are being real or not. I guess I even wonder if I'm being real. Am I happy? Yeah I am happy! But catch me at the end of a day right before Erik comes home with three kids of whom none have taken a nap and all they want to do is paint for the six thousandth time that day and splatter paint all over the kitchen floor while asking for their sixtieth snack... then no at that point in time I'm not happy. Oops, the secret is out. I am not always happy.