Coach Parker

Parker was asked to coach the 5th & 6th grade Putnam Youth League football team. Today was their first game. They lost 6 to 14. But it was fun to watch Coach Parker jump in the air when they made a touch down. Those boys are so little! Hard to believe Parker and Jordan were ever that small.

After the game we went to Cha, Cha, Cha for dinner. Yum!

September

Oh, the crisp mornings and warm afternoons! This weather is delectable!

I love everything about this time of year. Rising early and getting the girls off to school (which means a quieter house, and more time in the day to get things done). Getting organized. Apples in season. Baking after school treats. Taking walks in the cool morning with Amos. Sleeping with the windows open. I hope your fall is as sweet as mine.

Savannah's first day of Junior Year & Emilia's 2nd day of Middle School (7th grade)

Thumbs Up!











When Emilia came home from her first day of middle school I asked her all the requisite mom questions....how was your day, was it fun, any friends in your classes, do you have any papers for me? When Mario came home from work and asked her how her first day was, he asked, "Now the important question, were they lots of cute guys?" She enthusiastically replied, "Yes!" I guess he understands middle schoolers!

As if life isn't chaotic enough

The basement bathroom is done!

You can imagine my excitement,
and my gratitude
to my husband for spending so many late nights down in the dungeon.
So here are some pictures of the finished product.


Oh, but we're not done.
The kids couldn't have a nicer bathroom than ours, so
we've moved the hammer (and the husband) on to the upstairs bathroom...

Yummy

I love chocolate. I mean I really LOVE chocolate. Is it really a problem that I want to eat some every day? And I try not to, but it doesn't work? And that I can't usually eat just a little bit? Once I have a bite, I just want more and more? OK, so maybe I'm addicted. But anyway, I found this recipe, and not only is it loaded with chocolate, but also the perfect pairing with chocolate (besides mint), peanuts AND peanut butter!


So here is the recipe if you want to give it a try......

Chunky Peanut, Chocolate, and Cinnamon Cookies

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 & 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 2/3 cup roasted, salted peanuts, coarsely chopped
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.

Beat butter and peanut butter using an electric mixer on medium speed. Mix about 2 minutes, or until combined. Add sugars and mix another 2 minutes. Add eggs and mix. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips, peanuts, and vanilla. Refrigerate dough about 15 minutes or until slightly firm.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place 2-3 inches apart on lined baking sheets. Flatten each cookie slightly. Bake 11-13 minutes or until golden. Cool on wire racks.

Downtown

I've had this list of activities I wrote out in the beginning of summer

Things to Do on a Summer Day

Well, I haven't done very many of them!

But today Emilia and I shut summer down by taking a trip downtown.

Our first stop was the Park Blocks to watch the The Oregon Ballet Theatre perform their annual OBT Exposed. We stopped to get lunch at New Seasons Market and ate as we watched the ballet practice for their upcoming season. It is amazing to see the body move in such a lyrical way. It makes me miss dancing. But what I was really thinking as we watched, I bet they don't eat sandwiches, chips and cookies for lunch. Those bodies are amazing.

Then my little artist wanted to go to the Portland Art Museum. We spent a couple of hours exploring various forms of art. There were some really weird pieces that we laughed about, some amazing works that caught our attention and those that seemed like any one of us could have done. We stopped at the gift shop on the way out to get a few postcards as souvenirs.

We stopped by the ballet tent one more time before heading out and we were treated to a full run through of the section that we had watched them rehearsing earlier, so that was cool.

The only bad point was that we decided to head home at 5pm...what was I thinking?

Unbelievable!

Baby boy born last night! Mom was so excited because she had a short labor, after 3 long labors with her other children. This was also her first homebirth, after 3 birth center births. It does make a difference.

That concludes our August births, so my apprentice and I were excitedly beginning to make plans with our next off-call time. I was trying to quickly get out of town today to head to a wedding in Utah, while she was thinking about a camping trip this weekend. Then on my way to a postpartum visit I checked my phone messages and there was a message from a woman who interviewed me a couple weeks ago and her baby is due in a few weeks and she wants to hire us. UNBELIEVABLE! Because this is the one I wrote about 2 weeks ago who showed up at my door 3 minutes after I woke up after being up all night at a birth and driving around the town I grew up in looking for a damn Shari's restaurant!

I am so excited!

And I am back on call.

Like Kelly said when I called to tell her to cancel her camping trip, "It was fun while it lasted".

At least we got a trip to Ikea in this morning.

104 degrees of fun!

Since I am surrounded by young mother's I am often reminded how much I miss those times with my kids when they were younger and we were always on the go doing fun activities. Now they are busy with their own friends, going to the mall and movies without me; working, babysitting and sleeping half the day away.

But today we headed to the Clackamas County Fair. In spite of the weather forecasting 104 degrees today, everyone was excited to go and there was no complaining. (Well, Mario complained a little when we were waiting in the hot car for Savannah to finish getting ready 45 minutes later than we intended to leave).

We had so much fun! Here are a few photo's from the day.

The girls are holding a baby lion. She was so cute!

Petting a litter of pigs, only 2 weeks old


The 600 pound mama!

Mario found a friend with a similar sense of humor!

After the fair we came home for a brief rest before heading to Washington Park Rose Garden to enjoy the opera "Lucia di Lammermoor". One of the leads is a man we know. The music was beautiful and it was a great way to spend a hot summer night. Portland is such an awesome place and I love living here. We have many beautiful public spaces filled with fabulous free concerts and cultural activities.

The moon was out in full on the drive home. Absolutely beautiful! I'm happy to be home in my air conditioned room tonight watching Michael Phelps win another gold medal. That man is a freak of nature! And I mean that in the nicest way.

Adventures With My Apprentice In The Middle Of The Night

Another sweet baby girl born this morning on her parents 10th wedding anniversary. It was the first birth that my apprentice and I have attended together in 6 months, and we were excited!

We left the family snuggled in bed around 4am, with our stomaches aching for a yummy breakfast. We wanted to eat at Shari's, because Denny's seemed a little scary. But when we headed over to the Jantzen Beach area there was only a Denny's. We were looking for a phone booth to look up the closest Shari's. Did you all know it's hard to find a phone booth these days? So Kelly (my wonderful apprentice) went into Denny's to ask for a phone book to look up Shari's. I found a lot of humor in this. She brought the phone book out to the car (more humor) and said that we would NOT be eating at Denny's! But we found a Shari's nearby, so with address and Thomas Guide in hand it seemed that our hunger pains would soon be fed.

HA HA

Everywhere we went we ran into dead ends, no through streets, right turn only-when we wanted to turn left, and illegal u-turns. We were laughing, cursing and throwing our hands up as we drove circles around Delta Park, freeway underpasses and some very dark roads for nearly 45 minutes, with fierce determination to eat at Shari's. OK, I was raised in this town, so I should know better, but the lack of sleep, the company I keep and my grumbling stomach kept me pressing on. I don't know why we didn't just get back on the freeway, figuring that we would see the Shari's from there, but like I said...it was well past 4am at this point, and does anyone think clearly at that hour?

When we finally made it to Shari's (and every single Shari's I've ever been in is too cold) we were the only ones in the restaurant and had the funnest waitress. As crazy as it all was, we were having a good time.

With my belly full I rolled into the driveway about 5:45am, wrote an email, called the lab for a pick-up, and went to bed. But the adventure didn't stop there....

I had on my calendar "10:00am" written down, with no name. I'd been pondering this for days, wondering if I had an appointment I forgot about or what. To be on the safe side I decided to set my alarm, be awake and somewhat presentable "just in case", and besides, I needed to take Savannah to work at 10:30am. After only a few hours of sleep I did not hear the alarm over the hum of the air conditioner and woke up at 9:58am. I stumbled to the family room to see Savannah, who needs to be at work in 32 minutes, deep in dream land. As I rouse her I hear a car door shut, look out the window and see a woman getting a toddler out of her car in my driveway.....holy crap! I have an interview at 10am! I urgently tell Savannah to answer the door, greet the woman, lead her to my office and tell her I will be a few minutes. I run to the bathroom where I undress, brush my teeth and shower in 3 minutes (I am not exaggerating!), peek my head in the office with explanations and apologies, then dress in about 2 minutes. 5 minutes late to the interview, somewhat presentable, and completely unnerved. I loved the woman and her darling son, but it will be a miracle if she hires me.

A Birth Essay on Why Women Choose Birth Outside the Hospital

Don't you want a doctor?...

This essay was written by Marcela Valle and was posted to ICAN (International Cesarean Awareness Network) online 5/19/07. It was written after she'd had a conversation in which she explained why she was choosing a midwife for her second birth. My apprentice, Kelly, forward to me and I thought it was absolutely beautiful, in spite of it's length.

Don't you want a doctor?...

It is a question I have been asked, "Don't you want someone who can handle anything?" When I heard this question, so many feelings boiled inside me so fast that my answer constituted: "No, because I don't want someone waiting for the slightest opportunity to cut me open again." And, while that holds true, there's so much more than that and it deserves to be put into words…

I don't want a doctor because I believe in my ability to birth. I believe that Mother Nature/Creation/ God(s)-or whomever you revere- have given us the ability and the opportunity to birth, and to go through that passage for a reason. Over the years in North American culture, we have lost sight of such experience and its purpose. It has been said before, that "A child is born, and so is a mother."

I don't want a doctor because they are experts in many things, but not normal birth.

I don't want a doctor because I want a birth attendant who believes in me. An attendant who will empower me, and support me, and tell me to get it together and birth this baby. I choose someone who will encourage me to be educated and make decisions with me, not for me.

I don't want a doctor because I am not making decisions based on fear. I make decisions based on research, and logic and, all the while, I also follow my heart.

I don't want a doctor because, despite widely held beliefs, birth in a hospital is not as safe as birth outside a hospital. Birth with a midwife, at home, is a rational choice.

I do not want a doctor because I am more than a paycheck, a liability, or a 'difficult' patient.

I do not want a doctor because I do not need to wait an hour in a waiting room to be seen for 5 minutes and by someone who needs to look at my chart to know my name. Instead, I want to be welcomed with a hug, offered water, a snack, and have an hour talking about my pregnancy, my feelings, and my birth plans.

I do not want a doctor because I do not need to feel scared about being an inconvenience, or have questions, take too much time, be too "needy" or have too many expectations.

I don't want a doctor because I want to be regarded as a healthy birthing mother. I am not sick, I am not a patient. I am full with life.

I don't want a doctor because birth is NOT an emergency waiting to happen, it is NOT dangerous. A doctor makes you believe birth is unsafe and you need them. After all, they would not have a job otherwise. A midwife trusts the process and allows it to take its course without fitting it into a box or random standards.

I don't want a doctor because I want someone who can handle things without a knife and someone who knows how to help me get the baby into a better position and over a pubic bone, and whatever else, without slicing me open or using torture devices.

I don't want a doctor because my body works. And it works best if not surrounded by strangers poking, probing and interrupting my concentration.

I don't want a doctor because I know I WILL go into labor, my hips are NOT small, they're the perfect size. My baby is NOT too big, my body CAN dilate, I am NOT a failure to progress…I DO NOT need to be saved. By not having a doctor, I AM saving myself.

I don't want a doctor because I don't want him, or a calendar, or a clock to tell me when I HAVE to birth and how fast I need to dilate. My body knows it, my baby knows it. We'll do it when it's time for the baby to be born, and time for me to birth my child.

I don't want a doctor because I don't want to be offered an induction (or be cut open) because it's close to Christmas, Mother's Day, or Labor Day. I won't be hurried because there's a golf game, a cruise, or a date to be made, or it's just inconvenient for me to wake them up at night or to take too long.

I don't want a doctor because I don't want to be imprisoned in a bed "just in case" and I don't want to have to stay still so a machine can work properly and the nurse doesn't have time to come into my room.

I don't want a doctor because I do not need to ask for permission to use the rest room, move around, eat, or have an opinion. Nor, do I need scare tactics and a "dead baby" card when I opt out of a procedure done only to cover the doctor's legal butt.

I do not want a doctor because I appreciate being talked to respectfully, and acknowledged, and being taken into account. I DO WANT TO KNOW, AND I WILL worry my little head about it, after all, it is my birth, my child, and my responsibility to do so.

I don't want a doctor because I don't want an electronic monitor to tell someone how I'm doing or whether I am in pain or not, or if my baby hugs are adequate enough.

I don't want a doctor because I don't want someone to "manage" my birth, and "solve" things by using interventions, which may lead to more interventions, which would be solved with even more interventions

I don't want a doctor because I don't want to be silent. I will groan, and moan, and sing if I want to, and my midwife may sing with me.

I don't want a doctor because I will birth my baby. My midwife will be present at my birth but nothing (besides food) will be delivered.

I do not want a doctor because I am not birthing on my back, or holding my breath or counting to 10.

I don't want a doctor because I don't want my child to be poked and prodded before we have a chance to hold each other. I want my baby to hear my voice first.

I don't want a doctor because I cannot bear another cut into my uterus and my heart, nor can I bear to watch another baby of mine born into blinding bright lights, deep suctioning, IV's and antibiotics.

I don't want a doctor because I have all it takes: wisdom, strength, courage, faith and a vagina.

Baby Girl

A baby girl born tonight at home. She is beautiful and shares a name with me. This is the first time a client has named a baby after me. Me and my apprentice share a name, which is quite funny to most people. But even funnier (or more embarrassing) are the number of times we actually show up to appointments dressed alike. We've even had a client ask if this was our "uniform". So the sweet baby girl is named after me and my apprentice, and a family member. Pretty cool stuff!

I've had some insomnia the last few nights. I suffer from this occasionally. Usually when I'm in the midst of it I feel incredibly frustrated and don't know why I'm fretting about a bunch of nonsense when I just want to go to sleep. But eventually I can attribute the insomnia to something and this helps to resolve it. I realized that since it's been 6 months of being off call I was anxious about being back on call. But mostly I was anxious that my apprentice is out of town this weekend and I have to rely on another apprentice who I don't know at all. There is a lot of trust that happens at birth, and I depend on the person who's at my side. I need to have complete trust in her skills and understanding of birth. And since one of the last births I attended 6 months ago was a full resuscitation and did not have a good outcome I was left with some trauma to process. I carried these anxieties with me as I tried to sleep each night.

After 6 months off call, I am grateful for the peace I felt from the moment I entered the birthing environment. I knew that the past was left behind. The room was filled with support, love, patience and trust. I missed my apprentice dearly, but all went well without her and I am grateful for the presence of the woman who attended this birth with me. And as always, I am grateful for the parents who trust me to enter the sacred space when their babies enter this world!

Now I am looking forward to sleeping like a baby tonight!