In Honor of Jeanie Brockman Molt

My mother died when I was 3 years old. That makes it 20 years ago. Where does the time go?

She died on October 27, 1987 and was buried on October 31, 1987. That is 20 years ago today exactly.

I used to hate to celebrate Halloween because it was the day that she was buried on, but now that I have a daughter, I am trying to make new traditions and find new joy in the holiday. I think that I am being very successful in that.

Though I don't have many memories of her, I do remember talking about Halloween.

So, today, in honor of my dear late mother, I have 4 stems of snap dragons and a single rose sitting on my dining table in a vase.

Why snap dragons? Because she was the one that taught me how to make them talk.

Though we got such a short time together on this earth, it was lovely, and I know how much work she put into being a mother. It is only now in perspective as I have become a mother and I thank her.

Happy Halloween

Hello Everyone!

Happy Halloween for all of you out there in cyber land.

I am celebrating my carving a pumpkin, working, going trick or treating with Daphne and baking oatmeal raisin cookies for Jared!

Tomorrow, NaBloPoMo starts, which means I will be posting daily on all three of my blogs. Tune in!

Fact

Fact: I have taken 9 hours of Video of Daphne since birth.
Fact: I have taken 1,912 Photos of Daphne since birth.

That is an average of 1.125 hours of video per month and 239 photos!

Homemaker

I have become quite the homemaker recently, but the true signs came out this weekend.

I decided to make Daphne some new diapers to take to NY with me. They are easier to launder and carry around, and I am determined to NOT use disposable diapers!

I bought some diapers the other day that looked incredibly easy to make. I got all of the material that I needed to make it ready, and I actually put one together. I am SO proud of myself. I plan to make about 24 of them to take with me, so wish me luck with that.

Additionally, I decided that I am going to start making my own wool covers for Daphne.

I started knitting one of them, and I think I am doing a very good job. Only about 10 more hours of knitting will show if I actually am good or not. I hope that I am because I just got 3 more skeins of wool yarn. Yay!

I also ordered wool fabric so that I can make fabric diaper covers as well. I am sure I will document my progress here!

My Gourd

I bought a gourd the other day and put it on the table for decoration. Daphne thought that it was the greatest toy, and she will not stop playing with it. She likes to chew on it and make me sad by throwing it on the floor when she is done.

Here she is chewing on her gourd in the middle of my photo shoot. Look at how happy she is.

And now I know that a true sign of the harvest season is when your baby can't stop playing with your gourd.

Wooden Rattle

Daphne's Grandpa is good with making wood things. He recently went to the trouble to make her a wooden rattle by hand. In thanks, I took photos of her with it and sent them to him. I got some pretty kooky smiles and other looks. She is a cute baby, that is for sure.

Fun and Games

In case you thought that Halloween was all fun and games.... Think again!

Daphne's Costume

Here are some photos of Daphne in her costume. OH MAN! Look at how cute she is. It doesn't get much better than that as a mom!

Cute Photo

Sometimes I capture cute moments when I take photos. This was one such time!

Daphne in Her Dress

When Daphne was born, her Great Grandma (Jareds' Moms' Mom) sent up a dress for her. With the dress was a note that said that she had had the dress made for her daughter when she was a little girl and that she was waiting for another girl to be born so that she could pass it down. It also had a photo of Paula in the dress.

And so, I waited until she grew, and found that it was finally time to photograph her in it. So here you go. Two generations later. She looks kind of cute in it!

We Have a Winner

After much protest and a little bit of trying and then quitting, I think we are finally on the path to solid foods! YAY!

For the past two days, she has started to eat applesauce without much of a protest. After that, I tried giving her sweet potatoes, which she liked too. I am moving on to pumpkin and squash. She is very much a vegetable queen, so I will have to stay in that realm, which I don't mind one bit!!

SO... At 8 months old, I am officially calling her not exclusively breastfed anymore. That makes me in the extreme rarity. Only 14% make it to 6 months, which means that probably only 1% or so can make it to 8 months! The truth of the matter is that I will continue to breastfeed as long as she wants--probably around 3 years. The exclusive part of it is over, which makes me kind of sad and teary.

Halloween

I am trying my best to submerge Daphne in the customs that she will be a part of later in her life. Rather than make things commercialized, I am trying to swing holidays and other things into a tradition based holiday. If I start now, maybe I will have it down by the time she actually cares.

We bought her a costume the first second that costumes became available because we thought it would be cute for her to dress up. We got what we thought was a cow. When I took a closer look at it, it seemed that it looked more like a horse. After long discussion, we realized that she was probably more like a giraffe. I am sticking to that! No matter what she was, she was cute. We took her out to Delphi for their Halloween party. I guess we really have to find a party around here that we can be a part of.

I told Julie that I would go trick-or-treating with her on Wednesday, so I am going to set out to do that! Her outfit is cute. I have half a mind to have her wear it for a little while before she outgrows it completely.

My Baby Needs THIS

Jared and I agree that our baby needs this for when she goes to NY. It is nice and Christmasy and cozy. Too bad that baby clothes are more expensive than people clothes sometimes. This is from Old Navy.

Maybe I can make it myself!

Night Photo

I was talking to my friend about the population of America.

The east is far more populated and settled than the west. Wouldn't you agree?

The photo is courtesy of http://www.teslasociety.com/earthlights.jpg

Letter from My Midwife

This is an email that I got from one of the midwives that gave me care when I was in labor.

I emailed her and asked her what it looked like from her viewpoint went wrong with my birth, and she wrote me back a very nice email. I thought I might share for those of you that are tracking my road to not having this c-section stuff bother me anymore.

"To start off, as one midwife I worked with used to say, "Birth is normal, except when it's not." I think it's important to keep in mind that 90% of births progress normally with no complications, with little need even for the midwife to be present in any clinical role. And while 90% is a great odds to have, unfortunately someone has to fall into that 10% category, and with Daphne's birth, you happened to fall into that place. I don't, however, think that this means you won't fall into the 90% category if you do indeed choose to have other babies. I have seen on numerous occasions women who have had exactly the same labor/birth as yours, have a normally progressing 2nd labor with a successful vaginal birth (a few that were even quicker than the first!).

I think what happened in your birth is three fold. 1) You were exhausted. It was a long labor, one that many women in your place would have given up HOURS before you did. If you had kept going who knows what could have happened. Although it may be easy to blame yourself and say "If only I had stayed with it a little bit longer", I think that you have to also trust yourself as a mother that everything in you said "I AM DONE!" and that it wasn't working the way you were doing it. If you hadn't listened to your gut, there is always the possibility that the baby would not have reacted well to a longer labor, her heart rate may have gone down because SHE was getting tired from the long labor, or you could have ended up with the exact same scenario of a c-section, but just postponed it a few more hours or days. 2) Her position on c-section confirmed that she was having a hard time turning herself into an optimal position to descend down and be born. Again, who knows what would have happened if you had given it more time, it could have resulted in her finally turning after many more hours or days, or it could have resulted in her getting stressed and lead to an emergency c-section which would have been a lot more frightening for you. I think you made the best decision you could with the information that you had as a mother. From what I saw externally, you knew that something wasn't working and something wasn't right, and had really been feeling that way from the beginning. And the position they found her in, I think supports that feeling you had that things weren't right. 3) Your pain tolerance- I have often seen it that women who have a baby who is in a weird position experience A LOT more pain that with a normally positioned baby. Often this is because the baby is pressing on the sacrum or pelvis in such a way that it causes the level of pain the mother experiences to rise. Therefore, I think it is COMPLETELY understandable that this would have made your labor more painful that the norm, and make it more difficult for you to be able to continue with a slowly progressing labor.

As for her position, we will never know why she was positioned the way she was after so many exams seemed to lead all of us to believe that she was in a perfect position. I often think what we are trying to do in a vaginal exam as trying to "see" with our fingers, which in reality isn't possible. However, we all do our best to "see" the baby's position and unfortunately this isn't an exact science. The only way to know accurately throughout the labor what the baby's position is, would be to do an ultrasound every few hours, and I'm pretty sure that would not have been ok with you! And it could very well have been why you progressed slowly in early labor. Whether she was in a perfect position throughout labor and then changed positions over time or when you were pushing... or whether all of the exams led us to believe that she was in a position that she actually wasn't, again we will never know.

I can totally understand why you are so scared to move past this birth because of the mystery that you feel still surrounds it. It is a strange experience to spend 9 months growing a baby and feeling that you know what's going on in your body so intimately, and then to have such a profoundly life-changing moment be so unexplainable would most definitely make it hard to want to do it all over again.

I think that your birth, however, was your first lesson as a mother. To have and love a child that YOU created who now is creating her own destiny can be very hard to come to terms with. You have to remember that it wasn't just you who made decisions about the birth. Daphne also played a role. It is through the release of hormones in her brain that help to start the labor process, and it is her moving and wiggling about that helps to bring her down into your pelvis, thus she ultimately played a role in this outcome. In my mind, to be a mother is about hoping and wanting the best for your child, but being able to release these wishes if they are not fulfilled, knowing that your child is her own master. Accepting that there are things you will never know about your child starts with birth. Creating a baby is a mysterious process, birth is a mysterious process, a growing child is a mysterious process. Although the mystery is very frightening for you right now, I hope that with time and help from continuing to try process your experience with others, you will eventually come to embrace the mystery in your birth as a wonderful thing, a life lesson from your baby. Beyond that, I believe that you did exactly what you should as a mother... listen to your instinct. Your mind and body told you that you needed to stop and you did that. And while you will never know the outcome if you had acted differently, I would go on the assumption that your body would not have told you to quit if it didn't feel that this was the correct course of action. Your body is very smart! Think about all that goes into growing a baby...

I realize that what I am saying may not be at all helpful or comforting to you during this time of trying to find answers. I hope that if you really are feeling upset or scared that you will continue to talk to people not only now but before you decide to have other kids. I am sure Esme can give you names of really great postpartum support therapists or mom's groups. And I hope you have been reaching out to other mothers who have had experiences like you through ICAN or other sources. Know that you are not alone in your feelings and that I ABSOLUTELY believe that your next birth can and will be totally different from your last. "

Where Did Those 10 Pounds Go?

I have been a little worried about not losing the baby weight recently. I have done several things to try to get on top of it.

1.) I shot a ton of weddings, which is the best workout I know around.
2.) I started carrying Daphne EVERYWHERE rather than use the stroller. She is happier and I am getting a better workout.
3.) I started becoming much more active with Julie including riding my bike around town to places that were not far. We have a bike trailer, so I can bring Daphne with me.
4.) I started eating MUCH better including cutting sugar out of my diet more and more to the point that there is very little.
5.) I tried being Vegan, but had to give up after only 2 days.

I was sure that all of this was doing no good at all. On a depressed whim, I decided that I was going to weigh myself, and to my EXTREME surprise, I discovered that I have lost 10 pounds just from those little measures. Since that was that easy, I am going to start working out more, and see if I can't lost the 15 last baby pounds and maybe a few more on top of that.

This has been a nice big self-esteem boost!

Cooking, Cooking Up a Storm

Julie and her lovely girls came over yesterday. We decided to do some cooking projects.

We made

1.) Smoked Cream of Tomato Basil Soup
2.) Fakes (Greek Lentils)
3.) Homemade Granola Bars
4.) Blueberry Frozen Yogurt
5.) Applesauce

We did it in relatively short order, and the kitchen wasn't even dirty when she left. It was very nice. The food was great. I hope to do more cooking in the future because that was just fun.

We didn't get to carving pumpkins, so that was sad, but I think that I will have to do that today because I am running out of time.

Sleeping in the Ergo

I have decided that it is time for me to try to get Daphne more willing to hang out on my back. It is just too much to carry a 20 pound baby on your front all the time.

I think that she finally got the hang of it recently though. I will put her on my back, and she loves to look around and play. She thinks my hair is another toy, so we have to work on that, but mostly, it works well.

Yesterday morning, she fell asleep in the Ergo, and I got a chance to go around and do extra housework. It was nice. The house is actually clean, really clean for the first time ever. I am just out of my head about it.

Yesterday afternoon, she became really fussy, and I just put her on my back and let her fuss. At one point, I realized that the room had gone silent and she was dead asleep. So, if all else fails, put the baby in the Ergo and go for a walk!

Ways in Which I am Crazy

I am going to post later on how I got where I am mentally on the whole sustainable living thing. Until then, consider this.

I realized how crazy I am when I actually considered going door to door around our area telling everyone that I would take their leaves and grass clippings. You see, I am into composting, and I think it is awful that all that potential compost is being thrown in garbage cans and carted off like it is waste. No wonder our landfills are becoming full quickly.

Replace those Lightbulbs

We moved to a bigger house which ultimately means that we are looking at a bigger energy bill.

My plan, do as much as possible to keep the costs down thus conserving both our planetary and monetary resources.

After a little research and a little grumbling, I decided to swap out all of our light bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL). The thing is that incandescent light bulbs are not efficient at all. Most of their energy goes to heat, which is not at all the purpose of a light bulb. I was first concerned because I used a lamp around Daphne that she can touch. The normal light bulbs can get really hot, and that is not safe. This is not the case with the CFL bulbs. They also use less energy, they cost less and they last longer. I think in the future I will for sure get ones that are daylight balanced at 5000K though because I was SURE Daphne had jaundice her skin was so yellow until I realized that it was just the light bulbs that was doing it.

I read this article on http://sustainablog.blogspot.com

Jeff says: For the combination of price and efficiency, you can't beat compact fluorescent lightbulbs. Yet, the do present an end-of-life challenge with the tiny amount of mercury present in the bulbs. Chris Baskind, editor at Lighter Footstep, and founder of the Vida Verde collective, has some tips for safe disposal of these bulbs once they burn out.

If you're the sort of person who reads articles like this, you probably think pretty much everyone knows about CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs) by now.

Think again. Despite widespread availability and dramatically lower prices -- name brand CFL bulbs go for about two dollars these days -- CFL adoption in the United States remains around 6 percent. The rate is much higher in Europe and parts of Asia. Still, in the largest single consumer market in the world, CFL awareness remains in single digits. Contrast this with a recent survey suggesting up to 34 percent of all Americans believe in UFOs.

Mercury in CFLs

It's not unreasonable to think that even fewer people know CFLs contain mercury. A small amount, sure: the National Electrical Manufacturers Association recently capped 25 watt CFLs at 5 milligrams per bulb. But as adoption rates rise, so does the importance of sending CFLs to a recycler, rather than the landfill.

Herein lies the problem. While retailers such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot have exhibited environmental leadership by bringing CFLs to market, they've been far less forthcoming in taking them back. CFLs can last three to five years under normal use, which means the vast majority of bulbs ever sold are still in service. By 2010, however, The U.S. could be looking at 80 to 100 million improperly disposed CFLs annually if people don't know any better and convenient recycling isn't available. That would represent an intolerable toxic burden to our current methods of waste disposal.

CFL Recycling Options

A issue of this size won't be solved by individual action alone. But if each of us take the initiative to identify our local CFL recycling options now, we can start the process of educating friends and family before their efficient new CFLs are ready for disposal. Want to give it a try? Here are a few places to check:

Your Local Garbage Service

Probably the best place to start is with whoever currently picks up your household trash or recyclables. If you pay for this service, you'll almost certainly find a customer service number on your bill. Give them a call and ask if they offer CFL or mercury recycling. If not, politely suggest they do so. Here's an opportunity to write a letter, attend a meeting, or take some other activist role in highlighting the importance of proper CFL disposal. The appropriate follow-up will depend on whether your trash service is privately or publicly held.

Municipal Government

Whether or not local trash service is provided by a private contractor, your local municipality (city, county, or parish) is ultimately responsible for waste disposal.

Most phone directories have a "blue pages" directory of local government agencies. Try the listing for sanitation services. While curbside recycling is by no means universal, your area may have designated drop-off locations or periodic CFL collections. Should your local agency not have any CFL-specific provisions, ask about safe disposal of mercury or fluorescent tubes.
Retailers

Unless you bought CFLs from Ikea, one of the first major vendors to offer a free take-back program, you're probably going to get some blank stares when you ask the manager of your local store about CFL recycling. It's worth the effort, though: retailers need to know their customers want safe disposal of the goods they purchase. If you bought your CFLs from Wal-Mart, consider contacting their corporate headquarters and asking that they establish a company wide CFL return program.

Earth 911

Earth 911 is probably the United States and Canada's largest online clearinghouse of recycling information. Visit their site and enter "CFL" and your Zip code in the "Find a Recycling Center" field at the top of each page. Alternately, try "mercury" and "fluorescent bulbs." If there's something in your region, it will almost certainly be listed. Earth 911 is currently attempting to expand its coverage to Europe, the first step toward an international registry of recycling options.

Commercial Services

There are a variety of for-profit companies which provide CFL and fluorescent bulb disposal by mail. Failing a local option, these firms represent a responsible and environmentally friendly channel for CFL recycling. Lightbulbrecycling.com, for instance, will send you a handy, postage-paid plastic pail which will accommodate about 30 CFLs -- more than most homes will use in many years. Just drop your spent CFLs in their well-engineered pail, and call FedEx for pick-up. The downside is that the service is quite expensive: about $120 per shipment. At today's prices, this almost triples the unit price of your CFL. On the other hand, with the energy you'll save with each bulb, you're still ahead of the game. You'll also know for sure that your CFLs are being recycled in a safe fashion.

What If All Else Fails?

If none of these options are available to you, there's a backup plan: storage.

As their name suggests, Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs don't take up much room. Unless they're broken or otherwise damaged, CFLs will hold their mercury more-or-less indefinitely. Rather than disposing of them with household trash, simply store expended CFLs until recycling is available in your area. A 5-gallon PVC bucket with sealable top can be scrounged from most construction sites or purchased new for less than ten dollars. It should safely contain a couple dozen bulbs. A sturdy cardboard box lined with a heavy plastic garbage bag should also do the trick. Just place your CFL storage container out of harm's way so it won't be dropped, crushed, or otherwise disturbed.

Spread the Word

Once you've located CFL recycling near to home, let people know. Offer to take other people's worn-out CFLs when you recycle your own; organize drop-off programs with churches, clubs, and civic groups; and get the word out about the necessity of safe CFL recycling.

Using less than 30 percent of the power required for a conventional bulb, CFLs represent a tremendous opportunity for energy savings. But they also require special handling if we'd like to keep them from becoming an environmental problem of their own. Feel free to reprint this article in any way. Email it to friends. Be part of the solution.

For information on the proper purchase and selection of CFLs, see the Complete Guide to Living with CFLs.

Why I Strive to be Green

In 100 years, our children are going to look back on our lives and wonder why we insisted on using so many damn chemicals.

Check out this site to see how we are giving our children a disadvantage in the womb. I know I can't handle EVERYTHING, but I am going to start trying to do my part to insist that we handle the toxins that we are generating by living the way we have been living. Hopefully the tide changes before we wipe ourselves out as a race or something like that.

My Baby Sleep Crawls

Daphne woke me up at 4 am today. I was trying to get her back to sleep, and I was having serious trouble trying to make it happen.

I finally got to a point that I thought that I could move, so I started to. Daphne got up from the other side of the bed and crawled over to me, climbed on top of me and fell asleep. I eventually moved her off me so I could get up (because sleeping was futile), but as I got out of bed, she was back up on all fours crawling. She didn't stop until she found a pillow to sleep on. Very cute!

The Panda Noise

Daphne has a plastic panda that was once her dads. Neither Jared or I knew the noise a panda made, so I told Daphne that the sound was Ma-BOOM-ba-DA. It turns out that that was not true. :) Daphne's favorite toy is now her panda, so I went to the initiative to figure out what sound a panda actually does make.

This should link you to the mama cub noise.

This should link you to the baby cub noise.

If you want to see the live panda cam at the San Diego Zoo, go here.

Additionally, here is a video of a panda

Chris and Daphne's Patron Saint

When I was researching name days, I discovered the Patron Saint of babies that I tend to really like. So, here is the Patron Saint I recognize for my little girl. She sounds very sweet doesn't she?

From: http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintb03.htm

Brigid of Ireland

Also known as

Bride; Bride of the Isles; Bridget of Ireland; Bridget; Brigid of Kildare Brigit; Ffraid; Mary of the Gael

Memorial

1 February;
10 June (translation of relics)

Profile

Daughter of Dubtach, pagan Scottish king of Leinster, and Brocca, a Christian Pictish slave who had been baptized by Saint Patrick. Just before Brigid's birth, her mother was sold to a Druid landowner. Brigid remained with her mother till she was old enough to serve her legal owner Dubtach, her father.

She grew up marked by her high spirits and tender heart, and as a child, she heard Saint Patrick preach, which she never forgot. She could not bear to see anyone hungry or cold, and to help them, often gave away things that were Dubtach's. When Dubtach protested, she replied that "Christ dwelt in every creature". Dubtach tried to sell her to the King of Leinster, and while they bargained, she gave a treasured sword of her father's to a leper. Dubtach was about to strike her when Brigid explained she had given the sword to God through the leper, because of its great value. The King, a Christian, forbade Dubtach to strike her, saying "Her merit before God is greater than ours". Dubtach solved this domestic problem by giving Brigid her freedom.

Brigid's aged mother was in charge of her master's dairy. Brigid took charge ,and often gave away the produce. But the dairy prospered under her (hence her patronage of milk maids, dairy workers, cattle, etc.), and the Druid freed Brigid's mother.

Brigid returned to her father, who arranged a marriage for her with a young bard. Bride refused, and to keep her virginity, went to Bishop Mel, a pupil of Saint Patrick's, and took her first vows. Legend says that she prayed that her beauty be taken from her so no one would seek her hand in marriage; her prayer was granted, and she regained her beauty only after making her vows. Another tale says that when Saint Patrick heard her final vows, he mistakenly used the form for ordaining priests. When told of it he replied, "So be it, my son, she is destined for great things."

Her first convent started with seven nuns. At the invitation of bishops, she started convents all over Ireland. She was a great traveller, especially considering the conditions of the time, which led to her patronage of travellers, sailors, etc. Brigid invented the double monastery, the monastery of Kildare that she ran on the Liffey river being for both monks and nuns. Saint Conleth became its first bishop; this connection and the installation of a bell that lasted over 1000 years apparently led to her patronage of blacksmiths and those in related fields.

Born

453 at Faughart, County Louth, Ireland

Died

1 February 523 at Kildare, Ireland of natural causes; buried in Downpatrick, Ireland with Saint Patrick and Saint Columba; head removed to Jesuit church in Lisbon, Portugal

Canonized

Pre-Congregation

Name Meaning

fiery arrow (= brigid)

Patronage

babies; blacksmiths; boatmen; cattle; chicken farmers; children whose parents are not married; dairymaids; dairy workers; fugitives; infants; Ireland; Leinster, Ireland; mariners; midwives; milk maids; newborn babies; nuns; poets; poultry farmers; poultry raisers; printing presses; sailors; scholars; travellers; watermen

Representation

Readings

I would like the angels of Heaven to be among us. I would like an abundance of peace. I would like full vessels of charity. I would like rich treasures of mercy. I would like cheerfulness to preside over all. I would like Jesus to be present. I would like the three Marys of illustrious renown to be with us. I would like the friends of Heaven to be gathered around us from all parts. I would like myself to be a rent payer to the Lord; that I should suffer distress, that he would bestow a good blessing upon me. I would like a great lake of beer for the King of Kings. I would like to be watching Heaven's family drinking it through all eternity.

Saint Brigid

Name Days

When I was in Greece, people celebrated their name days instead of their birthdays. I decided that I was going to bring this tradition back with me.

Daphne's Name Day--April 1
Christine's Name Day--December 25
Jared's Name Day--November 1

We will be celebrating all of these with Greek food and some good times. Check our your name day here. http://www.namedays.gr/data/eortes/namedays_A.htm

From Wikipedia:

Name days are a tradition of attaching personal names to each day of the year, and celebrating the association of particular days with those for whom that day is named. It is common in large parts of Europe. The tradition originates from the Christian church calendar and the tradition to name children after saints, although in many countries there is no longer a connection to the church.^[1][2]

The celebration of name days has been a tradition in Catholic countries since the Middle Ages, and has also continued in some measure in the countries which adopted a reformed catholic faith (rather than strictly protestant) at the Reformation - countries such as England and the Scandinavian states. The name days originate in the list of holidays celebrated in commemoration of saints and martyrs of the Catholic Church. For example, the name Karl or Carl (celebrated in Sweden on January 28) was originally Carolus Magnus, the Latin form of Charlemagne, and a commemoration of his death on this date. The church promoted celebration of name days (or rather saints' days) over birthdays, as the latter was seen as a pagan tradition.

Greece

In Greece (especially Crete) and Cyprus, name days are celebrated in a similar way to birthdays.^[2]

According to the Orthodox Church, every day of the year has been dedicated to the memory of a saint or a martyr from the Holy Bible and Holy Tradition. If someone is named after a saint, then there is a big celebration on his or her name day. Gifts are given, festive meals and desserts are prepared, and special preparations are made for an open house in some parts of Greece. Many times, particularly in the North, name days are focused more on the saint, rather than just the individual. Greek-Macedonians commonly wait for people to come to their home for mezedes and serve their guests. It is typical to give children (up to about 14) money as a small gift. On name days and birthdays, the person being celebrated arranges parties and serves the guests, instead of the guests fussing over the honorary person. Usually, name days are on the same date, every year. These are the non-floating name days. There are some floating name days, based on the Orthodox holiday calendar, that every year are on a different date.

My Ergo

I realize that I have made mention of my Ergo, and I have made no explanation of it.

It is a WONDERFUL baby tool. Forget Baby Bjorn or any other carrier (though wraps are nice), if you can only buy one, make it be the Ergo. You can use it from Infant to 40 pounds. You can wear them on your back your hip or your side. It is comfortable. I went from feeling very sore every time I wore her to feeling like I didn't have anything on my body.

Here is a link to their website. http://www.ergobabycarrier.com/resources/

Mowing the Lawn

Yesterday, we had another sunny day, and I realized that even though I had mowed the lawn two weeks ago, that it needed it again.

I strapped Daphne in the Ergo on my back and I went out and did the job. She rather enjoyed it. She liked it so much, that she fell asleep in the Ergo while I worked. I may be a crazy mom, but my baby is the most happy and healthy baby I could have possibly raised, and I get things done.

After we mowed the lawn, we trimmed all the blackberry bushes out of our yard. This has to be done often, but at least it is done now.

All of the yard work that I had to do to winterize the house has been completed. That makes me a happy mom.

Now, I need to do a few more loads of laundry and clean the offices and the kitchen, and I will be off and running.

How I Lucked Out in Life

Sitting from the vantage that I now have, I don't know how I could have lucked out better in life.

I got to grow up on our ranch in Eastern Oregon, which imparted various morals and work ethics in me that I have been able to use for the rest of my life. I was lucky that my grandmother was so kind and wanted to raise me after my mom died. Though life in Burns had its ups and downs, I am so glad that I grew up there.

My grandma knew what a failure the education system was, and she was willing to help me figure out how to afford to go to Delphi. She is a very strong woman, and even though I am not a great scientist or brilliant engineer, that education was priceless to me. It turned me into the person that I want to be. It was the best possible opportunity I could have gotten. People thought that she was crazy for wanting to send me, but she was brilliant.

After Delphi, I met Jared, and I was lucky enough to catch him permanently in life. He is the most amazing person. I hear of other people having knock-down fights or various problems in their relationships. Though we do our fair share of voice battles, :) they work out fairly easily. He has been battling with colitis for the entire time that I have known him. Sometimes it kicks his butt and sometimes he kicks its butt. Honestly, I don't think he has ever lost. He is a fighter. When we first started dating, he told me that he didn't want to see anyone until he got well. I told him that he could break up with me, but not for that reason. Needless to say, we are still together, and apparently, he appreciates that bold move on my end. Even though it has been up and down, it has been a great pleasure to take care of him. Many of my views and firm beliefs about being a wife and taking care of a family have come about because he has required as much love and care that I could give. I don't mind it one bit. It suits me. In exchange, he is the most loving and understanding person I could possibly hope for. Even when we yell at each other, he is nice to me and gives me the benefit of the doubt. I hope that I have made his life better in the same way he has made my life better.

One thing Jared did give me was the gift of going to the Aegean Center--3 times. That experiences changed my life in many ways. My views on the world have changed and my personal traditions. It was the perfect environment for me to grow as a person, and I really like to believe that I did. I also blossomed as an artist. I am actually making a living at what I do, and it is wonderful.

And lastly, I lucked out by having a baby girl. Daphne has changed things so much, but mostly, I get to play with her. Jared has helped me arrange it so that I get to be the primary care taker, and I get to stay home with her. I couldn't be more thankful about things in life. I do work, but I get to do it with my daughter rather than at her expense. She is blossoming into a wonderful little girl very quickly. I love being a mom, and I love being her mom. It makes me feel good when I leave the room, and she starts to scream until I come back into the room. She smiles when I wake up or when I pick her up after playing with her toys. I think she appreciates me too.

So, yes, I lucked out...I SO lucked out.

Ghetto Shredder

We had a few boxes of checks that were no longer valid because the account was closed a couple months ago. They needed to be shredded.

I sat down with Daphne on my lap and started to use the shredder. It was making a very ghetto sound and finally died in the middle of me trying to shred. It came to a screeching halt.

This left me with the necessity to shred them all by hand. Daphne helped my chewing on them and sucking on them before I shredded them. I was in a race to shred them all before she ate them all. What a race it was.

First Time Mom

Ok. Not to point out the obvious, but you only get to be a first time mom once. I said that to my friend the other day, and she burst up laughing. I thought she was laughing at me, but she assured me that even though it sounded really simple, it really was a profound thought.

Since Daphne was only a few weeks old, people kept telling me that I need to enjoy her because she is going to grow up quickly and I will have felt like I lost it. And I think that really got to me because I have a complex about it or something now. I hug her all the time, I kiss her all the time, and I appreciate her so much. Jared is pretty laid back, but I am constantly telling him to look at her because she is SOOOOOOOO cute or something like that.

The truth is. I am enjoying her. I enjoy her so much. She likes me so much, almost as much as I like her. I spend every waking and every sleeping moment I can with her. She sleeps on my lap constantly and we play together. We cook dinner together and cut down the blackberry bushes together. We mow the lawn and ride the bike together. She is my new best friend.

Though I do want to have 12 kids, I think that there is something very special about what is going on in my life RIGHT NOW. I pity the people that get pregnant 3 months after their first baby. Not only does it mean that their body is going through a hell of a wringer, it also means that their first baby only got to be the first baby for a very short time.

Daphne is living up being spoiled. A new baby would change everything. I am not going to have more children until I am confident that I will be able to control my attention with both of them so that I can love and work with both of them in the same way that I have worked with Daphne. She gets a lot of attention and gets to spend time with her mom, just as it should be.

I am a first time mom, and I am cherishing it in all the ways that I know how right now. I think I could even spend more time with her. Some moms feel they need a break, but I don't get them. I spend all day and all night with her, and I feel like I could even do more.

I am living in a very special time with my baby right now. I am a first time mom with a baby that gets all my attention. That will never happen again. Though I know that I will love any future children that I will have, I get this special time with my special little girl that I love so much.

New York in Christmas

Every year for the past 5 years, I have been wanting to head to New York during the Christmas season. I have never been there, and something about the holiday season in New York is very magical for me, so I decided to do it.

I can go visit my very best friends Melissa and Alex in NH. My friend George has not met my daughter, and he lives right there in Rockaway Beach. My dear friend from Greece Savana goes to school at NYU, I had better not forget her. I want to see the MET and Central Park and Times Square, and and and....

I leave on December 4th, our 4th anniversary. This is right after Daphne's naming ceremony, which will be cool! I will get back on December 17th. Just under 2 weeks. I am very excited!

I managed to book my ticket last night, so it is pretty official.

Christmas

I have been thinking a lot about Christmas. I thought I would mix it up.

I am sure that I could come up with something that I want for Christmas, I am going to go with my recent theme of saving the world, not buying new, hippyism, etc.

I don't want anything for Christmas. Instead, I would like to donate a goat to Heifer International. The cost--$120. So, if you thought you were going to get me something for Christmas, redirect the money to this.

This seems unselfish of me, but really, it has some purposes. I love the idea of Heifer International, but I have not donated yet myself. This is a great opportunity. If I can't have a goat, than someone that really needs one to sustain himself should get one. I have what I need in life, I have a baby and we are both well fed. I have a great life and a great husband. Some people don't have enough food, and we sometimes have enough. I am passing up my opportunity to have more things to give life to someone who really could use it.

Check out the donations page of Heifer International. Consider doing this yourself. Maybe Christmas could be returned to the spirit of Tiny Tim.

Be Prepared

I am taking a little bit of advice from the boy scouts and I am working on being prepared.

Not that I intend anything to happen to either Jared or I, but I want Daphne to know that we love her and I want to ensure that she is provided for. How do you do that

1.) Take out term life insurance. No matter how much you think you don't need it, you do. If, god forbid, anything were to happen, the money could be seriously used to ensure that the future of my children is provided for. I pay $10 a month for a $250,000 term life policy. It is totally worth it knowing that if it were needed, Daphne would have the resources needed to live well.

2.) Writing a will. We are in the process of writing a will and setting up a trust for our children. It is a rough process, one hard to think about, but I know that the paperwork is done so that it is clear what my wishes are and someone doesn't have to wade through everything trying to figure it out.

NOT that I am intending to go anywhere soon, I just want to be a good boy scout and be prepared so that I can just enjoy the time I have with Daphne.

What the California Fires Taught Me

Jared and I were talking about the California fires recently. I pray for the people down there that are in risk of losing their homes. I hope things work out for them, yet I know that some have already lost their homes.

Jared and I agreed what a tragedy it is. I can only imagine losing everything you own to a fire. Insurance is nice, but some things can't be bought. As a photographer, one thing that scares me is that the images I have of my personal family could very well go up in smoke. I would have nothing. We do have a fireproof safe, but, if for some reason it were not to work, I would be devastated to not have the images I have taken of my life and especially my little girl.

My solution is simple, I am going to keep back up copies of the photos and DVDs that are important to me personally. The back ups will be in the safe, but they will also be put online as well. That way, I would be able to replace any physical things in my house, and my memories and photos would all be safe. It seriously made me sleep better tonight to have this solution, I just need to get the photos up there now.

Leap Year

Because the Earth takes a little more than 24 hours to spin around the sun, we end up with a little less than a quarter day every year extra. This spare change has been a problem, one that we have to continually keep under control. I wanted to share the calculation with you because I read it recently and was surprised at how complex it was.

From Wikipedia:

A leap year is a year containing one or more extra days in order to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal year. For example, February would have 29 days in a leap year instead of the usual 28. Seasons and astronomical events do not repeat at an exact number of full days, so a calendar which had the same number of days in each year would over time drift with respect to the event it was supposed to track. By occasionally inserting an additional day into the year, the drift can be corrected. A year which is not a leap year is called a common year. In fact, the Earth takes slightly under 365 1/4 days to revolve around the Sun.

The Gregorian calendar, the current standard calendar in most of the world, adds a 29th day to February in all years evenly divisible by 4, except for centennial years (those ending in -00) which are not evenly divisible by 400. Thus 1600, 2000 and 2400 are leap years but 1700, 1800, 1900, 2100, 2200 and 2300 are not.

The reasoning behind this rule is as follows:

• The Gregorian calendar is designed to keep the vernal equinox on or close to March 21, so that the date of Easter (celebrated on the Sunday after the 14th day of the Moon that falls on or after 21 March) remains correct with respect to the vernal equinox.^[1]
• The vernal equinox year is currently about 365.242375 days long.
• The Gregorian leap year rule gives an average year length of 365.2425 days.

This difference of a little over 0.0001 days means that in around 8,000 years, the calendar will be about one day behind where it should be. But in 8,000 years, the length of the vernal equinox year will have changed by an amount which can not be accurately predicted. Therefore, the current Gregorian calendar suffices for practical purposes.

There is a tradition, said to go back to Saint Patrick and Brigid of Kildare in 5th century Ireland, but apparently not attested before the 19th century, whereby women may make marriage proposals only in leap years.

Supposedly (but disputed), in a 1288 law by Queen Margaret of Scotland (then age five and living in Norway), fines were levied if the proposal was refused by the man; compensation ranged from a kiss to £1 to a silk gown, in order to soften the blow.^[7] Because men felt that put them at too great a risk, the tradition was in some places tightened to restricting female proposals to 29 February.

Others regard these supposed folk traditions as unhistorical.^[8]

In Greece, it is believed that getting married in a leap year is bad luck for the couple. Thus, mainly in the middle of the past century, couples avoided setting a marriage date in a leap year.

Nursing

OH the things I have done while nursing a baby.

Sometimes, I just can't get Jared to watch the baby, and I have things to do, so there are some things that I have had to do while nursing her. Here is a short list (I am proud of some of these).

1.) Sew, yes, on a real sewing machine.
2.) Shop online
3.) Edit wedding photos.
4.) Read the mail
5.) Shampoo the carpets
6.) Put together furniture
7.) Pack up the house (before the move in June)
8.) Slept, yes, I have fallen asleep while nursing
9.) Ate. I can't tell you how many meals, but the number is high.
10.) Fold laundry
11.) Pay bills
12.) Change clothes (including one time when I was swimming)

Places I have nursed her. I have no button at all about nursing in public. Here are some places I have nursed her.

1.) At the public swimming pool
2.) In the bathtub
3.) At a restaurant
4.) In the car
5.) In church
6.) At Delphi
7.) At the grocery store

I am sure that I can think of more in both categories. I will update this post if I do, but she just woke up, and considering that it is almost 4 AM, I should probably go back and hit the hay.

Morbid, Morbid Nursery Rhymes

I personally don't understand how the nursery rhyme has survived as long as I have. I don't understand how mothers and grandmothers have been able to sing these awful, awful things to children. Have you ever listened to the words of some of the nursery rhymes out there?

I did a little bit of research yesterday, and I was able to conclude that the histories of some of the nursery rhymes out there are a little interesting. There is debate over whether Ring around the Rosies is actually connected to the black plague, but anything that could be connected to the death and morbidity of the plague doesn't need to be sang to my baby or played as a childhood game.

Look at the words of some of these:

Goosey, goosey, gander,
Whither dost thou wander?
Upstairs and downstairs
And in my lady's chamber.

There I met an old man
Who wouldn't say his prayers;
I took him by the left leg,
And threw him down the stairs.

It's raining, it's pouring
The old man is snoring
He went to bed and he bumped his head
And couldn't get up in the morning

Rock-a-bye, baby,
In the tree top.
When the wind blows,
The cradle will rock.

When the bough breaks,
The cradle will fall,
And down will come baby,
Cradle and all.

Peter , Peter , pumpkin-eater,
Had a wife and couldn't keep her;
He put her in a pumpkin shell,
And there he kept her very well.

Sing a song of sixpence a pocket full of rye,
Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened the birds began to sing,
Oh wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the king?
The king was in his counting house counting out his money,
The queen was in the parlour eating bread and honey
The maid was in the garden hanging out the clothes,
When down came a blackbird and pecked off her nose!

Jack and Jill went up the hill,
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down,
And broke his crown;
And Jill came tumbling after.

London Bridge bridge is falling down, down
Falling down down, falling down, down
London Bridge bridge is falling down, down
My fair lady.

Take a key key and lock padlock her up,
Lock padlock her up, lock padlock her up,
Take a key key and lock padlock her up,
My fair lady.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses,
And all the king's men,
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly,
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
Perhaps she'll die!

I just thought that you might want to know what you were singing to your children. Death destruction, despair. OH MY! No wonder kids have nightmares.

Mcdonalds Beef

This is a central problem for my family, i.e the price of beef. I have never had a Mcdonalds hamburger in my life, and I plan never to either. Join me for the sake of American cattle ranchers.

I'm sure those of you who aren't in the cattle business don't understand the issues here.

But to those of us who whose living depends on the cattle market, this is frustrating. As far as my family, we didn't eat at McDonald's much (Subway is our choice of fast food), but this will keep us from ever stopping there again, even for a drink.

The original message is from the Texas Cattle Feeders Association. American cattle producers are very passionate about this.

McDonald's claims that there is not enough beef in the USA to support their restaurants. Well, we know that is not so. Our opinion is they are looking to save money at our expense. The sad thing of it is that the people of the USA are the ones who made McDonald's successful in the first place, but we are not good enough to provide beef.

We personally are no longer eating at McDonald's, which I am sure does not make an impact, but if we pass this around maybe there will be an impact felt. Please pass it on

Just to add a note, all Americans that sell cows at a livestock auction barn had to sign a paper stating that we do NOT EVER feed our cows any part of another cow. South Americans are not required to do this as of yet.

McDonald's has announced that they are going to start importing much of their beef from South America . The problem is that South Americans aren't under the same regulations as American beef producers, and the regulations they have are loosely controlled.

They can spray numerous pesticides on their pastures that have been banned here at home because of residues found in the beef.. They can also use various hormones and growth regulators that we can't. The American public needs to be aware of this problem and that they may be putting themselves at risk from now on by eating at good old McDonald's.

American ranchers raise the highest quality beef in the world and this is what Americans deserve to eat. Not beef from countries where quality is loosely controlled. Therefore, I am proposing a boycott of McDonald's until they see the light.

I'm sorry but everything is not always about the bottom line, and when it comes to jeopardizing my family's health, that is where I draw the line.

I am sending this note to about thirty people. If each of you send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300) .. and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000) .. and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth generation of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers!

I'll bet you didn't think you and I had that much potential, did you? Acting together we can make a difference. If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on.

David W. Forrest, Ph.D., PAS, Dipl ACAP Department of Animal Science

Texas A&M University Phone

(979) 845-3560

2471 TA! MU Fax (979) 862-3399 College Station , TX 77843-2471

Email d-forrest@tamu.ed

Housework and Yardwork

Daphne is amazing. She had a little charm about her that keeps me fascinated 100% of the time, and I love it.

I am trying to winterize the house so that I can go inside and hibernate and not have to worry about the outside for a little while. Unfortunately, there was a lot to do.

I had to 1.) mow the lawn before the rains really hit, 2.) prune my strawberry bushes that I let grow wild to fill in a bunch pf empty dirt, 3.) prune the other plants in the front, 4.) trim the edges of the lawn, 4.) move my herbs inside (they are much happier now), 5.) move my other starter plants inside, 6.) sweep off the deck, 7.) wash off the dog's deck, 8.) clear out the blackberry bushes, 9.) mix up the compost pile, 10.) clean out the dogs bin and 11.) organize the garage so that we can park in there again.

Rather than waste Jared's time by making him take the baby while I did this, I did it with her strapped to my back. It was pretty amusing actually. She loved it, and I finally got her to fall asleep in her new Ergo, which was SO nice.

I took the garbage out to the curb yesterday, and I was so amazed at how good the house looks. It looks like someone actually lives here! The good part is that my plants all came inside, and I like them so much. It is nice to be surrounded by them when I am working in the kitchen.

With the yard work being such a big success, I decided to try to get some housework done. The biggest project proved to be laundry, so I took all the laundry that was clean and threw it on the bed. Then I put Daphne on the other side of it, and she helped me unfold all the clothes that I had folded. It was so nice to do laundry with her though. There was something magical about spending that time with her. I got 4 loads folded, which was very nice.

We then cleaned 2 bathrooms, 2 bedrooms and the living room. I put her on my back, and she was perfectly happy to just sit there and be the happiest baby on earth. I still have 3 rooms to go to get everything clean, but we are off to a great start!

Alumni Weekend

This past weekend was Alumni Weekend at Delphi. They do it a little different, and they have everyone who went to school there previously come back every year to get information on what the school is up to and network with other graduates and past students. As a big part of the celebration, the alumni that graduated 10 years ago get roasted with a hilarious skit in front of everyone.

We had a lot of fun this year. There were babies, babies, everywhere. Daphne got to meet a lot of my friends that had heard about her, but had not yet seen her in real life. Everyone agreed that she was CUTE!

There were tons of babies, but the funny thing is that Daphne is the oldest. I had no idea that I was leading a HUGE wave of babies. It was like the baby revolution. The other funny thing is that out of 5 babies, only 1 was a boy. I see a big band of girls in the near future that could potentially be lifelong friends. How cool is that?!

DA!!!

Daphne is now starting to find more and more joy in playing by herself. She will sit on the floor with her toys chewing on them and throwing them around. She likes to crawl and also find what kinds of trouble she can get into.

Recently, while playing with herself, she started making anew noise. She started to go Gah, Gah, Gah, just as something to do while playing. There is no better time to exercise your voice, I suppose.

Around that same time, she started to make the noise DA. She only does it when her dad is around and she wants to get his attention. To her great surprise this morning, she said DA! and he looked at her and said hi. She gave him a look like she was SO glad that he knew that she was talking about her. She has been doing nothing all day now but saying DA! DA! DA!!!

It is the cutest thing that I have seen in a while.

So Much to Write About

Every time I do something, I have an automatic instinct to want to blog about it. I have a lot of things in the works right now, so stick with me while I try to write with a very needy daughter trying to also compete for my attention. She wins--A LOT!

The Best Part of Waking Up

Every morning when Daphne wakes up, I go into her room, jump on her bed and give her a good "GOOD MORNING." She looks at me and smiles really big and than launches her body across the bed to try to get to me. This is the best thing. She recognized me and it happy that I come to get her when she wakes up in the morning. What a darling. I really do look forward to this EVERY DAY, and it IS the best part of the day.

And She Sleeps With Angels

This morning, after a rough night, I rolled over and watched Daphne sleep. She was fussing around a little bit, and was half way between awake and asleep. She did her stretching thing where her hand goes just above her head that is big for her body (as all babies heads are) and she sticks her neck out.

It was cute, and I realized that no matter how mad I get when she wakes up in the middle of the night and wont go back to sleep, I get to sleep with an angel every night, and nothing could be better than that.

From Miso Soup to Pineapple Juice

I have to tell you that I am downright bad at this whole feeding solid foods thing.

Something about me for the first six months was sure that I just didn't need to be feeding her any solid foods. She was interested in our food and what we were eating, but it was more that she was interested in EVERYTHING and food just seemed to be another thing.

I told her when she was born that she got to drink nothing but milk for the first 6 months and then on her dads birthday that she would get to eat with him.

That didn't happen. She isn't really interested, and I just don't get it. I went to all this trouble to start making baby food. I thought that she needed to eat more because it seemed that she was getting hungry at night, but I must have been wrong.

I am determined not to give her any dairy or any grains. I think it is just wrong. She can get all the dairy she wants from me, but not other animals. Grains are WAY too hard on a little baby, so we are going to start with natures fruits and vegetables.

I should have KNOWN that she wouldn't have wanted to start with fruits when she hit it off more than once with pieces of raw onion that I chopped up for dinner.

So after trying fruit over and over and getting no real good response, I moved on.

We tried pumpkin, and that was OK. After sheer frustration, I decided to try feeding her whatever I was eating as long as it wasn't meat, dairy or grains. And that worked! She had some tomato soup, which worked lovely.

However, the other night, I made miso soup for Jared and I. At the end of the meal, I offered it to Daphne, and she LOVED it. She ate almost a quarter of a bowl of it, and I was impressed.

Thinking I had found something successful, I made some more the next night, and to my great disappointment, she hated it. She wanted my pineapple juice and nothing else.

I have a seriously fickle baby on my hands that is still not seriously interested in eating solid foods JEEZ.