Wedding Pics Continued.....

I like this angle. Not the best shot but she wasn't very comfortable with squating down so I shot fast and this is the result.






I have to recrop this one. But I like their expressions.

I still have to tweak the resolution of the images on Blogger cause they look grainy. Oh well.

There you have it. Okay, that's it for me. I hand back the blogging of kids, birth stories and nutrition to my lovely wife.

Artist Eva

In my opinion, this is Eva's best work to date. It is a tree and a squirrel.

First Wedding Shoot.

Here are two pics of the 800 I shot. I think I landed 8-10 good shots. 1% success rate. I hope that's the industry standard. Bong.


Hector and his wife in the Park.


This was one of my favs....

I'll post more pics later.

I gotta say that was tough work. I didn't deal with the pressure well. I was a complete disaster and like Dana said I was talking at a million miles an hour, doubting every shot and sweating like a tosser. In any case, the photogs turned out okay but not great.

First Wedding Photo Shoot (plus a date!)

Yesterday one of the guys in Andrew's office got married. Andrew offered to photograph the wedding. What an experience! He first met them at a park. They had also hired a professional to do three specific portraits. The photographer was very gracious. He invited Andrew to shoot along with him, and openly shared advice and information. What an opportunity to learn!

Bertha came to sit the kids. As promised on Tuesday, she arrived with her 'princess dress' and crown. The first thing the kids did was dress up. Fun! (Eva is on her fourth day running dressed as a princess. Thanks Ashe for the beautiful hand-me-down.) They later applied the glitter eyeshadow that our hairdresser gave the kids last time we were there. Bertha said that Micah was quite liberal with the blue and looked like a smurf by the time he was done.


I met Andrew at the church and assisted at the ceremony. He was in quite the state when I got there. Perspiring freely and talking at the speed of light. The heat in the church didn't improve his state of sweatiness. But it's all good.


Neither of us has attended a Mexican wedding before so we weren't entirely sure what to expect. The whole wedding party- including the groom- walked down the aisle in rapid succession so that was a bit of a surprise.

Andrew in action!

At one point in the ceremony a ton of people were crowded around the couple, taking photos and video. It was like paparazzi swarming!

By the time the wedding was over we were both exhausted. Andrew obviously more than me. It is hard work photographing a wedding. Hats off to Gary and Louise for their efforts in the wedding photography department!

Afterward we took in a flick. We both thoroughly enjoyed The Incredible Hulk. I spent much of the movie wide-eyed, heart pounding.

Back on my Game!

Yesterday I made my "best pizza ever"! Good enough to make up for Thursday's beef. It was so good I want to share my recipe.

adapted from ULTIMATE PIZZA SAUCE

Melt 2 tbsp olive oil with 1 tbsp butter.
Add 1/4 cup finely chopped onions, 1/4 cup finely chopped celery, 1 clove garlic. Saute until transparent.
Add 8 oz (1 small tetra pack or can) tomato sauce and 8 oz (1 can regular or 1/2 tube of concentrated) tomato paste and stir until smooth.
Add 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese, 1 tsp dried basil, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sugar (or honey/piloncillo/maple syrup), 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1 small bay leaf, and my secret ingredient 1 sprig of fresh thyme.
Simmer for 30-60 minutes or for as long as you have time.
Remove bay leaf and thyme before spreading on pizza crust.

adapted from CALIFORNIA-STYLE PIZZA DOUGH

Pour 1 cup warm water (110-115 F; 43-46 C) into a small bowl. Sprinkle 1 packet or 1/4 oz) active dry yeast over the water; stir to dissolve and set aside. It's mportant that the water is not too hot!

In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 cups whole wheat flour with 1 tsp salt. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture, then pour in the yeast mixture, a 1/4 cup olive oil and 1 tsp honey. Using a wooden spoon, vigorously stir the flour mixture into the well, beginning in the centre and working toward the sides of the bowl, until the flour mixture is incorporated and the soft dough just begins to hold together.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Dust your hands with flour and knead the dough gently, pressing down on the dough with the heels of your hands and pushing it away from you, then partially folding it back over itself. Shift it a quarter turn and repeat the procedure. While kneading, very gradually add just enough of a remaining 1/4 cup of flour until the dough is no longer too sticky; this should take about 5 minutes. As you work, use a dough scraper to pry up any bits of dough that stick to the work surface. Continue kneading until the dough is smooth, elastic, and shiny, 10 to 15 minutes longer [note: whole wheat dough will not become as smooth as dough made with refined white flour]. Knead the dough only until it feels smooth and springy but still slightly moist. Too much kneading overdevelops the gluten in the flour and results in a tough crust.

After mixing and kneading the dough, using a pastry brush generously grease a large bowl with oil. Shape the dough into a smooth ball by stretching the outer surface smooth and tucking the sides of the dough underneath the bottom of the ball. Place the ball, smooth top down, in the bowl, turn to coat the ball all over with oil, and rest it seam-side down in the bowl. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap to prevent moisture loss and set aside in a draft-free warm place for the dough to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour and 10 minutes if using quick-rising yeast or about 1-1/2 hours if using regular yeast.

Roll dough into one large thick crust pizza, or two large thin crust pizzas. Add sauce and toppings, and bake about 12 minutes at maximum oven temperature. I use a Pampered Chef baking stone for one pizza and a parchment paper-covered cookie sheet for another.

Click here or follow the link in the recipe title to learn how to mix the dough in a food processor, heavy duty mixer or bread machine. There are also instructions for making the dough ahead and freezing or refrigerating it.

Though this is kind of time consuming, it is also fairly straightforward. I like to involve the kids in the rolling and topping stage. They each prepare their own little pizza while I put together the family sized pies. I froze an uncooked topped pizza yesterday- we'll see how that works out!

Electrical, Duna, and Bad Beef

Today our electricity was out for 5 hours as planned. I was very impressed that it went out and then back on at exactly the times they indicated. I was able to effectively work around it.

I talked to the vet today about Duna. He thinks maybe she has an ulcer which is causing her to vomit after she eats. He is going to get some meds which will hopefully help her out. He is also going to explore boarding options for her. I don't hold a lot of hope but at least I'm exploring that avenue.

Today I cooked a roast beef. I was at the store yesterday and saw what looked like a nice roast and thought, "how hard can it be?" Well kids, let me tell ya. It was inedible. Mom, when I'm there you're going to have to walk me through the ins and outs of roast choosing and cooking. I need private tutoring!

Lately

Last week was kind of a grumpy, yelly week. I was hoping that this week would be different. Monday morning began with a power outage during my shower. No power to the pump meant no water to the shower. Afterward, while I was gingerly changing the fuse, Micah let out the dog we're taking care of and dispensed water everywhere. I admit it- I yelled. I felt terrible as usual and I need to find a different way of dealing with my frustration. Eva asked me yesterday, "Does Claudia yell at her baby too?"

Micah is becoming a real handful!! He is a very busy boy. I have begun, in particular, dreading supper. Not only is it challenging to find ingredients to make a nutritious meal, and to put together a meal that everyone will enjoy, but especially to actually make it. I am constantly chasing after the little fella- getting him down from the top of the spiral staircase outside, cleaning up the water he's dispensed, "plunged" or "scrubbed" everywhere, getting him down off the top of tables, stopping him from strewing articles hither and about, that sort of thing. Yesterday as a last resort I strapped him into his booster seat. I expected loud protest but surprisingly there was none until right at the end! I'm not dumb enough to expect that this magic solution will last, but I'll enjoy it while I can. I guess he likes to watch me cook. (What can I say, I'm masterful ;) ).

Micah is starting to want to choose his clothing. Today he wore a pink t-shirt and a kilt all day.

Andrew offered to do engagement and wedding photos for one of his staff so I lined up a babysitter for last night. The engagement photos fell through but we still had Bertha come over and we headed out to take some photos together downtown.

Andrew excited to get out on a date and to take photos of a Torreon evening

La Alameda- the main plaza

It was neat to get out just the two of us but almost not worth it. We were both exhausted and missed our vegging time. We asked Bertha to stay til 11 but we were home by 9:30. Eva heard us come home. She got so wound up that she didn't get to sleep til well after 10. Sure enough, this morning she had a serious meltdown and then napped longer than Micah did.

The electric company came by this morning and peeked at the wiring to our house. They said it definitely needs replacing- the wires are just kind of wrapped together rather than being properly connected. The good news is that they're doing the maintenance tomorrow. The bad news is that I'll have no power from 8:30 to 1:30.

I've been trying to get in touch with the vet. Duna is doing remarkably well! She doesn't cough anymore, she still has a great appetite, she still follows me from room to room. I don't think she's going anywhere anytime soon. I want to talk to him more about his opinion of her condition and whether he knows of any 'nicer' options that kennelling her at his clinic. Praying that something good for her will work out. I'd really do not want to kennel her for so long.

Large Pic Thing...

A couple of issues with the large pics...
The horizontal pics require a different layout if you want them big.
The quality of the images suffer. My pics look a little fuzzy. I'll have to play with the settings.

Ammendment 1.
Don't use photobucket's mass uploader. It brings in low res jpegs. (unless you don't mind) I just changed out the starbucks photo and it looks way better.
I'll do the rest....

Photo Documentary of our Morning

This morning we went to downtown Torreon and Lerdo. No not Nerdo, Lerdo. Here are a few pics of our day....


4 dollars later we were sipping the black Gold.....


Off to the park...


Looking for some shade...Eva's carrying the Nativity scene in this photo. We left the house late because we couldn't find baby Jesus.


Micah was loving the gumball machine. Eva was playing with some type of gambling game in the background.


An Old Building Downtown


She seemed like a very sweet lady. Micah and Eva made her grin.



This guy was carrying the usual bucket of flowers that I get Dana once a week. Wait a tick, have I ever bought Dana flowers? Yes, yes I have, Bill, Andrey and I bought our wives flowers together. I think we got a volume discount.


Guys, I found another vendor of hats. Not as big as the ones we bought in Guadalajara but these will do.


Wow...I stayed back from this dude. I think he had like 2 or 3 half tons on top of his half ton.


The Lerdo Park...

Larger Pics

I wanted to make our pictures larger on blogger and found a way to do that. It's not super complicated but it does take a bit of time to set up.
Here is the link:
http://www.ourblogtemplates.com/2008/05/how-to-post-large-photos-in-blogger.html

I suggest getting an account set up with photobucket.com. We've had a lot of problems uploading photos to blogger and photobucket makes it WAY easier.

Good luck and drop me a line if you need a hand. One other thing....I think you'll need to change your layout if you want your horizontal pics to fit. Expect a layout change to the Team Willms Blog site.

Cool New Trick.

You can actually make your pics bigger on blogger which is very neat. I'm still working on the fine tuning but I think with the right layout you can really make the pics pop out.

Afterr we go to Starbucks for coffee I'll post how I did this....
Andrew.

Philtrum

Eva has been asking me about this for months and I just found the answer. That little trough between the nose and the mouth is called the PHILTRUM.

According to Wikipedia, the philtrum, which is also known as the infranasal depression, "allows humans to express a much larger range of lip motions that would otherwise be impossible, which enhances vocal and nonverbal communication."

More Electrical and Gas Fun

So this morning Andrew discovered that our dryer gas hose was leaking AGAIN. Then the kids and I returned from a run to the corner store to discover that half our house was without power. I got a shock from the dryer hose checking for the leak (note to self: unplug dryer before testing with soapy water). I got a shock from the breaker box. I burnt my finger on a hot fuse following fireworks at the fusebox. All this including the obvious dangers- thank you God for protecting us- plus the earlier whammo on the spine with the wooden toy hammer just about put me over the edge.

My usual handyman, the owner's brother, was out of town. So Andrew got some other guys to come in and it was a blessing. If we lived in a wood frame house I would have been long gone to some other location. As it was I was not one bit comfortable with the burny smell, the way one breaker would turn on the fridge, and the other one would turn the A/C on but turn the fridge off. And then the utter lack of power. By the time they came I had the power box at the street turned off but most of the house still had power! What the heck.

Well they came, they saw, they conquered. We're back in action. Our dryer is also back in action. Yipppee! for now....

Electric Company Fun

I think I blogged about the giant power surge we had a few weeks ago. It left a number of our electrical appliances smoking and/or non-functional. When I called the electrical company to report the problem they told me I should go down to the office to make a claim for the damages to our stuff. I asked if there was anything I should do ahead of time, and he told me to have a list of the equipment and its serial numbers.

Yesterday the kids and I headed down to make our report. We waited to talk to a lady who told us we had to write a letter (which I would have done at home if the first guy had told me). So I sat down to chase after Micah gone wild and write a letter. We were then sent into the back offices to deliver the letter. There we were told we needed a copy of our letter. Naturally this office did not have a photocopier. There was no way I was leaving without getting this done so I sat down to chase after Micah gone wild and write a second copy of my letter. We delivered it and were told that she would send it on to some other party who would then send someone down to personally check on our equipment. Because we have already had most of the repairs done, I wanted to know in whose name we should make out the invoices. But of course this person didn't know. She did, however, give me a number to call.

This is so unfortunately typical of Mexican bureaucracy that I was not even surprised or even that frustrated. I'll have to just keep pushing away at this.

One nice thing that happened with regard to this is that as we were leaving for the electric company office we saw a supervisor truck cruising around. So I stopped to talk to him about our situation. He listened sympathetically and took down our report number. He also gave me his name. He said he was supervising maintenance of the underground lines in this neighborhood (which are in terrible shape) and given our recent issues it might expedite the maintenance of the lines to our house. We will see! In the meantime we bought some heavy duty voltage regulators and surge protectors for our important appliances and computers.

Parkazoid

Yesterday we took the kids to the park to try out some of the rides there. We went last year when Micah was only 7 months old but he could only watch. This time we could ALL ride. ALL of us did ride, however, after the 100th revolution on the tea cup ride I was done. I stumbled off the ride and watched Dana and the kids go one more time thinking how can they do that while giving them the "I'm okay wave and half smile". If we ever go to Disneyland, I'll hold the bags and watch the stroller. Wow do I have a weak stomach. Okay, back to what's really important....The Kids have their mother's love of rides and can handle them. Although, after seeing Micah on the Mary-go-Round I thought for sure he was going to yack. He looked green and completely disengaged. However, as soon as the ride ended he wanted to go again. Eva loved all the rides but her favourite was the Roller Coaster. What a fun time we had at the park and it was the perfect thing to do on a summer day in Torreon.
Next time we will try the 3x1 hotdogs and deepfried pigskin with hot sauce and make a picnic of it.

Three and a Half is Good!

Age three was a big maturity milestone for Eva but I am seeing another big one now at three and a half. We don't have nearly so many battles of the will, for which I am so grateful. Days were often one uphill battle after another about simple, repetitive things like washing hands or putting on shoes. Eva's play style is evolving too. She still likes us to be involved, but now enjoys more alone playtime and independent play nearby. She is starting to discover the joys of Lego, and really getting into drawing and colouring. (Speaking of that, Micah is not eating nearly so many crayons! He is starting to get into the colouring too! Yipppee! This bodes well for our upcoming day of air travel.) Her imaginative play is really exploding. Today she made Andrew and me 'balloons' with stuffed animals and pipe cleaners. Eva is also getting very interested in Spanish. She asks me to teach her words and she pretends to talk in Spanish. Awesome! I'm excited about it and for her. It will open up her world.

Duna

A couple of weeks ago I called the vet just to check in with him about Duna's condition. I told him about her extreme weight loss, her goopy eyes, her coughing, the abdominal breathing, the beginnings of a desperate look in her eyes. He thought that it was just about time to euthanize. I knew it was pretty close but wasn't convinced that it was Time just yet. I was kind of expecting a clear sign, like her not getting up one morning, or stopping eating. (I am praying she won't have a major terrifying respiratory crisis.) So I thought that within days or maybe a week it would be evident that it was Time For That Decision.

Fast forward to this week. Duna is doing unexpectedly well. Better, even! So weird. She is not really coughing much anymore- and not waking us up at night like she used to. Her eye goop is gone. The bump on her nose has also gone. Her breathing still takes a lot of effort but she doesn't do the same sucked-in abdominal breathing. She still has an excellent appetite, though she hasn't gained any weight. She doesn't look desperate anymore. She still follows me around the house and escapes occasionally. She even joins us for walks. Toddler speed is perfect for her.

I had the vet come over just to see her status for himself and give me an opinion. He agreed that it wasn't Time yet. He was surprised and impressed. She is such a trooper.

I am wondering if this is kind of a 'calm before the storm' situation... that she will seem to improve and then deteriorate rapidly. I am prepared for that. At this moment she is doing ok. I am so glad for her excellent pain meds- she doesn't seem to be experiencing any pain from the cancer in her bones.

I am trying not to stress about our upcoming vacation. I know that boarding her at the vet would surely kill her. And I'd hate to ask friends to be responsible for a terminally ill dog. But I cannot imagine euthanizing her just because we are going on vacation. I pray that God will work this out.

Raw Milk

As a kid I remember sometimes stopping at a farm on the way to the lake to pick up some raw milk. My Dad loved the stuff. I wasn't so sure because I was just used to the 2% we had in the fridge. But I don't remember anyone suffering any ill effects.

That memory plus Sally Fallon's- the author of my new cookbook- strong endorsement of raw milk has me interested. Did you know that the sale of raw milk is illegal in Canada? It is illegal to even give raw milk away. I just read a fascinating (and very disturbing) article about the "Milk War" centred around a farm in Ontario. Check it out here. You can read about the raw milk debate in the U.S. in this Wikipedia article.

I also found a video of an interview about raw milk which I found very informative and interesting.



What do you think?

Miserable Roaring Bear and Heat

We have had some respite from the heat. Tuesday morning was gloriously overcast and we had a nice walk at about 9am. It got hotter that night and yesterday morning at 8 the sun was searingly piercing again, but my spirits had already been lifted and my patience renewed.

Micah continues to be an unstoppable miserable roaring bear half the day. He is waking up in the night again and wants to get up for the day much earlier than we'd like. It's hard to resist his morning charm sometimes though- his singing and practicing of words. More on that later in the post. Something is going on with him- my best guess is that it's a combination of fighting the sniffles and some teething pain. Oh and the 'terrific twos' are starting too. He is such a determined character and knows exactly what he wants. Unfortunately usually what he wants is something I don't care to give him. Like unlimited ketchup, or free reign with the salt shaker. Yesterday's supper's soundtrack was tantrummy roaring. He also likes spray bottles but refuses to stay in approved zones or to wipe up his puddles. Which puts our electronics and skulls at risk.

When I tell him no or take away forbidden items he becomes a spasmodic sack of potatoes who all too often bonks his head on something hard like the tile floor or the wall. Oh the joys. But speaking of joy this might be a good time to mention what brings it to all of us. Water. Agua. Both kids love the water. Micah showers twice a morning, once with Andrew and then once with me. Give Micah the water hose in the back yard and he will be occupied and happy for a good long while. Lately in the afternoons I've been setting the kids up with the running hose, a container and the sand & water table. They have spent many happy hours transporting water and sand between locations, spraying one another, and splashing in the resultant puddles. Most summer weekends we set up our little pool and they have a blast.

In other news, Micah is starting to talk much more. I know he's got lots of words stored up in his head, but he has trouble wrapping his lips around them. Well he seems to be doing some untangling and we're hearing more attempts and use of wordlike noises. It's exciting!

Yesterday both kids napped and I got a couple of winks in too. The first hour or so after they woke up were tear-filled. Both kids caught the grumpies! My goodness. I learned an important lesson- that the magic of cookies should not be underestimated!

Workout Equipment for Kids

They have some fun stuff for the kids at the local sports store. (Louise, maybe this will be Kai's new favorite video?)

Lost Lifeline

I am currently sitting in the van behind a local hotel poaching their wireless internet connection to download my email and check what's going on in the world. I also have bills to pay online but I am a little worried about doing that operation on an unsecure connection.

Our internet service stopped working yesterday afternoon. According to the tech, there's a problem at their end and it will be resolved within 48-72 hours!!!!! An eternity! A lifetime! I feel lost.

So if anybody out there has been wondering about us, that's what's going on.

Eva Tummy and Weekend Update

Jen just called and reminded me that I hadn't reported Eva's test results. I am pleased to advise that her test results were clear. She has no infections and no parasites. You may also wonder how the gathering of the samples went. I explained the whole thing to Eva in advance and she was totally on board. She let me know when she had to go and made certain that the collection cup was in position before doing her thing. At one point during a false alarm, she commented brightly, "Mommy, this is GREAT, isn't it?" She thought a change from the norm was quite a lot of fun.

The doctor called to talk to me about the test results and said that it indicates that it was probably a viral infection that will clear up on its own. He said that if Eva was still reporting even intermittent pain on Monday to come back in. The last time she complained was Thursday so hopefully she's all good. Now she just has to get over her sniffles.

Micah has caught those sniffles too, and this morning he was a miserable clingy roaring bear. Our neighbor's daughter has Fifth Disease and I see or imagine the start of a rash on Micah. He hasn't had contact with her recently but we did see her mom this week and we share a housekeeper so I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that he could have it. We'll keep an eye on him.

There are a lot of things I like about living here and I don't want to complain about the heat but honestly I'm feeling kind of frustrated. I would like to "do" things with the kids and be active outside but we are or feel so limited. We jump on the trampoline whenever it's in the shade (the trampoline is the gift that keeps on giving- we love it as much now as we did the day we got it and still use it every single day). We can't walk outside after about 9am, if that. Can't walk before at least 7pm. I'm thirsting for green parks and cool grass to run in barefoot. I want to go hiking and swimming. I've got to get creative and figure out a way to fill those needs. I need some more exercise.

This weekend we felt a little cooped up because we're just not eager to venture out into the heat. I did join the Circle of Friends ladies for a farewell brunch which was fun. They said they barely recognized me because I came without kids! This morning we hosted church at our house. We were glad to do it but there were some very grumpy moments leading up to it, mainly involving the Miserable Bear preventing or undoing our cleanup progress. I thought our little service went pretty well- the adults watched a sermon we downloaded and the kids seemed to enjoy the Sunday School lesson. In fact, Eva didn't want to say goodbye because she was so busy working on decorating her crown.

In the afternoon we went out and did a few errands which actually did shake things for the better. And we went out for a little walk before bed which was great. A good end to the weekend.

You gotta love Home Church...

We had Church in our house today. Dana and I weren't preaching this week. We barely had enough energy to clean the house....However, Dana did a GREAT job leading Sunday School. She made scrolls and crowns and the kids seemed to enjoy them a lot. The rest of us watched a Northview sermon off of the web. Here are a few images of the Sunday School class. You gotta love home church because you can go to church bare back.

I think I have one more post in me today and then you won't hear from me for another 4 months.

Yet another Portrait...

I'm trying to better my skills with my camera so I've been reading tons of blogs and shooting more and more pictures. For those of you that care about photography I'm looking to buy a few lenses this summer. (that's right Dana a few...that means more than one.) Anyway, I've been using only one lens for the last 5 months to see if I can become more creative. I'm not sure if that has worked but the quality of the images are way better out of my cheap $100 50mm lens then I have out of any other lens that I've used. So needless to say this exercise of using only one lens has opened my eyes and now I truly know what I want to buy next....another 50mm lens but higher end and a 85mm lens. Prime lenses are the way to go...

Okay, on to the interesting stuff....We had to cancel the shoot yesterday so I shot the kids instead. (no not literally) Dana had to go to a brunch so I was in charge of Eva's hair. She wanted a pony tail so I did the best I could. Later, Eva and I did some portrait work as Micah played on the trampoline. I was pretty happy with some of the images and I thought Eva looked great. So when I showed the pics to Daen she said, "huh"....She explained to me that Eva's hair looks like Seinfeld's on the episode with the really bad shower pressure. After futher review she's right.

Anyway, enjoy the pics.....Newman.

Another Portrait

This weekend we are going to take some family photos for some friends. We scouted the location they wanted and took some test pics. Didn't this one come out great??

Study Shows Benefits of Professional Labour Support

A new study concluded that:

For middle-class women laboring with the support of their male partner, the continuous presence of a doula during labor significantly decreased the likelihood of cesarean delivery and reduced the need for epidural analgesia. Women and their male partners were unequivocal in their positive opinions about laboring with the support of a doula.

You can read the abstract here.

What is a doula? The Canadian Doula Association defines a labour or birth doula as "a woman trained and experienced in childbirth who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to a woman during labor, birth and the immediate postpartum period."

The study results are no surprise to me. In particular with a first baby there are often so many unknowns that it can be overwhelming and scary. Fear causes tension, and tension causes pain. A doula can re-focus you, reassure you, cheer you on, suggest techniques to improve your comfort, help you to relax, advocate for you. She will take care of the practical things like getting you water or juice, keeping your gown closed, wiping your brow when you're sweaty, and covering you up when you're cold. You have a relationship with her and you won't lose her to a shift change. She is there from beginning to end. She is still there when your husband needs to step away to go to the bathroom or get a bite to eat, and you are never alone, or alone with a stranger.

Both my births were attended by a midwife who was also there from beginning to end. For Eva's birth I had a doula as well, and for Micah's birth my Mom took on the doula role. And Andrew was with me all the way through. I felt particularly well supported!!! I was not distracted from my work by worries like being left alone, feeling cold, hot, hungry, thirsty, or exposed. I felt confident and comfortable asking for help in the form of back rubs, counterpressure, someone to hold my hand, someone to help me into the shower, or to help me change position. I wasn't worried about or distracted by hospital staff I didn't know wanting to perform interventions or procedures. And if that had happened I know that my support team would have stepped in on my behalf. My only focus was my labour and my baby, and I had two beautiful births which each left me feeling on top of the world!

Portraits

Here are a couple of portraits of me Andrew took a week or two ago. I'm so proud of Andrew's skill!

Another Update

I am very pleased to report the return of Andrew's fully functional computer, our two telephones and two clock radios. The only thing still pending is the water cooler. I'm so grateful to Pepe for the awesome effort he put into getting this done for us so quickly.

I will also report that we expect results from Eva's tests tomorrow. Her tummy felt really good today which is great.

Update

Good news around here! Pepe the handyman came by and by the time he left for the day the A/C was back up and running, the dryer was back in service, and he had taken all the rest of the blown up stuff for possible repair. Yippee!

I also took Eva to the doctor (I really like this doctor and all the time he spent talking with me. He was very kind to the kids and so gentle). Tomorrow I will have the pleasure of gathering and delivering urine and stool samples and then we'll see what tests show. He doesn't think it's lactose intolerance and says that with the heat there are lots of things going around right now.

Eva's tummy is still hurting a little but not anywhere near as bad as yesterday. Awesome!

Tummyache and Play Date

Eva has been complaining of tummyaches lately. This morning it was so bad it doubled her over a few times. She says it feels like twisting or burning. Yesterday we went to a pool party so I wouldn't be surprised if today's pain was related to pool water consumption and too much hot sun. But I'm going to make a doctor's appointment for her tomorrow. There is a history of lactose intolerance in both sides of the family so we didn't give her milk or yogurt today, much to her chagrin. Hopefully we can figure out what's going on. I remember having tummyaches like that when I was little. Is it just something that happens to little kids?

This afternoon we dropped Eva off for a playdate with her friend Xochi. She had a grand time playing, watching movies and eating popcorn. A milestone!

All You Can Do Is Shrug Your Shoulders

Today's post has been brewing for a couple of weeks and really came to a head today. Electrical and water issues follow me wherever I go but now we can add gas problems to the list (or maybe I've had that all along, ha ha).

At this moment our dryer has the distinctly unsafe issue of sparking and leak in the gas line (don't worry, it's now unplugged with the gas turned off). This afternoon's major power surge blew up two clock radios, two telephones, possibly Andrew's computer, and the air conditioner that services the bedrooms.

In Canada this situation would be a major catastrophe. Here, it just is what it is. We shrug our shoulders, sigh, and get down to the business of working out the eventual solution. My handyman is scheduled to come tomorrow to hopefully fix the dryer problem for good. Three days ago he replaced the leaky hose. But this new one is even more leaky and now there is the sparking thing. While he's here hopefully he can fix the air conditioner problem.

We thought that the tv got fried too but after a while it was ok so maybe the computer will be salvageable. At very least the hard drive. If this is the case Andrew may get his Apple sooner than he expected ;)

Last week I did a report with the electrical company that our electrical had started to surge since the neighbors connected their power. So with that the electrical company may reimburse us for the damages. It means some time and effort on my part though. Another learning experience!