My Cousin Shaun

Shaun with Ben and Becky

Tuesday night my 33-year-old cousin Shaun passed away suddenly. What unexpected news. I was flabbergasted. I am still processing.

Growing up, we had fairly frequent family gatherings to celebrate birthdays and holidays, and I was close with his sister so I saw him quite often. In adulthood though we saw each other less, we connected well, as we had a number of common interests and beliefs.

Red Rock Lake, summer 1980

I enjoyed and appreciated his adventurous spirit. He wasn't afraid to follow his passions and interests to wherever they took him. He was always very active in his community and made a difference in the lives of people around him. I admired that he owned his own business. Shaun was such a devoted father to 6 year old Ben. It was a delight to see them together. He was obviously so in love and happy with his partner Becky. I grieve for their loss.

I miss him.

Becky created a blog for his memory http://shaunchristophermurphy.blogspot.com/, and a trust fund has been set up for Ben.

Height and Weight Update

I weighed and measured the kids today.

Eva (3 years, 6 months)
34lbs
39"

Micah (18.5 months)
26.5lbs
33.5" He now is as tall as Eva was at 26 months

Eva's Allowance Purchase

Today Eva made her first purchase from her allowance.

Last week we decorated three makeshift piggy banks. One is for God, and she'll take that with her to church every week for offering. One is for saving to spend on future trips. And one (the one we drew from today) is for spending on whatever she wants.

Eva has a running list of things she wants. At present, they include a real live SpongeBob, a real live kitty cat, and a real live baby. For today's purchase, she decided she wanted to buy a dinosaur. I explained that she couldn't afford a real live dinosaur, so we went on a toy dinosaur hunt. No luck at the mall. The only one we could find roared and walked and was way out of her price range. But Eva was still very keen on making a purchase. She ended up choosing "Octopus", pictured above. I showed her which coins and bills she needed and she took care of the whole transaction by herself with great confidence. So fun!

International Midwives Day

Today is International Midwives Day. Join me in celebrating these important women!

I had midwifery care for the births of both my children. I am so grateful for the excellent, compassionate, continuous, family-centred care we received. I loved the long, unrushed visits we had throughout my pregnancy. I felt free to discuss any and all of my concerns. My midwife answered all my questions thoroughly and thoughtfully. I was able to make informed choices about everything to do with my pregnancy and birth, including all tests and procedures. My midwife was in the room with us throughout active labour and of course during delivery. She stayed with us afterward for a time. She provided breastfeeding support. She visited us at home the next day, and every couple of days for the first weeks. And she let my daughter use her stethoscope.



It is my firm belief that midwives should be the primary caregivers for all uncomplicated pregnancies. It makes such sense for the woman and her family to take advantage of the continuous and complete care offered in the midwifery model. This model also makes economic sense. Additionally, study after study has shown that outcomes for mom and baby are better. Obstetricians have an important role to play when mom and/or baby is threatened by medical condition or trauma, and their considerable skills and expertise are absolutely needed for these cases. But the midwifery model provides the best care for a straightforward, normal pregnancy and birth.

Midwives Model of Care™

The Midwives Model of Care™ is based on the fact that pregnancy and birth are normal life events. The Midwives Model of Care includes:

- monitoring the physical, psychological and social well-being of the mother throughout the childbearing cycle
- providing the mother with individualized education, counseling, and prenatal care, continuous hands-on assistance during labor and delivery, and postpartum support
- minimizing technological interventions and;
- identifying and referring women who require obstetrical attention

The application of this model has been proven to reduce to incidence of birth injury, trauma, and cesarean section.

The Midwives Model of Care definition above is Copyright © 1996-2001, Midwifery Task Force, All Rights Reserved.

I'm so proud and excited for good friend Jen who is well on her way to becoming a midwife. Go girl go!

Another Skater in the Family!

We took Eva skating today. She skated for the entire hour. She did NOT want any help from me. It irritated her that I was skating so close behind her. She wanted to figure it ALL out by herself. Lucky for her she's a natural!

Hydrogenation

I received my new cookbook, Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, and I can't put it down. I'm fascinated by the information, and it rings true to me. I'd like to share some exerpts from time to time. Today's exerpt is about hydrogenation. If you haven't already switched back to butter, it might make you think twice about margarine:

Hydrogenation

This is the process that turns polyunsaturates, normally liquid at room temperature, into fats that are solid at room temperature- margarine and shortening. To produce them, manufacturers begin with the cheapest oils- soy, corn, cottonseed or canola, already rancid from the extraction process- and mix them with tiny metal particles- usually nickel oxide. The oili with its nickel catalyst is then subjected to hydrogen gas in a high-pressure, high-temperature reactor. Next, soap-like emulsifiers and starch are squeezed into the mixture to give it a better consistency; the oil is yet again subjected to high temperatures when it is steam-cleaned. This removes its unpleasant odor. Margarine's natural color, an unappetizing grey, is removed by bleach. Dyes and strong flavors must then be added to make it resemble butter. Finally, the mixture is compressed and packaged in blocks or tubs and sold as a health food.

She goes on to talk about the trans fats component and its dangers. I'm sure this is nothing new to you since trans fats have been in the news a lot lately. The section ends with the following:

Altered partially hydrogenated fats made from vegetable oils actually block utilization of essential fatty acids, causing many deleterious effects including sexual dysfunction, increased blood cholesterol and paralysis of the immune system. Consumption of hydrogenated fats is associated with a host of other serious diseases, not only cancer but also atherosclerosis, diabetes, obesity, immune system dysfunction, low-birth-weight babies, birth defects, decreased visual acuity, sterility, difficulty in lactation and problems with bones and tendons. Yet hydrogenated fats continue to be promoted as health foods. The popularity of margarine and shortening over butter represents a triumph of advertising duplicity over common sense. Your best defense is to avoid them like the plague.

Blanket Time Visual

Thanks to Alice for the blanket which has come to very good use!

Micah is wearing his new training pants. We're having a go at diaper independence. So far it's going pretty well. We have the timer set to go off every 30 minutes and he is obliging each time it beeps with a sit on the potty. The tic tac that comes along with his effort doesn't hurt ;) As we get closer to naptime he has more misses than hits but I'm not surprised. I'm so curious to see whether he will get totally on the program!

His training pants are supposed to be baggy like that- easier to get on and off. He can usually get them off himself and soon enough I suppose he'll be able to get them on by himself. I'm really happy with the quality of these Bummi's training pants! They are nice and soft and totally waterproof. Micah says they're comfortable too.