Staying cool...

This summer is brutal. It's not a surprise, as we live in the firepit that is Texas. But we had springtime weather in January, so I'm not going to complain. However, it is too hot to just send the kiddos out all day. Instead of letting them play video games or watch television all day (or pay a meeeeeelion dollars for some summer camp thing), I got them rec center memberships. A month to month is $11/month for each kid. So worth it.

Especially when our rec centers have slides like this...

And kids end up looking like this when we arrive. (Okay, the smiles were totally put on, but only because they were annoyed with me for holding up their pool fun. Impatient little monkeys, they are.)

See the girl child? I have to get her a new bathing suit. I bought that one at the end of last season, and I intentionally bought it too big. Now it's too small. Jeez. And that scrawny (but oh, so handsome) guy next to her? It's hard for me to believe what a behemoth he was at birth (11 1/2 pounds, y'all. GINORMOUS!).

Anyway, that is what we've been up to. And this is what the eldest girl has been up to, apparently. (She is on a mission trip with our church's youth group.)

She cracks me up.

The Birth Addict...

That would be me. I found this link on another person's blog, and I'm sitting here in tears.

DFW Birth Photographer

I know that many people think I'm whacked for being so fascinated by the birthing process. I think it is one of the most beautiful things to watch. I also realize that many see it as a means to an end. That birth is something you have to go through to get your baby. How it happens doesn't matter. To me, it does. My first birth was full of interventions, and I feel like Allison was born when she wasn't ready. No, it's not like it's the most terrible thing that can happen, and in the end, I ended up with a healthy little girl.

But I knew that when I got pregnant with my next that things would be different. Barring any complications, I would call the shots. I would be informed. My blind trust was gone, and that was a good thing. I used a midwife (Molly Germash, one of the best in the DFW area... I loved her.), and she respected my choices... Gave me tons of information... Helped me have a really pleasant pregnancy... I learned how help with swelling nutritionally. I could go on and on. And the most important thing was that I felt like I was visiting a friend. We hugged and talked for an hour or more at every appointment. Sometimes, I had to wait a little while because she was taking time with another client, just like she would do with me.

I had Anna, and felt empowered. She was born when she was ready... She was born without any unneeded interventions. My birth was perfect.

The same thing happened with Ezra. I know that I would not have been able to have the birth I wanted in a hospital setting. Ezra was huge. Ezra was born 19 days past his due date. I knew all the risks, and took many precautions. We knew my pelvis could handle a large baby. We had biophysical profiles to determine that he was healthy inside my womb, just not ready to be born yet. I used another midwife for this birth, Sorani Munoz, and couldn't have been more pleased. (I was going to use Molly again, but she was going to be on vacation the month he was due.)

Anyway, look at those photos. *sigh* They are stunning, and fully capture the intimacy and beauty of birth.