New blog - Choices in Childbirth

Choices in Childbirth

Over the past few years, I have become more and more passionate about natural childbirth and serving women during their birth year. Since we have moved to the NW suburbs of Chicago, I have been given many opportunities to grow and develop skills based on this passion.

Just this Spring I finished my certification as a Childbirth educator with the Bradley Method®. I am in the midst of teaching my third series of Bradley® classes and I love it. To me it is so rewarding to help families who desire a natural childbirth to learn about the amazing process of birth.

Alongside this I am also in the process of obtaining a doula certification through DONA (an international doula organization). Going to a birth is such a privilege and supporting a family through one of life's miracles is just unspeakable.

Through this process I decided that I needed a place to voice my heart on the topic of childbirth. I feel that in the media and conventional wisdom of our day and age that the whole picture of birth is not made clear. Women are strong. We grow babies that our bodies can birth. Childbirth is not inherently dangerous. Our current medical system is not infallable.

Wheter we realize it or not women have many choices to make during our childbirth year. If we do not speak up for ourselves, others will make those choices for us, and our families will be left bearing the weight of the consequences.

So I have begun to blog about these choices we must make. I will present many facets and options so that women and their families can make empowered, informed decisions whose consequences they are comfortable experiencing. You can check it out here: choices-in-childbirth.com

Safari Party

A few weeks ago Isa turned 4 and next week Abigail turns 6, so last weekend we celebrated both of their birthdays with a Safari party at the church. Matt was a huge help - he and the girls made all of the animals on the cake. All the kids were great and went along with all of my sometimes kooky games.

Hace unas semanas que Isa cumplió 4 años y la semana que viene Abi cumplirá los 6. Por eso la semana pasada hemos celebrado los dos cumples con una fiesta compartida. Funciona muy bien que ya tienen muchos amigos en común. Matt me ayudó un montón - que hizo con las niñas todas las figuritas del pastel. Y todos los invitados eran geniales y participaron muy entusiasmados en todo. Bicos a todos los que queríamos invitar y no pudimos por la distancia tan larga!

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Now playing: Paul O'Rellly - Dock On The Bay
via FoxyTunes

Grace Begins - handcrafted jewelery and more

My friend Grace has just launched her own line of hand-crafted jewelery as she prepares to embark on the journey of stay-at-home motherhood (she's due at the beginning of March with her first). So here's the link to her site: Snowcloud Jewelery where there is lots more to look at as well as her contact info should you be interested in a purchase. Thanks Grace and I can't wait to meet that baby!

Mi amiga Grace acaba de estrenar su propia linea de joyeria artesana como se esta preparando para el camino de ser mama y cuidar al nin@ en casa. Sale de cuentas al principio de marzo con su primer hij@. Aqui esta el enlace de su pajina web: Snowcloud Jewelery donde hay muchas ejemplares y tambien sus datos de contcto si le interse alguna cosita. Gracias Grace y no puedo esperar a conocer al peque!

2/25/08 update: no longer borrowing space on a friend's site, Grace has launched her own space with her own name: GraceBegins. Enjoy!!

Kings Day - El Dia de los Reyes

Today the girls were SO excited that it was Reyes. Last year we celebrated in the home of our dear friends Guillermo and Yolanda where we all devoured the Roscón together. So this morning we retold the story of the Kings (wise men or astrologers) - how they listened to God and made themselves able to be used by him. We found a recipe for roscón online and we made it together. It wasn't quite the same - we had to substitute jelly beans for the candied fruit, but the sentiment was there and the girls loved it. Abigail got the bean and Eden got the prize.

Hoy las niñas despertaron tan emocionadas por ser el día de los reyes. Hace doce dias que les había visitado Papá Noel con todos los regalos. A pesar de eso, las niñas estaban eléctricas igual y decidían que querían hornear un roscón juntos. Después de contar la historia de los reyes (o magos, o astrólogos) hemos buscado una receta de roscón por internet. No fue exactamente lo que comimos los años pasados - tuve que sustituir unos gominolas por la fruta encima - pero fue lo mejor que pudimos encontrar aquí. A Abi le tocó la haba y a Edén la sorpresita. Echamos de menos a nuestros amigos y a las tradiciones que hemos adoptados. Y para todos nuestros amigos en España, ¡Feliz día de los Reyes! ¡Feliz 2008!

La Bici - The Bike

Yesterday, (finally!!) I got out on my bike with Abigail and Eden and did some errands. They both did great. Eden loved it! We took some books back to the library and I picked up a couple of things from the store. It was really fun being outside, getting a bit of exercise, and doing errands all at once. The picture is of me with Isa in front. Getting going is the hardest part, and once there's a bit of momentum, it's not too hard. Hopefully now that we know it can be done, we'll be able to get out a bit more before it gets REALLY COLD.


Ayer, (por fin!) monte la bici con Abi y Eden para hacer unos recados. A ellas les encanto! Fuimos a la biblioteca y al supermercado. Me diverti mucho estar fuera, hacer un poco de ejercicio y hacer recados todo a la vez. El video es con Isa en la cesta porque ella queria hacer una vuelta tambien. Empezar a ir es la parte mas dificil, pero al coger un poco de monentum, no esta muy mal. Espero que ahora yo se que lo puedo hacer, salre en bici un par de veces antes de que llegue EL SUPER FRIO.

Another Move- otra mudanza

Hoy estamos mudando del piso de iTeams a nuestra casa en Hoffman Estates. Estoy animada, estresada, y lista para esta mudanza. Aun estan embaladas las cosas que hemos enviado desde Espana. Estoy lista para deshacerlas y tener un solo lugar para la familia y sentir como "nosotros" otra vez.

Today we are moving from our apartment at iTeams to our house in Hoffman Estates. Iam excited, stressed and ready for this move. Our boxes that we shipped from Spain are still packed. I'm ready to un-pack and settle in and feel like "us" again.

BICOS