Breather

First and foremost, a big thank you to our hosts in Hawaii. We just spent a wonderful week visiting old friends. Patria is my "BFF" as she calls it from way back. I was pretty shy back then and she was my one good friend from about 5th grade on up. We've kept in touch since graduating high school. She has moved all over and I have stayed put in California. I cherish our friendship.

She and her family live on the northeastern shore of Oahu, Hawaii. I realized that it had been 13 years since visiting her in Hawaii last. Maggie and her two children became fast friends during our stay. Her daughter, Ruby, especially took a liking to Maggie and amused her over and over. Maggie was thrilled to be in the thick of things.

A few lasting memories of the trip ~

~Driving along the eastern shore

It was absolutely gorgeous. The gleam off the sparkling aquamarine-tinted water and the tropical plants in the backdrop really caught my eye. It made me wonder what it would be like to be a biologist in such a different setting than what I am used to.

~Driving in my friend's cherry red Miata with the top down

~Watching little Ruby sing in Hawaiian with her schoolmates as she was about to start her schoolday, with the backdrop of the mountains behind the school (Atticus sitting with us about to go off to school as well, mouthing the song to himself)

~Eating pani popo (Hawaiian sweet bread) among other island treats...POG slushies rock!

While my friend worked a few of the days, her hubby played tour guide for us. Mark is a talented photographer and we were lucky to spend so much time with him, as he had some free time and knows many locals and lots of good spots to hang out. He took my hubby surfing and both of us sailing on their catamaran. I'll let the rest of the pictures finish the story.

Unsure

Coming back from vacation and thinking about life, it has made me re-evaluate the purpose of my blog. Before I created it, I used to chat with my sister about how we didn't care for blogs that appeared superficial, or didn't share the realness of everyday life (good and bad).

Now that I have a blog, I wonder if that applies to me. I've tried to be as real as possible, but there are also some things in life that don't need to be shared in this format. I want to respect other people's privacy because a lot of stuff is just none of my business. So I try to stick to the things I know...my family, my experiences, my crafty side, etc.

I don't get many comments but I know people read my blog. That makes me happy because I like blogging and sharing a bit of myself in this way. I love face to face, or long phone conversations, but it isn't everyday that those are possible. I don't care for Facebook. That to me is impersonal, random, and annoying but that's just my opinion and I know others like it for other reasons.

I used to journal on paper but it's hard for me to sit down like that now. I like going online and communicating with others and it's fun to be able to journal with pictures on my blog about the going-on's of our life, which can then be shared with friends and family. I think it's working, but I'm not sure.

Do I make my blog private? I'm not sure that is the answer. I think I'm just working through my thoughts and will come out on the other side pleased with what I have created this past year.

Baby love

Snowshoeing

I wish I had the picture I'm thinking of, of me snowshoeing last year when I was about 7 or 8 months pregnant. I had a big belly and I squeezed into my snow gear that would stretch and set out on a hike with hubby and friends.

Edited 3/2010: I found them! These are from two seperate snowshoeing trips.This is to compare with this year's snowshoeing trip. We took Maggie up to the snow, me thinking we could sled with her, but after a couple attempts on hard ice, it was clear it was neither safe nor enjoyable for any of us. So we found a quieter, calmer spot in the Sierra to hike around. It was a open meadow along Bear River with an interpretive nature trail that we followed.Maggie fell asleep and we crunched along in our snowshoes listening to the rush of the river. After a tough morning, it actually turned out quite nice.

Refresh

I spent part of last weekend re-reading my trusty baby book by Dr. Sears. It reminded me of some valuable information and has prepared me for what's to come in year 2.

Thank you to my sister, she recommended books by Dr. Sears during my pregnancy. Dr. Sears is not just a pediatrican, but also the father of eight children and a popular author (along with his wife who is in the medical field). Seeing as I am in the first year of raising my first child, I use this as my go-to book when I have a question.

They endorse certain concepts that are not widely accepted or known about...attachment parenting, co-sleeping, baby wearing, good nutrition, and others. Some of these concepts take more work than others I've heard about (especially from older generations). I've tried most of them out and overall, I think many of these feel right and are worth the work.

At the end of the day though, I just want to make sure that I have told my child that I love her and that I have taken time out of the day to just be with her and not be distracted by everything else in our lives. It actually takes work to remember this but it is probably the most important thing to remind ourselves of as parents.

Donating

One thing I am passionate about is donating items that I don't have a use for anymore. I have never liked throwing things away for the heck of it and figure there is someone out there that could use these things, even if it's something small.

With all the pumping I've been doing at work, I have a lot of extra milk in our freezer. Maggie loves to nurse but I'm not sure she drinks as much from the bottle as she does when she is nursing.

Before I was pregnant, a friend of mine was considering donating her milk. I'm not sure if she followed through with it but it got me thinking that I could do that with my extra milk after I started noticing that we had milk taking up so much space in our freezer it was squeezing out room for other goodies.

We have a freestanding birth center in Sacramento that also operates a milk bank so I did the testing and filled out the application and now I'm a milk donor. I'm happy to say that I get to donate my milk to hospitals for NICU babies and also to a local woman that hasn't been able to provide enough milk for her baby.

When I had Maggie and was going to a moms group, there was a mom there that found out she had breast cancer right after birthing her son and she had to stop nursing him and go through treatment. She was very thankful to have hooked up with a U.S. milk bank and recieve milk in the mail for her son in his first year. Hearing her story has always stuck with me and now I am in a position to offer my milk to other people's babies that need it. It's a great feeling to know I am helping others in this way.

Not many people know that this is possible. If you know someone that isn't nursing and instead goes the formula route, mention this to them. Educate your family and friends. It's a pretty easy process on both ends (donor and reciever) and giving your baby mother's milk is much more nutritional than formula.

Just typing "milk bank" into Google brings up all sorts of websites. Milk banks help during worldwide disasters like the earthquake in Haiti. Salma Hayek was filmed nursing a newborn in Africa, which after reading this article, is called cross-nursing. Huh! It's a controversial issue here in the U.S. but I think it's a wonderful thing. I tend to follow beliefs featured here, which is a great magazine encouraging more natural ways of parenting from all aspects. I highly recommend it!