Dent Beebe

Trip to Maui

2011-11-11T14:27:00.001-08:00

Maui was wonderful, we spent 5 days in Napili (north of Lahaina) and 3 days in Kihei (both are on the west side of the island).

We swam with turtles in Kapalua Bay, played in the waves at Napili Bay, took hula lessons in Lahaina, toured the Maui Plantation, went to the top of Haleakela, visited the Aquarium, enjoyed a Luau and attempted to eat Paleo more often than not (ok, buying that Red Velvet cake at Costco didn't help matters...um...and there was that giant brownie sundae you might notice pics of too).

The girls stole the show at the luau, where they hula'ed their hearts out up on stage, wore flower crowns and Anya ate a fish eyeball on a dare.

Click here for the photos

Naming His Gifts: Week of Feb 13

2011-02-16T16:56:00.001-08:00

New photos up at Flickr from the last three months.

Abba, these gifts are more than I would have asked for! Thank you!

Naming His Gifts

2011-02-08T19:03:00.001-08:00

A mother’s heart can often be a ready place for fear to take hold. How do we wisely plan for the future without falling into a trap of worry? How can I prepare to have my family clothed warmly through the storms and yet trust my Abba Father to provide my every need?

James 1:17. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

I’m not going to reject the current blessings of safety, security and plenty He has provided for us at this point in time. I do want to be ready for the future – while remembering that the gifts He gives us will always be found, even if the worst happens and the world as we know it crumbles around us. His goodness does not change, though our circumstances might.

It’s important to develop the vision to see His gifts now, so we can also see them when they aren’t as apparent. So to practice noticing His gifts, I am going to start naming ten of them on a weekly basis. I’m trying to learn to focus not so much on the material, but on the relationships, kindness, compassion and just plain fun of life.

The girls and I took a "Gratefulness Walk" today and took photos, and then looked through some other photos from the week. We worked together to pick out 10 things we were grateful for. We had a lot of fun, I think this will be a new weekly activity!

Amen! Thank you for these gifts Abba!

I am only one...

2010-12-18T08:33:00.000-08:00

"I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do." ~ Edward Everett Hale

Sean and I have been struggling to figure out how to bless others through the blessings our Abba has given us. We feel He is calling us to help with orphans - what that means, we aren't sure in the long run. There is an overwhelming need in the world, and it's hard to know where to being or what one family can even really do.We know in the short term in means doing what we can to help others bring home orphans to their forever families.

Here are two local families called to the front of the adoption lines:

The Stutzman Family - Eight by Grace
You can support this family bringing home baby girl Seble by donating or purchasing a t-shirt.

Erik with a K
You can support this family by donating or entering their raffle.

Want to know more about the plight of children who are considered Special Needs who need to be adopted? Get your heart and your tissues ready and check the No Greater Joy Mom blog, then see what Abba may be calling you to do:
I Left My Heart There
Reckless Abandon
Treasures of Darkness
Sharing my Heart

She also has links to families seeking funding to adopt these little ones who are in desperate need.

You can help support orphans and widows who are building a business and gaining skills to support themselves by purchasing from the Visiting Orphans store.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress" James 1:27

We'll Have Fun Despite the Cold

2010-07-15T13:59:00.001-07:00

Well, the coldest early summer in any of our lifetimes didn't slow us down too much. I've uploaded the June and July photos so far:

In June, we took the girls to the Portland Zoo for the first time. It was freezing! I had coats for everyone but me and had to buy a long sleeved shirt. The girls are still talking about the giraffes and elephants. They had fun on the jungle drums, and Anya got a giraffe in her zoo meal that proceeded to pee all over the zoo.

Jumping is very popular around here, although sometimes little sister's prowess seems to cause Anya some degree of consternation.

The Molalla Fourth of July parade was much better this year, and the girls quickly figured out to jump and wave for candy. The were probably most impressed by the horse on top of a trailer, with the fire truck running a close second.

Here's the monthly fashion update:

And Anya's most recent family portrait:

July has finally decided to warm up, so here's a day of pool fun with the Swamp Thing (a.k.a Daddy). You'll also notice something a little different about Sean...yup, he finally shaved his head! I think it looks even better than I thought it would!

And lastly, yes, I will still get the videos uploaded to Flickr someday. But now I gotta go, because Willow is tugging on my arm, dressed in a striped onesie and a princess crown, telling me I need to come out into the living room and party hard.

A couple of videos

2010-06-22T13:56:00.000-07:00

Springtime in the DB Household

2010-06-03T11:49:00.001-07:00

Birthdays, fish faces, CrossFit, fashion and Battlestar Galactica! I have tons of new photos up at Flickr (click here) so you can catch up on what we're doing. I'm attempting to organize all of our videos and get those uploaded as well since Flickr has introduced that features, but, uh, yeah, that's kind of a low priority. I really need to get on it, because with my luck I'll crash a hard drive right before I get them uploaded! :)

The short little sunny spring we had back in April meant it was time for a photo shoot:

Anya dances, tells me stories and cuts paper eerily like paper from the Battlestar Galactica 'verse.

Our little fashion diva turns two:

Fish faces are hilarious and trendy sunglasses make the whole outfit:

A wonderful Mother's Day for this mama with her lovely girls and handsome hubby:

Anya is in the pilot program for CrossFit Kids at CrossFit Salem. Her squats are textbook, but the push ups could use a little work. I love the look on her face when she gets above the bar for her pullup too! The awesome owner/trainer Carol is nice enough to indulge Willow on occasion too - but rubber boots aren't exactly workout wear!

Pretty girls playing in the yard. Anya is wearing her beloved Lightning McQueen shirt, while Willow is rockin' a tutu and skulls. Holy crap, my kids are cute!

Photos from the first quarter of 2010 are up!

2010-03-22T11:33:00.001-07:00

We've been busy this year so far with preschool, ballet, homeschooling, tea parties, playdough, elaborate obstacle courses in the living room, tattoos, a visit from "da boys" and oh yes, being sick what seems like every other week!

You can view the photos here:

Willow is quite fashionable these days:

Anya Argia, Ballerina:

Anya practices her letters and her name on the white board:

A few of my favorite photos this year so far:

Merry Christmas 2009

2009-12-24T13:40:00.001-08:00

NOTE: To those of you who got this as a printed card, I'm so sorry about the tiny font. Obviously I was too wordy and didn't catch that I was looking at it too zoomed in! Yikes! Embarrassing!

Hello for the first time in a couple of years! As you probably know by now, we moved the day after Christmas last year, so I just didn't manage to work in a Christmas card. Last year the holiday season kind of went by in a whirlwind of packing, loans and renting out our old house! So I have two years of catching you up to do this year. We are now just 5 minutes from our church in a beautiful new home that backs up to Glen Creek. We have room for both of us to have offices, and space underneath to add another level as Sean's business grows if needed! Our numbers and email remain the same, email me at Amy@DentBeebe.com if you want our new address (and I thought when we moved we'd get something easier to spell than "Arithmetic" - yeah, not so much).

We have been overwhelmingly blessed the last two years, but of course birth of our little Willow Ruby on April 26 of 2008 was the biggest of all. Yes, I am the crazy home-birther that you can say you know. Willow smiled the day she was born and her happy personality has continued to blossom.

In February of 2008 (yup, right before Willow was born!), Sean quit GE and is now programming for financial traders full-time through his business, DB Trader. Despite a few sleepless nights debating if this was a good idea with a baby on the way, in just a couple of months, this turned out to be a great decision - his business is going so well that he had to turn away new clients after a very short time! He hired a long-time friend and GE co-worker to work with him to begin taking on new projects again and both are doing well. He has also started to get back into running.

I've managed to keep busy taking on occasional freelance projects, working at the church some, and - oh yes - taking care of two extremely busy little girls! They are keeping me running and I love it! I'm working on losing the baby weight I've packed on over the last two years by doing CrossFit - it's varied, short, high-intensity workouts with weight training, running and gymnastics - I've lost two pant sizes so far! My Christmas list this year is filled with things like kettlebells, weight gloves, resistance bands and a squat rack. I also unfortunately won the "Most Injured" award at the CrossFit Salem gym and am currently nursing a severely sprained right wrist. The doctor would put me in a full arm cast if I didn't have small children, and my left arm is getting very buff from working only that side out. I'm currently looking at at least another 4 weeks of healing.

I also have a side project going at WhiteDogBlackDog.com where I sell some of my designs on t-shirts. I just created a new line of "Scripture to Inspire Your Workout" to add to my previous "She is Fierce" and "Land of the Free, Because of the Brave" lines.

Anya still thinks Darth Vader is pretty cool, but is now also into Tinkerbell, Thomas the Train and Nacho Libre. She has been going to preschool, but we are excited to begin our homeschooling adventures with her starting next spring! Anya is quite a bundle of emotions and can go from joyful over learning that "God loves us and He sent His Son!" one moment to crying that Rudolph can't play any reindeer games the next. I have no idea where she gets it from (seriously, stop laughing right now). Both girls enjoy a music class, and we are hoping to get Anya started in ballet next year as well. To no one's surprise, she also keeps up a constant stream of words while doing pretty much anything. At her three year checkup, our doctor was pleased that she could put together a 4 word sentence. At which point I asked Anya a follow-up question, to which she responded with a complex, two sentence statement using past and future tenses correctly while the doctor's jaw hung open!

Willow is our little climber and explorer, with a penchant for hats of all kinds. She actually climbed before she walked! She learned early on exactly how to push her drama queen of a big sister's buttons, which seems to be her favorite hobby. Willow takes care of her "babies" (a pack of stuffed animals) and is learning to sing the ABC song. No problems with food for her - this kid loves mealtime! Willow is already extremely polite, and says "Bless You" whenever anyone sneezes or coughs. She seems to have a more steady temperament than Anya, and puts up with the natural tendency of a big sister to be bossy with good humor most of the time (although she does have an absolutely blood-curdling scream to let you know when she is upset or excited). She will be starting preschool one day a week this next year.

Beagles Sorka and Belle are aging well and even finally warming up to the kids. Belle adores Willow as she drops food all the time. In a related note, Belle now weighs more than Anya.

We got to go down to Southern California again in September. We visited my brother Jake, Natalie, Isaac, Noah, Eli and Joey at Camp Pendleton and stayed in a cottage right on the beach there. Anya loved the sand, but Willow wasn't so sure about it. We had a couple of bonfires on the beach and got to listen to the boys tells us jokes and stories - so much fun! Then we headed up to Anaheim where we spent a week at Disneyland. Anya was just tall enough to ride the Matterhorn and is still talking about it. She was bummed to be just a bit too little for the Jedi Academy. Willow explored Tom Sawyer's Island like a pro, and did NOT enjoy any of the characters she met. Both were completely entranced by the dragon at the Fantasmic show, so they were both cute little dragons for Halloween. You can see lots of pics of our life and times at www.DentBeebe.com - just click on the "Our Photos" link from the top menu.

I hope that you all have a great holiday season and we look forward to connecting with you in the coming year! May 2010 be filled with blessing and a deeper relationship with Jesus! Amen!

I've been slacking on the blog

2009-12-07T08:43:00.001-08:00

Sorry about that, I'll try to be better about updating it! Note that there are tons of new photos here.

In the meantime, while I think of something interesting to write, here are some recent pics and videos:

Cafepress Features One of My Designs!

2009-12-07T08:30:00.001-08:00

My "Land of the Free, Because of the Brave" design is featured on CafePress as one of their $9 Special Tees! Whoo hoo!

Click here for the link, then scroll down to the last row of men's shirts - it's in the middle.

You can always visit my store for more designs at www.WhiteDogBlackDog.com - I've just designed a whole new series of fitness-related design using motivational Scripture. I've also added a new "She is Fierce" design.

Parental Rights Under Attack - Please take the time to read this!

2009-06-24T11:08:00.000-07:00

Hello All -

I hope you all know that I very rarely forward emails or send out anything political. However, there is an urgent issue that crosses party lines that I am called to send out this email about. I think many people are completely unaware of the issue, and I passionately consider it to be one of the biggest in our lifetimes.

After I make my personal plea, I'm cutting and pasting "TWENTY THINGS You Need to Know
About the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child" from ParentalRights.org.

Loads more (terrifying) information available at www.parentalrights.org, and I've attached a couple of pdfs if you want to know more right now. I'm not asking you to donate money, I'm asking you to make yourself aware of this vitally important issue and contact your representatives.

Why We Need An Amendment

The Fight of Our Lifetime

I know it's easy to shuffle this off, but we are reaching a breaking point here. Read about the government intrusion into parents responsibilities (because the UN thinks that the government has a duty to raise good members of society and make sure the parents are parenting correctly). There is story after story of how this treaty is being enforced around the world. Proponents of ratification say that the things we are concerned about won't happen here, but THIS IS ALREADY HAPPENING in other countries that have ratified the treaty, and some US lawyers are already citing the UNRotC in case law.

Most believe this issue will be decided in the next couple of months, and then it's over. We aren't coming back from here.

Monday in a Harlem middle school, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice told a group of 120 students that administration officials are actively discussing “when and how it might be possible to join” (that is, ratify) the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

To discourage them from doing so, we need to make sure that our voices are heard with unmistakable clarity. We must let the administration know that we oppose this anti-family, anti-American treaty.

Here’s what we need you all to do:

1. Call the White House comments line at 202-456-1111. Tell them you heard the administration wants to ratify the CRC, and you strongly oppose this giving away of U.S. sovereignty to the UN. Also keep in mind that this treaty gives the government jurisdiction to override any decision made by any parent if the government thinks that a better decision can be made—even if there is no proof of any harm.

2. Call Ambassador Susan Rice’s office at the United Nations. Tell her that you want her to represent the United States to the world rather than trying to get the United States to go along with international law initiated by the UN. There are three ways to get ahold of her. Please dial ONE of them, and deliver the message that you oppose the CRC, and that she should represent Americans to the United Nations rather than push a UN agenda on our country.

Dial the main line at 1-212-415-4000, and dial 6 to leave your message; OR
Dial the Public Diplomacy Office at 1-212-415-4050 and leave a message; OR
Dial her office directly at 1-212-415-4404. Again, you will need to leave a message.

3. Contact your Senators and urge them to oppose ratification of this treaty. (Find your Senators’ contact information by typing your zip code into the box here.) Ask them also to defeat it once and for all by cosponsoring SJRes 16 – the Parental Rights Amendment.

If you are an Oregonian, here are our Senators and their contact information:

Sen. Ron Wyden
Website: wyden.senate.gov

Washington, D.C. Office:
223 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
District of Columbia 20510-3703
Phone: (202) 224-5244
Fax: (202) 228-2717

Portland Office:
1220 SW 3rd Avenue, Suite 585
Portland, Oregon 97204
Phone: (503) 326-7525
Fax: (503) 326-7528

Sen. Jeff Merkley
Website: merkley.senate.gov

Washington, D.C. Office:
107 Russell Senate Office Building,
District of Columbia 20510-3704
Phone: (202) 224-3753
Fax: (202) 228-3997

Portland Office:
121 SW Salmon Street, #1250
Portland, Oregon 97204
Phone: (503) 326-3386
Fax: (503) 326-2900

It is very important that we speak up right now. Please call before you close this email! Some of the phone lines are busy, but I did get through to Senators Wyden and Merkley. It was easy and only took a few moments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

TWENTY THINGS You Need to Know
About the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

TEN THINGS to know about the STRUCTURE of the CRC:

It is a treaty which creates binding rules of law. It is no mere statement of altruism.
Its effect would be binding on American families, courts, and policy-makers.
Children of other nations would not be impacted or helped in any direct way by our ratification.
The CRC would automatically override almost all American laws on children and families because of the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause in Article VI.
The CRC has some elements that are self-executing, others would require implementing legislation. Federal courts would have the power to determine which provisions were selfexecuting.
The courts would have the power to directly enforce the provisions that are self-executing.
Congress would have the power to directly legislate on all subjects necessary to comply with the treaty. This would be the most massive shift of power from the states to the federal government in American history.
A committee of 18 experts from other nations sitting in Geneva has the authority to issue official interpretations of the treaty which are entitled to binding weight in American courts and legislatures. This effectively transfers ultimate policy authority for all policies in this area to this foreign committee.
Under international law, the treaty overrides even our Constitution.
Reservations, declarations, or understandings intended to modify our duty to comply with this treaty will be void if they are determined to be inconsistent with the object and purpose of the treaty.

TEN THINGS to know about the SUBSTANCE of the CRC:

Parents would no longer be able to administer reasonable spankings to their children.
A murderer aged 17 years and 11 months and 29 days at the time of his crime could no longer be sentenced to life in prison.
Children would have the ability to choose their own religion while parents would only have the authority to give their children advice about religion.
The best interest of the child principle would give the government the ability to override every decision made by every parent if a government worker disagreed with the parent’s decision.
A child’s “right to be heard” would allow them to seek governmental review of every parental decision with which the child disagreed.
This treaty has been interpreted to make it illegal for a nation to spend more on national defense than it does on children’s welfare.
Children would acquire a legally enforceable right to leisure.
Christian schools that refuse to teach "alternative worldviews" and teach that Christianity is the only true religion "fly in the face of article 29" of the treaty.
Allowing parents to opt their children out of sex education has been held to be out of compliance with the CRC.
Children would have the right to reproductive health information and services without parental knowledge or consent.

The SOLUTION: A constitutional amendment to codify parental rights.
The proposed PARENTAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT
HJRes 42
Section 1.
The liberty of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their
children is a fundamental right.
Section 2.
Neither the United States nor any State shall infringe upon this right without
demonstrating that its governmental interest as applied to the person is of
the highest order and not otherwise served.
Section 3.
No treaty may be adopted nor shall any source of international law be employed to
upersede, modify, interpret, or apply to the rights guaranteed by this article.

New April Photos

2009-05-05T09:58:00.001-07:00

Click here for new photos from April, including Willow's first birthday. I'll be adding some posts someday soon, really.

The Christmas Letter that Never Got Sent (figured I may as well post it here at this point)

2009-03-15T15:55:00.001-07:00

Well, this has been a pretty phenomenal year for us.

Of course, the biggest news was the birth of our little Willow Ruby on April 26. Yes, I am the crazy home birther that you can say you know. Willow smiled the day she was born and her happy personality has continued to blossom. Anya was a little jealous for a day or two, but now loves her mey-mey (little sister) - as long as she keeps away from her toys. "No, Willow, dat's Anya toy!"

In February, Sean quit GE and is now programming for day traders full-time through his business, DB Trader. Despite a few sleepless nights debating if this was a good idea with a baby on the way, in just a couple of months, this turned out to be a great decision - his business is going so well he's turning away new clients for now! He recently hired a long-time friend and GE co-worker to work with him so he can begin taking on new projects again.

I've managed to keep busy taking on occasional freelance projects, working at the church some, and - oh yes - taking care of two little girls under 30 months. They are keeping me running and I love it! I'm working on losing the baby weight I've packed on over the last two years by doing CrossFit - it's varied, short, high-intensity workouts with weight training, running and gymnastics. I also have a side project going at WhiteDogBlackDog.com where I sell some of my designs.

Anya's hobbies include imitating Darth Vader (including humming the Imperial March), blowing her second birthday candles out with her nose, gut-bombing Daddy and Grandpa, and professing a disbelief in eating. Soccer and gymnastics have been a big hit, although she prefers to carry the ball more than kick it, and does somersaults by standing on her head and then falling over. To no one's surprise, she also keeps up a constant stream of words while doing pretty much anything.

Willow's talents include crawling like a caterpillar, bouncing in the jumperoo, chewing on Anya's hair and is currently perfecting a wide range of odd screeching noises. I'm very proud of the fact that I taught her to growl this weekend. She also is testing everything to see if it is food, including Sorka if she strays too close. No problems with food for her - just watch your fingers if you're handling the spoon feeding her!

A very wise frog once said that "life is made up of meetings and partings." We parted with our good friend Macavity the Mystery Cat in June after a thankfully short battle with a lung tumor. We knew it was time to say goodbye when he didn't even enjoy his favorite past time - eating. Beagles Sorka and Belle are aging well and even finally warming up to the kids.

My brother Jake is a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps and is currently deployed in Iraq as a Communications Officer. Natalie and Isaac, Noah, Eli and Joey miss him a lot - we all can't wait for him to get home in January! Our family and my mom & dad went down to Camp Pendleton to visit them in October, and on the way back we spent a few days at Disneyland. Anya is still taking about Sleeping Beauty's castle, the Dumbo ride and meeting Mickey. Willow also enjoyed Dumbo - throwing out her arms and yelling "ohhh!" with a big smile.

One more big piece of news - we moved to West Salem the day after Christmas! See, I have a good excuse for being so late with the Christmas card this year. We are now just 5 minutes from our church in a beautiful new home that backs up to Glen Creek. We have room for both of us to have offices, and space underneath to add another level as Sean's business grows if needed! Our numbers and email remain the same, email me if you want our new address. Come visit anytime - we'd love to have you join us for the small group we host on Sunday nights sometime!

I hope that you all had a great holiday season and we look forward to connecting with you in the coming year! May 2009 be filled with blessing and a deeper relationship with Jesus! Amen!

Once again - the amaaaazzzing Willow!

2009-02-24T09:34:00.001-08:00

I managed to catch this little act last night...and she was standing up in her crib this morning. We'd better start getting ready for a walking Willow!

Cute Things Willow Says and Does #1

2009-02-15T13:11:00.001-08:00

She signs the word "milk" over and over again while nursing
The other day she yelled "Aya!" with a big grin when she first saw Anya in the morning
She growls a lot. As her Uncle Jake did this too, it must be genetic.
She is obsessed with the water dish. She heads straight for it as soon as I set her down.
She got a new tooth 2/11 - upper right front
She pulled herself to standing on the windowsill 2/13
She climbed up two stairs 2/14 (scared the crap outta me!)
Update: New tooth today February 15 - upper left incisor. It snuck up on me because I was watching the right front tooth come in!
Grandpa's hook is her favorite chew toy (listen for the clinking of her teeth against the steel in the video)

Cute Things Anya Says and Does #6

2009-02-15T13:09:00.001-08:00

I was cleaning unknown sticky stuff from the dining chairs today and Anya said "clean chairs?" quizzically. I said "yes, they are sticky from your messy hands". With clear remorse, she said "I gotta do somefing bout dat. I sorry."
Later, she decided to help clean by taking a dirty napkin, dipping it in the pets' water dish and washing the baseboards.
She woke up from a nap a couple of days ago screaming "mama! mama! ladybug! ladybug". Evidently, she is scared of them.
We came outside this morning and some fog had settled in, she exclaimed "foggy! ribbit! ribbit!"
She is now sleeping in a toddler bed, and when we say it's time for nap or nighttime, says proudly "I big girl bed"
She sat down between us and said "I love you. The whole family!"
When SkippyJon gets sprayed with a water bottle for getting up somewhere he shouldn't, she says "uh oh, he's in trouble!"
She shook Willow's hand out of the blue and said "Hi Willow, nice ta meetcha"
She has to imitate everything Willow does - see the video under "Willow's Getting Close to Walking" for an example
They smashed cones at Soccer Tots last week and now she likes to run around yelling "Smash!! Smash!!"
She LOVES to go over a whole bunch of people's names, and name the street we live on

Willow's Getting Close to Walking!

2009-02-15T12:47:00.001-08:00

A couple of days ago she faced this conundrum unsuccessfully:

But then just Friday this is what she was doing!

Welcome Home Uncle Jake & Happy Birthday Eli

2009-02-15T11:38:00.001-08:00

Presenting the Singing & Dancing Talents of Anya

2009-02-14T15:37:00.001-08:00

So we got a spiffy new little video camera that is much easier to take along, so you'll be seeing more video here. Let's get started with these little gems:

Sunny Day at the Beach...in January

2009-01-20T14:48:00.000-08:00

So Mom & Dad called to tell me that they were on their way to the beach last Tuesday because it was supposed to be great weather and invited the girls and I along. It was amazing! I can't believe how warm it was, with hardly any wind. I can think of maybe one other time I've been to the Oregon Coast with weather like this - and so odd for it to be in January. The sunset was spectacular.

Since Anya's only other experience with the beach was in California, she was very distressed that we wouldn't let her go in the ocean. She is still talking about "no go ocean, toooooo cold."

Mom and Dad were nice enough to indulge me and hold the girls in various positions while I got some nice pictures of them. The light was gorgeous and so were the girls. Sean and I are going to try to go as a family more often when he can break away from work - from West Salem it seems like the beach is practically next door now! :) ha ha.

Yeah, yeah, I'll lighten these up in Photoshop eventually, but some people (cough*mom*cough*sean*cough) were complaining that I haven't posted anything for awhile. Happy now?

Lots more new pics on Flickr - click here.

Hey, Pickle Pants!

2009-01-15T14:36:00.000-08:00

So as soon as we signed the papers for the house, I headed out to Dallas to pick up our new Siamese kitten. SkippyJon Jones was born November 1, 2008 and is the spitting image of his namesake from the series of books of the same name.

Anya is so excited about him she can hardly contain herself. She throws herself at him while talking in an almost inaudible high pitched voice. We have to watch her carefully so she doesn't overwhelm him. He is already dominating the dogs (if he sits at the top of the stairs, Sorka just runs back to her pen rather than come up), and Belle even allows him to snuggle up with her for an occasional nap.

He adores Willow (I think she smells like milk) and wants to be near her whenever she's awake. He's only 2.6 lbs, when I first put him in the cat basket I almost threw it when I picked it up because I was so used to heaving it up with Macavity in it.

So far he seems to be a really great cat - playful and fun, not timid, but quite happy to be a lap cat while I'm on the computer. Other than being a loudmouth and accidentally turning off my computer once, I think we picked a good one!

Oh I'm SkippyJon Jones
and I bounce on my bed
'cuz I like to eat pickles
that tickle my head!

You can find out more about the books here, they are hilarious.

Our New Home - It's Official

2009-01-15T10:35:00.000-08:00

Try not to move the day after Christmas if you can avoid it. And really try to close your loan before moving...

As most of you know, we got a great deal on a house in West Salem and decided to go forward with renting out our Arithmetic house and moving. We were able to get some renters very quickly, and were planning to close by the end of the year, but then our lender started flaking on us. We were able to arrange with the seller to lease until the new house closed because our renters needed to move in on the 29th.

So we made the decision to move the day after Christmas so we didn't lose our renters! Then the loan process kept dragging on...and on...finally we switched lenders and after a few more mishaps caused by the first lender were able to close January 15. Now I can finally finish unpacking, and hang up curtains and pictures!

We've been here almost a month and it very much feels like home. The view of the canyon is gorgeous and we love the sound of the creek running through our backyard. I thought I would miss Arithmetic since that's literally where our babies were born, but it hasn't been as hard as I expected. This house seems like a good fit for us.

What's ironic is that after looking at probably 30+ houses, this is the very first one I looked at and drug Sean to an open house. Back then it was out of our price range, but as prices continued to drop it fell back in!

We'd love to show you around sometime - just excuse the mess while we finish unpacking! Our phone numbers have stayed the same, if want our new address just call or email.

New Designs at WhiteDogBlackDog.com

2009-01-14T14:21:00.000-08:00

I've uploaded a few new designs - another version of the always popular "She is Fierce" line, and the cowboy photo of Eli on a mini video camera.

Cute Things that Anya Says and Does #6

2009-01-01T10:12:00.000-08:00

When we were grocery shopping the other day, the bag boy pushed the cart and helped me unload the groceries. As he was walking away, Anya said "he's very nice!"
She loves the shopping carts that are shaped like cars and have steering wheels. She steers and hums the Imperial March while we drive. Loudly. Sometimes people look at me funny.
All meals are still "munch"
This morning I shooed Skippyjon off the table and she said "Mama, you be gentle. Be gentle with Skippy." Of course a little later she attempted to pick him up and throw him off the stair railing, so we're not sure what she thinks gentle means.
She loves to play "Xbox 'troller" with Daddy. She also recognizes the Xbox commericals and squeals "xbox 360!" Her favorite is "soccers."
When Willow cries, she pats her on the back and says "dat's okay baby. Don't cry Willow."
She plays the recorder to Barney's theme song. She says she's playing "musicks"
She can sing her ABC's, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and Jesus Loves Me.
She says "ooooo" instead of you. "Ooooo sing it too, Mama?"
Grandpa is still pretty much her favorite person. The other day when just Nana came over, she looked up and said sadly "Grandpa's not here." However, she's usually very excited about Nana too.
Daddy is very pleased that she says "meatballs?" very hopefully when getting up from her afternoon nap most days.
She is starting to assert her own preferences. She has two polka dot Elmo dresses that she requests frequently.
When we shut Skippyjon into the laundry room, she says "he go lillerbox. Bounce in big boy bed". The Skippyjon in the books bounces on his big boy bed when sent to his room, so we think she thinks he's the real Skippyjon Jones...
She tries to blame stinky diapers on Willow. "Anya, do you have a stinky diaper?" "No, dat's Willow."
She has a little desk in mama's office (thanks, Uncle Matt!) and she will pick up a toy and announce that she's going to "work in my office".
TV is "FeeVee"
She is posessive of her toys - if Willow has something of hers, she says "No baby, dat's Anya's." But then she'll hand her something else and say "that ooooo toy"
Pronouns are still a bit confusing. She and Daddy play steamroller, where he rolls around on the floor and rolls over her - she runs screaming to me and says "save you! save you!". She also says "my" instead of "I" often. "My want dat?"
She will look around the room and say "What's goin' on?"

Not So Cute Things:

She has to wear full zippered jammies at nap time, because otherwise she'll take off everything including her diaper. Poop everywhere.
She has learned "no"
When she wants something she asks once and then immediately turns on the water works if it's not in her hand in the next instant.

White Christmas 2008

2008-12-25T10:30:00.000-08:00

How sweet - Willow's first Christmas was a w hite Christmas! Since we didn't know when we were moving, we hastily put up a tree the weekend before Christmas, and went ahead and hosted Christmas Eve at our place with Sean's mom's family. Christmas Day we had his dad's family over and then headed over to my parent's place to celebrate with them and Natalie and the boys.

Then Christmas night we headed home to take down the decorations and get things ready for the movers to start packing the next day! More on our move in another post.

Christmas morning was very fun this year - Anya is really starting to get in to the whole present concept.

Willow's new stocking - she got lots of fun little rattles and such.

This is the first year that Anya could unpack her own stocking.

Her plush Darth Vader was a big hit. She yelled Darth Vader! in a really high pitched voice when she opened it.

Willow's big gift was a rocking tiger...

But the wrapping paper seemed to be her favorite.

Anya also got a box of playsilks made by mama, and a Leapster 2.

Cute Things that Anya Says and Does #5

2008-11-24T13:08:00.000-08:00

Slipped yesterday morning in the bathroom and exclaimed "Holy Crap!" Oops. Bad mommy.
Last Saturday they made turkeys out of construction paper and a popsicle stick at Sunday School. She said gobble, gobble, gobble all the way home, and said "more turkey?" the next morning as soon as she got up.
She loves to dance to Barney songs. Dancing involves running in a big circle in the living room.
Truthfulness is hit and miss. When asked if she had a stinky diaper (which she obviously did), she paused to think, "hmmmm, don't think so."
This morning, I took her up with me to try to listen in on a phone call that Sean was making to our lender. Anya started being too noisy so I had to take her back downstairs, and she was very upset about this. She found her play cell phone, flipped it open, said "hello" and then started some babbling with a tone like she was tattling. I asked her if she was talking on the phone like Daddy and she ignored me and held up her finger like we do when she interrupts us on the phone.

November Photos

2008-11-17T15:02:00.001-08:00

Anya has started pointing to the camera and saying "Anya? Pitcher? Camra?"

She wants to pose, and asks me to take pictures while she colors, plays with her toys, or fake laughs. However, she really needs to work on her reaction when I tell her to smile. I have a whole sequence of very odd faces that are apparently what she thinks I mean by asking her to do that. I finally found that telling her to laugh results in a fake laugh that looks like a smile on film.

But then other times I catch her at just the right moment and get a shot that is so perfectly "Anya" she takes my breath away. I'm still working on photoshopping some more cute ones that I'll make public a little later.

It's very fun that she's starting to get into the whole concept of posing. Every day she does something new (and on occasion incredibly annoying). Just before her nap today, she looked up at me and sang "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" - every word, and even was sort of getting the tune!

Willow is starting to enjoy the jumperoo, and is making all sorts of cute baby noises! And some not so cute baby screams as she checks out her range. She will let loose with a blood-curdling shriek all while looking totally happy and angelic.

She is also taking to solids with a vengeance this month. It's a little scary to feed her - she tries to grab things out of my hands, and leans forward into a bite and snaps her mouth closed over it. This piranha style of eating is totally foreign to us but honestly, it's a pretty big relief!

There's going to be so much talking in our house before we know it - right now, Anya is supposed to be napping and all I hear from her room is a constant stream of babbling. I have no idea where she gets it from.

Click here to see the rest of the photos.

I'm really not kidding, this is the house...

2008-11-16T22:25:00.000-08:00

Okay, so the house on Treemont that we were going to fix up had some much bigger problems than were apparent. The inspection was not good, so we had to take a pass on it.

We've decided that we should probably be looking at something as new as possible since we are the farthest thing from handy there is.

I looked at a house way back when we first started looking at houses, and had liked this one. The price has come down recently, so we put in an offer today! We are still hoping to sell our house quickly and have dropped the price down to $349,999. We would also be open to a rental situation, so as before, if you know anyone looking to buy or rent a great house please send them our way!

It's in West Salem, so not ideal, but it has room to expand a whole new lower level someday, a big yard with a creek at the bottom and is brand new with a lovely interior. This pic is old, there's a yard in the front now. Click here to see more.

I know, I know, you'll believe me when we actually move in, right? :)

Cute Things that Anya Says and Does #4

2008-11-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

Can count to 10 (first did it 10/26/08), working on up to 20 but it's kind of hit and miss
Says "Hi morning, Willow" when she first sees her each day
Puts on the Darth Vader mask, breaths like him, then pulls it off and says "that funny!"
If Willow is crying, she will pat her on the back and say "Don't cry baby, don't cry Willow."
When the dogs whine or bark, she says "enough!" in the same tone of voice I do.
The other morning, she was singing the ABC's when I went to get her up (sort of). She has no concept of pitch so far.
She really likes taking the Element places...when we walk outside she repeats "Take orange car?" over and over.
Her favorite book is "SkippyJon Jones and the Big Bones". She likes all the books in the series, but that one is her favorite. She has it memorized and can tell you what's on each page with no prompting. I particularly like how she says "Hey Pickle Pants" "Holy Cabeza!" "Los Chimichangos" and "rrrrrrufff".
If I tell her that a cat is Siamese, she says "Skippy Jones?"

Very Useful Blogger Tool

2008-11-06T09:28:00.000-08:00

For those of you who are using Blogger for your blog as I do (Jake, Nat, Nicole I know for starters), I'm sure you've noticed how incredibly annoying it is to add pictures since it always puts them at the top. I googled for a solution on this, and found that Windows Live contains Windows Live Writer which makes posting and editing about a million times more simple - pictures go where your cursor is! It also lets you manage multiple blogs through one interface, it grabs your template so you see exactly what it's going to look like as you type and more.

Go to http://get.live.com/ to download. When you go to install, there will be a screen that lets you choose which programs to install - I would uncheck everything but Live Writer unless you really want some of the other stuff. Then you just jump through a couple of hoops to hook up your Blogger account and viola!

Happy blogging!

A Long Time Ago...

2008-10-31T12:15:00.000-07:00

... for a Halloween far, far away...

Anya was Chewbacca, Willow was Princess Leia, Daddy was Darth Vader and Mommy was a Jedi. The double stroller was the Millenium Falcon.

Anya caught on to the trick or treating concept very quickly and was picking out her own candy from the bowl by the 3rd house. As soon as we would leave a house, she would say "more trick or treat? more trick or treat?"

Our good friend Lisa came along with her 10 month old daughter Allison (who was the cutest little pea pod ever).

Mom & Dad manned the fort with Aunt Patti & Uncle Bill while we went out trick-or-treating.

I was very impressed that most people knew that Anya was Chewbacca! Yay for the cultural impact of Star Wars!

Click here for all the Halloween photos!

The Big Trip

2008-10-26T10:34:00.000-07:00

Camp Pendleton (just outside of Oceanside, CA) is long freakin' way (2 days, 8 hours or so each). Especially with a 2 year old repeating the word "sunglasses" for hours.

The cottages on base were awesome - literally right on the beach.

Anya's first experience with the ocean? Slightly hesitant at first, but then Daddy had to hold her back from launching herself in! Willow liked the wind.

She spent many happy hours in the water with the boys and playing in the sand with Joey. Pouring shovels of sand on her head was super fun, apparently. We've been back for two weeks and I think we may have just gotten all of the sand out of her ears and hair.

It was great to see where Jake's family is living, and I love hanging out with Nat. The boys and Uncle Sean always have a blast together.

On Wednesday, we headed up to Anaheim for the girls' first trip to Disneyland - Anya was so excited! Unfortunately, she got sick for it, but no matter how tired she was by the end of the day, she would be saying "more Disneylam?" when we got home at night. The Dumbo ride, the carousel and meeting Mickey Mouse were big hits, and she just seemed to love the ambiance. Willow went on Dumbo and Pirates of the Caribbean and seemed to really enjoy it - throwing out her arms and legs, smiling and yelling "oooohhh!".

They have a new feature called "Jedi Training Academy" where a bunch of little kids (Anya was too young) get trained as Padawans by a Jedi Master and then each one gets to fight Darth Vader. Anya was so incredibly excited when Darth Vader came on stage. She was jumping up and down yelling "Darth Vader! Darth Vader!" - I thought she was going to rush the stage like an Elvis groupie.

When we left on Saturday, Sean said "Say goodbye to Disneyland!" and Anya waved and said "Bye, bye, Disneylam". Then added, very softly and sadly, "Bye, bye, Sleeping Beauty's Castle."

Click here for all of the Camp Pendleton photos

Click here for all of the Disneyland photos

Look Who's 2!

2008-10-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

Anya had a great time at her birthday party, although you couldn't tell from looking at her during the party. She's been talking about it ever since, though!

When it came time to blow out the candles, she surprised us with an unknown skill - she did it with her nose!

The Elmo theme was a big hit, she has fun playing with the "Mr. NooNoo" who came on her cake (Mr. Noodle).

Thanks to everyone who came and made it such a special occasion for her!

CClick here for all of Anya's 2nd Birthday photos!

Things you need to know:

2008-10-04T17:24:00.000-07:00

1. Anya is going to be Chewbacca for Halloween and Willow will be Princess Leia. In keeping with the theme, I got Anya a Darth Vader trick-or-treat basket, which I showed to her early in case she was going to freak out about it.

2. Anya is now obsessed with Darth Vader.

Last night, I had the basket on the table. After dinner, I set Anya's tray on the table next to it and forgot about it, which is a no-no in general since Belle will get up on the table (all four paws) to eat any food left out.

A little later as we were getting ready to go for a walk, I looked over at the table to see Belle up there eating Anya's leftovers, so I yelled "Belle, get down!".

Anya noticed as well and FLIPPED out. "Belle, off, Darth Vader, off! Belle! No! Darth Vader!"

She cried about it for about half of our walk and kept giving Belle dirty looks.

Apparently, she felt the need to protect Darth Vader from the evil, evil beagle.

She's going to be very disappointed someday when she finds out he's a bad guy for much of the series.

Enchanted Forest

2008-10-04T17:20:00.001-07:00

We took the girls to Enchanted Forest for the first time. Anya was not a big fan of the animatronics along the storybook lane. She loved the bumper boats and little train (not that you could tell from the stoic expression on her face), and was very disappointed that she couldn't go on the bobsleds (ride? ride?).

The slides were also a big thrill!

She was completely entranced by the water show at the end where color water dances to music.

All in all, a fun day, we can't wait until they are both old enough to really enjoy it!

Cute Things that Anya Says and Does #3

2008-09-22T13:05:00.000-07:00

Tinkerbell = Tinkybell
She recognizes the "ding! ding! ding!" of the stock market closing and yells "clofing bell!"
She loves our real estate agent, almost every time we get in the car she asks "Don house?". She also recognizes the ringtone I have his calls set to and yells "Don! Don!"
She recognizes most of the letters in her name, but defaults to "e" when she can't remember
Last night she put crayons down her pants for some unknown reason
When we walk down to get the mail, she points out our neighbor's pickup that is similar to my Dad's and says "bompa's picky"

Dear Mr. Obama

2008-09-18T11:06:00.001-07:00

Listen up! I know this blog has been mostly family related stuff, but this is awesome:

Transcript:

Dear Mr. Obama: Having spent 12 months in the Iraq theater I can promise you, this was not a mistake. I witnessed firsthand the many sacrifices made by the people of Iraq. Those sacrifices were not mistakes. Iraqi people are just like us. They want a chance to live in a secure world, free from tyranny, free from terrorism, free to prosper, free to raise their children and pass on a future. Are they better off today than they were in 2002? You bet. I’ve seen many men sacrifice their lives for the Iraqi people. They died for a purpose, not a mistake. They died giving hope. They died promoting freedom. Do you rescue a fireman just as he’s about to save a child? When you call the Iraqi war a mistake, you disrespect the service and the sacrifice of everyone who has died promoting freedom. Freedom carries with it a price. Because you do not understand nor appreciate these principles, sir, I am supporting Senator John McCain for president. He, too, made a huge sacrifice promoting freedom, because he understands the fundamental truth, freedom is always worth the price.

Big surprise, this is getting little to no play in the mainstream media despite 8,232,924 views on YouTube. We wouldn't want any one to think that many of our service people think they are doing the right thing and are proud to serve, would we?

New Photos

2008-09-17T11:37:00.000-07:00

Click the Our Photos button for more....

Cute Things that Anya Says and Does #2

2008-09-17T10:43:00.000-07:00

Soccer = soccers
You know how the Barney song ends "with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you"? Anya ran over and bent down and gave Willow a big kiss.
Lunch = munch
She puts in the accent in the wrong places in words "grass-HOP-er" "hap-Y birth-DAY"
She asks me to read "Jesus and the 12 Dudes who Did" by saying "more Jesus? more Jesus?" and signing more.
She rarely says please, preferring to sign it. If we ask her to use her mouth to say please she makes the sign over her mouth rather than her chest.

New Photos and New Designs

2008-09-05T14:37:00.001-07:00

I've posted a bunch of new photos, and a few new designs are up at www.WhiteDogBlackDog.com.

Cute Things that Anya Says and Does #1

2008-09-05T14:17:00.000-07:00

So I'm going to start a series of posts so I can record the things that Anya says or does that I want to remember. If you find these boring and/or the ravings of an overly sentimental mommy, please feel free to ingore.

Pigtails and pony tails are "pony hair"
Her night light is a "light dark". If I try to correct her, she corrects me back and says "no, light dark"
Eli is "I-lie"
She has to pick up a white rock from our front flower bed before we go to the mailbox, which she then carefully puts back upon our return
She stands in front of Sean (or Grandpa) while seated, and throws herself knees first onto their stomach while yelling "gut bomb!"
She asks permission to run - "Run? Run?"
Okay is O-tay (said loudly with a vigorous head nod)
When asked who has tattoos, she starts with Mommy, then names Bompa, Jake and Aunt Patti. She also carefully inspects each of Mommy's tattoos on a regular basis (wing! daggon! foot!")
She has developed a bug phobia and will scream and cry when even a ladybug comes near. She waves her arms wildly and shouts "go 'way, bug!"
She says "bye Sorka, bye Belle" when we leave the house
When I started closing the garage door the other day after we came home from a walk and Willow was still in the stroller, she started crying and yelling "Baby! baby!" until I picked Willow up and reassured her that Mommy wouldn't forget baby and the garage door wouldn't hurt her.
She has to sleep with Lion, Puppy, Brown Dog and Piggy. If any of the quartet is missing she screams bloody murder. Since Friend is sitting on my bed as I write this, it seems hypocritical to not make sure they are all tucked in each night...
She sniffs Bompa's cheek and says "Old Spice!"
Rather than sucking on her thumb, she holds the back of her wrist up to her mouth for comfort (she doesn't suck on it, just rests it there). Willow has already started doing this too.

Willow's Adventures in Eating

2008-09-05T14:08:00.000-07:00

Our pediatrician recommended going ahead and starting Willow on solids due to Anya's texture aversions - we're hoping to head off anything similar by getting a jump start. Willow has great head control and can sit up when buckled into the high chair.

She's not too sure what she thinks of cereal, but we'll keep trying it for the next couple of months before we get into more variety! It's a bit early to be starting cereal, but she is doing great at keeping it down and not thrusting it back out with her tongue.

FAIL

2008-09-05T14:06:00.000-07:00

My very own fail picture creation - Mom & Dad have this ashtray up in Molalla.

How Do I Love My Kindle? Let Me Count the Ways...

2008-09-05T13:41:00.000-07:00

What is a Kindle, you ask? It's Amazon's ebook reader. I've had it for a bit over a month now and it's once of the best gadgets I've ever purchased (and being the gadget girl that I am, you know that's saying something).

Why would I need one when I already have a desktop, laptop and smart phone?

It uses eInk with no backlit screen, so it's much easier on the eyes, and more importantly, can be read in the sun!
I can store thousands of books at once on it - no more suitcase full of books on vacation (Sean is particularly happy about this aspect).
It can read most ebook formats, so I can convert much of my library to electronic format - we should only have to move a few bookcases this next move instead of 8!
It connects to the internet wirelessly, so I can download books from Amazon whenever I get a hankerin'. I can also surf the net from anywhere because it uses Sprint's evdo service (and it's free!)
Those books I mentioned in the last bullet point? All of them are 9.99 or less. Yes. That includes brand new $30 hardbacks - just 9.99!
My laptop battery might last for 8 hours if I'm lucky. I plug in my Kindle about once a week or less and I'm an extremely avid reader.
I can hold it and turn pages with just one hand!

I can't recommend this enough for any other avid readers. It was a hard choice between this and Sony's reader, but I like that this has Amazon's backing and the price for the books is hard to beat.

I'm not loaning you mine, so go buy your own.

Willow's 4 Month Checkup

2008-08-27T16:23:00.000-07:00

Height: 25" (64%)
Weight: 12 lbs, 10 oz (16%)
Head Circumference: 41 1/2" (51%)

Only two shots, she's on a modified/delayed vaccination schedule

So it looks like we'll have another petite girl - she and Anya were the same height and head circumference at this age, but Anya weighed 14 lbs, 1 oz! Our doc is not concerned about Willow's weight - she's bright, smiley, strong and very active. She may be burning more calories than many babies at this age because she's been rolling over since 2 months and scoots all over the crib.

New Photos

2008-08-21T19:52:00.000-07:00

Dang, we have cute kids! Click on the "Our Photos" button for more!

Phantom Birthday

2008-08-21T14:25:00.000-07:00

My wonderful husband took me to see Phantom of the Opera in Portland last night for my birthday. It was a great production - this Phantom was far superior to the last one who danced around the stage like he was going to wet his pants.

This time, I got chills a few times while watching it. There was an unintentionally funny moment where Christine got her dress caught on the boat and finally tore it free to get over to the Phantom in time to pull off his mask - kind of a pivotal moment and you could see her getting desperate to make it in time!

I was showing Anya the souvenier program today and she wants to keep looking at it over and over again. On each page she points to Erik and says "Pantim! Pantim!" She was also very excited to make the connection that the movie poster hung in our bedroom also has the "Pantim" on it.

**sniff** makes a geek mommy proud

Okay, seriously, this is the one...

2008-08-20T10:54:00.000-07:00

Stop laughing! We've found one that fits all of our needs and wants (well, other than location, we'd prefer South Salem, but this one is so perfect we're willing to make the change) - now if we can just agree on a price and get our house sold!

The view! The yard! The hardwood floors! I'm in love!

House for Sale

2008-08-07T11:55:00.000-07:00

Click here for listing with photo gallery and virtual tours.

Open space (family room, kitchen, dining combo) in back opening to private fully fenced backyard with large deck & hot tub (great for gatherings or entertaining) yet a separate large formal living room as you enter front door. Remodeled in 1989 to open up & enlarge. House features both jetted & soaking tub, lots of built ins, kitchen skylight, formal dining, attic storage, two cooking surfaces (Jen-aire & glass top range), large master bath with access to outdoor hot tub/deck, walk in closet, roof 5 yrs old

$370,000

MLS Number: 600451
Address: 1983 Arithmetic Dr SE
City: Salem
County: Marion
State: OR
Zip Code: 97302
Acres: 0.19
Sq Ft: 2996
Year Built: 1981
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 2
Property Taxes: $ 4142
List Date: 8/5/2008
Garage Capacity 2
Elementary School Pringle
Middle School Judson
High Scool South Salem

What I see when nursing...

2008-08-03T11:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, Different House

2008-08-03T07:59:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: We're still negotiating on this, we are working hard to get our house on the market and sold because that would solve a lot of our issues. If you know anyone who would be interested in our current house, please send them our way! Someone pointed out that it would make a great adult foster care home. I'll post a link to our listing as soon as it's up.
----------------------
So our offer on the other house fell through, but we're okay with that because we think we've found something even better. This house is older, but the layout is just ideal (no pool, though) and for the price we can update and modernize it to make the interior really awesome as the years go by!

Best Fortune Cookie Ever

2008-08-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

This was in Sean's fortune cookie last night...

The Mess Anya Made

2008-07-31T08:02:00.000-07:00

So I was cleaning up the kitchen while Anya was still eating this morning and not really watching her, when I heard her say cheerily "Yogurt! Mess! Mess!". I turned around to discover the following:

Yogurt dripping from her bangs....

Covering the highchair, table and floor...
And Belle...

Report on Anya

2008-07-21T17:00:00.000-07:00

Anya had her barium swallow test and they found no physical abnormalities - so they are sticking with the diagnosis of oral aversion (she's really, really, really picky, even more than a normal toddler).

They want us to see an occupational therapist to get her eating better, but we've just noticed in the last couple of days that she seems to be responding better to requests (and bribery). "Eat one more bite and then you can have more ketchup", "eat one more bite and then Mama will paint your toenails", etc. So we're thinking we may try it on our own for a little bit more here to see if she's finally old enough to reason with. Hah!

New House Maybe!

2008-07-18T18:34:00.000-07:00

We are about to put an offer in on this house!

Click here

Willow's Pretty Ears

2008-07-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

Willow got her ears pierced!

She did so good, just a few cries after each piercing, and then she cooed and giggled with the piercer afterwards.

Anya's First Tricycle Ride

2008-07-15T13:36:00.000-07:00

Anya went with me out into the garage and spotted the new trike, and immediately started saying "bike! bike! bike!". So we took her out on it - her feet don't quite reach the pedals yet, but she seemed to really enjoy it!

She still needs to work on the steering issue...

Wonder Woman

2008-07-07T13:43:00.000-07:00

Truth

Justice

...and the American way!

Fourth of July

2008-07-04T13:43:00.000-07:00

Our neighborhood holds a 4th of July parade and bbq each year, and Anya enjoyed watching the festivities in her patriotic dress.

The bouncy house was a little intimidating.

Willow starting to get hungry

Website Redesign!

2008-07-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

Things are looking different around here - I've updated to a new format to make it easier to update the site regularly, and for you to subscribe to the posts!

Life has been hectic adjusting to two under two, but there are new photos up under "Our Photos".

Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity

2008-06-21T18:55:00.000-07:00

Macavity Beebe

October 31, 1997 - June 20, 2008

A few weeks ago, Macavity started to eat way less - he didn't get to be 17lbs being a picky eater, so we knew something was very wrong. We took him to the vet and discovered that he had a tumor in his lungs.

Yesterday, he was obiviously in a lot of pain and going downhill fast. We tempted him with real tuna, let him roam the yard for an hour, and then made the tough decision to let him go.

We took him in to the clinic around 9pm. They were very nice, and gave us all the time we wanted to say goodbye. He had to be sedated (he hates the vet office), but then they gave him the injection as we petted him and told him we loved him, and he slipped away peacefully.

We got Macavity from the Salem Humane Society 4 days after we got back from our honeymoon ten years ago. He was four months old at the time. He was so small back then but grew and grew and grew. The first thing most people said upon entering our house was "My God, that's a big cat."

He was the most laid back cat I've ever seen. He was so good with Anya - letting her poke and pull and learn how to be gentle with an animal.

He was an awesome cat. In his honor, here's the text of the poem he was named after.

Macavity: The Mystery Cat

Macavity's a Mystery Cat: he's called the Hidden Paw -
For he's the master criminal who can defy the Law.
He's the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad's despair:
For when they reach the scene of crime - Macavity's not there!

Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity,
He's broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity.
His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare,
And when you reach the scene of crime - Macavity's not there!
You may seek him in the basement, you may look up in the air -
But I tell you once and once again, Macavity's not there!

Mcavity's a ginger cat, he's very tall and thin;
You would know him if you saw him, for his eyes are sunken in.
His brow is deeply lined with thought, his head is highly domed;
His coat is dusty from neglect, his whiskers are uncombed.
He sways his head from side to side, with movements like a snake;
And when you think he's half asleep, he's always wide awake.

Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity,
For he's a fiend in feline shape, a monster of depravity.
You may meet him in a by-street, you may see him in the square -
But when a crime's discovered, then Macavity's not there!

He's outwardly respectable. (They say he cheats at cards.)
And his footprints are not found in any file of Scotland Yard's.
And when the larder's looted, or the jewel-case is rifled,
Or when the milk is missing, or another Peke's been stifled,
Or the greenhouse glass is broken, and the trellis past repair -
Ay, there's the wonder of the thing! Macavity's not there!

And when the Foreign Office find a Treaty's gone astray,
Or the Admiralty lose some plans and drawings by the way,
There may be a scrap of paper in the hall or on the stair -
But it's useless to investigate - Mcavity's not there!
And when the loss has been disclosed, the Secret Service say:
`It must have been Macavity!' - but he's a mile away.
You'll be sure to find him resting, or a-licking of his thumbs,
Or engaged in doing complicated long-division sums.

Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity,
There never was a Cat of such deceitfulness and suavity.
He always has an alibi, and one or two to spaer:
At whatever time the deed took place - MACAVITY WASN'T THERE!
And they say that all the Cats whose wicked deeds are widely known
(I might mention Mungojerrie, I might mention Griddlebone)
Are nothing more than agents for the Cat who all the time
Just controls their operations: the Napoleon of Crime!

- T.S. Eliot, from "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats"

WILLOW HAS ARRIVED!

2008-04-27T19:06:00.000-07:00

Willow Ruby Beebe

was born today, April 26, 2008 at 1:14am at the Dent Beebe home
7lbs 10oz
20 inches
After a 2 hour labor and water birth early this morning mom and baby are doing great. Pictures are up under "Our Photos"

Click on image for full-size, printable version

"Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—how good God is."
Psalm 34:8 (The Message)

Also, Mommy won the baby pool!

No Baby Yet: Update

2008-04-22T19:06:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would let you know where I'm at. Last Thursday, I was having a LOT of contractions, and the midwife came and checked me out. There were various signs she found that convinced her that I would be having the baby within a day or so tops.

Throughout Thursday, Friday and Saturday I continued to have contractions and was getting very worn out. She checked me again on Saturday and discovered that I hadn't been progressing at all and some of the signs were now gone! All that hard work was accomplishing nothing other than making Amy VERY tired and cranky! :P

She also feels that Willow is still a bit small and it would be best to try to carry at least another week (not that there would be a problem if I delivered now, but just to give her all the time she needs to grow)...so instead of trying to encourage real labor to begin or consider inducing, we're now trying to keep it from happening and calm down the contractions so I can stay strong for delivery and let it happen when it happens.

I'm not on bedrest, but I'm supposed to be taking it verrrry easy and not exercising, walking a lot, etc. I'm still able to care for Anya with Sean's help, and the contractions are less frequent.

I appreciate your continued prayers for our family, and that the delivery happens with God's timing rather than with mine. :)

I promise that everyone will know when it happens for sure - check back here for more interim updates, otherwise no news means nothing new to report!

35 Weeks and New Pics

2008-03-30T19:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, in reponse to the whining, here is a photo of my humongous self at 35 weeks.

I've also added lots of new pics to Our Photos!

Maternity Photo Shoot - Willow

2008-01-23T19:04:00.000-08:00

Click here to see our new maternity photos!

Her Name

2008-01-01T19:03:00.000-08:00

The name Willow was very high on our list last time, but it just seemed like Anya was the right fit. This time, we were both agreed very early on that that this baby would be Willow if it was a girl.

Willow is Buffy's best girl friend on the show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". She is smart, sweet, geeky and slighly shy, but grows into herself as the show progresses. Willow does fall and become "Dark Willow" at the end of Season 6, but the sacrificial love of her childhood friend, Xander (a carpenter) brings her back to the light. She is instrumental in ending the subjugation of the Slayer line by the Watcher's Council.

We also thought that a little girl with the nickname of "Will" or "Wills" would be very sweet.

Once again, the middle name is a surprise!

New photos in the Gallery!

2007-12-19T18:57:00.000-08:00

Hundreds of new photos are up in Our Photos! Anya's Months 11-14, including her first birthday, our Thanksgiving trip to Virginia and our family Christmas photos.

Homebirth Again!

2007-12-15T19:02:00.000-08:00

Some of you have been wondering if we will have another homebirth, and the answer is a resounding yes! I firmly believe that homebirth is a safe and wonderful option for healthy pregnancies. Our midwife is still practicing, and I have been seeing her for prenatal care.

You can read my article on "Why Homebirth" by clicking here .

There's a new movie out called "The Business of Being Born" that I can't wait to see - just reading the synopsis and director's statements made me feel uplifted in our decision to have our daughters born at home.

Ultrasound and Baby Pool

2007-12-02T19:01:00.000-08:00

For more Willow pics,
click on Our Photos from the menu above.

UPDATE: The pool is now closed, and it's a GIRL!! Willow will be joining us on or around May 2.

We had our ultrasound on December 12. The pool is now closed, but you can look at everyone's guesses by clicking on the banner below:

Dragon*Con 2007

2007-09-06T19:00:00.000-07:00

We just returned from Dragon*Con 2007 and had a blast! Lots of great panels, cool costumes. I met a group called Fans for Christ that I'm excited to become a part of - there was a service held Sunday morning.

Our costumes this year were: Jayne and Vera (from Firefly/Serenity), Zorro and Elena (didn't end up with any pics), and then I had a couple of faerie/elf costumes.

We enjoyed the build team from Mythbusters and the session with Data, Dr. Crusher and Riker from Star Trek: The Next Generation. The Buffy Horror Picture Show, where the musical episode is acted out with audience participation was hilarious once again.

We had our pics taken with James Marsters and Juliet Landau (Spike & Drusilla from Buffy and Angel), Jonathan Frakes (Riker from Star Trek and Xanatos from Gargoyles) and Brent Spiner (Data from Star Trek and Puck from Gargoyles). All of them seemed very nice, James complemented my costume!

Check out the photos in Our Photos under the Dragon*Con 2007 set.

New Anya Pics

2007-09-06T18:54:00.000-07:00

Check out the new 9, 10 and 11 month pics in Our Photos. Yes, I was really off my game for Month 9.

Cayman Islands

2007-08-10T19:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, I've decided to be better about updating the frontpage of the site! You can also now sign up for an RSS feed to be notified when I make updates.

We were in the Cayman Islands July 13 -21. It was wonderful! I got my scuba diving certification (Sean already has his). The water was 86 degrees with 60+ feet of visibility. God's creation is truly a wonder to behold!

You can check out our pics by clicking on the Our Photos tab from the menu above.

10 Month Checkup

2007-08-10T18:53:00.000-07:00

Anya is doing great! Here are her stats:

Weight: 17 lbs, 8 oz (35%)

Height: 29 1/3" (84%)

Head Circumference: 44 cm (56%)

No shots this time!

Doctor thinks she will walk early as she is already cruising and attempting to stand on her own. She still alternates between a commando style crawl and regular crawling and is quite fast! She says Mama, Dada and we think we've heard both "Belle" and "milk".

She's still not really big on food, particularly her solids, but she really enjoys feeding the dogs her veggie puffs.

She waves "hi" (we're working on more sign language) and make sure to tell her to do her "tough potato" next time you see her!

Christmas Time

2006-12-23T18:52:00.000-08:00

Anya met Santa for the first time last night! She asked for binkies! :)

2 Month Checkup

2006-12-20T18:51:00.000-08:00

Anya had her two month checkup today. She is doing great! Dr. Wieler commented on what a good natured baby she is. She was not happy about her four shots, but seemed to get over them pretty quickly.

Here are the latest stats:
Height: 22 1/3" (50th percentile)
Weight: 11 lbs 11 oz (75th percentile)
Head Circumference: 39 cm (50th percentile)

This is such a relief from when she was only in the 25th percentile for weight and wasn't gaining well! Dr. says not to worry that she's now gaining too much, babies often put on some extra weight at this age to prepare for all the activity coming up as she becomes more awake and more mobile!

ANYA IS HERE!

2006-10-17T18:50:00.000-07:00

Anya Argia Beebe

was born Saturday, October 14, 2006
at 6:41am at the Dent Beebe home

8lbs 10oz

20 1/2 inches

After a 3 ½ hour labor and water birth early in the morning, mom and baby are doing great.

You can view more pictures at blissstudio.net. Click on the preview link.

You can also view more photos in Our Photos.

Argia (pronounced ar-gee-ah) is my Italian great-grandmother on my dad's side.
Although I never met her, my dad's descriptions of her and the love she showed
he and my uncles made a big impression on me. The name is to honor both her and dad.

36 Weeks

2006-09-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a difference a few months makes! Take a look at 16 weeks for comparison. I'm huge!

Nursery

2006-09-14T18:49:00.000-07:00

Many of you have been asking how the Narnian Nursery is shaping up. Thanks to many wonderful people, it's looking gorgeous! Mom and Dad painted the walls in various shades of spring green to start.

The room is oddly shaped, and opens into a little nook.
Walking through the door is like going through the wardrobe into the forest with the lampost burning softly. The trees are a rub-on transfer called Tatouage. Due to the roughness of the walls, they didn't quite go on smoothly, so Aunt Patti used her painting skills to touch them up to perfection!

Continuing around past the nook, we have the changing table and window. The built-in dresser is to the left behind the crib. The butterflies on the wall were made by myself and Grandma Pearl years ago. The mermaid wall hanging was made by one of my co-workers.

Here's the crib and the other tree. An assortment of Narnian animals,
including Aslan, Jewel the Unicorn, Mr. Beaver, Fledge the winged horse and Eustace as a dragon watch over the crib. The quilt was made by my best friend Jamie, and is embroidered with lions, crowns and swords with
"Princess Anya" on the reverse side.

When is Anya Arriving?

2006-09-06T18:48:00.000-07:00

Guess now!

To participate, go to:

http://www.expectnet.com/games/anyabeebe

or go to ExpectNet.com and enter anyabeebe as the
game name in the space indicated on the home page.

You're Invited to a Baby Shower

2006-07-27T18:48:00.000-07:00

“Once a queen in Narnia, always a queen in Narnia...”

You’re invited to help us welcome Sean & Amy Dent Beebe’s baby Anya into the Kingdom with a baby shower on Sunday, July 30 at 2:30pm

Where:
Amy & Sean’s House at 1983 Arithmetic Dr. SE, Salem, Or 97302
Directions at www.DentBeebe.com under Contact Us

Hostesses:
Natalie Dent and Nicole Hotrum

Please RSVP:
Nicole at 503.391.7672 or nicole.hotrum@gmail.com

Registries are available at:
www.DentBeebe.com under “Wishlist” or Target stores/www.Target.com under “Amy Beebe”

The nursery theme is The Chronicles of Narnia (think lions, unicorns and castles!)

Maternity Photo Shoot - Anya

2006-07-17T18:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, I've been really bad about updating this site, but we've been busy!

For my 30th birthday present (early) Sean got me a maternity photo shoot with the fabulous Whitney of Bliss Studio. Here are a couple below from week 25!

It's a

2006-05-26T13:42:00.000-07:00

…girl!

Baby Anya will be joining us in October!

Profile

It's a Girl!

Kickin'

Hi Everyone!

16 Weeks

2006-04-27T13:06:00.000-07:00

Look at my belly!

Heartbeat!

2006-04-02T13:06:00.000-07:00

At our 12 week prenatal, we got to hear the heartbeat! Download the wma (windows media player audio file) below!

The voices you hear are me (duh), Sean, my Mom, and Carol our midwife.

Baby Heartbeat - Audio.wma

Narnian Nursery

2006-03-21T13:05:00.000-08:00

We are working on a Narnian nursery for our little one! I haven't quite decided on colors yet, but overall, I have lots of ideas!

This is a place to kind of keep track of them...

Narnian shields carry a red lion rampant on a white or silver field. There is a reference however to a red lion on a green ground being used on a banner.

From the books it seems that Narnian colors were greens, yellows, and silver.

These are some of the good creatures that inhabit Narnia. The most important ones (at least to me) are starred:

*Beaver
Dwarf
*Centaur
*Deer/Stag (white stag)
Dog
Donkey
Dragon
Dryad/Naiad (tree spirit)
Eagle
Elephant
*Fuan
Fox
*Horse
Leopard
***Lion
Marshwiggle
Merfolk
Mouse
*Owl
Robin
Sprites
*Squirrel
*Unicorn
*Winged Horse
Wolf

Here are some things you might find in the landscape of Narnia:

Castle (on the sea, Cair Paravel)
Trees (Narnia looks quite a bit like Oregon, actually!)
Lamppost
Old Sailing ships (see Dawn Treader)

Here are some things one should never find in a Narnian Nursery or on a Narnian baby (because Amy really doesn't like them):

Winnie the Pooh (sorry, I know it's popular but I've always disliked his rather insipid nature)
Teddy Bears (again never liked them, perhaps because of Winnie the Pooh)

Why Homebirth?

2006-03-17T13:03:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, we are planning on a homebirth attended by a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) for the birth of our first child.

Knowing that this is a less common choice, we wanted to assure you all that this is decision that has been made prayerfully, with the guidance of medical professionals, and with hours of research on our parts.

We would like to share our reasons and our research with you on this page.

First off, why?

Birth is a natural and normal process, not an illness. Although complications may occur, a pregnant woman is not sick or injured. I have no desire to give birth in a hospital setting for sick and injured people, where both the baby and I will be at higher risk of infection.

Currently, 1 in 5 hospital births in the US end in cesearean section (some estimates put this as high as 1 in 4 or even 1 in 3). Should it become medically necessary, we would be grateful that the c-section procedure exists, but we do not want an unncessary one performed. I have had abdominal surgrey twice before and I hate it.

I want to be in safe and familiar settings, with freedom to move around, eat or drink, and choose the best birthing position. Sean and I believe that a home setting with a competent, attentive birth attendant is the best possible entry for our child into this world.

Should it be discovered that I fall into a high-risk category, we will plan to go to the hospital. In case of an emergency, we are five minutes away from Salem Hospital, or around 20 minutes away from Stayton. Studies have shown that for women who live less than 30 minutes away from a hospital, there is no time difference between receiving emergency services than women in the same hospital. Either way, the doctors have to prep first!

Our Midwife

The midwife we have chosen is a Christian woman who has been delivering babies for almost as long as I have been alive - she's even delivered 5 of her own grandchildren!. She is educated, licensed and brings a wealth of information to the process. Her cesearean rate is 1-2%, and her hospital transfer rate is 10-12%, the vast majority of which is for non-progression of labor. She brings emergency equipment to the birth, such as newborn ressuscitation equipment, oxygen, suturing materials, IVs and medication for hemmorages.

Here are her certifications:

Licesened by Oregon Board of Direct Entry Midwifery as a Licensed Direct Midwife (LDM) 1994

Registered with North America Registry of Midwives (NARM) as a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) 1994

Certified through the American Association of Medical Assistants as a Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) 1995

What is a CPM?

A direct entry midwife who has met the North American Registry Board (NARM). Requirements and passed the NARM exam and has received national certification. This midwife may also be licensed by the state in which she practices. Until recently there was no national or state exam that could provide a minimal level of competency screening for DEMs who had not graduated from an accredited school of midwifery and were not state licensed. The NARM exam certifies direct entry midwives through a skills exam as well as a competency exam.

So is it safe?

Below are links and references to support the fact that low-risk births are as safe at home as they are at the hospital.

Outcomes of planned home births with certified professional midwives: large prospective study in North America Full-text article] [
Kenneth C Johnson, senior epidemiologist, Betty-Anne Daviss, project manager
BMJ 2005;330:1416 (18 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7505.1416

Conclusions: Planned home birth for low risk women in North America using certified professional midwives was associated with lower rates of medical intervention but similar intrapartum and neonatal mortality to that of low risk hospital births in the United States. [NOTE - CPMs are equivalent to Licensed Midwives in some states.]

The State of California acknowledges that homebirth is a safe choice! SB 1479 ~ Amendment to the Licensed Midwifery Practice Act of 1993 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 1, 2000

"The midwifery model of care is an important option within comprehensive health care for women and their families and should be a choice made available to all women who are appropriate for and interested in home birth."

[Full text of the law.]

Is Homebirth for You? 6 Myths About Childbirth Exposed
http://www.gentlebirth.org/format/mythsLinearFormat.html

Read the full article for more information on:
Myth #1 — Hospital births are statistically safer than homebirths.
Myth #2 — You can get more professional attention in a hospital than you could get at home.
Myth #3 — The more modern technology you have on hand, the easier the birth will be.
Myth #4 — A hospital is a more sanitary place to have a baby than at home.
Myth #5 — A hospital is the most comfortable place to have a baby.
Myth #6 — It's impossible to find any qualified person to assist you in having a baby at home.

Outcomes of intended home births in nurse-midwifery practice: a prospective descriptive study.
Murphy PA, Fullerton J
Obstet Gynecol 1998 Sep;92(3):461-470

CONCLUSION: Home birth can be accomplished with good outcomes under the care of qualified practitioners and within a system that facilitates transfer to hospital care when necessary. Intrapartal mortality during intended home birth is concentrated in postdates pregnancies with evidence of meconium passage.

Meta-analysis of the safety of home birth
Birth 1997 Mar;24(1):4-13; discussion 14-6
Olsen O

What is the relative safety of homebirth compared with hospital birth? Ole Olsen, a researcher from the University of Copenhagen, recently examined several studies of planned homebirth backed up by a modern hospital system compared with planned hospital birth. A total of nearly 25,000 births from five different countries were studied.

The results: There was no difference in survival rates between the babies born at home and those born in the hospital. However, there were several significant differences between the two groups. Fewer medical interventions occurred in the homebirth group. Fewer home-born babies were born in poor condition. The homebirth mothers were less likely to have suffered lacerations during birth. They were less likely to have had their labors induced or augmented by medications or to have had cesarean sections, forceps or vacuum extractor deliveries. As for maternal deaths, there were none in either group.

Place of birth
Luke Zander, Geoffrey Chamberlain.
BMJ 1999;318:721-723 ( 13 March )

"No evidence exists to support the claim that a hospital is the safest place for women to have normal births "

World Health Organization's Summary of Research on Place of Birth

[excerpted from Care in Normal Birth: A Practical Guide Report of a Technical Working Group
http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/publications/MSM_96_24/MSM_96_24_table_of_contents.en.html
The World HealthOrganization (WHO) reports that "it has never been scientifically proven that the hospital is a safer place than home for a woman who has had an uncomplicated pregnancy to have her baby. Studies of planned home births in developed countries with women who have had uncomplicated pregnancies have shown sickness and death rates for mother and baby equal to or better than hospital birth statistics for women with uncomplicated pregnancies."

"Increasing Access To Out-Of-Hospital Maternity Care Services Through State-Regulated and Nationally-Certified Direct-Entry Midwives"
Introduction and Author bios for the APHA Resolution article
After five years of revising and refining, the resolution “Increasing Access To Out-Of-Hospital Maternity Care Services Through State-Regulated and Nationally-Certified Direct-Entry Midwives” was approved by the American Public Health Association (APHA) governing Council. The text of the resolution, including the footnotes, is provided at http://www.cfmidwifery.org

Infant Mortality Rate: The United States is in 36th place among developed nations of the world.

http://www.geographyiq.com/ranking/ranking_Infant_Mortality_Rate_aall.htm

David Stewart reported in the NAPSAC News that the national infant mortality rate in 1991 was 8.9 deaths per 1000 live births. Washington D.C. had the highest mortality 21 deaths per 1000 births. The state with the lowest death rate was Vermont, with only 5.8. "Vermont also has one of the highest rates of home birth in the country as well as a larger portion of midwife-attended births than most states." Stewart adds that "the international standing of the U.S. did not really begin to fall until the mid-1950s. This correlates perfectly with the founding of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) in 1951."

Marsden Wagner states that the countries with the lowest perinatal mortality rates in the world have cesarean section rates below 10%. The United States' cesarean rate is 25%. Obviously medical interventions, including cesarean section, are not doing for women what doctors claim.

Unnecessary Medical Interventions
The research shows that lower intervention rates are achieved at home, making for a more natural, gentle birth experience for mother and baby. Overuse of interventions in low-risk deliveries have iatrogenic results, meaning the intervention caused more problems than it was supposed to remedy. A.M. Duran stated in The Farm Study, published in the American Journal of Public Health in March 1992, that "home births attended by lay midwives can be accomplished as safely as, and with less intervention than, physician-attended hospital deliveries." Dr. Lewis Mehl compared matched populations of 2,092 home births and 2,092 hospital births. Midwives and family doctors attended the home births, while OB/GYNs and family doctors attended the hospital births. Within the hospital group, the fetal distress rate was 6 times higher, maternal hemorrhage was 3 times higher, limp unresponsive newborns arrived 3 times more often and there were 30 permanent birth injuries caused by doctors. In another study, Dr. Mehl compared matched groups of 1,046 home births with 1,046 hospital births. There was no difference in infant mortality. In the hospital births, there was greater incidence of fetal distress, lacerations to the mother, neonatal infections, forceps delivery, cesarean section, and nine times as many episiotomies.

What About "Emergencies"?
Birth isn't without risk. There is a slight risk that a major catastrophe could happen which could possibly be better handled in the hospital, such as umbilical cord prolapse, uterine rupture, abrupted placenta, postpartum hemorrhage. Birth is generally a slow process and there is usually ample time to transport even in the case of a true emergency. A skilled midwife provides one-on-one care and monitors the laboring woman carefully for potential problems.

Shoulder dystocia is handled better at home because of the freedom of birthing positions. If there are signs of trouble, a midwife can easily and quickly help the birthing woman get onto her hands and knees (the Gaskin maneuver, named for Farm midwife Ina Mae Gaskin). In the hospital, the beds aren't as adequate for allowing this type of position change.

The baby's oxygen supply is preserved at home by delaying umbilical cord cutting. In the hospital, the cord is cut immediately, increasing the need for resuscitation efforts.

Postpartum hemorrhage can be remedied at home by putting the baby to the breast immediately to stimulate oxytocin production and uterine contractions. Compression of the uterus can also be done at home. Some midwives carry IVs or an injection of Pitocin for these circumstances.

For true emergencies that require transport to the hospital, women laboring at home 20 minutes from the hospital have the same access to emergency surgery as women laboring at that same hospital. Many hospitals cannot prepare for an emergency surgical delivery in less than 20 minutes. The ACOG standard is currently "30 minutes decision to incision" for all non-scheduled cesarean sections.

The 1992 House of Commons Select Committee on Maternity Services,

now known as the Winterton report, went to the heart of the issue in the first of more than 100 recommendations and conclusions on pregnancy, labour and postnatal care.

"On the basis of what we have heard, this Committee must draw the conclusion that the policy of encouraging all women to give birth in hospitals cannot be justified on grounds of safety."

Elsewhere the report went further. "There is no convincing or compelling evidence that hospitals give a better guarantee of the safety of the majority of mothers and babies. It is possible, but not proven, that the contrary may be the case."

Summary of Critical Points from "Safety of Alternative Approaches to Childbirth" by Peter F. Schlenzka

A doctoral thesis comparing safety and costs of natural, out-of-hospital birth with in-hospital obstetric births. He finds out-of-hospital births to be slightly safer and significantly superior in terms of economic costs ($13 billion annually) and social costs (reduced incidence of birth trauma and bonding disorders).

Home superior to hospital birth

"Among low-risk women, home births assisted by certified midwives achieve similar rates of intrapartum and neonatal mortality as hospital births, with lower rates of medical intervention, reveal Canadian researchers." [from obgynworld.com]

In contrast to the ACOG position, the American Public Health Association passed a resolution in 2001 to increase access to out-of-hospital birth attended by credentialed direct-entry midwives. They based their decision on the weight of evidence about home birth demonstrated in the home birth studies carried out with better methodologies than were used in the Washington study.

In response to: "Is homebirth safe?" - Ronnie Falcao, LM MS, a homebirth midwife in Mountain View, CA

Rather a large number of studies have been done on this. To date, the studies show, without exception, a lower rate of mortality and morbidity for mothers and infants in all risk categories with home birth.

This runs counter to what we believe as a society: that hospitals are safer, and the right place to have a baby. All cultures have strong beliefs about the "right" way to give birth. From the outside, the beliefs of others may seem ridiculous. From the inside, anything else seems dangerous and weird. The US has very poor outcomes for a developed nation. We make up a lot of reasons why this must be so, but rarely face the fact that our birth practices are not the best.

Who does have the best? The country with the best statistics, by far, is Holland. They have about a 30% home birth rate. Pregnant women see a midwife first. The midwife is the "gatekeeper", and refers high risk mothers to OB/Gyns, who do hospital births. Healthy mothers birth at home. A significant factor in the good outcomes for infants is the birth assistant, who does light housework for a week after the birth, sparing the mother and allowing her to spend her energy bonding with her infant. The birth assistant is also a trained observer, who can detect unusual problems and alert a pediatrician, teach breast feeding techniques, etc.

How can home birth be safer than hospital birth? Most "problems" in hospital births come about due to "failure to progress". This leads to interventions, and interventions have consequences and side effects. In the hospital, this often leads to more interventions, etc. Why failure to progress? Imagine for a moment that your cat is about to have kittens. It will seek a warm comfortable place, where if feels safe. Imagine you bring it out into a strange, brightly lit area full of strangers, who poke it and examine it. Do you think it will give birth? Or will this profound and difficult process be interrupted while it takes in its new surroundings?

You certainly are safer giving birth with a trained practitioner, who has a deep understanding of the psychology and physiology of birth, who knows when to transport to a hospital, how to intervene if needed, has a certificate in infant resuscitation, knowledge of and license to use pitocin and suture, etc. And you are safer giving birth within a short transport of a hospital, should one be needed. Most licensed midwives in the US have post-graduate training, and are experts in normal birth, and will transfer you to the hospital from a home setting right away if your birth is not progressing normally.

But healthy mothers are generally safer at home. It defies what most of us believe, but the statistics bear it out.

What About the ACOG and the Washington State Pang Study?

Lest you think I am cherry-picking the results, we are aware of the Pang study:

Outcomes of planned home births in Washington State: 1989-1996.
Pang JW, Heffelfinger JD, Huang GJ, Benedetti TJ, Weiss NS.
Obstet Gynecol 2002 Aug;100(2):253-9

"This study suggests that planned home births in Washington State during 1989-1996 had greater infant and maternal risks than did hospital births."

Key points:

Washington State birth certificates do not identify which homebirths are planned; the researchers made assumptions about whether a given homebirth was planned or not.
None of the authors has any direct experience with homebirth, and no midwives were included in the research group. With only a sketchy knowledge of the subject they were researching, their work must necessarily be suspect.
The State government also used this data to come up with different recommendations

Names

2006-03-10T13:02:00.000-08:00

We've already been thinking about names for a long time - they are chosen, but we have decided not to share the middle names until the baby is born.

For a girl:

Anya
meaning: gracious
ahn-ya

For a boy: Xander
meaning: short for Alexander, protector of men
zan-der

Until we know: Nibblet

Yes, both names are from Buffy, although Alexander is also for Alexander the Great!

How did we choose them?

We both really like the name Alexander, but Alex is a very common nickname for it. We like the name Xander because of the character on the TV show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Xander is the goofball of Buffy's gang, and the only one who is human with no superpowers. Yet he fights the good fight against evil, and is the heart of the Scooby gang. Xander is the most loyal of friends, and is always someone you would want at your back. He saves the world through his willingness to sacrifice himself for his best friend, Willow.

Anya is another BtVS character. She started out as human, but became a vengance demon for over a thousand years. After she becomes human again, she is an insight into the human character with her blunt honesty, as she has forgotten the niceties of human interaction. Her crawling steps towards the light, towards becoming part of the fight against evil show the power of redemption. When she first appears in the series, she scampers away from an apocolypse to save her own skin. Later, even when her powers are returned, she chooses good over evil. In the final episode of the show, she stays to face the First Evil and dies protecting a human, and is honored as a fallen hero. She is a strong, honest, brave and funny woman.

That and we just like the way the names sound.

Last Name:

Yes, the baby's last name will be Beebe. This was the compromise for me to get the middle name I wanted, which is a secret until the birth!

Baby on the Way!

2006-02-28T13:00:00.000-08:00

"For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well."

Psalm 139:13-14

We would like you to
share in our joy,
whether it will be a girl or a boy!
With praises on our lips and joy in our hearts,
we are thrilled to annouce our first baby is due
on or around October 11, 2006

Wishlists

2006-01-01T19:09:00.000-08:00

We've combined all of the various wishlists through a service called Kaboodle

Here are links to each of our wishlists. They will open in a new window:

We also have a list for education-related items for our Further Up and Further In School!

NOTE: Don't forget to mark an item as reserved if you buy it, it doesn't happen automatically.

Other family members, feel free to sign up and let me know the link so I can add it!