Cereal Queen

Zoe loves her cereal in the morning. Recently she eats 2 full bowls of it! She's so good at using the spoon and everything. She loves sitting at the big table, eating cereal with her sisters. She's such a big girl.

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I've got to do this again

I did this last year too. I just love to revel in the weather difference between here and back home in Scotland. We actually have a decent Summer here! Wow. Here's the 4 day weather forecast (and everyone back home keeps telling me how warm it is over there!):

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The stent is out

Lana's stent came all the way out yesterday. So that's it. It doesn't seem irritated or anything, thankfully. I wish it would have stayed in for longer, but these things happen I guess. Now we just watch and wait and see if it seems to have worked or if it will block itself back up again.....

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First braids

I'm just still working my way through July photos. I got some uploaded from Zoe's first braids.

She doesn't keep anything in her hair for long, she loves just yanking it all out and letting her hair hang wild style. So I made sure to snap up some photos as soon as I got done putting these in her hair, before she had a chance to pull them out. hehe.

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A girl and her bear

Zoe adores her little pink bear, whom she calls "Bo". She started off needing something to sleep with at night, to cuddle, and she enjoyed hugging her little puppy. Then she got this bear, which as soon as I saw in the store, I knew that she'd love.

She started taking "Bo" (the way she says bear) to bed at night and cuddling him to sleep. If he gets misplaced she wakes up frantic looking for him. Now she's started wanting to take him with her everywhere. In the car, out to stores etc. She carries him around the house all day and frequently forgets where she left him and you just hear her little voice, "Bo? Bo? Bo? ........There it is!" and she squeals with delight and is happy once again. She adores her bear.

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More machines in labor

The USA, with its many technologies and sciences, has the second worst newborn death rate in the modern world . You'd think then that we'd make some attempt to alter our current approaches, but it doesn't seem that the birth industry is interested in that.

Instead, as if we didn't already impose enough interventions and interferences on mother and baby during childbirth, Barnev inc have come up with yet another machine we can stick on the mother to "improve" the way we're currently "managing" childbirth.

The Birth Track System screws onto to the baby's head during labor, and further sensors are placed on the mother's cervix. The machine then uses ultrasound technology to determine how dialated the cervix is and how far the baby's head has engaged/decended down the birth canal.


The company claim the following benefits:

Your partner will be able to be an active participant in the labor process as
he/she follows the progress of the partogram on the screen next to your
bed.

In otherwards, your partner can be distracted by the screen and learn to rely on it to tell how things are progressing, rather than paying attention to how you are coping. I remember my first labor, with heather, how intimidated I was by the machines and people in white coats. My husband and I would stare at the machine monitoring my contractions and watch the numbers rise every time. It made me feel like the machine was responsible for the contractions and like they weren't valid unless the machine showed a high number. Instead, I should have been focussing inward on what my body was accomplishing. The machines were scary and made me feel less in control of what was happening to me.

Early decision making - Precipitous and non-progressing labor may be detected
earlier and appropriate actions taken for improved outcome

In other words, we'll be able to whisk them off for a c-section faster, which puts the mother at 2-4 times greater risk of dying in childbirth. Currently, about 1 in 3 babies are being delivered via c-section in the USA, and our newborn death statistics don't seem to indicate that this is helping save many lives.

Staff time spent on digital examinations is potentially utilized better
elsewhere. Better use of personnel resources leads to cost reduction and more.

Ah, so we can make labor even more impersonal. Leave the lady in the room strapped to machines alone with her husband there to watch the machine screen and the Drs and midwives can spend time doing other things instead of supporting or comforting the couple. Don't you just love progress like this?

Support tool during litigation- BirthTrack provides full documentation of
cervical dilatation and fetal head descent during the labor process

It's all about the law suit.

The site also states

you need to realize that the system will not collect information on the progress
of labor while you are walking

Women will be strapped down in bed for this to be effective. Waters will be broken which increases the chance of infection and the risk of cord prolapse. Then the mother is lying down through labor, which doesn't allow gravity to help bring the baby's head down, the very thing this machine is designed to monitor! And if the head is not coming down it could potentially inhibit dialation of the cervix, the other thing this is set up to monitor.

Yet I'm sure the machine will catch on. It makes about as much sense as some of those other machines they currently use. Why not.

And I can't make a post like this without including this sketch at the end.

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I'm a proud big sister

My wee brother has followed in my foot steps and become a drummer (a better one than me!) and is now in a band at 11 years old.


Check out the Flaming Revolvers
http://www.reverbnation.com/flamingrevolver



I think he's pretty awesome for an 11 year old! And I'm thrilled to see him leaning towards hard rock rather than the neddy type music. Ah yes he's made his big sister proud.

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HAT

Zoe is a hats and shoes girl. She is obsessed. She LOVES to wear a hat, and take it off, and put it on again and take it off....etc etc She says "hat, hat".

And same with her shoes. She loves choosing new shoes from the store, pulling shoes out of the box and putting them on, "doos, doos".

When I put a new outfit on her and she recalls a hat that will match it perfectly she starts exlaiming "hat" and runs off to find it in her drawer. She's going to be a little fashion queen.

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Scottish word of the week - week 3

BEAMER



I missed a week, sorry. Anyway this week is the word "beamer" which means to have a red face from embarassment/blushing.

"I had a pure beamer when the teacher said my name out loud"



It can also be used to just describe an embarassing situation.
"Walking around with Stinky John is a total beamer".

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Sauce confusion

Took the kids to an outdoor Sunday School on a Saturday type thing this morning, and they were serving free lunch afterwards. The lady serving asked Lana whether she wanted ranch or marinara on her plate. Lana was shy and told me she wanted "MariLana"

I thought this was cute and proceded to draw attention to ourselves by reporting to the lady that she said she wants MariLana and then laughing, dorkily. Lana got a little embarassed and corrected me loudly, proclaiming, "No Mummy, I want marijuana!!".

Suddenly I wished all eyes were not on us! I just laughed nervously and all I could think up was "Well you're not getting any of THAT!! Hahahaha". Then walked away with a red face.

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Finally photos

We've been getting this computer all set up with hardware and software after having to hand back the old computer to Rene's previous employer. I've really missed having photoshop, and it's finally up and running, although its running very slowly! So I have caught up with a few photos but I still have a load to do. Anyway I have some up on smugmug and there are more on the way.


For those of you too lazy to click on the link, here are a few sneak peeks. (click on the pics to see them larger)

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My resourceful daugher

I was reading to the kids about crickets and grasshoppers and we were learning about exoskeletons, meanwhile Zoe was raiding the tub of cotton swabs and throwing them all over the floor!

So at tidy up time I told Kaya we'd need to throw them out and she thought that would be far too wasteful, so she said "no, we should keep them and learn about animal skeletons and use these to make models of them".

What a great idea! She's so creative and so resourceful.

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No photos

I'm still taking photos, but only just got a card reader (our last one was on Rene's previous work's computer, which he had to return) and I still don't have photoshop on this computer yet, and I'm not posting any photos while they're still naked (as in, unedited, unphotoshopped!).

That's why I haven't been posting to my blog much. Between being ill and just having no photos to post. Hopefully we'll get these things through the mail soon which will allow us to use our old hard drives, and we can get the files and things we need from it. All my brushes and photoshop actions etc. And we'll get this machine up and running for some photo editing.

I'm having serious photoshop withdrawl right now.

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Sweet moment

Sitting here at the computer, listening to Plumb album - Blink (lots of lullaby type songs, soothing and sweet), Zoe sleeping in my arms with her hand rested on the bump. And Turtle keeps kicking her hand. I heart them.

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Scottish cold

We had 6 mad Scotsmen visiting us on Sunday. They are friends of ours who are touring with their band just now, and took a day out to visit with us and play killer bunnies.

Unfortunately one of them brought the cold over with him from Scotland, and now we're all full of snuffles and fevers and head colds. Zoe has it the worst I think. Rene's not too bad, which is good because he starts his new job tomorrow! I'm feeling pretty darn crappy. Hopefully it will be short lived.

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Scottish Word of the Week - number 2

BOGGIN'

If something is disgusting, it can be described in Scotland as being boggin'. Here in the USA one would be likely to say "eeeeeeewwww that's gross", whereas the Scots person may say "that's pure boggin'".

We used it a lot when describing the flavor of something we found distasteful. Boiled cabbage from the school cafeteria for example. One could also describe something smelly like spilled sewage all over the kitchen floor as being "pure boggin'".

I think you get the general idea. Go on, fit it into a sentance this week. We'll make good Scots folk of you all yet.

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Things are looking up

On Friday Rene went into the South side of town for a formal job offer. They discussed the details then he came home to talk it over with me. Wonderful news. While we were looking at our budget to see if we could make the job work, another company called him and offered him a job for more money! Wow.

It was a bit of a dilema, but at the end of the day, we took the job for less money, it's further to drive, and the work will be more difficult. But we prayed about it and felt it the right decision. We're more at ease with this company, and I think Rene will have more job satisfaction there. It's going to push him harder, but be more rewarding.

Our budget will we tighter than it's been, but as long as we stick to it, we'll be ok. It's just so exciting to be back in the world of employment! Such a relief. Phew. So thanks for the prayers people. It worked. :)

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A girl and her bear

Zoe's so cuddly these days. She loves to have a soft toy to cuddle in her arms. She always takes either her puppy, or a bear to bed and loves to cuddle it while she pulls up her covers and says "bed" with a smile and gets comfy.

A couple nights ago we walked in to see her asleep tucked in our bed, and a foot away from her was her bear, tucked under the covers too. I guess she didn't want to cuddle him this time, she just tucked him in so sweetly. It's adorable.

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