Elliot-ness- wholesome family living!

2010-06-11T12:51:00.000-07:00

Naomi and Caleb, best friends already.
No seriously, Naomi just adores her little brother. It is more than I could have asked for. I fully expected this once only child-princess crazed three year old to be just a stab jealous of her ultra cuddly (and a bit more demanding) brother. Instead, she rubs his little head and talks to him in "baby talk" exclaiming "he's so precious' and "I love my brother!" My heart melts.

Latest news: because it is June and my last post was February:

We switched out the Michael Jackson Cd in our car to ABC Bible verses. When Naomi started requesting "Dirty Dianna" I realized there was perhaps something more wholesome I could use to influence her little sponge of a mind. Now instead of singing "I've got the stuff that you want, I am the thing that you need..." we bop to "be kind to one another". Go mom!

Our Third Studio (Yes! Health and Wholeness is expanding!) is taking FOREVER. Apparently, in property management speak, June means September.

I learned the key to roasting a perfect chicken is 400degrees and a stabbed-lemon stuffed in its cavity...350 was not cutting it.

Homemade popsicles are wonderful with coconut milk! My latest fav, Mocha pops!: 1 can coconut milk, 1/2 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup maple syrup, 1TBS honey and a splash of that mornings decaf coffee.

Coconut oil may work as a natural sunblock for dark skinned people in India who have been working in a field since they were 8years old, but not for my ultra pale-havn't seen the sun since last September-husband, who got extremely sunburnt because his wife insisted "honey! I read about this, in India, they..." Poor guy.

Oh, and I went to a natural dentist for a cleaning (amazing!) and a quote as to what it would cost to get all 9 amalgam fillings (yes, my childhood dentist retired at age 35 because of me) removed and replaced. It will be expensive, but not nearly as bad as I imagined. Will be well worth it. I do the procedure after I am done breast feeding Caleb. The mercury can be released into your system, and they require a major blood detox after the procedure. Go detox! THAT I will blog about for sure!

Camping trip coming up in July.

...and that is about it folks...I realize now why there has been no posts since February.

Cheers!

Caleb at two months

2010-03-02T10:56:00.000-08:00

He is already getting so big! I am just savoring every minute of this infant stage, because I know it will be gone before I know it!
We Love you Caleb!

and the not so delicious healthy meal:

2010-02-28T11:17:00.000-08:00

Liver. That is , the liver of a cow.
Urg.
This huge package of animal parts have been sitting in the back of my fridge since the month I found out I was pregnant with Caleb and decided I needed to integrate all the health building benefits of liver into my diet. ( A four-ounce serving of calf's liver provides an amazing 689.8% of the daily value for vitamin B12, 215.2% of the DV for folate, 129.4% of the DV for riboflavin, and 28.0% of the DV for B6, and 48.0% of the DV for niacin.)
a great idea...one that never was actually realized. The minor detail I forgot was that I
a.) had NO idea how to cook liver and
b.) that there is nothing I have ever tasted that repulses me more than the grainy texture and rich gagging aroma of this warm organ.
During the snow storm of 2010 here in Virginia we let our freezer supply get little low, and so I re-discovered this item and decided I either needed to cook it or throw it away. Throwing it away felt wrong (although cooking it did as well-sigh).
Busted out Mark Bittman and followed his recipe, which called for lots of butter, a flour dredge, some sauteed celery and a quick pan sauté. Sounded doable.

Not to be dramatic, but this was the worst thing I have eaten in my entire life. Even a gallon of butter and a cup of salt, and 5 squeezed lemons couldn't distract my tastebuds enough.

I hated the idea of my innocent daughter being tainted by my strong opionons about liver. I wanted her to try it before we had any, in order for her to decide that it was delicious (and this way, I could give her my serving!).
I got her reaction below.
I think I will stick to my multivitamin. The cow can keep its liver next time.

Goin Vegetarian...for just one meal anyway.

2010-02-28T10:27:00.000-08:00

Last year I completed a 6 month nutrition certification program at the Tulsi Holistic Living Center in Georgetown. Among the many fascinating things I learned was that Americans eat entirely too much animal protein. When, I realize that only a very small percentage of people are actually eating meat from clean-grass fed sources, it is easy to understand how this is a problem. Conventional meats, raised on grain diets, are typically more sickly animals. They are fed antibiotics and given growth hormones which directly affect those who consume them. The ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 fats is way out of whack which leads to inflammation in our bodies. Also, animal proteins, once digested, leave behind what is referred to as an "acid ash" . As the body attempts to re-alkanalize the blood, it must leach minerals from our reserves (bones) in order to establish stable PH levels in the blood. In other words, That five dollar foot long isn't as healthy as one would hope.
So, when my main message is GO ORGANIC, support local farms and always consume meat that is naturally raised to organic standards, I also got to thinking about how I can implement more vegetarian sources of protein into our family meals.
Some ideas such as combining brown rice with soaked beans in our burittos instead of always using ground beef, making bean and grain salads inspired by those found at the Whole Foods salad bar stand to add to our salads and adding sliced almonds and sunflower seeds to my rice pilaf.
However, my favorite weekly stand by:

Stock boiled Garlic LentilsSauteed Rainbow Chard and sauteed Rainbow Chard Stems (great texture and because who doesn't like eating something pink for dinner?!)
Creamed Yams with Cardamon.
Things like legumes, grains, nuts and seeds contain fiber, which helps clean out the pipes, unsaturated fats (please note, I am not saying that saturated fats from clean animals is a bad thing), and minerals which actually alkalize the blood! Furthermore, when a pound of grass-fed ground beef is $6 compared to two cups of french lentils for $1.20, we could spend a little less per meal here and there!
So here you have it. Our weekly go to-nonmeat-meal. It just occurred to me that I can't call this vegetarian when I am cooking my lentils in bone broth, a topic so very cool, it belongs in a blog post of its own!

Welcome Caleb!: My Son's Birth Story

2010-02-15T13:14:00.001-08:00

Life with two children has been quite the transition. Well, I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if I had no expectations to get anything done during the day, or if I didn't find arriving on time somewhere to be of any importance. Between all 8 of Caleb's outfit changes because of something wet spewing out of either end, and Naomi's need to be 'just like mommy' with her purse filled with all the important accessories, making it out the door is quite the accomplishment on the list, just ahead of cleaning my bathroom!

Caleb is now 7 weeks old, and just when I thought I couldn't fall more in love, the little man learned how to smile. Eyes locked, big grin, cooing sound, and I am a gonner. Naomi thinks he is "just sooooo cute!" and I couldn't agree more.

He is also quite the considerate child. Although he was 6 days over due, when he decided it was time, he didn't dilly-dally! From the moment my water broke on the floor of my living room, to the time he was wrapped in a purple blanket (sorry kid!) in my arms, only an hour and 43 minutes had passed. Just topping Naomi's birth by 15 minutes. What can I say? We don't mess around :)

But seriously. I am so grateful for the experience and with every birth story I hear that involves hours of painful labor, contractions on top of each other, pushy nurses, long needles and numbing drugs, I recognize that my experience is not typical. To be fair, if most women choose to give birth at a hospital from a place of fear, I choose a home birth for the exact same reason; The smell, the germs, the busyness, the rules and regulations, just a few reasons why hospitals freak me out. After Naomi's two hour labor, I recognized that she was not too far off from being delivered in the back of our new jeep in the center median on the GW Parkway, cutting out the commute was definitely part of our baby#2 strategy.

So here we are, it is the evening of the 23rd of December. The entire Elliot family was staying over at our house for our Christmas celebration. The last few bites of lasagna had been scrapped from the pan and we were in the middle of discussing what the nights entertainment should be. Half of the room voted for Scattagories, the other half a movie, and with one little pop and a gush of water I got to override both options and we all headed upstairs to have a baby!

My family was a great help. They all scurried around making sure things were in order. The midwife was called, the sheets were on the bed, Stephens camera was set, the baby's outfit was tucked into the heating pad and plugged into the wall...The energy in the room was light and fun (and at that point, contractions were not too terrible), and everyone was placing bets on what time the baby would be born.As this was my second time in labor, it allowed me to put fear completely aside and just be present in what was happening to my body. Not in a weird zen-hypnotic sort of way, rather it was like I could experience every moment with more clarity and awareness than I remember with my first. I recall Joey asking me (because the entire family had front row seats on the couch in our bedroom) what a contraction felt like. Before answering him, I allowed one to grip a hold of me so I could give a good answer. While breathing like a powerlifter, relaxing my forehead, uncontrollably digging my fingernails into the palms of my hands, I quieted myself to really feel what my body was doing. My answer was not all that extraordinary but that a contraction felt just the way one would expect! That in every 30 second climb up the mountain of pain and back down, my body was opening up just a little more, allowing something that weighed about 9 pounds to bear down into the newly created space. I just stood there, legs wide, by the side of the bed, gripping onto Christian during the most painful moments, and laughing and talking with my family during the calm. My body was in complete rhythm, and as the song played, the beat got a little faster and the base a little louder.
The midwife arrived after an hour and 20 minutes. I remember hearing her sauntering up the staircase, casually commenting about how many stairs we had, greeting the family and contemplating the best place to put her things when suddenly her tone changed as she realized how close she was to missing this birth altogether! (later she told us that in the 1500 births she has assisted, mine was one of the fastest).

I was dilated to an 8 already, my contractions were hard and very close together. About 10 minutes passed and we were to the point when it was time to push. She had me lie back on my side, a position that I later learned was intended to slow the birth down. This is when I started to realize how quickly it all was happening. After my first or second hard push I freaked out, suddenly feeling a wave of fear and self-consciousness grip hold of me, I demanded everyone to leave the room immediately. A dejected group of people rushed into the hallway. My birth assistant apparently knew exactly what I was going through. She quietly calmed me down, praised how I was doing, gave me some breathing techniques, then said in the tone of voice of a mother asking her toddler to hold her hand while crossing the street,
"the head is here, I know how important it was for you that your family see this, would you like to invite them back in?"
Oh yes, that is right! This is it! I am giving birth!
"this is the cool part!"
I remember exclaiming,
"guys, come on in!"
One by one, all 7 of them filed back into the room, and in one hard push I felt instant relief as the contractions halted and a perfect and slimy baby was placed on my chest. I remember Heidi being the first to notice "You have a boy!" The look on my husbands face was utter joy.
The next several minutes were spent getting situated. The midwife pulling my top down so the boy could have 'skin to skin' time, my husband kindly trying to protect my modesty with the family in view, the baby's imbelical chord getting snipped by dad, pillows propped up, blankets re-arranged, baby getting jostled so it could give out a good cry...and at last, I could relax, take a deep breath and meet my new baby boy.

I would say that the benefit of having a home birth really proved itself from here out. We were home, in the comfort of our own bed, surrounded by family, never separated from our baby and given time to truly savor what had just happened. My birth assistant (who finally arrived 10 minutes after he was born) went into my own kitchen to prepare me a platter of organic fruit, herbed turky, olives and raw cheese (good luck finding food that good in a hospital!) The lights in our room were dim as my husband and I snuggled with our newest little Elliot and prayed Gods abundance over our first son. There were no interruptions, no monitors, no twin sized bed, no 'strangers' popping in to check charts, no tubes in my arms or people behind a curtain, no explaining to 5 different people why were opting out of the antibiotic eye cream, and the synthetic vitamin K shot.
Overall, the entire experience was fantastic. At about 2am the house quieted down and we all drifted off to sleep, our new baby snuggled between us in our bed. The next day was Christmas eve and the start of our very special Christmas celebration when a Son was born, when a child was given.

baby is almost here!

2009-12-14T14:19:00.000-08:00

...not that any one is out there, but I needed to do this, log onto this poor abandoned blog and just write SOMETHING!
To get myself in the groove, ready for a new year, a new baby and a a fantastic new blog coming your way: committed to bringing friends and family up to date with all the happenings at the Elliot house hold, as well as all the new wonderful things I am learning on my "holistic family living" journey.

SO much has been happening since I dropped my blog ball.
I will do my best to fill in the gaps in the months ahead.

For now, I mean, for this week, I plan on delivering baby number two in the comfort of my own bedroom, with my entire family (yes, we have a couch in our room for optimal sideline viewing) present. Pregnancy has gone incredibly well and I have nothing to complain about, other than I am ready to kiss this little baby on the cheeks rather than feel its heel in my ribcage :)

So, stay tuned. I've got a new computer, a renewed excitement to blog and a little more determination to stay with it :)

Much love,

Nina

2009-07-06T06:12:00.000-07:00

Super Suds!

2009-03-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

I am committed to using non-toxic products. Every once and a while I miss the gagging smell of pure bleach. After learning all about what is in most commercial products, coupled by the fact that I have an adventurous 2 year old always craving a good dive into unexplored territory, I will have to replace a good bleach whiff, for a good vinigar whiff...and both sort of clear you up!

I sort of gave up after making my own crazy soap concoctions with no real success. Under the guidance of some "green home" book I got on line, I was pouring 1/2 cup of straight borax and washing soda into my wash cycle. All my clothes faded and balled up like crazy, and I decided that the $13.99 spent on a gallon of 7th generation was a better deal than having to replace Nike pants every other load.
Defeat.
After seeing this recipe on a blog last week, I realized how concentrated this stuff is (for example, that same 1/2 cup of borax and 1/2 cup of washing soda makes 2 GALLONS of detergent) I now understand my error. Just because it is "all natural" doesn't mean its wimpy!
So, round two and I think have a winner! Grab your pencil, you are going to want to write this recipe down:

1 bar Fels Naptha soap
6 cups water
Grate the Fels Naptha laundry soap into a large pot of water, on medium heat until soap is dissolved
1/2 C washing soda
1 /2 C Borax
Add the washing soda and borax into the pot of soapy water and mix
Add 20 drops of your favorite essential oil (I used lavender and lemon)
Grab two one-gallon containers (I'm reusing old laundry soap containers) and fill them half way with warm water.
Add half the mixture to each gallon container, then shake.
Fill the containers all the way with water, shake again, and let sit over night to gel.
If it gels too much, just add more water.

Use 1/4-1/3 cup of liquid detergent per load. (roughly .3Cents per load)

4 Fels Naptha bars, a box of borax and a box of washing soda is about $14 on line . I went to www.soapsgoneby.com to order the products. They have more recipes on this website as well!
Happy soap making! And holey moley, happy savings!

Putting the name to the face...or the face to your food!

2009-03-27T11:06:00.000-07:00

The Omnivores Dilemma
""...nobody was insisting I personally slaughter a chicken, but I was curious to learn how it was done and to see if I could bring myself to do it. The more I'd learned about the food chain, the more obligated I felt to take a good hard look at all of its parts. It seemed to me not to much to ask for a meat eater, which I was then and still am, that at least once in his life he take some direct responsibility for the killing on which his meat-eating depends". (p.231)

I didn't kill anything...directly. But when indicated in my last order to Green Hills Farm to "throw in something that would make my chicken stock gel the way yours does" what I took home in a plastic bag made me gag in my throat. Two bald chicken heads, with eyes half shut, tangled in a little baggie with 4 scaly yellow feet. This was the first hard look I have had in a while of the true ingredients in my food. I was proud of myself in some ways, for playing a part in not allowing such a valuable body part, if you consider a head to be important, to go to waste. The chicken was destined to end up in my freezer anyway, right?

The stock turned out fantastic, a rich golden color, semi solid in the glass jar in the fridge.
Still, I must admit, when I went to the pot to skim off the scum that had formed on the top, and I saw my little chicken friend bobbing around, I tried to push him down under a huge onion. Something about his little swollen face made me uneasy. But apparently he liked the fresh air because his little beak popped right up. Thanks little chicken head.

Super Tonics, super indeed!

2009-02-24T16:11:00.000-08:00

"accuse not nature: she hath done her part:do thou but thine."
Milton

Digestive juices in the gut, Intestinal flora, and every cell in your body craves this stuff: it is the stuff every science lab is trying to conjure up into pill form and sell it to you with a pretty label. They would hate for you to know that for the price of a few Ball jars from the hardware store, a tub of yogurt and a few vegetables from your organic market, you could have, growing on your kitchen counter an amazing concoction of vitamins and enzymes far more available for your bodies absorption than anything some warehouse in New Jersey could ship to you. Beet Kvass:

1 half gallon ball jar: $1.98

1/4 Cup Whey (which can be "dripped" from a tub of plain yogurt $3.49...use the remaining yogurt as a cultured cream for a delicious butternut squash soup!)

3 medium beets $1.99

1Tbs Sea salt

Mix all ingredients in the jar, secure lid, and leave in a room temperature place with no direct sunlight and no electrical outlets near by (we wouldn't want genetically mutated mr. bacteria guys) for 3-15days...depending on how much of a kick you are going for!

-loaded with nutrients

-cleanses the blood

-promotes regularity

-aids digestion

-alkalizes the blood

-cleanses the liver

-treats kidney stones (better than mountain dew)

-enzymatic rich, insuring quality assimilation by the body

WOW! all for the low price of $7.49 (with a jar that can be re-used time after time), that is 128 one ounce servings, which is 5cents an ounce!...and it really doesn't taste that bad!

If anything, it can be added to home made dressings. Throw in a clove of garlic, some cilantro, you will never taste it:)

Ginger Ale

Where did we get this idea that when we are sick, saltines and corn syrup (labeled as ginger ale) would do anything to bring us refreshment from our icky state of being? Well, because it does! Ginger ale, the real deal, recipe as follows:

3/4 C ginger, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 C fresh lime juice
1/2 C rapadura (unprocessed cane sugar)

2 tea sea salt

1/4 C whey (drippings from yogurt strained through a cheese cloth)

2 quarts filtered water, Three days sitting in the counter until the lid of the jar is nice and tight, indicating that the little bacteria guys have been busy, bustling away created lacto-fermented, refreshing "original soda".

And, as an added bonus, ginger is helpful as an anti-inflammatory, reliever of migraines, treatment for dizziness, fever, high cholesterol, indigestion, low libido in women, motion sickness and morning sickness, sciatica, sore throat, tendinitis, toothache, ulcers, viral infections worms, chronic fatigue, even body odor! (Green Pharmacy, by J. A. Duke, PHD)

Kombucha

-the mother of all weird organisms, the living creature of sci-fi, no one knows how to classify this "symbiotic colony of yeast and bacteria". Monica said it is a hold-over from another time...erie music plays.

This mushroom like culture, feasts on black tea and white sugar, floating around in its room temperature glass container. (I know you are dying to see a picture...I haven't made one yet, but I will post it when I do)

Kombucha is the only thing besides the human liver that makes glucuronic acid, a powerful detoxifyer in the body. After it is done feasting and excreting, it makes a baby kombucha mushroom attached to its underside.

So next time your neighbor asks for a cup of sugar, throw in a baby "bouch" as well! I am sure they will thank you! (or puke in their mouth, depending on how you present it :0)

Recipe: boil 3 quarts of water, add 1 cup white sugar and steep 4 bags of organic black tea. Let the mixture cool in a bowl. Once the liquid is room temperature, remove the tea bags and add your baby kombucha culture. It wants to swim around in that beautiful mixture feasting, excreting and growing an off spring covered in a dark place for 7 to 10 days. The result is a delightful fizzy drink, that tastes nothing like sugar and tea, but more like yeast/cider and deliciousness! This spongy kombucha "pancake" can be stored in a glass container in the refrigerator until ready to be used again.

There you have it folks. Some refreshing super tonics. A strong competitor for what ever is in the medicine cabinet, the Gatorade bottle, and the soda can.

Bottoms up!

Nutrient dense stock

2009-02-02T07:45:00.000-08:00

Once again, I found myself embarrassed having no idea where stock came from...is it just the drippings from meat after it has been cooked? This yellowish tinted water I buy in 1quart boxes from the grocery store was (and still is actually) surrounded in mystery, as the ingredients don't disclose much: "organic chicken flavor, Natural chicken flavor, onion powder, turmeric and organic flavor". No wonder I am confused!

Saturday mornings Nourishing Traditional foods class was going to be all about stock. I was stoked about stock!

Starting off class, Monica announced that it was best to show us the end product first, and talk through the preparations of this basic foundation of soups and stews since the beginning of time. She pulled the boiling stainless steel pot off the stove, poured it over a stock strainer and into a glass bowl. The brown mucky liquid instantly started separating, and I could see the sediments at the bottom, separate from the fat layer on the top.

Here is natures most abundant source of minerals in their most easily absorbent form as a "true electrolyte solution". None of the minerals work independently in and of themselves, and rely tremendously on one another to do their jobs well: as follows

calcium-this guy gets a lot of press for playing a vital role for strong bones and teeth. It is also needed for the heart and nervous system and for muscle growth. But did you know that you need vitamin D (fat soluble) in order to even absorb calcium? Throw out that skim milk people, and don't scrape that good fat layer off the top of the broth just yet.
sodium: essential to life! Needed to regulate water balance, fluid distribution on either side of the cell walls, supports the functions of the adrenal glands as well as maintains the acid-alkaline balance of the body.
chloride: This guy, in conjunction with sodium and potassium keeps acid-alkaline balance in the blood as well as the passage of fluids across cell membranes. Proper protein and carbohydrate digestion depend on this mineral.
Magnesium is needed for enzyme activity, calcium and potassium uptake, nerve transmission, bone formation and metabolism of carbohydrates and protein!
sulphur:keeps infections away, blocks harmful effects of radiation and pollution and slows down aging! These guys are the building blocks of cell membranes and supher is a major component of the gel-like connective tissue in cartilage and skin.

A good broth should turn into gel as an indicator that it came from a healthy animal. One that ate its natural diet, exercised with its animal friends, and enjoyed lazy days in the beautiful sunshine. A good broth should be the staple of every bowl of hearty soup served on the American table.
A good broth is a lot easier to make, and a lot less mysterious than I imagined, available to you in a few easy steps, which I will gladly pass along!

Beef Broth:
1. 7 pounds of bones "Meaty bones", which add flavor and color, roasted in the oven before adding to pot, and "boney bones" such as marrow and knuckle bones, these yield much gelatin, a very important ingredient in a well made stock.(this is a picture of the bones after they have been cooking for 75 hours)
2. 4 quarts of water (filtered of course)
3. the Trinity of all great soups=diced carrots, onion and celery
4. vinegar, just 1/2 cup will do. Let the vinegar sit in the liquid for an hour, as the acid is needed to pull the minerals from the bones.Now is the time to not cook, but "roll" the stock, uncovered on that stove for 24-72 hours baby! Oh yea.

Strain out all the pulverized chunks, pour into a bowl, and allow to cool.

This delicious mixture goes in the freezer and gets pulled out when you are in a bind and need to make a fast dinner. Throw in some veggies, garlic and there you have it, the real McCoy, the stuff nourishing soup is made of. Time to kick that can to the curb!
No "organic", "Natural" or "other flavors" here folks...just maybe a higher gas bill:)

My Cooking Classes

2009-01-17T17:43:00.000-08:00

Today was session 1 of 7 in this great new class I found hosted by Monica Corrado titled

"Cooking for Well-Being, Nourishing Traditional Foods".

Monica is a holistic nutrition counselor and whole food chef, and ran her own catering company that specialized in local, organic sustainable farming for the past 10 years. I was looking forward to meeting the woman who played a huge role in the CSA (community supported agriculture) movement, and has so much to teach me about real food, in particular, the craziness that fills the pages of my "Nourishing Traditions" cookbook, regarding, lacto-fermenting, culturing, sprouting... Nothing in this cook book is 'open a can of this' and 'use a packet of that', and quite frankly, it overwhelms me.

I pulled up to a small house, greeted and introduced to 6 other women, and was offered a cup of raw-organic, unpasteurized apple cider. Monica, in a white chefs coat, introduced herself to me with a cheerful smile, her salt and pepper hair didn't match her bright and youthful complexion. "its all the coconut oil I put on my face" she later told us. Today's class was going to be all about fat, and on the counter top were bowls full of different colored butter, a tray with olive oil, sesame oil and some sourdough bread, and a huge container of cream.
Oh dear, and I showed up hungry.

I already know that saturated fat such as butter (organic, cultured or raw) and coconut oil are the best types of fat for our bodies, and should be eaten with no reservation. As a trainer, when I tell my clients this, they look at me as if I just asked them to run a mile outside naked.

Here are a few facts about saturated fat we went over today:
*Saturated fat is required for the absorption of calcium and minerals. Throw away the skim people (and the USDA food guide pyramid for that matter), the daily allowance in order to actually use all those minerals, including vitamins A, D, E and K is actually 40%. Yes, 40% of our total daily calories should be coming from saturated fat

*Saturated fat actually builds immunity by fighting microbes in the gut: Extra Virgin, cold pressed coconut oil is anti microbial (great for the skin too!)

*fat in the arteries is only 26% saturated fat! (74% is unsaturated, while half of that is poly-unsaturated

*60% of the brain is composed of fat, therefore when you don't eat it, your brain chemistry feels like it just ran a mile outside naked! (paraphrased)

*50%, that is half, of our cells membranes are made up of saturated fat, and need fat to function

*Saturated fats protect the liver from toxins including alcohol (may be why wine and cheese are so perfect for eachother!)

*When your body eats too much saturated fat, the body converts it to mono-unsaturated fat (amazing) which lowers LDL and does not affect HDL

*Provides energy to the heart in times of stress (and as it turns out, heart disease is just as frequent in people with low cholesterol as in those with high cholesterol, and only 10% of your body's total cholesterol comes from diet anyway!

Oh, and I liked this one, for all my "egg white only" eating clients:
*In order to assimilate the protein in the egg white, you need the vitamin A in the yolk.

Okay, so eat butter right? Yes, but there is a scale from the worst to the best: As follows
Store bought, conventional butter: Think cheaply produced from factory farms, sucked cows that are wading in fecal matter, eating corn and enduring massive tummy aches, juiced up on anti-biotics and under a lot of stress, storing all sorts of toxins in the places we all store our toxins: fat...which is milked out of them, Ultra High Temperature pasteurized (which in this case, is why pasteurization was invented), churned into a block and trucked across the nation to your grocery store. Ick.

Organic butter: better...at least the cows are fed organic grains (even though they really crave the green stuff) and not given anti-biotics. The milk is still pasteurized, destroying enzymes, which, like all pasteurized food, is bad news for your exhausted pancreas that has to work extra hard to digest the stuff.

Organic cultured butter: Much better. Now the organic living cow gets to make milk, that is pasteurized, and then re-introduced to healthy bacteria so your gut doesn't need to pay the pancreas overtime! Enzymatic active, hooray!
Organic Pastured RAW butter! Oh baby, scoop it up! Happy cow, eating grass roaming on a blissful pasture, making healthy milk, churning rich cream into something clean and unadulterated, full of enzymes (because enzymes are killed off at temperatures as low as 118degrees!) and nutrition.

And for our cooking lesson, we actually made butter.
I was shocked how simple it is. And embarrassed that I never knew what buttermilk really was.
It is in fact, for those of you who will admit with me that they are clueless here, milk from butter, literally, hence the label "butter-milk". The less moisture left in the butter, the longer it stays fresh, as the buttermilk in the butter is what turns sour first.
Pouring Monica's tub of cream into a food processor, we watched the cream turn into white whipping cream, then into something yellow and thick. We then poured the chunk out into a stainless steel bowl, squeezed the liquid out with a wooden spoon, and vuala, fresh, home made butter!
And to think I left my bonnet at home!

Here is Monica, holding our bowl of butta.

My take-away lessons for today:
*Throw out the Organic valley half and half, enzymaticly dead, homogenized (meaning fat particles are spun around and made so small that fat doesn't separate, which can create digestive issues) and stick to farmer John creamer. The real stuff.
*Pray that the Holy Spirit talks to Howard Schultz and convinces him that Starbucks needs to start supporting CSA's and incorporate real milk into the menu...or, face the fact, that when I go to S-Bucks, I may just need to drink my coffee...cringe...black.
*Stay away from the "Made with sunflower/cottonseed/safflower/canola oil" bad fats, cheaply produced, chemically extracted, highly heated, totally rancid and bleached to cover it combo when I buy processed foods.
*Use one of my billion Bed bath and beyond 20% off coupons to get a food processor (Christian, you reading this? :) and impress my family one day by running out of butter in the middle of some great meal preparation, and exclaiming "no problem! I have some cream, I will make it!" How cool will I be?!

Our Cruise...um, three months ago.

2009-01-10T11:47:00.000-08:00

Auntie Heidi and Naomi. Translation, free child care for Christian and I while we sailed on a Americas cup sail boat for 4 hours in St Marteen, wind in our hair, ocean splashing sea water on our sunkissed faces...
Just a day at the pool!

Home sweet home for our blissful 7 days 6 nights.

Mmmmm!

Walk on the beach, St Marteen.

Fancy Dinner, and Chrisian wearing a tie (because his wife made him!).

Naomi wearing Mommy's glasses, looking about as ridiculous as mommy does in them :)

Aaah! Didn't that, for a second, make you forget about the blistery cold January weather! Better late than never, our photos from our family vacation 2008. When I look at the pictures, I feel like I am back on that ship, crispy from too much sun, bloated from too much sugar, deliriously happy for the sheer joy of being with family with absolutely nothing to do but chill...I welcome you to our cruise...last November.

Naomi, here on the plane, so well behaved. She entertained everyone around us with her table top dance on the pull out trays.

I am sure the man sitting in the seat in front thought it was so cute :)

10 Things of which I am thankful for

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

1. My (yes I call him 'my') Amish farmer in Pennsylvania, who raises happy cows and chickens, free of garbage, drugs and junk so that I can eat amazing raw cheese, milk, yogurt, creamer and meat! Two weeks of vacation away from home, eating eggs that were pale yellow and yogurt with high fructose corn syrup in it made me want to send Farmer John a fruit basket.

2. Athletic pants from Lucy. Comfortable, durable, wash well, and have all the seams in all the right places. I live in them, wearing them right now in fact!

3. Dishwasher detergent from the store: after practically ruining my glassware with baking soda/washing soda and vinegar, I realize I am no chemist, and some things really are not better home-made.

4. The smell of winter, always providing the opportunity to wear a scarf. That being said, home made scarfs!

5. Fancy napkins at dinner time...and the excuse they bring to put a sewing machine on my Christmas list!

6. CHRISTMAS!

7. 2000 Decembers ago Christmas song, and while listening to it, imagining the entire earth trembeling, rejoicing, and the heavens standing watch as the God of the Universe came down, as flesh...utube it!

8. Pandora Radio on my iphone, and the opportunity to enjoy music in any genre I like, without paying 99cents a song!

9. Kombucha tea: a fermented beverage with a sweet taste and fizzy vinegaresk finish. Helps detoxify the liver and provides powerful pro-biotics...among many of its health benifits. What can I say, I got hooked on the stuff when I was pregnant and the taste of vinegar was more appealing than chocolate!

10. My daughters 4 "B"s, which she must have with her at all times: her Blankie, baby, bunny, and bear. She is running her own day-care center at the age of 1! What an entrepreneur!

Giving Thanks

2008-12-09T05:05:00.001-08:00

Thanks giving always comes at the perfect time every year...that holiday before christmas that keeps us from putting up our tree in October!

I love how it gets me into the spirit of thankfulness, sort of like a warm up to recieve the most amazing gift from the Lord at Christams time...To be truly thankful requires reflection, to pause for a moment and take true inventory of the things that meet our needs and give us joy.
I found myself in tears at the dinner table, when asked to list three things I was thankful for..."Only three?" was my reply. Since January of 2008, so many opportunities blossomed in our lives. We opened Health and Wholeness Personal Training studio with great success, transitioned me out of a job I dispised, moved into our lovely spacious town home, had the opportunity to visit friends far away while having just recently returned from our family cruise vacation! (I even still have the fading reminants of a tan line!). I felt like my heart was bursting. God has been generous, so generous to us, filling our thirsty cup with so much hope.

Christians mother hosted the dinner at her house, and as always the table was set beautifully. This was my first attempt with the Turkey, and I must say all 23 pounds of locally raised and grazed bird was delicious. I stuffed butter and herbs under the skin and stuffed him with prosciutto, apples, breadcrumbs and sage... lots of it.

And then, if our hearts could contain more joy, we found ourselves feeling quite patriotic this Thanksgiving, remembering all those who have fought and died for our freedom. My cousin Armin and his Marine Buddy "stopped in" during a visit to DC, "anywhere that would get them off base for thanksgiving". It was wonderful to have them share thanksgiving dinner with us, and much of the conversations were about their crazy experiences at boot camp, and what a Marine in training goes through. It is fascinating to me the level of sacrifice these men have already been forced to make, and it was such an honor to hear that they feel every moment of discomfort well worth it.

The evening ended with unbuttoned pants, watching "the Incredibles" playing Apples to Apples and just enjoying one anothers company.

One last note, way worthy of mentioning.
My family, being the competitive ones we are, decided to weigh in before sitting to dinner. With our pre-meal weight recorded it was to be determined who gained the most weight during the course of dinner. I had my highly metabolically active husband on my left, and my 230ish pound marine cousin on my right, and STILL managed to win the prize...4.6 pounds baby! Yes, I gained 4.6 pounds over thanksgiving meal...Thank goodness I have a gym in my basement!

2008-10-16T12:15:00.000-07:00

Nothing like a good looking man and a de-licious mug of steamed milk and dark espresso!

Crash Camping

2008-10-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

Ah Summer...sigh.

Each sunny day's cool breeze, the mountians of Pumpkins crowding the parking lots of grocery stores, and the fall colors exploding all over the hills in view from our kitchen balcony are constant reminders that
it is coming to an end.

Last weekends forecast called for pleasant temperatures in the 70's and our poor dusty tent in the garage started to call out for attention. I had an idea, and thanks to the Internet, google maps, the trunk of our Jeep and a bag of ice from the mini mart- we decided to go camping!...or I decided we would go camping and told Christian so as he walked in the door from his last client of the day Saturday afternoon. Just one night, a change of scenery, a camp fire and some fresh air sounded like the perfect remedy for a busy and sleep hungry week! It was one of those moments when Christians lack of a better idea forced him to comply. In only 30 minutes we were off to Lake Fairfax, a cute little park just 15 miles away, featuring a lake with paddle boats and fishing, a water park (closed for the season), a couple soccer fields, hiking trails, kids play ground, and a little overnight camping area tucked away in the woods.

I need to mention that Christian didn't grow up in a camping family, and for this I feel he was greatly deprived, however after our little sample-camping adventure, I don't know that he is entirely convinced: We got to the site with only a few hours left of sunlight, just in time to set up our tent and go for a little hike. The trail led to a parking lot, which I found to be ironic. Arriving back at the camp site, we realized we forgot to bring matches or a lighter....which made starting a fire interesting. After rubbing rocks and sticks...kidding. After bumming a book of matches from neighbor campers and using a half a gallon of lighter fluid, a roaring fire blessed us with the smell of camp, saturating its smokey aroma into our grubby sweatshirts. It was official. Hot dogs and all.

We had a nice evening. Listening to the crickets chirping competing with boy scouts a few lots down playing charades, Christian and I got some wonderful one-on-one time by the fire. Our nights sleep happened in 30 minute increments, long enough for the body to tolerate the hard ground before demanding to change sleep positions as extremities lost all blood supply. Early in the morning when the birds just started their good morning praises, Naomi woke up. Christian, being sleep deprived, scooped her up in his arms and lulled her back to sleep on his chest. So sweet. About an hour later Christian realized that his shirt was soaked...our little Naomi managed to leak all of lake Fairfax through a diaper, her onesie, her dress, his sweat shirt and his undershirt! My goodness child! The morning air was cold, and Sour smelling Christian had nothing to change into. I gave him my sweat shirt, which left me in a thin tank top while we, giving up on our fire-side breakfast, packed up the tent and made our way down the highway to Panera Bread to conclude our camping adventure with some not-so-camping-style food: a cappuccino and spinach artichoke souffles! How about them fresh camping faces!

To market to market to buy a fresh...

2008-09-21T11:42:00.000-07:00

$10 dollar bag of bell peppers!

We woke up this beautiful fall-ish Sunday morning a bit on the early side.
Not at all by our choice, but Naomi apparently had things she needed to get to with subtle urgency.
After wiping the sleepy out of our eyes, and acknowledging that it was a gorgeous cool sunny morning, we decided to venture over to a Farmers Market just down the street. Seemed like a perfect Sunday morning thing to do, and I was in the mood to cook.

We pulled up to the scattered array of white tents and wooden stands, grabbed our eco-friendly mesh bag, and cash from the ATM to see what delicious, local, organic treasures they had for us!
After walking the loop sampling apples and coffee cake, we both realized that there was nothing specifically indicating that anything at this market was organic.

I love being what they call a "localvore", and want very much to support locally grown agriculture, not only because it is fresher but also because it didn't float into my grocery bag on what Michael Poland (the Omnivores Dilemma) would call "a sea of petroleum". It bothers me that when I shop at My Organic Market (Mom's) down the street, that my apples are from Brazil, and my kiwi from New Zealand. However, if my food dollar is a vote so to speak, and if I really am convicted that protecting my family and environment from pesticides, insecticides and herbicides is of great importance, than I simply can not settle for local conventional, and I am going to have to vote no.

Disappointed we circled one last time. I found a guy that sells home-made soaps and couldn't help myself to a bar, as well as a booth displaying fresh home-made pasta, which I can't wait to boil el dente, and smother in pesto!

Finally, a humble little organic booth emerged, on the far side of the market, selling a table full of assorted bell peppers, beets and garlic. We piled hand fulls on the scale, stuffed our bags full, thanked the man for what he does, and headed home with our rare treasure.

What to do with a bag full of bell peppers? A little onion, garlic, saffron and brown rice, pile of cheese, basil, parsley and toasted pine nuts stuffed into our colorful bowls should feed us well...not only our tummy's but our belief that we did the right thing.

Just a day at the park!

2008-09-21T11:33:00.000-07:00

Our favorite place to hang out is this cute little park a few blocks from our front door. Naomi is quite the brave one, and loves the slide, or the "sply!!" So far this mommy-full-time gig rocks.
My days are filled with everything hanging out with a 1 1/2 year old should be; peanut butter sandwiches, runs in a stoller to target, starbucks trips and cardboard books, baby songs, stacking blocks, dirty diapers and peak-a-boo...when does peak-a boo get old anyway?

"welcome to the rest of y(our) life"

2008-09-14T17:27:00.000-07:00

Exactly what the card on the HUGE bouquet of flowers from my amazingly loving husband read, sitting on the table for me, as I walked home from the office for the last time! On August 8th, 2008 (8-8-08, cool eh?!) I was released into motherhood full time, and out of a life-sucking, uninspiring, beat-your-head-against-a-desk, past 6 years of my life wearing black and white, office job!
I worked for Avalon communities, an apartment rental company, as a leasing consultant since 2002...So much longer than I imagined when I took the job out of desperation back in my $8 an hour Starbucks California days...I totally know how people end up in jobs they hate simply because of a decent pay check and benefits. Is this really the way to live?
Here are some pictures of me at my office, during the final stretch at Avalon...when our studio was taking off, my child care was running out, and my days processing paperwork, mailing out post cards and following up with prospects were coming to an end...see that bright and uncontrollable smile!...and yes, that is me, escaping out the window...
Escaping into the beautiful world of full-time mother hood, involving things such as grocery shopping at 2pm on a week day, training clients and teaching classes, folding laundry fresh from the dryer (as opposed to it sitting in a clean but wrinkled heap until my next day off), eating dinner before 10pm...wait, this we still do, but now, at least, I can do the dishes tomorrow!

From January to June

2008-06-24T05:51:00.000-07:00

Welcome back Nina!
Thanks, it feels good to be back.
I have my cup of decaf, so does my kid, my photos freshly down loaded from my iphone, and I am thinking it may be time to post a blog...or two or three.
I have MUCH to post about, so I will stick to bullet points with illustrations and promise to blog more than every 6 months. :)

Okay, where did we leave off? January.
January Christian and I started thinking about opening a personal training studio.
Christian was working full time at Golds as a trainer, and started thinking about how great it would be to do it on his own. We contacted my manager at the community we live at to see what the rent would be for the small retail spaces they have available on property. We were thinking we could start saving and planning and maybe just maybe this summer could be our target to open "Health and Wholeness Personal Training Studios".
Well, that door not only flew open, but we were practically pushed through it when we found out the space would be FREE for us! What? Forget this summer, lets do it!
The month of February and March found us on our knees scraping floor glue, painting base boards, installing mirrors, building shelves and assembling weight equipment. Christian and his Dad did all of the work, and did a fantastic job at that. We opened the studio in April and it is going very well!

March 2nd was Naomis birthday! I don't have any cake-smashing-in baby's face pictures. I am still holding out on giving my kid sugar until she is 12 and discovers she has been deprived all her life and wants to sneak out of the house on her bike for 711 slurpies and milk duds. For her first birthday she had a delicious dish of boiled and mashed prunes with a dash of cinnamon and apple. We had a lovely time at Dave and Busters playing arcade games, while Naomi slept in her stroller after munching on ticket stubs and teething biscuits.

As mentioned above, we opened our personal training studio in April, and I have hardly seen my husband since! He is so busy with clients, from 6am till 10 pm with windows of breaks in between. We did manage to get away for a "day" trip to New York for a conference held by one of the most brilliant men in alternitave medicine we know. This was my first visit to New York, and I was in awe of the tall buildings. For a brief moment, walking down the street with my latte in one hand, and my pink pea coat, I felt like Sarah Jessica Parker, only I was wearing much cheaper shoes.

Thanks for hanging with me. This "update on the happenings of "Elliotness" is almost current.
Just two months to go: In May we made the decision to move to the two bedroom town home that is directly above our studio space. Changing our 2 minute commute to 30 seconds has drastically improved the quality of our lives. The space is three times what we had in our little loft (we even have a garage!), and as much as we would miss tripping over a stroller, a purse and flip flops when we walk into our front door, we didn't want to pass it up.
I will be happily post pictures of our new home once we don't have our TV sitting on boxes, walls only halfway painted or pictures piled on the floors...maybe in 6 months.

Stay tuned for our glorious trip to Maine, and the celebration of our 5 year anniversary of marriage! I have been typing too long, and little Naomi is sticking her fingers in the paper shredder.

2008-01-13T18:27:00.000-08:00

Just thought I would post a few pictures of Christmas, and Naomi's first celebration outside of the womb. We spent almost three days straight at the in laws, playing games, eating, watching movies, eating, ice skating, and eating. Aaaahhh, Christmas.

One thing I love about my in laws, is how competitive Christians family is...in a fun playful way. Every year we have a "best wrapped gift" competition. We spent one evening devising ways to get all our gifts into one big delivery, and with the help of a box of plaster of Paris, a Santa suite, a trash can and some paint, Santa clause himself came to grace us with his presence and presents on Christmas day...oh yea, we won.

Thanksgiving

2007-12-01T19:49:00.000-08:00

Novembers big news.

Naomi and I flew to Washington State to visit my family for a week and one day. What a fantastic trip! The flight went perfect, and I couldn't have asked for a sweeter, more relaxed and pleasant baby.

My grandma from Alaska flew down to meet Naomi for the first time, and we had such wonderful times visiting coffee shops (See my child lunging for the coffee cup...yep, that's my girl!) out to lunch, holiday shopping, and even treating my mama to a nice salon for a fancy hair cut :). For the first time in my life, I felt like an adult. Really, a true grown up, like I arrived somewhere that I have been travling toward for the past 27 years, and it is nice to be here... Interesting to me, as I stare at these photos reflecting, that feeling "grown up" is the first thought that comes to mind...and it is not just because I get to sit at the grown up table for dinner, although that is part of it.
The trip was a time of 'catching up' on life outside my immediate own. The second my Grandma arrived with handmade knit gifts, hand carved jewelry and warm joyful eyes, I found myself craving to know details about my mom's family and her mothers heart. Hearing stories, thirsty for the wisdom from the woman who raised my own mother, just drinking it in, gaining new perspective of women I have known my entire life, but on a level I have never yet realized. The stories of when I was the age of the very person I held in my arms nursing under a blanket in the corner of Starbucks, gave me such a sense of self, in a non-newagie sort of way. This is the best way I can describe this feeling of 'grown-up'.
As for my siblings, I was blown away by their maturity, as in my mind they will always be 8, 10 and 13, calling each other names in the back seat of a mini-van... are now practically adults themselves! My sister is almost engaged, fresh from the air forces survival training, with experiences and skills beyond my comprehension. Overhearing a conversation between my two brothers involving instruction on what to do about college and saving money, left me asking myself "when did my rebel brother start dishing advice on education and savings accounts?" It is like feeling very proud, and very left out at the same time, as if I woke up from being asleep for 10 years, and sad, because I wasn't asleep, just absorbed in my day-to day, on an opposite coast.
And like all trips, the time flew by. Thanks giving meal was delicious (see photo) and my flight home was long (again, baby was perfect, sleeping sweetly in my lap most the way home).
Thank you Lord for all your blessings, for safe travels, and precious memories. For making me a mommy, and giving me mine, and my Mommy's Mommy...

Halloween at Chipotle

2007-11-01T18:45:00.000-07:00

Free burritos if we dress up like a burrito? Well that is better than artificially flavored cherry Tootsie rolls, and pixy-stix in a plastic pumpkin for sure! Happy Halloween to us!

Naomi was the best "bite sized" burrito ever! (She was wearing a tin foil hat, but she would take it off and put it in her mouth, and now, I never read this in any parenting book, but my hunch is that you shouldn't give aluminum foil to babies.)

Good times and extra guac was had by all!

Swim diapers and grandmas swimsuit

2007-09-23T16:51:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else understand the idea of a "Swim diaper"? How it really keeps the 'wet" in, and the "wet" out, so the two types of wet arn't mingeling...? Eitherway, Naomi didn't get to try it out on her first debut at a water park. I have a hard time washing her hands with tap water, much less subjecting her to the one part water, three parts bleach in a kiddy-pool (I know, I must get over it, for the sake of my kids childhood...) We big kids all had a blast in the wave pool, shooting down the slides, while Naomi did her share of napping in the shade, gettting the occational dose of Vitamen D in between naps...aahhh savoring the moments of summertime.

Oh, and I found out that my last years bikini wasn't going to cut it on this post-baby body...not with family around, not in the daylight, and not while walking or moving or breathing. My mother in law came through with her 'figure-forming-high-necked-low-legged-butt-boosting-tummy tucking" turquoise-gold flower suite...which, besides looking like I was 50, felt pretty great! (one can use a bit of butt-boosting tummy tucking action every once and a while...It was like wearing a rubber garden hose around my midsection) I happened to be the only one in water park history able to ride down the power slide with out having to dig upon dismount.

Baby girl!

2007-08-14T11:17:00.000-07:00

Some more new photos from Uncle Mud!

At play

2007-07-30T13:32:00.001-07:00

What did parents do before they had a play mat?
And the genius that made the bottom pad machine washable deserves a huge thumbs up...now don't we wish everything was machine washable!

Grow up!

2007-07-24T16:56:00.000-07:00

People are asking me how old Naomi is, and I keep saying "Oh she is 5 months"...what is wrong with me! She is not five months yet! She has at least a week and a half to go! It is like I am trying to make her grow up faster than she already is. Truth is, the older she gets, the more fun I have with her... she gets more interactive, more playful and more responsive every day! She makes all these adorable noises, as if she is just thrilled at the sound of her own voice (perhaps she gets that from Mommy :) she is starting to make that spitting tongue-out thing babies do (definitely got that from Dad), and my favorite thing ever, is when I walk into a room after being gone, she spots me from across the room, lights up and smiles so big...big girl stuff like that.

Honestly, I can't wait for her to grow up. I look forward to so many things about being her Mom and watching her grow...Making up rhymes and songs together, hearing all about her views of the world, answering tons of 'why' questions, letting her pick out her own clothes and drink sips of my coffee... I can't wait to see what her personality will be like, how she will express herself artistically and spiritually. Or maybe I can. Because right now, this little spit thing is pretty dang adorable, and that smile I was talking about says a million things that I love to hear.

The best of Uncle Mud

2007-05-22T12:20:00.000-07:00

Our baby photographer, Uncle Mud does some GREAT work behind the lense.

Helps when your subject is the cutest baby in the world! Here are some of my fav's from our last photo shoot!

Meet your grandchild!

2007-05-22T12:07:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa Heuerman came for a week long visit May 5th to the 12th, and what a great week! We started off with some spring time BBQ fun, thrown in a little badminton, and veggie tray, snugglie baby and filtered lemon water, and vuala, family memories are made. I know it was the week of the Queen of England's visit, but all the fun was had in our little courtyard!

The week was fantastic, trips into the big city, boat rides to Mt.Vernon, dinners out and walks around the neighborhood....the best part of all was simply introducing Dad and Mama B to their very first grandchild. Most definitely a proud mommy moment. I imagine life will be full of those moments with a kid like Naomi!

2007-05-03T07:35:00.000-07:00

Record news...

Naomi got 6 straight hours of sleep last night! That means that I got 6 straight hours of sleep last night! I feel like I am on top of the world! I could hike Mt.Everest, write a novel, take quantum physics!...or clean my kitchen. Yea, that will require about the same amount of energy as the Everest climb, and would be more productive :)

Here are some more pictures of our darling little sleeper!

Cheers!

pretty smiles

2007-05-01T17:45:00.000-07:00

babysitting job

2007-05-01T17:13:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Naomi is two months old.
How does two months just fly by? I can't believe it was two months ago that Christian and I were sitting in Caribou coffee together, talking about how it was our last date that we didn't have to arrange child care (well, for the next 12 years or so...).
Life has been very different as I knew it in the past two months. At first it felt like I was assigned this very long babysitting job for a kid I never met before. It was SO weird to get it through my head that she was MINE, OURS, from God, for us to keep, and that her real parents wouldn't be pulling up in the driveway at 6:00, and slipping me $40...
I finally got it. OUR daughter, at two months recognizes me when I pick her up, she grips for dear life on my hair when I go to put her down (which for now, is totally cute) I talk about my self in the third person as "mama" and it doesn't make me feel like I am six and playing 'house', and best of all I am getting SO many smiles these days! Worth WAY more than $40!

2007-04-25T09:55:00.000-07:00

baby's first jeans!

just under 2 months old...she is already looking so big!

Getting started

2007-04-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

Until now, I had no significant reason to blog...I mean, Christian and I haven't gone on any elaborate European vacations to brag about lately. Life is good, busy, and our jobs are going well, we love each other and really enjoy the occasional Starbucks date and grocery trip, but nothing really blog-worthy; we are not musicians on world tours with Bono. Rachel Ray and Opera don't need any perky co-hosts where I could talk about the "show". I don't even make any good dinners that I can post passionate reviews about!...
March 2nd gave us something to blog about, a subject to post insane amounts of pictures, something which will give life as I know it new perspective, something worth sharing meaningful and not so important reflections and observations...
Something worth unloading all the crazy sleepless nights-dirty diaper-smiley n'coo-ie, snugglie,heart expanding-cutie-tootie details about... On March 2nd our perfect and beautiful daughter Naomi Grace Elliot was born.
Christian and I are an official family now, pulling up another chair at Starbucks, and I can't wait to blog all about it!
Bono and Opera have nothen on us!

2007-04-21T19:32:00.000-07:00

Our Family

...and Abe...

Not the best shot of Naomi...nor me for that matter, Sheesh, what is this picture doing on here anyway? but the only shot of all three of us thus far, during a recent a tour of the capitol. Our first Family Field trip! I must say, my husband looked quite irresistable walking around with a baby in his sling...every so often he would reach down and kiss her forehead, which has to be the sweetest thing in the WORLD...all ladies of the world can I get an AMEN to that!