Friday, May 27, 2011

Happy 2nd Birthday

Today is my daughter's 2nd birthday. 
It's a day full of many emotions. 
This is true for many parents on their child's birthday, but for me and my husband, it is even more so.

When i was 20 weeks pregnant we had a routine ultrasound to find out our baby's gender.  It was at that appointment that we learned our daughter (we did not know she was a girl until after she was born) had no amniotic fluid and we later learned this was caused by cysts in both her kidneys (She had Bilateral Multicystic Dysplastic Kidney Disease, a form of Potter's Syndrome).  Because of this lack of fluid her lungs never developed and we found out that she would not live after she was born, and there was the possibility that she would be stillborn.

Our daughter was born at 32 weeks and lived for 15 minutes after she was born.  She was a beautiful beautiful little girl.  She weighed 2lbs 14oz and was 16 inches long.  She surprised us and had a full head of her father's hair.  She was beyond precious.


I could share hundreds more pictures but there is no time. 

So happy birthday special girl.  Mommy and daddy and your little sister love you so much.  As always we hope you have a great day and enjoy being with your family and friends.  Thank you for everything you've done for us and the love you share.  We're sending so much love right back to you in heaven.

Happy Birthday!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

The problem with sheep

Hello hello!

Yes, it's been a little while but i think i mentioned that my life has been a bit busy. 
But i'm alive and here and about to let off a little steam. 

So i've had many "people" out there complain about me sharing information about things i am passionate about or find interesting.  Most of the time it stems somehow around others not agreeing with my point of view.

And this is FINE.

I do not expect every human being in the world to agree with me.  It would be a very boring world if that became the case.  BUT i do expect people to do their own research.  I have a big issue with people who just follow blindly like sheep.  They may think they have all the information but they are just going with the flow and doing what they think everyone else is doing and what is best because that is just what the world does.  They become sheep.

Wanna know something i've noticed about sheep? (seeings as my family owns a herd)  They will be out grazing and everything is good.  Then one sheep gets ahead of the rest.  The sheep behind her think "WOAH, i must be missing out on something, i need to get ahead!"  So that sheep runs ahead.  Well, not to be outdone, the other sheep start trying to get ahead and before you know it the whole herd is in a full blown run up the dirt road headed to nowhere!

What does this have to do with the "people" you might ask?  Well, like i said, i feel many times people follow blindly.  They see someone doing something and they decide to do the same thing, or even try to one-up them without even knowing the reason why they are doing it in the first place.  (other than they *think* it is the right way to do things, only because they know NO other way)  Soon they are running full speed to no where and they have no idea why.

Life is a journey, and it should mean something!

Please do NOT be sheep!!

I feel in any part of your life, whether it be education, religion, health, parenting, etc etc, you should not just follow someone else, or take someone else's word.  Take a little time and do a little research (and researching both sides of a subject is always best to get the whole picture) and decide what is best for YOU. 

Do something because you actually feel is is the best thing in your life, not because you're trying to make a point.  People like that just make me think of the teenager who is rebelling against their parents just because they don't want to listen to their parents.  They don't even take into consideration that their parents may be more experienced in that certain subject and *might* just might know a better way.  All they think about is 'there is NO WAY i'm gonna listen to my parents' and off to nowhere they run (or off the cliff lol).   Sure, i rebelled against my parents but it doesnt' mean it was the smart thing to do!

I am constantly learning new things and changing my mind about things i thought i'd never do.  Before i had children i thought that we would have hospital births (natural of course), breastfeed for a year, have a nursery, use disposable diapers, let baby 'cry it out', circumcise, use a stroller and other things. 

Then my sister planted a seed in my mind that i am forever thankful for.  She mentioned things she was hoping to do with her future child.  When she first started to share them i literally though 'YOU ARE NUTS!! Your child is going to turn out so spoiled, you're putting their life in danger and i just can't believe you'd do this!!!'.  But instead of stopping at that thought i instead took things further.  I checked out some books from the library and started to do some reading on the "other side" of things.

I am forever thankful for those seeds my sister planted, and for the common sense i had to research things for *myself* because you know what?  I pretty much turned around 180 degrees in my views about parenting.  Sure, once i started parenting for myself i'd probably figure out how i thought i would do things was not really working for our family, but how long would that would have taken?  And how happy would i be during that time?  I am so thankful i learned about different ways to do things before!

I've had this same experience happen with many other parts of my life.  If my entire viewpoint in life can change about so many things when why can't yours?  Are you really sure you want to do things they way you think you want to do them?  Are you really sure you want to public school?  Are you really sure you'd never consider that religion?  Are you really sure you would never consider going green?

How can you know if you have never really seen the other side of the story?

So please, take some time and consider the choices in your life very carefully.  Go pick up a book and do a little reading.  Has someone mentioned something that you think is crazy?  Go look it up and do a bit of research and see how truly crazy it may not be.


Is there anything in your life that you have changed your mind about once you did your own research and learned more?