I have recently had requests for more stories. The trouble is, when I have time to write, I sit down and forget what to share. So, what would you like to know? If I have a starting place, I'm sure I could go on and on about the girls for pages!

We are enjoying the backyard again now that the snow is gone and its above freezing. Rayna has a green turtle sandbox and lots of trucks to push around the patio. She also likes run and kick the ball around the yard, draw with chalk on the patio and crawl along the raised garden perimeter. Yesterday it was so wonderful out that Alizah and I took time to nurse in my garden bench (last year's mother's day gift). I was noticing how the rabbits had eaten all the vines of morning glory as high as their hind legs would reach them atop the snowbanks, which is about 3 feet. The tulips are up about 2-3 inches.

Alizah Joy

VBAC Home Birth! At 5am in the freezing cold Levi and I went for a walk up and down our city block to work with the contractions and help strengthen them. I turned to Levi and said, "by now we would have had all kinds of interventions at the hospital." At 10:40 am our little girl was born! We are both extremely healthy and happy! This was the experience I wanted- a normal birth- not to be treated as high risk.

Levi was an amazing support throughout the long labor, about 39 hours of contractions never closer than 5 minutes apart and 1/2 hour of pushing.

A special THANK YOU to our midwife, Jane Kirby, CPMW and her birth assistant, Tracy for their patience and gentle listening, suggestions and care. Another special THANK YOU to Jody Hagedorn for assisting my labor progression with reflexology and EFT!

This is an image I created last week in response to needing to find an icon that somehow represented me. You see, I wrote an article about nutritional cleansing for the local women's magazine Queen of the Castle, that will be coming out in March. Nothing seemed to represent me more at this time than a Mother and Child image, but nothing available seemed right. So I had to draw my own.

We are excited about the new arrival! Less than a month to go! This Saturday I officially qualify to have my home birth because I will be 37 weeks, Full Term.

Rayna has definitely been showing signs of being 2- curious and stubborn. She thinks she is much bigger than she really is. The fun part is her desire (occasionally) to try out the potty successfully.

Rayna loves to snuggle in the morning. I was talking with her that the baby might take away some of mamma's attention to her and maybe she would have to snuggle with daddy in the morning. She said "I snuggle the new baby." She loves her book from Grandma Sally "I'm a Big Sister" by JoAnna Cole.

Christmas 2007

It took Rayna unwrapping 3 gifts to realize that there was something fun inside the pretty wrapping. From them on, she wanted to open everyone's gifts. We had a great time playing in the snow at Levi's parents. We put a new photo album at the Picasa web. Here's a sample, click the photo to check out the rest.

Weekend Getaway

Levi surprised me last weekend by planning most of our pre-baby getaway in conjunction with our midwife appointment. We stayed at the Covington Inn, which is a tow boat (barge boat) that has been converted into a B&B. It stays still nowadays at Harriet Island, St Paul, MN. The photo of us is taken in a little nook with 2 porthole windows just above the ice. We even had a goose serenade us in the morning and wander past the window.
We went to the Georgia O'Keefe Circling Around Abstraction exhibit at the MIA and visited with friends at the BullPen. On our way to the Bull Pen we happened to drive past our friend Steve Bateman's zebra sculpture. Levi's saying- "here's a photo for you Steve."
The baby is growing perfectly! I don't have any good photos of my growing belly as of yet. I hide it well. Less than 2 months to go!