Business of Being Born

The Business of Being Born is a moving documentary about maternity care in the United States.
watch the trailer

"Should most births be viewed as a natural life process or should every delivery be treated as a potential medical emergency?" ~Caroline Torem Craig

Come and decide for yourself.

Public Viewing
September 16, 2008
6:30 pm
Eastern Idaho Technical College
Health Care building room 6164
brought to you by BirthNetwork of Idaho Falls
birthnetwork.if@gmail.com

door prizes, raffle and refreshments
donations welcome

to reserve FREE tickets call
Katherine 390-7465 or Katy 251-4189

What Princess Are You?

lentils

this is one of my favorites. it's super inexpensive, usually everything is on hand, healthy (if you don't fry the tortillas ; ) ) and good enough to entertain with.

lentils

1 onion chopped (if you have time to saute on the stove first, it's worth it)
1 lb bag aprox. 2 1/2 cups lentils (ideally sorted and rinsed, but usually I don't)
5 cups water
2 t cumin
1 t garlic salt
1/2 t pepper
mix together in crockpot. cook at least 7 hrs, 9 is GREAT on low (3-4 hrs on high).

1/2 hour-1 hour before eating, (if you add these too soon, the lentils will take ages to soften) add:
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 4 oz can green chilies

right before eating stir in
1 bunch cilantro chopped

serve on tortillas (freshly fried are yum, but also totally unnecessary)
with
fresh limes (a must)
sour cream (optional)
grated monterey or colby jack cheese (optional)
salsa (optional)

recycling in IF

There are recycling bins scattered around town. (They are this style, but blue.) Bins that accept aluminum cans, metal cans, newspaper and plastics (that's ALL plastics with the little recycle triangle numbers 1-7 not just milk jugs). More info: http://www.ifearthday.com/HHW/Resources.htm Yeah for recycling!

Tag

20 years ago... Feb 1988 I was five. Probably getting excited to turn 6. I had 2 little brothers, 4 and 10 months old. I thought that I was the greatest. I said, "Mom aren't you glad I'm so beautiful?"
10 years ago...1998 I was a junior. Chad had just left on his mission and even though he didn't know it, I'd decided to wait for him. I was the design editor for our high school yearbook and I poured my all into it. I won some competitions. I think junior year I took best of show. Some days I still miss good ol' yearbook.
5 years ago: 2003 I'd been married a year and a half. My full bodied fear of becoming a mother was starting to wear off. We were living on campus at BYU-Idaho and loving it. Sometimes we refer to our years in the dorms as the glory days. Our neighborhood and ward were so super! Chad was studying geology and I was studying fashion.
3 years ago: 2005 I had a beautiful little boy, 7 months old. I was growing into motherhood. I still had a few classes to wrap up my BA in university studies.
1 year ago... 2007 We were living in my grandmother's house anxious for April when we were planning to buy our first house, which we did. We'd also welcomed a beautiful little girl in November. She sure is a little princess. Trey was very protective of her from the beginning. :)
So far this year...2008 Chad bought me a car, my first car ever. It's so fun to be a 2 car family. I took a breastfeeding peer counselor training, amazing. And then got hired by the health department as a BF peer counselor. I get the opportunity to help moms and babies BF successfully. I've gotten really involved with La Leche League. It's blessed my family and I've made the best friends ever. I've been teaching other women to make cloth diapers (pockets). And this week I'm starting a doula training program.
Yesterday I... went to Rigby to visit a great friend and get more familiar with her home and son. She's asked me to come and be with her son while she labors and delivers her new baby. She's planning a home birth. It will the first birth I've attended aside from my own and I'm absolutely thrilled to be part of such a special time for her family!
Today I... have an enrichment planning meeting and then a friend is coming over to finish a couple of diapers with snaps and then cut some more out.
Later tonight... I've got to make dinner and get everything ready for tomorrow, lunches for Chad and I and make sure I've got everything together for my kids to be at grandma's all day (thanks Mom!).
Tomorrow... I start my doula training. I'm really excited.
This year I hope to.... finish my doula training; plant, harvest, and process an amazing garden; get more organized, and become a better wife and mother.
I tag.... Bita, Chelsea, Jessica, Alica, Katy, Sara

Go Boobs!

I got the job as a breastfeeding peer counselor with the health department. It's about 8 hours a week. Most of it I can do from home: sending letters and making phone calls. I also get to teach some of the WIC education classes and do some home visits to help moms and babies have a good breastfeeding experience. I'm really excited to be able to do something I feel strongly about and get paid. I'm nervous too. I haven't had a real job in 4+ years and I'm not really willing to give up much time with my family. I hope that we can make it work. Today I'm supposed to shadow my first home visit. Yeah.

Breast is Best

I just finished a week long training to be a breastfeeding peer counselor with WIC. It was an incredible learning opportunity for me. They only have 3 opening right now. I'll find out
on Wednesday if I get hired. Whether I do or not isn't really important to me. I feel like I gained so much this week and now I have the skills to help more mothers and babies have a positive breastfeeding experience. I feel so blessed.

Just an FYI

For those of you that didn't know AND that care, I have 2 blogs. This one if to help fulfill my life as a domestic artist. The other is more about our little family and such. http://chadandkat.blogspot.com/

Sweet Taco Meat

1 chuck roast (3-4 lbs)
1 yellow onion
5 cloves of garlic
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 liter Dr. Pepper
1/4 cup orange juice concentrate

place chuck in crock pot and then everything else. chuck should be mostly covered with liquid. cook on low (preferably) for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hrs. take meat out and cut into bite size chunks. eat on tacos with pico di gallo, refried beans, and grated cheese.

this is another family favorite. it's my spin on Mayan tacos

Easy Fish Tacos

I'm going to start sharing great recipes. This is one of our favorites. It's super yummy, and super easy.

Fish Tacos
Sauce:
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayo
1 T lime juice
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t dill weed
1/4 t cayenne

frozen breaded fish fillets
chopped tomatoes
shredded lettuce or cabbage
shredded cheese
tortillas (we like fresh corn tortillas from the local tortillaria)


Mix sauce and chill while fish is cooking. Cut fish into strips and pile everything up in a tortilla.

Google Reader

Google Reader is just great! You plug in the blogs that you want to watch and it shows you when they've been updated. It's super easy to use, especially if you use Gmail.

Well I did it. After 7 years of wanting to donate my hair to locks of love I cut off 12 inches, 14.5 at the longest. Crazy, I know. I did it last Friday and I'm still not used to it.

Before

After

Great Milestone

Yesterday, I had someone refer to our family as their "hippie friends". I know that it's silly, but it made me feel so great.

Grandma's Fabric

This is the mei tai I made with some fabric that my sweet grandmother gave me. My mom thinks that it was leftover from the curtains she made for her bedroom growing up. Such history in it's fibers. Wearing my baby in fabric that came from my mother line feels so great! Thanks Grandma!