Woodstock Concert this Sunday 8/30

Join us at the American Legion Hall-Sunday, Aug. 30th from 1-7. Bring the whole family for fun, music and more.
posted by dave

25 Cent Slices

Hackettstown's favorite pizzeria is celebrating its 39th year in business by giving away slices for 25 cents. If you are local, make sure to get it on the celebration which ends Sunday. Mama's Cafe Baci really does make an excellent pizza and they treat their customers wonderfully by always offering a complimentary glass of free wine with your dinner :) Talk about a cheap date!

http://mamascafebaci.com/

Happy 2nd Birthday to Our Isabella Teresa

We remember the day you were born and are grateful for the happiness you continue to bring our way.

Annual Summer Visit

We took our annual summer trip to Maryland this past weekend and amazingly survived the heat. Isabella was immediately excited to see her Mom Mom and Pop Pop, making herself right at home. We cooled off in their beautiful pool and had our seafood fill for the season at our favorite crab venue, Ray's Pier. Other than sore backsides, the travel went very smoothly.

Kangaroo Care

I've been wanting to post about Kangaroo Care for a while now and am finally getting to it after speaking with relatives and friends of a few premature babies.

Kangaroo Care, termed by Dr. Nils Bergman of South Africa, is a distincive type of care suggested for all newborns, but especially premies. Kangaroo Care is self-explanatory in the way that kangaroos carry their young in a pouch on their bodies. In this same way, human mothers are to keep their offspring close to their own bodies, specifically utilizing the miraculous benefits of skin to skin contact. For many mothers, this comes as natural intuition, however, such care is not always easy to provide when protocols and interventions take precedence.

How can a mother holding her offspring close to her body aid in the development of a newborn, specifically a premie? Research has long shown that mother's body is the most effective regulator of baby's body temperature (yes, even more so than an incubator) and heartbeat while also decreasing the surgence of the stress hormone that baby experiences when separated from mother. What better environment for baby to grow and thrive than near its mother. One study done on Kangaroo Care, found that premies receiving this kind of care were 5x more likely to survive as compared with premies not receiving this kind of care.

If you think about it in the most fundamental way, the Good Lord designed newborns to be totally dependent on their mother. SHOCKER - this is not a bad thing although our culture totally makes it out to be a terrible thing! God has designed a mother's body so perfectly that she is able to carry her unborn child for 9 months before being able to birth that child and then provide for his nourishment entirely through her milk alone for several months.

Is it any wonder then, that the mother of a premie produces milk that is significantly higher in nutrients and immunities than the mother of a full term baby? Is it any wonder that a mother's first reaction is to go to and comfort her crying baby? Is it any wonder than a mother craves significant skin to skin contact with her little one? Trust your intuitions, trust your insticts, moms, many a time they are Divinely inspired.

For the specifics on how to do Kangaroo Care and the research backing it up, go to Dr. Bergman's website: http://www.kangaroomothercare.com Keep the website in mind to share with others who experience a premature baby, although such care is really recommended for all newborns.

Kiddie Party

Isabella had a blast at her 2nd b-day pool and pizza party, right here in Panther Valley. The kiddos had the entire kiddie pool to themselves and weren't shy about jumping right in - no pun intended :) Isabella's friends Claire, Katie, Ryan, and Paige came out to celebrate with her. She especially enjoyed the balloons that Daddy went out to get her early in the am as well as blowing out the candle. If you notice in the pictures, 2 cupcakes are plain, not because I ran out of frosting, but because Isabella insisted that I leave hers plain! As a sidenote, if you want to avoid overly sugary frosting, beat cream cheese, butter, and honey together for a creamy sweet coating. This way you can avoid all of those mysterious ingredients in the store bought frosting container. My friend, Regina, encouraged this effort and was pleased with the results:) Thanks to all who came to celebrate with us.

Who's Watching This Kid Anyway?

Can I just say that this happened on daddy's watch. Lucky for him the marker was on a washable belly. Do you notice my formal dining room in the background, specifically the white seat cushions????!!!!!!!!!

Hackettstown of La Leche Family Picnic - SATURDAY

If you are local to our area, come and check out the awesome day we have planned in honor of World Breastfeeding Week. A family picnic will be held at Stephen's State Park from 10-2: Family Scavenger Hunt, Critter Collection in the Creek, Face Painting, and Tye Dying Activities. Food has been donated by local venues such as Shoprite, Panera, and Donaldson Farms. It is the place to be to spend some time with your own family and the greater La Leche Family. Don't forget the sunblock and bug spray :) Hope to see you there.

Message of July 25, 2009

"Dear children! May this time be a time of prayer for you. Thank you for having responded to my call."

World Breastfeeding Week

This week is World Breastfeeding Week and is being celebrated in many different ways. Check out one of my favorite sites by John and Sheila Kippley, the most influential Catholic couple in the areas of Natural Family Planning and Ecological Breastfeeding. This couple is so influential that they have been recognized by the late John Paul II and were bestowed honorary degrees from Steubenville University. They are leading authors in Catholic morality, especially regarding family life.

This week, in honor of WBW, Sheila is blogging about Ecological Breastfeeding (EB). Eco-breastfeeding is the type of breastfeeding that spaces babies naturally. Follow the link to learn the 7 standards of EB, the benefits to it, the studies that have been done on it, and why it is so important to mom and baby's health for babies to be adequately spaced apart.

http://nfpandmore.org/wordpress/

August 6, 2009

What does it say about a couple when they can't even agree on the date that they got married?

Happy 4th Anniversary to my favorite person to spend time with.

You were right:)

Bethany Beach, DE 2009

Hangin' Out