Happy Birthday Josh!!!

It's my sweet hubby's birthday today. We went out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory and had some yummy avocado eggrolls. Seriously, those things are sooo good! We made our meal complete by polishing it off with the best cheesecake in the world. We did some birthday shopping and ended our evening together.

I know everyone says this about their own husband, but I think my guy is truly a rare find. Josh is very different from other men and that is why I adore him. He is the most patient person I've ever met, and patience is something you need a lot of with me. He is so unselfish. Last week when he was having a bad day, instead of venting to me or throwing a pity party he took time to counsel me on my problems. He really does lead our family as a righteous priesthood holder.

Josh, I will forever be greatful that you married me. My testimony of Heavenly Father only grows when I think how he let this wonderful man into my life. He has blessed me greatly! Happy Birthday honey!

My Crystal children - feeling blessed to be a mom

Well, I've changed my mind on keeping my children's name's a secret. I'd like to introduce them to everyone. I know I risk weirding everyone out, but keeping this in wouldn't be doing any favors. This is weird part of me, is mostly who I am. Yes, I'm weird, but you probably already knew that. lol!

The word Crystal children refers to the children that our coming to earth now to help usher in the Last Days. The more and more I read about these children, I can see them everywhere. Their large piercing eyes, the gifts they come with, the knowledge they can teach us, if we let them. They veil is thin for them, they have the ability to communicate in ways that are strange to us.

Jacob is my oldest. He is a bubbly boy. He currently loves, loves, loves Transformer toys. Jacob is very mechanical with hands. He can take things apart and knows exactly how to put them back together in the correct order. He's also high-functioning autistic. Most Crystal children are categorized into the group. What some parents don't realize is how blessed they are to have this child in there family. In my heart I knew when Jacob was staring off into space, I just knew that he was seeing things beyond the veil. Probably talking with angels. Last month Jacob told me about our wedding day, that he had been in attendance. I've no doubt about that, our intuitive temple sealer announced that our children were in attendance. Now Jacob has only ever seen my bridal picture, he described as very big, fluffy and bouncy. He's seen my husband in his black tux. But what he described to me totally left my jaw on the floor. He told me that my dress was very plain and small, I had been married in my temple dress. He also described our ceremonial clothes to a "T" and that his dad was all in white too. Wow!

Alisha is our next oldest. Alisha has the ability to sense what other people are emotionally feeling. She can also sense when something is wrong with someone in the family, who may not be present or physically next to her. She can read people, and she's super trusting which can be scary at times. Alisha was also my best friend in the pre-earth life. One morning as I was nursing her, she was about a month old, Heavenly Father granted me one precious moment to know and feel that the child I was nursing had been my companion in heaven. I saw for a moment two grown women in their prime walking hand in hand, and I could see me and I just knew that the other girl was Alisha. So yes, we have a very special bond.

Mirianna is our third. She is little miss spunky to boot! Miri is two right now. She is a independent self-learner, she just potty trained herself a few weeks ago and didn't want any help. She celebrates all her little accomplishments, like washing her hair by giving herself a swirly in the toilet. lol! She talks to imaginary people in her room, which I'm assuming are angels. They must be protecting her because she's a little dare-devil. I now know what my mom must've felt like when she first saw me flip off the couch. She has absolutely no fear!

Autumn is our fourth and last child. My pregnancy was very spiritual with her. I knew the moment I conceived her. My vibrations were so high that I could feel her spirit next to me just waiting for her turn on earth. She came to me a few times to tell me of her mission here on earth, the she would need help. She's vibrates to high sometimes that our electrical appliances won't work if she's in the room. lol! And most of the time she can't handle it, she'll start crying and pull at her hair. We've learned this cue with the TV. And now we are a TV free family. She's much happier. We just don't let her sit around the computer. She, Alisha, and Miri also have their own language. All Autumn has to do is say something in her baby language and Miri, who can talk quite well or Alisha, lets me know what and problem solved. It's just amazing.

So these are my children. I feely greatly blessed to be entrusted with such special spirits. They do bring happiness to me and I have a loving husband who is teaching me how to cherish their cute moments. I know most days are overwhelming, but the cute moments make up for it. I love hearing,"Mommy, I love you!". There's nothing sweeter than hearing the word "mommy".

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!

I'm in heaven! I don't know what it is about the winter time. But when those stormy skies appear, the snow starts falling, and you start wearing your warmer clothes, I just feel so at home. I know some people get Seasonal disorders when the winter comes, I'm the opposite, I get it in the summer. Too much sunshine.

Well, now I'll start listening to Christmas music, it feels more appropriate. Time to get out the snow tubes and really enjoy mother nature.

I wish mom's could collect sick days

Seriously, why can't mom's have sick days? I remember when we lived in L.A. that Josh got two weeks off for paternity leave when JA and AL were born. That would be so cool if there were some way that husbands got two weeks of sick days to use when their wives get sick. I sure could use it tomorrow. This head cold is sure a doozy and my whole body aches. Anyone wanna come take care of me? lol!

It's finally off!

JA got his cast off and pins taken out today! Hallelujah! Everything went very smoothly. The nurse taking off his cast was so good with him, distracting him by talking, whilst taking the pins out. The comical moment came when the nurse asked him if he had any pets. Jacob let out a big sigh and said,"No we can't have any pets, mom says she aleady has 4". ROFLMBO!!! He had the nurse and his dr in stitches from laughing. Ah, I love that boy!

Awesome birth!

Where do I start? I love homebirths! I love Hypnobabies! I love being a doula!

Yesterday I had the honor of attending an awesome homebirth. And awesome is the perfect word because I'm just in awe of this woman. Tisha, who was my doula for AM's birth, had her baby and I had the honor of attending. Wow, what a woman! Tisha is amazing!

I'm doing a little bit of a flashback here. I remember the birth story of Tisha's second baby born at home. I remember her writing about how she felt like she lost control and had a wonderful midwifery assistant(Bridgette) telling her that a laboring mother was a woman in her majesty. (Sorry if I got that wrong Tisha!) What powerful words. Those same words were told back to me during AM's birth and have stuck with me ever since.

Well, baby #3's birth was the most beautiful, calmest thing I've ever seen. I arrived at Tisha's home around 2:30 to find her so very focused doing her hypnosis. Her husband, Sam was so playful with her between birthing waves and we all ended up laughing quite a bit(getting those good endorphins going). We didn't do much moving around, she mostly wanted to lie down, moving a few times for bathroom breaks and ralaxing on the birthing ball. I few times I coached her into hypnosis by reminding her to turn her "lightswitch" off. She was excellent at communicating her needs. Around 5 o'clock we started doing counter-pressure and called her midwife shortly after.

While we were waiting for her midwife, Suzanne, to show up Tisha had us prep her for disappointing news. She was afraid that Suzanne would get there and find her only at 4 cm's. So we made 4 a good number, it was her favorite number, and just reminded her that she had the strength to take as long as was needed because she was conserving her energy so well by relaxing. I thought for sure she was atleast 7 cm's by the sounds she was making, soft, low moaning through each birthing wave. Suzanne showed up a little before 6:30 p.m. and checked her and found her to be completely 10 cms!!! Bag of waters still intact and ready to have her sweet baby girl any minute. I was in total disbelief, because this did not sound or look like a woman at 10 cm's. Tisha was calm, composed, and relaxed. Keep in mind Tisha was in disbelief from the time I showed up to the time her baby was born. lol!

About a half hour later her water finally broke on it own. She moved onto the birthing stool to help move baby down a bit. Sam sat behind her on the bed to support her, it was so sweet watching him caress her face and give her encouragement. I love those little moments during birth when husband and wife are making a connection. I don't know if men know that us women need that during birth, atleast I did and for me it helped knowing that Josh was staying by my side, that was the connection I needed.

Pushing seemed a bit difficult for her because Tisha never gets the urge to bear down. And who wants to willingly push? At one point Suzanne looked at her and said,"Now's the time you need to dig down deep inside you and find that strength". I thought those were neat words. And that she did, she found that strength, she needed to because baby's heart tones were not sounding good and she needed to birth her baby quick. About then Tisha enveloped me in a full-on bear hug/choke hold. lol! Birthing women are sooo strong, don't mess with us! Once baby's head was birthed, Suzanne found a cord wrapped around the neck. Baby was still okay and with the next push baby was out and in mommy's arms. At 7:32 p.m. a beautiful 7 lbs. 5 oz. baby girl made her arrival. Now I've seen a lot of homebirth baby's not cry because they adjust so well, but I've never seen one open her eyes immediately. This little girl was eager to see what was going on. It was absolutely precious.

Tisha had a few firsts with this birth. It was the first time she didn't throw-up, she did get nauseous, but didn't throw-up. This baby girl came 5 days early, when her first two came atleast 7 days late. It was her mother's birthday, what a great present! And it was the first birth she didn't loose control. It truly was an honor to be my doula's doula. Thankyou Tisha!!! And I hope you and that little girl are getting lots of rest, I'll being seeing you soon.

The little joys

My little joy was yesterday when I was cooking. My friend Sunny submitted a recipe to the MOF Recipe Book for Bulgulgi, which is Korean BBQ. It is seriously so freaking good and EASY! You serve it with rice and soy sauce and wrap it up in a lettuce leaf. Anyway, I overlooked one of the ingredients, which was Sesame oil. I knew that a few months back I had bought some, but in our move a lot of our groceries got moved around and I just forgot where I put things. As I was shutting the pantry door I notice a little white lid, lo and behold there was the Sesame oil I needed. I've never been so happy about making dinner! I think I did a little dance or not. I'm not a good cook because usually I'm missing atleast one or two of the ingredients. Even though I've made a thorough grocery list, I always seem to overlook those one or two ingredients I need. Then I end up improvising and the meal ends up kind of on the yucky side. But yesterday I had ALL ingredients and it was sooo good. Tonight is Veggie Lasagna, I'm crossing my fingers it turns out okay.

Bulgulgi (Korean BBQ meat)
1/2 T. sesame seeds
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 t. black pepper
3 T. sugar
2 T. soy sauce
1/4 C. green onions, sliced very thin
1/4 t. salt
2-3 T. water
1 T. sesame oil
1 lb. tender beef, cut in very thin slices (you can usually find this beef already packaged and sliced very thin in the meat dept, if not just ask for it to sliced thin)

1. In a dry skillet, parch sesame seeds until slightly brown. Grind or mash.
2. Combine all ingredients, except beef.
3. Once mixed pour into a Ziploc bag, add beef and let it marinate for atleast 2 hours.
4. Cook in a frying pan with a bit of oil.

For a dipping sauce, mix 3/4 part soy sauce with 2/3 part water. Serve meat with sides of large leaf lettuce, rice, and dipping sauce. To eat authentically, spoon rice, meat, and dipping sauce into your lettuce wrap. Enjoy!

Yucky kid food

When I was younger my mom would try to make me eat hotdogs and bolognie. These are two kid foods that totally make me want to ralph. What is it with bolognie and hotdogs? Even the thought of them makes me nauseous. My kids love these two foods, and I make sure that they eat it as far away from me as possible. Yeah, my daughter just walked past me with a slice of bolognie, so that's what's on my mind. Yuck!

Christmas music already?

Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas. I love the story, the symbolism, the family get-togethers, the snow(yes I do!!!), and cozying up with my hubby. But come on! Just let us get through Thanksgiving first! Atleast two of my regular radio stations are already playing Christmas/Holiday tunes. It's just so irritating. So I'm boycotting my radio stations until December 1st. One can only handle so much "Dashing Through The Snow". Snow, what snow?! Freaking A!

Doula Retreat

I'm feeling refreshed, replenished, and renewed!!! I went to the Utah Doulas Association Fall Retreat this past weekend. What an awesome bunch of ladies to be surrounded by.

I went expecting the usual birth conversations, how best to help a client, ect. but what it was, was unexpected. I have rarely encountered a place outside the temple where you could feel the spirit so strong. The women that came to the retreat were from all different walks of life, religion, families, but yet we totally recognized eachother as sisters on both a spiritual and energetic level. It was an emotional retreat, tears were shed, hurt feelings and incorrect beliefs surfaced and were acknowledged. There were no judgements or criticism, but unconditional love which I know is rarely felt.

We celebrated our callings in life as doula's. What an honor it is to assist women in bringing a new spirit to earth! We talked about how faith and prayer are essential to a doula, no matter her religious beliefs or she had none at all. We talked about the need for doulas to take care of themselves so that they could care for their laboring moms. We learned about the Samaritan goddess Inana, her path to self-discovery, fascinating story. We expressed ourselves through art by molding clay into what we thought women serving women would look like to us. Doula is the greek word for "woman's servant". I molded my clay into a husband and wife embracing eachother, with a doula behind them embracing them, supporting them.

Most important to me was that I found the softening of heart that I asked for in helping me forgive another doula(see the previous post below). Forgiving her was very important to me, it was the only way to move past the hurt. And I have. It truly was a life changing weekend.